A Man Beyond

The great state of Ohio has produced 25 NASA astronauts. Or, as I heard it phrased for most of my childhood: “what is it about this state that makes people want to flee the Earth?” Every day, I pass the John Glenn School of Public Affairs on my way to class at Ohio State University. Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and an Ohio native, went on to become a memorable senator and public leader. It is a reminder that Ohio is not only home to a large number of astronauts, but to some of the best-known. One of the greatest of these Ohio astronauts, Neil Armstrong, passed away at the end of August. But unlike Glenn, Armstrong chose to live his post-spacefaring days as far from the limelight as possible.

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Curious Silence

The seven minutes of terror were over. Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena finally had the news: Curiosity had landed as gently as a feather on the surface of Mars, every step of the complex landing process proceeding with unparalleled perfection. Even the weather conditions on the red planet were ideal for the landing. It was a spectacular accomplishment.

This was a huge victory for NASA and JPL, but much of the enthusiasm got lost in the much greater excitement over the Olympics and negativity of the multiple mass murders of recent weeks. A few weeks ago, a panorama of Mars exploded onto the internet, filling the public with awe over the alien yet strangely familiar landscape. President Obama’s lauding of the great accomplishment of this mission was not met with the rapt attention of the American public the way our great space explorations of the past were. The urge to explore is still out there – in all of us – but why is it that Curiosity’s landing was so overshadowed by everything else in the news?

Read more at The Inclusive.

Photography: "Transit of Venus"

The Venus transit, taken with a Canon Rebel EOS T1i, with an ND400 filter and f/22 aperture.

Before the transit

First sighting of Venus!

The Transit of Venus

Today, we will have the opportunity to experience something that truly deserves the over-used phrase "once in a lifetime."  Venus will be passing directly between Earth and the sun and will be visible with the correct equipment.  The next time this particular phenomenon will occur will be in 2117 - 105 years in the future.  Even with all the advancements in modern medicine, it's unlikely that anyone will be around long enough to see this event twice.