16 September 2009
Mars Science Laboratory Instruments: MastCam
A few weeks ago I gave a lunch talk at Cornell summarizing the MSL mission and particularly the instruments that it will carry and was shocked by the number of people who showed up! So, sensing that there is some significant “Curiosity” about the mission, I decided to do a series of posts here. If you are impatient and don’t want to wait for me to take my sweet time …
15 September 2009
Los Alamos
Greetings from Los Alamos New Mexico! I’ll be out here until the 24th, first getting trained to use lasers safely, then collecting lots of data and starting to crunch the numbers. This is a placeholder post, but while I’m here I’m planning on doing a series of posts about the instruments on MSL, so stay tuned!
12 September 2009
Disney's "Mars and Beyond"
I just stumbled across this awesome Disney cartoon from 1957 over at the Tor.com blog. It’s worth watching just for the various bizarre aliens, but is also surprisingly informative about the history of astronomy, the origin of earth and life, and our fascination with life on Mars. Also note how they call galaxies “island universes”.
9 September 2009
New Hubble Images
Four images taken with the brand-new camera on Hubble have just been released, and although there are no solar-system objects in the bunch, I can’t complain too much. I mean, just take a look at this! Enjoy!
If This is Socialist Propaganda, Please, Send More
Surely by now you have heard that president Obama attempted to brainwash our nation’s children with socialist propaganda yesterday. It is apalling, isn’t it? An outrage! But have you actually heard or read what he said? I’ll let his words speak for themselves: I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something that you’re good at. Every single one of you …
8 September 2009
Augustine Commission Summary Report Posted
I’ve posted before about the “Augustine Commission” – a panel of aerospace experts assembled to assess the status of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Well, today they released a 12 page summary of their findings. The full report is still in the works, but this 12 page summary is the short and sweet version. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes and read the summary, but if you don’t …
3 September 2009
Review of 'Defying Gravity'
Hi folks. I’m still neck-deep in paper revisions, so if you’re looking for something to read, Joe Shoer has a good review of the new sci-fi show “Defying Gravity”. I’ve never seen it, but his review makes a good point that it’s refreshing and promising to see a popular show that is pro-space exploration.
30 August 2009
Fire near JPL
Apologies for the silence on the blog lately. I’ve been trying to get caught up with work since I got back from the north woods of Michigan last sunday. However, I thought I should take a minute and mention the forest fires in LA that are threatening JPL . People on the MER team have been sending occasional updates and photos over the last few days as the fires inch …
15 August 2009
Up North
Hi folks, Just a quick note to say that I will be completely off the grid for the next week, visiting with family at our cottage in the upper peninsula of Michigan. No power, except by generator, and definitely no internet. So, alas, no new posts for the next week. I’m sure somehow you will find a way to live without me. -Ryan
10 August 2009
Carnival of Space #115
Hey, check it out! Another Carnival of Space! Head over to New Frontier News for all your spacey needs.
