In 1930 young American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh announced his finding of a tiny bright dot that moved, proving that it was a celestial body circling our sun and not just another star. Halfway around the world in England, 11-year-old Venetia Burney suggested that the new planet be named “Pluto,” for the Roman God of the Underworld who could make himself invisible. On 1 May 1930 the name “Pluto” was formally adopted for this new celestial body.

“If you had the chance to name a minor planet what would you name it?”

Richard Garriott has the best geek cred, ever. Not only was his father an astronaut, but also he earned a not-so-small fortune writing videogames. Garriott plays with the most awesome toys (he owns a freakin’ Sputnik), lives in the coolest house (featured on HGTV and MTV’s Cribs), and has the most fun of anyone you’ll ever meet.

We knew it was going to happen: sports free from the limitations of gravity. Following the bouncing ball takes on a whole new meaning when the ball can bounce of the ceiling, walls, floor, and especially when it's still in the hands of the player, also bouncing off the ceiling, walls, and floor.

During his flight to the International Space Station from 10 October to 24 October 2008, video game designer and first second-generation astronaut Richard Garriott had to planned a spacewalk outside the International Space Station wearing a to-die-for timepiece: the Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk watch. Alas, neither Garriott nor the Spacewalk walked in space.

Already struggling to get your kids interested in school again after a summer of mall walking, cell phone texting, and playing video games?

According to a BBC article , Blue Origin, the aerospace company launched by Amazon.com's founder Jeff Bezos, has released images of its spacecraft, which launched in November. The launch was viewed only by intimates of Bezos and his project but was captured on camera.

The New York Times has written an article about space fashion (registration required). In brief, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Rocketplane Ltd. are sponsoring a zero-gravity fashion competition "for clothes that look good in zero gravity. The best designs will appear in a fashion show in Tokyo this fall."

According to Business 2.0 magazine via CNN, even though suborbital tourism and space hotels do not currently exist, "[a]ll, however, have the potential to generate astronomical returns during the next decade."

The DVD "Gaia Selene: ...saving the Earth by colonising the Moon" by Screenwriter and Producer Charles Proser makes an unanswerable case that investing in developing space-faring capabilities such as large-scale solar energy and wireless power transmission, helium 3 collection and utilisation, and the use of other non-terrestrial resources including near-Earth asteroids and comets would pay a good return in the longer run.