“Whoa”:http://space.com/scienceastronomy/aas_exoplanet_050110.html. (OK, it’s not as visually impressive as “that Topanga boulder”:http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/photos/popup.asp?SubID=458&pubdate=1/10/05, but stunning nonetheless.)

You bet it is. Good luck to the “next crew of the shuttle Discovery”:http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=650513.

(I still get a kick out of the fact that the average age of the 7-person crew is 45. The “youngster” is 8 years older than me. Mission Specialist Charles Camarda is making his first flight into space at 52. Maybe I’ll do something as cool in 20 years…)

Finally posting a bit about my time at Space Camp. Summary: it was as much fun as any geek could pack into eight days. And there were rockets.

Follow along with the photos as you read, and it could almost be a picture book. Almost.
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The folks over at the “Mars Homestead Project”:http://www.marshome.org/ are collecting recipes to compile a “Mars cookbook”:http://www.marshome.org/about/cookbook.html. Know any good ones? I’m not sure how one would test low-pressure and low-gravity baking on Earth, but there are probably some creative ways to get around that. 3-Bean “Spirit”:http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/ Chili, anyone?