This Shooting Star Is Astronaut Pee From Discovery.

Behold the sexiness of….astronaut piss? The above image was taken by Jens Hackmann of Germany. Theoretically, it’s of the Discovery venting its excess water, but what exactly is in that water?

io9:

These images were captured the day before Discovery landed, and it had plenty of water to pump into space before it could return to Earth. That includes astronaut urine and other waste water, although some of the liquid here seen might be excess fluids from Discovery’s fuel cells.

Although it might look like it, Discovery isn’t just dumping its astronaut pee on Earth. The water is frozen when its first ejected into space, but contact with the sun’s rays makes the ice instantly sublimate straight into water vapor, dispersing the stuff into space. That leaves images like these to be safely enjoyed as a beautiful, disgusting remembrance of our space shuttle program.

After canning our space program, the least Discovery can do is rip off a golden shower on this Blue Marble. Space: making even piss look awesome. (Or if you prefer, more awesome than usual.  Degenerates.)