Journey to the Moon and Beyond
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Shariq_Mahmood]Shariq Mahmood
In March, the launch abort system - also known as the LAS pathfinder - for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle began a week-long journey across US to be delivered to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where it will help NASA prepare for the first abort system test, known as Pad Abort 1. The LAS pathfinder represents the size, outer shape and specific mass characteristics of Orion's abort system. This has created waves about Orion.
Orion, as you know, will become Nasa's primary vehicle for human space exploration after the shuttle retires in 2010. It will carry astronauts to the International Space Station and eventually to the moon and beyond. The vehicle is scheduled to begin carrying humans to the International Space Station in 2015. For its return to Earth, Orion will be equipped with a system of parachutes and shock absorbers.
Orion is making a big splash. A mock-up of the spacecraft that will carry the next generation of astronauts to the moon and beyond is traveling down the East Coast and undergoing tests to help NASA understand its performance in water.
'One feature is its high mobility,' writes Nasa on its website. 'Each set of wheels can pivot individually in any direction, giving the vehicle the ability to drive sideways, forward, backward and any direction in between' - a bit like a supermarket trolley.
The LAS pathfinder - for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle began a week-long journey across US to be delivered to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where it will help NASA prepare for the first abort system test, known as Pad Abort 1. The LAS pathfinder represents the size, outer shape and specific mass characteristics of Orion's abort system.
NASA really led in the space technology section and here once again it make the technology wall more strong by contributing LAS path finder. Innovation is the hobby of NASA and valuable move proof its researchers hard working. Its preparation for the first abort system test, known as Pad Abort 1 can be declared here as IT bomb on the tree of technology. [http://blog.technostation.com/?s=Journey+to+the+Moon+and+Beyond/a]Visit Technostation for Detail [http://www.technostation.com/category]For Relevant Products: Visit Technostation
[Mailto:shariq@technostation.com]Mail to Author
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shariq_Mahmood http://EzineArticles.com/?Journey-to-the-Moon-and-Beyond&id=2478363
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Space Colonies
Space Colonies
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow]Lance Winslow
How would Space Colony inhabitants protect themselves from solar flares, incoming space debris and the perils that lie ahead? Is it feasible to put a colony on the Moon and one on Mars? Recently, this discussion came up in the online think tank and one individual said with regards to living in a space colony:
One would have to spend half their time in these safe shelters. Not very appealing. I think the best way to provide this shielding is to build our lunar outpost under the moon's surface. But again, there is much research that will need to be done in order to develop strategies and methods
Well you know I live in a Motor Coach and have been traveling the North America for the last 6-years, and I am fine with it, People live in submarines for 6-8 months, folks have lived in Skylab, and on the ISS. We put bad humans in prisons; they seem to adapt. Additionally with VR - virtual reality and proper communication, well they ought to be fine. I can think of a few super models that I would love to be locked in a cage with? :)
All these psychological tests have been done. Psychological profiles are known, Sci Fi writers like Ben Bova have written about this and NASA has way too many psychologists on their staff who are paid way too much, for common sense reports they produce. Living under the surface does make the most sense to protect against incoming space rocks.
Sometimes, I feel like there are too many studies and not enough action and we give NASA very little compared to the US Military, we ought to fund NASA 10-fold and then have them share the information learned with the rest of the Scientific Community, including military offshoots of technology.
The 22-year Solar Cycle theory is having a bit of a problem with probability considering the quiet periods and sudden events, there was one recently that was unexpected and of interest. Our solar system has a bubble around it from the energy it creates moving thru deep space, not all space is equal and our solar system travels around the larger system of varying densities, then we are affected by other events of nearby natures, which could destroy us, buffet us, or affect us in some way.
In a space colony with a good pre-warning system, which is totally feasible, you simply close the sky lights, windows, etc and shield up, no big deal if on the moon, facing the Sun, go below the ground about 10 feet or more good as gold, or titanium? But enough talk, pick a solution and let's go already, we have the technology, and we are stalling.
"Lance Winslow" - Online [http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/]Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; [http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/]http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow http://EzineArticles.com/?Space-Colonies&id=878956
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow]Lance Winslow
How would Space Colony inhabitants protect themselves from solar flares, incoming space debris and the perils that lie ahead? Is it feasible to put a colony on the Moon and one on Mars? Recently, this discussion came up in the online think tank and one individual said with regards to living in a space colony:
One would have to spend half their time in these safe shelters. Not very appealing. I think the best way to provide this shielding is to build our lunar outpost under the moon's surface. But again, there is much research that will need to be done in order to develop strategies and methods
Well you know I live in a Motor Coach and have been traveling the North America for the last 6-years, and I am fine with it, People live in submarines for 6-8 months, folks have lived in Skylab, and on the ISS. We put bad humans in prisons; they seem to adapt. Additionally with VR - virtual reality and proper communication, well they ought to be fine. I can think of a few super models that I would love to be locked in a cage with? :)
All these psychological tests have been done. Psychological profiles are known, Sci Fi writers like Ben Bova have written about this and NASA has way too many psychologists on their staff who are paid way too much, for common sense reports they produce. Living under the surface does make the most sense to protect against incoming space rocks.
Sometimes, I feel like there are too many studies and not enough action and we give NASA very little compared to the US Military, we ought to fund NASA 10-fold and then have them share the information learned with the rest of the Scientific Community, including military offshoots of technology.
The 22-year Solar Cycle theory is having a bit of a problem with probability considering the quiet periods and sudden events, there was one recently that was unexpected and of interest. Our solar system has a bubble around it from the energy it creates moving thru deep space, not all space is equal and our solar system travels around the larger system of varying densities, then we are affected by other events of nearby natures, which could destroy us, buffet us, or affect us in some way.
In a space colony with a good pre-warning system, which is totally feasible, you simply close the sky lights, windows, etc and shield up, no big deal if on the moon, facing the Sun, go below the ground about 10 feet or more good as gold, or titanium? But enough talk, pick a solution and let's go already, we have the technology, and we are stalling.
"Lance Winslow" - Online [http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/]Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; [http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/]http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow http://EzineArticles.com/?Space-Colonies&id=878956
Friday, August 14, 2009
DIY Carbon Fiber Sheets
DIY Carbon Fiber Sheets
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Drew_Shielly]Drew Shielly
This is a beginners guide to carbon fiber. More advanced guides supporting our how-to section on vacuum molding, positive/negative molds, and weight reduction will follow.
Start by setting out your tools, including a sheet of clean glass at least 4" larger than your largest piece of graphite mat. Apply some form of mold release to the glass to aid in removal of the laminate later. At this point mix your resin. What resin you use depends on on the end application for the part you are making. In this eaxmple of a flat sheet, that would most likely become a gauge trim piece or a blanking plate, almost any resin will work fine. Resin systems can cost from 30 dollars a gallon up to 200 dollars a gallon, so choose one that suits your needs. No matter what resin you use consistency is very important. The resin and the catalyst must be throughly mixed.
Ensure the face of the mat is clean from any debris that would blemish the finish. Now, using a push pull motion stretch the fabric until it has a uniform appearance. This is one of the most important steps. Once you are ok with the pattern start applying resin. Start in the middle in work your way around. The goal here is to use as little resin as you can while wetting out all of the mat. Excess resin will only make your parts needlessly heavy and weak. Keep applying resin as needed while working out any air pockets that appear. Any excess resin should be worked to the sides, and the pattern should be adjusted once more.
The second layer goes on in the same way as the first. For the second course use a little less force so not to disturb the underlying layer. For cosmetic only pieces, two layers of mat is enough. For trim pieces I usually use three layers, and for body panels 4-5 with a special veil layer that will be discussed in a later review.
Flip the glass over and assure that the pattern is still intact, and there are no air pockets. If there are small pockets of trapped air you can push them gently to the sides. Once the air is removed, lay a large block of wood or another sheet of glass across the top. This will promote a uniform thickness and aid n the removal of any smaller un-noticed air pockets. Now allow the resin to partially cure. Depending on the system you used and the conditions it is curing under, this can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 12 hours.
Once the resin has cured to a state where it is only slightly tacky, pry up the top block of wood. At this stage thinners laminates can be trimmed with a razor before they totally cure. Thicker laminates should be treated much like metal and only cut with fine tooth blades once fully cured. To remove the graphite from the glass, start at a edge with excess resin. You can peel up the resin to get the mat started much like you would remove a sticker. Any exterior trimming can usually be done at this point. For interior trimming such as producing holes or patterns I suggest waiting at the least several hours. When you watch the video, take note that the entire process takes only 5 minutes of labor. Total cost on a 14x14 sheet is only a few dollars. I have made sheets as large as 5sq/ft for use as tail gate trim pieces with these same steps. Total cost was under 30 dollars. If you do what most "carbon fiber" companies do and back the piece with fiberglass the same 5sq/ft piece cost less than 10 dollars. For a complete movie on these steps see: http://volvospeed.com/Mods/carbon_fiber_sheets.html http: http://www.volvospeed.com
Tools Needed:
Resin System
Measuring Cups
Glass
Gloves
Sheet of Plywood
WD40 or Wax
Graphite Mat
Paper Towels
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Drew_Shielly http://EzineArticles.com/?DIY-Carbon-Fiber-Sheets&id=652494
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Drew_Shielly]Drew Shielly
This is a beginners guide to carbon fiber. More advanced guides supporting our how-to section on vacuum molding, positive/negative molds, and weight reduction will follow.
Start by setting out your tools, including a sheet of clean glass at least 4" larger than your largest piece of graphite mat. Apply some form of mold release to the glass to aid in removal of the laminate later. At this point mix your resin. What resin you use depends on on the end application for the part you are making. In this eaxmple of a flat sheet, that would most likely become a gauge trim piece or a blanking plate, almost any resin will work fine. Resin systems can cost from 30 dollars a gallon up to 200 dollars a gallon, so choose one that suits your needs. No matter what resin you use consistency is very important. The resin and the catalyst must be throughly mixed.
Ensure the face of the mat is clean from any debris that would blemish the finish. Now, using a push pull motion stretch the fabric until it has a uniform appearance. This is one of the most important steps. Once you are ok with the pattern start applying resin. Start in the middle in work your way around. The goal here is to use as little resin as you can while wetting out all of the mat. Excess resin will only make your parts needlessly heavy and weak. Keep applying resin as needed while working out any air pockets that appear. Any excess resin should be worked to the sides, and the pattern should be adjusted once more.
The second layer goes on in the same way as the first. For the second course use a little less force so not to disturb the underlying layer. For cosmetic only pieces, two layers of mat is enough. For trim pieces I usually use three layers, and for body panels 4-5 with a special veil layer that will be discussed in a later review.
Flip the glass over and assure that the pattern is still intact, and there are no air pockets. If there are small pockets of trapped air you can push them gently to the sides. Once the air is removed, lay a large block of wood or another sheet of glass across the top. This will promote a uniform thickness and aid n the removal of any smaller un-noticed air pockets. Now allow the resin to partially cure. Depending on the system you used and the conditions it is curing under, this can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 12 hours.
Once the resin has cured to a state where it is only slightly tacky, pry up the top block of wood. At this stage thinners laminates can be trimmed with a razor before they totally cure. Thicker laminates should be treated much like metal and only cut with fine tooth blades once fully cured. To remove the graphite from the glass, start at a edge with excess resin. You can peel up the resin to get the mat started much like you would remove a sticker. Any exterior trimming can usually be done at this point. For interior trimming such as producing holes or patterns I suggest waiting at the least several hours. When you watch the video, take note that the entire process takes only 5 minutes of labor. Total cost on a 14x14 sheet is only a few dollars. I have made sheets as large as 5sq/ft for use as tail gate trim pieces with these same steps. Total cost was under 30 dollars. If you do what most "carbon fiber" companies do and back the piece with fiberglass the same 5sq/ft piece cost less than 10 dollars. For a complete movie on these steps see: http://volvospeed.com/Mods/carbon_fiber_sheets.html http: http://www.volvospeed.com
Tools Needed:
Resin System
Measuring Cups
Glass
Gloves
Sheet of Plywood
WD40 or Wax
Graphite Mat
Paper Towels
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Drew_Shielly http://EzineArticles.com/?DIY-Carbon-Fiber-Sheets&id=652494
Monday, August 10, 2009
Lagrangian Points and Nasa's Plan to Explore Space
Lagrangian Points and Nasa's Plan to Explore Space
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=David_Craig]David Craig
Nasa is relying on the existence of Lagrangian points between every set of planetary bodies it intends to explore in order to implement its plan of successful interplanetary space exploration. Although this at first may seem to be a vague and mystical concept, foreign to all but trained astrophysicists, in fact it is really quite simple to understand.
The Lagrangian in physics is merely nothing more than a set of two simpler equations that can be used as an alternative for Newtons second law; force equals mass times acceleration. A Lagrangian point between two bodies exerting competing forces on a body is therefore a point at which the forces are equal and opposite. According to Newton’s third law, if the net force on a body is zero, it will stay at rest if at rest and if in motion it will stay in motion.
In mathematical terms, visualize a graph of a big bowl. The Lagrangian point is the point at the very bottom of the bowl. This point represents the point at which the maximum energy, the energy from the bottom of the bowl to the top, must be supplied to kick the body out of the bowl in order to prevent the body from rolling back down to the bottom of the bowl and returning to its energy minimum. Therefore, the point at the minimum of the bowl represents the point of maximum stability in terms of preventing the influence of a net imbalance in the forces of the two gravitational forces on it from disturbing it. This point in question is the orbit which has the most stable velocity and angular momentum. The body acted on could be a space station between two large masses such as the earth and the moon or any two interplanetary bodies of significantly greater mass than the spacecraft.
How this relates to Nasa and its plans for future space travel is that they have the ability to use the Lagrangian formulas to calculate the Lagrangian points between different planetary bodies and therefore to determine the location of these orbits. Therefore, it is possible to build space stations as stepping stones between the earth and the moon, the moon and Mars, and on and on as far as you want to go. As it would be unrealistic to expect any spacecraft to be able to return to earth from far out in space in the case of an emergency or the need to make repairs, this makes the possibility of extending space travel outwards into the solar system and theoretically beyond feasible within the constraints of our technology and budgetary considerations.
Sources:
1) NASA Reveals New Plan for the Moon, Mars & Outward
By Leonard David; Senior Space Writer – Space.com
David Craig; [http://www.spacestuff.net]Nasa and General Astronomy Information;
M.S. - Physics: University of Minnesota;
B.S. - Computer Science: University of Oregon;
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Craig http://EzineArticles.com/?Lagrangian-Points-and-Nasas-Plan-to-Explore-Space&id=78446
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=David_Craig]David Craig
Nasa is relying on the existence of Lagrangian points between every set of planetary bodies it intends to explore in order to implement its plan of successful interplanetary space exploration. Although this at first may seem to be a vague and mystical concept, foreign to all but trained astrophysicists, in fact it is really quite simple to understand.
The Lagrangian in physics is merely nothing more than a set of two simpler equations that can be used as an alternative for Newtons second law; force equals mass times acceleration. A Lagrangian point between two bodies exerting competing forces on a body is therefore a point at which the forces are equal and opposite. According to Newton’s third law, if the net force on a body is zero, it will stay at rest if at rest and if in motion it will stay in motion.
In mathematical terms, visualize a graph of a big bowl. The Lagrangian point is the point at the very bottom of the bowl. This point represents the point at which the maximum energy, the energy from the bottom of the bowl to the top, must be supplied to kick the body out of the bowl in order to prevent the body from rolling back down to the bottom of the bowl and returning to its energy minimum. Therefore, the point at the minimum of the bowl represents the point of maximum stability in terms of preventing the influence of a net imbalance in the forces of the two gravitational forces on it from disturbing it. This point in question is the orbit which has the most stable velocity and angular momentum. The body acted on could be a space station between two large masses such as the earth and the moon or any two interplanetary bodies of significantly greater mass than the spacecraft.
How this relates to Nasa and its plans for future space travel is that they have the ability to use the Lagrangian formulas to calculate the Lagrangian points between different planetary bodies and therefore to determine the location of these orbits. Therefore, it is possible to build space stations as stepping stones between the earth and the moon, the moon and Mars, and on and on as far as you want to go. As it would be unrealistic to expect any spacecraft to be able to return to earth from far out in space in the case of an emergency or the need to make repairs, this makes the possibility of extending space travel outwards into the solar system and theoretically beyond feasible within the constraints of our technology and budgetary considerations.
Sources:
1) NASA Reveals New Plan for the Moon, Mars & Outward
By Leonard David; Senior Space Writer – Space.com
David Craig; [http://www.spacestuff.net]Nasa and General Astronomy Information;
M.S. - Physics: University of Minnesota;
B.S. - Computer Science: University of Oregon;
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Craig http://EzineArticles.com/?Lagrangian-Points-and-Nasas-Plan-to-Explore-Space&id=78446
Friday, August 7, 2009
Cheats inside the Holocell
I really enjoy thinking about the "gaming" possibilities inside a Star
Trek style Holodeck.
