Space Shuttles

Grace Kelly, Super Guppies & Men Who Shouldn't Wear Cowboy Hats: Great Old Photos Of NASA's 50 Years In Houston

Arcadia Publishing is a company specializing in affordable picture-filled books on local history across the country. They've done books on such Houston institutions as the downtown Foley's, and now they've tackled the institution-alist Houston institution of all, NASA. See Also: - "Tatooine" Disco ... More >>

The Six Dumbest NASA Covers Time Magazine Ever Put Out

Yesterday we wrote about how Houston and Russia are getting together to honor Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn (we listed five awesome Gagarin paintings Houston should have received in place of the artwork it did end up with), and that stirred up a bit of NASA nostalgia. Face it, the space program has b ... More >>

Five Awesome Yuri Gagarin Paintings The City Of Houston Should Have Received

This week Mayor Annise Parker accepted on behalf of the city some artwork commemorating the 50the anniversary of the flights of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the U.S.A.'s John Glenn. (Gagarin, of course, was the first human in space; Glenn the first American.) The donations will be displayed i ... More >>

Last Night: Devo & Blondie at Arena Theatre

Blondie, Devo Arena Theatre September 19, 2012 What a week for New Wave around here. Psychedelic Furs and Go-Go's still to come, and Blondie and Devo teaming up for the "Whip It to Shreds" tour Wednesday night at the Arena Theatre. New Wave is as good a term as any to describe a style of music tha ... More >>

10 Best Modern Political Speeches

We'll be hearing a lot of great speeches this election season, but lets take a second to remember the true giants of political rhetoric. 10. Martin Luther King: I've Been to the Mountaintop King delivered this speech in Memphis, Tennessee the day before he was assassinated. After talking for a whi ... More >>

Por Favor, Nanny

Houston moms help the help.

"Tatooine" Discovery: Five Other Times NASA Has Drafted Off Star Wars' Heat

NASA: If only there was a movie about a two-sun planet....​NASA officials hyped a press conference yesterday about a new discovery via the way they know best: Trot out the Star Wars references. People connected with the movie and SFX gurus Industrial Light & Magic were on the panel to discuss ... More >>

Five Famous Indian and Pakistani Houstonians

India and Pakistan are 64 years old this week.​Dust off your South Asian flags, because this week we celebrate India's (August 15) and Pakistan's (August 14) Independence Days. Sixty-four years ago, India freed itself from the Brits and split itself into two countries. Luckily many crossed the ... More >>

Great Picture of Atlantis Turnin' & Burnin' for Home

NASA​NASA says this picture is "unprecedented," and who are we to doubt them? Taken from the International Space Station, the shot shows Atlantis beginning its descent through the earth's atmosphere, as things heat up and everyone says prayers to the heat-shield god.

Ground Control To Major Tom: Happy Birthday "Space Oddity"

On this day in 1969, David Bowie released what would arguably become his (first) calling-card track, "Space Oddity." The version you see and hear above is one that the world would briefly know (we found it in promo reel Love You Till Tuesday) before he became the Bowie that we all know and love. ... More >>

Eight Rejected Shuttle Designs: From Space Zeppelins to Flying Boxes to Cool Deltas

Everyone's got an idea.​The space shuttle isn't the most graceful design ever (although it can look great in such pictures as the first one here): it's a bit boxy, more akin to an 18-wheeler than a Ferrari. But the idea of a reusable space vehicle presents unique challenges, and NASA had plen ... More >>

Okay, The Mysterious Face On the Space Station Is Freaking Us Out

NASAJust upper-right of the center? That's a MAN, baby​Yesterday we posted some great new video from NASA of the shuttle Endeavour docked to the International Space Station, seven minutes of mostly silent footage that screamed out for a soundtrack. We synched up David Bowie's "Width of a Circ ... More >>

Gabrielle Giffords Walks Up Steps to Board Jet

In case you were skeptical of the progress made by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at the Texas Medical Center's TIRR rehab clinic, long-distance video showed her climbing the stairs to board the jet that's taking her to watch her husband's shuttle launch. KHOU's camera shows Giffords, with assistance, wal ... More >>

Comment of the Day: More Space Shuttle Blues

​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 >>

Houston Gets No Space Shuttle: See What Happens When You Don't Have a Texan in the White House?

Cue the loser horn: Houston is not getting one of the retiring Space Shuttles, according to every media report out there. It's not even getting a shuttle that never went to space. Houston put on a furious last-minute push to land one of the orbiters, but the fact that it was a last-minute push pro ... More >>

Space Shuttle Battle: City Hall Rally to Demand Houston Gets a Used Orbiter

Proposed Houston home for a shuttle.​As we've noted before, Houston is in a life-or-death battle to get one of the two retiring space shuttles that have flown missions, and they need all the help they can get. The solution: A City Hall rally, complete with Mayor Annise Parker, County Judge Ed ... More >>

NASA, Free That Robot Now!!

Discovery's been at the International Space Station for days now, and still no robot action. Even President Obama's getting antsy. He told the astronauts yesterday they should let R2 out of his packaging and allow him to "stretch his legs." (We're sure they had to bite their tongues to keep from bl ... More >>

Gabrielle Giffords Fallout: NASA Announces Backup Shuttle Commander, But Her Husband Still Hopes to Fly

Mark Kelly still expects to fly in April​NASA is appointing a backup commander for the upcoming shuttle flight led by Mark Kelly, husband of wounded congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, but Kelly says he still expects to make the mission. Rick Sturckow will be the commander throughout the rest o ... 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.

Aftermath: We Are Not Sorry For Liking LIGHTS And Owl City At Verizon

Photos by Kendra Berglund​Friday night at a sold-out Verizon Wireless Theater, LIGHTS and Owl City put on surprisingly solid performances. We use the word 'surprisingly,' because we fall into the category of people who oftentimes dismiss these kinds of artists as sans-substance pawns of the ... More >>

Some Thoughts On The Chronicle Cuts: So Long, Suburbs

(Note: For a while, this item was posted with the wrong byline -- it's by Steve Olafson, not Richard Connelly, and always has been. Thanks, and sorry.)The layoffs at the Houston Chronicle cut much deeper into the editorial side of the newspaper than the announced company-wide 12 percent reduction ... More >>

NASA Killed A Cancer Cure, Suit Alleges

The world may have known a cure to cancer ... if only that darn Columbia space shuttle didn't disintegrate over Texas six years ago and if only NASA had been a little more careful taking care of the cargo and debris that landed back on earth.At least that's what a Pennsylvania company is arguing.Acc ... More >>

Rocket Scientists Can't Spell

Space Case

Soccer in Space

Soccer in Space

Thrilled to Death

Riders may get more than they bargained for when they head to amusement parks this summer

Rocket Man

How one enterprising Johnson Space Center physicist followed his dream to Hollywood and porn stardom

Ringing from the Rooftops

Microcinema International gets political

Serious Cinema

Set in 1948, Kedma explores a present-day problem

Spaced Out

Saturation coverage for another space shuttle crash

Last Rites

Ghouls and grief along the Columbia debris trail

Last Rites

Ghouls and grief along the Columbia debris trail

Metal Help

The late William "Tray" Folliard, the Hard Rock, and stories from 'round town

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