Below the launch stack, there was no sign, no marker. Our faces turned up into the glare of the sun, eyes straining to discern every rough but elegant line, every component describing the soul of a machine built to create an arc to the moon.
I knew the name Saturn before I could read.
( Is it not natural to wonder if she only sleeps? In sleep, does she dream of the sky? )
Just got into Singularity Sky by Charles Stross. I love the style of his work — the subtle humor, the plotting, the legal entanglements of super-intelligences. Cutting edge work. Cutting things up generally.
Should get back to posting daily sketches — and maybe a new painting — within the next week. With that, allow me to usher you toward the myriad delights to be found at Street Photography In Paris.
Go on. See what you’ve been missing.
* Please reference tweet #788432399 for a further explanation of the post title. Patent pending.
** Intolerable Threat To Peace would be a good name for a battleship, don’t you think? Very modisch, very Iain M. Banks.
Between 1959 and 1976, the Soviet Union launched 24 robotic spacecraft toward the moon. These were the Luna missions. On February 3, 1966, Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to land successfully on the lunar surface and transmit photographs back to Earth. On March 13, 1966, Luna 10 became the first artificial satellite of the moon. On August 27, 1966, Luna 11 — essentially a backup of the Luna 10 spacecraft — became the second artificial satellite of the moon. The two latter missions included scientific instruments designed to study lunar chemical composition, gravitational anomalies, and radiation.