To the seasons of life
“that is the softess landing ever” Pharaphrased
We inadvertedly referred to a catch on the return of this test flight. I’m presuming that it would follow from the last one. But it seems that they touched down in the water and it was initially successful. Good luck to SpaceX!.. and their IPO.
Space the final survey…
Maping the stars
By leveraging the fundamental geometry of triangulation—most notably through the method of stellar parallax—space telescopes like Hubble and Gaia precisely map celestial objects and pinpoint their absolute positions across our galaxy and beyond. Because space telescopes operate above the distorting layer of Earth’s atmosphere, they can detect imperceptible, sub-milliarcsecond shifts in a distant star’s apparent location as the observatory changes vantage points over six-month intervals along Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Using this immense orbital baseline, astronomers construct giant right triangles where the observed shift forms a precise angle, allowing basic trigonometry to yield direct, highly accurate physical distances. These triangulated positions form the foundational “rungs” of the cosmic distance ladder, transforming two-dimensional optical images into intricate three-dimensional stellar maps that reveal the true architecture, clusters, and motion of structures within galactic space.
It all started with ropes 12 feet long and knots every foot in ancient Egypt.
The ancient Egyptians surveyed land up from the river with a triangle with a rope because the floods came every year bringing silt and nutrients in the flood for good for agriculture. However, they’d wash out every year and they’d have to resurvey them from records and for private ownership.
Have a great day…K
Summer skies, long days, look up the best is coming soon..
June 8 to 14 th 2026, the night sky
Magic storms are still a possibility, go to Environment ,Canada Space weather FMI
There was a celebration of John Paul’s life on the weekend.. I just couldn’t bear to go to see him. He had left something for me that I really didn’t want. He was a real great guy. He coached Little League ball. He worked for BC Hydro, that had such a community sense to it. But what I remember from BC Hydro and BC telephone lineman that would climb poles was that they were very much afraid of the people that put posters on telephone poles or hydro poles because one or two Staples would make their grip slip.
So, I took this picture of a power pole outside the post office in Merritt and it reminded me of him. Of course that admonition that he gave me was years and years ago when they only had Spurs and belts to go up the polls with.
I think their standards have changed. They had to have two vehicles and used buckets for the last few years. So that’s why all these Staples probably endured on the power pole outside the post office for so long.
Anyway, it’s a good remembrance of John Paul and anybody else that climbs poles. Also we think of John Lynne, a utility company pole climber and lineman who died up a pole on his belt from a heart attack working alone in the 1960 / 70s. I Went to school with his son.
To both Rip…
Share a story about the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home.
The ISS is a marvel also a marvel; the people got along in a common cause.
Moon base and nuclear powered Mars mission. Source May 5th 26.
Jeff Foust
May Day Flower Moon, Blue Moon Second moon in May. Meteor shower of the remains or off givings of Halley’s comet from its flyby.
Moon city
Hey if you could just Terraform the moon and went to work there where would that go.
Not a clear photo of the moon I snaped. But in unblur mode, goggle photos; it came out with land and oceans. Poetry, no green cheese at all, or is that Atoll.
Editors Note:
The Chinese robotic mission on the dark side of the Moon is interested in the amount of hydrogen that’s captured in the soils up there. At this time there’s a bit of excitement about that.
If it’s sensational it’s worth a another look at sources.
While NASA is currently working to establish a **sustained human presence** on the Moon through the Artemis program, the idea of “rehabilitating” it (terraforming it into a lush, Earth-like world) is considered significantly more difficult than terraforming Mars.
As of 2026, the consensus is that the Moon cannot support a global ecology with current or even near-future technology. Here is why:
### 1. The Gravity Problem (The “Leaky Bucket”)
The Moon’s most fundamental limitation is its size. Its gravity is only about **16.5%** (1/6th) of Earth’s.
* **Atmospheric Escape:** To have an ecology, you need an atmosphere. However, the Moon’s gravity is so weak that gas molecules move faster than the Moon’s “escape velocity.”
* **The Result:** Even if we created a thick atmosphere today, it would drift off into space almost immediately. Unlike Mars, which might hold an atmosphere for millions of years, the Moon would lose its air in a geological heartbeat.
### 2. The Radiation and Shielding Issue
The Moon lacks a global magnetic field and a thick atmosphere to block cosmic rays and solar flares.
* **Current Strategy:** NASA’s 2026 plans involve burying habitats under several meters of **lunar regolith** (Moon soil) or placing them in deep lava tubes to protect astronauts from radiation.
