Remember That We Are Stardust

This image of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov, both Expedition 30 flight engineers, was taken during a Feb. 16 spacewalk at the International Space Station. During the six-hour, 15-minute spacewalk, Kononenko and Shkaplerov moved the Strela-1 crane from the Pirs Docking Compartment in preparation for replacing it in 2012 with a new laboratory and docking module. The duo used another boom, the Strela-2, to move the hand-operated crane to the Poisk module for future assembly and maintenance work. Both telescoping booms extend like fishing rods and are used to move massive components outside the station. On the exterior of the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2, they also installed the Vinoslivost Materials Sample Experiment, which will investigate the influence of space on the mechanical properties of the materials. The spacewalkers also collected a test sample from underneath the insulation on the Zvezda Service Module to search for any signs of living organisms. Both spacewalkers wore Russian Orlan spacesuits bearing blue stripes and equipped with NASA helmet cameras. (Photo and caption from NASA)

Who Cares What The Neighbors Say?

We are being urged to wave at the International Space Station.

When God Looks Down On Bethlehem Tomorrow

Beginning from the Mediterranean coast near the center of the image, the first bright light is Tel Aviv. The one on the right is Amman, Jordan. In the middle is Jerusalem, six miles north of Bethlehem. The photo was taken from the International Space Station. More images here.

Hat tip to Tom Tierney

Light Of The World

Taken from the International Space Station. Click on the picture or go here.

Cooler Than Science Fiction

The International Space Station, photographed from the space shuttle Discovery, March 2009

Hat tip to Universe Today