lynx_vilnensis

OK, third week was better, though that wasn't my efforts or faults that changed things. But the fourth week was again deep down below. Ever changing weather finally got me and sent under blankets. I am almost certain this wasn't more than a common cold, but quite nasty one.

On the other paw, I think some changes are coming, and any change is good in my current position.

So far, so awful. I am alive, and reasonably well, but emotional stagnation is already turning into a full-blown depression. I have a very strong animosity towards this place, this work, and I definitely not looking forward to this winter.

Impression on arrival - this can't be so bad
After first week - this is getting worse
After second week - where is the escape button?

No, I haven't actually finished my current project, but an important milestone has been reached - the main algorithm has been proven working. What remains is writing an interface (API) to the databases the production version of the code will use. I still have a few months to do this work, so I am hopeful I'll succeed.

Кстати. Дочитывая "Планетоходы" и роясь в пропущенных новостях, наткнулся на интересные новости. Не то, чтобы новости, но всё-таки - Новости с КиберСекьюрити, News from space.com Да-да, а "Веги" (2 шт, Wikipedia article) всем приснились. В этом Кустенис тоже уверена... Наверное. А так - задачка очень милая... Не легче планетохода. Вот над чем хотелось бы подумать в будущем!

P.S.T.: This is not Encyclopedia Astronautica, but still a very interesting collection!

Last week was really filled to the brim with unexpected happenings, so in response to local events I have compiled a small list of big-world events. Without further ado, here comes top-VII!

1. NASA managed to hit the Moon. Unfortunately, our natural satellite proved to be a solid body long ago, and the impactor trick, becoming more and more fashionable lately, was largely a dud. No plumes, but an unexpected natrium flash. Apparently, it's a proof of the salty cheese hypothesis.
2. Pirates off the Somali coast have tried to take on French Navy La Somme. Feat was a failure too, we will have to wait for a new Every some more.
3. Norway decided to help financially-troubled USA and awarded their president with some minor aid package. Apart from peace prize becoming less and less relevant and Barack Obama ending in the same list with Arafat, Teresa and Ahtisaari, it is a pity that the commitee declares no winner less often these latter years.
4. Opportunity finds another meteorite. Now that's a hit! Apparently, there are not enough meteorite collectors on Mars. This needs to change.
5. Russia is considering putting (such a ni-ice word, yes?) a preemptive nuclear strike into its military doctrine. Now that would be a change indeed.
6. Scientists an Columbia University succeeded in creating a properly shaped jaw joint. I'd say that "big potential" is a small understatement in this case.
7. And, finally, Marge Simpson got a Playboy cover. Hmmm... Where were Nakira's (Wookiee) centerfolds?

First, hopefully, the CICLOPS team has finished with their equinox duty and will provide some more diversity in the upcoming months. Not to say that the whole ordeal wasn't worth it, pictures are perfect and science is great, but going on and on about what has already passed was starting to feel a little like relativistic time-capsule. I am not going to advertise an entire collection, but those two are, IMHO, the best shots on opportunity:

Rite of Spring

Rhea and Rings

Second, the driving things. There are more talks about Spirit not going anywhere anymore while there are now two models in sandboxes here on Earth trying to figure a way out. Membrana, meanwhile, has compiled a nice report on lunar exploration vehicle tests (in Russian, but there are plenty of images and videos). And lastly, I am almost through the wisdom of Kemurdzhian et al. Will post about it later.

Интересная должна быть жизнь на поверхности спутников планет-гигантов. Особенно на вечно обращённом к "хозяину" полушарии. Там ночь - лишь сумерки, а молодой день прерывается звёздной чернотой затмения, длящегося до вечера...

Twice-lit moon (Энцелад)

А в остальных новостях Кассини - всё приближающееся равноденствие и его наиболее яркие знаки - тени спутников на кольцах:

Рея	Диона	Пан

И не только спутников - вот возможность оценить высоту и плотность искажений колец, вызванных приливным воздействием спутников!

Вспомнил тут старый пират (u_96 ) о тех, кто "на лингаме", и подумалось, что новые "малайцы" будут очень хорошо смотреться в вахтенных журналах -

Шумы винтов Пердана Ментер по левому борту

Ну кто ж виноват, если это - "премьер-министры"?

Yesterday evening was another nice opportunity to see the passage of ISS and STS Discovery. The shuttle led the way about 10 degrees ahead of the station, rising above the light clouds at 21:35 (CET) and entering the shadow a couple of minutes later in the constellation of Cygnus. At its brightest the Discovery provided nearly perfect match for the Vega, while the station dwarfed them both by 1 to 2 magnitudes.

