tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89436664476699213552024-03-05T10:09:36.662-08:00Pillow AstronautNASA Research: Space science, agency insider stories and photographs, how to qualify for Johnson Space Center Astronaut studies. NASA Socials, NASA Tweetups, and 3D Printer technology in space!PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comBlogger839125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-74900326381408625892021-01-01T06:00:00.137-08:002021-01-13T09:32:57.688-08:00Star Wars Gonna Star War<p> 2020: the year all SciFi events were wiped off our calendar. Our R2-D2 is currently beneath a dust cover, unable to attend the Galactic Outpost, SW Celebration, or even small Comic Cons. 2021 is no huge improvement, but we have high hopes that we might get the droid out of the house by... autumn (?)</p><p><br />I try not to ramble about Star Trek or Star Wars too much on my social media, because many of my dedicated readers come here for NASA updates, but until the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/" target="_blank"><b>Mars Perseverance Rover</b></a> lands in February, the only true highlight of the New Year is the ongoing splash in the Star Wars Galaxy.<br /> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FCjoWWCEXqR02x5YpbfBaZBV9xFKR1ZvHCOcmBRpTZpt4AhzvlGQPZ-Jr4Q-eg2tqiD8D0Sqz-ylXQsqF2_in5Bq2P3JY-9Y-AlsxqbbHApx-heI8nrxLx3ovNSmHKWN2LTlEsN3hv0/s1048/Canon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1048" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FCjoWWCEXqR02x5YpbfBaZBV9xFKR1ZvHCOcmBRpTZpt4AhzvlGQPZ-Jr4Q-eg2tqiD8D0Sqz-ylXQsqF2_in5Bq2P3JY-9Y-AlsxqbbHApx-heI8nrxLx3ovNSmHKWN2LTlEsN3hv0/w400-h305/Canon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In our bored isolation, we clung to <b>Disney+</b> and spent months re-watching all the films, delving deeper into Clone Wars lore, and hunting down Easter eggs in Star Wars Rebels. Since we’d seen all these properties before, we were really just filling time between new episodes of <a href="https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/show/the-mandalorian" target="_blank"><b>The Mandalorian</b></a>. </p><p>Can I just say, <b>Grogu </b>healed us in ways we could neither describe nor define. It went beyond the whole “death by cuteness” memes of Instagram, Twitter emoji-ography, or cooing in the watch parties. Overall, I think the key to “<b>Baby Yoda</b>” was the appeal of innocence: he was helpless, but a fearsome firestarter. He was sneaky in charming, goofy ways, but saved the day with masterful heroics in desperate moments. *No obvious spoilers* to the mind-blowing finale that we’ve now viewed three times, but we weren’t going to rest for a whole ‘nother year before we knew he was in good hand. Pun intended. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUppdET9wFLJZlUSFN5fEo7Ahq2KQCJWe8FUw0W_f8wT6BivI7nLpnD0bCgu38iDTkZ_ABnC-nB2lX5hafktHfASDP_x5HupIxNtu3ncCMBjm79qRtqOPS62tnB-jzbDeniPowkyFEn94/s529/2020+David+Acord.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="529" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUppdET9wFLJZlUSFN5fEo7Ahq2KQCJWe8FUw0W_f8wT6BivI7nLpnD0bCgu38iDTkZ_ABnC-nB2lX5hafktHfASDP_x5HupIxNtu3ncCMBjm79qRtqOPS62tnB-jzbDeniPowkyFEn94/w400-h276/2020+David+Acord.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>True to form, the voice of <b>Grogu </b>(Sound Engineer <b>Dave Acord</b>) broke our hearts. It was often said in the 1980s that half the audience watches Star Wars for the explosions, but the other half watches for tragedy. But, before leaving us hanging, producers kept the dearest portions of innocence intact among the players. <b>Din Djarin</b> initially saw himself reflected in this tiny, abandoned, endangered foundling – and it may have been the only thing in his adult life to convert his customary stoicism into emotional investment. His tangle with the Dark Saber of <b>Clan Vizsla</b> seemed like an optional storyline, but has now clearly set up Season 3. We now all have a year to worry that Grogu will be absent, unless they craft ways for the duo to cross paths again. </p><p><br />It didn’t escape my attention that in the quick, explodey flashbacks of <b>Djarin </b>as a child, he and his parents both dressed in scarlet robes. Might they, like <b>Lyra Erso</b> and <b>Chirrut Îmwe</b> in <a href="https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Rogue_One:_A_Star_Wars_Story" target="_blank"><b>Rogue One</b></a>, been connected somehow to the Whills? Had they lived on planet <b>Jedha</b>? I didn’t want to overthink the inferences, but couldn’t help wondering if the Mandalorian would eventually join <b>Djarin </b>and <b>Grogu</b>’s paths by concluding they were “destined” to find one another, by virtue of connections to Force guardians, like the <a href="https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Brotherhood_of_the_Beatific_Countenance" target="_blank">Brotherhood of the Beatific Countenance</a>. <br /> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGwOiGk6VBPYmJqnU7BMZxw9UWBdAnb-0oJQxIhdSC3Cu6WVdJUAscXjMuHtNNe28mKomXGOsHngBfAVtgAhtEceHUUBZp2QSF0ovGjji3iN48LLs3mm3SyyklEIXkicGfwa1j-2g_28/s580/deathwatch.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="580" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGwOiGk6VBPYmJqnU7BMZxw9UWBdAnb-0oJQxIhdSC3Cu6WVdJUAscXjMuHtNNe28mKomXGOsHngBfAVtgAhtEceHUUBZp2QSF0ovGjji3iN48LLs3mm3SyyklEIXkicGfwa1j-2g_28/w400-h253/deathwatch.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Crafters of <b>Star Wars</b> stories, in particular Lucas-worshippers and combinatorial storytellers like Jon Favreau, do not utilize details in an incidental manner. There’s always a can of worms waiting to be placed on a fishhook somewhere. </p><p>I still cannot believe my friends at <b>Lucasfilm </b>kept these secrets for <i>yeeeeears</i> at a time – but above all, Star Wars creators are dedicated to <i>shock value</i>. Part of the joy of watching <b>Grogu</b>’s story unfold was that it packed the same punch that <b>Yoda </b>did in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080684/" target="_blank"><b>The Empire Strikes Back</b></a> (1980), where amid a decade of macho bullet-laden movies, we all had to wrap our brains around the most powerful magical samurai in the cosmos being a little green hermit who just wanted peace and quiet. Forty years later, his origins are still a mystery. But is it a mystery we even want solved?<i> </i></p><p><i>I’m torn.</i> I’d rather know how Sabine lost the Darksaber and why <b>Bo-Katan of Clan Kryze</b> was so keen to find it. I’d also perhaps rather see <b>Din Djarin</b> land on <b>Mandalore </b>with the <b>Fett</b>, and stir up the shenanigans we know are sure to follow in that austere, fractured culture. I suspect they will lose a fair amount of viewers from the show if they simply pick up where SW Rebels left off, and don’t find some way to incorporate <b>Grogu </b>into the tale.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVT6ckR2DI793wOUpahkQdZ2qikNVAlwflc9ZrLBgjtyTLFCVlD0QdDd59K0J08O_IoH1Ejahfg6f7Z53TLEQF8Jq7m4WedGczO5WiH1jzqKcGsjGinRYbRXqFqvOwMd1p7Glfn02eJ0/s567/Grogu+Name.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="567" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVT6ckR2DI793wOUpahkQdZ2qikNVAlwflc9ZrLBgjtyTLFCVlD0QdDd59K0J08O_IoH1Ejahfg6f7Z53TLEQF8Jq7m4WedGczO5WiH1jzqKcGsjGinRYbRXqFqvOwMd1p7Glfn02eJ0/w400-h251/Grogu+Name.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />One thing is certain: this tiny character <i>LANDED</i>, like few others did in the most recent film trilogy. Getting <b>Star Wars</b> fandom to agree on any single point is nearly impossible these days, and <b>Disney</b> would be missing a serious opportunity if they did not design a new trilogy around this infant Force wielder who faced down a Moff and traveled the Outer Rim before his first day of school. <br /><p>Are there more Little Green Men on a faraway home world somewhere, or is only one of these Jedi born every millennia or so? Will we ever get a name for the species of <b>Yoda</b>, <b>Yaddle</b>, and <b>Grogu</b>? Given that <b>The Child</b> was born the same year as <b>Anakin</b>, perhaps he was the fabled creature who would bring balance to <b>The Force</b>, and not the <b>Skywalker </b>clan. The story could take any number of turns in the wider story timeline (click to embiggen): <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEisgoeMmRqZ4sj8JXlyEMhyphenhypheny_Epijp9sVessuh0L_TY1cNiJaYhNjYb1XhBy0UJDEVhAVvsrvBI1EAXricR3h3RR2PjYkBEhcg_e0B21MH_aaxPpa4kfRj0WZy4DdZx5f6tDdBZwpgBw/s847/Galactic+Calendar.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="847" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEisgoeMmRqZ4sj8JXlyEMhyphenhypheny_Epijp9sVessuh0L_TY1cNiJaYhNjYb1XhBy0UJDEVhAVvsrvBI1EAXricR3h3RR2PjYkBEhcg_e0B21MH_aaxPpa4kfRj0WZy4DdZx5f6tDdBZwpgBw/w400-h236/Galactic+Calendar.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>I can’t imagine a world where the idea of a <b>Grogu </b>trilogy isn’t already generating scripts or at least meetings in slick Los Angeles conference rooms, high in the sky where the people who make the big decisions find ways to have <b>Star Wars</b> ask all the big questions about good and evil, light and dark, and… are we each products of destiny or free will? </p><p>In the meantime, 2021 will bring us fully twelve new Star Wars shows to fill our quarantine hours. <i>Which one are you most excited about? </i></p><p>I’ll start. “<a href="https://youtu.be/BohgNFBR2eE" target="_blank"><b>The Bad Batch</b></a>” !!<br /></p><p><a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/search/label/TV-Films-Books" target="_blank">See other reviews of films, television shows, and books</a>. <br /><br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-55434067091308629882020-12-17T10:34:00.046-08:002021-01-09T10:51:44.752-08:00Space Science Trilogy - The Formist Series<p>Exciting News! And just in time for Christmas. I used to do a full recommendation of sciency type gifts, including the galactic chocolates, cosmological music selections, and of course my favorite NERD product of all time... knee Spocks!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTHLljlSvGlUsMxGQyrnK54O_vSTWHV2zEAgDmDmt7ifoIE8u0kIgn0yBzgi0YhyphenhyphenMJwtDlX51f5DO92Jy4Px5K-Cd3AQAV0AMT9dlosMFSZ8JMtHbEhV7nfJxk5urtZsivwoNq3ayQWw/s700/kneespocks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiTHLljlSvGlUsMxGQyrnK54O_vSTWHV2zEAgDmDmt7ifoIE8u0kIgn0yBzgi0YhyphenhyphenMJwtDlX51f5DO92Jy4Px5K-Cd3AQAV0AMT9dlosMFSZ8JMtHbEhV7nfJxk5urtZsivwoNq3ayQWw/s320/kneespocks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Har har. I'll show myself out... but not before I let everyone know about the newest book release by <b>Matthew Williams</b> of <b>Castrum Press</b>. If you are interested in accurate hard science in your #SciFi reading selections, I cannot recommend this trilogy enough. </p><p>The author, whom you may follow on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/storybywill" target="_blank"><b>@StoryByWill</b></a>, is a science teacher who conducted absolutely bonkers amounts of research into our planets and satellites (those most likely to support life once we have a serious leap forward in propulsion technology). </p><p>I reviewed the first and second books, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074ZQMM9Y?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks" target="_blank"><b>The Cronian Incident</b></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GGZ8356?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_1&storeType=ebooks" target="_blank"><b>The Jovian Manifesto</b></a>, which both received high stars on Amazon and Goodreads. I'm flattered to say I was contacted by the author, whereupon we had some delightful conversations about his very accurate depictions of space science throughout our Solar System. I got a sneak preview of his newest novel, and conclusion of the series, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RDZXKBZ?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_2&storeType=ebooks" target="_blank"><b>The Frost Line Fracture</b></a>.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4MBq5JpMuXFHyi70bHcKEPXHiE98uZw8SXJleqgbH0lWYASlKB4Oem2uveK3BQUfoyumBJLqfYwozNV2z9MB1af2_25BQ8cIu98_wHgJ-Qv1bS4f9SnhFtPt0D-Icg1yq00LyLVo6_g/s1192/Formists.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1192" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4MBq5JpMuXFHyi70bHcKEPXHiE98uZw8SXJleqgbH0lWYASlKB4Oem2uveK3BQUfoyumBJLqfYwozNV2z9MB1af2_25BQ8cIu98_wHgJ-Qv1bS4f9SnhFtPt0D-Icg1yq00LyLVo6_g/w444-h224/Formists.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><br /><p>Of particular interest is the theme of pioneering -- a favorite among exploration enthusiasts -- and hypotheses of what sorts of cultures would arise on our inner planets versus the outer worlds. <br /></p><p>From bio-implants to solar system stations to the particular engineering environments in each system, this is a well-developed story with believable settings and characters. The author has a firm grasp of exobiology and extremophiles that will please scientists who enjoy 'realism' in their reading, but enough possible future tech that will also please the space-opera crowd. </p><p>Don't be afraid of methanogenic hydrocarbons -- the hard science is never overwhelming, but neither does Williams assume is audience is dumb by over-explaining anything. A nice balance is struck, here. The novel assumes you know the basics of aerospace, but even if you don't, you'll follow the heroes because you want to, as his reluctance transforms into purpose. </p><p>The standout in terms of detail is the uniquely, culturally distinct factions, which could only be created with competent research on each environment, and projecting the imagination into the framework of what it would truly take to colonize places like Mercury, Titan, or Callisto. </p><p>Join the Interplanetary Accord! Or bless the astronomer in your life with one book or all three. </p><p>Merry Christmas everyone!</p><p>And may 2021 suck just a little bit less... <br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-64032258627152675762020-09-15T06:00:00.000-07:002021-01-09T10:34:03.817-08:00The Little Boy in the Library<br />
<b>Ronald McNair</b> was African-American. For this reason, he was asked to leave a segregated library. He later became a NASA astronaut and the <a href="https://scnow.com/news/local/article_214eaab3-d728-5974-ab7d-8c598175a9b1.html">very same library</a> is now named after him.<br />
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HONK IF YOU WANT THIS TO BE DONALD GLOVER'S NEXT MOVIE.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLH5LTdYirHCxPwZFkoGemJoaNhWtO5Ec1293LeG-N1K128CUWF3RGfOOWsN3Q12FTAnBJ-3JVospFRf-drEb0sx2YMhpiNsZS6xhnc72f_MOcSYmGrRFkGkTBxlQFiIWprjPGPbr1gWw/s1600/Ronald+McNair+Donald+Glover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="950" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLH5LTdYirHCxPwZFkoGemJoaNhWtO5Ec1293LeG-N1K128CUWF3RGfOOWsN3Q12FTAnBJ-3JVospFRf-drEb0sx2YMhpiNsZS6xhnc72f_MOcSYmGrRFkGkTBxlQFiIWprjPGPbr1gWw/s400/Ronald+McNair+Donald+Glover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Space Force, or The Force in space??</div>
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McNair's richly complex and accomplished life deserves a biopic more than most, and I’m not just saying that because I’m bored with the actor they got to play Neil Armstrong. Overall, I could easily stand on top of a mountain and shout MOAR SPACE TRAVELER MOVIES until I get lava-larynx.<br />
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Having <a href="http://pillownaut.com/spacemap/mapastros.html" target="_blank">charted the missions & birth place</a> and <a href="http://pillownaut.com/spacemap/astrodates.html" target="_blank">birth date of every astronaut</a> who ever flew a mission, I've known the basics of <b>Ronald McNair</b>'s career for years: he was the first to play a saxophone in space on <a href="http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/sts-41b.htm" target="_blank"><b>STS-41-B</b></a> (1984), he was the first astronaut of the Bahá'í Faith to fly a mission, and he was in charge of chemical experiments and Cinema 360 filming about the Space Shuttle. He was also a Trekkie, and I feel a kinship with all fellow Trekkies, of course.
