space

12 posts

Movie Review: Gravity

When I got a call from a friend today asking if I wanted to go see Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity, at first I was apprehensive. You see, as a kid, I loved space. I still do, in fact. I went through a (long) phase where I wanted to be an astronaut despite the math and science requirements being far, far beyond my reach, although today’s movie experience may have changed my mind! I have always been fascinated by the stars and planets and one would think Gravity, with its beautiful images of Earth from space visible even in the preview, would be my kind of movie. Continue reading →

China’s Strict Rules for Female Astronauts

As China gets ready to launch some taikonauts (every country must have a unique name for their space going people) into space the government has decided that women will be included as two of the seven to venture into microgravity. But there are a few factors that helped them decide which women were qualified to go into space. The names will not be released until just before the June launch.

The women just have to conform to the following: Continue reading →

Why I’m Not Sad the Space Shuttle Program is Ending

I am a space geek.  A massive space geek.  In sixth grade, I saved up the money I got for delivering our HOA newsletter and bought a telescope, which I used to look at the moon every night, until my dad yelled at me to get off of the roof.  I talked my mom into pulling me out of class to drive 60 miles east to Mojave to watch the space shuttle land.  We were so far away that it was a white blur distorted by miles of heat coming off the desert floor, but I loved every second of it.  I ditched work to see SpaceShipOne take its two trips into space.  On Friday, weather permitting, the longest program in the short history of spaceflight is coming to a close.  Why am I not unhappy about that? Continue reading →