MetaFilter posts tagged with nasa and astronauts

The Whole Earth Photolog

Rhaomi — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:34:54 -0800

From grainy stills to gorgeous high-resolution portraits, from intimate pairings to stark contrasts, and from old standbys to little-known surprises, The Planetary Society's Earth galleries offer a rich collection of stunning photography and video footage of our world as seen from both planetary spacecraft and geostationary satellites. It is a vista that has inspired many a deep thought in the lucky few that have seen it firsthand [previously]. Oh, and the rest of the Solar System is pretty neat, too.

For Arthur

CunningLinguist — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:16:35 -0800

A handful of pretty great spacewalk pix from last summer's Endeavour mission.

Drunks... in... SPAAAAACE!

djlynch — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:39:19 -0800

NASA has a rule requiring that astronauts go at least 12 hours between "bottle and throttle." Reports say not everyone followed it, and they went up anyway.

In space, no one can hear you say "cheese".

Gamblor — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:17:37 -0800

The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Over half a million photographs of Earth taken from orbit by astronauts, from 1961 through the present. The ability of the astronauts to rapidly identify interesting phenomena allows them to capture events as they occur, like volcanic eruptions, floods, and hurricanes, or take advantage of the angle of the sun to highlight specific features, like the pyramids or Mount Everest.

Golf in spaaaaaaaaaaaace!

blahblahblah — Wed, 24 May 2006 21:21:17 -0800

Though not the first time golf has been played in space, Russian cosmonauts are still planning to go ahead with the world's longest drive (3-4 years in orbit) from the International Space Station, as sponsored by the golf company Element 21 [link is to a rather neat CGI video of the shot, in wmv format. Coral Cache version.] The only problem -- it might hit the space station with the force of a 6.5 ton truck moving at 60 mph, though others are more worried about what the stunt means for the space program.

Convert moon rocks to oxygen and other ways to earn $250,000

blahblahblah — Sat, 06 May 2006 17:04:33 -0800

The NASA Centennial Challenges: Inspired by the X-Prize, NASA has begun a series of challenges to private inventors with cash prizes for things ranging from extracting oxygen from moon rocks to building better astronaut gloves to improving personal aircraft. Thanks to Congressional approval, NASA will be launching larger challenges of up to $50 million in value, including a new multi-million dollar lunar lander contest. With government space efforts criticized by private entrepreneurs, is this the right direction for NASA?

Lego Astrobots Blog From Mars Rovers

tpl1212 — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 07:30:43 -0800

Lego Astrobots Blog From Mars Rovers - The Planetary Society has teamed with NASA to "man" it's two Mars Exploration Rover spacecraft with Lego "Astrobots." The bots, Biff Starling and Sandy Moondust, are blogging their adventure "to allow kids to vicariously experience life in space, from launch, through the six-month space cruise, to landing and roving on the Martian surface."

retro-future

wobh — Sat, 03 May 2003 08:15:15 -0800

Designing a Space Colony? Start Here. Some light Reading. Be sure to check out the artwork (more space art by Don Davis).

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal

plep — Mon, 10 Mar 2003 11:38:33 -0800

The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Journals, records and some images from the Apollo lunar missions.

Mars Saxman — Sun, 27 May 2001 10:39:04 -0800

Pizza delivery sets new altitude record as space station cosmonaut Yuri Usachov receives Pizza Hut order sent via resupply rocket.