This weekend is filled with wonder, and not just because of Sunday's South Pacific eclipse. On Saturday, Europe's Rosetta probe is due to fly by 70-mile-wide Lutetia, the biggest asteroid ever visited by a spacecraft. Rosetta's view of Lutetia is already more than an overgrown speck, as you can see at right, and that dot will get bigger in the hours ahead. Back here on Earth, there'll be opportunities to see the International Space Station in evening skies, plus plenty of planets to spot. And the World Cup finals will put Paul the psychic octopus' predictive powers to their last test. (But even if Germany and Spain win their matches, the cephalopod's performance wouldn't be all that amazing ... just as it's not front-page news when you call seven or eight coin flips in a row.) I've got my own gig at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) Saturday, when I'm due to chat with Christopher Eldridge, a longtime Cosmic Log correspondent who hosts "The Deliberacy" on The Green Talk Network. We'll be chatting about energy policy, environmental issues and whatever else strikes our fancy. (Maybe even climate change on Pluto!) I hope you'll tune us in over the Internet and say hello. If you're looking for still more brain food online this weekend, check out these Web links:
- 'Nova' on PBS: 'The Deadliest Plane Crash'
- Habitation Intention: Carnival of Space 161
- Planetary Society: Solar sail powered by photons
- SFF: More teachers wanted for future space flights
- Dallas Observer: Armadillo works on robotic moonshot
- SpaceRef.ca: How should we tweet about Canadian space?
Tip o' the log to Clark Lindsey at Space Transport News