PBS NewHour: Miles O'Brien on the retirement of the Space Shuttle and Private Spaceflight

Miles O'Brien is back!

Atlantica Expeditions: An Introduction from the Expedition Leader Dennis Chamberland

More details to follow but I wanted to share this with you.

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

The Atlantica Expeditions - Building the First Undersea Colony

For centuries we have dreamed of colonizing the Moon, Mars, the Asteroids and someday the Solar System, but very few people know that that a small group of true pioneers have been working towards colonizing the Earth's ocean: that is planning and building the infrastructure for a permanent human colony under the sea. Their journey is chronicled in the "Atlantica Expeditions - The First Undersea Colony". I have been selected to be a part of that team. I am absolutely thrilled! It is a great honor for me and over the next couple of years I plan on blogging and keeping you updated on the progress of this great endeavour. The first expedition named Atlantica 1 is scheduled for the 4th of July 2012. Dennis Chamberland, his wife Claudia Chamberland and Art Ortolani will begin a 90 day mission. This mission will establish the world's record in an uninterrupted underwater mission, surpassing the previous record of 69 days.  The mission will utilize the Leviathan Habitat which will be the only habitat ever designed to test systems intended for permanent human residence of the undersea world of Aquatica. More on that later.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this podcast from Dennis and Claudia during a training session on the operation of an undersea robot called "Ray" (brand name SEARAY) at the MarineLab undersea habitat in Key Largo, Florida during a filming by the Discovery Channel of Canada.

Isn't this absolutely amazing?

SpaceX Update: Falcon 9/Dragon COTS-1 Flight gets reentry license from FAA

Credit: SpaceX

NASA just sent out a press release (10-298)  a few minutes ago congratulating SpaceX on receiving a FAA reentry licence for the Dragon spacecraft. This is the first ever commercial license granted to reenter a spacecraft from Earth orbit.

This first COTS-1 demonstration flight will carry the first operational Dragon Spacecraft and will be the second flight for the Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is now targeted for December 7th, 2010 (with 8th and 9th as back-up days) with a launch window between 8:55am and 12:05pm EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40. The mission profile calls for the dragon Spacecraft to complete three to four orbits, transmit telemetry, receive commands, maneuver, re-enter and splash down off the coast of Southern California.

Congratulations SpaceX!

Leonid Meteor Shower 2010

If you missed it last night you will get another chance tonight as the Leonid meteor shower peaks during the 17th and 18th of November, 2010. The best viewing opportunity will be during the final two to three hours before dawn on November 18th. The meteors are called Leonids because they appear to originate from the constellation Leo. The Leonid meteor is cased when the Earth passes through the debris field of the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle's tail.

Credit: MSNBC