Video Kidibot

Author: kidibot

  • Rosetta: close orbits to lander deployment (annotated)

    Rosetta: close orbits to lander deployment (annotated)

    Animation showing Rosetta’s orbit in the lead up to, during and after lander separation.

    The animation begins on 1 October 2014, when Rosetta is orbiting about 19 km from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (all distances refer to the comet’s centre). The animation shows the transition to the close 10 km orbit by mid-October, and then the steps taken to move onto the pre-separation trajectory.

    On the day of landing, 12 November, Rosetta makes a further manoeuvre 2–3 hours before separation to move to 22.5 km from the comet centre to deploy the lander, Philae. While Philae descends to the surface over a period of seven hours, Rosetta makes another manoeuvre to maintain visibility with the lander. A series of ‘relay phase’ manoeuvres then move Rosetta out to a distance of about 50 km, before moving first to a 30 km orbit and later to an orbit at about 20 km by early December.

    The speed of the animation slows during the separation and lander phase to better highlight these events. The comet shape and rate of rotation is real – the comet rotates with a period of about 12.4 hours.

    Credits: ESA

  • Venus close-up

    Venus close-up

    Launched in 2005, ESA’s Venus Express spacecraft has been observing Earth’s so called ‘sister’ planet from a unique point of view: in orbit around Venus itself. This mission is providing scientists with detailed information about the Venusian atmosphere and in the course of these studies many surprises have emerged.

  • Heat Sensitive Worms – Sick Science! #212

    Heat Sensitive Worms – Sick Science! #212

    Get everything you need here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/heat-sensitive-worms.html
    See the full experiment here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/heat-sensitive-worms

    There’s nothing better than having a bowl full of worms without the hassle of digging them out of the ground… and all by using fascinating polymer science. Now our worm-ologists have made an exciting new kind of Insta-Worms that are heat sensitive! You won’t believe your eyes as temperature changes the appearance of this special kind of Insta-Worms.

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Nighttime fisheye timelapse

    Nighttime fisheye timelapse

    This timelapse video from space was taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst from the Cupola observatory module on the International Space Station as it orbited Earth at around 400 km altitude. As the Space Station passes over Earth at night we can see city lights and lightning.

    The International Space Station travels at 28 800 km/h meaning that it only takes 90 minutes to circle Earth completely. Each orbit the Station moves around 2200 km to the West in relation to 90 minutes before.

    Astronauts often use normal consumer digital cameras to take pictures of Earth through Europe’s observatory module Cupola in their spare time. Setting the camera to take an image every few seconds and then playing the images back quickly create this timelapse effect.

    Alexander worked as a geophysicist and volcanologist before he was chosen as an ESA astronaut in 2009. His Blue Dot mission includes an extensive scientific programme of experiments in physical science, biology, and human physiology as well as radiation research and technology demonstrations. All experiments chosen make use of the out-of-this-world laboratory to improve life on Earth or prepare for further human exploration of our Solar System.

  • ESA-ESTEC Open Day 2014

    ESA-ESTEC Open Day 2014

    Sunday 5 October saw thousands of visitors converge on the European Space Agency’s technical heart for its annual Open Day. Touring across the site, they met astronauts, viewed spacecraft and inspected test facilities – and came face to face with a spectacular new world.

  • ESA presents… Clean Space

    ESA presents… Clean Space

    Clean Space is the European Space Agency’s initiative to safeguard the terrestrial and orbital environments, while boosting the innovation and competitiveness of Europe’s space sector. This animated guide follows a newly-launched satellite as it first enters orbit, in the process explaining the various branches of the Clean Space effort and the different future Clean Space aims to build.

    Now with English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Greek, Romanian and Swedish subtitles. More languages will be added as they become available.

  • NASA Prepares to Eye Comet’s Flyby of Mars

    NASA Prepares to Eye Comet’s Flyby of Mars

    During an October 9 press briefing at NASA headquarters, panelists discussed the Earth and space-based assets that will be in position to observe the October 19 flyby of Mars by comet C/2013 A1, also known as comet Siding Spring. These assets include NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope and spacecraft orbiting and roving Mars.

