Did my title get your attention? What if I said "The United States Declares War on the Moon" or "All your Horoscopes to be Destroyed by NASA?" In the news industry an exciting pitch in your title can mean the difference in readership in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands, so there is big business in coaxing you to read with an exciting, but not quite true title.

During the May 2009 servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, astronauts completed a wide range of maintenance tasks, upgrades, and repairs. The process for checking out the observatory and confirming the success of that work has taken months. Finally, the results of those incredible efforts are ready to be exhibited to the world. Quite simply, they are spectacular. Hubble is back, and it is better than ever! Join us for a look at the new images, the new capabilities, and the promise of continued cutting-edge astronomy for years to come.

"A small glimpse into a timeline of epic scale" is the subtitle of a curious and captivating two minute slideshow. An epic musical score heightens the drama as you witness the history of earth flash past a million years at a time. I've watched it quite a few times now, though I've heard from several people it's view of continental drift is flawed, it seems that regardless of the less than perfect science it may represent it still presents an important view of our Earth's jouney. Ultimately the future of the fragile living systems of our planet becomes something we are responsible for, instead of just witnesses to. Where will we go when life can no longer exist on Earth?

A beautifully illustrated and curiously narrated history of the exploration of Mars, from the earliest telescope theorists to the current rovers on the surface. Flyovers, animations and archival footage make a fun and enthusiastic 20 minutes spent peering closely at a far distant planet. The harsh atmosphere is revealed as inhospitable but not 100% incompatible with the existance of life. Highly recommended in HD.

"Meet the asteroid that flattened the Red Planet and ruined its chances of becoming Earth-like. A SpaceRip TV original, in collaboration with Space.com."

(From The Onion.com) LEBANON, OHIO—Apollo 11 mission commander and famed astronaut Neil Armstrong shocked reporters at a press conference Monday, announcing he had been convinced that his historic first step on the moon was part of an elaborate hoax orchestrated by the United States government.

According to Armstrong, he was forced to reconsider every single detail of the monumental journey after watching a few persuasive YouTube videos, and reading several blog posts on conspiracy theorist Ralph Coleman's website, OmissionControl dot org.

Reviewers on the Space.com forum have determined that it was probably shot from STS-80 in 2006 and that while it is certainly still unidentified, it is not a UFO in the classic sense. Discussions dismiss ball lightning and sprites as the source and discussion also indicates that meteors have been captured on film from the ISS before. If this is a meteor sighting from the Shuttle it is presumed to be the clearest one yet seen.
 

Friday, Aug 28th - 11:59PM EST is the scheduled launch time for the STS-128. The Internet has officially replaced the television for space launch coverage. Here is how to get the true insider's view of the launch - directly from the scientists, engineers, and astronauts. The best official, and non-official sources of live web, video and Twitter coverage.



"Live" Web Resources
CBS Space Place - this page has links to everything from weather to payload and gives an "at-a-glance" update on the current status of the launch.
NASA's Launch Blog - new post every 3-10 minutes during launch window with a summary of events and status of the launch.
Spaceflight Now Forum - the very best forum to get a real ringside seat on the action. Posts increase to many per minute as the launch progresses, and include amazing ring-side seat photos taken at the launch site only moments before.

Video sources:

In 1994 astronomers witnessed what they called at the time "a once in 10,000 year event" as 20 fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 bombarded the surface of Jupiter. The comet's path through the solar system was tracked and the resulting impacts on the surface were observed from many vantage points as the first modern-day observation of a major impact within our solar system.

Well it has only been 15 years, (to the day I might add!) since that amazing event, when a dedicated amateur astronomer spotted something amazing through his telescope from his backyard in Australia last night. Anthony Wesley, a 44 year old computer expert from a small town near Canberra was about to pack it in for the night after spending time photographing the surface of Jupiter.

