by David Todd | Nov 10, 2015 | On a Lighter Note, Seradata News, Space Shuttle, space station
While this column has previously noted that astronauts on long missions might be prone to premature dementia due to cosmic and solar radiation’s effect on the brain, a way to detect this before the said astronaut becomes a danger to the rest of the crew might now be...
by David Todd | Nov 9, 2015 | exploration, NASA, On a Lighter Note
Ever since when Voskhod 1 landed off course into the wilderness, subsequent Russian manned missions now carry a pistol on board their Soyuz spacecraft lest they also land off course and have to fight off bears and wolves. This column previously noted that the 9mm...
by David Todd | Oct 26, 2015 | Apollo, On a Lighter Note
The female compere of the opening ceremony of the International Astronautical Congress in Jerusalem (IAC 2015) noted that while evidence of flowing (salty) water may have been found on Mars, she would be more likely to want to go to the planet if it had been wine that...
by David Todd | Oct 6, 2015 | On a Lighter Note
Scottish Nationalist Party MP Alex Salmond, who stepped down as Scotland’s First Minister after the Scottish vote for independence was lost (he was replaced by that other big fish in the Scottish Nationalist Party, Nicola Sturgeon) has had to take different...
by David Todd | Sep 4, 2015 | On a Lighter Note, Technology
There is a scene in the World War I series of the BBC comedy show, ‘Black Adder’, in which the British soldiers in the trenches start wistfully to reminisce about how war was much more enjoyable when all the British Army had to fight were natives armed with slices of...
by David Todd | Aug 27, 2015 | On a Lighter Note, Science, Seradata News
Long-range missions to the planets are likely to grow some of their own food. This is not only to provide vitamins, fibre and nutrition while saving on consumables, but also to provide protection against the effects of space radiation. As well as being a carcinogenic...
