That's No Moon...

... it's a space station!

Hey guess what? NASA has tasked the ISS to flyover the United States for the next few weeks, in honor of FREEDOM, so you can finally see that $100 billion orbiting double-wide trailer that everyone loves to hate. I'm pretty sure it will be visible to the naked eye, but if you have a telescope, that is cool too. NASA has a sweet web applet that will tell you the times of flyovers in your area, so fucking get out there and look at it and then comment all about your amazing ISS viewing experiences, right here on PS.

Unit FAIL!

On the Moon, NASA, we use the metric system.

Hey, guess what? NASA is being criticized for its decision to continue using imperial units as its standard system of measurement. O RLY? I can't imagine why. Maybe it's because pretty much every other important scientific agency/company/evil madman's laboratory in the world uses the METRIC SYSTEM.

One of the major issues NASA raises when confronted with this decision is the cost that it would take to convert decades worth of software and systems to a metric format. Is it really that hard to convert feet to meters? OKAY OKAY I guess that is kind of a good point. So, hey government, give NASA more money and we will no longer be the laughing stock of the global scientific community! Also, the Constellation Program, NASA's planned replacement for the doomed Space Shuttle, is being built on top on 30 years worth of imperial-based Shuttle technology and dimensions. Wait, so the replacement for the outdated Shuttle is being designed using outdated Shuttle technology? UGHHH! NASA, try harder!

RIP Mars lander Phoenix

The Mars lander Phoenix, which has been shralping the Arctic plains since May, has sent its final transmission. The New York Times describes the machine's spacedust-addled final moments as a harrowing ordeal similar to me trying to use my iPod this morning:

The spacecraft first put itself into a low-energy “safe mode,” then fell silent. It revived itself on Oct. 30, but, with the dust still swirling, was never able to fully recharge its batteries. Each day, the solar panels would generate enough electricity for the spacecraft to wake up, but then the batteries drained again.

The Phoenix mission was a success for NASA. It confirmed the presence of ice on the surface of the planet, tested the soil, and took thousands of photos. It was expected to only last for 3 months but was extended twice. It also made a twitter account and posted 605 updates (the last few are posthumous) which gathered 38,000 followers.

There's a really slim chance that Phoenix will be reincarnated as Zombie Phoenix if it's electronics survive being encased in Martian ice for several months. 

NASA Home and City

NASA invents rad stuff all the time to be used in space. Its a proven fact. Whether it is due to some sort of awesome coincidence or the fact that good engineering is good engineering, a lot of these inventions are also used in many everyday situations by regular non-astronauts like you and me. NASA has an interactive website showing where and how this occurs called NASA Home and City. Pretty cool, if you ask me. But then again, if you ask me about anything NASA related, I would say the same thing.

Fly My Name to the Moon

Attention Praise Science readers! NASA will send you to the moon for free! And by you, they mean your name.

'Recent' Weather on Mars Means... Nothing, Really :(

Mars has weather! Or did, 100 million years ago, which in Mars time is like half of a split fucking second. How did they figure this out? Glaciers!
Super duper high resolution imagery taken a year ago by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provided images like the one above and some pie-throwing Smart Dudes at Brown University have deduced from it that Mars had an active atmosphere as late as 100 million years ago. What does that mean to us space-travel-interested types? It means that:

This evidence of recent activity means the Martian climate may change again and could bolster speculation about whether the Red Planet can, or did, support life.

How... mild.

Space 2.0

NASA has announced that it has plans to begin building so-called 'tiny satellites' weighing between 11 and 110 pounds. Apparently these things will be able to 'network' with each other to form satellite 'constellations'. Pretty soon satellites will also be sending you event invitations and changing their statuses on a daily basis.