On Monday November 26th, NASA announced that it had successfully landed its InSight robot lander on the surface of Mars. InSight which stands for, Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, reached the Martian surface at 11:52:29 Pacific Time after plunging through a thin Martian atmosphere. From its Elysium Planitia landing site, InSight will carry out its two year mission to probe beneath the surface of the Red Planet.
InSight is a three legged, stationary lander instead of a rover. Its stationary position will allow InSight to study the planet for the existence of seismic anomalies called, Mars quakes. To do this, InSight will deploy a seismometer from its robotic arm. The arm will also be used to deploy a self hammering nail that will drill down into Martian surface to a depth of 16 feet in order to determine the planet's temperature.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Legendary Comic Book Creator, Stan Lee, Dies At 95
On November 12th 2018, legendary comic book creator, Stan Lee died. He as 95. While the cause of his death was not immediately known, it has been said that his passing was due to pneumonia. Mr Lee is best known for the characters, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Avengers, and many others, which he created or co created while working for Marvel Comics. Mr. Lee was a writer and editor in chief of Marvel Comics during the 60s.
Mr Lee was born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28th 1922 in Manhattan, New York, NY. He began his career in comics in 1939, at the age of 17, working for Timely Comics, which would go on to become, Marvel Comics. When he began scripting comics, he started using the name, Stan Lee, as his pen name. Mr Lee became the publisher of Marvel in 1972, a year after a story that he wrote threaten to create a controversy.
Some of Mr Lee's earliest collaborators included, Jack Kirby, with whom he created, the Fantastic Four in 1961 and artist, Steve Ditko, with whom he created Spider-Man, in 1962. Mr Lee moved to Hollywood in 1980 where he helped to develop Marvel Properties. Their first TV series, The Hulk, although airing for four years, was not viewed as a success. However, the success of an animated X-Men TV series which aired on FOX from 1992 to 1997, led to the live action X-Men franchise.
Through out the many films that Marvel has released, Mr lee has had a both a producer's credit and a cameo appearance. In the 1990s, he was named chairman emeritus of Marvel. Mr Lee's wife Joan B. Lee, died July 6, 2017. He is survived by his daughters, Joan Celia Lee and Jan Lee.
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Mr Lee was born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28th 1922 in Manhattan, New York, NY. He began his career in comics in 1939, at the age of 17, working for Timely Comics, which would go on to become, Marvel Comics. When he began scripting comics, he started using the name, Stan Lee, as his pen name. Mr Lee became the publisher of Marvel in 1972, a year after a story that he wrote threaten to create a controversy.
Some of Mr Lee's earliest collaborators included, Jack Kirby, with whom he created, the Fantastic Four in 1961 and artist, Steve Ditko, with whom he created Spider-Man, in 1962. Mr Lee moved to Hollywood in 1980 where he helped to develop Marvel Properties. Their first TV series, The Hulk, although airing for four years, was not viewed as a success. However, the success of an animated X-Men TV series which aired on FOX from 1992 to 1997, led to the live action X-Men franchise.
Through out the many films that Marvel has released, Mr lee has had a both a producer's credit and a cameo appearance. In the 1990s, he was named chairman emeritus of Marvel. Mr Lee's wife Joan B. Lee, died July 6, 2017. He is survived by his daughters, Joan Celia Lee and Jan Lee.
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Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Was Oumuamua An Alien Spacecraft?
On November 1st 2018, two Harvard astronomers posted a paper that endeavors to make the case that the asteroid Oumuamua was actually an alien spacecraft. Oumuamua is a cigar shaped object that was spotted passing through our solar system by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii in 2017. In their paper, the two scientist mark as fact, that Oumamua was 400 meters long, but only a tenth as wide.
The object also flew by on a trajectory that places its origin somewhere outside our solar system, and it appeared to accelerate as it made its way through. The two researchers, Shmuel Bialy and Avi Leob believe that Oumuamua's acceleration is the most notable clue. While some have considered Oumuamua to be a comet, they point out that comets tend to develop a tail as they round the sun, but Oumuamua did not have one.
If this doesn't make the case for aliens, Bialy and Leob postulate that because of Oumuamua shape size and dimensions, it's possible that it could be a piece of advanced technology called a solar sail. A solar sail uses the power of whats known as the solar wind as a means of propelling a spacecraft. They suggest that Oumuamua may be a piece of debris that may have broken off from some alien craft. The two also posit that Oumuamua could have been a probe designed to gather information about possible life in our solar system.
The object also flew by on a trajectory that places its origin somewhere outside our solar system, and it appeared to accelerate as it made its way through. The two researchers, Shmuel Bialy and Avi Leob believe that Oumuamua's acceleration is the most notable clue. While some have considered Oumuamua to be a comet, they point out that comets tend to develop a tail as they round the sun, but Oumuamua did not have one.
If this doesn't make the case for aliens, Bialy and Leob postulate that because of Oumuamua shape size and dimensions, it's possible that it could be a piece of advanced technology called a solar sail. A solar sail uses the power of whats known as the solar wind as a means of propelling a spacecraft. They suggest that Oumuamua may be a piece of debris that may have broken off from some alien craft. The two also posit that Oumuamua could have been a probe designed to gather information about possible life in our solar system.
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