Tag Archives: NASA

The Texas A&M Space Institute

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Cool. A grassy field next to NASA’s Johnson Space Center is getting an otherworldly makeover. Officials gathered Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Texas A&M University Space Institute, which will re-create the moon and Mars to help develop rovers, … Continue reading →

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A more in depth overview of electric flying taxis

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff here. When the electric air taxi revolution arrives, you probably won’t it hear coming. A remarkable feature of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is how quietly it flies, scarcely noticeable amid typical city traffic sounds. … Continue reading →

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A brief overview of flying taxis

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This was written by the executive director of the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education, and it answers at least one of my questions about our flying taxi future. In the near term, once eVTOLs are certified to fly … Continue reading →

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Flying taxis coming to an airport near you

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Possibly in time for the FIFA World Cup. The Houston Airport System says they plan to bring air taxis to the area within the next two years, just in time for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. “Right now we’re … Continue reading →

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NASA needs more Mars simulation astronauts

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Your next job opportunity. NASA is seeking applicants to participate in its next simulated one-year Mars surface mission to help inform the agency’s plans for human exploration of the Red Planet. The second of three planned ground-based missions called CHAPEA … Continue reading →

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Another step forward for flying cars

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Excuse me, “air taxis”. Researchers are one step closer to integrating air taxis and other electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles into the country’s busiest airports, thanks to a new air traffic simulation developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center … Continue reading →

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“Mars” mission update

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Keep these coming, please and thank you. Ultra runner Kelly Haston is not going stir-crazy inside her 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat, and that’s a pleasant surprise. “It is comfortable and spacious, and I do not yet miss being outside,” Haston said. … Continue reading →

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On destigmatizing UFOs

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I agree with this. NASA wants to remove the stigma around reporting and researching UFOs. During a public meeting on Wednesday, NASA said its 16-member team of independent experts had been harassed for helping create a strategy to better categorize … Continue reading →

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Off to “Mars”

Posted on July 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good luck, y’all. Nathan Jones wondered if his family could play Uno with an up to 22-minute communications delay — each way. Ross Brockwell convinced a lifelong friend to manage his miscellaneous affairs, and Kelly Haston stockpiled videos of friends … Continue reading →

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Well, the moon could use the oxygen

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

If you write a story about a Houston firm proposing to build an oxygen pipeline on the moon, I will read it. A Houston company might build an oxygen pipeline on the moon, enabling NASA to transport a key ingredient … Continue reading →

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Meet your new astronauts

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Very cool. NASA and the Canadian Space Agency announced the four astronauts who will be onboard the Artemis II mission around the moon yesterday at an event at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The 10-day mission … Continue reading →

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Remnants of the Challenger found

Posted on November 20, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Wow. Divers searching the Bermuda Triangle for World War II-era aircraft found a piece of NASA history: wreckage from the space shuttle Challenger, which exploded 73 seconds after liftoff Jan. 28, 1986. This wreckage, discovered well northwest of the Bermuda Triangle, will … Continue reading →

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Rich guys back from space

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

What goes up, must come down. The first all-private crew to visit the International Space Station landed in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday, completing the first mission a Houston company organized as a precursor to building its own space station. … Continue reading →

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More rich guys in space

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But it could be good for Houston, so… Axiom Space launched a high-stakes mission Friday, sending three paying customers to the International Space Station as Houston seeks to anchor a new era of human spaceflight. The crew, tucked inside a … Continue reading →

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Do we still want to go to Mars?

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hot take: I dunno. Before the U.S. put the first man on the moon, before the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, people thought aliens lived on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor. The belief sparked fear in some — and outright … Continue reading →

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Uber’s vision for the future

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like this is more wishcasting than real planning. Still, some of it may happen, and if nothing else we should be aware of what it’s all about. When Uber envisions the future, it not only wants to put … Continue reading →

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Flying motorcycles

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Look out above. A team of engineers at Texas A&M University is participating in the $2 million-plus GoFly Prize competition, an event sponsored by the aerospace company Boeing to challenge engineers to develop flying devices that are relatively quiet, fit in … Continue reading →

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NASA to test Uber’s flying cars

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Just simulations, thankfully. NASA will soon begin testing in Dallas how Uber’s on-demand air-taxi concept would affect crowded areas. Uber is in the midst of designing an air-taxi service, called UberAIR. Officials hope to conduct flight demonstrations starting in 2020 … Continue reading →

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That sinking feeling

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

We’re a little lower to the ground these days. Or maybe it’s just that the ground itself is lower. GPS data show #Harveyflood was so large it flexed Earth’s crust, pushing #Houston down by ~2 cm! #EarthScience #HurricaneHarvey #txflood pic.twitter.com/88lNScJBq9 … Continue reading →

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Who wants to go to Mars?

