Curiosity

Four months ago today NASA landed the Curiosity vehicle on Mars, a planet about 60 million miles from Earth right now. The distance between the Earth and Mars varies between about 35 million and 250 million miles, which makes landing something on the red planet a tricky bit of astronomic calculation. I believe the feat is best described  with the phrase - "This is rocket science."

Here is a video of landing, not an artist rendition or a computer simulation but actual video footage from the spacecraft as it descends to the Martian surface.

And, of course, we have the NASA website with up-to-date photographs, videos from Curiosity on the surface of Mars. So it's been four months, have you taken a look recently? Do you have a sense of the significance of such scientific endeavors, yes even in the face of all the problems we have back here on this planet.

We live in incredibly interesting times, why not take a peek?

A Far Off Image

The moon Phobos partially eclipsing the Sun. A shot taken, of course, from the surface of Mars.

More Curiosity Rover photos here.

A Blotch on Mars

After a rocket-powered descent stage, also known as the sky crane, delivered NASA's Curiosity rover to Mars on Aug. 5, 2012; it flew away and fell to the surface. Possible multiple impacts from that collision are revealed in blue in this enhanced-color view taken by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The main crash site is seen at right, shaped like a fan. Farther from the site are several smaller dark spots, which are thought to be secondary impacts from debris that continued to travel outward. The impact sites are darker because the lighter, reddish top layer of soil was disturbed, revealing darker basaltic sands underneath.

The full image for these observations can be seen at here. 

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data analysis from NASA website

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Adventuresome. Likes to travel. Into long lonely drives on red planets. Seeking signs of life.

48 to 68

The Green Sun comes to us courtesy of those very underfunded folks at NASA. For details on why green or why not yellow? I refer you to the website full of truly amazing images of yellow, red, blue and paisley suns plus other color enhanced celestial bodies. Today, however, I would like to discuss the one truly great unifying topic of conversationalists around the globe. No not religion, nor sex and at this time of year, definitely not politics. Today I shall dwell on the weather, in particular on not so extreme temperature varients.

The sun had once again asserted itself after a week of rainy grey. Not complaining mind you, I am terribly fond of grey and damp but the weather is as they say changeable. Mid-term predictions (isn't it nice to read 'mid-term' not followed by election), oops sorry politics .... anyway the weather forecast over the next 30 days here in Berkeley calls for temperatures not exceeding 68 degrees nor lower than 48 degrees. Over the previous 30 days the range has been 99 degrees for the high and 49 for the low. Completely unacceptable!

If I were given the power to control the ambient temperature with a twenty degree range, well then the next month is near perfection. Okay, I can go for 70/50 perhaps even 72/52 but that strains both the upper and the lower limits of personal heating perfection. If I get a thirty degree range then I would happily exist in a 71/41 world. One can always visit olde friends in the north for a white christmas once a decade. Skiers and other winter athletes can travel to snow and ice, but simple day to day existence should require no more than a light cotton hoodie and a couple of World Wildlife Fund throw blankets. If it gets really chilly at night, well then you just throw on another cat. Air conditioning should be limited to "places I might visit in winter" and everyone everywhere should be required to power all AC with solar energy.

Yes this was a bit of a restrained rant today, but I'm feeling much better now; how about you?

[11/14/10 Those bastards! 82 degrees today]

Humbled By Hubble

I am a big fan of the Hubble Space Telescope and I visually anticipate the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) now scheduled for a 2014 launch. Politics and budget deficits may have even more impact on that launch window then the already two year delay but us galaxy-gazers have cosmic faith.

The photo above of the Sombrero Galaxy was voted the best picture taken by the Hubble. You can see the top ten Hubble images here and on NASA's hubblesite. Besides providing brilliant images from far beyond our galaxy, not to mention great desktop backgrounds (I am currently using the Tarantula Nebula); the Hubble also has accumulated hard scientific data that will be under analysis for decades.

This is the Cone Nebula, which is about 2.5 light years long and growing or expanding to be more precise. If you are feeling like a new desktop image, might I suggest the 80+ options of Hubble Wallpaper. I recommend that you avoid the Omega Centauri globular cluster, I know someone who lost a manuscript on just such a desktop.