* **Ecology Barrier:** You cannot have a “surface ecology” (like forests or open lakes) because the radiation would sterilize the soil and kill most complex life forms.
### 3. The 708-Hour Day/Night Cycle
The Moon rotates very slowly. One “day” (sunrise to sunrise) lasts about **29.5 Earth days**.
* **Extreme Temperatures:** This results in two weeks of blistering heat (up to **127°C**) followed by two weeks of total darkness and freezing cold (down to **-173°C**).
* **Biological Stress:** Most Earth plants and animals cannot survive 14 days of total darkness followed by 14 days of direct, unfiltered solar radiation.
### Comparison: Moon vs. Mars for Life Support
| Feature | The Moon | Mars |
|—|—|—|
| **Gravity** | 1.62 \text{ m/s}^2 (Very Low) | 3.71 \text{ m/s}^2 (Moderate) |
| **Atmosphere Potential** | None (Escape velocity too low) | Low (Needs massive CO_2 input) |
| **Day Length** | ~708 hours (1 month) | ~24.6 hours (Similar to Earth) |
| **Water Availability** | Ice in dark polar craters only | Subsurface ice and polar caps |
### NASA’s 2026 Reality: “Pockets of Life”
Instead of rehabilitating the whole Moon, NASA and its partners (like SpaceX and Blue Origin) are focused on **In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)**.
* **Oxygen from Dust:** We have the technology to bake oxygen out of lunar rocks (which are about 45% oxygen).
* **Lunar Bases:** By 2028, NASA aims to have the first permanent “basecamp” at the South Pole.
* **Closed-Loop Systems:** Life will be sustained in **artificial ecologies**—pressurized greenhouses and pods where air and water are recycled with 98% efficiency.
**Summary:** We have the technology to put “life” **on** the Moon inside pressurized cans, but we do not have the technology to make the Moon itself a “living” world.
As of April 2026, **NASA’s official position** remains that rehabilitating Mars’s atmosphere and ecology (terraforming) is **not possible with current technology**.
While science fiction often makes it look like a matter of willpower, NASA-funded studies and current mission data highlight several “hard stops” that we cannot yet overcome.
### 1. The Carbon Dioxide Shortage
The most significant hurdle is a lack of raw materials. To make Mars warm enough for liquid water and life, we would need to thicken its atmosphere using greenhouse gases, primarily CO_2.
* **The Problem:** A 2018 NASA-sponsored study concluded that there simply isn’t enough CO_2 trapped in Mars’s polar ice caps or soil to create a thick enough atmosphere.
* **The Reality:** Even if we successfully vaporized every bit of CO_2 on the planet, the atmospheric pressure would only rise to about **7%** of Earth’s—not enough to prevent your blood from boiling or to keep the planet warm.
### 2. The Missing Magnetic Shield
Even if we could magically “import” an atmosphere (by crashing comets into the planet, for example), Mars has no global magnetic field to protect it.
* **Atmospheric Erosion:** Without a magnetosphere, the **solar wind** (a stream of charged particles from the sun) would eventually strip any new atmosphere away into space, just as it did billions of years ago.
* **Current Research:** NASA’s **ESCAPADE** mission (which launched in late 2025 and is currently en route) is specifically studying this “atmospheric escape” to better understand how the sun interacts with the Martian environment.
### 3. “Living Off the Land” vs. Terraforming
NASA has shifted its focus from **rehabilitating the planet** to **sustaining human life in small pockets**. This is known as **In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)**.
* **MOXIE:** The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment on the Perseverance rover proved we can extract oxygen from the Martian CO_2 atmosphere.
* **2026 Strategy:** NASA’s current “Moon to Mars” objectives focus on building pressurized habitats and using local ice for water and fuel, rather than trying to change the entire planet’s climate.
### Comparison: Current vs. Required Technology
| Feature | Current Capability (2026) | Needed for Rehabilitation |
|—|—|—|
| **Atmospheric Pressure** | ~0.6% of Earth’s | ~100% of Earth’s |
| **Oxygen Production** | Small-scale (grams per hour) | Planetary-scale (billions of tons) |
| **Protection** | Lead-lined habitats / Underground | Artificial Global Magnetic Shield |
| **Temperature** | Average -62°C (-80°F) | Average ~15°C (59°F) |
> **Bottom Line:** NASA views Mars as a place where humans might live in “indoor” colonies within the next few decades, but “rehabilitating” the planet’s exterior ecology is considered a task for the distant future—likely centuries away—requiring technologies that do not yet exist.
>
Hey Merit what do you say?
Kevin Griffiths
percypaschal
The Proprietor Review 