…about our national priorities? Follow GorT here for a minute and then ask that question. In 2008, Obama spoke about the space program and said the following: “When I was growing up, NASA inspired the world with achievements that we’re … Continue reading →
The Czar, like his dimensionally manipulative brethren GorT and Dr. J., has watched the first installment of Cosmos with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson as host. The Czar was not as enthusiastic as many reviewers. The effects are cooler, but like … Continue reading →
Hypercubes are cool. Dr. J., like GorT, checked out Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos deux. He will re-watch the episode as he didn’t quite finish it out because he had a case of the sleepies. While he found the pacing a little … Continue reading →
Urgent communique flashed in using Morse code from a weather balloon results in this followup. However, because Island Dweller flashed the Morse code in equally-timed one-second pulses to rub our face in it, the message took a while to decode. … Continue reading →
It’s a Three-fer Tuesday here at the Castle for GorT: Item Numero Uno: Launch of the second flight of the X-37B “mini space shuttle” The Air Force launched the X-37B back into space on its second mission today. This vehicle … Continue reading →
Back in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 were launched – 16 days apart – on mission through the solar system. Voyager 1 is now in a newly ascribed region nicknamed the “magnetic highway” where particles from inside and outside the … Continue reading →
Uh-oh! The Los Angeles Times has a science article written by Louis Sahagun, who appears to be in junior high school. Success! You found liquid water in the steam of your laser! Now shut down, before you uncontrollably use your … Continue reading →
Didja know that President Obama and Mitt Romney already had their first debate? Yes, it was a science debate, which candidates responded to in writing. The Czar heard the Mitt Romney thumped the President pretty hard, so he went to … Continue reading →
The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, has passed away. He defines himself not as a hero or an icon, but rather a nerd: The notoriously publicity shy Armstrong was a reluctant hero. In an era of celebrity adulation, … Continue reading →
On August 6th, the Mars Science Laboratory will attempt a landing on Mars. While we’ve landed spacecraft on the surface of Mars before, this landing is a bit different. The spacecraft team has crafted a great video explaining the whole … Continue reading →
Are you ready for SuperMoon? Oh, you gotta be ready for SuperMoon! “Supermoon alert: Biggest full moon of 2012 due Sat.” screams FoxNews! “Weekend ‘Supermoon’ Will be 2012’s Largest” promises KSEE, Fresno. “That’s not just a full moon this week, … Continue reading →
If the retirement of the shuttle fleet, and with it American manned spaceflight for the foreseeable future isn’t one giant leap (backwards) for mankind, our friends at the Udvar-Hazy center are rubbing salt in the wound. They’ve decided to display … Continue reading →
The Czar has already received questions about an extraordinary claim that there are signs of life on Venus. Specifically, a Russian scientist says he has photographic evidence of a disk, a black “flap,” and a scorpion-like creature. The scientist is … Continue reading →
Who disturbs the Czar’s presence amidst Plants vs. Zombies? Why, two quick emails on Hexagon. The first is actually an interoffice from GorT, which when compiled says that he had a family member work on that very project, and said … Continue reading →
NBC News reported this morning that astronomers have found a planet capable of supporting life. Why, here is a picture of the happy guy right here. Except, as you can predict by this essay’s very existence, they got every piece … Continue reading →
Just a minor correction. There is a lot of happy scuttlebutt on the web regarding NASA’s funding that was approved. A lot of the space-related websites are happy that the House and Senate got together and approved a budget. Bad … Continue reading →
Hah hah! Well, the funny thing about science is that sometimes it’s supposed to go wrong. Otherwise you don’t learn anything. Why, even us Gormogons learn from our mistakes. Anyway, this is very likely going to go away without a … Continue reading →
Well, the Phobos-Grunt mission was pretty cool in concept: send a lander to the eerie Martian moon Phobos, grab a fair amount of soil, and bring it back to Earth. But the probe launched from Earth, and due to a … Continue reading →
See this picture? It’s actually a bit of a first. The weird rosette-like things can be ignored; instead, look at the hook-shaped blob in the center, hiding slightly. That’s a black hole. So what, you might wonder, aren’t there billions … Continue reading →
The Los Angeles Times features a neat science story that, rara avis, gets its facts straight in a presentable manner. Nice work. The story reminds us that there is still much to be learned about the dwarf planet Eris, but … Continue reading →
So now the Germans are getting into the satellite crashing business. Many people are wondering what on earth is bringing down all these satellites? Our readers, of course, are not wondering at all. And many of you have sent emails … Continue reading →
More science news. Which is good news, because ‘Puter can sleep a little later knowing he can skip anything with learnin’ in it. This NPR headline caught our eye: Messenger Reveals Mercury Is Not What Scientists Theorized. It’s not a … Continue reading →
Sometime late this month or early next month, a 6.5 ton satellite (the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite or UARS) will experience an uncontrolled deorbit. That’s a fancy term for: it’s failing to maintain orbit and it’s going to come spiraling … Continue reading →
It’s promising to hear a company take the approach that SpaceX is with regards to the future of manned spaceflight. Specifically, they’re addressing costs in a very upfront and transparent way without divulging too much for competitors. Hopefully, they can … Continue reading →
