With the holidays around the corner (or just ending if you are Jewish) there seems to be a reflection of when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Despite tradition placing his birth in late December, some astronomers think Christ may have been born in the summer time–based on the star hailing his entrance into the world.

(MSNBC) The show started on the morning of June 12 in 3 B.C., when Venus could be sighted very close to Saturn in the eastern sky. Then there was a spectacular pairing of Venus and Jupiter on Aug. 12 in the constellation Leo, which ancient astrologers associated with the destiny of the Jews.

The crowning touch came on June 17, when Jupiter seemed to approach so close to Venus that, without binoculars, they would have looked like a single star.

Their is a brief mention of a star in the scriptures, which many see as a prophetic hint towards the coming Messiah.

Although his birth and life are often the cause of debate on our planet (as one can notice by glimpsing over at Cosmic Log’s comment section) no one can deny that this man has probably influenced the world more than any other person (as our economy can at least tell you that).

Whether you are a theist, atheist, IDist or agnostic, I wish you all a Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah, Festivus, etc.).

Note: It’s not a space elevator, but it may be the worlds tallest Christmas tree (see this image for a reference).

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(Hat Tip: Robot Guy and Space Elevator Reference)

With LockHeed Martin drafting plans to construct its own space elevator, it looks like LiftPort may have some serious competition on its hands.

(Google Patents) A Space Elevator for transporting a payload from one point to another in outer space, includes a first structure, located at a first relatively fixed, non-zero orbital distance from the surface of the earth, for receiving payloads, a second structure, located at a second relatively fixed orbital distance from the surface of the earth, for receiving payloads, where the second distance is greater than the first distance, a third structure located near the center of gravity of the combined apparatus providing a platform for storing and/or processing payloads, and a payload transporting apparatus disposed between and interconnecting the first and third and second and third structural means.

Although this differs from LiftPort’s version of a space elevator, (which should probably be called a Sky Hook) LockHeed’s version would preserve the current rocket industry in its current status.

LiftPort’s version, although probably not in the best short term interests of any rocket company, would enable larger cargo to be hauled into space, not to mention giving most countries access to the final frontier.

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It looks as if the the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) has decided to regulate the upcoming space industry with minimal restrictions. This is a good thing as bureaucracy is the last thing the private sector needs.

(Zee News) Thrill-seekers looking to blast into space would need to be informed in writing of serious risks — including death — and promise not to sue the government under the first-ever rules for commercial space travel. [...]

The rules apply to American companies launching from anywhere in the world, and to foreign companies launching from US soil.

Virgin Galactic, run by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, is aiming to offer out-of-this-world vacations in 2008 for travelers willing to pay USD 200,000 apiece. Space Adventures Ltd of Vienna, Virginia, is making similar plans, as are other outfits.

The good thing about these rules is it allows the private sector to determine who is fit for space, as NASA’s requirement’s might exclude those who are disabled, or not “strong enough” to survive the trip up.

Of course the FAA is requiring that the pilots be fit and go through some training, although they are hinting that they will become heavily involved if fatalities start to “pile up” (although most of these companies would have financial reasons for avoiding these, as having passengers die is not good for business).

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After years of highlighting the benefits of machine over men, India is finally considering launching full blooded humans into space.

(The Space Review) India has long shunned manned spaceflight, given its expense and limited practical applications, the only exception being the flight of Rakesh Sharma on a Soviet-era Soyuz mission in 1984. However, in November a panel of Indian scientists and other officials (among them Sharma), endorsed a proposal to develop a manned spacecraft that could be launched by an upgraded version of India’s existing Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The program, according to an ISRO statement, would cost 100 billion rupees ($2.2 billion) over eight years: a not-insignificant sum for an agency whose current budget is around a half-billion dollars a year.

India probably realizes that unless they seriously consider sending their own citizens into space, there will be no emotional attachment to the stars, at least enough to justify the program.

With other nations drawing up plans to colonize the final frontier, it would be silly for India to simply focus on “robotizing” the cosmos that surrounds us.

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It seems with NASA and Google teaming up for space, there is serious discussing between the two about developing a real Google Mars and Google Moon, similar to the search engine giant’s version of Google Earth.

(NASA) As the first in a series of joint collaborations, Google and Ames will focus on making the most useful of NASA’s information available on the Internet. Real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle will be explored in the future.

“This agreement between NASA and Google will soon allow every American to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars,” said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin at Headquarters in Washington. “This innovative combination of information technology and space science will make NASA’s space exploration work accessible to everyone,” added Griffin.

This should make it much easier for people to explore our nearest neighbors without breaking the bank account (as $21 million for space trips can be quite expensive). Hopefully users will be able to construct models on both the red planet and our lunar friend above via Google Sketchup, which may aid scientists (not to mention space geeks) in building real life models of future space colonies.

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