NASA, getting all sciency on us, is apparently sitting on a potentially historic discovery by the Curiosity rover on Mars until further tests can confirm it.

Confirm shmonfirm! This is the Internet! What do you think Curiosity has discovered on Mars?

An AOL CD offering 500 free hours?

• OJ’s footprint?

• A copy of Ray Bradbury’s “The Earthling Chronicles”?

• A black slab with “BRB” written on it?

• ….?

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Someday I’ll figure out the threads that bind the mere sentences that make me fill with tears. Sometimes it’s sadness, but surprisingly often it’s joy.

Here’s today’s joy:

Click to go to Nasa’s original

Look in the upper right for a crescent-shaped smudge. That’s Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons.

Emily Lakdawalla writes in her blog:

Think about this for a moment — we’re seeing a different moon from the surface of a different world. And this moon is weird not just for its lumpiness, but also because it orbits so close to Mars that it outpaces Mars’ rotation. That means it rises in the west and sets in the east, more than twice every Martian day. Completely alien. And awesome, in the literal sense of the world.

It turns me into a soppy ol’ Boehner.

Here’s a close-up of Phobos:

I would not have noticed this image were it not for the ever-watchful members of unmannedspaceflight.com (user “fredk” this time). I’m so grateful for that community. We’re running a fundraiser right now to support our hosting costs — if you, too, value the beautiful images and constant attentiveness of this community of volunteers and amateurs, please consider making a donation to support it.

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