You are browsing the archive for Ryan Anderson.
16 September 2008
3rd MSL Landing Site Workshop – Engineering and Geobiology
We covered a LOT today, so I have decided to split things up. This post will cover the talks in the morning and then I will give each site its own post. Today started off with presentations from some of the engineers and managers on the mission. They updated us on the rover’s status (it it making lots of progress, but still has a long way to go!), and informed …
15 September 2008
McCain Answers Top 14 Science Debate Questions
I promised before when I summarized Obama’s answers to the top 14 sciencedebate questions that I would do the same when McCain answered. And now he has! I encourage you to go read the full answers because what I am posting here is just a bulleted list of things that I thought were the key points. Low taxes, research incentives, commitment to education, streamline regulations Nurturing technology and innovation key …
MSL One Year from Launch
One year from today, the Mars Science Laboratory will launch. It seems fitting that the workshop during which we choose the final three possible landing sites begins today. The whole process blows my mind. I will be sitting in a conference room this week with dozens of Mars scientists, poring over data of unprecedented detail for seven locations on Mars. We have images of the sites of such high resolution …
MSL Workshop Eve
It’s almost time! Tomorrow the third Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Workshop begins! I’ve tried to get everyone up to date by re-posting my reflections on last year’s workshop, but there is a little more of the story to fill in. At the end of the workshop last year, we had narrowed down the list of possible landing sites to six sites: Nili Fossae, Mawrth Vallis, Holden Crater, Terby Crater, …
12 September 2008
Last Year's MSL Landing Site Workshop – Day 3
I’m in the airport on my way to California to participate in the third Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Workshop, so I thought I would take this chance to post my blog entry from day three of last year’s workshop: What a day! We began with a series of highly anticipated presentations about potential landing sites with evidence for salts, sulfates and clays – all types of minerals typically formed …
10 September 2008
Register to Vote
If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that I don’t talk about politics too much here. I do follow politics in the news though, and frankly what I’ve been seeing lately makes me sick. I see one side doing what it can to keep the discussion focused on the issues and how to improve life for the American people, and I see the other side focusing all of its …
Has the LHC Destroyed the Earth Yet?
In case you were wondering whether or not the Large Hadron Collider has destroyed the earth yet, check this website. In all seriousness folks, there’s no threat from the LHC. The earth gets bombarded all the time by cosmic ray particles with loads more energy than the LHC particles will have. So, if cosmic rays have not destroyed the earth, then there is no chance that the LHC will. Or, …
Last Year's MSL Landing Site Workshop: Day 2
Here is the summary from the second day of last year’s landing site workshop, copied from my old blog. I’m posting these to get everyone on the same page before going to this year’s Landing Site Workshop, where we will narrow the seven possible landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory down to three. Stay tuned! Today was a marathon of landing site presentations, ranging all over the martian globe, …
9 September 2008
Last Year's MSL Landing Site Workshop: Day 1
Coming up next week is the 3rd Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site Workshop, where the Mars science community will come together to narrow down the possible landing site choices for MSL. There have been two similar meeting before this one, and I was lucky enough to attend the one last year. In fact, some of my first blogging experience was summarizing the three days of that meeting. I will be …
7 September 2008
Bubbling Lava Lake Video
The Halema’uma’u vent in Hawaii seems to be filling up with a lake of lava! In this video from Sept 5, taken from a helicopter hovering over the vent, you can see the surface of the lava lake bubbling and churning. The press release has lots more information. To stay up to date with the eruptions in Hawaii, check out the Hawaii Volcano Observatory page.
