Food for Thought... Do you think Christians living in Rome or elsewhere in the world would riot or cause widespread bloodshed if they saw either of these two illustrations online? Probably not. I'm not a fanatical God-boy, but it's safe to say that Catholics and other Christian denominations have modernized enough that they know that these kinds of satirical images will occasionally be posted on the Internet—and not b*tch and whine about them. Unlike other religions that came about in the Middle East... I'll leave it at that.

Photo of the Day... Now that Carmageddon is set to return to downtown Los Angeles later tonight, just thought I'd repost this image that made its rounds in the media last July. Do you think these folks will be crazy enough to conduct this stunt again? Err, maybe. Will they be successful in pulling it off now that the California Highway Patrol is onto them? Hm, maybe not.


Jesse Glucksman

NASA, ESA, G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (Leiden University) and the HUDF09 Team

Space Telescopes: The Present & Future... Within a one-week span, NASA released an amazing composite photo using images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as well as announcing that the first two of 18 mirror segments that will fly on Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), were recently delivered to NASA. In the pic above, the eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) is shown. Comprising 2,000 images shot by several cameras that flew aboard Hubble over the past decade and assembled into a 23-day time exposure, the XDF brings into view about 5,500 galaxies...including some that were formed only 450 million years after the Big Bang.


NASA / Chris Gunn

In the photos directly above and below, engineers at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland inspect one of the two mirror segments that were delivered from Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado last week. The remaining 16 segments will be sent to GSFC over the next 12 months, prior to beginning integration into the JWST itself in 2015. After the JWST launches into space in 2018, the 18 segments—each weighing 88 pounds (40 kilograms) and having a width of 4.2 feet (1.3 meters)—will form into a primary mirror that is 21.4 feet (6.5 meters) in diameter. Overlooking the fact the JWST has forced NASA to take funding from other projects to pay for the telescope's $8.7 billion price tag, it has been interesting to see such an ambitious project begin to take shape. Keep in mind that the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory mission was delayed from 2009 to last November due to escalating costs and testing of the Curiosity rover falling behind schedule. These are pretty much moot points now that NASA is basking in the success of Curiosity since she safely landed on Mars last month. I won't be surprised if the JWST achieves redemption by sending home some of the most jaw-dropping pics ever taken of the universe that rival or exceed those of Hubble once the Webb telescope becomes operational 6 to 7 years from now. Patience is a virtue.


NASA / Chris Gunn

NASA / Jim Ross

Photos of the Day... Space shuttle Endeavour and the USS Iowa—two of Los Angeles' newest museum exhibits of 2012—are featured in these snapshots. Awesome.


Courtesy of Facebook

Welcome home, Endeavour! Words can't describe the amazing and historic experience that I—as well as millions of other people across the California coastline (except in San Diego)—enjoyed as a majestic piece of American ingenuity elegantly soared in the skies above the Golden State earlier today. Needless to say, I'm totally looking forward to seeing Endeavour travel through the streets of downtown Los Angeles exactly three weeks from now...as the space shuttle embarks on the final leg of her journey to the California Science Center for permanent museum display. Woohoo.

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Endeavour is finally headed to Los Angeles... At 4:22 AM, Pacific Daylight Time today, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) carrying the retired orbiter Endeavour departed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. As of this entry, Endeavour and the SCA are currently parked on the tarmac at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas. The craft will remain there for a day before taking to the skies once more and heading on the last leg of their journey to Southern California. The SCA will make a refueling stop at El Paso, Texas before flying through New Mexico on its way to Edwards Air Force Base in California tomorrow. It will be on Friday morning that Endeavour will soar into the sky one last time...departing from Edwards Air Force Base and giving spectators up north in Sacramento and San Francisco an aerial thrill before heading back to L.A. to wow Angelenos on the ground, prior to her touching down at Los Angeles International Airport.

Below is one of the most iconic photos of space shuttle Endeavour—taken during her final flight to the International Space Station on STS-134 last year.


Roscosmos / ESA / NASA

Photos of the Day... I agree with the sentiment above—especially if you own any of the cars below. Good grief.

NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

Six days from now... Endeavour is now placed atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft that will ferry her across the country to Southern California on Monday. Final securing (tightening of bolts at the attachment joints) of Endeavour to the modified jumbo jet will take place tomorrow. Still doing research about where to go at LAX to see the orbiter land next Thursday...


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA / Kim Shiflett

A week from today, space shuttle Endeavour will be arriving in Los Angeles courtesy of the modified Boeing 747 shown in these pics. I'm planning to drive down to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on September 20 to get a glimpse of the retired orbiter as she touches down at LAX...though I'm still doing research online in terms of knowing exactly where to go so I can get decent snapshots of Endeavour as she comes in for a landing. Stay tuned.


NASA / Jim Grossmann


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS

Photos of the Day... Just when I thought I could take a break from posting space-related news on my Blog, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California, had to release these awesome images recently taken by the Curiosity Mars rover...courtesy of a camera (the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI) on its robotic arm. The coolest pics are the ones taken of Curiosity's Mastcam (above) and all six of the rover's wheels plus four of its hazard avoidance cameras (directly below). The snapshot of the wheels is like having your car parked in your driveway and getting down on your knees to have a look underneath the vehicle. Of course, chances are your car probably isn't nuclear-powered and equipped with a laser gun that could cut your arm right off.



NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS


NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS


NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS


NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS