Goodbye Cassini
After 20 years in space, and 13 years orbiting Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft’s mission ended dramatically last Friday. Here, btw takes a look at why the spacecraft was important, some of its key discoveries, and why it’s so hard to say goodbye. A Spacecraft is Born Cassini was launched on October 15, 1997. Named for […]
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It’s Good to be Bored? What do you do when you find yourself with five or ten minutes of unexpected free time? Chances are, you reach for your phone to message a friend or scroll through social media. But research is beginning to show that the over-stimulation brought on by this technology habit is having […]
Bidding Farewell to John Glenn
John Glenn, the American astronaut and former senator, died December 8 at age 95. Last weekend, roughly 2,500 mourners–among them, Vice President Joe Biden–gathered at Ohio State University to pay tribute to the hero. A funeral procession through the center of Columbus carried Glenn’s casket past thousands more mourners, including Ohio Governor John Kasich, who […]
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Trump Settles Lawsuits Last Friday, President-elect Donald Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle three civil fraud lawsuits filed against himself and against Trump University, his now-defunct real estate training program. The settlement came ten days before jury selection was set to begin and marks a reversal for Trump, who has previously claimed that he […]
The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Space Coast
In 2011, NASA retired its 30-year-old shuttle program when Atlantis returned from its mission, touching down at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This week, btw takes a look at what has happened to the area after the loss and the revival that is emerging in its place. The Space Age In a […]
Remembering the Space Shuttle Challenger
On January 28, 1986, NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all seven who were on-board, including the first civilian into space. Amid the wave of tributes in recent weeks, btw remembers this tragedy and points out some lessons. Background In 1972, President Richard Nixon announced the development of NASA’s space shuttle program. Unlike previous missions, the new […]
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Close Up on Pluto Back in 2006, NASA launched New Horizons, a mission to explore the Kuiper belt. This is the region of our solar system that lies beyond our planets and includes Pluto. On July 14, the unmanned spacecraft made its closest approach, getting within 7,800 miles of the former planet (downgraded to dwarf […]
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Cruz Announces Bid for Nomination We’re ramping up to “election season,” where candidates from both the Republican and Democratic parties formally announce his or her bid for their party’s nomination. Last month, btw introduced you to nine Republican nominee hopefuls who recently addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Among them was Ted Cruz, who […]
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Clip Art Gets Cut Do you use graphics to make things like digital presentations for school projects? How about plain old emoticons? Back in the early days of computers, before anyone could do an “image search” on the Internet, there was something called Clip Art (a collection of pre-made, royalty-free images) as a part of […]
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Update on Mars Rover Back in 2012, btw brought you news of the successful landing of the Mars rover, Curiosity. A year later, we reported on the disappointing news that life on the red planet is officially highly unlikely. This week, btw reports that Curiosity has reached its primary destination, the base of Mount Sharp. […]