Showing posts with label Mars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mars. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Elon Musk says we need to colonize Mars so that there will be humans who survive the next war.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

Humans must prioritise the colonisation of Mars so the species can be conserved in the event of a third world war, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk said on Sunday.

“It’s important to get a self-sustaining base on Mars because it’s far enough away from Earth that [in the event of a war] it’s more likely to survive than a moon base,” Musk said on stage at SXSW – just days after Donald Trump announced plans to meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in an attempt to defuse rising nuclear tension. 

“If there’s a third world war we want to make sure there’s enough of a seed of human civilisation somewhere else to bring it back and shorten the length of the dark ages,” Musk said, responding to questions from his friend Jonah Nolan, co-creator of TV show Westworld.

You know just a year or so ago I would have said this is hyperbolic and a severe overreaction.

Now I am simply hoping that Musk has enough time to solidify his plans before it is too late. 

Friday, June 30, 2017

Thanks to Trump's pal Alex Jones NASA needs to literally issue a statement debunking the idea that they have a colony of kidnapped child sex slaves on Mars.

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:  

A report on Alex Jones’ InfoWars claiming child sex slaves have been kidnapped and shipped to Mars is untrue, NASA told The Daily Beast on Thursday. “There are no humans on Mars. There are active rovers on Mars. 

There was a rumor going around last week that there weren’t. There are,” Guy Webster, a spokesperson for Mars exploration at NASA, told The Daily Beast. “But there are no humans.” 

On Thursday’s program, the InfoWars host welcomed guest Robert David Steele onto The Alex Jones Show, which airs on 118 radio stations nationwide, to talk about kidnapped children he said have been sent on a two-decade mission to space. 

“We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride,” said Steele. “So that once they get to Mars they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony.”

“Look, I know that 90 percent of the NASA missions are secret and I’ve been told by high level NASA engineers that you have no idea. There is so much stuff going on,” Jones said.

I know what you're thinking, "No way Gryph, that is even too crazy for Alex Jones."

But then there 's video.

 Thought I was fucking with you, didn't you?

Just in case you could not get all the way through that (And seriously who could blame you?), I should tell you that this Guy Webster dude also said this: 

Steele alleged the kidnapped children were not only being kidnapped for space labor, but also murdered for their blood and bone marrow. 

"Pedophilia does not stop with sodomizing children,” said Steele. “It goes straight into terrorizing them to adrenalize their blood and then murdering them. It also includes murdering them so that they can have their bone marrow harvested as well as body parts.”

“This is the original growth hormone,” said Jones.

I should point something that many of you may have already noticed, and that is that obviously if it takes 20 years to travel from here to Mars, on ships that we do not yet have the technology to build, that the humans landing there could hardly still be considered children, which kind of undermines this whole pedophilia harvesting their blood conspiracy theory.

Of course it goes without saying that it is certainly not the only illogical part of this bizarre claim.

And please keep in mind that Alex Jones is the man about whom Donald Trump once made the following statement: 

“Your reputation is amazing. I will not let you down.”

And THAT is why NASA felt compelled to issue a statement about a batshit crazy conspiracy theory that nobody with two brain cells to rub together could ever possibly believe.

I should probably note that NASA does indeed have plans to one day send people to Mars, and is even running experiments right now to prepare for that eventuality.

However there is no talk of pedophilia, slavery, or Alex Jones connected to any of it.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

NASA has discovered liquid water on Mars. Just thought you should know that this morning.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Potentially life-giving water still flows across the ancient surface of Mars from time to time, NASA scientists said Monday in revealing a potential breakthrough in both the search for life beyond Earth and human hopes to one day travel there. 

While the discovery doesn't by itself offer evidence of life on Mars, either past or present, it does boost hopes of that the harsh landscape still offers some refuge to life. 

"The existence of liquid water, even if it is super salty briny water, gives the possibility that if there's life on Mars, that we have a way to describe how it might survive," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA.