Now, if japanese launch goes as planned, in the next few days it might be possible to spot a new craft in the vicinity of ISS - HTV. By all estimates it must have apparent magnitude less than Soyuz/Progress, but more than ATV. ATV Jules Verne wasn't very hard to spot, although free flying russian crafts usually are, but then I have watched them from higher latitude... It would be interesting to see.

Пополз зачем-то на Youtube ворошить пыль прошлого века. Наворошил изрядно. Приятно всё-таки ощущать, что ты не единственный такой, извращенец...

I have again forgot to write about something really worth mentioning - 150 years ago our Sun put up a great show that became known as the Carrington event, the largest recorded solar flare of all times. The NASA page sums everything quite nicely, and provides links for further information. Despite Victorian age currently assumed to be primitive compared to Modern age, the plethora of information, related to this flash is amazing (e.g. here are the magnetograms, taken at Greenwich observatory). Even glacier ice, surviving from that time, carries the imprint of the event.

Now, 150 years later the Sun seems to be diving even deeper into the largest minima since XVIII century, with only a few sunspots and pristine magnetograms. This are indeed a very interesting times for Solar physics!

So, You wanted the spots? OK, here You go - the zoo-botanical garden Wilhelma, Stuttgart. That was an amazing Sunday! The entire load of pictures is here, but for those who cannot wait -

( Under cut to save Your pages... )

And now - back to the usual program, empty space and other bothersome things...

Lithuanians, apparently, are planning something evil. Briefly summarizing the article, on July the 3rd a group of Instute of Defense Technologies employees have tested missile launch system and a solid fuel missile, that traveled over 10 kilometers while reaching an altitude of 5 kilometers with the speed  of about 1500 km/h. These people insist that they are ready to start manufacturing missiles for military applications, but this requires political decision:

"We are 100 per cent sure, that (we) are able to produce (missiles of) the same level as, lets say, are produced in Israel, Italy, Germany, France" - Algimantas Fedaravičius, the head of the institute - "(this missile) is short range. (We are) contemplating medium range missile. (We) have scientists, have research, on the basis of which (we) could approach very difficult problems..."

Update: it seems KSLR-1 suffered the same failure as NASA OCO - partial failure of payload shroud separation...

I had a strange dream, which prompted me to put a small list of nice links related to articulated artificial legs. Please, don't ask about the dream, though!

• Boston dynamics. Creators of the Big dog. 'Nuff said.
• MIT leg laboratory. Home of 2D chickens (including some old ones, if only they had a better movies...).
• Leonardo's lion. We have no idea, how it worked, but we could guess from some partial drawings.
• Chebyshev's horse. Sorry, I have found no better illustration.
• Tiger Shiva. A distant relative to the mentioned cheetah and Chebyshev's horse, but at least it moves.
• Then, there is the one and only Theo Jansen.
• And a bunch of indescribable things in one place.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions to expand the list.

Я хотел бы назвать это "поклонение крокодилу"...

Урвав минуту, почитываю стенограммы заседаний (наиболее интересные на сегодняшний день Хантсвиль и КокоБич) и нахожу всё больше интересного и непонятного.

"Human Mars missions cannot now be flown. The current limits, these vary by age and gender, but the current limits that the galactic cosmic ray background puts on the duration of human missions in deep space is something like 200 days. That’s the time it takes to either get to Mars or come back from Mars."
Примерный перевод - Пилотируемые полёты на Марс в настоящее время невозможны... Предельный срок пилотируемых полётов, обусловленый фоном галактических космических лучей, сейчас составляетоколо 200 дней. Это примерно время для полёта на Марс или возвращения с Марса. В виду того, что сейчас планируются разные варианты долгих прогулок, к примеру на астероиды, это ограничение очень интересно. Настораживает отсутствие ссылок на источники к этой цифре, которую уже успели растиражировать. Если предположить, что имеется ввиду абстрактный усреднённый фон ГКЛ, и результаты длительных полётов на станциях "Мир" и ISS (300+ суток), то единственный фактор, отличающий эти полёты от длительных межпланетных миссий - затенение планетой и атмосфера. Из этого следует, что миссии на земную орбиту (и проживание на поверхности Марса) должны ограничиваться 400 днями, что странно (для живущих на поверхности "биологического щита "Земля"" ). Компоновка жилых отсеков внутри топливных баков выглядит всё более привлекательно... Но при этом все нынешние компоновки повторяют уже испытаные на орбите капсулы и сегменты станций. Опровергатели всё настаивают, что человек не покидал пределов земной магнитосферы, а тут и орбита уже не кажется столь уютной!