In honor of Skylab’s anniversary, here is a documentary worth every second of your time. Educate yourself on the space race and private industry as it concerns us today.

Orphans of Apollo is (description provided by mirforpeace) …the extraordinary true story of a rebel group of entrepreneurs who seized command of the Russian Mir Space Station. It was the pioneering efforts of these brave, free marketeer buinessmen who launched the New Space Revolution, and kick-started the privatization of outer space as we know it today. This is the greatest story never told, and one film you are not supposed to see…

“Orphans of Apollo” is the award winning documentary that has been called the “greatest space story never told.” The film tells the extraordinary true story of a small group of entrepreneurs who felt, ‘orphaned’ by President Nixon’s decision to end the NASA Apollo Moon program and the subsequent years of nominal space activity. This band of brothers took matters into their own hands, and commandeered the Russian Mir Space Station, behind the backs of NASA and the US government. The rebellious, yet pioneering efforts has been credited with launching the new commercial Space Revolution. This is the remarkable untold story of the greatest secret in the new space race.

This dramatic tale chronicles the adventure of the boldest business plan the Earth has ever seen. ‘MirCorp’, the entrepreneurial company ’s vision to transform the Russian space station into an outpost for what was intended to be the first phase of a trillion dollar business. The project was to include mining of asteroids, gravity free laboratories, a space ‘hotel’, and a research facility. MirCorp was the ultimate start-up company, and unlike anything the universe had ever seen.

Join this band of rebels out to change the course of history in space, as they board a private jet, fly to Russia, negotiate one of the most remarkable business deals of the final frontier. Follow this diverse group as they pioneer their way through this new business of space. Listen to the management team as they struggle with issues of branding, finance, technology, and engage in the ultimate slugfest with the most powerful governments and bureaucrats.

Orphans of Apollo is an intimate and compelling epic which eloquently communicates the real origins of the private commercial new space revolution. Now for the first, and possibly the last, time, “Orphans of Apollo” combines archival material from original NASA film footage, Russian archival footage, personal footage, IMAX footage, with interviews and or footage with key players including Tom Clancy, Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Rick Tumlinson, Walt Anderson, Gus Gardellini, Jeff Manber, and others. Available via Google, Amazon, Amazon Instant Video

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Alien Planet Documentary

— Explore an Earth-like alien planet 6.5 light years away, named Darwin IV, with two well equipped robotic probes called Leo (the risk-taker) and Ike (the more cautious one).

Above are only a few of the exciting creatures you will encounter.
— Watch it here

(Source: the-science-llama)

pop-sesivo:

All the spaceships in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

(Source: americanspsycho)

best. review. ever.

(Source: amazon.com)

September 1, 1902 — Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon premieres in France.

(Source: strangewood, via thescienceofreality)

thescienceofreality:

Top Documentary Films is a great website with hundreds of documentaries from science to history to philosophy to religion to art and much more. Great for people who don’t regularly read or don’t always have time.

Thank you for bringing to light yet another wonderful and readily available…

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(Source: , via stonedastronomer)

tarkowski:

Planet of The Apes

(via theuniverseishuge)

The Longest Martian Odyssey Ever

(Image 1) Noctis Vista: West of Valles Marineris lies a checkerboard named Noctis Labyrinthus, which formed when the Martian crust stretched and fractured. As faults opened, they released subsurface ice and water, causing the ground to collapse. This westward view combines images taken during the period from April 2003 to September 2005 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. It is part of a special set of images marking the occasion of Odyssey becoming the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. The pictured location on Mars is 13.3 degrees south latitude, 263.4 degrees east longitude. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

At 3,340 days and counting, NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter established a new record for longevity as of Dec. 15 and thereby worked longer at the red planet than any other spacecraft in human history.

The previous Martian record holder was the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter which operated in orbit from Sept. 11, 1997 to Nov. 2, 2006 until contact was lost following a computer glitch.

Odyssey has made numerous high impact scientific discoveries along the way. The probe also relayed most of the science data from Spirit, Opportunity and Phoenix and will continue that task for NASA’s upcoming Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover named Curiosity.

The spacecrafts name – 2001 Mars Odyssey – was chosen as a tribute to the vision and spirit of space exploration as embodied in the works of renowned science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke – including the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

It was way back on Oct. 24, 2001 that the Odyssey spacecraft fired its main engine to brake the crafts speed and allow it to be captured by Mars and enter a highly elliptical orbit. A technique known as aerobraking was used over the next three months to fly through the upper atmosphere and utilize drag to gradually lower the crafts altitude and eventually enter its mapping orbit.

(Image 2) Ares Vallis: In Ares Vallis, teardrop mesas extend like pennants behind impact craters, where the raised rocky rims diverted the floods and protected the ground from erosion. Scientists estimate the floods had peak volumes many times the flow of today’s Mississippi River. The pictured location on Mars is 15.9 degrees north latitude, 330 degrees east longitude. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Science operations began in earnest in February 2002. Within a few months, Odyssey made the key discovery of the entire mission when it found that the polar regions harbored substantial caches of water ice within a meter of the dry surface of Mars.

The detection of water – in the form of hydrogen — from orbit using the crafts Gamma Ray Spectrometer led directly to the proposal for the Phoenix mission which confirmed the discovery in 2008. Phoenix landed directly on top of vast sheets of frozen water ice in the northern polar region of Mars and scooped up samples of ice for analysis by the landers science suite.

Another notable achievement by Odyssey during the primary mission phase was to complete a survey of the radiation environment to determine the radiation-related risk to any future human explorers who may one day go to Mars.

In another first, Odyssey’s instruments globally mapped the amount and distribution of many chemical elements and minerals that make up the martian surface. Such data helps explain how the planet’s landforms developed over time, provides clues to the geological and climatic history of Mars, informs about the potential for finding past or present life and where are the best locations to search for life and send future landers such as the Curiosity rover set to launch in November 2011.

(Image 3) Artist concept of Mars Odyssey probe in orbit since Oct. 24, 2001

Mars Odyssey is equipped with three primary science instruments to accomplish the goals set out in NASA Mars Exploration Program:
• THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System), for determining the distribution of minerals, particularly those that can only form in the presence of water;
• GRS (Gamma Ray Spectrometer), for determining the presence of 20 chemical elements on the surface of Mars, including hydrogen in the shallow subsurface (which acts as a proxy for determining the amount and distribution of possible water ice on the planet); and,
• MARIE (Mars Radiation Environment Experiment), for studying the radiation environment.

The primary mission lasted until August 2004. Since then the mission lifetime has been extended several times and further extensions are in the works according to Guy Webster, the Public Affairs Officer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., which manages the Odyssey mission.

“We are currently in the fourth extended mission which is funded through the end of September 2012,” Webster told me. “Extended missions are funded for about a one-Mars-year period, which is approximately equal to two years. The next extended mission period will be during the MSL’s prime surface mission and Odyssey is an integral part of the effort to relay MSL’s data from the surface and back to Earth.”

MSL is slated for an August 2012 landing on Mars. “It is expected that Odyssey will be approved for a fifth extended mission,” said Webster.

“The total investment in this mission so far — including development, assembly & test, launch, and operations — is $508 million,” added Webster.

(Image 4) Udzha Crater: Although it is 45 kilometers (28 miles) wide, countless layers of ice and dust have all but buried Udzha Crater. Udzha lies near the edge of the northern polar cap, and only the topmost edges of its crater rim rise above the polar deposits to hint at its circular shape. The pictured location on Mars is 81.8 degrees north latitude, 77.2 degrees east longitude. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

A huge bonus of scientific accomplishments has been enabled during the extended mission phase that otherwise would not have been possible.

“The extra years have allowed us to build up the highest-resolution maps covering virtually the entire planet,” said Odyssey Project Scientist Jeffrey Plaut of JPL.

The maps were constructed using nearly 21,000 images taken by the THEMIS camera which was built and is operated by Arizona State University, Tempe. Surface details as small as 100 meters (330 feet) wide are visible. Check out this slide show of some of Odyssey’s greatest hits as compiled by the camera team and NASA, here.

