The Monday with crazy work and robots on Mars

Hi,

Well, after a manic Monday at work, I drove to the library to collect Toby (he forgot to get off in town and come to our work).  I swapped him with Mike and left for my dental appointment.  Yes, my teeth are in great shape.  Nice pink gums apparently.  Yes - that's always a sign you've seen the hygienist for a good teeth scraping and gum raking exercise.  Loving my smile right now because I've earned it!

Then I scarpered to Shed 6 for the talk by Charles Elachi (director of JPL) on Mars exploration (and beyond).  I got there around 6.15 and I was lucky to get in.  Mike had saved me a seat otherwise I would be queuing with the 200 people that failed to get in.  It was a free event and yet seated.  There were grumpy crowd scenes the likes of which Wellington never sees.  We tried to save Duncan's seat, but they closed the venue and we had to give them away.  Duncan missed out and Toby was devastated.  Toby had been so good - he even went to talk to the door staff to say he was saving them for his friend.  And they let Toby out to scour the queue for him.  But it all came to naught.  It is character building for Toby to be crushed by life.  Right?

Anyhow, the talk was great fun!  He has his talk down-pat.  Great slides.  Great fun facts. Landing curiosity on Mars within its 2 km radius target was like hitting a hole in one from Los Angeles with the cup in New Zealand. And if the cup was moving at 60,000 miles per hour. (Because Mars is moving in space).  He explained how there is liquid water on frozen satellites of Saturn. As the satellite moves around Saturn  the tides pump the satellite with its pull. That melts the ice through energy. Like when you bend a thin piece of metal back and forth till it breaks. The metal gets hot - just like the frozen satellite. That was a cool description.  He talked about manned Mars missions and what needs to be sorted out still. Landing on Mars with tonnes of gear will need a new engineering technique.  If you drove your car all day at top speed, without stopping ever, it would take you 170 years to get to Mars.

Anyhow - time for work.  Have a lovely day!
Love,
Angela