Kepler confirms 1,000th Exoplanet and habital zone discoveries!

NASA has just made an announcement that they've confirmed a thousand extrasolar worlds and three of the latest are in their stars' habitable zones.

 (Click the images above to enlarge.)

"Each result from the planet-hunting Kepler mission's treasure trove of data takes us another step closer to answering the question of whether we are alone in the Universe," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “The Kepler team and its science community continue to produce impressive results with the data from this venerable explorer."

The planets were validated as part of a survey of more than 4,000 objects. In addition, 554 further candidates were added to the mission for study. 

This is truly an amazing universe we live in. No longer are we bound by science fiction---we live in a universe with a cool grand in new, unexplored worlds!

Read NASA's statement for the full announcement.

Images: NASA

VIDEO: Orion launches new US space era!

NASA's back in the big rocket business! Today they launched the Orion mission's first test flight, which one day will (hopefully) put manned missions on Mars. Here's video of the launch in case you missed it:



Here's a nice infographic on the scale of the rocket, including comparison to the Apollo mission's once ubiquitous Saturn V (click to enlarge):

Orion uses the two-stage Delta IV rocket system for hoisting payloads into orbit (and beyond). Here's some specs taken right from NASA's data page:

Delta IV Heavy with extra rocket boosters

Main Engine
Design simplicity, demonstrated capability and cost-efficiency define the RS-68A, the main engine for the Delta IV. Designed and manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, the throttleable RS-68A engine is the largest existing hydrogen-burning engine. Conceived using a simplified design approach, the resulting engine requires 80 percent fewer parts than the Space Shuttle main engine, is lower risk, has reduced development and production costs and has inherently reliable operation.

Nominal Thrust (sea level): 702,000 lbs
Specific Impulse (sea level): 362 seconds
Length: 204 in
Weight: 14,876 lbs
Fuel/Oxidizer: Liquid Hydrogen/Liquid Oxygen

Solid Rocket Motors
For missions requiring additional thrust at liftoff, the Delta IV M+ configurations use either two or four Alliant Techsystems-manufactured solid rocket motors (SRM). Separation is accomplished by initiating ordnance thrusters that provide a radial thrust to jettison the expended SRMs away from the first stage.

Peak Vacuum Thrust: 280,000 lbf
Specific Impulse: 275.2 seconds
Length: 636 in
Maximum Diameter: 60 in
Weight: 74,500 lbs
Nominal Burn Time: 90 seconds

Second Stage
Both the Atlas and the Delta IV second stages rely on the RL10 propulsion system to power their second stages. Logging an impressive record of more than 385 successful flights and nearly 700 firings in space, RL10 engines, manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, harness the power of high-energy liquid hydrogen and boast a precision control system and restart capability to accurately place critical payloads into orbit.
The Delta IV employs the RL10B-2 with the world’s largest carbon-carbon extendible nozzle.

Nominal Thrust: 24,750 lbs
Specific Impulse: 465.5 seconds
Fuel/Oxidizer: Liquid Hydrogen/Liquid Oxygen
Length: 86.5 in (stowed); 163.5 in (deployed)
Diameter (nozzle extension): 84.5 in
Weight: 664 lbs

Fun fact: the habitable space aboard the Orion crew module is roughly equivalent to two minivans. That's pretty tight quarters for a long journey to Mars!

Learn more

• Orion mission details
• More specs and technical summaries
• Contractor Lockheed Martin's Orion info

VIDEO: Inspiring short films about "boldly going"

Here's a fantastic short film based on Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" speech that captures the energy and spirit of the late astronomer by setting it to some beautifully composed visuals. The film, Wanderers, is by Erik Wernquist, and it's candy for the eyes as well as the heart.


Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.


Love this still from the film:

Between this and October's Ambition short from the European Space Agency, we're riding a streak of really captivating shorts about space exploration.

The next was suggested by reader Graham. It's titled Man Conquers Space, and I'm afraid I don't know much about it, but looks to be an upcoming independent film. This is actually more of a trailer, but it makes good use of one of Wehrner Von Braun's finned rocket designs.

