Space shuttle Atlantis on the launchpad in 2009; it will launch for the last time on July 8, 2011. Photo by Heather Goss.Get ready for some space shuttle fever over the next couple of weeks. Exactly one week from today, Atlantis will launch from Kennedy Space Center for the very last time. When the four-person crew of STS-135 lands 12 days later, the era of the space shuttle will be over. There are already retrospectives aplenty — see today’s In Focus photoblog at The Atlantic for 61 images covering the 30-year program, or Space.com’s smaller set of ten iconic space shuttle images. Or how about “8 Surprising Space Shuttle Facts,” like that the heaviest orbiter, Columbia, was roughly the weight of 13 African elephants. Well, that puts everything in perspective, doesn’t it!
We’ll have our own dedication next week, when we’ll talk with D.C. homegrown astronaut Alvin Drew about his experiences flying in the shuttle. You can also join me and a bunch of other space nerds at the National Air & Space Museum on Friday to watch the launch on the wall-sized screen in the Moving Beyond Earth gallery. Launch is targeted for 11:26 a.m., but get there about an hour earlier to watch the pre-launch activities (if listening to all the launch control engineers call “go” for launch doesn’t give you chills, we’ll check for your pulse).
You might be wondering: if we can’t have space shuttle launches, what else is there to look forward to in space exploration? Boy, do I have the event for you! Your faithful DCist space editor, yours truly, will be the featured speaker for the Arlington David M. Brown Planetarium’s Science Sunday series on July 17. I’ll be giving a talk geared towards newcomers and other folks who’d like to learn a little more about the bigger projects in space exploration these days. We’ll talk about studying the sun, what’s happening aboard the International Space Station and why Earth observing satellites are so important.
While we’re at it, we have to offer a huge congrats to the planetarium. We’ve written that due to county budget cuts and the increasing age of their equipment, they were tasked last year with raising over $400,000 to update the system to make the planetarium worth keeping open. Yesterday, after a last minute “$25,000 in 10 days” drive, they officially reached their goal. With the funds, they can replace the star projector with a state-of-the-art digital planetarium projector, replace the seats, update the lighting system and repair the interior of the dome. Not to mention: the money will keep them open and providing programming for the community ([cough] like my lecture on July 17 [cough]) and school programs for the foreseeable future. Well done! Of course, you can keep supporting the planetarium by becoming a member: it’s only $10 for an individual or $20 for your family.
>> Did you see the Minotaur 1 rocket launch through the East coast sky on Wednesday night? After a few delays, it took off at 11:09 p.m. from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, located about three hours away from D.C. — reports by people watching from Capitol Hill said they could easily see it. There’ll be more of these visible-from-D.C. launches in the future, so we’ll try to give you some heads up.
>> You’re bound to do some skywatching this Monday night, right? Check out Sky & Telescope’s always helpful weekly update for the best sights, including a view of Saturn in the southwest. If you’re an iPhone/iPad user, get the phenomenal Star Walk app, then hold it up against the sky and it will tell you exactly what you’re looking at.
