When A Fish Is A Rock, Space Pioneers, And Magnetic Birds Eye Views

Todays brief blog comes to you courtesy of my spare 'back-up' spectacles, which, to coin a phrase, are 'bloody useless', so please bear with me -

Artists impression  NASA/ D. Guidice

Today is the anniversary of the launch of Pioneer 11 which became the first craft to fly through the rings of Saturn, testing the journey for possible problems prior to the later arrival of Voyager 1 and 2.
The pioneering Pioneers 10 and 11 also carried the plaques suggested by Carl Sagan as a form of potential greeting to any curious lifeforms...Voyager 1 and 2 went further (literally) , with the inclusion of the 'Golden Disk' containing Earth sounds, music, etc.
The only issue is whether our alien friends exist,* and if so, do they have a record player ?...I presume the next explorer craft will just carry a link to a streaming service....
The Pioneer spacecraft were powered down in 1995 following 22 years of exploration, and are now  far away, drifting towards a distant constellation - no dramatic Cassini - style plunge into a planet for them, just a slow drift into eternity ( unless an alien intercepts them and posts them back to the 3rd planet from Sol...)

The plaque on Pioneers 10 / 11... complete with address details

On the subject of historic launches - Virgin Galactic successfully tested their low- orbit craft a few days ago, (following the tragic attempt in 2014 ) , and are now in the burgeoning field of commercial spaceflight- it's getting busy out ** there, with a space hotel*** promised for 2022, as well as the many satellites being launched
Book now before the view of Earth from space becomes pertmanently obscured !
(...you know that feeling when you have just one chance to take the perfect shot of a beautiful view, and someone gets in the way ?)
Yeah, that one - so book now !
The day will come when people confess that their photograph of Earth is only clear of debris thanks to the use of Photoshop ™ - (sad emoji)
Birds have no such problems - in  recent news releases it appears that our feathered friends can actually see the Earths magnetic field in some fashion., using a protein known as Cry4...

*Great comic page from ' The Nib', reminding us that (for instance) the chemical signature of a fish could be the same chemical signature as a rock - so let's not be over-excited about exo-worlds 

** I'm never really sure whether it's 'out ' there or 'up' there...hmmm

***Catering in the space hotel may well be using salad crops / vegetables of the kind grown recently in Antarctica by German researchers

Dark Matter, Majorana, Quipu and Naked Sand

Apparently a galaxy has been found without any dark matter
Normally this would be a cause for concern, but as dark matter has never been empirically proven to exist, I think we'll just have to collectively shake our heads in bewilderment.
'Dark Matter' is possibly a marketing opportunity according to this piece - interesting article, but the overuse of the phrase 'sort of ' makes me sad.
Still, it's a step up from ' kinda '...if you know worra mean...

Perhaps I'm psychic...or a jinx, as no sooner did I mention * the pending launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, than it was put back to 2020.
The JWST has a long history of delays, going way back to 2005, but let's not be negative.
Sadly though, the delay will impact on other projects

Similarly, the Parker Solar Probe hit a couple of delays (it is also the only NASA craft named after a living person) but is now on target for a launch window between May and July 2018 : if you're quick, you can include your own name, sending it to the sun - not sure of the symbolism here - thousands of sun sacrifices at the same time, hmmm

Mayan sacrifices to the sun revisited ?

If you would prefer a hands- on role with NASA, now is the time - I'd apply, but not being a U.S. citizen means no, sadly...

There will be a bout of synchronised satellite flying in 2020, as ESA send proba 3 to record the suns corona closer than ever before.
The proba series of missions were designed to be low cost, small satellite projects-
Long ago, proba 1 was a satellite used for aerial photography, such as this shot of the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt.
Which brings us to the news that algorithms intended to reveal nudity are turning up images of sand dunes...perhaps it is more evidence that the science behind AI is not really fit for purpose; another frustration for Microsoft who are trying to make progress in what they see as a triptych of science offering great potential  - AI, Augmented Reality, and Quantum Computing.

Sand nudes , as they say...

They are currently working with an elusive particle - Majorana Fermion, in an attempt to corner the market in 'quantum supremacy' which is a long shot given that they have yet to produce an actual quantum computer ( D-wave have allegedly already done this, although their computers are very limited in ability).
Majorana Fermion is unique, in that it contains its its own anti-particle , as well as retaining memory of where it's been, and Microsoft hope to use it for braiding - the best analogy I can think of is the use of knots to contain information as practiced in many cultures - particularly the Andean Quipu system which was in use until it was eradicated by the Spanish conquistadors.

Quipu in the Larco Museum collection

Another analogy would be the DNA helix structure which contains the encrypted passcode to everything living... either way, good luck to Microsoft in their quantum endeavours. I'm only surprised that neither Jeff Bezos nor Elon Musk are involved in the race for ' quantum supremacy'...

IN OTHER NEWS...

It appears that the ' alien megastructure star' is at it again , with further dips in luminosity.

