The Twin Kind

In 2003, two very interesting geologists twins were born to search the unknown located millions of miles away. Their names? Spirit and Opportunity. How they got their names is an inspiring way. A 9-year-old girl named Sofi Collis wrote an essay that was chosen out of about 10,000 essays(nasa.gov). In her essay she wrote,

I used to live in an orphanage. It was dark and cold and lonely. At night, I looked up at the sparkly sky and felt better. I dreamed I could fly there. In America, I can make all my dreams come true. Thank you for the 'Spirit' and the 'Opportunity.

It’s really remarkable that at such a young age a little girl was able to catch the eyes of NASA in naming the infamous twin rovers.

Following the naming of Spirit and Opportunity, they were then tested and sent off to Mars to follow in the footsteps of their elder, Sojourner.

After touching down on Mars in 2004 they began their quest. Both Spirit and Opportunity were only supposed to function for 92 days. They were also predicted to only roam Mars’ surface for 3/4s of a mile(Ward). That means they would travel about 20 yards per day. That’s a long game of football if you ask me.

Unfortunately, bad weather was in the forecast. Waves of dust storms threatened the rover’s lives by covering their solar panels with dust. If the dust covered their solar panels then it would decrease their power generation(Chavis). Luckily, the rovers pulled through. But in 2009, Spirit caught itself stuck in soft soil and it couldn’t get out. Even though it’s handicapped, Spirit fights on and functions as a stationary science laboratory(Chavis). Even still, through all the odds, Opportunity still continues to keep on roving.

These two twins are history-making explorers. Sprit and Opportunity were larger than the previous rover, Sojourner. So by continuing to make bigger and bigger exploration rovers you begin to have bigger goals. These are merely stepping stones into the human frontier. Within the next century, we could possibly have a human exploration to Mars. In only a decade we were able to send 3 rovers to Mars, one bigger than the last. That’s a huge progress for scientists.

They want to keep progressing forward. Soon they’ll try to build a Mars vehicle that will be big enough to fit humans on it, and they’ll try to send it to Mars as a test. Once we get that done it won’t be long until they want people to go.

Spirit

Opportunity

It’s time to close up.

This is BE#7

Signing out…

Works Cited

Chavis, Jason C. "Awesome Facts About the Mars Rover." Bright Hub. N.p.,

9 May 2010. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/68898.aspx>.

"Girl With Dreams Names Mars Rovers." NASA. N.p., 8 June 2003. Web. 27 Sept. 2012.  

<http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/mars_rover_names.html>.

Ward, Logan. "PM Mechanical Lifetime Achievement Award:

Spirit and Opportunity Mars Rovers." Popular Mechanics. N.p., 3 Oct. 11. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/moon-mars/pm-lifetime-achievement-award-spirit-and-opportunity-mars-rovers>.

The First Kind

            In 1992, a new mission was born to set out and experience the Red planet known as Mars. It was called the Mars Pathfinder. It was created to be a technology demonstrator mission for a landing method that would be low-cost. It consisted of parachutes and airbags. The landing methods that were previously used were the convention rocket-powered landing(Marsnews.com). 

The cost of the entire program would be around $260 million. This included testing the lander and rover as well as building and operating it. A bigger plus to the missions is that it even was covered for the launch vehicle called the Delta 2. All of this would be less than 1/10 of the cost from missions in the 70s called the Viking program(Marsnews.com).

There were two things that the Mars pathfinder would have aboard. The Mars Pathfinder would carry a lander, and something that has never been done before. A rover called Sojourner.

Equipped on the lander was a stereoscopic digital camera called the IMP, which stood for Imager for Mars Pathfinder. This camera had a better resolution than the Viking’s TV cameras. The lander would as have a complete meteorology package. This could measure the temperature, pressure, and wind speeds of different elevations above Mars’ surface(Marsnews.com).

Sojourner, being named after the Civil War-era abolitionist known as Sojourner Truth, was the size of a microwave oven. Carried aboard it was an Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer. Yes a long name indeed. It could analyze elemental compositions of various rocks & soil around the landing site. Controlled by an Earth-based operator remotely, it would have a 10-minute delay even with the signals being sent at the speed of light. That’s a lot of distance in such a short amount of time. However, Sojourner would also have some autonomous control, which means it could operate on its own when not being controlled. It would be able to measure obstacles with a set of laser pointers and have artificial intelligence like an insect(Marsnews.com).

What the Pathfinder did was extraordinary while on Mars. It was able to send 2.6 billion bits of data, including 16,000 lander images and 550 rover images back to Earth. It was busy and always doing something, like performing chemical analyses of rocks and soil, 20 to be exact(Marsnews.com). It found “dust devils” which was basically what the name explains in of itself. They were like super mini-tornados that moved along the surface and kicked up dust into the atmosphere. It set a new standard for space travel.

Unfortunately, the life of the Pathfinder would come to an end. The end of its mission was on August 3^rd of 1997. Then they lost communication with it on September 27, 1997(Marsnews.com).

It is incredible to think about something from Earth moving around on another planet millions of miles away. It’s like a piece of humankind making its mark of territory. We are expanding more and more. Perhaps thousands or even millions of years from now we could possibly live on many different planets evolving differently. The possibilities are unlimited.

And here's a video about the new landing method if you're curious and like visuals.

With that I’ll be finding my way out.

This is BE#6

Signing out…

Works Cited

 "MarsNews.com :: Mars Pathfinder." MarsNews.com :: Mars Pathfinder. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.marsnews.com/missions/pathfinder/>.

Protective Fabric Used in Mars Landing. YouTube. Albidder, 15 July 2008. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G75kQm7pSE>.

