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Update on space manga and animeKen Murphy / 7:18 pm June 29th, 2008 Regular readers know that I’m something of a fan of Japanese comics, called manga in comic form and anime in cartoon form, but only of the stuff that deals with quasi-realistic near-Earth, near-future stories. They are few and far between in DVD and book releases, but they are out there. Launch Magazine Vol.3 #3Ken Murphy / 3:20 am June 28th, 2008  Launch Magazine Librarian’s Note: There may have been a delivery hiccup this time around. If you haven’t gotten your Launch yet, and should have, then click through the link to get more details. Another well-done issue, even the advertising is cool. Lots of great articles, from a model rocket Ares I & Ares V (maybe VI), about 1/70th scale, an overview of Discovery Channel’s “When We Left Earth”, a long interview with Elon Musk, another with rocketeer Bill Stine, a cautionary article on weapons in space from Ben Bova, to the auction results from the Dallas Air & Space auction at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Three Scores of Carnivals Spatial!Ken Murphy / 11:46 pm June 26th, 2008 Verily doth each week lead to a new adventure! This week the Big Tent is set up for its 60th big show over at my preferred style of star-gazing: Slacker Astronomy. Nono liked it and sez ‘Check it out!’ 
Image Credit: Screenshot from Planetes: Extraterrestrial Girl, my single favoritest episode of the series. She didn’t actually say ‘check it out’, nor is there any endorsement by Planetes, its characters, or its copyright owners of the Carnival of Space, which is a real-world communal internet space effort. There’s also a reason she’s called Nono, you perverts. You’ll just have to watch Planetes to find out why.“Kids to Space Mission Plans: An Educator’s Guide” (w/CD)Ken Murphy / 1:45 am June 24th, 2008  Schorer, Lonnie Jones & Barbara Sprungman David Librarian’s Note: So what happens when you write an absolutely top-notch phenomenal book for the youngsters, and none of the teachers can use it because it doesn’t have instructions on how to use it to teach space? You write up a curriculum guide that touches on all of the different topics in Kids to Space (that would be 94 mission plans to choose from). For the Moon chapter activity they use the ‘Exploring the Moon’ Teacher’s Guide and a Lunar Disk exercise for certified instructors. Getting certified is not a difficult experience, even your friendly Lunar Librarian is certified. In conjunction with a copy of Kids to Space this is a powerful educational tool. The ‘Standards’ cover Art, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Technology (ITEA & ISTA), Careers, News and Geography. Aimed at 5th through 8th grade, it’s divided into three sections: Planning to Go to Space, Visiting and Living in Space, and Exploring Space. Includes a CD-ROM with even more curricular goodies. Perfect summer reading for your favorite teacher! Update on the Lunar LibraryKen Murphy / 3:27 am June 23rd, 2008 Howdy everyone!  There’s been a lot of work by Rob and myself going on behind the scenes here at OutoftheCradle.net in anticipation of a big announcement at the end of this month. Part of that has been a lot of updating and streamlining of the Lunar Library (LL). Here are a few items of note: adAstra Special Report: “Back to the Moon”Ken Murphy / 2:17 am June 20th, 2008  adAstra: The Magazine of the National Space Society Librarian’s Note: Special congrats to the winners of the ISU Scholarships! Lots of great Moon coverage in this issue. Carnival of Space #59 has departed for orbitKen Murphy / 1:51 am June 20th, 2008  Destination: Green Gabbro. Be sure to check it out! Librarian’s Note: Gabbro is a petrology term for a group of dark-colored, intrusive igneous rocks with granular texture,composed largely of basic plagioclase and clinopyroxene. In the context of the Moon these are mainly plagioclase feldspar and high-Ca pyroxene. From McGraw-Hill Dict. of Scientific & Technical Terms and The Lunar Sourcebook respectively “Getting Trained at Space Camp”Ken Murphy / 2:37 am June 17th, 2008  Terdiman, Daniel Librarian’s Note: The multi-axis trainer was my favorite part of Space Camp, and I’ve subsequently done less good ones at the Maryland Science Center and the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. Space Camp was a blast! Moon Miner’s Manifesto #216Ken Murphy / 6:37 pm June 14th, 2008  Kokh, Peter (ed.) Librarian’s Note: More ISDC updates, including the Moon Society’s Solar Power Sat demo. For Moon Society Members only. 25 Good Reasons to Go to the MoonKen Murphy / 6:13 pm June 14th, 2008 Librarian’s Note: This is a reprint of a blog post that I wrote for Selenian Boondocks, where I guest blog. I haven’t really needed to change the text, but I have updated it with some pictures and weblinks. 25 Good Reasons to Go to the Moon
Carnival of Space #58 is upKen Murphy / 12:56 am June 14th, 2008  over at Universe Today. A bit light on Moon stuff, but over a score of space stories to thrill and delight. Get Thee Hence ESMD Lunar Surface Systems Concept Studies Broad Agency AnnouncementKen Murphy / 1:10 am June 10th, 2008  ESMD Lunar Surface Systems Concept Studies Broad Agency Announcement Librarian’s Note: NASA’s asking everyone to test their Yankee ingenuity and come up with solutions in six topic areas: Topic 1: Alternative Packaging Options The most promising ideas will receive contracts up to $250,000 to develop the idea. This is open to all non-NASA U.S. institutions. Companies, universities, what have you. Let’s see what the folks outside of NASA can do on a short lead-time! NLSI Cooperative Agreement NoticeKen Murphy / 1:09 am June 10th, 2008  NLSI Cooperative Agreement Notice Librarian’s Note: NASA is looking for Lunar science:
