This is fun, especially the part about the lunar rover. Maybe the guy with the jet-pack was busy!
WASHINGTON — NASA astronauts who recently returned from a trip to the International Space Station will join representatives from across the country and the nation’s armed forces in the 56th Inaugural Parade.
The NASA contingent will include a next-generation lunar rover that astronauts will use for future exploration of the moon. The parade will travel down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Jan. 20 following swearing-in ceremonies for President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden. Many of the participating astronauts — Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe, mission specialists Donald Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff — flew on space shuttle Endeavour in November 2008 on the STS-126 mission.
Astronaut Mike Gernhardt will drive the rover. Astronaut Rex Walheim, wearing a spacesuit, will ride with him. The Lunar Electric Rover is a concept vehicle about the size of a pickup truck that NASA is evaluating for use when humans return to the moon. The rover can house two astronauts for as long as 14 days. The vehicle has many unique features, including the ability to move its six pairs of wheels in any combination of forward and sideways motions, enabling it to scramble over rough terrain.
NASA will record video during the parade from a camera mounted on the lunar rover. A member of the lunar rover team will provide live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed throughout the event.
NASA photographers and videographers will document the agency’s participation in the inaugural activities. Images will be posted online at the agency’s Web site when they become available.
For photos and more information about NASA and inaugural activities, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
and
http://www.pic2009.org
NASA Television will air a video file of the parade footage and the video recorded on the rover as soon as possible following the parade’s conclusion. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
To access the NASA News Twitter feed and other agency Twitter feeds, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate
For more information about NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/LER.html
For information about STS-126 and the next space shuttle mission in February, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
- Have your Blog or news feed added to the toolbar ! See below.
- Summary of features on your toolbar . Also, see below.
Here’s a excellent opportunity for you to get up to date space news and information right on your desktop: the Space Info Toolbar . If at any time you see a yellow warning bar across the top of your browser asking you to confirm installation, click on “Allow.”
You can click on the toolbar to get immediate access to up-to-date space news and commentary from many spaces news sources and blogs – the toolbar also has an optional email notifier, weather reports and a built in Internet radio that works great (I’m listening to NPR as I write).
Easy install – so try it out now. Need more information? Watch this 5 minute video I made about the Space Info Toolbar . (Please wait a moment for the video to load when the new window opens).
Install the Space Info Toolbar . When you see a yellow confirmation bar at the top of your screen, click “Allow“.
Add Your feed
To have your own feed added to the toolbar , or to recommend a feed, please drop me a note at space (at) quallo.com with your blog feed address. Items that are space-related only, please. Current news sources listed and we are adding new ones as we get to them:
News
- Space news via Google
- Space News via Yahoo
- Space Daily
- Florida Today Space News
- Flight International Space
- ComSpaceWatch
- Space and Astronautics News
- SpaceWire Top Stories
- Space Station Top Stories
- SpaceRef Europe
Talk
- My Space Blog
- Jeff Krukin
- HobbySpace
- Transterrestrial Musings
- Space Ports
- Parabolic Arc
- NASA Watch
- AstroEngine
- Eureka Alert
- Universe Today
- Space Entrepreneurs – a thriving community!
- Space Jobs
- Recommended resources
Bodies
- China National Space Agency
- European Space Agency
- ISRO (India)
- Israel Space Agency
- Jaxa (Japan)
- NASA
- International Space Fellowship
- Bigelow Aerospace
- Masten Space
- Microcosm
- Orbital Sciences
- Rocket Racing League
- Space Adventures
- SpaceX
- United Launch Alliance
- XCOR Aerospace
Other
- Recommended resources
- Space Pictures
- Space launch videos
- Space bling
- Amazing Space
- Space-Travel
- Space Games (for your kids!)
Summary of features
Select any text on the web page you are on, and that text will automatically show up in the search bar, ready for a Google search. For instance, select the word Ares here and see how it shows up in the search bar.
Whatever text is in the search bar, if you click on the yellow highlighter 
it will highlight that text throughout the page. Try it now with the phrase Ares and see all the places where Ares is highlighted. You can do this on any page. Click the logo again to turn highlighting off.
You can add or remove any features from your toolbar in the options area (click the down arrow next to “Space Info”), including the email notifier, the weather, and the radio. There are several other items that can be added so check them out.
