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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: space travel, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 13 of 13
1. Space travel to improve health on earth

World Space Week has been celebrated for the last 17 years, with events taking place all over the world, making it one of the biggest public events in the world. Highlighting the research conducted and achievements reached, milestones are celebrated in this week. The focus isn’t solely on finding the ‘Final Frontier’ but also on how the research conducted can be used to help humans living on Earth.

The post Space travel to improve health on earth appeared first on OUPblog.

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2. Buzz Aldrin, WELCOME TO MARS – Book Recommendation

If you aren’t familiar with the Nat Geo kids publications you should be. I came to them late as an adult, but as a kid I devoured their adult magazines anyway (mostly on the toilet, as one does.) National Geographic … Continue reading

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3. Pluto and Charon at last!

NASA’s New Horizons probe swept past Pluto and its moons at 17 km per second on 14 July. Even from the few close up images yet beamed back we can say that Pluto’s landscape is amazing. Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, is quite a sight too, and I’m glad that I delayed publication of my forthcoming Very Short Introduction to Moons so that I could include it.

The post Pluto and Charon at last! appeared first on OUPblog.

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4. Picture Book Roundup - new or coming soon!

This edition of the Picture Book Roundup features "jampires" (!), two Stanleys (one dog, one hamster), and a new Kadir Nelson book for which I can't find enough superlatives.  Enjoy!

If you can't see the slideshow, I've included my reviews below.

 

If You Plant a Seed is a brilliantly written and exquisitely illustrated book about kindness. Sparse but meaningful text, combined with joyfully detailed illustrations of plants, birds, and animals. I love it!


  • MacIntyre, Sarah and David O'Connell. 2015. Jampires. New York: David Fickling (Scholastic)

Who could be sucking all the jamminess out of the doughnuts?  Jampires!  Will Sam find jam?  Will the Jampires find their nest?  If you like funny, this is the best!


  • Bee, William. 2015. Stanley the Farmer. New York: Peachtree.

Stanley is a hardworking hamster. Illustrations and text  are bright and simple, making Stanley a perfect choice for very young listeners. Along the lines of Maisy, but with a crisper, cleaner interface.  Nice size, sturdy construction.



The Wimbledons can't sleep.  What IS all that noise?  It's only Stanley, the dog.  He's howling at the moon, fixing the oil tank, making catfish stew, ...?  Hey, something's fishy here! Classic Jon Agee - droll humor at its best.


Review copies of Jampires, Stanley the Farmer, and It's Only Stanley were provided by the publisher.

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5. Space Case - an audiobook review

Below is my review of the audiobook Space Case by Stuart Gibbs, read by Gibson Frazier, as it appeared in the December 2014, issue of School Library Journal.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

GIBBS, Stuart. Space Case. 6 CDs. 6:28 hrs. S. & S. Audio.
2014. $29.99. ISBN 9781442376397. digital download.

Gr 3–7— The year is 2040. Dash, his sister, and their scientist parents are inaugural inhabitants of Moon Base Alpha (MBA), Earth's extraterrestrial colony. Housing only a few dozen people and governed by a strict commander, MBA is not exactly a barrel of laughs for a 12-year-old boy. However, when one of MBA's scientists dies suspiciously and a supply ship brings new residents (including a girl his age), life in space becomes much more intriguing. Though the story has many humorous moments—especially involving the insufferable wealthy space tourists—it also has some plausible science. Each chapter is preceded by a reading from "The Official Residents' Guide to Moon Base Alpha," NASA's part propaganda/part instruction manual, containing such riveting topics as "Exercise" and "Food." Narrator Gibson Frazier keeps the story moving at a good pace, conveying suspense without melodrama. Rather than create pitched character voices, he relies on intonation to differentiate among the large cast. His own voice is deep and clear but boyish enough to suit Dash. The narration flows smoothly, broken only by the humorously intended commercial quality of the "Official Resident's Guide." Space Case should appeal to a broad range of listeners but especially space enthusiasts.

Copyright © 2014 Library Journals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.
Reprinted with permission.

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6. How to Change Your Reaction to Fear

I’m afraid of a nice variety of things:  Sharks.  Going too fast on skis.  Vomiting in public. You know, the usual.

That’s why I enjoyed hearing from this astronaut, Chris Hadfield, about the difference between danger and fear, and some strategies for changing your brain’s habitual reaction to your habitual fears.  It might involve walking through a hundred spider webs, or in my case, pointing my skis downhill a little more often instead of defaulting to the snowplow. I don’t know what to say about the vomiting fear, since I don’t plan on doing it in public more often just to reassure myself it’s okay. Because I’m pretty sure it’s not.

