On September 11, 2007, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered Victoria Crater on the rover's 1,291st martian day, or sol. NASA/JPL-Caltech Note to carmakers: Find out who the people were who built those fantastic rovers on Mars and hire them. They know how to make electric vehicles. The rovers Spirit and Opportunity have now been operating 40 months beyond their initial 3-month planned missions. Admittedly, NASA probably set the...

I've created a gallery featuring some pictures of the Winter Star Party — a sold-out event held February 12–18 at Big Pine Key, Florida. Click here to view these images.

The lack of a telescope is no problem for astronomy beginners. When you attend a star party, just about everyone there is willing to let you look through his or her scope. Last night, here at the Winter Star Party in Big Pine Key, Florida, my wife Mary Lee and I were treated to sights of Saturn and its moons, the Whirlpool Galaxy, M81, M82, the Orion Nebula, and other sights, thanks to generous telescope owners. One astronomer took the time to readjust...

Martin Willes sets up his Astrophysics refractor with a Baader Energy Rejection filter and Hydrogen-alpha filter. Dick McNally Florida's famous Winter Star Party is up and running with a sold-out crowd enjoying temperatures in the 80s. Many telescopes are set up on the beach, and not just for the night sky. Some observers came equipped with Hydrogen-alpha filters, and they're taking full advantage of the day sky and solar observing. Other...

I had a flying instructior once - his name was John - who told about some of the darkest skies in the United States - over North Dakota. John was flying cross-country in his Cessna 172 at night. It was so dark that he couldn't see the horizon. The yard lights on the farms below looked like stars. All of a sudden the cookie tin John had in the back seat started floating up into the air. Then John realized he had so confused the yard lights with...

When I read recently that the International Space Station received more than 2 tons of supplies, including food, water and fuel, I got to thinking how expensive some of that stuff is when you include the shipping. Keep in mind that it costs some $5,000 to $10,000 a pound just to get stuff in orbit. That would make a hamburger ring up the register at about $3,000. Super-size me, indeed. And a glass of that famous Tang orange drink that astronauts love...

Recently a learned scientist called me to tell me why we’ll never make it to Mars. According to this fine gentleman, humans will not be able to stand up to the assault of solar radiation while traveling to the Red Planet or while on Mars’ surface, especially because of the extended length of time such a mission would take. His argument made sense. It seems there is currently no way to adequately shield humans from the lethal radiation...

If you think litter is a problem here on Earth, consider the junk that orbits our planet. From nuts and bolts to gloves and other stuff left over from space missions, this trash is downright dangerous. Add to that the natural debris (meteroids) that orbit our planet, and you can see we have to be careful with our spacecraft and crews. That was demonstrated when a radiator on space shuttle Atlantis was punctured by a tiny piece of space debris during...