Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Titan is orange
Reminds me of that old phrase they made us analyze and scrutinize and dissect for hidden meaning in philosophy 101... "the Earth is blue... like an orange" LOL
Stuff like that marks a student - for life!
Photos show Saturn's moon has orange surface
CTV.ca News Staff
Scientists have finally looked behind the veil of gas that has shrouded Titan, Saturn's largest moon, from human eyes for all of known history.
And they are overwhelmed with both what they've seen and how well they were able to see it.
"This will undoubtedly go down in history as one of, if not the, biggest single step that mankind has taken," Bob Mitchell of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.
(For the rest of the article - see the comments section! My luminous, innovative use of the feature - since my readers/admirers/detractors/and the like are too shy... and of few words! *LOL*).
I must, though, pass commentary on Bob's declaration there... I mean - come on Bob!!! We know they pay your salary and all... but there is NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING that the NASA can do PRESENTLY SPEAKING that is of true use to the entire world right now... NOTHING! Who gives a flying fig that Titan is orange... Not the victims of hunger, war, crime, disasters, epidemics, prejudice, persecution and other forms of unfair treatment perpetrated by mankind -for the most part- and nature -sometimes... They couldn't give a rat's... derri ère if the freaking moon itself was orange... (although it is red blood on some nights - and that is in a certain Good Book as one of the signs of a certain something... hey - no wonder we see all four horsemen and more at work around the world already... hmm? But I digress... ;)
No, Bob - nothing NASA does or says has much of an immediate impact - other than going "wow - the universe is beautiful and mysterious, eh?". But WE KNEW THAT ALREADY. NASA is hoping for long-term payback on all their slow work... well... it is nice to see people of FAITH (...) still around... hmm? ;)
Carl would be proud... *LOL*
Blessings!
Stuff like that marks a student - for life!
Photos show Saturn's moon has orange surface
CTV.ca News Staff
Scientists have finally looked behind the veil of gas that has shrouded Titan, Saturn's largest moon, from human eyes for all of known history.
And they are overwhelmed with both what they've seen and how well they were able to see it.
"This will undoubtedly go down in history as one of, if not the, biggest single step that mankind has taken," Bob Mitchell of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.
(For the rest of the article - see the comments section! My luminous, innovative use of the feature - since my readers/admirers/detractors/and the like are too shy... and of few words! *LOL*).
I must, though, pass commentary on Bob's declaration there... I mean - come on Bob!!! We know they pay your salary and all... but there is NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING that the NASA can do PRESENTLY SPEAKING that is of true use to the entire world right now... NOTHING! Who gives a flying fig that Titan is orange... Not the victims of hunger, war, crime, disasters, epidemics, prejudice, persecution and other forms of unfair treatment perpetrated by mankind -for the most part- and nature -sometimes... They couldn't give a rat's... derri ère if the freaking moon itself was orange... (although it is red blood on some nights - and that is in a certain Good Book as one of the signs of a certain something... hey - no wonder we see all four horsemen and more at work around the world already... hmm? But I digress... ;)
No, Bob - nothing NASA does or says has much of an immediate impact - other than going "wow - the universe is beautiful and mysterious, eh?". But WE KNEW THAT ALREADY. NASA is hoping for long-term payback on all their slow work... well... it is nice to see people of FAITH (...) still around... hmm? ;)
Carl would be proud... *LOL*
Blessings!
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Photos show Saturn's moon has orange surface
CTV.ca News Staff
Scientists have finally looked behind the veil of gas that has shrouded Titan, Saturn's largest moon, from human eyes for all of known history.
And they are overwhelmed with both what they've seen and how well they were able to see it.
"This will undoubtedly go down in history as one of, if not the, biggest single step that mankind has taken," Bob Mitchell of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.
Amateur astronomer Denis Legault echoed that wow factor Saturday, saying: "We're looking at this object as a tiny dot in our telescopes and now we're actually landing on it. It's very exciting."
Space officials worked overnight to sharpen photos taken by the space probe Huygens -- part of the Cassini-Huygens mission -- as it landed on Titan Friday, cause for huge celebration at the European Space Agency.
The pictures showed a pale orange surface blanketed by a dense fog of methane and what appeared to be a methane sea with islands and a coastline.
They were taken from about 16 kilometres above the surface as the probe made a soft parachute landing.
The surface itself appears to be "material which might have a thin crust followed by a region of relative uniform consistency," John Zarnecki of the European Space Agency said.
"The closest analogues are wet sand or clay."
Officials were unable to identify the whooshing sound gathered at the surface by Huygen's microphones.
Pictures tell a story -
But it was the pictures that garnered the most attention.
One snapshot showed what appeared to be liquid flowing into a dark area, which officials suspected to be a sea of liquid methane.
Ivan Semeniuk, the Discovery Channel's space commentator, said the most important result "are the pictures that show the clear sign of fluids altering the surface of Titan."
Another image captured chunks of what seemed to be ice on a flat surface. Initially, they were thought to be large boulders but scientists retracted the notion after further inspection.
"I think all of us continue to be amazed as we watch our solar system unveil," NASA science administrator Alphonso Diaz said as the images were displayed on screens at mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.
The $3.3 billion Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn -- most famous for its rings -- and its moons was launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in a joint effort by NASA, the ESA and the Italian space agency.
The probe, named after the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens who discovered Titan in 1655, was spun off from the Cassini mother ship on Dec. 24 when it began its three-week trip to the moon.
Titan is the first moon -- other than that of planet Earth's -- ever to be explored.
