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]

The project is aimed at implementing large-scale space exploration programs, including a manned mission to Mars, interplanetary travel, the creation and operation of planetary outposts. The implementation of this project will allow us to reach a new technological level surpassing foreign developments.

It would only take nine years to fully develop at the tune of $US600 million, which is spare change compared to all the economy stimulus plans in place. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev—knowing that this will generate money and specialised jobs, and push Russia to a new scientific level—has backed the project and wants the government to pay for it.

Meanwhile, the Guys With the Right Stuff are seeing their projects scrapped, with Constellation about to get cancelled, and the shuttle getting killed. Godspeed America, godspeed. Let’s go to KFC and sink our hope in greasy chicken and cheap beer. [Yahoo via Universe Today]

OK, so it looks like a flying condom.

NASA says that the six minute flight was a success. In fact, they said the vehicle flew better than expected. Good work, my dearest space boffins. Watch the video here.

Images by the AP

After yesterday’s launch cancellation, Ares I-X—the biggest US rocket since the Saturn V—has launched successfully. In case you missed it, here is the video of the whole launch, including the separation of its upper stage. Godspeed, Ares I-X!

After a slight delay this morning, countdown resumed on T minus four minutes at 9.46am Eastern Time (12.46am AEST). There’s a cloud formation flying over the pad right now, so they have frozen the countdown. Weather station will return an estimate in five minutes.

Update 1: Upper atmosphere weather is all good through the launch window, till noon today, so as soon as the clouds clear up, the countdown will resume.

Update 2: Countdown has resumed! T minus four minutes and counting.

Update 3: Countdown on hold at T minus two minutes 39 seconds, again for the weather. Damn Florida weather.

Update 4: Countdown back to T minus four minutes. Standing by.

Update 5: Flight director says they are giving it one last go. Launch window ends at 12pm (3am AEST).

Update 6: Launch has been scrubbed because of the bad weather. Ares I-X is being secured. Stay tuned for more news about the next launch attempt.

Go watch live it at [NASA TV]

But Schule spent Tuesday afternoon calling the FBI, Homeland Security, the Sheriff’s Department – every agency he could think of. He was stuck in a bureaucratic limbo.

“Everyone was handing it off to everybody else,” Schule said.

He was surprised at the amount of work it took to get the military to pick up its lost missile launcher.

Schule called the military police at Fort Sam. But their jurisdiction doesn’t extend off the post. Schule’s information was passed along to an Army criminal investigator, who visited Schule on Wednesday morning – about 19 hours after he started making phone calls.

Markings identified the weapon as a guided missile launcher built in 1996. It still has the 13-digit military stock number that will be used to identify its origins and, possibly, how it might have wound up on the property of a man who lives miles from a military installation. Could there be crazy Texans out there hunting deer with black market military missile launchers? Honestly, I wouldn’t be that surprised. [MySA News via Neatorama]

This isn’t a piece of junk toy rocket powered by air pressure either. Inside the box is real rocket fuel, which apparently contains “a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer”. Hard-core!

I so can’t wait for the weekend to send this baby sky-high. Stay tuned for video hopefully some time next week!

The particular setup for this was sound activated. The lens was destroyed (worth it of course) but the camera survived this one despite being severed from its ratchet straps and thrown to the ground, and the sound device used for this one disconnected from the camera and thrown about 200 feet backwards into the pad perimeter fence (still worked!). All settings are preset manually. No one is allowed closer than several miles from a launch.

Well, that’s awesome. [Airliners.net, Thanks, Jason!]

You see? Nothing out of the ordinary here. Just a fully-functional Victorian house car on wheels tooling around the Nevada desert.

Be warned: The rest of the images in the gallery link below are light on gadgetry/vehicles and heavy on WTF, sexy Mad Max hippies, fire breathing and even some bondage. [LA Times]