All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain...

August 9, 2012 8:06 PM

Earth, as seen from the International Space Station
posted by indubitable (22 comments total)

This kind of stuff always makes me feel deeply melancholy. Our planet is so beautiful, and so fragile, and we're so short-sighted and petty.

“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.”

-- Edgar Mitchell
posted by Ickster at 8:10 PM on August 9, 2012 [11 favorites]

Also here is earth, jupiter, and venus rising over the horizon of mars.

omg space is awesome
posted by elizardbits at 8:20 PM on August 9, 2012 [13 favorites]

I'm still jazzed that we have a permanent space station.
JAZZED!

omg space is awesome
posted by Mezentian at 8:21 PM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

beautifully semi-previously 1 and 2.
posted by fragmede at 8:21 PM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Fixed link for 2.
posted by fragmede at 8:22 PM on August 9, 2012

They'd probably save a lot of money if they didn't pack those kabuki drummers into space.
posted by cmoj at 8:25 PM on August 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

You know, I was thinking something similar to Mezentian. I just remembered a couple days ago how when I was around 12 or so, there were news reports about plans to land people on Mars in 2017. I swore to myself I was going to do whatever it took to be a part of that, even if at 43 that meant I wouldn't be able to go there myself.

Now 2017 is just 5 years off, and my life has gone down different roads than I imagined when I was 12.

But we have a permanent space station! Awesome.
posted by insert.witticism.here at 8:34 PM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

The chances of anything coming from Earth are a million to one they said.
posted by Damienmce at 8:35 PM on August 9, 2012 [1 favorite]

Damn.
That last bit was going to be:
Needs a OMGSpaceIsAwesome tag.

This is why I shouldn't Metafilter and work.
posted by Mezentian at 8:38 PM on August 9, 2012

Slightly off topic, does anyone remember that video of a scientist describing what was on camera as video shot from the ISS played? For instance, some weird brown blob would come into view, and he would say "and this is Mount Such and Such"...etc. etc. etc.
posted by isnotchicago at 8:40 PM on August 9, 2012

It's like I don't even know this planet!
posted by mazola at 10:39 PM on August 9, 2012

Also: NASA's gone full-tilt awesome lately!

What's up?
posted by mazola at 10:44 PM on August 9, 2012

I'm saddened that they felt they needed to jazz it up with movie trailer music and editing, but still, pretty cool.
posted by JHarris at 1:20 AM on August 10, 2012

There's a shot up on the APOD from the ISS that includes a Perseid meteor burning itself up on the atmosphere, which is pretty much all flavours of awesome, and then some.
posted by Zack_Replica at 2:27 AM on August 10, 2012

It seems that today's word is "awesome", and it is rare that it has been used so correctly. So say I.
posted by Zack_Replica at 2:36 AM on August 10, 2012

Are those shots of night-time city lights doctored? It seems unlikely the lights would be that strong to the naked eye.

A breathtaking shot of the milkyway as seen from mars
posted by iotic at 4:10 AM on August 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

I watched this twice and on second watch, my brain clicked. WAIT A MINUTE! Lightning strikes in patterns!?!? Or were those grouped flashes delineating fronts? Then this, and this, and something's finally distracting me from the new Skyrim patch.
posted by nile_red at 5:45 AM on August 10, 2012

Even more melancholy is that we don't have a permanent space station, just a vaguely enduring one. The ISS' mission has been extended to 2020, but after that there are no guarantees it won't be de-orbited. Then, like the shuttles before it, it seems unlikely that we'll have a replacement on offer.
posted by bicyclefish at 6:11 AM on August 10, 2012

Stop harshing my buzz.
Mohawk Guy, Space Jerry Garcia, Cute Girl, and Space Ed Roth etc are gonna get our asses to Mars, soon.

Because: FUCK. I WANT TO BE BURIED ON MARS. Or the Moon.
BUT FUCK!

Or even better: vacation.
posted by Mezentian at 6:58 AM on August 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

This Is Our Planet

Earthlapse
posted by homunculus at 8:28 PM on August 10, 2012

elizardbits, that shot from Mars isn't real, it's a render from some planetarium software.
posted by garrett at 9:14 AM on August 11, 2012

Amazing Space Photography by Astronaut Andre Kuipers

Previously.
posted by homunculus at 1:45 PM on September 5, 2012