I even visited his center at the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his PhD in Physics.<br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/01/28/133275198/astronauts-brother-recalls-a-man-who-dreamed-big" target="_blank"><img alt="Ronald McNair Building MIT Boston" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZICaq-I8jCHPz7_QIcWdp5X2g39pK-e5RssAmh3iI3tg2cN6uMYR8PnL9qmsUonuP-5ZdYoLJgtDdXPeWeB6LmhL9ozDAYr0q5I1dyR3B0YdJKdpP8ScAo8Zxba_X-N2ixKTSMWftKpY/s400/Ronald+McNair+Building+MIT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>
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However, it wasn’t until I researched libraries for <a href="https://twitter.com/Nerdglorious" target="_blank">Nerdglorious Trivia</a> that I learned of his civil rights resistance at the once-segregated <b>Lake City Public Library</b> in South Carolina. In 1959, around the time he was in fourth grade, McNair attempted to gather science-based materials, whereupon a Caucasian woman told him "This library is not for coloreds," and called the local police.<br />
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I'll repeat that. A librarian called the police. On a 9-year-old boy. For trying to check out SCIENCE BOOKS. </p><p>Long before Permit Patty and Barbecue Becky, Library Lisa was on the job! Unfortunately, officers could have easily sided with her in this era, and lawfully removed Ronald from the public space, because signing of the <b>Civil Rights Act of 1964</b> was still half a decade away. His mother, Pearl, was also summoned; both she and the officers encouraged the librarian to issue Ronald a library card as she did for the white children. Pearl McNair assured the librarian that her son would take good care of the books, and the librarian reluctantly let the elementary-schooler borrow the ones about flight that he had chosen.<br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/D2ACh-IKys4" target="_blank"><img alt="Ronald's Big Mission - Children's Book" border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="611" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFW4gqz8eNHC05x1-MHqz0t9kp3uKfzaZepdEa2nFztljfXbd9HT6R0wtU1DoiUwK6dgk8S78TujGQUH8ZN7dxfaAf8lpdxUmW9O-9xDEP4BegU_waLAVl14yxC9yZ6kKIGV5ih4Ib52w/s400/Ronald+McNair+Big+Mission+Childrens+Book.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Decades later, after his untimely death in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the library was dedicated to his memory. In addition, a children's book called "<b><a href="https://goo.gl/ykRWhq" target="_blank">Ron's Big Mission</a></b>" offers a fictionalized account of the library encounter.<br />
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Other things named in his honor? McNair Crater on Earth’s Moon, his <a href="https://scpictureproject.org/florence-county/ronald-e-mcnair-memorial-park.html" target="_blank">hometown public memorial</a>, a chapel, 2 streets, 4 University buildings, 2 parks, 20 schools, 152 scholarships, a theatre, a Masonic Lodge, and a public playground.<br />
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Can't seem to find the actual name of that librarian.<br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/CGo8huJdtQE" target="_blank"><img alt="Ronald McNair playing saxophone in space" border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1000" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg611dCtzLSyDe-aAYmDZlOmdhNUn73ghyphenhyphenonxCNf4lFhJvcEwDdp6We7qRD8Kna_3eo3m9m0HkkBl6gafPFTcjn-kmgpQoK1q5vyJwlHm67A0-UyOaRyWksmFnQMo90jCUNvpfaq56eSAs/s400/Ronald+McNair+saxophone+in+space.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ronald Erwin McNair (October 21, 1950 – January 28, 1986)<br />
(click for video of life + mission photographs)</div>
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PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-38344593946522514162020-06-17T05:00:00.000-07:002020-08-25T15:25:32.351-07:00Ancient Moon Shadows<p></p><p>Is everyone ready for the <a href="https://is.gd/b5KzkB" target="_blank"><b>Annular Solar Eclipse</b></a> this Sunday, June 21st? Charted a viewing spot? Got your glasses? Tracked the path of totality and calculated obscuration?<br /></p><p>Now imagine that if you didn't fully prepare and estimate those facts accurately, you could be beheaded. Not a typo. <i>Beheaded. </i>Because history is wild. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="800" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcvRoEl-DQCRcal-uigOtguHFgukJSnOHDNtCKDqUZpW7W5tbNTzqIH4eGhFkkTUgpFXRt72Mw1p5J_th4xz_PqA15Ciai0wjcYfVwLcV_iX70W8SAFuxXtYc0fA2tDt1SgHiKMa4dLA/w513-h269/Eclipse+Calculator.png" width="513" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>
On <span style="font-weight: bold;">October 22, 2136 BC</span>, astronomers in <span style="font-weight: bold;">China </span>noted what is now the <span style="font-weight: bold;">oldest surviving record of a total solar eclipse</span>, which occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, causing the moon's shadow to fall upon Earth and block the sun from view.<br />
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In ancient China, astronomy was a government-mandated pursuit, and state astronomers had quite sophisticated observatories for their time. Good thing too, for observing solar and lunar eclipses, as well as tracking planetary orbits, were divination tools for predicting the fate of the Emperor.<br />
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If an Emperor could predict a <span style="font-weight: bold;">solar eclipse</span>, such was a good omen for his health; accuracy was helpful in validating that he was the ordained link between heaven and his subjects on Earth, endorsing his divine right to rule. Imprecise predictions could be seen as evil omens, or even result in a new ruler, whereby rivals for power might use the eclipse as a sign that they could overthrow one who had lost the blessing of the gods. Careful records were made of all solar eclipses. (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Lunar eclipses</span> were only haphazardly noted, being so common as to merit lesser import.)<br />
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<a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/IAU233.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="Solar Eclipse" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530682144867857906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfB_pILZq2cwRO8x05cpGYyB6XOQHlteKZHbbNP9B4Uu1_EtvwdGi-dFw2-aLRHw4nf3HSeCnQqnfMJ56q98LeWCuYHw06d6RHI83TP-wHOhG7SXtzU-AnI5mIDlZ-rCUQFN7Xe95yrhw/s400/eclipse.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
As early as <span style="font-weight: bold;">2650 BC</span>, a star-gazer named <span style="font-weight: bold;">Li Shu</span> wrote about celestial bodies, in particular noting that the sun, earth, and moon moved in harmonious ways. Technology in ensuing years revolved around trying to forecast when certain events might occur so as to keep their political successions and societies more stable.<br />
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The fascinating field of "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Archaeoastronomy</span>" shed light on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oracle Bones</span> of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Shang Dynasty</span> (1600 – 1050 BC), unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province. Hailed as the bones of dragons (though actually turtles or oxen), they represent some of the earliest Chinese writings. One such gem tells us that the failure to correctly predict the timing of a total solar eclipse resulted in beheadings:<br />
<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">"Here lie the bodies of Ho and Hi,</span><br />
<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Whose fate, though sad, is risible;</span><br />
<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Being slain because they could not spy</span><br />
<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Th' eclipse which was invisible."</span><br />
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Surely these weren't the only two state astronomers to lose their heads, given how erratic solar eclipses can be in any specific geographic location. With so much at stake, precision was well sought after. By 720 BC, some <span style="font-weight: bold;">Chou Dynasty</span> astronomers recognized eclipses as "naturally" occurring phenomena, and not heavenly commentary on who held any particular throne. Still, diligent record-keeping continued up through the ages.<br />
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<a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/IAU233.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="Oracle Bone" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5530682372208444162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijryyA__ChAUJKkOCmvnDrc-NPU0LEOHR12V7YnyyJEB7y0mxw-QNor5gndpgLz7d7e7wjEkCOW5C5M5Ypo5WlMLMos81Ax5E2mj454EseVFk01nYlYnhDz2QvUL3Uh1np8SOjTJH1OQf/s400/oraclebone.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 246px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
By the turn of the millennium, the Chinese had a firm grasp of what actually caused eclipses, and by 206 AD, they were predicting cycles by analyzing lunar orbits. Their records show that between 600 and 1300 AD, their solar eclipse timing predictions were often accurate to within about 20 minutes!<br />
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To see how it's done in the modern day, see the <a href="http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/IAU233.html" target="_blank" title="NASA Eclipse"><span style="font-weight: bold;">NASA Eclipse Website</span></a>.</p><p>Also be sure to join me on Twitter tomorrow for my<a href="https://is.gd/3ircV1" target="_blank"> <b>#TriviaThursday </b>series</a>, with everything you need to know about <b>#Eclipse</b> dynamics and safe viewing this weekend!<br /><br /><br />
<br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-44802150834259423762020-06-01T06:35:00.003-07:002020-08-25T20:10:38.630-07:00The Space Anniversary I'm Glad We Don't Celebrate<p>
<font color="#ffcc66"><b>"Putting a man in space is a stunt. Man can do no more than an instrument, in fact, he can do less. There are far more serious things to do than indulge in stunts. As yet, the American people do not understand the distinctions and we in this country are prone to rush at any new thing. I do not discard completely the value of demonstrating to the world our skills, nor do I under-value the effects on morale of the spectacular. But the present hullabaloo on the propaganda aspects of the space program leaves me entirely cool." </b></font></p><p><font color="#ffcc66"><b> </b></font>
<b>Vannevar Bush
Chairman of the Board
Governors of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology</b>
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Well, what a relief it wasn't <i>up to you</i>, Vann man! The above excerpt is from a statement to the <font style="font-weight: bold;">Congressional Committee on Science & Astronautics</font>, made in <b>June of 1960</b>.
And it's a 60th anniversary I'm pretty happy we don't celebrate. </p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush" target="_blank"><img alt="Vannevar Bush" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487183009551175122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhN04DLy0IdM5AmJ_Zknh28QH45ivcJr8tssjv7xnrdlOrOYXD3Ljqf4dGNvUWVMO9LlxjtGGgigO5J8IoEdaimqd7RnGOYKPbGbTUdODd1VnkyC4bE4zHtu5-AMCXb5fJyOHeouOE-m5C/s400/vbush.jpg" style="display: block; height: 314px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> </p><div align="center"><b><font color="#66cccc">Is it just me, or does he look like Gandalf?</font></b></div><p> Of course, we're all very happy that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vannevar Bush</span> (1890-1974) helped to end World War Two, made possible the position of "Science Advisor to the President" and founded the <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/" target="_blank" title="National Science Foundation"><font style="font-weight: bold;">National Science Foundation</font></a>... but after reading some of his materials (this is the sort of light reading with which I fill my free time), I'm equally happy that he was neither heeded nor funded by the federal government at this point in his career.
This is one of those funny things, where I was reading biographical and technical information on a historical scientist, not intending to find any references to space or human exploration. </p><p>While I knew <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/bush.html" target="_blank" title="Vannevar Bush"><font style="font-weight: bold;">Vannevar Bush</font></a> had been on some aeronautics councils after WWII, I'd never known he worked long enough to speak to Congress about the space program. So shocked to find this excerpt... but I suppose the content was inevitable at the time. Not everyone was on board! </p><p><a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Vannevar_Bush" target="_blank"><img alt="Vannevar Bush" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5756119144338131650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzAr4B1olBl8-iuAmvU1vHJecNxd2NRICcydROfJu1JVr8JKL2f1F6f1D6S2BB9HRB3JVpVN2LMShTO40kWI0Scq1aMz22Cb-nPo6sM3Af5AVDXAq4d2tnF1amy0YtU7VXEbxBtEk2vk/s400/vannevarbush.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 289px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 388px;" /></a>
<font style="font-weight: bold;">Vannevar Bush</font> represented the ideals and thought-paradigms of the previous generation -- one that wasn't ready to move forward, out of their protective stance made necessary by war. While he was happy to keep pace with and <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/bush.jsp" target="_blank" title="Vannevar Bush Award">reward emerging scientific research</a>, he represented a faction of our government who was not willing to seek new frontiers in the stars... and I cannot help but wonder if our current science advisers suffer from the same pessimistic blindness. </p><p> Do they also believe astronauts are merely stuntmen?
