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Idiots Steal Space Rock

This is a nickel-iron meteorite, although not the one that was stolen. Or so we would have you believe.

Rogers Phillips is missing a meteorite. Phillips is the owner of The Dinosaur Place, a nature activity center and store in Oakdale, Connecticut. It looks like someone walked off with the 30 lb. nickel-iron meteorite, priced at $2,200.

Phillips says they’ve experienced shoplifting before, but typically the items are toys and other small items, rather than heavy chunks of minerals from outer space.

The question on everyone’s mind is: WTF? Why steal something like this? It’s valuable, but it’s going to be difficult to find a buyer. And it’s not like it’s a gold necklace or something. If you melt it down, you get a bunch of nickel and iron. While those elements aren’t worthless, they probably wouldn’t provide you with enough cash to justify the energy used in smuggling a 30 lb. rock out under your sweater.

Phillips has stated that he doesn’t believe it to be a case of employee theft. He’s got more valuable stuff on premises, like a a tusk valued at more than $20,000 and a 100-pound meteorite valued at $7,500.

Mars Rovers Still Going Strong, U.S. Cars Still Suck

The Spirit rover. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Mars rovers are still chugging along on the red planet. The missions, originally planned to be about 90 days, have in fact lasted longer than a single term presidency. To put it another way, Opportunity and Spirit have been on Mars longer than the subjective time one would experience watching a single Michael Bey movie.

Both of the rovers are showing the signs of age, but after five straight years trundling around an alien planet this is to be expected. New Frontier News owned a car built in the United States once, and it broke down in only three years.

Some sources say this breakdown occurred because of New Frontier News’ habit of feeding it candy by way of the gas tank, but we prefer to believe it was because the car had been designed and built by a short-sighted, profit driven American car company, rather than by NASA.

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Colbert to ISS Crew: “Put Down the Astronaut Ice Cream, Tubby”

If NASA won’t name a module after you, at least you might get the standard consolation prize: a space treadmill. That was the message from Stephen Colbert in a special commentary on NASA TV. Colbert’s clip is part of NASA TV’s coverage of STS-128. Discovery is set to launch August 25, 2009 at 1:38 am EDT.

In addition to talking about the new Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) that will be going to the ISS aboard Discovery, Colbert also congratulated NASA on the organization’s many scientific achievements over the past year:

“Dramatic pictures of Cassini, finding water on mars, and your dramatic discovery of finding an administration that believes in science,” said the host of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report. He also encouraged NASA to launch a probe to discover if there’s oil in heaven.

Stephen Colbert encouraged his viewers to submit his name as a write-in candidate after NASA asked members of the public to give their input into what the new module of the ISS would be named. Although denied the honor of having a module with his name on it, Colbert did have the aforementioned treadmill named after him, and also the nifty mission patch shown at right.

Carnival of Space #117 at Simostronomy

The Carnival of Space #117 is up at Simostronomy. Check it out and you’ll find…

We have pieces on spacecraft, spectacular amateur imaging, talking to aliens, software used in space missions, light pollution, space elevators, asteroids, cosmology and space squirrels, just to name a few. There is something for everyone. So come on in…

Click here to read the whole awesome thing.

While you’re there, make sure to check out Mike Simonsen’s piece on Sex in Space. It’s not part of the Carnival, but it’s still a great article. Here’s a direct link.

6 Pieces of Deadly Eye Candy: Supernova Edition

Isn't this pretty? It may have killed a bunch of very nice aliens. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/S.Park et al.; Optical: Pal.Obs. DSS

As regular readers of New Frontier News know, outer space is essentially large stretches of nothing studded with beautiful things that are trying to kill you. This is especially true in the case of stars.

All forms of stellar phenomena are impressive, but for many of us the most mind boggling are supernovas. This is because regular novas are boring and hypernovas are trying too hard. Also, supernovas make gold. Really. All gold, anywhere, was born in the flaming heart of a supernova.

Below you’ll find some of the most dazzlingly beautiful (and deadly) pieces of eye candy humanity has ever found.

As always with astronomical images featured on New Frontier News, please click to embiggen.

Supernova Survivor

This artist’s depiction shows a double star system. The star on the left is a red supergiant that’s making boom boom, after having transferred about 10 solar masses of hydrogen to its blue companion. The blue star was the first supernova survivor ever found.

