Neil deGrasse Tyson: What NASA Means to America’s Future.
He also recently got his frequent guest card punched on Colbert.
Inflatable heat shield.
“The temperature the shield can withstand depends on how wide it is, says chief engineer Robert Dillman of Langley. A wider shield slows the craft down more and spreads the heat over a greater surface area.”
The Big Picture remembers Apollo 11 on its 40th anniversary with some stunning photography.
I like this one of Buzz Aldrin, this one showing the VAB’s massive size, and of course, the Earthrise.
Gorgeous HD video of the Moon’s surface taken by the Japanese spacecraft Kaguya. Since it’s completed its planned mission and observations, its orbit has been degrading. Lunar collision is expected in a couple days.
(mefi)
The eye of the storm.
Hurricane Ivan as it approached the Gulf Coast, 2004.
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture blog has a bunch of photos of hurricanes as seen from space. Most of them from either the ISS or the Space Shuttle.
Here’s another impressive picture of Ivan from the ISS, with solar panels in the foreground.
(via)
