Riding With Robots

Follow along with LRO before, during, and after the eclipse using our Eyes on the Solar System experience: go.nasa.gov/4gswDkZ

Landscape of hills and craters on the Moon, seen from above at an oblique angle, with deep, dark shadows. Credit: NASA/GSFC

To make it through, the team will temporarily turn off the science instruments & the main antenna, saving power to bring LRO back online after the eclipse. Learn more about LRO, which has been sending stunning images & other data from the Moon since 2009: science.nasa.gov/mission/lro/

From NASA

From the Moon, a lunar eclipse looks like a total solar eclipse, but it lasts a LOT longer. For NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, that means the team has to plan carefully for the 4 hours that the spacecraft — and its solar panels — will be in the dark and the cold.
🌑🛰

That amazing spoonbill pic I reposted the other day? AI. 🤦
Will really try to avoid that.

The glibness. The indifference. The carelessness. The utter lack of planning for a war against a country of 90M. The sickness of a man who acts on whim that will kill thousands not hundreds. The horror of a regime that enables this sickness. The broken body politic that votes in such malignancy.

Jupiter, with the great red spot and the shadow of Io, from Pioneer 10

Jupiter from Pioneer 10 near closest approach. Radiation caused the scanning photometer that built up this image to shift several times.

Ganymede from Pioneer 10

Jupiter and Io from Pioneer 10 as it left the Jovian system behind.

Today in 1972, Pioneer 10 was launched, becoming humanity's first spacecraft to cross the asteroid belt, encounter Jupiter, and leave the planetary system.

Color photo of the Pioneer 10 rocket launch, which took place at night. The photo is dominated by the bright white and yellow glowing exhaust at the bast of the rocket as it lifts off.

A black and white diagram showing the path of Pioneer "F" and "G," later dubbed "10" and "11," through the inner solar system, past the asteroid belt, and to the vicinity of Jupiter. The diagram shows the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Pallas, Vesta, Ceres, and Jupiter.

A (vertical) triptych of Jupiter images captured by Pioneer 10. All three photos show white, orange, and tan cloud bands. The Great Red Spot is on the left limb of the planet in the top photo, and moves towards the center in images 2 and 3. In addition, the shadow of an inner moon moves across the face of the planet.

Color image of the anodized aluminum plaque attached to Pioneer 10. It shows line art diagrams of a man and woman, their relative size compared to the probe, a diagram of our solar system with Pioneer's path past Mars and Jupiter then out of the solar system, our location relative to a number of pulsars, and a schematic representation of a well-known Hydrogen atom transition.

Pioneer 10 launched #OTD in 1972.

It was a mission of firsts: passing through the asteroid belt, visiting Jupiter, crossing Neptune's orbit, achieving the speed needed to leave the solar system.

We detected a last, faint signal on January 23, 2003. Now it belongs to the cosmos. 🧪 🔭 🛰️

Images: NASA

#LunarEclipse FAQ:

Q: Is it safe to look at?
A: Absolutely! Unlike a solar eclipse, there's no UNsafe time to look at a lunar eclipse.

Q: Do I need a telescope?
A: Nope! Best view is with naked eye. Just look up!

Q: Does the eclipse portend terror & doom?
A: Not at all! The news has that covered.

Re-upping for the Monday morning crowd!

If you see this and know an astronomy grad student, please forward them this opportunity!

#jobs #astronomy #gradstudents

Indigo Milky Way
12”x6” Oil on cradled wood panel
.
Available on my website
#SciArt

I didn't know about the sixth one (though I guessed). A little interstellar click-bait for you. ;) 🛰️

The world could be such a nice place if we allowed it. It's all so goddamn unnecessary. There's no need for any of it. It's so beautiful here. It should be so cool to be alive

Auroral light in a starry night sky above pines on a mountain ridge in Utah. Photo: Bill Dunford

Grateful for even the briefest stolen glances of such beauty.

A blood red moon reflected in a mountain lake. Photo: Bill Dunford

I think I'm going to be snowed out on Tuesday, so here's the lunar eclipse of May 2021.

Mt. Timpanogos, Utah

We are living under the dumbest fucking dictator that has ever existed and I know that’s daunting and upsetting but let’s just take a little solace in that fact as we seek to overthrow these fascists.

For Women's History Month - a thing I wrote.

lroc.im-ldi.com/images/1093

My goal was to highlight interesting lunar features imaged by LRO that were named for lesser-known scientists. Blagg Crater, named for Mary Adela Blagg, is located in Sinus Medii.

I requested that the crater be reimaged.

I have never seen a politician more directly copy this speech in my life

NGC 1637 (Hubble WFC3 and Webb NIRCam images)

Unfolding MetOp-SG-B1’s solar wing

Orbital plumbing maintenance aboard the International Space Station

Earth from Space: Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica

📸 This was our #WeekInImages 23-27 February 2026.

🔗 www.esa.int/About_Us/Wee...

West valley sushi shop owner released from ICE detention after eight months A federal judge has granted Kelly Yu temporary freedom after she filed a habius corpus petition.

"Her release follows months of advocacy from community members and political leaders of both parties.

Yu has operated her two West Valley restaurants for years, building a reputation for greeting customers with humor and kindness. She has no criminal record."

www.12news.com/article/news...

March 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse: Your Questions Answered A total lunar eclipse will redden the Moon in the early morning hours of March 3, 2026. Here’s what you need to know.

From NASA

A total lunar eclipse is coming

In the early morning hours of March 3, 2026 (UTC), the full Moon will pass through Earth’s shadow, reddening the lunar surface. Here’s what you need to know: go.nasa.gov/40rWLWD

We'll see how that goes, I guess...

"I hate these people to a degree that feels simultaneously corrosive to the soul, and also the only righteous response to this kind of evil." Yes!

Where I'm at now, for myself: Be angry to the point it motivates you to keep doing meaningful things in your own sphere, but not more angry than that.

So to summarize, the Pentagon and White House can murder any business or any people, foreign or domestic, without explanation or accountability.

A United States senator from the president's own party, one who serves on the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has no idea what's going on as America goes to war with Iran.

Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.

Statement from Major General (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, an Army commander during Operation Iraqi Freedom:

It is possible to believe two things at once: That the long-suffering people of Iran deserve freedom from their despotic leaders, and that a bombing campaign by the current highly corrupt authoritarian government of America is unlikely to bring it.

OCASIO-CORTEZ STATEMENT ON TRUMP'S COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN "The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. "Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead.President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating "that often happens in war.' "Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people. "Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different. "In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war.

My statement on President Trump’s combat operations in Iran⬇️

This statement is appallingly bad--like, the administration *illegally bombed a school.* It's mind-boggling to me for this to be the reaction from a human, much less a purported leader of the Democratic Party. I need a new senator stat

Good night