Spacing out

A hypnotic backflip 220 miles above Earth.

By Kl

Published July 11, 2006 11:37AM (EDT)

The Discovery's 13-day trip to space provides a weirdly addictive online experience, with clear, real-time footage beamed by NASA directly into our little work boxes. It adds up to a zonked-out, hypnotizing effect: the slowly rotating shuttle, the continental expanses drifting by, the Boards of Canada playing on the headset. Somebody pass the brownies.

This footage, from Thursday, shows Discovery performing a "back flip" maneuver so the space station could photograph the tiles on the belly of shuttle, to make sure there was no damage after takeoff. Shortly after this sequence, it docked with the station.


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