Question Your World - Bad Predictions...about computers

Question Your World - Bad Predictions by ScienceMuseumofVA

So, things have changed a lot since 1943. Back then the computer industry was tiny compared to the giant booming, seemingly endless industry that it is these days. Thomas Watson has been quoted (or misquoted depending on who you ask) about how the world market could hold maybe 5 computers. Five computers?? Really?? Well, currently there are nearly 1 billion personal computers on the planet right now! If these trends continue we should hit the 2 billion mark in the year 2015. Wow! Motherload of motherboards! Wait, it gets better. This calculation is only based on personal computers. Once you factor in the machines used by various companies (big and small) and the millions used by governments around the world, that number becomes significantly larger!

Regardless, that quote sure was a sign of the times. Those words could never be said today.
For more information on Thomas Watson check out his wiki page!

Neptune

A lot has been discovered about Neptune since its initial sighting in 1846. The Voyager 2 spacecraft, on Aug 25, 1989, did a fly by of this blue celestial giant and sent back some photos and other data that has helped the science community understand more about the last planet on the block. Here are some interesting factoids about Neptune:
8th Planet from the sun
Gaseous Giant
13 Moons
Named after the Roman god of the oceans, Neptune
Has rings…just like all the other gaseous giants
2.68 BILLION miles from Earth at its closest point in orbit
60,190 Earth days (164.8 Earth years) for Neptune to orbit the sun once!!
Looks cool…because it is VERY cool…as in cold -330F (72 Kelvin)…(-201 C for the non-US friends of the Science Museum of Virginia)…brrr!
After 2006's demotion of Pluto, this blue gaseous giant became the last official planet in our solar system.

WWII Morale Boosters

From the collection of the Virginia Aviation Museum (a division of the Science Museum of Virginia) are two World War II era morale boosters for troops. These booklets provided entertainment for those serving overseas during the war. The “Army Song Book” was published in 1941 by the Library of Congress and contains well-known songs such as “America the Beautiful” and the “Star Spangled Banner”. It also includes the official song of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Here is an excerpt:

"Off we go into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun;

Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,

At 'em boys, give 'er the gun!

Down we dive spouting our flame from under,

Off with one helluva roar!

We live in fame or down in flame;

Nothing'll stop the Army Air Corps!"

And for some much needed comic relief from the stresses of war, the booklet titled "The Scrapbook of Army-Navy Humor" provided just that. It was published in 1943 by Texcel Tellophane Tape and is a compiliation of funny stories, jokes and cartoons depicting life in the service. The caption of the cartoon at left reads: "Can't you hover somewhere else? It makes me nervous!"

Scheila Sports a Plume

Meet Scheila and her friends:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/asteroid-collision.html

An asteroid named Scheila lives in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter with millions of other asteroids.  Scheila is about 70 miles across and completes her orbit around the sun every five years.  Late last year, astronomers noticed Scheila had gotten noticeably brighter and was adorned with plumes.  After studying data from the Hubble Space Telescope and Swift satellite, they determined Scheila had collided with one of her fellow asteroids at 11,000 miles per hour (ouch!).  The plumes made Scheila appear comet-like and were most likely small particles of dust from Scheila’s surface.  In two months, the dust had dissipated and Scheila was back to normal.  Thanks to Hubble and Swift, astronomers could study the collision before all evidence of it disappeared, allowing them a peek inside an asteroid.  Now I wonder what Scheila thought of that…

The Aluminaut & a 1960s View of the Future

In the collection of the Science Museum of Virginia is the world's first all aluminum submarine: the Aluminaut. The Aluminaut was built by Reynolds Metals Co. in 1964 and donated to the Science Museum of Virginia in 1995.