No one walks around these days saying, <font style="font-style: italic;">"Wow, he sure hit the nail on the head 50 years ago. We should have spent all that money on something else and just been content with the practical applications of science instead of inspiring the world."</font> </p><p><font style="font-weight: bold;">And... in another 50 years?</font></p><p><font style="font-weight: bold;"> </font>
<br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-77916287606126740082020-05-11T08:00:00.004-07:002020-08-25T20:45:40.407-07:00Pluto & Friends<br>
<span style="font-style: italic;">Research time!</span> So it started bothering me that I'm fuzzy on the differences between <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet" target="_blank" title="Dwarf Planet"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dwarf Planets</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Neptunian_object" target="_blank" title="TNO"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Trans-Neptunian Objects</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutoid" target="_blank" title="Plutoid"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Plutoids</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutino" target="_blank" title="Plutino"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Plutinos</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scattered_disc" target="_blank" title="SDO"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scattered Disc Objects</span></a> (SDO), <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt" target="_blank" title="KBO">Kuiper Belt Objects</a> </span>(KBO) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oort_cloud" target="_blank" title="Oort Cloud"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oort Cloud</span></a> bodies.<br>
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I've seen these terms bandied about, but not even the schmoes who <span style="font-style: italic;">coined </span>them can decide what's what. Occasionally, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Astronomical_Union" target="_blank" title="IAU"><span style="font-weight: bold;">International Astronomical Union</span></a> tries to set definitions in stone, but no one ever agrees... <span style="font-style: italic;">so it's like a high-IQ version of Congress without all the fancy neckties and sex scandals.</span><br style="font-style: italic;"><br>
I initially planned this post as a companion to the Pluto Trivia I'm preparing for a Twitters series. I encourage those interested to examine the linked definitions, and try not to start any fights. I settled for familiarizing myself with the most prominently debated objects, here listed smallest to largest:<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">1) Ceres</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Former planet, Dwarf Planet, "largest asteroid"??</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 950 km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ceres </span>is the smallest identified "dwarf planet" in the Solar System and the only one in the asteroid belt between <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mars </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jupiter</span>, accounting for about a third of the belt's overall mass. Discovered in 1801, it was classified as the 8th planet for half a century. The surface of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ceres </span>is a mixture of water, ice, and various minerals, with the possibility of sub-surface liquid oceans. <a href="http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" title="Dawn Mission">NASA's Dawn space probe</a>, launched in 2007, will reach and explore <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ceres </span>in 2015. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ceres </span>was the Roman goddess of growing plants, harvest-time, and maternal love.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2Xi-QZYdUJiY0AuB5MhsG5DoTxnwLM8cmAO7BHM1xkzzAIQujy9yxGwtyfuSZFo3cTW0G8ZqB-bPaZVs2mrZlNo-lxIuuxQxe1NTi5_RVV-uzEHKMWsNKl7AYc6lxn3WFcA63SPKexKO/s1600-h/TNO1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2Xi-QZYdUJiY0AuB5MhsG5DoTxnwLM8cmAO7BHM1xkzzAIQujy9yxGwtyfuSZFo3cTW0G8ZqB-bPaZVs2mrZlNo-lxIuuxQxe1NTi5_RVV-uzEHKMWsNKl7AYc6lxn3WFcA63SPKexKO/s400/TNO1.JPG" alt="Trans-Neptunian Objects" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422922442325635154" border="0" /></a><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2) Quaoar</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet, TNO (plutoid)</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 1260 ± 190 km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Quaoar </span>is a binary system orbiting the Sun in the Kuiper belt, and the very first TNO to be measured directly from pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope! It orbits 3.7 billion miles from the Sun with an orbital period of 287 years. <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Quaoar </span>is named for the creator god of the Tongva, the native peoples from what is now Los Angeles. It has one satellite, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Weywot</span>, which may be a collisional ice fragment, though details about its orbit are unknown. The sky god <span style="font-weight: bold;">Weywot </span>was the son of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Quaoar </span>in Tongva lore.<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">3) 2007 OR10</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet "candidate," TNO (plutoid), SDO</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 875–1400km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2007 OR10</span> is currently the largest known Solar System object without an official name, though its discovery team nicknamed it <span style="font-style: italic;">Snow White</span>, as it would have to be very bright to be detected by their survey. 2007 OR10 is on an orbit similar to that of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eris</span>, circling the Sun every 552 years.<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">4) Orcus</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet "candidate," Plutino, TNO (plutoid), KBO</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Dimensions = 946.3 +74.1−72.3km</span><br>
Because their mutual resonance with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Neptune </span>constrains <span style="font-weight: bold;">Orcus </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto </span>to remain on opposite sides of the Sun in otherwise similar motions, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Orcus </span>is oft described as the "<span style="font-style: italic;">anti-Pluto</span>." <span style="font-weight: bold;">Orcus </span>was a Roman underworld god and punisher of broken oaths, likely adapted from the Greek demon Horkos, the personification of Oaths and son of <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eris</span>. Using observations with the Hubble, astronomers detected a satellite, as yet unnamed and circling every 9 days. Scientists suspect that like the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto</span>-<span style="font-weight: bold;">Charon</span> system, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Orcus </span>and its moon are likely tidally locked.<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">5) Sedna</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet "candidate," TNO (plutoid), SDO, new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detached_object_%28astronomy%29" target="_blank" title="DDO">DDO</a>?</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"></span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 1600 – 1800km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Sedna</span>'s precise orbital period is unknown, but calculated at between 10-12 thousand years. At the time of its discovery, it was the largest object found since <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto </span>in 1930, and also the furthest from the Sun. (<span style="font-weight: bold;">Eris </span>would prove further, though Sedna's elliptical orbit will overtake it around 2114). Observations from <a href="http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/" target="_blank" title="Spitzer Telescope">NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope</a> indicate it is nearly as red as <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mars</span>. In Inuit mythology, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sedna </span>is goddess of marine animals, who rules the underworld (Adlivun), where souls prepare for travel to the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Land of the Moon</span> (Quidlivun).<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX577FLAw13rRX4Z2T8149aQ13WyTKkrpHSGBjmReV3oJ8AzfqDO_Q85wkKFwT5wAIAYkum3QJ5x_PjdrQuLMpiiHMQrwybfLT7vMBHLbGHYznmGIS-BFZ1RJDr00eaYQmqNSuOuiuknkB/s1600-h/TNO2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX577FLAw13rRX4Z2T8149aQ13WyTKkrpHSGBjmReV3oJ8AzfqDO_Q85wkKFwT5wAIAYkum3QJ5x_PjdrQuLMpiiHMQrwybfLT7vMBHLbGHYznmGIS-BFZ1RJDr00eaYQmqNSuOuiuknkB/s400/TNO2.JPG" alt="Trans-Neptunian Objects" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422922594200044834" border="0" /></a><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">6) Haumea</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet, TNO(plutoid)</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Calculated ellipsoid shape = 1,960×1,518×996 km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Haumea </span>is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt which orbits the sun every 283 years. Calculations from its light curve suggest elongated ellipsoid shape, with its greatest axis twice as long as its shortest axis. Other indicators show unusually rapid rotation and a surface of crystalline ice. In Polynesian lore, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Haumea </span>is the Hawaiian goddess of fertility. Known moons are named after two of her daughters, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hi’iaka</span>, patron goddess of the Orchid Isle, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Namaka</span>, a water spirit.<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">7) Makemake</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet, TNO (plutoid), KBO</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 1800km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Makemake</span>'s discovery team used the codename <span style="font-style: italic;">Easterbunny </span>for the object, because of its discovery shortly after Easter. In accordance with rules for Kuiper Belt Objects, it was named for a creator deity: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Makemake </span>was the creator of humanity and god of fertility in the folklore of the Rapanui, natives of Easter Island. Its low average temperature, about −243.2 °C, means its surface is covered with methane, ethane, and possibly nitrogen ices. <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Makemake </span>orbits the sun every 310 years.<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">8) Pluto</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Former planet, Dwarf Planet, TNO(plutoid)</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 2,390 km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto</span>, the most controversial due to its demotion from planet status, is about one-fifth the mass of Earth's moon. Like other members of the Kuiper Belt, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto </span>is composed primarily of rock and ice. It has an eccentric orbit that causes it to periodically to come closer to the Sun than Neptune. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto </span>was the Roman God of the underworld, derived from the Greek <span style="font-style: italic;">Ploutōn</span>, another name for Hades. <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Pluto </span>orbits the sun every 248 years, and has three moons: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Charon </span>(the ferryman who carried deceased souls across the River Acheron in Hades), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hydra </span>(the multi-headed serpent who guarded Acheron) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nix</span>, (after "Nyx," the Greek goddess of darkness and night).<br>
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">9) Eris</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Classification = Dwarf Planet, TNO (plutoid), SDO</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Approximate Diameter = 2,500 km</span><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Eris </span>is about 27% more massive than <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pluto</span>, making it the largest known "dwarf planet" in the Solar System, and the ninth-largest body known to orbit the Sun. <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Eris </span>has an orbital period of 557 years. Discoverers originally called the object <span style="font-style: italic;">Xena</span>, but the official name became <span style="font-weight: bold;">Eris</span>, after the Greek goddess of strife. There is one Eridian moon, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dysnomia</span>, the demon of "lawlessness"... a humorous slant toward the first informal name, as portrayed by Lucy Lawless.<br>
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And for an absolutely brain-bending list of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trans-Neptunian_objects" target="_blank" title="Trans-Neptunian Objects"><span style="font-weight: bold;">all the known TNOs, click here</span></a>. I want all of these to be <a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2012/01/chocolate-planets.html">represented by chocolate</a>!<br>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-60882618672796603732020-04-22T13:30:00.006-07:002020-08-27T13:41:34.752-07:00Joyful Earth Day<br>
I'm tickled pink and thinking green today on our big blue marble! I pledged my little garden and acts of blog advocacy on the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://earthday.org/">Earth Day Network</a> for the <a href="https://www.earthday.org/billion/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Billion Acts of Green</span></a> campaign, and I hope everyone else is doing their part too!<br>
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The "Acts of Green" counter is up over 6.5 million! Good job, Earthlings! Let's work to keep our amazingly diverse planet safe, habitable for all creatures, wisely sustainable and as beautiful as it was before we pesky hairless apes invented gasoline and garbage.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_xf6mEzDjZXwEpvuuRtL6n_GfhsrbgLpcYIk7dPmsfoNdlYj5b9_S3XRzc2uwQ4lMDl9_UXwzaWaoo_OyGknXOC1MMNT8jbu1ireeGxVWGGzEjeYwPMtLn1E-j1ErtuE13EkIczOFXHU/s1600/earthday.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_xf6mEzDjZXwEpvuuRtL6n_GfhsrbgLpcYIk7dPmsfoNdlYj5b9_S3XRzc2uwQ4lMDl9_UXwzaWaoo_OyGknXOC1MMNT8jbu1ireeGxVWGGzEjeYwPMtLn1E-j1ErtuE13EkIczOFXHU/s400/earthday.jpg" alt="Earth Day 2011" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598476760991722818" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">Yours. Mine. Ours.</div>
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Of course, for many workers in clean energy, green aviation, solar power research, ethanol development, wind turbine manufacturing, and a growing plethora of efforts to be respectful to our lush landscapes, <span style="font-style: italic;">every day is Earth Day!</span><br>
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Special shout out to the awesome folks who are experimenting with <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/ames/facilities/sustainabilitybase">Sustainability Base Green Buildings</a>, (I remember being hired to photograph this back in 2012 when it was still called the Ames Ultragreen!) for what we hope shapes the future of office building construction and maintenance.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://sites.google.com/a/upr.edu/planetary-habitability-laboratory-upra/projects/visual-paleo-earth"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLd9DDdB4FLd-lRWVvh6sf-Anh9qQfXWrQCW02afKAu4h5bwcybpDTLJHNOoDWml1mrt4tQgt_UC2_q35PJJ15xCZggzwz2n5Xm2fgkHOUSEv9qj5sKDuwdrcqiBtpVzcHuvnW1H3vJ8ox/s400/600mya.jpg" alt="VPE - PHL" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598483666450934322" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">Look Ma, no plastics!"</div>
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Following up on trivia series about the studies of <a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2011/04/planetary-habitability-laboratory.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">planetary habitability </a>of Earth, the Solar System, and exoplanets, and the now-public press release from the Visible Paleo-Earth project?</span><br>
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Data sets from the <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/upr.edu/planetary-habitability-laboratory-upra/press-releases/anewviewofanancienthabitableplanet">present day Earth and all the way back to 750 million years ago are available</a>, and they are spectacular! Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and artistic "visualizers" from <span style="font-weight: bold;">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</span> stitched together observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer of Earth.
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The <span style="font-weight: bold;">PHL</span> also has a great collection <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/habitabilitylab"><span style="font-weight: bold;">YouTube Channel</span></a>, which includes various animations of their work:<br>
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<div align="center"><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/guJEXMpk_5Y" allowfullscreen="" width="425" frameborder="0" height="344"></iframe></div>
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My favorite is the compilation of rectangular maps, morphed together to show changes on Earth from 750mya onward; it's amazing to see what tectonics wrought over the many millennia, until finally, at the end the formations become the "recognizable map" of continents that we all know today. Wonderful job!<br>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-83323143099251466162020-03-18T08:30:00.001-07:002020-08-25T19:59:03.995-07:00Système Solaire<p><span style="font-style: italic;">A planet by any other name...</span> Have you ever had a burning desire to know the names of all the planets in the Welsh language? I, for one, was afire with curiosity. Wonder no further: </p><p> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #66cccc;">English </span>/ <span style="color: #ffcc66;">Cymraeg</span></span> <span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Mercury </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Mercher</span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Venus </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Gwener </span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Earth </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Daear </span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Mars </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Mawrth </span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Jupiter </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Iau</span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Saturn </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Sadwrn </span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Uranus </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Wranws </span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Neptune </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Neifion </span>
<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br />Pluto </span>= <span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;">Plwton</span> </p><p>And now you know where J.R.R. Tolkien got his inspiration for the territories around Hobbiton. </p><p></p><p><a href="http://nineplanets.org" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="Nine Planets by Bill Arnett" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378396966761930418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5hPa0frF1vycWuNPpw_o60BIyAomuia73AT-qAX_ReVchTlt9R-sgDUAIQfxum_TtlLaARm6VzfUMsB9jUGx4Lqkyhu75ijWBW9olnkfYDAcra8B0yRls_UVNWRyCOfWHObV4SpLXtNc/s400/9planets.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 242px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> Renaissance techie <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bill Arnett</span> runs a delightful web site called <a href="http://www.nineplanets.org/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" title="Nine Planets By Bill Arnett">NINE PLANETS</a>, and for awhile he inserted a graffiti-esque "8" to observe the demotion of Pluto. More recently, he added the subtitle "We still love you, Pluto!" and all his information about the original nine remains intact. </p><p>One of his most fascinating and well-researched appendices, in my opinion, is the <a href="http://www.nineplanets.org/days.html" target="_blank" title="Planet names"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Planetary Linguistics</span></a>. </p><p>I'm partial to the tongue of the <b>Cymry </b>as it is one part of my personal heritage, but this appendix lists popular, transitional, and dead languages -- from <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sumerian </span>to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Latin </span>to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Olde English</span> to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Icelandic </span>to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Farsi </span>to <span style="font-weight: bold;">French</span>.
He also demonstrated how some of these terms evolved into the months of the year, and days of the week... <span style="font-style: italic;">Saturni</span>... <span style="font-style: italic;">Saturn's Day</span>... <span style="font-style: italic;">Saturday</span>. <br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nineplanets.org/days.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Planets in all languages" src="http://pillownaut.com/pics2012/sollang1.png" />
</a></div><p> I had a splendid time going through all of these, and also googling some of the less obvious words that weren't related to Latin roots, only to find that many were separate names of deities, specific to the cultures in question. The best days are when I learn something new!
I also love how he added the fictional <span style="font-weight: bold;">Klingon </span>jargon toward the end. Again, Pluto has not been removed (though it seems people aren't in any tearing hurry to add Eris, Haumea or Makemake. Maybe soon!) <br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nineplanets.org/days.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Languages planets" src="http://pillownaut.com/pics2012/sollang1.png" />
</a></div><p> And for those of you uninterested in the random etymology of floating rocks 0.00000102529 or more light-years away, well... sorry. I do this sort of thing when I get bored. I was in Wales this time last year, and I'm feeling that <i>hiraeth</i>. If it makes you feel any better, the rest of the week will be spent watching SpaceX news...!</p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-58011278750403669202020-03-02T15:57:00.002-08:002020-08-27T16:03:20.269-07:00GEO LEO Death by Acronym<br>This will likely be the single most depressing addition to my SPACE TRIVIA series, but it's important to know. If you easily lose your Zen to not-happy space news, skip me and go read <a href="https://www.syfy.com/tags/bad-astronomy" target="_blank" title="Bad Astronomy Blog">The Bad Astronomer</a> today instead. Awesome blog.
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But, here are some bite-sized facts about space junk. At this time, pieces of orbital debris in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_earth_orbit" target="_blank" title="Low Earth orbit"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Low Earth Orbit</span></a> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">LEO</span>) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosynchronous_orbit" target="_blank" title="GeoSynchronous Orbit"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Geosynchronous Orbit</span></a> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">GSO</span>) number in the <span style="font-weight: bold;">tens of millions</span>.<br>
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That's right, <span style="font-style: italic;">tens of millions. </span>Nearly 20,000 of these are larger than 10cm. Particles between 1-10cm are estimated at about half a million. The rest are less than 1cm.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/photogallery/beehives.html" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmMoQZTUFvuEvuWcsYZtZ7uZcksU5AnP67qJzngr0tuWiUJyKtFtDCMI4atGg127_rV_lgB1dKIOq1XuKkJuBNDhdNCXwcLzCadLZdbiD4vsShKnYhmSDQglGphlBMQq8AYD3YhubBjg/s400/debris1.jpg" alt="Orbital Debris in Low Earth Orbit" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656752248599316626" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">LEO</div><br>
<a href="https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" title="Orbital Debris"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Orbital Debris</span></a> is defined as a human-made object in orbit around the Earth which no longer serves a useful purpose, such as launch vehicle upper stages, spent payload carriers, derelict spacecraft, pieces resulting from explosions or collisions, and even tiny paint flecks released by impacts.<br>
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Most orbital debris reside within 2,000 km of the Earth's surface, or are in LEO.<br>
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How do we estimate the numbers and placements? Ground-based radars can detect objects as small as 3mm, and space-based detection systems can detect things as far as 40,000km out.<br>
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The <span style="font-weight: bold;">US Space Surveillance Network</span> tracks all orbital debris larger than 10cm.
