NASA

We have lift off: NASA's newest Earth-imaging satellite, Landsat 8, launched today at 10:02 a.m. PST. The Landsat mission, which began in 1970, has captured some of the most unique images of the Earth from outer space. Watch a live stream below, or on the NASA website, of the satellite's ascent to space, replays of the launch, and commentary from mission control.

Landsat 8, also known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), will be sent to space aboard the Atlas-V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The spacecraft was codeveloped by NASA and the US Geological Survey to continue collecting data and monitoring the Earth's landscapes from space.

The Landsat mission's historic 40-year run has provided the longest continuous global data collection of the Earth's surface to date. Follow status updates for the Atlas V rocket, the LDCM satellite, and the operations on the ground with @NASA_LSP on Twitter, run by the NASA Launch Services Program from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Streaming video by Ustream

If the Curiosity Rover and the iPhone 5 went head to head, who would win? Today at the MacWorld/iWorld Expo, Ben Cichy, James Kurlen, and David Oh of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory got under the hood of both robot and device, and showed how the nearly two ton Martian stacks up against the .25-pound iPhone 5.

So, how does Apple's latest and greatest smartphone fare against the NASA rover currently transmitting HD images and video from the surface of Mars? The iPhone 5 bests Curiosity in terms of processor, memory, storage, and (low) cost. But the rover indisputably takes the cake in terms of temperature range and accessories (laser auto-win). Plus, it's a little more mind-blowing to know a computer not even as powerful as many people's phones is currently hard at work on another planet.

In truth, NASA and Apple aren't competing at all. In fact, most of the software code that landed the Curiosity Rover was written on Macs. And, just in case you forgot how amazing that landing was, here's a little reminder.

Stay tuned for even more updates from Macworld by following us @geeksugar on Twitter and Instagram and, of course, the GeekSugar homepage!

If you're going to look up from that smartphone for just one night, make it Dec. 13 — it'll be worth it. The Geminid meteor shower, which, according to NASA, is "rich in fireballs," will be at its peak, with an especially good showing this year because the lack of moonlight that night will make for a perfectly dark display.

The Geminid meteor shower is unique in that it's slow, bright, and graceful, and unlike other celestial showers, the streaks of light come from leftovers of an asteroid, not comets. Looking at the night sky, the Geminids seem to originate from the constellation Gemini, hence the name. Check out our list of more shower-watching pro tips for the ultimate meteor viewing experience.

• Start watching at 10 p.m. — Meteor sightings will be most concentrated between 10 p.m. local time, and the brightest views will appear around 2 a.m.
• Keep your eyes to the east — Depending on your location, the constellation Gemini appears in the east-northeast horizon as the sky begins to darken. Not sure where to find the constellation? Check out this interactive astronomical map.
• Tune into NASA's live chat and Ustream. — The embedded question and answer session and live stream will begin Dec. 13 at 11 p.m. EST.

We've seen a lot of geeky reinterpretations in our day — Starwarigami, Lego cities, and movies in miniatures — but this mini model of the most advanced unmanned spacecraft thus far has got to be at the top of our list.

We'd like this pint-size Mars Curiosity Rover ($175) to investigate and assess for microbial life on our desks and in our homes. Or spend its days preparing for future human exploration of the rock garden Martian habitat we've created for it.

California artist Arnold Martin designed this 10-inch-long and 7-inch-tall space-faring specimen from over 100 scroll saw-cut pieces that he assembled by hand. Crazy! The sculptor certainly knows his way around little wooden bits and has a whole shop full of iconic figures in science, technology, and fantasy that you should definitely check out.

Thirty-five years ago, NASA's Voyager 1 probe was launched aboard the Titan III, and it hasn't stopped exploring the unknowns of outer space since. At its current distance, Voyager 1 takes about 16 hours to return 20-watt radio signals, moving at 186,000 miles per second, back to Earth. Now the spacecraft is in an extremely remote part of the solar system, over 11 billion miles from Earth, and may soon leave the sun's influence.

