adsii1970

Quote of the day:

"Astronomy is useful because it raises us above ourselves; it is useful because it is grand; …. It shows us how small is man's body, how great his mind, since his intelligence can embrace the whole of this dazzling immensity, where his body is only an obscure point, and enjoy its silent harmony."

Henri Poincaré
( Apr 29, 1854 - Jul 17, 1912 )
Quote taken from an essay in the collection, The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincaré, 1997

Jules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as The Last Universalist by Eric Temple Bell, since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream."

Neil Armstrong
(Aug 05, 1930 - Aug 25, 2012)
Quote taken from an interview conducted by CBS Evening News, aired on October 14, 1968

Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was an officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, he earned his bachelor's degree at Purdue University and served as a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station, where he logged over 900 flights. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us—there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, or falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."

Carl Sagan
(Nov 09, 1934 - Dec 20, 1996)
Quote attributed to his book, The Pale Blue Dot, 1994

Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences. He is best known for his work as a science popularizer and communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space: the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the now accepted hypothesis that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to and calculated using the greenhouse effect. (Wikipedia Commons)

Excellent fan-fic based video.

Since 1977 I have been a fan of the First Galactic Empire...

Quote of the day:

"Above me I saw something I did not believe at first. Well above the haze layer of the earth's atmosphere were additional faint thin bands of blue, sharply etched against the dark sky. They hovered over the earth like a succession of halos."

David G. Simons
(June 7, 1922 – April 5, 2010)
Quote taken from his interview as published in the article, 'A Journey No Man Had Taken,' LIFE magazine, 2 September 1957.

David G. Simons was an American physician turned U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who, as part of Project Manhigh, set a record of high-altitude balloon flight in 1957 at 19 miles above the Earth in an aluminum capsule suspended from a helium balloon. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for this record. Simons was shown on the cover of Life of September 2, 1957, issue. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"If you want to have a program for moving out into the universe, you have to think in centuries not in decades."

Freeman J. Dyson
(Dec 15, 1923 -                )
Quote taken from an interview with accompanying article, "Grow Fur If You Want To Live On Mars" as available the website Raw Science, November 26, 2014

Freeman John Dyson FRS is an English-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. He is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, a Visitor of Ralston College, and a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"14 yrs ago today we lost the crew of #Columbia. My colleagues & friends. Remembering them, their families & their sacrifice for our future"

Scott Kelly
(Feb 21, 1964 -            )
Quote from his Twitter feed, dated February 1, 2017

Scott Joseph Kelly is an engineer, retired American astronaut, and a retired U.S. Navy Captain. A veteran of four space flights, Kelly commanded the International Space Station on Expeditions 26, 45, and 46. (Wikipedia Commons)

Most current NASA launch schedule for 2017: https://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/

Besides one atmospheric probe and a few supply/recrew flights to the ISS, nothing major is scheduled. Oh, the critiques I could state... but then again, would you really want to hear my opinion?

Quote of the day:

This is the goal: To make available for life every place where life is possible. To make inhabitable all worlds as yet uninhabitable, and all life purposeful.

Hermann Oberth
(Jun 25, 1894 - Dec 28, 1989)
Quote from his book, Man Into Space, 1957

Hermann Julius Oberth was an Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and engineer. He is considered one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"Today the human race is a single twig on the tree of life, a single species on a single planet. Our condition can thus only be described as extremely fragile, endangered by forces of nature currently beyond our control, our own mistakes, and other branches of the wildly blossoming tree itself. Looked at this way, we can then pose the question of the future of humanity on Earth, in the solar system, and in the galaxy from the standpoint of both evolutionary biology and human nature. The conclusion is straightforward: Our choice is to grow, branch, spread and develop, or stagnate and die."

Robert Zubrin
(Apr 09, 1952 -         )
Quote attributed to his book, Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization. published in 1999.

Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He and his colleague at Martin Marietta, David Baker, were the driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission. The key idea was to use the Martian atmosphere to produce oxygen, water, and rocket propellant for the surface stay and return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted by NASA as their "design reference mission". He questions the delay and cost-to-benefit ratio of first establishing a base or outpost on an asteroid or another Project Apollo-like return to the Moon, as neither would be able to provide all of its own oxygen, water, or energy; these resources are producible on Mars, and he expects people would be there thereafter. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"People who view industrialization as a source of the Earth's troubles, its pollution, and the desecration of its surface, can only advocate that we give it up. This is something that we can't do; we have the tiger by the tail. We have 4.5 billion people on Earth. We can't support that many unless we're industrialized and technologically advanced. So, the idea is not to get rid of industrialization but to move it somewhere else. If we can move it a few thousand miles into space, we still have it, but not on Earth. Earth can then become a world of parks, farms, and wilderness without giving up the benefits of industrialization."

Isaac Asimov
(Jan 02, 1920 - Apr 06, 1992)
In a speech at Newark College of Engineering, Rutgers University, 1974

Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer, and wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His books have been published in 9 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"This generation is crucial; we have the resources to get mankind off this planet. If we don't do it, we may soon be facing a world of 15 billion people and more, a world in which it's all we can do to stay alive; a world without the resources to go into space and get rich... I don't think it will come to that because the vision of the future is so clear to me. We need realize only one thing: we do not inhabit 'Only One Earth.' Mankind doesn't live on Earth. Man lives in a solar system... Given [a] basic space civilization ... we'll have accomplished one goal: no single accident, no war, no one insane action will finish us off."

Jerry Pournelle
(Aug 07, 1933 -            )
Quote taken from his work, A Step Further Out, published in 1979.

Jerry Eugene Pournelle is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte. Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

“The least of us is improved by the things done by the best of us, because if we are not able to land at least we are able to follow."

Walter Cronkite
(Nov 04, 1916 - Jul 17, 2009)
Quote taken from CBS Moon Landing Coverage, July 20, 1969

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years. During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll. He reported many events from 1937 to 1981, including bombings in World War II; the Nuremberg trials; combat in the Vietnam War; the Dawson's Field hijackings; Watergate; the Iran Hostage Crisis; and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King, Jr., and Beatles musician John Lennon. He was also known for his extensive coverage of the U.S. space program, from Project Mercury to the Moon landings to the Space Shuttle. He was the only non-NASA recipient of a Moon-rock award. Cronkite is well known for his departing catchphrase "And that's the way it is," followed by the broadcast's date. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"Ships and sails proper for the heavenly air should be fashioned. Then there will also be people, who do not shrink from the dreary vastness of space."

Johannes Kepler
(Dec 27, 1571 - Nov 15, 1630)
Quote from a letter written to Galileo Galilei, 1609

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his laws of planetary motion, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects. This is the discipline that deals with the universe's divine revolutions, the stars' motions, sizes, distances, risings and settings . . . for what is more beautiful than heaven?"

Nicolaus Copernicus
(Feb 19, 1473 - May 24, 1543
Quote from his work, On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres, first published in 1543

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe, likely independently of Aristarchus of Samos, who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"Space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space."

Christa McAuliffe
(Sep 02, 1948 - Jan 28, 1986)
Quote from McAuliffe found in a recent article by the Associated Press (2007). "Teacher-astronaut takes mission to Disney". CNN / Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 17, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2007.

Sharon Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"The space effort is very simply a continuation of the expansion of ecological range, which has been occurring at an accelerating rate throughout the evolutionary history of Man... Successful extraterrestrial colonization, for example, might be counted as an evolutionary "success," and unsuccessful colonization--abandonment of the space effort--as an evolutionary "failure." ... Space exploration should be considered primarily as a biological thrust outward for the human species, and not just another step toward making life easier through a speedup in technology."

