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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Relativity's Terran 1 Rocket is mostly 3D-printed. It burns a cryogenic rocket fuel composed of liquid methane and liquid oxygen (methalox). In this close-up of a Terran 1 launch on the night of March 22 from Cape Canaveral, icy chunks fall through the stunning frame as intense blue exhaust streams from its nine Aeon 1 engines. In a largely successful flight the inovative rocket achieved main engine cutoff and stage separation but fell short of orbit after an anomaly at the beginning of its second stage flight. Of course this Terran 1 rocket was never intended to travel to Mars. Still, the methane and liquid oxygen components of its methalox fuel can be made solely from materials found on the Red Planet. Methalox manufactured on Mars could be used as fuel for rockets returning to planet Earth.

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A strange sound,
addled my brain.
My ears ringing,
I heard this refrain.

Stop the noise,
I heard someone sing,
those bells are paper,
they won't ring.

Smokey blossoms,
pinkish hue,
seeing this tree,
thinking of you.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In this Hubble Space Telescope image the bright, spiky stars lie in the foreground toward the heroic northern constellation Perseus and well within our own Milky Way galaxy. In sharp focus beyond is UGC 2885, a giant spiral galaxy about 232 million light-years distant. Some 800,000 light-years across compared to the Milky Way's diameter of 100,000 light-years or so, it has around 1 trillion stars. That's about 10 times as many stars as the Milky Way. Part of an investigation to understand how galaxies can grow to such enormous sizes, UGC 2885 was also part of An Interesting Voyage and astronomer Vera Rubin's pioneering study of the rotation of spiral galaxies. Her work was the first to convincingly demonstrate the dominating presence of dark matter in our universe.

"Maybe you’re not like me — and geez, I hope you’re not — but I’m at that juncture in life where reminiscing is a better pastime than daydreaming about the future. I know, I know, Be Here Now, practice Mindfulness, yeah, yeah, but I’m 72 years old and there’s a lot more in the rearview than what’s up ahead and okay, I realize I need to keep my eye on the road for what’s coming up. Nevertheless"… Read more

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The largest volcano in our Solar System is on Mars. Although three times higher than Earth's Mount Everest, Olympus Mons will not be difficult for humans to climb because of the volcano's shallow slopes and Mars' low gravity. Covering an area greater than the entire Hawaiian volcano chain, the slopes of Olympus Mons typically rise only a few degrees at a time. Olympus Mons is an immense shield volcano, built long ago by fluid lava. A relatively static surface crust allowed it to build up over time. Its last eruption is thought to have been about 25 million years ago. The featured image was taken by the European Space Agency's robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting the Red Planet. Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)

The unusual clanging,
of the Chapel bell.
Ringing out the message
about the path of living well.

Long were the years, before,
well over 6 decades.
of a beautiful life,
in a penny arcade.

We lived well, for those years,
Two children, yes, we did.
Granddaughters, two,
twenty-two skidoo. Oh, you kid.

If life has beaten you down,
if all the breaks, go against you,
you must stand up, once more.
Be assertive, would be what to do.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

What causes this unusual curving structure near the center of our Galaxy? The long parallel rays slanting across the top of the featured radio image are known collectively as the Galactic Center Radio Arc and point out from the Galactic plane. The Radio Arc is connected to the Galactic Center by strange curving filaments known as the Arches. The bright radio structure at the bottom right surrounds a black hole at the Galactic Center and is known as Sagittarius A*. One origin hypothesis holds that the Radio Arc and the Arches have their geometry because they contain hot plasma flowing along lines of a constant magnetic field. Images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory appear to show this plasma colliding with a nearby cloud of cold gas.

"For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

Excerpt from Yale University Commencement Address delivered 11 June 1962, New Haven, Connecticut by President John F Kennedy. Read more