Politics:Clint Eastwood, Just How Weird Was He at the Republican Convention?

'Go ahead, Vet my day.' 'A fistful of incoherence.' 'High slurs rambler.' 'Every which way and loose.'

Clint Eastwood, the 82-year-old movie star and director, inspired what seemed like enthusiasm inside the Republican National Convention's Tampa Bay Times Forum—and disbelief outside it and on Twitter.

Eastwood seemed to speak without notes, without a Tele-Prom-Ter and without a clue of what he wanted to say. He shadow-boxed with Obama in a bizarre piece of stagecraft that involved an empty chair. He rambled about how America needed a businessman in charge. He came very close to using the f-word, making several feints at it. And he ran some ongoing gag about how he'd talk as long as he wanted to.

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AP photograph

The weirdness seemed to discomfit the audience, but also charged them with adrenaline. Weirdness, maybe, was just what this convention needed—a reminder that, however closely choreographed, the conventions are still live events.

When Eastwood finally made it off stage—as Twitter called for a hook or a gong to hasten his exit—it seemed he'd gone over time.

Commenters initially called it a catastrophe for Romney. But for decades voters have complained that there's no spontaneity at the conventions. Eastwood brought the spontaneity, with the crazy. Who vetted his speech—or failed to? Who cares? He woke up a flagging crowd just in time for Romney's acceptance speech.

He may have been incoherent. But live TV is set up exactly for the 'Good, the Bad and the Spacey'. And Eastwood knows how to win attention 'Every Which You Can'.

Story by  Virginia Heffernan, Yahoo! News



Research Claims Chocolate Reduces the Risk of Stroke in Men

Eating a standard chocolate bar every week could lower a man's risk of having a stroke in later life by 17%, according to a new study. It suggests that eating even more chocolate could reduce risks even further.

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NASA: Should Space Exploration be a Presidental Priority?

Kennedy said," Space is going to be explored whether America is part of it or not."

I think that statement holds true today because we are finally on the brink of making space a profitable endeavour.

As Americans we should never let what is urgent crowd out what is most important. That's good advice for families, businesses and candidates for President of the United States. America's space exploration program is one of those truly important issues for our future, if not necessarily viewed as urgent in the current political election season.

Thoughtful voters recognize that the current urgent issues facing NASA need to be resolved and they want to know how we will ensure America's future leadership, prosperity and security.

Jobs, health care and the balance between taxes and government spending are certainly important and urgent matters that dominate much of our national public policy discussion and debate. But history has shown that longer-term initiatives -- such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the transcontinental railroad, the Panama Canal and Interstate Highway system -- have had significant impact on our economy and our standing as a leader in world affairs. Each required presidential vision and leadership. Those earlier endeavors made America stronger, won global respect, and gave America's citizens greater reach.

America cannot afford to squander the opportunity to take full advantage of exploring the next great frontier: space. So it is time for the presidential candidates - Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney - to let America know where they really stand on an important issue that will transform - or stagnate - America in this century and the next. NASA needs presidential investment and advocacy - and the budget to back it up. Nothing less than the future of our children and grandchildren is at stake here. Tell us about your vision which will nourish America's frontier spirit, her ambition and thirst for innovation which were the catalysts that opened the West, brought victory in World War II and reversed economic adversity in the last century.

Story by Wayne Hale, HuffingtonPost.com

Space Exploration Time Line from 1957 to Present

Space exploration is fifty-five years old in October; I am fifty-five years old as of June. With this said I can tell you that it has been a part of my whole life and something I relate to on a daily basis. The death of Neil Armstrong last Saturday has me revisiting the whole era.(This timeline does not include any probe/robotic exploration outside the Earth/Moon system).



— Oct. 4, 1957: First artificial satellite, Sputnik I, is launched by Soviet Union.

— April 12, 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completes the first manned space flight, orbiting the Earth in 108 minutes.

— May 5, 1961: U.S. launches first American astronaut, Alan Shepard Jr., into space, on a 15-minute, 22-second suborbital flight.

— May 25, 1961: President Kennedy declares the American space objective to put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade.

—Feb. 20, 1962: John Glenn becomes first American to orbit Earth, completing three orbits.

— June 16-19, 1963: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, completes 48 orbits.

— March 18, 1965: Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov takes man's first space walk.

— Jan. 27, 1967: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee die when a fire sweeps the Apollo I command module during a ground test at Kennedy Space Center.

— April 24, 1967: Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov is killed when his Soyuz I spacecraft crashes on return to Earth.

— Dec. 21, 1968: First manned spacecraft to orbit moon, Apollo 8, comes within 70 miles of lunar surface.

— July 20, 1969: Man walks on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin of Apollo XI spend 21 1/2 hours on the moon, 2 1/2 of those outside the capsule.

— June 29, 1971:  Three cosmonauts, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev, die during re-entry of their Soyuz 11 spacecraft. A government commission disclosed that the three died 30 minutes before landing because a faulty valve depressurized the spacecraft.

— Dec. 7-19, 1972: Apollo 17 mission that includes the longest and last stay of man on the moon — 74 hours, 59 minutes — by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.

— May 14, 1973: Skylab I, first U.S. orbiting laboratory, launched.

— July 17-19, 1975: U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts participate in Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, docking together in space for two days.

— April 12, 1981: Shuttle Columbia becomes first winged spaceship to orbit Earth and return to airport landing.

— June 18, 1983: Sally Ride becomes first American woman in space.

— Feb. 7, 1984: Astronaut Bruce McCandless performs man's first untethered spacewalk with a Manned Maneuvering Unit off the Challenger space shuttle.

— Jan. 28, 1986: Challenger shuttle explodes 73 seconds after launch, killing its crew of seven.

— Nov. 15, 1988: Soviets launch their first space shuttle. The 3-hour, 20- minute flight of the shuttle Buran is unmanned.

— Dec. 21, 1988:  Cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov return to Earth from Soviet space station Mir after man's longest space flight - 365 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes.

— March 14, 1995: Norman Thagard becomes first American to be launched on a Russian rocket. Two days later, he becomes first American to visit the Russian space station Mir.

— June 29, 1995: Atlantis docks with Mir in first shuttle-station hookup.

— Sept. 26, 1996: Shannon Lucid returns to Earth after 188-day Mir mission, a U.S. space endurance record and a world record for women.

— Oct. 29, 1998: Glenn, now 77, returns to space aboard shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person ever to fly in space.

— May 29, 1999: Discovery becomes first shuttle to dock with the international space station, a multinational, permanent, orbiting research laboratory.

— Nov. 2, 2000: An American and Russian crew begins living aboard the international space station.

— Feb. 1, 2003: Shuttle Columbia breaks apart over Texas, 16 minutes before it was supposed to land in Florida.

— July 21, 2011: Final space shuttle mission ends when Atlantis arrives at Kennedy Space Center.

Neil Armstrong Commander of Apollo 11 Mission and First Man to Walk on Moon Dies at 82.

One of my childhood heros passed away this week. Neil Armstrong was a super hero in my young eyes.

Armstrong was the commander of Apollo 11, and the first man to walk on the moon. "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," he said while stepping foot on the moon. He spent three hours exploring the surface of the moon with fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin. He was hailed as a hero never to fly in space again. America would not again risk this icon in space exploration, but utilized his mysterious personality and deep intelligence here on Earth to teach and instruct by example the new astronauts to follow in his footsteps.

Neil Armstrong

August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012

Click newspaper for video of Armstrong on Moon

Here's to you, Neil. Enjoy your adventures in the next great beyond.

previous posts about Neil Armstrong

"We choose to go to the moon..."

Space Pioneers:Neil Armstrong...

Armstrong undergoes Heart procedure

Texting: Twenty True Awkward Autocorrect Mistakes

Have you ever been caught in an autocorrect screw-up? I emagine everyone with this phone feature has from time to time.The safe thing to do is the obvious: CHECK YOUR WORK BEFORE SENDING IT!

 Here are a few autocorrect mistakes that I am sure you will be glad it wasn't you that made such a blunder!

1.

Heading to the Beach now

Fun-wish I cld too. Im heading for the office now

Dang thats why Im telling figured you were working at home

I have been this morning but have to go to my lawyer and do some stud at the office :(

Stuff!

2.

Hey Lex. I heard about Linda thru facebook Im soo sorry about your loss.

Shes with the angels now. The quote 'Only the good die young is so true..

