Moon Phase Widget

From a great website: Midnight Kite. They also have nice selection of star charts in PDF available for download.

First Earthling to Orbit The Earth

The first Earthling in space wasn't a human, but was Laika, a Soviet space dog. Laika died within hours of the launch due to overheating.

Laika was a stray dog found on the streets of Moscow and was chosen for her even temperament. Before the launch, one of the scientists took Laika home to play with his children. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live."

The first animals in space were fruit flies sent into sub-orbital trajectory by the U.S. in a captured V-2 German rocket in 1947.

Flags on the Moon

There were six American flags planted on the moon; all are still standing except for the one left by Apollo 11, having been planted too close to the lunar module and knocked over by the blast when the craft left the surface.

All of them would not be recognizable as an American flag today, however - the Sun's rays, unhindered by any atmosphere, have bleached them white. (and a flag left outside here on Earth for 40+ yrs. would also be bleached white)

Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag