Okay friends, I know I haven't posted in a little while, but I saw NASA's photo/article of the day and I just had to share it with everyone! EVERYONE, meet Hellas Planitia...
[click here to see this article in it's original context]
Hellas Planitia
This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter covers a small portion of the northwest quadrant of Hellas Planitia on Mars. With a diameter of about 1,400 miles and a depth reaching the lowest elevations on Mars, Hellas is one of the largest impact craters in the solar system.
The area has a number of unusual features, which are thought to be quite old because of the high crater density. The crater inside Hellas has been filled with material, which may be related to volcanic activity on the basin's northwestern rim. It also might be related to the presence water and water ice. However, there is evidence elsewhere that the ground here is rich with ice.
HiRISE will be used to investigate this in more detail when the basin is free from atmospheric dust.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/International Research School of Planetary Sciences
- So basically...blah blah blah...little aliens try to steal the Enterprise... blah blah blah...Riker is distracted and duped by said little aliens, when they program the holodek to create an invented woman that is SO adaptable and "real" that Riker actually falls in love with her! (OH RIKER!).
blah blah blah, they retrieve the Enterprise, and all is well! YAY!!!!!!
[If you look closely, you'll see that Chicago won that game 18 to 12, yeah baby!]
Playing Forward
Edwin P. Hubble--famed astronomer--and basketball star? In fact, Dr. Hubble was both. The University of Chicago alumnus was a member the UC Maroons team that in 1909 won the college championship over Indiana University. It's only fitting that the man, the astronomer, the basketball star be honored for all of his accomplishments as the college championships are being played again in Indianapolis in 2010.
In this image from May 2009 during the Hubble servicing mission, NASA astronaut and fellow University of Chicago alumnus John Grunsfeld paid homage to Dr. Hubble, after whom the telescope was named, by photographing the team’s vintage basketball aboard space shuttle Atlantis. The Hubble Space Telescope is visible through the portholes. click here to read this article in it's original context. -
CAN I GET A "WHAT-WHAT" FOR CHICAGO NATIVE?! YEAH BABY! Now who's going to start a "Sending Mojie-Moj To Space Camp Fund" aready! Seriously!!! I promise it's for a good cause! The "Getting more Chicagoans to NASA" cause, and also the "MOJ REAAAAAAALLY WANTS TO GO TO NASA" cause!
Commander's logs supplemental - Earth Date May 19...Year 2009.
As always I like to include the super campy trailers from STNG for you so that you can refresh your memory about the episode I'm blogging about!
I like this episode well enough. It's the first time we meet Deanna's crazy and outrageous mother Lwaxana Troi, and this episode challenges the practice arranged marriage.
I do like that there's a split between the crew's view of this marriage union. Some of the crew think it's barbaric and strange - others accept it because they want to be understanding and tolerant of other cultures and races. Strange dichotomy, because to me both seem correct or acceptable. On the one hand, who are we to say what's acceptable for another culture - on the other hand it does seem like a practice that doesn't allow people to come together naturally. All that being said...living in America (home of 'free love' and 'love-based-unions') we have the highest divorce rate in the world! - Food for thought?
Furthermore I think it's interesting that it's a Human/Betazoid arranged marriage. Because that makes me wonder if in the Star Trek universe there are still groups of Humans that do practice this. Maybe the human's agreed because they were joyful about the union with the Betazoid family! Who knows.
For those not reading off of blogger - check out the original blog entry at http://mospacecamp.blogspot.com and please comment on the blogs my friends. I get random emails from people..but I'd much rather you comment on blogger!
Feel free to watch the trailer for this episode if you need a little jolt my friends!!!! The trailers are hilarious...very campy - honestly they kind of make Star Trek seem far more ridiculous than it actually was!!! Mostly because of the voice over guy! Enjoy!!!
I have a love-hate relationship with this episode, and I'll tell you why! I heart Q, lets not even challenge that fact! But I feel as if this particular episode...was maybe near the 'camp-level' that the trailer makes it out to be. The aliens that Q creates that are in 17th century war cloths, etc. A little ridiculous.
I think this hilarous you tube review of the episode is quite honest and fun!!! Now I don't fully agree with everything this guy says - however the first season has it's ups and downs...