(Image 5) Chasma Boreale is a long, flat-floored valley that cuts deep into Mars’ north polar icecap. Its walls rise about 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) above the floor. Where the edge of the ice cap has retreated, sheets of sand are emerging that accumulated during earlier ice-free climatic cycles. Winds blowing off the ice have pushed loose sand into dunes and driven them down-canyon in a westward direction, toward our viewpoint. This scene combines images taken during the period from December 2002 to February 2005 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. The pictured location on Mars is 84.9 degrees north latitude, 359.1 degrees east longitude. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

The ability to monitor seasonal changes on Mars from year-to-year, such as the cycle of carbon-dioxide freezing out of the atmosphere in polar regions during each hemisphere’s winter, is another example of bonus science from the extended mission.

“It is remarkable how consistent the patterns have been from year to year, and that’s a comparison that wouldn’t have been possible without our mission extensions,” Plaut said.

The science team comprises numerous additional partners including the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, the University of Arizona, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Odyssey has served as the primary means of communications for NASA’s Mars surface explorers in the past decade and will continue that role for the upcoming Curiosity rover.

“More than 95 percent of the data from Spirit and Opportunity and approximately 79 percent of the data from Phoenix was relayed by Odyssey,” Webster stated.

Given the propellant reserves on board, Odyssey could continue operating until at least about 2016 and perhaps even well beyond if the ships systems remain healthy.

“21.6 kg of propellant remains with an average consumption rate of about 1.4 kg per year,” according to Webster. “However, there are other elements of the spacecraft that might suggest that Odyssey’s life expectancy could be closer to six years. Lifetime issues are extremely difficult to estimate. The best policy is to reevaluate the spacecraft’s health at regular intervals, and prior to important events, and determine if we’re up to a given task. So far we have been.”

Odyssey remains in good shape overall and will continue to actively pursue many science investigations in the years ahead.

Among the top priorities are extended coverage of Mars with mid-afternoon imaging by THEMIS. The orbit was adjusted last year to enable surface observations in mid-afternoon instead of late afternoon. Another goal is to extend year-to-year comparisons of seasonal changes on Mars.

Concerning the status of the science instruments, Webster informed me, “THEMIS and two parts of the GRS suite — the neutron spectrometer and the high-energy neutron detector — are currently in use. The third sensor for that suite — the gamma ray detector — is no longer in use. The payload’s MARIE radiation experiment stopped taking measurements several years ago.”

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver built the Odyssey spacecraft which is operated in partnership with JPL.

Mars Odyssey was launched on April 7, 2001. For more information visit the mission website.

(Image 6) Noctis Canyon: A false-color mosaic focuses on one junction in Noctis Labyrinthus where canyons meet to form a depression 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) deep. Dust (blue tints) lies on the upper surfaces, while rockier material (warmer colors) lies below. The pictures used to create this mosaic image were taken from April 2003 to September 2005 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. The pictured location on Mars is approximately 13 degrees south latitude, 260 degrees east longitude. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

(Image 7) Bunge Crater Dunes: Fans and ribbons of dark sand dunes creep across the floor of Bunge Crater in response to winds blowing from the direction at the top of the picture. The frame is about 14 kilometers (9 miles) wide.The pictured location on Mars is 33.8 degrees south latitude, 311.4 degrees east longitude. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/AS

(Image 8) Dual Crater: If a meteorite breaks in two shortly before hitting the ground, the typical bowl shape of a single impact crater becomes doubled. The two circular blast regions intersect, creating a straight wall separating the two craters. At the same time, ‘wings’ of ejected debris shoot out to the side. The image covers an area 13 kilometers (8 miles) wide. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

(Source: universetoday.com)

markcoatney:

life:

Happy birthday, Stanley Kubrick.

To celebrate, LIFE.com offers a series of photos from the set of ‘2001’ — pictures that suggest the astonishing lengths to which Kubrick was willing to go to make his vision a reality.

Pictured: Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

See more photos here.

These are amazing.

(via astrotastic)

quantumaniac:

Trajectory of a Falling Batman

The Nolan Batman films show the character of Batman gliding using a rigid form of his cape. This paper assesses the feasibility of such a glide and finds that while a reasonable distance could be travelled if gliding from a tall building, the speed at which Batman would be travelling would be too dangerous to stop without some method of slowing down.

Read the full paper here! 

(Source: h0llowcrown, via curious-courtney)

End May Be Nigh for Asteroid Disaster Movies

Like the poor Earthlings whose impending doom the genre chronicles, the asteroid disaster movie could be on its last legs.