An average of one catalogued piece of debris falls back to Earth each day, and this has been the case for the past four decades.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/photogallery/beehives.html" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcpEjeyNrmUEubbeDNHOPsgW7hYMxzPjM8B6MEa5giieUAaGou-RmqJ7cLXDhjx56qU1dAWLOZXSYL9nblCktGRnfGfP9-6flHdJ5NAgpa3wpaflcEMC-uyDnc2DoadHqbpGtCbh5M5PI/s400/debris2.jpg" alt="Orbital Debris in Geosynchronous Orbit" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656752255236764050" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">GSO</div><br>
In LEO and below, orbital debris circles at around 7-8 kilometers per second, or up to 18,000mph.<br>
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As a result, the<span style="font-weight: bold;"> International Space Station</span> (ISS) is the most heavily shielded spacecraft ever flown. Nodes holding human crews and pressure tanks on the structure are able to withstand impact of debris as large as 1cm. The ISS can also maneuver to avoid tracked objects.<br>
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The higher the altitude, the longer the debris will remain in orbit. Debris left below 600km fall back to Earth within a few years, though precious little survives the super-heated re-entry through Earth's atmosphere. Things higher than 800km take decades to return. Above 1,000km or more? Those may circle for a century or more.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/photogallery/beehives.html" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6UFPRWsQjw4p2l-I-rMvFibeM3JSdZ8D4HkQVzZLLk2oJuGj30BmbPjJ6qJ7EfOZJAuP58n4ukUga3RS9dSd7EScXV5XU_m-kQAXvWrB5tFEqSdrJ410qqROCPgndN1hm3JUQjxjBNps/s400/debris3.jpg" alt="Geosynchronous Orbit as seen from Polar View" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656752257276800754" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">GSO Polar View</div><br>
Most telecommunications and meteorological satellites operate at the 36,000km altitude in geostationary orbit, where the problem or orbital debris is less severe. Which is not to say... harmless.<br>
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If you participated in the UARS hype, and have nothing better to be indignant about this week, you can read all about <a href="http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/reentry/reentry.html" target="_blank" title="NASA Orbital Debris Program Office">how NASA handles Orbital Debris Re-Entry</a>. Or if you want to be part of all future re-entry hype, you can sign up for NASA's "<a href="http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/newsletter.html" target="_blank" title="OD Re-Entry Quarterly"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Orbital Debris Quarterly</span></a>" newsletter.<br>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-85470830934684989092020-02-12T12:38:00.005-08:002020-08-27T16:18:56.515-07:00Thy Chariot Does Not Await<p>Here we go again! The chariot story is circulating anew on the Twitterz. In not one but <i>two </i>strings, well-meaning authors are attempting to persuade us that the earliest styles of vehicles pulled behind beasts of burden ultimately set the standard from ancient times up through the space program. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMIJi4jq1w60a5YTJjD_fxb0u5PVgyz18uk_ohK-N8BR9bTf3bIkjUJ4Enn0nDU7WXCLK2OYaA77pIJGrs5hiRz6w5SwPr7rsxmCgI12J_rKoQWr3S9VdYbhy39Xg8Bvpi73QJx18dDw/s520/ChariotString.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="520" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMIJi4jq1w60a5YTJjD_fxb0u5PVgyz18uk_ohK-N8BR9bTf3bIkjUJ4Enn0nDU7WXCLK2OYaA77pIJGrs5hiRz6w5SwPr7rsxmCgI12J_rKoQWr3S9VdYbhy39Xg8Bvpi73QJx18dDw/w416-h384/ChariotString.png" width="416" /></a></div><p>So say these champions of consequential causality, the span of two horses side-by-side (about five feet) was the original measure of uniformity. Roman roads were thus created to accommodate wheeled carriers of this width, which then spread across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. When roads became railroads, all the tools and surveys were standardized to continue engineering such widths. </p><p>When the Space Shuttle was being developed, its Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) had to travel by train from their
manufacturer to the launch pad. No matter how large or powerful
NASA may have wanted them, they had to fit on flat train cars, and
through train tunnels. And so the size of modern rocket boosters were determined by ancient Roman horse-drawn chariots.
</p><p>Such a simple choice in ancient times, and yet, it had a huge impact on the world. Or did it? Sometimes, we just innocently enjoy believing stuff because it sounds cool. (But, you know, <span style="font-style: italic;">don't</span>.)
</p><p> <a href="http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/chariot.htm" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="Egyptian Chariot" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496476884185328226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHL2mQZDAU7u2tbzd2bWiSzdbeq3ysj-olLvWV-VkhMdxFpDO4Hinc2SilkuzjmoIEH5SrkizUOO81P9niA6mMknq8BaUsG_hBwWiHwC31vHDb13uUEFr3mnyM4sSahvbXi1wxCV4JX-lF/s400/chariot.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 278px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></p><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">One of many different designs of chariot<br /></div><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p>Our brains are primed to enjoy the neat, circular narrative. We love a
satisfying story, and as evidenced by how far these tweet-strings travel
-- often circulated <i>thousands</i> of times, they are almost
impossible to counteract. Case in point, my polite explanation received
only a fraction of the retweets. Even for the most patient of teachers,
the effort is always an uphill battle. </p><p>This urban legend has circulated every decade since the Space Shuttle program began in the late 1970s. </p><p>The first thing to note is that Romans did not invent chariots. Second, the earliest roads over all kinds of terrain were simply human footpaths. The ground wasn't waiting around to say "<i>hey, I'm a road now!</i>" until chariots were invented (though certainly wheels did indeed carve ruts more effectively).<br /><br />The third claim is objectively not true. Distances between railroads tracks (known as "gauge") have varied widely over the last two centuries, with three standards in the United States alone. The standard gauge used <i>today </i>is based on engineering practicalities, not ancient Italian equine technology.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GcHWd3CF8gT8aS1WeYWlA3rXJdELnTSkiWrwu-dL4dxS-nccL1hrP95DranbsFi20ZvACwOv-e1alyGHPHHJ0KVTOiioTZYk63mjuC7zcA2KeOFV_UDQ6LpMJbEz-yLOZydxax-tkCc/s800/RailTunnel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="800" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8GcHWd3CF8gT8aS1WeYWlA3rXJdELnTSkiWrwu-dL4dxS-nccL1hrP95DranbsFi20ZvACwOv-e1alyGHPHHJ0KVTOiioTZYk63mjuC7zcA2KeOFV_UDQ6LpMJbEz-yLOZydxax-tkCc/w512-h312/RailTunnel.jpg" width="512" /></a></div> <br />Chances are, you will wear a white gown at your wedding. Roman
brides did too. We still use plenty of things invented by the early
Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire: candles, scissors, postage,
showers, umbrellas, heating systems, street lights, rampant economic
inflation, and so on.
<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">So,
to say that ancient standards are still alive in the modern world isn’t
all that exciting. Humans are well-known for sticking with certain
things that work, and equally notorious for sticking with certain things
that don’t.</span> </p><p>Archaeological evidence suggests the
existence of chariots in far more ancient cultures: Chinese, Sumerian,
Greek, Persian, etc. The Romans were late-comers, though they
fancied-up chariot production with <span style="font-weight: bold;">trigas </span>(pulled behind three horses) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">quidrigas </span>(pulled
behind four horses). So, while we can credit their empire with
widespread road systems, they weren't overly attached to the simple
metric of dual-equine-derrieres. </p><p> Methods and means of
transportation have, throughout history, been designed different ways to
carry different things and accommodate many different vehicles. Some
have been dictated by creation costs, others by limitations of nature.
From gravel paths to 14-lane freeways, a single lane often accomodates a
car as small as a Mini-Cooper, or an 18-wheel rig. <br /><br /></p><p></p><p><a href="http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/abstracts.php?p=1732" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="Solid Rocket Boosters" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496477077753721346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvplngNTavn8-UanHi4yCU0VTNGU-uziLLaU2E7mbekdz_K8IIwFOY9CS3Kynp86669GqIys6hfwBiF1dZG2pMXQIeiQ0iZr58YRstJnmqi56xD3xh4KmfBBViKnAuU6jlIif-MPoo5Zd/s400/srb.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 223px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>
<span style="color: #ffcc66; font-weight: bold;"><br />Commonality of construction</span> is no more bizarre here than the idea that all current automobiles have steering wheels – regardless of brand, model, size, number of doors, or color.
The Romans would have called such specification: "<span style="font-weight: bold;">desideratum</span>" – colloquially,<span style="font-style: italic;"> that which is essential is desired</span>. </p><p>At the height of the railway era, over a hundred US companies
manufactured three different gauges of track, showing a decided lack of
standardization. The Chariot-to-Shuttle tale also assumes that any
tunnel would only accommodate a single set of tracks, or only clear the
train's mass with no room to spare. Also notice the <i>mysterious mountain tunnel</i>
in question is never mentioned by name –- but between where the rocket
boosters are built (Utah) and where they are ignited (Florida), there
are actually 50+ tunnels. <br /><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ42oGo7HSeJYpFDq2-3juDWJuVe-K5GU1ysMCrxDcl5pAHCrDX_ZAIc68AXqj1RkcwmRJ7fwpbqZTDU0onAEN8Db-QSvInRn00O7d763BcP9un6iiUghf2yrMEJ5s2P_31RWyChXUKRac/s1600/anqa.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496477369352368706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ42oGo7HSeJYpFDq2-3juDWJuVe-K5GU1ysMCrxDcl5pAHCrDX_ZAIc68AXqj1RkcwmRJ7fwpbqZTDU0onAEN8Db-QSvInRn00O7d763BcP9un6iiUghf2yrMEJ5s2P_31RWyChXUKRac/s400/anqa.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 258px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></p><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Skepticism is the new black</div><p></p><p>We could muse at length over the patterns and rhythms of urban legends, but rest assured NASA takes travel into account when designing hardware specifications, but to my knowledge, NASA has never been crippled by the slightly-less-than-five-foot span of railroad tracks. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Solid_Rocket_Booster#Construction" target="_blank" title="Solid Rocket Booster Construction"> No fewer than 20 companies contributed to the many parts of solid rocket boosters</a>, so even if transport was the main event, much of the hardware is already delivered in segments, and "Some Assembly Required" is already a given on the launch pads of Cape [Kennedy] Canaveral. </p><p><br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-66753454481362719012020-01-20T07:33:00.004-08:002020-08-25T20:48:22.631-07:00Quips & Quotes V<br><span style="color: #ffcc66;">"When I was growing up it was really cool to be a scientist or engineer. We need to make science cool again." <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Sally Ride</span></span><span style="color: #ffcc66;"><br>
<br>
"When you advance frontiers, heroes are made." <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Neil deGrasse Tyson</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"It matters to me. People don't get in line to get autographs of the land rover." <span style="color: #66cccc;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">~ Congressman Frank Wolf</span>, in response to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's statement that it "didn't matter" if America or China got a manned mission to the moon.</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct." <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Carl Sagan</span></span><br>
<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWbu_OfqIRK7rQ9vMtygHn3ZDdK4deG7gkWdllWAO6qgvet-UNLpI04gCyu6nlZgGR-E2Y4FfJZc1gJ3XhqAyuk9s3TBb9y1gvQGbcQV024hSsd4cfYZNZF2DdH9b9mUbkWcRZERle_A/s1600/beermoon.jpg"><img alt="Moon Beer" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5768424935759868290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWbu_OfqIRK7rQ9vMtygHn3ZDdK4deG7gkWdllWAO6qgvet-UNLpI04gCyu6nlZgGR-E2Y4FfJZc1gJ3XhqAyuk9s3TBb9y1gvQGbcQV024hSsd4cfYZNZF2DdH9b9mUbkWcRZERle_A/s400/beermoon.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Author Douglas Adams</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another."<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> ~ Plato</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"Our two greatest problems are gravity and paperwork. We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming." <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Werner von Braun</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"It's human nature to stretch, to go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice really: it's an imperative." <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Astronaut Michael Collins</span></span><br>
<br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUcAVETgx9lNW8XXLPT7vmZJX7jakZhLiaChXjlV7xftCWJiKhkUUJcIzYc9As8NgSc7qFbwORtcqEvIaYCp3Dp3Fc_FOBRwz7qevlyM-8ievqyotU7ioMrnJplHubEM-TvHEZxxe8j4P/s1600/hess.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #ffcc66;"><img alt="Astronaut" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458608903816696322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUcAVETgx9lNW8XXLPT7vmZJX7jakZhLiaChXjlV7xftCWJiKhkUUJcIzYc9As8NgSc7qFbwORtcqEvIaYCp3Dp3Fc_FOBRwz7qevlyM-8ievqyotU7ioMrnJplHubEM-TvHEZxxe8j4P/s400/hess.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 278px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special."<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> ~ Stephen Hawking</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"Every so often, I like to stick my head out the window, look up, and smile for a satellite picture.</span><span style="color: #ffcc66;">" <span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">~ Comedian Steven Wright</span></span><br>
<br>
<span style="color: #ffcc66;">"The Mars research has advanced my life in no capacity. How has it helped your life? Looks like Arizona, tastes like chicken. Billions of dollars. I think we should just blow it up and sniff it as it drifts past."<span style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> ~ Actor Charlie Sheen</span></span><br>
<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-68598756807852706912020-01-07T08:32:00.001-08:002020-08-25T20:50:21.374-07:00Galileo Figaro Magnifico<br>On January 7, 1610, Italian astronomer <strong><a title="Galileo" href="http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/galileo.html" target="_blank">Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei</a> </strong>discovered Jupiter's satellites <strong>Callisto</strong>,<strong> Io</strong> and <strong>Europa</strong><strong></strong>. <em></em> He was on a roll with his new-fangled <em>telescopio</em>, as only a week later on January 13th, he also spied <strong>Ganymede</strong>, later confirmed to be the largest moon in our Solar System.<br>
These four Jovian moons, initially titled "<span style="font-style: italic;">Medician stars</span>", are now referred to as "the Galilean satellites", and Galileo's observations of their orbits would be instrumental in over-turning the belief [<em>cough*wishful-thinking*cough*cough</em>] that ALL objects in the universe revolved around Earth, including our Sun.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070930013053/http://astro.wcupa.edu/mgagne/ess362/resources/finocchiaro.html" target="_blank"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290859774840690050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 304px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Galileo" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfiRHwnFijA3dE9iuYdLt6D6rFwLDzVrO6cfTWR8nbIhO0BLXuR3CWDXI_6BZSDtjdgoFYZZZMX6iz3twOGjJ2wvyBwICtjRiLBneq9jrWIzivdviAw1Qq08txGS9mYc1MV9PzD0Kr9CI/s320/telesc.jpg" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">Galileo, Figaro, Magnifico, oh oh oh...</div><br>
This particular <strong><a title="Copernicus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliocentric" target="_blank">Copernican concept</a></strong> was a hard-sell during the time of the Roman Inquisition. Various clerics – up to and including the Pope – denounced him as sacrilegious, censored his books, attempted to bar him from teaching or publishing, and ordered him to undergo a trial before the Holy Office of Rome.<br>
<br>
At his sentencing in June of 1633, ten Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, as commissioned by the Apostolic See as 'Inquisitors-General against heretical depravity in Christendom', read the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070930013053/http://astro.wcupa.edu/mgagne/ess362/resources/finocchiaro.html" target="_blank" title="Inquisition of Galileo">following statement in court</a>:<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">"We pronounce, sentence, and declare that you, Galileo, because of the things deduced in the trial and confessed by you, have rendered yourself according to this Holy Office vehemently suspected of heresy, namely of having held and believed a false doctrine: that the sun is the center of the world and does not move from east to west, and the earth moves and is not the center of the world, and that one may hold and defend as probable an opinion after it has been declared and defined contrary to Holy Scripture."</span><br>
<br>
Galileo was placed under house arrest until his death at age 77 in 1642.<br>
<br>
<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110136231636280387309/NASAJetPropulsionLaboratory" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 382px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXJzvSGb2wTcVrptIE1qzDvG3_a_Urf_od9guFrMNSEycuAygU4etDJm6bU_6Sv2HxAljBZrW-_nbbptwo3uYai5Hc1TmktNtowvUfnnP_O_R9RDjzkj3iql0AsLMB8GdNQtgiFypPXE/s400/galijpl.jpg" alt="Galileo Space Craft JPL" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694926908738043730" border="0" /></a><div style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);" align="center">Me with the Galileo craft model at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory</div><br>
A few centuries later, the joke was on them, since Galileo got a NASA spacecraft named after him to study those very moons; and to date, we have no spacecraft named after anyone in the Inquisition. <em>So there.</em><br>
