PERSEVERANCE IS ON MARS !!!

 

Here it is one of the first pictures taken by Perseverance after it landed safely on Mars!!! talk about excitement and anticipation. As they stated at JPL it is alive and well on the red planet. Yes another robot on our celestial neighbor.

I have had the great privilege of being alive for most of the space program. I was alive and saw the first man land on the moon. I was watching television when the first American rover, Sojourner landed on Mars. However as I was watching this landing live I still got excited, anxious and a lot nervous.

I listened as they ran off the speed and altitude of the rover over Mars. I thought it was fascinating when they stated that because all that was going on the rover would not send a binary stream of data but a heart beat tone to indicate it was doing well. When they said it had landed I was overjoyed and relieved. In such technical feat many things can go wrong. In order for it to be successful many more things have to go right.

It was so tense as it slowed its speed and the surface was looming ever closer. The descent was a few minutes but it seemed a lot longer. Here is a picture of the process and below is a small video of these minutes of terror!!

So here we are in an age that has accomplished its first steps in the cosmos. Our robots are our first emissaries in this vastness. It is to wonder what we will find. We can go into that future because of the hardiness and stamina of our robot friends. Here is a review of those who have preceded Perseverance.

 

Here is Sojourner!!

Here is Spirit who looked like his brother Opportunity!!

Here is Curiosity working to get us more data!!

Rest my good and loyal robots and best of luck to Perseverance!!!!!

CHINA LUNAR LANDING !!!!!!!!!!!

                                        SUCCESS !!!!

I have decided to end my long silence to say a congratulations to the Chinese space agency. You have done it and it can never be reversed! Chang'e 4 has landed on the so called dark side of the moon. Actually it gets a lot of light. However we on earth only see one side of the moon. 

                                         Chang'e 4

This is an artist's rendition of what  the rover it looks like on the moon's surface. To me this is exciting news, anything in space has always fascinated me . As a human I share  and enjoy the accomplishments of brave women and men in space. I also get a kick when the robotic probes are successful. I have a special place in my heart for all robots. They are our ambassadors to the great unknown and they light the way for mankind to reach out into space. 

Will you look at this amazing photograph!!! I get chills just looking at it! This is a picture of the moon that has never been seen even by telescopes. Great, great work all you women and in the Chinese Space Program. I want to say a personal THANK YOU !!! There are those in this world that only look at their feet or the very simple things on their television and forget to see the wonder that is all around if they only look up. Let the stars get into your eyes!!

Now look at how the signal is being sent to earth. There is not a direct line of sight since the craft is on the other side or farside. So the signal is sent to an orbiting satellite and relayed to Earth. I must say what a neat  and logical solution.  This done because the orbiting satellite is in a lagrangian orbit.  That is a small object will maintain its position relative to a larger object.

It the upcoming days we shall see more pictures as the rover goes for a walk, or in this case a roll. These are exciting times for those of us who appreciate what is going on.

The reason I am writing after a long while is because this is worth standing on the roof tops and yelling to the world to take notice. I have not been this excited since Yutu. However I have noticed that the western news media is not very happy about the news. Though they do tell us there is not the level of respect that they show when the United States does something in space.

Over the years I have seen that most of the people of the world care more about stupid, mundane things. I have seen the great powers of space fight and argue with each other. In this year of 2019 I thought we would be more united and prosperous. This creates in me a profound sadness. I know that at my age I should not be so idealistic , but not being so is no alternative.

Dream with me for a little while. I would like to see the world a happier place where everyone lives in peace. I would like the nations of the world uniting and solving the problems of ecology and society. Then the  entire population can live with enough food, wealth and housing. In order for the universe to be properly explored and used well no one nation alone can do it. It is far too expensive and will require the talents of all of humanity. Space will unite the human race and as such we will be a better species. We must see beyond race and politics and faith and finally realize our destiny !!

                                                                                                                  

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 !