The decade in news photographs

at The Big Picture.. my favorite:

On May 19th, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th martian day, or sol. Spirit was commanded to stay awake briefly after sending that sol's data to the Mars Odyssey orbiter just before sunset. The image is a false color composite, showing the sky similar to what a human would see, but with the colors slightly exaggerated.

New hi-res photos of lunar landing sites

Hmmm. How did they manage such a remarkably realistic fake from a film studio on Earth, 230,000 miles away? I must check with my local conspiracy theorist...

A different perspective on Iran

Via TBP...

Tidal channels near Iran's Qeshm Island. (NASA/JSC) [map]

A port near Bandar Abbas, Iran. (NASA/JSC) [map]

Friday video blag

WolframAlpha looks amazing.

HD video of Atlantis shuttle launch. (for reliable playback of the 185MB version, right click here and "save link as")

They call it a Chinese car test crash failure, but it seemed like a pretty successful crash to me.

TMV: Harmonizing with oneself.

Ah, French music! Who can object?

Photo of the day

A nearly full Moon sets as the space shuttle Discovery sits atop Launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Last week's launch

The STS-119 mission of space shuttle Discovery blasts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, FL on a mission to the International Space Station, March 15, 2009