Historic Moon Walk Footage

All over the news this weekend, but I can't get enough of it.

NASA Moon Dust Bag For Sale

A long-lost bag used by Neil Armstrong to bring back moon samples during the Apollo 11 mission is for sale.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/weird-news/for-sale-the-bag-used-by-neil-armstrong-to-collect-moon-dust

Mona Lisa - To the Moon

From Popular Science:

    NASA converted an image of the Mona Lisa into a black and white, 152-by-200 pixel image. After that, they signaled to the orbiter how bright to make each pixel by delaying the message (or “pulse) to one of 4,096 slots in a very small time-frame. In other words, instead of a continuous stream of pulses in regular intervals, the laser varied the time between intervals. Depending on the length of that variation, the pixel appeared one of 4,096 shades of gray. Rinse and repeat with each pixel until you have the Mona Lisa.

    There were still some kinks in the transmission — some of the pixels weren’t the right shade of gray — but scientists corrected for it through processes that are used in correcting problems with CDs and DVDs.

An American Hero Passes

Neil Armstrong, the legendary US astronaut, who in 1969 took "one giant leap for mankind" by becoming the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82.

Moon and Mars in Monday's Sky

If it's clear where you are tonight, look about one-third of the sky up from the southwest horizon. There you'll see a fat crescent moon, and a moderately bright yellow-orange "star" hovering well above and to its left.

But that's no star — it's a planet. It might be difficult to believe that it's the same object that less than four months ago shone some seven times brighter. It's Mars, which continues to recede from Earth and consequently continues to fade.

Currently the Red Planet is 129 million miles (208 million kilometers) away from Earth and shines at magnitude +0.8. That's still a fairly respectable brightness; on the list of the 21 brightest stars, Mars would currently rank 13th. Still, that's quite a comedown from early March, when Mars shone with a brilliance just a trifle less than that of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

The gap separating the moon from Mars tonight will be roughly equivalent to the width of your clenched fist held at arm's length, which measures about 10 degrees.  By Tuesday evening (June 26), the moon will have arrived at first quarter phase and will have shifted its position relative to Mars, hanging off to its lower left and at a similar distance compared to the previous night.

Mars is currently positioned against the dim stars of western Virgo and it's on its way toward a mid-August night sky rendezvous with the planet Saturn and the bluish star Spica. Take a good look at where Mars is right now.  About 25 degrees — two and a half fists — to its lower right is the bluish first magnitude star Regulus in Leo.

The moon can be a convenient benchmark to help you identify Mars early this week. On Wednesday evening, the moon will be within striking distance of Spica and Saturn. Yellow-white Saturn will be above bluish Spica and will appear somewhat brighter.  While Mars is a disappointment in a telescope, ringed Saturn now appears nearly three times bigger than Mars, offering a spectacular sight.