I remember a SF story to that extent. Some astronauts on the Moon witness a sudden brightening of the Sun, and for a few seconds marvel at its beauty… And then the meaning of the event sinks in.
You mean… like the Scientist mentioned in this thread? (see posts 11 to 14)
:eek:
It’s not often one here’s the term “earth shattering” when it isn’t hyperbole.
Not the same story, but in Lucifer’s Hammer an asteroid hits the earth (in several huge broken-up pieces), as the horrified folks on a Space Station watch helplesly. Even with that AND a nuclear war, they go back to earth anyway. Me, I think I’d take one of those cyanide capsules they must have had with them.
Btw, here’s a fascinating transcript of a 2000 special done by the BBC (not the docudrama) and shown on the Discovery Channel. I wish the show itself were up somewhere. This is how I first heard of the Yellowstone supervolcano.
There’s Niven’s “Inconstant Moon” in which the narrator observes that the Moon is unusually bright one fine L.A. night - and then, as you say, the meaning of the event sinks in, just as he realizes why there’s nothing but static on the TV. (No Internet in those days. 
)
Why yes, that would appear to qualify. Doom’s inevitable now, have a good day, been nice knowing you!
By the way, I take it that Christopher C. Sanders is not the same as this 104-year old artist, but rather the man portrayed in this picture on the left, which would mean that he’s also somewhat nerdily handsome, and I don’t have to tell you what that implies.
Oh wait, here’s his warning video on YouTube. Damn, he is dramatic! He even does dramatic zooms on his face by leaning closer to the camera. 
We are doomed. We’ve got zombie Edward Teller wanting to relieve the pressure at Yellowstone with a nuclear bomb.
A new, earthquake.
Magnitude 3.3
Date-Time Friday, January 09, 2009 at 18:17:31 UTC
Friday, January 09, 2009 at 11:17:31 AM at epicenter
Location 44.678°N, 110.254°W
Depth 0.2 km (~0.1 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING
Distances 45 km (28 miles) SSW (213°) from Cooke City-Silver Gate, MT
54 km (34 miles) SE (138°) from Gardiner, MT
67 km (42 miles) E (88°) from West Yellowstone, MT
456 km (284 miles) NNE (17°) from Salt Lake City, UT
Why would they need cyanide capsules? Just open the door.
Yup.
“My my, will ya look at that. I think I’ll got for a walk…”
Or just yell “Hey! Koo-Aid!”
oh yeah!!!
This is brilliant.
Epicenter of activity has moved a little to the northeast. It’s no longer under the lake.
Is that good or bad or what?
About opening the door of the capsule, I have no idea which might be more painful, cyanide or the vacuum of space. Any thoughts on that, in case I’m ever stuck on a space station and see the world below destroyed?
Vacuum would get you in about 30 seconds or so. No idea of how long it’d take cyanide to do the trick.
Much less than 30 seconds, and not painfully, unless golden age mystery novels have lied to me all these years.
I am not sure about the time part, though I am pretty sure it aint extremely quick.
And I am pretty sure it wouldn’t feel so hot either.
Bursting ear drums, bursting lungs, and maybe some expulsion of precious bodily fluids outa several orifices.
Whats cyanide looking like these days?
You know the space station has to have a pretty good stock of medical supplies. You have more options than cyanide or popping an airlock conscious and sober.
No need for painful vaccuum. Just turn off the oxygen and drift off to sleep from anoxia in fully-pressurized comfort.