Feel free to watch the trailer for this episode if you want a little refresher!
In this episode we also find out that the USS Stargazer was the first ship that Picard was ever captain. It comes up many times later in the series and it's nice to know the reference!
It's also the second time we see the Ferengi in this series. And this time their not such bumbling idiots. When we saw them in "The Last Outpost" they were monkey-like - frolicking around crouched/hunched and constantly breathing heavily. This time they seemed "normal" or at least as normal as Ferengi can be!
I'll be honest. I don't particularly like the Ferengi - but I think that's the point! I think Gene Roddenberry meant for some of these alien races to be difficult to like. It's always the races that have intolerance for for other species, are bigoted, aren't willing to grow, or races that undermine the equality of men and women! Ferengi for instance...don't cloth "their" women! Women have no power in the Ferengi world. Ferengi are also very very greedy! So between those two traits it's hard to like them much.
[funny - random note: "Farangi" or "Firang" are terms for foreigners (sometimes derogatory) in Farsi/Persian Language...this humors me because I am half Persian myself - but I was not raised in Iran which means that if ever I went there I may very well be telling people that I am Farangi, "Man Farangi Hastam" - Luckily for me, in Irani woman MUST wear cloths - beyond comfort infact!! Nevertheless, I still feel a little dirty being associated with the Ferengi in any way!]
All that being said, this episode is actually quite interesting because even though I still don't particularly like the Ferengi, Gene finds a way to bring out some of the 'humanity' in these creatures. Because Daimon Bok (the captain of the Ferengi vessel they encounter) is heartbroken about the loss of his son in a battle that Picard lead against a Ferengi ship when he was captain of the Stargazer. This may be one of only a few times that we actually see some 'humanity' from the Ferengi until DS9.
I am so excited about starting the series over again that I couldn't wait to actually start watching the episode! So I'm here...still in my pajamas on daylight savings Sunday - totally pumped up! I spent part of this morning building the blog page! Now here we go!!!!........
It is funny watching the first and second seasons. Though my dear friend Crombs (blogging companion & best friend) almost completely hates the first two seasons, I still find that I enjoy them! The production value is very limited and several episodes of the first season are rehashed ideas from the original series but there's still something magical about them. The entire cast is thin & fit - all in their prime!
These early episodes immediately remind you that Roddenberry's dream was to create a show that challenges the human tendencies towards different cultures and races. Furthermore, though I am not a huge Tasha Yar fan I do enjoy the fact that the Chief of Security is a slender blond woman with lots of spunk!!!
"ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT" opens with Picard's very first Captain's log, Star Date: 41153.7
I love the fact that there are both men and women in those short uniform skants! I'm a sucker for a man in a kilt...this is the closest that STNG comes to giving me all that!
This episode's saucer separation is by far my favorite! It's slow, dramatic, and beautifully shot! There are few shows that have taken filming on film so seriously in the 80's. I also enjoy the manual reconnection!
I am noticing loop holes already! Troy has incorrect ranking pips. In this episode she's ranked Lieutenant Commander - but she doesn't take the test to be a commander until much much later in the series!!
It's interesting - the first episode feels much like the original series in many ways. I mean obviously, new ship, new crew, new technology, etc - but all of the camera work feels exactly the same! Riker most of all seems to be channeling the demeanor of Kirk! I will be curious to see how much of the original series lives in the writing/camera work/etc of this series when I revisit TOS.
FAVORITE MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE EPISODE!!!! When Data is escorting 137 year old Admiral McCoy to meet with Picard, McCoy expresses joy about being on the enterprise, and explains, "A new ship but she's got the right name...you treat her like a lady and she'll always bring you home!!!" LOVE IT!
It is this episode where we meet Q for the first time! Prejudicely challenging the 'savage nature' of humans! This is an interesting commentary on the idea of ethnic cleansing because Q's approach and argument is clearly misguided and clearly absurd! "If we're going to be damned then we should be damned for who we are!" - Captain Jean Luc Picard (Season 1, Episode 1, "Encounter At Farpoint")
There are trekkies and then there's me! There are humanitarians and then there's me! There are beard lovers AND THEN THERE'S ME! I always take things TOO FAR! Hopefully for the best my friends! Hopefully for the best!
[click here to see this article in it's original context]