 

Hyperion: Saturnal moon of caves and energy beams!

That's no (ordinary) moon! It's an electrostatic field generator!

Truth is often stranger than (science) fiction and Hyperion, a moon of Saturn is no exception. Besides being a largely porous, ovoid object, Hyperion has an electrostatic field (similar to our own moon's) that can apparently capture space craft, like the Cassini probe. From NASA

Hyperion is porous and icy, with a bizarre, sponge-like appearance. Its surface is continuously bombarded by ultraviolet light from the sun and exposed to a rain of charged particles -- electrons and ions -- within the invisible bubble generated by Saturn's magnetic field, called the magnetosphere. The researchers think Hyperion's exposure to this hostile space environment is the source of the particle beam that struck Cassini.

Measurements made by several of Cassini's instruments during a close encounter with Hyperion on September 26, 2005, indicate that something unexpected took place in the charged particle environment around the spacecraft. Among those instruments, the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) detected that the spacecraft was magnetically connected to the surface of Hyperion for a brief period, allowing electrons to escape from the moon toward the robotic probe.

This raises the question of whether other bodies in the solar system have similar properties. Imagine the possibilities in your own games, stories, projects for objects that might pose a Bermuda Triangle-like danger to explores caught unawares. First they're caught in a natural tractor beam (of sorts) and then pulled down into the cavernous interiors. "Moon-as-monster" has a neat ring to it, is all I'm saying!

Via NASA

Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

More about the Cassini mission:

• http://www.nasa.gov/cassini
• http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

45 years ago tonight...

We came in peace...

Learn about our next giant leap.

First Ringed Asteroid Discovered!

NASA announced today an intrasolar oddity--a Centaur astroid called Charilko looks to be the first ever ringed asteroid system. The rings are likely made up of ice drummed up from another object impacting the asteroid, which sits between Saturn and Uranus.

From Wired:

At 155 miles across, or about the length of Massachusetts, Chariklo is the largest known asteroid in its neighborhood. Looking to get a better idea of its exact size and shape, astronomers trained their telescopes on the giant space rock as it passed in front on a distant star in June 2013. As Chariklo performed its eclipse, researchers noticed something odd: The star’s light flickered just a bit immediately before and after Chariklo’s pass.

The reason for this darkening was the asteroid’s two dense rings, which had briefly blocked the starlight. The thicker inner ring is about four miles wide, while the thinner outer ring is a little less than two miles. Spectroscopic analysis of the starlight also revealed that the rings are composed partially of water ice.

Pretty sweet discovery--and it doesn't sound like astronomers had expected it!

Click to enlarge:

Arist conception by artist Lucie Maquet

More coverage:

• NBC News
• Universe Today

An incredible new view of the Horsehead Nebula

NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team

NASA has released a new image of everyone's favorite gaseous equine-shaped stellar object. But don't take my word for it. Straight from the --uh, horse's mouth:

Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory's launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.

Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. It is shadowy in optical light. It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light.

Hubble has been producing ground-breaking science for two decades. During that time, it has benefited from a slew of upgrades from space shuttle missions, including the 2009 addition of a new imaging workhorse, the high-resolution Wide Field Camera 3 that took the new portrait of the Horsehead.<

You can download a wallpaper-sized version at NASA's image gallery.

What would a wet Mars look like?

 

One of my favorite science fiction series are the Red Mars (then Blue, then Green) from Kim Stanely Robinson. It's a superbly researched and a fascinating look at what it would cost (in more than economic terms) to change the face of the red planet to one that could support life. But I've often wondered, what would it really LOOK like to see Mars as we know and experience the Earth--as a blue/green orb flocked with plant life and steeped in oceans.

Kevin Gill is a software engineer who has wondered the same and he took to making his own renderings, which--even if not completely accurate--are incredible:

A conception view of the Western hemisphere of Mars with oceans and clouds. Olympus Mons is visible on the horizon beyond the Tharsis Montes volcanoes and the Valles Marineris canyons near the center. 

A visualization of an Earth-like Mars, be it ancient or a future of terraforming. Eye position is about 6,600 kilometers (4100 miles) from the surface of the planet and looking at the southern hemisphere (~20° South) and the 180th meridian.

