Tag Archives: Mars

Olympus Mons

Currently the largest known volcano in the Solar System, Olympus Mons stands at a remarkable 25 km high, which is almost 3 times the height of Mount Everest, and is wide as Arizona. Compared to the largest active volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa, Olympus Mons is 100 times larger in volume, a seemingly odd feat […] Continue reading

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Identifying Jupiter and Mars

Last night, I was looking up at the night sky while walking to dinner. I noticed a few constellations, as well as two brighter points of light that I was pretty sure were Mars and Jupiter. Normally, I can identify them, but for some reason Mars didn’t look as red to me as it normally […] Continue reading

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What Would a City Look Like Inside of Olympus Mons?

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, the capital of the fire nation is a city built inside the crater, or caldera, of a volcano. The idea of this got me thinking, what would a city look like inside of the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons? The picture shows Olympus Mons compared to Arizona. […] Continue reading

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Humanity’s Long-Term Future

For my third blog post, I wanted to research the future of Humanity. In about 5 billion years the Sun will run out of Hydrogen to fuse in the core, causing the sun to increase in size and become a Red Giant. It will get so large that it will swallow up Mercury, Venus, and […] Continue reading

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The Martian: Scientifically Accurate?

The Martian is one of my favorite books, and the movie adaptation was fantastic as well (mild spoilers ahead). As someone who enjoys science and science fiction, I loved the realism and accurate technical problems that Mark Watney faces. The fundamentals of life on Mars—the time needed to travel there, delays and difficulties communicating withContinue reading “The Martian: Scientifically Accurate?” Continue reading

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The Martian: Based in Science or Fiction?

The Martian originated as a book written by Andy Weir, then was adapted into a movie which was directed by Ridley Scott. The book and the movie prided themselves on being scientifically accurate. In fact, when Andy Weir was first writing the book, he published chapters on his blog, and adjusted them based on the […] Continue reading

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Rock Samples from Mars

Mars has been of interest because of evidence that it may have once supported life. NASA’s latest rover, Perseverance, has been sent to Mars to look for signs of ancient life. A big part of this endeavor is sending samples from Mars back to Earth for m… Continue reading

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The Future of Humanity

I think this picture represents me well because I have a big passion for space, specifically interplanetary travel. Images like this inspire me because I believe the future of humanity resides on multiple planets, and I want to be a part of the engineering behind it. Continue reading

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Culmination Post

Milky Way Galaxy over Chile In the culminating post for this class, I just wanted to write about how my understanding of astronomy has changed. I have obviously gained a greater appreciation for our Solar System as a whole, and learning a little about the magnitudes and sizes of objects in space puts some thingsContinue reading “Culmination Post” Continue reading

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Conan the Bacterium, a potential Martian?

Conan the Bacterium, also known as Dionococcus Radiodurans Evolution, as far as we know, has always been pushing the limits of adaptability, allowing organisms to survive in the harshest of environments. Life that is extremely adaptable to almost all living environments are called extremophiles, hence their name. Scientists have recently hypothesized that some of Earth’sContinue reading “Conan the Bacterium, a potential Martian?” Continue reading

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