I also like thinking about what possible cheats may be used in them. For me these include such things as having access to 21st century equipment in ancient settings. Having a Tommygun or a Humvee or helicopters when meeting Julius Caesar.
Of course before any of this is possible I have to build a working Holocell. I say holocell because I do not think it would be possible to have multiple people inside a single holodeck. instead I think that it would be easier to have a round cell with projections on its surface that can simulate movement over terrain. This level 1 holocell is already in existance such as the Allosphere.
The next logical level for this technology in my eyes is interaction with the enviroment. Playing catch or hiting a baseball thrown at you, wading through a river. How much of this can be done simply using "magic tricks" and how much will require new technology?
Trek style Holodeck.
I also like thinking about what possible cheats may be used in them. For me these include such things as having access to 21st century equipment in ancient settings. Having a Tommygun or a Humvee or helicopters when meeting Julius Caesar.
Of course before any of this is possible I have to build a working Holocell. I say holocell because I do not think it would be possible to have multiple people inside a single holodeck. instead I think that it would be easier to have a round cell with projections on its surface that can simulate movement over terrain. This level 1 holocell is already in existance such as the Allosphere.
The next logical level for this technology in my eyes is interaction with the enviroment. Playing catch or hiting a baseball thrown at you, wading through a river. How much of this can be done simply using "magic tricks" and how much will require new technology?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Multi-Core Processor Evolution
Multi-Core Processor Evolution
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jewel_Cole]Jewel Cole
You might be amazed with all the new processors that are now available in the market.This article aims to help average computer users to understand better the multi-core processor revolution. Understanding what the different multi-core processor is can help you decide which processor to get if you want to make your computer run faster, have an upgrade or just want to know what a core does in the first place.
A Processor or Central Processing Units or also known as CPU is the brain of your computer. It handles everything that needs to be processed in your computer except for video processing. That makes the CPU a very important part of your computer system. The faster your CPU can process the data, the faster your system responds and the less time you need to wait for a command or task to be finished.
As time goes by, CPU manufacturers started making faster CPUs. Most of them failed and only Intel and AMD survived that tough competition. For a decade, Intel and AMD improved their silicon to go faster and faster until around 2004. The current technology limits the CPUs to go above 4 GHz (GHz is a measure of CPU speed to process information). Currently attempting to break the 4 GHz is not possible. According to Moore's Law, computing is increasing or improving exponentially approximately every 2 years. But the engineering limitations of the CPUs that time has been reached so they need to come up ways to improve it and there was no choice but to increase the number of cores in the CPU.
The logic behind can be compare to a car that twice the number of "cylinders" should produce twice the "speed." but it didn't really work out that way. They placed a 3 GHz core and fit it next to another 3 GHz core but that didn't process like a 6 GHz core at all. That's because the second core needs specific software to process at the same time. The computer get confused when it process data from the two cores. The first data should be processed first before the other. It's like a single cashier register queue. If the cashier tries to process two customers at once it will get confused. Same with the computer it will get confused and process nothing at all.
It turned out that the new processor doesn't need to process a single data using two cores simultaneously. There are less than 1% of all popular software applications that needs to more than 3 GHz speeds. For example, Adobe Photoshop can perform really fast on a 3 GHz per side dual core. Photoshop performs like it was using a 6 GHz single core. Even though that there are software and games that don't recognize the CPU's second core and kept plugging along at normal speed. Operating Systems (OS) such as Windows XP and Vista can slough off some of their own OS functions to one of it's CPU cores so that the other core can be dedicated to applications that are not "multi-threaded" like the Photoshop. Users who have tried dual core CPU have noticed a serious increase in speed when tried it. To make it short dual core CPU performs by allotting one of its core to be dedicated to only running the application and the other core will run all the background functions. So if you want to enjoy a faster and happier computing experience you should not buy another single core CPU again especially if you are fond of multi tasking when you are using your computer.
Aside from dual core, [http://blazintech.net/]quad core processors are becoming more popular in the market today. A quad core is double a dual core that means that it can process four streams at once. This is really a very processing speed especially for very rare "multi-threaded" applications but for regular users, it would be hard to tell the performance difference between a dual core and a quad core processor. People who use "multi-threaded" application or future application that will take advantage of multiple cores in the future will surely enjoy using one of these babies. When you buy a quad core today you are securing yourself from any future developments that will take advantage of multiple core processors making your computer system from being obsolete.
Jewel Cole is a freelance writer for a [http://blazintech.net/]computer parts retailer company. A website administrator in one of the leading laptop battery retailer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jewel_Cole http://EzineArticles.com/?Multi-Core-Processor-Evolution&id=2640801
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jewel_Cole]Jewel Cole
You might be amazed with all the new processors that are now available in the market.This article aims to help average computer users to understand better the multi-core processor revolution. Understanding what the different multi-core processor is can help you decide which processor to get if you want to make your computer run faster, have an upgrade or just want to know what a core does in the first place.
A Processor or Central Processing Units or also known as CPU is the brain of your computer. It handles everything that needs to be processed in your computer except for video processing. That makes the CPU a very important part of your computer system. The faster your CPU can process the data, the faster your system responds and the less time you need to wait for a command or task to be finished.
As time goes by, CPU manufacturers started making faster CPUs. Most of them failed and only Intel and AMD survived that tough competition. For a decade, Intel and AMD improved their silicon to go faster and faster until around 2004. The current technology limits the CPUs to go above 4 GHz (GHz is a measure of CPU speed to process information). Currently attempting to break the 4 GHz is not possible. According to Moore's Law, computing is increasing or improving exponentially approximately every 2 years. But the engineering limitations of the CPUs that time has been reached so they need to come up ways to improve it and there was no choice but to increase the number of cores in the CPU.
The logic behind can be compare to a car that twice the number of "cylinders" should produce twice the "speed." but it didn't really work out that way. They placed a 3 GHz core and fit it next to another 3 GHz core but that didn't process like a 6 GHz core at all. That's because the second core needs specific software to process at the same time. The computer get confused when it process data from the two cores. The first data should be processed first before the other. It's like a single cashier register queue. If the cashier tries to process two customers at once it will get confused. Same with the computer it will get confused and process nothing at all.
It turned out that the new processor doesn't need to process a single data using two cores simultaneously. There are less than 1% of all popular software applications that needs to more than 3 GHz speeds. For example, Adobe Photoshop can perform really fast on a 3 GHz per side dual core. Photoshop performs like it was using a 6 GHz single core. Even though that there are software and games that don't recognize the CPU's second core and kept plugging along at normal speed. Operating Systems (OS) such as Windows XP and Vista can slough off some of their own OS functions to one of it's CPU cores so that the other core can be dedicated to applications that are not "multi-threaded" like the Photoshop. Users who have tried dual core CPU have noticed a serious increase in speed when tried it. To make it short dual core CPU performs by allotting one of its core to be dedicated to only running the application and the other core will run all the background functions. So if you want to enjoy a faster and happier computing experience you should not buy another single core CPU again especially if you are fond of multi tasking when you are using your computer.
Aside from dual core, [http://blazintech.net/]quad core processors are becoming more popular in the market today. A quad core is double a dual core that means that it can process four streams at once. This is really a very processing speed especially for very rare "multi-threaded" applications but for regular users, it would be hard to tell the performance difference between a dual core and a quad core processor. People who use "multi-threaded" application or future application that will take advantage of multiple cores in the future will surely enjoy using one of these babies. When you buy a quad core today you are securing yourself from any future developments that will take advantage of multiple core processors making your computer system from being obsolete.
Jewel Cole is a freelance writer for a [http://blazintech.net/]computer parts retailer company. A website administrator in one of the leading laptop battery retailer.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jewel_Cole http://EzineArticles.com/?Multi-Core-Processor-Evolution&id=2640801
Monday, July 27, 2009
Spooky
One of my girlfriend's friends came over the othernight to play with ouija board. Not something I believe in, however I decided to take "precautions".
Honestly it went awesomely. The only negatives of the whole experiance was after I left the room and the friend asked some "bad" questions which got my woman worried about our relationship. Watching the thing moving underneath our fingers took a while to get used to. I originally had to come into the room after I heard them scream in suprise and asking each other if they were moving it. It was on the whole a very positive experiance.
Well, there was one major negative for me which leads me to write this. When I asked if I would ever have my space ship it said "no".
There was dialog between us and the "spirits". We even joked around with each other. My favorite was after asking if "it" was having fun with us the pointer moved over the "h" and then the "yes".
I don't believe any of us were consciously moving the pointer. We made a point to ask if we were safe periodically through the session. It was the best experiance I have ever heard about using a ouija board.
Honestly it went awesomely. The only negatives of the whole experiance was after I left the room and the friend asked some "bad" questions which got my woman worried about our relationship. Watching the thing moving underneath our fingers took a while to get used to. I originally had to come into the room after I heard them scream in suprise and asking each other if they were moving it. It was on the whole a very positive experiance.
Well, there was one major negative for me which leads me to write this. When I asked if I would ever have my space ship it said "no".
There was dialog between us and the "spirits". We even joked around with each other. My favorite was after asking if "it" was having fun with us the pointer moved over the "h" and then the "yes".
I don't believe any of us were consciously moving the pointer. We made a point to ask if we were safe periodically through the session. It was the best experiance I have ever heard about using a ouija board.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Star Trek - Revitalizing the Future
Star Trek - Revitalizing the Future
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Raphael_Soohoo]Raphael Soohoo
"Space, the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five year mission: to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldy go where no man has gone before!" With these words, Gene Roddeberry created a phenomenon that has swept the world, and created a fandom that is fiercely loyal. After numerous movies and TV shows, the franchise is getting a new start with a new movie May 8th. The movie will bring back the celebrated original crew, but with some twists. The crew will meet technically before they were supposed to, and be brought aboard the fabled Enterprise before the original series premiered.
For those unfamiliar with Star Trek, a little insight will be provided. Gene Roddenberry had an idea for a science fiction show set in space, with heavy drama and high adventure. He developed this idea for years before CBS gave him the green light. It debuted in 1966. It featured William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, the youngest captain in Starfleet, as the commander of the USS Enterprise and her crew. He was flanked by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, who was fiery and emotional; and the Vulcan known as Spock, who had learned to supress his emotions and places his belief in logic, as do all Vulcans. The trio rounded each other out very well, and the rest of the senior staff: Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and later Chekov, brought the Enterprise to different planets, wild adventures, and captivated audiences... well the few who tuned in. It was cancelled after three seasons due to poor ratings. Since that beginning, the cult status of the show has given way, and now it is one of the biggest media franchises, which includes comics.
The current holder of the Star Trek comic license, IDW, have been producing comics since 2006, and they have delved into both the original series and the successful Next Generation. One of the major series dealing with the original crew of the USS Enterprise is Star Trek: Year Four. Year Four consists of what would have been the Fourth Season of Star Trek, and is written by DC Fontana. Fontana is a well respected writer in the science fiction community, as well as Gene Roddenberry's assistant, pre-Star Trek. With her writing the series, there is a sense of continuity with Mr. Roddenberry's original vision. Of course, IDW has also managed to snag major comic luminaries to write for the series as well. Chris Claremont (Star Trek: Debt of Honor) and John Byrne (Star Trek: Assignment Earth, Star Trek: Crew), legends of the comic industry, have worked on Star Trek books in recent years, as well as Peter David, who was well known to Trekkies as a Trek novelist as well as a comic book writer. Mr. David actually wrote a sequel to his novel series, Star Trek: New Frontier. With the new relaunched movie, IDW has not missed a beat. They have produced a movie prequel which has sold very well, and they have numerous Trek titles available.
To find all of IDW's Star Trek comics and graphic novels, Midtown Comics is the logical choice to beam you into the adventures of the Enterprise. With two prime locations in the heart of Manhattan, as well as a wonderful website, Midtown Comics is the place for your Trek needs. From comics to playsets to t-shirts (just as long as it's not red!), Midtown has it all. Gene Roddenberry dreamed of a future where all of humanity co-existed, but with the uncertainty of our time, and the distance from his era, perhaps the dream needed a little updating. The new Star Trek will be in theaters May 8th, 2009, and we will see what the brand new future of Roddenberry looks like. See you in the theatre!
For further information, please visit: [http://www.midtowncomics.com/]Midtown Comics Website
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raphael_Soohoo http://EzineArticles.com/?Star-Trek---Revitalizing-the-Future&id=2400610
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Raphael_Soohoo]Raphael Soohoo
"Space, the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five year mission: to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldy go where no man has gone before!" With these words, Gene Roddeberry created a phenomenon that has swept the world, and created a fandom that is fiercely loyal. After numerous movies and TV shows, the franchise is getting a new start with a new movie May 8th. The movie will bring back the celebrated original crew, but with some twists. The crew will meet technically before they were supposed to, and be brought aboard the fabled Enterprise before the original series premiered.
For those unfamiliar with Star Trek, a little insight will be provided. Gene Roddenberry had an idea for a science fiction show set in space, with heavy drama and high adventure. He developed this idea for years before CBS gave him the green light. It debuted in 1966. It featured William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, the youngest captain in Starfleet, as the commander of the USS Enterprise and her crew. He was flanked by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, who was fiery and emotional; and the Vulcan known as Spock, who had learned to supress his emotions and places his belief in logic, as do all Vulcans. The trio rounded each other out very well, and the rest of the senior staff: Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and later Chekov, brought the Enterprise to different planets, wild adventures, and captivated audiences... well the few who tuned in. It was cancelled after three seasons due to poor ratings. Since that beginning, the cult status of the show has given way, and now it is one of the biggest media franchises, which includes comics.
The current holder of the Star Trek comic license, IDW, have been producing comics since 2006, and they have delved into both the original series and the successful Next Generation. One of the major series dealing with the original crew of the USS Enterprise is Star Trek: Year Four. Year Four consists of what would have been the Fourth Season of Star Trek, and is written by DC Fontana. Fontana is a well respected writer in the science fiction community, as well as Gene Roddenberry's assistant, pre-Star Trek. With her writing the series, there is a sense of continuity with Mr. Roddenberry's original vision. Of course, IDW has also managed to snag major comic luminaries to write for the series as well. Chris Claremont (Star Trek: Debt of Honor) and John Byrne (Star Trek: Assignment Earth, Star Trek: Crew), legends of the comic industry, have worked on Star Trek books in recent years, as well as Peter David, who was well known to Trekkies as a Trek novelist as well as a comic book writer. Mr. David actually wrote a sequel to his novel series, Star Trek: New Frontier. With the new relaunched movie, IDW has not missed a beat. They have produced a movie prequel which has sold very well, and they have numerous Trek titles available.
To find all of IDW's Star Trek comics and graphic novels, Midtown Comics is the logical choice to beam you into the adventures of the Enterprise. With two prime locations in the heart of Manhattan, as well as a wonderful website, Midtown Comics is the place for your Trek needs. From comics to playsets to t-shirts (just as long as it's not red!), Midtown has it all. Gene Roddenberry dreamed of a future where all of humanity co-existed, but with the uncertainty of our time, and the distance from his era, perhaps the dream needed a little updating. The new Star Trek will be in theaters May 8th, 2009, and we will see what the brand new future of Roddenberry looks like. See you in the theatre!
For further information, please visit: [http://www.midtowncomics.com/]Midtown Comics Website
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raphael_Soohoo http://EzineArticles.com/?Star-Trek---Revitalizing-the-Future&id=2400610
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Lunar One by Rick Phipps
Lunar One
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Rick_Phipps]Rick Phipps
Bill Larantz stepped out of a door accompanied by three, armed security officers. They turned left down the long corridor, walking methodically slow. He noticed the dark blue stretch uniforms they were wearing, which had a bright-yellow triangular shaped stripe across the front, centered by a large chrome star - the symbol for the World Federation.
"What's it like to work as a security officer?" He asked cheerfully, hoping to somehow break the solemn atmosphere of his companions. But it was to no avail as they didn't respond nor even acknowledge that he had spoken.As they marched along Bill surveyed the faces of the officers and found that they looked straight ahead intently but saw nothing. It was as if they were locked inside their heads.
The corridor was oval shaped and dimly lit with neon lighting that streamed along each side behind glass covers. The walls were faced with a gloomy blue-gray material, which was disturbing to look at.
They quickly approached a large four section portal at the end of the corridor, next to which was located an elaborate keypad. The lead officer deftly typed a code in order to gain access to the entrance. The large door opened up by the two top sections separating and moving up while the bottom sections separated and moved down respectively. Passing through the opening they entered a spacious white colored chamber at the center of which was an enormous console. Surrounding the control panel was a bright florescent-green field, which extended up from the floor about eight feet.
They continued on heading for the green field. The doorway behind them closed with a surprising boom giving him a bit of a start. He could feel his heart flutter for a moment and then it quickly recovered when he realized what it was. Upon entering the field a large three-dimensional head appeared before them sporting a very menacing look. The group took a few steps closer and then stopped abruptly.
"Bill Larantz please step forward," a loud voice blasted from some unseen speaker system. Bill complied a little weak in the knees.
