Mark C. Lee in 1992 in the first untethered spacewalk in a decade. NASA.

The Lens blog, just a few weeks before the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11:

“You can’t bring back anything tangible besides those photographs as a record of where you’ve been and what you’ve done,” he said. (Souvenirs like moon rocks are strictly against protocol.) “We’re given this god’s-eye view, so we need to learn how to capture it and bring it back home.”

What started modestly has become part of every mission. Though digital cameras have replaced film cameras, many early photographs taken by astronauts have become iconic — such as an Apollo image of the earth seen behind the moon’s horizon in 1968 and Buzz Aldrin’s photo of his landmark footprint on the surface of the moon. Mike Gentry, a photo researcher and librarian at the Johnson Space Center in Houston since 1969, said that a photograph of the framed iris of Earth from 1972, known as the “blue marble,” is quite possibly the most reproduced image ever taken.

NASA has lots more in its archive.

Jesse Hollington for iLounge:

Announced on March 17th, then promised for worldwide release on June 17, Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade was officially released for public consumption earlier today. The third major release of the iPhone OS brings a number of features that many will likely feel have been too long in coming to the iPhone platform; however, this latest release succeeds in making the iPhone OS feel more grown up and ready to face a wider audience.

Really comprehensive list of enhancements with screenshots.

This is what happened in what is believed to have been a US flight simulator.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

The scenario was conducted several times and the results at the end of each scenario produced consistent findings.

In an A330 simulator at FL 350 [35,000 feet] with a gross weight of 210 tonnes in ISA+10, with icing selected, the aircraft approaches a thunderstorm with a high intensity of turbulence. Due to the extreme turbulence, the autopilot disengages. Shortly thereafter a malfunction is selected to block both captain and first officer’s pitot tubes to replicate extreme ice formation.

The airplane reverts to alternate law with protection lost. There is a speed flag on both the captain and fo’s PFD [Primary Flight Display]. The severe turbulence activates repeated stall warnings. Manual thrust is being used at this time. The speed on the standby altimeter is reading 240kts or thereabouts with MACH 0.72. (From the GPS the ground speed is 350 kts or thereabouts. It is very difficult to read the instruments and ECAM warnings [fault and operational warnings].)

Updrafts take the aircraft up to FL 370 and produces a negative G of 0.2. The aircraft then enters severe downdrafts and the rate of descent averages more than 19,000 fpm [feet per minute]. The instinctive reaction is to pull on the stick to arrest the rate of descent. The aircraft shakes and buffets violently. The G force on the [pilot display] reads +5 but the instructor’s panel shows +8. The aircraft breaks up in flight around 20,000 ft.

After several attempts at this with all results being equal one could not see AF447 sending out any distress signals if this is what happened to them.

(via Plane Talking)

Yet again, William Langewiesche, for Vanity Fair Magazine’s June issue, authors another great article. His topic this time: the miracle Hudson River landing of US Airways Flight 1549.

At one point during the article, particularly relevant given the news of Air France 447, Langewiesche details a high-altitude, engines-out glide of an Air Transat flight in 2001. It all ended well but for a couple near-death experiences.

Engines-out airline gliding is not a sanctioned category, but records exist nonetheless. The current holder appears to be a Canadian named Robert Piché, who, if not exactly a rebel, seems to be something of a maverick.

The runway ahead was 10,866 feet long. It was outlined in lights. Piché saw that he was high, and put the Airbus through a series of S-turns, like switchbacks, much as some F-4 pilots might have wanted to do when flamed-out, if only they had been allowed. Piché was flying at F-4 speeds or faster, though with descent rates much lower. In the cabin the flight attendants were screaming “Brace! Brace! Brace!” to the terrified passengers. The airplane crossed the runway threshold doing 230 miles an hour, slammed against the pavement about a thousand feet along, bounced back into the air, and floated for another 1,770 feet until Piché goddamned planted that airplane down to stay, and locked the brakes. The planting did not drive the landing gear through the wings, but it was hard enough to wrinkle the fuselage. The locked tires slid for about 400 feet, then abraded and deflated, leaving the airplane to grind to a halt on the ruins of its wheels. It was 6:46 a.m., at the end of a world-record, 20-minute, 34,500-foot, 90-mile, 306-person, engines-out airline glide. The passengers evacuated down the slides. Piché followed, and walked around the airplane. The wheels were destroyed. Jesus Fuck Me Mother Mary.

CNNMoney.com:

“Most of the local investors are out of money,” added Mike Shannon, who specializes in Detroit foreclosures and has clients from New Zealand, Australia, England and other places.

Recently a Californian purchased 178 properties, mostly one at a time, and most for under $10,000. Another has purchased six Detroit properties since September and hopes to begin buying five a month.