#01

The Chinese and UAE Mars launches went off without a hitch this last week and both spacecraft are safely en route to the red planet. That leaves just one more: NASA's Perseverance rover! There's plenty of great coverage on this mission all over the internet, so you might as well start by reading some of my own perspectives on the mission as well as my first day working on the Curiosity rover operations team.

Perseverance has passed its Launch Readiness Review and is now officially ready for launch this Thursday, July 30th, at 7:50 a.m. EDT on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral. Here's a handy guide on how to watch and participate. NASA has until August 15th to launch the rocket, after which, Mars will be too far away for Perseverance to make the trip safely.

#02

It's easy to think that between satellite imagery and all the other tools available, we have the info needed to accurate forecast hurricanes. Turns out that could not be further from the truth. Lucky for us, this fall the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will have a new tool at its disposal to study the monster storms: a rugged fleet of ocean-going robots. "The torpedo-shaped machines will be positioned in what amounts to no man’s land, places where no ships or humans might survive and where space satellites can’t gauge the potency of storm action." 

#03

There aren't any people scheduled to launch into space next week, but there might be some coming back. NASA has scheduled  Astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to return to Earth on August 2nd. They will ride down on the same SpaceX Dragon capsule that took them to space back in May, the first manned launch from US soil since 2011. Although launches tend to get all the news coverage, landings are just as important. As the old aviation adage goes, take off is optional, but landing is mandatory!

Recent astronaut classes have been close to a 50% split between men and women, so I'm glad to see that next generation space suit designs are taking into account both genders (it's a bit embarrassing that this is actually news). "'We’re designing spacesuits for humans, not men or women specifically, just humans. But over the years, we’ve really had to evolve our thinking about what that means. It’s kind of a shift from thinking not just of men as bigger women or women as small men,' Ms. Aitchison says. 'Our bodies are truly different.'"

#04

Charles Lindbergh had just made the first airborne crossing of the Atlantic Ocean using a small monoplane with a wicker chair as a pilot's seat and, paradoxically, no forward facing windshield. Why not aim for space next? In 1927 a group of amateur rocketeers set off to build their own (woefully uninformed) Venus spacecraft, and now a documentary crew is in search of the rocket. "Robert Condit was among a group of would-be rocketeers who, in the era before the space race, were applying new technologies to ideas for space travel. With memories of the First World War and the lingering fears of the influenza pandemic still fresh, these men and women looked to the cosmos and channeled the pain of daily life into the promise of discovery in space."

Speaking of Venus, here are some great designs for Venus rovers that were put together in response to a crowdsourcing initiative related to one of my projects at JPL. It's great to see to community get involved in this way!

#05

"It is not business as usual. Many cruises have already been canceled, research schedules have been disrupted, and research cruises look very different from those before the pandemic, with crews and research scaled back." But at least they're back. The University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), which manages 20 academic research vessels in the U.S., has allowed non-essential missions to resume.

#06

Excepting for an occasional earthquake or volcanic eruption, the boundaries of tectonics plates and oceans remain fairly stable over a human lifetime. We never get to 'see' a new ocean be born, yet that is happening right now in east African in rift valleys. "New satellite measurements are helping scientists better understand the transition and are generating valuable tools to study the gradual birth of a new ocean in one of the most geologically unique spots on the planet."

#07

In a win for public lands, the House of Representatives has passed the Great American Outdoors Act. The bill, which enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses and is expected to be signed by the president, would provide billions of much needed funding to the national parks system. And it's possible that congress might pull another public lands win out of the hat in the near future.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has announced 15 new national parks to protect green areas and promote jobs.

#08

Because my 8 year old self would be disappointed if I didn't share this one, make sure to take some notes on how to outrun a dinosaur! Turns out that the T-rex was so massive it probably couldn't have achieved speeds any faster than a brisk jog, and with a slow start at that.   

The Bookshelf

I've always enjoyed the short story format because it allows authors to explore fresh ideas while staying concise and to the point. The best authors are able to present a "what if?" scenario, and leave the reader to ponder the repercussions. What if we actually had the opportunity to decipher the language of an alien race? What if digital sentience was realized over decades through the development of virtual pets in virtual worlds? What if the tower of Babylon was built and did reach the sky? These are some of the ideas explored in Ted Chiang's short stories collected in  Exhalations and Story of Your Life (which provided the basis of the film Arrival). These stories may twist your view of reality in all the right ways. Read them and you will be invited to take up the invite from one of Chiang's characters:

"Though I am long dead as you read this, explorer, I give you a valediction. Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so. I feel I have the right to tell you this because, as I am inscribing these words, I am doing the same."

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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.

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