A Robotic Spacecraft Dies
This week was supposed to be a week of good news for the Schiaparelli lander. It was expected that by this time, the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) would be relaying information from Schiaparelli to Earth and science experiments would be about to begin on the surface of Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) did have…
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Warriors of Ephraim or Living Water
In Genesis, we read that Ephraim was the son of Joseph who was the son of Jacob. The descendants of Ephraim were considered one of the tribes of Israel and came to be associated with the northern tribes such that the tribe name, Ephraim, often stood in for the whole of the northern tribes after…
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Animal Intelligence
I am fascinated by the intelligence of animals. On the farm where I grew up, we often had Border Collie dogs who were intelligent working dogs. They were exceptional herders and one dog was capable of finding the milk cows in the field and herding them into the barnyard on his own. Our daughter and…
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Schiaparelli
(Click on this thumbnail picture for a larger image.) This week in solar system navigation, the Schiaparelli Lander was given the necessary software to allow it to land on Mars. Descent and soft touchdown on Mars will be guided by the commands that were uploaded on October 7th. The fact that such commands can be…
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Happy, Blessed, Grace
Poems and songs are always a work-in-progress and never feel quite complete. But then, I guess that is especially appropriate for poems about grandchildren – they are definitely a work-in-progress. This one is for Gwyneth Anna Mitchell born 2016-09-14. Happy, Blessed, Grace She is Blessed to be a Blessing True Happiness guides her ways…
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