(ROCKWALL, TX) Hays Elementary students will have the opportunity to speak with a member of the International Space Station February 25 from roughly 11:35 to 11:45 a.m. Local Amateur Radio operators in California will use their equipment and skills to track the International Space Station (ISS) as it passes overhead. While the ISS is above […]
ROCKWALL COUNTY, TX. (June 25, 2015) Covering only 147 square miles, it’s a well known fact that Rockwall is the smallest county in Texas. Residents also recognize that the last half of the 20th century has brought many changes to this historically agricultural area. Its desirable location outside the ever-growingDallas metropolitan area also brings growth. […]
(May 2, 2012) – In full disclosure, I started writing this column about a week ago, the day that the Dragon spaceship successfully berthed with the International Space Station. I was going to submit it that night because of the “great news” but after second thought, I didn’t want to “jinx” the Earth re-entry, descent […]
On 29 March, 2012, the Sun came back to life for many of us who pay attention to such events. Active region AR1429 rotated back onto the Earth-facing Sun on its northern hemisphere. In this case, the Sun is like a giant conveyor belt moving from our left to right. The last time the sunspots […]
Our Universe Today seems to be earning its readership. Here’s how you can tell if people read your columns. Based on prior experience writing for a publication whose name rhymes with Periled Tanner, I call this the “Snap Guy” hypothesis and it goes like this: Whenever you are out and about in the community, you […]
Teach your children well Why are so many things seemingly falling out of space and landing on Earth? If you have not asked this question in the past, you are very likely to start asking it by the 15th of January, 2012. By this date, the failed Russian spacecraft, Phobos Grunt, will have seen its […]
…and not be disappointed. Part II: The Telescope Tube In part II of this story, we will address the optical tube, the telescope – the thing you put your eye in so as to see into space (stars, nebulae and galaxies, or near space, planets). (If you missed Part I, you’ll want to go here before reading […]
NASA successfully launches Mars probe two weeks after Russian Mars mission fails This past weekend, on Nov. 26, 2011, NASA launched the Mars Science Lab (MSL) in a flawless event that propelled the automobile-sized (mini-Cooper) spacecraft on course to the Red Planet, Mars. Named “Curiosity” by sixth grader Clara Ma, who competed in a NASA JPL […]