I can remember the first time I saw the images from a video camera positioned on the external fuel tank during a Space Shuttle launch. It was the first time images like that had been recorded. And I was amazed by its beauty. In subsequent years, new cameras were occasionally added and on-board video equipment captured great images during launch, re-entry and landing.

But in their effort to improve the safety of manned space flight, NASA has been increasing the amount of data they collect during tests and flights. During the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on Mission STS-114, I was once again floored by viewing images never captured before: the external fuel tank separating from the ship and beginning its fiery and destructive voyage through the atmosphere.

Just this moment while browsing around the NASA website looking for a new desktop wallpaper I discovered the video to end all videos. Yes, not even the images captured during the historic Shuttle repair space walk I feel compare to this.

Have you ever wondered what the ride was like on the back of a solid rocket booster? Well, wonder no more. NASA has video from the left SRB as it propels away from the external fuel tank and falls all the way into the Atlantic ocean. There is creepy audio also, so be sure to turn your speakers up.

This amazing footage starts out slow. Do not get impatient and fast-forward through any of this video! You will see the simultaneous jettisoning of the solid rocket boosters and watch as they tumble down to Earth, falling like the Odyssey from 2010. If you look carefully, you can watch the right SRB as it falls in parallel.

Spinning and falling, the Earth appears to be much farther away than it is, but then when clouds quickly streak by you know the voyage is close to an end. There is a strange flash of light and then blurry images; those are the three parachutes slowing the decent. Then, splash! Bobbing on the surface of the water, the mighty engines come to a rest.

Though it is entirely possible I will not see the new season because of the move, I am delighted that Bravo Network's Celebrity Poker Showdown is returning this month!

On Thursday, August 18 (9:00-11:00 p.m./ET), Bravo's hit original series "Celebrity Poker Showdown" will return for an all new tournament featuring twenty-five stars competing for $250,000 for charity. The tournament will consist of six all new, two-hour episodes. Poker pro Phil Gordon will once again team up with host Dave Foley as the stars ante up for another round of high stakes Texas Hold 'Em. Read Full Press Release

This tournament's games are themed and include "Reality All-Stars," "Boys Night Out," "Ladies Night" and more with players including Alex Trebek, Howie Mandel, Meatloaf, Kathy Najimy, Caroline Rhea, Sharon Lawrence, Ricki Lake, Rosie O'Donnell, Mo Gaffney, Travis Tritt and Penny Marshall. The new sponsor for this season is Beck's Premier Light beer.

I was quite pleased with an interview I heard during Morning Edition today. Discussed was Timothy Naftali's newest book, Blind Spot: The Secret History of American Counterterrorism, a comprehensive look at how the United States' position on counterterrorism tactics have dramatically changed in the last fifty years.

Of particular note was the fact that hijacking used to be taken as a mere inconvenience. Many hijackers of passenger aircraft would instruct the flight crew to take them to Havana, Cuba. This happened so often in fact, pilots who frequented the southeastern United States had maps of José Martí International Airport on-board just in case.

Additionally, the Swiss government — the United States' representative in Cuba — had a standardized pre-filled form prepared that only needed the flight number and date entered which formally requested the return of the airplane, passengers and crew.

And finally my favourite bit, the Cuban government decided to profit from the regular dispatch of hijacked Americans and started giving out Cuban sandwiches. Billed, of course, to the United States Department of State at thirty dollars a piece.

You can listen to the story at npr.org.