Note: Full res version HERE and original image prior to the Lunar Orbiter Image Reprocessing Project HERE . This is the photo taken 45-years ago today when Lunar Orbiter 1, tasked with locating a suitable landing zone for the future Apollo missions, turned around and took a picture of earth from the moon . Damn, we’ve come a long way in the last 45 years, haven’t we? No, and we just recently committed to never going back again. And you know what? That’s fine with me. Just don’t get all pissy when you look through your tele-laserscope or whatever and realize the American flag’s been replaced with a Geekologietopia one. HA — like there was ever an American one up there in the first place. Back me up, Grandma. “I wet my pants.” Dammit nana, I told you to stop smoking all my weed! That shit is waaaaaay too strong for a 200-year old. Which reminds me… are you a witch? 45 Years Ago, NASA Took the First Image of Earth from the Moon [geekosystem] Thanks to D. Krauss, who’s been to the moon and claims it’s a lot rockier and a lot less cheesy than you’d think. WELL I AM DISAPPOINT.

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45 Years Ago Today: Earth From The Moon

Note: Much larger version HERE in case you’re looking for an out-of-this-world (but not solar system) wallpaper. This is allegedly a real picture (although I have my doubts — NASA ) of a massive storm on Saturn that has wrapped around the entire planet and caught up with its tail (the fainter discoloration below the brighter one). Impressive, but my dog does that shit all the time . Plus hock up unchewed kibble on the carpet. Given Saturn’s diameter of about 120,000 km (72,000 miles) and the latitude of the storm (call it 45), this monster system must be well over 300,000 km (180,000 miles) in length! That’s three-quarters of the way from the Earth to the Moon. Crazy. But equally crazy: how the photo was shot dead-on with Saturn’s rings so they only appear as a line. Now that’s nuts. And not little ones like pistachios either, I’m talking some bigass ones — like coconuts . “You’re so dumb GW, coconuts aren’t even nuts — the Coco de Mer is actually the world’s largest botanical nut and can weigh over 60-pounds.” Hoho — sounds like we’ve got a nut-lover in the audience! *teabag, teabag* BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. A storm wraps around Saturn [badastronomy] Thanks to Julian, who’s particularly fond of space because that’s where cheese comes from. Yeaaaaaaaaah, I’m not sure who told you that, Julian, but they are 100% correct! (It was probably me)

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Storm On Saturn Wraps Around Entire Planet

Just like this (because this is a picture of one being filmed is the thing). When I saw this setup, print in Esquire, I assumed they had built a physical crawl, dragged through the camera’s field of view to create the effect. Looking closer, though, it’s obvious that it was the camera that moved in this setup, slowly and carefully rolled back over the glossy, printed plate, which measured about six feet long. It looks like a colored lightbox with the letters glowing through an opaque film. Awesome. You know, it’s amazing what you can accomplish even without computers. Kidding, computers are life. So That’s How They Filmed the Star Wars Opening Crawl… [gizmodo] and Rare Empire Photos from Maxim Magazine [starwars] (with a bunch of never before seen candid shots) Thanks to ray, who, together with gun, makes one of my favorite weapons.

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Seeing Is Believing: How The West Was Won Old Star Wars Opening Crawls Were Filmed

This is a little graphic charting the progress in music storage. It’s part of a larger graphic which also includes the evolutions of photo and data storage. Click THIS BIG-ASS LINK RIGHT HERE to see the whole thing. But warning: prepare to be wowed. Or at least moderately impressed with how far we’ve come. Now let’s put a man on the moon ! Or a cat. Oh. My. God — SPACE FURBABIES — WANT!! Man, We’ve Come a Long Way From Floppies [gizmodo]

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Don’t Copy That Floppy!: Evolution Of Storage