Starship Asterisk*

A micro black hole created at CERN was swallowing the earth, and APOD had been pulled into another dimension.

With the budget cuts, NASA was stuck relying on the public sector, which only works for BIG BUCKS for their Glorious Leaders ( read overpaid & over rated rich morons here ),
OR, despite the gallant efforts of Seal Team 6, Al Queda had won!
BUT, thank the lord it was only a power failure!
And Thanks , APOD, for brightening my days!

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APOD's web servers are hosted in the DC area and were knocked out by the storm.

I've been on holiday. My first guess would have been: Hacked by Tea Party activists: Stars without stripes are unpatriotic.

... that all the scientists were busy preparing for the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs Boson.

When I couldn't find APOD online I thought a Solar Flare may have taken your equipment out! Or Budget cuts... There's always the possibility of budget cuts because apparently we're all suddenly poor now, in the West.
It's no way to run a show, that's for sure! But I love it, APOD, your site that is. It gives me hope that we're not all venal, grasping hypocrites on this planet, Just the majority of our politicians and economic heavyweights... I wish common sense would hurry up and prevail!

I thought Donald Trump must be President.