Richard Fisher, deputy news editor
If you've ever hoped lunar astronauts might actually bust into Michael Jackson's moonwalk, your prayers have been answered.
Things have felt awfully serious at NASA in recent weeks, so the space agency's latest effort at outreach and education brings some welcome light relief.
NASA's "Space Your Face" application allows you to upload a portrait photo into an astronaut helmet, and then watch as your avatar throws down some moves to funky tunes on Mars or the moon.
As someone whose best dance move is something akin to the "hot potato", I felt I was able live my dream via my talented astronaut alter-ego.
All the moves are here, including the robot, the body roll, the meltdown, the wave, and the baby freeze. There are plenty more that I can't identify, including one that looks a lot like the Riverdance. Experienced dance-floor enthusiasts will no doubt be able to point them out.
Although Space Your Face doesn't quite work as an educational tool, with some token details about NASA's moon plans tacked on at the end, who really cares? Hats off to whoever approved it.
Of course, it's not the first time dance has been used to communicate science. Last year, scientists were encouraged to enter a "Dance Your PhD" contest, which included winning interpretations of PhD titles such as "Resolving Pathways of Functional Coupling in Human Hemoglobin Using Quantitative Low Temperature Isoelectric Focusing of Asymmetric Mutant Hybrids".
Eat your heart out, Timberlake.
(Illustration: NASA/White House)
During much of the 1990s, NASA was faced with shrinking annual budgets due to Congressional belt-tightening in Washington, D.C. In response, NASA's ninth administrator, Daniel Goldin, pioneered the "faster, better, cheaper" approach that enabled NASA to cut costs while still delivering a wide variety of aerospace programs (Discovery Program). That method was criticized and re-evaluated following the twin losses of Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander in 1999. Yet, NASA's shuttle program had made 116 successful launches as of December 2006. For further information, check out: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/06/06/sorana-bucketloads-money/