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Zoo officials confirmed late Tuesday via ultrasound and hormone analysis that giant panda Mei Xiang is not pregnant. Photograph by Mehgan Murphy

Mei Xiang, the Zoo’s Giant Panda, is not pregnant. Despite frequent news updates over the weekend, that Mei was exhibiting all the signs of pending motherhood—cradling toys and making a nest—it just wasn’t meant to be. Mei Xiang was experiencing a pseudopregnancy, the Zoo reported early this morning.

Zoo officials report that “female pandas almost always undergo a pseudopregnancy when they ovulate, but fail to conceive.”

In January when the young panda cub Tai Shan was making his last debut in public before his flight to China,  Mei Xiang came into estrus and was artificially inseminated. She had been left briefly alone for a possible interlude with her mate Tian Tian, but the pair just weren’t in the mood.

Staff intervention in panda sex is a critical step in the difficult process because the window of opportunity is quite narrow. Giant pandas ovulate just once a year and mating must take place during a prescribed two day period. On April 22, the Zoo announced that Mei’s progestagen concentrations signaled the start of a 24-hour pregnancy watch. As the progestagen levels declined over the weekend to their normal levels, Zoo researchers knew that it could go only one of two ways, a cub or a pseudopregnancy.

Mei Xiang is expected to return to her normal routines of eating and roaming playfully in her enclosure. The panda habitat, which had been closed to give Mei a little peace and quiet over the weekend, has reopened this morning. So visitors are welcome to stop by and commiserate.

Astronaut Andrew Feustel makes repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. The new IMAX film Hubble 3D captures the astronauts aboard the Atlantis as they try to save the telescope, which sends images of space back to earth. Photo courtesy of IMAX.

In May 2009, a crew of seven astronauts took off on the Space Shuttle Atlantis on a fourth and final mission to repair and service the Hubble Space Telescope, the renowned Earth-orbiting eye in the sky that has sent back two decades of spectacular images of the universe.

The astronauts on board the Atlantis would give the telescope an “extreme makeover,” with new instruments and improved cameras, over the course of five space walks.

Astronaut Gregory Johnson had the added task of documenting it all—with a 700 pound IMAX camera. In the months leading up to the mission, IMAX director and producer Toni Myers trained Johnson in the art of collecting audio, video and stills within the shuttle’s cabin, while also operating the IMAX camera using a specially programmed laptop computer.

In the completed film, Hubble 3D, which recently premiered at the National Air and Space Museum’s Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater, a spectacular range of images—Helix Nebula surrounded by sparkling red and purple gases or the butterfly shape of a dying star—taken by the telescope itself are made all the more realistic as they fly by the viewers 3D glasses. But a significant portion of the film was captured by Johnson, striking footage of astronauts floating against the earth’s deep blue oceans and wispy white clouds, trying to repair the Hubble.

Along with camera training, Myers coached Johnson through the shots she wanted. As the astronauts practiced their space walks underwater, in a 6 million gallon pool at the Johnson Space Center, Myers learned the walks along with them, developing a running scene list that would go with Johnson to space. They began with a list of about 60 scenes, which was narrowed down to 15 or 16 by the time the mission took off. Once the crew was in space, Myers reviewed what Johnson captured each day from the mission control room, and sent comments to him through e-mail about what more she needed, or what could be improved.

Johnson is no stranger to flying. Before he became an astronaut in 1998, he was a test pilot for NASA and a captain in the United States Navy, racking up more than 9,500 flying hours in 50 different aircraft, and successfully completing more than 500 carrier landings. But when it came time to prepare for his first mission as an astronaut in May 2009, on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, he knew almost nothing about operating a camera.

“I can tell you I didn’t have any video training before this,” Johnson said, laughing. “They took a navy test pilot and turned him into a director of photography … sort of. A big sort of there.”

Though the camera contained 5,000 feet—nearly a mile—of film, it only amounted to eight minutes of tape that Johnson couldn’t rewind, which meant he had little room for error when he captured scenes, about 20 or 30 seconds at a time. The camera was mounted in the spacecraft’s payload bay, protected by a shield, and Johnson controlled the lens and the shutter with a laptop. He had to orchestrate scenes without interfering with the astronauts’ important rescue mission and also battle short cycles of light. The Atlantis orbited Earth every 90 minutes, which meant Johnson only had 45 minutes of light to shoot before the spacecraft was overtaken by another 45 minutes of darkness.

“It was a stressful situation to decide when to shoot,” Johnson said. “It was a balancing act of competing priorities and we were able to pull it off, but at times it was a bit of a stress because I didn’t know when the scenes were going to occur.”

In addition to capturing what happened outside the Atlantis, Johnson made videos of  the astronauts inside the spacecraft, anchoring himself with foot loops to film his crew through tense rescue moments—a kind of voyeur’s visit aboard the shuttle, as the camera documents the astronauts even as they made sandwiches on pieces of bread that floated in the air; and got in and out of their spacesuits.

“It was extremely hectic and the scenes were shot on the fly, mainly because each time the space walkers came in the door we had to get them out of their suits and get them fed. Then, everyone participated in turning the suits around to be used for the next space walk,” Johnson said. “There was just no time to sit down and compose scenes, so it was shot kind of like your home movies to a certain extent.”

But those “home movies,” combined with Hubble images both old and new, offer those who see the film a look into space many have never seen before, giving a glimpse into both the perspective of the astronauts, as well as the stunning views of space and the earth.

While Myers coached the astronauts, she said in return she also learned from them, evolving into somewhat of an amateur astronomer over the course of production.

“It is just mind boggling,” she said. “It gets into your blood stream and just stays there.”

It also turned Johnson into somewhat of an amateur filmmaker.

“I’d be happy to do another IMAX movie,” he said. “It was an amazing mission, the crew was really fun to fly with. And if you don’t wonder what’s out there, that movie should make you wonder.”

Hubble 3D is on view at the National Air and Space Museum; tickets can be purchased here, or by calling 866-868-7774 (toll-free) and 202 633-8850 (TTY). To find other venues nationwide, visit the film’s Web site.

This week, documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles will present two films on Christo. Photograph coutesy of the American Art Museum

Monday, April 23: March Point

In this film, three teenagers from Washington State’s Swinomish Reservation make a film about two oil refineries that are harming the health of the people, the land, the water and the traditional way of life and gain a new sense of themselves during the creative process. Free. American Indian Museum, 12:30 PM. This event repeats daily throughout the month of April at 12:30 and 3:30 PM.

Tuesday, April 24: An Evening With White House Correspondents

The image of the modern-era presidency is in part a result of the work of White House correspondents—those intrepid reporters and journalists who work around the clock to keep us in the loop with what’s happening with the heads of state. Get the inside scoop on what it’s like to provide news coverage of the leader of the free world in this roundtable discussion moderated by Ken Walsh (U.S. News & World Report) and featuring Sheryl Stolberg (New York Times), Dan Lothian (CNN), Don Gonya (NPR), and John Dickerson (Slate magazine). Tickets are required. Rates are: $30 for Resident Associate Members; $27; $40 general admission. Tickets may be purchased online at this site. Resident Associate Program, 6:45 PM.

Wednesday, April 25: Ask an Expert: Mars Rover Update

In today’s lunchtime lecture, Dr. John Grant of the museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies will give you an update on the Mars rover—the high-tech automated motor vehicle that allows us to catch a glimpse of Mars’ extraterrestrial surface. Free. Air and Space Museum, 12:00-12:15 PM.

Thursday, April 26: Christo in Paris with Albert Maysles

Albert Maysles, together with his brother David, created a string of landmark documentary films. Together they captured the cutthroat world of door-to-door bible salesmen in Salesman, brought us backstage to the notorious Rolling Stones concert at Altamont in Gimme Shelter and provided audiences with a window into the beautifully damaged lives of Edith and Edie Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens. In addition, they chronicled the works of artistic team Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude in two films,  Valley Curtain (1973) and Christo in Paris (1986). Tonight, enjoy a screening of these films, complemented by a live introduction from Albert Maysles himself. Free, but tickets are required. Two free tickets per person will be distributed in the G Street lobby one hour before show time. American Art Museum, 6:30 PM.