"I am Holax Maddan, Chief Arbiter West-zone district, World Federation," the voice continued fatefully. "Case WF-SH-448xx7 Sentence hearing commencement 4:45:00pm-07/24/2110," Holax said, as if it were an aside, sending the communication to some other unknown audience.
Attention was quickly directed back to him however as Holax said, "You have been convicted of the following crimes: Three counts attempted overthrow of the World Federation, Two counts conspiracy against mankind and Two hundred counts murder of Federation personnel."
There was an abrupt momentary pause as the large head glared at him grimly, then it continued with, "Because of the violent and terroristic nature of your crimes, you have been categorized as a Level Six Convict - maximum danger and destructiveness to society. Therefore, this court hereby sentences you to life imprisonment at the maximum-security Lunar-One criminal institution. You will be leaving at 8:30am-07/25/2110. All of your personal records are - as we speak - being deleted from all databases. You are no longer Bill Larantz, that identity has been permanently erased just as if you had never been born. You are now the property of the World Federation. Your identity is now L-1/INM-448xx7. As the property of the WF you can and may be subjected to any psychiatric-experimentation, including drugs, shock and surgery. Do you have anything to say for yourself before your sentence begins?" Holax asked in conclusion with a most invalidating tone and expression.
"I am neither a criminal nor a terrorist!" Bill began his challenging retort looking squarely in the eyes of the giant head facsimile before him. "Me and my fellow Freedom Fighters are attempting to restore liberty to this planet that the World Fe---," he attempted to say but the hologram image vehemently cut him off midstream with:
"We don't want to hear any of your old-world democratic ideas here. Personal liberty was a failure, as everyone knows, for it is just too dangerous. The American Republic is out and the One World Order is in. You have failed to keep up with the times and just like all the rest of your freedom-advocate brethren, your true purpose - while beating the drum for liberty - is to commit crimes and protect criminals," Holax stated with finality and evaluation.
As Bill considered the ridiculousness of the statement he had just heard and the comical seriousness with which it was uttered, he suddenly broke out into uncontrolled laughter.
The head's features became enraged as it bellowed to the security officers, "Restrain this criminal at once!"
The three officers complied in a hectic manner, by pulling out their electrified nightsticks, turning them on and touching them to Bill's midsection in unison, sending him into immediate violent convulsions for a few short seconds, after which he collapsed unconscious to the floor.
9:45:00-AM-08/15/2110
John Smith was not his real name, it was actually Nolan Pool, but that name was just too unique. You see Nolan had the fortune or misfortune - however the case may be - of having been born with the most average features. He had the mean height of five feet eleven inches. His brown hair and brown eyes were very common. To accentuate this he wore run-of-the-mill clothes and shoes, had an average-Joe hair cut and maintained a work-a-day manner in all of his actions.
Now most people who were quite average in looks would have probably considered this to be a real problem and might have tried to make themselves a bit out of the ordinary in some way, by getting an odd haircut, donning strange clothes, or something. But not Nolan; instead he thought of it as an asset, an advantage to be utilized to the fullest. All the while he was growing up he practiced being ordinary. He specifically watched films and movies to spot the people who didn't stand out, which were usually in the background and were quite often missed by everyone else. He would then mimic their every move, practicing and drilling constantly, getting their actions down cold. He would then seek out new films and movies for more every-day characters and then mimic them and so on...
He was now fifty-seven and having made this average behavior a habit for many years now, had become a true master of the common man, his every move a letter-perfect regularity. So good in fact that he was now able to virtually disappear. He could get multitudes of people to become unaware of him. Everyone he met and even those he saw on a regular basis had a very hard time remembering his name. Some would try hard for a while to pay attention to him and keep track of him, but after only a short time they would begin to lose him, eventually he became just part of the background. All communication to him would start being on an automatic basis. And he went about his business making very certain that he kept all of his actions mundane.
Nolan had done very average in High School and College, though he could have done much better, but that would have gone against his every-day guy persona. After finishing school he became a reporter for a newspaper in Pittsburgh. He was not an exceptionally great journalist, but could get into places and get stories that others could not, because of his invisible man ability. He worked at the paper for the better part of ten years and gradually befriended a beautiful woman columnist named Stasha. They worked together closely for years as good friends and eventually fell in love with each other, ultimately marrying. Yes he could remember those times vividly. That was back in the old days when the United States was still intact, before The One World Order had taken over. They had a really great relationship as she was the one to stand out and he was just the opposite. And because he was so average he took nothing away from her. Nobody ever really noticed them as a couple, but rather her as a star journalist and beautiful woman. So that worked out great because he didn't want distinction at all and she lived on it.
Each year their love grew stronger and stronger and understanding between them was inviolable. They became such a great team together that they felt nothing could get in their way and could therefore accomplish anything. And so it was they endeavored together with the intention of changing the world for the better. But sometimes it seems that perfect situations such as theirs are not meant for a world as imperfect as this, and - just when it seemed that things could not possibly get any better - the wonderful individual that he cherished so dearly, was murdered, ending forever their life and love together.
She had been working on a story and was uncovering evidence of a secret state government conspiracy, proving that revenue allotted for education, was being used instead to drug children between the ages of six to twelve. The "medications" being administered - though legal - would in effect render all of these young people mentally disabled, thus permanently nullifying their chances of getting any kind of education. And so when she had uncovered and exposed too much, the vested-interest-powers-that-be did her in but good. They did not just kill her but riddled her body with thirty plus rounds from a semi-automatic machine gun.
He was - to say the least - overwhelmed and devastated by his loss for nearly a year. He couldn't think or function. He went through the daily motions of life - eating, dressing, showering and working - kind of on an auto-pilot basis, never really doing any of it at all. He had completely lost his purpose and drive to go on living. But then one day he realized what he must do. He needed to avenge his wife's tragic death by exposing the responsible group as the bloodletting totalitarians that they were. And so his every waking moment was spent ferreting out their dastardly schemes and plots.
He soon discovered that the group he was after was much larger and higher up than he had expected. The true source was a corporate elite that ran the entire planet. The more he penetrated the operations of these people the more hate he developed for them. He realized two years ahead of time that something like the World Federation was on its way. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop it from arriving. But knowing this did not, in any small way, deter his determination to rid the world of this atrocious group.
He of course no longer worked for any newspaper, as they had all been taken over and slanted with WF propaganda. His methods of both finding and distributing the truth about The One-World-Order were simple and insidious. He would get jobs in which he would correct the books of large corporations, thus enabling him to poke around and research, collect evidence, then move on to the next gig and do the same. After a while he would have the information necessary to release an exposé over various private media such as underground computer networks and home broadcasting (television and radio). In addition he would publish articles anonymously in various secret evolutionary and revolutionary magazines, papers etc.
Nolan walked along Canal Street heading for Saxon center - the newest fifty story corporate office building in lower Manhattan. As he went along he noticed the people on foot near him, but they noticed him not at all. Their expressions were all very nervous as they tried to avoid the many security cams above the street. Everywhere you looked there were cameras of various kinds, there were different sizes and shapes, placed in every type of location. They were all perfectly designed to watch your every move. The people were no longer free and the atmosphere was anxious and troublesome.
Upon reaching the front doors of his destination he took care to enter the building in the exact manner he did everyday and was not thrown off by the unexpected, "Hi" from some unknown passerby.
He responded with an average "Hello" and a slight bow of the head then continued on. He made sure that each and every step and motion that he took was an exact duplicate of prior ones he had taken each time before. He stepped into the elevator and monotonously pressed twenty-four, watched the doors close and started on his ascent. It took some time to reach floor twenty-four, what with all the stops made along the way but finally he arrived and the doors opened. He stepped out and turned right to walk up the long corridor towards suite 2469.
Once he had reached the correct office he rang a buzzer located next to the door. Shortly thereafter a voice from an intercom said, "Good morning Mr. Smith, come on in."
The door latch-light went from red to green and then he opened the door and entered. "Hello Mr. Benkins," he said as he closed the door behind him. He noticed that some unknown person stood next to Benkins.
"Ah-Jim right?" Benkins asked, obviously already having trouble with his first name.
"It's John sir," he replied, not in the least disturbed by his forgetting.
"Oh yes John that's right. I would like you to meet Daran Oldemayer, he is the Chief Executive officer of our company," Benkins introduced nervously.
"Pleased to meet you," Nolan said, as he shook the VIP's hand making sure not to be effusive, keeping in his usual everyday manner as well.
"Nice to meet you," The executive said, not meaning it at all as he had an attitude of "I am the most important person you have probably ever met."
"There are the files that I need you to correct today," Benkins said distractedly as he pointed towards two or three Super-Disk-ROM cartridges of one hundred "googol-bit" capacity - one hundred googol bytes of information. And then he continued with, "We were just on our way to our quarterly meeting so I will check back with you later. Alright?"
"Ok Mr. Benkins see you later on," Nolan said quite nonchalantly and noticed that they didn't even stay to hear him finish, as they had already left. The VIP he had greeted was not aware that he had infected his hand with over a million nano-percept recorders. These micro-robots were beyond state-of-the art. They were so far undetectable by any system or device - of course this would be so, for just so long, perhaps two or three months longer and then he would have to improve and miniaturize them yet again. He had infected the Chief executive because he had heard rumors of an ultra-secret convention comprised of the most elite and wealthy individuals on the planet. And he wanted to record this meeting in its entirety as this might just be the breakthrough event that could completely expose the true intentions and nature of the World Federation.
He sat down at the computer, slid in the twelve inch Super-Disk-ROM and began correcting the books as requested but at the same time infected the network with several virus code mechanisms. He also planted a few million hardware and program nano-bots in the main computer so as to redesign and reconstruct the whole system from afar - all undetectable of course. In not too long a time he would have such total control over the company software that he could do whatever he wanted with it and the users would only see what he wanted them to see, nobody ever suspecting anything different.
In just four hours time he had successfully installed the proper corrector modules that would right the entire database while taking care of his own agenda as well. There was not much else he could do at this point but sit back and let everything takes its course.
10:15:00-AM-09/10/2110
Erick Land was a little more than just a bit nervous as he walked about with the personnel director who was currently giving him his orientation. You see this was his very first day on a job he had been striving at for more than fifteen years. Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt as if somehow something would go wrong and all of his hard work would be for naught. This was mixed with intermittent positive feelings and thoughts like "Wow I really made it."
The Personnel director - Harve Migel - started his orientation lecture with, "I am going to give you a complete rundown of the Lunar One control station, a little of it's history and what it is exactly that we do here." Harve stated this importantly and you could tell that he thought that working here was of a very high status. He continued on with, "We abbreviate the prison facility to L-1 and the control station to L-1-Con. Now, L-1 is located at Anderson crater 150 kilometers south of where we are here at Freundich crater, which is the home of L-1-Con. We have to run the prison remotely, as the inmates that are sent there are the most dangerous in the solar system. We control - by way of robots and robotic systems and equipment - the entire L-1 facility. We feed the prisoners, keep watch on them, maintain the grounds and structures, and additionally administrate all new construction and planning all from L-1-Con. The inmates come in by small one-way capsules, which become - upon landing - prison cells. All supplies and equipment are shipped from here via automated mini-rail, so as not to allow for a way of escape. The mini-rail cars are so small that there is no way that any human being - including a small child - could possibly fit aboard it. Additionally there is no way to carry or produce oxygen on the rail cars, making it doubly impossible as an escape route. So you see we have here the most escape proof prison ever constructed, one hundred percent fail-safe in my opinion."
Harve paused for a moment in his speech to take a drink of water from his refrigerated thermos unit. And then he continued with, "Now the history of L-1 and L-1-Con began thirty years ago when construction was initiated. It took the better part of ten years to finish and the first inmate arrived nineteen years ago. Since then more than seven thousand prisoners have been sent here, not one has ever escaped and it is not expected that any ever will. The idea for L-1 was conceived by Helmer Aswit, he was a noted psychiatrist and prison director. The current inmate population is four thousand, one hundred and fifty six. This is due to the fact that since The One World Order has taken over Earth, various prisoner rights have been dropped and the government can now use these prisoners in any experiments they see fit. About forty percent of the prisoners who have died at L-1 were due to psychiatric research tests."
Harve again halted for a time as they made their way around a large wall, on the other side of which, was an enormous computer control center. Erik couldn't believe how many people he saw running all manner of computerized equipment; things so high-tech and advanced that it was beyond belief. The center stretched out in all directions and was about the size of a stadium. As he stood there dumbfounded Harve resumed. "Here is where it all happens. This is where you will be working once you complete your entrance program, but for now let me give you a tour. As you can see there is quite a bit of personnel needed to operate L-1." He stopped and looked at Erik somehow sensing that he wanted to comment.
"Wow! I never imagined that it would be anything like this. It's almost overwhelming," Erik stated with obvious awe.
"Yes it can seem that way when you have not been given any information beforehand. As you know everything that we do here is top-secret and confidential. This is why you signed the pledge stating that you will not disclose anything about what we do, what you see or what you know concerning L-1 and L-1-Con, under penalty of imprisonment," Harve responded in a "this-is-to-be-expected" attitude.
They continued the tour for the balance of his first day. Late that night in his quarters, Erik pondered on the next six days, which was how long his entrance program would take. His mind then went on to the next eighteen months - the length of his first tour at L-1-Con; he hoped that all would go well. He also looked forward to his three-month leave after his first tour, although it was a long way off, it was a good goal to work towards. He felt pretty good about everything now, minus the apprehension and anxiety he had earlier. He thought, "it's all going to work out fine." A few short moments later he was sound asleep.
2:25:00-PM-09/22/2110
It had been nearly two months since Bill had been sentenced back on earth. He had taken off the very next morning on a prison airbus, top-security of course. He rode the bus for fifteen hours to Houston where he was transferred aboard Space-Elevator-One - better known as the thriftiest way into space. This grueling journey was most unpleasant and lasted five - seemingly unending - days. At the end of that time, already some two thousand miles in space, he was transferred to an enormous earth-moon-space-barge where he was placed aboard a small capsule - later to serve as his prison cell upon reaching Lunar-one. Traveling on the barge was not too bad; he actually almost enjoyed himself. But this only lasted for two days at which time the large ship entered the lunar orbit. Once on the far side - with the earth no longer in view - he and the capsule of his imprisonment were ejected from the barge towards Lunar-One at Anderson crater. It took the capsule under three hours to get there. Upon entering the crater, you could see what looked like some lunar settlement city scattered across it. His capsule was not going to land on the surface, but instead sought out one of four large shafts that led deep underground. Once it had made it to the shaft it was heading for, it began to slowly descend going down, down, seemingly to the depths of hell. The capsule stopped descending at about one point five kilometers underground and found an empty pre-constructed concavement, which it entered and then finally came to rest. A short time after that he could see various robotic machines doing a multitude of operations to adapt his capsule to the Lunar-One system complex.
Bill knew that he had a very limited amount of time to save himself. If he wanted to make it out of here alive, he would have to act extremely fast, as he was aware of the fact that all technically trained prisoners, were used in experiments that ended with death - usually within the first six to eight months of imprisonment. This was - he figured - because they were trying to prevent escape. However, he had been planning his breakout well before he had arrived. In fact, he had been planning for it since the inception of the Freedom-fighter movement, over five years ago.
He had smuggled - hidden deep within a cavity in one of his teeth - less than one microgram of nano-replicators. These nano-bots were capable of replicating at the rate of two-ex per minute. He had earlier programmed them to activate upon touching a micro magnet to the cavity in his tooth, which he had hidden in a plastic toothpick. And now, two months later, he had nearly two tons of nanobotic material. He had to be extremely prudent in his programming not to amass too much in any one area, as it would be detected. And so, during production, he carefully dispersed the microscopic material all throughout Lunar-One. He had developed a large array of different kinds of micro-equipment, each and every one of which, was designated a particular task. He had a whole series of computer reprogramming nano-bots. The first thing he did with these was to infiltrate the whole network, including all of the robotic equipment. Then he began to create a system wide simulation of L-1, using the digital footage he had collected from the video recording devices, located throughout the prison.
He wanted to be able to handle every conceivable variation, so that those monitoring L-1 at the base-station would believe that they were seeing actual signals and not simulation. This was especially difficult to do for those robots that traveled throughout L-1 being remotely operated by L-1-Con personnel. He had accomplished this goal three days ago and was at this time, slowly, one by one, switching from video signal to simulation. He had to be very cautious in doing this, because each time he switched a machine over there was a split second in which there was an absence of signal transmission and this caused interference on the receiving end. This sort of thing was not too unusual in ordinary operations, as electronic equipment tended to do that from time to time. But he didn't want to get too carried away on this, because were it to happen too frequently, someone could very easily become suspicious. And so he usually picked equipment that was not in operation temporarily. Sometimes however, he had to pick one that was in operation - due to the time factor - knowing very well that the change in signal would be seen at the base end.
The next step he had planned was to record as many of the Psychiatric experiments as possible from the robotic-testing equipment. He had already captured twelve prefrontal lobotomies, twenty-two electric-shock treatments, over fifty pain-drug-hypnosis sessions and about twenty-five other miscellaneous tests. He figured he needed about double that amount to produce enough variety of simulations. He was also in the process of gaining access to the entire computer network. He desperately needed to do this, so that he could find out whom they would be choosing for each experiment. He felt a great deal of anxiety with regard to this, because his very survival depended upon it and he had about another month of work to go to complete it.
