They're Trusting Me With the International Space Station

The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-134 crew member on the space shuttle Endeavour after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 11:55 p.m. (EDT) on May 29, 2011. Endeavour spent 11 days, 17 hours and 41 minutes attached to the orbiting laboratory. Source: NASA

I'm currently on an Amtrak train headed for DC for my first NASA social meeting at NASA headquarters. I'm joining a bunch of fellow space enthusiasts meeting with astronaut Don Petit and joining a Q&A with NASA astronauts Kevin Ford and Tom Marshburn, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield aboard the space station. Finally, we'll speak with the Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate and experts discussing science aboard the orbiting laboratory.

I'll be tweeting like a mad man so make sure to follow me there - @ShareefJackson! I promise, I won't cause a software glitch with the space station!

Charging Your Devices in the Car

Must drive, must charge. Check out the video!

If you can't see it, click here.

About That Meteor ...

While the rest of the world was worried about an asteroid that had no chance of colliding with the Earth, a meteor actually entered the atmosphere above Russia.  Thank god it did not impact the ground, but the sonic boom still did plenty of damage. Most of the damage was due to shattered glass that injured over a thousand people. Since light travels much faster than sound (think about thunder and lightning), people saw the meteor streaking through the air and were shocked when the massive sonic boom came later, shattering windows and causing alarms to trip. That's what we know.

But before we knew this, we had no idea if there would be more injuries, or even fatalities.  Yet people still flooded social networks with their "cool" and "amazing" photos and memes. I won't link to any here.

I am strongly against posting images of something that we don't yet know the outcome of.  I noticed the same thing - people posting images of things with offensive captions and memes - even dwhen we knew of massive fatalities. This occurred during other natural disasters such as  the Haiti earthquake, the Indian Ocean tusnami, Hurricane Katrina.

I realize that we are living in a real time news world, but I think we should at least give some time when the damage assessments are out before pictures are shared.

For further reading, New Scientist has a great post on the basics of asteroids, meteroids, meteors, and meteorites.

Obama Hanging Out, Talking Science of the Union

President Barack Obama waits as he is introduced for an event honoring the recipients of the 2011 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation, in the Blue Room of the White House, Feb. 1, 2013. A bust of Christopher Columbus is seen at right. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama highlighted science in this week's State of the Union, and he also answered questions during a Google+ hangout today. Talk about taking science and technology to a new level!

One part of his speech caught my attention:

"Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s; developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries ten times more powerful.  Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation.  Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race."  

The height of the Space Race was the goal to land a man on the moon in the 60s. That's five decades ago! It's a shame that we haven't reached that level of R&D. It doesn't necessarily have to be for one solid goal as it was for the space race, but we do need to invest in our own infrastructure to build the next generation of scientists   This covers everything from schools to neighborhoods to making college affordable.

Obama also referenced this during his Google+ hangout when he was asked if his daughters take interest in science. He spoke about how they need the encouragement from the system - parents, schools, other students - so that they know that they can achieve. Increased levels of investment can make sure that this will happen.

And of course, the President is doing this while talking live ... over the interwebs ... to regular citizens ... tech overload.

Landsat 8: New Images To Understand Earth

From the gift shop. IT SAYS PI-LINGUAL! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!

The Landsat 8 satellite launched from the Vandenberg Airforce Base in California on Feb 11th. Over the past 40 years, the Landsat program has provided imagery for public and private use. This newest satellite provides a more accurate way to capture data - imagine using a pushbroom to slowly push dirt along the floor as opposed to constantly sweeping from side to side. For more detail on the mission and technical details, please click here.

Most importantly, Landsat data is used for various public and private means.  The data is used for things such as urbanization, deforestation, climate change and the carbon footprint,. Most people have interacted with the data via the satellite filter on Google Maps, which almost everyone does when they are zooming in on the house they grew up in just to eek out that last bit of childhood.

I was able to watch the launch with a bunch of fellow space enthusiasts at the NASA Goddard Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. We ate hilariously bad food, attacked the gift store, and most importantly talked to the scientists on the Landsat team about the launch.  For my coverage of the 40th anniversary of the Landsat program during the summer of 2012, please click here.

Source: NASA Landsat