Category: space

Strange images from Mars!

But first a little background.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) is an ongoing robotic space mission which has involved rovers, “Spirit,” “Opportunity,” and “Curiosity,” exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the sending of the first two rovers, MER-A “Spirit” and MER-B “Opportunity,” to explore the Martian surface and geology.

“Curiosity” is a car-sized robotic rover, exploring the Martian surface as of August 2012, and is currently the only active rover still in operation. “Curiosity” is nuclear powered, so it is not dependent on solar panels like the previous rovers.    

Each rover has a total of 9 cameras. The rovers transmit their data to a spacecraft orbiting Mars, the Mars Odyssey, and then quickly relay the rover data to the Earth using their large and high-powered antennas. 

The mission’s scientific objective was to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. The mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, which includes three previous successful landers: The two Viking program landers in 1976, and the Mars Pathfinder probe in 1997.

In May 2009, Spirit became stuck in soft soil on Mars. After nearly nine months of attempts to get the rover back on track, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) lost contact with Spirit after last hearing from the rover in March of 2010.  Spirit was functional on Mars for over 6 years and 2 months, or over 25 times the original planned mission duration.

In January 2014, NASA reported that the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers will now be searching for evidence of ancient life, as well as ancient water, ancient rivers or lakes.

The search begins with determining whether the Martian environment was ever suitable for life. Life, as humans understand it, requires water, so the history of water on Mars is critical to finding out if the Martian environment was ever conducive to life.

How exactly do you drive a one-ton Mars rover, when the driver is, on average, 150 million miles away back on Earth?  With a one-way time delay of around 13 minutes, it certainly isn’t a matter of sitting down in front of a monitor and waggling a joystick.

In short, there are two ways that rovers can navigate the surface of Mars.  One, NASA can transmit a series of specific commands, which the rover then dutifully carries out, or two, NASA can give the rover a target, and then trust the rover to find its own way there using its onboard navigation system.

If you want to try your hand at driving a rover the way NASA does, you can go to http://www.marsquestonline.org/coolstuff/drivearover/

As a result of our exploration of Mars, we now know a lot more about Mars, but we have also stumbled across some things that pose more questions.  Take a look at the following images from Mars and see what you think.

The original “face on Mars,” taken by Viking 1 as it orbited Mars. 

Other images taken on Mars by one of the rovers:

Pretty interesting, huh?

And these are only some of the images that we have been allowed to see.

We can only imagine some of the images NASA has that we haven’t seen.

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We’re all entitled to our opinions.  I value yours and your feedback as well.

I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

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“A picture is worth a thousand words.” In these cases…, maybe more.

Here are some of the famous pictures that reflect our American history and reflect events that have changed our history.

aoc history

… although this picture is not one of those pictures!

Let’s continue…

nine eleven

09/11/2001.  Some pictures don’t need any description.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy, the ensuing investigation, and all of the questions surrounding the assassination, have remained for over 50 years.

1963 – President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline in Dallas, Texas, moments before he was fatally shot.

jfk 2

President Kennedy is hit.

jfk 3

A frantic Jackie scrambles onto the back of the car.

jfk

The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of The President, by Jack Ruby, in the Dallas jail.

jfk 4

In 1986 The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off, shocking our nation and the world.

challenger 2

challenger

Neil Armstrong takes the first step onto the moon’s surface, July 20, 1969.  He and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to land on the moon.  A smart phone, like most of us have, has thousands of times the computing power of the computers on Apollo 11.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong, as he stepped onto the surface of the moon.

moon landing

This picture, taken in New York City, known as “The Kiss,” represents the unbridled joy by all Americans that World War II had finally come to an end.

the kiss

On August 14, 1945, President Harry Truman announced from the White House that the Japanese were unconditionally surrendering.  As soon as the news was announced, spontaneous celebrations erupted across the United States.

But as memorable as the arrival of victory over Japan was, the day was bittersweet for the many Americans whose loved ones would not be returning home.  More than 400,000 Americans had given their lives in World War II, and America would never be the same.

In 2016, Donald Trump shocked the entire country by pulling off the upset of the century, while not only winning the presidency, but doing so convincingly.  The “forgotten men and women” in our country rose up and made their votes count.  Politics and the way we view “the media” in our country would never be the same.

trump elected

trump wins landslide

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of our history as Americans, as seen through the camera lens.

Please let me know if you agree with the events I’ve chosen, if you feel I missed any, or if you you’d just like to reminisce or leave a comment.

 

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Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

 

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Harvard professor insists that the space object named “Oumuamua,” which is zipping through our solar system as we speak, could be extraterrestrial in origin!

Abraham (Avi) Loeb, a distinguished Harvard University professor, is not backing down from his claims that a piece of extraterrestrial spacecraft technology may be flying past the orbit of Jupiter at this very moment.

