Luis Acosta / AFP - Getty Images This combination of pictures
shows the moon in various stages of a total lunar eclipse as
seen from Mexico City on Dec. 21. This eclipse takes place just
hours before the December solstice, which marks the beginning of
northern winter and southern summer. Jose Cabezas / AFP - Getty
Images A double expousure picture shows the moon and the
monument of The Savior of The World during a total lunar eclipse
as seen from San Salvador, El Salvador on Dec. 21. Kim Shiflett
/ NASA Space shuttle Discovery waits to roll back from Launch
Pad 39A to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida in the early morning hours of Dec 21,
with the beginning of the total lunar eclipse clearly in view.
Once inside the VAB, Discovery's external fuel tank will be
examined and foam reapplied where 89 sensors were installed on
the tank's aluminum skin for an instrumented tanking test on
Dec. 17. The sensors were used to measure changes in the tank as
super-cold propellant