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Top Mars image:  Rub Al Khali panorama. Opportunity rover, Meridiani Planum, Mars. Polar projection I made for fun. Source image here. Original image credit NASA/JPL/Cornell. Projection my own.

Bottom Mars image:  McMurdo panorama. Spirit rover, Columbia Hills, Gusev Crater, Mars. Another polar projection I made. Source image here. Original image credit NASA/JPL/Cornell. Projection my own.

Opportunity's view of Santa Maria Crater from her current location (March 3, 2011). This is a Navcam right eye image from Sol 2525B (Wednesday 3/2). Original image credit NASA/JPL-Caltech. I stretched it a bit for contrast.

Mars Update: MERA Spirit, left image. Nothing since March 2010. Still waiting to hear if the spacecraft survived the Martian winter. Listening for her daily. MERB Opportunity, right image. We're a few meters away from Santa Maria Crater, whose rim you see in this Navcam image rising over the rover's left wing. Get ready for a spectacular view of the interior in a few days (check the JPL site). Craters at Meridiani Planum provide a view under the surface, exposing geological clues about the history of this area. After Santa Maria, Opportunity is bound for Endeavour Crater, whose rim you can see here on the far horizon. Check out Google Mars for a sense of scale. Endeavour is many times larger than any crater we've encountered yet, and looks very compelling from orbital observations. Read more on Endeavour here.

Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. Navcam, sol 2449B (Dec. 14, 2010). More like this here.

Poetry by DCS.

First three from the Smithsonian Air & Space Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, last two from a recent trip to Colorado. Both incidentally involved little red planes. More photos here.

Figured it was time for a Mars update. Left view: MERA Spirit. Still no communication since late March 2010. But don't get any ideas. It's spring in Gusev, and the sun continues to arc higher in the sky. Good news for a solar powered rover. We're listening for her, and it ain't over till it's over. Right: MERB Opportunity. Found interesting thing. Deciding what to do about it. The image above (a Pancam R1 from sol 2363B) shows a larger than normal object between us and Endeavour Crater (this is an Eastern view. The bumps on the horizon are actually part of the rim). It might be a meteorite, it might be a rock, it might be something else, but hopefully we'll find out soon. Opportunity is now more than halfway to Endeavour. You can read more about that at Jet Propulsion Lab's Mars Rover site.

Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. More like them here. Update 10/6: close-up image with Pancam.

Drawing at top my own. Second to last photo in this sequence courtesy of Irina Chernyakova.

Previous 3 photos from my friend Greg's flour mill in Tburg, NY

While within the Matrix...

Mars update: Almost halfway through winter. Sun is low in the North, temperatures are cold, Spirit is angled away from the sun and spends all the energy she has on keeping her most essential electronics warm. No word from her since late March 2010. Hopeful for her signal in spring. With less dust on her panels and a more favorable location near the equator, Opportunity continues her trek to Endeavour Crater (22 km diameter). Her journey is slow and interwoven with entire days spent recharging the batteries. During her 6 year lifetime, she has traveled over 20 km. 12 more to go.

Left image: MERA - nothing.
Right image: MERB Sol 2226 Left Front Hazcam (rover has been driving backwards, so it shows where she came from).

Images courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. More like them here.

MER team honored with Space Ops Award for Outstanding Achievement!

 

More Puerto Rico photos here.

Urban stratigraphy

Dean Electric Co. Elyria, OH

The first-grader turned around and I wrote "Trout fishing in America" on his back. It looked even better on the second first-grader. We couldn't help but admire it. "Trout fishing in America." It certainly did add something to the first-graders. It completed them and gave them a kind of class.

"It really looks good, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Let's get some more chalk."

-Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing In America

Exciting week on Mars! These images show the latest fisheye views from the Mars Rovers' front Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams). On the left is Spirit, who has been stuck in deep sand for over 5 months. During this time, a heroic effort has taken place in a Mars analog "sandbox" at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) to determine the best way to free the rover. Last weekend marked the first time we've moved on Mars since getting stuck. If you look closely at these Hazcams, you'll see that the front wheels have been straightened, causing a slight change in heading. With luck, we'll soon be on the road again. This Free Spirit page is a good place for progress updates.

On the right is Opportunity's view. This rover has encountered three meteorites and now this pointy rock, all within close proximity to each other, while on her way to Endeavour Crater. The rock, which we are calling Marquette Island, looks to me more like the type we've seen at the Spirit site (halfway around the planet) than anything we've seen at Meridiani.* We are approaching it today in preparation to poke it.

Top Left Image: MERA Sol 2078 Left Front Hazcam
Top Right Image: MERB Sol 2058 Left Front Hazcam

Lower Left Image: MERA Sol 2079 Left Front Hazcam
Lower Right Image: MERB Sol 2061 Left Front Hazcam

Images courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. More like them here.

* My non-geologist opinion.

NASA turns its focus to planet Earth in the form of a hyper-sustainable complex at Ames. According to this article, it will be the most environmentally responsible of any federal building project in this country. Image credit: William McDonough + Partners, courtesy of Inhabitat. 

"People just don't get that if you build faster roads and you build more parking, there will be faster roads and more parking."

-Andy Wiley-Schwartz (Dwell Magazine, Sept. 2006)

More boat pics in the "Sailing" album (Picasa link to left). The painting is in progress. 24"x36". Working from a digital photo.

Coffee Grindin' Blues - Lucille Bogan

Ain't nobody, it ain't nobody
Ain't nobody in town can grind a coffee like mine

I drink so much coffee, till I grind it in my sleep
I drink so much coffee, I grind it in my sleep
And when it get like that, you know it can't be beat

It's so doggone good that it made me bite my tongue
It's so doggone good it made me bite my tongue
Will keep it for my daddy, ain't gonna give nobody none

I ain't ever loved it this-a way before
I ain't ever loved it this-a way before
And I hope the Lord that I won't love it any more

I've got so now that I can't control my mind
I've got so now that I can't control my mind
I go to bed blue and I get up cryin'

It's so doggone good that it made me talk out of my head
It's so doggone good it made me talk out of my head
And it's better to me than any that I have ever had

Now I grind my coffee, at the 2 and 3 dollars a pound
I grind my coffee, at the 2 and 3 dollars a pound
And it ain't no mo' cheap like mine in town

It's so doggone good until it'll make you bite your tongue
It's so doggone good that it'll make you bite your tongue
And I'm a coffee grindin' mama and won't you let me grind you some?