Stay strong I know how Dead she was to you...

I miss you and DB xoxo

I meant to type Dear*****

For the other eighteen 'damn you autocorrect' mistakes go here!

Fifteen Texting 'No-No's' That Should be Avoided at All Costs!

1. The multi-part ramble
Keep messages short and simple. Texting is meant to be a quick form of communication, and there's a limit to what you can send for a reason. Send a picture or video with a sentence or two of description — but even in a text without media, keep things under two sentences as often as possible. Exceptions obviously exist, but if your messages are constantly being broken up and sent as two files, you are probably missing the point.

2. The misdial
Make sure you know where your text is going. Save numbers to your phone, and be careful when selecting from your contacts. Everyone makes mistakes, but they can be embarrassing. If you send an affectionate mid-day text meant for your girlfriend to your boss, you could end up in an awkward situation.

3. The joke that's not funny
Texts don't convey subtleties of tone. For that reason, you should always reread messages before you send them. Sometimes what you mean to sound sarcastic sounds rude to your text's recipient. When in doubt, don't send it.

4. The autocorrect gaffe
Be aware of your autocorrect settings. Many phones have text settings that will fill in words for you or insert the closest word as you type. This might mean sending "me" instead of "mr" — or it could mean your message includes a much more embarrassing alternative, such as the messages at Damn You Auto Correct. To avoid any embarrassing autocorrect mistakes, always reread your text before you send them.

5. The text flood
This is not your Twitter feed. The recipient doesn't need to know your every move. Compare your texting habits to the number of phone calls you make. It is probably all right to text up to twice as often as you may call. If you wouldn't call 40 times in a day, perhaps you are sending too many texts at 80.

6. The dead inbox
While it is rude to over-text, it's also rude to ignore incoming messages. Respond to texts. When people text you, let them know you have received their texts, and answer any questions they may have asked. There is no need to text "bye" if it's implied, but continue texting the sender until it is clear the conversation has ended. If you happen to receive a wrong number text, politely text back to let the sender know you aren't the person they meant to text.

7. The social chicken text
Texting is not the way to invite people to your wedding, break up with your significant other, or send an important business message. If someone has died, don't send a text. If there had been an accident, don't send a text. If it is something that could affect your life or another person's life in any kind of way, don't text it.

8. The social addict text
Don't text when you are out at dinner, in a movie, in a church, at a wedding, in class, or any place where your attention should be on something or someone else. When you go into these places, turn your phone off. The people with you deserve your full attention and shouldn't be made to feel as though they are less important than whoever is texting you. There is nothing that can't wait a couple of hours. If you can't honestly turn off your phone and spend time in the real world, then you may want to consider a 12-step program.

9. The night owl text
Texting is not email. Just because you get a thought at one in the morning doesn't mean you can text it. Not everyone turns their phone off when they go to bed, and your text message notification could wake them. Assume recipients have left their phones on, and be respectful. If it's too late to call, it's too late to text.

10. The hurry-up text
While text messages do go to recipients' phones, they're not actually phone calls, nor are they instant messages. Be patient, and wait for a reply. When in doubt, allow one full business day for recipients to reply. If your message is time-sensitive, call instead.

11. The language mangle
Use correct grammar and spelling. When texting friends, you can get away with short forms and abbreviations; however, when you're texting an acquaintance or business associate, leave the obscure shorthand out. Not everyone is up on texting lingo. When in doubt, write out the word as you would in any other formal correspondence.

12. The grammar police ticket
If someone makes a grammar mistake, especially if the texter is a business associate, don't correct them. As long as you can gather the meaning of the message, let the mistake go and respond as if it were written correctly. If you honestly can't understand what the sender meant, then politely ask for clarification.

13. The drunk text
Drunk dialing is not a new phenomenon, long predating the cell phone. The term generally refers to making a phone call while intoxicated that would otherwise be considered a bad move, such as telling someone off or calling an old flame. It's a bad idea to drunk dial, and it's a bad idea to drunk text for the same reason. Things can't be untexted, even if they were sent under the influence. If you're going to drink, don't text.

14. The behind-the-wheel text
Sending and even reading text messages while driving causes you to take your eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds; at highway speeds, you could drive the length of a football field in that amount of time. Many states have made texting while driving illegal because it quadruples crash risk. Simply don't drive and text.