Image Credit: European Space Agency and Justyn R. Maund (University of Cambridge)

Kepler’s Remnant

This is a composite image compiled by three space telescopes; Chandra (X-rays), Hubble (visible light), and Spitzer (infrared). There’s actually some history behind this image. Four hundred years ago, astronomer Johannes Kepler got the living crap surprised out of him by a new star in the sky. The telescope hadn’t been invented yet, so Kepler and his astronomer buddies had to observe it with the naked eye, and were deprived of the awesome power and beauty we see below. In your face, Kepler! Telescopes were invented about four years later, but they still wouldn’t have shown Kepler anything like the image below.

Image Credit: R. Sankrit and W. Blair, ESA, NASA.

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NASA, Air Force Figure Out How to Make Water Explode, Blame Crazy College Kids

The new propellant also had its own TV show from 1976 to 1985.

NASA and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) have announced that they have successfully launched a small rocket using a propellant made up of aluminum powder and water ice.

The fuel, called ALICE, is environmentally-friendly. According to the same NASA press release that we got that last bit from, it’s also safe. Presumably NASA means that it’s safe when compared with other rocket fuels. You probably still shouldn’t try to eat it.

NASA’s Chief Engineer was quick to give part of the credit to crazy college kids.

“This collaboration has been an opportunity for graduate students to work on an environmentally-friendly propellant that can be used for flight on Earth and used in long distance space missions,” said NASA Chief Engineer Mike Ryschkewitsch at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These sorts of university-led experimental projects encourage a new generation of aerospace engineers to think outside of the box and look at new ways for NASA to meet our exploration goals.”

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Physicist Says “Rampaging Herds Of Fat Space Cows Built The Planets”

Could asteroidal space cows have played a role in the evolution of our solar system? No.

Could asteroidal space cows have played a role in the evolution of our solar system? The answer will shock and bore you!

Could asteroids in fact be giant space cows? The answer is yes, at least according to one solar physicist. This assumes that you take his words wildly out of context, which of course is exactly what New Frontier News has done.

Dr. Ian O’Neill produces Discovery Space for the Discovery Channel. In a recent post, he put forward the concept that groups of asteroids can in fact be compared to a herd of cattle. In Dr. O’Neill’s own words: “I’d call them a herd. Asteroids kinda look like overweight cattle.”

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Private Company to Launch Ships, Leaves Off Orbital Death Cannons

Despite appearances to the contrary, this is not a butt plug. It is an original Almaz awaiting renovation. Image Credit: Excalibur Almaz.

A new company, Excalibur Almaz, is planning to fly commercial passengers into space starting in 2013. The company plans to fly right to low earth orbit, putting the company way ahead of other services starting around the same time that will only carry passengers on sub-orbital flights.

This is good news for fans of private space exploration, but the really, really, REALLY good news for space fanatics involves the ships the company plans to use. The same craft originally formed the backbone of the Soviet Union’s secret orbiting death machine program. Seriously.

Excalibur Almaz has acquired several Reusable Return Vehicles that were initially designed to service the secret Almaz space stations in the 1970s.

These were military stations, and some reports state that at least one of them was armed with a high speed 23mm aviation cannon. Cosmonauts would aim the gun by rotating the entire station.

The cannon was apparently even fired once. Since the gun wasn’t aimed at anything in particular, the chances are the shell is still going. The shell isn’t experiencing atmospheric drag or friction (it’s in space, stupid) so presumably it won’t stop until it eventually hits something.

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Buzz Aldrin to Accept Emmy, Conspiracy Nuts Wet Pants in Excitement

Buzz Aldrin. Image Credit: NASA

Buzz Aldrin will accept an Emmy award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences this Saturday at the Emmy Engineering Awards.

Aldrin is famous as both the second man on the Moon and probably the gazillionth person to want to punch moon landing denier Bart Sibrel in the face. The difference is that Buzz Aldrin follows through.

Aldrin will be accepting the Philo T. Farnsworth award on behalf of NASA. The award recognizes an agency, company or institution whose contributions affected the state of TV technology and engineering.

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South Korea Tries to Launch Rocket, North Korea Tweets Angrily

South Korea was set to launch its first rocket from the country’s Naro Space Center today, but a technical glitch just minutes before lift-off has resulted in the mission being aborted, according to Lee Sang-mok, an official with South Korea’s Science Ministry. KIM JONG IL NFN comic PANEL

News of the planned launch has angered neighboring North Korea, ruled by local supervillain Kim Jong Il, whose own recent rocket launch drew denunciations and sanctions from the United Nations.

North Korea’s official news agency (motto: If You Didn’t Hear it Here, You Will Be Shot) released a statement via Twitter saying that launch would be closely watched to see if it draws the same sanctions as North Korea.

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