It seems that Voyager has discovered a "magnetic highway" that pushes lower-energy particles to move into deep space, perhaps toward a galaxy far, far away. According to NASA, it may take as soon as months or as long as years for Voyager 1 to cross into the far reaches of the Milky Way, but they do believe that it is the final layer between the probe and interstellar space.

How long will the Voyagers continue to journey through the galaxy? Perhaps forever, but as long as the spacecraft is able to beam data back to mission control, then we'll be able to follow it on its expedition of the final frontier.

Even though the space shuttle program ended a year ago, 2012 has turned out to be quite the year for space exploration — and the hits just keep coming! Today, NASA announced that data received from the Messenger spacecraft, currently orbiting Mercury, shows strong signs of ice on the planet. "Abundant" ice, in fact, 100 billion to one trillion tons on this closest planet to the Sun, and the smallest in our Solar System.

How does this planet only 35 million miles (Earth is 92 million miles away) from the Sun, with temperatures spanning -370 degrees Fahrenheit to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, have a substance as cold as ice? As NASA explains, "the tilt of Mercury's rotational axis is almost zero — less than one degree — so there are pockets at the planet's poles that never see sunlight."

Even more exciting news for the space junkie: scientists believe this ice ended up on Mercury from a comet that crashed into the planet — similar to how water and organic materials first came to Earth. This leads to some big questions — could humans one day survive on Mercury or, in millions of years should humans be on the lookout for a Mercurian race?

Sunita Williams is awesome for three reasons: she's a NASA astronaut, the commander of Expedition 33 to the International Space Station, and the record holder for the longest space flight by a woman. Oh yeah, and her hair. Spread out your fingers really wide and take a look — that's what Suni's locks look like. In space. (!!)

Earlier this month, the commander took the Internet on a tour of the Russian segment including Zarya, the first part of the International Space Station launched in 1998. In the video, we get a good look at Zvezda, the central command post where astronauts gather during an emergency, like fire, depressurization, a toxic atmosphere, or an ammonia leak. There are also two Russian flight engineers floating in the background brewing coffee (black).

Check out more station tours hosted by Suni at NASA's multimedia gallery. Get the inside scoop on the crew's sleeping quarters and hygiene station, the Destiny, Kibo, and Columbus labs and the Quest airlock, and the cupola, the station's observation deck.

Looking up at the night sky evokes a kind of celestial wonder, and every time, we're left a little curious about the astronomical powers that be. Google Chrome's latest experiment, 100,000 Stars, lets aspiring space cowboys sail the night skies at any time of day and visualizes the majesty of the Milky Way like never before. It's a mesmerizing piece of 21st-century art — and the epic soundtrack doesn't hurt either.

The project takes users on a Street View-style expedition of our galaxy, pointing out the names of prominent stars along the way. All the info and imagery is provided by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), so it's like getting a personal tour from the experts themselves. Start the feature by clicking the "tour" button in the upper left or by using your own mouse to zoom in and out on your own.

Google Chrome's spectacular star experiment demonstrates the capabilities of WebGL, CSS3D, and Web Audio. If those words sound like gibberish, have a go at our tutorials on HTML and the new generation of web, HTML 5, and maybe, someday, you can create an amazing space exploration website of your own.

Every now and then there's a total eclipse, and no, it's not of the heart. The moon is standing between the Earth and the sun today and will be casting a giant shadow over a (sadly, mostly uninhabited) section of the Southern Hemisphere. The annual solar eclipse passed through the western US earlier this year, but it was only a partial stellar wonder. Since the center of our universe will be completely concealed this time around, we've collected everything you need to know about this afternoon's solar eclipse.

• The eclipse's peak occurs at about 3:30 p.m. EST/12:30 p.m. PST in the South Pacific — The instance of "greatest eclipse," aka the peak, is the moment when the moon's shadow and the Earth's center are the closest.
• Unless you're in Australia, you won't be able to see it — The path of the total solar eclipse will begin in Oz and be visible from land only for a short while. The only populated region that will see the eclipse is the city of Cairns, whose residents will view the solar wonder for an entire two minutes. It's visible on the wide, open ocean from there on out.

If you're wondering how to livestream the eclipse, read on.