15. The indiscreet text
Text messages are not the way to reveal your deep, dark secrets or confront others about theirs. Don't text anything confidential, private, or potentially embarrassing. Texting is meant for quick, simple messages. If you need a long conversation, call, make a coffee date, or if you must, send an email. Whatever you do, don't text.

Are your text habits making you look bad?
If you approach texting with the same care and respect you would give to a phone call or an email, your technique is likely fine. However, if you are guilty of any of the above missteps, you may be in danger of offending the people you're messaging or the people around you.

When in doubt, err on the side of caution. If you find yourself wondering whether to text or not to text, then set down the phone and walk away. Your phone will still be there when you get back!

Good Advice for this relatively new form of communication

Click image for complete story at Galtime.com

Star Gazers: Betelgeuse My Favorite Star in the Sky...What's Yours?

I have always been a star gazer, I can't seem to go out into a clear night sky without  tilting my head back and taking in the starry sky. I can't think of too many things as beautiful. At a young age I learned to spot the easier recognised constellations like the Big Dipper and Orion the Hunter. Soon I learned the names of many of the stars that make them up. Even to this day for some reason when I go out at night I am always being drawn to seek out and spot Betelgeuse in the sky.

Not only is it an ancient star, it is a giant of a star many times larger than the sun. Betelguese is also a red giant, meaning that it is destined to explode into a Nova...It could happen anytime in the next million years! Or it could have already happened and the light from the event has yet to make it to the Earth. Betelguese is 600 light years away, if it exploded around the time of Columbus we would get to see it in this century. Man! What a sight that would be! Orion's left shoulder blazing into one of the brightest things in the Galaxy! The night sky would be so exciting,for a few nights anyway.

Click Hubble image of  Betelguese for much more on the fastinating star

Betelgeuse, also known by its Bayer designation Alpha Orionis (α Orionis, α Ori), is the eighth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest star in the constellation of Orion, outshining Rigel (Beta Orionis) only rarely. Distinctly reddish-tinted, it is a semi regular variable star whose apparent magnitude varies between 0.2 and 1.2, the widest range of any first magnitude star. The star marks the upper right vertex of the Winter Triangle asterism and the center of the Winter Hexagon.

Click image of Orion constelation

Beletguese is shining red at the upper left shoulder of Orion

NASA: Curiosity Cruising,Rover Wheels Around Mars in First Short Test Drive

Curiosity took its first test drive around the gravel-strewn Martian terrain Wednesday, preparation for the ultimate road trip to find out if the red planet’s environment could have supported life.

The six-wheel NASA rover did not stray far from the spot where it landed more than two weeks ago. It rolled forward about 15 feet, rotated to a right angle and reversed a short distance, leaving track marks on the ancient soil.

Mission managers were ecstatic that the maiden voyage of the $2.5 billion mission was glitch-free.

“It couldn’t be more important,” said project manager Peter Theisinger at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “We built a rover. So unless the rover roves, we really haven’t accomplished anything ... It’s a big moment.

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Artic Ocean Melting at Alarming Speed Losing Over 100,000 sq km of Ice Each day

Satellite data shows Arctic sea ice is melting to a record low by the end of the month, according to scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. Observers said that the data showed the sea ice extent was receding below the previous record low, set in 2007.

Check out this comparison photo, it looks like there is now a northern Artic passage around the top of Eurasia. Is this global warming or are scientists just now recognising a long turn melting trend due to Earth's axis wobbling? Does this wobble also cause ice ages? Or is this a new thing our modern civilization created with it's gigantic carbon footprint?
What is your thinking on this phenomena?

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Fact: The Sun WILL Swell Up and Consume the Earth;Here's Proof

The first evidence of a planet's destruction by its aging star has been discovered with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope by an international team of astronomers. A similar fate may await the inner planets in our solar system, when the sun becomes a red giant and expands all the way out to Earth's orbit some five-billion years from now.

