Joy of Life
"Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one." - Voltaire
Built to fly.
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Dragon Hatch Opened to ISS
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit and Joe Acaba of NASA and ESA Flight...
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Shadow Puppets!
Ok, one last eclipse photo before returning to our usual programming.
This was the view from the geostationary MTSAT satellite as...
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3.75 billion years from now
Crash of the Titans: Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way Collision
NASA astronomers announced Thursday they can now predict with certainty the next major cosmic event to affect our galaxy, Sun, and solar system: the titanic collision of our Milky Way galaxy with the neighboring Andromeda galaxy.
The Milky Way is destined to get a major makeover during the encounter, which is predicted to happen four billion years from now. It is likely the Sun will be flung into a new region of our galaxy, but our Earth and solar system are in no danger of being destroyed.
The above illustrations depict the view of the night sky just before the predicted merger between our Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. About 3.75 billion years from now, Andromeda’s disk fills the field of view and its gravity begins to create tidal distortions in the Milky Way.
The view is inspired by dynamical computer modeling of the future collision between the two galaxies. The two galaxies collide about 4 billion years from now and merge to form a single galaxy about 6 billion years from now.
Watch the video: http://youtu.be/fqjSgZdo5XE
Above: 1. (2 billion years from now) The disk of the approaching Andromeda galaxy is noticeably larger. 2. (3.75 billion years fron now) Andromeda fills the field of view. The Milky Way begins to show distortion due to tidal pull from Andromeda. 3. (4 billion years fron now) After its first close pass, Andromeda is tidally stretched out. The Milky Way, too, becomes warped.
Marriage Proposal of the Day: The planning! The dorkiness! The tears!
So imperfect it’s perfect.
[thanks, rob!]
Dragon Fire
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soared into space from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the Dragon capsule to orbit at 3:44 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. The launch is the company’s second demonstration test flight for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, Program.
During the flight, there will be a series of check-out procedures to test and prove Dragon’s systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the cargo and experiments it is carrying will be transferred to the station.
Watch the launch footage: http://youtu.be/dlpk-gOkY6M
Going to see you soar on Saturday at noon!!!
http://www.jsoh.org/faq.html#schedule
F-22 Raptor
A 1st Fighter Wing’s F-22 Raptor from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. pulls away from a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 756th Air Refueling Squadron, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Md. after refueling off the east coast on May 10, 2012.
3 humans are on on their way to space!
Expedition 31 Soyuz Launch
The Soyuz TMA-04M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 11:01 p.m. EDT on Monday (9:01 a.m. Tuesday, Kazakhstan time) carrying Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin to the International Space Station.
The trio will dock to the station’s Poisk Mini-Research Module at 12:38 a.m. Thursday, bringing the Expedition 31 crew to its full six-member complement. Acaba, Revin and Padalka will join the current station residents, Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers, and begin a four-month tour of duty aboard the orbiting complex.
Watch the launch video: http://youtu.be/k64UY0vRPIE
Miami bound in a couple of weeks!
npr:
Flying over the Miami Causeway, ca. 1935.
I really can’t seem to get tired of the stuff Old Florida digs up. I hope you don’t mind. —Wright
beautiful
Strike Eagle Flares
An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron pops flares during an aerial training dog fight here recently. The 391st EFS are deployed here from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, on a rotational basis supporting the U.S. Air Force’s continued forward presence in the Western Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo/Technical Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)
