NASA Pays Tribute To Leonard Nimoy

From NASA: "Astronaut Terry Virts captured this photo from the International Space Station flying over Boston, where Leonard Nimoy was born. #RIPLeonardNimoy"

Mars Mission Selects 100 Finalists

The Mars One mission has named the 100 finalists for its proposed one-way trip to colonize the red planet.

More than 200,000 people applied to Mars One in 2013, hoping to be chosen to colonize Mars. Applicants had to be at least 18 years old, healthy and between 5'2" and 6'3" tall, as well as fulfilling various personality requirements such as exhibiting adaptability, resiliency, and resourcefulness. During the next round of the selection process, the number was whittled down to 660 during a series of interviews and tests, while the next round will give the remaining 100 people a chance to train in teams in an earthbound copy of the future Mars outpost. The plan is to film the final Mars One training period for a reality TV show, although there's already been a predictable amount of interest in the candidates. Last week the Guardian released a mini-documentary interviewing three of the applicants, pointing out the intrinsic strangeness of applying for a one-way trip to Mars—an incredibly dangerous mission that will, at best, result in extreme social isolation.

Six teams of four will be the final finalists and the "entire world" is supposed to vote on the team that will actually go. The mission has a planned launch date of 2024. British physicist Ryan MacDonald filmed himself getting the email notice that he's been selected.

An Astronaut's Guide To Optimism

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield became an internet sensation last year when he posted his performance of David Bowie's Space Oddity from the International Space Station. Today Hadfield posts an optimistic view of the coming year in a clip that appears to have been produced with some help from the Gates Foundation.

NASA: All About That Space

Clip recap:

“All About That Space” is a volunteer outreach video project created by the Pathways Interns of NASA's Johnson Space Center. It was created as a parody (to raise interest and excitement for Orion's first flight) of Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass”. The lyrics and scenes in the video have been re-imagined in order to inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

NASA: We're Visiting The Yip Yips

CALIFORNIA: Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes In Mojave Desert On Test Flight

It's been a horrible week for the space industry.

TRAILER: Interstellar

New version.

New SpaceX Ship Unveiled

TRAILER: Interstellar

The Grapes Of Wrath in space.

Facebook Twins In Space

From the Winklevoss twins' blog:

Humans have a long tradition of exploring and forging new frontiers, both physically and metaphorically. In the Middle Ages, Marco Polo’s writings - which recounted his 24 years of travel and trade on the Silk Road – built a new and lasting level of economic and cultural awareness between Europe and Asia. 200 years later, they would inspire 15th century explorer Christopher Columbus to search for a shorter route to the Far East by sea. While Columbus did not achieve his original goal, he did manage to bring word of a new landmass back to Europe, which planted the seeds of hope and possibility in the minds of persecuted Pilgrims, who fled to and settled North America 100 years later. Such stories of inadvertent and iterated accomplishment are all too familiar in the spheres of exploration and innovation. They demonstrate how the building blocks of human discovery are not necessarily brilliance and perfection, but rather, the courage to fail and persistence to keep on trying.

Also reportedly booking seats on Virgin Galactic: Ashton Kutcher, Angelina Jolie, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Russell Brand. The $250,000 ticket price converts to 374 Bitcoins. For today at least.

Muslim Leaders Declare Martian Fatwa

Details.

Virgin Galactic Makes Test Flight

Via the Los Angeles Times:

Virgin Galactic, British billionaire Richard Branson’s commercial space venture, reached its highest altitude yet Friday in a supersonic rocket plane that’s set to carry paying customers into sub-orbit later this year. The company’s SpaceShipTwo blasted through the sound barrier and sped to Mach 1.4, climbing to 71,000 feet in its first powered test flight of the year. The flight, the program's third rocket-powered test flight, is the latest milestone in Virgin Galactic’s goal to take dozens of people into space multiple times each day. The test flight took place shortly after sunrise Friday beginning on the desert runway at Mojave Air and Space Port, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. During the test, SpaceShipTwo was taken to about 46,000 feet by a carrier aircraft and dropped like a bomb. After a short free fall, test pilots Dave Mackay and Mark Stucky engaged the hybrid rocket motor, powered by nitrous oxide and a rubber compound, for about 16 seconds, at which point SpaceShipTwo accelerated to Mach 1.4.

