Ideal Spots for NASA Astronauts to Deep Drill on the Moon - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

Ideal Spots for NASA Astronauts to Deep Drill on the Moon - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

With all the concern about where NASA should target their efforts, perhaps a closer look at the Moon is called for, especially now that water was found. The issues can be water and the search for life. Geology in the presence of water differs than without it. Where would you look?

Plesiosaurs

I ran into Plesiosaurs for the first time in a Stephen Baxter book, then found out that a teams of scientists in many places are still digging up plesiosaur bones. Read more to get some good links, pictures and the full explanation of what a plesiosaur is. The Latest was found in Norway and is believed to be a new species. Plesiosaurs date from the Jurassic when the planet was really wet and warm.

A good basic description of surface planetary research provided by Brown University

A good basic description of surface planetary research is provided by Brown University's web site. On it they discuss impact craters, volcanism, plate techtonics and how a study of various planets has helped to understand the processes involved across planets. They also discuss remote sensing techniques and how they apply mass spectroscopy to meteorites and other geologic samples. One interesting thing I read about Venus is it is a good model for understanding what will happen to our planet if we lose our atmosphere and as a way to understand the "greenhouse effect" because Venus' atmosphere is largely carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid droplets. I was reading the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets written by Donald H. Menzel and Jay M. Pasachoff.

Mining--Tourism and Drama

I've been caving in a number of places around the world and have visited many mines because I find them interesting. The recent collapse of a coal mine tunnel that stranded 6 people in Utah is an example of the terrors one faces in order to travel deep within the Earth and the difficulties to be encountered while they struggle to survive. What's especially praiseworthy is the company and comrades of these men don't give up. I like the technology--sluices, drills, earth moving equipment, the history--the Celts, the Africans, the Egyptians, the beauty--stalactites, stalagmites, crystals and jewels, and willpower needed to get our valuable resources.

On the Road--Dinosaur Provincial Park

The dinosaur display at Dinosaur Provincial Park is available during park hours. We hiked several trails in the evening. The best plan though is to show up for several days and get in on one of the guided tours. That's when they take you into the fossil beds and point out the work being done. The trails were there, but marked closed so we of course obeyed. The area is scenic with lots of sedimentary cliffs at various stages of erosions. Lots of desert plants and animals--but no snakes.

I spent a lot of time working on my laptop recording our trip and keeping up to date with my writing. This can be a chore and I'm just beginning to wind down and get unpacked.

Earth-Moon-Mars, not playing from the same deck

Cosmology deals with the formation of the universe, but a subset of the same study looks as planetary formation. Current studies of silicates are showing that the Earth, Moon and Mars were formed under different conditions and explains some of the differences in mass. The moon is believed to be a planet that crashed into earth and the resultant rebound produced it from the upper portion of the earth, mostly made of silicates. This helps to explain why the Moon doesn't have the same iron core and is much lighter than the Earth. Well, Mars also has an iron core, but the silicates aren't of the same type as Earth. Just goes to show that we're still learning much from and about our solar system.

Signs

Today, two signs--the dragon image shown in the photo and a great horned owl waiting and taking flight. The Dragon resides in heaven and here reaching toward earth to let me glimpse him in a pool of the morning's rain in a canyon at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. This park is really neat and had no charge associated with the visit. When we left, we spotted the owl sitting on a post. First time I'd seen one in daylight. They visit our neighborhood occasionally in winter but then I only see them with a flashlight.

Strange dirt effect

We encountered this strange bit of dirt on the way to the agate beds on Red Top Mountain. It looked strange and we suspected some sort of rodent activity. Later we spotted the ground squirrels and had our answer. The flowers are from onion bulbs--we suspect the squirrels were dining on them. The tunnels were in great abundance; the snow melt underway with some patches still evident. I guess if you hibernate you wake quite hungry.

Revisiting the blast! Mt. St. Helens

On my 21st birthday, Mt. St. Helens blew up. This year, we revisited the volcano, on the 17th. The blast zone is still impressive to see. Fabulous!