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(th)
This is one of Void's topics... It has the distinction of an endorsement by Louis!
Today, I'm offering a link to a deep dive into the history of Earth, with speculation that a weaker magnetic field might have accelerated development of life due to loss of hydrogen, yielding increases of oxygen.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/earth-magnet … 55970.html
Over 500 million years ago, weird complex creatures emerged on Earth. Scientists now think they know why
Katie Hunt, CNN
Tue, May 7, 2024 at 12:01 PM EDT·6 min read
41Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
Earth’s magnetic field plays a key role in making our planet habitable. The protective bubble over the atmosphere shields the planet from solar radiation, winds, cosmic rays and wild swings in temperature.
However, Earth’s magnetic field almost collapsed 591 million years ago, and this change, paradoxically, may have played a pivotal role in the blossoming of complex life, new research has found.
I'm hoping that one or two NewMars members might actually read the article so they can make informed comments.
(th)
For SpaceNut re cleanup of FluxBB 1.5.11 PHP files ...
The work is going faster than at first expected... a number of files are not generating errors...
We have reviewed 18 of 103 files, or 17%
***
Just FYI ... kbd512 checked the environment at Mars Society, and did not find the current PHP .... that implies the updated PHP might have to be installed to support the updated FluxBB package.
*** update later ... progress was satisfactory this evening work session... most PHP files tested were clean.
One or two needed very minor correction, such as adding apostrophes or parentheses.
I am starting to learn the correct syntax for some of the situations Inteliphese finds, but others still require ChatGPT 3.5's insight.
ChatGPT4 remains unavailable ....
(th)
For RGClark re report of non-responsive web site at midnight 2024/05/07
Thanks for your report.
Hopefully it was of short duration.
I have added a post in housekeeping, in hopes that kbd512 might see it.
The logs should show if there was a problem at the server in that time period.
On the other hand, the site seems to be running normally now, so it is possible kbd512 might not want to invest the time it would take to look.
kbd512 has a demanding job and many other obligations.
(th)
For RGClark re report of web site not responding ...
Thank you for reporting the outage you experienced at midnight today.
Things seem to be back to normal, but I am posting here in hopes that kbd512 might see the report.
(th)
For SpaceNut ....
Re new Inactive member group for NewMars Prime.
Thank you (again) for creating the Inactive member group in the Clone.
Now that we have seen the new group works in the Clone, please add it to NewMars Prime.
It is discouraging to our inactive members to find they've been banned.
Let's change their status from banned to inactive.
The first step is to create the new Member category.
(th)
As a follow up to Post #3513
The key problem to be solved appears to be a Verification process that GW Johnson needs to complete, in order to create hot links in the YouTube description field for his videos.
Information I did not have at the time of Post 3513 is that YouTube makes shortened versions of URl's when it displays text entered by the video producer.
GW Johnson appears to have entered the URL's correctly into the description field, but they appear shortened because YouTube shortened them.
The key information for anyone entering a URL into the description field of a YouTube video, is to be sure the URL is entered into the edit window in full, and that no periods are visible in the URL entered into the edit window.
(th)
===
Today on Mars: 0037/18/11 Wednesday Days of the week offset 6 with Earth. (count from Mars to Earth (updated 2024/03/31))
Today on Earth: 2024/05/07 Tuesday (Earth Date) Post Title: Today on Mars [Aphelion occurred May 30, 2023 Earth Calendar]
====*=
Per http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/mars/tim … _time.html also see: in-the-sky.org for opposition/perigee/aphelion
Martian Year: 37 Martian Astronomical Month in 12 month format: 9 <<== The Astronomical month will increment when longitude reaches 270 degrees
===
Solar Longitude: 250.1 Sol Number: 485 Change in degrees is +.6 Julian date is: J0037485
Solar Longitude: 249.5 Sol Number: 484 Change in degrees is +.7 Julian date is: J0037484
Solar Longitude: 248.8 Sol Number: 483 Change in degrees is +.6 Julian date is: J0037483
<<#
Note that Solar Longitude measurement varies as a function of location in orbit. Ls 0 is the moment when the Sun appears to transit from one hemisphere to the other. Update from Mars.NASA.gov (The Sun crosses the equator of Mars (Vernal Equinox)). The transition itself is a function of the tilt of an object with respect to the Solar plane. Per squarewidget.com, Hipparchus created the celestial coordinate system we use today.
