Shuttle Discovery Launches For Final Time

Today's is the 39th and final launch of the space shuttle Discovery. I was there at the Cape for the Discovery's first launch in 1984 as a lowly news assistant/gopher for WMFE-PBS in Orlando. It was a terrible gig and my first real post-college jobby-job, but I did get to attend three shuttle launches in the six months I lasted. From outside the media center near the VAB, you can feel the heat of the solid rocket boosters.

25 Years Ago Today

Where were you on this day in 1986?

Today In Ominous Press Releases

OK, maybe not ominous...but definitely intriguing.

NASA will hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 15, to discuss the Chandra X-ray Observatory's discovery of an exceptional object in our cosmic neighborhood. The news conference will originate from NASA Headquarters' television studio, 300 E St. SW in Washington and carried live on NASA TV. Media representatives may attend the conference, join by phone or ask questions from participating NASA locations.

Buh-buh-bummmm.

(Tipped by JMG reader NYC Girl)

Hurrican Earl Via Twitternaut

Astronaut Doug Wheelock tweeted this photo of Hurricane Earl from the International Space Station this morning. Follow the NASA astronauts on Twitter here.

Grayson: Don't Privatize Space Program

Rep. Alan Grayson opposes the president's plan to dismantle the space program and turn future endeavors over to private industry. Grayson's congressional district in Central Florida doesn't include the Kennedy Space Center, but many space industry employees live in and around Orlando.