Showing posts with label mars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mars. Show all posts

19 Apr 2021

12 Mar 2021

Smaller? - NOT amateur radio


Today we bought some compost from a local hardware store. 

My wife bought me a Mars chocolate bar. It says 51g. To me it seems far smaller than I remember. Is this the way they are charging us the same, but actually selling less? 

14 Feb 2021

UAE Mars orbiter - NOT amateur radio

Mars will one day be explored by humans. For now, we have oribiting satellites and robots on the surface. The recent UAE satellite has been put in an orbit around the red planet.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56060890

1 Dec 2018

The Moon and Mars - NOT amateur radio

It seems amazing that man first went to the Moon in 1969, even before I had started work. Whether I will ever again see man on the Moon, or even Mars, in my lifetime is uncertain. It would not surprise me if the Chinese did it first!

I see the USA is looking for commercial companies to get involved, presumably to save money.

See https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-new-partnerships-for-commercial-lunar-payload-delivery-services

26 Nov 2018

Mars landing - NOT amateur radio

Landing probes on Mars seems to be fraught with problems, so I just hope this latest mission goes as planned. It must be those pesky green men!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46333459 .

UPDATE 2133z: It looks like it successfully landed.

3 Feb 2018

Men to Mars? - NOT amateur radio

SpaceX test fires its big Falcon Heavy rocket next week. There are ideas to put men on Mars using this. There is a fair chance the launch will fail, apparently.

See https://gizmodo.com/spacexs-best-hope-for-sending-people-to-mars-will-launc-1822638923 .

29 Dec 2017

23 May 2017

Mars - NOT amateur radio

I think a manned expedition to Mars is unlikely in my lifetime. It still seems amazing that the first Moon landing was 1969, before I had started work! That is a long time ago.

For news of Mars, try http://marsnews.com/ .

Mars has fascinated us for a long time. There is little doubt it is a hostile place, but mankind will go there some day. I suspect this will be in the lifetime of my children.

The bigger question is, "is there other intelligent life in the universe?".  CETI has been looking now for over 50 years without success. When (if?) we do detect other life out there, it will be a profound moment. If we are truly alone, we have to ask, "why?".

5 May 2017

Life on Mars? - NOT amateur radio

There has long been debate about whether or not primitive life exists on Mars. Now scientists have done some experiments on Earth that suggests life on Mars is indeed possible. Some living things could survive in the harsh conditions on Mars today. Of course this does not prove that life does exist there, just that it could.

See http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Is_Anything_Tough_Enough_to_Survive_on_Mars_999.html

10 Aug 2012

CW from Mars

The latest NASA rover "Curiosity" apparently imprints JPL in CW on the Martian surface as a result of its tyre pattern. See http://www.tyrepress.com/News/OFFBEAT/25967.html . If I recall correctly my callsign is on a microchip on "Curiosity" (see post last autumn).

25 Apr 2011

G3XBM is off to Mars

NASA is collecting names to be put on a microchip that'll be on the Mars Science Laboratory rover heading to Mars in autumn 2011. The rover has special CW indentations on its wheels spelling out  JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).