So that is just one of the things that science has discovered this week.

But remember there is no reason to focus on teaching it to our children, or spending tax payer money on it, after all its not like it provides answers to any of the important questions about our origins or the survival of our species or anything.

In fact Rush Limbaugh does not even believe that NASA found anything.

Friday, July 11, 2014

There is no man made climate change because "the temperature on Mars is exactly as it is here" on Earth. Just crazy things Republicans say.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

In a condemnatory speech last week against the Obama administration’s new Environmental Protection Agency carbon emission regulations, Kentucky state Sen. Brandon Smith (R) claimed that man-made climate change is scientifically implausible because Mars and Earth share “exactly” the same temperature. 

Smith, the owner of a mining company called Mohawk Energy, argued that despite the fact that the red planet doesn’t have any coal mines, Mars and Earth share a temperature. Therefore, Smith reasoned, coal companies on Earth should be exempt from emission regulations. 

During a Natural Resources and Environment Committee meeting Thursday, Smith, the Senate majority whip, said: 

"As you [Energy & Environment Cabinet official] sit there in your chair with your data, we sit up here in ours with our data and our constituents and stuff behind us. I won’t get into the debate about climate change but I’ll simply point out that I think in academia we all agree that the temperature on Mars is exactly as it is here. Nobody will dispute that. Yet there are no coal mines on Mars. There’s no factories on Mars that I’m aware of."

According to NASA, the average temperature on Earth is 57 degrees Fahrenheit -- 138 degrees above Mars' average of -81 degrees.

I am beginning to think there should be a mandatory entrance exam covering the functions of government, how science works, and economics that every potential candidate for local or national office must pass before being allowed to waste the voter's time.

I mean come on, this is getting ridiculous!

Friday, October 04, 2013

Pack your spacesuit kids, the Mars mission is back on track!

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Preparations for the launch of NASA's Maven orbiter to Mars have resumed after the $650 million mission was granted an exception from the federal government's shutdown, in order to protect U.S. property. In this case, the property is sitting on Mars, according to Maven's principal investigator. 

"Basically, we're back, full speed," University of Colorado planetary scientist Bruce Jakosky told NBC News on Thursday. 

Workers who had been furloughed or locked out are back at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to resume preparations for a Nov. 18 launch. "We've been able to get back into the facilities where the spacecraft and development team have been working," Jakosky said.

As "Breaking Bad's" Jesse Pinkman would say, "Damn right space exploration is essential government work! Bitches!"

We have got to continue, and even accelerate our space exploration because it not only adds to our understanding of our own planet, it also reveals information that helps us to examine the origins of the universe, and hopefully will someday allow us to know definitively whether we are alone or one of thousands of forms of intelligent life scattered throughout the galaxies.

Besides I don't know about you but I think that the sooner we can give the Conservatives their own planet to rape and pillage the better it will be for the rest of us.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

These latest pictures from the Mars rover Curiosity have me a little concerned that we are not welcome.

But then again I can hardly blame them.

Isn't this the problem with America? That we ALWAYS  invade foreign places and then act insulted that they are not thrilled to have us there proselytizing our religious beliefs and trying to get them to eat Big Macs?

And does anybody have ANY doubt we will do the exact same thing if we DO find life on Mars?

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Actually I'm kind of hoping we DON'T go back to this.


But of course we will. Sadly it is inevitable.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Perhaps we should have let NASA be in charge of coverage for the Olympics!

You know I am usually a big fan of NBC, but they really screwed the pooch with their Olympic coverage. I missed just about every event I was interested in, and saw WAY too much of snooze worthy events like badminton, dressage, and water polo. God I hate water polo!

By the way if you want to see something really cool watch this simulation of Curiosity's landing with the sound from NASA'a control room during the actual event. How awesome was that?

I think it's about time to talk about increasing NASA'a budget don't you?

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Are you watching? Tonight we should ALL be filled with Curiosity.