"Our detailed spectroscopic analysis reveals that this red-giant star, BD+48 740, contains an abnormally high amount of lithium, a rare element created primarily during the Big Bang 14 billion years ago," Adamow said. Lithium is easily destroyed in stars, which is why its abnormally high abundance in this older star is so unusual. "Theorists have identified only a few, very specific circumstances, other than the Big Bang, under which lithium can be created in stars," Wolszczan added. "In the case of BD+48 740, it is probable that the lithium production was triggered by a mass the size of a planet that spiraled into the star and heated it up while the star was digesting it."

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Lower Blood Pressure, Eat Dark Chocolate each Day; It May be Good for the Heart!

New research found that people who ate dark chocolate or cocoa for short periods of time saw a slight drop in blood pressure. But there is a caveat: If you eat these treats, you need to make sure you’re doing all of the right things to stay healthy, such as exercising, eating right and — if you’re on blood pressure medicine — taking that as well.

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Science Fiction Author Harry Harrison Dies at 87

One of my favorite Science Fiction writers has passed away. when I first discovered sci-fi I devoured everything Harry Harrison wrote. I read his early works to tatters.

Harry Harrison, illustrator, editor and author, as stated by Wikipedia, was born in Stamford, Connecticut and died in Britain on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at the age of 87.

His 1966 novel "Make Room! Make Room!" — which paints a future society crumbling under the weight of excessive population and resource depletion — is credited as the basis for the 1973 dystopian film "Soylent Green."

Harrison's substantial body of work included Deathworld and its sequels, a long-running series based on con man Jim diGriz or "The Stainless Steel Rat," and Bill, the Galactic Hero, which was also extended into a series co-authored by other writers. His books toed the line between science fiction adventure, humor, and satire, often with a strong anti-military bent informed by his time in the US Army Air Corps.

Despite this, Harrison is probably best known indirectly — as the author of Make Room! Make Room!, which inspired cult film Soylent Green despite having very little to do with it. Make Room! Make Room! was a bleak depiction of a corrupt and overpopulated US in the year 1999, predating much "population bomb" literature and infusing the central murder-mystery plot with romance and tragedy. The book, however, crucially did not suggest cannibalism as a potential policy solution, and "soylent green" was in fact a mixture of soy and lentils.

Space Exploration Compared to Apollo, Gemini and Mercury is 'Not Such a Big Deal these Days'



The technology supporting NASA’s work back in the '60s was stunningly cutting edge and so far out of our daily experience that we couldn’t help but be amazed. Space science still is cutting edge, but we experience so much technological innovation each day that our capacity to be amazed comes with a very high bar.

For those reasons, space exploration has become just another story, not The Story. That’s too bad, because when one stops and thinks about Curiosity’s mission, it’s an incredible feat. And the potential it provides for advancing understanding of our solar system and life is far reaching.

Click image of bored astronaut

 There was a time, of course, when our world almost stood still for the latest marvel of space exploration. Gemini and Apollo missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s were national events that found us huddled around our televisions in worshipful awe.

But today, achievements such as Curiosity’s long journey and smooth landing, fantastically complex as they are, draw hardly a yawn from the news media and the public. There are reasons for this, of course. In the ’60s, space exploration was a proxy battle in the Cold War, with each successful advance a victory of one-upsmanship with the Soviets.

Media was concentrated around the three networks and space launches and moon landings made great theater on the tube. Walter Cronkite and other legendary news anchors were nearly as mythic as the famous astronaut heroes they reported on.

President George W. Bush saw the potential for deep space exploration, and both the emotional and technological benefits it would spin off. President Obama, faced with more budget worries, has been far less interested in space.

That’s a concern, because space science has always been our nation’s greatest research and development lab, spinning off technological innovation that spurred advances all across the industrial spectrum.

We hope the wonder of Curiosity’s mission, and the wonders it may unveil in the coming months, rekindle a national enthusiasm for space science. Yes, it’s a different time than when Apollo missions kept us enthralled, but our need to be amazed by what lies at distant frontiers — and inspired by the technological quest — still exists.

It's Summer Because Earth is Closer to the Sun, Right? WRONG! It's Further Away!

Earth's orbit around the sun is not a perfect circle; it is shaped more like an oval, or an ellipse. Over the course of a year, Earth moves sometimes closer to the sun and sometimes farther away from the sun. Earth's closest approach to the sun, called perihelion, comes in early January and is about 91 million miles (146 million km). The farthest from the sun Earth gets is called aphelion. It comes in early July and is about 94.5 million miles (152 million km).

