Somehow this simple comparison makes the moon landing seem so much more REAL on a human, experiential level. Brilliant move, NASA.
The map's gigantic - click here to view.
Kottke also has links to the moonwalks supered over a soccer pitch, and a movie backlot (for conspiracy-theorist types).
The director of Jumper continues making the sci-geek rounds, and gives a candid interview to io9. The first thing out of his mouth is a gem of unintentional hilarity:
io9: What was the most challenging aspect of making a film that involved teleportation?Liman: We did everything for real.
Yeah, I'd imagine reconstituting the physical laws of the universe would be pretty challenging. And while staying on budget? Hell, he's Einstein and Thalberg rolled into one!
Continue reading 'Why Doug Liman deserves a Nobel Prize AND the Irving Thalberg Award' >
From our friends at
Strange flying-saucer-shaped moons embedded in Saturn's rings have baffled scientists studying images transmitted by the ESA's Cassini Spacecraft. New research suggests that the oddly shaped moons, Pan and Atlas, are born largely from clumps of icy particles in the rings themselves, a discovery that could shed light on how Earth and other planets formerd from the disk of matter that once surrounded our newborn sun.
Animation of the moon's formation after the jump...
Continue reading 'How Saturn's 'UFO' Moons formed [video]' >
Everyone digs retro stuff. I haven't changed my pants for decades — yeah, they smell, but you just can't find acid-washed bellbottoms like these anymore. NASA is basically doing the same thing with their new Orion rocket missions, which will see the return of Apollo-style rockets and space capsules used to complete missions to the International Space Station and eventually the moon.
Rockets came back into fashion at NASA because they are safer and better-designed than the aging, disaster-prone shuttle fleet, and they have better long-range capability than shuttles. Still, it's more than just a matter of pulling the old Gemini out of the closet and Febrezing away that musty Gus Grissom smell:
"We could have already built up an early lunar outpost, or smaller ones at different places of interest," says NASA's administrator Michael Griffin. "Most of the next 15 years will be spent recreating capabilities we once had, and discarded."
Image taken last week by China's lunar orbiter, the Chang'e 1, reveals that the moon has changed little in 40 years, which is totally unsurprising given that it's a cold, dead, airless chunk of abiotic rock
(credit: Xinhua)
"The Chinese nation is fully able to stand tall among the world's ranks of advanced nations," said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday, without even a trace of irony.
Continue reading 'New moon images from China indistinguishable from old moon images from America' >
Watch the video. Then watch it again. And again. And then, finally, look up as you say "Goodnight, Moon" and pray to god that the robot with a planned "launchable/releasable grappling hook" carrying payloads of up to 20 tons doesn't come for you in the night. Oh, and by the way, NASA plans to integrate a "useful "voice and gesture" command mode to enable suited astronauts to interact with these vehicles." That way you can beg for your life.
Continue reading 'NASA "a decade or so" from launching ninja robot' >
My dad has a semi-irrational fear of an impending Chinese takeover. All it takes is one Chinese-manufactured component on his grill breaking and he's foaming at the mouth about how my sister will have to learn Cantonese before she can finish her grad degree. We had to administer a rectal sedative when he discovered China supplies crucial airplane components to Boeing.
The news that China successfully launched a lunar probe yesterday probably sent him into an epic fit (I should check on mom). The Chang’e-1 satellite, named after a Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, took off from a site in Sichuan Province, according to state-run media.
Continue reading 'China launches first moon probe, dad warns of "Red Menace"' >