Anyway, here’s a fascinating talk by Astronaut Hadfield that includes some beautiful images of space and earth and a very relaxing tune at the end.  And in between, some very solid ideas about becoming braver.  Enjoy!

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7. Gobelins does it again. Another gorgeously-rendered, well-told...



Gobelins does it again. Another gorgeously-rendered, well-told story made by student animators Théo Guignard, Nöé Lecombre and Hugo Moreno. If it’s something in the water they give the students, they should bottle it and make a fortune. Unfortunately, it’s probably just a lot of hard work that’s paying off (and how!)

P.S. Another gem here.

(via Twitter / joshjcochran: Really beautiful short animation …)



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8. Eight Days Gone - a review

McReynolds, Linda. 2012. Eight Days Gone. Illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.

In simple, four-line rhymes, Linda McReynolds has captured for a new generation the eight breathtaking, breath-holding days of the Apollo 11 mission.  Eight Days Gone recounts the July 1969, launch, orbit, landing and return of the spaceship Columbia and the lunar module Eagle.

It begins on a cheerful, sunny, colorful day in Florida,

Hundreds gather.
Hot July.
Spaceship ready -
set to fly.
McReynolds skillfully distills this immense project, this watershed accomplishment into its most basic elements, yet she disregards no aspect of the mission, giving recognition to Aldrin and Armstrong,  the nation, the command center, Collins (who stayed aboard the Columbia), even the Navy - remember the days of "splashdowns?"



The words are not always simple, but O'Rourke's stunning oil paintings fill in the necessary details. The font is either black or white and appears in a corner, never obscuring the double-spread, full-bleed illustrations.  Because of the subject matter, much of the artwork is in the creamy colors of the lunar surface, the spacecraft, and the astronauts' clothing.  Against the black of the universe, the colors of the American flag, the striped parachutes, the faces of the astronauts, and the dazzling blue and green of the earth, demand the reader's attention. 


Most striking is the painting of the "earthrise" on the black lunar horizon, a small astronaut placed in the lower left corner,

Desolation.
Silent. Dark.
Tranquil sea.
Barren. Stark.
Our tiny place within the cosmos is illustrated, but is boldly followed by the illustration on the following page where the astronaut fills a third of the page, confidently setting forth across the lunar landscape,

Haul equipment.
Careful test.
Exploration.
Lunar quest.
May we always be reminded of both our infinetesimal status and our immense capacity to overcome it.  A stunning book. Highly recommended.




A photo, bilbiography, author's note and websites are included.

This is Linda McReynolds' first children's book.

Other Eight Days Gone reviews @

NASA offers a K-4 student website as well as a 4 Comments on Eight Days Gone - a review, last added: 7/23/2012
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9. Moon Shot - A Review

I'm not old enough to remember the first time a man walked on the moon or any of the suspense, excitement and sometimes unfortunate tragedy that came along with it.

Moon Shot by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton with Jay Barbree is a wonderful book that gives the reader the whole story from start to finish.  From the flights themselves, historical moments and tonnes of background information.  It includes:
  • The rigorous selection process in 1959
  • tense hours and problems that doomed Apollo 1
  • practical and political reasons behind Apollo 8
  • a look at the Apollo 11 mission
  • Armstrong's and Aldrin's historic walk on July 20, 1969
  • the incredible efforts made to return Apollo 13
  • Slayton's 16 year wait to finally get to the moon
I found Moon Shot to be absolutely fascinating and an exciting read!  It's vivid details of the moon and the earth from space made me feel like I was there with the astronauts.  I never knew a lot about the space program and the fellows involved, but after reading Moon Shot I feel like I now have an idea of the bravery, determination and out and out courage it would take to fly to the moon.  This book is a must read!  Even your kids will find it utterly fascinating!

Moon Shot is available on Amazon 

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10. Packing for Mars

So, yes, sometimes I read adult books, too.  I heard Mary Roach interviewed on NPR and couldn’t wait to read Packing for Mars.  You can hear the interview here.  I began reading the print volume, but switched to the audiobook.  Below are reviews of both.

Roach, Mary. 2010. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. New York: W.W. Norton.

