Curiosity on Mars at the Mountain

Video of the Moon Circling the Earth

h/t http://www.kottke.org



This kind of vista is where I get my inspiration for my drawings; cue to the Black Paintings on my website, http://www.rounderstudio.com/.

Voyager 1 Has Left the Solar System

It's official. Voyager 1 has left the solar system. NASA announced it this afternoon. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. The 36-year-old probe is about 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) from our sun. It doesn't change a thing here on Earth, but it's still a BFD.

Why the Apollo Moon Landings Could Not Have Been Faked

My dad and I used to talk about if it would have been possible to fake a moon landing.  He would have enjoyed this presentation very much.

Life on the Space Station

Robots, Ctd.

To continue a continuing thread, robots! I'm fascinated by robots as imagined by artist Kathy Weaver, by robots as engineered by NASA like Curiosity and Voyager that are flung out into the heavens and these guys. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan, who is as fascinated as I am.

The term robot was introduced to the public by the Czech interwar writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920.[39] [h/t Wikipedia].

I add that the legend of the golem also comes from Prague and the Czech lands. The Sefer Yezirah ("Book of Creation"), often referred to as a guide to magical usage by some Western European Jews in the Middle Ages, contains instructions on how to make a golem. Several rabbis, in their commentaries on Sefer Yezirah have come up with different understandings of the directions on how to make a golem. Most versions include shaping the golem into a figure resembling a human being and using God's name to bring him to life, since God is the ultimate creator of life. Often in Ashkenazi Hasidic lore, the golem would come to life and serve his creators by doing tasks assigned to him. The most well-known story of the golem is connected to Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal of Prague (1513-1609).  [h/t Jewish Virtual Library]

Curiosity on Mars!

Sacred Deeds, Sally Ride

Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dead at the tender age of 61, rode the shuttle on the shoulders of women pilots before her, giants. You can read about it here, "Right Stuff, Wrong Sex."

Sally Ride, First American Woman in Space

Curiousity Seven Minutes of Terror

Curiousity is due to land on Mars on or about August 5th. Here's a video describing the entry process which is totally automated and totally dependent on the guesswork of scientists and engineers. I'll be watching. You?