[Note: This review is reprinted from the May 2011 issue of Moon Miner's Manifesto] “Blogging the Moon” by Paul D. Spudis. Published in 2011 by Apogee Prime, it weighs in at 328 pages, plus a DVD of his talk “Luna Nova” and a slideshow of his personal Moon quest over … Continue reading →

Howdy everyone! Just taking a break here from various projects to point out some consumer culture items helping to set a Moon mood this week. First up, is Apollo 18. Billed as “found footage” from a secret government mission to the Moon in 1974, it opens Friday around the country: … Continue reading →

“Crater” by Homer Hickam. Published in 2012 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., it weighs in at 302 pages, plus a two-page Reading Group Guide. Reviewer is particularly pleased that no editing errors were noted. Crater Trueblood is an orphan on the Moon, raised in a Lunar company town that mines Helium-3 … Continue reading →

Rob here – been a loooong time since I have posted at Out of the Cradle – but today I couldn’t stay away. In the very early days of OotC I live-blogged several of the first launch attempts of Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon One rocket. SpaceX have come a long … Continue reading →

Well, the Falcon 9 countdown went down to zero, the engine ignition sequence started, but was aborted by the computer controlling the launch because of a sensor reading that the chamber pressure on number five engine was abnormally high. The Falcon launch sequence is designed to hold the rocket on … Continue reading →

SpaceX have inspected the engine that gave the anomalous chamber pressure reading, and have found a faulty valve. They plan to have it replaced in time for the next launch attempt on Tuesday at 3:44 am.