Audiobook version read by Sandra Burr.  Brilliance Audio. (about 10.5 hours)

In Packing for Mars, Mary Roach proves that it is possible to be both reverent and irreverent at the same time.
She gleefully lampoons space agency practices that make easy targets, such as NASA's over-reliance on acronyms (she even makes up one of her own PCLP - "person in charge of lying to the press") or the Japan space agency's requirement that isolated would-be astronauts complete 1000 origami cranes to see if they tire of monotonous tasks or get careless after the first few hundred; but despite her hilarious observations and comic "asides," she is obviously incredibly impressed and awed by the millions of hours of research, testing, and trial-and-error that accompany the seemingly most simple of tasks.

And it is the simple aspects that she investigates in Packing for Mars - body odor (did you know that some people cannot smell it?), flatulence (some foods may generate up to three soda cans full of it - and there’s no window to open!), human waste (astronauts have sometimes been plagued by floating feces escaping the hated fecal bags), drinks (imagine if your drink pouch leaked in your spacesuit and the floating spill threatened to cover your nostrils - it's happened!), food (even a few small, floating crumbs can be enough to damage sensitive equipment) - the list of possible problems is unending.  Although ground-based engineering anticipates and plans for most problems before lift-off, astronauts are constantly unearthing (and overcoming) new and unanticipated zero-gravity scenarios.

Although Roach has a light-hearted, easy-reading style, she has clearly done her research.  She recounts interviews with Soviet-era cosmonauts (two of them once ate a space-bound research project - onions - yum!), Japanese space agency employees, US astronauts, NASA engineers and scientists, and research subjects in experiments ranging from the effects of weightlessness (subjects lie prone for 3 months!), experimental food intake, and space suit construction.  She gamely accepted any opportunities to better acquaint herself with zero gravity living.  Roach traveled on NASA's "Vomit Comet," a parabolic flight that makes 28 consecutive parabolas - each providing several minutes of weightlessness.  She tried out the zero-gravity toilet, the lunar landscape simulation exercise in the Canadian tundra, and for heavens sake, she even drank her own treated urine. (Human waste is a huge obstacle to overcome in space, particularly if planning a multi-year mission to Mars.)
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11. Cosmic

I’m a bit late to the Cosmic love fest, but am finally ready to chime in.

Cottrell Boyce, Frank. 2010. Cosmic. Walden Pond Press.

An improbable premise powers this first-person, space-age novel.  Twelve-year-old Liam Digby is tall for his age - so tall, in fact, that he's often mistaken for an adult - great fun at the amusement park or car dealership, but a very different story when he finds himself in China's Gobi desert, playing "dad" to his friend, Florida, as they train for a secret mission to outer space.  He does his best to appear "dadly," even referring to a copy of "Talk to Your Teen," hijacked from his own dad, who believes Liam and Florida to be attending a multi-day Gifted and Talented symposium for school!

The laughs are plentiful in this cosmic romp, but Liam and Florida also manage to learn a few things about space, human nature, themselves, and of course, "dadliness."
One person has just left the crowd and is heading over to me.  It's Dad.  He's walking toward me like there's some special gravity pulling him toward me.  And maybe there is.  Maybe everyone's got their own special gravity that lets you go far away, really far away sometimes, but which always brings you back in the end.  Because here's the thing.  Gravity is variable.  Sometimes you float like a feather.  Sometimes you're too heavy to move.  Sometimes one boy can weigh more than the whole universe.  The universe goes on forever, but that doesn't make you small. Everyone is massive.  Everyone is King Kong.
Well said.

Enjoy the trailer.


The publisher offers a Cosmic Reading Group Guide.

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12. Glamour Girl From The Stars - Carlton Scott



GLAMOUR GIRL FROM THE STARS-- Out of this world rhyming story about a 3 foot tall alien girl named Plee-Dee who borrows her father's flying saucer to visit Earth hoping to enter the Miss Universe Pageant in LA. She visits different cultures around the world realizing she feels good about herself without having to enter pageants. The book intends to teach little girls self esteem. Illustrations in colored pencil and photos from the author.

Review:

As a kid, I loved anything to do with space. At risk a revealing my age, the first poem I ever wrote (around age 9) began, "When I was a little girl like you, I went up in Sputnik # 2." For those of you younger than 60, Google Sputnik.

I can only imagine how much I would've loved Glamour Girl From the Stars, by Carlton Scott. Heck, I love it now at a much-advanced age.

Looking through a telescope across the Universe, Plee-Dee, an alien girl from across the galaxy, spots Earth and likes what she sees. Convincing her father that she's only shopping for a new spacesuit, she takes off in his spaceship toward the blue planet. After a time-traveling mistake sends her back to dinosaur age, she sets course for 2010 Las Vegas where shoes, clothes, Elvis impersonators and the Miss Universe Pageant (imagine the irony!) is her first stop.