The Western hempisphere looks particularly intriguing with retaining its arid climate. Looks vaguely like the deserts of Spain to me. And the second image makes me think of the Irish countryside (Shire?). Perhaps I have to much hobbit on the brain. Truly inspiring stuff.

What do the images make you think of?

• Captioning, images, and info Nancy Atkinson with Universe Today via io9.com
• Mars globe image via NASA/JPL

40 years after Apollo - asteroid mining our next booster to the stars

You know the first man on the moon, but do you know the last? Do you know what he said before departing?

Today marks 40 years since we left our moon. There were many reasons why we left--most of them were issues here on Earth that were more pressing, less costly, or had stolen the zeitgeist of popular support.

In the intervening decades, space enthusiasts, astrophiles, and rocket jockies who've been heartbroken at the lack of progress to establish a permanent human presence off-world have been looking for a more commercial rationale to return to the great space race of yore. They found it in the asteroid belt.

The untapped resources that float between Jupiter and Mars (and futher out, in the Kuiper Belt) contain a wealth of metals, minerals, gasses, and even liquids with market value--that would sustain a burgeoning economy for centuries to come. And those resources would not only supply us here at home, but could propel futher exploration.

We chose to go to our moon to help turn the tide of the Cold War, but in the process opened a door to magnanimous scientific inspiration. The chore of getting living beings to walk on its surface was an engineering and technical undertaking unlike any other previous or since. But on December 14, 1972, we came home and haven't been back.

Mining.com just posted an infographic explaining how asteroid mining will soon become a neccessity, given the soon-to-peak mineral and metallurgical resources market. It's also a story and start-ups like Planetary Resources are trying desperately to convey. They're hoping to light a fire public opinion and venture capitalists alike. The windfall from these efforts could (in all likelihood, would) spur an economic and scientific revolution that would carry our species to the ends of the solar system--and hopefully--beyond.

Click to enlarge

Oh, and that last man? He was Eugene Andrew Cernan, commander of Apollo 17. And these were the words he uttered just before launching off the surface (starts at 1:12):

NASA: We found 2.5 million supermassive black holes gorging themselves

DUDE. Don't look up, lest your eyeballs be sucked into any one of 2.5 MILLION supermassive black holes currently digesting spacetime. NASA announced today that they've pinpointed the suckers (ha!) using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) space telescope.

All those little circles are really reality-ripping hot DOGs (dust obscured galaxies) with black holes at their centers that care not for your puny "sentience" or pleas for mercy. NOM-NOM-NOM. From Universe Today:

WISE scanned the whole sky twice in infrared light, completing its survey in early 2011. Like night-vision goggles probing the dark, the telescope captured millions of images of the sky. All the data from the mission have been released publicly, allowing astronomers to dig in and make new discoveries.

The latest findings are helping astronomers better understand how galaxies and the behemoth black holes at their centers grow and evolve together. For example, the giant black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, has 4 million times the mass of our sun and has gone through periodic feeding frenzies where material falls towards the black hole, heats up and irradiates its surroundings. Bigger central black holes, up to a billion times the mass of our sun, may even shut down star formation in galaxies.

In one study, astronomers used WISE to identify about 2.5 million actively feeding supermassive black holes across the full sky, stretching back to distances more than 10 billion light-years away. About two-thirds of these objects never had been detected before because dust blocks their visible light. WISE easily sees these monsters because their powerful, accreting black holes warm the dust, causing it to glow in infrared light.

It's funny, but quasars always seem to come up as "extroverts" on the Myers Briggs.

WISE actually picked up other objects too, including asteroids, quasars, and a whole mess o' other stuff that you probablly think is cool, but should thank your stars isn't headed this way.

STAY IN SCHOOL, BECAUSE SCIENCE. IS. COOL.

Coverage:

• NASA (all images are from NASA, check out their page for more!)
• Universe Today
• io9.com did a live blog with recap
• Red Orbit
• Wired.com

A giant leap home.

Thanks Neil, for helping to make our dreams a reality.

