Tag Archives: science

Mars 2020 Mission Launched

I watched NASA’s Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter take off at 6:50 this morning, 11:50 UTC. (July 30, 2020) If I heard coverage of the launch correctly, it wasn’t perfect. The Atlas V took off a few milliseconds early. A … Continue reading →

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COVID-19: Pandemic

COVID-19, a coronavirus disease, has been headline news since last December. By March 11, 2020, we had more than 122,000 known cases in 120 countries and territories. 6,100 of those were serious. The March 11 death toll was 4,300 — … Continue reading →

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“One Small Step” in a Long Journey

“A journey of a thousand li starts with a single step.” (“Tao Te Ching,” Laozi) “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Neil Armstrong) I figure the journey to Earth’s moon began when someone looked … Continue reading →

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Apollo 11, 50 Years Later

Apollo 11’s Lunar Module reached Mare Tranquillitatis fifty years ago this month. I remember hearing Neil A. Armstrong announce the landing site’s name: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” A few hours later, Armstrong opened the Lunar Module’s … Continue reading →

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Space ‘Firsts:’ New Horizons, Chang’e-4

It’s been a month for space exploration ‘firsts,’ and a ‘farthest.’ Ultima Thule became the most distant object visited by a probe on January 1, with the New Horizons flyby. A few days later, China’s Chang’e-4 mission landed in the … Continue reading →

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