Hubble was at the time being tested and calibrated, but this kind of massive impact only comes around every few decades or so, and the Hubble team scrambled to aim one of their cameras at Jupiter's new, massive scar. The impact site is about the same as the diameter of Earth, though the object that caused it was likely only about 50-100 miles across. The asteroid, or whatever it was, was travelling at somewhere between 31 and 62 miles per second when it smashed into the gas giant near its south pole. The Hubble's repairs will actually be delayed due to the need to photograph this event, and won't be back online until late summer. [CNN]

This movie shows Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, as it ducks behind the giant planet. Astronomers combined a series of images taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to make the 18-second movie. The 540 movie frames were created from Hubble images taken over a two-hour period on April 9, 2007.

Hit up the Hubble site for the full HD 1280x720 version. [Post Gazette via HubbleSite]

The Jupiter design would require two separate launches to get to the moon (one with payload, one with astronauts), but both rockets would utilize the old shuttle fuel tank at the core. Its backers claim that it could save NASA $19 billion in development costs and another $16 billion in operating costs over two decades. However, NASA formally reviewed the plans last fall and determined that the design was not feasible—a claim that some are disputing. At least one engineer and former NASA contractor has come forward saying that he believes NASA is suppressing information that Jupiter would perform better than Ares. As a result, he is calling for an independent review—something that he is not likely to get when you consider how far along NASA is with the Ares project. [Space via DVICE]