America! The land where you can achieve your dreams, as long as they're ridiculous ones like sending a hot dog into space.

As detailed in this week's upcoming cover story, the engineers at Portland's Ruckus Composites became the first people to ever shoot a hot dog into space this summer, when they launched an all-beef frank into the stratosphere with a weather balloon.

Read the story when it comes out tomorrow, but for now, just watch the video:

If you haven't watched the whole Red Bull Freefall From The Edge Of Space, I highly recommend it. The only problem I had when I was watching it live yesterday was that I couldn't make out what Felix was saying. I ran the audio through a couple filters though, and I think it's much more clear now. Enjoy!

Just a reminder that today is the solstice, which means the daylight now grows day by day as our collective despair shrinks.

I woke up in time to see the sunrise from Mount Tabor and want to confirm that there were, actually, a few minutes of sunlight in Portland today before the fog immediately rolled in destroyed all hope.

Apparently, an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth right now, and everyone here in the Mercury office is like, "Hey, Astronomy Guy, you've got to post something about this because you usually write about astronomyyyy! We're all gonna die! Asteroid! Meteor! Astronomy! Waaaaaaaa!"

I'm sorry. I can't. I'm too sad. I just heard some far more distressing news.

RIP, Heavy D.

I don't even know what it is, even though io9 tried to explain it to me. And I don't care, actually. Somebody just get me one.

• Keith Moon (not present at this weekend's event)

Looking at the moon from the comfort of your own home not good enough for you? You're in luck, moony: The Portland Japanese Garden is hosting moon-viewing parties this Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, timed perfectly with 2011's harvest moon on September 12. (The harvest moon is the full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox.) Tell us more, Japanese Garden event page:

Moonviewing, or O-Tsukimi, is a traditional Japanese festival which honors the full moon in autumn. On the evenings of September 11, 12, and 13, guests enjoy a quiet evening in the Garden, observe a candle-lit tea ceremony in the Kashintei Tea House and listen to the elegant live music.

Portland Japanese Garden, 611 SW Kingston, Sun Sept 11, Mon Sept 12, Tues Sept 13, 7-9 pm, $25 members/$35 non-members

It's time again for the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower, the annual cluster of shooting stars that occurs when Earth falls in the path of debris left behind years ago by the messy Swift-Tuttle comet (way to clean up after yourself, Swift-Tuttle). Tonight marks the absolute peak of the shower, during which you can view up to 60 shooting stars an hour—but you might not get to see much because of the FULL MOON, whose bright, stupid light is gonna make it pretty hard to see the meteors.

Nevertheless, OMSI is hosting a star-watching party for the Perseids (named for the constellation of Harry Hamlin) tonight at both Rooster Rock on the east side, and L.L. "Stub" Steward State Park on the west (full details here). It's $5 per vehicle and gets started at 7:30 pm (when it won't even be close to being dark yet).

If you really have your heart set on seeing a bunch of fucking meteors, though, your best bet might be to wait until a couple hours before dawn tomorrow morning, when the shower will be at its peak and the moon will be low in the sky. Or we could just do what people have wanting for years, and simply blow up the moon. The time is right, people.

OH MY GOD WATCH:

So... did you catch that?

(You might need to watch it again—this time with speakers ON. You still won't see anything, but man, those sweet, sweet sounds.)

As reported, asteroid 2011 MD—which is about the size of a bus—came within 7,500 miles of the earth's southern hemisphere earlier today. From National Geographic:

About one asteroid around the same size as 2011 MD comes as close to Earth every five to ten years, and one strikes Earth roughly once every 50 years.

"This was not an extraordinary event in the world of close asteroid approaches," [MIT planetary scientist Ben] Weiss said.

h/t to Greg

• photo from NASA

The longest total lunar eclipse since July 2000 will occur on Wednesday (June 15), with skywatchers in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia in prime position to witness the moon treat.

For observers in regions where it will be visible, the eclipse could offer an amazing sight: the period of totality will be 100 minutes. In the last 100 years, only three other eclipses have rivaled the duration of totality of this eclipse, according to SPACE.com's skywatching columnist Joe Rao. The last lunar eclipse of similar length occured on July 16, 2000 and lasted 107 minutes.

"The entire event will be seen from the eastern half of Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and western Australia," stated the NASA Eclipse Website of the June 15 event.

There will be another total lunar eclipse on December 10, which will be visible from the western United States. However, it will be December, and there will be enough clouds and rain that, once again, you won't be able to see a damn thing. In other words, thanks for nothing, astronomy.

* this is not actually what happens during an eclipse

via CBS

If you get up any morning for the next few weeks, you’ll be treated to the sight of all the planets except Saturn arrayed along the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the sky.

For the last two months, almost all the planets have been hiding behind the sun, but this week they all emerge and are arrayed in a grand line above the rising sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are visible, and you can add Uranus and Neptune to your count if you have binoculars or a small telescope.

Over the next couple mornings, take a look eastward. Venus will be the brightest, Jupiter the second brightest. To help you get oriented tomorrow morning, the moon will be right above Venus, and on Sunday it will be hovering above Jupiter and Mars. In related news, the old mnemonic to help you remember the order of the planets, My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas, has been permanently changed to My Very Elegant Mother Just Upchucked Noisily.

Suck it, Saturn.

VERY CLEVER, SWEDEN. However, I call shenanigans.

To wit, a few problems:

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