Tag: space

5 Steps to Survive a 5:30 AM NASA TV Stream with your Kids

trevor
SpaceX Dragon CRS-8 on approach. Image via NASA.

We love space and science over here at Love Make Share, and we were very excited to get up really early and watch NASA TV’s live-broadcast SpaceX’s Dragon capsule being nabbed by the International Space Station. Without diving into a bottomless pit of discussion about the mission, it was important and cool for a few reasons: The Dragon’s ascent stage, the Falcon-9 rocket, finally managed a controlled landing on a barge in the ocean. Yes, a robot rocket lifted a robot spaceship to space and then landed itself on a robot boat. The Dragon…

Star Trek is more important than Star Wars, and here’s why.

trevor

The Force Awakens opens in less than a week, and yet I can’t help but be just as excited for the Star Trek: Beyond trailer that’s going to precede it. Part of this is just the kind of nerd I am – I grew up at a particular time in the ‘90s when there was no Star Wars except for the odd broadcast or the Special Editions, but there were two Star Trek series on television and movies in the theatres. Now, there’s tons of quality Star Wars entertainment. Just…

Interview with Trekyards’ Stuart Foley and Samuel Cockings

trevor
Trekyards Indiegogo campaign

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been aching for new Star Trek on TV for something like a decade now. Craving it, even. If you’re a lot like me, you’ve been going to a lot of less-than reputable sources for a fix. Fan films, podcasts, Star Trek Online, poring over Ex Astris Scientia and Memory Alpha and the Starfleet Museum, all to try and throw back to that heady, indulgent mid-90s deluge of new Star Trek content. None of it really did much for me. And then I found Trekyards,…

Opportunity’s Getting Forgetful in its Old Age

trevor
Opportunity Mars Rover

Ask my 5-year-old who her favourite robot is, she’ll quickly tell you “R2D2.” Press her about who her favourite real robot is, and she’ll confidently answer “Curiosity.” The SUV-sized mobile science lab who charmed the internet with its selfies may have captured her imagination, but for my money, little Opportunity has Curiosity beat, hands-down. To date, Opportunity has exceeded its mission by somewhere near 10 years. That’s pretty old for a space robot, it seems, because the flash memory onboard Opportunity has started getting corrupted after being in use for so long. In human terms, Opportunity is having trouble…

Turning Physical Memories Into Digital Ones with Photogrammetry

trevor
First Spaceship

As much as I want to be able to keep every single thing the girls and I make forever, I have to accept at some point that we’re going to drown in stuff, hoarder-style, if we do actually keep everything. There are a lot of memories contained in stuff. Take, for example, this spaceship, hammered together out of old juice bottles, plastic bits, and cardboard. This thing has been shuffled around, banged up, broken and repaired a number of times over its years-long life and I’m starting to think that…

Stunning Timelapse from the ISS

trevor
Dragon capsule and Canadarm

The European Space Agency released a spectacular timelapse montage a couple of days ago of ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s photos from the International Space Station. It’s absolutely stunning, featuring auroras, city lights, awesome weather, and images of the atmosphere as seen from outside. My favourite? Canadarm 2 and Dextre manipulating a Dragon resupply capsule. According to the ESA, the process went something like this: Often while conducting scientific experiments or docking spacecraft Alexander would set cameras to automatically take pictures at regular intervals. Combining these images gives the timelapse effect…

Sunday Reading: Spaceplanes, Silencing Scientists, and Skepticism

trevor

Hey, look at that! We’ve got a little light alliteration in our title today, inspired in no small part by the excellent Canada’s Least-Watched Political Podcast. We’ve had CLWPP as a member of spillway(radio) for a couple of months now, and it’s been a blast. Big things are on the horizon with that show, and Greg, Will and I are very excited about the conversations we’ve been having about it. It’s a sunny day in Ottawa and, after breakfast, spillway’s Top Dog and I took a walk by the river.…

Sunday Reading 10/02/2013

trevor

Good morning folks! The plan for this morning was to sleep in, but there was one three-year-old and one five-year-old who had other plans entirely. Thus, instead of sleeping in there was laundry and cleaning and blogging and very soon a workout. Let’s round up the week together. Microsoft Surface Pro Review – David Pierce, The Verge Oh man oh man oh man. I’m psyched about the Surface. You’ll remember how much I love Windows Phone and how I was pretty thrilled to experiment with Windows 8 on my old…

Sunday Reading 06/01/2013

trevor

Sunday Reading is a weekly collection of awesome stuff from all over the internet that showcases utterly enthusiastic people being utterly enthusiastic about the things they love. The Montreal Expo Canadian Flag: Zaricour Flag Collection I’m sure most people are passingly familiar with the flag popularized during Canada’s centennial celebrations, but this is not only a great little showcase but also provides some background on the design. It’s an indespensible piece of our history. Read More Company of Fools’ Twelfth Night Celebration: The Visitorium As much as I want to get…