NASA hits the feels much more than SpaceX, for me, because it's not about monetization and competition. A pure joy of discovery means something.

eight years ago today we all watched the glory of zendaya falling madly in love with tom holland and the internet was never the same

Earth and Moon from DSCOVR NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite captured this unique view of the Moon as it moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month. This view shows the fully illuminated “dark side” of the moon that is never visible from Earth. Ian Regan processed this version of the image to account for the Moon's motion. NASA / NOAA / Ian Regan

I hadn't seen this before. This is pretty remarkable.

Earth and Moon in one NASA photo.

ht @astrokatie.com

Artemis astronauts experience "moon joy" YouTube video by Scientific American

Copy moon joy, Artemis. Maybe not the same way, but we feel it too. One might even say we're... over the moon about it. 😉

youtube.com/shorts/rW4qt...

In the midst of all the trials and tribulations the world has to throw at us right now, this kind of pure happiness in the act of discovery is so profoundly human and gives me hope for the future.

I still remember being a kid laying on the carpet in the living room watching the Space Shuttle launch. Just that was super cool. I wasn't around when we went to the Moon the last time. Artemis II is seriously some of the coolest stuff I've seen in my life.

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Gods speed, Artemis. Hunt well.

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air ....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew—

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

Artemis II puts me in mind of a poem, 'High Flight' by John Gillespie Magee Jr. My dearly departed friend Ace Lightning used to recite this upon takeoff whenever flying somewhere. She loved flight and space and would have been so happy to know that humanity is finally returning to the Moon.

Photo of famous op-ed by Horse who wants to try cake from the Onion

OMG I own a print copy. Will become a family heirloom.

What about through DJ song choices? Life is, after all, a song cue.

ROTC students at Old Dominion University killed shooter who left 1 dead, 2 wounded Dominique Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI's Norfolk field office, said at a news conference that the Reserve Officers' Training Corps students showed "extreme bravery and courage" and preven...

In the era of school shooters going after ROTC instructors, it's bare hands.
www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...

Heh.

Morningmusing:
Why is it that, in the US at least, anything becomes breakfast when you add an egg to it? Hmm.
#showerthoughts #morningmusing

Happy March 15. Here is my favorite Ides of March meme:

South Carolina Hospitals Aren’t Required to Disclose Measles-Related Admissions. That Leaves Doctors in the Dark. Physicians across South Carolina, home to the largest measles outbreak in decades, are advising patients without the benefit of real-time data on hospitalizations due to measles-related pneumonia, bra...

NEW: South Carolina, which doesn’t require hospitals to disclose measles-related admissions, has reported only 20 such hospitalizations since Oct. 2.

That leaves doctors with an incomplete picture of how the outbreak is affecting the community.

By @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social

Say Goodbye to the Undersea Cable That Made the Global Internet Possible History was unmade last year, as engineers began the massive project of ripping the first-ever transoceanic fiber-optic cable from the ocean floor. Just don’t mention sharks.

TIL. RIP TAT-8.

www.wired.com/story/say-go...

My grey cat Samhain who is staring at you wants you to stick around too.

If you are having thoughts of self harm in the US, CALL 988. Please. For anyone who needs to hear right now, the world is better with you in it. For my Sailors out there, I'd rather show up for coffee and a talk than dress blues and a funeral.

Look into this, put comments on the federal register entry.

*blink blink* Oh HI DR BEER! I'm sure you know what prose thing I'm talking about, and it's a lovely gift you got.

(Patreon item in question is by @alepresser.com with @kbspangler.com - go check them out)

Prose in a pdf from on of my Patreons brings me joy.
"This appears to be a long document. Save time by reading a summary using AI Assistant".
Shut up Clippy Jr, reading it in its full unadulterated glory is the damn point.

Domino's order tracker which says "Executive Login began preparing your order."

I hope Executive Login knows what they're doing.

Not a historian but like to research. The AI might summarize what I'm looking for, but it doesn't find what I'm *not* looking for. The book on the shelf next to the one I wanted. The insight in chapter 6 based on the quote I needed from chapter 4.

Not the Big Blue I was taking about, but it's funny.

Sunrise, Virginia Beach VA, 0713 21DEC25. Happy Solstice!

Good morning Big Blue. Helios rides again. Happy Solstice everybody.

I know quite a few others that's would get that. It's pretty funny.

Only @kythrain.bsky.social and maybe like two of you people are capable of appreciating this