---
title: 'Carnival of Space #99'
url: 'https://grav.alicesastroinfo.com/blog/carnival-of-space-99'
markdown: 'https://grav.alicesastroinfo.com/blog/carnival-of-space-99.md'
date: '2009-04-18'
description: 'Welcome, one and all, to the 99th edition of the Carnival of Space. I feel special to host the last two-digit Carnival (and I can’t wait to see who gets #100!). On with it! I present this week’s Carnival in the form of my best recipe for bread (my friends call it Alice Bread, and it is quite easy t…'
taxonomy:
  category:
    - 'AstroInfo Article'
    - Relinking
  tag:
    - 'Carnival of Space'
---

# [Carnival of Space #99](https://grav.alicesastroinfo.com/blog/carnival-of-space-99)

   18th Apr 2009   [Carnival of Space](https://grav.alicesastroinfo.com/tag:Carnival%20of%20Space#body-wrapper)  

Welcome, one and all, to the 99th edition of the [Carnival of Space](http://www.universetoday.com/carnival-of-space/). I feel special to host the last two-digit Carnival (and I can’t wait to see who gets #100!).

On with it!

I present this week’s Carnival in the form of my best recipe for bread (my friends call it Alice Bread, and it is quite easy to make):

1. First you need **1 Cup hot water** (as hot as you can get from the tap) – and in that vein [Christopher of the fairly new and piping hot Innumerable Worlds](http://innumerableworlds.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/the-wobbling-sun/) presents an analysis of the Sun’s wobble (What if we were looking back at ourselves from 10pc away? Would we detect the worlds we have here?).
2. Next, [Brian, Next Big Future, tells us about eensy-weensy solar sails](http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/04/passive-microscale-solar-sail-computer.html) that are probably smaller than the **1 Tbsp Regular Yeast** you’ll need next, and [space based solar power](http://nextbigfuture.com/2009/04/pge-signs-space-based-solar-power.html).
3. Make sure your yeast is at least as fresh as the [radio news from Nicole at One Astronomer’s Noise](http://astronoise.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/news-from-the-radio-spectrum/) – don’t try this with a packet that’s been in the back of your cupboard for years.
4. [A Babe in the Universe, Louise, celebrates Yuri’s Night](http://riofriospacetime.blogspot.com/2009/04/yuris-night.html) with at least **1 Tbsp Sugar**.
5. You can use any sweetener you like – just something for the yeast to eat, and to add a little flavor to the bread, and Alan from MSNBC offers a number of choices, addressing the questions of [space-based solar power](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30198977/), [Hubble’s “Hand” in space](http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/04/15/1894075.aspx), and [rocket racers](http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/04/08/1885925.aspx).
6. Mang from the 433rd faces the oil (**1 Tbsp Oil**, that is) and water of [the Pluto question](http://mangsbatpage.433rd.com/2009/04/last-planet.html).
7. Kimberly from the Chandra team shows us what Chandra is up to, [combining its data with that from other scopes](http://chandra.harvard.edu/blog/node/127), just like I use various oils to get various flavors in this bread: I use olive for a “French” bread, and canola for a slightly plainer taste.
8. [Emily, Planetary Society Weblog, loves the shadows on Saturn’s Rings](http://planetary.org/blog/article/00001909/), rings which we all know are made of tiny particles – just like the **3-5 Cups of Flour** you’ll require.
9. I use All-Purpose white flour from the USA – if you love whole wheat I’d do several experiments instead of using this recipe as is. Speaking of experiments, [Brian, the One-Minute Astronomer visited base camp for some very famous ones, and reports on his visit to Palomar](http://www.oneminuteastronomer.com/2009/04/06/palomar-mountain/). (Also, if you live in another country your flour may have a different gluten content, so try this recipe and let me know how it works, but the recipe is very flexible, so I’d expect it to turn out okay).
10. **Heat a bowl.** [Ian from AstroEngine examines the Sun’s theoretical binary companion](http://www.astroengine.com/?p=4695): it wouldn’t be very hot, comparatively, but still significantly hotter than you need to get the bowl you’ll be working with. I heat my bowl by running the backside of the bowl under hot water until it doesn’t feel cool anymore.
11. **Put your hot water in the heated bowl**, which is where the [Mars Sample Return missions](http://robotexplorers.blogspot.com/2009/04/mars-sample-return-1985-study-1986_15.html) [David at Rocket Explorers looks at](http://robotexplorers.blogspot.com/2009/04/mars-sample-return-1984-study-1984.html) never quite got.
12. **Mix sugar and oil in with the hot water** (the goal is to have warm, happy, well-fed yeast). I mean, if you were going to go meet aliens around another star, wouldn’t you want them to be warm, happy, and well fed? [Paul from Centauri Dreams talks about human interstellar flight versus robotic probes creating a “telepresence.”](http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=7274)
13. **Add yeast to your hot water mix.** [Paul of the Meridiani Journal examines strange formations on Mars](http://web.me.com/meridianijournal/meridianijournal/blog/Entries/2009/4/14_Unusual_circular_hills_on_Mars.html), much like the strange formations you’re about to observe in your yeast.
