You are browsing the archive for Ryan Anderson.
1 December 2011
Fly over Vesta in 3d!
Alright folks, time to bust out your 3D glasses! JPL just released this cool 3D flyover of Vesta, as seen by the Dawn spacecraft:
30 November 2011
MSL Launch
We got up before dawn, tired but buzzing with anticipation. To get to the VIP viewing area for the launch, we had to drive to a nearby stadium, park, and then show our bus passes to get on one of the dozens of buses waiting to drive to NASA. As the bus filled up, I started to see other faces that I recognized. Scientists involved in the mission, grinning to hide their nerves.
27 November 2011
MSL Launch Videos
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be in the VIP viewing area at Kennedy Space Center to watch Mars Science Laboratory launch to Mars! I’ll put up a proper post about the whole experience, but in the meantime enjoy these videos. The first is the one that I took, the second was taken by my friend Casey Dreier, and finally I’m posting the official NASA video of the launch. I find that the “home video” versions are more exciting because you get to hear the crowd’s reaction.
23 November 2011
MSL Launch Info
MSL is ready for a launch on Saturday, and the forecast is looking good! In preparation for the launch there is a bunch of great information about the mission available online.
Curiosity as Art
This morning I heard a bunch of really interesting status updates from all of the instruments but I can’t tell you about them. Instead, here are some artist’s renditions of MSL, courtesy of the folks at Unmanned Spaceflight.
18 November 2011
Mapping the Moon
As a reader of this blog, you’re probably at least passingly familiar with the progression of maps of Mars, from the first fuzzy sketches, to the intricate maps of “canals” to today’s exquisite data. But maps of our closest neighbor – the Moon – have also evolved quite a bit. For a nice pictorial history of moon maps, and an explanation for the names of some of the lunar features, go check out this post over on The Awl.
15 November 2011
Earth at Night and Spirit Rover Time Lapse
Over the last couple of days, I’ve seen two awesome time-lapse videos making the rounds on the internets. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:
6 November 2011
Ask an Astronomer Podcast: Mars Attacks!
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by fellow Cornell Grad student Laura Spitler for the Ask an Astronomer podcast. We mostly talked about MSL and the Gale crater landing site. Laura also interviewed Dan Tamayo, yet another Cornell grad student about the connection between the word “Tuesday” and the planet Mars. Now that it’s a little closer to the MSL launch, you can find the podcast here.
1 November 2011
Solar System Learn-to-Read App
A while back, I was contacted by a company that makes iPad apps to teach kids to read and also teaches them about science. They were interested in doing a picture book about the solar system and wanted me to write the minimal text. I agreed and we wrangled with conveying some key information about the solar system using only a few hundred words. It’s surprisingly hard, but I think we managed to do pretty well.