<br>
<strong>Jupiter</strong> has 63 confirmed satellites, and one floating trouble-maker being argued over by chaps who are much smarter than I, so I'll not venture an opinion. Time will tell if #64 nails the audition, but in the meantime, the Voyager, Hubble, and <strong><a title="Galileo" href="http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/" target="_blank">Galileo craft</a></strong> offered interesting portraits of the fantastic four:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Jupiter" target="_blank"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290859892394423362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="Solar System" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFsbKcK3JS2ZsmeaWOZwi8biPZUSbckJ7lO_De3xRKTYBM9DJoqtWYBvzpQG6q1nPR3J9KQWdkJfeH9D49SYY9lmVk6fSE4ZOUUa8UjNvprL_KywkKAX0AAD9HzK4GLLM-htpbsR1x3Zpo/s320/gallis.jpg" border="0" /></a><br>
<span style="color:#66cccc;"><strong>Ganymede</strong> is larger in diameter than Mercury, with ice and silicate crust covering underground ocean in some areas. Abundant craters and mountains surrounded by lava flow indicate ancient origin.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="color:#ffcc66;">The next largest, <strong>Callisto</strong>, is considered a likely spot for a human base when we reach Jupiter, as study indicates the presence of water ice, ocean, carbon dioxide and possible organics.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="color:#66cccc;"><strong>Io </strong>is the most geologically active object in the Solar System with over 400 volcanoes, many higher than Earth’s Everest. Lava flows often invade the frosty sulfur dioxide surface, creating yellow, red, green and black compounds, creating a "pizza planet" exterior.</span><br>
<br>
<span style="color:#ffcc66;"><strong>Europa</strong>, smallest but perhaps best-known, is about the size of Earth's moon and has an oxygen atmosphere. Its bright, smooth [well, un-cratered] crust led to the hypotheses that it is quite young, and may also have oceans beneath its surface.</span><br>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-68190878464451544482019-11-12T08:30:00.000-08:002019-11-12T08:30:00.503-08:00Lunar Ponderings<br />
A stunning anniversary just passed: 50 years since Apollo 11. We have 6 more Apollo lunar anniversaries to go, (7 overall in this program if one counts the non-lunar Apollo-Soyuz Test Project). For years, I've tracked statistics of Apollo missions and <a href="https://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-lunar-12-updated.html" target="_blank">astronauts as they aged</a>. And each time I have to update my records, the solemnity of the loss halts all activity in my brain. <br />
<br />
On <b>December 19, 1972</b>, upon the splashdown return of Apollo 17, there were 12 men on planet Earth who knew what it was like to walk on the surface of our Moon. This fact remained true for true for 18 years and 7 months.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GAuY81H4W07cwtXGGdcG-1SvBSf942mFcHlE8Lx5XI7oGDhePrvDj42WtXhj3mdw_qqe89u7UYFAdZEL8aJrUwoEprBjKPsLWkgY8pCk6Y2v7c47vxX4XnWG24suCIgNkgwJQERnHlE/s1600/apollos1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GAuY81H4W07cwtXGGdcG-1SvBSf942mFcHlE8Lx5XI7oGDhePrvDj42WtXhj3mdw_qqe89u7UYFAdZEL8aJrUwoEprBjKPsLWkgY8pCk6Y2v7c47vxX4XnWG24suCIgNkgwJQERnHlE/s400/apollos1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Then, in August 1991, James Irwin (Apollo 15) died of a heart attack at age 61.<br />
<br />
In 1998, Alan Shepard (Apollo 14) died of leukemia at age 74.<br />
<br />
In 1999, Pete Conrad (Apollo 12) was killed in a motorcycle crash at age 69.<br />
<br />
In 2012, Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11) died of heart failure at age 82.<br />
<br />
In 2016, Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14) died in his sleep at age 85. <br />
<br />
In 2017, Gene Cernan (Apollo 10 and 17) died of long-term illness at age 82 and Dick Gordon (Apollo 12) died of cancer at age 88. <br />
<br />
In 2018, John Young (Apollo 10 and 16) died of pneumonia at age 978, and Alan Bean (Apollo 12) died of sudden illness at age 86. <br />
<br />
<b>Today, as we approach more 50th anniversaries of lunar landings, there are just 4 men left who remember traveling to and working on the Moon.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNa7c6xOQmwXgwz_9xb9Yauwn4Kafp2aWW787wi9kam9V42iDF6AZb6T5h_esdLQmDMIdwT6NfdmjelseCJkbmeBV_D4EP9a6uqEiivsVWKhp6DQx8Oi4qVkO3aBG1LOkaX7uOjvfAjw/s1600/apollos3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNa7c6xOQmwXgwz_9xb9Yauwn4Kafp2aWW787wi9kam9V42iDF6AZb6T5h_esdLQmDMIdwT6NfdmjelseCJkbmeBV_D4EP9a6uqEiivsVWKhp6DQx8Oi4qVkO3aBG1LOkaX7uOjvfAjw/s400/apollos3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li>Buzz Aldrin turns 90 years old in January 2020. </li>
<li>David Scott is 87. </li>
<li>Jack Schmitt and Charles Duke are both 84. </li>
</ul>
<b><i>Among the other Apollo (orbiting or CSM pilot) astronauts, all are now octogenerians, with youngest Ken Mattingly reaching the age of 84. </i></b><br />
<br />
Even if the youngest of them make it in to their 90s or to 100, will they see another Moon mission? Will they watch astronauts who are American or Chinese? Male or female? Will it be just as inspiring to the world?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zF7EL1DhLs-ewARmdOZLBH4xgkPofYwORHNZDc2RyMx1vwsAkFt1nFYByCdngP6VMa7PLykJndvqHi7iNaOX-uwKheMCdQiKabMrdlF8VTIoqABzE4_M3cKkRVyKqMxTMrIiCHY4bTw/s1600/2019astros.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zF7EL1DhLs-ewARmdOZLBH4xgkPofYwORHNZDc2RyMx1vwsAkFt1nFYByCdngP6VMa7PLykJndvqHi7iNaOX-uwKheMCdQiKabMrdlF8VTIoqABzE4_M3cKkRVyKqMxTMrIiCHY4bTw/s400/2019astros.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">L to R: Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), Buzz Aldrin (11), Walter Cunningham (7), Alfred Worden (15), Rusty Schweickart (9), [Harrison] Jack Schmitt (17), Michael Collins (11), and Fred Haise (13). <br />PHOTO CREDIT: Felix Kunze/The Explorers Club</div>
<br />
Some think we could pull off a Moon mission by 2024, though with how administrations roll (I've seriously been watching various plans and cancellations across my entire lifespan now), it will be more like 2027.<br />
<ul>
<li>At that point, Buzz Aldrin will be 97. </li>
<li>David Scott will be 94. </li>
<li>Jack Schmitt and Charles Duke will be 91. </li>
<li>Every living Apollo astronaut will be a nonagenarian. </li>
</ul>
I wonder, will they make it? Statistically, the deaths in this tiny club are accelerating, and we can expect to lose a few more before we see a return to the lunar surface, given that even the best technological developments never seem to last past early stages.
Anything could suffer cancellation again, in favor of Mars, Asteroids, or on the altar of war, economic depression, or unforseen disaster.<br />
<br />
<i>So, when we return to the Moon, if we return to the Moon, will anyone alive personally remember what it was like to visit the Moon?</i><br />
<br />
Something to ponder.<br />
<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-7140331429688250142019-09-01T06:00:00.000-07:002020-08-25T15:32:31.713-07:00On The Moon in 1902<p>
Thanks to the joy that is YouTube, I've been watching the very first science fiction film ever created in 1902. In fact, it was released TODAY, 117 years ago!
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000417/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Le Voyage dans la Lune</span></a> or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000417/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Trip to the Moon</span></a> was a produced and directed by <b>Georges Méliès</b>, and loosely based on stories in Jules Verne and H.G. Wells novels ("Earth to the Moon" and "First Men in the Moon" respectively). </p><p> The budget? 10,000 Francs or about $1800, which wasn't chump-change at the turn of the 20th century! (That would now be in the range of $50,000 dollars.) The silent film, originally narrated in French with a running time of 14 minutes, was extremely popular upon release, and is now public domain because its copyright expired after 100 years. </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgQLL3h530dcO5SbBKAbW9aX0UqK_6CYVUfm1lTOgVP1vK1KL73hYkimOgKunAgxe0bO-nQr-yqTkYC20B7EklHt8fW3bSeKKzTm6VeyEGyFuWyD0s02IhxCWHI_5tlDocWGLDkHdwa8L/s1600/levoyage.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="Le Voyage dans la Lune" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484526781270867970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgQLL3h530dcO5SbBKAbW9aX0UqK_6CYVUfm1lTOgVP1vK1KL73hYkimOgKunAgxe0bO-nQr-yqTkYC20B7EklHt8fW3bSeKKzTm6VeyEGyFuWyD0s02IhxCWHI_5tlDocWGLDkHdwa8L/s400/levoyage.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 303px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>
The leader of an astronomical society proposes a trip to the moon, whereby most astronomers say the trip cannot be accomplished, but six agree to try. A hilarious scene building a "spacecraft" ensues, inexplicably showing men banging hammers onto what looks like a giant metal bullet! A pack of dancing girls push the bullet into a cannon, then "break the fourth wall" by waving to the audience!
<span style="font-style: italic;">Makes me wonder if NASA ever considered hiring cheerleaders.</span> </p><p>The moon is characterized as a large face, and the space craft crashes into his eye – but then the view switches to a flat terrain. The astronomers fling open the hatch, disembark in their street clothes... and I guess "realism" in sci-fi mattered as much then as it does now – since they had no pesky problems with the atmosphere being breathable nitrogen and oxygen... too funny! </p><p> <b><span style="color: #66cccc;">The astronomers watch Earth rise over the horizon, another understandable error of the time -- since to a person viewing Earth from the tidally-locked lunar surface, one side of the Moon always faces toward Earth and</span> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise">any such "rise" would only move slowly in a horizontal direction</a><span style="color: #66cccc;">, taking many days to complete.</span></b>
<i> </i></p><p><i>You can tell I'm a barrel of laughs in movie theatres.</i>
</p><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7JDaOOw0MEE&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7JDaOOw0MEE&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"></embed></object>
</div><p> </p><p>After the astronomers set up camp to sleep, a comet passes, and they are watched by human-faced stars in the shape of the Big Dipper. Saturn makes an interesting surprise appearance, but don't get me started on the snow flakes, the gigantic mushroom or the jumpy little Selenite acrobats exploding into smithereens. (???) </p><p>Eventually, they are taken to a palace, where they kill the Moon King (we really can't be trusted to play well with others) and rush back to their big bullet. After toppling off a moon cliff and landing in Earth's ocean (I thought the jellyfish were nice touches), they are towed ashore where they are greeted by a parade.
Hmm... wonder what Neil & Buzz thought of this masterpiece? ;) </p><p><br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-59391709033261350212019-08-06T07:00:00.000-07:002020-08-25T14:41:24.406-07:00Moving To Planet Mercury<br />
For any international readers, you may have noticed American social media buzz yesterday about a curious little holiday we call "Thanksgiving", which we pretend is about Pilgrims and Natives preparing meals together at the dawn of our colonial period. It's kinda not, but as with most holidays, we like myths more than we like historical facts.<br />
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This excuse to over-eat is held each year on the third Thursday of November. Then, on the third FRIDAY of each November, we celebrate an even more curious custom known as<span style="color: #66cccc;">... </span><b>Wishing We Could Move To Planet Mercury</b>.<span style="color: #66cccc;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="Your Weight On Other Worlds" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569215681511275298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrSAbRa0EbY87Yk-0strrV9fFy5D2esnTn9CxdMJnpYL9Fl21IZSJazdxiAPJKH2Tm-sg_QfQi1YMWu-8U0zs3CMw5D27HF-f68ivr4rPjztBPyMLhEziChnOrFwvkrV3x-XNiJdeqLPG/s400/weight2.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 388px;" /></a><br />
There is a great contraption at the <span style="font-weight: bold;">San Francisco Exploratorium</span>, where you can step on a large scale and see what you weigh on all the planets. I've been on it, and it's quite a fun experience. They also have their calculator on a web page, so you can see <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html" target="_blank" title="San Francisco Exploratorim"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Your Weight On Other Worlds</span></a>.<br />
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(I think it goes without saying, there will never be a book fad known as "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Jupiter Diet</span>".)<br />
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Why the discrepancies? In simple terms, gravity is the force of attraction between objects. Gravitational pull is what makes the Earth orbit the sun, or the moon orbit the Earth. Suns, moons and planets are all surrounded by fields of gravity. These fields will be different, depending on things like planet size, mass, speed, its location in any solar system, and any other objects around it in space.<br />
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If <span style="font-weight: bold;">Earth's force of gravity</span> is measured at <span style="font-weight: bold;">1.00</span>, force on other planets would be:<br />
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<a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="List of Planets and their Gravitational Forces" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569215429097131458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQ3hZTgF2aztlr9yxMfAAxetYQRqEa3U0kNMBKqcmbVv8DcYYQJ53IS6-8qGgLU8T4wvD_J8kOXpK5-SmSbRlm6ADWHhWouMDntTOo0S_mDcm4R6FaG7Fuz6VrJkehoV9CgkVpLjqwsTA/s400/weight1.jpg" style="display: block; height: 267px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 306px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">We'll include Pluto for the purists. And so I don't have to listen to any arguments.</span><br />
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More <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation" target="_blank" title="Gravity">complex components of gravity come into play</a>, but in general: the larger the object, the greater the gravity. However, the further away you travel from an object, the less you are affected by its gravitational field. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, so it has the strongest field (except for our Sun, which is over 27+!). You cannot stand on Jupiter, because it's mostly gas. However, if it had a surface, the force holding your body on the planet would be much greater. This increases your weight, even though your mass remains the same.<br />
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At any rate, multiply your weight by any of these numbers, and you will see what you weigh on that planet. <span style="font-style: italic;">Oh goody, math homework!</span><br />
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<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-79175911123163118602019-06-17T08:30:00.005-07:002020-08-25T20:32:04.963-07:00Scale of the Universe<br>
THIS. IS. AWESOME.<br>
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Truly one of the most amazing pieces of visual art I have ever encountered in my life, and if you do <span style="font-style:italic;">nothing </span>else on the internet today in your spare browsing time, <a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/">visit this site to see <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Scale of the Universe</span></a>!<br>
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<a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirawq2tuAW4g7LaLjlUiLQ7M1O2C-vh8Nt4Q6Gw8tu1zorWVEgleid7qBDJn303k9S2B1F2mvfzFVRa14rf2MsHh9JtMzBPed7YjZpVXFA9EP5OS4UXOkLhdrR2tdKojgMatTP_IYNC_k/s400/swf1.png" alt="The Scale of the Universe" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709212051050326482" border="0"/></a><br>
Cary and Michael Huang of <a href="http://htwins.net/" target="_blank" title="Htwins Net">HTWINS.NET</a> released "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Scale of the Universe</span>" in 2010, but recently updated their interactive visualization to include handy clickable descriptions... in twenty different languages!<br>
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<a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJpANwFK7FwtyvYjgnp-zdu7_pcxwIiZNXWiJ4WAlO9aX4_QhKjdSSoFW_ylZC39V1v01Pm6oU81wMk9L8OiukHvXI-BOWsWzv_ED7KLFmGkYi68Vn30n69j2Mp_FpiVHPuxnQP_-taJQ/s400/swf2.png" alt="The Scale of the Universe 2" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709212054284828226" border="0"/></a><br>
Using objects varying in size from elementary particles up through the enormity of the entire universe, the <a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/" target="_blank" title="Universe Scale">scrolling "tunnels"</a> help viewers grasp relative sizes in relation to creatures, known architecture, states and continents and finally planets and galaxies.<br>
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<a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib2d0ujt5QlzV9TCAVNfeCzGVRk_ram7Zaet77KY9soi9Oi20jTEPNMaRHElS8I2ooxbYYDpyNa4pj9VZnOrZDYyri3P9QeeY3AQ8JLe9xtfTYcgJvYRDIpHH20G2-mG107v0uX-QP3Gk/s400/swf3.png" alt="The Scale of the Universe" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709212058326361874" border="0" /></a><br>
Ever wanted to know the difference between a Charm Quark or a Top Quark? Want to see the Cat's Eye Nebula? The Oort Cloud? Distance to the Hubble Deep Field?<br>
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Just click on the icons as you travel between Planck Lengths and Gigaparsecs.<br>
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<a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uGLLKlJjf0iXeEUDGVG-1dzGJPHHgPdhESjWiFKdO6dhhn3L4MFTLuu3GDTMn4W3cQAUWKRiIf4F6g1MPgfzx7DX-y4ubreyu0oesmqn9bRxWIkTcRlnxk5YNRgv-7dBzZ2NUFdw9lk/s400/swf4.png" alt="The Scale of the Universe 2" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709212070933678482" border="0"/></a><br>
Use the scroll bar along the bottom of the screen to move in and out of size comparisons, or simply flick the wheel of the mouse... if there is, in fact, a wheel on your mouse.<br>
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Don't go play <a href="http://htwins.net/scale2/" target="_blank" title="Scale of the Universe"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Scale of the Universe</span></a> until you have some time on your hands, because you may get stuck there for hours!