Note#2: https://theskylive.com/mars-tracker This web site shows the astronomical position of Mars as seen from Earth
Todo: At next Aphelion/Perihelion record the Mars data J00##### (and set Search term)
Perihelion occurred at Ls 251 on Sol 485 - Earth Date 2022/06/21 Next: (estimated) 2024/05/08
Perihelion occurred at Ls 253 on Sol 485 Earth Date 2020/08/03 Earlier: 2018/09/16, 2016/10/29
Aphelion occurred at--- Ls 071 on Sol 152. Aphelion Earth Dates: Earlier: 2017/10/07, 2015/11/20
Aphelion occurred near Ls 070 on Sol 153 (per www.planetary.org)
Note#3: The computations below are dependent upon both the computations provided by the reference web site and by accuracy of recording of the time of observations. The calculations use tenths of hours. The Sun Distance needs to be captured at the moment the time increments to a given tenth.
Note on data below: The figure quoted after distance is a rate of progress along the orbital path [exact meaning to be determined]
Minus prefix means Mars is approaching the Sun. Plus prefix means Mars is moving away from the Sun.
The figure computed to the right of "Difference" is the rate of change of the distance to Sun. Increasing to Aphelion/Decreasing to Perihelion.
===
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com: 206,671,127 km [26.5 km/s] Difference is -03157 <= -0132 km/hour at 08.0 on 05/07 (time 8:00) (24.0 hours)
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com: 206,674,284 km [26.5 km/s] Difference is -05315 <= -0221 km/hour at 08.0 on 05/06 (time 8:00) (24.0 hours)
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com: 206,679,599 km [26.5 km/s] Difference is -07473 <= -0311 km/hour at 08.0 on 05/05 (time 8:00) (24.0 hours)
==*==*==*
Observation: The sky view is ** filled ** with objects and some have been recorded and given identification by humans or their robot assistants
And! ** All ** the location assignments are from the perspective of Earth. The entire catalog needs to be adjusted when inter-stellar travel begins
The work that lies ahead for the astronomical community is daunting - there is work ahead for centuries
2022/01/19 - All current (existing) stellar catalogs are computed with reference to the Earth. Another civilization would use it's planet as reference.
Perhaps a Milky Way frame of reference will become necessary at some point. The Earth is as good a Zero point as any, for humans.
=== Mars is in Regular Movement as seen from Earth. Mars is progressing from lower right to upper left in the view from Earth. Slant 20 degrees.
Next up: Star above path TYC 3-444-1 RA 00h 21m 35.0s – Day 0 -
TYC 2-781-1 RA 00h 19m 08.6s – Day 0 – Day 1 Above 9 hours past marker – last day for 781
====*====*>>>
Zoom Out Capability As a general observation ... I've become increasingly interested in knowing what the larger view of the sky might be like.
The site: theskylive.com does a terrific job of matching the view from Earth towards Mars, against a background of actual astronomical plates.
I wish there were a way (or rather, I wish I ** knew ** about a way that may exist) to enlarge the view until the entire galaxy is in view (Zoom out)
Update 2022/12/08 TheSkyLive.com provides a large view of selected objects: Select [Major Bodies] Then select [Information] in the body of interest
Update 2022/12/08 Scroll down to (body) Position and Finder Charts. Field of view is 50x30 degrees.
Note: The curve of the path of Mars as seen against the background of stars is now a line heading left at a downward angle.
As of 2023/01/11, the curve of the path has returned to regular movement to the left border
Light travel time today is between 16 and 17 minutes. Communications delay would be 32+ minutes round trip.
===
Earth Distance 2024/05/07 291,993,000 (decreasing)
Earth Distance 2024/05/06 292,568,000 (decreasing)
Earth Distance 2024/05/05 293,108,000 (decreasing)
#>
Light travel in one second is (about) 300,000 kilometers. The distance covered in one minute is about 18,000,000 kilometers. Estimated light times:
1:18, 2:36, 3:54, 4:72, 5:90, 6:108, 7:126, 8:144,9:162,10:180,11:198,12:216,13:234,14:252,15:270,16:288,17:306,18:324,19:342,20:360,21:378,22:396
Maximum Earth-Mars distance is estimated to be 401 million kilometers (both at apogee and opposite vs Sun)
Mars and Earth were in Opposition (Earth center) in December of 2022. The date coincided with a (very rare) occultation of Mars by the Moon.
