Boots on the ground

Michael Yon's latest post, from the troops with their boots on the ground in Mosul. An excerpt:

Deuce Four headed downtown this morning with several items on their to-do list. One task was to recon a gasoline station that was attacked and destroyed a couple of weeks ago. While we walked around the rubble of the abandoned station, the commander noticed two artillery rounds on the ground. A minute or so later, someone spotted a radio command switch for a very large booby trap.

We were surrounded by nine bombs (large artillery shells) all rigged to explode by radio control.

While I ran away as fast as I could, the soldiers "pulled back quickly" and called EOD, who arrived and removed the bombs without incident.

New moon

APOD brings us the moon, with a jet and contrail in the light of a sunset...

Remember when the Moon was young? It was just last Monday. On May 9th, this slender crescent Moon was recorded at a tender age of 34 hours and 18 minutes. Well, OK ... when calculating the lunar age during a lunation or complete cycle of phases - from New Moon to Full Moon and back to New Moon again - the Moon never gets more than 29.5 days old. Still, a young Moon can be a rewarding sight, even for casual skygazers, though the slim crescent is relatively faint and only easy to see low in the west as the sky grows dark after sunset. Sighting this young Moon last Monday, lucky astronomer Stefan Seip was also treated to a very dramatic telescopic view of an airliner flying in front of the distant sunlit crescent. At a high altitude, the jet's stunning contrails reflect the strongly reddened light of the Sun setting below the western horizon.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

Quote for the day

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny....'

   Isaac Asimov

Hugs in Iraq

From Lance In Iraq (with more pictures), the pictures say it all. But here's what Lance said:

Some of the soldiers here have adopted a nearby family that needs some help with things and these images were captured at the moment they arrived for a brief visit. The soldier getting the hugs is the guy doing most of the heavy lifting (no pun intended) to help out.

In the decades to come, Iraq will be a major power in the Middle East and they will be our ally. The foundation of that critical relationship is being solidified here everyday by soldiers and Iraqis.

American soldiers are one of the world's wonders...