Belka and Strelka Flashback

August 20th, 1960: Belka and Strelka, a couple of stray mutts impressed into the Soviet space program, become the first living creatures to return alive from an orbital flight.

More over here thanks to the smart folks at Wired Magazine: Belka and Strelka Flashback.

Here's to all Astronauts - God Speed!

And you've got to check out this nice flickr set dedicated to: Laika, my favorite Space Puppy.

Have a great weekend and Happy Birthday to my brother Terry today!

That's Right,

HMK

Giant Space Eye

Comets Clash at Heart of Helix Nebula

A bunch of rowdy comets are colliding and kicking up dust around a dead star, according to new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The dead star lies at the center of the much-photographed Helix nebula, a shimmering cloud of gas with an eerie resemblance to a giant eye.

Take a closer look and read all about Helix nebula over at the Spitzer Space Telescope official site.

That's Right,

HMK

Banana Over Texas

Look there, in the Texas sky!

It's a bird! It's a plane!

It's ... a banana?

In an art installation sure to launch a thousand UFO conspiracies, Montreal artist César Saez plans to send a 1,000-foot helium blimp in the shape of a banana into low Earth orbit over the Lone Star State.

If everything goes right, the fruity dirigible, known as the Geostationary Banana Over Texas, should launch in August 2008.

The astrofruit is an artistic commentary on the absurdity of American politics -- especially Texan-style kookiness, says Saez.

"I see Texas like a crossroads of important social and cultural happenings in the states and in the world," he says.

He estimates the project will cost $1 million, and so far he's raised one-eighth of that, including a $15,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Read it all: Banana Over Texas

That's Right,

HMK