Mars and Earth were in Conjunction (Sun center) in November of 2023.
Mars and Earth appear to have been as close as they will get in this cycle. 81,454,323 kilometers on J0036644 Time: 4.53 minutes - 9 minutes round trip
In his online interview with Dr. Zubrin at the 2020 Mars Conference, Elon Musk reminded the audience that communications with Mars will necessarily include an intermediary station to handle traffic when the Sun is between Mars and Earth. Communications delays in that circumstance will increase due to the extra distance to be covered. Mr. Musk indicated he expects such communication will be handled by laser. Location would be optimum at poles of solar plane.
Regular movement of Mars as seen from Earth resumed as of 2023/01/13. RA is once again increasing.
According to www.hercampus.com, Retrograde movement began October 30, 2022.
The online solar system display at the link below shows clearly how the Mars movement will occur in months ahead.
This web site offers an online model of the solar system: www.solarsystemscope.com It requires Chrome 57, Firefox 52 or Safari 10.1. Viewed 2022/10/13: Opposition will occur some time in December of 2022. Per earthsky.org, the date is December 8, 2022.
This web site offers an online orrery view of the Solar System: https://www.theplanetstoday.com/
===
Sol 485 is in Month 18 of a Proposed 24 month calendar. See Post 19 of Holidays topic for a summary.
Month 18 extends from Sol 475 through 501. <<== There are 27 days in Month 18. See post 82 of Holidays topic for current details.
Direct path to source: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 57#p154257
Sol 485 is Wednesday in the Proposed Business calendar for Mars. Sol 449 was a Skip Day on Mars. Next is near 486 May 7th
##
The Next New Year's on Mars will occur when Solar Longitude reaches 360 degrees. <<== The current year on Mars is 37
Per www.planetary.org Year 36 started 2021/02/07 on Earth. Mars Year 37 began 2022/12/27 on Earth.
Days of the Week Alignment:
Days of the week fall behind Earth due to the longer Sol, but they also change when Friday is omitted at the end of a Quarter
337 Earth days were observed to elapse in the 2020 weekday cycle. There were 7 week day transitions and 2 Quarter ends.
The next cycle began on the first Sol of the period of coincidence. The alignment of weekdays interval is in the range: (310 - 337)
To find the first day of a period of coincidence: Set up: SearchTerm(colon) and (colon)Alignment and J0036* or J0037*
The most recent End-Of-Quarter change occurred: … The search specified above gave 11 pages of results.
For current weather on Mars see:
***https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/weather/***
***Insight's weather info has been suspended and now is directing to msl*** <<-- Insight's mission is over (2022)
https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/weather/
Per SpaceNut: Here is another web page by NASA containing the latest news releases
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/?page=0&per_ … ope=Latest
All forum members are invited to post significant events for this day.
Events of interest will be ON Mars, or relate to Mars. Examples are launches, landings, discoveries
Standard Month in Mars Business Calendar Copyright ® 2023 NewMars.com Mars Society
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Recruiting text may be found at the bottom of this post: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 57#p154257
Month 18 of 24: Last month of Quarter 3 << There are 27 days in Month 18 <<== Proposed name: Perihelion
For SpaceNut re cleanup of FluxBB 1.5.11 PHP files...
Inteliphense found an item to fix in admin_forums... The fix involved adding a set of parentheses.
I'll be updating the version on Azure shortly.
(th)
For SpaceNut as a follow up to your post about Mars University ...
I have not been able to find any evidence that a Mars university ever existed in Houston.
There was an episode of a science fiction series that apparently involved a "Mars University".
It may have been a "good idea" that never took off.
The Mars Technical Institute appears to have a solid foundation, with plenty of names in the founder's list, and evidence of paperwork completed to create a legal framework for the entity.
This topic is available if anyone in the NewMars community runs across an documents or even just rumors about what happened to the "Mars University" idea.
