The San Diego Space Society works toward creating a spacefaring civilization within our lifetimes by raising awareness and educating the general public to the benefits of space exploration and San Diego's role in it. More about us…
Posted by Chris Radcliff in Calendar on February 10, 2009
11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Location:
Escondido Country Club (map)
1800 Country Club Lane, Escondido, CA 92026
The Amercian Assocation of University Women (Escondido-San Marcos Branch) has invited Francis French to speak to their group about his book “Into that Silent Sea” at the Literary Faire & Luncheon to be held on March 21, 2009.
Posted by Chris Radcliff in Chapter Updates on February 10, 2009
One year ago, a few intrepid space advocates got together at Studio 106 to discuss forming an NSS chapter in San Diego. A month later we had a website and chapter bylaws, soon after that we had our “inauguration” at Yuri’s Night, and one year later we’re going strong with no end in sight.
Congratulations to all, and special thanks to everyone who has given their time, money and sanity to spread the word about space exploration in San Diego. Ad astra!
Posted by Chris Radcliff in News on February 9, 2009
Yesterday CNN posted a nice little video featuring the SpaceX factory floor and an interview its founder Elon Musk:
[hat tip to Patrick]
Posted by Chris Radcliff in News on February 5, 2009
Over at The Martian Chronicles, Ryan Anderson asks a compelling question after reading an article by James McLane about the feasibility of a one-way Mars mission:
So, given that opportunity to achieve the impossible, a sure place in history, and the possibility of solving some of the most outstanding questions in science, would you go if you couldn’t come back? Would you be willing to forgo the comforts of life on the Earth for the chance to leave your mark on history forever?
Be sure to read both articles before responding, then head over to Ryan’s post and answer in the comments there. I’ll close comments here just to remind you to post over there. So… Would you go?
Posted by Chris Radcliff in News on February 2, 2009
No, it’s not another hoax space program like Virgle. It’s an update to the already-awesome Google Earth, which combines all sorts of digital imagery into a navigable 3D globe. The team had added star charts (Google Sky) to a previous edition, and there were inklings of a partnership with NASA to visualize the Moon or Mars as a way to share NASA imagery more easily.
Well, now it’s here. The new Google Earth 5.0 (in beta) adds a full-3D, terrain-mapped Mars simulation. I’ve just downloaded the update, but if the screenshots on the Google Earth blog are any indication it’s going to be indispensable for designing and communicating Mars exploration concepts.
Picture it this way: you have a new idea for a Mars habitat, and you want to include it in a presentation. You could just download Google SketchUp, draft up a 3D sketch of the idea, and use Sketchup to place it in Google Earth (on Mars, of course) and export images or video. Done! Best of all, both programs come in absolutely-free versions.
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