It is now Summer in the northern Hemisphere because of the tilt of Earth's axis.

More cool stuff about orbits.

Earth's average distance from the sun (93 million miles) is known as an astronomical unit (AU). Astronomers use that scale for measuring distances throughout the solar system. Jupiter, for example, is 5.2 AU from the sun. Neptune is 30.07 AU from the sun. On the outer edges of the solar system, the Oort Cloud, where comets are thought to originate, is 100,000 AU from the sun. The distance to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is about 250,000 AU. However, to measure longer distances, astronomers use light-years, or the distance that light travels in a single Earth year, which is equal to 63,239 AU. So Proxima Centauri is about 4.2 light-years away.

Finding the distance

Historically, the first person to measure the distance to the sun was Aristarchus around the year 250 BC. In more recent times, astronomer Christiaan Huygens calculated the distance from Earth to the sun in 1653. He used the phases of Venus to find the angles in a Venus-Earth-Sun triangle. For example, when Venus appears half illuminated by the sun, the three bodies form a right triangle from Earth's perspective. Guessing (correctly, by chance) the size of Venus, Huygens was able to determine the distance from Venus to Earth, and knowing that distance, plus the angles made by the triangle, he was able to measure the distance to the sun. However, because Huygens' method was partly guesswork and not completely scientifically grounded, he usually doesn't get the credit.

In 1672, Giovanni Cassini used a method involving parallax to find the distance to Mars and at the same time figured out the distance to the sun. He sent a colleague, Jean Richer, to French Guiana while he stayed in Paris. They took measurements of the position of Mars relative to background stars, and triangulated those measurements with the known distance between Paris and French Guiana. Once they had the distance to Mars, they could also calculate the distance to the sun. Since his methods were more scientific, he usually gets the credit.

— Tim Sharp, Reference Editor Space.com

Encore Presentation this Month: Hatfields and McCoys Mini-Series Nominated for 16 Emmy Awards!

If you didn't see it back in May I suggest you make the time or pre-set your recorder because it is well worth your time! The History Channel's groundbreaking mini-series has 16 nominations. Both Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton are nominated for 'best lead Actors in a mini-series' and I have never seen them do better(even in Water World or Apollo13).

Click here for more on the Nominations.   

Click here for more on Encore Presentation

Click here for the Hatfield and McCoy Fued Fact vs Fiction Page

Map of McCoy(Kentucky) and Hatfield (West Virginia) Properties-Battlegrounds

Terrestrial(Rocky)Planets:Facts about the First Four Planets from the Sun

Some great information from one of my favorite science websites; Space.com

Terrestrial planets are Earth-like planets (in Latin, terra means Earth) made up of rocks or metals with a hard surface — making them different from other planets that lack a solid surface. Terrestrial planets also have a molten heavy metal core, few moons, and a variety of topological features like valleys, volcanoes and craters. In our solar system, there are four terrestrial planets, which also happen to be the four closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. During the creation of the solar system, there were likely more terrestrial planetoids, but they likely merged or were destroyed.

Mercury is the smallest terrestrial planet in the solar system, about a third of the size of Earth. It has a thin atmosphere, which causes it to swing between burning and freezing temperatures. Mercury is also a dense planet, composed mostly of iron and nickel with an iron core. Its magnetic field is only about 1 percent that of Earth’s. The surface of Mercury is similar to that of the Moon; it has many deep craters and is covered by a thin layer of tiny particle silicates.



Venus

Venus, which is about the same size as Earth, has a thick toxic atmosphere that traps heat, making it the hottest planet in the solar system. Much of its surface is marked with volcanoes and deep canyons — the biggest of which is 4,000 miles long. Only two spacecraft have ever penetrated Venus’s thick atmosphere. And it’s not just spacecraft that have trouble getting through the atmosphere — there are fewer crater impacts on Venus than other planets, because all but the largest meteors can’t make it through the thick air.

Earth

Of the four terrestrial planets, Earth is the largest, and the only one that has liquid water, which is necessary for life as we know it. Like the other terrestrial planets, Earth has a rocky surface with mountains and canyons, and a heavy metal core. Earth’s atmosphere contains water vapor, which helps to moderate daily temperatures.

