Astronauts Begin Six-Hour Spacewalk in Orbit

I am reading this article, Astronauts Begin Six-Hour Spacewalk in Orbit, on NPR's website.
Crew of Space Shuttle Discovery arrived at International Space Station.
The Space Shuttle was checked for damage it may have received during launch.
According to this article, a 16-ton compartment is being transferred from the Space Shuttle to the Space Station.

2007 Scream Awards

Last Friday the 2007 Screams Awards were presented. The show was broadcast on Spike TV Tuesday evening. The Scream Awards honor the best in sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and comic books. One of the highlights was the reunion of the remaining members of the cast of Star Trek ll: The Wraith of Khan. Another highlight was Harrison Ford receiving the Hero Award. "Heroes" received the award for the best TV show.

China's First Lunar Probe Launches into Orbit

I heard this story, China's First Lunar Probe Launches into Orbit by Anthony Kuhn, on NPR this morning.
According to this article the probe will reach it's orbit on November 5.
Then it will spend one year scanning the Moon's surface.
The launch of an unmanned lunar vehicle is scheduled for 2012.

Shuttle Flight Scheduled

There is a flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery scheduled for 11:38 EDT today according to NASA's website for the Space Shuttle Program.

Nighthawk Sci Fi Meeting

There is a meeting of the Nighthawk Sci Fi Club scheduled for this Sunday 28 October 2007 at 2 PM Eastern Time.
The meeting is free and open to the public.

Japan Struggles to Meet Its CO2 Emissions Limits

I am reading this story, Japan Struggles to Meet Its CO2 Emissions Limits by Madeleine Brand, on NPR's website.

2007 Nobel Prize in Literature

Doris Lessing won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. Unlike some mainstream writers, Ms. Lessing has never hesitated to acknowledge that she writes science fiction. Her switch to science fiction was not popular with many critics. She responded, " What they don't realize was that in science fiction is some of the best social fiction of out time."
When asked which of her books she considers the most important,she chose her science fiction series Canopus in Argos.
Ms. Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in Persia (now Iran). She is the 11th woman and the oldest person to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Quantum Computer Discovery Nets Nobel Prize

I heard this story, Quantum Computer Discovery Nets Nobel Prize by Richard Harris , on NPR yesterday morning.
Now we know about how a computer's hard drive can write to and read back so much information thanks to Albert Fert.

'Surface Chemistry' Nets Nobel Prize for German

I heard this story, 'Surface Chemistry' Nets Nobel Prize for German by Dan Charles , on NPR this morning.
Interesting how long and hard work by Gerhard Ertl uncovered how chemical reactions occur on the surface of materials.

Sputnik 50th anniversary on October 4, 2007

I saw this article, Sputnik 50th anniversary on October 4, 2007, on Earth and Sky's website.
According to this article, Sputnik 2 carried a dog named Laika into orbit one month
after Sputnik 1 was launched.
The USA created NASA on October 1958.
And Soviet cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space on April 12, 1961.
American astronaut Alan Shepard, Jr became the first American in space on May 5, 1961.
On May 5, 1961 President Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress and said basically the USA was going to send a man to the Moon and bring him back safely to Earth.
On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon.

I grew up during these years in the 1960s and 1970s.
I saw science fiction become science fact.
I saw new science fiction based on the science that was being done in the 1960s and 1970s.
Star Trek The Original Series is my favorite example of the new science fiction of the 1960s in a television series.
Journey to the Far Side of the Sun(Doppelgänger), Marooned Planet of the Apes and 2001: A Space Odyssey are my favorite examples of the new science fiction of the 1960s in the form of movies.
Star Trek: The Animated Series, UFO and Space 1999 is my favorite examples of the new science fiction of the 1970s in the form of television series.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Silent Running, The Andromeda Strain Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, Solaris and Capricorn One is my favorite examples of the new science fiction of the 1970s in the form of movies.

Explorer Series of Spacecraft

I found this article, Explorer Series of Spacecraft, at the NASA History homepage.

