They're NASA And They Know It

What do you get when you mix a hipster LMFAO video with a geeky NASA crew?

This awesome Mars Curiosity landing parody.

Mohawk guy? They nailed it.

For Those Of You That Argue Against Science

I saw this picture today, and while it was so ridiculous that it was actually funny, the replies kind of pound home a pretty good point:

I'm not here to make fun of or shit on anyone's religion, but the root of the problem is clearly in our methods of taxation:

Staggering numbers, but are they legit? In the above graphic there are two sourcing links, did you try to click them (ha)? I took the liberty of following the first one for you, the second one appears to be dead. That first link takes you to a USA Today article that tackles this very subject; how much money does the U.S. government forgo by not taxing religious institutions?

In the article, Professor of Sociology Ryan Cragon and two students conducted research that says that the government could be losing out on as much as 71 billion a year. 71 billion...that is 71,000,000,000 dollars. That's a lot of rovers.

How can you justify that? Well, when asked, Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said that "Americans have made a democratic decision that religious institutions are good for our communities — believers and atheists alike."

Good for our communities? I can see 71,000,000,000 feeding a lot of people, paying for more police and fire men and women, paying our teachers more, improving road conditions, allowing for tax breaks for hard working middle class families. Yes, 71 billion dollars would benefit our communities far more than giving tax exemptions to religious organizations.

So, why does the fundamentalist right want to attack science every time a major achievement happens? Is it because of them that the funding for NASA has been sliding down hill since the 1960's? Here is another alarming graphic:

Graphic via MHBenton

In the 1960's NASA's budget peaked somewhere close to 4.3% of the Federal Budget. Now? 0.5%. That's sad. What's more sad? In 2012 NASA got just below 20 billion dollars, that is more than 3 times less than religion saved on tax breaks. Keep that in mind next time you want to cry about X amount of money going towards the next X scientific endeavor.

First Color Image From Mars Curiosity Rover

Yes this is a fantastic color image of the landscape of mars, but, just like the first images from Curiosity; it is distorted by it's clear dust cover. The cover will stay in place for about another week to let the proverbial dust settle. In the distance you can still see the north wall of the Gale Crater.

The picture was taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager, (MAHLI). The MAHLI is capable of taking images from as close as 0.8 inch to infinity (how ever far that is).

(via JPL)

Amazing Footage of the Last 2 Minutes of Curiosity's Descent

Curiosity has been on Mars for almost one Earth day now and the news and footage just keeps getting more awesome.

Here is stop motion footage of the rover's last 2 minutes of descent. The footage was taken at a measly 4fps from the camera on the heat shield separator called The Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). Amazing.

(via Twitter)

First Images From Mars Curiosity

This morning, at 00:31 CST, Mars Curiosity Rover successfully landed on Mars after 8 and a half months of anticipation which climaxed with 7 minutes of terror.

Imediately following the landing, the rover started sending images our way. These images were taken at one-quarter of full resolution and with a clear dust cover still intact. Higher resolution, color images will be seen later this week once the rover's mast cameras are deployed.

Shortly after the landing, President Obama made this statement:

Statement by the President on Curiosity Landing on Mars

Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history.

The successful landing of Curiosity – the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet – marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future. It proves that even the longest of odds are no match for our unique blend of ingenuity and determination.

Tonight’s success, delivered by NASA, parallels our major steps forward towards a vision for a new partnership with American companies to send American astronauts into space on American spacecraft. That partnership will save taxpayer dollars while allowing NASA to do what it has always done best – push the very boundaries of human knowledge. And tonight’s success reminds us that our preeminence – not just in space, but here on Earth – depends on continuing to invest wisely in the innovation, technology, and basic research that has always made our economy the envy of the world.

I congratulate and thank all the men and women of NASA who made this remarkable accomplishment a reality – and I eagerly await what Curiosity has yet to discover.

So, where were you when we landed on Mars?

Mars Curiosity's 'Seven Minutes of Terror'

Late tonight or early Monday morning (10:31 PST 1:31 EST) NASA will attempt one of the most complex spacecraft landings in humankind history.

As you will see in the video, the landing is no easy task. It will require slowing the rover from a speed of 2000+ to zero MPH in a matter of minutes. The process will use a 100 pound supersonic parachute, a state-of-the-art sky crane, and about 500,000 lines of code. All of this will take place in a 14 minute window where NASA brainiacs will have zero control. Sound intense? It will be. Make sure you stay up late or set your alarms; this will be worth losing sleep over!

Inspiring Time Lapse View Of Earth From The ISS

Here's is an amazing time lapse video showing Earth and the cosmos at night from the International Space Station. The video was produced entirely from NASA provided images by Knate Myers.

Want to learn how to make these awesome videos? Check out this mini-tutorial then get busy inspiring us!

Incredible Time Lapse Catches Full Venus Transit From NASA’s Little SDO

34 Years Of Deforestation

NASA recently released imagery showing the deforestation of America  …in just 34 years.

I really hope these images are just shopped; they don’t seem very proportionate. I’m sure this isn’t far from the truth though.

(Source: http://travelerschecks.tumblr.com)

First Photograph Of Sunset On Mars, 2005

(Source: http://nasa.gov)

Incredible Timelapse of Comet Lovejoy Streaking By With A Milky Way Backdrop

The above picture was a recent NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (click to enlarge) that shows Comet Lovejoy flying over the Paranal Observatory in Antofagasta, Chile.

We showed you how Lovejoy made its death-defying lap around the Sun, but failed in showing you just how beautiful the comet is. Luckily, the below time lapse video was made that catches not only Lovejoy, but yet another awesome shot of the Milky Way.

Before watching the video, however, I strongly suggest to play it in full screen HD in the darkest room you can find; it really is breathtaking.

Night Time Lapse of Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3) rising above the Andes near Santiago de Chile, 23rd December 2011, just before sunrise. Set of 4 sequences taken with different lenses “zooming in” the scene.

Aircraft Carrier Sized Asteroid To Buzz By Earth November 8th

An asteroid some 1,300 wide, code named 2005 YU55, will come just slightly closer than the moon’s orbit on November 8th.

The encounter is being called safe and scientists say they “fully understand the asteroids trajectory”. NASA, who will be tracking 2005 YU55 with the Deep Space Network antenna starting November 4th, say the asteroid will not have any gravitational influence on Earth -meaning our tides and tectonic plates will be fine.

The trajectory of asteroid 2005 YU55 is well understood. At the point of closest approach, it will be no closer than 201,700 miles (324,600 kilometers) or 0.85 the distance from the moon to Earth.  The gravitational influence of the asteroid will have no detectable effect on anything here on Earth, including our planet’s tides or tectonic plates. Although 2005 YU55 is in an orbit that regularly brings it to the vicinity of Earth (and Venus and Mars), the 2011 encounter with Earth is the closest this space rock has come for at least the last 200 years.

Your mobile phone has more computing power than all of NASA in 1969...

So is this a sign of NASA’s lack of progress or just a sign of how badass our phones are now?