14. **Stir once**, and while you do so read [Stuart’s presentation “Rover Hugger”](http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/rover-hugger) (which I can’t wait to finish reading myself!).
15. **Wait until the yeast reproduces** (you’ll see it “bloom” or get foamy). This is the best part! This should take 2-5 minutes, and you can watch it happen before your very eyes. Ethan at Starts with a Bang has also been watching for evidence of “babies” on a much different scale and has the secret to why [nature decorates her galactic nurseries for girls](http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2009/04/when_galaxies_turn_pink.php).
16. **Add one cup of flour. Stir**, just like Colbert stirred up the ISS-module-naming community over the last few weeks. [Robert of Collect Space weighs in on the NASA/Colbert naming resolution](http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-041409a.html).
17. **Add another cup of flour. Stir**, and since he stirred up the community so well, [Irene from the Discovery Channel knows just what NASA should do about Colbert](http://blogs.discovery.com/news_space/2009/04/nasa-treads-lightly-on-comedian.html).
18. **Add a third cup of flour, knead in** – don’t cut like you would a pastry, or like Occam’s razor might if you were Tycho Brahe: [Ian of Astroblog wonders what the real role of parallax measurements in Tycho’s rejection of the Copernican system was](http://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2009/04/tycho-brahe-gets-shave.html).
19. [Hubble just keeps finding more cool stuff, in this case presented by Phil, the Bad Astronomer](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/14/hubble-catches-a-jet-collision/), and just like that, **if you need more flour, keep adding and kneading** – you want to have dough that forms a ball and stays that shape.
20. Don’t worry about overkneading, but also **don’t add more flour than you need** just because the recipe calls for 3-5 cups. Speaking of adding more than one might need (or perhaps not enough), [Shubber of the Space Cynics opines about the bailout’s effect on space projects](http://spacecynic.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/why-we-wont-fill-in-the-blank/).
21. If it’s stiff after just 2.5 cups, let it be – you’re done, but [Nancy from the Universe Today hopes this isn’t the case for our space station](http://www.universetoday.com/2009/04/14/life-of-the-iss-may-be-extended/) and that we extend the life of ISS.
22. **Oil a second bowl.** Use the same oil you used in the bread, and speaking of using something you’ve used before, [Bruce examines the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still over at 21st Century Waves](http://21stcenturywaves.com/blog/2009/03/24/klaatu-barada-nikto/).
23. **Place the dough in the bowl, turn once to get it coated in oil** – it might even look like the Moon [Alexander of Potentia Tenebras Repellendi is writing about in his search for the Moon’s mother](http://potentiatenebrasrepellendi.blogspot.com/2009/04/search-for-moons-mother.html).
24. [Darnell of Colony Worlds wonders if space elevators are rising in the right direction](http://www.colonyworlds.com/2009/04/are-traditional-space-elevators-wrong.html). Your bread certainly should be: **let it rise until it’s doubled in size**, covered and warm (About 45 minutes). I preheat my oven to about ~100F (I know, you can’t do that, I just turn it on for 10 minutes and then turn it off and keep it closed).
25. **Punch down, knead once or twice, and form into the shape you want** – perhaps the shape of [Ryan’s Moon rocks. He took a short detour from the Martian Chronicles to check out Moon rock processing at Johnson Space Center](http://martianchronicles.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/where-the-moon-rocks-live/). I make an oval on my baking sheet, but it works in a loaf pan too.
26. **Let rise again for at least 15 more minutes**, but you can let it go for up to 45. At least you don’t have to [wait 520 days like the people on the mission to Mars currently happening in Moscow. Bruce from Music of the Spheres reports](http://flyingsinger.blogspot.com/2009/04/mars-500.html).
27. **Bake in a greased or completely non-stick pan at 350° F for 45 minutes.** Speaking of baking, I really don’t want to be on this mission: [Ralph from Discovery Enterprise suggests we send crewed missions to Venus](http://discoveryenterprise.blogspot.com/2009/04/venus-not-mars-first.html), and [Alex found a video about a Mars mission based on Apollo technology](http://discoveryenterprise.blogspot.com/2009/04/voyage-to-mars-as-envisioned-by-stephen.html).

Okay, so my grammar had to get a little weird there, sorry. It’s kind of hard to make a carnival list fit a recipe.

Please comment to let me know about any mistakes. If you’re not out of time yet, don’t miss the past couple Carnivals:

- [Carnival of Space #97, Cheap Astronomy](http://www.cheapastro.com/index_files/Page3532.htm)
- [Carnival of Space #98, Universe Today](http://www.universetoday.com/2009/04/13/carnival-of-space-98/)

Have fun!

![](https://grav.alicesastroinfo.com/user/pages/blog/carnival-of-space-99/Mars.png)~ A l i c e !

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