The above drawing is a futuristic view of the world as envisioned by Reynolds Metals Co. in the mid-1960s for what the future would hold for the Aluminaut (shown as the dark vessel at top left). Here are some projects it was believed the Aluminaut would initiate:

• Producing electricity through subsurface dams set up over strong ocean currents


• The ability to move large amounts of people safely underwater as opposed to dangerous travel above the surface during hostile weather or attacks


• Vacationing in the ocean in underwater cities


• Modifying the weather and stopping hurricanes by constructing underwater baffles to deflect cooler water upward


• Constructing oil refineries where workers could live and work underwater (as depicted in the above drawing)

Come visit and see the submarine for yourself- the Aluminaut is currently on display at the Science Museum of Virginia.

Question of the Week

Congratulations VCU!!!  The VCU Rams are in the Final Four!!!  Virginians are cheering for the "Cinderella" #11 seed Rams whom many said did not belong in the tournament.

Only two other teams with double-digit seeds have ever reached the Final Four.  Who were they?

And don't miss March Ratness on Thursday, March 31 (11 am) at the Science Museum of Virginia!!!  Four rats will play their own tournament - who do you think will win???

Traveling by Air in the 1940s

A recent acquisition into the collection of the Virginia Aviation Museum is this 1944 Eastern Airlines timetable which contains flight times and prices.

At the time of this publication, one way travel from Richmond cost at most $85.25 for a trip to Brownsville, Texas and the cheapest flight was $7.45 to get to Baltimore, Maryland.

Eastern Airlines began offering passenger flights out of Richmond beginning in 1932.

Question of the Week

On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone from the US Patent Office.  On March 10, three days after receiving the patent, he successfully transmitted the famous first words.

What famous sentence was transmitted?

Answer:  "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you."

Now, you may ask, who was Mr. Watson?  Thomas Watson was an experienced electrical designer and mechanic.  While Bell had the "germ of a great invention," he realized he did not have the equipment nor the expertise to make a working model.  A chance meeting at a machine shop changed all that.  There he met Watson and hired him as his assistant.  On that historic day, March 10, 1876, Mr. Watson heard the words loud and clear through the liquid transmitter now known as the telephone.  Just think how far we have come since then...

Question of the Week

The word "nerd" is a fairly recent addition to the English language and is now quite common in everyday speech.

When and where was the first recorded usage of the word?

(Hint:  Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday...)

Answer:  Dr. Seuss holds the honor of first printed usage of the word "nerd."  It appeared in the book If I Ran the Zoo, written in 1950.

Great Backyard Bird Count

Hazel Erikson, TN, GBBC 2010

What is it?  The Great Backyard Bird Count engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds over a 4-day period.  This annual bird population survey creates a real-time snapshot of bird populations throughout the US and Canada and helps researchers better understand birds and their behavior.

Who can do it?  You can!  Anyone may participate.  You may count birds for as little as 15 minutes or for as long as you like each day of the event.

When is it?  This weekend - Friday, February 18 through Monday, February 21.

Where do I count?  Anywhere!  Birds are all around us - your backyard, a park, a farm, or the city.  You may go to a particular place to count or you may count wherever you happen to be.

How do I report my count?  Go to the Great Backyard Bird Count website "How to Participate" page - all you need to know is there: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html

Enjoy your weekend and happy counting!

Question of the Week

Groundhog Day

This Wednesday, cute and cuddly Punxsutawney Phil (officially known as "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary") will emerge (well, actually, he will be pulled) from his burrow to predict how much longer winter will last.  If he sees his shadow, we will have 6 more weeks of winter.  If he does not see his shadow, spring is on the way.

Groundhog Day was first celebrated in Pennsylvania on February 2, 1886, making this the 125th anniversary. 

Do you know why February 2 was selected as the official date?

Extra Credit:  Do you think Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow this year?

Answer:  February 2 is approximately the middle of winter or halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox.  The tradition was brought to Pennsylvania by German settlers and was originally called Candlemas Day.

In case you have not heard, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow.  Will we have an early spring this year?  Only time will tell...

