Posts Tagged moon

Craters

Craters of the Moon earrings by Evelynjewelry on Etsy

Been a while since I poked around Etsy — this time I found fantastic earrings. I love the patina, especially.

Handcrafted in sterling silver, these little moons will be great for everyday, casual wear. They were first cut from sterling silver sheet, then hand stamped, formed, and treated with a patina to highlight the detail. The patina has been sealed with lacquer to protect the finish.

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41st

Looking out of the LEM at the lunar landscape

It was a challenge to find a neat photo to use today, one that I hadn’t used last year on the “big” anniversary. 41 years ago today, man first set foot on the lunar surface. As Pars3c pointed out, it’s good to remember this stuff more often than just the “fives” and “tens”.

It’s hard to know how to feel on this anniversary. A year ago, NASA was still going to the Moon (in a human way.) The public was watching WeChooseTheMoon.org as it counted down the milestones of Apollo 11 in real-time. On a very microscopic level, in the grand scheme of things, I was still figuring out this blog and had not yet rebranded and moved to a fabulous new domain. Also, my theme dictated that my pictures be smaller than they are now. (Hooray for bigger pictures!)

Now, it seems to me that all of NASA is up in the air, seemingly doomed by a statement from the current NASA administrator that we can’t leave LEO without international help. Really? We can’t? If you say so…. At this moment, people are gathered at a conference, presenting the myriad of reasons why the Moon is a great place to go — a fascinating collection of mysteries begging for human hands to explore them. Yet, by our current president’s statement, “we’ve already been there.” Really? It’s over, just like that? Well, if you say so….

And so I find myself hunkering down in the past, the way I’ve always been. I was asked this weekend to contribute to a podcast — and sadly I couldn’t — about how Apollo affected me personally. It’s a hard question. I was born in 1978, so I missed the whole thing by a matter of years. Still, I had the space bug from a very young age, and although I was a child of the Space Shuttle, the moon landings particularly fascinated me. Apollo made me want to become an astronaut, and although things didn’t go that way, it still has a profound effect on me. I dreamed, and still do dream, of the Moon. I’ll probably always be stuck in the past, between Apollo and the Shuttle. Certainly I see no reason to stick my head out into the future. At the moment, NASA gives me no hope at all. Perhaps commercial endeavors will, in time. We’ll see.

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Japanese Sci-Fi, Part 2

Space train, 1981 by Shigeru Komatsuzaki

Space train, 1981 by Shigeru Komatsuzaki

One more futuristic illustration by Shigeru Komatsuzaki, seeing as it’s a Moon train. I want to ride a Moon train..!!

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To the Moon

To the Moon icons by Iconfactory

To make up for last week’s potentially-Mac-only icon post, here is To the Moon by Iconfactory (makers of truly awesome things), and is definitely available in both Mac and PC flavors. This set has excellent detail, and no matter what re-theming I may do to my desktop, there’s always a To the Moon icon that remains. I can’t help it. (Right now it’s the re-entry icon. Such lovely transparency….)

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Salute

Apollo 15 Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin salutes the U.S. flag

Apollo 15 Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin salutes the U.S. flag

Today’s NASA Image of the Day — what a fun shot! — reminded me of the photo above, which I used to have as a mini-poster in my room. Happy early birthday, America, and to all my readers, have yourselves a great 4th of July weekend! (Or a great weekend in general!)

Image via The Project Apollo Image Gallery.

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Been There.

Moonrise taken during ISS Expedition 15, by @Astro_Clay

Moonrise taken during ISS Expedition 15, by @Astro_Clay

Two gorgeous views of the Moon from the ISS, one from Expedition 15 (top), the other from a week ago (bottom.) As an aside, I went out for the first time (intentionally) looking for the ISS this weekend, and saw it twice! It was much brighter than normal (so SpaceWeather.com told me) and was quite easy to spot. Sunday night, it was about the brightness (in my unschooled opinion) of Venus, cutting across the twilight sky. Very beautiful.

Moon over Earth, photo by @Astro_Wheels

Moon over Earth, photo by @Astro_Wheels

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Mission Control

Life-size Wooden Mission Control

Credit: Peter Hennessey

Peter Hennessey has quite the portfolio: amazing, life-size recreations of Voyager I, the Hubble Space Telescope, a moon landing and more. All of this, done in laser-cut wood. The above photo of his wooden Mission Control struck me in particular; see the rest here. (Found via Universe Today.)

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Lunokhod

Lunokhod 1

Credit: Lavochkin Association

I have to admit, when I saw this photo of Lunokhod 1, my first reaction was “oh, HOW CUTE!” (My second reaction was to wonder how much better it would look if recreated in brass, steampunk-style. Mmm. Appealing.) A small version of this little guy could follow me around the house, and I would not mind one bit. Or maybe I’m just insane. Eep.

It may look like some sort of cute alien robot, but it was created here on Earth, launched to the Moon in 1970, and now reflects laser light in a scientifically useful way. On November 17, 1970 the Soviet Luna 17 spacecraft landed the first roving remote-controlled robot on the Moon. Known as Lunokhod 1, it weighed just under 2,000 pounds and was designed to operate for 90 days while guided in real-time by a five person team near Moscow, USSR. Lunokhod 1 toured the lunar Sea of Rains (Mare Imbrium) for 11 months in one of the greatest successes of the Soviet lunar exploration program. This Lunokhod’s operations officially ceased in 1971. Earlier this year, however, the position of the rover was recovered by NASA’s moon-orbiting Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Given that position, laser pulses from Earth were successfully bounced off the old robot’s reflector. Bouncing laser pulses off of this and other lunar reflectors could yield range data to the moon accurate enough to track millimeter-sized deviations in the Moon’s orbit, effectively probing lunar composition and testing gravitational theories.

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Moons

Saturn's Moons Dione and Titan from Cassini

Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI; Color composite: Emily Lakdawalla

Cassini is probably my favorite planetary explorer to date. There’s just something about Saturn, it’s a playground of wonders. I’m amazed at the variation in the moons, from fuzzy atmospheres to dirty iceballs to… Death Stars.

Still, as far as I’m concerned, as satellites go… east or west, home is best.

Earth's Moon, as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131)

Earth's Moon, as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery (Credit: STS-131 crew)

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Alt.Moon

1953 Soviet Futurist art

In 1953, this was the bright Soviet future on the Moon. A pity it never happened. Whose flags will be there in 2053? Who knows….

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