Ward J. Haas
(1927 -           )
Quote taken from his speech at the Dinner Meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences Conference on Planetology and Space Mission Planning, November 3, 1965

Ward J. Haas served as the Director, Space Sciences Research Center University of Missouri. No additional information is available.

Ok, seriously folks... Just wanted to let you know I have not fallen off the Earth nor have I been eaten by a giant mucus alien being. Between spending a month with a viral sinus infection that eventually settled into my chest AND being buried in building a new college class for the fall semester of 2017, things here have been quite busy. Since my bi-term class ends tomorrow and spring break begins next week, I will be catching up on all kinds of projects...

I have all the images I need for the next chapter of Kerny. I might even get to it tonight. I'm behind in my household chores and in grading and would like to kind-of catch them up before I begin writing the chapter.

Quote of the day:

"Some people want to give money to their children, buy houses, go on a holiday—whatever it is that they want to invest in. This particular journey has been something that I wanted to do most of my life, but there was no real opportunity to do so."

Sarah Brightman
( Aug 14, 1960 -             )
Quoted in an interview, "Sarah Brightman chases her dream to the International Space Station," as contained in the on-line publication, The Space Review, 6 April 2015.

Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, musician, songwriter, and dancer. She has sung in many languages, including English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Turkish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Catalan. Within the interview, she discusses the  $50 million U.S. price tag of her own personal trip to the ISS. Her trip to the ISS began with a Soyuz launch on September 1, 2015 and ended with her return to Earth on September 11, 2015. (Wikipedia Commons, The Space Review)

Quote of the day:

"Man must rise above the Earth — to the top of the atmosphere and beyond — for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives."

Socrates
(died 339 B.C.E., year of his birth is unknown)

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is "hidden behind his 'best disciple', Plato".  (Wikipedia Commons).

Quote of the day:

"Astronomy is useful because it raises us above ourselves; it is useful because it is grand; …. It shows us how small is man's body, how great his mind, since his intelligence can embrace the whole of this dazzling immensity, where his body is only an obscure point, and enjoy its silent harmony."

Jules Henri Poincaré
(Apr 29, 1854 - Jul 17, 1912)
Quote taken from his book, The Value of Science, first published in 1905.

Jules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as The Last Universalist by Eric Temple Bell, since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"If you could see the earth illuminated when you were in a place as dark as night, it would look to you more splendid than the moon."

Galileo Galilei
(Feb 15, 1564 - Jan 08, 1642)
Quote from his work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, 1632.

Galileo Galilei was an Italian polymath: astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and mathematician. He played a major role in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"UFOs: The reliable cases are uninteresting and in the interesting cases are unreliable."

Carl Sagan
(Nov 09, 1934 - Dec 20, 199
Quote from his work, Other Worlds: Is Life Out There?, originally published in 1975. 

Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences. He is best known for his work as a science popularizer and communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space: the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the now accepted hypothesis that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to and calculated using the greenhouse effect. (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"I love to revel in philosophical matters - especially astronomy. I study astronomy more than any other foolishness there is. I am a perfect slave to it. I am at it all the time. I have got more smoked glass than clothes. I am as familiar with the stars as the comets are. I know all the facts and figures and have all the knowledge there is concerning them. I yelp astronomy like a sun-dog, and paw the constellations like Ursa Major."

Mark Twain
(Nov 30, 1835 - Apr 21, 1910)
Quote from his letter to the San Francisco Alta California newspaper, 1 August 1869

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called "The Great American Novel". (Wikipedia Commons)

Quote of the day:

"I am just learning to notice the different colors of the stars, and already begin to have a new enjoyment."

Maria Mitchell
(Aug 01, 1818 - Jun 28, 1889)
Quote taken from a lecture about astronomy to the student body at Vassar College, circa 1880

Maria Mitchell was an American astronomer who, in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VI of Denmark. On the medal was inscribed "Non Frustra Signorum Obitus Speculamur et Ortus" in Latin taken from Georgics by Virgil. Mitchell was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer. (Wikipedia Commons)