Courtesy of NASA:

Its approximately 352 million mile (567 million kilometer), 36-week journey from Earth nearly complete, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft and its Curiosity rover are "all systems go" for touchdown in Mars' Gale Crater tonight at 10:31 p.m. PDT (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6). This morning, flight controllers decided to forgo the sixth and final opportunity on the mission calendar for a course-correction maneuver. The spacecraft is headed for its target entry point at the top of Mars' atmosphere precisely enough that the maneuver was deemed unnecessary. In addition, this afternoon, mission controllers determined that no further updates are necessary to the onboard information the spacecraft will use during its autonomous control of MSL's entry, descent and landing. Parameters on a motion tracker were adjusted Saturday for fine-tuning determination of the spacecraft's orientation during its descent.

Any minute hour now Curiosity should be touching down. (Sorry I got a little overly excited.)

I will update this post as new information comes in.

As our VP would say, "This is a big fucking deal!"

Update: Here is where the first images taken by Curiosity will show up. (NASA.)

Update 2: Here is the first image to arrive from Curiosity. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Update 3: Transmitter turned off as Curiosity makes its approach. Only about an hour left until touch down.

Update 4: It is down! It landed safely! Let's give a round of applause for science.

NASA rocks!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Saturday morning geek break. Is there life on Mars? Yeah there might be! I kid you not!


Scientists have found more evidence of possible life on Mars.

NASA announced Thursday that its researchers and university scientists found methane in the Red Planet's atmosphere. The finding suggests biological or geological activity.

NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and the W.M. Keck telescope showed prisms that separate white light into a rainbow and showed three lines that indicate the presence of methane.

"Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 2003 indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas," Michael Mumma of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said in a statement.

"Right now, we do not have enough information to tell whether biology or geology -- or both -- is producing the methane on Mars," Mumma explained. "But it does tell us the planet is still alive, at least in a geologic sense. It is as if Mars is challenging us, saying, 'Hey, find out what this means.' "

NASA said that if microscopic organisms produce methane, they are likely far below the surface, where it's warm enough for water to remain in a liquid state. Water, carbon, and energy sources are necessary for all known forms of life.

OH......MY......GOD!!

If you could see me now you would see a man whose jaw is literally dragging on the ground.

This is absolutely amazing news!

I told one of my fellow bloggers just yesterday, that THIS was the kind of story that I wanted to post about, instead of Sarah Palin updates, because it really puts everything else in perspective.

If you think about it THIS could change everything about how we see our planet, see ourselves, and see the possibilities for our future. Science, religion, and philosophy could all be in for a sound shaking up if this information proves to be factual.

Simply amazing.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Women are from Venus, and Alaska is like Mars? WTF?

Although geologists can usually tell what shapes the landscape around us, it was a mystery what formed the Mars-like features found in Alaska.

The conditions on Mars are quite different than anything experienced on Earth. For example, Mars is much colder than even the Arctic — the average martian temperature is -81 degrees F (-63 degrees C) — and the planet's atmospheric pressure is lower than Earth's. Still, for the same features to be present on Earth and Mars, the two professors suspected similar processes would have made them.

They had just over a week in Alaska to discover what created the glaciers and fans.
During this time they managed to see an impressive 289 events, including rock falls and floods. The vast majority of these events were snow and ice avalanches. The frequency of these avalanches astounded the scientists, who reasoned that climate change was the most likely culprit. As temperatures rise, the glaciers pull back, creating large areas where ice has been separated. Material can fall down these cracks and lead to avalanches. This was creating the features seen in Alaska, and perhaps the same thing had happened on Mars.


Being sort of an armchair science geek I find the comparison of the Mars landscape to Alaska's to be fascinating. I have always dreamed of visiting far away planets, and now I guess in some ways I already have.

New Alaska tourist motto: "Come to Alaska! It is out of this world!"

I must give a hat tip to my frequent visitor Lynne who sent me this link. Thanks Lynne!