That may not be immediately apparent, since a new killer-asteroid film, “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” opens at theaters nationwide Friday (June 22). But scientists are making so much progress finding and tracking big, dangerous space rocks that a surprise civilization-threatening impact is becoming less and less realistic.

It’s highly unlikely, for example, that a 6-mile-wide (10-kilometer) near-Earth asteroid — the size of the space rock thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago — lurks out there undiscovered, researchers say.

“We know everything out there that is that big, and there is just nothing right now that’s in an orbit that’s any threat toward the Earth,” said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near Earth Object Observation Program at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. [Photos: Scenes from ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’]

Hunting down the most dangerous asteroids

Asteroids much smaller than the dino-killer could still inflict catastrophic damage if they slammed into Earth. In general, scientists think a strike by anything at least 0.6 miles (1 km) wide could have global consequences — most likely by altering the world’s climate for years to come.

Observations by NASA’s infrared WISE space telescope recently allowed astronomers to estimate that there are about 981 of these mountain-size asteroids on orbits that bring them relatively close to Earth.

That number may sound scarily large. But sky-scanning researchers have already found and catalogued nearly all of them, Johnson said.

“We’re almost 95 percent complete on objects that are larger than 1 kilometer in size,” he told SPACE.com.

Preventing an impact

It’s possible, of course, that one of the huge, as-yet-undetected near-Earth asteroids does pose a threat to our planet sometime down the road. But that threat could be mitigated, or even eliminated, if we spot it soon enough.

Researchers have several ideas about how to avert a devastating impact, given enough lead time.

One is the so-called gravity-tractor method, in which a small, unmanned probe is launched to rendezvous with the asteroid in deep space. The spacecraft would travel with the space rock, exerting a tiny but constant gravitational tug that would eventually nudge the asteroid into a benign orbit.

We could also be much more aggressive with our rendezvous craft, slamming it into the asteroid to knock it off course. We have the know-how to perform both of these missions; multiple spacecraft have met up with asteroids in deep space, and in 2005 NASA smashed an impactor into the comet Tempel 1 to determine the object’s composition.

If the threat is more immediate, we could try to blow the asteroid up with a nuclear weapon. Many researchers are leery of this technique, however, saying that it would be tough to pull off politically. And the nuclear option may actually do more harm than good, sending a spray of asteroid chunks toward Earth instead of one intact rock.

So the key, scientists say, is to discover any potentially dangerous asteroid as early as possible so that all of our mitigation options remain on the table.

“If we do our jobs right, we’ll know years in advance about a threat,” Johnson said.

The regional disaster movie?

The progress being made on the really big space rocks is not grounds for complacency. There are many thousands of smaller near-Earth asteroids out there that could inflict devastating damage if they hit us, albeit on a local scale.

“A 150-meter object could be a pretty bad day for a state-size area,” Johnson said.

And many of these mid-size space rocks have eluded detection thus far. Scientists have found several thousand near-Earth asteroids at least 0.3 miles (0.5 km) wide, for example, but a roughly equal number probably still await discovery, Johnson said.

The percentages get worse as asteroid diameters go down, since small space rocks are both more numerous and harder to detect than their larger kin. Still, Johnson voiced optimism that we could get a complete catalogue of the truly dangerous near-Earth asteroids within the next few decades — especially if we launch a spacecraft that could search the region of space interior to Earth’s orbit, an area that’s tough for instruments on or near the planet to scan.

So in 20 or 30 years, movies that have asteroids wreaking havoc on even a regional scale may be unrealistic. And maybe that’s just as well; a film about the destruction of Kansas or Illinois probably wouldn’t fill the theaters.

But this is probably selling Hollywood short. If moviemakers want to rain death down on humanity, they don’t necessarily need near-Earth asteroids. They could sling a space rock from the main asteroid belt toward us, for example, or use a comet. (Many comets orbit the sun at vast distances, and scientists think there may be billions of the icy bodies out there that we’ve never seen.)

And, of course, there’s always planet Nibiru, the supposed stealth world trumped up by doomsaying conspiracy theorists. NASA has repeatedly assured us, however, that Nibiru doesn’t exist.