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<br>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-83370936660224060842019-05-15T08:37:00.000-07:002019-10-11T18:49:50.791-07:00Pillownaut Muse<br />
After my <a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2018/11/dexa-scan.html" target="_blank">follow-up DEXA Bone Scan last winter</a>, and the nice article <b>NASA's <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/one-small-step-without-ever-leaving-bed" target="_blank">Human Research Program</a></b> published about me and other past pillownauts in preparation for the new simulation protocols, I didn't expect much more to happen. It's been many years since my studies, and my blog is now only rarely updated.<br />
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I pondered perhaps "over-hauling" this site to be a <b><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SciComm&src=typed_query&f=live" target="_blank">#SciComm</a></b> hub -- but honestly, I think there are so many great existing Science Communication sites, and I will work to amplify those. I figured I'd had my 15 minutes of fame, and decided to leave my old blog "as-is" as a historical record of how I lived through the unique experiences of <a href="http://pillownaut.com/" target="_blank"><b>Space Flight Simulations</b></a> projects at NASA. <br />
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But. Every time I think I'll never hear about it again, another author or press outlet comes knocking. Last time it was Charles Wohlforth, and you should definitely still read his great book, "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Earth-Path-Home-Planets/dp/0804197970" target="_blank"><b>Beyond Earth: Our Path To a New Home in the Planet</b></a>." My father was very impressed they devoted more space to me than to Neil Armstrong, so we may have to put that on my tombstone.<br />
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Along came Minute Number 16...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pillownaut.com/muse/muse.html" target="_blank"><img alt="http://pillownaut.com/muse/muse.html" border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="966" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvVNdfZPcGVMzBcLczo99kaOafSyZjasCWvL5yxiyvpW9ChveMq1Bnv3C_i-SzLxy6tCirtK81O7lKqtoDmnKCAYinF28WD3lhuk9Bc_wR1AWpCiYAFvddrgDaJTvk6cdjwqTrepN5Ws/s400/MuseCover.jpg" width="296" /><span id="goog_1227911723"></span></a><span id="goog_1227911724"></span></div>
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<b>Muse Magazine</b> asked to feature my studies and chose the same title, just spelled a bit differently! In "<a href="http://pillownaut.com/muse/muse.html" target="_blank"><b>Beyawned Earth</b></a>," writer Jen Mason compiled many of my past blog excerpts, a few older press turns, and many<b> </b>of my personal photographs from quarantine into an exceptional article designed to teach students about space flight and how it affects the "biological packages" that travel in spacecrafts. <br />
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Reading the finished product, I was definitely the happiest I've ever been with an interview. I've had TV and radio stations ask me exhaustingly inappropriate questions; sometimes even reputable outlets go for the sensationalist spin by giving the study clever little [incorrect] nicknames or dwelling on incidental details, like how we manage to shower during simulations, or that we cannot have sugar or caffeine or salt in quarantine. Sure, those things are challenging, but not life-threatening. They pale in the quest for good data.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://pillownaut.com/muse/muse.html" target="_blank"><img alt="http://pillownaut.com/muse/muse.html" border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="480" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7v0OtFUxVQlw-SJL8PV01PLbjwGAxdPB734L5mzsFPcEIYLiasOIHLuaa_5yoodLA-G1my-Py95H-4-5lVb4PJhqc2dbMQA38kvPB-Kz2FIiKYXjSQBeSVn4KUhYKbD-1hNMJPZXOSfM/s400/MuseMag1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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However, <a href="http://pillownaut.com/muse/muse.html" target="_blank"><b>MUSE Magazine</b></a> hired a skilled and serious writer who truly nailed the science. After literally a decade of interviews in varied formats, and even being featured on the NASA website itself, this was really the first full-length article that revolved around MY OWN WORDS REGARDING MY OWN EXPERIENCES. This is the closest article to what I would have written myself. Maybe someday, some outlet will invite me to do so. Hope springs eternal. <br />
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I was gratified that this particular entity put the science in detailed and accurate terms, because it's directed at students and young adults potentially getting started in scholastic concentrations, and beginning to think about choosing majors. <br />
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Issue came out in March, and I was thrilled to receive copies by May, after I returned from my 6-week trek in Europe. You can order back issues of Muse Magazine yourself, or subscribe your teens, at <a href="http://shop.cricketmedia.com/" target="_blank"><b>Cricket Media</b></a>.<br />
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My <a href="http://pillownaut.com/webs/articles.html" target="_blank">entire list of articles</a> has been updated to include the last 2 years.<br />
<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-4352188485771604782019-05-02T06:00:00.004-07:002020-08-25T20:24:46.636-07:00AstroCappella<br>
I've had such a fun time listening to "<span style="font-weight: bold;">AstroCappella</span>" music by an amazing group called <a href="http://www.thechromatics.com/" target="_blank" title="The Chromatics"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Chromatics</span></a>, who recorded their first CD with the help of a NASA IDEAS grant (Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy and Space Science).<br>
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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where the a-capella group originated, still features the singers on their website, where you can hear <a href="http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010500/a010526/" target="_blank" title="NASA Goddard Chromatics">a lively version of The Sun Song</a>...<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.astrocappella.com/" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gfQGETzSGzcOPWr-DduedhEj1mJmKzqSBkmxbl711FkSStGhihgV2Lr2cuhM4hBwDRj2XnE62-FijnFRlk7orzsodmPwdKC1sQexATb_vHt7k3ZPT3KpiithmInbjxsXCEF3qKwgMwZd/s400/chrom1.jpg" alt="The Chromatics" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443511050165499906" border="0" /></a><div align="center"><br>
<span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Left to Right</span>: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Padi</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>= <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">AstroPhysicist Soprano</span><br>
<span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;">Karen </span>= <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Solar Scientist Alto & Mezzo</span><br>
<span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;">Alan </span>= <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">AstroPhysicist Tenor</span><br>
<span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;">Barry </span>= <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Architect Tenor</span><br>
<span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;">Deb </span>= <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Database Designer Soprano</span><br>
<span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;">John </span>= <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">Satellite Astronomer Baritone</span></div><br>
I also searched around YouTube (a bit of a trick, since there is also an Oregonian Synth-Punk band with the same name), but I found the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/astrocap#g/a" target="_blank" title="Chromatics on YouTube"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AstroCap YT Channel</span></a>, which features a few clips of the spacey-group's live performances.<br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.chromatics.com/" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 136px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhN3mtYag3xcvFyjDZS8YqSXxSdrxu-j0x_6HKdfwo4FLxFwHd2pTn_UPeM9G3nLuqrWOj9u4c3nflkeuzlJVRuWmHXXlRDxarlV1qhttH96X_tlTYB9mVEKiOtdw2FvHhubwav8BBKOD-/s400/chrom2.jpg" alt="The Chromatics CD Covers" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443511228397619346" border="0" /><br></a>This harmonious form of musical astronomy was developed by the members of the Chromatics for education and public outreach, and all of their tunes are "astronomically correct"! My favorite was their humorous "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Bad Hair Day</span>" -- but they also cover comets, asteroids, Mars exploration, the phases of the moon, the habitable zone of our solar system, gamma rays and even a Historical Overview of Telescopes in the "HST-Bop." Highly entertaining!<br>
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They were even commissioned by the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Johannes Kepler Project</span> to write <a href="http://www.astrocappella.com/" target="_blank" title="AstroCapella">a special song for the International Year of Astronomy in 2009</a> called "Shoulders of Giants", which detailed Galileo's first observations of space through his newly-developed telescope in 1609.<br>
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<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wassailicious/id490433221" target="_blank"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kbeOa9bLIzCtAOypJMkRDwSO_xhnNOm4bkupEXga1fF8LL5-hf3MOn85-WDh0Ma47N0fVvsQnxi0w6x2Tvg_JprSGb1_wmOF5oY-fLyEXFokOZi-L7Tn784uCtZmn_QC7f6X3CCMw_k/s400/wassail.png" alt="Chromatics Christmas CD" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721458983876792930" border="0" /><br></a>They even have a Christmas CD! I purchased <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wassailicious/id490433221" target="_blank" title="Chromatics on iTunes">this entire set on iTunes</a> along with some of their other selections, and I'm rather partial to "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Pachelbel's Tantrum</span>" ;)<br>
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Join their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Chromatics/8042604794" target="_blank" title="Chromatics on Facebook">Facebook Fan Page</a> or follow the Chromatics <a href="https://twitter.com/chromaticsmd" target="_blank" title="Chromatics on Twitter">Twitter Feed</a> to see when and where they conduct public performances.<br>
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Or, check out their <a href="http://www.astrocappella.com/" target="_blank" title="AstroCapella Project"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AstroCapella Project</span></a> to see how you can make the most of "the marriage of music & astronomy" to entertain at schools or introduce unique entertainment to your science, museum or planetarium public event!<br>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-80164026928517729022019-03-08T06:30:00.006-08:002020-08-25T20:21:20.399-07:00More Moon Tree Road Trips!<br />Seventeen trees down, 75 to go! I seriously bit off more than I could chew again. When I first learned about the <a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2012/07/apollo-moon-trees.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Apollo Moon Trees</span></a>, and resolved to go visit as many as I could, I figured there were a few dozen. The catalog wasn't all that long in 2009 when the tracking project revived. <p> <br><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110136231636280387309/ApolloMoonTrees" target="_blank"><img alt="Arcata California Moon Trees" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5761088498801040178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gWh4-DsuOOtcZ1WJRyFeDo_5df8t6tAYm0bxfV_0ETGL7HIYKJDhBuNUQochB3FRFYsIbhFdRQTy1vJbGx9hMxMDLKWY3L_LT5WY7HYgwU31Fck91X3TZFfBqzWlSD7LqTBD4GylZFM/s400/moontree1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 266px;" /></a></p><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Tree Hugger!!
Humboldt Moon Trees, Arcata, <br />California
3 Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), 1974 </div><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p>
While mapping all the moon trees in America and abroad, my list stretched to 80 in total! I'm glad to see more companies and universities submitting their records to be counted now, but I've since given up being able to see all of the known plantings.
So far, the most I have managed is six sites in California, one of which had multiple moon trees, and a seventh tucked away in the Grand Canyon State... not easy to find! Many of the resources online only give general whereabouts, so it often requires some detective work to find the right spots. </p><p><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110136231636280387309/ApolloMoonTrees" target="_blank"><img alt="Folsom California Moon Tree" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5761088503710583954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnIoHRhf36lYDLr4hHaHw1DHQCjMB6eTiVYj8uF9XZ67EGkQsIQrbNH8_cd4U3Pe0lF3jXp7_tqSysWzK__8yTksnfO5a8tuwHLDMaYM86OR1iqTIptiWQetAfE92I6tPdbDO2bxarLo/s400/moontree2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a> </p><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">El Dorado Hills Moon Tree, Folsom, <br />California
Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), 1976</div><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"></div><p>
In many cases, the trees are marked with signs, commemorating the Apollo 14 mission in 1971, when NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa took the 500 tree seeds into space; however, many gifted with moon tree saplings in the 1970s lament that their signs have eroded or been stolen over the years. In a few cases, the trees have perished, leaving only the paperwork behind... and in one case, I found a tree that died -- but the plaque was still there. </p><p>Happily, the largest contingent are trees that have flourished, growing taller in some cases than the "control trees" planted adjacent or nearby. In the case of all the California Giant Sequoias, micro-gravity clearly had no effect on the seeds! After planting, they thundered upward hundreds of feet, and there is no difference in their health as opposed to trees germinated on Earth.</p><p> <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110136231636280387309/ApolloMoonTrees" target="_blank"><img alt="Flagstaff Arizona Moon Tree" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5761088516677692930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWzTmrm-xYOc8XWBm_qei36aLJ0ipWkagiXM6hJ6_xYL5h4qoUaomJPjpgS4hocSit3wL5fOiMXLrhx5TAUS1ZS4MTE2zfY3FThSupH7AvcfZvwcdOGbJooHmGQA3oqPXcL42f0lgrPYQ/s400/moontree3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 278px;" /></a></p><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Thorpe Park Moon Tree, Flagstaff, <br />Arizona
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii), 1976 </div><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p>
The majority of the trees were planted during various American Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, as noted by their signs. However, the earliest were planted in 1974, and after a sparse smattering in the 80s and 90s, some of the second-generation moon trees were planted as recently as 2011.
The Sycamores seemed the hardiest species in terms of survival, followed by the Redwoods, then the Loblolly Pines and Douglas Firs. The Sweetgums seemed to fare the worst, with only two known specimens left in existence. <br /></p><p><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/110136231636280387309/ApolloMoonTrees" target="_blank"><img alt="San Luis Obispo Moon Tree" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5761088521250906610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCF_zl2JhqVGmL8O7jjdH6GYnkDgd9NZh5QW7oDkEH3os6UhoPInkfBqLwZDnYjiU69_B5ll14kUDEetj0mG2swiit-Mh_BYvyJHprX3Y1RpW1SKtqHvOyyCMQGJrwPwMzJCjY9Gvsegc/s400/moontree4.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 322px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></p><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">Mission Plaza Moon Tree, San Luis Obispo, <br />California
Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), 1976</div><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p>
Next up, I still have some road trips to see the trees in Lockeford and San Dimas; perhaps I'll even head north to see a few in Oregon...
