Sure, we at Club Galahad watch television and go to movies. We read books and magazines. We have iPods. We are not immune (or opposed) to pop culture. But sometimes we do scratch our heads and wonder what constitutes news. You know, actual news. Something important that we should all know about.

Earlier this month, astronomers discovered 32 new planets, some of which are similar in size to Earth. Their findings bring the total number of known extrasolar planets to more than 400(!)… and these planets all have something to teach us. Which got us to wondering: Sure, most people know about the eight planets (sorry, Pluto) in our own solar system. But how many people know that there are hundreds of known planets in the galaxy? And how many people know the difference between a solar system and a galaxy anyway? Or that there are billions of galaxies in the observable universe? There was a time when there could be no BIGGER news than the discovery of even one new planet, let alone dozens of new planets. And yet this is probably the first you’re hearing about it. (more…)

You already know about NASA’s gift for space exploration. But did you know that at any given time, NASA has dozens of satellites orbiting the Earth that do nothing but analyze our own planet? It’s true. It is from these satellites that we get a lot of information on things we don’t normally associate with NASA — things like climate change, for instance.

At NASA’s website, their new Eyes on the Earth 3D project lets you explore the planet in amazing and interactive ways. You can follow the path of a satellite, check out real-time images of the Earth, learn about the equipment that is used to get information about our oceans and our atmosphere… and much, much more.

Go to the link above, watch the short demo video, and then go wild!

On the morning of Friday, October 9, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will smash-land into the belly of a crater called Cabeus near the south pole of the Moon. Oh yes, it’s going to be quite a sight. You should watch it live here.

Why, you might ask, are we assaulting the moon? Did it say something bad about us? Did it un-friend us on Facebook? Has it not been returning our calls?

As it turns out, this isn’t really a lunar attack at all. NASA designed the LCROSS mission in an attempt to find water on the moon, and scientists believe that Cabeus has a good chance of being the jackpot. The expectation is that Cabeus (and other craters) are home to H20 deposits left over by comets that have been colliding with the moon for billions of years. The LCROSS impact itself is expected to create a crater-within-the-crater that could be as much as 70 feet wide and 16 feet deep — and that could blast up enough lunar dust to fill almost 18 school buses.

Set your alarm clocks for Friday morning. The impact is expected to occur at around 7:30 a.m. Eastern, which is 4:30 for those of you out west. And have we mentioned that you can watch it live here??

You know, NASA is so busy exploring the universe that it’s hard to believe that they have time to maintain such a cool and interactive website. And yet somehow they do.

This month, NASA is asking you to upload a short video that answers this important question: Why is space exploration important? They aren’t looking for professionally-produced videos, either. You could probably shoot a few seconds of video with a cell phone and upload it to their site in just a few minutes. Each week they feature a handful of submitted videos on their site for all the world to see. Why couldn’t yours be featured next week?

If you submit a video to NASA, send it to us as well and we’ll post it on the Club Galahad site. What are you waiting for? Get to work!