Bill Housley
Science Fiction and Fantasy Author
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Into the Dark–Escape of the Nomad
Where’s The Cat?
Another Man’s Terrorist
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Space.com Top Stories
- Spectacular Auroras Dance Over Michigan in Time-Lapse Video May 17, 2013A new video from a skywatcher in northern Michigan shows amazing views of the auroras and other cosmic wonders over the course of a year.
- Private Space Plane Arrives in California for Key Flight Tests May 17, 2013Dream Chaser's first free-flight test is slated for later this year.
- Electric Cars on Earth and Mars: How They Stack Up May 17, 2013Electric vehicles have no real competitors for the Martian market.
- How Electric Spacecraft Could Fly NASA to Mars May 17, 2013Electric propulsion technology has matured to the point that NASA may consider it as part of a scheme to send people to Mars.
- How To Bake A Mars Pellet – Curiosity's Drill Sampling | Video May 17, 2013The Mobile Science Lab flashes some complex moves to get rock samples from drill bit to baking chamber for chemical analysis (CHIMRA experiment).
- Fallout from Huge Solar Flare Sideswipes Earth Today May 17, 2013The eruption shouldn't pose a threat to Earth but may supercharge northern lights displays.
- 'Doomsday Planet' Nibiru Has Cameo in 'Star Trek Into Darkness' May 17, 2013In the new "Star Trek" film, the planet Nibiru is a lush, jungle planet.
- Stellar Life Cycle | Space Wallpaper May 17, 2013This space wallpaper of the nebula NGC 3603 shows globules of gas and dust; giant, gaseous pillars; young stars surrounded by debris disks; aging, massive stars; and a blue supergiant star—all various stages in star life.
- US Spaceflight Ambitions Must Face Budget Reality, NASA Chief Says May 17, 2013The agency must take a realist attitude to what can be done with little money, Bolden said.
- Quadruple X-Flaring Sunspot Is At It Again | Video May 17, 2013After a day of rest, active region 1748 unleashed class-M1.3 and M3.2 flares on May 16th and 17th, 2013. This same storm blasted 4 X-class flares between May 13 and 15.
- Huge Rock Crashes Into Moon, Sparks Giant Explosion May 17, 2013A new 65-foot-wide impact crater is the result.
- Space History Photo: X-38 Prototype Lands on Rogers Dry Lakebed May 17, 2013The X-38 research vehicle touches down on Rogers Dry Lakebed.
- 56,000 MPH Space Rock Hits Moon, Explosion Seen | Video May 17, 2013A NASA moon monitoring telescope captured the blast, which could be seen by the naked eye on Earth, on March 17th, 2013. The object was the size of a small boulder and may be part of a meteor swarm that also flew past Earth.
- Sci-Fi Film 'After Earth' Presents Dark Future for Humanity May 17, 2013In 'After Earth,' humanity is faced with a choice: Leave the planet, or die off trying to remain on it.
- Electric Vehicles to Explore Deep Space (Photo Gallery) May 17, 2013Images of electric spacecraft, which have explored the moon, Mars and beyond.
- Brilliant Science Blunders: Astrophysicist Mario Livio Speaks Out May 17, 2013What we can learn from the greatest scientific mistakes in history.
- Huge Asteroid to Fly Past Earth This Month May 17, 2013The May 31 flyby of 1.7-mile-long 1998 QE2 poses no threat to Earth.
- Mars Rover Opportunity Breaks US Record for Off-Planet Driving May 16, 2013Opportunity passed the Apollo 17 moon buggy, which covered 22.21 miles back in 1972.
- New GPS Satellite Launched on Atlas 5 Rocket May 16, 2013The new spacecraft will aid the network of navigation satellites.
- Ribbon in the Sky | Space Wallpaper May 16, 2013This dramatic space wallpaper reveals cosmic clouds in the constellation of Orion showing what seems to be a fiery ribbon in the sky.