The LeMay Bombing Leaflet

On August 1, 1945, over one hundred US B-29 Superfortresses flew over Japan at around 20,000 feet. At this height they dropped 500-pound containers, each holding leaflets that warned the Japanese civilians of the necessity of surrender. At around 4,000 feet the containers opened and released millions of leaflets that fluttered down to the people below.

These leaflets were produced in Saipan, a US occupied island just north of Guam, by the US Office of War Information. Walter J. Cox, Jr. was stationed in Saipan and was able to acquire the above leaflets from a Red Cross worker who went “ashore” to Japan and brought them back. Cox in turn sent them to his wife back home.

These leaflets in the collection of the Virginia Aviation Museum were used as a propaganda tool in order to cause Japanese civilians to distrust their military leaders and to push for an end to the war. Of the five pamphlets that Cox was able to send home, the most significant is the leaflet at the bottom center in the above photograph. This was called the “LeMay bombing leaflet” after Major General Curtis E. LeMay who was the commander of the Pacific Theater of war during this time. It was he who requested that this particular leaflet be dropped over Japan. This leaflet was dropped over 35 cities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The front of the leaflet depicts numerous American B-29s with hundreds of bombs descending and a list of potential targeted cities. The reverse reads in Japanese:

“Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or friend. In the next few days, some or all of the cities named on the reverse side will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories which produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique which they are using to prolong this useless war. But, unfortunately, bombs have no eyes. So, in accordance with America’s humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities named and save your lives. America is not fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique which has enslaved the Japanese people. The peace which America will bring will free the people from the oppression of the military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and good leaders who will end the war. We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked but some or all of them will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately”.
Other leaflets include (clockwise from top left) a depiction of the Japanese Army pulling a Japanese civilian and home over a cliff; a description of the treatment the Japanese would receive with photographs of smiling Americans on one side, and smiling Japanese civilians on the other; a Japanese newspaper printed by the United States; the LeMay leaflet; and a list of radio stations to listen to for warnings and news.

The Anti-G Suit

During World War II, aviators were able to fly their aircraft higher and faster than ever before. But this was not without problems. There were accidents that could not be accounted for: pilots were not shot down, there were no malfunctions in the aircraft and yet they were crashing. What was happening was that when pilots were performing high-speed maneuvers such as pulling up hard out of a dive or making fast and tight turns to evade the enemy, they were creating strong centrifugal forces on the lower parts of their bodies.

So what does this mean? It means that as a result of G-forces (or gravitational force), blood pools in the lower part of the body, mainly the legs and abdomen. It’s kinda like when you eat a lot of food and feel sleepy after the meal: some of the blood from your head has gone to your stomach to help the digestion process. But in this case, so much blood has left the head that a pilot begins to feel some physical affects.

Let’s look at some stats. The force that is exerted by earth’s gravity on your body when you are on the ground (or your weight) is 1 G. If you were moving at 3 G’s you would weigh three times your normal weight and at 7 G’s your blood is as heavy as iron.

So without proper protection, the average person would “greyout” at 4 G’s, meaning that he or she would be unable to see color; “blackout” at 5 G’s and at 6 G’s the pilot would be unconscious.

The pilots of WWII that were crashing were experiencing G forces so great that they became unconscious and did not have control over their aircraft. This is called orthostatic intolerance.

To stop this from happening, in the 1940s Wilbur Franks of the University of Toronto was able to create a version of the G suit that you can see me wearing in the photo above.

So how does it work? There are bladders inside the suit at the legs and the abdomen. The tube on the suit receives air from the engine which had a valve that had a spring-mounted weight that would send air into the suit only if the G force was higher than 2 G’s. When the valve was engaged, air would go through the suit, inflate the bladders on the legs and abdomen which would push against the muscles of these body parts. The muscles would then squeeze the blood back up to the heart and up to the head, thus avoiding unconsciousness.

The suit I am wearing in the photograph is a modern issue Anti-G Suit like the ones that pilots in the US Air Force wear today. They wear it with a flight suit underneath, gloves, boots and of course, a helmet with oxygen mask.

