Neil Armstrong

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 >>

Here Are Five Awesome/Crazy Theories About The Shining from Room 237

The Sounds of H-Town

Cactus Music wants your help with a "Community-Curated Playlist."

All the Rappers Who Will Be Here All-Star Weekend, Part 1

Two days ago, a complete stranger calmly approached me at the airport. Her demeanor was kind, she didn't have any noticeable body odor and gave off a friendly vibe. I smirked before she started the painstaking task of carrying out small talk. "Hey, are you from here?" she asked. My brain wanted my ... More >>

RIP Neil Armstrong: Songs For The First Man On The Moon

This weekend was marred by the death of the first man on the moon, Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 82. The trio of Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin made up the Apollo 11 crew that set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. The space race of the '60 ... More >>

Is Minute Maid Park (Finally) Going To Lose Tal's Hill?

There were basically two people who love Tal's Hill, the gimmicky hill in Minute Maid Park's centerfield, and one of them was named Tal. The other was former owner Drayton McLane, who installed the hill, which has no other reason for existence, because his buddy Tal Smith remembered some old ballpa ... More >>

Goodbye, Personal Checks: Five Consequences of the Rise of Debit Cards (No. 5: You Can't Game the System, Dammit!)

People still do this?​Businesses continue to report that more and more people are paying electronically, either through debit or credit cards or automatic payments, than they do by the classic method of writing a personal check. How many times do you actually pull out your checkbook these day ... More >>

The Holy Grail Of A Neil Armstrong Autograph: One Man's Quest

No, he won't sign it​Which living person has the world's most sought-after autograph? Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon. A Houstonian has written a book about it. Anthony Pizzatola is a vice-president of the Universal Autograph Collector's Club and he's written Neil Armstrong: The Quest F ... 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 >>

Comment of the Day: If Twitter, Google and Social Media Were Around During the First Moon Walk

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

The Moon Landing 42 Years On: Five Odd Facts (Includes Urine, Wine and a Petty Refusal To Take Photos)

The flag: Better than a solar-wind experiment that just looks like a flag​Wednesday marks the 42nd anniversary of man landing on the moon. One small step, and all that. It's an odd anniversary, the 42nd, so here are five odd facts about the mission. 5. Buzz Aldrin, First Man To Piss On The M ... More >>

Cover Story: Austin Fires Back

Feelings have been hurt​So I'd gotten up at 5 a.m. and spent the day at NASA's Mission Control, where along with about fifty other writers, talking heads and camera crews from Houston, New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, I'd been granted unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the final full- ... More >>

Happy Anniversary, Nirvana's Nevermind

​This past Friday, a significant musical anniversary came and went with barely a peep. It was only 19 years to the day the last album to cause a legitimate sea change in popular music - both the industry and the art - was released. Rocks Off knows that was a few days ago, but hey, we had a bus ... More >>

SpaceCenter Houston's Rocket Park Fills In A Missing Piece

Photo via CollectSpaceThe Gemini-Titan, ready for refurbishing​Last week, with little fanfare, a truck rolled up to the Johnson Space Center with a unique cargo.It was a replica of a Gemini-Titan rocket with capsule, and it means SpaceCenter's Rocket Park will fill in a missing piece of JSC histor ... More >>

There's Absolutely Nothing That Could Possibly Go Wrong With NASA's New Human-Looking Robot

Photo by General Motors​NASA and General Motors have announced a new space robot, called Robonaut 2, or R2 for short (The name "Desperately Hoping to be Relevant via Outdated Pop Culture References," or RHROPCR, was apparently rejected for being too long.)"Our challenge today is to build machines ... More >>

Playing Neil Armstrong On The Screen: The "Jesus Curse," Redux

Photo by NASAIn the old days of Hollywood, they used to talk of "the Jesus Curse" -- any actor who played JC on screen was thereafter soomed to obscurity.Does the same thing happen to actors who play Neil Armstrong? There aren't as many Apollo 11 movies as you might expect, but the evidence still is ... More >>

Spacefest: 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

Houston, we have a celebration

Apollo 11's Michael Collins Interviews Himself

Photo courtesy NASAMichael Collins, the man who orbited the moon while Neil and Buzz had all the fun, isn't doing any interviews, apparently, for the 40th anniversary. But through NASA he's put out a Q&A with himself answering what he says are the biggest FAQs he gets.Most of it is predictable, ... More >>

Five Best Apollo 11 Myths

Photo courtesy NASAA salute to Mr. JablonskiHey, guess what!! Monday brings the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing!!Oh, you heard? Well, get ready to hear more -- this weekend and Monday will no doubt be a "One small step for man" marathon.Which is fine -- the moon mission was a crazy, a ... More >>

NASA Lets You Eavesdrop On Apollo 11's Private Conversations

NASA is continuing its information dump for the 40th anniversary of the moon landing; now they have put on the `net digital recordings of some of the private in-capsule conversations of the Apollo 11 astronauts."You're in a spacecraft, on a mission to land on the moon for the first time in history, ... More >>

"Moon FTW IRL!" -- Apollo 11, As If They Had Twitter Then

You know what sucked about the moon landing? They didn't Twitter it.If it's not on Twitter, we're not sure we can trust that it happened. Even if the headlines say otherwise.Now, however, the problem is solved, thanks to the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.They've put together an impressive "reliv ... More >>

Michael Jackson: Magic Moments With The King Of "Alleged"

It's a sure bet that when Neil Armstrong dies, coverage will be limited to a two minute retrospective culminating with "One small step for man..." playing over his official NASA photo. Meanwhile, CNBC today is still reporting on the "financial impact of Michael Jackson's death." One walked on the m ... More >>

“Creating Space City, USA”

“Houston…the Eagle has landed.”

NASA At 50: Five Bad Astronaut Movies

Fly Me to the Moon

The newest 3-D animated film chronicles the first landing on the moon – from the point of view of a fly on the wall

No Reservations, I Could Never Be Your Woman, In the Shadow of the Moon, The Independent

In the Shadow of the Moon

Reliving the glory of America's giant leap for mankind

All-Day Suckers

Sedaris and Colbert peddle Candy not everybody wants

Turkeys Fly

Houston actually pulls off one crazy week

Turkeys of the Year

The worst flock-ups of 2003, starting with Big Tom himself

The Breeders

Pooches swarm Reliant Center

Coming Down

A "routine" shuttle descent winds up stunning Space City

Coming Down

A "routine" shuttle descent winds up stunning Space City

Space Invaders

The Chron loves another convention

No Boosters Allowed

Flight directory Chris Kraft has a story to tell

Moonstruck

Dave Criswell dreams of living on the moon. He has a plan for colonization. Other scientists say his idea is 100 years too early. But he's ready now.

War Dance

Alabama-Coushatta Indians are shedding their passive ways in big bets on land claims and casinos. But some fear they could be gambling away their great tribal heritage.

Overblown and Underrated

So you know Houston's goats, heroes and high points? Think again.

Houstowne, Texas

Shrouded by mists and unrecovered documents, the history of Houston is still worth a probe

Shame, Shame, Shame

Judge Ted Poe's shame-based punishments have brought him fame and the D.A.'s job...if he wants it

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

Urbane Cowboy

Lyle Lovett is smart, funny and wears Armani. That's right: He is from Texas.

Space Odyssey

Tom Moser wants to put Texas on the map as a commercial launch pad for cargo-carrying rockets

Alison Cook looks back at 1997: The Year That Bit

Moon Shots

At the MFA, lunar imagery blurs the line between science and art