Now because he couldn't have any equipment in his room, he had to infect himself with various nanobotic systems. He had for instance, nano-synapse signalers, which converted nano-signals to nerve-signals that could then be seen in his mind as pictures. He had also, synapse-nano receivers, which would take his thoughts as commands and convert them to nano-signals. And in addition to that, he had a nano-digestive detoxification system, which filtered out all drugs, toxins and poison while he ate. He had discovered that they were already doing some kind of test on him, using nerve drugs and he therefore had to act as if it were affecting him by dramatizing the effects, lest anyone become suspicious. And so he worked intently on, burning the midnight oil in a race against time, to both save his life and escape from this godforsaken man made hell.
3:15:00-PM-12/21/2110
Noland had successfully infected thirty-three people with nano-bots in the last six months. He had selected the most likely candidates he could find that were likely to attend the conference of the elite. As it turned out, only eight of those he had chosen actually had made it, but that was more than enough for his needs.
The great convention was being held near Groom Lake, Nevada, in a location known as area 51 - a top secret government base. It had started nearly an hour ago and all the equipment he had implanted was functioning excellently. As he was constantly in need of modernizing his nano-bots, he had a system in place within each person infected that would construct each advance and then gradually replace the previous technology with the new. So far there had been no sign that any of his micro-equipment had been detected, which was all very good and well, but on the other hand, he still could not be relaxed about it, as each moment that passed brought an increased possibility of it occurring. He only hoped that he could get enough data to expose them enough to bring about their demise.
He noted the many VIP's that were attending: there was the President of the World Federation, the Secretary of Prisons, the Secretary of Health and Mental Stability, four Sector Governors and over one-hundred International Corporate officers from the worlds largest enterprises. Eight of the corporate leaders were infected with nano-technology and they were unwittingly sending him signals just as if they had been spies working for him intentionally. One executive in particular, Daran Oldemayer, CEO of Saxon Software Incorporated, was the central terminal through which all digital information collected was being channeled. Noland thought back to the day he had met this man, the day he had infected him, he had been so smug and self-important, and here he was betraying his fellow power-mongers. http://onelunar1.blogspot.com/ http://www.geocities.com/onelunar1/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Phipps http://EzineArticles.com/?Lunar-One&id=2541278
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Rick_Phipps]Rick Phipps
Bill Larantz stepped out of a door accompanied by three, armed security officers. They turned left down the long corridor, walking methodically slow. He noticed the dark blue stretch uniforms they were wearing, which had a bright-yellow triangular shaped stripe across the front, centered by a large chrome star - the symbol for the World Federation.
"What's it like to work as a security officer?" He asked cheerfully, hoping to somehow break the solemn atmosphere of his companions. But it was to no avail as they didn't respond nor even acknowledge that he had spoken.As they marched along Bill surveyed the faces of the officers and found that they looked straight ahead intently but saw nothing. It was as if they were locked inside their heads.
The corridor was oval shaped and dimly lit with neon lighting that streamed along each side behind glass covers. The walls were faced with a gloomy blue-gray material, which was disturbing to look at.
They quickly approached a large four section portal at the end of the corridor, next to which was located an elaborate keypad. The lead officer deftly typed a code in order to gain access to the entrance. The large door opened up by the two top sections separating and moving up while the bottom sections separated and moved down respectively. Passing through the opening they entered a spacious white colored chamber at the center of which was an enormous console. Surrounding the control panel was a bright florescent-green field, which extended up from the floor about eight feet.
They continued on heading for the green field. The doorway behind them closed with a surprising boom giving him a bit of a start. He could feel his heart flutter for a moment and then it quickly recovered when he realized what it was. Upon entering the field a large three-dimensional head appeared before them sporting a very menacing look. The group took a few steps closer and then stopped abruptly.
"Bill Larantz please step forward," a loud voice blasted from some unseen speaker system. Bill complied a little weak in the knees.
"I am Holax Maddan, Chief Arbiter West-zone district, World Federation," the voice continued fatefully. "Case WF-SH-448xx7 Sentence hearing commencement 4:45:00pm-07/24/2110," Holax said, as if it were an aside, sending the communication to some other unknown audience.
Attention was quickly directed back to him however as Holax said, "You have been convicted of the following crimes: Three counts attempted overthrow of the World Federation, Two counts conspiracy against mankind and Two hundred counts murder of Federation personnel."
There was an abrupt momentary pause as the large head glared at him grimly, then it continued with, "Because of the violent and terroristic nature of your crimes, you have been categorized as a Level Six Convict - maximum danger and destructiveness to society. Therefore, this court hereby sentences you to life imprisonment at the maximum-security Lunar-One criminal institution. You will be leaving at 8:30am-07/25/2110. All of your personal records are - as we speak - being deleted from all databases. You are no longer Bill Larantz, that identity has been permanently erased just as if you had never been born. You are now the property of the World Federation. Your identity is now L-1/INM-448xx7. As the property of the WF you can and may be subjected to any psychiatric-experimentation, including drugs, shock and surgery. Do you have anything to say for yourself before your sentence begins?" Holax asked in conclusion with a most invalidating tone and expression.
"I am neither a criminal nor a terrorist!" Bill began his challenging retort looking squarely in the eyes of the giant head facsimile before him. "Me and my fellow Freedom Fighters are attempting to restore liberty to this planet that the World Fe---," he attempted to say but the hologram image vehemently cut him off midstream with:
"We don't want to hear any of your old-world democratic ideas here. Personal liberty was a failure, as everyone knows, for it is just too dangerous. The American Republic is out and the One World Order is in. You have failed to keep up with the times and just like all the rest of your freedom-advocate brethren, your true purpose - while beating the drum for liberty - is to commit crimes and protect criminals," Holax stated with finality and evaluation.
As Bill considered the ridiculousness of the statement he had just heard and the comical seriousness with which it was uttered, he suddenly broke out into uncontrolled laughter.
The head's features became enraged as it bellowed to the security officers, "Restrain this criminal at once!"
The three officers complied in a hectic manner, by pulling out their electrified nightsticks, turning them on and touching them to Bill's midsection in unison, sending him into immediate violent convulsions for a few short seconds, after which he collapsed unconscious to the floor.
9:45:00-AM-08/15/2110
John Smith was not his real name, it was actually Nolan Pool, but that name was just too unique. You see Nolan had the fortune or misfortune - however the case may be - of having been born with the most average features. He had the mean height of five feet eleven inches. His brown hair and brown eyes were very common. To accentuate this he wore run-of-the-mill clothes and shoes, had an average-Joe hair cut and maintained a work-a-day manner in all of his actions.
Now most people who were quite average in looks would have probably considered this to be a real problem and might have tried to make themselves a bit out of the ordinary in some way, by getting an odd haircut, donning strange clothes, or something. But not Nolan; instead he thought of it as an asset, an advantage to be utilized to the fullest. All the while he was growing up he practiced being ordinary. He specifically watched films and movies to spot the people who didn't stand out, which were usually in the background and were quite often missed by everyone else. He would then mimic their every move, practicing and drilling constantly, getting their actions down cold. He would then seek out new films and movies for more every-day characters and then mimic them and so on...
He was now fifty-seven and having made this average behavior a habit for many years now, had become a true master of the common man, his every move a letter-perfect regularity. So good in fact that he was now able to virtually disappear. He could get multitudes of people to become unaware of him. Everyone he met and even those he saw on a regular basis had a very hard time remembering his name. Some would try hard for a while to pay attention to him and keep track of him, but after only a short time they would begin to lose him, eventually he became just part of the background. All communication to him would start being on an automatic basis. And he went about his business making very certain that he kept all of his actions mundane.
Nolan had done very average in High School and College, though he could have done much better, but that would have gone against his every-day guy persona. After finishing school he became a reporter for a newspaper in Pittsburgh. He was not an exceptionally great journalist, but could get into places and get stories that others could not, because of his invisible man ability. He worked at the paper for the better part of ten years and gradually befriended a beautiful woman columnist named Stasha. They worked together closely for years as good friends and eventually fell in love with each other, ultimately marrying. Yes he could remember those times vividly. That was back in the old days when the United States was still intact, before The One World Order had taken over. They had a really great relationship as she was the one to stand out and he was just the opposite. And because he was so average he took nothing away from her. Nobody ever really noticed them as a couple, but rather her as a star journalist and beautiful woman. So that worked out great because he didn't want distinction at all and she lived on it.
Each year their love grew stronger and stronger and understanding between them was inviolable. They became such a great team together that they felt nothing could get in their way and could therefore accomplish anything. And so it was they endeavored together with the intention of changing the world for the better. But sometimes it seems that perfect situations such as theirs are not meant for a world as imperfect as this, and - just when it seemed that things could not possibly get any better - the wonderful individual that he cherished so dearly, was murdered, ending forever their life and love together.
She had been working on a story and was uncovering evidence of a secret state government conspiracy, proving that revenue allotted for education, was being used instead to drug children between the ages of six to twelve. The "medications" being administered - though legal - would in effect render all of these young people mentally disabled, thus permanently nullifying their chances of getting any kind of education. And so when she had uncovered and exposed too much, the vested-interest-powers-that-be did her in but good. They did not just kill her but riddled her body with thirty plus rounds from a semi-automatic machine gun.
He was - to say the least - overwhelmed and devastated by his loss for nearly a year. He couldn't think or function. He went through the daily motions of life - eating, dressing, showering and working - kind of on an auto-pilot basis, never really doing any of it at all. He had completely lost his purpose and drive to go on living. But then one day he realized what he must do. He needed to avenge his wife's tragic death by exposing the responsible group as the bloodletting totalitarians that they were. And so his every waking moment was spent ferreting out their dastardly schemes and plots.
He soon discovered that the group he was after was much larger and higher up than he had expected. The true source was a corporate elite that ran the entire planet. The more he penetrated the operations of these people the more hate he developed for them. He realized two years ahead of time that something like the World Federation was on its way. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop it from arriving. But knowing this did not, in any small way, deter his determination to rid the world of this atrocious group.
He of course no longer worked for any newspaper, as they had all been taken over and slanted with WF propaganda. His methods of both finding and distributing the truth about The One-World-Order were simple and insidious. He would get jobs in which he would correct the books of large corporations, thus enabling him to poke around and research, collect evidence, then move on to the next gig and do the same. After a while he would have the information necessary to release an exposé over various private media such as underground computer networks and home broadcasting (television and radio). In addition he would publish articles anonymously in various secret evolutionary and revolutionary magazines, papers etc.
Nolan walked along Canal Street heading for Saxon center - the newest fifty story corporate office building in lower Manhattan. As he went along he noticed the people on foot near him, but they noticed him not at all. Their expressions were all very nervous as they tried to avoid the many security cams above the street. Everywhere you looked there were cameras of various kinds, there were different sizes and shapes, placed in every type of location. They were all perfectly designed to watch your every move. The people were no longer free and the atmosphere was anxious and troublesome.
Upon reaching the front doors of his destination he took care to enter the building in the exact manner he did everyday and was not thrown off by the unexpected, "Hi" from some unknown passerby.
He responded with an average "Hello" and a slight bow of the head then continued on. He made sure that each and every step and motion that he took was an exact duplicate of prior ones he had taken each time before. He stepped into the elevator and monotonously pressed twenty-four, watched the doors close and started on his ascent. It took some time to reach floor twenty-four, what with all the stops made along the way but finally he arrived and the doors opened. He stepped out and turned right to walk up the long corridor towards suite 2469.
Once he had reached the correct office he rang a buzzer located next to the door. Shortly thereafter a voice from an intercom said, "Good morning Mr. Smith, come on in."
The door latch-light went from red to green and then he opened the door and entered. "Hello Mr. Benkins," he said as he closed the door behind him. He noticed that some unknown person stood next to Benkins.
"Ah-Jim right?" Benkins asked, obviously already having trouble with his first name.
"It's John sir," he replied, not in the least disturbed by his forgetting.
"Oh yes John that's right. I would like you to meet Daran Oldemayer, he is the Chief Executive officer of our company," Benkins introduced nervously.
"Pleased to meet you," Nolan said, as he shook the VIP's hand making sure not to be effusive, keeping in his usual everyday manner as well.
"Nice to meet you," The executive said, not meaning it at all as he had an attitude of "I am the most important person you have probably ever met."
"There are the files that I need you to correct today," Benkins said distractedly as he pointed towards two or three Super-Disk-ROM cartridges of one hundred "googol-bit" capacity - one hundred googol bytes of information. And then he continued with, "We were just on our way to our quarterly meeting so I will check back with you later. Alright?"
"Ok Mr. Benkins see you later on," Nolan said quite nonchalantly and noticed that they didn't even stay to hear him finish, as they had already left. The VIP he had greeted was not aware that he had infected his hand with over a million nano-percept recorders. These micro-robots were beyond state-of-the art. They were so far undetectable by any system or device - of course this would be so, for just so long, perhaps two or three months longer and then he would have to improve and miniaturize them yet again. He had infected the Chief executive because he had heard rumors of an ultra-secret convention comprised of the most elite and wealthy individuals on the planet. And he wanted to record this meeting in its entirety as this might just be the breakthrough event that could completely expose the true intentions and nature of the World Federation.
He sat down at the computer, slid in the twelve inch Super-Disk-ROM and began correcting the books as requested but at the same time infected the network with several virus code mechanisms. He also planted a few million hardware and program nano-bots in the main computer so as to redesign and reconstruct the whole system from afar - all undetectable of course. In not too long a time he would have such total control over the company software that he could do whatever he wanted with it and the users would only see what he wanted them to see, nobody ever suspecting anything different.
In just four hours time he had successfully installed the proper corrector modules that would right the entire database while taking care of his own agenda as well. There was not much else he could do at this point but sit back and let everything takes its course.
10:15:00-AM-09/10/2110
Erick Land was a little more than just a bit nervous as he walked about with the personnel director who was currently giving him his orientation. You see this was his very first day on a job he had been striving at for more than fifteen years. Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt as if somehow something would go wrong and all of his hard work would be for naught. This was mixed with intermittent positive feelings and thoughts like "Wow I really made it."
The Personnel director - Harve Migel - started his orientation lecture with, "I am going to give you a complete rundown of the Lunar One control station, a little of it's history and what it is exactly that we do here." Harve stated this importantly and you could tell that he thought that working here was of a very high status. He continued on with, "We abbreviate the prison facility to L-1 and the control station to L-1-Con. Now, L-1 is located at Anderson crater 150 kilometers south of where we are here at Freundich crater, which is the home of L-1-Con. We have to run the prison remotely, as the inmates that are sent there are the most dangerous in the solar system. We control - by way of robots and robotic systems and equipment - the entire L-1 facility. We feed the prisoners, keep watch on them, maintain the grounds and structures, and additionally administrate all new construction and planning all from L-1-Con. The inmates come in by small one-way capsules, which become - upon landing - prison cells. All supplies and equipment are shipped from here via automated mini-rail, so as not to allow for a way of escape. The mini-rail cars are so small that there is no way that any human being - including a small child - could possibly fit aboard it. Additionally there is no way to carry or produce oxygen on the rail cars, making it doubly impossible as an escape route. So you see we have here the most escape proof prison ever constructed, one hundred percent fail-safe in my opinion."
Harve paused for a moment in his speech to take a drink of water from his refrigerated thermos unit. And then he continued with, "Now the history of L-1 and L-1-Con began thirty years ago when construction was initiated. It took the better part of ten years to finish and the first inmate arrived nineteen years ago. Since then more than seven thousand prisoners have been sent here, not one has ever escaped and it is not expected that any ever will. The idea for L-1 was conceived by Helmer Aswit, he was a noted psychiatrist and prison director. The current inmate population is four thousand, one hundred and fifty six. This is due to the fact that since The One World Order has taken over Earth, various prisoner rights have been dropped and the government can now use these prisoners in any experiments they see fit. About forty percent of the prisoners who have died at L-1 were due to psychiatric research tests."
Harve again halted for a time as they made their way around a large wall, on the other side of which, was an enormous computer control center. Erik couldn't believe how many people he saw running all manner of computerized equipment; things so high-tech and advanced that it was beyond belief. The center stretched out in all directions and was about the size of a stadium. As he stood there dumbfounded Harve resumed. "Here is where it all happens. This is where you will be working once you complete your entrance program, but for now let me give you a tour. As you can see there is quite a bit of personnel needed to operate L-1." He stopped and looked at Erik somehow sensing that he wanted to comment.
"Wow! I never imagined that it would be anything like this. It's almost overwhelming," Erik stated with obvious awe.
"Yes it can seem that way when you have not been given any information beforehand. As you know everything that we do here is top-secret and confidential. This is why you signed the pledge stating that you will not disclose anything about what we do, what you see or what you know concerning L-1 and L-1-Con, under penalty of imprisonment," Harve responded in a "this-is-to-be-expected" attitude.