(th)
Here's another take by Google:
AI Answer
Learn more
…
The Mars Society announced the Mars Technology Institute (MTI) on September 6, 2023, with the goal of developing technologies to establish a human presence on Mars. The MTI will be a nonprofit organization that conducts research at its own campus and outsources some work to other companies and universities. The MTI will be funded by tax-deductible contributions, investments, intellectual property licensing, and research and development contracts. The MTI will also own a taxable C-Corp entity called the Mars Technology Lab, which will generate revenue through spin-offs, contracts, and intellectual property licensing.The Mars Society
Mars Society to Launch Mars Technology Institute
Sep 6, 2023 — MTL will seek opportunities to license or spin off technologies developed by the MTI to create new companies. Dividends from such activities will be paid to MTI and its investors pro-rata. There will thus be six sources of cash for MTI/MTL: donations, investments, IP licensing income, dividends from spin-off companies, and government and private corporation R&D contracts. The MTI will conduct research out of its own central campus, but outsource some research work to other companies and universities as deemed most advantageous.The Mars Society
Mars Technology Institute Archives - The Mars Society
Dec 18, 2023 — Mars Society to Launch Mars Technology Institute. September 6, 2023. The Mars Society announced today that it is launching an initiative to create the Mars Technology Institute (MTI), whose purpose will be to develop the technologies needed to settle the Red Planet. Commenting on the project, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin said: “SpaceX and other entrepreneurial launch companies are already moving rapidly to develop the transportation systems that can get us to the planet Mars. What is needed is an institution devoted to developing the technologies that will allow… READ MORE > Subscribe to our Newsletter.GeekWire
Mars Society unveils plan for Mars Technology Institute
Sep 6, 2023 — The institute would be structured as a nonprofit organization, funded by tax-deductible contributions. There would also be a taxable C-Corp entity known as the Mars Technology Lab, which would be fully owned by the institute. Such a structure is designed to provide investment opportunities for backers, and generate revenue through intellectual property licensing, spin-offs and contracts for research and development.Cosmic Log
Mars Society unveils plan for Mars Technology Institute
Sep 6, 2023 — Mars Society unveils plan for Mars Technology Institute – Cosmic Log. Mars Society unveils plan for Mars Technology Institute. By Alan Boyle. September 6, 2023. No Comments. A computer-generated image shows an early Mars settlement. ( Image via Midjourney, 2023) The nonprofit Mars Society is getting set to take the next giant leap in its mission to support Red Planet exploration and settlement, by establishing a Mars Technology Institute to develop the tools and processes those settlers will need. Robert Zubrin, the Mars Society's founder and president, outlined the plan today during the advocacy group's Red Planet Live podcast.Interesting Engineering
Mars Society establishes institute to advance colony on Mars
Sep 19, 2023 — The Mars Society is a space advocacy organization established in 1998 by Dr. Robert Zubrin and other members. The association studies settlement technologies for Mars and educates the public on the benefits of such missions. In recent developments, the space advocacy movement has announced an initiative to found the Mars Technology Institute. This endeavor aims to create the technologies necessary for establishing a presence on the red planet. The Science of Becoming "Interplanetary": How Can Humans Live on Mars? 22 people are enough to build and sustain Martian colony. A new colony design for Mars can shield humans from radiation.
The MTI will focus on developing technologies in the following areas:
Biotech
To produce food, pharmaceuticals, and other supplies using Martian resources
Robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence
To make Mars more habitable and build infrastructure for small communities of settlers
Nuclear technologies
To provide power for human settlements, starting with small-scale fission reactors and potentially moving on to fusion facilities
The Mars Society is a space advocacy organization founded in 1998 by Dr. Robert Zubrin and others. The organization studies settlement technologies for Mars and educates the public about the benefits of exploring the planet.
Generative AI is experimental.
What does the Mars Society do?
Who funds the Mars Society?
Mars Society convention 2023
Ask a follow up...0
(th)
For SpaceNut....
Re post #3.... the Mars University idea is distinct and separate from Mars Technical Institute.
