The Official Space Exploration Thread

[DSJ™]

Atlantis launch off at least until Saturday



Following rollback of the rotating service structure, or RSS, on Launch Pad 39A, Space Shuttle Atlantis stands bathed in lights atop a mobile launch platform on Dec. 5, 2007. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.



A diagram of the engine cutoff (ECO) sensors inside the external tanks used by NASA's space shuttle. Credit: NASA.

[DSJ™]

Space shuttle launch delayed until Sunday

[DSJ™]

No launch till January.

On-the-fritz sensor grounds Atlantis until next year



An artist's impression of Columbus, a cutaway view, the European laboratory module of the International Space Station. Credits: ESA - D.Ducros.

[Straxus]

http://www.yahoo.com/s/791306

Its probably just a natural rock formation, though one can be hopeful that it is not!
Martian lawn gnome?
It looks kinda like that old Patterson Bigfoot video! So thats why no one has found bigfoot, they come from mars! hehe.

[Mikey D]

I, for one, welcome our new rocky Martian overlords.

[JangoTat]

looks fake....and if it was real....they wouldnt have shown it to the public 

[stormie]

Looks like a Tusken. I wonder if they have pics of the Banthas?

[Force Guy]

It looks kinda like that old Patterson Bigfoot video!

Yep, it looks like Sasquatch with a limp wrist.  Uh oh...

[DSJ™]

Bigfoot on Mars, what next? Some kind of eel like object  or maybe a skull? 

[DSJ™]

Clicky picture for a high res image from the lander, enlarge & view the lower left corner area & you will see said bigfoot.

[Darth_Anton]

Cool pictures. Amazing the types of random shapes nature can produce that don't look random in the right light/angle.

Has anyone seen the picture of the Angel galaxies? It's three galaxies merging together, but looks like a bird or an angel.

[JangoTat]

the skull photo kinda reminds me of an airborne troopers helmet..just a little though.

[DSJ™]

Atlantis en route to space station



Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Thursday Feb. 7, 2008. Atlantis' seven member crew is on a 11-day mission to deliver Columbus, a laboratory module built by the European Space Agency, to the international space station. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier.

Here's a really nice Hi-Res pic of the lift off. 

[DSJ™]

Astronauts to check shuttle for damage



NASA's shuttle Atlantis climbs toward space during launch on Feb. 7, 2008 of the STS-122 mission carrying the Columbus lab to the ISS. A solid rocket booster can be seen falling away from the spacecraft at left. Credit: NASA TV.



A camera inside the payload bay of shuttle Atlantis reveals the Earth behind the orbiter's docking mechanism (right) after a Feb. 7, 2008 launch. Credit: NASA TV.

[DSJ™]

NASA examines shuttle; illness prompts spacewalk delay



A tear in the thermal blanket of Atlantis' right Orbital Maneuvering System pod, as seen from the International Space Station prior to docking on Feb. 9, 2008. Credit: NASA TV.



A view of space shuttle Atlantis' Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, where NASA has found a small tear in a thermal blanket during its February 2008 mission. Credit: NASA TV.



A view of the Atlantis space shuttle after docking with the International Space Station on Feb. 9, 2008. Credit: NASA.