Bon Voyage STS-134 and its bacterial payload.

They will be testing transpermia — can extremophiles survive interplanetary voyages?

For example, D. radiodurans can survive radiation levels 3000x that which is lethal to most organisms. While its DNA is blasted into smithereens, it has mechanisms to stitch it all back together again. (more from NASA)

(more Endeavour photos)

UPDATE: the top photo is by Trey Ratcliff and is not NASA public domain as I had been led to believe. You can see the cool backstory of how he captured it here

30 responses to “Shuttle Endeavour Punching a Hole in the Sky”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Stars came out to shine
    Across the waterline
    I can feel you on the other side

    See you on the other side
    When I close my eyes, and I reach the light

    — Paul Van Dyk, The Other Side ♫ ♪

    Above the Clouds
    photo probably by Stephanie Gordon (this one is similar but different)

    Reply
  2. Dabbler Avatar
    Dabbler

    terrific! going to miss these missions…

    Reply
  3. ChrisRudge Avatar
    ChrisRudge

    Incredible shots …

    Reply
  4. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    Awwwww. So jealous!

    Reply
  5. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    Beautiful!!! stargateXXX like… and the song is sweet:)

    Reply
  6. BWJones Avatar
    BWJones

    Epic. Will you be there for the next one? Arranging things now…

    Reply
  7. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    I will be going to the next Falcon 9 launch at Cape Canaveral

    Reply
  8. filmisdead Avatar
    filmisdead

    Awesome shot Steve

    Reply
  9. talented exchange Avatar
    talented exchange

    awesome shot!

    They say that thousand years ago, China used to the leader. And then China is behind
    for thousand years.

    火箭是中国古代的重大发明之一。公元969年，中国已经发明了火药(火药是在唐朝发明的)。北宋军官岳义方、冯继升造出了世界上第一个以火药为动力的飞行兵器–火箭。

    English translation:
    Rocket is one of the great inventions in ancient China. 969 AD, the Chinese have invented gunpowder (gunpowder was invented in the Tang Dynasty). Yue-Fang Song officers, following the rise Fung create the world’s first powered flight by gunpowder weapons – rockets.

    Reply
  10. mebooyou Avatar
    mebooyou

    Wowowowow

    Reply
  11. Jeff Clow Avatar
    Jeff Clow

    Very, VERY cool shot, Steve…..!

    BRAVO….!

    Reply
  12. LesMeister Avatar
    LesMeister

    Excellent shot Steve..!!
    seeing a shuttle launch live is a special experience… especially when the sound only hits you about 7 seconds from liftoff..!!
    I was lucky enough to see Discovery launch STS-51 on 12th September 1993…. something I will never forget..:)

    Reply
  13. Ballygrant Boy Avatar
    Ballygrant Boy

    Excellent capture….!!

    Seen in The Best: BRAVO

    Reply
  14. jplphoto Avatar
    jplphoto

    wild shot

    Reply
  15. jtwebman1 Avatar
    jtwebman1

    Nice!

    Reply
  16. liu_yi_feng Avatar
    liu_yi_feng

    sweet

    Reply
  17. Christopher.Michel Avatar
    Christopher.Michel

    absolutely amazing

    Reply
  18. flytrue2 Avatar
    flytrue2

    The second shot is particularly extraordinary. Thanks for posting

    Reply
  19. msamaclean © Avatar
    msamaclean ©

    My first thought at launch…’Oh! The beauty!’ I’ll miss these birds too!… but onward & upward!

    Reply
  20. Trey Ratcliff Avatar
    Trey Ratcliff

    Steve – what’s up brotha? This is my photo… why no credit or links? http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2011/05/17/space-shuttle-launch/

    Reply
  21. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    Wait a minute that link said a Tardigrade could withstand absolute zero!!! I need to read that paper.

    Reply
  22. DanDawson Avatar
    DanDawson

    I saw this shot on your stream Steve and though I absolutely love your photography, I recognized that this one wasn’t actually taken by you or by NASA… it wasn’t until this morning that I did find it on Trey Ratcliff’s Stuck In Customs site, so I came back over here to post a link back to his site, but I see he already noticed.

    Keep up the great photography that you do, and when you share other people’s work definitely post links to the source so we can thank the original shooter and find more images from them if we like their style.

    Reply
  23. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Dan and Trey – absolutely! That is what I do. And sorry for this mishap. Let me explain how it happened. I attributed both photos to NASA when I first posted them as they were forwarded to me. They came from the Rocket Dungeon, where I see they have since made a correction to give attribution, but it wasn’t there yesterday. Since the shot from the airspace above is probably official, perhaps they assumed, like me, that both photos came from NASA. Again, sorry!

    I have changed the attribution in the caption, and to make sure it’s immediately visible, I made it the first line. Please let me know if you would prefer a different photo credit, or if you would prefer to have the photo removed altogether. Happy to oblige.

    Trey: I happen to be shopping for a big lens, and was considering the 300-800mm "Sigmonster" but reading your post, now I am thinking the weight is just not going to be manageable. Thanks.

    Reply
  24. DanDawson Avatar
    DanDawson

    Awesome Steve, thanks so much for the follow-up on that one, I figured it had to have just been a mistake, but I sure appreciate the prompt follow-up and correction. Keep up the great work, I love keeping up with your photography, rockets, and technology!

    Reply
  25. limesphotography Avatar
    limesphotography

    WOW! I’ve been looking at photos all over the internet of this launch, and yours is my favorite!

    Via limejup’s contacts’ uploads on Fluidr

    Reply
  26. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    joining a few comments above…

    Reply
  27. SparkyLeigh Avatar
    SparkyLeigh

    Very cool photo Trey got!
    — Knowing how nuts you are about rockets, and your inside connections…. did they let you light the fuse this time Steve? 😉 Or saving that for Canaveral 🙂

    (My earliest memory of space travel was witnessing the very first spacecraft to orbit the earth– the Sputnic 1 in 1957. I was six years old. My dad got us kids to go outside at dusk and watch the sky. Spunic was easy to see as in went sailing over us in Seattle. The sun was shinning on it. I was hooked on space fight ever since. My parents bought me a set of NASA recordings of the command center talking to John Glen in space, and of the countdowns– so cool– wish I still had those vinyl 45’s 🙂

    Reply
  28. gennage Avatar
    gennage

    Great work!

    Reply
  29. Σταύρος Avatar
    Σταύρος

    Awesome !!

    Reply
  30. TomiTapio Avatar
    TomiTapio

    A fine capture!

    Reply

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