21.12.yc116 BW-WJ2 < QP6B-I Constellation < Tenerifis Region
OOC (Out of Character):
Wanderers
Rixx Javix, over on Eveoganda, posted a link to a video called “Wanderers”. It is a short film by Erik Wernquist with a narration by Carl Sagan, depicting futuristic recreations of actual places in our solar system. It truly captures, at least for me, what’s in an explorer’s heart. As a follower of my blog, if you’ve not seen it, watch it, you won’t be disappointed.
The Dawn of Orion
As it turns out, there’s been a great deal going on this last month towards our future exploration endeavors. On December 5th, 2014, NASA launched the Orion crew module on the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. It marks the beginning on a long journey to set the first human steps on Mars. With the current levels of funding, it’s believed that the first human to explore Mars is alive today. Optimistically, the timeframe puts us there in the 2020’s, with the 2030’s being probable, but unless the funding changes, I believe the 2040’s is more realistic.
NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover
Then there’s the little rover that could. Curiosity has made the news twice this month. First, is the discovery that Mars’ Mount Sharp shows evidence of having been built up over millions of years from sediment indicative of a large lake bed which you can read about here.
Then, just last week, the first definitive detection of organic molecules was made, which are the building blocks of life as we know it here on earth. Unfortunately, more evidence is required to determine if the presence of the molecules is truly from a form of life or from a chemical reaction. You can read more about this discovery here.
Many question the wisdom of spending billions of dollars on such explorations, but I see it as no different as our ancestors taking their first bold steps to the new world. The price was high, the risk was great, but so to were the rewards. Even today, a great deal of the technology that we take for granted can be traced back to the space program. Check out this site, NASA @ Home and City, to see how it’s impacted you.
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