>Venus Express
The European Space Agency’s Venus Express has achieved safe orbit around Venus, and will begin its observation mission in June.

Venus Express is the first orbiter to visit Venus since NASA’s Magellan probe, whose mission ended in 1994.It has already succeeded in sending back images of the planet’s south pole.

>slow belts
In the things-you-never-knew-existed-until-they-started-behaving-strangely department, the Great Conveyor Belt of the Sun has slowed down to record lows, according to NASA solar physicist David Hathaway.

The Belt is a great current of plasma that turns through the Sun, taking about 40 years to complete a loop. Normally moving at about 1m/s, it has now slowed to between .35 m/s and .75 m/s.It is believed that a slow belt foretells a mild solar flare cycle, which is good news for the year 2022.

>eyes in the sky
A recent Associated Press report explored the functions and activities of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a U.S. intelligence agency that handles satellite imagery of the Earth’s surface.

While intended for foreign spying, the agency has seen more and more domestic work in recent years, providing valuable images to relief workers after hurricanes Katrina and Rita; however, the article also cites security help the NGA has supplied for political conventions and Super Bowls.

The resolution of the pictures that the NGA takes is not publicly known, but the quality is “believed to far exceed the one-meter resolution available commercially,” according to the article.

We wouldn’t be surprised if they could read these same words you’re reading, from orbit. If you’re outside right now, give ‘em a wave and a smile.