🛰️ Our European Service Module has successfully separated from Orion's crew module!
🚀 After propelling the spacecraft over 1 million km in deep space, it will now burn up in Earth's atmosphere, as the astronauts continue their journey home 🌍
The Moon, backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse, is photographed by NASA’s Orion spacecraft on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II mission. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the Moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.
The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse on April 6, 2026, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the Moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.
Oh *wow*!
Look at the pictures of the eclipse with Orion in frame!
Sources: images.nasa.gov/details/art0... images.nasa.gov/details/art0...
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …
The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.
It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."
I think someone beat me to it.
I'll settle for being a secondary or tertiary maniac.
Be prepared for the possibility that they may not realize you're doing it.
Pretty good choices!
Which two, in your opinion?
The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.
Yeah toast
youtu.be/c0NdwzdOLkE?...
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
Waiting for guest appearances by Axe Cop and Dr. McNinja
Interesting. I've definitely run snaphu on Windows before, and not in a WSL context. (Ironically, I've never had much success getting ISCE up and running correctly.)
step.esa.int/main/snap-su...
"cut here"
Some good news from space, as the NASA-ISRO NISAR mission publishes its first synthetic aperture radar images of Earth. This spacecraft has a heckin' big antenna (a dish 12 meters across) for bouncing L- and S-band (25- and 10-cm) radio waves off the surface www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-is...
I wonder how beavers feel about PhD research about permafrost...
I recommend saving a local copy of both the old and new versions.
Agreed. State and national level censoring and firewalls may be impractical for stopping 100% of all "undesirable" traffic... but it doesn't need to. It just has to stop *enough* to slow and stigmatize the free flow of info. Someone finding a workaround does not mean everyone does.
I think that depends on how the stories from the data are told, in conjunction with the incentives the leaders face for action (or inaction).
Good luck, babe 😆
My friend's book debuts today, available via ebook or paperback! Check it out!
I am *so* excited to see this mission launch! Earlier this year I spoke with several #NISAR scientists about how this satellite is going to change the game, and it really is going to be a data powerhouse for understanding the Earth system. 🧪🛰️❄️🌳
eos.org/articles/tra...
Liftoff! The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission has launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. #NISAR will scan the entire globe twice every 12 days to measure changes in Earth’s ecosystems, cryosphere, and land surface.
“It’s orbiting magic.” —Alex Gardner, NASAJPL
eos.org/articles/tra...
I've been waiting for #NISAR to launch for many years... looking forward to what it can provide the world of earth observation!
Have a safe ride uphill!
I remember reading about comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacting Jupiter in the newspaper and seeing clips on the news. (I may still have some of those articles in my scrapbook!) Absolutely wild to see an impact scar on Jupiter the size of the Earth!
I thought about posting about exactly this yesterday.
Most EV guidance is "just charge at home/work." If that doesn't work, advice goes downhill quickly into "join your HOA board and change the policy" or "buy a different house" territory. Between family, work, and school... not practical for me.
#asteroid #Apophis, at naked-eye brightness (mag 3.1) races across Barcelona's night sky on the evening of Friday, April 13, 2029 as it comes closer to Earth than our geosynchronous satellites.
This is amazing, thank you
