Skywatch

[Bo D]

And now ... back to our regularly scheduled programming .....




NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) science team has released the highest resolution near-global topographic map of the moon ever created. This new topographic map shows the surface shape and features over nearly the entire moon with a pixel scale close to 328 feet.
Although the moon is Earth's closest neighbor, knowledge of its morphology is still limited. Due to the limitations of previous missions, a global map of the moon's topography at high resolution has not existed until now. With LRO's Wide Angle Camera and the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter instrument, scientists now can accurately portray the shape of the entire moon at high resolution.



http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-New-Moon-Map-071912.aspx?et_cid=2757291&et_rid=41373174&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2fnews-DS-New-Moon-Map-071912.aspx

[Henry Hawk]

Hey guys, just a reminder...........it was 43 years ago today, when Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon!

That was such an exciting time....being only 9 years old at the time, I can still - VIVIDLY - remember that moment.

As I was driving to work this morning, it kind of hit me on how my kids have not really had a "moment" like that.  A moment in time, where it made you feel "proud" to be an American.  I remember how our school had everyone pile into our gym, as they rolled out a small black & white TV with rabbit ears, and we watched the splash-down.  Everybody cheered when it happened. 

An exciting time to be alive.

[Bo D]

Hey guys, just a reminder...........it was 43 years ago today, when Neil Armstrong took that first step on the moon!

That was such an exciting time....being only 9 years old at the time, I can still - VIVIDLY - remember that moment.

As I was driving to work this morning, it kind of hit me on how my kids have not really had a "moment" like that.  A moment in time, where it made you feel "proud" to be an American.  I remember how our school had everyone pile into our gym, as they rolled out a small black & white TV with rabbit ears, and we watched the splash-down.  Everybody cheered when it happened. 

An exciting time to be alive.

Indeed it was!

I was driving home from band practice that night, racing across mountain roads listening to the moon landing on the radio, trying to get home in time to see it on TV. I just missed it.

[The Troll]

  I got to watch it live.  To me it seems like something out of Hollywood in black and white.  But when he stepped off the ladder and put the first human foot print of the surface of the Moon a feeling of awl when through me.  We did it and we made it, if we could get the men home, back to earth.   

[Bo D]

We are but a speck in the cosmos.

But yet, we are a species that has evolved enough to be aware of the cosmos and understand some of its workings. And the more we are aware and understand, the larger we become. To understand that I am a part of it in some way gives me a solace, a peace of mind. I do not feel small and insignificant at all.

[Y]

But yet, we are a species that has evolved enough to be aware of the cosmos and understand some of its workings. And the more we are aware and understand, the larger we become. To understand that I am a part of it in some way gives me a solace, a peace of mind. I do not feel small and insignificant at all.

If you want to take this convo to its own thread, we can.

I suspect we don't know how many of the myriad number of specie on this planet are 'aware' of the cosmos.  I think it's also evident that we still consider ourselves above the rest of the life on this planet.  I suspect it's hard to feel insignificant when one holds that attitude.

[Bo D]

If you want to take this convo to its own thread, we can.

No. I've stated my belief. And I respect yours. I'll move on, now.

[The Troll]

But yet, we are a species that has evolved enough to be aware of the cosmos and understand some of its workings. And the more we are aware and understand, the larger we become. To understand that I am a part of it in some way gives me a solace, a peace of mind. I do not feel small and insignificant at all.

  I don't feel one way or the other, other than it is wonderful and so large.     And we are a little bitty, bitty, bitty, a smidgen of it.   

[libby]

If you want to take this convo to its own thread, we can.

I suspect we don't know how many of the myriad number of specie on this planet are 'aware' of the cosmos.  I think it's also evident that we still consider ourselves above the rest of the life on this planet.  I suspect it's hard to feel insignificant when one holds that attitude.

I believe we have a soul that lives on, which is not bound to this planet or any religion. Don't ask for proof. That's just the only thing that makes sense to me.

[Palehorse]

http://www.youtube.com/v/j4JOjcDFtBE

Since Sally Ride died recently, I thought some might like to revisit the flight in which another female astronaut died; but this one "in mission".


January 28th, 1986 at 11:39am EDT - The Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes on its 10th flight during mission STS-51-L. The explosion occurred 73 seconds after liftoff and was actually the result of rapid deceleration and not combustion of fuel.

CNN was the only national news station to broadcast the mission live, so thus what you are witnessing on this video is the only coverage of the disaster as it happened when it did. Approximately 17% of Americans witnessed the launch live, while 85% of Americans heard of the news within 1 hour of the event. According to a study, only 2 other times in history up to that point had news of an event disseminated so fast - the first being the announcement of JFK's assassination in 1963, the second being news spread among students at Kent State regarding the news of FDR's death in 1945. It has been estimated at the time that nearly 48% of 9-13 year olds witnessed the event in their classrooms, as McAuliffe was in the spotlight.

The 25th Space Shuttle mission altered the history of manned space exploration and represented the first loss of an American crew during a space mission (Apollo 1 was during a training exercise).

Christa McAuliffe was slated to be the first teacher in space for the Teacher in Space Program. As her maximum altitude was ~65,000ft (12.31 miles), she never made it to space. That title was given to Barbara Morgan of STS-118 aboard the shuttle Endeavour in August 2007, 22 and a half years after the Challenger Disaster. Morgan served as McAuliffe's backup during STS-51-L. As Morgan is now part of the Educator in Space Program, she will be credited as the first "educator" in space, to distinguish her from McAuliffe.

Aboard Challenger during STS-51-L:

Francis "Dick" Scobee (Commander)

Michael Smith (Pilot)

Judith Resnik (Mission Specialist)

Ellison Onizuka (Mission Specialist)

Ronald McNair (Mission Specialist)

Gregory Jarvis (Payload Specialist)

Sharon Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist - Teacher in Space)

[followsthewolf]

I was watching that day.

[Henry Hawk]

I was watching that day.

So was I, just got home for lunch....I didn't go back to work that day.

[Henry Hawk]

Felix Baumgartner prepares a 17 mile FREE FALL! 


http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/24/final-test-jump-from-edge-space-set-for-tuesday/?intcmp=features#ixzz21ZRR2Lcl

[Sandy Eggo]

Sorry wrong thread.

[Bo D]

Cassini Spots Daytime Lightning on Saturn





http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Cassini-Spots-Daytime-Lightning-on-Saturn-072512.aspx?et_cid=2765653&et_rid=41373174&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2fnews-DS-Cassini-Spots-Daytime-Lightning-on-Saturn-072512.aspx

And we thought the Derecho was bad!