Unlike the ESMD Broad Agency Announcement, this one is for the professionals and academes. [Full Disclosure: NLSI is looking for a Director. Your friendly Lunar Librarian submitted his resume for consideration. Don’t worry, my chances have been placed somewhere between exceedingly slim and none.] “Scientists to Set Lunar Health Standards”Ken Murphy / 12:35 am June 10th, 2008  Hsu, Jeremy “SPADE Investor” Vol. 3, #6Ken Murphy / 5:12 am June 7th, 2008  Sacknoff, Scott, Index Manager Librarian’s Note: It’s very difficult to get a pure investment play for the sector of human space development. In the investment world, indexes are created to try to reflect economic growth in certain areas. The SPADE Index reflects companies that work in the space field, but also similar ones like defense and aviation. Special Note so the lawyers don’t come calling: The Lunar Librarian is not an investment advisor (actually, he’s just a bond analyst). The Lunar Librarian tries to bring space-related things to people’s attention, and believes that space is a place for much more commercial endeavor. Listing of the SPADE Index newsletter at the Lunar Library does not imply endorsement of anything published therein unless I say otherwise. If you are not familiar with Indexes (you should be, the Dow Jones is an index) or ETFs (exchange-traded funds), then this is probably a bit over your head. If you’re fairly sophisticated financially, it is an interesting data source in a not well covered field. “When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions” (TV)Ken Murphy / 12:14 am June 7th, 2008  Discovery Channel Schedule: “Carte de la Lune” (carte plastifiée)Ken Murphy / 2:57 am June 6th, 2008  Ciel et Espace “Lift-off Rocket” (playset)Ken Murphy / 2:56 am June 6th, 2008 “Lift-off Rocket” Carnival of Space #57 - This One’s for the Ladies!Ken Murphy / 4:18 am June 5th, 2008  Howdy everyone! Welcome to this week’s spectacular Carnival of Space! I’m your host Ken, the Lunar Librarian here at Out of the Cradle. We don’t have to go far this week to find space. This last weekend in Washington, D.C., the National Space Society held their 27th annual International Space Development Conference. As the largest citizen space conference in the world it is open to all, even internet bloggers. And blog they did, extensively, over the three day period. The conference was even on C-SPAN! I’ve rounded up most of the links for the Lunar Library, which can be found here: The Space Cynics want you to be sure to get a dash of cold-water reality in the face, because, well, that’s their job. Several of them were at the conference and they did some recruiting in A Gathering of Cynics, which led to a very interesting discussion and an upcoming radio show on The Space Show.  Everyone’s favorite Babe…in the Universe was there for the Space Investment Summit as well as the main conference. She’s put up a number of blog posts on the event, starting with “ISDC”. Her latest post, Convergence, has her in slightly more traditional garb. As she summarized the event:
 Well you’re certainly welcome Ms. Riofrio, we’re always happy to see you here at the Carnival of Space. One of the bloggers noted in the round-up, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame, and who also happens to be the co-author of the space law book “Outer Space: Problems of Law and Policy”, noted the increasing balance between the genders at these space conferences, something that I’ve noticed myself. In light of that fact, this week’s Carnival of Space is dedicated to: The Women of Our Space FutureISDC 2008 - Day 3Ken Murphy / 5:18 pm June 1st, 2008  Liveblogging Morning Afternoon Mmmmm…Astronaut ice cream A Babe in the Universe sums up her out of this world experience in ISDC, Gala Dinner and Witnessing the Dream, and The Techie Nerd Physicist in ISDC 2008 - Celebrating Space Exploration and Some Amazing Scoops. Update: Just a reminder to non-NSS members - you do not need to be a member of NSS to attend. You just need to register and pay. These conferences are open to EVERYONE interested in space. Special Note: Will Pomerantz notes in his Part 1 blog post that he will be speaking at the Goddard NASA Academy right after the ISDC. Young Will was one of my charges when I worked as program support staff at the 2002 GSFC Academy (I won’t link directly to his participant’s page…). He’s an example of what the Academy does, train young space leaders. This year’s program has already started, but graduate-level students should consider applying to next year’s Academy. Librarian’s Note: It looks like once again the hometown newspapers for the host city of the ISDC have completely dropped the ball on a major space conference right in their own back yard. I couldn’t find any stories in either the Washington Times or Washington Post. Last year, the Dallas Morning News was four months late in even mentioning the conference. Of course, it is easier to transcribe corporate press releases as news than to actually investigate and report. And the newspapers wonder why their circulation numbers continue to decline… Still, the Orlando paper seems to be on top of things space. Selenology Today #10Ken Murphy / 12:40 am June 1st, 2008  Selenology Today #10 |
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