Space Observatories | Space Tweep Society

New #Penny4NASA video “We stopped Dreaming”

by @neoteotihuacan@twitter on Jun 4, 2012 • No Comments

Fellow #Spacetweeps :

Just wanted to bring the #Penny4NASA effort to your attention. I discovered really fast at the #NASATweetup at @NASAJPL a little over a year ago (May 2011) that #Spacetweeps are an exceptional bunch of people. I thought I was alone in knowing that the exploration of space, and the passion it inspires, is crucial to the long-term survival of humanity. I had always assumed that everyone else was ignorant of NASA’s importance to the United States and the world. Then, I went to a #NASATweetup. It changed my world. To meet all of these people, and the passion they carry for our collective well-being…it humbled me. I met the greatest people. A #NasaTweetup does something immeasurable to you; it gets in your blood.

And so, with this new perspective I plugged in as far as I could go into this new sub-culture. I was already earning degrees, moving to become connected to exobiological research, a field close to my heart. But after that #NASATWeetup I became an advocate for NASA. I helped launched the #SaveJWST campaign to raise awareness for the troubled budget of the James Webb Space Telescope (savethistelescope.blogspot.com). In part, we were successful and it was a thrill, for once, to see NASA and Space Exploration championed like that. I know the JWST is controversial to some, but I cannot wait to see it fly. It will open up a whole new paradigm of questions about the universe and our place in it. One single #NASATweetup influenced me to get involved, to take a stand for our collective future.

And now, there is a new movement I have just connected with. A new, broader direction for championing the good that NASA represents. #Penny4NASA is a grassroots effort to influence the Federal Government to double NASA’s current budget, from half a penny on every Federal dollar spent to one whole penny per dollar. A humble, small request…especially if you consider that NASA’s entire budget is tiny considering the whole Federal Budget. The $850 billion bailout, spent in one go, is bigger than that entire 50 year NASA budget.

But, of course, many of you know this. Many of you have heard of #Penny4NASA , too. I am, after all, speaking to the choir =) So, I just want to leave you with this: the new #Penny4NASA video “We stopped Dreaming.” Share it. Sign the petition.
Presenting new #Penny4NASA video:

#NASA is the key to the future. It is our greatest investment.
Thank you very much for your attention. I look forward to seeing you at the next #NASATweetup (#NASASocial).

@neoteotihuacan
K. Sullivan

Astronomy / James Webb / NASA / Solar Astronomy / Space Observatories / Telescopes

The James Webb Space Telescope

by @neoteotihuacan@twitter on Jul 12, 2011 • 1 Comment

Hello fellow members of the #spacetweepgeekdom !

It’s a great morning here. I am a #NASATweetup alum of the June 6, 2011 #NASATweetup @NASAJPL in California some weeks ago. It is a pleasure not only to be so much more involved with NASA now, but to interact with other spacetweeps. You truly are a people I grok.

I am writing this post for only one quick, simple reason. The James Webb Space Telescope is in danger of losing its funding. Congress will be voting in part to eliminate its funding this Wednesday July 13, 2011. If you are interested in the fight to prevent this, then I have some links for you:

Sign the petition to save James Webb

Facebook

Blog

I only want to bring this to your attention. Some of you no doubt are interested in this. Others may not think it is worth the time and effort to save JWST. That’s fine on both counts. If the above links are useful, then take them. If not, then please just ignore the post. There is no reason to have a discussion of the merits of saving/canceling JWST here on the Space Tweep Society website.

Thanks for your time, and do have a great day =)

@neoteotihuacan

Hubble / Space Imagery / Space Observatories / Space Tweeps / Telescopes

Insights from Hubble at the American Museum of Natural History

by @flyingjenny@twitter on Feb 20, 2011 • No Comments

New York City area tweeps, ever wonder what astronomers study with the Hubble Space Telescope? In this program, Jackie Faherty will explore some of Hubble’s most exciting results through the 3D datasets available in the Hayden Planetarium’s Digital Universe, the world’s most complete atlas of the cosmos.

