Bob Collins
Every now and again I am reminded that although the possibilities of new technology are endless, the advances can come at the expense of the documentation of our past. And that in our digital age, history evaporates quickly. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Tag: Space
Apollo 8 wasn’t a moon-landing mission; it was a test of whether the spacecraft could get there. So Frank Borman never got a chance to do what only 12 humans have ever done: walk on the moon.
Here’s the thing. He didn’t want to. Read more →
One wonders if the astronauts considered that at some point in the future, we would be sitting on our couches with a computer on our laps many times more powerful than their entire spacecraft’s technology, reading their scribbles.
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Who says people aren’t interested in space anymore? Read more →
It wasn’t an accident that NASA gave Facebook-owned Instagram a head start for the image of Pluto, obtained this morning by the New Horizons spacecraft. NASA wants to appeal to a new generation. The old generation hasn’t done much in the interest of space exploration. Read more →
With its familiarity, space is boring to many Americans today, which makes us wonder whether today’s commemoration can ever adequately be appreciated by future generations. Read more →
The big news in science today is that a guy smart enough to help land a spaceship on a comet was dumb enough to wear this shirt to talk about it.
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Buildings would be knocked over from Earl Street on the East side to Dale Street on the west, according to this calculator that’s worth wasting work time playing with today.
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An astronaut’s camera captures death, not tranquility, over Earth. Read more →
For a country that thumps its chest and talks tough every time its feelings get hurt, there’s been precious little reaction to the reality that the manned spaceflight program in the United States is in serious decline, and the country is becoming a second-rate space power. Read more →
Researchers today announced they’ve discovered the gravitational waves that traveled through space/time shortly after the Big Bang. It’s the first direct evidence of the rapid expansion at the beginning of the universe. Read more →
There’s been a brain drain in the non-commercial space program since we decided to leave manned spaceflight to other countries, and an ongoing debate about whether it suits our planetary needs anymore, but there’s no question that there’s still inspiration in the best and brightest who figured out solutions where no man has gone before.
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America wasn’t familiar with losing astronauts when Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee burned to death in their Apollo capsule on the launch pad during a 1967 test of their Saturn 1B rocket. We’d never lost an astronaut before Read more →
It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a daytime view of ourselves from the International Space Station. That wait ended this afternoon when astronaut Rick Mastracchio posted this image to his Twitter feed of Minneapolis St. Paul in all of its “why would anyone want to live on this planet” glory. It’s not clear, Read more →
When is the last time you heard a male astronaut asked how he could leave his children home to spend time aboard the International Space Station?
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