Neil Armstrong
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The best of Engadget's Big Picture in 2019
I love doing The Big Picture series for Engadget, even though it can take a lot of hunting to find a striking photo with a tech angle. I believe in the idea that, by creating some emotion, dramatic images help us grasp heavy concepts in a way that words alone can't. Another is that I learn a lot of interesting stuff while researching them. That includes things about art, astronomy, science and even weaving. That information seems to stick in my head as it's indelibly associated with a powerful image. Many of this year's Big Picture images make interesting statements about the impact of technology on humanity. And although some of the images were created by accident or without artistic intention, they're often full of symbolism and irony like any other works of art. I think a great example of that is the first item on my list.
Google recreates Apollo 11's command module with AR
The 50th anniversary of our first successful trip to the moon is fast approaching. And Google, which rarely shies away from marking a significant moment in history, has laid out some of the ways in which it'll celebrate the half-century since Apollo 11 reached the lunar surface.
Lego is releasing an Apollo 11 Lunar Lander set for its 50th anniversary
The 50th anniversary of the human race's first trip to the moon is fast approaching, and Lego is marking the milestone with a NASA Apollo 11 lunar lander set. It'll be available June 1st for $100.
Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82
It's a story that we hoped we'd never have to report. Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on Earth's Moon, has died at the age of 82 after complications from heart surgery three weeks earlier. His greatest accomplishment very nearly speaks for itself -- along with help from fellow NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, he changed the landscape of space exploration through a set of footprints. It's still important to stress his accomplishments both before and after the historic Apollo 11 flight, though. He was instrumental to the Gemini and X-series test programs in the years before Apollo, and followed his moonshot with roles in teaching aerospace engineering as well as investigating the Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle Challenger incidents. What more can we say? Although he only spent a very small portion of his life beyond Earth's atmosphere, he's still widely considered the greatest space hero in the US, if not the world, and inspired a whole generation of astronauts. We'll miss him. [Image credit: NASA Apollo Archive]
Apollo 11 moon mission to be recreated on the web
While the shuttle Endeavour is having a tough time getting off of the launch pad, the Apollo 11 moon mission should proceed as scheduled later this week. Some 40 years after Neil Armstrong and a host of behind-the-scenes workers at NASA made JFK's vision a reality, WeChooseTheMoon.org is being launched to recreate the whole spectacle. Starting a full 90 minutes prior to the 40th anniversary (that's 8:02AM on July 16th), the site will be fully operational, tracking the capsule's route from Earth to the moon. Reportedly, visitors will be able to peek "animated recreations of key events from the four-day mission, including when Apollo 11 first orbits the moon and when the lunar module separates from the command module." If you're one of those who remembers "exactly where you were on that fateful day," you should probably queue up a Google alert and bookmark your browser to relive the whole experience again.
Motorola's Aura Celestial Edition soon taking "giant leaps" for "mankind"
Here's a fact: the world really doesn't need another mildly tweaked Aura. Sorry, it just doesn't. That being true and all, we're still pretty jazzed to see Motorola giving the ultra-luxurious handset another go with the moon-themed Celestial Edition. Word on the street has it that this here handset won't deviate much from the predecessor, but it will come pre-loaded with multimedia from the original moon landing mission, a laser etched quote honoring the 40th anniversary of the journey and a price tag that's far, far beyond stratospheric. We're told that it's all set to go on sale next month, but good luck finding one.[Via phoneArena]
