If you want a front-row seat of how the Moon looks as it passes in front of the Earth...well, look no more.

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has relayed back to Earth a video of this space scenic event - a video that also helps scientists to develop techniques to study alien worlds.

The NASA Deep Impact spacecraft is the first to show a transit of Earth with enough detail to see large craters on the Moon, as well as oceans and continents on Earth.

Therefore, the video is a good primer on how to detect vegetated land masses on far-away, extrasolar planets. That is, the video sharpens our thinking about how to look for variations in the intensity of vegetated land masses in the near-infrared as an extrasolar planet rotates.

By the way, look for a "sun glint" in the movie, caused by light reflected from Earth's oceans. Similar glints gleaned in the future as spacecraft look for extrasolar planets orbiting their home star could indicate alien oceans!

It's important to remember that Deep Impact already made history: On July 4, 2005, the Ball Aerospace-built spacecraft unleashed an impactor that smashed into comet Tempel 1. Following that "worlds in collision" event, NASA decided to extend the mission to strive for a flyby of comet Hartley 2 in early November 2010.

That extended mission is called Epoxi - a name created from the melding of the two extended mission components - a search for extra-solar planets and the flyby of comet Hartley 2.

To get Epoxi, think Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization, or EPOCh and the comet flyby that's tagged as Deep Impact eXtended Investigation, or DIXI for short. Go figure!

This new video of Earth and the Moon was made by the Deep Impact spacecraft en route to its distant flyby of comet Hartley 2 - some two years from now.

So...long winded way for you to take a look yourself at the impressive video of the Moon transiting the Earth by going to:

http://www.nasa.gov/mov/260503main_red_green_blue2.mov

-- Leonard David

A unique event is slated during NASA's upcoming Lunar Science Conference being held at NASA's Ames Research Center later this month.

On July 20, members from the younger generation from four NASA Centers will discuss the future of space exploration. The panel is entitled "This is Your Future - Why the Moon?" - and is open to a variety of space topics.

The invitation is out for participants to submit questions to the panel online. The format is modeled after the CNN YouTube Debates. And if your video is selected, it will be aired at the event and discussed by the panel.

Instructions for submitting a video question:

1) Record your question. Include your name, location, and do keep your video under one minute.

2) Go to http://www.youtube.com/group/nasacolab

3) Join the group and click "add videos"

4) NOTE: videos are due by July 15, 2008 (so get going!)

5) Rate the posted submitted questions on youtube to help determine which videos will be selected for the conference

6) Check back during the end of July for answers to questions. Selected videos and the discussion will be posted at: http://www.youtube.com/user/LunarSciConference08

To learn more, Internet yourself over to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlX5sbqEpqM

 -- Leonard David

When a group at Ohio University in Athens created a video tour of the school’s virtual Second Life campus, Christopher Keesey expected that it would be, by and large, for the OU community. Yet while browsing YouTube, he found a copy of that same video tour translated into what he thinks was a Nordic language, possibly Danish.

“We didn’t know the person. The person, as far as we know, wasn’t even here, they were in Europe,” recounts Mr. Keesey, project manager of Ohio University Without Boundaries. Now the OU virtual campus receives visitors from around the world who regularly interact with student avatars on the virtual campus commons.

Around the world, universities, and even the US Department of State, are turning to online virtual worlds to create cultural exchanges. In these immersive, 3-D environments, users from around the globe can collaborate in ways that were previously impossible.

“If you learn about a culture … and your behavior changes in Second Life while you’re interacting with another culture, when you leave the virtual world these processes stay with you,” says Jeremy Bailenson, director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab in Palo Alto, Calif.

Although virtual-reality advocates say this digital realm is no match for real life experiences, most argue that in the absence of traveling overseas, it is one of the best available means of cultural exchange.

At the Dubai Women’s College, professors saw an opportunity to use Second Life to connect students with the world outside their tiny Arabian Gulf state. As a virtual orientation, the group visited a Second Life re-creation of Darfur and made an online pilgrimage to Mecca. Most notably, they met regularly with a group of Korean students in computer renditions of each other’s campuses to practice English and learn about one another’s culture.

“You couldn’t find two groups of students who are so different, and they were just fascinated by each other,” says Nicole Shammas, an English language teacher at Dubai Women’s College who helped coordinate the exchange.

During discussions, Mrs. Shammas says that, among other things, her students learned to respond respectfully when asked questions deemed inappropriate by their cultural standards, such as how they found boyfriends. Dealing professionally with such faux pas is an important skill for those going into international business.

“Back in the early days of the Web, we all knew that this was powerful stuff and it was going to affect learning. But I don’t think anyone could predict how profoundly it was going to change things,” says Claudia L’Amoreaux, educational programs manager at Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, based in San Francisco. “We’re at the same point with the 3-D Internet and the immersive world experience of Second Life.”

The US State Department has begun exploring Second Life as a means to introduce people to American culture. Last year, it organized an eight-hour jazz concert that stretched across time zones. Next year, officials may work with Ohio University to coordinate tours of a virtual art exhibit led by the artist’s avatar. Already, several other countries, including Sweden and Estonia, have built cultural embassies in the online world.

“We need to be where the people are as we engage in public diplomacy, and virtual worlds are one of the mediums out there,” says William May, senior IT adviser for the State Department in public diplomacy.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Cluster mission is snooping in on the sounds of Earth - and is getting an ear-full.

In fact, the first thing a distant extraterrestrial civilization might pick up from our blue planet is the buzz of chirps and whistles. The ESA Cluster mission is showing scientists how to understand the sounds of Earth, valuable clues as to what we should be listening for in future searches for alien worlds.

The data used in the ESA study was collected by the NASA Wide Band instrument flying onboard the four Cluster spacecraft.

To give a listen to your own planet - as heard by the Cluster spacecraft - check out:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMLX5SHKHF_index_0.html

-- Leonard David