Magnetic Movie from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

"With Magnetic Movie, Semiconductor have tapped into a new and ancient aesthetic of turbulence. We can hear it in the sounds of natural radio-naturally-occurring electromagnetic signals from the earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere-that course through Magnetic Movie, at times animating the animation, a quick nervous response condensed into static. The sound itself is the product of the combined turbulences of the earth's molten core, weather systems and electrical storms, ephemeral ionization in the upper atmosphere, and the solar winds."

Don't understand? Don't let that phase you. Trust me. Watch it. It's just amazing. I cannot get it out of my mind. I see my whole room in a new light. Gravitation and magnetism are no longer just acting on me they are alive and swirling and sparking around me.

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

With a wink from Paramount the new Star Trek movie was digitized and beamed to the International Space Station (ISS) and viewed by the three current residents on a laptop in the Unity Module on Saturday.

Thursday, May 14th - Watch the Herschel and Planck launch live
Live web streaming of Herschel-Planck launch on Thursday 14 May, starts at 8:40 ET and lasts until 7:52 ET. The launch itself is scheduled to take place at 7:12 ET.

ESA Special Live Launch Report We don't carry ESA embedded here yet. Maybe for next launch. For now, please visit Live ESA TV on the ESA webiste to watch live as the two telescopes launch from ESA's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. 

I found this great launch timeline, but I could not find the public launch forum for this event.

More links and follow up

#a7a139;">Monday, May 11th On my last check at the status review at CBS Space Place we were at a 90% chance to launch. So please use our link to Live Space TV on our left menu to get a ringside seat as the Shuttle launches at #a7a139;">2PM ET out of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (You can double-click the TV image to full-screen)

If you want the real scoop on what is happening on the NASA TV stream you can follow along with space scientists who are commenting live on the NASA coverage by opening the link to this forum. You can't post anything in that  official thread, but in many threads of the spaceflight forum you can participate with the NASA launch conversation - directly with the folks at NASA.

More links and follow up

It's an honor really But only because I feel I am truly innocent and can just enjoy being the unwitting target of Discover Magazine's "Bad Astronomy" most strikingly identifiable badge of dishonor.

I have admired "The Stupid, It Burns" icon of idiocy from the very first time I ever saw it used on the Bad Astronomy blog. It pops up on their news items frequently to denounce the most hair-pulling abuse and neglect of science. I love how it so eloquently expresses the anguished frustration of brutalized thought. I visited the Plognark Gallery to admire his unique artworks, and never once thought his glorious celebration of stupidity might one day be pasted upon me! But here I am. How did this happen? more...

How wonderful to launch this website on the heels of such an inspiring dedication to Science given by President Barack Obama yesterday to the National Academy of Sciences. Nothing gives me more optimism and hope for the future than to hear our leaders pledge support to the search for new discoveries.

The skull is 15 cm with binocular eyes 5 cm apart. The cranial capacity is approximately 1400 cc. There appears to be no external covering for a large tympanic structure located behind the eyes. There appears to be a narrow pointed small mouth, so this creature most likely is a carnivore. There appear to be several pits above the mouth that may be infrared sensors...

Hoping to be the first country to be officially contacted by visiting aliens, which they believe is imminent, the Kazakhstan government is building a UFO base and Alien Embassy in the town of Almaty in Eastern Kazakhstan.

Two and one half years after a small plane disappeared with two people aboard near Sedona, Arizona, the crash site has been located with the use of Google Earth. The break came when Chris Killian of the Missing Aircraft Search Team, an ad hoc group of skilled volunteers who continue to search long after the official search has ended, investigated an old fire report.

That is just one question the twin STEREO probes hope to help answer in the coming months. "The name of the planet is Theia," says Mike Kaiser, STEREO project scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

"It's a hypothetical world. We've never actually seen it, but some researchers believe it existed 4.5 billion years ago—and that it collided with Earth to form the Moon."

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

#ccffcc;">Back in the good old days of Mars exploration an astronaut wanders away from the base camp and comes across a beautiful young Martian woman stirring a large steaming cauldron. The beautiful young Martian woman looks up surprised to see the Earthman.

#ccffcc;">"I didn't mean to startle you," the astronaut says. "What are you doing?"