I don't know how everyone else feels about the subject of space exploration, but I do know that some people think that we shouldn't be doing it. This was reaffirmed by an article that appeared in a major newspaper in February 2007, that stated that it was time for us to withdraw from space exploration and let others do it. I can understand that they think that we are spending too much money in exploration and it would be better used in social programs and that we are probably being ripped off in the price of hardware that we use, but thinking that this money is going back into social programs, if it is not used by NASA to explore space, is just not true. We would never see this money, it would land up funding some politically motivated programs somewhere, that would do us no good at all, like the infamous bridge to nowhere. At least with space exploration we improve our technology and we might just find out something that would benefit mankind. Not only that, but it makes us feel good and there is so little that does these days. The problem that I have always seen with it is that we may have two space programs and the one at NASA might just be eyewash for us, so that we don't realize that there is a far more advanced military program going on. If this is the case, than we should stop the NASA program because the money is being totally wasted, but we can't be sure either way right now. I do know that the shuttle program, along with the space station are a total and complete waste and nothing that can be done in the space station can't be done in just the shuttle or some other craft that is even cheaper to launch. If we could just stop funding that turkey of a space station, we would have so much more money for exploration and we would be able to pursue projects that we could only dream about.

Have you heard about those new machines that are at the airports that can see through clothes? The idea has disturbed a lot of people and I really can't blame them. This is the ultimate invasion of privacy, anyway the machines are called Terahertz scanners and what they put out is called a T-ray. It is said that these T-rays are not as powerful as X-rays and therefore can not hurt you as you pass through a machine and get bombarded. NASA started using these machines in 2005. They are used to check damage to the tanks of the space shuttle. The tanks are underneath thick foam and the T-rays can penetrate this without causing any damage.

Pluto Artist's Conception

A NASA space craft is speeding toward Pluto. You remember Pluto don't you, it used to be a planet a few years back, now it is just a chunk of rock? Anyway it has an atmosphere of methane and nitrogen. Pluto is one of the few places where an atmosphere comes and goes. As Pluto gets further away from the sun, it gets very cold and the elements of it's atmosphere freeze and fall to the surface and the atmosphere is believed to disappear, only to reappear when the body approaches the sun again and starts to warm. The NASA science chief stated, "The atmosphere certainly will be there for New Horizons," he says. That should allow the spacecraft to take detailed measurements. No one know at what point the atmosphere will collapse.

NASA has determined that many of Saturn's moons may have shared a similar past. This is hard to believe at first blush, because they all look so different. Some are covered with craters, others look spongy and still others have active volcanoes. They all look very different to most of us, but NASA scientists have noted that many of them contain an unknown black substance on their surfaces. NASA scientists believe that there may be some transit in the Saturn moon system. In other words something may be able to get from one body to another causing the black material. Roger Clark of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver says, "We see the same spectral signature on all the moons that have coatings of dark material." Where the material comes from and what it is remains a mystery at this time".

Get ready for this, you better sit down. Some people are now claiming that speech patterns have been found in a recording of sound from Saturn that was released form NASA. To hear the recording you can go to http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/saturn/audio/pia07967-072504.wav. Could this be true, could we have tapped into some sort of transmission coming from the area of Saturn? We have to be ready for anything today, a whole new era may be about to dawn upon us.

NASA has just beamed some Beatle's music into space. There are some people that are very worried about this, they think that it could let alien forces, who might be hostile, know where we are. That is just so ridiculous on the face of it. We have been beaming tv shows into space for over 60 years and radio shows into space for almost a hundred. While this may not have been done on purpose, the effect was still the same. We have left a trail a hundred years long that can be traced back to us and the Beatle's music makes no difference at all.