After realizing Area 51 is onto her, she zips across the Pacific to Waikiki Beach, China, Africa and exciting places all over the world.

The illustrations, also by Scott, are colorful, pleasing and beautifully drawn. His style blends well with the storyline.

All his books are now autographed and shipped to people’s homes from his website: www.carltonsbooks.com

Bio:

At the age of 33, Carlton Scott was pursuing a second degree in nursing when he had a case of misdiagnosed glaucoma and lost the vision in his left eye. To help deal with the stress of being visually impaired, he would hike in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado where he lived. He then took off to Southeast Asia, backpacking and venturing through Thailand; Cambodia and Bali, Indonesia to decide what to do with his future.

During this time, he finished his second children’s book, Little Big Wolf, based on his drawings and collection of hiking photos. He published both Grin’s Message and Little Big Wolf in hardcover and sold 2000 of each through Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, craft shows and street fairs. He then returned to Florida and finished his second degree (a bachelor’s in nursing) and accepted a job at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, in the Pediatric ICU.

Today, Carlton travels with his wife, Annie (also a nurse), throughout the United States providing critical care services to hospitals from Alaska to Los Angeles. His newest children’s book, Glamour Girl From The St

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13. The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld


Millennia in the future, light-years away, the Risen Empire spans eighty planets. To the people of the empire, the Risen Emperor, inventor of immortality, and his eternally young sister, the Child Empress, are more than rulers- they are gods. They have ruled for sixteen hundred years, and the empire seems as immortal as they are.

But the empire is not alone in the galaxy. The Rix are a civilization of cyborgs, and their domain lies just outside the Risen Empire. The Rix have no leader and no culture. They are a Spartan civilization with only one goal- to propagate an artificially intelligent “compound mind” across the digital network of every populated planet. They worship these minds just as Imperial citizens worship their emperor. Because of this, the Empire and the Rix are constantly on the edge of war. As the novel opens, the Rix have succeeded in capturing the Child Empress, and in planting a compound mind on the planet Legis XV, the location of the Imperial palace.

Captain Laurent Zai is in command of the most powerful starship in the Empire- the Lynx. He has been assigned the task of rescuing the Empress, and the penalty for failure is death by ritual suicide. Light-years away, a senator named Nara Oxham is also becoming entangled with the Rix conflict. Together and apart, destinies closely intertwined, they must both find a way to succeed, or perish in the rising tide of war.

What can I say? It’s by Scott Westerfeld; therefore, it’s amazing. The plot was truly original, which is hard to find in sci-fi these days, and the major cliffhanger at the end left me craving the sequel. Though I don’t think The Risen Empire is actually YA, it reads like one, with cool plot twists and exciting action. The book also makes use of flashbacks and multiple points of view- both common narrative devices, but this time, they’re actually done well. All the events in the book- military, political, dramatic, and romantic- are well executed and convincing.

The real genius of this book, though, was in the details. Scott Westerfeld has managed to convey a vast world with minute precision. Everything, from microspaceships to smartalloy bullets to induced synesthesia to the four types of gravity, is described with a ridiculous amount of detail. While reading this book, I didn’t just feel like I was there. I felt like I knew absolutely everything there was to know about the Rix, the Empire, everything. I was a military officer, a scientific expert, a master pilot, a Rixwoman, and a politician. The world that Scott-la has created is so real, down to the last nanometer.

Strangely enough, this book’s biggest strength is also its biggest downside. Plotwise, it tended to forgo explanation in favor of action, and several times, I found myself rereading the same passage three or four times, trying to figure out what in heaven’s name it was talking about. Most of the cool made-up technical and political jargon is just thrown in there, and explanation comes much later, if at all. I have to admit, the book was more than a little hard to follow. And be warned- it’ll be even harder to follow without a little knowledge of physics, relativity and quantum mechanics.

Still, though, once I figured out what was going on, I enjoyed The Risen Empire enormously. This book has it all- futuristic technology, political intrigue, romance, secrets, lies, cyborgs, undead cats, and obscure, geeky allusions, all woven together in a captivating story. I loved Laurent Zai, Nara Oxham, Rana Harter, H_rd, Alexander, and yes, even the Emperor. I loved it all. I can’t wait for the sequel. Four and a half sixteen-molecule-wide monofilament daggers.

Yours,
Tay



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