They continued the tour for the balance of his first day. Late that night in his quarters, Erik pondered on the next six days, which was how long his entrance program would take. His mind then went on to the next eighteen months - the length of his first tour at L-1-Con; he hoped that all would go well. He also looked forward to his three-month leave after his first tour, although it was a long way off, it was a good goal to work towards. He felt pretty good about everything now, minus the apprehension and anxiety he had earlier. He thought, "it's all going to work out fine." A few short moments later he was sound asleep.
2:25:00-PM-09/22/2110
It had been nearly two months since Bill had been sentenced back on earth. He had taken off the very next morning on a prison airbus, top-security of course. He rode the bus for fifteen hours to Houston where he was transferred aboard Space-Elevator-One - better known as the thriftiest way into space. This grueling journey was most unpleasant and lasted five - seemingly unending - days. At the end of that time, already some two thousand miles in space, he was transferred to an enormous earth-moon-space-barge where he was placed aboard a small capsule - later to serve as his prison cell upon reaching Lunar-one. Traveling on the barge was not too bad; he actually almost enjoyed himself. But this only lasted for two days at which time the large ship entered the lunar orbit. Once on the far side - with the earth no longer in view - he and the capsule of his imprisonment were ejected from the barge towards Lunar-One at Anderson crater. It took the capsule under three hours to get there. Upon entering the crater, you could see what looked like some lunar settlement city scattered across it. His capsule was not going to land on the surface, but instead sought out one of four large shafts that led deep underground. Once it had made it to the shaft it was heading for, it began to slowly descend going down, down, seemingly to the depths of hell. The capsule stopped descending at about one point five kilometers underground and found an empty pre-constructed concavement, which it entered and then finally came to rest. A short time after that he could see various robotic machines doing a multitude of operations to adapt his capsule to the Lunar-One system complex.
Bill knew that he had a very limited amount of time to save himself. If he wanted to make it out of here alive, he would have to act extremely fast, as he was aware of the fact that all technically trained prisoners, were used in experiments that ended with death - usually within the first six to eight months of imprisonment. This was - he figured - because they were trying to prevent escape. However, he had been planning his breakout well before he had arrived. In fact, he had been planning for it since the inception of the Freedom-fighter movement, over five years ago.
He had smuggled - hidden deep within a cavity in one of his teeth - less than one microgram of nano-replicators. These nano-bots were capable of replicating at the rate of two-ex per minute. He had earlier programmed them to activate upon touching a micro magnet to the cavity in his tooth, which he had hidden in a plastic toothpick. And now, two months later, he had nearly two tons of nanobotic material. He had to be extremely prudent in his programming not to amass too much in any one area, as it would be detected. And so, during production, he carefully dispersed the microscopic material all throughout Lunar-One. He had developed a large array of different kinds of micro-equipment, each and every one of which, was designated a particular task. He had a whole series of computer reprogramming nano-bots. The first thing he did with these was to infiltrate the whole network, including all of the robotic equipment. Then he began to create a system wide simulation of L-1, using the digital footage he had collected from the video recording devices, located throughout the prison.
He wanted to be able to handle every conceivable variation, so that those monitoring L-1 at the base-station would believe that they were seeing actual signals and not simulation. This was especially difficult to do for those robots that traveled throughout L-1 being remotely operated by L-1-Con personnel. He had accomplished this goal three days ago and was at this time, slowly, one by one, switching from video signal to simulation. He had to be very cautious in doing this, because each time he switched a machine over there was a split second in which there was an absence of signal transmission and this caused interference on the receiving end. This sort of thing was not too unusual in ordinary operations, as electronic equipment tended to do that from time to time. But he didn't want to get too carried away on this, because were it to happen too frequently, someone could very easily become suspicious. And so he usually picked equipment that was not in operation temporarily. Sometimes however, he had to pick one that was in operation - due to the time factor - knowing very well that the change in signal would be seen at the base end.
The next step he had planned was to record as many of the Psychiatric experiments as possible from the robotic-testing equipment. He had already captured twelve prefrontal lobotomies, twenty-two electric-shock treatments, over fifty pain-drug-hypnosis sessions and about twenty-five other miscellaneous tests. He figured he needed about double that amount to produce enough variety of simulations. He was also in the process of gaining access to the entire computer network. He desperately needed to do this, so that he could find out whom they would be choosing for each experiment. He felt a great deal of anxiety with regard to this, because his very survival depended upon it and he had about another month of work to go to complete it.
Now because he couldn't have any equipment in his room, he had to infect himself with various nanobotic systems. He had for instance, nano-synapse signalers, which converted nano-signals to nerve-signals that could then be seen in his mind as pictures. He had also, synapse-nano receivers, which would take his thoughts as commands and convert them to nano-signals. And in addition to that, he had a nano-digestive detoxification system, which filtered out all drugs, toxins and poison while he ate. He had discovered that they were already doing some kind of test on him, using nerve drugs and he therefore had to act as if it were affecting him by dramatizing the effects, lest anyone become suspicious. And so he worked intently on, burning the midnight oil in a race against time, to both save his life and escape from this godforsaken man made hell.
3:15:00-PM-12/21/2110
Noland had successfully infected thirty-three people with nano-bots in the last six months. He had selected the most likely candidates he could find that were likely to attend the conference of the elite. As it turned out, only eight of those he had chosen actually had made it, but that was more than enough for his needs.
The great convention was being held near Groom Lake, Nevada, in a location known as area 51 - a top secret government base. It had started nearly an hour ago and all the equipment he had implanted was functioning excellently. As he was constantly in need of modernizing his nano-bots, he had a system in place within each person infected that would construct each advance and then gradually replace the previous technology with the new. So far there had been no sign that any of his micro-equipment had been detected, which was all very good and well, but on the other hand, he still could not be relaxed about it, as each moment that passed brought an increased possibility of it occurring. He only hoped that he could get enough data to expose them enough to bring about their demise.
He noted the many VIP's that were attending: there was the President of the World Federation, the Secretary of Prisons, the Secretary of Health and Mental Stability, four Sector Governors and over one-hundred International Corporate officers from the worlds largest enterprises. Eight of the corporate leaders were infected with nano-technology and they were unwittingly sending him signals just as if they had been spies working for him intentionally. One executive in particular, Daran Oldemayer, CEO of Saxon Software Incorporated, was the central terminal through which all digital information collected was being channeled. Noland thought back to the day he had met this man, the day he had infected him, he had been so smug and self-important, and here he was betraying his fellow power-mongers. http://onelunar1.blogspot.com/ http://www.geocities.com/onelunar1/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Phipps http://EzineArticles.com/?Lunar-One&id=2541278
Friday, July 17, 2009
40 years since Apollo 11
I don't believe in the conspiracy theories about the moon landings being faked.
NASA seems to be doing alot to support them though.
NASA seems to be doing alot to support them though.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Never leave the eunichs in charge!
Never leave the eunichs in charge!
Even if they are using Viagra, they are still eunichs.
Even if they are using Viagra, they are still eunichs.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Vision of First Contact Vs The Fear of Alien Invasion
The Vision of First Contact Vs The Fear of Alien Invasion
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=R._R._Stark]R. R. Stark
Have extraterrestrials contacted us yet? Have only certain people been contacted, and are these secret contacts?
Obviously they have not contacted the general public yet, or else we'd be hearing all about it on TV and radio, or seeing huge saucers hovering all over our skies.
Is it possible they have contacted certain governments in various nations across the world, that is, a secret contact? Or are these just crazy rumors that we read about in the tabloids, or hear from conspiracy theorists with over-active imaginations? We have heard and read that there have been numerous alien abductions, countless UFO sightings, even extraterrestrial telepathic communications with individuals, or even aliens visiting certain individuals physically, and other such rumors. But these are separate contacts that cannot be proven as to their authenticity.
What has been deemed as "First Contact," as suggested in science-fiction novels, movies, and TV shows, is indeed a glorious and grand idea. But will it ever take place upon our world the way we may imagine it? Or instead, will the tragedy of alien invasion actually take place? Ever since H. G. Wells' devastating science-fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, our world-view has changed in regards to alien life, because we must ask whether or not it may be benign or malignant. In 1938, Orson Welles reproduced this devastating story in a horrifying radio broadcast that wreaked havoc to millions of listeners. For a short while radio listeners actually believed the Earth was being invaded by aliens from Mars. It demonstrates just how gullible people can be. This is one of the reasons our government is trying to keep the lid on the UFO phenomenon; they think we're not ready, that we'll go nuts if aliens revealed themselves. But after several decades of exposure via various and sundry ways, I think we've become desensitized and prepared enough. After many years of the public hearing about sightings and abductions, including all the books and magazines and movies and talk shows and so forth regarding ETs, it has become a normal topic in today's society.
Perhaps the notion of alien invasion is more fascinating and captivating in science fiction than a peaceful, benevolent manner of first contact. But in the real world, I know we would prefer the latter. I wonder if the first movie version of The War of the Worlds in 1953 continued our extraterrestrial paranoia, and any other alien invasion movies, especially the two remakes that came out just a few short years ago, and let's not forget Independence Day. That's all we need -- more fear and paranoia. Perhaps the real ETs are simply observing us, yes, we the insane savage humans that live here, too dangerous to confront, who seem to be on an inevitable path of self- annihilation, whether it be through thermonuclear warfare, poisoning our atmosphere and oceans with countless toxins, biochemical methods, the creation and spread of new viruses, and so forth. I doubt these intelligent aliens really want to greet us with open arms. I doubt if they feel we're anywhere close to being ready to join the Galactic Community of Extraterrestrial Worlds (if it exists). I'm sure they're just watching us from afar, because if they get too close, we could infect them with some horrible virus, or we might capture one of them, or start a war with them.
They may even abandon their Galactic Watch program with Earth soon, and perhaps return in several centuries, to see if we've grown up yet.
Or are the ETs here to help us? Can they save us form ourselves? But if they have a Prime Directive (as suggested in the Star Trek TV shows) then they can't tamper with our backwards culture; they can only observe us, whether we advance further and develop global unity and peace, or completely destroy ourselves first.
On the other hand, perhaps they have orders from the Mother ship to blow this hopeless planet to smithereens before we stumble upon warp-drive capability so we can spread our insanity to other worlds.
But give us a few centuries, see if we can get our collective act together first.
Now, if we applied our imagination, what would actual first contact be like? Will they land on the White House lawn, ask some random passerby to "Take us to your leader," and then shake hands with the President? Perhaps they'll ignore the arrogant, greedy politicians and meet the scientists first, the astrophysicists, the astronomers, the biologists, some metaphysicians, etc. Or they might feel drawn to botanists, gardeners, environmentalists, zoologists, oceanographers, or people who are in touch with the Earth. Perhaps they will offer to cure all diseases, create peace between all humans, and deliver us out of a Dark Age we didn't realize we were in. Or, they may perceive dolphins as the superior intelligent life on Earth and contact them instead of us! Who knows!
We don't really know, but we can dream, or write silly science fiction stories about it. But if they open their arms to the welcoming public in friendship, will we return the favor, or will paranoid war-mongers spoil it and attack them for intruding our airspace? Will the paranoid savage humans cause a war with our could-have-been new friends?
For this reason, which they can easily foresee, they may remain hidden.
No, I don't think we're ready yet. I think we have some serious growing up to do.
Copyright 2006 -2009 by R. R. Stark -- All Rights Reserved
The preceding article is from "Strange Reports from Zones Unknown," a collection of accounts involving the paranormal, Ufology, conspiracy theories, cover-ups, and other intriguing topics of the weird and unusual. You can find further articles and short stories written by R. R. Stark at:
Strange Reports from Zones Unknown: http://zu.bamblebrush.com/
The Strange Stories of R. R. Stark: http://www.bamblebrush.com/online_books/rrstark/rrstark.asp
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=R._R._Stark http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Vision-of-First-Contact-Vs-The-Fear-of-Alien-Invasion&id=2424330
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=R._R._Stark]R. R. Stark
Have extraterrestrials contacted us yet? Have only certain people been contacted, and are these secret contacts?
Obviously they have not contacted the general public yet, or else we'd be hearing all about it on TV and radio, or seeing huge saucers hovering all over our skies.
Is it possible they have contacted certain governments in various nations across the world, that is, a secret contact? Or are these just crazy rumors that we read about in the tabloids, or hear from conspiracy theorists with over-active imaginations? We have heard and read that there have been numerous alien abductions, countless UFO sightings, even extraterrestrial telepathic communications with individuals, or even aliens visiting certain individuals physically, and other such rumors. But these are separate contacts that cannot be proven as to their authenticity.
What has been deemed as "First Contact," as suggested in science-fiction novels, movies, and TV shows, is indeed a glorious and grand idea. But will it ever take place upon our world the way we may imagine it? Or instead, will the tragedy of alien invasion actually take place? Ever since H. G. Wells' devastating science-fiction novel, The War of the Worlds, our world-view has changed in regards to alien life, because we must ask whether or not it may be benign or malignant. In 1938, Orson Welles reproduced this devastating story in a horrifying radio broadcast that wreaked havoc to millions of listeners. For a short while radio listeners actually believed the Earth was being invaded by aliens from Mars. It demonstrates just how gullible people can be. This is one of the reasons our government is trying to keep the lid on the UFO phenomenon; they think we're not ready, that we'll go nuts if aliens revealed themselves. But after several decades of exposure via various and sundry ways, I think we've become desensitized and prepared enough. After many years of the public hearing about sightings and abductions, including all the books and magazines and movies and talk shows and so forth regarding ETs, it has become a normal topic in today's society.
Perhaps the notion of alien invasion is more fascinating and captivating in science fiction than a peaceful, benevolent manner of first contact. But in the real world, I know we would prefer the latter. I wonder if the first movie version of The War of the Worlds in 1953 continued our extraterrestrial paranoia, and any other alien invasion movies, especially the two remakes that came out just a few short years ago, and let's not forget Independence Day. That's all we need -- more fear and paranoia. Perhaps the real ETs are simply observing us, yes, we the insane savage humans that live here, too dangerous to confront, who seem to be on an inevitable path of self- annihilation, whether it be through thermonuclear warfare, poisoning our atmosphere and oceans with countless toxins, biochemical methods, the creation and spread of new viruses, and so forth. I doubt these intelligent aliens really want to greet us with open arms. I doubt if they feel we're anywhere close to being ready to join the Galactic Community of Extraterrestrial Worlds (if it exists). I'm sure they're just watching us from afar, because if they get too close, we could infect them with some horrible virus, or we might capture one of them, or start a war with them.
They may even abandon their Galactic Watch program with Earth soon, and perhaps return in several centuries, to see if we've grown up yet.
Or are the ETs here to help us? Can they save us form ourselves? But if they have a Prime Directive (as suggested in the Star Trek TV shows) then they can't tamper with our backwards culture; they can only observe us, whether we advance further and develop global unity and peace, or completely destroy ourselves first.
On the other hand, perhaps they have orders from the Mother ship to blow this hopeless planet to smithereens before we stumble upon warp-drive capability so we can spread our insanity to other worlds.
But give us a few centuries, see if we can get our collective act together first.
Now, if we applied our imagination, what would actual first contact be like? Will they land on the White House lawn, ask some random passerby to "Take us to your leader," and then shake hands with the President? Perhaps they'll ignore the arrogant, greedy politicians and meet the scientists first, the astrophysicists, the astronomers, the biologists, some metaphysicians, etc. Or they might feel drawn to botanists, gardeners, environmentalists, zoologists, oceanographers, or people who are in touch with the Earth. Perhaps they will offer to cure all diseases, create peace between all humans, and deliver us out of a Dark Age we didn't realize we were in. Or, they may perceive dolphins as the superior intelligent life on Earth and contact them instead of us! Who knows!
We don't really know, but we can dream, or write silly science fiction stories about it. But if they open their arms to the welcoming public in friendship, will we return the favor, or will paranoid war-mongers spoil it and attack them for intruding our airspace? Will the paranoid savage humans cause a war with our could-have-been new friends?
For this reason, which they can easily foresee, they may remain hidden.
No, I don't think we're ready yet. I think we have some serious growing up to do.
Copyright 2006 -2009 by R. R. Stark -- All Rights Reserved
The preceding article is from "Strange Reports from Zones Unknown," a collection of accounts involving the paranormal, Ufology, conspiracy theories, cover-ups, and other intriguing topics of the weird and unusual. You can find further articles and short stories written by R. R. Stark at:
Strange Reports from Zones Unknown: http://zu.bamblebrush.com/
The Strange Stories of R. R. Stark: http://www.bamblebrush.com/online_books/rrstark/rrstark.asp
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=R._R._Stark http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Vision-of-First-Contact-Vs-The-Fear-of-Alien-Invasion&id=2424330
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Seek and Ye Shall Find
I was surfing the net last night and happened upon several space and astronomy oriented Forums. From them I was able to find more and more other blogs I've added to my favorites and will be visiting. If you can think of any feel free to leave the address below.
Today I'm working in Excel trying to make a good daily checksheet so I'll remember or shame myself into doing more work on this site. Right now my idea is if I can find 2 E-zinearticles and write my own I'll not only have enough content to get visitors. I'll be able to improve the stature of my site because of my own ideas.
