NASA's Cassini spacecraft took its final dive into Saturn's rings on April 26th, showing them like we've never seen before. Now, the agency has revealed the first true color images of Saturn's North Pole, created by astroparticle physicist Sophia Nasr. In this region, there's a never-ending hurricane with 300+ mile per hour winds, and previous images showed the area in a reddish hue. These images were created by using three separate photos that Cassini captured using Red, Green, and Blue filters. Click here to view the first image in this week's geek life gallery. Continue reading for a viral video of the most recent awe-inspiring SpaceX Falcon landing.
MIT researchers have just created a solar-powered robot that can 3D print the entire basic structure of a building using on-site materials. A user could customize the structure any way they see fit, thanks to a vehicle with one large robotic arm with a second smaller and more precise arm at the end. The vehicle also comes equipped with a scoop, so that it can help prepare the building area and pick up building materials on its own. They recently showcased the technology by building a 12-foot high, 50-foot wide dome out of foam-insulation framework, in just 14-hours. Click here to view the first image in this week's funny demotivational posters gallery. Continue reading for a viral video showing what happens when you shoot a glass Prince Rupert's Drop at point blank range with a high-powered gun.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft came within about 1,900 miles of Saturn's cloud tops, a location where the air pressure is 1 bar, comparable to the atmospheric pressure of Earth at sea level, and within about 200-miles of the innermost visible edge of the rings. "No spacecraft has ever been this close to Saturn before. We could only rely on predictions, based on our experience with Saturn's other rings, of what we thought this gap between the rings and Saturn would be like. I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape," said Cassini Project Manager Earl Maize of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Continue reading for another video, more pictures and information.
A NASA engineer contacted PetaPixel editor Jon H. about a box of photographic films that he discovered in his desk drawer from the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. These original films from the customized Hasselblad EDC (Electronic Data Cameras) medium format cameras used on the lunar surface depict the astronauts, the Falcon LM-10 Lunar Module and Lunar Rover. The astronauts brought several cameras to the lunar surface, but left the actual camera bodies to conserve weight. Continue reading for another video, more pictures and information.
Dutch photographer Albert Dros spent weeks in Guatemala waiting for the perfect moment to capture the Fuego volcano aligned perfectly beneath the Milky Way Galaxy. "First of all I used Photopills to plan the position of the milky way. Then I used the tools I found online to 'get to know' the volcano by observing scopes, recent activity logs and webcams. Last I called the local weather station when I finally arrived in Guatemala multiple times to get a recommendation about the weather up there above 3000m. When clear skies were predicted in combination with lots of activity i made my move to try my luck," said Dros. Continue reading for more pictures and information.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this incredible image of Earth through the rings of Saturn from 870 million miles away, on April 12th, 2017. When you zoom in, the high-resolution photo reveals the Moon as an even smaller dot near Earth. The Cassini spacecraft was launched approximately 20-years-ago, and as its final mission, it will be sent into Saturn's atmosphere. Click here to view the first image in this week's things that look like other things gallery. Continue reading for a viral video of the fastest 300 bowling game ever recorded.
NASA's Gemini XII mission in 1966 was the 10th and final manned Gemini flight, and it was commanded by Gemini VII veteran James A. Lovell. It featured three periods of extravehicular activity (EVA) by rookie Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lasting a total of 5 hours and 30 minutes. Gemini XII marked a successful conclusion of the Gemini program, achieving the last of its goals by successfully demonstrating that astronauts can effectively work outside of spacecraft. This was instrumental in paving the way for the Apollo program to achieve its goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. Continue reading for more selfies of famous people before the smartphone era.
Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and bulk composition. The atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 92 times that of Earth, or roughly the pressure found 3,000-feet underwater on Earth. Venus is by far the hottest planet in the Solar System, with a mean surface temperature of 863° F even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. It's shrouded by an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible light. In 1975 the Soviet Venera 9 and 10 landers transmitted the first images from the surface of Venus, which were in black and white. In 1982 the first colour images of the surface were obtained with the Soviet Venera 13 and 14 landers. Continue reading for more interesting images from around the web.
This may not be an actual human colony on Mars, but it's probably as close as most will get to one. Freedomes partnered with SunCity Camp to create a dome tent camp experience in Wadi Rum, Jordan, or where "The Martian" was filmed. The camp consists of approximately twenty geodesic domes and will cost between $159 to $318 a night, depending on how many luxuries you need. Continue reading for another video, more pictures and information.
NASA researchers announced today during a live broadcast the existence of key ingredients for life as we know it on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. That's right, hydrogen has been detected in the jets of water on its liquid water surface, which suggests the strong possibility that Enceladus's oceans could support microbial life. Click here to view the first image in this week's funny autocorrect texts gallery. Continue reading for a viral video of a skier who traveled through North Korea.
