the brightest star in our sky

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

jtotheizzoe:

High above the oasis of Earth, your belly reflecting
The dappled azure glow of oceans rolling far below,
You are waiting patiently for your final pilgrims to arrive.
Soon they will climb to you on twin pillars of fire-
Hauling themselves up out of Terra’s gravity well
By their bleeding fingernails – to find you sailing
So serenely through the void, your mighty wings
Outstretched, shining mirror-bright, reflecting
The diamond-dust light of a million distant suns…

Then, dressed all in fresh-snow white, the bravest acolyte
Will float to your side in reverent silence struck dumb,
By the heart-stopping sight of you hovering there, silhouetted
Against the hazy, air-brushed band of the Milky Way,
Bathing in the luxurious light of ten times ten billion alien stars,
And with the world watching far below, trembling with fear and love…

– Stuart Atkinson, from “The Final Pilgrims”, images from NASA’s gorgeous “Gravity” Flickr gallery

Tags:

#poetry #the power of science #the brightest star in our sky

Video ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

canadian-space-agency:

Chris Hadfield and students from coast-to-coast fill the sky with music

For his last downlink before returning to Earth, CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield performed I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) with hundreds of students at the Ontario Science Centre and nearly a million people, mostly students from coast-to-coast Canada and around the world, performing the song in unison from their location.

I.S.S. is a song co-written by Hadfield and the Barenaked Ladies’ front man Ed Robertson. 

Credit: CSA

Tags:

#music #the power of science #the brightest star in our sky #now I understand what choking-up-with-happiness means

Image ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

colchrishadfield:

Kitchener-Waterloo, ON – home to BlackBerry, uWaterloo and the church my wife and I got married in.

Hey look, it’s a picture of me! (And about half a million other people.)

(This picture was taken during the day, so no matter how much you zoomed in you would not see me in my backyard, looking up and waving. Evening, now, that’s another matter.)

Tags:

#Waterloo Region #our home and cherished land #with everything all white and grey it’s hard to get your bearings on this picture #no picking out towns by the light-clusters #but I’m pretty sure I’m in there *somewhere*

Image ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

anshinwrites:

flatbear:

jtotheizzoe:

ATTENTION folks, there is currently an astronaut posting to Tumblr from space. I repeat, there is a human being, that is currently in freakin’ SPACE, posting pictures (from said SPACE) to their Tumblr blog.

There are things, called words, that are failing me, about the other things, that I am feeling.

Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield: You sir, are cooler than a polar bear’s toenails.

(He’s also on Twitter)

Jesus christ this is incredible WHO IS HIS INTERNET PROVIDER.

internet provider? he’s in space.  internet providers are an earth problem for earth dwellers.

Tags:

#Chris Hadfield has a Tumblr? #(I knew about the Twitter) #a Tumblr that I am not following #this must be fixed