NASA Breaking News
- NASA Extends Environmental Testing and Integration Services Contract at Goddard May 16, 2013NASA has extended a contract with Analex Corporation of Fairfax, Va., for Environmental Testing and Integration Services at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
- NASA Satellite Data Help Pinpoint Glaciers' Role in Sea Level Rise May 16, 2013A new study of glaciers worldwide using observations from two NASA satellites has helped resolve differences in estimates of how fast glaciers are disappearing and contributing to sea level rise.
- NASA's Asteroid Sample Return Mission Moves into Development May 16, 2013NASA's first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016.
- Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser Testing Begins at NASA Dryden, Langley May 15, 2013Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems Dream Chaser flight vehicle arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Wednesday to begin tests of its flight and runway landing systems.
- NASA Probe Counts Space Rock Impacts On Mars May 15, 2013Scientists using images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have estimated that the planet is bombarded by more than 200 small asteroids or bits of comets per year forming craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) across.
- NASA Hosts Kepler Spacecraft Status Teleconference Today May 15, 2013NASA will host a news teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT, today, May 15, to discuss the status of the agency's Kepler Space Telescope.
- Deputy Administrator Tours NASA's Northeast Ohio Facilities, Meets Media Thursday May 15, 2013Media representatives are invited to join NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver as she visits the agency's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Thursday, May 16 and tours facilities advancing future spaceflight missions. The locations include Lewis Field and the Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.
- NASA Administrator Visits Houston, Meets Media May 14, 2013NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will be at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Thursday, May 16, to discuss the future of human space exploration and the critical role the International Space Station performs in support of those efforts.
- NASA Honors Sally Ride with a National Tribute at Kennedy Center May 14, 2013NASA and Sally Ride Science are inviting the general public and journalists to "Sally Ride: A Lifetime of Accomplishment, A Champion of Science Literacy," an educational tribute to America's first woman in space on Monday, May 20. The special event will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street, N.W., Washing […]
- NASA's Google+ Hangout Connects Space Station, "Star Trek Into Darkness" Crews May 14, 2013The director and some actors in the film "Star Trek Into Darkness" will join NASA as it hosts a Google+ Hangout from noon to 12:45 p.m. EDT, May 16, about how work aboard the International Space Station is turning science fiction into reality.
LiveScience.com – Top Stories
- Crystal 'Flowers' Bloom in Harvard Nanotech Lab May 18, 2013These microscopic 'flowers' were sculpted from crystals using carefully controlled chemical reactions.
- 'Crazy' Ants Driving Out Fire Ants in Southeast May 17, 2013The "crazy" ants only arrived in 2002 and are rapidly spreading.
- Is Tornado Intensity Increasing? (Op-Ed) May 17, 2013Are tornadoes intensifying?
- Human Cloning? Stem Cell Advance Reignites Ethics Debate May 17, 2013Barriers remain, but it may be time to talk about human cloning.
- Thrills and Spills: Amusement Rides' Surprising Child Toll (Op-Ed) May 17, 2013How safe are amusement park rides?
- Dowsing: The Pseudoscience of Water Witching May 17, 2013Using a divining rod, usually a forked twig, to find anything — water, money or people — is no better than chance.
- Sci-Fi Film 'After Earth' Presents Dark Future for Humanity May 17, 2013In 'After Earth,' humanity is faced with a choice: Leave the planet, or die off trying to remain on it.
- Lake Erie Facts May 17, 2013Lake Erie, the fourth largest Great Lake, is also famous for a battle in the War of 1812 and for the Erie Canal.
- College Women Don't Need to Binge to Over-Drink May 17, 2013Freshman women are more likely than men to over-drink in a week.
- Mars Rover Opportunity Breaks US Record for Off-Planet Driving May 17, 2013Opportunity passed the Apollo 17 moon buggy, which covered 22.21 miles back in 1972.
- Swine Flu Found in Elephant Seals May 17, 2013This is the first time marine mammals have been found to carry the 2009 H1N1 flu strain.
- Huge Asteroid to Fly Past Earth This Month May 17, 2013The May 31 flyby of 1.7-mile-long 1998 QE2 poses no threat to Earth.