To see all the California moon trees I've visited, and their signs, plus the one I visited in Arizona on the way home from driving to the <a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2011/07/watching-shuttle-atlantis.html">STS-135 Space Shuttle Launch</a>, go to the <a href="https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110136231636280387309/album/AF1QipM8-Itmu0FpylCDirXy0Ggyr-HYzRij86-qLkCC" target="_blank" title="Pillownaut Moon Tree Gallery"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pillownaut Gallery</span></a>, or simply click on any of the pictures. <br /><br /></p>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-55437407473065871082019-02-22T06:00:00.001-08:002020-08-25T15:08:11.247-07:00Technicolor Moon Rocks<br />
Moon rocks like you've never seen them before! We generally tend to think of the moon in... oh, about 50,000 shades of grey, as it were.<br />
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However, samples returned to Earth are just full of secrets at many levels. BEHOLD! The microscopic colors of Luna Selene...<br />
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<a href="http://lunarrocks.deviantart.com/gallery" target="_blank" title="Lunar Rocks art gallery"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMm-B6h7AfnS4Lsyh7GXZ9O2Mh_Xmeoi4A6LUDGI_id_kZ_ztG8f6nQccn4-bxv9i6qwGksuO9F4EmfS_-HfB5HkUAC3x_zY1yq5tgR9-Z_zSk_DlKGbJHqJFk03IU9dRrAgdd_6I8rvk/s320/moonrox1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">
Apollo 12 basalt thin section</div>
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These amazing images are the work of <a href="https://twitter.com/StuartForbes1" target="_blank" title="Stuart Forbes Twitter Feed"><b>Stuart Forbes</b></a>, taken when he was a geology student at Edinburgh University, in preparation for an exhibition at a public observatory to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first moon landing.<br />
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Thanks to a loan scheme with NASA and PPARC (Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council), Stuart obtained access to a pack of lunar material, containing a lucite disk of six whole moon rocks and twelve "thin sections" -- slices of rock cut so thin (30 microns) that light is able to pass through them.<br />
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<a href="http://lunarrocks.deviantart.com/gallery" target="_blank" title="Apollo Regolith Sample"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaZa_3e6VePO9oubSrupqf1OG6R-bnD_iJK2Lxr6j7F2CF8i9DaQG-G8l5KC-Q_XrBx7hK8MnotOkQle7BOD1QJVcA5kTnoOd6AnnsAqMRhBMaIAnqT4zMbUxRowYjTvWviEb4LgBkrM/s320/moonrox2.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">
Apollo 15 Regolith thin sections</div>
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Because of the optical properties of minerals, two polaroid filters, one above and one below, produce an interference pattern that results in the lovely colors; interpreting them is one of the core skills learned by geology students.<br />
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Apollo 16 astronaut <a href="https://gizmodo.com/50-years-ago-nasa-astronauts-smuggled-a-corned-beef-sa-1693431694" john="" target="_blank" title="Astronaut" young=""><b>John Young</b></a> was scheduled for a lecture, whereby Stuart asked the hosting museum if they would like the exhibition re-created. THIS time, when they got their hands on the moon rocks, he had special equipment prepared to photograph them!<br />
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<a href="http://lunarrocks.deviantart.com/gallery" target="_blank" title="Apollo Moon Rocks Under Microscope"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNQpdOTW9dfw5Bhg5NR9GSXQhlikK7QmppyjyYmYezcM-CU-x40s-Z_NVCV3MShPCtojwZs7mHfYSR00-fbLriWzmdswSEdPsDF5WlcKdaifXNca-UGEqeA0-_zpZLUxupuhE-xKanzPk/s320/moonrox3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Apollo 17 gabbro thin section</div>
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Stuart even had the pleasure of escorting Astronaut Young through the exhibition, and such was his exciting turn-of-the-century brush with planetary geology.
These samples are available to borrow for schools, universities and museums in the USA & UK, so other educators should definitely feel encouraged to do wat Stuart did, if you are affiliated with spaces that hold science exhibits of any kind.<br />
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<a href="http://lunarrocks.deviantart.com/gallery" target="_blank" title="John Young Autographed Photograph"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RbU8YxCUrRy9igPtl4Z5sUFpJvGO9f-WPSGeykMoYSC3oTcEXg7aG-wbdlVn1h2GaYTBcNyvp4qQz6o16Y_LhcP-5Iu-y6PtL8AnG5MXcpk0bNDAkVzm54x4PeZUHeFA4derYWaZlw4/s320/jyoung.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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John Young's Thank-You Gift to the photographer!</div>
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Click on any of <a href="http://lunarrocks.deviantart.com/gallery" target="_blank" title="Moon Rocks Gallery">the pictures in this post to see the entire lunar gallery</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/StuartForbes1" target="_blank" title="Stuart Forbes on Twitter"><b>Stuart Forbes</b></a>, where you can see other examples of basalt, regolith, breccias, soilin, anorthositein and gabbro… <i>and thank you, Stuart, for generously sharing these beautiful photographs with everyone!</i><br />
<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-39495582020040730432019-02-07T14:53:00.002-08:002020-08-27T14:55:29.331-07:00Yon Flaming Orb<br> It would take 333,000 Earths to equal the weight of our Sun, which loses four million tons of itself each second as it delivers nearly a kilowatt of energy to each square yard of the Earth's sunlit surface.<br/>
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The Sun is not always at the exact middle of the solar system. It shifts by its own diameter in varied directions, depending mostly on Jupiter's position. Jupiter's 12-year orbit is not around the Sun, but around a point NEAR the Sun. Meanwhile, the Sun too, performs a small orbit around that spot, which it completes every 11.86 Earth years.<br/>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Suns-Heartbeat-Stories-Powers-Planet/dp/0316091014" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOULcOQV276OKnmAInCFk8IHH7UISuDZ-Uh_EDgAIzXGA-vATzppPbeZ2Xr_UzACYJ1cHUjMdhnRD-IT8gBhV-vDucADxggqNEw5jlw2TfN1MxwwK66QZjJaWoi8r55K3BtDYkuo7J_M/s400/sun1.jpg" alt="Green Sunlight" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623120842774026562" border="0" /></a>
What does the sun emit most strongly? Yellow rays? Heat (Infrared)? Ultra-Violet? Gamma rays? Nope. GREEN LIGHT.<br/>
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The first photograph of the sun was taken in 1845.<br/>
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Greek scholar Thales of Miletus (624-546 BC) was the first human to accurately plot and record the path of the Sun across the sky, and the first to predict an eclipse in 585 BC. Anaxagoras (500-428 BC) was the first to postulate than the moon reflects light from the sun, rather than glowing on its own.<br/>
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Aristotle (384-322) then held back science for the next two thousand years with his geocentric model of the universe, where the Earth was fixed and the Sun moved around it. This somehow became church doctrine until the time of Galileo -- and any attempt to question it meant being burned at the stake.<br/>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 352px; height: 372px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWFUEiwXm17Y8M7LxVYf2hQpGGdYczaqrXRqrneUvBXr2lSxLoYRedO8SCksjLSV5op9PZQIOOLFgkPuZupTy323Xz0YWiK6MyEGnvjkQj0d3bQ3udl0SYwI2EP3nGByzVvwFLk-XoAA/s400/sun2.png" alt="Sun Symbols" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623121529338692818" border="0" /></a>
In 1714, clergyman Tobias Swinton wrote a book claiming the Sun was Hell, since there would be too little room for all the current and future damned souls, not to mention that having the fire and brimstone beneath the earth's surface would soon be snuffed by lack of air. All righty then.<br/>
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In contrast, Charles Palmer published a theory in 1798 saying the sun was made of ice, arguing that the Bible claimed light existed before God created the Sun. It must not be a source of light but rather simply a reflector of light from the rest of the universe, which was clearly focused on Earth.<br/>
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The Sun kills about a million people per year, with desert exposure, dehydration complications, and melanomas.<br/>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konark_Sun_Temple" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvUK2ZvI1EXVvH5ND-7bE9Sn5Znnia1IB6zyCQomlXu1aqtiZxGkmTnBt9TcwwcT49uMn5JQisPV7nJiM24vg63LEbA0F1VhTNkNjArEAPjvpRiqttc88K9U4BBJWvAz00ZtgoQJgiwg/s400/sun3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623122569982567058" border="0" /></a>
People in the villages near the Konark Sun Temple (Orissa, India) bathe before and after any eclipse of the Sun, which is considered dangerous – so much so that any food prepared during such an event is regarded as poisonous and pregnant women take particular care to keep their eyes tightly shut, lest the fetus be malformed.<br/>
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Spending just 10 minutes in strong sunlight, the kind you get from 11am to 3pm between April and August, will allow your body to make as much vitamin D as you would get from drinking 200 glasses of milk.<br/>
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Facts, and much wit, courtesy of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://skymanbob.com/" target="_blank" title="Bob Berman's Website">Bob Berman</a>, in his new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Suns-Heartbeat-Stories-Powers-Planet/dp/0316091014" target="_blank" title="The Sun's Heartbeat"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Sun's Heartbeat</span></a>. This was just a taste!<br/>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-69182474431858811602019-02-07T14:00:00.002-08:002020-08-25T20:22:46.510-07:00Quips & Quotes IV<br><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"Really, I have no idea why my acting career never took off."</span> <span style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Astronaut Garrett Reisman, who was in an elementary school play with Jane Krakowski</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition." </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Carl Sagan</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth."</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Ptolemy, 150 A.D.</span><br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=203464663007505" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuyquN3JUcKmgsK6r0Kl3BAxzrB-xE3hpTdUI1Xxoz4ivIDWhMrr1vGA80kLn_Tzqj-Z55AfDG2eYdBqTp6wLK5q9TYVdl2zW75ba6qqaYuI-fspNpuJSTa37WaMnosHVWMVKRW_yaZ4/s400/quot4a.jpg" alt="Quotes about Space Travel" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644526287336374242" border="0" /></a>
<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"God has no intention of setting a limit to the efforts of man to conquer space."<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Pope Pius XII</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"It is humanity's destiny to explore the universe. When we start thinking and working on that cosmic level, we will transcend our parochial differences and tribal natures and become global creatures, solar system creatures. Then we will figure out where we fit in."</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Astronaut Story Musgrave</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"The rocket will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open to him the gates of heaven." </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Dr. Wernher von Braun</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"We are irresponsible in our failure to make the progress we will need for protecting our severely threatened and probably endangered species – us. NASA is not about the ‘adventure' of human exploration, we are in the deadly serious business of saving the species. The bottom line is about preserving our species over the long haul." </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Astronaut John Young</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"Okay, so what's the speed of dark ?"<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Stephen Wright</span><br>
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=203464663007505" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeY6ma3s59KcjjcgyObQOkhPU4_V34qj0PD1GNyolaR_w-oYi3Eeptkwd4_wev1uB6AOsBDaN8v13EtcO3YkR9w80pEmCgIujMY6WiQoWTpNYzQszWcq8pPX7DzhMSw9EeGkQyNpYy8b8/s400/quot4b.jpg" alt="Space Quotes" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644526291381140498" border="0" /></a><br>
<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"What was most significant about the lunar voyage was not that man set foot on the Moon but that they set eye on the earth." </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Author Norman Cousins</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"></span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"As we got further away, Earth diminished. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. Seeing this has to change a man." </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Astronaut James B. Irwin</span><br>
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<span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">"When I orbited the Earth in a spaceship, I saw for the first time how beautiful our planet is. Mankind, let us preserve and increase this beauty, and not destroy it."</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">~ Yuri Gagarin</span><br>
<br/>PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-46516743045988662802019-01-02T05:00:00.000-08:002020-08-25T15:01:21.253-07:00Tinfoil Hats At The Ready<br />
From time to time, people ask questions about conspiracy theories or they email essays about Area 51, or they even link to YouTube compilation videos that claim to "prove" the NASA moonwalks were faked. All of it is easily refutable, often through high school science and basic common sense. But now? The newest hypes don't just take the cake, it explodes the whole bakery.<br />
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<i>Teleportation to Mars? Really? </i><br />
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<a href="http://www.urban75.org/info/conspiraloons.html" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="It's a Conspiracy" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538283712644792850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wlE8-ExBbAQbyj9C4xrEhJa0zmQIS9clWMFmHGBZJoRNSS30bIEZyTwyckQ71untxug5yJ5Y_T5wnj2QM2pJEZZvMikjiPi9fXCznmpfcgztozBmDuv9L6A2OzhFY9EElEhOqd56Ferw/s400/conspiracy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
Professional heckler <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan" target="_blank" title="Joe Rogan">Joe Rogan</a> was a notorious moon landing denier, and I'll admit, the few scattered clips of him working himself into a froth is sometimes rowdily entertaining. He's almost always inaccurate about science, but at least he's funny. My favorite clip was on Penn Jilette's show, where he ranted about "the impossibility of passing through the radiation belt discovered by Robert Van Allen."<br />
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Well -- that would actually be <span style="font-weight: bold;">James Van Allen</span> -- and all Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle astronauts passed through this belt, as does the Hubble on each orbit. But this gives you an idea of the quality of arguments by the non-scientists who fall into the category of <a href="http://www.urban75.org/info/conspiraloons.html">typical conspiracy theorists</a>. Happily, Rogan has since recanted many of his beliefs about the Apollo program being a hoax, and it gives me hope for the future. At least, it did until the Flat Earth Society folks came after me and <a href="https://lightsinthedark.com/author/jaymajor/" target="_blank"><b>Lights in the Dark</b></a> writer Jason Major on Twitter. <br />
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However, I choose not to get into arguments. Even when I dip my toe in the lunatic pool, I confine myself to humor, such as a <a href="http://pillownaut.blogspot.com/2009/09/hoodwinked.html">newspaper outlet who actually fell for a deliberately false report that the moon landings were a hoax</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/420060/october-11-2012/this-changes-everything---obama-s-martian-gayness" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvWzzkr3zB-o_USDLsRVgWJ5zdBZX-eDCVRkNl-7csdiKHFRekFiU_3URyfeoOwFHWk8ot_dh01eB9VONU0_ej13EfWNH8YK9V8eG3LEFIu3sz-4Q6PaqIl34LYSCqXgNhmcHlyRUkpFQ/s400/martiangay.png" width="400" /><span id="goog_1937745280"></span></a><span id="goog_1937745281"></span></div><p>
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This past weekend, however, a tweeter who shall remain nameless attacked me personally about "championing the industry that perpetrated the greatest hoax of all time." Still another personal friend posted (more benignly) to my Facebook page, asking about the newest allegations about Mars.<br />
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Really, you took time out of your life to wonder about Barack Obama marrying a man on Mars after using a "jump room" to teleport to the Red Planet? </p><p>That was the capper for me. So my New Year's Resolution in 2019 is not to get into debates about these theories anymore. <br />
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I could list all the reasons it's impossible; the painful part is, I shouldn't have to. Ditto the Face on Mars story, Planet 9, life on Venus, Nibiru, Comet Elenin, Bigfoot on Mars, and pretty much any Asteroid about to crash into Earth (because if your tinfoil hat buddy spotted it, so would 500 other professional and amateur astronomers -- believe me, the sky isn't a secret). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievRWmTojK4OXKEMWn0YzecJwGR0A8rQ95pkFVZgiNmn9-ouyzqq5qciaWU0vTK93lpBxAhz4whi9Bl3m9ZREf1FwgNUUzeh5Sg6SKhT1ezKuXA42wPUBVsc_irWGGIm1MFnzMUApw1Is/s1600/greenman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievRWmTojK4OXKEMWn0YzecJwGR0A8rQ95pkFVZgiNmn9-ouyzqq5qciaWU0vTK93lpBxAhz4whi9Bl3m9ZREf1FwgNUUzeh5Sg6SKhT1ezKuXA42wPUBVsc_irWGGIm1MFnzMUApw1Is/s400/greenman.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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As for the Joe Rogan fans of the world who still haven't heeded his memo: NASA sent twelve American men to the moon between 1969 and 1972. Millions of people watched the launches, and thousands of people watched the splashdowns. To allege that is to wipe yourself forever off my radar, and I've officially answered my last email about that. Forever. <br />
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Multiple Mission Controls in varying nations tracked the Apollo program, monitoring communications throughout. By the end of the program, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin</span> took not only a congratulatory but conciliatory stance about the US and USSR's space programs.<br />
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Honestly, if Russia believes we pulled it off – and they had a lot to gain if we didn't pull it off – that alone leads me to believe... <span style="font-style: italic;">we pulled it off</span>.<br />
