A Momentous Occasion Has Been Bestowed Upon Us. The Mars Polar Lander

A momentous occasion has been bestowed upon us. The Mars Polar Lander will try to reach its destination of Mars' southern polar ice cap. The Lander was presumed to touch down on Friday December 3, 1999. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17 on January 3, 1999 and hopefully it has finally reached the surfaces of Mars. This mission is worth $327.6 million total for both orbiter and Lander (not including Deep Space 2). Those figures come from $193.1 million for spacecraft development, $91.7 million for launch, and $42.8 million for mission operations. March 1, 2000 is the anticipated end of the Primary Mission. This truly a feat of humankind to explore and decipher the landscape of the "red" planet. "Why would we consider tampering with the planet in the first place?" a lot of people would ask. Some of these reasons are pretty obvious. It all started in the late 1870's, when Giovanni Schiaparelli viewed what seemed to be canals. These canals start ed from each respectable pole and seemed as if these canals transported water to various areas of the planet. This observation sparked more exploration. Although, with the limited resources back then, there was not much they could do. Times have changed and with the available technology, the feat is possible. Exploration has expanded, and we have learned various new things about the planet. Many missions have went to Mars and explored since the first fascination with this planet and more is still to learn. Hence the purpose of the mission that is upon us. Another reason for the exploration is that Mars is the next most inhabitable planet, next to the earth, in the Solar System. We wonder if that in a couple of year that we can live there. But all that is in the far future. The Landscape of Mars is rather treacherous, learned from previous missions. The polar regions of Mars are sometimes cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide into dry ice, something that never happens naturally on Earth. Scientists hope to learn about Mars' climate by studying layers of dust and possibly ice during the 90-day mission. Instruments will measure vapor in the atmosphere, while a claw on the spacecraft will collect samples to be cooked and analyzed for water. The 3 1/2-foot-tall, 2-foot-wide Lander was to set down in a never-explored region so close to the South Pole that the sun will not dip below the horizon during the mission. Though it will be late spring, the average temperature is expected to be minus-73 degrees Fahrenheit. The probe is landing in a region that was said to be inhibited full of water. The water is believed to have made the planets rocky landscape. The geology ranges from deep canyons, and even ancient shorelines. Tectonic plates play a vital role in push ing carbonates under the surface of the earth, contributing to the active volcanoes across the earth. There has been evidence on Mars that there have been abundant volcanic activity in the past. Without tectonic plates, that has become a mystery. Two theories have been expressed to explain Mars' geology. One is that the planet was once warm and boasted oceans, rivers and even a thicker atmosphere. The other says that the planet was always cold and was under a thick sheet of ice. Regardless, which theory is true, it proves how much we really do not know about the "red" planet. Unfortunately, the Polar Lander has not reached its destination. The endless days have elapsed and the mission team fears that all hope is lost. They have been trying desperately to communicate with the Lander, but there is no response. The first days, but they remained optimistic. Now as the days go by and the communications have failed. It seems they have given up hope. If they have given up hope, it will be for this mission, not for the missions to come.

Free Essays on Tip ONeill

Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century By: John A. Farrell â€Å"Tip O’Neill: And the Democratic Century,† is more then the definitive biography of a flawed but startlingly successful old-fashioned political leader. It’s also a guided tour through American governmental history from the beginning of the New Deal through the Reagan years, featuring the struggle between two larger-than-life political champions and their ideologies- Ronald Reagan and the Old Conservatism against Tip O’Neill and the New Deal liberalism. It was a battle over the nation’s political soul. Tip O’Neill came from a neighborhood of Irish immigrants in North Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father was a leader in the local Democratic Party machine and instructed his son in the ways of precinct captains, organization politics, and patronage jobs. In 1948 Tip became the first Irish American, the first Roman Catholic, and the first Democratic Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served in Congress from 1953 through 1989 and saw some of the greatest moments of post-World War II American politics and the ride and decline of Democratic politics. By 1952 he had arrived in Washington, in the beginning of his civil rights struggles. O’Neill has a complex relationship with the Kennedy’s and split with Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War. It was Tip who bridged the Gulf between the old and the new wings of the Democratic Party during the Vietnam era, Watergate, and the post-Watergate reforms. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1977 but watched his party crumble during the Jimmy Carter years and Reagan Revolution.... Free Essays on Tip O'Neill Free Essays on Tip O'Neill Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century By: John A. Farrell â€Å"Tip O’Neill: And the Democratic Century,† is more then the definitive biography of a flawed but startlingly successful old-fashioned political leader. It’s also a guided tour through American governmental history from the beginning of the New Deal through the Reagan years, featuring the struggle between two larger-than-life political champions and their ideologies- Ronald Reagan and the Old Conservatism against Tip O’Neill and the New Deal liberalism. It was a battle over the nation’s political soul. Tip O’Neill came from a neighborhood of Irish immigrants in North Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father was a leader in the local Democratic Party machine and instructed his son in the ways of precinct captains, organization politics, and patronage jobs. In 1948 Tip became the first Irish American, the first Roman Catholic, and the first Democratic Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served in Congress from 1953 through 1989 and saw some of the greatest moments of post-World War II American politics and the ride and decline of Democratic politics. By 1952 he had arrived in Washington, in the beginning of his civil rights struggles. O’Neill has a complex relationship with the Kennedy’s and split with Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War. It was Tip who bridged the Gulf between the old and the new wings of the Democratic Party during the Vietnam era, Watergate, and the post-Watergate reforms. He was elected Speaker of the House in 1977 but watched his party crumble during the Jimmy Carter years and Reagan Revolution....

Do you believe photography of public places is an inherently Essay

Do you believe photography of public places is an inherently suspicious act that police should investigate when observed - Essay Example These raised concerns regarding photography in public places. However, these should not be enough to make the capture of photographs in public places an inherently suspicious act. This is supported by several legitimate arguments. First and foremost, there is the basic photographer’s right. Dannemann (2009) emphasized this when he pointed out that in most free society, the right to take pictures within the public sphere is inviolate and is guaranteed by fundamental laws (p.99). If a photographer cannot take photo in a public space, how could he create the desired composition and exposure of people, things and places if he is barred from doing so on account of being viewed as suspicious? The space is not owned by anyone and shooting pictures is part of a citizen’s freedom to do as he desires, without interference and certainly without prejudice from other people and the authorities. It is also helpful to determine why photography arouses suspicion. According to Mark Meyer (2013) this can be largely attributed to the impact of the what he called as movie plot threats: that we like to anticipate and predict attacks and threats and since we do not have anything to base such predictions from, we are driven by materials read in thriller books or seen in the movies where the bad guy does his photo surveillance. So viewing photography as suspicious is a manifestation of a society that is getting paranoid. People should just as well bury their heads in the sand or live under a rock if they are afraid of being seen in public. And it is not good to live in such environment where people instinctively view others and their actions in a negative way. Besides what could photographers possibly do with an image of an individual in public? Not all people are perverts, criminals or terrorists and the public recognizes this. Each of us must have used a camera in public at some po int in our lives so we understand the logic behind photography in public spaces. If there