1930-2012

HD VIDEO: Curiosity's descent onto Mars as filmed from orbit

Absolutely incredible! This was apparently compiled into a video using images from the MARDI Descent Imager. What you see at the beginning is the heat sheild being shed. Followed by the rover's P.O.V. descent, via sky crane.

UPDATE: Here's a new "smoothed" version that's easier to follow, visually. Props to Boing Boing.

CURIOSITY LANDS TONIGHT!

If you haven't seen this "Seven Minutes of Terror" video detailing the difficulties of landing a one-ton rover on the Red Planet tonight, then here it is, in all it's nail-biting glory:


NASA is running a live feed right now.

io9.com has a great bunch o'links too.

Here's to Curiosity sticking the landing!

Expiscor Eternus!

UPDATE: NASA has confirmed Curiosity has landed safely on Mars. SCIENCE ROCKS!

Engineer: We can build the Enterprise for REALS!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again--we should fund a spaceship Kickstarter for a REAL Enterprise. It's by no means a new idea, but someone has finally made a case for a workable plan.

The founder of the Build the Enterprise website, BTE Dan, says he's got an idea to build the starship Enterprise (or a reasonable version of it) to fly in actual outer space in 20 years.

Granted, there will be a few concessions (i.e., no warp speed) but he contends that the technology and know-how to construct an interplanetary space vessel exists--and we can do it in just two decades.

From the Build the Entperise FAQ:

Q: How would building the Enterprise alter our manned space program?

A: The USS Enterprise from Star Trek is a cultural icon, and we should latch part of the US space program on to this icon and build from there. We need a far grander vision of what we should be doing to get humans up into space and how we might gain a permanent foothold there. If we aren’t going to get a sustainable presence up there, then we should stop spending money for putting humans into space and instead focus on robotic missions like sending more advanced rovers to Mars, Venus, and elsewhere. If we are going to ask taxpayers to pay billions of dollars for projects to put Americans into space, it should be for an idea that they can relate to and be inspired by. The general form and characteristics of the spaceship should be inspirational – and building the first generation of USS Enterprise would surely be inspirational.

He makes a reasoned argument for realizing a spaceship, (I'll give him that!) though I think with it would likely take about twice that time to shake out any technical snafus along the way. Still, that's a mere fraction of the 2 and a 1/2 centuries that the Star Trek series postulates the possibility of the Enterprise. And really, who would give up cruising around the solar system in their own hot rod?

He also says we could build a fleet of Enterprises by constructing a new one every 30 years or so with that generation's latest tech. Heck, why not build a spare or seven?

Here's a video of a proposed artificial gravity wheel (1g) to accomodate human habitation on long journeys. It's a neat solution that essentially turns the manned areas of the ship on it's side.



Now if we could only get going with building the utopian society of the Federation....

UPDATE: If that guy wants to possibly approach lightspeed in his design, he should take a look at this new rocket design which smashes matter and antimatter (via MSNBC).

Links:

• I wrote a bit more on the subject over at Threads of Adventure
• Build the Enterprise site if the site doesn't respond, keep trying. It looks like it's getting a lot of traffic!
• Coverage on MSNBC.

GOLD RUSH IN SPACE! Asteroid Mining is Coming!

So it seems my previous post kicking off a new adventure was more timely than I thought: space mining is the next big thing! Planetary Resources Inc., which may as well be called Rich Billionaires Inc., is a consortium of wealthy space geeks who want to start mining asteroids for mineral commodities. With almost 9,000 known asteroids out in the Mars-Jupiter belt that might go for as much as a billion bucks a piece, this isn't as far-out as it initially sounds.

From Wired.com:

In terms of extraction, Planetary Resources hopes to go after the platinum-group metals — which include platinum, palladium, osmium, and iridium — highly valuable commodities used in medical devices, renewable energy products, catalytic converters, and potentially in automotive fuel cells.

Platinum alone is worth around $23,000 a pound — nearly the same as gold. Mining the top few feet of a single modestly sized, half-mile-diameter asteroid could yield around 130 tons of platinum, worth roughly $6 billion.

