Sunday, June 14, 2015

Reaching Beyond Earth

By Douglas V. Gibbs

One of my biggest loves is science.  I am a regular viewer of the science channel, and I am especially interested when we reach beyond the Earth's atmosphere in an attempt to seek knowledge about what is beyond our world.  The thing is, I am a conservative, so according to the hard left progressive liberal whackos, I am supposed to think the world is flat, or something like that.  It's just that I prefer real science, not science by consensus based on a political agenda, or a theory that has been continuously faked in an attempt to get people to believe it.

Anyway, here's a couple interesting tidbits going on in our attempt to reach spaceward.

Our understanding of comets has grown so much in the last one hundred years, but especially in our most recent activities.

Last year, we landed on a comet, and the lander Philae has awoken from a seven-month hibernation and managed to communicate with Earth for more than a minute.  The effort, now that NASA is searching for ways to be a buddy to Muslims, is the European Space Agency.

The probe is the first spacecraft to land on a comet, touching down on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last November. The experiments and data has launched us light years forward in our understanding of comets, but after 60 hours of data, the craft's batteries were depleted and it was forced to shut down.

As the comet approached the sun the probe's solar panels picked up some energy and its on-board battery lurched back into life.  The lander began sending signals to Earth late Saturday, after gathering information.  The data burst was only 85 seconds, but it contained 300 packages of data that were relayed by the probe's mother ship Rosetta, which is orbiting the comet.

The next step is to adjust Rosetta's orbit in order to extend the link.

Scientists are also currently attempting to pinpoint Philae's landing site.  So far, they are not sure of its location on the comet.

The comet is currently near the orbit of Mars. On August 13 it will reach the point at which it is closest to the sun and then begin its swing around and out.  The expectation is that the sunlight gathered should be enough to power the probe into October.

Meanwhile, with an eye on establishing a colony on Mars, six scientists emerged from a dome on the slopes of a dormant Hawaii volcano after confinement inside for eight months.  The plan was to simulate life on Mars.

The crew treated the isolation as if they were on Mars, stepping out of the dome in a spacesuit, collecting soil samples, taking six minutes worth a week showers, and eating only what they would have available in their supplies on the planet.  The whole ordeal was tracked and monitored by surveillance cameras, body movement trackers and electronic surveys.

The scenery outside the dome, because of its volcanic location, helped with the illusion, providing an atmosphere similar to Mars.  The view was lava fields and mountains.

The seclusion had its challenges, and the equipment used relied on solar power, which means only on afternoons and sunny days could they operate their gear.

After being released from their confinement, real food was their first conquest.  One said 

One participant sought to go swimming, and longed to "feel the sun."

The data collected from the tracking measures may help in establishing strategies for future missions, with the ultimate goal being to place humans on Mars for extended time periods, and perhaps even permanently.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary


No comments: