James

This is pretty cool. Saw it on reddit.

Looks like I’ll be out tomorrow night, but if you are at home, you may want to watch news of the LCROSS impact at about 11:31:19 GMT (19:31:19 Perth time). I usually follow these things on SpaceFlightNow and NASA TV. Also, the LCROSS Flight Director’s blog.

The LCROSS, as I understand it, is a mission to fire a large object at the surface of the moon. It is estimated the object will impact the moon at around 9000km/h and that approximately 150 tonnes of material will be dislodged from the moon’s surface. The aim is to scan the debris from orbit and determine the presence of water.

Seems like a brute-force way of doing science.

The WASO recently released their 2010 season schedule and I was delighted to learn that soprano Sumi Jo is coming back to Perth. I went to one of her performances last time she was in Perth and thought it was outstanding. The sort of music that is so stunningly brilliant that it convinces those who aren’t even classical music fans.

The NASA blog currently features some photos of the first Ares rocket being assembled in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. Near enough to 100 meters of rocket.

Armadillo’s vehicle has had a successful flight and is now in a position to win the $1 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge prize.

An update on the Armadillo Aerospace web site. Videos from xprize.org.