NASA Adopts X-Planes.

A British Concept.

I am a bit limited to my night sky videos of only the Moon, since it is the nearest object in the night sky to catch apart from the International Space Station (ISS).  NASA has announced this year, 'That it has found a replacement to its former Space Shuttle, quite a profound bit of tech.'

The Space Shuttle was really 1960's tech in the 1990's and even beyond the millennium was costing a fortune to maintain. A mini shuttle (X37) was developed to carry out sole military operation and was secret, until the amateur astronomers observed its orbits.

The X-Plane that is now being considered was a British concept thought up by the Astronomical Society in the 1970-80's in Vauxhall, London. U.K. 

This concept aircraft could be launched either by rocket platform, as the Shuttle or take off on the piggy back of another larger aircraft and fire off in high altitude into Space. 

It would then make its return under its own power just like a conventional aircraft, where as the Space Shuttle was really a giant glider. If the X-Plane concepts are ever built, we will have our first true Space Ships, now that Star Trek marks its 50th Anniversary.

The night Sky.

The Moon and the Stars.

Humanity has always been fascinated with looking up at the night sky, that is because we have had to live with seeing it. We have the Moon that dominates our sky and then it is followed by various stars, which today we know as planets in our Solar system.

The Moon is the nearest object to photograph or film with any modern digital camera. The detail obtained can be very good. But you can also do much astronomy too, filming Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus.

I have made a couple of films of the Moon and plan to make a few more, when the clouds depart.