Keith Cowing

Recent Actions

• Posted Greg Shaskan to NASA Watch

  Keith's note: The following note was sent by Peggy Whitson: "Dear All, I'm sorry to have to inform you that one of our Star City doctors, Dr. Greg Shaskan passed away early this morning, Moscow time.  He was currently...

• Posted Murals Commemorate Space Shuttle Legacy (Update) to NASA Watch

  Murals Commemorate Space Shuttle Legacy, Ken Kremer "Huge murals of artwork commemorating three decades of historic explorations and scientific achievements by all five of America's Space Shuttle Orbiters - Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour - now grace the Shuttle...

• Posted Visiting Plymouth Rock Via Dual Orions to NASA Watch

  'Plymouth Rock' Human Asteroid Trek Proposed for 2019, Ken Kremer "'Plymouth Rock' is the name of an ambitious new concept for an early human mission to explore a Near Earth Asteroid using dual Orion manned spacecraft. Two astronauts would embark...

• Posted NASA iPad App Ignores Important Solar System Objects and Missions to NASA Watch

  New NASA HD App for iPad With Expanded Content Available Free "The app's landing page features the solar system, where users can learn more about our neighborhood, the universe and NASA missions. The app also enables users to experience and...

• Posted Buzz Says Send English Speakers to Mars to NASA Watch

  Buzz Aldrin calls for NZ to help in Mars exploration, Stuff.co.nz "Moonwalk pioneer Buzz Aldrin says Australia and New Zealand should be part of an international coalition to explore and colonise Mars. International co-operation in space was very difficult and...

• Posted Making Space Food to NASA Watch

  TV's 'Top Chefs' cook up ultimate astronaut takeout, space.com "Among those who tasted the cosmically inspired dishes during the show were former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, and current astronauts Leland Melvin and Sandra Magnus. The...

• Posted A Canadian Space Station Commander (Update) to NASA Watch

  Canadian Space Agency to Announce Milestone Astronaut Mission Tomorrow, SpaceRef Canada "It is expected that the Canadian Space Agency will announce that veteran Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will be introduced as the first Canadian Commander of an expedition to the...

• Posted NASA Ranked #5 in Federal Government Workplaces to NASA Watch

  NASA Ranked Fifth In Best Places To Work In The Federal Government "NASA has been ranked fifth in the Partnership for Public Service 2010 ratings for the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government." The 2010 survey is the...

• Posted NASA's Newest Exploration Analog to NASA Watch

  NASA May Enlist Astronauts, Celebrities to Entertain Trapped Chile Miners "The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration may help organize astronauts and celebrities to entertain 33 miners trapped in a mine in Chile during a rescue that may take as...

• Commented on Concerns Raised Over House NASA Authorization Bill

  Editors' note: College, college, college. How about someone who teaches Jr. High School?...

• Posted Concerns Raised Over House NASA Authorization Bill to NASA Watch

  Letter to Rep. Gordon Regarding House Science Committee Authorization Bill As It Relates to NASA "President Obama's new strategy revitalizes and expands our investments in technology, commercial spaceflight, student research, and robotic exploration precursors. These are the key elements of...

• Posted KSC Wants To Buy A Cornish Robot To Greet U.S. Visitors to NASA Watch

  NASA KSC Solicitation: LIFE-LIKE ROBOT "NASA/KSC has a requirement for a 5'9" Life-Like Robot, brand-name Engineered Arts Limited, RoboThespian, or equal. The solicitation (14 pages) is attached and includes: terms and conditions of order, salient characteristics for life-like robot, and...

• Posted Video of Today's Solid Rocket Motor Test to NASA Watch

  More viewing options here. NASA and ATK Successfully Test Five-Segment Solid Rocket Motor (with Video) "With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK Aerospace Systems successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and...

• Posted Learning From The Past to NASA Watch

  Summoning the Future By Remembering the Past, Dennis Wingo "Almost exactly 100 years and nine weeks before the famous speech by President Kennedy at Rice University calling for what would be known as the Apollo program, the U.S. Congress, in...

• Posted Bill Lenoir to NASA Watch

  William Lenoir, astronaut who flew on first operational space shuttle mission, dies, Collectspace "Former NASA astronaut William "Bill" Lenoir, who flew aboard the first operational mission of the space shuttle in November 1982, died Saturday at age 71. According to...

