A rock given to the Netherlands as a gift by the American Ambassador to commemorate the Apollo-11 moon landing is tested and found to be nothing but petrified wood. Expect a "I told you so" from your neighbourhood conspiracy theorist at any moment. [more inside]
posted by dearsina on Aug 28, 2009 - 81 comments

40 years ago today, a man walked on the frickin' Moon. [previously]
posted by designbot on Jul 20, 2009 - 78 comments

"On Jan. 15, 2009, a few Canadian geese with bad timing became snarge, a steely pilot became a hero, and the world became fascinated with images of a jet splashing into the Hudson River and then floating calmly as passengers crowded its wings.

But until now, few people have seen the equally surprising pictures of the second half of this story: when a salvage team used the biggest floating crane on the East Coast to pluck the ill-fated Airbus A320 from the frigid water."
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey on May 13, 2009 - 51 comments

Amazing 747 landings at in the St. Martins [youtube] YouTube has a great collection of 747 landings at Princess Juliana International Airport in the St. Martin Islands, famous for its short landing strip — only 2,180 meters. Here's the view from the cockpit. Most of the videos seem to have been taken at Maho Beach. Here's an Airbus. Previously.
posted by KokuRyu on Jul 21, 2007 - 44 comments

Space Shuttle Discovery lands. (WMV) Watch for the view from the cockpit.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Dec 22, 2006 - 38 comments

Yesterday United Flight 735 from Chicago to Sacramento made an emergency landing in Denver when an unruly passenger tried to open the cabin door. (bugmenot/bugmenot) A member of the Flyertalk forum was on the flight, and provided a first hand account of the emergency.
posted by nathan_teske on Apr 22, 2006 - 49 comments

Yesterday morning in Florida, the landing gear on a student-piloted Cessna failed to lock into place. After the plane circled for an hour, the airport president drove a Jeep underneath the plane at 80 mph while his passenger took a stick and knocked the wheels into place. And that, as they say in the business, was caught on tape.
posted by Saucy Intruder on Sep 17, 2005 - 48 comments

We landed on Mars. The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has captured its first color image of Mars. It is the highest resolution picture ever taken of another planet. Fascinating.
posted by mad on Jan 7, 2004 - 27 comments

"It's been a rough few days for the A-10," the pilot told her father after she landed, but she assured him that the A-10 'Warthog' is a "a durable and reliable plane." It. Sure. Is. But the pilot brought it back from Baghdad in this condition with dead hydraulics, using only manual controls, and landed safely. The A-10 may be slower than birds, but it's loved by the Army.
via The Cellar's Picture of the Day
posted by Slithy_Tove on Apr 13, 2003 - 29 comments