Photo: Bill Ingalls/NASA --Lunar eclipse over Arlington, Virginia December 21, 2010

Thick storm clouds blocked the total lunar eclipse here in the Southland last night, but it was seen elsewhere. The NASA photo above shows the eclipse in the skies over Arlington, Virginia.

A lunar eclipse occurs only at night when there is a full moon. It happens when the Earth lines up directly between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun rays and casting a shadow on the moon, according to the NASA website. During the eclipse, the Earth’s atmosphere turns the regular gray color of the moon to a deep copper-red.

This lunar eclipse lasted about three hours and 28 minutes and occurred on the  winter solstice — the shortest day of the year — and the beginning of winter.  This is a rare astronomical feat.  The previous lunar eclipse on a winter solstice occurred in 1632. 

 More incredible lunar photos on the NASA site here.

Photo: Courtesy NASA -- Discovery astronauts were introduced this week to the robot, R2, who is traveling with them on their next space flight scheduled for November 1, 2010

 The Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin its final flight into space on November 1, 2010.  Preparations are in full swing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Discovery’s last journey to the International Space Station.

This week, the astronauts for that flight got a chance to meet and learn about the special features of Robonaut 2, or R2, as it’s called. The astronauts will be delivering the giant robot with the gold helmet to the space station along with spare parts and other hardware. More about Discovery’s last flight and the preps for it on the NASA website.

Photo: Carl Winebarger/NASA — Atlantis touches down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday, May 26, 2010, ending its final scheduled flight

“It was smooth as silk,” is how Commander Ken Ham described the entry into Earth’s orbit and landing of Atlantis. Yesterday’s touchdown in Florida, at 8:48 a.m. EDT, wrapped up a busy 12-day mission to the International Space Station. A fine farewell for a space shuttle that has traveled more than 120 million miles in 25 years of service. For more on Atlantis and the shuttle’s last mission click over to the NASA website.

Photo: Tom Farrar Jr./NASA — Space Shuttle Endeavour glides threw the dark onto a lit runway for a rare nighttime landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commander George Zamka and his five member crew returned home after a two week mission to deliver and install the final U.S. Module and “a room with a view” to the International Space Station. The perfect landing occurred at 7:20 p.m. Pacific Time tonight. More on the shuttle crew and their mission on the NASA website.

NASA TV

Strong crosswinds and thunderstorms in Florida forced a change of plans for the space shuttle landing today. So this afternoon, Endeavour returned to Earth with what NASA called a “safe and successful” landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave desert.

Years ago, I was a TV news field producer assigned to cover the landing of a space shuttle at this base. I will never forget what an incredible sight it was to see the shuttle appear in the sky, float down, and land like a giant bird. Oh, a major difference with this fly bird is a parachute that deploys to slow the landing.

The Endeavour crew reportedly completed its mission of a 16-day “extreme home improvement”  and service mission at the International Space Station. Among the projects, the much talked about water recovery system, which they hope will be able to recycle urine and perspiration into drinking water. The crew brought back some recycled samples to test, before putting the recovery system into operation. Good idea.

Next up for Endeavour is the flight back to Florida. Endeavour will get a piggyback ride on top of a Boeing 747 aircraft to Kennedy Space Center. The cost, $1.8 million.