Nano2Sol by Marc Boucher

The clouds cleared just in time for me to see the lunar eclipse tonight. I’ve posted the pictures to my newly created Flickr account, yes I know it took me forever to break down and create one. Enjoy, follow the prompts for the larger versions. I used a Nikon DX40 with a Nikkor 18-135mm lens. For the close-up I had an aperture of f5.6 and shutter speed of 18 seconds. For the wide-angle I had an aperture of f4 and shutter speed of 30 seconds. For the background light shot I had an aperture of f3.5 and shutter speed of 18 seconds. I’m very much an amateur photographer and still learning and wish I had more lenses.

PS For some reason if click in the photo to get it larger Flickr isn’t working. So you can visit the Lunar Eclipse large format slideshow by clicking here.

And you can zoom into the Moon on this one.

Yesterday’s acquisition of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) by Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is bad for Canada for so many reasons. It’s reminiscent of when Avro Canada closed down and most of their talent headed to the US and were instrumental in helping them with the Apollo program. While MDA is not shutting down operations in Canada it should be asked what the long term viability is for them in Canada. After all the Canadian dollar is stronger than the US dollar and the Canadian government seems indifferent to sustaining a space sector made in Canada.

MDA is the leading space company in Canada. Best known for the Canadarm which it acquired from another Canadian company, Spar Aerospace in 1999, MDA has led the way in Canada for the space commercialization sector. It’s also known for its satellite systems which included the recently launched Radarsat-2. Their planetary robotics division had been growing and the Canadian Space Agency had been hoping that it would be a key contributor to the European Space Agencies ExoMars rover by having Canada build the rover through MDA. Even if the government had changed its mind and approved this plan it seems unlikely to do so now that MDA would be under foreign control.

(more…)

I’ve selected some of my better images taken at this years 2007 Spaceward Games to create The Space Elevator 2008 Calendar. I hope you enjoy it, orders yours today.

• Each page measures 11″ x 8.5″
• Measures 11″ x 17″ when hung on wall
• Full bleed dynamic color
• 100 lb cover weight high gloss paper, wire-o bound
• January 2008 - December 2008, 2009 preview, US holidays marked

The 6th International Planetary Probe Workshop will be held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on 23 – 27 June 2008. This looks to be an interesting workshop. It also includes an Extreme Environment Technologies course which will be held on the weekend preceding the workshop, 21-22 June 2008. Here’s part of the blurb from the first announcement:

“The goal of the workshop is to bring together an international group of scientists, technologists, engineers, mission designers, and policy makers with an interest in the exploration of solar system bodies with substantial atmospheres. The workshop scope covers the technological challenges and scientific opportunities that are both enabled and constrained by entry, descent, landing and flight in planetary atmospheres.

The 6th workshop will build on the success of the previous workshops to promote international cooperation in probe missions to solar system moons and planets bearing atmospheres, and to provide the opportunity for students, the next generation of planetary scientists, spacecraft engineers, technologists, mission planners, and policy makers to participate in these endeavors.

The world’s space community is focused on expanding our knowledge of planetary atmospheres and their moons, as well as comets and asteroids. In addition to NASA’s studies to define the next major missions, and ESA’s focus on its Cosmic Vision program, the international community has numerous missions in various states of study and development that will target major destinations in our solar system. IPPW-6 is a timely event that welcomes your participation.”

I’ve been at the Spaceward Games all week and am leaving tomorrow morning. All my video, pictures and posts are on the Space Elevator Reference. SpaceRef was a media sponsor and we had our webcams going for most of the week. I’ll be a amking some time lapse movies when I get a chance. It’s been fun but the weather has not been cooperating. The games are going an extra day and I won’t be around to cover it though as I really do have to head home.