Aurora Called Steve, A Rover On Mars, A Map Of Venus, And Farewell, Professor

I think the cosmos has a great sense of synchronicity or something - 'pi' day, which marks the birth anniversary of Einstein, was the day that the great astrophysicist Steven Hawking died.
He was a role model to many, a great thinker and humanitarian, he championed the search for knowledge and refused to be limited by physical or mental restraints.
He said that religion was for people who were scared of the dark.
He also said that there were an infinite number of universes...
I like to think that he is coninuing his work in one of those universes.
"My life goal is simple - to understand the universe - why it is the way it is, and why it exists at all "

 Meanwhile, elsewhere on Earth

This article warns of the effect that human greed is having on the S.E.T.I. project , and the greed of algorithms feeding insatiable databases that is actually hindering the development of A.I : apparently, we should not fear a 'robot singularity' as current technological systems are  subject to random weirdness...

Apparently, the universe is expanding faster than it should be, giving cause for headaches to physicists around the globe.

Having reached the record breaking 5000 sols ( Mars days), NASAs  Opportunity Rover continues to surprise, currently examining Endeavour Valley for what may be evidence of a previously watery environment - speakng of which, it appears that Ceres once had an ocean that covered the surface, and the little dwarf world is still very geologically active with rock falls and ice-flows constantly revealing new material .
Here on Earth, four hundred miles beneath the surface, we find a rare form of water never encountered - until recently, it was only considered possible in outer space - speaking of which, did you ever wonder what Venus would look like if it were terraformed ?
No ?

Venus terraformed - tricky really, as the average surface temperature is 467 C, so presumably the blue oceans would be boiling...

Apparently the asteroid Bennu may strike the Earth in 2135. As I wearily added another pin to my wall map of Endtimes Predictions, I paused , because the name seemed familiar - yes, Bennu is the very asteroid chosen for the Osiris - Rex mission to collect and  return a sample to Earth.
The mission is scheduled to reach Bennu in December 2018. returning with its sample in 2023.
Thank goodness that we are ahead of the game, and will know the precise chemical composition of the asteroid long before it allegedly wipes us out.
So there's that...

As I mentioned briefly, back in April last year, there is a new aurora by the name of Steve. The name was initially a joke, but was given scientific gravitas with the official designation 'Strong Thermal Emissions Venting Enhancement'
Discovered by citizen scientists , the display of green and purple lights is primarily visible in the Calgary skies in Southern Canada.
More data and images can be found at this site.

Meanwhile, back in Blighty - I didn't know we had a National Quantum Technology Hub, but apparently such a thing exists, and from its base in Birmingham, it exports Quantum Gravimeters for the measuring of underground gravitational forces...just the thing for using on the lunar lava tubes...

Please excuse the random nature of this little blog.. I'm trying to dodge unwanted interest from a little smattering of trolls who seem to have ' adopted' my writings, with a view to ripping them off.

Thanks for bearing with me, though !

Space Waste and an Aurora Called Steve...

Opportunity heat shield         NASA

There is a crater on Mars , recently imaged by the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter, which contains detritus from the 2004 landing of Opportunity.
I got to thinking that we have already begun leaving our waste on other worlds
The moon has over 70 space vehicles, including buggies and landers, golf clubs, discarded boots, flags, and various - over 100,000 pounds of debris.
I looked for statistics regarding waste on Mars, but beyond this list, it gets into alien conspiracy territory, so I quickly back-tracked.
Let's not forget the ring of debris orbiting our own planet - some 500,000 pieces (according to NASA in 2013).
Add to this the many Russian Verbera modules on Venus - although I imagine they've been cremated and crushed to a pulp, so at least there should be no trace...
Mercury didn't escape so lightly in 2008 , when the Messenger craft impacted, creating a whole new crater.

Mercury imaged by Messenger               NASA

Currently surveying Titan for the last time, Cassini will eventually descend into Saturn, although given the toxic nature of the atmosphere, it will almost certainly be destroyed - and let's not forget the two Voyager craft, heading into deep space, followed by New Horizons, which achieved the most distant rendezvous yet with its flypast of Pluto, and following its encounter with MU69 in 2019, will become so much hi-tech driftwood floating through the heavens.
Our faltering steps into space have already left quite a trail , like a bored passenger tossing trash out of a car window on a long drive.
We humans are a messy bunch, but until we get the bill from the Intergalactic Sanitation Engineers, we'll be none the wiser.

On a lighter note , a new discovery in the majesty of the aurora ; a trail of green and purple lights which have been given the name of Steve.
No mushrooms required.


G