The Fourth Giant

Earth’s neighbor, Mars has been getting a lot of attention lately. NASA launched a rover called Curiosity last year. As of this very second that you are reading this it is currently on Mars and exploring the sandy surface. Previously, before Curiosity even got to Mars there were three other rovers that were there before it. The very first one was called Sojourner (part of the Mars Pathfinder), which landed on Mars in the late 90s. It was the smallest of the rovers sent to mars. Then NASA sent too rovers to Mars at the same time. One called Spirit, the other Opportunity. These two landed on the surface of Mars in mid 2000. In total, four rovers have been sent to Mars by the United States. However, what do people know of Mars as of right now?

            Some generic facts about Mars is that it’s known for being the fourth planet in our solar system. It is also acknowledged as the red planet because of its reddish glow. One year on mars is about twice as long as it is here on Earth, 322 days longer to be exact. Mars is smaller than the Earth but twice as large as Earth’s moon.

            What most people don’t know about Mars is that it has an axis tilt of about 25 degrees. Earth’s tilt is around 23 degrees. So this means that Mars is able to have seasonal changes in its atmosphere just like Earth (NASA 4). However, Mars’ atmosphere isn’t nearly as strong as Earth and so it’s not able to block out most of the radiation from the sun.

            Now why can’t we live on Mars? It seems to have a lot of characteristics as our home planet, but there seems to be only sands and rocks there. Well, what you have to think about too is that it’s so far away. It takes about 9 months to travel there and 9 months is a long time to do nothing but wait in space. We would need a way to create a bubble where air can be stored. We would need fertile soil in order to make food or even to raise animals. With the technology that we have it’s still just too risky to try and live there. Scientists have always talking about inhabiting Mars but as of right now it’s just not possible. However, there is always a possibility it could happen. That is why we have rovers exploring the planet so we can increase our knowledge about Mars and prepare for future expeditions.

My reasoning is done for now.

This is BE#5

Signing out…

Lightness in Darkness

As I walked outside last night to go to my car I stopped and looked up. I saw the blackened night sky, and I thought to myself what it would be like if I could be up there. Space to me has always been such an incredible part of my life. No matter who you are, if you see sky then you can see space. We are all connected to it and it’s been with us since the beginning of time. What you see at night today is the same dark sky that the greatest conqueror in the Roman empire, Julius Caesar saw over 2000 years. Space is the only thing on this planet that humankind can all look at simultaneously. The incredible vast night sky filled with stars and the moon is apart of our life everyday.

When I was young I used to have a trampoline that I would jump on until the sun went down and the stars came out. Those days are ones that I miss being able to do because I was so carefree. I would just spread myself out on the trampoline and look up in the sky and see these beautiful stars. Some shined brighter than others and some were more gathered in one spot. I always thought to myself that I wanted to explore that darkness. I wanted to be the light that would guide others into everlasting universe. I wanted to be an astronaut to explore the moon, which has been one of my favorite objects of all time.

The moon is a remarkable entity. It has different shades to it from the full moon of shining the brightest, to the disappearing new moon when not a single part of the moon can be visible to the naked eye. It has an effect on some of the Earth’s elements like the ocean. When the moon is full, or close to the planet its gravity tends to make the ocean tides rise. I’ve even heard that it can lift the spirits of some people and change the way they feel. I’d say this happens to me sometimes because when I know the moon is present in the sky I feel like I’m being guided and watched over. The moon to me represents purity with its striking white-cloaked surface. It does have some beat up spots on it, but who doesn’t get scars?

As strangely as it sounds the moon is an inspiration to me. Whenever I feel like I’m troubled I just go outside and spend a few minutes looking up into the sky, and the moon never fails me to shine. It’s a part of everyone’s lives and apart of space. With that note I hope you look up into the sky tonight and ask yourself what do you find most fascinating about it.

It’s my turn to vanish for a little while.

This is BE#4

Signing out…

That's One Small Step for "a" Man, and One Giant Leap for Mankind

While I've been browsing around and listening to what's been going on about space I've noticed people have been talking about Neil Armstrong's famous quote. For those of you who don't know Neil Armstrong is, he the first astronaut to walk onto the moon. On July 20th, 1969 Armstrong was able to land Apollo 11(the space aircraft used to go to the moon at the time) on the moon making him the first man to successfully complete the first manned lunar landing(Strauss). When he stepped out of the space craft and began to set foot onto the moon he made one of the most famous quotes in history. He said, "That's one small step for a man, and one giant leap for mankind."

Now if you go to the link and watch the video most of you will think to yourself, "Wait? he never mentioned the "a" part?" That is true. In the video and audio files that NASA has, it seems like Armstrong is saying, "for man" instead of, "for a man." Many people like to argue about this, but you have to think logically. Why would someone intelligent as him mess up on saying some words?  The thing is back then technology wasn't as great as today and so you would have some static. Well the static just happened to occur when he said "a." Also, I want you to break down the sentence of the words he said. That's one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind. Let's take the first part of the sentence before the break. That's one small step for man is referring to all of man. Now the second part he says, one giant leap for mankind. This part is also referring to man or in other words, mankind. It wouldn't make any logical sense for him to say both parts about all of man. Moving forward we can put the new sentence together to make it more logical. That's one small step for a man, and one giant leap for mankind. Doesn't that sound a lot better and makes more sense? To sum it all up, Armstrong's famous quote mystery has now been solved.

My role is complete
This is BE#3
Signing out...

Works Cited

Strauss, Gary. "Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, Dies." USA Today. Gannett, 
         26 Aug. 2012. Web. 04 Sept. 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/
         story/2012-08-25/neil-armstrong- astronaut-obit/57312732/1>.

YouTube. Dir. NASAexplorer. YouTube. YouTube, 16 July 2009. Web. 04 Sept. 2012
          <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Sm4kTUGCc>.