Posts Made By: Maurice Clark

Hi All,

Emily Lakdawalla over at the Planetary Society has just posted links to many of the original "Galileo Messenger" Newsletters. For those who are unfamiliar with these, they were NASA bulletins published to chronicle the Galileo mission. The ones she has posted so far deal with all of the trials and tribulations leading up to launch.

Great reading about a great mission that succeeded despite everything that was thrown at it.

http://planetary.org/blog/article/00003336/

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi All,

News report from the ESO in Chile indicates that they have successfully combined the 4 8m telescopes at Paranal via interferometry to effectively make a 130m telescope. Looking forward to seeing some results from this. The resolution improvement should be significant!

More here:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16869022

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi All,

Just read a news item on the BBC website that NASA is unlikely to continue with its participation in the ExoMars missions for 2016 and 2018. If NASA does pull out it means the future of Mars exploration is seriously threatened. It would appear that lack of funding is the biggest problem according to the new item.

Very worrying if that does happen!

More here:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16906740

Maurice

Hi All,

Last week the New Horizons team announced an effort to gather signatures in support of a petition to the U.S. Postal Service to commemorate the historic flyby of Pluto on a stamp. To help make this happen, they have started an online petition to help make this happen. You can go here to sign. http://www.change.org/petitions/usps-honor-new-horizons-and-the-exploration-of-pluto-with-a-usps-stamp

Their suggested design is below.
Cheers,

Maurice

Hi All,

Here is the response from the Planetary Society to the decision to drastically cut the NASA budget for planetary science.

http://www.planetary.org/about/press/releases/2012/0213_NASA_Budget_Pushes_Science_to_the_Brink.html

This is the worst attack on NASA planetary science since the Reagen years. If implimented, it will be a disaster for planetary exploration.

Maurice

Hi All,

Here is the response from the Planetary Society to the decision to drastically cut the NASA budget for planetary science.

http://www.planetary.org/about/press/releases/2012/0213_NASA_Budget_Pushes_Science_to_the_Brink.html

This is the worst attack on NASA planetary science since the Reagen years. If implimented, it will be a disaster for planetary exploration. Time to contact your congress critter if you are interested in science and planetary exploration.

Maurice

Hi All,

The Heartland Institute — a so-called "think tank" that actually serves in part as a way for climate change denialism to get funded — has a potentially embarrassing situation on their hands. Someone using the name "Heartland Insider" has anonymously released quite a few of what are claimed to be internal documents from Heartland, revealing the Institute’s strategies, funds, and much more.

Many people are going over these documents and they appear to be genuine, and offer an interesting insight into the thinking, motives and strategy of an organisation that opposes the concept of global warming.

One quote from this document:- http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/2012%20Climate%20Strategy%20%283%29.pdf

"[Dr. Wojick's] effort will focus on providing curriculum that shows that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain – two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science."

So clearly this "Institute" wants to stop teachers from teaching science!

Also, considering how this "institute" played a very prominent role on the so-called Climategate, it is interesting to see that they are now in the spotlight.

It is also very interesting to see how open-minded and balanced they are. At one stage they posted on their website:- http://heartland.org/policy-documents/web-discloses-inconvenient-climate-truths

"For anyone who doubts the power of the Internet to shine light on darkness, the news of the month is how digital technology helped uncover a secretive group of scientists who suppressed data, froze others out of the debate, and flouted freedom-of-information laws."

Yet here:- http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/2012%20Climate%20Strategy.pdf They clearly state how important it is to prevent disenting voices from being heard.

"Efforts at places such as Forbes are especially important now that they have begun to allow high-profile climate scientists (such as [Peter] Gleick) to post warmist science essays that counter our own. This influential audience has usually been reliably anti-climate and it is important to keep opposing voices out."

This really does sound like a group interested in promoting science!

The full documents are available here:- http://www.desmogblog.com/heartland-insider-exposes-institute-s-budget-and-strategy

Maurice

Hi All,

A wonderful animation made using images taken at the ESO at Paranal has been posted on Vimeo. Wish I could do photography that well!

http://vimeo.com/36972668

Cheers

Maurice

Hi All,

Found this interesting news report this morning concerning the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati.

Their government is negotiating with the government of Fiji to relocate their entire population since their islands are becoming uninhabitable due to sea-level rise.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/kiribati/9127576/Entire-nation-of-Kiribati-to-be-relocated-over-rising-sea-level-threat.html

I find this particularly interesting following my recent "discussion" with a certain non-scientist who posts here who seems to think he knows more than anyone about global warming and sea-level rise. Especially after he claimed that no islands were becoming uninhabitable. I guess this non-scientist knows more than the oceanographers, climatologists and the government of Kiribati. To coin a phrase "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"!

Maurice

Hi All,

Another bright supernova in a Messier galaxy has just been discovered, this time in M95.

Findercharts and more information here:- http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2012/03/18/another-bright-supernova-goes-boom-in-m95-near-mars/

Cheers,

Maurice