Friday, April 27: Hot Topics: “The Hobbit”

The skeletal remains of the 3.5-foot-tall Homo floresiensis—nicknamed “the hobbit“–wasn’t discovered in the Shire, but in Indonesia. Come listen to paleoanthropolgist Matt Tochieri discuss this major discovery—and maybe try to refrain from singing a verse or two from certain hobbit songs. Free. Natural History Museum, 3:00 PM.

Craft School (ca. 1936-39) by Jerome Henry Rothstein. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Friday, April 23: Native Theater: Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers by William S. Yellow Robe Jr.

William S. Yellow Robe Jr.’s Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers examines the culture clash between the Native American and African American communities during post-Civil War westward expansion as a young man tries to find a sense of community amid his mixed ancestry. Due to some of the plays themes, this play is best suited to middle school-aged person and older. Free. American Indian Museum, 7:30 PM.

Saturday, April 24: How Craft Makes Its Way into the World

So, after seeing this year’s Smithsonian Craft Show (or maybe a craft show in your local community), did you have one of those awestruck moments where you wonder how the artisans do what they do? Gain a little insight into that creative process in this talk given by Yoshiko I. Wada, Mark K. Sfirri and Randy J. Johnston. All recipients of the 2010 James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award, they’ll tell you how their handcrafted works of art move from the studio to the marketplace. Free. American History Museum, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM.

Sunday, April 25: Curator Tour: Jazz

Do you get jazzed about jazz? On a tour led by National Portrait Gallery cultural historian Amy Henderson, enjoy artworks inspired by the people who contributed to this all-American musical form. Free. National Portrait Gallery, 1:00 PM.

Apollo exterior, 2008. Photo by Shahar Azran. Image courtesy of the Apollo Theater Foundation.

Named for the Greek god of music, New York’s Apollo Theater has been a pantheon of American talent for almost 100 years. Built in 1914 in the heart of Harlem, the theater rose to prominence in the mid-1930s as a showcase for African American performers, offering aspiring artists a springboard to bright and beautiful careers. The Apollo and its legacy of talent is honored in a new show, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment,” which opens today at the American History Museum.

“Since 1934, the Apollo has been a driving force in shaping America’s musical and cultural landscape,” says Jonelle Procope, president and CEO of the Apollo Theater. Seminal jazz songstresses Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn all competed in the Apollo’s Amateur Night competitions and other pop culture luminaries—from musicians like Cab Calloway and Miles Davis to comedians like Moms Mabley—also graced its stage.

Unfortunately, I was born in the wrong place and time to be able to know the Apollo in its heyday—but that’s not to say I haven’t been able to enjoy the musical legacy the theater supported. Indeed, one of my favorite groups of all time, the Supremes, will be represented in this show. After they signed with Motown in 1961, it was a few years before this trio scored a hit on the charts. Nevertheless, when the girls graced the stage in the 1962 Motortown Revue with Diana Ross singing lead on “My Heart Can’t Take It No More,” the notoriously demanding audience showed its support. The Supremes went on to be one of the greatest acts of the 1960s, scoring 12 number one pop chart hits between 1964 and 1969. In terms of commercial success, they were second only to the Beatles. They were the first female group to have an album take the number one spot on the charts and they even had their own brand of store-bought bread. But I digress. The dresses from this earlier time stand in stark contrast to the gowns leaden with spangles and sequins that came with mainstream success. A sensible assortment of artificial daisies would occasionally spring up on the Supremes’ wardrobe as well, as evidenced by this trio of gowns that’s fabulously indicative of the mod styles the girls rocked in the mid-1960s.

These dresses date from around 1966-67 and were worn on television and during concert appearances. Image courtesy of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Of course, a number of other artists are represented in the some-100 objects on display at the show, which were pulled from the collections of the American History Museum, the National Museum of African American Art and Culture, as well as private collections. And there is a wonderfully wide range of things to see from Michael Jackson’s fedora and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet to clothing worn by James Brown and Celia Cruz. So hurry by.

Like all special exhibits, Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment has a limited engagement and will be showing at the Smithsonian until August 29, 2010. The exhibition is on view at American History in the gallery sponsored by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which will open on the National Mall in 2015.