Mars Quakes, Clippers And Alien Krill

Gullied wall on Mars    NASA  HI -Rez image processed  byKevinMGill 

Today saw the launch of the Atlas-V rocket from Vandenburg, carrying the NASA Insight lander on its journey to Mars, touching down in six months, and sending us new subsurface data of 'Marsquakes' to enable us to build a clear picture of the seismic internal workings of both Mars, and ultimately, our own planet .

Insight follows on from Viking 2 and Phoenix               image NASA  / JPL

 Let's hope that it proves fruitful, as it appears that NASA have nixed the idea of human journeys to Mars due to costs. In the greater scheme of things, the commercial field is burgeoning, and I'm surre that bookings are healthy for Mars 'trips'
Lets not forget the space hotel, Orion span, which is due in 2021,

Personally I don't think that Mars even has the best resources available for fruitful exploration, ( no atmosphere, precious little water, major terraforming necessary) - although, if there are any cheap smallholdings available, let me know ; I'll pack the factor 2000 Suncream

I am excited about the proposed Europa Clipper, although it has huge considerable problems ahead - funding, the feasibility of a rocket big enough for the 60 tonne probe, successful navigation of the complex gravitational fields of Jupiter and its many moons, etcetera. The potential pay-off , however, could be (pardon the pun) astronomical - alien krill !
Okay, so that was a lame joke that downplays the potential of such a historic voyage - but if I've learned one thing about space exploration, it's not to get over - excited (as I was about the huge sodium deposits of Ceres, and the fiery fate* of Cassini)
The launch of Europa Clipper is currently set at 2022 , and should take about three years to reach the icy Jovian moon
 Although it has already done the viral thing online, I am still hugely impressed by this gif collated by Twitter user Landru 79...using many pictures taken by the errant lander Philae: Landru intends to remake the gif in full colour, no less !
The sheer fact that it shows imagery from the surface of a comet hurtling through space leaves me overawed and humbled. It may be a cliché , but what a time to be alive !




* I think this may have had more to do with the Absinthe I drank in commemoration)