For the other Astronuts out there

Other than the Palm trees that could be the American Northwest. Washington State is magnificent. Mountains, Pacific Ocean coast, The drive along the Columbia River separating Washington from Oregon is only surpassed by the scenery along the Yellowstone River in Montana. Thousands of miles of you can walk without seeing another human being (well maybe hundreds). You can still dip and drink what few people will experience -- a refreshing cup of water directly from a stream cascading down from Mt. Rainer.
I've been fortunate to see more than most but like I told a cousin after he said, You take TOO many vacations ! "Well, YOU don't take enough"!

 

Since you mentioned tourist Luke, Don't visit Yellowstone National Park in the summer. Early Spring or just before the snow flies, which could be anywhere between the end of August and September, You might get lucky in October too.
Although I did have some fun walking by the majority saying Konnichiwa and waving.

 

My friends in Palmerston (I think that's it) want me to "drop by". Not on retirement pay, brother.

 

I'll slip some astronomy in here while they're not looking.

Stars Versus Dust in the Carina Nebula​

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA); Processing: Franco Meconi (Terraza al Cosmos)​

Explanation: It's stars versus dust in the Carina Nebula and the stars are winning. More precisely, the energetic light and winds from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing the dusty stellar nurseries in which they formed. Located in the Carina Nebula and inside a region known informally as Mystic Mountain, these pillars' appearance is dominated by opaque brown dust even though it is composed mostly of clear hydrogen gas. Even though some of the dust pillars look like torches, their ends are not on fire -- rather, they are illuminated by nearby stars. About 7,500 light-years distant, the featured image was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope and highlights an interior region of Carina known as HH1066 which spans nearly a light year. Within a few million years, the stars will likely win out completely and the dust torches will completely evaporate.
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Tomorrow's picture: Orion and the Ocean of Storms​

 

Thanks ! Pretty picture but I'm back to address CAC'S comment about 'wet heat'.

Uh hmm, cough, Now I grew up in a place called ill-annoy. Properly it's spelled Illinois but in all truthfulness annoy is more fitting and it is actually pronounced " Ill-Annoy". You mentioned a wet heat there in Aussie Land and I'll bet ya a corndog to a Koala we can match your humidity - if not surpass it.
July, August and into September would make the Finnish sweat. Humidity usually levels off in the mid 80% range. Until it rains. Then you can expect it to go higher. Of course that's one of the reasons our crops grow so well.
Shade there should be referred to as Shadow since shadows give you somewhere to hide. Shade in the Midwest simply stands for a slightly darker place. Then you can calculate the 'Heat Index' into the equation and 100f to 115f just becomes another day. But on the bright side, things cool down by January and the whole cycle doesn't begin again until the end of June. Usually, The end of May can bite too.

 

I did a bit over 2 years on the Mekong. Does that qualify as tropics?

 

An American geologist friend of mine routinely wanders around the iron ranges doing survey work. His brain baked a long time ago.

 

Illinois only has 100% humidity for the last couple weeks of July until the middle of August. June is nice though.

 

Nothing like being twenty miles from town and a horny teenager.

 

Thanks I'd just about forgot where we were going.

 

Or a mile outside a small town and knowing a few passed friends,........ Which , thank you very little, Tomorrow is going to be a very long hard day, I'll see ya all Saturday.
Planning on over indulging.

 

I have some buffalo in the fridge that need attention. Tomorrow is an off day, she works 4/10s. Permanent three day weekends. Tough life.

 

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Orion and the Ocean of Storms
Image Credit: NASA, Artemis 1

Explanation: On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth, terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum. Prominent on the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the Moon's lava-flooded maria. The lunar terminator, shadow line between lunar night and day, runs along the left of this frame. The 41 kilometer diameter crater Marius is top center, with ray crater Kepler peeking in at the edge, just right of the solar array wing. Kepler's bright rays extend to the north and west, reaching the dark-floored Marius. By December 11, 2022 the Orion spacecraft had reached its home world. The historic Artemis 1 mission ended with Orion's successful splashdown in planet Earth's water-flooded Pacific Ocean.



Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space

 

Probably utilize the lava tubes. 99% of the exterior already done.