I asked Google what it could find, and it came up with this:
AI Answer
Learn more
…
Mars University and Mars Technical Institute (MTI) are both organizations that study Mars. Mars University is located in Houston, Texas, and MTI is a non-governmental, non-profit research organization with headquarters at NASA Ames Research Center in the United States. MTI also has offices in Toronto, Canada, and Stavanger, Norway.The Mars Society
Mars Society to Launch Mars Technology Institute
Sep 6, 2023 — The MTI will conduct research out of its own central campus, but outsource some research work to other companies and universities as deemed most advantageous. MTI will also seek to greatly amplify the amount of research it can do with available funds by not only fully funding professional researchers at its own central facility and some distributed locations, but by providing limited funds for materials to volunteers who propose credible distributed research projects and are willing to do the work without salary.
It looks to me as though we (NewMars members) have a bit more sleuthing to do.
One thing seems clear... The Mars Technical Institute is not connected to the "Mars University" venture.
Any future posts about Mars University need to go into the topic created for that entity.
(th)
This post is reserved for an index to contributions NewMars members may provide over time.
(th)
This topic is offered for NewMars members to post updates on what I am hoping will become a major educational and research establishment.
NewMars members first became aware of this new initiative when we looked to see what Executive Director James Burk might have been doing in recent times.
We discovered he's been deeply involved in setting up Mars Technical Institute.
Now we have a post by Mars_B4_Moon that includes a mention of Dr. Zubrin having started the MTI.
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 17#p222817
This topic has a ** lot ** of growth potential.
(th)
This is a follow up to Oldfart1939's post #13....
People also ask
What happened to Dream Chaser?
Dream Chaser - Wikipedia
However, on November 17, 2020, SNC announced it would be delayed until early 2022. In May 2022, it was announced by the deputy manager of ISS, Dana Weigel, that the mission was scheduled for February 2023. The mission has since then been delayed further, to June 2024.
If a NewMars member finds updates about the flight, please add them here.
Here's another snippet, with the vehicle name: Tenacity
Dream Chaser enters final testing ahead of 2024 debut ...
Space.com
https://www.space.com › dream-chaser-spacecraft-2024...
Dec 27, 2023 — If all goes to plan, the spacecraft dubbed 'Tenacity' will launch on a Vulcan Centaur rocket in 2024.
(th)
===
Today on Mars: 0037/18/10 Tuesday Days of the week offset 6 with Earth. (count from Mars to Earth (updated 2024/03/31))
Today on Earth: 2024/05/06 Monday (Earth Date) Post Title: Today on Mars [Aphelion occurred May 30, 2023 Earth Calendar]
====*=
Per http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/mars/tim … _time.html also see: in-the-sky.org for opposition/perigee/aphelion
Martian Year: 37 Martian Astronomical Month in 12 month format: 9 <<== The Astronomical month will increment when longitude reaches 270 degrees
===
Solar Longitude: 249.5 Sol Number: 484 Change in degrees is +.7 Julian date is: J0037484
Solar Longitude: 248.8 Sol Number: 483 Change in degrees is +.6 Julian date is: J0037483
Solar Longitude: 248.2 Sol Number: 482 Change in degrees is +.6 Julian date is: J0037482
<<#
Note that Solar Longitude measurement varies as a function of location in orbit. Ls 0 is the moment when the Sun appears to transit from one hemisphere to the other. Update from Mars.NASA.gov (The Sun crosses the equator of Mars (Vernal Equinox)). The transition itself is a function of the tilt of an object with respect to the Solar plane. Per squarewidget.com, Hipparchus created the celestial coordinate system we use today.
Note#2: https://theskylive.com/mars-tracker This web site shows the astronomical position of Mars as seen from Earth
Todo: At next Aphelion/Perihelion record the Mars data J00##### (and set Search term)
Perihelion occurred at Ls 251 on Sol 485 - Earth Date 2022/06/21 Next: (estimated) 2024/05/08
Perihelion occurred at Ls 253 on Sol 485 Earth Date 2020/08/03 Earlier: 2018/09/16, 2016/10/29
Aphelion occurred at--- Ls 071 on Sol 152. Aphelion Earth Dates: Earlier: 2017/10/07, 2015/11/20
Aphelion occurred near Ls 070 on Sol 153 (per www.planetary.org)
Note#3: The computations below are dependent upon both the computations provided by the reference web site and by accuracy of recording of the time of observations. The calculations use tenths of hours. The Sun Distance needs to be captured at the moment the time increments to a given tenth.