- Isolated Islands | Wallpaper May 17, 2013Close to the California mainland, yet worlds apart, Channel Islands National Park, as seen in this beautiful wallpaper, encompasses five islands and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources.
- Fighting to Save an Endangered Bird — With Vomit May 17, 2013A scheme to save the marbled murrelet includes vomit-inducing eggs.
- Earthquake Shakes Ontario, Quebec May 17, 2013
- Biologists Hope To Save Mysterious Marbled Murrelet | Video May 17, 2013The marbled murrelet is the only shorebird that nests in trees. The marbled murrelet's central California population could go extinct because Steller's jays are stealing and eating their eggs, but California state biologists hope to save them.
- Do E-Cigarettes Help Smokers Quit? May 17, 2013Smokers who want to quit commonly turn to e-cigarettes for help, but do the devices work?
- Smuggled Dinosaur's Return May Boost Mongolian Paleontology May 17, 2013Officials have hopes for new museums, more paleontologists and more public interest.
- Viking History: Facts & Myths May 16, 2013Modern perception of Vikings often cast these historic people as savage raiders with horned helmets. In truth, the Scandinavian people were much more diverse in their motives and intentions.
- Was Girl Murdered for Her Organs? May 16, 2013Though organ theft is thriving in India, the evidence doesn't add up in this case.
Discover Magazine — Space
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NASA Blog Updates
- Watch the Skies May 17, 2013Fireball in the Sky!
- NASA - Best Place to Work in the Federal Government May 15, 2013Protecting Wildlife on our Planet
- NES Teachers Corner May 14, 2013NES Professional Development Web Seminars This Week
NASA Image of the Day
- Curiosity at 'Cumberland' May 17, 2013NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its front left Hazard-Avoidance Camera for this image of the rover's arm over the drilling target "Cumberland" during the 275th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 15, 2013). The rover team plans to use Curiosity's drill to collect a powdered sample from the interior of the rock […]
Masten-space.com Blog updates–X-Prize winner!
- Xaero B Rises March 18, 2013Since last summer, even while we focused on Xombie flights for JPL and expanding Xaero’s flight envelope, we were working. Designing, tweaking, and starting to build the next iteration of Xaero that we affectionately (and creatively) call Xaero-B. We’re finally ready to pull the curtain back and share her with you! Xaero-B is intended to [...]
- February Flight Frenzy! February 1, 2013We finished our work early and now we have extra time for you! As a result, a special one-time deal can be yours this February. Think of it as our Valentine’s Day present to the space community. For projects that can fly by the end of February, we’re offering an open loop flight on our [...]
- Announcing Postgraduate Fellowships January 25, 2013We’re about to embark on a historic year for Masten Space Systems. Team members will be part of test flight firsts, the design and construction of some of the most advanced suborbital test vehicles ever built, and fulfillment of some unique contracts that will further establish Masten as the world leader in VTVL technology. We’re excited today [...]
- Introducing Scimitar October 9, 2012I’m often reminded of an inspirational quote from a truly great self-made man: “I’m on to the next one On to the next one On to the next one On to the next one On to the next one On to the next one On to the next one Hold up, freeze Somebody bring me [...]
- Next September 18, 2012Last week we encountered a sub system failure in flight that necessitated turning the rocket off while still in the air. Landing at that point winds up considerably rearranging the rocket into rocket parts. Since then we’ve heard from a lot of folks offering support, encouragement, and concern. Thank you. Please know that the team [...]
- Xaero Test Update September 11, 2012Today, Masten Space Systems conducted a flight test of Xaero to 1 km altitude with the intention of testing flight controls at higher ascent and descent velocities. Our test objectives were met and initial results show the vehicle performed better than expected at altitude. However, the vehicle was lost during final approach to landing, and [...]
- Xombie 750 Meter Downrange Flight, Precision Landing August 16, 2012You may have noticed we’ve been flying Xombie a lot lately doing some interesting things. We just finished the third leg of a flight campaign on Xombie that expands the boundaries of what we believe to be the nation’s leading terrestrial landing testbed. We are working hard to deliver a way to test systems at [...]