While I love finding people better educated than me on these forums I think my plans are quite abit more realistic (don't rely on NASA or other agencies that probably don't share their vision)
Vision is paramount in space travel. Although NASA and a few companies may be the only ones building spacecraft currently, the ideas of many are being ignored. Some for the best and some for the a loss. I am aiming for a future with technology somewhere in between Star Trek and Firefly. Artificial gravity is very important to me. And I am confident that I will be able to find some sort of workaround that lets me use electromagnetic forces to simulate gravity.
I've already started melting my own aluminum and will eventualy be casting it into disks to experiment with centrifugal forces and Laithwaite devices. Hopefully this will give me more insight into how artificial gravity can be made.
Today I'm working in Excel trying to make a good daily checksheet so I'll remember or shame myself into doing more work on this site. Right now my idea is if I can find 2 E-zinearticles and write my own I'll not only have enough content to get visitors. I'll be able to improve the stature of my site because of my own ideas.
While I love finding people better educated than me on these forums I think my plans are quite abit more realistic (don't rely on NASA or other agencies that probably don't share their vision)
Vision is paramount in space travel. Although NASA and a few companies may be the only ones building spacecraft currently, the ideas of many are being ignored. Some for the best and some for the a loss. I am aiming for a future with technology somewhere in between Star Trek and Firefly. Artificial gravity is very important to me. And I am confident that I will be able to find some sort of workaround that lets me use electromagnetic forces to simulate gravity.
I've already started melting my own aluminum and will eventualy be casting it into disks to experiment with centrifugal forces and Laithwaite devices. Hopefully this will give me more insight into how artificial gravity can be made.
Friday, July 10, 2009
How To Make Your Own Vintage Motor Cycle & Automotive Spare Parts
How To Make Your Own Vintage Motor Cycle & Automotive Spare Parts
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Colin_Croucher]Colin Croucher
Vintage Car & Motorcycle restoration enthusiasts all share
one thing in common...
The difficulty in obtaining obsolete spare parts.
How many times have you tried to find a special part for your
restoration project, only to find that it's unobtainable.
For the home restorer on a tight budget, it is actually possible to put money back into your own pocket... real savings can be made by learning a few simple skills. Lets face it, if you are rebuilding or restoring old vintage vehicles then you most likely already have many practical skills & abilities.
You could expand on your valuable practical skills even more.
Take for instance the dozens of mechanical components that need
to be rebuild/reconditioned... professional re-builders will charge you quite a lot of money for reconditioning parts, which to all intents & purposes could be carried out in the home workshop at a substantially reduced cost.
You may already have the luxury of a lathe, milling machine and
a collection of other associated machines in your workshop.
Cast your mind outside the square for a moment... if you're unable to produce a part by machining parts from a solid billet,
then all you need to do is to build a simple gas fired furnace,
fabricate some tools, mould boxes, and get hold of some green sand to make your sand moulds, learn some new skills, and you'll be able to melt & pour your own special aluminium & bronze parts.
Then you will be able to machine them in your lathe etc, to produce low cost high quality spare parts... it is possible... many people have been doing this for along time.
Why don't you join this select band of people who've discovered that casting your own metal parts is not that difficult, once you have learnt the basic techniques of the craft.
Once your mini foundry system is up and running, you'll wonder why the heck you didn't discover metal casting years ago.
You can read & learn more about hobby metal casting by visiting:
http://www.myhomefoundry.com Where you can download free ebooks, access free foundry directory info, and have a lot of fun learning new skills to add to your practical restoration skills.
Learning about metal casting could open up a whole new dimension
& opportunities for you in your home workshop. But you wont know
just how much until you take the step to learn.
Why not take that step today?
Written by: Col Croucher
Ebook Author and
Administrator of: http://www.myhomefoundry.com
Australia
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Croucher http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Make-Your-Own-Vintage-Motor-Cycle-and-Automotive-Spare-Parts&id=55658
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Colin_Croucher]Colin Croucher
Vintage Car & Motorcycle restoration enthusiasts all share
one thing in common...
The difficulty in obtaining obsolete spare parts.
How many times have you tried to find a special part for your
restoration project, only to find that it's unobtainable.
For the home restorer on a tight budget, it is actually possible to put money back into your own pocket... real savings can be made by learning a few simple skills. Lets face it, if you are rebuilding or restoring old vintage vehicles then you most likely already have many practical skills & abilities.
You could expand on your valuable practical skills even more.
Take for instance the dozens of mechanical components that need
to be rebuild/reconditioned... professional re-builders will charge you quite a lot of money for reconditioning parts, which to all intents & purposes could be carried out in the home workshop at a substantially reduced cost.
You may already have the luxury of a lathe, milling machine and
a collection of other associated machines in your workshop.
Cast your mind outside the square for a moment... if you're unable to produce a part by machining parts from a solid billet,
then all you need to do is to build a simple gas fired furnace,
fabricate some tools, mould boxes, and get hold of some green sand to make your sand moulds, learn some new skills, and you'll be able to melt & pour your own special aluminium & bronze parts.
Then you will be able to machine them in your lathe etc, to produce low cost high quality spare parts... it is possible... many people have been doing this for along time.
Why don't you join this select band of people who've discovered that casting your own metal parts is not that difficult, once you have learnt the basic techniques of the craft.
Once your mini foundry system is up and running, you'll wonder why the heck you didn't discover metal casting years ago.
You can read & learn more about hobby metal casting by visiting:
http://www.myhomefoundry.com Where you can download free ebooks, access free foundry directory info, and have a lot of fun learning new skills to add to your practical restoration skills.
Learning about metal casting could open up a whole new dimension
& opportunities for you in your home workshop. But you wont know
just how much until you take the step to learn.
Why not take that step today?
Written by: Col Croucher
Ebook Author and
Administrator of: http://www.myhomefoundry.com
Australia
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Croucher http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Make-Your-Own-Vintage-Motor-Cycle-and-Automotive-Spare-Parts&id=55658
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
10JUN09
I had thought I posted several things in the past month, but apperently I was mistaken.
Money is tight right now so I've decided to start using Google Sketchup and another free 3D software Blender to start experimenting with 3D CAD. Once I have some finished models, or enough that I need outside input completeing I'll try posting them here. Currently I'm working on a disk shaped spaceship using the Nuclear propulsion ideas I previously mentioned. This craft gets artificial gravity by the thrust of the nuclear propulsion.
I've been fishing around family members seeing if any would help me purchase a Makerbot. $750 3D plastic prototype maker, open source.
Another Sketchup user has designed a LARGE space station.
Money is tight right now so I've decided to start using Google Sketchup and another free 3D software Blender to start experimenting with 3D CAD. Once I have some finished models, or enough that I need outside input completeing I'll try posting them here. Currently I'm working on a disk shaped spaceship using the Nuclear propulsion ideas I previously mentioned. This craft gets artificial gravity by the thrust of the nuclear propulsion.
I've been fishing around family members seeing if any would help me purchase a Makerbot. $750 3D plastic prototype maker, open source.
Another Sketchup user has designed a LARGE space station.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
NASA Announces Briefing about Satellite Missions to the Moon
WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a briefing about two upcoming lunar missions scheduled to launch in June that will begin a journey to better understand the moon. A briefing with members of the mission and science teams will be held Thursday, May 21, at 4 p.m. EDT, in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, in Washington. The briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, focuses on the selection of safe landing sites, identification of lunar resources and the study of how lunar radiation will affect humans. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, will impact the moon twice in its search for water ice.
The briefing participants are:
- Doug Cooke, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Mike Wargo, chief lunar scientist, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate
- Craig Tooley, project manager, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Rich Vondrak, project scientist, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Goddard
- Dan Andrews, project manager, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
- Tony Colaprete, project scientist, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, Ames
Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers. For information about phone access, contact Ashley Edwards at 202-358-1756 by noon on Thursday, May 21.
LRO and LCROSS are scheduled to launch together aboard an Atlas V rocket no earlier than June 17 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the LRO and LCROSS missions, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lro
and
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, focuses on the selection of safe landing sites, identification of lunar resources and the study of how lunar radiation will affect humans. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, will impact the moon twice in its search for water ice.
The briefing participants are:
- Doug Cooke, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Mike Wargo, chief lunar scientist, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate
- Craig Tooley, project manager, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Rich Vondrak, project scientist, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Goddard
- Dan Andrews, project manager, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
- Tony Colaprete, project scientist, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, Ames
Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers. For information about phone access, contact Ashley Edwards at 202-358-1756 by noon on Thursday, May 21.
LRO and LCROSS are scheduled to launch together aboard an Atlas V rocket no earlier than June 17 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the LRO and LCROSS missions, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lro
and
http://www.nasa.gov/lcross
NASA Rover Sees Variable Environmental History at Martian Crater
PASADENA, Calif. -- One of NASA's two Mars rovers has recorded a compelling saga of environmental changes that occurred over billions of years at a Martian crater.
The Mars rover, Opportunity, surveyed the rim and interior of Victoria Crater on the Red Planet from September 2006 through August 2008. Key findings from that work, reported in the May 22 edition of the journal Science, reinforce and expand what researchers learned from Opportunity's exploration of two smaller craters after landing on Mars in 2004.
The rover revealed the effects of wind and water. The data show water repeatedly came and left billions of years ago. Wind persisted much longer, heaping sand into dunes between ancient water episodes. These activities still shape the landscape today. At Victoria, steep cliffs and gentler alcoves alternate around the edge of a bowl about a half a mile in diameter. The scalloped edge and other features indicate the crater once was smaller than it is today, but wind erosion has widened it gradually.
"What drew us to Victoria Crater is the thick cross-section of rock layers exposed there," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is the principal investigator for the science payloads on Opportunity and its twin rover Spirit. "The impact that excavated the crater millions of years ago provided a golden opportunity, and the durability of the rover enabled us to take advantage of it."
Imaging the crater's rim and interior, Opportunity inspected layers in the cliffs around the crater, including layered stacks more than 30 feet thick. Distinctive patterns indicate the rocks formed from shifting dunes that later hardened into sandstone, according to Squyres and 33 co-authors of the findings.
Instruments on the rover's arm studied the composition and detailed texture of rocks just outside the crater and exposed layers in one alcove called Duck Bay. Rocks found beside the crater include pieces of a meteorite, which may have been part of the impacting space rock that made the crater.
Other rocks on the rim of the crater apparently were excavated from deep within it when the object hit. These rocks bear a type of iron-rich small spheres, or spherules, that the rover team nicknamed "blueberries" when Opportunity first saw them in 2004. The spherules formed from interaction with water penetrating the rocks. The spherules in rocks deeper in the crater are larger than those in overlying layers, suggesting the action of groundwater was more intense at greater depth.
Inside Duck Bay, the rover found that, in some ways, the lower layers differ from overlying ones. The lower layers showed less sulfur and iron, more aluminum and silicon. This composition matches patterns Opportunity found earlier at the smaller Endurance Crater, about 4 miles away from Victoria, indicating the processes that varied the environmental conditions recorded in the rocks were regional, not just local.
Opportunity's first observations showed interaction of volcanic rock with acidic water to produce sulfate salts. Dry sand rich in these salts blew into dunes. Under the influence of water, the dunes hardened to sandstone. Further alteration by water produced the iron-rich spherules, mineral changes, and angular pores left when crystals dissolved away. A rock from space blasted a hole about 2,000 feet wide and 400 feet deep. Wind erosion chewed at the edges of the hole and partially refilled it, increasing the diameter by about 25 percent and reducing the depth by about 40 percent.
Since leaving Victoria Crater about eight months ago, Opportunity has been on its way to study a crater named Endeavour that is about 20 times bigger than Victoria. The rover has driven about one-fifth of what could be a 10-mile trek to this new destination.
The twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to produce scientific results while operating far beyond their design life. The mission, designed to last 90 days, celebrated its fifth anniversary in January. Both rovers show signs of aging but are still capable of exploration and scientific discovery.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/rovers
The Mars rover, Opportunity, surveyed the rim and interior of Victoria Crater on the Red Planet from September 2006 through August 2008. Key findings from that work, reported in the May 22 edition of the journal Science, reinforce and expand what researchers learned from Opportunity's exploration of two smaller craters after landing on Mars in 2004.
The rover revealed the effects of wind and water. The data show water repeatedly came and left billions of years ago. Wind persisted much longer, heaping sand into dunes between ancient water episodes. These activities still shape the landscape today. At Victoria, steep cliffs and gentler alcoves alternate around the edge of a bowl about a half a mile in diameter. The scalloped edge and other features indicate the crater once was smaller than it is today, but wind erosion has widened it gradually.
"What drew us to Victoria Crater is the thick cross-section of rock layers exposed there," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is the principal investigator for the science payloads on Opportunity and its twin rover Spirit. "The impact that excavated the crater millions of years ago provided a golden opportunity, and the durability of the rover enabled us to take advantage of it."
Imaging the crater's rim and interior, Opportunity inspected layers in the cliffs around the crater, including layered stacks more than 30 feet thick. Distinctive patterns indicate the rocks formed from shifting dunes that later hardened into sandstone, according to Squyres and 33 co-authors of the findings.
Instruments on the rover's arm studied the composition and detailed texture of rocks just outside the crater and exposed layers in one alcove called Duck Bay. Rocks found beside the crater include pieces of a meteorite, which may have been part of the impacting space rock that made the crater.
Other rocks on the rim of the crater apparently were excavated from deep within it when the object hit. These rocks bear a type of iron-rich small spheres, or spherules, that the rover team nicknamed "blueberries" when Opportunity first saw them in 2004. The spherules formed from interaction with water penetrating the rocks. The spherules in rocks deeper in the crater are larger than those in overlying layers, suggesting the action of groundwater was more intense at greater depth.
Inside Duck Bay, the rover found that, in some ways, the lower layers differ from overlying ones. The lower layers showed less sulfur and iron, more aluminum and silicon. This composition matches patterns Opportunity found earlier at the smaller Endurance Crater, about 4 miles away from Victoria, indicating the processes that varied the environmental conditions recorded in the rocks were regional, not just local.
Opportunity's first observations showed interaction of volcanic rock with acidic water to produce sulfate salts. Dry sand rich in these salts blew into dunes. Under the influence of water, the dunes hardened to sandstone. Further alteration by water produced the iron-rich spherules, mineral changes, and angular pores left when crystals dissolved away. A rock from space blasted a hole about 2,000 feet wide and 400 feet deep. Wind erosion chewed at the edges of the hole and partially refilled it, increasing the diameter by about 25 percent and reducing the depth by about 40 percent.
Since leaving Victoria Crater about eight months ago, Opportunity has been on its way to study a crater named Endeavour that is about 20 times bigger than Victoria. The rover has driven about one-fifth of what could be a 10-mile trek to this new destination.
The twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to produce scientific results while operating far beyond their design life. The mission, designed to last 90 days, celebrated its fifth anniversary in January. Both rovers show signs of aging but are still capable of exploration and scientific discovery.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/rovers
Herschel and Planck Missions to Study Cosmos Share Ride to Space
WASHINGTON -- Two missions to study the cosmos, the Herschel and Planck spacecraft, are scheduled to blast into space May 14 aboard the same Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. The European Space Agency, or ESA, leads both missions with significant participation from NASA.
"The missions are quite different, but they'll hitch a ride to space together," said Ulf Israelsson, NASA project manager for both Herschel and Planck. "Launch processing is moving along smoothly. Both missions' instruments have completed their final checkouts, and the spacecrafts' thruster tanks have been fueled."
Israelsson is with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in Pasadena, Calif., which contributed key technology to both missions. NASA team members will play an important role in data analysis and science operations.
The Herschel observatory has the unique ability to peek into the dustiest and earliest stages of planet, star and galaxy growth. The spacecraft's astronomy mirror -- about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) in diameter -- is the largest ever launched into space. The mirror will collect longer-wavelength light in the infrared and submillimeter range -- light never before investigated by an astronomy mission.
"We haven't had ready access to the wavelengths between infrared and microwaves before, in part because Earth's atmosphere blocks them from reaching the ground," said Paul Goldsmith, the NASA project scientist for Herschel at JPL. "Because our views were so limited before, we can expect a vast range of serendipitous discoveries, from new molecules in interstellar space to new types of objects."
The coolest objects in the universe, such as dusty, developing stars and galaxies, appear as dark blobs when viewed with visible-light telescopes. As a result, astronomers do not know what is happening inside them. However, at longer wavelengths in the far-infrared and submillimeter range, cool objects shine brightly. Herschel will detect light from objects as cold as -263 degrees Celsius, or 10 Kelvin, which is 10 degrees above the coldest temperature theoretically attainable. Onboard liquid helium, which is expected to last more than three and a half years, will chill one of Herschel's detectors to a frosty 0.3 Kelvin.