Note on data below: The figure quoted after distance is a rate of progress along the orbital path [exact meaning to be determined]
Minus prefix means Mars is approaching the Sun. Plus prefix means Mars is moving away from the Sun.
The figure computed to the right of "Difference" is the rate of change of the distance to Sun. Increasing to Aphelion/Decreasing to Perihelion.
===
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com: 206,674,284 km [26.5 km/s] Difference is -05315 <= -0221 km/hour at 08.0 on 05/06 (time 8:00) (24.0 hours)
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com: 206,679,599 km [26.5 km/s] Difference is -07473 <= -0311 km/hour at 08.0 on 05/05 (time 8:00) (24.0 hours)
Distance: Mars >> Sun per theskylive.com: 206,687,072 km [26.5 km/s] Difference is -09640 <= -0402 km/hour at 08.0 on 05/04 (time 8:00) (24.0 hours)
==*==*==*
Observation: The sky view is ** filled ** with objects and some have been recorded and given identification by humans or their robot assistants
And! ** All ** the location assignments are from the perspective of Earth. The entire catalog needs to be adjusted when inter-stellar travel begins
The work that lies ahead for the astronomical community is daunting - there is work ahead for centuries
2022/01/19 - All current (existing) stellar catalogs are computed with reference to the Earth. Another civilization would use it's planet as reference.
Perhaps a Milky Way frame of reference will become necessary at some point. The Earth is as good a Zero point as any, for humans.
=== Mars is in Regular Movement as seen from Earth. Mars is progressing from lower right to upper left in the view from Earth. Slant 20 degrees.
Next up: Star above path well ahead of 9 hours marker: TYC 2-781-1 RA 00h 19m 08.6s – Day 0 -
Star at RA 00h 15m 59.1s directly in path on Day 0 – Day 1 in lower right corner … last moments for this unlabelled star
====*====*>>>
Zoom Out Capability As a general observation ... I've become increasingly interested in knowing what the larger view of the sky might be like.
The site: theskylive.com does a terrific job of matching the view from Earth towards Mars, against a background of actual astronomical plates.
I wish there were a way (or rather, I wish I ** knew ** about a way that may exist) to enlarge the view until the entire galaxy is in view (Zoom out)
Update 2022/12/08 TheSkyLive.com provides a large view of selected objects: Select [Major Bodies] Then select [Information] in the body of interest
Update 2022/12/08 Scroll down to (body) Position and Finder Charts. Field of view is 50x30 degrees.
Note: The curve of the path of Mars as seen against the background of stars is now a line heading left at a downward angle.
As of 2023/01/11, the curve of the path has returned to regular movement to the left border
Light travel time today is between 16 and 17 minutes. Communications delay would be 32+ minutes round trip.
===
Earth Distance 2024/05/06 292,568,000 (decreasing)
Earth Distance 2024/05/05 293,108,000 (decreasing)
Earth Distance 2024/05/04 293,691,000 (decreasing)
#>
Light travel in one second is (about) 300,000 kilometers. The distance covered in one minute is about 18,000,000 kilometers. Estimated light times:
1:18, 2:36, 3:54, 4:72, 5:90, 6:108, 7:126, 8:144,9:162,10:180,11:198,12:216,13:234,14:252,15:270,16:288,17:306,18:324,19:342,20:360,21:378,22:396
Maximum Earth-Mars distance is estimated to be 401 million kilometers (both at apogee and opposite vs Sun)
Mars and Earth were in Opposition (Earth center) in December of 2022. The date coincided with a (very rare) occultation of Mars by the Moon.
Mars and Earth were in Conjunction (Sun center) in November of 2023.
Mars and Earth appear to have been as close as they will get in this cycle. 81,454,323 kilometers on J0036644 Time: 4.53 minutes - 9 minutes round trip
In his online interview with Dr. Zubrin at the 2020 Mars Conference, Elon Musk reminded the audience that communications with Mars will necessarily include an intermediary station to handle traffic when the Sun is between Mars and Earth. Communications delays in that circumstance will increase due to the extra distance to be covered. Mr. Musk indicated he expects such communication will be handled by laser. Location would be optimum at poles of solar plane.
