Space Video of the Day - 071031

The International Space Station suffered a bit of a problem during the redeployment of a solar panel array. As the panel array was being extended, a two and a half foot long rip appeared, halting the redeployment operation. Today's space video shows the redeployment procedure right up to the operation abort.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071030

Today's space video is the conclusion of War of the Worlds, in doll-o-vision, with audio as presented by Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre troupe 69 years ago today.

Part 2 Chapter 1


Part 2 Chapter 2


Part 2 Chapter 3


Part 2 Chapter 4

Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071029

Today's space video of the day continues the War of the Worlds week with part 1, chapters 5 through 8. Chapters 1 through 4 may be found here.

Part 1 Chapter 5


Part 1 Chapter 6


Part 1 Chapter 7


Part 1 Chapter 8

Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071028

69 years ago, on October 30, 1938, Orson Welles scared the hell out of radio listeners with a reading of H.G.Wells' War of the Worlds. Today and for the next couple days the space video of the day will be an animated (with dolls) version of the Mercury Theatre radio play. (hat tip to The Discovery Enterprise)

Part 1 Chapter 1


Part 1 Chapter 2


Part 1 Chapter 3


Part 1 Chapter 4

Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071027

George Lucas made the term "Death Star" famous. His version of the Death Star was a manmade object capable of destroying the planet that it orbited. Well, nature has done George Lucas one better. There are real Death Stars throughout the universe, natural objects that would wipe out all life on Earth from a vast distance; if one went off three hundred light years away, it would cook the Earth with the energy of a million suns, like a nuclear blast everywhere on earth at once. Today's space video of the day is a BBC documentary (in five short parts) on these natural Death Stars, the sources of Gamma Ray Bursts.






Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071026

People have long been fascinated with the possibility of alien intelligence. A common theme in fiction has been the potential of an invasion of Earth by aliens, whether it was Orson Welles scaring the hell out of everyone with a radio performance of War of the Worlds or the campiness of Independence Day. Video game designers have also tapped into this theme for decades. One of the first such examples of this is also one of the first arcade video games, Space Invaders. Today's space video of the day shows a unique animation of this classic video game, using people as pixels and a theater as the dot matrix.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071025

Today's space video of the day won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It is also an extra on the Men In Black 2 DVD. Man, I wish I was this funny. Be sure to watch through the credits for a surprise ending.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071024

Yesterday the space shuttle Discovery launched to the international space station, lofting the Node 2 (Harmony) module. Today's space video of the day shows the flawless liftoff.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071023

The Cassini mission has been sending back some spectacular pictures of Saturn's neighborhood. Today's space video was taken by Cassini as it flew by Saturn's moon Iapetus. The mountain ridge in the center of the moon is over ten kilometers tall (Mount Everest is 8.85 kilometers tall), so these are some of the tallest mountains in the solar system; only Maxwell Montes on Venus and Olympus Mons on Mars are taller.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071022

Today's space video of the day is unlike anything I've posted before. Alien Irwin productions is putting together an animated film, using marionettes such as the ones in Thunderbirds or Team America: World Police, but with human mouths overlayed upon the marionette's mouths. Today's video is a demo clip from the movie, Spacescape. The action is set in Earth orbit, in and around the first space hotel. Much of the technology shown in the video is very well thought out, and borrowed from serious space development projects. For instance, the hotel is built out of expended space shuttle external tanks, using orbital maneuvering vehicles. The craft used by the hero while in space is a Lockheed-Martin X33. Th story is pretty good too; this demo was put together in the hopes of securing enough funds to make a feature film, or at least further episodes.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071021

I used to love the Muppet Show when I was a kid. One of the regular features on the show was Pigs In Space. Today's space video is a collection of several Pigs In Space episodes.






Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071020

A few days ago someone asked me for an RSS type feed that would describe the celestial events of the evening. Obviously this would vary from place to place aroud the earth, so it would be very difficult to have a single feed that would encompass all possible viewing areas on the planet. Instead, there are a number of free software programs available that allow one to view the night sky from anywhere on the earth, cloud-free and with labels. The program discussed in today's space video is Stellarium, but there are a number of other programs like Celestia, Distant Suns, and the Sky Screen Saver. Also, Space Weather has up-to-date information on meteor storms, aurorae, and other events happening in our planetary neighborhood. Further visalization programs are available in the Images, Models, and Simulations category in the Big List O' Space Links on my Space Feeds aggregator. I hope that helps, Nick.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071019

OK, so I didn't post a video yesterday, so today's space video of the day is actually two videos: parts 1 and 2 of Return To Venus.



Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071017

Today's space video of the day shows some of the companies involved in the new private spaceflight industry, as highlighted by Michael Belfiore in his book Rocketeers.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071015

The University of Arizona wants to send a spacecraft called OSIRIS to collect a sample of the Near Earth Aseroid RQ-36. They have put together the retro-look video Destination: Asteroid to explain their mission plan.


Space Video of the Day Archive

hiatus

Something has come up this week, and it's going to keep me busy all week; I may or may not get a chance to post this week, but I'll be back for sure on Monday.

Space Video of the Day - 071008

Today's space video of the day is a collection of video taken on the various Apollo missions, set to the music of Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071007

Today's space video shows the tail of a comet being ripped off by a coronal mass ejection from the sun.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071006

Here's Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield describing one of the mundane but crucial elements of human exploration of outer space: the Space Toilet.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071005

Yesterday wasn't just the anniversary of Sputnik. Three years ago SpaceShipOne, built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, won the Ansari X-Prize by being the first private manned and passenger-capable vehicle to rocket up past 100km in atltitude twice within the space of two weeks (the Scaled team actually did it twice within five days). Today's space video of the day shows (I believe) Brian Binnie on the winning second launch.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071004

Fifty years ago today, the world freaked out as the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite: Sputnik.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071003

I used to love the TV series Space:1999 when I was a kid. Today's space videos are both taken from that show. First, the opening sequence:



Next, here's what Space:1999 might have looked like if it were a silent movie. This is Space:1899. (warning: some naughty language)


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071002

The early US space program was sort of hit-or-miss as far as sucessfully getting rockets off the ground goes. Today's space video shows some of the early US rockets, both successful and not so much, set to the music of (among other pieces) Pomp and Circumstance and Flight of the Bumblebee.


Space Video of the Day Archive

Space Video of the Day - 071001

Today's space video isn't really about space, but it is a rocket - a rocket belt. Oh hell yes, I want one.


Space Video of the Day Archive