    During the once-in-a-lifetime flyby, Siding Spring will pass within about 88,000 miles (139,500 kilometers) of the Red Planet — less than half the distance between Earth and our moon and less than one-tenth the distance of any known comet flyby of Earth. This proximity will provide an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to gather data on both the comet and its effect on the Martian atmosphere.

  • NASA Premieres ‘Trial By Fire’ video on Orion’s Flight Test

    NASA Premieres ‘Trial By Fire’ video on Orion’s Flight Test

    As the flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft nears, the agency released Oct. 8 a video detailing the spacecraft’s test and the critical systems engineers will evaluate during the Dec. 4 flight. Orion is in the final stages of preparation for the uncrewed flight test that will take it 3,600 miles above Earth on a 4.5-hour mission to test many of the systems necessary for future human missions into deep space. After two orbits, Orion will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at almost 20,000 miles per hour, and reach temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before its parachute system deploys to slow the spacecraft for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

    On future missions, the Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before, including to an asteroid and Mars.

  • NASA Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk on ISS

    NASA Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk on ISS

    Clad in U.S. spacesuits, Expedition 41 Flight Engineers Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Oct. 7 to relocate a failed cooling pump and to install a power cable device designed to provide backup electrical capability to the station’s rail car system. The spacewalk was the 182nd in support of station assembly and maintenance and the first for both Wiseman and Gerst.

  • Vampire Slime – Sick Science! #211

    Vampire Slime – Sick Science! #211

    Where does slime come from, you ask? Monsters, of course. But thanks to some cool genetic mutations, vampires now have their own slime. Telling the difference between monster slime and vampire slime can be tricky at first glance, unless you know the vampire secret… hold the slime up to the light. Ordinary monster slime just looks green (because monster blood is green, dah). Vampire slime, on the other hand, shows its true color when you hold it up to the light because the green turns dark red to reveal what vampires drink… well… you know… that stuff. Leave it to the vampires to find another way to hide their true identity.

    Get everything you need here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/vampire-slime.html

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Growing Bacteria – Sick Science! #210

    Growing Bacteria – Sick Science! #210

    See the full experiment here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/growing-bacteria
    Get everything you need here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/bacteria-growing-kit.html

    This activity will prove that Mom was right… “Wash your hands with soap and warm water!” A Petri dish prepared with nutrient agar (a seaweed derivative with beef nutrients) is an ideal food source for the bacteria you’ll be growing. In this experiment, Steve Spangler collected samples from items around the office – you will not believe what he found.

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Lightning, aurora and sunrise timelapse

    Lightning, aurora and sunrise timelapse

    This timelapse video from space has it all: an orbit of Earth with lightning and aurora, followed by a space sunrise and daytime views of our cloudy planet. The images were taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst as he orbited Earth on the International Space Station at around 400 km altitude. The nighttime video shows a Soyuz spacecraft that ferries the astronauts to the outpost. At the end of the video green aurora can be seen as Earth’s interacts with solar radiation.

    The International Space Station travels at 28 800 km/h meaning that it only takes 90 minutes to circle Earth completely. Each orbit the Station moves around 2200 km to the West in relation to 90 minutes before.

    Astronauts often use normal consumer digital cameras to take pictures of Earth through Europe’s observatory module Cupola in their spare time. Setting the camera to take an image every few seconds and then playing the images back quickly create this timelapse effect.

    Alexander worked as a geophysicist and volcanologist before he was chosen as an ESA astronaut in 2009. His Blue Dot mission includes an extensive scientific programme of experiments in physical science, biology, and human physiology as well as radiation research and technology demonstrations. All experiments chosen make use of the out-of-this-world laboratory to improve life on Earth or prepare for further human exploration of our Solar System.

  • ESA Euronews: Close encounters with Venus

    ESA Euronews: Close encounters with Venus

    Venus is our mysterious neighbour, a strange world where the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, and a day lasts longer than a year. ESA’s Venus Express mission has spent the last eight years gathering data to offer science a fresh insight into the atmosphere and climate of the planet, including a daring aerobraking manœuvre this summer that revealed previously unknown waves in the upper atmosphere.