Here is an interesting tidbit you wouldn’t read anywhere else. Did you know that the film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun was based on a true story? Word. In fact, the Mandarin told us, we discovered through … Continue reading →
In just over 1 day, the last STS flight is scheduled to launch. STS is NASA’s Space Transportation System – more commonly referred to as the Space Shuttle program. It is the United States only manned launch vehicle and, after … Continue reading →
This is officially cool. Check out the Photopic Sky Survey: it is a 360° x 360° photograph of the entire night sky, minus planets and moons. You can view it with information (click on the link), or optionally turn it … Continue reading →
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first human in space – Yuri Gagarin (call sign: Кедр) made is 108 minute flight early April 12th, 1961 aboard the Vostok spacecraft. AS part of the space race, the Americans would follow … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin happened across this story and nearly beat Dat Ho to unconsciousness. It appears that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has determined what NASA has been unable to do so far and prove that there was once life on … Continue reading →
You know, the Czar is so tired to pointing out the many ways the President has hurt the scientific community in this country that he isn’t going to bother listing them anymore, or even posting links to them. But Obama … Continue reading →
Gormogon operative BG writes in regarding the temperature of Dat Ho’s hovel in the lower levels of the castle: O Mandarin, My Mandarin – I note with interest your claim that “…your Mandarin likes to … keep the temperature in … Continue reading →
GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. … Continue reading →
When we aren’t busy covering up our activities, we are quite busy exposing other people’s activities. Case in point: NASA accidentally captures photo of a TIE fighter crossing the sun. Here is the photograph they don’t want you to see! … Continue reading →
Three quick scientific updates. Remember the Czar going on about being careful with a claim about what the universe was like prior to the Big Bang? Fortunately, even the legendary Dr. Penrose is not above being lectured to. Evidently, other … Continue reading →
The Japanese space agency (JAXA) suffered a sudden loss of communications with its Akatsuki probe, recently arrived in orbit around Venus. An unexpected and unexplained blackout occurred for about 22 minutes, during which time they lost total contact with the … Continue reading →
The Czar is not certain what the author’s actual point is, but it can’t be a good one. Wired’s David Axe is reporting on the remarkably interesting X-37B spaceplane, which the United States Air Force is currently testing. One of … Continue reading →
Gormogon operative and royal surgeon Dr. J posits the following question to your Mandarin: Inscrutable Mandarin, I’ve noticed that there are more reported UFO sightings in the news during Democratic administrations. Is there a reasonable explanation for this, or is … Continue reading →
Check this out. A time-lapse movie made by astronaut Don Pettit on the International Space Station. You were in there briefly, for just a frame or two. Did you catch the aurora around 16 seconds in, and again at 26 … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin discovered this story over at FoxNews.com about NASA’s new mission. You may be asking yourself, is it the continuation of the Constellation program, a manned mission to Mars, or maybe the launching of a new deep space probe … Continue reading →
Largely forgotten, the Soviets landed a robot on the surface of the moon in 1970, where it operated for months doing various exploratory tests. Then it stopped functioning. Here is a picture of the robot then. Here is a picture … Continue reading →
Otherwise subtitled: “Dammit, that hurts” Read here for details. Of course, I’m sure it’s anthropogenic. GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past … Continue reading →
If you want to see more Democratic hypocrisy, you are in luck. You never need to wait long. Because remember: Obama is the science and technology president! Scientists celebrated that the Bush days of public lynchings of physicists, and underground … Continue reading →
I couldn’t make this up if I really tried. According to this article, bad breath or a disapproving wife is all it takes to derail your chances of gaining a spot in the Chinese space program. My wife doesn’t even … Continue reading →
4:17 pm Eastern Daylight Time marks the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (Neil Armstrong didn’t step out onto the lunar surface for another several hours). It was the first human landing on the lunar surface. It concluded … Continue reading →
I almost overlooked this hallmark moment today as efforts are afoot behind the scenes here at the Gormorgons. This is exactly the point I was debating (with myself, maybe) in previous posts concerning NASA’s future: maybe it’s a better idea … Continue reading →
As the pinch gets put on the federal budget (hopefully) and maybe in part to help fund the soon-to-be-broadcasted ABC State Run News coverage infomercial of the Obama healthcare plan, various other agency budgets are getting trimmed or frozen at … Continue reading →
Unfortunately, I’ve missed the opportunity to try to catch the ISS & Shuttle as they fly overhead since the deployment of the new trusses. The ISS will be the brightest object in the night sky (apart from the Moon) once … Continue reading →
This photograph astonishes the Czar, and likely GorTechie, to a deep degree. Know what this is, that foggy shape in the haze? Millions of miles away, there is a planet you have heard of named Mars. On the planet Mars … Continue reading →
With a little prodding from the Volgi, I decided to write about what we can look forward to with regards to our country’s space program. In light of the Chinese and Indians making advancements and the current economic situations, it … Continue reading →
As the Atlantis shuttle rolls towards the launchpad for the STS-125 mission, NASA is dealing with a growing concern about space debris. Over the years, discarded boosters, satellites, etc. have accumulated in various orbits around the earth. Generally, the shuttle … Continue reading →