Regular movement of Mars as seen from Earth resumed as of 2023/01/13. RA is once again increasing.
According to www.hercampus.com, Retrograde movement began October 30, 2022.
The online solar system display at the link below shows clearly how the Mars movement will occur in months ahead.
This web site offers an online model of the solar system: www.solarsystemscope.com It requires Chrome 57, Firefox 52 or Safari 10.1. Viewed 2022/10/13: Opposition will occur some time in December of 2022. Per earthsky.org, the date is December 8, 2022.
This web site offers an online orrery view of the Solar System: https://www.theplanetstoday.com/
===
Sol 484 is in Month 18 of a Proposed 24 month calendar. See Post 19 of Holidays topic for a summary.
Month 18 extends from Sol 475 through 501. <<== There are 27 days in Month 18. See post 82 of Holidays topic for current details.
Direct path to source: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 57#p154257
Sol 484 is Tuesday in the Proposed Business calendar for Mars. Sol 449 was a Skip Day on Mars. Next is near 486 May 7th
##
The Next New Year's on Mars will occur when Solar Longitude reaches 360 degrees. <<== The current year on Mars is 37
Per www.planetary.org Year 36 started 2021/02/07 on Earth. Mars Year 37 began 2022/12/27 on Earth.
Days of the Week Alignment:
Days of the week fall behind Earth due to the longer Sol, but they also change when Friday is omitted at the end of a Quarter
337 Earth days were observed to elapse in the 2020 weekday cycle. There were 7 week day transitions and 2 Quarter ends.
The next cycle began on the first Sol of the period of coincidence. The alignment of weekdays interval is in the range: (310 - 337)
To find the first day of a period of coincidence: Set up: SearchTerm(colon) and (colon)Alignment and J0036* or J0037*
The most recent End-Of-Quarter change occurred: … The search specified above gave 11 pages of results.
For current weather on Mars see:
***https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/weather/***
***Insight's weather info has been suspended and now is directing to msl*** <<-- Insight's mission is over (2022)
https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/weather/
Per SpaceNut: Here is another web page by NASA containing the latest news releases
https://mars.nasa.gov/news/?page=0&per_ … ope=Latest
All forum members are invited to post significant events for this day.
Events of interest will be ON Mars, or relate to Mars. Examples are launches, landings, discoveries
Standard Month in Mars Business Calendar Copyright ® 2023 NewMars.com Mars Society
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Recruiting text may be found at the bottom of this post: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php … 57#p154257
Month 18 of 24: Last month of Quarter 3 << There are 27 days in Month 18 <<== Proposed name: Perihelion
For kdb512 and GW Johnson...
Thank you for a ** very ** interesting meeting!
The free hour flew by and I missed the alert the time was about to expire.
We covered a lot of ground this evening ...
A highlight is the discovery that James Burk (Executive Director of the Mars Society) has been tied up in recent weeks, creating the Mars Technology institute.
Anyone who is interested can ask Google for the web site... All that's there at the moment is list of donors and principles...
The Institute is apparently not related to MIT, althought the appreviations contain the same letters.
It occurs to me that the work of Dr. Johnson would seem a good fit for an institution called Mars Technology Institute.
(th)
For kbd512 and GW Johnson...
Google refuses to let me start another meeting.
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The NewMars waiting room is open.
All are welcome!
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GW Johnson has been exploring the possibility of offering direct links to his course materials from the Description field of his YouTube videos.
In first attempt to set up links, he ran into a couple of (minor but annoying) road blocks.
I have a YouTube video of a Blender animation I created, showing a simplified version of RobertDyck's Large Ship in flight while rotating.
Today, in order to try to understand the problems GW Johnson encountered, I set up a link to this topic from my Large ship YouTube video, and the link works.
In fact, I am posting ** THIS ** post after having clicked on the YouTube link.
kbd512 and I will be available during tonight's Google Meeting to attempt to assist GW Johnson in achieving the same success.
(th)
For SpaceNut re GW Johnson's innovative attempt to provide information to YouTube viewers....
The problem at hand may be of special interest to you ...
30 views Apr 13, 2024
This is what GW's first attempt to offer links to his viewers looks like.
I want to emphasize to ALL NewMars readers that this was a SUCCESSFUL test launch, even though the vehicle did not reach orbit.
