the buzz log

When was the last time anything from NASA made you say, "Whoa, that's cool"? Sometime during the Kennedy administration? Your justifiable cynicism may be about to disappear. A new and very impressive-looking moon buggy prototype has been unveiled by America's space agency.

The buggy looks nothing like the tin foil-like moon rovers from years past. This thing is straight out of a Spielberg flick, with an impressive glass cockpit, iPod-like color scheme, and room for four passengers. Additionally, according to this video from the Houston Chronicle, the rover can also serve as a mobile living quarters. No need for astronauts to return to their base every night — they can do the space equivalent of car camp instead.

So what about the specs? MSNBC hosts an informative article. Apparently, the rover's top speed will be anywhere from 6-15 miles per hour. Not exactly the General Lee, but what it lacks in speed, it makes up for in maneuverability. During a test run in the Arizona desert, the buggy "outpaced Hummers, Jeeps, and rugged trucks." It can even "dip and rise like a low rider." 

But don't get too excited just yet. It's still only a prototype. And even if development goes perfectly, this vehicle won't see the moon's surface until 2020. That's a long way away, but those who can't wait should tune in next Tuesday. The lunar rover will make its public debut during Barack Obama's inaugural parade, where it will show off its moves for the new president. 

Filed under: NASA

It's hard enough getting up when the alarm blares every morning. Imagine if the dang-blasted thing set itself ahead 40 minutes every day. This sounds like a cruel hoax, but for a group of NASA scientists and engineers, it's the real deal.

The men and women working on the Phoenix Mars Lander mission have committed themselves to living on Mars time. And it ain't easy. Due to the Red Planet's orbit, its days never run parallel to Earth's. Instead, each dawn shifts forward 40 minutes. According to this popular article on Space.com, the project controllers are conforming to a schedule that's "like traveling two time zones every three days." Ouch.

Hopefully, the bleary-eyed space workers won't be too wiped out to celebrate a milestone birthday. Today marks NASA's 50th birthday. To mark the occasion, Popular Mechanics has a cool interactive graphic charting every space launch ever, from the earliest days of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry to the sleek design of Burt Rutan's suborbital plane. 

Filed under: NASA, Space, Mars

We've seen a lot of strange searches since Buzz first landed. But "astronaut diapers" is definitely a new one. Yet, that's just one search among many in the peculiar tale of space-age love, lunacy, and felony charges that has planted its flag at the very top of the Search box.

On Monday, NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy captain Lisa Marie Nowak (+1,649%) appeared in Florida after driving all night from Texas—a ride that employed the aforementioned bathroom aid. There, she donned a disguise and violently confronted U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman (+1,631%), a woman she saw as a rival for the affections of space shuttle pilot William Oefelein (+937%). Now, Nowak faces charges of attempted kidnapping and murder, NASA (+333%) grapples with questions about astronauts' psychological screening, and Search has absorbed a planet's worth of buzz.

Besides the astonishing spikes in the names of this Tang-flavored love triangle, we logged out-of-this-atmosphere surges for "astronaut" (+1,536%), "kennedy space center" (+796%), and "international space station" (+200%). Meanwhile, interest in "astronaut arrest," "kidnapping," and "love triangle" has joined "diapers" as never-before-glimpsed queries blasting upwards in Buzz.

Filed under: NASA, Crime