Planck will answer fundamental questions about how the universe came to be and how it will change in the future. It will look back in time to just 400,000 years after our universe exploded into existence nearly 14 billion years ago in the event known as the Big Bang. The mission will spend at least 15 months making the most precise measurements yet of light at microwave wavelengths across our entire sky, including what is called the cosmic microwave background. This light is from the primordial soup of particles that eventually evolved to become our modern-day universe. The light has traveled about 14 billion years to reach us, and, in that time, has cooled and stretched to longer wavelengths because space is expanding.
"The cosmic microwave background shows us the universe directly at age 400,000 years, not the movie, not the historical novel, but the original photons," said Charles Lawrence, NASA project scientist for Planck at JPL. "Planck will give us the clearest view ever of this baby universe, showing us the results of physical processes in the first brief moments after the Big Bang, and the starting point for the formation of stars and galaxies."
Planck will be cold too. One of its instruments will be cooled to just 0.1 Kelvin. Innovative "cryocooler" technology, developed in part by JPL, will chill the instruments.
Shortly after launch, Planck and Herschel will separate from the rocket and follow different trajectories to the second Lagrangian point of our solar system, a point in space 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.
Herschel and Planck are both ESA missions with important participation from NASA. NASA's Herschel Project Office and Planck Project Office are both based at JPL. A consortium of European-led institutes provided science instruments for Herschel. JPL contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments and both of Planck's science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the U.S. astronomical community. NASA, U.S. and European Planck scientists will work together to analyze the Planck data.
More information about the Herschel mission is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/herschel
More information about the Planck mission is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/planck
"The missions are quite different, but they'll hitch a ride to space together," said Ulf Israelsson, NASA project manager for both Herschel and Planck. "Launch processing is moving along smoothly. Both missions' instruments have completed their final checkouts, and the spacecrafts' thruster tanks have been fueled."
Israelsson is with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in Pasadena, Calif., which contributed key technology to both missions. NASA team members will play an important role in data analysis and science operations.
The Herschel observatory has the unique ability to peek into the dustiest and earliest stages of planet, star and galaxy growth. The spacecraft's astronomy mirror -- about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) in diameter -- is the largest ever launched into space. The mirror will collect longer-wavelength light in the infrared and submillimeter range -- light never before investigated by an astronomy mission.
"We haven't had ready access to the wavelengths between infrared and microwaves before, in part because Earth's atmosphere blocks them from reaching the ground," said Paul Goldsmith, the NASA project scientist for Herschel at JPL. "Because our views were so limited before, we can expect a vast range of serendipitous discoveries, from new molecules in interstellar space to new types of objects."
The coolest objects in the universe, such as dusty, developing stars and galaxies, appear as dark blobs when viewed with visible-light telescopes. As a result, astronomers do not know what is happening inside them. However, at longer wavelengths in the far-infrared and submillimeter range, cool objects shine brightly. Herschel will detect light from objects as cold as -263 degrees Celsius, or 10 Kelvin, which is 10 degrees above the coldest temperature theoretically attainable. Onboard liquid helium, which is expected to last more than three and a half years, will chill one of Herschel's detectors to a frosty 0.3 Kelvin.
Planck will answer fundamental questions about how the universe came to be and how it will change in the future. It will look back in time to just 400,000 years after our universe exploded into existence nearly 14 billion years ago in the event known as the Big Bang. The mission will spend at least 15 months making the most precise measurements yet of light at microwave wavelengths across our entire sky, including what is called the cosmic microwave background. This light is from the primordial soup of particles that eventually evolved to become our modern-day universe. The light has traveled about 14 billion years to reach us, and, in that time, has cooled and stretched to longer wavelengths because space is expanding.
"The cosmic microwave background shows us the universe directly at age 400,000 years, not the movie, not the historical novel, but the original photons," said Charles Lawrence, NASA project scientist for Planck at JPL. "Planck will give us the clearest view ever of this baby universe, showing us the results of physical processes in the first brief moments after the Big Bang, and the starting point for the formation of stars and galaxies."
Planck will be cold too. One of its instruments will be cooled to just 0.1 Kelvin. Innovative "cryocooler" technology, developed in part by JPL, will chill the instruments.
Shortly after launch, Planck and Herschel will separate from the rocket and follow different trajectories to the second Lagrangian point of our solar system, a point in space 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.
Herschel and Planck are both ESA missions with important participation from NASA. NASA's Herschel Project Office and Planck Project Office are both based at JPL. A consortium of European-led institutes provided science instruments for Herschel. JPL contributed mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments and both of Planck's science instruments. The NASA Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the U.S. astronomical community. NASA, U.S. and European Planck scientists will work together to analyze the Planck data.
More information about the Herschel mission is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/herschel
More information about the Planck mission is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/planck
NASA's Spitzer Telescope Warms Up to New Career
WASHINGTON -- The primary mission of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is about to end after more than five and a half years of probing the cosmos with its keen infrared eye. Within about a week of May 12, the telescope is expected to run out of the liquid helium needed to chill some of its instruments to operating temperatures.
The end of the coolant will begin a new era for Spitzer. The telescope will start its "warm" mission with two channels of one instrument still working at full capacity. Some of the science explored by a warm Spitzer will be the same, and some will be entirely new.
"We like to think of Spitzer as being reborn," said Robert Wilson, Spitzer project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Spitzer led an amazing life, performing above and beyond its call of duty. Its primary mission might be over, but it will tackle new scientific pursuits, and more breakthroughs are sure to come."
Spitzer is the last of NASA's Great Observatories, a suite of telescopes designed to see the visible and invisible colors of the universe. The suite also includes NASA's Hubble and Chandra space telescopes. Spitzer has explored, with unprecedented sensitivity, the infrared side of the cosmos, where dark, dusty and distant objects hide.
For a telescope to detect infrared light -- essentially heat -- from cool cosmic objects, it must have very little heat of its own. During the past five years, liquid helium has run through Spitzer's "veins," keeping its three instruments chilled to -456 degrees Fahrenheit (-271 Celsius), or less than 3 degrees above absolute zero, the coldest temperature theoretically attainable. The cryogen was projected to last as little as two and a half years, but Spitzer's efficient design and careful operations enabled it to last more than five and a half years.
Spitzer's new "warm" temperature is still quite chilly at -404 degrees Fahrenheit (-242 Celsius), much colder than a winter day in Antarctica when temperatures sometimes reach -75 degrees Fahrenheit (-59 Celsius). This temperature rise means two of Spitzer's instruments -- its longer wavelength multiband imaging photometer and its infrared spectrograph -- will no longer be cold enough to detect cool objects in space.
However, the telescope's two shortest-wavelength detectors in its infrared array camera will continue to function perfectly. They will still pick up the glow from a range of objects: asteroids in our solar system, dusty stars, planet-forming disks, gas-giant planets and distant galaxies. In addition, Spitzer still will be able to see through the dust that permeates our galaxy and blocks visible-light views.
"We will do exciting and important science with these two infrared channels," said Spitzer Project Scientist Michael Werner of JPL. Werner has been working on Spitzer for more than 30 years. "Our new science program takes advantage of what these channels do best. We're focusing on aspects of the cosmos that we still have much to learn about."
Since its launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 25, 2003, Spitzer has made countless breakthroughs in astronomy. Observations of comets both near and far have established that the stuff of comets and planets is similar throughout the galaxy. Breathtaking photos of dusty stellar nests have led to new insights into how stars are born. And Spitzer's eye on the very distant universe, billions of light-years away, has revealed hundreds of massive black holes lurking in the dark.
Perhaps the most revolutionary and surprising Spitzer finds involve planets around other stars, called exoplanets. Exoplanets are, in almost all cases, too close to their parent stars to be seen from our Earthly point of view. Nevertheless, planet hunters continue to uncover them by looking for changes in the parent stars. Before Spitzer, everything we knew about exoplanets came from indirect observations such as these.
In 2005, Spitzer detected the first actual photons from an exoplanet. In a clever technique, now referred to as the secondary-eclipse method, Spitzer was able to collect the light of a hot, gaseous exoplanet and learn about its temperature. Further detailed spectroscopic studies later revealed more about the atmospheres, or "weather," on similar planets. More recently, Spitzer witnessed changes in the weather on a wildly eccentric gas exoplanet -- a storm of colossal proportions brewing up in a matter of hours before quickly settling down.
"Nobody had any idea Spitzer would be able to directly study exoplanets when we designed it," Werner said. "When astronomers planned the first observations, we had no idea if they would work. To our amazement and delight, they did."
These are a few of Spitzer's achievements during the past five and a half years. Data from the telescope are cited in more than 1,500 scientific papers. And scientists and engineers expect the rewards to keep on coming during Spitzer's golden years.
Some of Spitzer's new pursuits include refining estimates of Hubble's constant, or the rate at which our universe is stretching apart; searching for galaxies at the edge of the universe; assessing how often potentially hazardous asteroids might impact Earth by measuring the sizes of asteroids; and characterizing the atmospheres of gas-giant planets expected to be discovered soon by NASA's Kepler mission. As was true during the cold Spitzer mission, these and the other programs are selected through a competition in which scientists from around the world are invited to participate.
JPL manages the Spitzer mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, and Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. in Boulder, Colo. support mission and science operations. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., built Spitzer's infrared array camera; the instrument's principal investigator is Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. built Spitzer's infrared spectrograph; its principal investigator is Jim Houck of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. and the University of Arizona in Tucson, built the multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer; its principal investigator is George Rieke of the University of Arizona.
For more information about Spitzer, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer
and
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer
The end of the coolant will begin a new era for Spitzer. The telescope will start its "warm" mission with two channels of one instrument still working at full capacity. Some of the science explored by a warm Spitzer will be the same, and some will be entirely new.
"We like to think of Spitzer as being reborn," said Robert Wilson, Spitzer project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Spitzer led an amazing life, performing above and beyond its call of duty. Its primary mission might be over, but it will tackle new scientific pursuits, and more breakthroughs are sure to come."
Spitzer is the last of NASA's Great Observatories, a suite of telescopes designed to see the visible and invisible colors of the universe. The suite also includes NASA's Hubble and Chandra space telescopes. Spitzer has explored, with unprecedented sensitivity, the infrared side of the cosmos, where dark, dusty and distant objects hide.
For a telescope to detect infrared light -- essentially heat -- from cool cosmic objects, it must have very little heat of its own. During the past five years, liquid helium has run through Spitzer's "veins," keeping its three instruments chilled to -456 degrees Fahrenheit (-271 Celsius), or less than 3 degrees above absolute zero, the coldest temperature theoretically attainable. The cryogen was projected to last as little as two and a half years, but Spitzer's efficient design and careful operations enabled it to last more than five and a half years.
Spitzer's new "warm" temperature is still quite chilly at -404 degrees Fahrenheit (-242 Celsius), much colder than a winter day in Antarctica when temperatures sometimes reach -75 degrees Fahrenheit (-59 Celsius). This temperature rise means two of Spitzer's instruments -- its longer wavelength multiband imaging photometer and its infrared spectrograph -- will no longer be cold enough to detect cool objects in space.
However, the telescope's two shortest-wavelength detectors in its infrared array camera will continue to function perfectly. They will still pick up the glow from a range of objects: asteroids in our solar system, dusty stars, planet-forming disks, gas-giant planets and distant galaxies. In addition, Spitzer still will be able to see through the dust that permeates our galaxy and blocks visible-light views.
"We will do exciting and important science with these two infrared channels," said Spitzer Project Scientist Michael Werner of JPL. Werner has been working on Spitzer for more than 30 years. "Our new science program takes advantage of what these channels do best. We're focusing on aspects of the cosmos that we still have much to learn about."
Since its launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 25, 2003, Spitzer has made countless breakthroughs in astronomy. Observations of comets both near and far have established that the stuff of comets and planets is similar throughout the galaxy. Breathtaking photos of dusty stellar nests have led to new insights into how stars are born. And Spitzer's eye on the very distant universe, billions of light-years away, has revealed hundreds of massive black holes lurking in the dark.
Perhaps the most revolutionary and surprising Spitzer finds involve planets around other stars, called exoplanets. Exoplanets are, in almost all cases, too close to their parent stars to be seen from our Earthly point of view. Nevertheless, planet hunters continue to uncover them by looking for changes in the parent stars. Before Spitzer, everything we knew about exoplanets came from indirect observations such as these.
In 2005, Spitzer detected the first actual photons from an exoplanet. In a clever technique, now referred to as the secondary-eclipse method, Spitzer was able to collect the light of a hot, gaseous exoplanet and learn about its temperature. Further detailed spectroscopic studies later revealed more about the atmospheres, or "weather," on similar planets. More recently, Spitzer witnessed changes in the weather on a wildly eccentric gas exoplanet -- a storm of colossal proportions brewing up in a matter of hours before quickly settling down.
"Nobody had any idea Spitzer would be able to directly study exoplanets when we designed it," Werner said. "When astronomers planned the first observations, we had no idea if they would work. To our amazement and delight, they did."
These are a few of Spitzer's achievements during the past five and a half years. Data from the telescope are cited in more than 1,500 scientific papers. And scientists and engineers expect the rewards to keep on coming during Spitzer's golden years.
Some of Spitzer's new pursuits include refining estimates of Hubble's constant, or the rate at which our universe is stretching apart; searching for galaxies at the edge of the universe; assessing how often potentially hazardous asteroids might impact Earth by measuring the sizes of asteroids; and characterizing the atmospheres of gas-giant planets expected to be discovered soon by NASA's Kepler mission. As was true during the cold Spitzer mission, these and the other programs are selected through a competition in which scientists from around the world are invited to participate.
JPL manages the Spitzer mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, and Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. in Boulder, Colo. support mission and science operations. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., built Spitzer's infrared array camera; the instrument's principal investigator is Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. built Spitzer's infrared spectrograph; its principal investigator is Jim Houck of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. and the University of Arizona in Tucson, built the multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer; its principal investigator is George Rieke of the University of Arizona.
For more information about Spitzer, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer
and
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer
MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals a Very Dynamic Planet Mercury
WASHINGTON -- A NASA spacecraft gliding over the surface of Mercury has revealed that the planet's atmosphere, the interaction of its surrounding magnetic field with the solar wind, and its geological past display greater levels of activity than scientists first suspected. The probe also discovered a previously unknown large impact basin about 430 miles in diameter -- equal to the distance between Washington and Boston.
Analyses of these new findings and more are reported in four papers published in the May 1 issue of Science magazine. The data come from the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER. On Oct. 6, 2008, the probe flew by Mercury for the second time, capturing more than 1,200 high-resolution and color images of the planet. The probe unveiled another 30 percent of the planet's surface that had never been seen by previous spacecraft, gathering essential data for planning the remainder of the mission.
"This second Mercury flyby provided a number of new findings," said Sean Solomon, the probe's principal investigator from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "One of the biggest surprises was how strongly the dynamics of the planet's magnetic field–solar wind interaction changed from what we saw during the first Mercury flyby in January 2008. The discovery of a large and unusually well preserved impact basin shows concentrated volcanic and deformational activity."
The spacecraft also made the first detection of magnesium in Mercury's thin atmosphere, known as an exosphere. This observation and other data confirm that magnesium is an important constituent of Mercury's surface materials.
The probe's Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer instrument detected the magnesium. Finding magnesium was not surprising to scientists, but seeing it in the amounts and distribution observed was unexpected. The instrument also measured other exospheric constituents, including calcium and sodium.
"This is an example of the kind of individual discoveries that the science team will piece together to give us a new picture of how the planet formed and evolved," said William McClintock, co-investigator and lead author of one of the four papers. McClintock, who is from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, suspects that additional metallic elements from the surface, including aluminum, iron and silicon, also contribute to the exosphere.
The variability that the spacecraft observed in Mercury's magnetosphere, the volume of space dominated by the planet's magnetic field, so far supports the hypothesis that the great day-to-day changes in Mercury's atmosphere may be a result of changes in the shielding provided by the magnetosphere.
"The spacecraft observed a radically different magnetosphere at Mercury during its second flyby compared with its earlier Jan. 14 encounter," said James Slavin from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Slavin is a mission co-investigator and lead author of one of the papers. "During the first flyby, important discoveries were made, but scientists didn't detect any dynamic features. The second flyby witnessed a totally different situation."
The spacecraft's discovery of the impact basin, called Rembrandt, is the first time scientists have seen terrain well exposed on the floor of a large impact basin on Mercury. Landforms such as those revealed on the floor of Rembrandt usually are buried completely by volcanic flows.
"This basin formed about 3.9 billion years ago, near the end of the period of heavy bombardment of the inner solar system," said Thomas Watters from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, a participating scientist and lead author of one paper. "Although ancient, the Rembrandt basin is younger than most other known impact basins on Mercury."
Half of Mercury was unknown until a little more than a year ago. Globes of the planet were blank on one side. Spacecraft images have enabled scientists to see 90 percent of the planet's surface at high resolution. The spacecraft's nearly global imaging coverage of the surface after the second flyby gives scientists fresh insight into how the planet's crust was formed.
"After mapping the surface, we see that approximately 40 percent is covered by smooth plains," said Brett Denevi of Arizona State University in Tempe, a team member and lead author of a paper. "Many of these smooth plains are interpreted to be of volcanic origin, and they are globally distributed. Much of Mercury's crust may have formed through repeated volcanic eruptions in a manner more similar to the crust of Mars than to that of the moon."
