Photos: Space Shuttle Discovery

Grabbed these shots today, at about 4:45pm EST. Free entrance and parking at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

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Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) @ Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

NASA: NPP's 'Blue Marble'

http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/sciencecollection.html

A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite was renamed 'Suomi NPP' on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin.

The high-resolution version can be found here.

NRO's Newly Declassified GAMBIT and HEXAGON Programs

Via MSNBC -

Twenty-five years after their top-secret, Cold War-era missions ended, two clandestine American satellite programs were declassified Saturday, with the agency unveiling three of the United States' most closely guarded assets: the KH-7 GAMBIT, the KH-8 GAMBIT 3 and the KH-9 HEXAGON spy satellites.

The vintage National Reconnaissance Office (nro.gov) satellites were displayed to the public Saturday in a one-day-only exhibit here at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, VA. The three spacecraft are the centerpiece of the NRO's invitation-only 50th Anniversary Gala celebration held at the center later that evening.

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NRO: GAMBIT and HEXAGON Programs
http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/GAMBHEX.html

NRO: Declassified GAMBIT and HEXAGON Videos
http://www.nro.gov/foia/declass/GAMBHEX%20Videos.html

NRO: HEXAGON (KH-9) Fact Sheet
http://www.nro.gov/history/csnr/gambhex/Hex_fact_sheet.pdf

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After a late night on Friday and mid-morning breakfast with friends, I quickly made it over to Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport, Va at about 2:30pm. Luckily, the tent containing the KH-9 HEXAGON was still open and accessible in the parking lot.

The "HEXAGON - Sentinel of Liberty" video (link above) was playing in one corner of the tent on a big LCD TV. People seemed to get a kick out of the redacted photos and at least one cut which had redacted sound - most likely protecting the still classified program name of a re-entry vehicle. A good overview of the KH-9 HEXAGON satellite (and the various contractors used) is shown starting at 19:35 and the redacted program name (re-entry vehicle) is at 22:50. The HEXAGON's mapping camera is discussed at 30:30, where William P. Durbin states that the camera produced "coverage of high-mapping quality" of ~98% of the Eurasian land mass, 75% to 80% of Africa, and large southern portions of South America during the lifetime of the system.

Since I was rushing, I did not have time to run home and grab my nice camera, so I had to use my phone....

Photo of the Day - War Dog

(Photo Credit: U.S. Navy & FP Mag)

Dogs usually jump in tandem with their trainers, but when properly outfitted with flotation vests they can make short jumps into water on their own. A U.S. Navy SEAL, Mike Forsythe, and his dog, Cara -- pictured above -- recently broke the world record for "highest man/dog parachute deployment" by jumping from 30,100 feet.

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FP: War Dog - Photo Essay
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/04/war_dog?page=0,0

Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they're a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan -- as of early 2010 the U.S. Army had 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world). And these numbers will continue to grow as these dogs become an ever-more-vital military asset.

So it should come as no surprise that among the 79 commandos involved in Operation Neptune Spear that resulted in Osama bin Laden's killing, there was one dog -- the elite of the four-legged variety. And though the dog in question remains an enigma -- another mysterious detail of the still-unfolding narrative of that historic mission -- there should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved: Man's best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior.

Photo of the Day - MESSENGER: First Image Ever Obtained from Mercury Orbit

http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/gallery/sciencePhotos/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=432

Date acquired: March 29, 2011
Image Mission Elapsed Time (MET): 209877871
Image ID: 65056
Instrument: Wide Angle Camera (WAC) of the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS)
Center Latitude: -53.3°
Center Longitude: 13.0° E
Resolution: 2.7 kilometers/pixel (1.7 miles/pixel)
Scale: Debussy has a diameter of 80 kilometers (50 miles)

Of Interest: Early this morning [March 29], at 5:20 am EDT, MESSENGER captured this historic image of Mercury. This image is the first ever obtained from a spacecraft in orbit about the Solar System's innermost planet. Over the subsequent six hours, MESSENGER acquired an additional 363 images before down linking some of the data to Earth.

Photo of the Day - NRO Minotaur I Rocket Launch

A Minotaur I rocket was launched from Space Launch Complex-8 here at 4:26 a.m. (PST) Feb. 6. The rocket carried a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
(Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Lael Huss)

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Space.com: U.S. Military Launches Secret Satellite to Test Space Spy Tech
http://www.space.com/10773-secret-spy-satellite-rocket-launches.html

A trailblazing payload for the National Reconnaissance Office successfully rocketed into orbit on a Minotaur 1 booster Sunday, beginning a secret mission testing new ways to collect intelligence from space.

The mission was codenamed NROL-66 in the agency's rocket acquisition naming system. The payload is also called RPP, which is short for Rapid Pathfinder Program.

"I commend everyone who made this launch successful," said Robert Brodowski, director of the NRO's advanced science and technology directorate. "This mission is just one example of our ability to rapidly build and launch small spacecraft with on-orbit capabilities that increase the value of NRO systems to our nation's future."

An NRO spokesperson disclosed before launch the payload will demonstrate better ways for U.S. government satellites to gather intelligence.

