I grew up in a very small North Carolina town. My high school graduating class numbered approximately one hundred students. (However, I am a high school drop-out. And yes, I’m proud of that. High school was a waste of time.) What wasn’t a waste of time was looking up into the sky at night.
One of my fondest memories from childhood was looking up and seeing the Milky Way very clearly. It was as if someone had taken a paint brush and lightly painted a white streak across the sky from horizon to horizon. The Milky Way was a huge, faint white cloud visible at night, a cloud of stars.
Even before Hubble’s Deep Field photograph and Carl Sagan (…billions and billions of stars), I somewhat comprehended the immense vastness of space. Dear readers, if you have never clearly seen the Milky Way at night, you are missing something truly spectacular. Do try to get away from city lights and see it for yourself one day. You will not be disappointed.
Those memories are stirred by this presentation, An Infrared Search for Origins, made possible by NASA’s Space Infrared Telescope. I will let the universe speak for itself. I hope you enjoy the presentation as much as I.
Home page: An Infrared Search for Origins
Home page: Spitzer Space Telescope
Home page (Spanish): Spitzer Space Telescope
Home page: NASA
The Old Negro Space Program (NASSA)
Thursday, 24 August 2006; 8:49That last NASA posting had me recall NASSA – The Negro American Space Society of Astronauts, and the film documenting it. It is not a Ken Burns film. Although a tad old, some of you may not yet have seen it. Enjoy.
(And before anyone gets upset, I remind you that my grandfather was a member of NASSA. I will not take kindly to any off-color jokes about the film or NASSA.)
Home page: The Old Negro Space Program
Google Video: The Old Negro Space Program
Posted in Cinema, Comedy, Commentary, Space, The Unknown | Leave a Comment »