The probe captured measurements, images, and sounds and sent them back to Earth where scientists have been ecstatically poring over them ever since.
"The scientific data we are collecting now shall unveil the secrets of this new world," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's general director. "This is a fantastic success for Europe."
Scientists believe Titan's atmosphere is similar to that of a young Earth's and that its study could help provide clues as to how life began on Earth.
"It challenges all our preconceptions that all these planets are static places," Diaz said.
"Seeing a planet emerge that has dynamics and complexity to it is just amazing."
Semeniuk said this mission "truly pushes the envelope" of space exploration, noting this is the furthest out that scientists have been able to land a spacecraft. Saturn is 1.2 billion km from earth, on average.
NASA's website said the probe sent back enough information to fill 400 CD-ROMs. Semeniuk said it will take years to comprehensively analyze it.
With a report from CTV's Paula Newton, Discovery Channel's Ivan Semeniuk and files from The Associated Press
CTV.ca News Staff
Scientists have finally looked behind the veil of gas that has shrouded Titan, Saturn's largest moon, from human eyes for all of known history.
And they are overwhelmed with both what they've seen and how well they were able to see it.
"This will undoubtedly go down in history as one of, if not the, biggest single step that mankind has taken," Bob Mitchell of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.
Amateur astronomer Denis Legault echoed that wow factor Saturday, saying: "We're looking at this object as a tiny dot in our telescopes and now we're actually landing on it. It's very exciting."
Space officials worked overnight to sharpen photos taken by the space probe Huygens -- part of the Cassini-Huygens mission -- as it landed on Titan Friday, cause for huge celebration at the European Space Agency.
The pictures showed a pale orange surface blanketed by a dense fog of methane and what appeared to be a methane sea with islands and a coastline.
They were taken from about 16 kilometres above the surface as the probe made a soft parachute landing.
The surface itself appears to be "material which might have a thin crust followed by a region of relative uniform consistency," John Zarnecki of the European Space Agency said.
"The closest analogues are wet sand or clay."
Officials were unable to identify the whooshing sound gathered at the surface by Huygen's microphones.
Pictures tell a story -
But it was the pictures that garnered the most attention.
One snapshot showed what appeared to be liquid flowing into a dark area, which officials suspected to be a sea of liquid methane.
Ivan Semeniuk, the Discovery Channel's space commentator, said the most important result "are the pictures that show the clear sign of fluids altering the surface of Titan."
Another image captured chunks of what seemed to be ice on a flat surface. Initially, they were thought to be large boulders but scientists retracted the notion after further inspection.
"I think all of us continue to be amazed as we watch our solar system unveil," NASA science administrator Alphonso Diaz said as the images were displayed on screens at mission control in Darmstadt, Germany.
The $3.3 billion Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn -- most famous for its rings -- and its moons was launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., in a joint effort by NASA, the ESA and the Italian space agency.
The probe, named after the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens who discovered Titan in 1655, was spun off from the Cassini mother ship on Dec. 24 when it began its three-week trip to the moon.
Titan is the first moon -- other than that of planet Earth's -- ever to be explored.
The probe captured measurements, images, and sounds and sent them back to Earth where scientists have been ecstatically poring over them ever since.
"The scientific data we are collecting now shall unveil the secrets of this new world," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA's general director. "This is a fantastic success for Europe."
Scientists believe Titan's atmosphere is similar to that of a young Earth's and that its study could help provide clues as to how life began on Earth.
"It challenges all our preconceptions that all these planets are static places," Diaz said.
"Seeing a planet emerge that has dynamics and complexity to it is just amazing."
Semeniuk said this mission "truly pushes the envelope" of space exploration, noting this is the furthest out that scientists have been able to land a spacecraft. Saturn is 1.2 billion km from earth, on average.
NASA's website said the probe sent back enough information to fill 400 CD-ROMs. Semeniuk said it will take years to comprehensively analyze it.
With a report from CTV's Paula Newton, Discovery Channel's Ivan Semeniuk and files from The Associated Press
From orange... to red!
No - not Mars...
My Christian brother, Brian R., sent me the following...
Funny stuff... thought I should share it...
Funny though... I could've sworn NOT to have shared with him anything about the redhead who broke my heart once... not all that long ago...! :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there is a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table. He has been checking her out since he sat down, but lacks the nerve to start a conversation.
Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its socket towards the man.
He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and hands it back.
"Oh my, I am so sorry," the woman says as she pops her eye back in place.
"Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you," she says.
They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to the theater followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares her deepest dreams and he shares his. She listens.
After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap ... and stay for breakfast.
They have a wonderful, wonderful time.
The next morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings.
The guy is amazed!! Everything has been SO incredible!!!
"You know," he said, "you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?"
"No," she replies... "You just happened to catch my eye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HA
HA
HA ;)
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No - not Mars...
My Christian brother, Brian R., sent me the following...
Funny stuff... thought I should share it...
Funny though... I could've sworn NOT to have shared with him anything about the redhead who broke my heart once... not all that long ago...! :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there is a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table. He has been checking her out since he sat down, but lacks the nerve to start a conversation.
Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its socket towards the man.
He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and hands it back.
"Oh my, I am so sorry," the woman says as she pops her eye back in place.
"Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you," she says.
They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to the theater followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares her deepest dreams and he shares his. She listens.
After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap ... and stay for breakfast.
They have a wonderful, wonderful time.
The next morning, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings.
The guy is amazed!! Everything has been SO incredible!!!
"You know," he said, "you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?"
"No," she replies... "You just happened to catch my eye."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HA
HA
HA ;)
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