Posted on November 27, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I imagine that sounds like a pretty good option to a lot of people right about now. Wealthy business leaders like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are creating buzz around and making progress toward the exploration of deep space, experts … Continue reading →

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The dark side of SpaceX

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Be careful what you wish for. People who live in Boca Chica Village, all 26 of them, knew Elon Musk’s SpaceX company would put the South Texas town on the map after it was selected last year as the world’s … Continue reading →

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To the moon with David Adickes

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. Before David Adickes walked out his door to get to a news conference Wednesday, he decided to paint a 12-13 inch model of an Apollo astronaut perched on a roughly 5-inch base that he was holding. The 88-year-old artist … Continue reading →

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A better year for seaweed

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good news for Galveston beachgoers. In a lucky break for Galveston beachgoers and the Gulf Coast’s tourism industry, the masses of seaweed that plagued the area last summer seem to be turning toward the Caribbean and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The … Continue reading →

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New frontiers in giant statues

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

David Adickes will bring his art to Webster. The City of Webster is planning a 20,000 square-foot space-themed attraction with a towering astronaut statue to beckon visitors along I-45. According a proposal unveiled this week, the city’s five-acre tract of … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: To the moon

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In honor of Neil Armstrong, for whom Texas Liberal has a nice roundup of obituaries, here are ten songs about the moon: 1. Fly Me To The Moon – Trinity University Jazz Band 2. Yellow Moon – Neville Brothers 3. … Continue reading →

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Pluto stamp petition

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the least we can do. Two decades ago, the Postal Service issued a series of stamps depicting Earth, its moon, and the spacecraft sent to explore each of the other planets in the solar system. The 10th stamp, featuring … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: The final frontier

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is a little late, as this was happening while I was doing the Songs of the Century, but here’s my tribute to the last flight of the space shuttle: 1. Space Oddity – David Bowie 2. Space Truckin’ – … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Space, the final frontier

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In honor of the last flight of the space shuttle, I give you Elton John’s “Rocket Man”, as interpreted by the one and only William Shatner: Of all the Shatnerian performances in the world, I think that one is the … Continue reading →

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Ticket to Mars

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

To boldly go where no one has gone before, and not come back. How would you like to take a trip to Mars? That’s right, only to Mars. There would be no coming back. […] The idea was floated by … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Fluuuuutes! Innnnnnn! Spaaaaaaaaace!

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

You’ve never seen a flute duet quite like this before: I’m hard pressed to think of a better way to salute the 50th anniversary of the first human being in space. The song they’re playing is the opening bars of … Continue reading →

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Why the moon?

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I understand the politics of the fight against NASA cutbacks. Jobs are at stake, even if they are being funded by those evil, dirty, not-job-creating federal dollars. But I’m still puzzled by the whole thing. Texans have so little clout … Continue reading →

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Space travel: Not as high tech as you might think

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It may be the final frontier, but that doesn’t mean we’re using bleeding edge technology. [The International Space Station’s] 44 primary computers that do everything from guide the station around Earth at 17,000 mph to monitor for fires are powered … Continue reading →

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Friday random ten: To the moon!

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So, I didn’t get around to the news about NASA finding water on the moon until after I’d published my Friday Random Ten for last week. But the great thing about Fridays is that there’s always another one coming. So … Continue reading →

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From the “I hate you! Now give me some money!” files

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Republicans think the stimulus package was bad public policy and an ineffective waste of money, except for the money that comes to their districts, in which case it’s all good. Texas’ top lawmakers in Congress want President Barack Obama to … Continue reading →

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