Missed SDHoS Movie Night LIVE: Pseudoscience Debunking Theater 3000? No Problem! PSD3K Vid Recorded Here!

Watch as NASA Test-Fires the RS-25 Rocket Engine

NASA test-fired an RS-25 rocket engine today, 08/18/2016 at the Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. The RS-25 is one of four modified space shuttle main engines that will help lift the huge SLS rocket off the ground assisted by two solid rocket boosters.* The RS-25 engines are fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Combined, the four RS-25 engines on SLS will generate 2…

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Buster the Atheist Pug returns to demolish a creationist's 'testimony'

Penn Jillette and Carolina Peña at Reason Rally

Penn Jillette and Carolina Peña at #ReasonRally

Saturday, June 4th, Penn Jillette introduced Carolina Peña, a former contestant on ‘Equador’s Got Talent’ on the main stage at Reason Rally in Washington DC. Carolina was berated by three of the four judges, not for her singing abilities or overall talent, but for lacking a belief in any gods. She was told that, basically, without God, she could have no talent. The fourth judge quite rightly…

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Solar System: Things to Know This Week

There’s even more to Mars.

1. Batten Down the Hatches

Good news for future astronauts: scientists are closer to being able to predict when global dust storms will strike the Red Planet. The winds there don’t carry nearly the same force that was shown in the movie “The Martian,” but the dust lofted by storms can still wreak havoc on people and machines, as well as reduce available solar energy. Recent studies indicate a big storm may be brewing during the next few months.

+ Get the full forecast

2. Where No Rover Has Gone Before

Our Opportunity Mars rover will drive down an ancient gully that may have been carved by liquid water. Several spacecraft at Mars have observed such channels from a distance, but this will be the first up-close exploration. Opportunity will also, for the first time, enter the interior of Endeavour Crater, where it has worked for the last five years. All this is part of a two-year extended mission that began Oct. 1, the latest in a series of extensions going back to the end of Opportunity’s prime mission in April 2004. Opportunity landed on Mars in January of that year, on a mission planned to last 90 Martian days (92.4 Earth days). More than 12 Earth years later, it’s still rolling.

+ Follow along + See other recent pictures from Endeavour Crater

3. An Uphill Climb

Opportunity isn’t the only NASA Mars rover getting a mission extension. On the other side of the planet, the Curiosity rover is driving and collecting samples amid some of the most scenic landscapes ever visited on Mars. Curiosity’s two-year mission extension also began Oct. 1. It’s driving toward uphill destinations, including a ridge capped with material rich in the iron-oxide mineral hematite, about a mile-and-a-half (two-and-a-half kilometers) ahead. Beyond that, there’s an exposure of clay-rich bedrock. These are key exploration sites on lower Mount Sharp, which is a layered, Mount-Rainier-size mound where Curiosity is investigating evidence of ancient, water-rich environments that contrast with the harsh, dry conditions on the surface of Mars today.

+ Learn more

4. Keep a Sharp Lookout

Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter continues its watch on the Red Planet from above. The mission team has just released a massive new collection of super-high-resolution images of the Martian surface.

+ Take a look

5. 20/20 Vision for the 2020 Rover

In the year 2020, Opportunity and Curiosity will be joined by a new mobile laboratory on Mars. In the past week, we tested new “eyes” for that mission. The Mars 2020 rover’s Lander Vision System helped guide the rocket to a precise landing at a predesignated target. The system can direct the craft toward a safe landing at its primary target site or divert touchdown toward better terrain if there are hazards in the approaching target area.

+ Get details

Discover the full list of 10 things to know about our solar system this week HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

SDHoS Attends Fundraiser for The Jeremy Fund

SDHoS Attends Fundraiser for The Jeremy Fund

Tonight we are not debunking anything. This will come as a surprise to our regular readers, since we normally spend our time refuting the claims of flat-earthers, conspiracy theorists, science deniers and such.

On Tuesday, June 28th, two representatives from Science Denier Hall of Shame attended a pasta dinner fundraiser for The Jeremy Fund.

I would urge all of our readers to take a look at their…

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U-y7GpBvU38

07/18/2016: Successful SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launch & First Stage Recovery

Early this morning, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying nearly 5,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station.

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Our solar system is huge, let us break it down for you. Here are a few things you should know this week: 

1. Closeup of a King

For the first time since it entered orbit around Jupiter in July, our Juno spacecraft has flown close to the king of planets—this time with its eyes wide open. During the long, initial orbit, Juno mission managers spent time checking out the spacecraft “from stem to stern,” but the science instruments were turned off as a precaution. During this latest pass, Juno’s camera and other instruments were collecting data the whole time. Initial reports show that all went well, and the team has released a new close-up view that Juno captured of Jupiter’s north polar region. We can expect to see more close-up pictures of Jupiter and other data this week.

+Check in with Juno

2. Getting Ready to Rocket

Our OSIRIS-REx mission leaves Earth next week, the first leg of a journey that will take it out to an asteroid called Bennu. The mission will map the asteroid, study its properties in detail, then collect a physical sample to send back home to Earth. The ambitious endeavor is slated to start off on Sept. 8.

+See what it takes to prep for a deep space launch

3. New Moon Rising

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has already mapped the entire surface of Earth’s moon in brilliant detail, but the mission isn’t over yet. Lunar explorers still have questions, and LRO is poised to help answer them.

+See what’s next for the mission

4. A Mock-Eclipse Now

We don’t have to wait until next year to see the moon cross in front of the sun. From its vantage point in deep space, our Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) sometimes sees just that. Such an event is expected on Sept. 1.

+See the latest sun pictures from SDO

5. Jupiter’s Cousins

Our galaxy is home to a bewildering variety of Jupiter-like worlds: hot ones, cold ones, giant versions of our own giant, pint-sized pretenders only half as big around. Astronomers say that in our galaxy alone, a billion or more such Jupiter-like worlds could be orbiting stars other than our sun. And we can use them to gain a better understanding of our solar system and our galactic environment, including the prospects for finding life.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

We sincerely thank NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was kind enough to address our NASA Social group at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia today.

Of Course Rockets Work In Space, Flat-Earther!

Flat-Earthers have a fixed set of unfounded assertions they cycle through when confronting the rational. One of the most used is the ‘Rockets can’t work in space because there is no air for them to push agains!’ claim. The following video will help you respond to them in a clear, concise way. There are even TWO experiments you can have them try out themselves, so they know you’re not just spewing…

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