The long-awaited sequel to Marvel’s most oddball film has finally arrived, opening May 5 in the US, and it lives up to the promise of the first. Visually spectacular, action-packed, with a surprisingly resonant emotional core, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 fleshes out the eclectic crew and their relationships, brings in new characters, and provides a big chunk of Oedipal drama to think about on the way home.
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I have fallen in love with this book as hard as I fell for the Guardians in 2014…
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The Marvel Cosmos is big. Really big. Hugely, mind-boggling big…
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A new Kickstarter game looks to educate the public about the physical hurdles and political challenges each NASA mission faces before becoming reality.
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Learn how to build your own easy rocket-launching system!
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SpaceX, the private space transport company founded and run by Elon Musk, has made yet another advance: rockets that not only don’t burn up in the atmosphere on the way down, but are actually capable of landing vertically on the exact spot from which they took off.
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Summer vacation is here! Or, it is looming in the not-so-distant future. Either way, kids are getting edgy and are requesting video suggestions to keep them entertained for a few minutes. So, this week’s video playlist features videos the GeekMom writers’ kids enjoy.
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I now have something new to do with my extra Soda Stream bottles.
Continue ReadingWe’ve previously highlighted the Firefly, an Arduino-compatible system with onboard power, charging, data logging, and radio communications–all the standard stuff that can take a while to piece together individually. The flexible “mission control” board can be used for a variety of projects …
Continue ReadingWhen it’s hot, and you need some excitement, it’s time for water rockets.
Continue ReadingOver at the GeekDad Community, Rick Schertle is looking for suggestions on modding a compressed air rocket. The project, which you can find posted on the Make blog, is a fun one and one my family built a couple of …
Continue ReadingIn a stunning display this morning, NASA successfully launched all 5 of the rockets for the ATREX experiment. I provided some information about the ATREX mission last week. ATREX stands for Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment and consisted of 5 sounding …
Continue ReadingNASA is attempting to launch five rockets in five minutes from the Wallops Flight Facility this month. So far, conditions have not been favorable but the window of opportunity is open until April 3rd. The five rockets will launch into …
Continue ReadingEvery year, my family celebrates the eight days of Hanukkah with eight fun experiments. We’re at it again this year, starting with a balloon rocket experiment. It’s an easy, playful way to demonstrate Newton’s third law of motion. It’s also a good bridge to talking about air pressure, thrust, velocity, and a gateway to a […]
Continue ReadingFritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz of Maine have done it again. After captivating the internet five years ago with colorful displays created from Diet Coke and Mentos, they have since kicked it up a notch. Using 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 pieces of Mentos they have created a single-passenger rocket car. After a previous attempt […]
Continue ReadingIn a press conference this morning, NASA Administrator General Charles Bolden announced a new, advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle dubbed simply the Space Launch System, or SLS. The SLS will have an initial capability to lift 70 metric tons and will …
Continue ReadingNASA today unveiled the new rocket system that will continue the manned space program for the next few decades.
Continue ReadingOur family celebrates the holidays with science! For each night of Hanukkah, we do a different experiment. This year, we used two fabulous books for inspiration: The Book of Totally Irresponsible Science: 64 Daring Experiments for Young Scientists and The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science: 50 Experiments for Daring Young Scientists. The experiments we picked […]
Continue ReadingEducation systems are a mess the world over. We know this, but we are dauntless geek parents. When we’re given a lemon situation, we don’t just make lemonade; we make rocket fuel! I don’t actually know if it’s possible or wise to launch a rocket using citrus, but if that’s what it takes to keep […]
Continue ReadingThe United States’ government-run manned spaceflight program was given a one-two punch in the last year. In August 2009, the Augustine Commission (appointed by the Obama administration) recommended that NASA look to commercial space operators to take on the burden …
Continue ReadingDriving home the other day, I saw an enormous pile of Christmas trees at the park. City workers take the old trees and drop them in local lakes to form a habitat for fish. I thought to myself, driving past …
Continue ReadingSo, what do you do after you set a world record by building and launching a nearly-four-story model rocket? If you’re Steve Eves, you set your sights even higher: The Northeast Ohio guy who crafted a 1/10th scale Saturn V …
Continue ReadingFrom the GeekDad mailbag, we’ve received the following request: My son and I have decided to build and fly our own model rocket. However, I am hopelessly mechanically and electronically dopey. I’m bad at gluing together models. I can’t do …
Continue ReadingAttention East Coast dads: this Tuesday night is your chance to wow the kids with something they’ve probably never seen before — and it won’t cost you a dime. NASA is scheduled to conduct an extremely rare rocket launch from …
Continue ReadingOn Saturday, Steve Eves did in fact enter the record books with the launch of the largest model rocket ever: a 1:10 scale model of a Saturn V. I’d hoped to be there, as I mentioned in my original article, …
Continue ReadingIt’s the kind of story that makes you ask yourself, "How big does a model rocket have to be before it stops being a model and becomes real?" Also, if you’re anything like me, it makes you really want to rearrange your schedule so you can watch the 8,000 pounds of thrust take it into […]
Continue ReadingThe launch schedule for remaining two Space Shuttle launches in 2008 has been changed. The adjustments took place once Tropical Storm Hanna had moved beyond the Kennedy Space Center. STS-125, Shuttle Atlantis’ mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, is now planned for October 10, 2008. Shuttle Endeavor’s STS-126 mission to resupply the International Space […]
Continue ReadingIn my continuing quest to see every aerospace related attraction across the country (as my poor wife can wearily testify) the family and I recently visited Space Center Houston, the official visitor’s center for the Johnson Space Center. If you have just emerged from a 50-year stint in cryogenic suspension, the Johnson Space Center is […]
Continue ReadingTickets go on sale this Monday, August 25, 2008 at 9:00 AM EDT to view the next launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center. The STS-125 mission will be the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. This rare night launch is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8, 2008 […]
Continue ReadingCar racing is so two-dimensional, and regular airshow races just don’t have the zing needed to really hit it big. What do they need? Rockets, of course! Back in April, we previewed the Rocket Racing League, and this week they held their first exhibition flights at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Racers […]
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