Help NASA name Node 3... after Whedon's Firefly!

Pic from gizmodo.com

NASA is running a contest on its website for the name of the next Node space station. The contest ends March 20, 2009. The website says:

Help us to name another important addition to the station - Node 3 and its cupola!

NASA wants your opinion in naming the International Space Station’s Node 3 – a connecting module and its cupola – before the two segments travel to space and are installed on the orbiting laboratory. The name should reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station, and follow in the tradition set by Node 1- Unity- and Node 2- Harmony.

Well, "Serenity" (the name of the ship in Joss Whedon '87's Firefly) fits pretty perfectly with that theme - and right now, it seems the rest of the Internet agrees, since it's winning with 82% of the vote.

Support Wesleyan alumni - vote for "Serenity" at the NASA website!

Great Gig in the Sky

If a gigantic asteroid wipes out all life on Earth, it best be set to some ethereal Pink Floyd. Watch for some fairly harrowing/awesome apocalyptic imagery:

Arthur C. Clarke: the Great Monolith Beyond

Arthur C. Clarke, the guy who kind of helped invent our concept of space, passed away earlier this week in Sri Lanka. Best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke was a prolific writer of science fiction and was optimistic, even prophetic, about the role that satellites would eventually play in communications technology and space exploration. Whether his ideas about the direction of human evolution pan out still remains to be seen.