Avi Loeb, one of the top astronomy professors in the world, boasting of decades of Ivy League professorships and hundreds of publicized works in respected astronomy publications, is remaining defiant that the space object, dubbed as “Oumuamua,” first noticed by Hawaiian astronomers in 2017, could be from another civilization.

avi loeb and light sail

“Considering an artificial origin, one possibility is that ‘Oumuamua is a light sail, floating in interstellar space as debris from advanced technological equipment,” Loeb and his colleague Shmuel Bialy wrote in Astrophysical Journal Letters in November, according to the Washington Post.

According to Lukas Mikelionis of FoxNews.com, “Since making the shock claim last year, many scientists have criticized Loeb for offering, in their view, the most sensationalist theory of what the object is.”

‘“Oumuamua is not an alien spaceship, and the authors of the paper insult honest scientific inquiry to even suggest it,’ Ohio State University astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter wrote in a tweet.  Other scientists are more diplomatic and haven’t publicly countered Loeb’s claims, only saying that the object is likely just some sort of rock, whether it’s a piece of an asteroid or a comet.”

Mikelionis adds, “But Loeb remains stubborn on this theory, and dismisses the claims that it’s a rock, noting that it’s moving too fast for an inert rock.  He told the [Washington] Post that the object is long yet no more than one millimeter thick, and that it’s so light that sunlight is moving the object out of the solar system.”

“Many people expected once there would be this publicity, I would back down,” Loeb says. “If someone shows me evidence to the contrary, I will immediately back down.”

“It changes your perception on reality, just knowing that we’re not alone,” he continued.

“Even as his theories attracted attention around the world, despite his colleagues’ criticism, Loeb says he’s not afraid of any possible repercussions for spreading his theories and wears it as a badge of honor, showing his unorthodox approach to science.”

I have written a couple blogs already on this subject, and it does not appear to be going away…, the subject, that is, not the object!

Please go back and check out my previous blogs on this subject for some additional perspective.

So, what do you think?  Email me and let me know.

“The universe is a pretty big place.  If it’s just us…, it seems like an awful waste of space.” – Carl Sagan, from his book, and later the movie, “Contact”

 

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avi loeb and oumuamua

 

 

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More interesting speculation from scientists about the mysterious interstellar object that is still passing through our solar system!

Note 1: Please refer to my blog of October 30, 2017, “A Mysterious Object from Deep Space passed through our Solar System,” and my blog of July 6, 2018, “NASA said, ‘Your Momma did what?’” for some additional background on this topic.

Note 2: Regarding claims that I am a “space nerd,” I must plead guilty.  I hope some of you find this story as interesting as I do, or at least mildly interesting.

The object we’re referring to again here is named “Oumuamua” (Pronounced: ooh-moo-eh-moo-eh.  It is a Hawaiian term meaning “scout,” “pathfinder” or “messenger”).  It is the first interstellar object ever spotted in our system, and it’s been described as a “metallic or rocky object” approximately 1,312 feet in length and 131 feet wide.

NASA and the European Space Agency may have ruled the object to be a comet (A comet with no tail!), but a new study from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA) says it could be something much more exciting!  It could be “a light sail of artificial origin” sent from another civilization!

That is definitely more exciting!  Wait…, what’s a “light sail?”

A “light sail,” also known as a “solar sail” or a “photon sail,” is a kind of space propulsion method which uses radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large mirrors.  It’s kind of like a sail on a sailboat.  The light exerting a force on the mirrors is like a sail being blown by the wind.

The study, which was posted online earlier this month, suggests that Oumuamua’s strange “excess acceleration” could be artificial in nature.

“Considering an artificial origin, one possibility is that Oumuamua is a light sail, floating in interstellar space as a debris from an advanced technological equipment,” researchers wrote in the paper.

The paper continues: “Light sails with similar dimensions have been designed and constructed by our own civilization, including the IKAROS project and the Starshot Initiative.  The light sail technology might be abundantly used for transportation of cargos between planets or between stars.”

They even theorized that Oumuamua “may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth’s vicinity by an alien civilization.”

The paper was written by postdoctoral researcher Shmuel Bialy and Professor Abraham (Avi) Loeb, the director at the CFA’s Institute for Theory and Computation.

Other studies have suggested that other “Oumuamua-like objects” will potentially enter our solar system, with some potentially carrying “life.”

Oumuamua was discovered in October 2017 by the PanSTARRS1 telescope after it spotted a new spot of light coming from a strange direction at an unusually fast speed.

Oumuamua is now traveling away from the Sun at a rate of approximately 70,000 mph, towards the outer part of the solar system.  In approximately four years, it will fly past Neptune’s orbit, on its way to exiting our solar system.

 

Thanks to Chris Ciaccia of Fox News for contributing to this article.

 

NOTE:  If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog(s) today, please scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Follow” button.  That’ll keep you up to date on my latest posts.

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oumaumau

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