NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS

Curiosity Update... I recently stumbled upon the interesting photo (above) taken of Curiosity's replica (known as the Vehicle System Test Bed rover) inside the In Situ Instrument Laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California. The pic was taken using an engineering model of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera employed on the actual rover. Located at the tip of Curiosity's 7-foot-long robotic arm, MAHLI's movements were first rehearsed on the engineering model to ensure that the arm would not be visible in the official self-portrait achieved on the Red Planet. As seen with the image below, JPL engineers did a terrific job positioning MAHLI in ways that gave the impression that Curiosity was indeed photographed by a separate source. One wonders when the day will come where a separate source (RE: an astronaut) will actually stand before Curiosity and photograph the one-ton, nuclear-powered laboratory in person...


NASA / JPL - Caltech / MSSS

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Just thought I'd get y'all in the holiday and museum-going mood by posting these neat photos of the USS Iowa adorned in Christmas lights in San Pedro. I wonder just how fearful the Japanese would've been if the Battleship of Presidents approached their various island beachheads looking this way in World War II? Their laughter probably would've come to a quick end once the 16-inch shells began raining down on 'em... Anyways, to check out more pics of the USS Iowa celebrating the birth of Jeebus, visit the Pacific Battleship Center's Facebook page. Carry on.

2012... Doomsday is a bust, but if there's one last thing that we should be freaked out with in terms of the Mayans, it's how uncanny their ability was to predict how hip-hop artists would look in the present day. That is all. (One of my friends posted this on Facebook last Friday, FYI.)

Go Beach! Just thought I'd share this interesting article regarding safety at my college alma mater, Cal State Long Beach, that was published last month. Nice to know that CSULB is near the top of the list in regards to on-campus security around the United States; all my school needs now is a friggin' football team.

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CSULB Ranked 7th Most Secure in Nation (November 30)

California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) has been recognized as the seventh "most secure" university/college in the nation by Security Magazine in its 2012 "Security 500" rankings, which were released in the publication's November issue.

Only 22 universities and colleges from across the country were recognized in this year's rankings in the category of Education (University), and CSULB was the only four-year California institution to be recognized.

The top three ranking schools included the University of Pennsylvania, University of Florida and Drexel University. Meanwhile, CSULB ranked ahead the likes of Ohio State, University of South Carolina and Duke University. At No. 10, the Yosemite Community College District was the other California school ranked.

"That Security Magazine has once again recognized Cal State Long Beach as one of the nation's safest large university campuses points to how this campus has focused on the security of our students and other campus members as a top priority," said CSULB President F. King Alexander. "Students and their parents, as well as our faculty, staff and community visitors, can be assured that no measure that secures this campus has been overlooked. The commitment of our excellent University Police Department and the ongoing awareness of our entire campus community is obvious as we continue to be recognized for the safety of our university."

Security Magazine's rankings are broken down into "18 vertical markets" or business sectors, enabling similar organizations to compare programs. Among the metrics collected this year in producing the rankings were security spending per person (those the organization protects), the number of security officers/employees, and the facilities used by the security officers.

The purpose of the "Security 500," according to magazine's officials, is to create a reliable database to measure an organization compared to others and create a benchmarking program among security organizations. The results enable these groups to know where they stand as a basis of an on-going peer review process.

"The safety of our students, faculty and staff will continue to be of paramount importance and a priority for the Cal State Long Beach Police Department," said CSULB Police Chief Fernando Solorzano. "This institution of higher learning represents some of the brightest and academically talented students in our state, and we are proud to provide the highest levels of service and safety for our campus community."

Among the more recent enhancements that have added to the CSULB Police Department's ability to keep the campus safe include a camera system that gives the department the ability to monitor activities across the campus grounds and facilities and assists in its crime prevention efforts. The department also oversees an emergency communications system that can alert the entire campus community in the event of an emergency.

"Our police department will continue to provide a safe, secure and meaningful learning environment. We will accomplish this by partnering with our community, using advanced technologies and investing in our highly skilled personnel," Solorzano added. "We are proud that CSULB has received this recognition as being one of the safest universities in the nation, and we will strive to improve and build on our successes to provide the safe environment that we have come to expect on this campus."

Security Magazine is the premier security and safety resource for a wide variety of industries and environments.

Written by Rick Gloady - LongBeachcomber.com

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Photo of the Day... Looks like Sasha and/or Malia needs to come to their dad's rescue. Or maybe Bo, the First Dog, does.


Pete Souza / The White House

NASA / JPL - Caltech / MIT

Farewell, GRAIL...

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NASA's GRAIL Lunar Impact Site Named for Astronaut Sally Ride (Press Release)

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has named the site where twin agency spacecraft impacted the moon Monday in honor of the late astronaut Sally K. Ride, who was America's first woman in space and a member of the probes' mission team.