Insights from the Hubble Telescope with Jackie Faherty
Tuesday, February 22, 6:30 pm
Hayden Planetarium, Space Theater
$15 Adults, ($13.50 Members, students, senior citizens)

Hubble / NASA / Space Exploration / Space Imagery / Space Observatories / Telescopes

A Symbol of the Limitless Quest for Knowledge

by @cmilesbaker on Jun 24, 2009 • 3 Comments

I’m no longer a
blog virgin! Lets see how this works. Here are some thoughts I had on
Hubble’s upgrade, and so much more. It starts off a bit like a
research paper (guess I wish I was still in school) then veers a little
into left field. That’s OK though, that’s where I like to hang out…

The Hubble Space Telescope during its nineteen years of service has
produced the most iconic images of our universe that everyone has come
to know, but the best has yet to come. Three hundred fifty miles above
the earth, in a high orbit, the greatest telescope of all time has just
been released by shuttle Atlantis after its fourth and final servicing
mission. Yesterday the STS-125 crew set Atlantis down at Edwards AFB
after a challenging but very successful fourteen days and five
spacewalks.

This great observatory has been re-upped with a new generation of
scientific instruments, practically rendering it a new machine, giving
it a healthy ten more years. Hubble has a new gyro system to
accurately and precisely aim at the farthest plots of our
universe. A Cosmic Origins Spectrograph has been installed and,
without even knowing what is does, sounds awesome. This scientific
instrument will be a window to the past. It will show us the workings
of the early elements in primitive space, the prelude to the orchestra,
a masterpiece of creation and life.

The icing on the new Hubble cake is the new Wide Field Camera 3, or
WFC3. This newer generation camera will capture wavelengths of light
with much greater sensitivity, and also in ranges not visible to its
predecessor. This new camera will see visible light, the more
energetic ultraviolet light from the youngest and hottest stars, but
also the cooler infrared regions of the spectrum, emitted from deep
space. This will make visible the oldest galaxies and nebulas on the
outskirts of the universe. Their light, as we see it, stretched to a
mere infrared glow as it has traveled for millions of years through an
ever-expanding space. The product of the WFC3 will be stunning new
views of the celestial systems that we already know, but also countless
new discoveries will be made.

I’ve been so excited about this mission, because the information
was so available to me. Following every aspect of the mission in real
time on NASA TV (and I cannot lie, constant Twitter updates from NASA
on my cell phone) has beat out anything else on TV for 14 days! That’s
real suspense. It just excites me imagining the wonders of working in
space and seeing the gratefulness and skill of the few that get the
privilege. With all this having been said, the STS-125 crew members
are my heroes. I feel like I’ve gotten to know them and the work that
they did, and the things they achieved for us down here were amazing.
I’ve learned a lot and it has continued the tradition of seeding new
impressions in mind.

So the question remains: where does this fascination come from and
what purpose does it serve? Now this I ask myself often and I do not
know the answer. Maybe someday I will.

For now I have a conclusion that I am comfortable with. We’ve been
given these eyes and these minds to teach ourselves, enabling us to be
the guardians of this tiny humble celestial speck we call home. Our
potential is special, given our imagination and the technology to
realize it, that we can accomplish things before we can even understand
why. The gifts we have been given should not be underappreciated.

This morning lying in bed I thought of these words and decided to do
a blog. Ooh, did I really say that? So I got the bulk of my thoughts
out quickly before they went away, then got up to make pancakes. When
I sat back down and read this I realized that I still am an
“odd child.” And I say that with a smile on my face. The spirit of
exploration is a wonderful thing to have. Seeing the natural world
like a child makes it so new and big and beautiful, but also make one
realize how small we are. We are not the boss, the Earth owns us.
Ok, a moral of my story, kind of. We’ve been given everything
necessary to thrive, and we have, but it’s a long way to fall. If we
continue to abuse what is not ours, then put on your galoshes because
we could be in store for another long rain. You never know. The book
has been written by what we can see out there and mostly by what we
can’t see, and now it is ours to read. Most importantly, reading it
means understanding it and if you understand it, you will listen.