    This video is also available in the following languages:
    French http://youtu.be/I0uD82RfGHI
    German: http://youtu.be/tXgiaR_5kPM
    Italian: http://youtu.be/vs3OxPoF80o
    Portuguese: http://youtu.be/N7Y_jU7e_FU
    Spanish: http://youtu.be/luPHUdRhF1s
    Greek: http://youtu.be/xQmFD44gV_w
    Hungarian: http://youtu.be/1-hDeyd5ISQ

  • ESA Euronews: Találkozások Vénusszal

    ESA Euronews: Találkozások Vénusszal

    A Vénusz a Föld legközelebbi szomszédja, amelyről ehhez képest elég keveset tudunk. Különleges világ, ahol a Nap Nyugaton kel és Keleten megy le, egy nap pedig tovább tart, mint egy év. Az Európai Űrügynökség – az ESA Vénusz Expressz missziója az elmúlt évben nagy mennyiségű adatot gyűjtött össze, a bolygó légköréről és klímájáról. Egy kockázatos légfékezési manőverrel pedig korábban ismeretlen hullámzást fedeztek fel a bolygó sűrű atmoszférájának felső rétegeiben.

  • ESA Euronews: Στενές επαφές τρίτου τύπου με την Αφροδίτη

    ESA Euronews: Στενές επαφές τρίτου τύπου με την Αφροδίτη

    Η Αφροδίτη είναι ο μυστηριώδης γείτονάς μας. Ένας παράξενος κόσμος, όπου ο ήλιος ανατέλλει στη Δύση, δύει στην Ανατολή και μία ημέρα διαρκεί περισσότερο από ένα έτος. Η αποστολή “Venus Express” του Ευρωπαϊκού Οργανισμού Διαστήματος συγκεντρώνει τα τελευταία οκτώ χρόνια στοιχεία, που προσφέρουν μία ανανεωμένη εικόνα για την ατμόσφαιρα και το κλίμα στον πλανήτη Αφροδίτη. Η τολμηρή αεροπέδηση αποκαλύπτει άγνωστα κύματα στα ανώτερα στρώματα της ατμόσφαιρας.

  • ESA Euronews: Acercándose a Venus

    ESA Euronews: Acercándose a Venus

    Venus, un misterioso vecino. Un extraño mundo donde el Sol sale por el oeste y se oculta por el este y el día dura más de un año terrestre. La misión de la ESA Venus Express ha pasado 8 años recogiendo datos sobre la atmósfera y el clima de este planeta tan singular. Gracias a la técnica del “aerobraking”, la nave pudo acercarse a la atmósfera de Venus revelando la existencia de olas desconocidas hasta ahora.

  • Bed of Nails

    Bed of Nails

  • Day and night

    Day and night

    It takes 90 minutes for an astronaut on the International Space Station to circle Earth completely, passing from daytime to nighttime and back again. This video taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst shows the view from space in under one minute. Each orbit the Station moves around 2200 km to the West in relation to 90 minutes before.

    Astronauts often use normal consumer digital cameras to take pictures of Earth through Europe’s observatory module Cupola in their spare time. Setting the camera to take an image every few seconds and then playing the images back quickly create this timelapse effect.

    Alexander worked as a geophysicist and volcanologist before he was chosen as an ESA astronaut in 2009. His Blue Dot mission includes an extensive scientific programme of experiments in physical science, biology, and human physiology as well as radiation research and technology demonstrations. All experiments chosen make use of the out-of-this-world laboratory to improve life on Earth or prepare for further human exploration of our Solar System.

    Read more about his mission at http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Blue_dot

    Follow Alexander here: http://alexandergerst.esa.int/

  • Ping Pong Popper – Sick Science! #209

    Ping Pong Popper – Sick Science! #209

    See the full experiment here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/ping-pong-popper

    Check out cool science kits and toys: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/

    Science staples involve things that go boom and things that blast off. With the Ping Pong Popper kids’ science experiment, you’ll take both the booming and blasting to new, hands-on levels. You get to construct popper toy and learn about combustion!

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • The Physics of Space Battles

    The Physics of Space Battles

    How scientifically accurate is your favorite sci-fi space battle?

    Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate

    Subscribe to It’s Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub

    Joseph Shoer has several extensive, in-depth articles on the physics of space warfare:
    http://josephshoer.com/blog/2009/12/thoughts-on-space-battles/
    http://josephshoer.com/blog/2010/07/projecting-space-battle-physics/

    Space warfare: Almost everything you know is probably wrong http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.100198-Space-Warfare-Almost-Everything-You-Know-Is-Probably-Wrong

    Is space warfare really practical? http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.846407-Is-space-warfare-really-practical-except-lasers

    Zero-g dogfighting for dummies: http://www.citizenstarnews.com/news/zero-g-dogfighting-dummies

    Projectile weapons vs. directed energy weapons: http://forum.gateworld.net/threads/17263-Projectile-Weapons-vs-Directed-Energy-Weapons

    Nukes in space: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent.php

    Effects of radiation weapons in space: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/radiation.php#effects

    Could the Death Star really destroy a planet? http://www.universetoday.com/92746/could-a-death-star-really-destroy-a-planet/

    “Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest son of a b***h in space” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLpgxry542M

    Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios

    Joe Hanson – Host and writer
    Joe Nicolosi – Director
    Amanda Fox – Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads – Associate Producer
    Katie Graham – Director of Photography
    Editing/Motion Graphics – Andrew Matthews/Kirby Conn
    Gaffers – John Knudsen/Philip Sheldon
    Post-production intern – Dalton Allen

    Theme music:
    “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod

    Stock images via Shutterstock

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  • AIDA: Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment study

    AIDA: Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment study

    The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) study examines ways to potentially deflect asteroids from trajectories that could lead to them impacting Earth. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory would work with NASA and ESA on the mission, which includes two independent spacecraft: an impactor (to be built by APL for NASA) and an impact monitor (to be built by ESA).

    The target of this mission is the binary asteroid system Didymos. The impactor would strike the smaller secondary of Didymos, while the monitor would observe and measure any change in the relative orbit.

    Learn more:
    http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Technology/NEO/Asteroid_Impact_Deflection_Assessment_AIDA_study
    http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/
    http://www.neoshield.net/en/index.htm

  • NASA Chooses Boeing and SpaceX Companies to Transport U.S. Astronauts to ISS

    NASA Chooses Boeing and SpaceX Companies to Transport U.S. Astronauts to ISS

    NASA officials at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida announced Sept. 16 the selection of Boeing and SpaceX to develop and certify crew transportation systems that will transport U.S. astronaut crews from American soil to and from the International Space Station. Participants in the announcement included NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Kennedy Director Bob Cabana, Commercial Crew Program Manager Kathy Lueders, and Astronaut Mike Fincke.

  • Newtons Nightmare – Sick Science! #208

    Newtons Nightmare – Sick Science! #208

    Get everything you need here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/newton-s-nightmare.html
    See the full experiment here: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/newtons-nightmare

    Drop one weight into the tube and, no surprise here, the weight drops to the ground with a thud. Go figure… it’s gravity at work! The second weight might bend your mind a little, though. Drop this weight into the aluminum tube and… wait… why didn’t it come out the bottom? Give it a second, that weight just takes a while longer, but figuring it out may be a bit tricky. That’s why we call it Newton’s Nightmare!

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Rocket welding tool ready on This Week @NASA – September 12, 2014

    Rocket welding tool ready on This Week @NASA – September 12, 2014

    NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, other NASA officials and representatives from The Boeing Company participated in a September 12 ribbon cutting for the new 170-foot-high Vertical Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Vertical Assembly Center is a new tool that will be used to assemble parts of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that will send humans to an asteroid and Mars. The administrator also visited Stennis Space Center in nearby Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where engineers plan to test the RS-25 engines that will power the core stage of SLS. Also, Orion moved for fueling, Curiosity to climb Martian mountain, Possible geological activity on Europa, Expedition 40 returns, Earth Science on ISS and Hurricane-hunting aircraft!

  • Philae’s descent and science on the surface

    Philae’s descent and science on the surface

    Annotated version of the Philae’s mission at comet 67P animation.

    The animation begins with the deployment of Philae from Rosetta at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in November 2014. It will take several hours for it to reach the surface. Because of the comet’s extremely low gravity, landing gear will absorb the small forces of landing while ice screws in the probe’s feet and a harpoon system will lock the probe to the surface. At the same time a thruster on top of the lander will push it down to counteract the impulse of the harpoon imparted in the opposite direction.

