Lunokhod the Russian Moon Rover

Recently I became aware of some fascinating pictures of the Russian robot rover on the moon. It was launched as the answer to the Apollo 11 moon landing. It was discovered by a Canadian astronomer with data from a recent Lunar Orbiter. He found that it holds the distance record of over thirty-five kilometers traversing on the moon and now is seen beside a crater. The pictures are literally out of this world and it takes your breath away to see the tracks it made in the lunar dust all those decades ago.

Now as I look at these pictures  I wonder about the lagging space programs in the world. All going in their own directions. I think in this twenty-first century we should put our differences aside and work together. In this way we could share the high initial cost of going into space. To set things up is going to be very expensive. However as a species we can certainly afford it. We should back to the moon with the plan of setting up a permanent moon base and from there explore the planets. The moon has less gravity and we could launch ship after ship with less energy use.

Now the crews of these ships should be robotic at first, second and of course third. Robots are perfect for space. They do not need life support  and can be built for specific missions to specific planets. Also they can be built to last for decades. What wonders will we see??  What secrets will we learn ?? As we learn  these secrets the whole world can share equally. World wide interest will cause the governments to keep up the expense. We cannot afford not to do this. Hopefully we could set up a World Space Administration.  We should go into space with specific timetables and goals. We should also have a vision of the future. The great potential of space can be realized if we work as one species. What happens to one affects us all since we share the same biosphere, at least for the near term.

Sleep well loyal, hard working robot !!

I just found a new, well old video in Russian about these robots. They are filmed on Earth with some lively music. To a robot builder the movements of the robot are like a well orchestrated ballet . I hope you enjoy it as much as I love to watch this type of robot in action !

Alloting Words

Shakespeare once wrote in one of his plays, " That a rose by any other name would smell just a sweet."  In another he penned the following words, " How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." Even common day to day activities were stated with eloquence. Marc Anthony wished that the people gathered after the murder of Julius Caesar would listen to him. He entreats them with these words, " Friends, Romans ,countrymen lend me your ears !!!" I have remembered these over the years because they are beautiful and crafted with intelligence and genuine warmth.

As I sat in a coffee shop I penned more words surrounded by talk. Most of it unintelligible and distant enough that it did not intrude on my own thoughts. When I walked down the street  I saw and heard people conversing on their cell phones. On the computer there are so, so, so many sites, forums, chat-rooms and blogs that it is at times overwhelming.

I wonder how many words are spoken or written or typed in a single day by all the humans on this planet. Could you actually count such things accurately??  I know  I have like most humans, said words that I wish I could take back. However once something is uttered it is impossible to unsay, not write it. This is the result of engaging the mouth before engaging the brain .

I listened to a talk show host on the radio many years ago and he coined a phrase that has stayed with me. He said we should be allotted so many words a day. When the number of words spoken or written were reached we would have to stop. Hopefully this would give us time to think twice or thrice before we pen or say words that would add nothing of substance or value.  I realize that something like this concept would be almost impossible to suggest , let alone implement. I just found it intriguing!!!

Just the Moon Please !!

What happened here??? Where are those moon bases?? Where are the moon colonies.?? They used to say that people that were a bit touched were lunatics. We are crazy if we do not exploit our nearest celestial neighbour.  We just got there and then we abandoned our grand vision. The first nation to land a man on the moon seems to be seized with an overwhelming lethargy .

However other nations are now beginning to land  robots,  and  hope to land man back on the moon. The nation that can accomplish that will be on the rise and be able to exploit that tremendous potential. They can extract and use the frozen water on the moon's surface. They can construct manufacturing plants. If they have a grand vision, build spaceships from material found on the surface and launch them with less effort and energy due to the lower gravity.

I am glad we have not given up on the dream of returning to the moon. It will mean changing the train going there but it is important to remember that we are all the same species and the man must be back on the moon for the sake of our  future as a race.

                                                   Apollo 15 Moon Rover on surface.

Let us Hear it for the Robots !!

Spirit and Opportunity are well named. It takes spirit to take advantage of an opportunity.  Here these poor abandoned robots have performed brilliantly on Mars. One sadly is stuck but the other keeps going an going. I feel that they deserve recognition for what they have achieved on behalf of the human race. They have been transmitting data for years and years and they were only slated to work for ninety days. It goes to show you where well planned robotic can pave the way for humans.

Indeed we need to look up, if not to the stars just yet, then at Mars. When we look down at our progress on this planet we seem to be fumbling the ball just a tad. I have always thought that our robots,  the children of our collective genius , will lead us onto a path of surviving and thriving.

Junk Wire

As I was walking down the street I noticed something on the ground. It was to me a small treasure!! Some technician had been repairing the land-line  phone box and had thrown out some wire. I grabbed it quickly and wound it into a small ball.

I find it amazing that we can have a copper wire of such great tensile strength in so small a diameter. I have seen cables on those great wooden spools as they slowly unwind down a manhole. As they disappear, I find it fascinating that it can go on and on and not break. Copper is well known as a wonderful conductor of electricity and in order to make it more useful it usually covered with a non-conductor. As such these covered wires can mix and mingle and not short each other.

What a high level of civilization and technology we have surely achieved. When I wrote this note on paper with a gel pen I recalled that this too was fascinating. Paper , created, lined and placed in book form. A pen with ink so it runs out uniformly and smoothly. All I have to do is write. I do not have to dip my pen into an ink jar. The inventor of the ball point pen should be hailed as a hero by everyone. Yet how many people know about this marvel in their hand. In our so called advanced society it is one of the simplest and most abundant artifact. Yet the future is always depicted with people touch writing on an electronic pad. Those who own that great scourge of the twenty-first century , the cell phone, are always texting. Usually when the they are stepping off the sidewalk into the road.

Yes I do type on a computer with my famous one finger method, but I am always writing, writing, writing on paper with a wide variety of pens. We are surrounded by wonders of technology that we take for granted.

Lester the Robot head

LESTER

Here is a video of my latest robot Lester. He is made once again from spare parts. His head was from an old robot I took apart about 15 years ago. 

He was built around the 324 and some parts I had. My building philosophy has always been that you use what you have at hand. It might take some creative thinking and tinkering but I have found time after time that it works. What was fascinating was that the signal to the board where the circuit was went through almost three feet of wire from the light dependent resistor (LDR).

The 324 and the circuit built around it to run Lester.

Me holding one of the LDRs.

I do believe it is an excellent use of spare and thrown out parts!!

Infrastructure

A structure is supposed to last a few years. I wonder what secret the ancients had to build those monuments that still stand. They are wonders of the world because of their longevity. Sadly the civilizations that built these are long gone. The rise and fall of great empires is a complex and interesting study. I think that those that lived in the midst of all this history had difficulty understanding what was happening around them.

Of course they were not as advanced as we, who live in the twenty-first century. They did not have all the high tech tools and gadgets that are everywhere. Those who are technically naive use very sophisticated machines without really knowing how they operate. Why did the ancients not live down through the ages to witness our world??

Possibly they did not pay attention to their infrastructure. Theses are usually the out of sight, out of mind things that make a society function. For example, all humans need water to exist. In the cities of the past that were not built by rivers, where did the water originate ?? How was it transported to the populace ??. How was the issue of waste products dealt with effectively ?? What about transporting people and goods ?? Here we find the soft underbelly of any civilization. It is when the infrastructure weakens and then collapses that it is abandoned.

Surely we have gained the wisdom to avoid this pitfall. Our knowledge and understanding of a great multitude of things has risen to very high levels. So I ask myself, why do I sit on a rainy day in a streetcar that leaks ????