On November 7th, 2009, the Salmon Library at the University of Alabama Huntsville will host a tribute to Konrad Dannenberg.

The program will run from 10am to 4pm. The $20 registration fee (payable at the door, but an RSVP in advance is required) will include lunch as well as German coffee and cake at the end of the program.

For more information and to RSVP for the event, please see this site at the National Space Society.

The site also includes the list of speakers thus far. Amongst them is Space Camp founder and Space Camp Hall of Fame Inductee, Ed Buckbee.

Some very lucky Space Campers were able to go to Marshall Space Flight Center today to see the crew of STS-122!

The crew brought along a highlight reel of their mission and took questions from both Space Campers and NASA-folk alike!

Afterwards, the crew was gracious enough to stick around and sign autographs!

A display with pieces of Columbia was set up a few days ago in the lobby of the building I work in.

It's quite sobering to stand so close to remnants of such a tragedy. And yet it provides a very sobering reminder and memorial.

I thought it right to share with all of you.



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Some very lucky Space Campers were able to go to Marshall Space Flight Center today to see the crew of the most recent Space Shuttle Mission, STS-117, present.

The crew brought along a highlight reel of their mission and took questions from both Space Campers and NASA-folk alike!

Afterwards, the crew was gracious enough to stick around and sign autographs! Quite the souvenir to bring home from Space Camp!

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Just thought I'd throw the following info up here (since one never knows):

If you witnessed the events as they unfolded live yesterday and have photos, video footage, or any other info that might be helpful in the investigation of Columbia's demise, please call NASA at 281-483-3388.

...Even if you don't think what you have might be particularly useful, it may also prove to NASA's very trained eyes to be very useful.

A story posted here at CNN.com and elaborated further in this story has Gene Cernan quoted as saying, "We need to give the kids, the teenagers, a piece of the action."

...No arguement here! And how about college students! Don't forget me...err..I mean them!

The articles also mentioned Space Camp, and included the following information:

Space Camp registration is up 22 percent over this same time in 2001, and there are no plans to repeat last year's Christmastime discount, which was instituted to boost enrollment.

So, I guess if you were waiting to see if there would be another discount of the same magnitude as last year, don't hold your breath.

This story from News.com.au today reports that a nine-year-old boy in China was injured when debris fell from a discarded rocket that had launched a satellite into space (he'll be fine though).

...Sure makes one believe it was possible that a jackrabbit really was crushed when that oxygen tank from Skylab landed in Australia! Well, sorta, anyway....

The Associated Press is running this story today about N*SYNC's Lance Bass. It appears that, despite having started training to go to the International Space Station, he has neglected to meet payment deadlines with the Russians and they will be dropping him from the mission.

Oh...on an unrelated note, Space.com is running this feature entitled, "Top 5 Cosmic Myths." Read it and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge!

Space.com is reporting that Russia is now holding a seat for a launch to the ISS in October for N'Sync member and Space Camp alumnus Lance Bass.

Provided someone can cough up the $20 million dollars for the trip, and Mr. Bass can find time in his schedule to complete his training, this looks like a fairly done deal. Russia badly needs the cash, so I guess their willing to let him go, despite previous comments indicating the contrary.

As for my own position on this, well...he has been to Space Camp, so I guess it could be worse. This of course is a softening of my previous stance on the matter...Since they're not going to be sending me up any time soon, I guess I don't care that much!

Further, if they're smart, Space Camp will take advantage of the situation if he does indeed go up...they could plaster "SPACE CAMP ALUM IN SPACE" anywhere and everywhere they possibly can, etc. It'd make for good PR, at the very least. And the fact that he's famous already couldn't hurt, either...

...but what do you think? Go discuss it in the HabForum!

Update: 5 days later, I finally caught a large grammar error...generally, "if they smart" is not considered proper...I don't suppose anyone even thought about telling me?!

It turns out, the news about 'N Sync-er Lance Bass going into outer space is a hoax...sort of.