I was looking for information on the Explorer series that started in the late 1950's.
This article gives a list of these from Explorer 1 (Jan 1958) to Explorer 59 (Oct 1981).

Devra Davis: Chemicals, Cancer and You

I heard an interview with Devra Davis on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR yesterday.
Ms. Devra Davis wrote The Secret History of the War on Cancer and When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution.
According to the article on NPR's website about this interview:
Ms. Devra Davis teaches epidemiology in the University of Pittsburgh's public-health graduate program.
She also directs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
I am looking for both books.

Sputnik Was More Advanced Than U.S. Admitted, Historian Uncovers

I found this article, Sputnik Was More Advanced Than U.S. Admitted, Historian Uncovers by Alex Canizares, on www.space.com
According to the article, Sputnik I and Sputnik II satilites examined the Earth's outer radiation belt, because the Soviet satilites could go into a higher orbit than the USA Explorer series.
The Explorer series examined the Earth's inner radiation belt.
The Soviet's could not observe this belt because they could not pick up the satilites signs from the Southern Hemisphere.
These radiation belts are named after James Van Allen.

Sputnik

I heard a story about the designers of Sputnik this morning on NPR.
I saw something on Sputnik at StarDate's website.
According to the script by Damond Benningfield, Sputnik was launched on a R-7 booster.
And the R-7 booster was originally designed to carry nuclear weapons to targets in other countries.

Sputnik Designers Did Not Fathom It's Impact

I heard a story on Sputnik, Sputnik Designers Did Not Fathom It's Impact by Gregory Feifer, on NPR this morning.
According to this story, Sergei Korolev convinced Soviet leaders, after World War II, that rockets were worth funding.
Sergei Korolev met with Soviet rocket designer Boris Chertok in 1945.
The forth R-7 rocket design tested was the first world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, in 1957.
Sputnik One was launched on the R-7 booster after that, on October 4, 1957.
Sergei Korolev is regarded as the father of the Soviet space program.

Williams Shepherd, 51, the commander of the first full-time crew of the International Space Station.

I looked up this article, Williams Shepherd, 51, the commander of the first full-time crew of the International Space Station. by Todd Halvorson, on www.space.com.
I met Bill Shepherd several years ago.
I enjoyed hearing his talk on the mission to the International Space Station with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev.

The Space Age

I heard this story, The Space Age, on NPR.
I went to Stardate's website to read the script by Damond Benningfield.
When the Soviet Union's satellite Sputnik 1 went into orbit, the Space Age was born according to this story.
Just to say Soviet Union dates this event to before the Wall came down between East and West Germany, and the time of the "breakaway" republics.
Now after the cold war, Astronauts from the USA and Cosmonauts from Russia work together, from time to time, at the International Space Station.
I met one of those Astronauts, Bill Shepherd, at the Science Museum of Virginia several years ago.

In Japan, Going Solar Costly Despite Market Surge

I heard this story, In Japan, Going Solar Costly Despite Market Surge by David Kestenbaum, on NPR.
I went to NPR's website to read the story.
It seems that the industry needs to be subsidized by the government in a country to help the use of active solar power to become more wide spread from what I have read of the last few months.

Heroes Keeps on Trekkin'

I read this article, Heroes Keeps on Trekkin' by Michael Logan, in the August 27, 2007 issue of TV Guide.
According to this article, Nichelle Nichols joins the cast of the television show Heroes on the forth episode of this season.

Japan Trades in Suits, Cuts CO2 Emissions

I hear this article, Japan Trades in Suits, Cuts CO2 Emissions by David Kestenbaum, on NPR.
I went to NPR's website to read about it.
According to the article, the Kyoto Protocol agreement's impact has been less than what many hoped.

SR-71 Forum

Saturday I went to the SR-71 Forum at the Virginia Aviation Museum. I enjoyed it, and I always seem to learn something every time I go. This time I learned, although I may have heard it at previous SR-71 Forums, that synthetic and multi-viscosity oil were developed by the program that created the SR-71. It is interesting to me that something that has become such an everyday part of our lives was developed because of a need for the creation of the Blackbird, the SR-71.