Aquarius Satellite

The Aquarius Satellite was launched on June 10 to study ocean circulation and Earth's water cycle via ocean salinty - ocean surface salinity affects the density of the water, and salinity differences help drive ocean circulation. The mission is a joint project between NASA and Argentina's space agency.

Monthly Meeting

Sunday we have our regular monthly meeting at Books-A-Million in Colonial Heights. It will probably be around 3:00 PM before everyone is there.

Everyone with an interest in Sci-fi is welcome!

New Elements

Elements 114 and 116 have been added to the periodic chart.

Soyuz Blasts Off To International Space Station

I am reading this article Soyuz Blasts Off To International Space Station on the Irish Weather Online's website:
http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/space/soyuz-blasts-off-to-international-space-station/19286.html
According to this article Mike Fossum, Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa are on board a Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft heading for the International Space Station.
The spacecraft lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last night at 2112 GMT.

The crew aboard the ISS are Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan.

John W. Campbell

John W. Campbell was born on 8 June 1910.

I heard an interesting story about Campbell on The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor,

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/ , this morning on National Public Radio.

Study Of Arsenic-Eating Microbe Finds Doubters

I am reading about Felica Wolfe-Simon on Wikipedia.

According to this current post, she led a team that discovered an extremophile bacterium called GFAJ-1 in California's Mono Lake.

Mono Lake is naturally rich in arsenic.

The team claims that the bacterium uses arsenic for a small amount of phosphate in its DNA and some essential biomolecules.

I heard this story Study Of Arsenic-Eating Microbe Finds Doubters on NPR.

It seems that some scientists disagree with the claim made by Ms. Wolfe-Simon's team regarding GFAJ-1 in research article A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus.

Endeavour returns for last time

I am reading this article Endeavour returns for last time on the Orlando Sentinel's website.

According to this article, Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at 0236 in Florida earlier this morning.

And Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch on July 8 for the International Space Station.

Space Shuttle Endeavour

I am listening to Coast To Coast AM and just heard a report that the Space Shuttle Endeavour has landed safely a few minutes ago.

This mission was this shuttle last fight into space.

Soyuz Capsule Lands Safely With Space Station Crew

I am reading this article Soyuz Capsule Lands Safely With Space Station Crew on Space.com

According to this article, on 23 May 2011 a Soyuz TMA-20 space capsule landed safely in Kazakhstan at 2237 EDT.

The capsule carried Dmitry Kondratyev, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli from the International Space Station back to Earth.