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<a href="http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/introduction.htm" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538284927621544578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GmvLYmIQOAkds9ZXMkr85ZghELlfIcAvm8LaVVy6EWfWglWotIAokjRVi_AP2EjJ_0Fe57J_5EPD73lTfTuc_TjNuvB3mt3GiP8XE5fkmLs8oceF9r1YRk4iQ7piOakpWqwfjtBrypvD/s400/lego.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 271px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><div align="center" style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">
Hey, that flag shouldn't be fluttering like that!</div>
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Hours of film footage. Innumerable technical companies and contracts. Thousands of workers were involved in multiple countries, and you'll be pretty hard pressed to find anyone who worked (or still works) for any space program who isn't absolutely fiercely proud of it. NO inside whistle-blowers, in all this time?<br />
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Geologists all over the world have seen the 800+ pounds rock samples from the moon's crust, and not one educated scientist who spent time in the Lunar Sample Laboratory at Johnson Space Center has come away saying he thought the rocks were fake. Or Earthly.<br />
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Could the moon program all be an elaborate, international, 4-decade-long prideful prank... in between teleportation jumps to Mars? Think whatever you like. I think not. If you <span style="font-style: italic;">really </span>want a good conspiracy theory, go read about the Apollo 18 mission that never happened...<i> or did it?</i><br />
<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-39231850897749063832018-12-04T05:30:00.000-08:002018-12-04T11:25:07.862-08:00WIN 2019 YEAR IN SPACE CALENDAR<br />
Baktun 13, Year of the Pig, Holocene 12019 -- however you count, enjoy the Gregorian grid with this beautiful collage of photos and facts, published in cooperation with <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&me=AHDOJV3CFR6LA&page=1" target="_blank" title="2019 YEAR IN SPACE calendar"><b>Starry Messenger Press</b></a>, and, new this year, order fulfillment through Amazon.<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="872" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHLoQ0gBXa8MIgcWfI80u_rubKZ0sGPZqpY8bKRw8aSbWSDS1RIhlrXXD8nOUxx5m9W5ZqJyJb0uEzw_2vvmheU7zfoA81Eu-6YX_2yWfKjnhN_poHoI4lllmMzlbiKTrP854CjY9d5M/s400/Both+Calendars.png" width="400" /></div>
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Wall Calendar and Spiral Notebook Calendar</div>
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The photography is stunning, and every square centimeter is packed with colorful collages, planets, astronauts, space crafts, and profiles of famous mission scientists. The calendar grids feature moon phases, sky-gazing guides, space exploration milestones throughout history and fun space facts.<br />
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Designer <b>Steve Cariddi</b> created this masterpiece to appeal to space enthusiasts of all ages, and even if you don't want another physical item on your desk -- you can also get all the facts + photography in an online version, or weekly email. <br />
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<a href="http://yearinspace.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://yearinspace.com/" border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LMPaIhc11ALephJZRndPo2piRH5wZpw00rIQRnnTRifaNp3TZlOE7MIHq5E778prjY8N-sR0yVqAWu4gLosU1SSjuJt7Z6VN3N3tW85Yih5CCoAkGcLUoXAOK451hHNe7UiJ7w9upGw/s320/0000Example+page.png" width="232" /></a></div>
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<b></b>To enter the contest, simply circulate either of the tweets below over the next two days, or create your own tweet with the calendar link, and CC: back to my account so I know to enter your Twit-handle in the drawing.<br />
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<div style="color: #66cccc; font-weight: bold;">
Win a FREE 2019 Year In Space Calendar with sky guides, space trivia, and stunning astrophotography! https://goo.gl/vwC6y2 via @YearInSpace @Pillownaut #YearInSpace<br />
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FREE Year In Space 2019 Calendar up for grabs at https://goo.gl/vwC6y2 if you RT @pillownaut @YearInSpace! Amazing astrophotography, mission milestones, and Scientist profiles included each year. #YearInSpace</div>
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On Thursday evening (December 6, 2018), we will choose one local winner at the California Academy of Sciences FEEL THE FORCE Nightlife event in Golden Gate Park, which will feature multiple astromech droids from the Bay Area R2 Builders, 501st garrison stormtroopers, Mandalorian Mercs, and the Rebel Legion. Last year, they gave away free light sabers and also held Jedi Academy training on how to use them. Here's hoping <i>that's</i> a staple. The themed cocktails are also amazing, so we hope to see a good turnout for all the Star Wars fun!<br />
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To win? All ya gotta do is tap me on the shoulder and say something nice. <br />
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<a href="https://www.calacademy.org/nightlife/feel-the-force-nightlife"><img alt="https://www.calacademy.org/nightlife/feel-the-force-nightlife" border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="614" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiO8-HXYi1Ve5BR3p0H-XCthrI4Xr7KovQeuTQuSMT-gLv4NMELp65ti3U55jg8JKPurcOQO3LoHyFRd_WbIPC1NAPgH1mI8l-B5ivgzfiy7njJNvchv1Ijr0dcuPbTum1LMCvah1R9Ko/s400/ARTOO+NIGHTLIFE.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Are you local to the San Francisco Bay Area? <br />
Click to join us and R2-D2 at the Cal Academy Cocktails night! </div>
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Then on Friday, I will choose a second (random) winner from all the tweeters, and that person can be local, across the USA, or anywhere international. <br />
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Of course, only two can win the free prizes, so when the rest of you purchase multiples for your kids for the New Year, and I know you will, check out the discount for being a Pillow Astronaut reader! Save 25% off the retail price and pay only $14.95 per copy online. There are additional quantity discounts if you buy more than one, which will show up when you check out.<br />
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Also be sure to follow <b>#TriviaThursday</b> on <a href="https://twitter.com/Pillownaut" target="_blank">@pillownaut Twitter</a> for <b>#YearInSpace</b> trivia all day on Thursday! If you read this far, you will qualify to additional entries. EVERY retweet of a Trivia fact on Thursday, December 6th will be another entry! Kudos to all those who read blog posts to the end, heh heh. <br />
<br />PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8943666447669921355.post-18416734439936535262018-12-01T06:00:00.000-08:002018-12-01T06:00:08.173-08:00Pillownaut Christmas Picks<br />Here it is, December 1st! Time to select goodies for the scientist, astronomer, cosmologist, Trekkie, Browncoast, Ewok, or astromech wrangler in your life! If you don't have these people in your life, come meet one at a rocket launch sometime.<br />
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It may seem weird to have Christmas picks from someone who notoriously
hates shopping, but all of these GEEK TREATS can be purchased on the
internet. That is literally my only requirement for selection when I'm
sharing news of cool Science or Science Fiction products. Like that R2-D2
pen I just found? Yeah, you actually have to schlep down to Office
Depot to recycle your massive collection of spent ink cartridges to find
it. So, disqualified. <br />
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<a href="https://goo.gl/F3FAfw" target="_blank"><img alt="Ultimate Guide to the Cosmos by David Dickinson & Fraser Cain" border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1200" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9rlp7FW4aQL-Un5hyphenhyphenceENLhyuDqNUvJZsgqjrOWTlTgOGnQ7SBwyzERxP7thVEa4UBAXdvWmzLa4w9CWdNRIQxn4xwC_qj6pBX9CtSTpA2GfX9JddZAz94MwY2oAiyMb7XGshLkpFlSg/s400/COSMOS+BOOK.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><b>My arms are too short for selfies, <br />so I just tried to keep the book in the middle. </b></span></div>
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My top pick for the year is <a href="https://goo.gl/U1wp5s" target="_blank"><b>The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing The Cosmos</b></a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/Astroguyz" target="_blank">David Dickinson</a><span id="goog_638068480"></span><span id="goog_638068481"></span> with <a href="https://twitter.com/fcain" target="_blank">Fraser Cain</a>. The sub-title is a bit mystifying. "Everything You Need to Know to Become an Amateur Astronomer" seems a bit of an abbreviation for such a visually stunning and skillful collection of knowledge. From reading the sky to choosing a telescope, from identifying celestial phenomena to staying safe during eclipses, this is more like a comprehensive guide on being a GOOD astronomer. <i>Even if you have no hardware at all. </i><br />
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This book is a giant galactic poem, and every spacetweep should own it.
I've seen just about every astronomy book in my lifetime, and this is the one that will show you how to be a stargazer in the way that best fits your abilities and interests -- not merely canned instructions for meteor showers. As the author notes in his introduction, "The act of gazing skyward is a minor stroke of rebellion." <br />
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<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SickSoaps" target="_blank"><img alt="ALIENS bath bomb from SICK SOAPS" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpNGrE5hHkA58wJvfEp3IA80BG4Aji9eV3zt6PkGBlrTk1ZRQxHcqypTKNXneoC93KN3OQpSGEE46IiOgGjyVoRU6FUPIVMpAtb8RX2BeZ4-tQlp0w7ZstYGP6Jkiwesd0WiDvkZMXFk/s320/Alien+EGG.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><b>BECAUSE RELAXATION</b></span></div>
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I've been a big fan of
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/FrakkingBombs" target="_blank"><b>FrakkingBombs </b></a>after seeing them at <b>Dragon*Con</b>; their Star Wars
& Doctor Who bath products are still awesome -- but I branched out a
bit to try <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SickSoaps#items" target="_blank"><b>Sick Soaps</b></a>,
owned by a woman named Cheynne de Boer, who sold me this very original
"Aliens" themed bath bomb. I keep wanting to use it, but also enjoy just
having it to look at. I'll fizz it up and watch the face-hugger spring
out sometime. She has dozens of Sci-Fi soapy things, plus classic horror
movies in the mix.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Coffee-Bible-Easy-Make/dp/1843095408" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Coffee-Bible-Easy-Make/dp/1843095408" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="710" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFHtPPSSdSww_dHDpbdrZeEn40UIx-9RdXEMf19rsSfpE_jzeR9vUQ9BfbdwLvJ4cafrfzehVeIBZZDd6N0pxOh7RepXo2Upah-x1PlMXKAVJUr6Py3VRHaBivVkTXrGACdU7QdK5l9mE/s400/2+books.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><b>Do the puzzles while the stuff bakes</b></span></div>
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Unshockingly, my cookbook of the year is a<b> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Coffee-Bible-Easy-Make/dp/1843095408" target="_blank">Chocolate BIBLE</a></b>. That's what it said. BIBLE. It's light on the scripture, but heavy on the chocolate advice, chocolate history (from the Aztecs to modern artisanal truffles), development of chocolate cultivation and products across many cultures through the centuries, and types chocolate delicacies all over the world. There's a coffee section, too. Maybe someday I'll read that. Right now, still stuck on learning how to cope with tempering. It's harder than those Instagram videos make it look. <br />
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My puzzle pick of the year for the first time ever is NOT crosswords. I'll never be as good at Sudoku as my older brother -- which is why this is his Christmas present. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sudoku-Celestial-Squares-Puzzles-difficulty/dp/1720285918" target="_blank"><b>Celestial Squares</b></a> by atheist vegan Sci-Fi author <a href="https://twitter.com/Ant_Writer" target="_blank"><b>Ant Ryan</b></a> has 50 easy, 50 medium, 50 hard, and 50 advanced puzzles... perfect for the husband who wants to teach his wife to Sudoku. Apologies in advance to my sister-in-law.<br />
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Both of the above are British printings by British authors, but available for purchase to the USA. And both are the best gifts I also found for others in 2018.<br />
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<b>Best Fiction Book for the year? The one I'm writing. For all the reviews and promotions I've done for others, I hope you'll support me when the time comes.</b><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CpIe0qIywhQ" width="560"></iframe></div>
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We may have opened this toy a bit early. K, we opened this toy really early. Sphero used to charge $130 + shipping for the <a href="https://www.sphero.com/r2-d2-app-enabled-droid" target="_blank"><b>app-controlled R2-D2 astromech</b></a>, but had a product surplus and dropped the price to $40 for the holidays. You download the Sphero droid app, and enjoy the BEEPS and BOOPS! Droid has an integrated speaker with all of Artoo's recognizable conversations and... screams. Authentic functional LEDs, radio system, and very easy to move. WAY easier than the 200lb. trash can! From opening the box to driving, twe had this little guy up and running in 7 minutes. So hilarious. I've been sending it all around the kitchen with my iPhone while waiting for blog uploads. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8XsSmLTBPbe_emfM6VokZ_4BPNRnGw0nkF5vsjJk3iLBP0dfRvHoo4uYLFw2bkiptn0HP0H55XR317kRygi4BwbXjMhC-1lf4Rd7P4c17iyDBH92Gg9sz1Mxh7v0T1kcM7YmFGo2xxE/s1600/0000portia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="520" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8XsSmLTBPbe_emfM6VokZ_4BPNRnGw0nkF5vsjJk3iLBP0dfRvHoo4uYLFw2bkiptn0HP0H55XR317kRygi4BwbXjMhC-1lf4Rd7P4c17iyDBH92Gg9sz1Mxh7v0T1kcM7YmFGo2xxE/s400/0000portia.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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My non-fiction pick of the year is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kick-Some-Glass-Women-Succeed/dp/1260121402/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1543628184" target="_blank"><b>Kick Some Glass: 10 Ways Women Succeed at Work on Their Own Terms</b></a>, an examination of the glass ceiling women experience in various career fields, and how to cope with society's models in the changing landscape of finding both success and balance. I like the approach here, because it acknowledges, unlike many self-help guide-style books, that there is no single solution, and every woman has to get to the core of her own ideals and choices to be a resilient, adaptable, and effective worker. <br />
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Disclaimer: I went to college with co-author, <a href="https://youtu.be/GT_1xv2dk10" target="_blank"><b>Portia Mount</b></a>, who also wrote <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beating-Impostor-Syndrome-Portia-Mount/dp/1604915293/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank"><b>Beating the Imposter Syndrome</b></a> in 2014. We lived in the same dormitory at Mills. On second thought, never mind, I'm not disclaiming anything. She's brilliant, and I'm proud to promote this for Portia. She is <b>#BlackGirlMagic</b> personified! <br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Song-Dodo-Island-Biogeography-Extinction/dp/0684827123/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543630269&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Song+of+the+Dodod" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.amazon.com/Song-Dodo-Island-Biogeography-Extinction/dp/0684827123/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543630269&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Song+of+the+Dodod" border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="800" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7rP024Wa9syAyDyeUxJYtK7X3tcRUBlLOCff_U0E0vG65L_LczBpJYXIJ7ag2yzZpLgu2sBYolhx3XSbBDSOB48G_iIr7bwC5gUdV3hHwWOdJYR3dxkRp142PKof4CzasR6Vq98fpJN8/s400/Song+of+the+Dodo+kitty.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: cyan;"><b>Kitty Approved</b></span></div>
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One last book pick! While not newly written, this blast from the past is absolutely still relevant, applicable to continuing evolutionary studies, and pertinent knowledge to understanding how the creatures of Earth will (or won't) adapt to rapidly changing climate. <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Song-Dodo-Island-Biogeography-Extinction/dp/0684827123/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543630269&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Song+of+the+Dodod" target="_blank">The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction</a> </b>was written by <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidQuammen" target="_blank">David Quammen</a> in 1997. Not many people heeded his warnings then. I don't much expect people in charge to heed them now, but it's a great read about how we're all basically going to go extinct. RAY OF SUNSHINE, YO.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>NOTE: This book is also the current pick for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmWJESzm4tnmhUH3gfHoyeA" target="_blank"><b>THE STEMULUS </b></a>book club, and we will be discussing it on livestream soon!</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/category/holiday-christmas"><img alt="http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/category/holiday-christmas" border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="554" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7H3CVoIKPPeZFY5_DC7ejM42n58OBQLayBGXHFrmlCPhhfZe-Ya-OjbpYn8fx01B2CV-rDakTmMqUiifx9g_W3Pd2MxphUbFm_7xDCpaHYCoftjF5fxsV4WXw0V9TOgEJosf6IhyphenhypheniC5k/s400/buried_ships_SF.jpg" width="400" /></a><i> </i></div>
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Lastly, my Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates pick of the year is the <a href="http://www.moonstruckchocolate.com/product/crescent-moon-collection-10pc/holiday-christmas" target="_blank"><b>Moonstruck Crescent Moon Collection</b></a>, conveniently in the shape of an actual crescent moon. Anyone and everyone is free to send this to me -- at any time of year. This lovely box features their Champagne truffle, Ocumarian, their signature caramels, and one specialty of the Distillery Collection, the Clear Creek Pear Brandy, native to the Portland, Oregon area where their chocolate factory resides.<br />
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Add if you're into more whimsical selections, they carry holiday-wrapped truffles, as well as penguins, snowballs, snowdudes, little trees, sugar plums, and all manner of Decembery cacao goodness. It's a fun website, go crazy. <br />
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It's also the best chocolate this side of Belgium.<br />
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<i>I would know. </i><br />
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<i>I've been to Belgium, and ate my way home through Hershey, Pennsylvania. </i><br />
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PillowNauthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14110076273424820771noreply@blogger.com