The First Flight of 2nd Lt. Thomas Love Chrisman

Do you remember the first time you were on an airplane? My first flight was when I was in 4th grade to visit relatives in Arizona. Many of us experienced our first flight on a commercial airliner, complete with cushioned seats, in flight movies, and a snack. But what do you think it would have felt like to have your first flight in the open air cockpit of a Curtiss Jenny during World War I? (My guess: loud, bumpy, and no snacks). Native Virginian Thomas Love Chrisman did just that when he left school at the University of Virginia to serve in World War I. Flight was still in its early stages during these days and Chrisman documented many of the accidents the cadets had during their training with photographs. Chrisman wrote on the back of this photograph at right that this was an “unusual entry into barracks”. Fortunately for Chrisman, his first flight was more successful.

Chrisman faithfully wrote home to his mother, Louisa B. Chrisman and described in great detail his experiences. She in turn gave the letters to the local Clarke County newspaper who published his accounts. Here is an except from his description of his first flight:

“While you were getting ready to take your trip Monday a.m. I was undergoing one of the greatest sensations of my life-e-g., my first flight…As strange as it may sound I found myself marching along wondering if my feelings weren’t similar to those of a prospective bridegroom on his wedding eve, in that I was entering into an existence which might prove wonderfully happy or fatal…

At last my turn came and I climbed into the “cock-pit” all dolled up in helmet and goggles…The lieutenant told me that my first trip would be a joy ride at 1000 feet and that I was to look around and enjoy the scenery… After turning the propeller over two or three times to prime the cylinders the mechanic said “contact” and after hearing the lieutenant repeat “contact” the mechanic gave the propeller one little yank and the old ninety-horse power Curtiss was off with a roar…we taxied (bumped along on two wheels and the tail skid) to the opposite end of the field…Having arrived there and turned into the wind, the lieutenant looked back (he’s in the front and the most dangerous cock-pit) and yelled (engine is running) “are you ready?” That “are you ready” made me feel funny…I managed to shake my head, however, (after making sure I was strapped in tight) and he “gave her the gun” (opened the throttle).

She started to roll along on the ground and I felt the body come up to a horizontal position as we gained speed rapidly. We were then riding along on two wheels and the sensation was just like one experiences in an automobile as it goes from low to high speed. Presently it seemed to ride exceptionally easy and but for the throb of the engine we were apparently floating. I peeped out and saw the ground was about ten feet below and falling lower all the time…I realized for the first time that my future existence depended upon the will of the lieutenant, and the strength of a few little cables that hold the wings of the plane.”

Once in the sky, Chrisman notes: “In general the earth seems to have a beautiful green carpet on it and is apparently very smooth. We have been climbing steadily and the altimeter now shows 1000 feet. Thus we ride around and enjoy the view when suddenly the roar stops and as the nose points down you hear the wind sing by the wires of the wings and you realize (after making sure your breakfast isn’t in your mouth) that the engine is cut off and you are gliding to earth at about 80 miles per hour. The average “landing” is rougher than the “take off” but not objectionable. He gets close to the ground and runs paralel [sic] to it until the wheels settle to earth due to loss of speed.”

Chrisman survived the war, returned to Virginia, married, and had two daughters. He would later serve again in World War II as part of the 8th Army Air Force stationed in England. His first experiences with flight are very different from ours today.

"Turkey Day" Trivia

Want to wow your guests at the Thanksgiving dinner table with your incredible knowledge of turkey trivia?  Check out these "Turkey Day" facts! 