Mars

Mars has some of the most interesting terrain of any of the terrestrial planets. The red planet has the largest mountain in the solar system, rising 78,000 feet above the surface. Much of the surface is very old and filled with craters, but there are geologically newer areas of the planet as well. At the Martian poles are polar ice caps that shrink in size during the Martian spring and summer. Mars is less dense than Earth and has a smaller magnetic field, which is indicative of a solid core, rather than a liquid one.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Beyond the solar system

NASA's Kepler space observatory had discovered more than 2,300 potential alien planets as of April 2012. Using the data from the telescope, scientists have calculated that there may be billions of Earthlike planets in the Milky Way galaxy.

Non-terrestrial planets

Not all planets are terrestrial. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are gas giants, also known as jovian planets. Gas giants tend to be much bigger than terrestrial planets, and they have thick atmospheres full of hydrogen and helium. On Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen and helium make up most of the planet, while on Uranus and Neptune, the elements make up just the outer envelope. Landing on a gas giant is nearly impossible, since only the core is solid, and the atmosphere is storm-filled and very thick.  

— Katharine Gammon

NASA: Nobody is Perfect, Morpheus Interplanetary Probe Crashes and Burns at Cape Canaveral



The insect-like vehicle, designed and built by engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, had made several flights attached to a crane before Thursday's attempted free-flight.

Morpheus' engines, which burn liquid oxygen and methane, appeared to ignite as planned, lifting the 1,750-pound (794 kg) vehicle into the air. But a few seconds later, Morpheus rolled over on its side and plummeted to the ground.

NASA video showed the vehicle engulfed in flames and then rocked by a spectacular explosion, presumably due to the fuel tanks rupturing.

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“"Failures such as these were anticipated prior to the test, and are part of the development process for any complex spaceflight hardware," NASA said in a statement.

An investigation is under way.

First Man on the Moon Neil Armstrong 82, Undergoes Heart Surgery



Armstrong, who celebrated his 82nd birthday Sunday, underwent cardiac bypass surgery on Tuesday after a health checkup, according to NBCNews.com, which stated that the celebrated astronaut is doing well.

"NASA wishes Neil Armstrong the very best for a quick recovery from surgery," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "Neil's pioneering spirit will surely serve him well in this challenging time and the entire NASA Family is holding the Armstrong family in our thoughts and prayers. I know countless well-wishers around the world join us in sending get well wishes to this true American hero."

click image

The American icon Neil Armstrong, the first man ever to walk on the moon, was recovering from heart surgery Wednesday (Aug. 8), with well-wishes pouring in from NASA.

Armstrong, who celebrated his 82nd birthday Sunday, underwent cardiac bypass surgery on Tuesday after a health checkup, according to NBCNews.com, which stated that the celebrated astronaut is doing well.

NASA:Mars Curiosity Rover Carries Chip with 15,000 Important Names for Prosperity's Sake

The spaceship, launched by NASA, is the most advanced compared to its predecessors and is expected to achieve substantial scientific discoveries, said Essam Heggy, member of the Radar Science Group at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a prominent planetary scientist.

The size of the spaceship, called Curiosity, is the same as a small car. It weighs 900 kilograms and it cost 2.5 billion dollars.

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As for the electronic chip, Heggy explained, people who work in NASA put on it the names they believe should be honored in the future when visitors to Mars find them.

“Those who find the chip will be keen on knowing more about the people whose names are written and in this way NASA will have paid them tribute.”

NASA: Success! Curiosity Rover Safely Sits Down on Surface of Mars

The car-sized rover apparently came to rest at its planned destination near the foot of a tall mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater in Mars' southern hemisphere.

The $2.5 billion Curiosity project, formally called the Mars Science Laboratory, is NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

The landing marks a major victory and milestone for a U.S. space agency beleaguered by budget cuts and the recent loss of its 30-year-old space shuttle program.

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NASCAR: Tragedy at Pocono, 1 Dead 9 Injured from Lightning Strike

Tough news out of Pocono, as the same storm that shut down the race after 98 of a scheduled 160 laps also sent down a lightning strike that killed 1 and injured 9 fans just outside the track.

Shortly after 7:30 ET, Pocono Raceway officials announced that a fan was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital. Details have not been released.

