I'm up early. I'm up REALLY early, and it's not because I stayed up, it's because I woke up . . . to go study. Finals are coming up! You see, there's this little class called "2.006" also known as "Thermal Fluids Two" and it's a wee bit difficult. Difficult in that since Friday morning at 7 I've been studying pretty much non-stop. The final is on Monday, that gives me 1.5 more days to learn everything. The good part? I think I'm almost there. I actually think I'll be ready for Monday *crosses fingers*

But, I digress. I walked out of the dorm this morning at 6:20 AM. As I ritually do, I check the dome before I head down dorm row towards campus, just because the dome is so visible and I'm more likely to see a hack in the morning than in the afternoon or evening.

So, step 1, check dome.
Step 2, get really excited and head back inside for my camera.
Step 3, photograph dome from afar to share on blog.

YAY! They put a BUMP on the dome. Obviously, from this distance, whatever was up there wasn't quite as impressive as I think it was supposed to be, so I detoured from my studying route and headed over to Killian. Now, I don't have some fancy SLR or tripod or anything, I've got a cybershot throw-in-your-pocket camera. BUT - it loves taking pictures outside and the digital zoom is pretty good, so I've got two more pictures for you, one from farther away and then the same picture zoomed in really close. I've played with the brightness and contrast in order to make things a bit more visible.

Ahhhhhhh, ok, I get it now. It's a lunar lander! Apollo 11 probably, since the 40th anniversary is coming up.

Yeah, that looks similar! From the distance I could see that white circle above the ladder blinking, so there are at least some onboard electronics. I'm guessing they're not solar powered but it does add a nice touch.

So that's that! Happy soon-to-be 40th Birthday Apollo 11, MIT remembers you!

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Woot! Hooray for Apollo! (and Aero/Astro!)

Posted by: Andrew on May 17, 2009

'First' Appolo mission to MIT, is it!!!

Posted by: Shiv on May 17, 2009

that is an epic win.

Posted by: Liz on May 17, 2009

Wow, no great dome hacks in a long time and then all of a sudden two in quick succession - the T hack and this one.

It's strange how dome hacks have a tendency of happening around the finals. The famous r2d2 hack was on the first of the finals that year I think. Or maybe it's just coincidence.

Posted by: Labib Rahman ('14?) on May 17, 2009

It looks like kind of the little engine that could...

Posted by: 0 on May 17, 2009

I love the dome hacks. They're my all-time fave!

Posted by: Chris Praley on May 17, 2009

Remember that it was MIT and the Instrumentation Lab that made the original landing possible! And five of the Apollo astronauts were MIT alums.

Posted by: Bill on May 18, 2009

This is great!

Posted by: Ehsan on May 18, 2009

Not quite XI.

Apollo X ("the dress rehearsal") was launched on May 18, 1969.

Posted by: 0 on May 18, 2009

I still remember watching the landing on TV and getting goosebumps. My brother was on the recovery ship, the USS Hornet. Its motto was: Hornet +3. Great job.

Posted by: Barbara Mathews on May 18, 2009

Wow, I didn't even notice this when I walked by there. This is pretty cool, but I think I'm partial to the solar-powered Red Line.

Posted by: Alexa on May 19, 2009

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