The number one bucket list destination for any space geek traveler is Kennedy Space Center. America’s biggest and oldest space port is the center point of American space history, space present and space future. Conveniently located on the east coast of Florida, it is close to many other tourist hot spots, making it an ideal holiday destination. This post has all the tips for the first time visitor, but also offers some insider’s ‘secrets’ for those that have been there already and may consider a follow-up visit. Kennedy Space Center is much more than just the Visitor Complex. Continue reading
Ruimtevaart
Als directeur van World Space Week kom ik op bijzondere plaatsen en ontmoet ik bijzondere mensen in de ruimtevaart. In dit blog vertel ik over mijn omzwervingen in deze bijzondere wereld. x
Baikonur Cosmodrome – Gateway To Space
Baikonur Cosmodrome is the largest space port in the world. Thousands of launches have taken place from here, making it the true birth place of space exploration. Worldwide it is only rivaled by Kennedy Space Center in the United States. Many ‘firsts’ in space were constructed and launched from Baikonur, starting with Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, in 1957. The first person in space, Yuri Gagarin, launched from here in 1961, as did the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, in 1963. Continue reading
Baikonur Cosmodrome – The Last Place on Earth
Baikonur Cosmodrome. Located literally in the middle of nowhere in Central Asia. Hardly an attractive or easy place to travel to. Yet on the bucketlist of most of my spacegeek-friends on social media. I have written a few posts on this place already, most recently writing a travel guide to the city of Baikonur. This post describes Baikonur Cosmodrome from the perspective of its most important visitors. For space travelers Baikonur truly is the Last Place on Earth. Next stop: Space! Continue reading
Save the Planet! … from asteroids
“Those Asteroids that hit this morning – those were nothing – the size of basketballs and Volkswagens. This new one we’re tracking is the size of Texas, Mr. President. It’s what we call a Global Killer… the end of mankind. Half the world will be incinerated by the heat blast… the rest will freeze to death in a nuclear winter…” This quote from the 1998 disaster movie Armageddon perfectly matched the simulation that was played as an exercise at the IAU Planetary Defense Conference in Italy a few weeks ago. Continue reading
Outreach from Space: The ISS Effect
Just like many of you I have been following many astronauts during training, mission, return and whatever happens after return. For us spacetweeps it is great to see what it means to be an astronaut. What happens during training, how they prepare for their work in space and the launch, how they experience their time in space and how they communicate with those of us that stay behind on the planet? Obviously social media is the perfect way to keep this communication channel open throughout this entire process. We love to follow our astro_’s on Twitter! Continue reading
NASA’s new Social Media Press Credentials Model
Social media is one of the fastest evolving media channels in society. Tools and methods seem to success each other at ever increasing rates, making it difficult to stay on top of the latest, even for the social media savvy readers of this blog. In the space community this evolution has largely been driven by NASA. After organizing the first space-related tweetup at JPLin January of 2009, NASA continued to embrace and include the social media community in its public outreach and communication strategy. Continue reading
11 Space and Science things to do before you’re 11
Fifty things to do before you’re 11 and three quarters. This is the title of a bucket list for children by the UK’s National Trust (@nationaltrust). Besides being a great inspiration for kids at an age that they never know what to do, it serves as a signal for parents that many children are raised as couch potatoes. Children lose touch with the outdoors, don’t know where their food comes from, and become afraid to get their hands dirty. So with a list of 1) climbing a tree, 2) running down a really big hill, 3) camp out in the wild and 47 other cool activities, kids are stimulated to get out there and be inspired by nature. Continue reading
Zoo calling Space
Space events are everywhere. But even the more seasoned space enthusiast will not easily end up at a zoo. Yesterday Artis Amsterdam Zoo organized a live inflight call with ESA astronaut André Kuipers. As it happens, André Kuipers is a fan and ambassador of the zoo. He even took the zoo mascotte ‘Artis de Marsis’ up into the ISS with him. To honor this good relationship between the zoo and ‘its’ astronaut, the zoo organized a live connection with ISS for zoo friends and local schools. Continue reading
The Russians always launch
Extreme weather no objection for Soyuz
Circumstances at Baikonur were perfect when cosmonaut André Kuipers was launched into space last December: Temperatures around -30 degrees Centigrade and crystal clear skies. Why do the Russians continue using their remote base in the middle of Kazachstan’s endless steppe? Continue reading
Twitter als tool om een brand-community te bouwen
Ruimtevaart wordt anno 2012 grotendeels door overheden gemanaged. De grote bekende projecten worden aangestuurd door de nationale en internationale ruimtevaart organisaties zoals NASA en ESA. Vanwege deze duidelijke link met de politiek zijn ruimtevaart organisaties voor hun voortbestaan afhankelijk van politieke kleur van overheden en de mening van de kiezer. Continue reading