Really Rocket Science

Over on Newsvine, I came across an interesting post by someone who claims to be busting the myths about science, and found a couple of interesting items on the list.

Myth 2. The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from space

There are several variations on this folkloric statement, and they’re all quantifiably false. Astronauts can spot the Great Wall from low-Earth orbit, along with plenty of other things like the Giza pyramids and even airport runways. But they can’t see the Wall from the Moon. 

…

Myth 12. There is no gravity in space

Blame the term "zero-gravity" for this common misconception. Gravity is everywhere, even in space. Astronauts look weightless because they are in continuous freefall towards the Earth, staying aloft because of their horizontal motion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away. It is also untrue that space is a vacuum. There are all kinds of atoms out there, albeit sometimes far apart. 

I don’t know about the gravity question (any physicists out there?), but apparently our mythbuster is dead on about the Great Wall.

“You can see the Great Wall,” Lu says. But it’s less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look.

In fact stretches of the wall aren’t even visible from China. They’ve been buried by sand for centuries. NASA has used space-based radar to map out hidden parts of the ancient structure. [Astronaut Ed] Lu is trying to get a picture of it, too, with a digital camera. 

I don’t know if Lu every got his picture, but I did track down the pictures NASA took with its "space-based radar." 

The mythbuster also takes on some common myths about asteroids.

A VW New Beetle with 1450 horsepower? Ya gotta see this video.  

SF Chronicle’s Michael Taylor spent some time with the builder of this machine, Ron Patrick of Sunnyvale, California:

"You drive the car up to about 90 miles an hour and you spool up the jet, then hit it W.O.T. (wide-open throttle)," he said, fondly recalling one of his rides. "It’s one of the finest feelings you can have in your life. In the rear view mirror, all you see is light and hear the thunder of the jet. It’s like you’re going down the largest hill you’ve ever been on."

Jet cars aren’t new. This is how close the VW Bug and jet cars have come together, a Walt Arfons Jet Car driven by Paula Murphy (a.k.a. "the Flying Housewife" and "Miss STP") at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1963 (note the Bug in the background):

Drag racing VW Bugs aren’t just for Herbie any more. The VW Drag Racing Club cites one old Bug that can do a quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds @ 125 m.p.h. — and it’s driven to and from the track!

Seventh time’s the charm, right?

After six tries over eight days, NASA launched a Delta 2 rocket Friday and a pair of satellites that will give planet Earth its newest health checkup by examining the secrets of clouds.

The 12-story-tall rocket built by Boeing rumbled off Space Launch Complex-2 at 3:02 a.m. into foggy skies at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The approximately $515 million mission placed two satellites into orbit: CloudSat and CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations). About 90 minutes later, officials confirmed that the satellites had arrived in space.

“With the successful launch of CloudSat and CALIPSO we take a giant step forward in our ability to study the global atmosphere," said David Winker, CALIPSO principal investigator from NASA’s Langley Research Center, Va. "In the years to come, we expect these missions to spark many new insights into the workings of Earth’s climate and improve our abilities to forecast weather and predict climate change."

 We wrote about the launch in anticipation on the 20th of April; Rocco kept us updated in the comment threads ("CloudSat can’t launch because of clouds. Go figure."); but now the wait is over, and you can view Friday’s successful launch here.