Daily Archives: August 3, 2012

GeekWorld

Curious? Watch (Correction on Landing Date–August 6th, not the 5th)

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Lugnasa                                                         Hiroshima Moon

Watch this one-ton lab-on-wheels land on Mars.

Watch Curiosity’s Landing!

Aug 5, 2012     10:31 p.m.   Pacific
Aug 6, 2012     1:31 a.m.   Eastern
Aug 6, 2012     5:31 a.m.   Universal

Countdown to landing:

  1
days		 :  12
hrs		 :  29
mins		 :  6
secs


Watch NASA TV Show Online
Begins Aug 5: 2012
8:30 p.m. Pacific
11:30 p.m. Eastern

Find Live Events in Your Town
Event Map
Mission Briefing Schedule

Where?  See the following from Wired.com:

The first place to check out will be here, at Wired Science, where we will be providing two live feeds from JPL, the rover’s headquarters, via NASA TV. The first feed will feature commentary from scientists and engineers who work on Curiosity and will play Aug. 5 from 8:30 to 11 p.m. Pacific (11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern) and then again from 12:30 to 1:30 a.m. Pacific (3:30 to 4:30 Eastern) on Aug. 6. For those looking for to get the nitty-gritty behind-the-scenes details, the second feed will carry only audio from mission controllers regarding Curiosity’s progress and will begin on Aug. 5 at 8:30 p.m. Pacific (11:30 Eastern). If all goes well, NASA has stated that they might be able to share the first image from the ground during these feeds, likely a shot of the rover’s wheel indicating that everything’s in working order.

 

We will also host another great feed created by Universe Today, the SETI Institute, and CosmoQuest. On their Google+ page, the team will have commentary by astronomers Pamela Gay and Phil Plait and feature live coverage from JPL and the Planetary Society’s PlanetFest with reporters Scott Lewis and Amy Shira Teitel. Those interested can find more information and sign up to “attend” the Hangout on Air. The show will begin at 8 p.m. Pacific (11 p.m. Eastern) and go four hours, covering the entire landing sequence and aftermath.

One more feed will be from the Exploratorium in San Francisco. This webcast will start at 10:15 p.m. Pacific (1:15 a.m. Eastern) on Aug. 5, just when the rover is expected to be touching its wheels down on Mars. The museum’s staff and visiting scientists will be on hand to talk all about the exciting mission and provide updates as they come in.

Health

A Common Thing

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Lugnasa                                               Hiroshima Moon

Into the Midway Doctor’s Building this morning for a surgical consult.  A hernia needs repair.  Not very exotic, not carrying dire warnings, but significant nonetheless.  Hernia’s are common.  Common enough for hernia repair to be the most common surgical procedure in the US.  Who knew?

Dawn Johnson, in her early 40’s, has practiced for 20 years.  She had the brisk, almost brusque, approach Kate says means professional.  We chatted briefly. she examined me (with no wine before hand) and said that, yes, surgery would fix it.  Would I prefer laparoscopy or open?

Faced with a menu of only two choices I chose the one that did not require a general anesthetic.  Open.  Well, there were other reasons, too.  It seemed to fit my situation and it has the additional virtue of being frequently performed, a known quantity.  I’m very conservative when it comes to things medical.  No experiments on this body except as a last ditch effort.  Tried and true, efficacious and low risk.  That’s what I want.

So, on September 28th, I’ll go to Abbott and Kate will drive me home the same day.  Key consideration in the date was the requirement that I not lift anything over 30 pounds for 30 days.  Hive boxes full weigh around 50.  Couldn’t do this surgery until the bee season has calmed down.

 

Family

The Expatriate At Home

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Lugnasa                                                     Hiroshima Moon

After Lake Minnetonka, with a wonderful orange full moon, its size magnified by its nearness to the horizon, the full Hiroshima Moon, rising,  I headed over to the airport to pick up my brother, Mark, arriving on a somewhat delayed flight from Chicago.

Mark was full of stories of Saudi students, bad driving, camel–well, let’s just say breeding, walks in the market with a friend, the only two white men there.  Saudi Arabia is a country still grappling with modernity, the Sauds only in charge of all of Saudi Arabia since 1927.  The desert is not far out of their daily experience.

Mercurial is the word Mark uses to describe the Saudi’s he had as students, alternately affectionate and interested, then disdainful and slothful.  Sounds like certain American high schools I know.

He brought me a handcrafted pair of sandals, “A small guy in a caftan, squats on the floor all day and makes these sandals by hand.” and Kate an incense burner used in an Arab hospitality ritual.  Very nice gifts, carrying the feel of the Peninsula.

While he is here, he wants to get a bank account, another shot at his driver’s license and a new passport.

A guy in a much better place even than when he left last August.  Good to see.