As I write this micro-blog post, we await the re-entry of the Chinese space station Tiangong 1 - debris is expected to fall between New Zealand and the U.S. - sometime on Monday 2nd April.
Previous debris falls included the 77 tonne Skylab in 1979...**

**UPDATE- Tiangong 1 burned up harmlessly somewhere overhead,,,



This link contains some stunning processed images of the Gale crater on Mars, thanks to Sean Dorán

 TTFN,

G

Happy April Fools Day, Easter, Eostre !


*23rd March blogpost

Multiverses, Telescopes , Data Mining, and Mars

The much delayed James Webb Telescope   pic Chris Gunn / NASA

The Kepler spacecraft is running low on fuel, 94 million miles away, ending its years of data- gathering. A technical hitch in 2003 led to the previous mission ending, and Kepler being redesignated K2 , with a new mission of scanning the stars for evidence of exo-worlds.
It will be superceded by the James Webb Telescope, which promises to see further out in space (and back in time), than ever before.
Could be a real boon to testing the final theory of Stephen Hawking...

It is now just over a week since Stephen Hawking died, and we hear that his ashes will be interred in  historic Westminster Abbey.
I'm not sure how that sits with his belief that religion is for those who are scared of the dark, but then again, he also believed in multiple universes, which is like hedging your bets...
rather neatly, this brings us to the issue of his last paper, which was co - authored with Thomas Hertog. 
It posits that there was more than one Big Bang, and that a spacecraft equipped with the right sort of probe can conclusively prove the existence of multiple universes from readings in the cosmic microwave background radiation.
If this gets proven, it would change our entire understanding of everything...as Professor Hawking was asked by John Oliver on the subject -
" ...so there's a universe where I'm smarter than you ?"
Professor Hawking replied : " Yes - and there's also a universe where you're funny"
The paper is due for publication in a major journal, very soon.
The launch of the James Webb Telescope is currently scheduled for sometime in early/ mid 2019.

Does Cosmic Background Radiation hold clues to a multiverse ?

 New discoveries in science come from all quarters, these days - many from ' citizen scientists ' , most recently the discovery of aurora named Steve, in Canada
sometimes, though, it can go horribly wrong, and you may find yourself wishing that the Earth would swallow you - for instance, the excitement generated by the apparent 'discovery' of a bright object in the sky. This paper on the discovery is highly technical , but the fact is that someone just re-discovered Mars.
Embarassing, yes - to go public with it, even moreso - but the icing on the cake here is that the discovery was made by a Professor of Astronomy...

I wonder if he'll frame the diploma ?

Just When You Thought Conspiracy Was Dead...


We hear that Cambridge Analyica have been harvesting user data from millions of people for nefarious reasons which are mostly about interfering with elections and keeping corrupt politicians in power.
On the other hand, the article about this comes from the Cambridge University Trustworthy Technologies, so obviously they are the GOOD guys, the important word being ' Trustworthy'.
So that's alright, then.

Hmmmm

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 !

Ongoing Strangeness in Space

Apologies for the long absence of Invisible Words...alongside a geographical move, I thought I'd take a sabbatical to escape the high strangeness of 2017, but apparently it just gets more and more bizarre.

The tail end of 2017 brought the appearance of interstellar interloper Oumuamua , which made me think of a galactic stone skimming the cosmos - and why didn't anyone photoshop the Silver Surfer onto it ?

Then I decided that no-one would 'get' the reference, and what had comics to do with actual space, anyway ?
So the post languished, unpublished, in blogging limbo...
Then, yesterday, reality imitated art again
Kudos to Elon Musk and Space X

Two boosters make perfect touchdown

The payload of this test- run for SpaceX Heavy was a Tesla Roadster car - manned by a dummy in Space X garb.
I wonder if inspiration was taken from the opening sequence of the 'Heavy Metal' movie from 1981,
featuring an astronaut in a Corvette, which he pilots to Earth from space.
There are slight differences, though - the film car is dropped from a Space Shuttle-
and it doesn't play 'Space Oddity' * - but let's not be pedantic
The fact is, there is a car in space, manned by a dummy in an astronaut suit, heading for the Kuiper Belt.

Heavy Metal movie 1981

I'm sure the debate will rage for decades as to whether a car in space is a good advert for humanity. Personally, I think it's a massive ego trip/ publicity boost for Elon Musk, but also a great memorial for the previously overlooked genius Nikolai Tesla...so I'm conflicted.
Despite any misgivings, though, the synchronous landing of the two booster jets was a hugely impressive feat of engineering / physics .
The future is definitely now.
I await the responses of other players in the new 'space race' with trepidation...
Let's just hope that it doesn't create a cosmic junkyard of adverts orbiting for eternity...
Final words to the late, great Carl Sagan - obviously photoshopped, but still relevant...

Response to previous attempted commercialisation ?

* 'Life on Mars', to be pedantic

Is Quantum The New Shrödingers Cat ? Should We Not Look ?

