Rockets and Microbes

photo credit: NASA, naturally

NIGHT LAUNCH!: After we got home from science and math class, we immediately turned on NASA TV to watch pre launch coverage of tonight's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

TDRS-K is the first in a new generation of space communication satellites.We watched an informative 4-minute video about TDRS. (You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/v/6EAOU2msE7k )

From the video, we learned that TDRS-K weighs 4,000 pounds and will be placed in a geosynchronous orbit 22 thousand miles above our planet. The new satellite, with two to follow, will update/upgrade NASA's Space network, providing communications between Earth, the ISS, the Hubble Space Telescope and a number of other satellites. Before tonight's launch a network of 8 satellites and three ground stations formed the TDRS system. Back in the day, TDRS relied on a lot more ground stations, but those provided limited range and coverage. Today, TDRS provides 24/7, 365 coverage  in real time. 

Built by Boeing Space Systems, tonight TDRS-K was launched above an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance. (An Atlas V also sent MSL to Mars.)  A bit before launch, ULA posted a link to a cool cutaway view of the Atlas V - check it out here: http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/products/Cutaways/Atlas400_Cutaway.pdf

Look at this lovely time lapse photo of the launch. THIS is why I love night launches ...

Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

BACK TO ASTROBIOLOGY: Today, we listened to a couple more lectures for our astrobiology course. Both covered the building blocks of life. 

The lecture began by talking about microbes, and that led to the introduction of Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, the father of microbiology. 

Interestingly, Van Leeuwenhoek was a businessman working with textiles, and his desire to get a better look at their fibers prompted him to make some microscopes. Impressed with how they worked for fabric, he soon expanded his close-up examinations. In all, Van Leeuwnehoek reportedly eventually hand made more than 500 optical lenses and at least 25 microscopes, of differing types. The magnification power of his microscopes range from 275 to up to 500 times. 

Van Leeuwenhoek never wrote a book about his findings, but did report them in letters to others, complete with wonderfully detailed drawings.

If you want to make your own Van Leeuwenhoek microscope, check out this Web site; http://www.mindspring.com/~alshinn/Leeuwenhoekplans.html

STORYTELLERS: A couple days ago, on the anniversary of the loss of shuttle Challenger, I saw Facebook and Twitter posts pointing me to an animated short about astronaut Ronald McNair, the second African American to enter space. 

The story of a tenacious young Ronald was told by his older brother, and recorded by a project called Storycorps. 

Believe me when I tell you, watching this is 1.5 minutes well spent. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=okF5UGpivR8