Photo of the Day - Massive Protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Photo Credit: AFP (via Al Jazeera English)

Photo of the Day - Christmas Skyline of Hong Kong

Christmas Skyline of Hong Kong

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This photo was taken by Mark Heng on December 12, 2010 using a Canon Digital IXUS 75.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhsx/5270043353/lightbox/

Public Intelligence - Afghan Landscapes

A girl looks South into the mountains surrounding Lower Kajakan Village in the Shinwari District of Afghanistan. Photo by David Elmore of the United States of America.

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Check out the Public Intelligence Blog for some other greats landscape photos.

Photo of the Day - A North Korean Anniversary and Debut

North Korean soldiers smile before a parade to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang October 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic) 

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Check out this photo and many others (including photos of Kim Jong Un) @ Boston.com.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/10/a_north_korean_anniversary_and.html

Photo of the Day - Saturn Aurora (Hubble)

(Credit: Hubblesite.org)

The dancing light of the auroras on Saturn behaves in ways different from how scientists have thought possible for the last 25 years. New research by a team of astronomers led by John Clarke of Boston University has overturned theories about how Saturn's magnetic field behaves and how its auroras are generated.

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In April, the Hubble Space Telescope is celebrating its 20th year in use, and following a 2009 mission in which the space shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the satellite to operate at its most technologically advanced and powerful state.

Photo of the Day - Poland Mourns the Death of a President

(Credit: Getty Images & BBC)

Poland has been plunged into mourning by the deaths of President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of political and military leaders in a plane crash. By Saturday evening, a carpet of candles and flowers had spread outside the presidential palace in Warsaw.

Photo of the Day - KeyKeriki V2 Board

(Photo Credit - remote-exploit.org)

KeyKeriki is an opensource hardware and software project which enables every person to verify the security level of their own keyboard transmissions, and/or demonstrate the sniffing attacks (for educational purpose only). The hardware itself is designed to be small and versatile, it can be extended to currently undetected/unknown keyboard traffic, and/or hardware extensions, for example, a repeating module or amplifier.

KeyKeriki V2 is the next generation device based on an ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller. The details of these successor will be released at their talk at CanSecWest 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. The working title is “Vogelgrippe” and it will be able to capture raw “Enhanced Shockburst™” frames, therefore being able capturing keystrokes of any wireless keyboard which uses the 2.4GHz Enhanced Shockburst™ Technology. The hardware will be as tiny and handy as the first generation Keykeriki, therefore not larger than a packet of cigarettes.

Photo of the Day - Brooklyn Snowpocalypse

(Photo Credit: Dino Dai Zovi)

http://www.theta44.org/main.html
http://trailofbits.com/

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I did adjust the contrast/brightness and white balance via GIMP...but otherwise, the photo is original.

Original photo was taken on his Apple 3G iPhone during the recent East Cost Snowpocalypse.

Thanks to Dino for sharing this awesome shot.

Photo of the Day - Burj Dubai

(Chart Source - burjdubai.com)

Ok, it is more of a screenshot than a photo per say...but you get the idea.

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http://www.burjdubai.com/

Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, will open Monday (January 4, 2010) in a carefully orchestrated ceremony before a crowd of thousands.

Photo of the Day - Eid al-Adha Festival on 4th Day of Hajj

Photo: AFP

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/28nov09_saudi_hajj-77253992.html

Muslims around the world are celebrating the festival of Eid al-Adha, including more than two million pilgrims taking part in annual Hajj rituals in Saudi Arabia.

Pilgrims in the Saudi holy city of Mecca threw stones at three pillars representing Satan, a ritual that began Friday and continues until Sunday. No major incidents were reported Friday, the third day of the pilgrimage.

But on Saturday, Saudi authorities reported that a 70-year old Pakistani man taking part in the Hajj had died of the H1N1 swine flu virus. He is the fifth pilgrim to die of swine flu since the days leading up to the pilgrimage. Experts have warned that swine flu could spread among pilgrims.

Eid al-Adha, or "Festival of Sacrifice," is considered one of the most important days on the Islamic calendar. Muslims mark the festival by slaughtering cattle to commemorate a belief that God gave the prophet Abraham a ram to sacrifice in place of his son.

Photo of the Day - Skatekeyboard

(Photo Credit: Tobias Leingruber)

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http://fffff.at/skatekeyboard/

Internet artists, street artists and skateboarders use public architecture in ways, the creators didn’t expect it to be used. In this sense Artzilla browser add-ons, skateboards and spray cans are the same.

The Skatekeyboard will be shown, among the work of some amazing artists and friends, at the BLK River Festival in Vienna next week. I’ll be there, too – Also liebe Wiener – Kommts vorbei!

The Skatekeyboard is also part of my upcoming solo show…. to be announced very soon!

Photo of the Day - Moskva

(Credit: Andrey Permitin)

Long exposure photo taken from the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge.

Photo of the Day - Microsoft's Center-Aisle Container

The interior of a 40-foot container inside the new Microsoft Chicago data center, packed with servers on either side of a center aisle

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More information on Microsoft's New Chicago Data Center...
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/microsoft-chicago-center-aisle-container/

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/inside-microsofts-chicago-data-center/

Photo of the Day - Series of Tubes Entrance

Entrance to the series of tubes?



I told this photo just outside of the Peppermill during Defcon 17.