GeekwithEnvy

Science

LeVar Burton Explains NASA’s Martian MAVEN Mission

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In this cool NASA Public Service Announcement, LeVar Burton tells us all about MAVEN’s mission and explains why it’s important. On November 18th, NASA has had a successful launch of MAVEN, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission. The Atlas V rocket lifted off at approximately 1:30 P.M EST and is now on it’s way towards Mars to hopefully allow us to better understand why Mars has become so inhospitable and to possibly help us better understand our climate here on Earth.

We’re currently about 14,000 miles away from Earth and heading out to the Red Planet right now,” – MAVEN Project Manager David Mitchell-

NASA is trying to understand why most of the Martian atmosphere has disappeared and just how it lost all of it’s liquid water. Perhaps we can even answer the question we have all been really wanting to know, was there ever life on Mars? The only way to find out is to keep on studying our neighboring planet and to continue to dig deeper into the past of the great red planet.

Painting or Photograph?

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Camel thorn trees-Namibia (Frans Lanting/National Geographic)
Tinted orange by the morning sun, a soaring dune is the backdrop for the hulks of camel thorn trees in Namib-Naukluft Park. (Frans Lanting/National Geographic)

Despite the way this image looks, it is indeed a photograph. This is a picture of Camel Thorn trees in Namibia which was taken by Frans Lanting for National Geographic. The backdrop is actually a large dune and the spots are small patches of grass.

This stunning photograph caused a lot of controversy when it was first printed as many people did indeed believe it was a painting. This photo was featured in a an article written by Alexandra Fuller for National Geographic back in June of 2011.

You may have the same trouble I initially did trying to see the picture for what it is, a real photograph, but if you look at some of the changes in color that occur on the sand dune and the shadows that the patches of grass produce, then you may finally see past the “painting”.

A Incredible View of The Stars From Space

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Looking up at the night sky reminds us of how small we really are compared to the vastness of the universe but our view down here on the Earth’s surface doesn’t compare to the view the Space Station crew has.

This video shows off not only an amazing view of Earth, which we tend to focus on the most, but also it showcases the stars and even the Milky Way galaxy. Notice how the video captures the lights from the cites, the lightning from storms and the auroras high up in the atmosphere, which looks incredibly thin.

A Rare View of Saturn

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CassiniSaturnSolo
NASA / JPL / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic

On October 10, 2013, Cassini captured a rare view of Saturn separated from it’s rings, a view that can never be seen from Earth. The image is a three-by-four mosaic of red, green, and blue filter images take from high above the equatorial plane. Click on the image to view a higher resolution version.

An overview of the Cassini spacecraft and it’s mission is outlined on the Cassini JPL NASA website.

Awesome Video of The Space X Grasshopper Rocket Launch

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On Monday, October 7th, Grasshopper completed its highest leap to date, rising to 744m altitude. The view above is taken from a single camera hexacopter, getting closer to the stage than in any previous flight.

Grasshopper is a 10-story Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle designed to test the technologies needed to return a rocket back to Earth intact. While most rockets are designed to burn up on atmosphere reentry, SpaceX rockets are being designed not only to withstand reentry, but also to return to the launch pad for a vertical landing. The Grasshopper VTVL vehicle represents a critical step towards this goal.” – SpaceX