Shuttle, originally uploaded by david parmet.

I think this is my favorite picture from the #NASATweetup. Taken with an iPhone 4 and run through TiltShift Generator. It captures that evening we went out to LC-39a very nicely.

First… there is a small but growing cadre of individuals who view their profession as working and living IN space – as opposed to flying into space and coming back down to Earth. Currently they number a few dozen and the great majority are employees of their respective nations. But in a couple of years this population will grow exponentially and include employees of private corporations and research foundations. For the space geek in me, this is very exciting. Our children may just have the chance to work in space – for real.

And  second… there’s a lot of pain in Central Florida right now from the lay-offs and reductions in spending associated with the end of the Shuttle program. And a lot of of NASA personnel are naturally upset and feeling a sense of loss. But at the margins, the first hints of an exciting new industry is showing up. On the drive to the KSC Visitors Center there are signs for the development of Exploration Park – an industrial park dedicated to the new private space industry. In New Mexico, Richard Branson has already dedicated his private spaceport for Virgin Galactic. Later this month an unmanned Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon rocket will launch from KSC – both built and operated by the privately held SpaceX corporation, which in a few years will be handling crew and cargo transport to and from the ISS. Bigelow Aerospace has already successfully launched two fully functional space stations; a manned launch is planned for 2014.

Image via Wikipedia

Today marks ten years of continual human habitation in space aboard the ISS.

Quite an accomplishment.

Related articles

• 10 Years of the International Space Station (neatorama.com)
• “International Space Station Marks 10 Years Of Continuous Human Habitation” and related posts (gizmodo.com.au)
• 10 years at home on the International Space Station (topinews.com)

Richard Laermer pointed me to an interesting piece comparing the relationship  between professional and amateur astronomers to that between journalists and bloggers.

You can read the whole thing here at TechDirt.

I think the comparison is apt to a point. In astronomy, the professionals – mainly the folks at the large research institutions and universities who have access to the expensive equipment – do most of the theoretical work while the amateurs – folks who have a love of astronomy but never pursued it as a career – fill in on the observational side. A perfect example happened only last month when amateurs observed two meteor hits on Jupiter.

Most professionals who are working on advanced research don’t have the luxury of being able to wander over to Jupiter for a quick look. Observation time on the larger telescopes is reserved months, if not years in advance and there just aren’t enough eyes at that level to be watching the whole sky. But amateurs, many of whom have fairly sophisticated equipment (at least when compared to that of only a few decades ago) and the time and inclination to pursue a whim now and then, can turn their eyes wherever the professionals can’t.

This relationship has been tremendously beneficial to professionals and amateurs alike.

In the media world, on the other hand, aggressive bloggers have been stepping on the toes of the main stream media, most obviously in politics and entertainment but also in local coverage where the larger media outlets cannot spare the resources. And in regions of the world where it is just too difficult or dangerous to send a journalist, there are countless bloggers, videobloggers and twitter-erers to fill in the gaps.

The relationship has grown hostile, with journalists lashing out at the ranks of the amateur press corps, calling them conflicted and not held to professional standards.

I think though that this is where the comparison ends. In journalism, the huge shifts in how media is consumed and distributed have put tremendous pressure on the traditional media outlets. This pressure is being passed down to the newsroom where journalists are finding it harder and harder to earn a comfortable living in an ever shrinking media market. It makes perfect sense for the reporter at the city desk to feel threatened by the local blogger with a camera and a sense of purpose because that blogger means that the journalist can be quickly out of a job.

Astronomy, on the other hand, is funded primarily by research grants. And with the huge costs for the most advanced tools of the trade, only governments and extremely well-financed  institutions are playing in the game at this point. So there’s no reason for the professional working with the Hubble Space Telescope to fear the amateur with a 10 inch SCT in her backyard. The professional will get the grants and the amateur will enjoy the fruits of the professional’s research and may even have an opportunity to make important discoveries on her own that the professionals are precluded from.

What would make for a comparable situation in the media world would be to find that common ground and common interest that supports both sides. Perhaps when more journalists, newly freed from the newsroom and the print world, are covering their old beats for online start-ups, the reconciliation will begin.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Amateur Astronomers Continue to Amaze [Astronomy] (gizmodo.com)
• The significance of the recent Jupiter impact (beliefnet.com)
• Media Find Recruiting Pool in Liberal Blogosphere (newsbusters.org)

In honor of one of my favorite telescope targets, the glorious ringed planet Saturn, here’s Skepchick‘s (AKA Amy Roth) interview with Cassini tour designer John Smith.

Enjoy!

via Bad Astronomy

Related articles by Zemanta

• Touring Saturn (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• Saturn and its Moons Viewed from Cassini Spacecraft (cbsnews.com)
• Saturn rages from a billion kilometers away (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• Massive Saturn Storm Seen From Earth (newser.com)

moon2, originally uploaded by david parmet.

My first attempt at serious astrophotography.

Slate‘s Emily Bazelon admitted her own astronomical ignorance and wondered why her children were so fascinated by the stars and planets.

Needless to say, she was promptly schooled by her readers and the resulting article is a great introduction to astronomy resources on the web.

It’s been raining here for a few days and it looks like we’ll have a few more nights until we can see the stars again. By then it will be past the New Moon.

Until then, read up and plan for clear, starry nights.

If you notice a faint glow around Leo, up to Gemini, you aren’t imagining it.

It’s the Zodiac Lights.

The 12 constellations of the Zodiac run along the Ecliptic – the plane of the Solar System. That plane is filled with all of the left over dust and what not from the formation of the Planets. On very dark, i.e., Moonless, nights, you can see the sunlight reflected off of that dust in the form of a faint glow. And since the Ecliptic is pretty high up this time of year, and the New Moon isn’t for another week, this is a good time to see the Lights.