Jeff Gordon, the race's winner, recalled seeing lightning strikes right after the race ended, including the one that may have injured the fans. "I'm pretty sure I know which one it was," he said. "We were walking down pit road, the umbrellas weren't doing any good, there was a huge, huge crack from lightning. You could tell it was very close. That's the thing that's going to take away from the victory, is the fact that somebody was affected by that."

NASCAR fans have been struck by lightning at tracks in the past. Three fans suffered minor injuries during a thunderstorm in Daytona in 2004. And in 1983, two spectators were killed and six injured during a storm at Dover.

Click on Pocono track for more

NASA: Curiosity to Land on Red Planet this Evening-Watch it Live!

Curiosity, NASA’s roving geochemistry laboratory, is scheduled to land on the surface of Mars at 10:31 p.m. PDT. At the same moment, the Mars satellite known as Odyssey will pass overhead.

Because the Earth will have “set” below the Mars horizon prior to landing, the only way that messages from Curiosity indicating that it is safe can be relayed immediately to scientists on Earth is if Odyssey can act as a relay system.

Odyssey is more than 10 years old; it entered into orbit around Mars in the fall of 2001. What’s more, it is operating without a key part -– an angled wheel that allows scientists to precisely orient the satellite.

Odyssey Satellite orbiting Mars

The Ability to Cut Short Conflict: 'Blessed is the Peacemaker'

I have been of the agnostic way of thinking for so many years that I'd forgotten the great life lessons that can come from scriptures. I am again looking into the philosophies. Be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, or atheist or even the force; here is a classic example of an ancient life rule that can only benefit the wise that practice it:

Blessed are the peacemakers - Those who strive to prevent contention, strife, and war; who use their influence to reconcile opposing parties, and to prevent lawsuits and hostilities in families and neighborhoods. Every man may do something of this; and no man is more like God than he who does it. There ought not to be unlawful and officious interference in that which is none of our business; but without any danger of acquiring this character, every man has many opportunities of reconciling opposing parties. Friends, neighbors, people of influence, lawyers, physicians, ministers of the gospel, may do much to promote peace. And it should be taken in hand in the beginning. "The beginning of strife," says Solomon, "is like the letting out of water."

 "An ounce of prevention," says the English proverb, "is worth a pound of cure."

 Long and most deadly quarrels might often be prevented by a little kind interference in the beginning.

Matthew 5:9

NASA:Anticipation Mounts for Curiosity Landing on Mars on 5th of August

"I am absolutely thrilled to have the chance to land this spacecraft on the surface on Mars," MSL chief scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena, said in a press briefing Wednesday.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover, the heart of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, is slated to touch down inside the Red Planet's Gale Crater on Sunday night (Aug. 5). Excitement about the big event is building among the MSL team, many of whom have been working on the mission for five years or more.

NASA officials call Curiosity the most complex and capable planetary explorer ever launched. It carries 10 different science instruments, including a rock-zapping laser and gear designed to identify organic compounds — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it.

click image for full story at Space.com

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A Whimsical Consideration: Some of the Creator's Gifts are Hard to Recognise as Such :)



I heard the short version of this story from a young agnostic. I paraphrase it here.

Christ in Heaven was talking with one of his angelic advisers and asked:

"It's been a couple of thousand years on Earth since I was there, how many people are now living on the planet?"

"Right at seven billion souls inhabit the Earth, my Lord."

Christ smiled, “Well, isn't that nice! All those people living and loving in peace and harmony!"

"Uh, hmmm. Not really, Lord." The hesitant Arch Angel replied.

"Actually they have been warring, and killing each other for 2000 years almost non-stop."

"What?"

"Yes, Lord, and as a matter of fact a great percentage of these wars and exterminations on Earth were done in the name of God."

"Me?"

"Uh, yes, My Lord."

"I don't understand those humans," said Christ as he slowly shook his head.

"I died down there, I gave them salvation, I gave them total forgiveness, I gave them immortality, I gave them the plant, I gave them domination over all the anim..."

"But Lord," interrupted the Angel, "they made the plant illegal." He went on, “They don't even use it for rope or for medicinal purposes anymore."

Christ was incredulous, “You’re telling me that Cannabis is not part of the plan?"

The Angel shook his head.

Christ groaned, “you know, I just don't understand those humans."