Totally amazing simulation of the NASA Spirit Mars mission: “Animation by Dan Maas/Maas Digital LLC… This work was performed for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, sponsored by the United States Government…”

From /.: “NY Times today has an essay about a map of the entire universe produced by two Princeton astronomers using a variety of data including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Its view begins with the Earth at the bottom and extends back almost to the Big Bang at the top, including such objects as the Sloan Great Wall, 1.37 billion light-years long.”

“Space flight is known to be a risky business, but during the minutes before dawn last February 1, as the doomed shuttle Columbia began to descend into the upper atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, only a handful of people — a few engineers deep inside of NASA — worried that the vehicle and its seven souls might actually come to grief. It was the responsibility of NASA’s managers to hear those suspicions, and from top to bottom they failed.”

“…going to be adding links, as they come, to infographics and interactive graphics reporting on the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster…” From nixlog, a weblog dedicated to infographics, information graphics, information design, graphic design and other related issues.

By Edward Tufte: “Since the principles of physics hold everywhere, magic is conceivably a cosmological entertainment, with the wonder induced by theatrical illusions appreciated by all, regardless of planetary system. Accordingly the plaque aboard the Pioneer spacecraft for extraterrestrial scrutiny billions of years from now might have escaped from its conspicuously anthropocentric gestures by showing instead the universally familiar Amazing Levitation Trick.”

“If you took a picture of the Sun at the same time each day, would it remain in the same position? The answer is no, and the shape traced out by the Sun over the course of a year is called an analemma.”

“On October 10th of each year we celebrate Powers of Ten Day by webcasting the 9 minute film ‘Powers of Ten,’ made by Charles and Ray Eames in 1977. Our purpose is to take a fresh look at the universe and our place within it, to renew our awareness of the interconnectedness of all things and to share the film’s inspiration to see all things from their next largest and next smallest perspective. We invite everyone to participate in Powers of Ten Day at whatever level is most comfortable — from simply watching the film online to spreading the concept by showing it at your home, school or workplace…”

“For the blind child who once asked, ‘What is the sky?’ educator Benning Wentworth now has an answer: a tactile book called Touch the Universe, based on the cosmic images made by the Hubble Space Telescope. The book features some of the most famous Hubble pictures of planets, galaxies and other cosmic objects, in color, but with plastic overlays that have raised lines, bumps and other touchable textures to allow those with vision problems to feel what they cannot see.”

Beautiful! “300 Miles High is a collection of one hundred of the best photographs of our planet taken from the vantage point of a typical Space Shuttle orbit — about 300 miles above the Earth’s surface. To give credit where it is due, all these images come from NASA, which allows free reproduction for non-profit enterprises. Further credit goes to the many astronauts who actually framed and photographed many of these amazing images. Some were taken remotely, others by automatic cameras mounted on the Shuttle or the International Space Station.”

“Coldwar era American and Soviet spacecraft that never flew. Photorealistic 3d computer models rendered in high resolution. Quicktime movies of the spaceraft in action.”

A searchable directory of images, visualizations and animations of the Earth. “The goal of Visible Earth is to provide a consistently updated central catalog/collection point to the superset of Earth science-related visualizations and images. These images will be useful to the interested public-at-large, as well as representatives of the media, scientists, and educators. Whether it be for personal use or for presentations, hopefully this collection and its organization will provide maximum benefit.”

“A prehistoric map of the night sky has been discovered on the walls of the famous painted caves at Lascaux in central France. The map, which is thought to date back 16,500 years, shows three bright stars known today as the Summer Triangle. A map of the Pleiades star cluster has also been found among the Lascaux frescoes. And another pattern of stars, drawn 14,000 years ago, has been identified in a cave in Spain.”

“Science and Engineering Indicators 2000 is a joint report of the National Science Board and the National Science Foundation. …the report presents trends in U.S. and international research and development funds and alliances, in the S&E workforce, in science and mathematics education, and in public attitudes and understanding of science and engineering. The report also devotes a chapter to the significance of information technologies for science and the daily lives of our citizens.”

See where the space shuttle is, overhead, in real time. Java app.

“Mission objective: To obtain the most complete, near-global, high-resolution database of the earth’s topography.”