The National Geographic Channel will will broadcast globally a feature-length special about the Mars exploration rovers on Sunday, Jan 11 at 9pm. The program will feature never-before-seen footage of the mission's preparation and, if all goes to plan, groundbreaking pictures from Mars itself.
Launched toward Mars in June and July this year, the two golf cart-sized rovers named Spirit and Opportunity, will touch down in early January as part of an on-going NASA mission to determine whether or not the planetary environment of Mars can, or ever did, support life.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of California's Institute of Technology for NASA's Office of Space Science, the Mars Exploration Rover project is much larger than 1997's Mars Pathfinder and scientists hope to gather more information than ever before about the Red Planet.
The first rover to land on the planet's surface will be Spirit, which will land on Jan. 3 near the center of the Gusev Crater, a place where NASA scientists believe there may have once been a giant lake. Then, three weeks later Opportunity will touch down at the Meridiani Planum, a region that contains huge deposits of exposed mineral that could have been formed under watery conditions.
Landing, however, is only the first step in the three-month Mars exploration project. It will take a week for each rover to unfold itself, rise to its full height and begin scanning its surroundings. Using images and measurements that they will receive daily from the rovers, scientists will command the vehicles to travel to rocks and soil targets of interest to evaluate their composition and texture on microscopic scales.
During their 12 weeks of activity each rover is expected to traverse an area the size of 10 soccer pitches.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at