Yahoo! News has the story.

A spokesman for Russia's space agency, Rosaviakosmos, said Thursday that they haven't started any talks with Netherlands-based MirCorp about sending the 'N Syncer into space.

but...

Bass' publicists and MirCorp remained optimistic Thursday that the 22-year-old would be able to work out a deal getting him a spot on the November flight--despite competition from other potential candidates.

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking this may be the worst idea since..."A Jay and Silent Bob Movie..."

Yesterday's Studio Brifing over at the Internet Movie Database listed the following story:



At least one television production company, Destiny Productions, has offered to co-sponsor a voyage by 'N Sync's Lance Bass to the international space station in November and document it for a TV special, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Bass said in a statement that he was "completely overwhelmed" by the prospect and indicated that it would be the culmination of a "lifelong dream."Bass reportedly attended space camp near Titusville, FL when he was 12. He said that he now plans to undergo five or six months of instruction at the the Russian training center Star City. American businessman Dennis Tito paid $20 million and underwent similar training before a similar voyage to the space station last year.

TV Company Offers To Sponsor Singer's Flight To Space

Well, at least one of 'em attended Space Camp! My opion of 'N Sync, while never high, certainly rose slightly from this news...though a member of 'N Sync has no business going into space!

As posted on Slashdot today (but with the proper link here!), USAToday.com has an article (with accompanying video clip) commenting on how today's astronauts are practically unknown to anyone, and compares the fame of America's past astronauts to the current ones.
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Astronauts used to be worshipped as heroes. Now they're heroes only in the way teachers are: through Hadfield's "unrecognized but extremely valuable work." That's a loss for the country, NASA administrator Dan Goldin says. "These people reflect the American spirit. I'm sad America doesn't know them."

At Houston's Johnson Space Center, the home for the human spaceflight program, astronauts are a dime a dozen. An ordinary person walking across the center wouldn't pick them out from among the engineers and flight controllers.
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to read the article, click here.

With Mir crashing and burning sometime tomorrow, WiredNews has an article up which looks back at the day Skylab fell to Earth, oh so many years ago.

If you paid attention at Space Camp, you'll recall the stories of the day Skylab fell upon Astralia...

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In the days and weeks that followed, experts came out to have a look at the debris, taking samples back for examination. The only thing the town got from officialdom for its trouble was a gift plastic model of Skylab, she said.

Andre's husband Mervin -- president of the local town council at the time -- issued the Yanks a ticket for littering. It remains unpaid, 21 years later.

---

...The article made no mention of the jackrabbit though!

Well, as we all know by now, The Russian space station Mir is set for a fiery reentry sometime on March 23rd.

With all the hoopla surrounding it, I thought it time to provide all of you with some interetsting reading before the big day.

MirReentry.com is a site dedicated to keeping the countdown clock for Mir's reentry, along with news and information on this remarkable piece of...well, garbage.

As posted on The Register, someone on eBay is selling a The 'Crashing MIR Space Station Detecto-Hat'. Get yours before it's too late!

Additionally, Taco Bell has set up a 40ft. x 40ft. floating target in the South Pacific, with the promise that, if the core of Mir hits the target on reentry, everyone in the United States will receive a free taco!!!

So, everyone in the States, keep your fingers crossed!

As noted on Slashdot, The Boston Globe is running a story noting that, "Exactly 75 years ago today, on a snow-covered field of Effie Ward's farm in Auburn, the space age began."

Due to technical difficulites, NASA has decided to no longer invest any additional funds above the approx. $1 billion they've already spent funding two new shuttle projects.

It's really sad to see the X-33 project, which was to eventually spawn the Venture Star (and which was also supposed to have had a test flight in 1999), get canceled.

At Space Camp, one of the things they always spoke of (as of late) was the exciting new changes coming to our space program...

On the other hand, this means they can probably go another twenty years or so without having to replace all of their simulators...

Further details on this story can be found at Space.com.