Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with aerospace

Help me not be ignorant about satellites (and stuff)

universal_qlc — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:02:39 -0800

Can anyone point me to a good aerospace/defense industry blog? Despite the lack of eccentric personalities in the business and the fast product cycles, I'm hoping there's something out there along the lines of Techcrunch or the CNET blogs, or heaven forbid, Valleywag (i.e., "Did you see that deal Boeing just closed? Loral is going to flip AMIRITE?"). Most Google searches seem to point me to less polished blogs.

Thanks.

Is there a term to describe fiction about the space race and planetary colonization?

Ziggy Zaga — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:29:43 -0800

Is there a single term to describe fiction stories that are focused on the space race and planetary colonization? I'm thinking mostly along the lines of movies/books like "Gattaca" and "Starship Troopers," where the planet Earth (or a very, very similar planet in terms of appearance and human culture) is still a major setting but interplanetary travel is a routine thing, main characters have an obsession with rockets and leaving Earth, etc. Even "Alien" and the "System Shock" games could fall under this category by the first criteria, I suppose.

Suggestions for other media are cool but mainly I'm looking for a catchy term to describe it all, like "cyberpunk" or "steampunk" or "dystopian" or something.

"Spacepunk" perhaps?

Thanks

ad astra per aspera

phrontist — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:06:04 -0800

What's it like working for NASA these days? What will it be like in 5-10 years? I'm a sophomore in college (electrical engineering) thinking of working for NASA some time down the line. I'm fairly sure I know what to do to get there (I have friends who have done internships, I think have a fairly good idea what they value in recruiting), but I wonder what it's like to really work for them.

Do any MeFites work for NASA? Are there any good (candid) blogs out there by NASA employees? How do people inside feel about the agency's funding prospects in the future? How crazy is the government bureaucracy? What's the culture like? What are the strengths of the various locations?

Oh, and to be clear, I'm not an aspiring astronaut. Couldn't pay me enough to get strapped to a giant pillar of fuel to visit some specks near our own.

Music video about an aerospace engineer

tss — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:27:15 -0800

Seeking a music video about a daydreaming aerospace engineer in the 1950s. Details inside... I can't recall who the band was, though I don't think they were too obscure. The video showed up occasionally on Italian MTV in spring 2001 (but I don't think the band was Italian). It was made to look as if it had been shot in the 50s: it featured vintage cars, grainy (simulated) filmstock, slide rules, and extremely narrow neckties. The protagonist shows up at work, sits at a drafting table, gets lost in a fantasy, and winds up scribbling doodles on his plan documents. The song is soft and slow and features a single male voice. Any ideas?