Cross promotions sometimes don’t make much sense. I’ve got nothing against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for agreeing to pitch NASA to youngsters, but really, there are better ways to capture youth attention.

The Rock just wants to make sure we remember that NASA’s responsible for the rubber soles on our shoes, and the (apparently humorous) inclusion of freeze-dried fruit in cereal. But c’mon, NASA. We need fewer celebrity endorsements, more trips to Mars if we want to keep kids convinced the organisation has reason to exist. [Techland]

This video shows Earth’s weather from August 17-26, 2009. It also shows how beautiful this planet is and how insignificant we are. It was created at a 7km resolution with NASA’s GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model.

The GEOS-5 atmospheric model was developed by NASA Goddard’s scientists. It’s based on the Earth System Modelling Framework, an open-source project “for building climate, numerical weather prediction, data assimilation and other Earth science software applications”.

To really appreciate its beauty, you can watch the 1080p high definition video at NASA. [NASA via @NASAGoddard]

Get the wallpaper-sized version at NASA. [NASA]

The video is in French, but le crap and le boom don’t need much translation:

Seriously, I don’t know why NASA is always whining for more money from Congress. [Koreus]

But that doesn’t mean they’re expecting much. Even though NASA has spent half a year planning how to get the rover out of the loose sand it’s stuck in, every step will be dependent on what happens during the previous one. Right now NASA only has six forward rotations of Spirit’s wheels planned. They anticipate extreme slippage, and will have to re-evaluate the next steps once that first minuscule motion is completed.

If work continues at that pace, it’s easy to see why escape efforts are planned to last until 2010. Even if Spirit can’t get out of the sand trap that swallowed it, there’s still plenty of good the rover can do while stationary. Just know that, whatever happens, we’re all pulling for you little buddy. [Network World via Slashdot]

That’s what NASA is planning to do: use squirrel monkeys to test the possible effect of radiation in humans for long-term space missions. This is the first time the agency is going to test with monkeys since the days of the Mercury Project.

They plan to bomb 27 squirrel monkeys with high-energy gamma-ray radiation, the equivalent of what astronauts could get in a three-year voyage. This obviously can result in two things: monkeys dying in pain or giant green monkeys destroying the whole East Coast.

Clearly, a lose-lose situation.

The $US1.75 million project has encountered strong opposition from animal welfare organisations, but NASA spokesman Bill Jeffs gives a good argument:

NASA-funded research has shown that simulated space radiation can affect nerve cells in culture and also the behaviour of mice and rats, but these studies are limited in the extent they can be extrapolated to human behaviour and performance. Studies in nonhuman primates are essential to be able to best predict neurobehavioral effects of radiation on humans.

Would you prefer 27 squirrel monkeys dying in experiments or six dead astronauts in a capsule floating on the Pacific Ocean? [Space.com]

It’s an announcement that’s been expected for some time.

Are we talking about enough water for astronauts to actually live off? That’s what NASA is analysing now, attempting to scale the results of the small section studied by LCROSS. But “it’s water like any other water,” NASA said, though it’d need purification to drink. I guess that whole moon bombing didn’t turn out so boring after all. [CNN]

While the concept is not new, this prototype is fully working and operational. Created by Jing Li and a team of researches at NASA’s Ames Research centre, Moffett Field, California, the sensor is a multiple-channel silicon-based sensing chip integrated in micro-board with 64 nanosensors.

The low-cost, low-power system can detect minimal concentrations of ammonia, chlorine gas and methane, showing the values in an iPhone application. It can automatically communicate the results with other mobile phones or the Enterprise’s computer using Wi-Fi or 3G, and order massive teleportation evacuations if needed. OK, not true. No teleportation yet, but we are getting there. [NASA]

For that, they would have had to ascend the ribbon with an average speed of 18km/h. They didn’t quite reach that goal but it appears that we are finally making real progress on a concept first proposed in 1895. What’s more, the ground laser that was used to charge the photovoltaic cells used half the power than their previous model with far better results. This year’s contest has not concluded, and there is the possibility that another team could equal or surpass LaserMotive’s results. But at the very least there is reason to believe that the idea of an elevator that reaches space might not be so far-fetched after all.

[AP via PopSci]