In the realm of all astronaut photographs this one probably holds the most veracity for me because Stanley Kubrick created what Baudrillard calls "hyper-reality" -- using cinematic signs in a hermetically self-contained film (not even including the Star Child part where the black monolith consumes Bowman and leads him through a metamorphosis from matter to pure energy :-) To this date, many concepts of being-in-space implicitly reference 2001, not actual experience. Also, unlike the communication between astronauts and Houston, the dialogue between Bowman and HAL 9000 is truly unforgettable. In short, we don't have detailed narratives of real astronauts which we can read into their photographs. - Adriano

in today's news: "Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (LRO) show that the American flags planted on the Moon by Apollo astronauts are mostly still standing. The flags are still casting shadows -- except the one planted during the Apollo 11 mission. This matches Buzz Aldrin's account of the flag being knocked over by engine exhaust as Apollo 11 lifted off." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news... - Adriano