    Once it is anchored to the comet, the lander will begin its primary science mission, based on its 64-hour initial battery lifetime. The animation shows a number of the science instruments in action on the surface.

    Rosetta’s Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI.

    Credits: ESA/ATG medialab

  • Earth images from Alexander Gerst in 4K

    Earth images from Alexander Gerst in 4K

    This timelapse video was made from images taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst orbiting Earth on the International Space Station.

    The video is offered in Ultra High Definition, the highest available to consumers. Be sure to change the settings in YouTube if your computer or television can handle it for the full effect.

    The montage is made from a long sequence of still photographs taken at a resolution of 4256 x 2832 pixels at a rate of one every second. The high resolution allowed the ESA production team to create a 3840 x 2160 pixel movie, also known as Ultra HD or 4K.

    Playing these sequences at 25 frames per second, the film runs 25 times faster than it looks for the astronauts in space.

    The artistic effects of the light trails from stars and cities at night are created by superimposing the individual images and fading them out slowly.

    Alexander Gerst is a member of the International Space Station Expedition 40 crew. He is spending five and a half months living and working on the ISS for his Blue Dot mission.

  • Rosetta’s imaging and spectroscopy instruments

    Rosetta’s imaging and spectroscopy instruments

    Animation highlighting the imaging and spectroscopy instruments on ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft. The animation focuses on the wavelengths and the fields of view of the Alice, MIRO, OSIRIS and VIRTIS instruments.

    Credit: ESA

  • Earth from Space: Lake Chad

    Earth from Space: Lake Chad

    Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. In the one-hundred-fifteenth edition, discover this important water source for over 60 million people in Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

    See also http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/09/Lake_Chad to download the image.

  • IXV separation test

    IXV separation test

    ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, is put to the test at ESA’s technical centre, ESTEC, in the Netherlands. During the actual flight, at an altitude of 320 km, a pyrotechnic device will fire to open a clamp band for springs to push IXV away from the upper stage. This test shows mission planners that it can withstand the mechanical shock of the pyrotechnic detonation, mimicking the moment the craft separates from the Vega rocket.

    To be launched on Vega in early November 2014, IXV will test in flight the technologies and critical systems for Europe’s future automated re-entry vehicles returning from low orbit.

  • Delivering global navigation information

    Delivering global navigation information

    The Navigation Support Office is based at ESOC’s Navigation Facility, which provides products and services related to global navigation satellite systems in support of ESA missions and to European customers such as Eumetsat and to worldwide customers through its participation in the International Global Navigation Satellite Systems (IGNSS) Services group.

    The core service consists of calculating and predicting highly accurate GPS, Galileo and GLONAS satellite orbits, in near-real time, every six hours, around the clock. These data are then used to improve GPS position accuracy, paving the way to even more sophisticated applications such as scientific studies, large-scale climate monitoring and tracking of long-term changes in Earth’s geology.

    More about ESA Navigation Support Office:
    http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Ground_Systems_Engineering/ESA_Navigation_Support_Office

  • ESAHangout: Where will Philae land?

    ESAHangout: Where will Philae land?

    Join us to talk about the possible landing sites on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for Rosetta’s lander Philae.

    The Hangout will also include a live draw for participants who took part in our ‘Rosetta, are we there yet?’ photo contest – watch to see if you win ESA swag!

    Our hosts will be joined by:
    Fred Jansen – Rosetta Mission Manager and/or Matt Taylor – Rosetta Project Scientist [TBC]
    Andrea Accomazzo – Rosetta Flight Director
    Barbara Cozzoni and/or Valentina Samodelov – Philae Operations Engineer, +DLR, German Aerospace Center [TBC]

    Send us your questions before or during the hangout by posting a  comment on this event – or on Twitter using #AskRosetta

    #ESAhangout #Rosetta #Philae #hangoutsonair

  • Soda Can Jump – Sick Science! #206

    Soda Can Jump – Sick Science! #206

    Check out cool science kits and toys: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/

    Air pressure is one of our favorite invisible forces, especially when Bernoulli’s Principle is involved. The Soda Can Jump utilizes this awesome principle to launch an empty soda can out of a coffee mug. It’s a hands-on experience in physics that you won’t want to miss.

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Coin Tower – Sick Science! #205

    Coin Tower – Sick Science! #205

    Check out cool science kits and toys: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/

    When it comes to scientific muses, Sir Isaac Newton is definitely near the top of our list. Our favorite laws to break involve physics, movement, and motion! That’s why we came up with the Coin Tower demonstration. Using a butter knife, you’ll remove the bottom coin from an entire tower of coins. What’s the secret? Perform the project to find out!

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Orion’s protective backshell installed on This Week @NASA – August 25, 2014

    Orion’s protective backshell installed on This Week @NASA – August 25, 2014

    Engineers at Kennedy Space Center have finished installing the Orion spacecraft’s backshell – the black protective tiles on the cone-shaped sides of NASA’s new deep space capsule. The backshell tiles are the same type that protected the underside of space shuttles — and will not only provide protection from debris while in space but from extreme temperatures in that area of the spacecraft as it returns from space – which could exceed 31-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Also, SLS anti-geyser testing, Webb’s replica backplane, Arctic Sea ice loss, Ancient Earth, Alien Earths and more!

  • Flying through an Aurora

    Flying through an Aurora

    This timelapse was created from photographs taken from on board the International Space Station by the Expedition 40 crew.

    ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst commented: “We flew right through a massive aurora after last week’s solar mass ejection.”

    Credit: ESA/NASA

  • SCUBA diving in the NBL

    SCUBA diving in the NBL

    ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen’s latest update on training for his mission to the International Space Station in 2015. Andreas is joined by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano as they observe activities in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL), a giant swimming pool at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The NBL contains submerged full-sized mockups of ISS modules and is used to train for spacewalks on the real thing.

  • Inflight call with Alexander Gerst for #callAlex

    Inflight call with Alexander Gerst for #callAlex

    Replay of an inflight call with ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst on the International Space Station. Forty of his social media followers were invited to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, for a SocialSpace event to watch the call to the ISS live. A handful of the participants also got to ask a question to Alexander.

  • Ice Tray Battery – Sick Science! #204

    Ice Tray Battery – Sick Science! #204

    Check out cool science kits and toys: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/

    Do you know what a voltaic battery is? You probably do! Voltaic batteries come in all shapes and sizes, turning chemical energy into the electrical energy we need to power our cell phones, iPods, tablets, cars… you name it! These batteries seem pretty complicated, but you can make a real voltaic battery right at home! Grab some vinegar, nails, copper wire, and an ice tray… you’re in for a lesson in circuits you’ll never forget.

    Want more experiments like this? Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/naked-eggs-and-flying-potatoes

    Sick Science™ is a trademark of Steve Spangler, inc.

    © 2014 Steve Spangler Science all rights reserved

  • Galileo deployment phase

    Galileo deployment phase

    On 21 August, at 12:31 UTC/14:31 CEST, a Soyuz rocket will launch the fifth and six Galileo satellites from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

    These are the first ‘Full Operational Capability’ satellites for the deployment phase of Galileo, following the so-called ‘In Orbit Validation’ (IOV) phase, which allowed the European Space Agency to make sure that the design of the Galileo system provided its expected performance both in space and on the ground.

    Now it is time to build the full Galileo constellation, allowing full deployment to take place, the IOV satellites having paved the way for this European navigation programme, the first civilian system with worldwide services.

    This phase of the Galileo programme is being managed and funded by the European Commission, with ESA acting as design and procurement agent on behalf of the Commission.

    This video recalls the success of the In Orbit Validation phase and explains what will be the mission of these fifth and sixth Galileo satellites.

    It includes an interview with Sylvain Loddo, Galileo Ground Segment Manager.

    More about launching Galileo:
    http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/The_future_-_Galileo/Launching_Galileo

  • Shaking ESA’s IXV spaceplane

    Shaking ESA’s IXV spaceplane

    ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, is put to the test at ESA’s Technical Centre, ESTEC, in the Netherlands. It has to withstand extreme vibrations during liftoff, so the spacecraft is shaken at different frequencies and for various lengths of time to ensure its technical and structural integrity throughout the mission.

    To be launched on Vega in early November 2014, IXV will test in flight the technologies and critical systems for Europe’s future automated re-entry vehicles returning from low orbit.