While facing the trials and tribulations of first-time space travel, astronauts of the early Apollo space program managed to capture an epic volume of space pictures, many of which were recently released for the first time by NASA and highlights of which you can see here.

The release is in part a product of a multi-year Earth mission to scan and digitize the huge archive of film that exists from the missions, preserving it for NASA and the future.

The rich and variegated cache contains a treasure trove of shots including many images of Earth, the moon, space but also candid pictures of the astronauts themselves in the cramped environs of space vehicles.

As Becket Mufson notes, the images are a mixed bag in terms of content and quality but worth a look: “It can be compelling to wander through more than 2,400 of unadulterated space photos unearthed by a research team, complete with over-exposure, blurriness, and other hallmarks of an untrained film photographer. [They] capture the claustrophobia of spacewalks [and the] the framing is out-of-this-world.”

The post Moon Shots: NASA Releases 10,000+ Apollo Mission Photos first appeared on Gajitz.

Earth is an incredibly beautiful place, which can sometimes be hard to remember when you live here. But European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst is reminded of Terra’s breathtaking sights every day from his incredible vantage point aboard the ISS.

Gerst snaps pictures of the world from 205 miles up. He documents everything from choppy waters to serene land masses to hurricanes and other storms.

One of his favorite sights to shoot is cloud shadows. Seen from space, dense clouds can cast shadows on the planet’s surface or on other layers of clouds that can reach thousands of miles long.

The astronaut also uses his unique vantage point incredible images like these of the Northern Lights. His entire Flickr photostream is full of beautiful Earth photos taken from the serenity of space.

It’s sometimes difficult to realize that these stunning images are from right here on our own planet, not from a far-flung destination in space. If you ever forget just how magical and breathtaking Earth can be, Gerst’s photos from space can quickly help you remember.

The post Cloud Shadows: Stunning Pics of Earth Clouds From Space first appeared on Gajitz.

It’s said that smell is the sense most closely related to memory, and if astronauts are any indication then that saying is true. Space travelers report that Earth smells are some of the things they miss the most while they are out on missions, but a wearable device can help them connect with their home planet through customized olfactory experiences.

The Senti8 is a wristband with several cones and LEDs around its length. Icons next to every cone indicate what scent that cone represents. A quick burst of steam from the cone releases the aroma. The cartridges are replaceable and can be controlled via a smartphone app. The device even lets you share scents with far-away friends who also have a Senti8 by way of the app.

This fantastically offbeat device won the 2014 NASA Space Apps Challenge. In addition to the novelty factor, the Senti8 also has a practical purpose: it can be used to keep astronauts’ senses sharp while in space. The numbing of senses is a real problem for astronauts, so maybe it will take a crazy genius invention like this one to help ease at least one side effect of space travel.

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If you’ve ever wondered just how hard it would be to maneuver in space, this video will give you a pretty good idea: it’s hilariously difficult. We won’t pretend that this video has any kind of educational value at all. It’s just good old-fashioned funny footage of astronauts tipping over on the moon and finding it really, really hard to get back up.

We will give you one little educational tidbit: the Moon’s gravitational pull is 16.7% as strong as Earth’s. That means that a 175 pound astronaut (not counting equipment) would feel like he weighs just over 29 pounds on the moon. No wonder the spacemen in the video are flailing around like newborn fawns.

The post Do the Space Shuffle: Astronauts Fell Down, Can’t Get Up first appeared on Gajitz.

(image via: Space Elevator Guy)

Science just keeps taking its cues from science fiction. Since the late nineteenth century, the idea of a space elevator has been explored in sci-fi, semi-humorous futurism, and semi-serious scientific studies. Until recently, it’s been the stuff of fiction because the material and technology needed to build such a contraption just didn’t exist. But with the discovery and development of carbon nanotubes, we’ve moved one step closer to the reality of a freight elevator to the stars.

(image via: Space Elevator Guy)

Sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke seemed to predict the carbon nanotubes solution in his 1979 novel  The Fountains of Paradise, in which he described a very thin, incredibly strong carbon filament that would one day make the space elevator possible. Carbon nanotubes were discovered in 1990 and have a much higher length-to-diameter ratio than any other known material, making them an ideal material for a cable that has to be extremely long and extremely strong. To construct a space elevator, one end of a cable would be tethered on Earth and the other to a counterweight in space, like a space station that moves along with the Earth’s orbit. A lift, or climber, would move along the length of the cable much like an earthbound train moves along a track.

(image via: Space Elevator Guy)

A space elevator may still strike some as a silly sci-fi pipe dream, but it has tangible benefits for industry and the environment. The vast amounts of money needed to launch a shuttle into space would be drastically reduced by eliminating the need for the craft to overcome Earth’s gravity. That fact could make space travel simple and affordable, possibly even making space tourism a reality far earlier than we thought. But even more exciting is the implication for extraterrestrial solar energy stations: the biggest hurdle to this project so far has been the enormous costs associated with hauling the materials into space. A 62,000-mile-long cable stretching from somewhere around the equator hauling a cosmic freight elevator would carry a fraction of the cost of launching a shuttle carrying a similar payload.

(image via: Space Elevator Guy)

So far, there are several teams working on the space elevator problem. Elevator:2010 sponsors annual competitions to bring together all of the elements needed for the space elevator. LiftPort is already selling novelty “tickets” for an elevator that they claim will be finished by 2031. The Japan Space Elevator Association is working on developing the carbon material that will be the base of the project. NASA itself is sponsoring competitions, offering $400,000 in prize money to teams who can develop new technology that will be helpful in the journey to building the first space elevator.  As far-fetched as the concept may have seemed just ten years ago, it’s now very close to becoming a reality. Within our lifetimes – or perhaps our children’s lifetimes – humans may be able to watch the first payload slowly creep its way up and out of the Earth’s pull, destined for the serenity of space.

The post Sci-Fi Surprise: Real Space Elevator Closer Than You Think first appeared on Gajitz.