Scientists continue to examine data from the first two flybys and are preparing to gather more information from a third flyby of the planet on Sept. 29.
"The third Mercury flyby is our final dress rehearsal for the main performance of our mission, the insertion of the probe into orbit around Mercury in March 2011," said Solomon. "The orbital phase will be like staging two flybys per day and will provide the continuous collection of information about the planet and its environment for one year. Mercury has been coy in revealing its secrets slowly so far, but in less than two years the innermost planet will become a close friend."
The MESSENGER project is the seventh in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, scientifically focused missions. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory of Laurel, Md., designed, built and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science instruments were built by the Applied Physics Laboratory; Goddard; the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; and the University of Colorado in Boulder. GenCorp Aerojet of Sacramento, Calif., and Composite Optics Inc. of San Diego provided the propulsion system and composite structure.
For more information about the Mercury mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/messenger
Analyses of these new findings and more are reported in four papers published in the May 1 issue of Science magazine. The data come from the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER. On Oct. 6, 2008, the probe flew by Mercury for the second time, capturing more than 1,200 high-resolution and color images of the planet. The probe unveiled another 30 percent of the planet's surface that had never been seen by previous spacecraft, gathering essential data for planning the remainder of the mission.
"This second Mercury flyby provided a number of new findings," said Sean Solomon, the probe's principal investigator from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "One of the biggest surprises was how strongly the dynamics of the planet's magnetic field–solar wind interaction changed from what we saw during the first Mercury flyby in January 2008. The discovery of a large and unusually well preserved impact basin shows concentrated volcanic and deformational activity."
The spacecraft also made the first detection of magnesium in Mercury's thin atmosphere, known as an exosphere. This observation and other data confirm that magnesium is an important constituent of Mercury's surface materials.
The probe's Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer instrument detected the magnesium. Finding magnesium was not surprising to scientists, but seeing it in the amounts and distribution observed was unexpected. The instrument also measured other exospheric constituents, including calcium and sodium.
"This is an example of the kind of individual discoveries that the science team will piece together to give us a new picture of how the planet formed and evolved," said William McClintock, co-investigator and lead author of one of the four papers. McClintock, who is from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, suspects that additional metallic elements from the surface, including aluminum, iron and silicon, also contribute to the exosphere.
The variability that the spacecraft observed in Mercury's magnetosphere, the volume of space dominated by the planet's magnetic field, so far supports the hypothesis that the great day-to-day changes in Mercury's atmosphere may be a result of changes in the shielding provided by the magnetosphere.
"The spacecraft observed a radically different magnetosphere at Mercury during its second flyby compared with its earlier Jan. 14 encounter," said James Slavin from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Slavin is a mission co-investigator and lead author of one of the papers. "During the first flyby, important discoveries were made, but scientists didn't detect any dynamic features. The second flyby witnessed a totally different situation."
The spacecraft's discovery of the impact basin, called Rembrandt, is the first time scientists have seen terrain well exposed on the floor of a large impact basin on Mercury. Landforms such as those revealed on the floor of Rembrandt usually are buried completely by volcanic flows.
"This basin formed about 3.9 billion years ago, near the end of the period of heavy bombardment of the inner solar system," said Thomas Watters from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, a participating scientist and lead author of one paper. "Although ancient, the Rembrandt basin is younger than most other known impact basins on Mercury."
Half of Mercury was unknown until a little more than a year ago. Globes of the planet were blank on one side. Spacecraft images have enabled scientists to see 90 percent of the planet's surface at high resolution. The spacecraft's nearly global imaging coverage of the surface after the second flyby gives scientists fresh insight into how the planet's crust was formed.
"After mapping the surface, we see that approximately 40 percent is covered by smooth plains," said Brett Denevi of Arizona State University in Tempe, a team member and lead author of a paper. "Many of these smooth plains are interpreted to be of volcanic origin, and they are globally distributed. Much of Mercury's crust may have formed through repeated volcanic eruptions in a manner more similar to the crust of Mars than to that of the moon."
Scientists continue to examine data from the first two flybys and are preparing to gather more information from a third flyby of the planet on Sept. 29.
"The third Mercury flyby is our final dress rehearsal for the main performance of our mission, the insertion of the probe into orbit around Mercury in March 2011," said Solomon. "The orbital phase will be like staging two flybys per day and will provide the continuous collection of information about the planet and its environment for one year. Mercury has been coy in revealing its secrets slowly so far, but in less than two years the innermost planet will become a close friend."
The MESSENGER project is the seventh in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, scientifically focused missions. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory of Laurel, Md., designed, built and operates the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Science instruments were built by the Applied Physics Laboratory; Goddard; the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; and the University of Colorado in Boulder. GenCorp Aerojet of Sacramento, Calif., and Composite Optics Inc. of San Diego provided the propulsion system and composite structure.
For more information about the Mercury mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/messenger
NASA Selects Future Projects To Study Mars And Mercury
WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected two science investigations that will aid in the interior examination of Mars and probe the tenuous atmosphere of Mercury. The projects, valued at approximately $38 million, also establish new alliances with the European Space Agency, or ESA.
"The selections will further advance our knowledge of these exciting terrestrial planets," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The international collaboration will create a new chapter in planetary science and provide a strong partnership with the international science community to complement future robotic and human exploration activities."
The Lander Radio-Science on ExoMars, or LaRa, will use NASA's Deep Space Network of radio telescopes to track part of ESA's ExoMars mission. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the mission consists of a fixed lander and a rover that will roam Mars collecting soil samples for detailed analysis.
Data relayed from the lander back to the network will allow scientists to measure and analyze variations in the length of the day and location of the planet's rotational axis. This data will help researchers further dissect the structure of the Red Planet's interior, including the size of its core. When combined with the lander's onboard instruments, the data also may help confirm whether the planet's interior is still, at least partially, composed of liquid. William Folkner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is the principal investigator. The project costs approximately $6.6 million.
The second selection, named Strofio, will employ a unique mass spectrometer. The instrument will determine the mass of atoms and molecules to reveal the composition of Mercury's atmosphere. The investigation will study the atmosphere, which is formed from material ejected from its surface, to reveal the composition of Mercury's surface.
Strofio will investigate Mercury as a key component of the Italian Space Agency's suite of science instruments that will fly aboard ESA's BepiColombo mission. Scheduled for launch in 2013, the mission is composed of two spacecraft. Japan will build one spacecraft to study the planet's magnetic field. ESA will build the other to study Mercury directly. Stefano Livi of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio is the principal investigator. The project costs approximately $31.8 million.
The selections were among eight proposals submitted in December 2008 in response to NASA's new Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity, known as Salmon. NASA solicited proposals for investigations that address planetary science research objectives on non-agency missions. A key criterion is that science goals, including data archiving and analysis, must be accomplished for less than $35 million.
NASA's Deep Space Network is an international system of antennas that support interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. The system consists of three deep-space communications facilities placed around the world in California's Mojave Desert; Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. This strategic placement permits constant observation of spacecraft as Earth rotates and helps to make the network the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.
NASA's Planetary Science Division aims to improve understanding of the planets and small bodies that inhabit our solar system. Mission activities include helping scientists answer questions about the solar system's formation, how it reached its current diverse state, and how life evolved on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the solar system. The Mars Exploration Program, a component of the Planetary Division, seeks to characterize and understand Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment, climate cycles, geology and biological potential.
For more information about the Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity, visit:
http://salmon.larc.nasa.gov
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
"The selections will further advance our knowledge of these exciting terrestrial planets," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The international collaboration will create a new chapter in planetary science and provide a strong partnership with the international science community to complement future robotic and human exploration activities."
The Lander Radio-Science on ExoMars, or LaRa, will use NASA's Deep Space Network of radio telescopes to track part of ESA's ExoMars mission. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the mission consists of a fixed lander and a rover that will roam Mars collecting soil samples for detailed analysis.
Data relayed from the lander back to the network will allow scientists to measure and analyze variations in the length of the day and location of the planet's rotational axis. This data will help researchers further dissect the structure of the Red Planet's interior, including the size of its core. When combined with the lander's onboard instruments, the data also may help confirm whether the planet's interior is still, at least partially, composed of liquid. William Folkner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is the principal investigator. The project costs approximately $6.6 million.
The second selection, named Strofio, will employ a unique mass spectrometer. The instrument will determine the mass of atoms and molecules to reveal the composition of Mercury's atmosphere. The investigation will study the atmosphere, which is formed from material ejected from its surface, to reveal the composition of Mercury's surface.
Strofio will investigate Mercury as a key component of the Italian Space Agency's suite of science instruments that will fly aboard ESA's BepiColombo mission. Scheduled for launch in 2013, the mission is composed of two spacecraft. Japan will build one spacecraft to study the planet's magnetic field. ESA will build the other to study Mercury directly. Stefano Livi of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio is the principal investigator. The project costs approximately $31.8 million.
The selections were among eight proposals submitted in December 2008 in response to NASA's new Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity, known as Salmon. NASA solicited proposals for investigations that address planetary science research objectives on non-agency missions. A key criterion is that science goals, including data archiving and analysis, must be accomplished for less than $35 million.
NASA's Deep Space Network is an international system of antennas that support interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. The system consists of three deep-space communications facilities placed around the world in California's Mojave Desert; Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. This strategic placement permits constant observation of spacecraft as Earth rotates and helps to make the network the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.
NASA's Planetary Science Division aims to improve understanding of the planets and small bodies that inhabit our solar system. Mission activities include helping scientists answer questions about the solar system's formation, how it reached its current diverse state, and how life evolved on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the solar system. The Mars Exploration Program, a component of the Planetary Division, seeks to characterize and understand Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment, climate cycles, geology and biological potential.
For more information about the Stand Alone Mission of Opportunity, visit:
http://salmon.larc.nasa.gov
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
NASA Releases Interactive 3-D Views of Space Station, New Mars Rover
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA and Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., released an interactive, 3-D photographic collection of internal and external views of the International Space Station and a model of the next Mars rover on Thursday, May 7.
NASA and Microsoft's Live Labs team developed the online experience with hundreds of photographs and a photo imaging technology called Photosynth. Using a click-and-drag interface, viewers can zoom in to see details of the space station's modules and solar arrays or zoom out for a more global view of the complex.
"Photosynth brings the public closer to our spaceflight equipment and hardware," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The space station pictures are not simulations or graphic representations but actual images taken recently by astronauts while in orbit. Although you're not flying 220 miles above the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour, it allows you to navigate and view amazing details of the real station as though you were there."
The software uses photographs from standard digital cameras to construct a 3-D view that can be navigated and explored online.
"This stunning collection of photographs using Microsoft's Photosynth interactive 3-D imaging technology provides people around the world with an exciting new way to explore the space station and learn about NASA’s upcoming Mars Science Laboratory mission," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "This collaboration with Microsoft offers the public the opportunity to participate in future exploration using this innovative technology."
The Mars rover imagery gives viewers an opportunity to preview the hardware of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, currently being assembled for launch to the Red Planet in 2011.
"We are making this enhanced viewing experience available from the Mars Science Laboratory project because we're eager for the public to share in the excitement that's building for this mission," said Fuk Li, manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
NASA's Photosynth collection can be viewed at:
http://www.nasa.gov/photosynth
The NASA images also can be viewed at Microsoft's Live Labs at:
http://labs.live.com
While roaming through different components of the station, the public also can join in a scavenger hunt. NASA has a list of items that can be found in the Photosynth collection. These items include a station crew patch, a spacesuit and a bell that is traditionally used to announce the arrival of a visiting spacecraft. Clues to help in the hunt will be posted on NASA’s Facebook page and @NASA on Twitter. To access these sites, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate
NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus took the internal images of the space station during the 129 days she lived aboard the complex. She photographed the station’s exterior while aboard the space shuttle Discovery, which flew her back to Earth in March. The rover images were taken of a full-scale model in a Mars-simulation testing area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Photosynth has multiple potential benefits for NASA. Engineers can use it to examine hardware, and astronauts can use it for space station familiarization training.
Photosynth software allows the combination of up to thousands of regular digital photos of a scene to present a detailed 3-D model of a subject, giving viewers the sensation of smoothly gliding around the scene from every angle. A collection can be constructed using photos from a single source or multiple sources. The NASA Photosynth collection also includes shuttle Endeavour preparing for its STS-118 mission in August 2008.
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For more information about the Mars Science Laboratory, visit:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl
NASA and Microsoft's Live Labs team developed the online experience with hundreds of photographs and a photo imaging technology called Photosynth. Using a click-and-drag interface, viewers can zoom in to see details of the space station's modules and solar arrays or zoom out for a more global view of the complex.
"Photosynth brings the public closer to our spaceflight equipment and hardware," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The space station pictures are not simulations or graphic representations but actual images taken recently by astronauts while in orbit. Although you're not flying 220 miles above the Earth at 17,500 miles an hour, it allows you to navigate and view amazing details of the real station as though you were there."
The software uses photographs from standard digital cameras to construct a 3-D view that can be navigated and explored online.
"This stunning collection of photographs using Microsoft's Photosynth interactive 3-D imaging technology provides people around the world with an exciting new way to explore the space station and learn about NASA’s upcoming Mars Science Laboratory mission," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "This collaboration with Microsoft offers the public the opportunity to participate in future exploration using this innovative technology."
The Mars rover imagery gives viewers an opportunity to preview the hardware of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, currently being assembled for launch to the Red Planet in 2011.
"We are making this enhanced viewing experience available from the Mars Science Laboratory project because we're eager for the public to share in the excitement that's building for this mission," said Fuk Li, manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
NASA's Photosynth collection can be viewed at:
http://www.nasa.gov/photosynth
The NASA images also can be viewed at Microsoft's Live Labs at:
http://labs.live.com
While roaming through different components of the station, the public also can join in a scavenger hunt. NASA has a list of items that can be found in the Photosynth collection. These items include a station crew patch, a spacesuit and a bell that is traditionally used to announce the arrival of a visiting spacecraft. Clues to help in the hunt will be posted on NASA’s Facebook page and @NASA on Twitter. To access these sites, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate
NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus took the internal images of the space station during the 129 days she lived aboard the complex. She photographed the station’s exterior while aboard the space shuttle Discovery, which flew her back to Earth in March. The rover images were taken of a full-scale model in a Mars-simulation testing area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Photosynth has multiple potential benefits for NASA. Engineers can use it to examine hardware, and astronauts can use it for space station familiarization training.
Photosynth software allows the combination of up to thousands of regular digital photos of a scene to present a detailed 3-D model of a subject, giving viewers the sensation of smoothly gliding around the scene from every angle. A collection can be constructed using photos from a single source or multiple sources. The NASA Photosynth collection also includes shuttle Endeavour preparing for its STS-118 mission in August 2008.
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For more information about the Mars Science Laboratory, visit:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl
NASA's Kepler Mission Begins Search for Planets Like Earth
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA's Kepler spacecraft has begun its search for other Earth-like worlds. The mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 6, will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at more than 100,000 stars for telltale signs of planets. Kepler has the unique ability to find planets as small as Earth that orbit sun-like stars at distances where temperatures are right for possible lakes and oceans.
"Now the fun begins," said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "We are all really excited to start sorting through the data and discovering the planets."
Scientists and engineers have spent the last two months checking out and calibrating the Kepler spacecraft. Data have been collected to characterize the imaging performance as well as the noise level in the measurement electronics. The scientists have constructed the list of targets for the start of the planet search, and this information has been loaded onto the spacecraft.
"If Kepler got into a staring contest, it would win," said James Fanson, Kepler project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The spacecraft is ready to stare intently at the same stars for several years so that it can precisely measure the slightest changes in their brightness caused by planets." Kepler will hunt for planets by looking for periodic dips in the brightness of stars -- events that occur when orbiting planets cross in front of their stars and partially block the light.
The mission's first finds are expected to be large, gas planets situated close to their stars. Such discoveries could be announced as early as next year.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is the home organization of the science principal investigator, and is responsible for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. JPL manages the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the Kepler flight system and supporting mission operations.
For images, animations and more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler
"Now the fun begins," said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "We are all really excited to start sorting through the data and discovering the planets."
Scientists and engineers have spent the last two months checking out and calibrating the Kepler spacecraft. Data have been collected to characterize the imaging performance as well as the noise level in the measurement electronics. The scientists have constructed the list of targets for the start of the planet search, and this information has been loaded onto the spacecraft.
"If Kepler got into a staring contest, it would win," said James Fanson, Kepler project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The spacecraft is ready to stare intently at the same stars for several years so that it can precisely measure the slightest changes in their brightness caused by planets." Kepler will hunt for planets by looking for periodic dips in the brightness of stars -- events that occur when orbiting planets cross in front of their stars and partially block the light.
The mission's first finds are expected to be large, gas planets situated close to their stars. Such discoveries could be announced as early as next year.
Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is the home organization of the science principal investigator, and is responsible for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. JPL manages the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the Kepler flight system and supporting mission operations.
For images, animations and more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler
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