Mars (Planet)

NASA Budget Cuts Could Hit Johnson Space Center (First No Shuttle, Now This?)

In recent years, NASA has been hit pretty hard, and another hit may be coming. We're a long ways off from the days when JFK told the nation that the United States would put a man on the moon, and in recent years, what with the Great Recession, space exploration seems to have taken a backseat. Hell, ... More >>

Five Reasons The Mars Rover Drew A Huge, Throbbing Penis In The Martian Dirt

The sharp-eyed folks at Reddit noticed something odd in a batch of pictures from the Mars Rover. Namely, a penis. The Rover drew a huge freaking penis on the surface of Mars. Thepicture apparently is authentic, if possibly old. It's been posted on a NASA site, but there was a meme with a similar p ... More >>

The Flaming Lips Keep Right On Terrorizing Mainstream Rock

Next Tuesday, Flaming Lips will release their long-awaited new album, The Terror. Though the band has been constantly busy with side-projects over the last several years to tide their freaky fans over, The Terror marks their first "official" entry into their primary discography since 2009's Embryoni ... More >>

David Bowie By the Threes: A 50-Year Retrospective, Part 1

David Bowie's career has been one filled with unparalleled changes, and no, that's not a pun on his hit song. The man has literally undergone so many career diversions and redirections that it's almost impossible to keep up with where he has been at any one point in time. Rewind: 2013 RULES: David ... More >>

"NASA" Does LMFAO: Oh, No...

It's Friday afternoon, and you could either use a good laugh or else you just don't care anymore. Either way, do we have something for you. Riding high on the wave of good PR and general swag of the unmanned spacecraft Curiosity's successful landing and ongoing exploration of Mars (yes, fucking Mar ... More >>

The Old, Good Total Recall

Dr. Pete: Feel the Power of the Dork Side

Top 7 Promotional Music Gimmicks -- Both Used & Unused

One of the most interesting things in the music business is how managers and record companies promote and market their artists. Sometimes they do a great job, and other times they fail. When they do fail, their like that hickey you got three weeks ago -- still there. But, like a hickey, people even ... More >>

10 Rock Stars the GOP Should Nominate for President

As the 2012 presidential race begins to heat up in earnest, Rocks Off can't help but feel that the front-runners for the Republican nomination are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Call it star power. Call it sex appeal. Whatever it is, these guys ain't got it. If the GOP is serious about wresti ... More >>

Pop Rocks: The Kardashians' Popularity, Explained

America, you have serious problems: It was business--big business--as usual for Kourtney & Kim Take New York and The Walking Dead. Here's what the shows' Sunday-night TV ratings performances meant: For Kourtney & Kim, the reality-show's season premiere, which scored a series-best 3.2 million view ... More >>

Six `60s Space TV Series Intros, In All Their Unscientific, Non-Entertaining Awfulness

That hair is PURPLE!!!!​The Sixties were the Space Era, when astronauts were all anyone was talking about, except for dirty hippies and their loud music. TV was eager to jump on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, TV-series production wasn't as high-budget or sophisticated as it is today, so the re ... More >>

In Just Six Years NASA Will Fly This Manned Rocket...If You Believe Them

NASANASA's first manned rocket in a long time​Put it down in stone -- in just six years, and for just $18 billion, the rocket pictured in the artist's rendering above will be flying astronauts. NASA says so, so it must be true. The agency announced today the design for the manned rocket that ... More >>

The Five Astronaut Autobiographies Everyone Should Read

Riding Rockets: Raunchy, raucous and funny.​Astronaut autobiographies can be a very mixed bag. On the one hand, that should be surprising given the harrowing, thrilling life-and-death stories which are inherent; on the other hand, the authors are generally not very good writers. And even if t ... More >>

NASA's Birthday: Eight Very Odd Planes From Its Past

NASA celebrates its 53rd birthday this week, but it will be a subdued occasion as the space shuttle era ends, top talent leaves and the agency seems adrift. In its heyday the agency didn't worry about no damn budgets, and as a result it had a hand in developing some very strange planes. Among them ... More >>

NASA's Astronomy Picture Of The Day: 2010's Ten Best

For 15 years now, NASA has been putting out an Astronomy Picture of the Day, picking whatever hits their fancy from the archives or new stuff coming in from up above. Here are ten of the best they posted this year. 10. Atlantis takes off Photos courtesy NASA​In the early morning hours of Jul ... More >>

Intelligent Life

When NASA employee April Evans questioned animal experiments, her career fell apart.

Local Musicians Stump For Rocks Off's "Hell Yeah!" Office

boogiewoogieflu.blogspot.com​A contentious and cantankerous mid-term election season is upon us, and the AM dial is so full of hot air that Rocks Off is surprised our Matrix hasn't started floating. Without taking a seat on either side of the aisle, it's undeniable that a real current of anti- ... More >>

Dear Bicycle Bandit: Five Simple Rules To Aid Your Getaway

Bicycle Bandit: Watch out for the strollers, dude​A bike bandit is on the loose in Houston, of all places. Yes, right here in the anti-Portland, a brigand is holding up banks and making his getaway on a Schwinn.We covered him early in his spree, but he's now hit six banks in the area.As a fellow c ... More >>

Your Car Isn't Broken, It's Just Become A "Stationary Driving Platform," If You Use NASA's Spin

​Used cars long ago become "pre-owned."  Kamp Krusty isn't a "fat camp," it's an "image enhancement camp." Torture is now "enhanced interrogation."The silly-euphemism bar is set pretty high these days. But NASA is taking a shot at winning the competition, not because it is easy but because it ... More >>

NASA Wants To Know Where To Point Its Mars Camera; We've Got Ideas

So NASA is apparently taking public suggestions for where to point the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. No doubt the agency is anticipating a slew of requests for Victoria Crater or Olympus Mons, and I salute such educational endeavor ... More >>

Totally Spaced

See red skies at night in Roving Mars

The Lost Houston of Sig Byrd

Forty years ago, one writer captured our city better than any before or since. Now he's forgotten. And the Houston he saw? All but gone.