Stuff YOU Should Know
India Sends MOM to Mars
Last month, btw brought you an update on the NASA’s Mars rover. Last week, India successfully orbited its own spacecraft, Mangalyaan, also called Mars Orbiter Mission (or MOM), around Mars. Launched in November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), it was the least expensive interplanetary mission in history ($74 million compared to NASA’s recent Maven which costs $671 million). It was also the first mission to reach the Red Planet on its first attempt. Equipped with five solar-powered instruments, MOM will study the atmosphere, hoping to detect methane gas in the air (in a continued quest to find signs of life).
India became the fourth nation to successfully send a satellite to orbit Mars, behind the United States, Russia and Europe. There have been a total of 41 separate attempts made, with 23 of them failing. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed pride in his country’s ability to execute this difficult mission. A group of scientists (many of them women and young people) are already hard at work on India’s next venture into space, including a rover on the moon.
Dig Deeper Keep up to date of MOM’s status at this Web site. Make a chart and keep a running log of any news, particularly any news of methane gas.
SNL: Alive and Well at 40
Some television shows are rolled out with a bang, with big name stars and lots of hype. Others start out small, sometimes as an experiment, and then forever alter the landscape of popular culture. Saturday Night Live is in the latter category. Before 1975, NBC aired reruns of the very popular Tonight Show. When host Johnny Carson announced that he wanted to take more time off (and therefore air more of the reruns during the week). Executives looked to fill the open slot. Variety shows were very popular at the time and they brought on newcomer Lorne Michaels to create a new show that combined sketch comedy and political satire.
After premiering on October 11, 1975, SNL was an instant hit and propelled its previously unknown cast into immediate stardom. Despite some speckled years of less-than-sure footing (and media claims of “Saturday Night Dead”) the show has maintained its popularity across the generations. Some of its biggest star include John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Kristen Wiig. Celebrity hosts and musical guests rotate each week, with viewer favorites (Like Alec Baldwin and Justin Timberlake) being asked back again and again. SNL recently kicked off its 40th season with Chris Pratt as host and a batch of fresh new faces, ushering in yet another era.
What Do You Think? Do you watch SNL? If so, what are some of your favorite sketches or performers? If not, how far back can you remember being aware of certain characters or catch phrases from the show? How many more years do you think the show will continue?
Autumnal Equinox
Maybe you knew that we just passed the autumnal equinox (September 23), but you might be interested to know there is more to this time of the year then knowing that equinox means “equal day and night.” To begin, this phenomenon happens at the same time everywhere in the world, regardless of time zone. To be more specific, the equinox isn’t even a whole day, but a singular moment in time (and this year’s moment technically happened on September 22 at 10:29PM).
What determines the phenomenon of both equinoxes is the tilt of the Earth to 23 ½ degrees. This means that both the northern and southern hemispheres (which usually trade the warmer and cooler seasons) are both receiving the sun’s rays equally. Of course, the actual length of the day depends on where you are located in the world, with the most accurate being the closest to the Equator. Each day following the autumnal equinox will lose approximately three minutes until the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2014).
Dig Deeper There is a long-running myth that a person can balance an egg on its end only at the exact moment of both the autumnal and vernal (spring) Equinoxes. Do some research. How much truth is there to this claim? Explain your answer.
Drone Delivery?
You’ve probably heard of drones–small, pilotless aircraft–being used in military operations in dangerous, war-torn areas. DHL, a logistics (delivery) company is hoping to start using drones to deliver packages in remote areas. The machines (being called “parcelcopters”) are currently being tested in Germany. Spokespersons for DHL say that the company’s motivation behind using drones is to provide better access to deliveries for people in places where small aircraft and ferries don’t go with great frequency. The destination of the drone-delivery test flights, for example, is Juist, a small island off the coast of Germany with a population of less than 2000 people.
A poll taken by HuffPost/YouGov suggested that Americans are not quite sure about the idea of drone delivery, with 23% in favor, 36% against and the majority, 41% reporting that they’re not sure. The biggest concern is over how to regulate these unmanned machines and fear that they will clutter our skies.