Amazing video.

Former Canadian Defense Minister: Aliens Exist And They Walk Among Us

From the International Business Times:

Lots of people believe in extraterrestrial life forms, but not many can give specific details about what they look like and where they're living. But that's just what Paul Hellyer, the now-90-year-old former defense minister of Canada, did in his recent interview with Russia Today, claiming there are 80 different species of alien life, from places like Andromedia, Pleadis and Zeta Reticuli, and some look just like us. “The latest reports that I’ve been getting from various sources are that there are about 80 different species and some of them look just like us and they could walk down the street and you wouldn’t know if you walked past one," said Hellyer, head of the armed forces in Canada during the Cold War, who went public with his theories on extraterrestrial life in 2005, The National Post reported. "They are what we call 'Nordic Blondes' and also the Tall Whites who were actually working with the U.S. air force in Nevada. They’re able to get away with that; they had a couple of their ladies dressed as nuns go into Las Vegas to shop and they weren’t detected. ... Then there’s the Short Greys as they are called, and they are the ones you see in most of the cartoons, they have very slim arms and legs, they are very short, just a little over 5 feet, and they have a great big head and great big brown eyes."

And the star of Bethlehem was "one of God's flying saucers."

Lady Gaga To Sing In Space

Lady Gaga has booked a ticket on Virgin Galactic and will perform a song from low-orbit in 2015. Seriously.

The "Dope" performer, 27, is set to blast off in a Virgin Galactic ship and belt out a single track during the Zero G Colony high-tech musical festival in New Mexico. "She has to do a month of vocal training because of the atmosphere," says a source, who adds that the diva's glam squad will join her in the shuttle. Zero G Colony is a three-day hi-tech festival set to take place at Spaceport America in New Mexico that features world-class entertainment and cutting-edge technology. Gaga's performance in space is planned to take place on the third day at dawn, which is approximately six months after the first Virgin Galactic commercial flight.

Gaga will be the first pop star to perform in space. That's if you don't count Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's amazing rendition of David Bowie's Space Oddity, which he performed from the International Space Station in May.

RELATED: Openly gay boy band-er Lance Bass was supposed to fly to the ISS in 2002, but Russian officials canceled when television producers failed to raise the $2M fare.

Photo Of The Day: The Earth From Saturn

Sky News reports:

The Cassini spacecraft has captured a rare image of Earth taken hundreds of millions of miles away from the outer Solar System. The picture was captured on July 19 by the probe's wide-angle camera from a distance of 900 million miles. Magnifying the image five times reveals not only the Earth but also the Moon, a fainter smudge to the right of the planet. Dr Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at the American space agency Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, US, said: "We may not be able to see individual continents or people in this portrait of Earth, but this pale blue dot is a succinct summary of who we were on July 19.

(Tipped by JMG reader Kevin)

Chris Hadfield - Space Oddity

In what may be the coolest clip I've ever seen, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield bid farewell to his time on the International Space Station with the below version of David Bowie's classic, Space Oddity.  Best comment on YouTube: "Most expensive music video ever."  CNET has more:

Mixed with the help of staff at the Canadian Space Agency, musician Emm Gryner, and others, the cover features a somber piano intro and modified lyrics that reference the Soyuz capsule that will return Hadfield to Kazakhstan. When the mustachioed commander sings "I'm floating in a most peculiar way" while actually floating up in space, Hadfield wins the Internet, as one commenter suggests.

From David Bowie's Facebook page: "It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created."  Incidentally, Hallo Spaceboy was Bowie's 1996 single, the hit remix of which featured the Pet Shop Boys.

UFO Believers Convene In DC

Do you believe?

Russia Considers Moon Mission

It was 52 years ago today that cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. According to this Russia Today report, Russia is ramping up their space program and is considering an attempt to establish a lunar base.

Morning In NYC From Space

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted the above photo from the International Space Station. (Via Gothamist)

Best Selfie Ever

(Via Buzzfeed Andrew)