School, work, and life has been rough and busy. It's obvious that I haven't been keeping up every day. I'm still going to try updating regularly, but it probably won't be every day. Once things settle down, I'll probably be able to get on the ball.
Thanks for the love, the few of you who read
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Sorry For the Break Again; I look at Planets
I’m in an Astronomy class this year. It’s got me looking into the stars and thinking about things outside of the Earth more than I ever have. The biggest impacts were images my class showed of the surfaces of Venus and Mars. They set my imagination and sense of wonder on fire, and allowed me to tiptoe into the shallow end of the incomprehensible.
I’ve seen images of the surfaces of planets; overhead shots from some telescope in our orbit or circling around in space. They give a map view of the planet, showing ravines, scarps, meandering ancient canyons, etc. These are interesting to see, and I’m sure they help scientists who are trying to study topographical features on other planets. However, they still leave me feeling distant, like I’m looking from afar at something I will never actually touch or smell (probably wouldn’t want to taste anything, and what’s to hear?). This is even more the case with the surface of Venus, which can only be seen with radar due to the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere. It seems… virtual? Shallow? Discredited? I’m not sure exactly what word I’m looking for, but there isn’t anything about a God’s-eye picture that is very human to me.
Then, I saw pictures that the land rovers took. Mars fascinated me; to see rocks up-close, the size of my fist, as if I were standing there looking around. I could imagine my feet gently sinking into the red sand. The white/blue atmosphere forming a very familiar experience. Ironically, the images make Mars seem Earthly, like we’re actually in some desert bordering the southern US.
And then, just by changing your position on the planet, it suddenly feels very foreign. A red-orange sky doesn’t nearly compete with the blood-crimson rocks and sand. Everything is unreasonably flat, while at the same time rocks dot every square foot as far as the eye can see. Mars has areas that might be hard for the human mind to imagine; the image is dreamlike. Luckily, the rovers have made these surreal places very vivid.
The most amazing picture I’ve seen this year though was a shot of Venus from the surface. Before seeing it, I hadn’t heard about us actually landing anything there. I honestly didn’t think it was even possible; I knew that Venus was the hottest terrestrial planet in our solar system, hot enough to melt lead. We did land, and got some photos.
A hellish landscape with liquid-smooth or crumbling rocks; a bright, acid-yellow atmosphere that turns the sky into something we’ve never seen before. The Venusian surface is something out of a nightmare. The pictures can make us feel like we’re there, like we’re walking through the dark brown plains through the thick yellow air.
Venus is too much for anything except rocks, however. Anything metal that you put on it melts within around ten minutes. Putting a human on its surface would be like putting a napkin on flowing lava. Because of that, we will probably never walk on its surface; never see the sights that the pictures give us.
I find it fascinating that humankind’s curiosity sometimes knows no reason. With millions, if not billions of dollars that could be used on some other facet of our planet, we put these machines into space so that they may see for us, even if it’s just for ten minutes. We are gluttonous with our senses, going way out of our way and using tons of our resources just to experience something, just to see something.
Even in the wake of logical use of resources vs. human impulse, I’m still glad we did it. Not only does it let me geek out a little, but it gives me a small sense of the solar system we live in. I now have a better understanding of our neighboring planets; not just the math, but the views. This planet is getting smaller (not literally), and I think looking to stars and planets is beneficial. Eventually, we will want and may have to go out into space, and it’s best if you can see where you’re going.
 |
| Surface of Mars |
I’ve seen images of the surfaces of planets; overhead shots from some telescope in our orbit or circling around in space. They give a map view of the planet, showing ravines, scarps, meandering ancient canyons, etc. These are interesting to see, and I’m sure they help scientists who are trying to study topographical features on other planets. However, they still leave me feeling distant, like I’m looking from afar at something I will never actually touch or smell (probably wouldn’t want to taste anything, and what’s to hear?). This is even more the case with the surface of Venus, which can only be seen with radar due to the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere. It seems… virtual? Shallow? Discredited? I’m not sure exactly what word I’m looking for, but there isn’t anything about a God’s-eye picture that is very human to me.
 |
| Mars |
Then, I saw pictures that the land rovers took. Mars fascinated me; to see rocks up-close, the size of my fist, as if I were standing there looking around. I could imagine my feet gently sinking into the red sand. The white/blue atmosphere forming a very familiar experience. Ironically, the images make Mars seem Earthly, like we’re actually in some desert bordering the southern US.
 |
| Another of Mars |
And then, just by changing your position on the planet, it suddenly feels very foreign. A red-orange sky doesn’t nearly compete with the blood-crimson rocks and sand. Everything is unreasonably flat, while at the same time rocks dot every square foot as far as the eye can see. Mars has areas that might be hard for the human mind to imagine; the image is dreamlike. Luckily, the rovers have made these surreal places very vivid.
The most amazing picture I’ve seen this year though was a shot of Venus from the surface. Before seeing it, I hadn’t heard about us actually landing anything there. I honestly didn’t think it was even possible; I knew that Venus was the hottest terrestrial planet in our solar system, hot enough to melt lead. We did land, and got some photos.
 |
| Venusian Surface Pictures |
A hellish landscape with liquid-smooth or crumbling rocks; a bright, acid-yellow atmosphere that turns the sky into something we’ve never seen before. The Venusian surface is something out of a nightmare. The pictures can make us feel like we’re there, like we’re walking through the dark brown plains through the thick yellow air.
Venus is too much for anything except rocks, however. Anything metal that you put on it melts within around ten minutes. Putting a human on its surface would be like putting a napkin on flowing lava. Because of that, we will probably never walk on its surface; never see the sights that the pictures give us.
I find it fascinating that humankind’s curiosity sometimes knows no reason. With millions, if not billions of dollars that could be used on some other facet of our planet, we put these machines into space so that they may see for us, even if it’s just for ten minutes. We are gluttonous with our senses, going way out of our way and using tons of our resources just to experience something, just to see something.
Even in the wake of logical use of resources vs. human impulse, I’m still glad we did it. Not only does it let me geek out a little, but it gives me a small sense of the solar system we live in. I now have a better understanding of our neighboring planets; not just the math, but the views. This planet is getting smaller (not literally), and I think looking to stars and planets is beneficial. Eventually, we will want and may have to go out into space, and it’s best if you can see where you’re going.
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