GW190521 was the name given to a gravitational wave event observed by LIGO and VIRGO in May 2019, and after a year of analysis and modelling it's now clear that not only was this the largest gravitational wave event ever recorded, but, it required progenitor black holes which were more massive than can be created by a supernova. More information on LIGO & GW190521 https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/ https://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-GW190521/flyer.pdf https://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-GW190521/index.php https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0165/P2000021/012/gw190521-implications-main_20200901.pdf https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.251102 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtYwsw3hefc

Finally, after months of waiting I got in line at a Lego Store yesterday morning and came away with the newly released Saturn V set. For $120 you get a set with 1969 pieces standing 1 meter tall (to scale with 'trophy' models). It took me about 6 hours, on and off to build, interrupted by putting kids to bed and clearing up kitty barf, but in the end the set is amazing. The designers came up with a bunch of build tricks I'd never seen before in Lego and there aren't any custom molded parts, just a few painted pieces. Right now the model is back ordered and resellers are charging a huge markup, but if you wait a few weeks there'll be new stock. I livestreamed the build on twitch.tv - if you want to watch the full thing I've put it here: https://youtu.be/DCqsEKk6w90 ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvPreg-6D9c

The recent Electron rocket launch included a couple of previously undisclosed payloads - a satellite called "The Humanity Star" which is like a space disco ball designed to be easy to see from the ground. The second payload is an upper stage using a 'green' rocket fuel which extends the capabilities of the launch vehicle. So let's talk about the technology behind green rocket fuel research. Of you can just listen to this fine selection of space themed music: Space Disco Music https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYu7z3I8tdEkkhxYkSjRd6uKPSHH_i4RJ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7jn9VApYqU

It's almost 50 years since Apollo 13 lifted off onto what would become the definition of the 'successful failure', a mission where lives were very much at stake and the teams at mission control had to solve problems they'd not expected to bring the crew home safely. I wanted to re-create the 'adapter' that the crew had to make which would allow the Lithium Hydroxide canisters from the command module to work with the Lunar module's environmental control system. Using only the things they had on hand the crew had to 'fit a square peg in a round hole' so that they atmosphere would have remained breathable for the return Some good references for this procedure are on NASA's history site. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a13/a13_LIOH_Adapter.html https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap13fj/15day4-mailbox.html I 3D printed my canister prop using a design from Havazik, he was able to put this together in a couple of hours, I'd have taken days. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4245738 The 3D printer I use is a Prusa MK3 and it was a gift from Prusa Research, It was able to handle the filament running out and resumed after a power cut during the main print. http://prusa3d.com/ ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPBKBOuyYPI