pennyfournasa: 3 DAYS LEFT!Copperheads, there is an important restoration project underway that needs your help. The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project is raising money on Rockethub, a crowdsourcing website for fundraising, in order to restore Apollo-era imagery of the moon that the public has NEVER SEEN. Thousands of 70mm film images were taken of the moon before astronauts landed there, transmitted to Earth digitally via 60s-era robots sent by NASA. Once those images got to Earth, they had to be recorded through analog. They have been sitting in storage warehouses (and were very nearly thrown away) and are currently in need of preservation. We have 3 days to make sure the science of these early robot missions is saved. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD RIGHT NOW to the pro-science and pro-space community of which you are a big part. And if you have a few dollars to donate to this science, please toss it in!This is something we can totally do together.  For more information, see the official page on Rockethub: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/14882-lunar-orbiter-image-recovery-project and our own Penny4NASA write up on the project: http://www.penny4nasa.org/2013/03/13/lunar-orbiter-image-recovery-project/ Worth supporting! Don’t let scientific history disappear.
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pennyfournasa:

3 DAYS LEFT!

Copperheads, there is an important restoration project underway that needs your help. The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project is raising money on Rockethub, a crowdsourcing website for fundraising, in order to restore Apollo-era imagery of the moon that the public has NEVER SEEN. 

Thousands of 70mm film images were taken of the moon before astronauts landed there, transmitted to Earth digitally via 60s-era robots sent by NASA. Once those images got to Earth, they had to be recorded through analog. They have been sitting in storage warehouses (and were very nearly thrown away) and are currently in need of preservation. 

We have 3 days to make sure the science of these early robot missions is saved. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD RIGHT NOW to the pro-science and pro-space community of which you are a big part. And if you have a few dollars to donate to this science, please toss it in!

This is something we can totally do together.  
For more information, see the official page on Rockethub: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/14882-lunar-orbiter-image-recovery-project


and our own Penny4NASA write up on the project: http://www.penny4nasa.org/2013/03/13/lunar-orbiter-image-recovery-project/

Worth supporting! Don’t let scientific history disappear.

(via sagansense)

Source: pennyfournasa

Rollin’ through tha craters, haters see ya later, my lunar rover gets mileage that would please Ralph Nader … If you haven’t seen these lunar rover “Grand Prix” clips from NASA, I highly recommend checkin’ them out. Because you’ve always wanted a driver’s-eye view of the lunar surface! So. Amazing. Try and hold back your compliments on my amazing lyrical skills.
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Rollin’ through tha craters, haters see ya later, my lunar rover gets mileage that would please Ralph Nader …

If you haven’t seen these lunar rover “Grand Prix” clips from NASA, I highly recommend checkin’ them out. Because you’ve always wanted a driver’s-eye view of the lunar surface! So. Amazing.

Try and hold back your compliments on my amazing lyrical skills.

The Moon: Remastered In 1966 and 1967, in preparation for the Apollo missions, NASA sent five unmanned lunar orbiters to map the Moon. Their extensive collection of images were stored on analog tapes. In an effort to save them from being scrapped, NASA/ARC archivists have been digitizing and enhancing the images so that they may live on and contribute to history and future lunar science. This image shows Tsiolkovskiy crater, on the far side of the Moon. This is what’s called a complex crater, its central peak casting frigid shadows on the dark volcanic rock underneath. The immense central peak was formed from an ancient impact so powerful that the Moon’s surface rebounded upward like a droplet hitting water, leaving a permanent eye in the center of the crater. Our Moon, so distant and small to human eyes, hides the true scale of this crater, a massive 112 miles (180 km) wide. Check out more stunningly restored images at MoonViews.
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The Moon: Remastered

In 1966 and 1967, in preparation for the Apollo missions, NASA sent five unmanned lunar orbiters to map the Moon. Their extensive collection of images were stored on analog tapes. In an effort to save them from being scrapped, NASA/ARC archivists have been digitizing and enhancing the images so that they may live on and contribute to history and future lunar science.

This image shows Tsiolkovskiy crater, on the far side of the Moon. This is what’s called a complex crater, its central peak casting frigid shadows on the dark volcanic rock underneath. The immense central peak was formed from an ancient impact so powerful that the Moon’s surface rebounded upward like a droplet hitting water, leaving a permanent eye in the center of the crater. Our Moon, so distant and small to human eyes, hides the true scale of this crater, a massive 112 miles (180 km) wide.

Check out more stunningly restored images at MoonViews.

Source: moonviews.com

Instagramming the Moon Just kidding! The astronauts never would have stood for the new Terms of Service. Amiright?! You’re looking at just a few of the photos from the Apollo Image Atlas, a collection of every photo taken by every Apollo mission. I’ve been perusing it all morning, and if you choose to do the same, I hope you’ve got a little time on your hands. It’s addictive. The photos inside the Apollo Image Atlas are much more interesting than the low-res square phone shots that we share today, but in these vintage film snaps you can see some of the photographic influences that became your favorite Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. This gallery is from Apollo 17, the final mission to the Moon 40 years ago last week. Each of these was captured with the famous Hasselblad 70mm. I love the imperfections in these shots, those light leaks and missed focal points that we just never see in today’s NASA photos. When you’re trudging around in a bulky spacesuit carrying a film camera, you’ve just got to point and pray. Head over to the Apollo Image Atlas, and take a hip trip without leaving home.
Zoom Info
Instagramming the Moon Just kidding! The astronauts never would have stood for the new Terms of Service. Amiright?! You’re looking at just a few of the photos from the Apollo Image Atlas, a collection of every photo taken by every Apollo mission. I’ve been perusing it all morning, and if you choose to do the same, I hope you’ve got a little time on your hands. It’s addictive. The photos inside the Apollo Image Atlas are much more interesting than the low-res square phone shots that we share today, but in these vintage film snaps you can see some of the photographic influences that became your favorite Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. This gallery is from Apollo 17, the final mission to the Moon 40 years ago last week. Each of these was captured with the famous Hasselblad 70mm. I love the imperfections in these shots, those light leaks and missed focal points that we just never see in today’s NASA photos. When you’re trudging around in a bulky spacesuit carrying a film camera, you’ve just got to point and pray. Head over to the Apollo Image Atlas, and take a hip trip without leaving home.
Zoom Info
Instagramming the Moon Just kidding! The astronauts never would have stood for the new Terms of Service. Amiright?! You’re looking at just a few of the photos from the Apollo Image Atlas, a collection of every photo taken by every Apollo mission. I’ve been perusing it all morning, and if you choose to do the same, I hope you’ve got a little time on your hands. It’s addictive. The photos inside the Apollo Image Atlas are much more interesting than the low-res square phone shots that we share today, but in these vintage film snaps you can see some of the photographic influences that became your favorite Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. This gallery is from Apollo 17, the final mission to the Moon 40 years ago last week. Each of these was captured with the famous Hasselblad 70mm. I love the imperfections in these shots, those light leaks and missed focal points that we just never see in today’s NASA photos. When you’re trudging around in a bulky spacesuit carrying a film camera, you’ve just got to point and pray. Head over to the Apollo Image Atlas, and take a hip trip without leaving home.
Zoom Info
Instagramming the Moon Just kidding! The astronauts never would have stood for the new Terms of Service. Amiright?! You’re looking at just a few of the photos from the Apollo Image Atlas, a collection of every photo taken by every Apollo mission. I’ve been perusing it all morning, and if you choose to do the same, I hope you’ve got a little time on your hands. It’s addictive. The photos inside the Apollo Image Atlas are much more interesting than the low-res square phone shots that we share today, but in these vintage film snaps you can see some of the photographic influences that became your favorite Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. This gallery is from Apollo 17, the final mission to the Moon 40 years ago last week. Each of these was captured with the famous Hasselblad 70mm. I love the imperfections in these shots, those light leaks and missed focal points that we just never see in today’s NASA photos. When you’re trudging around in a bulky spacesuit carrying a film camera, you’ve just got to point and pray. Head over to the Apollo Image Atlas, and take a hip trip without leaving home.
Zoom Info
Instagramming the Moon Just kidding! The astronauts never would have stood for the new Terms of Service. Amiright?! You’re looking at just a few of the photos from the Apollo Image Atlas, a collection of every photo taken by every Apollo mission. I’ve been perusing it all morning, and if you choose to do the same, I hope you’ve got a little time on your hands. It’s addictive. The photos inside the Apollo Image Atlas are much more interesting than the low-res square phone shots that we share today, but in these vintage film snaps you can see some of the photographic influences that became your favorite Instagram and Hipstamatic filters. This gallery is from Apollo 17, the final mission to the Moon 40 years ago last week. Each of these was captured with the famous Hasselblad 70mm. I love the imperfections in these shots, those light leaks and missed focal points that we just never see in today’s NASA photos. When you’re trudging around in a bulky spacesuit carrying a film camera, you’ve just got to point and pray. Head over to the Apollo Image Atlas, and take a hip trip without leaving home.
Zoom Info

Instagramming the Moon

Just kidding! The astronauts never would have stood for the new Terms of Service. Amiright?!

You’re looking at just a few of the photos from the Apollo Image Atlas, a collection of every photo taken by every Apollo mission. I’ve been perusing it all morning, and if you choose to do the same, I hope you’ve got a little time on your hands. It’s addictive.

The photos inside the Apollo Image Atlas are much more interesting than the low-res square phone shots that we share today, but in these vintage film snaps you can see some of the photographic influences that became your favorite Instagram and Hipstamatic filters.

This gallery is from Apollo 17, the final mission to the Moon 40 years ago last week. Each of these was captured with the famous Hasselblad 70mm. I love the imperfections in these shots, those light leaks and missed focal points that we just never see in today’s NASA photos. When you’re trudging around in a bulky spacesuit carrying a film camera, you’ve just got to point and pray.

Head over to the Apollo Image Atlas, and take a hip trip without leaving home.

The Wonder, Thrill & Meaning of Seeing Earth from Space

Tuesday, before the Great Tumblr Meltdown of 12/12/12, I put down a few thoughts on the 40th anniversary of the last photo of Earth ever taken by a human in space, the “Blue Marble”. Read it here if you missed it. 

I believe, without a doubt, that that shot, taken with human hands, altered the human perspective in ways that will affect the remainder of our existence. It can not be the last time humans see that with the naked eye.

Thanks to Open Culture, and the folks at the Planetary Collective, we have this supremely interesting film that pays tribute to that photo on its 40th anniversary, and discusses the odd psychology of viewing our planet from space (the “overview effect”). Enjoy.

When we originally went to the Moon, our total focus was on the Moon, we weren’t thinking about looking back at the Earth. But now that we’ve done it, that may well have been the most important reason we went.

By traveling closer to the stars that we have been able to realize that we are born of their dusty remains. And by traveling off of Earth, we have been able to realize that we are all travelers on the same Spaceship Earth. 

Faded Flags on the Moon

Earlier this week, we saw photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing that 5 of the 6 American flags put down by Apollo astronauts still stand. But what kind of shape are they in?

Thanks to the intense, unfiltered sunlight of the long lunar daylight hours (the sun is up for over 350 hours straight before it sets on the Moon!) those red, white and blue stripes may be bleached white:

For forty-odd years, the flags have been exposed to the full fury of the Moon’s environment – alternating 14 days of searing sunlight and 100° C heat with 14 days of numbing-cold -150° C darkness. But even more damaging is the intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the pure unfiltered sunlight on the cloth (modal) from which the Apollo flags were made. Even on Earth, the colors of a cloth flag flown in bright sunlight for many years will eventually fade and need to be replaced. So it is likely that these symbols of American achievement have been rendered blank, bleached white by the UV radiation of unfiltered sunlight on the lunar surface. Some of them may even have begun to physically disintegrate under the intense flux.

So while the flags are clearly standing, any future lunar explorer might assume that our nation’s space travelers planted white flags on the moon.

Of course, we’re in danger of flying the white flag when it comes to the future of our space program, so maybe they won’t be too far off.

(↬ The Dish)

NASA’s First Time-Lapses

We’ve grown to love the peaceful beauty of NASA’s time-lapse videos. Some of us, me included, are certifiably addicted to the dramatic orbital imagery, the stellar art and the emotional music.

But NASA has been collecting orbital photography since the early 1960’s, starting with Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Here’s some of the first images of NASA’s space program, converted to time-lapse.

A fine addition to the space history books.

(by Joan on Vimeo)

Source: vimeo.com