In this age of hi-technology and lo-brow clickbait , it pays to read between the lines - whilst not being clickbait, the latest publicity release from MIT is a little underwhelming.
The photograph of what appears to be a full 50 qubit quantum computer got me excited...the article sounded great - but, tucked away at the end, was the sad reality that IBM had not submitted their cutting edge creation for peer review before issuing the press release.
Don't get me wrong - IBM are a heavy hitter, with all the credibility that implies...but.
Protocol.
It seems that we are involved in an ongoing propaganda battle as various factions attempt to claim the first kudos for genuine quantum computing.
It's becoming increasingly like ' Shrödingers Cat'*.
Or the Emperors New Clothes...

image      DWaveSys.com

The first image I saw was the shot of the D -Wave machine, followed  by controversy over its true nature, and allegations that it was no better than a 'mere' super-computer
Let's stop right there, though - we are now belittling super - computers.
Yes, we're in that place.
My worry is that 'quantum supremacy' will become an everyday phrase even before we see any actual quantum computing ....

* Perhaps we are creating the observer effect, just by reading the publicity...


Meanwhile, back on Mars...

Nothing much - but as part of a new, self-empowering drive, here is a link to the Curiosity Analysts Handbook !

Curiosity 'Arty' selfie   8.11.2017   NASA/JPL/Caltech   

Here is another link to an extensive archive of images from Rosetta / Osiris


Meanwhile, near Saturn...

The buzz around Saturnian moon Enceladus increases with a new model which tells us that its core may be fluid and permeable, generating heat and potentially life supporting conditions in the sub - surface ocean of the little moon...

Enceladus lines upclose....Cassini/ NASA

Sunscreen Rains , The Cameras of Mars, Rogue Worlds And Tiny Suns

I love seeing the sand dunes of Mars, frequently pictured by the MRO.

Beautiful 'linear gullies' on Mars      MRO/NASA/JPL

They  have found a giant planet orbiting a tiny sun , 600 light years away, in the obscure constellation of Columba.
What makes it notable is the bizarre scale (a planet the size of Jupiter orbiting a dwarf star so closely that its year only lasts two days)
Technically, the giant world should not exist at all, especially in such close proximity.
I favour the idea that it is a rogue world, somehow captured by the dwarf sun.
Without an observatory in my vicinity, it's guesswork, but there appear to be a few 'rogue' stars in the constellation.

The Hubble telescope just spotted an exoplanet where it rains sunscreen. At 5000 degrees farenheit, the titanium-oxide rain would hardly be protective...

There is a good deal of excitement at the latest object (A/2017 U1) spotted in our universe -mainly because it appears to have come from another solar system

Indications are that the object is red , similar to Kuiper Belt Object MU69
In which case, is mu69 from another sun , too ?
I find it oddly comforting to know that people are determined to identify and archive these things
 ( thanks to Pedro Lacerda for that link I stumbled across )
The other side of this coin is that we didn't see the asteroid coming, so there is no planned 'sortie' , Bennu style, to gather information about its composition / origins.
Researching this piece led me to this thread from Reddit, which re-affirms my faith in humanity as a curious, knowledge - hungry species...

Red asteroids don't exist- at least, in our solar system- so this points towards A/2017 U1 being an icy, KBO-like object. Why, then, didn't it develop a cometary tail as it passed by the sun? It's honestly confusing. Perhaps the billions? of years it flew through interstellar space drove away all its volatiles?

Clearly there's a lot about the surface composition of interstellar asteroids that we don't know!

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[–]FaceDeer 9 points 10 hours ago 

I'm very happy to have made it to a portion of history where investigating the composition of interstellar asteroids is a thing.

I also learned about the designation which changed from C2017 U1 to A2017 U1 - from a comet to an asteroid, as it did not exhibit a 'tail', outgassing as it passed the sun.
Apparently this unique little red rock will never pass this way again, it came in from the direction of the constellation Lyra, and was heading out towards the Kuiper Belt .

Rearview from Curiosity    NASA/JPL

23 Cameras for the next Mars Mission

In keeping with our current trend for pictures everywhere, the next Mars rover will have 23 cameras - including 3D .
Opportunity rover has a pair of B/W cameras mounted in front to produce stereo images , and another two mounted on the rear of the rover, presumably to monitor bad drivers behind.
The Curiosity rover has 17 cameras. This means that , including the MRO  and Opportunity, there are already 24 cameras on Mars - with another 23 enroute, it won't be long before we have pictures of rovers photographing rovers taking pictures of Mars...

Speaking of rovers armed with cameras,  way back in 1971, the Apollo 17 mission rover had only two cameras and even a compartment for spare film magazines- bulky payloads in the days before Micro sd cards  (although, at least they didn't get so easily lost).
Spare a thought, though, for the nightmare of moon dust in the lens...

Apollo17 Lunar Buggy with ominous ' Secondary life support system'

Please excuse the format problems, I plead ignorance of cut 'n' paste procedure.


G