• Most farm raised turkeys are White Hollands. They cannot fly.
• An adult turkey has about 3500 feathers. Big Bird’s costume (from Sesame Street) was made from nearly 4000 white turkey feathers, dyed yellow.
• Wild turkeys can glide almost a mile without flapping their wings. Over short distances, they can fly 55 mph and run 20 mph.
• Acorns are the wild turkeys’ favorite food. Because they have a poor sense of taste and smell, they choose acorns by size and shape.
• A turkey’s head will change colors when it’s excited.
• Wild turkeys spend the night in trees.
• A male turkey is called a tom, the female is called a hen and the babies, poults. Immature turkeys are called jake (male) and jenny (female).
• How to tell toms from hens:
• Toms are larger, have longer legs and bigger heads. Their wattle (growth under the chin) and snood (fleshy growth over the bill) are also longer.
• Toms grow a beard – long black feathers on their chest. The beard grows about 4 inches per year and keeps growing throughout their lifetime. Eventually, it drags the ground.
• Male turkeys gobble and females make a clucking sound.
• During mating season, a male turkey gobbles loudly and struts around, puffing out his chest, fanning his large tail and dragging his wingtips on the ground. 
• As male turkeys get older, they fight a lot and may attack humans. 
• About 180,000 wild turkeys live in Virginia, most of them in the Tidewater, South Mountain and South Piedmont regions. 

Turkey history -

• Wild turkeys are native to the eastern US and northern Mexico.  They have lived in North America for almost 10 million years. 
• Wild turkeys were domesticated in Mexico and introduced in Europe in the 16th century. 
• In the 1700s, turkeys were walked to market and wore booties to protect their feet. 
• Ben Franklin thought the wild turkey should be our national bird instead of the bald eagle. 
• Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ate turkey for their first meal on the moon. 
• Wild turkeys almost became extinct in the early 1900s because of habitat destruction and overhunting. 
• The Turkey Trot was a ballroom dance popular in the early 1900s. The Turkey Trot 10K is a race run every Thanksgiving in Richmond.

Thanksgiving turkey facts –

• Over 45 million turkeys are eaten every Thanksgiving.
• The average American eats 17.5 pounds of turkey per year.
• US turkey production has increased over 300% since 1970.
• Turkey meat is low in fat and high in protein.
• White meat has fewer calories than dark meat.

Question of the Week

The 1903 Wright Flyer was the first successful manned, heaver-than-air, fully controllable, powered airplane.  On Dec. 17, 1903, at Kill Devils Hills, N.C., one of them flew the famous first flight. Which brother flew first?  How long was he in the air and how far did he fly?

The Wrights made three additional flights that day.  Who flew the final flight?  How long was he in the air and how far did he fly?
 
Come to the Science Museum of Virginia to see the Wright Flyer reproduction now on display, celebrating the opening of the film Legends of Flight in the IMAX®Dome on November 6, 2010.

Answer:  Orville Wright made the first flight on December 17, 1903.  He flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. Also on that historic day, the Wright brothers made 3 additional flights.  On the final flight, Wilbur flew 852 feet in 59 seconds.

They were ingenious but also very brave. How do you think they felt before they flew? How about after?

Thoughts on Virginia’s Goodwill Moon Rock

Thirty-eight years ago I stood with my younger brother on a shoreline near midnight looking eastward across 12 miles of quiet, dark water at the brilliant jewel on the far horizon. A million people lined the beaches as far as we could see. In the distance xenon arc lights crossed upon the largest craft ever to carry humans. The thunderstorm that had earlier sent tendrils of blue and orange lightning beyond the gantry had since moved far out to sea.

At the final countdown the night burst into a blaze of silent light and the sky glowed crimson to the far horizon behind us. A full minute would pass before the sound hit us, a deep shattering moan shaking our rib cages, the trees and cars. The last Apollo Saturn V rocket lifted with the inexorably slow climb of a freight elevator. Our 8mm film would show its three stages burning successively into orbit in the clear, beautiful night.


In that minute before the rocket's sound reached us, the collective expression of the human spirit, in all its aspirations, went up from the multitude on the beaches. The shouting, weeping, praying and cheering of a million voices blended into a roar that lifted with the three on their way to the moon.

Human space flight inspires in ways that more cost-effective robot probes do not. This experience fueled my drive to study physics.

