Dynamics of Cats

40 years ago today, three astronauts in the command module Columbia, of the Apollo 11 mission, splashed down in the Pacific, having just come back from the Moon.
As one does.

Cheap Astronomy has the third in a series of Apollo 11 podcasts: Getting Back Again, while the Lab Lemming talks about what they returned with, and the science of Apollo.
Babe in the Universe was at the Moonfest, both at JSC and Ames, seeing that people still really do care.

21st Century Waves contemplates that Giant Leap, and whether it went nowhere or is the first Giant Step.
Beyond Apollo reminds us of Skylab and the post-Apollo plans that were made even before Apollo launched. A mere decade after the Eagle landed, Skylab crashed and burned, coming down above Australia.
Nextbigfuture talks to a representative of the Direct Launcher organization about a way to ge back.

Weird Warp looks at everything we have thrown at the Moon, it is getting to be rather a lot.
The Discovery Enterprise notes we have come a long way, leaving our footprints as we go.

Looking to the future, the Lunar and Planetary Institute has a new MyMoon outreach website.
For now, as collectSPACE reports: NASA is apparently returning some of the bits of the Moon collected to space, temporarily

Before we go any further, there is still some groundwork to be done:
the Martian Chronicles discuss the Future of NASA, at some length.
Nextbigfuture tells us about prospective radiation sickness cures.
When we go, no ifs-and-buts, the astroengine thinks British Astronauts should lead the way. As Arthur C. Clarke famously noted, there are significant tax advantages to be had from being a British Astronaut.
Cumbrian Sky contemplates the prospects and promise of Mars.

The lunar landing was not the only big anniversary: it is Chandra X-ray Observatory's 10th, and in celebration the Chandra Blog put together their list of cool Chandra stories - check it out, it is hot.

While Sci^Bling Starts With A Bang keeps it cool looking at the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and how its mission results affected our understanding of the cosmos, as the latest of his decadal surveys of universe scale discoveries in the last century.

Astroblog looks at the dark constellations, can you see the emu?
If you can, you might earn a badge - Mang's Bat Page tells you how.

Centauri Dreams reviews a paper on detecting potentially habitable moons of giant exoplanets, through careful transit timing.

Supernova Condensate reports on a very nice result, NO₃ spikes in antarctic ice cores, showing nitrogen dissociation by the prompt γ-rays from historical supernovae. But, what is the mystery event a decade or so after the Crab?

A Comet Hit Jupiter? Again?

Wesley's Object hit Jupiter leaving a scar.
The impact was quickly confirmed, thanks in part to a blog.
Seriously, read the account - classic Science2.0

TheSpacewriter contemplates the importance of the amateur observer in all this,
and Universe Today talked to Anthony Wesley himself.

In the meantime, Hubble did some followup observations of Jupiter on thursda, using engineering calibration time on the new Wide Field Camera 3.
Well, they might as well look at something interesting while they are at it, and, guess what, the bloomin' think works!

and we close out with a cool Chandra image, picked from the Chandra blog's picks.