Within the next 18 to 24 months, Planetary Resources hopes to launch between two and five space-based telescopes at an estimated cost of a few million dollars each that will identify potentially valuable asteroids. Other than their size and orbit, little detailed information is available about the current catalog of near-Earth asteroids. Planetary Resources’ Arkyd-101 Space Telescopes will figure out whether any are worth the trouble of resource extraction.

Within five to seven years, the company hopes to send out a small swarm of similar spacecraft for a more detailed prospecting mission, mapping out a valuable asteroid in detail and identifying rich resource veins. They estimate such a mission will cost between $25 and 30 million.

The group is also planning on using robots to do the mining (reducing human risks) as well as shipping it home.

If there's anything that will get private enterprise to drive a new space race folks--THIS IS IT. And with it, here's hoping a few thousand scientific discoveries along the way.

Check out the cool videos put up by ABC News
More at Gizmodo

Image: Artist concept by Denise Watt for NASA

Watery Exoplanet Discovered!

Hubble Telescope scientists are reporting the discovery of a new class of expolanet--a water world. Planet GJ1214b is larger than Earth but smaller than Uranus (tee hee!) and orbits a red dwarf star. From Hubblesite.org:

They found the spectrum of GJ1214b to be featureless over a wide range of wavelengths, or colors. The atmospheric model most consistent with the Hubble data is a dense atmosphere of water vapor.

"The Hubble measurements really tip the balance in favor of a steamy atmosphere," Berta said.

Since the planet's mass and size are known, astronomers can calculate the density, of only about 2 grams per cubic centimeter. Water has a density of 1 gram per cubic centimeter, while Earth's average density is 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter. This suggests that GJ1214b has much more water than Earth does, and much less rock.

As a result, the internal structure of GJ1214b would be an extraordinarily different world than our world.

"The high temperatures and high pressures would form exotic materials like 'hot ice' or 'superfluid water,' substances that are completely alien to our everyday experience," Berta said.

Theorists expect that GJ1214b formed farther out from its star, where water ice was plentiful, and migrated inward early in the system's history. In the process, it would have passed through the star's habitable zone, where surface temperatures would be similar to Earth's. How long it lingered there is unknown.

GJ1214b is located in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus, and just 40 light-years from Earth. Therefore, it's a prime candidate for study by the planned James Webb Space Telescope.

So a few important items to note here beyond the facts and figures.

1: At first glance it appears that the intense atmospheric pressure could be hostile to most life on Earth, but if you recall, we've found microbes, worms, and other simple organisms thriving in heat vents on the ocean floor, so anything is possible.

2: Hubble is still a relevent and extraordinary piece of equipment for finding planets--and not just an instrument for deep space only missions. It's a shame that its life expectancy won't be lengthened, but it's nice to know that the exoplanet work carried out by the James Webb Telescope can earmark GJ1214b for future study.

Bonus excersise: If life does exist on this steamy, high-pressure world, what form do you think it takes? Feel free to speculate in the comments....

Read the full article on Hubblesite.org.

More Incredible Space Station Inspiration

Wired has a great photo gallery up right now featuring space station concept that didn't pan out. Go check it out for yourself!

Above: An Apollo-era design. Oh hey, you should also check out this awesome blog called Beyond Apollo, which is ALL about concepts and ideas from the golden age of American spaceflight. I was impressed enough to add it to my blogroll. :) Really wonderful stuff!

Below: On cusp of the shuttle-era NASA was working on this "spider" space station that recycles a spent tank for crew housing.

From NASA:

A 1977 concept drawing for a space station. Known as the "spider" concept, this station was designed to use Space Shuttle hardware. A solar array was to be unwound from the exhausted main fuel tank. The structure could then be formed and assembled in one operation. The main engine tank would then be used as a space operations control center, a Shuttle astronaut crew habitat, and a space operations focal point for missions to the Moon and Mars.

Very cool to see them working on not just the main orbiter vehicle but an entire playset--er, family of spacecraft for the then fledgling program.