These are my thoughts this summer as I had the challenge of gathering and arranging information and images about the Apollo missions to the moon. The result of this curatorial work would become part of the exciting, new installation and display of the museum’s Apollo 17 moon rock -- in a new setting that directs the visitor’s attention to one of the rarest objects on Earth.

As I worked in the Stardome room (at the north end of the Main Concourse) with the moon rock case nearby, I thought about the coincidence that I had witnessed the launch of that very mission in December of 1972.

From that mission Harrison Schmitt brought back 242 pounds of lunar material, including the Goodwill Rock that provided the plaque-mounted specimens given to every U.S. state and territory and every nation on earth in 1973.


Apollo science is still alive in some ways today. Three Apollo missions left retro-reflector arrays on the moon to bounce laser light back to Earth. These arrays allow scientists to measure daily the distance and the motion of the moon away from Earth, at about an inch and a half a year.


Another final milestone approaches. The last and final Space Shuttle flight (the 134th ) has been authorized for launch next summer. Next August the NASA will leave manned space flight to others, possibly for decades. The Space Shuttle is the most complex thing ever built, with 2 ½ million parts and 230 miles of wiring. These difficult economic times make it hard to justify the extravagance of human space exploration.


We have, however, a rich and long history of unmanned space probes. Our 1970s launches of Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager 1 and 2 yielded a treasure trove of dazzling images of the outer solar system and are now far beyond it. They carry gold plaques and phonograph records explaining the culture of the species from Earth that sent them.


And we continue to roll out ever more sophisticated unmanned spacecraft. A long range probe is on its way to Pluto. A replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope is under construction, with 15 times Hubble’s light gathering ability. Other orbiting telescopes are looking for extraterrestrial planets. Further unmanned probes are planned for Mars and the moon. Others may explore oceans of salt water beneath the ice on Europa and Enceladus, moons of Jupiter and Saturn.


Oh, yes. We actually did go to the moon. Had we not gone, telescopes all over the Earth would not have recorded, as they did, the flights and the return journeys. Russia and the rest of the world would have called our bluff. Indeed, Russia cancelled its manned moon program largely because of the verified success of our Apollo program.


So, I return in my thoughts to the museum’s Apollo 17 moon rock, a small, three billion year-old memento of a trip made 38 years ago.

David Hagan
Museum Scientist
Science Museum of Virginia

Remember Hurricane Andrew?

As Hurricane Danielle churns far out in the Atlantic, I am reminded of another hurricane that made landfall on this day…

On August 24, 1992, a small but extremely intense Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida. Andrew made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane, the 3rd most intense landfalling US hurricane and the 1st in total estimated US property damage at the time. (Katrina eclipsed it in both intensity and damage in 2005.) Andrew hit the highly populated Miami area after a 27-year lull in hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin. During the period between 1965 and 1992, only 2 hurricanes of any significance made landfall in Florida, both in the panhandle. At the same time, the coast around Miami had experienced unprecedented development, populated largely by residents from the Northeast who had no experience with Florida’s history of violent hurricanes. As a result, South Florida was devastated. Damage was extensive, estimated at about $30 billion. Fifteen people lost their lives directly due to the hurricane and another 25 by more indirect means.

Yes, hurricanes can be devastating and deadly; however, I have always been fascinated by them. (I confess - I am a weather nut.) Don’t get me wrong – I do not want them to come ashore and destroy homes and lives; however, watching them develop from a messy disorganized cluster of clouds into a perfect spiral inspires me to wonder at the beauty and power of nature. But I do prefer that all this beauty and power stay well off-shore…

Happy Birthday, Voyager 2!

For an incredible 33 years, Voyager 2 has been our eyes of discovery in the outer solar system and beyond. This venerable spacecraft has been in continuous operation more than 12,000 days, sending us compelling photos and information about the gas giants of the solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Now headed into interstellar space beyond the solar system, the spacecraft is still transmitting invaluable data about the solar wind and deep space beyond the planets.

