You are browsing the archive for Ryan Anderson.
3 June 2008
Twittering Phoenix
Apparently, Phoenix is a web-savvy little lander, and has been twittering since before landing. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Twitter has been called “micro-blogging”: posts can be a max of 140 characters. People can use it to keep others updated on the minutiae of their lives. For most people most of the time, it seems like this would be incredibly dull to me, but it’s perfect for the …
2 June 2008
Space-Based Solar Power
Have I ever mentioned how much I love the idea of space based solar power? It’s totally awesome: you launch solar panels into geosynchronous orbit, where they are always illuminated by the sun, and they beam the energy down to receiving stations on the Earth. Sure, it costs a lot to set up, but the result is essentially unlimited free power, beamed anywhere you want it. Apparently China and India …
Holy Cow and Snow Queen
It looks like there is mounting evidence that two flat, light-toned deposits beneath the Phoenix lander, known as “Holy Cow” and “Snow Queen” are pieces of ice exposed when the rockets blew away a thin coating of soil. As always, Emily has all the gory details. I don’t have much to add other than to reiterate how amazingly awesome it would be for there to be ice that close to …
31 May 2008
Phoenix: Good News / Bad News
Bad news first: it looks like the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) instrument may have a short circuit in the mass spectrometer. I really hope they get this cleared up, because as I discussed before, the mass spectrometer is crucial in determining whether there are organic molecules or possibly life in any soil samples. Now the good news: Images from the robotic arm camera are showing a smooth, light-toned substance …
30 May 2008
What job would you do in space?
CNN has a weird quiz to help you find out. Apparently I’m the biodome gardener. Sounds fun to me, though my houseplants here on earth tend to either dry out or die from overwatering… Apparently this is part of a snazzy site that CNN is running called “Just Imagine“. The idea seems to be to speculate what life will be like in 2020. I don’t know how this made it …
Phoenix Rock Names and Arm Animation
Seems like all I do these days is link to the Planetary Society blog, but I’ve come to accept that. Check out these animated gifs that Emily put together of the Phoenix arm and bucket being unstowed! Also, the science team has apparently named some of the rocks at the landing site. I never cease to be amused by the names that scientists come up with for rocks on Mars. …
29 May 2008
Ancient Flying Reptiles Hunted on Foot
This azhdarchid doesn’t need to be flying to eat you. I know, I know. This has nothing to do with Mars. But it’s my blog, and I never really grew out of the “dinosaurs are awesome! I want to be a paleontologist!” phase that many kids go through. So, that said, check this out. The Daily Mail has an article about new research that shows that at least one type …
"Listen" to Phoenix Land
Check it out, the Mars Express spacecraft tracked the radio signal from Phoenix as it landed, and that signal has now been converted to audio for you listening pleasure. Although there is a certain “gee whiz” factor in things like this, I find it to be pretty confusing and misleading. The sound that you are hearing is not the sound of Phoenix landing, it is the radio beacon being doppler …
Phoenix Panorama!
I just found out from the Planetary Society blog that Phoenix has completed it’s first full panorama! Check it out! There are some tiles that are a lot darker than others, which I hope is a problem that they will be sorting out. But check out that unstowed arm! Let’s start digging!
Carnival of Space #56
There’s a new Carnival of Space up over at the Lifeboat Foundation Blog, and it is chock-full of all sorts of great posts about Phoenix, as well as a few posts about other things in space in case you’re getting a little Pheonix-weary. Check it out!