- Xaero: 444 for the 4th! July 4, 2012Happy Independence Day from Masten headquarters! It’s been a while since we released a video but trust us, we’ve been busy! In addition to multiple client projects and bending metal in the shop on yet-to-be-unveiled rocket hardware, we’ve been spending a significant amount of time on Xaero, culminating in a flight to 444 meters AGL [...]
- Katana First Fire May 22, 2012Hello from Mojave! It’s time for some video of some new hardware! On Friday, we fired Masten Space Systems’ newest engine prototype, the Katana class KA5S at our test site in Mojave, CA. In this video, you’ll see a 2 second mid-throttle run on a new engine test trailer designed to test engines significantly larger than [...]
- Why Precision Landing? February 16, 2012We’ve received a number of inquiries about precision landing and why it’s important to us – shouldn’t we be focusing on high altitude suborbital vehicles? The short version is that it addresses a major market need and provides near-term customers for us as we develop our long-term launch capability. That said, it also is an [...]
Discovery Space News
- LHC Creates Tiny Drops of Big Bang 'Blood Spatter' May 17, 2013The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has recreated the world's tiniest droplets of a primordial state of matter that last existed moments after the Big Bang, some 13.82 billion years ago. Continue reading →
- Venus, Jupiter and Mercury Will Dance on May 28 May 17, 2013Later this month, three planets will gather very close in the twilight sky -- make sure you don't miss this stunning conjunction!
- 1998 QE2: Massive Asteroid to Make 'Royal' Flyby May 17, 2013A big asteroid will cruise by Earth at the end of the month, making its closest approach to our planet for at least the next two centuries.
- Opportunity Breaks NASA's 40-Year Roving Record May 17, 2013After nine years of hard Mars roving, Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has broken a 40-year-old extraterrestrial distance record. Continue reading →
- Dust Devils Rip Up Mars' 'Etch A Sketch' Surface May 16, 2013In side-by-side comparisons of observations of the same Mars region years apart, the active Martian atmosphere acts like an Etch A Sketch, rubbing out dust devils' tracks only for them to re-form years later.
- Did 'Star Trek' Give Rise to the Space Shuttle? May 16, 2013'Star Trek Into Darkness' warped into theaters Thursday, May 16. Is there a link between Starfleet and NASA's shuttle fleet?
- Does Alien Life Thrive in Venus' Mysterious Clouds? May 16, 2013Venus might not be somewhere you'd expect to find life, but there's a chance that its sulfrous clouds could be hiding something. Continue reading →
- When (Part of) Apollo 13 Reached the Moon May 16, 2013Even though Apollo 13 never landed on the moon, the upper stage of it's Saturn V rocket did. Continue reading →
- Kepler's Planet-Hunting Mission May Be Over May 15, 2013NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has shut down due to an apparent problem with its positioning system, suspending indefinitely its science mission.
- New York City Under 5 Alien Skies May 15, 2013Because the Manhattan skyline is so iconic, New York City is often the backdrop for implausible imaginary sci-fi futures -- now see an artist's fanciful renderings of NYC on 5 planets of the solar system.
New Scientist
- Astrophile: Saturn's egg moon Methone is made of fluff May 17, 2013Sitting in an icy nest near Saturn, tiny Methone is oddly smooth, perhaps because it is made of lightweight stuff that can flow to erase impact scars
- Kepler telescope's planet-hunting days crunch to a close May 15, 2013The pioneering NASA mission has been hobbled by damaged hardware, probably ending its four-year search for Earth-sized worlds around sun-like stars
- Neutrinos from outer space open new eye in the sky May 15, 2013Fancy seeing the sky in neutrino? Supermassive black holes, giant exploding stars and dark matter may give up their secrets now that neutrinos from space are detectable
- How to build a Mars colony that lasts – forever May 15, 2013A sustainable outpost on the Red Planet may be humanity's only chance of survival, but challenges include growing food and overcoming insomnia
- Why Mercury is a hard orange, not a soft peach May 13, 2013If Mercury was an orange, the juicy bit would all be dense metallic core, while planets further out would be peaches with pit-like cores – here's why
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