All images: NASA via Wired.com

NASA: 100+ Billion Planets in the Milky Way

NASA has conducted a recent survey of our home galaxy and through the sheer power of statistics, came up with this astonishing find:

The survey results show that our galaxy contains, on average, a minimum of one planet for every star. This means that it’s likely there are a minimum of 1,500 planets within just 50 light-years of Earth.

The study is based on observations taken over six years by the PLANET (Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork) collaboration, using a technique called microlensing to survey the galaxy for planets. In this technique, one star acts like a magnifying lens to brighten the light from a background star. If planets are orbiting the foreground star, the background star's light will further brighten, revealing the presence of a planet that is otherwise too faint to be seen.

The study also concludes that there are far more Earth-sized planets than bloated Jupiter-sized worlds. A rough estimate from this survey would point to the existence of more than 10 billion terrestrial planets across our galaxy.

They seem to be on to something--three more smaller-than-Earth-sized exoplanets were just discovered.

All of this comes on the heels of last month's discovery of Kepler22-b, hypothosized to be the first habitable planet outside our own solar system.

Kepler22-b; artist's rendering

And the 100 billion+ discovery STILL does't count the billion+ rogue planets thought to be out there as well.

It's such an exciting moment for science and the whole human race. I'm really, profoundly moved just to be hearing news like this. Take a moment and think about this pale blue dot we live on and it's true place in the universe, and sheer promise of what lies out there waiting for us to discover.



The Milky Way study will appear in tomorrow's issue of Nature.

All images: NASA

1d10 Space Travel Customs Forms

Click to magnify 

So it turns out even Apollo astronauts can't escape red tape! This is a supremely cool artifact from the Apollo era space missions--it's the customs form that astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins had to complete on their return home from the moon.

This is something I'd LOVE to incorporate into a game, being the inclusion of an at-the-table artifact, plus seeding endless options for role-playing. Is the form filled out correctly? Some bureaucrat is not going to like that and this could mean anything for the PCs:

1. Delay in travel makes for a stay at a local space hotel or stop at a cantina (1d4 days)
2. PCs are detained, quarantined, questioned, tortured, mind-melded for information (1d4 days)
3. PCs are not allowed on-planet and are refused entry to the dock at the spaceport in question
4. PCs are welcomed for bringing much needed (whatever the cargo is) but then sentiment turns when it's not enough for the populous
5. Forms get mixed up or are forged by a corrupt official, fingering them for a crime they didn't commit (stolen goods, breaking embargo, etc.)
6. The form falls into the hands of local merchants who are looking to snuff out competition at the source--with the suppliers
7. Forms attract all manner of criminal element trying to "rob a train" and the PCs are the protectors of said cargo
8. Forms are a way of stealing PCs identities, ship registration, and mission info so they can be offed and replaced
9. Guards are unable to read the forms (either because of smudges, missing data, whatever) and PCs are held and added to a "watch list"
10. Nothing really, it's just a record of the cargo, but it's held onto and comes back to haunt them later

And so forth....

• Via The Atlantic, with a hat tip to Boing Boing
• Originally posted to Space.com

NASA snaps detailed flyover photos of moon landing sites

All images: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ASU

These are some spectacular new photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) probe launched by NASA back in June of '09, which is still in service and snapping images of the moon's surface.

The craft has returned pictures showing imprints left behind by astronauts and their equipment on Apollo missions 12, 14, and 17. From NASA:

At the Apollo 17 site, the tracks laid down by the lunar rover are clearly visible, along with the last foot trails left on the moon. The images also show where the astronauts placed some of the scientific instruments that provided the first insight into the moon's environment and interior.

"We can retrace the astronauts' steps with greater clarity to see where they took lunar samples," said Noah Petro, a lunar geologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., who is a member of the LRO project science team.

All three images show distinct trails left in the moon's thin soil when the astronauts exited the lunar modules and explored on foot. In the Apollo 17 image, the foot trails, including the last path made on the moon by humans, are easily distinguished from the dual tracks left by the lunar rover, which remains parked east of the lander.

While it's exciting to see that the equipment is still there, it's pretty awesome that the actual footpaths are also intact!

Check out more photos and the full story at NASA's site



Props to Beam Me Up