space flight center

Got $20k? If so, you may be able to purchase the 166-page Ph.D. dissertation written by German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun in 1934. Von Braun was the technical director of Germany's V-2 rocket program during World War II and later became the first director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, where he led the development of the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon. He also wrote regularly for Popular Science.

The dissertation, which includes hand-written notes and charts, is recognized as an important milestone in modern rocketry. It was originally classified as "top secret" and remained unpublished until 1960.

The auction will take place on December 4 at Bonhams New York.—Dawn Stover

Image: Bonhams

The alien microbes are supposed to be discovered when spacecraft return to Earth, not before they've left, right? Not according to a new study of several NASA clean rooms—the supposedly sterile environments in which engineers assemble and test the components of various spacecraft before launch.

By sampling the air and surfaces in clean rooms at the Jet Propulsion Lab, Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Flight Center, scientists uncovered nearly 100 types of bacteria. And about 45% of them are believed to be novel. The study should help scientists improve the clean room environment, which will in turn reduce the risk of interplanetary spacecraft dropping our organisms on far-off worlds.—Gregory Mone

Via NY Times