Starship Asterisk*

At the risk of slashdotting their server ... this is just too good an image not to share. Satellite view of the inauguration crowd. My, that's a lot of surprisingly-well-behaved people!

http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/gallery/ ... =220&gid=1

(OK, it isn't astronomy or earth science. But it's a good gut-level illustration of how useful commercial spaceflight can be, and how much satellite photography has advanced.)

Great picture and suggestion!

Caption from GeoEye

This half-meter resolution image of the United States Capitol, Washington D.C. was collected by the GeoEye-1 satellite on Jan. 20, 2009 to commemorate the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. The image, taken through high, whispy white clouds, shows the masses of people attending the Inaugural Celebration.