“Go for launch” — time-lapse of STS-131 from prep to launch

Follow link for Video: “Go For Launch!”: Scott Andrews/ Stan Jirman/ Philip Scott Andrews. (Unable to embed on this page.)

In this unique time-lapse video created from thousands of individual frames, photographers Scott Andrews, Stan Jirman and Philip Scott Andrews condense six weeks of painstaking work into three minutes, 52 seconds (read here how they did it). The action starts in the hangar-like Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery has been outfitted for its STS-131 mission. The vehicle is then towed to the 525-foot-high Vehicle Assembly Building, hoisted into a vertical position and lowered onto its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Then it’s off to the pad on the giant Mobile Launcher Platform, where the shuttle is encased in its protective Rotating Service Structure until just before launch on April 5, 2010. The film ends with a glimpse of Discovery and the STS-131 astronauts coming in for a landing 15 days later, back in Florida where it all started. (3:52)

The thing that struck me the most seeing this was the people look so much like a colony of ants rushing around getting things done.

The other impressive part was the seeming ease with which they swing the shuttle around to get it attached to the boosters. It’s the time-lapse, sure, but still it just looked so slick.

NASA – “Earth As Art”

I so totally wish this were a large coffee-table art book printed on high quality archival paper…. I would BUY this…

via NASA – "Earth As Art".

In 1960, the United States put its first Earth-observing environmental satellite into orbit around the planet. Over the decades, these satellites have provided invaluable information, and the vantage point of space has provided new perspectives on Earth. This book celebrates Earth’s aesthetic beauty in the patterns, shapes, colors, and textures of the land, oceans, ice, and atmosphere. The book features 75 stunning images of Earth from the Terra, Landsat 5, Landsat 7, EO-1, and Aqua satellites. Sensors on these satellites can measure light outside of the visible range, so the images show more than what is visible to the naked eye. The images are intended for viewing enjoyment rather than scientific interpretation. The beauty of Earth is clear, and the artistry ranges from the surreal to the sublime.

“Earth As Art” E-Book @ nasa (PDF download).

Space Ipsum

Very cool net thing. Lorem Ipsum generators abound, but this one is right near to my heart. The random bits generated come from people talking in, or about, space.

Have you ever needed filler text, but wished you had more exciting options then the generic “lorem ipsum” variations? If so, you are in luck! We’ve created this space themed random content generator, that uses phrases from historic moments in spaceflight.

By @seanherron, @skytland, and @eshgah

via Space Ipsum.

Example:

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

The surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles. There seems to be no difficult in moving around, as we suspected.

The vehicle explodes, literally explodes, off the pad. The simulator shakes you a little bit, but the actual liftoff shakes your entire body and soul.

The Full Resolution Video of Curiosity Touching Down on Mars

The Full Resolution Video of Curiosity Touching Down on Mars.

the result of stringing together all the high resolution shots the rover took on its way to the surface, high resolution shots that took a lot longer to get back to Earth than the initial thumbnails. If it seems a bit choppy, that’s because Curiosity only took about four pictures per second. It might not be movie quality, but this is the best video out there of what it’s like to land on Mars. Incredible.