In case you think that the sounds coming from Saturn are strange but unique, strange sounds have also been coming from Jupiter. Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system, it is a gas giant. NASA thought that the sounds coming from the planet were so strange that they were worth recording. You can hear them also. Here is the link to the recording, http://www.noolmusic.com/videos/jupiter_sounds_so_strange_nasa-voyager_recording.php. I can't help but wonder what that metallic sounding hum is in the background. It was said that the noise coming from Jupiter is all within the range of human hearing. While I can not verify this statement, I have no reason to doubt it and I find this fact very strange indeed. It is almost like someone or something wants us to hear this. Could this be the equivalent of our music and we don't recognize the fact?

People on Hutchinson Island have found something and they think that it belongs to NASA. It is a cylinder that has washed up on one of their beaches. Why do they think it would belong to NASA? They think that because it has to be very expensive since it is composed of seven layers of carbon fiber along with other materials. The cylinder is about 8 or 9 feet long and about 4 feet wide. It must have been in the water for quite a while since it was covered with barnacles. It would be interesting if it was tested to see what the original contents of the cylinder were.

An astronaut was pulled from a scheduled space walk in February 2007, because of illness. It turns out that while we can't be sure what was wrong with him, I have found out that many astronauts suffer from what is know as space sickness. It usually lasts from a few hours to a few days until the astronauts adapt to life in orbit. This particular astronaut had been in space 14 years ago. I don't recall any word of him getting ill at that time. The astronaut was from the European Space Agency and was 56 years old.

Mercury

NASA has sent a probe to Mercury. Mercury is the first planet from the sun. The probe has sent back some interesting photos and between the photos and measurements taken, the scientists at NASA state that some of their previous suspicions have been affirmed. Mercury is shrinking. Can you believe that? They go on to state that some of the ridges that can be seen in the photos are the equivalent of wrinkles as the planet gets smaller. They also say that the core of the planet may be cooling. "Our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data," says Sean Solomon, the mission's principal investigator, from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. In the words of Messenger science team member Robert Strom, "The best is yet to come. What you're seeing here is just the tip of the iceberg."

A man who has made his hobby, tracking things that are said to not exist, spy satellites, states that when things like the space shuttle get into trouble while in orbit, they are routinely looked over by spy satellites. Truthfully, I had never given this much thought, until I read that. It has really opened my eyes. Besides watching the earth, NASA and other agencies are also watching space and all the space missions that take place. Knowing this, I now have to wonder if the Chinese satellite that was blown up, was done so, because we may have had a spy satellite near it and both might have been taken down?

Enceladus, A Moon Of Saturn Said To Contain Water

Did NASA's Cassini probe discover water on one of Saturn's moons? Astrophysicists in Germany state that the answer is absolutely a resounding YES. They go on to further state that it was found on the moon Enceladus. They say that it is an undisturbed sheet of ice, except for meteor hits and such. The moon Enceladus is tiny, even by moon standards being only about 315 miles across. Cassini is said to have shown that plumes of water vapor are gushing from near the south pole. Water vapor is not the only material being shot into space, icy dust particles are too.

NASA is taking applications for the Astronaut Corps. Their duties, according to NASA, will be to conduct experiments, keep the station running and stay in their crew mates' good graces. Do you think that you fit the bill? If you think that you do and can stand to be locked up in a vehicle the size of a small trailer for at least a few weeks at a time with several other people, then give NASA a call.

Some people are accusing NASA of a cover up. They are saying that NASA has discovered an object about 8 times the size of the earth at the distant fringes of our solar system. They say that the reason that NASA is not discussing this is that the object is a brown dwarf, a star that didn't quite make it and it is headed this way, which will cause chaos on the earth and kill much, if not all, of the population in 2012, precisely when the Mayans said that the earth would be destroyed. Some people think that this object, called Nibiru, is just a planet, but a very dense one that is about four times the size of the earth, but about one hundred times as dense. There is a feeling among some that this is the famed planet X. There is even a woman who claims to be be receiving messages from aliens telling her that planet X is returning to destroy all life on earth, her name is Nancy Lieder. Some scientists think that there is another planet out there and it is responsible for pulling comets into our part of the solar system.