• Posted Learning How To Fly Crews on an Atlas V to NASA Watch

  NASTAR Center and Special Aerospace Services Commence Research Study on Emergency Detection and Human Response of Atlas V Profile "The NASTAR(R) Center, the premier commercial space training and research center in the world, has completed the initial phase of a...

• Posted NASA Assists Trapped Miners in Chile to NASA Watch

  NASA TV Airs Interview Excerpts About Assistance to Trapped Miners in Chile "NASA has been asked by the Chilean government through the U.S. Department of State to provide technical advice that might assist the trapped miners at the San Jose...

• Posted NASA's Electrodynamic Tether Propulsion Demonstration Mission to NASA Watch

  NASA MSFC RFI: Electrodynamic Tether Propulsion Demonstration Mission "NASA MSFC is seeking a partner capable of providing a spacecraft bus as a part of a technology development proposal team. Responses to this RFI will provide information necessary for the selection...

• Posted Should Congress Design the Next Big Booster? to NASA Watch

  Frank Sietzen, Jr.: Consider how many space initiatives the United States didn't pursue in the past half century. A fully reusable launch vehicle. A 20-person expendable space station. New heavy lift boosters. A permanent lunar colony. The Orbital Space Plane....

• Posted Australian Media Swirls With Imaginary Solar Storm Warnings to NASA Watch

  Massive solar storm to hit Earth in 2012 with 'force of 100m bombs', ANI, Yahoo India "Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this...

• Posted NASA's Economic Impact: Fact Vs Myth to NASA Watch

  Measuring The NASA Stimulus, National Journal "... But placing a monetary value on those benefits proved more difficult, even for one of NASA's greatest achievements. The "fact remains that we got to the moon in a decade, but are, as...

• Posted Why Everything Costs So Much At NASA to NASA Watch

  NASA past performance ratings higher for cost plus contracts than fixed price, FIerceGovernment "The more a company has a contractually risky relationship with NASA, the more likely it is that the agency will rate that contractor well during past performance...

• Posted Video: How NASA Makes Fake Vomit to NASA Watch

  "After answering the question of how the space potty works, astronaut Mike Massimino now visits the Advanced Water Recovery Systems Development Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Chemists have been working hard to develop a next-generation trash bag for...

• Posted Kepler Discovers Two Planets Transiting Same Star to NASA Watch

  NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Two Planets Transiting the Same Star   "NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star. The transit signatures of two...

• Posted Paul McCartney Speaks Out Against NASA Animal Experiments to NASA Watch

  Keith's note: According to a letter released by PeTA, Paul McCartney writes: "Dear Mr. Bolden: I recently learned from my friends at PETA that NASA plans to fund an experiment in which squirrel monkeys will be exposed to dangerous...

• Posted Seeing The Moon As A Resource to NASA Watch

  The Moon: Creating Capability in Space and Getting Value for our Money, Paul Spudis "Of all the possible destinations in space, the Moon offers the proximity, accessibility, and materials necessary to learn how to use what we find in space...

• Posted Apollo's Urban Legends to NASA Watch

  Exploding the Myth of Popular Support for Project Apollo, Roger Lanius "Because of the on-going dispute over the future of human space exploration, I have been reminded of the longstanding perception that in the 1960s NASA's Apollo program enjoyed great...

• Posted What is NASA.gov's Actual Impact? to NASA Watch

  Reader note: I took interest in Nmap Developers Release a Picture of the Web from slashdot.org. The article says: "The Nmap Project recently posted an awesome visualization of the top million site icons (favicons) on the Web, sized by...

• Posted Chile Will Get Advice From NASA On Support for Trapped Miners to NASA Watch

  Chile will ask advice from NASA to attend the trapped miners, Momento 24 "Chilean Health Ministry will ask the NASA for advice to the implementation of efficient techniques in pursuit of maintaining the health condition of the 33 miners trapped...

• Posted Bobby Braun's Plan To Re-charge NASA Technology to NASA Watch

  Game Changing Technology Development Program "The GCDP focuses on developing radically new approaches to NASA's future space missions and the nation's significant aerospace needs. Where other technology development activities seek the steady and deliberate evolution of system and mission capabilities,...