Last Friday, Ebb and Flow, the two spacecraft comprising NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, were commanded to descend into a lower orbit that would result in an impact Monday on a mountain near the moon's north pole. The formation-flying duo hit the lunar surface as planned at 2:28:51 p.m. PST (5:28:51 p.m. EST) and 2:29:21 p.m. PST (5:29:21 p.m. EST) at a speed of 3,760 mph (1.7 kilometers per second). The location of the Sally K. Ride Impact Site is on the southern face of an approximately 1.5-mile-tall (2.5-kilometer) mountain near a crater named Goldschmidt.

"Sally was all about getting the job done, whether it be in exploring space, inspiring the next generation, or helping make the GRAIL mission the resounding success it is today," said GRAIL principal investigator Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "As we complete our lunar mission, we are proud we can honor Sally Ride's contributions by naming this corner of the moon after her."

The impact marked a successful end to the GRAIL mission, which was NASA's first planetary mission to carry cameras fully dedicated to education and public outreach. Ride, who died in July after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, led GRAIL's MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) Program through her company, Sally Ride Science, in San Diego.

Along with its primary science instrument, each spacecraft carried a MoonKAM camera that took more than 115,000 total images of the lunar surface. Imaging targets were proposed by middle school students from across the country and the resulting images returned for them to study. The names of the spacecraft were selected by Ride and the mission team from student submissions in a nationwide contest.

"Sally Ride worked tirelessly throughout her life to remind all of us, especially girls, to keep questioning and learning," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. "Today her passion for making students part of NASA's science is honored by naming the impact site for her."

Fifty minutes prior to impact, the spacecraft fired their engines until the propellant was depleted. The maneuver was designed to determine precisely the amount of fuel remaining in the tanks. This will help NASA engineers validate computer models to improve predictions of fuel needs for future missions.

"Ebb fired its engines for 4 minutes 3 seconds, and Flow fired its for 5 minutes 7 seconds," said GRAIL project manager David Lehman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "It was one final important set of data from a mission that was filled with great science and engineering data."

The mission team deduced that much of the material aboard each spacecraft was broken up in the energy released during the impacts. Most of what remained probably is buried in shallow craters. The craters' size may be determined when NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter returns images of the area in several weeks.

Launched in September 2011, Ebb and Flow had been orbiting the moon since Jan. 1, 2012. The probes intentionally were sent into the lunar surface because they did not have sufficient altitude or fuel to continue science operations. Their successful prime and extended science missions generated the highest-resolution gravity field map of any celestial body. The map will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.

"We will miss our lunar twins, but the scientists tell me it will take years to analyze all the great data they got, and that is why we came to the moon in the first place," Lehman said. "So long, Ebb and Flow, and we thank you." JPL manages the GRAIL mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. GRAIL is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

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NASA

NASA Earth Observatory and NOAA National Geophysical Data Center

Putting our world in perspective... A little over a week ago, these two amazing images were released online that showed the night side of Earth as seen on both sides of the globe. Beautiful photos... In the wake of today's tragic shootings in Newton, Connecticut, it seems so unfortunate that a planet that looks so serene from hundreds of miles up in space can be so violent and heartless down on the surface. My condolences to the families who lost loved ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School this morning.


NASA Earth Observatory and NOAA National Geophysical Data Center

United Launch Alliance

The X-37B lifts off once more... At 10:03 AM, Pacific Standard Time yesterday, an Atlas V rocket carrying the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a 9-month-plus journey in space. This is the third time since April of 2010 that the U.S. Air Force placed the OTV on a top secret mission in low-Earth orbit. In fact, this is the very same spacecraft (OTV-1) that completed a nearly 225-day flight above our planet two years ago. I would've posted an entry about this yesterday, but seeing as how today is 12/12/12 (even though the date isn't spelled out that way on this and all my other journal entries), just thought I'd wait 24 hours so I could blog on this somewhat meaningful day. That is all.


United Launch Alliance


United Launch Alliance


United Launch Alliance

Lakers Update... Before I visited The Dark Knight Legend exhibit last Friday, I stopped by STAPLES Center [which is right across the street from Nokia Plaza, where the Batman exhibit is held (till this Friday, December 14)—for those of you who've never been to L.A. Live before] to check out the new Kareem Abdul-Jabbar statue that was recently unveiled outside of the arena. I wonder how long it will take for Kobe Bryant to get immortalized in bronze at STAPLES' Star Plaza (where the statues of Kareem, Magic Johnson, Chick Hearn, Oscar De La Hoya and Wayne Gretzky are located)...despite the fact the Lakers (even though Pau Gasol and Steve Nash are currently sidelined due to injuries) are playing like absolute crap right now.

Photos of the Day... Just thought I'd share these pics that I took at a Batman exhibit in downtown Los Angeles earlier today. The exhibit not only featured costumes and props from The Dark Knight Trilogy, but also showcased Batmobiles from the seven current Batman films as well as the 1960s Batman TV show. To view additional pics, plus get info on where to go to visit this exhibit in person (before it concludes next Friday, December 14), go to my Film Notes section.