Photo from the SOHO project.

When we were first building the Telestereoscope, one of my fantasies was to follow up our ten-foot machine with a really big one. Of course, to my medium-sized brain, “really big” meant stuff like clouds and mountains.

To the geniuses at NASA, “really big” means something a bit different. Like, how about, I dunno, let’s say, the biggest thing in the Solar System? The STEREO project is a pair of satellites that will take 3D pictures of the freaking sun.

Be sure to check NASA’s explanatory video, complete with totally mindblowing footage of solar explosions. Wow. Imagine a movie like this one but in stereo 3D! There’s more on yesterday’s launch at Space.com.