We’re in the middle of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and it’s a great time to check out the July constellations! Take a look at the star chart above. We are going to focus on what I call the…
July Constellations With Star Charts
Mars Rover Status – Spirit and Opportunity
NASA announced yesterday that it has ended operational planning activities for the Mars Rover named Spirit. The last time that Spirit communicated with Earth was on March 22, 2010 – over one year ago. As Mars was heading into winter, Spirit became immobile and NASA was unable to adjust the tilt of Spirit’s solar panels to optimize the angle to capture the maximum amount of solar energy to keep the craft powered up
Flawless Launch of STS-134 Space Shuttle Endeavour
The Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) left the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center today at 8:56am in what looked to be a flawless lift off. For those of you who had a chance to watch it live, it was a fantastic finish to Endeavour’s nearly 20 years of service.
New Launch Date for STS-134 Endeavour Set for May 16, 2011
A new launch date for STS-134, Space Shuttle Endeavour has been set for May 16, 2011. Endeavour’s original launch was set for April 29, but was scrubbed due to an electrical problem in what is called the Load Control Assembly-2 (LCA-2). This piece of equipment distributes power to various systems in the Shuttle and is believed to have caused fuel line heaters for Endeavour’s auxiliary power unit-1 (APU-1) to fail.
May Constellations With Star Chart
Orion The Hunter – the great winter constellation – is setting very early in the western sky making way for the spring constellations. By 1am in May, you will be able to see the summer triangle which is comprised of the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair. We’ll explore these constellations in today’s post.