2005 2

Apollo 13 rescue

An incredibly detailed look into the rescue of the Apollo 13 mission. What follows is a little known story, even to many involved in the Apollo 13 mission. While they have been complimented on rapidly getting the lunar module into lifeboat mode, stretching its resources to keep the crew alive for the journey back to Earth, few realize the lunar module controllers first had to overcome a basic problem: how to get the lunar module to turn on at all. ...

Girl wrestles robot

17-year old Panna Felsen defeats 3 robots in arm-wrestling. The slashdot comments are hilarious.

2003 1

Space elevator

NASA is thinking of a space elevator, a la Clarke. On one hand, I think… can’t we save poor children in Somalia? On the other hand, 500 years from now, would you remember this generation for saving children or building a space elevator? Do you remember the Egyptian pyramids or slavery? Then again, to quote Groucho Marx, “Why should I worry about posterity? What has posterity ever done for me?” ...

2002 2

The Solar System

The Solar System. From anywhere.

Blue marble

Blue marble. NASA’s incredibly detailed pictures of earth. Downloadable.

2001 2

Cosmology

An excellent tutorial on cosmology from NASA.

Genes into space

And now you can send out your genes into space. You write a poem on your photo, stick your hair on it, and they’ll throw it into space. Read the FAQ. Oh, and by the way, it costs $50. If they can store 4.5 million submissions, and get $30 per submission (after discounts), they still make $135 million. Plus merchandise, advertising, etc. How much does it cost to launch a spacecraft? (NASA lets you send your name to Mars for free, though. I signed up and got a certificate.)