Knowledge Journies

How do you get from Tool's Lateralus album to Beautiful space nebulae pictures?  I have a trail of tabs I want to close, let me start with the most recent and work backwards.

"This region of the Carina Nebula is known as ‘Mystic Mountain’. In this composite image we see the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. Jets of gas are also being fired from within the pillar by infant stars."

-Click here for more hubble pics from The Guardian

The Hubble space telescope has brought us so many great visuals but it's reaching the end of it's lifespan.  The fifth and last mission to work on the telescope was STS-125.  A mission that lasted almost 13 days.  Katherine Megan McArthur  was the last astronaut to be "hands on" with hubble.  (Technically, it was the hands of a robot that she was operating).

"Space Shuttle Atlantis carried two new instruments to the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. The mission also replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor, six gyroscopes, and two battery unit modules to allow the telescope to continue to function at least through 2014.^[3][7] The crew also installed new thermal blanket insulating panels to provide improved thermal protection, and a soft-capture mechanism that would aid in the safe de-orbiting of the telescope by an unmanned spacecraft at the end of its operational lifespan.^{[NASA 5][8]} The mission also carried an IMAX camera with which the crew documented the progress of the mission for the Hubble IMAX movie"

Katherine McArthur is married to another astronaut, Robert Louis "Bob" Behnken,  and what was his wake-up call?

Tool's Parabola

I sincerely hope they allowed him to have the intro song, Parabol beforehand, the two go together so well, I would have demanded it.  "Damnit, no space walks until I get the whole thing, I don't care if it's two separate tracks!"

It's probably my favorite by Tool. 

"Parabol"

"So familiar and overwhelmingly warm

This one, this form I hold now.
Embracing you, this reality here,
This one, this form I hold now, so
Wide eyed and hopeful.
Wide eyed and hopefully wild.

We barely remember what came before this precious moment,
Choosing to be here right now. Hold on, stay inside...
This body holding me, reminding me that I am not alone in
This body makes me feel eternal. All this pain is an illusion."

"Parabola"

We barely remember who or what came before this precious moment
We are choosing to be here right now
Hold on, stay inside...

This holy reality, this holy experience
Choosing to be here in...
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in...
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal
All this pain is an illusion

Alive!

In this holy reality, in this holy experience
Choosing to be here in...
This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in...
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal
All this pain is an illusion

Twirling round with this familiar parable
Spinning, weaving round each new experience
Recognize this as a holy gift and celebrate this chance to be alive and breathing
A chance to be alive and breathing

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality
Embrace this moment, remember, we are eternal
All this pain is an illusion