On August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL on a mission to the giant planets of the solar system. Its sister spacecraft, Voyager 1, was launched a few days later on September 5. Both original missions were intended to study just Jupiter and Saturn. However, both continued sending data beyond those planets, and thanks to these intrepid spacecraft, we have now had a close encounter with every planet in the solar system. (Pluto is now called a “plutoid” and is no longer considered a planet.)

(Just think, the computers on these spacecraft were made in the 1970’s and they are still working! Pretty remarkable, huh?)

Here are a few fast facts about the Voyager mission:

• Explored all giant planets of the outer solar system
• Explored their 48 moons and unique ring systems
• Closest approach to Jupiter - 1979
• Closest approach to Saturn - 1980 (Voyager 1); 1981 (Voyager 2)
• Closest approach to Uranus – 1986 (Voyager 2)
• Closest approach to Neptune – 1989 (Voyager 2)
• Carry a golden record with a greeting from Earth
• Now the most distant human-made object in space (Voyager 1)
• Distance from sun - 17 billion km (Voyager 1); 14 billion km (Voyager 2)
• Signal from Earth takes over 12 hours to reach spacecraft
• Crossed termination shock, where solar wind slows abruptly, in 2004 (Voyager 1); 2007 (Voyager 2)
• May have reached or will soon reach Heliopause or entry into interstellar space
• Currently, 5 teams investigating: Magnetic fields, Low energy charged particles, Cosmic rays, Plasma (Voyager 2), Plasma waves
• May continue to operate and send data until around 2020

Long-lived Voyager has been documented often in fiction and pop culture (remember “V’ger” in the Star Trek movie?). So Happy Birthday, Voyager! May you live long and prosper!

Uh-oh...

It’s Friday the 13th! How’s your day going? Friggatriskaidekaphobia or fear of Friday the 13th is believed to be the most widespread phobia in the US. As many as 21 million Americans believe Friday the 13th brings bad luck. Some take it so seriously that they stay home from work, won’t drive or fly, and may not even get out of bed.


Friday the 13th always occurs in a month beginning on a Sunday; there’s at least one and no more than three every year. The longest possible period without one is 14 months. In 2010 there’s only one - August 13; May has the only one in 2011.

As you are probably aware, there is no scientific basis for this superstition. Several studies have compared the number of traffic accidents on Friday the 13th with accidents on other Fridays. The Dutch Center for Insurance Statistics found there were fewer accidents on that date, but a British study showed an increase in accidents when compared to another Friday. No consensus there…

As with most superstitions, the origin of this superstition is mostly guesswork. No written record of Friday the 13th being unlucky appears before the 19th century. However, most superstitions are based on oral rather than written traditions so it is probably much older. Many folklorists believe the superstition evolved from separate beliefs - that 13 is an unlucky number and Friday is an unlucky day. Several theories have been proposed:

• Ancient civilizations believed the number 13 to be lucky. But when Christianity replaced pagan beliefs, all things pagan were discredited, perhaps to the detriment of the number 13.

• In numerology, twelve is considered “complete” with 12 months in a year, 12 hours on the clock, 12 Zodiac signs, 12 Apostles, 12 gods of Olympus, and so forth, while 13 ruins the “completeness.”

• In Norse mythology, Friday is named for Frigga, goddess of love and fertility. When Norse tribes adopted Christianity, Frigga was labeled a witch and banished. According to the myth, each Friday she gathered 11 other witches plus the devil (for a total of 13) to plot mischief for the upcoming week.

• The Knights Templar were founded in the 12th century to protect Christians during the Crusades. When they eventually became very rich and powerful, the king felt threatened and ordered their mass arrest on Friday, October 13, 1307.

So what are you doing today? Is it just another day or are you laying low? If Friday the 13th gives you the “willies” just keep in mind - it’s only one day and better yet, the weekend is right around the corner.