"Apollo on steroids." I could post up my own entry about the devastation and tragedies wrought by Hurricane Katrina (and most likely Rita), but I won’t. On a more upbeat note, if you’re a nerd, a space enthusiast or a taxpayer who just doesn’t plain give a rat’s ass about where his or her taxes are going, NASA has unveiled its new plan last Monday about how it’s gonna return to the moon…which can take place as soon as 2018. Below are pics of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will replace the space shuttle around 2012 [though the shuttle itself will be retired in 2010 after the International Space Station is (hopefully) complete] and the heavy-lift vehicle that will ferry into orbit the lander astronauts will use to touch down on the moon, after a 46-year hiatus. Needless to say, I’m enthusiastic...though it’s gonna be another 6-7 years till the CEV even begins its test flights. HOPEFULLY, the CEV will become a reality...and not end up with the same fate as the National Aerospace Plane or the X-33 VentureStar. In other words: Not be cancelled. That is all.


Images courtesy of NASA.gov

Orbiter Vehicle 103... a.k.a. Discovery... Back in business again.



EDIT: I'm too lazy to post up a separate entry with this photo, so here you go:



Too bad the shuttle fleet is now grounded because that stupid foam problem hasn't been fixed.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY, EVERYONE!! Around 11 PM Pacific Standard Time last night, the "Impactor" released from the Deep Impact spacecraft struck Comet Tempel 1, which marked the first time a manmade object touched the surface of a comet (that sounds kinda...sexual, does it? Or is my mind that corrupted?). I'd be thrilled, if I wasn't bummed out on the fact that a compact disc bearing my name, and 625,000 others (click here to read more about that), wasn't vaporized along with the Impactor. Oh well. In other space news, Discovery is only nine days away from marking the space shuttle's return to space. "Woohoo!" if you're a geek and "Blah" if you're not. Guess which one I am. (Actually, don't answer that.) Click here to read an earlier rant I had about my name being torn into millions of pieces in space, hahaha.

As a big space aficionado waiting for America's manned space program to get moving again, this is a great sight to see:









If you don't know what I'm talking about, then where the heck were you on February 1st, 2003?? Go here for more details.