Admiral, there be whales here!

This picture was recently taken by a NASA satellite:

There's been numerous weak attempts to explain it away through the use of proton impacts on the camera's sensor, but I think those of us who are faithful know the real explanation. Look at the blip. Now, look below:

Don't see it? Maybe from a different angle:

Here's what NASA is really trying to hide: Star Trek IV is all true. The whole thing is true, and someone just pulled a slingshot maneuver to come back to 2012 because some galactically important non-sentient species on Earth has gone extinct in the future. I find it fascinating that they even did it in a B'rel-class Bird of Prey. Star Trek has been spoon feeding us truth for decades to prepare for the eventual first contact. Good thinking there government conspiracy.

"But John," you say, "Why isn't there a bright trail of light following the ship in the photo? There's clearly a visible trail of particles following the Bounty in that glorious scene from the movie!"

It's not a comet. Ice isn't burning off. There's no reason for the trail other than Hollywood bling.

So, I give you proof that the truth is out there. You're welcome, America.

(All images blatantly ripped off the internet.)

What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth?

Video description:

"A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line) and the stars of our galaxy."

An Artificial Sun on Earth

Article here.

I have to say, while the potential is exciting for cheap renewable energy and the possibility of controlled fusion, at the same time, I'm hesitant. I saw Spiderman 2. I know how this can end.

There are some experiments I am very wary of conducting on Earth. We only have one planet.... lets try not to destroy it, shall we?

The Politics of NASA

Let it be known that I have very mixed feelings on NASA. As with any government agency, they seem to have a lot of bloat and fat that needs cutting, they seem to be inefficient and ineffective, and seem to waste a lot of money. However, I ardently believe in their purpose - that of pushing the limits of human technology and resources and reaching out to the stars.

Thus when I saw this article, I was definitely disappointed, both in NASA and the Obama administration. (This isn't the first time I was disappointed with this administration, but that's another issue.)

That fact that this article and story, as far as I can tell, broke on The Times, a London based news source, also disheartened me. Is America so apathetic regarding space exploration that our media won't give the story the time of day?

Excerpt of the story below:

Nasa has begun to wind down construction of the rockets and spacecraft that were to have taken astronauts back to the Moon — effectively dismantling the US human spaceflight programme despite a congressional ban on its doing so.

Legislators have accused President Obama’s Administration of contriving to slip the termination of the Constellation programme through the back door to avoid a battle on Capitol Hill.

Constellation aimed to build upon what was arguably America’s greatest technological achievement, the first lunar landing of 1969, by launching new expeditions to the Moon and to Mars and worlds beyond. Mr Obama proposed in February that it should be scrapped because it was “over budget, behind schedule and lacking in innovation”, but he has met opposition in Congress, which has yet to approve his plan.The head of Nasa, Major-General Charlie Bolden — an Obama appointee — has now written to aerospace contractors telling them to cut back immediately on Constellation-related projects costing almost $1 billion (£690 million), to comply with regulations requiring them to budget for possible contract termination costs.

The move has been branded a “disingenuous legal manoeuvre” and referred to Nasa’s inspector-general for investigation. “It’s bordering on arrogance by the Administration to boldly and brazenly go forward with this approach. It shows a blatant disregard for Congress,” said the Republican Congressman Rob Bishop, of Utah, whose constituency stands to lose thousands of jobs. Two weeks ago the Senate passed legislation that compels Nasa to continue work on Constellation unless Congress directs otherwise. That legislation is due to be signed into law by Mr Obama this month while Congress continues its deliberations over his proposal to cancel the current space space progamme.

Since this administration has, thus far, been all about big budget vast changes to our governmental structure, I'm surprised he didn't try to start a moon colony, to be quite honest.

Sarcasm aside, it's starting to look more and more like Virgin Galactic and other private space enthusiasts might be our last, best chance to get off of this rock. Or maybe India will take up the mantle in the United State's place. I'm sure that's a legacy we can be proud of, winning the space race only to give up and peter out in deference to the rest of the world.

Seriously. We first landed on the moon 41 years ago. Why haven't we been back since? This marks one giant leap backward for mankind.