Down

Written Inc. hosts thematic photography each week, and the new theme is “Down.” So where do you find the best DOWN pictures?

You’re on a blog about space science, so this isn’t a trick question. This is my favorite picture taken from the International Space Station. I’ve had this amazing shot of ash-plume activity from the Cleveland Volcano (Chuginadak Island, Alaska) among my screen-saver pictures for a couple years now, but I never tire of it.



It always makes me think about the invention of photography, the invention of flight, and how those two phenomena put together have offered the eyes of humans many views of the world that populations from previous centuries could not possibly have imagined!

I’ve always gotten a thrill from aerial photography, and I’ve also buzzed two calderas in helicopters. Eruptive activity is tremendously exciting, but from space, the wide view is too powerful for words. Especially considering this stratovolcano, one of the most active in the Aleutians, is over a mile high. The nearby observatory estimated the ash cloud height at nearly 400 miles! But from orbit, it looks no more dangerous than a smoldering firecracker.

Alas, I cannot claim credit as the photographer -- don't I wish. That honor belongs to NASA Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, who captured this image during ISS Expedition 13.

I do have one interesting “Down” picture, however. Gotta have something original if I want to link back to Carmi! I took this from a parasail while on vacation in the Bahamas, and I guess it’s closest I’ll ever get to a tethered space walk. ;)

CNN Coverage

I found a press piece at CNN Health while surfing various links about skeletal studies:
NASA Bone-Loss Test Sends Man To Bed For 84 Days
(Includes video report from Dr. Sanjay Gupta)

Paint me surprised that no one among our writers & readers trolled by this... hundreds of people emailed me far shorter articles last year! And considering it was a nearly-identical NASA Spaceflight Simulation study, I couldn't believe I missed it -- until I saw the date: September 16, 2008. We of the Gulf Coast persuasion had just rushed out of Hurricane Ike's path, so our minds were... elsewhere.

However, the Cleveland Clinic was still going strong with their studies -- which, unlike ours, included exercise on a vertical treadmill. (I also have some footage of subjects "running" on this extremely cool contraption, on the Squidoo Lens and in my YouTube Channel Favorites).

Anyway, fascinating article... and I like how they emphasized the dual purpose of application in both space for astronauts, and on Earth for osteoporosis sufferers. I hear rumblings of possible treadmill exercise studies beginning in Galveston soon...

Google Mars

So I updated to Google Earth v5.0, and spent my evening on aimless flybys. Because I'm a nerd, that's why. (And I have no television.) Most folks have downloaded this at some point, found their house, found their pals, found the Roman Colosseum, whatever. If you're a true dweeb, you've also blown a weekend or two toying with Google SKY, released somewhere around version 3.whatnot, to see views from the Hubble Telescope.

The newest release has a brilliant new ocean floor terrain feature. Every time you find the edge of a tectonic plate, somewhere a new geek gets their wings! And even more magical: the complete mapping of planet Mars. This and the Moon have been in the flat maps for awhile, but now it is dynamic in their client application!

Ready, set, run updater.exe... in the main Google Earth 5.0 toolbar click the planet icon. Choose Mars, then have some fun by cutting and pasting these coordinates into the FLY TO Field:

-1.94 -5.52
Zoom in to follow the 5-year path!
72.49 164.31
Zoom out again to see where you are...
45.68 0.00
18.40 226.0
81.59S 296.7E

You can also just type in stuff like Face on Mars, Newton Crater or Marte Vallis and it will spin there. UK, Russian, and American landers are marked with national flags, whereby you can click their camera icons for panoramic views of the terrain. WAY COOL.

Happy Hunting.

Sleeping On The Job

Whenever the Space Flight Simulation Study was in the press, it was rarely enjoyed its proper name. Since micro-gravity is best simulated by a tilted bed that takes pressure off the lower extremities and allows blood to pool in the head, it became colloquially known as the "bedrest" study. Folks seemed to enjoy pouncing on that word and further translated it into "sleep study."

Save FOX Houston and a few printed mentions, most media outlets tended to "happily overlook accuracy" in order to sensationalize what might grab attention. So, many articles hyped NASA's project as a "sleep study" or advertised "Get paid to sleep!" Convincing people that we did not, in fact, sleep all day was an uphill battle. We slept from 10pm to 6am, with no napping during daylight hours.

So for all the people who genuinely wanted a job where sleeping was the main requirement -- your dream has finally come true:

NY Museum Seeks Women For $10 Per Hour Sleep Art: Exhibit Described As 'Living Sculpture'

Women only. Sorry guys, I guess y'all have to be awake to qualify as "art."