This is a picture of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) observatory, which is due to launch tomorrow—but it’s spinning fast enough to make you feel really quite sick.
In fact, it’s being tested on a spin table to make sure it’s stable at high speeds. Hence the blur: because it’s rotating at 1 revolution per second, which is really quite fast. The NASA team add small weights to the craft to make sure it’s balanced enough for flight—a little bit like balancing a wheel for your car. Only, you know, a little more important. [NASA]
