#01

"A crane lowered a small white submersible off the back of a ship and plonked it in the water. For a moment, it bobbed quietly on the surface, its buoyancy calibrated to the weight of the pilot, its only occupant. Then he flipped a switch, and the submarine emitted a frantic, high-pitched whirr. Electric pumps sucked seawater into an empty chamber, weighing the vessel down. The surface frothed as the water poured in—then silence, as the top of the submersible dipped below the waterline, and the ocean absorbed it ... [Hours later] the submarine touched the silty bottom, and the pilot, a fifty-three-year-old Texan named Victor Vescovo, became the first living creature with blood and bones to reach the deepest point in the Tonga Trench. He was piloting the only submersible that can bring a human to that depth: his own." An in depth and fascinating read on one man's journey to touch the deepest point of each of the world's oceans, and the development of the only submersible in the world currently capable of doing so.

#02

Hopefully you're only feeling cabin fever at this point as opposed to the more malignant one going around. But at least you aren't now stranded in the arctic circle. Sunniva Sorby and Hilde Fålulm Strøm set off to the polar north last August to over winter and collect scientific observations. Unfortunately, the boat meant to pick them up was called off and the duo is now stranded in a 215 square foot cabin for the foreseeable future. Sure, the women can go outside whenever they want, but "they have to don more than 20 pounds of clothing to shield them from the elements, plus carry a flare, a Swiss Army knife and a rifle."

Although most scientific fieldwork is on hold at the moment, some scientists still seem to find interesting ways to bring their work home.

#03

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have officially completed their training to fly in SpaceX's Dragon capsule to the International Space Station at the end of this month. The pair is now in quarantine before flying to Florida on May 20th for the first crewed launch from U.S. soil since 2011. While they capture the country's attention, a specialized unit of the Space Force will be on hand in case something goes wrong. 

China has successfully launched and landed a next generation deep space capsule. The uncrewed test proved that the capsule is capable of re-entering the atmosphere at high speeds, a useful feature when returning from the moon or other deep space locations.

In an interesting twist in opening up space to commercial purposes, NASA is reportedly working with Tom Cruise to film the first movie ever to be shot in space. 

#04

Russia hasn't landed anything on the moon since 1976 but that may change soon. The country is planning to pick up where the Soviet space program left off with up to three robotic missions to the moon in the next 5 years. The missions, called Luna 25, 26, and 27, keep the same moniker as the Soviet missions and are all planned collaborations with the European Space Agency. The first of the trio could launch as soon as October 2021. 

On American soil the Mars Rover Perseverance has been attached to it's descent stage (more popularly known as the sky crane) in preparation for a July launch. The next time the two separate will be about 65 ft above the Martian surface.

#05

Following up on the last editions edition's geologic map of the moon, planetary scientist Kevin Cannon has published some gorgeous comprehensive set of maps showing what may be hiding in permanently shadowed areas around the moon's poles. The perfect resource to plan your lunar getaway trip!

The Bookshelf

I'm clearly one to appreciate a good map so I suppose it won't come as a surprise that this week's read is M.R. O'Connor's Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World. O'Connor studies the origins of navigation through three separate cultures who each developed distinctive techniques: the Inuits found their way using minute details of the land, the Polynesians used the stars and wave patterns to cross oceans, and aboriginal Australians whose complex cultural history known as 'dreamtime' provided important knowledge of the harsh desert terrain. Interwoven with these cultural case studies, O'Connor describes the latest research into how the human brain perceives place and what that means for our perceptions of the world as navigational tools become increasingly digital. Overall, O'Conner delivers one of the most comprehensive and enjoyable books I've come across on the cultural history, methods, and science of navigation.

Did you enjoy this newsletter?  Forward it to a friend and ask them to subscribe! I also welcome any feedback or suggestions.

This newsletter was produced as a private venture and not in the author's capacity as an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology or of Griffith Observatory. Any views and opinions expressed herein or on exploreandobserve.com are his own and not those of his employers.

Privacy Policy