The booster landed safely back at the launch site, and we are able to diagnose the log of the test at our leisure.
I am hoping the attendees of tonight's Google Meeting will be willing to spend some time on diagnosis of the test results, and (hopefully) suggesting changes to improve performance of the test vehicle at the next test.
For any NewMars member with search skills ... Please see if you can find evidence of anyone else on Earth attempting what GW Johnson has attempted. I would be surprised if you find anything, but am open to the possibility we are not the first to try this.
(th)
Today is Google Meeting day at NewMars....
A lot has happened in the past week...
GW Johnson has completed a first test launch of a new way of delivering information to YouTube viewers, and a priority for me is to see if we can diagnose the parts of the test that failed, and prescribe a remedy for the next test.
We have made excellent progress with the FluxBB clone, and progress is continuing.
The phpBB3 test forum is working well, and we invite all NewMars members who are registered to continue testing there.
We invite all NewMars members who are NOT currently registered to test the phpBB3 forum software to send a request to newmarsmember@gmail.com, or post a request in the phpBB3 topic.
The Google Meeting will open the waiting room at midnight UTC, which is late for our European members.
The US times are 7 PM Houston and 8 PM New Hampshire.
(th)
For GW Johnson! Congratulations for performing a test launch of a new way to provide information to your viewers!
This first test was not 100% successful.
In many posts of yours about SpaceX you have commented favorably on their willingness to take calculated risks to try out new ideas. You have shown the same quality of leadership in your first test of a new way to deliver resource material to your viewers.
I would describe this as a successful test. You did ** not ** reach orbit, but the booster landed safely back on the Earth, and in looking over the logs of the test, we can see what you were attempting.
As I write this, I do not know the answer, but I think we can make some educated guesses.
The ** first ** observation is that YouTube does not appear to support Hyperlinks in their Description field.
This is disappointing but not surprising, because managing hackers would be a challenge.
The ** next ** observation is that the links your provided have been compressed so they are not usable.
I have no idea (at the moment) where that is happening, but today's Google Meeting will provide an opportunity for us to investigate.
***
For all....
Please take a look at the exRocketman YouTube video description for the Mars Landing video. You will see an innovative design for that field, and you will be able to see what was intended and what worked, as what did not work.
Congratulations to GW Johnson for taking this Bold Leap into the unknown of Internet configuration.
(th)
Update a few minutes .later ... the Azure applications ** seemed ** to be responding, but that may have been an illusion caused by loading from cache...
The sites are not responding when tested on a different computer...
I'll log back into the Control Panel to try to find out what is going on (or not going on) ...
At 13:06 I'm getting the MySQL missing error on both computers...
Restart was initiated at 12:52 and we have the MySQL error at 13:06 so 14 minutes ...
At 14 minutes the OS is responding...
at 13:08 the MySQL server is running and the FluxBB clone is back ready for logins.
And the phpBB3 forum is ready for logins ...
So! 13:08 (UTC) everything is back up....
and 12:36 (UTC) started recovery ... over half an hour to restore normal operation
(th)
The Azure test account seems unusually sleepy this morning....
It was working normally last night, but none of the test sites are responding this morning.
I'll check the Control Panel to see what the status might be.
****
OK ... we show "running" as the state, but the log shows failure to install OS patches 4 hours ago.
I'll perform a restart... I've learned to perform Stop first, because it takes some time...
12:36:30 at start of Stop command ....
The time needed can range from 2 minutes to 90 minutes (according to the documentation)
12:41:30 still working (I hope) five minutes
12:44:30 still working (?) 8 minutes
12:46:30 Still working (?) 10 minutes
At this rate we might reach that full 90 minutes for a multi-national installation
This is like watching a pot heating to boiling....
It sure is a good thing we are not depending upon this service.
12:49:30 Still working (?) 13 minutes
12:51:30 Stopped - 15 minutes ... well! That's better than 90 minutes
Restarting at 12:52:30 ...12:53:04 running >> 34 seconds
phpBB3 is back
FluxBB is back
***
The sensible thing to do would be to find out why the OS updates are failing...
I've attempted updates via the terminal connection and most seem to have worked, but something is clearly failing with the automated update process.
(th)