Monday, May 26, 2008

Cor Blimey...


I don't usually say things like, "this is SO COOOOOL!" but I have to make an exception for this picture. It is a photo taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Phoenix and its parachute descending through the Martian atmosphere to the arctic plains below.

It is stunning to think that these machines are going about their business so far away from us that even light at the moment takes 15 minutes to get to us.

Whenever I talk to people about this kind of thing I always seem to end up in arguments about how the money could better be spent on improving the world somehow. But, firstly, this DOES improve the world AND I feel it's a lot more justifiable than spending millions on football players or Hollywood spectaculars not to mention the incredible sums that we spend just to be able to blow each other to smithereens.

(Photo: NASA )



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

And you are not wrong, my friend. Not wrong at all.

That is an incredible sight, for sure, Quite mind-boggling.

Anonymous said...

isn't it just? Marvellous. As this is NASA we are talking about here, don't forget the hundreds of millions spent on political campaigns, few of which achieve anything that changes the world like this does.

Neutron said...

Hi there.
Yep, yep and yep.

Chandira said...

Nah, space is very cool, I'm all for it. We could get the extra money for kids, schools, health care, etc, from the 'defense' budget. Like the $500 hammers and things those guys buy, and the 'invoices' their friends send them for destroying foreign countries. Just a thought.

Neutron said...

Hi Chandira, thanks for the comment. Another thought would be, how come 'space' always gets used in the left-hand side of the equation:
government funded programme v extra money for kids/schools/health care...

Anonymous said...

That is a totally beautiful sight.

Anji said...

Too right. There are lots of things we have today thanks to space projects in the past, digital watches, those suits for children who can't go out in the sun and lots of others I'm sure

MacDuff said...

For once one could use the word awesome appropriately.