Astrosphere for May 18, 2007

I didn’t do the astrosphere yesterday because of the Carnival of Space yesterday. But here we are again, with a whole new collection of stories.

But first, I’m going to be hosting the 4th Carnival of Space one more time next week, before passing the torch along. If you want to get involved this week, email me a link to a blog post that you’ve written, and I’ll link to it.

NASA has released new images showcasing their Constellation Program. Now you can get a better idea of what the spacecraft and landing systems are going to look like. Thanks to the Rocketry Blog for the tip.

I’m eyeing a Celestron SkyScout as a potential gadget to buy. The Astroprof, has a review.

Astroblog has a nice graphic put together for what you’ll see if you head outside on Sunday, May 20 and look to the West: Venus and the Moon close together.

Alan Boyle at the Cosmic Log is reporting that James “Scotty” Doohan’s ashes have been recovered, after the memorial spacecraft carrying them went missing for 2 weeks.

Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait has stepped up and made a public apology after acting insensitive on his blog to a woman who suffered an internal decapitation, and survived.

PBS ran a demonstration of 3 different science shows last Fall, letting people vote for the one they like best. The clear winner to me was Wired Science, based on the magazine. Well, PBS thought so too, and is going to go ahead with it. Woohoo! Thanks to the Scientific American blog for the tip.