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.
The number of scandals and setbacks hitting the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in such quick and daily succession in the last few weeks is unprecedented, at least in the countries whose politics I am familiar with. The local media is covering this train wreck on an almost hourly basis, which in the latest news saw party chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) detained by prosecutors on Friday and released without bail yesterday. The number of links collected to produce these detailed columns may reach 400 by the time this hits the streets. To get up to speed, two columns have been written: “Donovan’s
President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision for Taiwan to become an “AI island” has three conditions: constructing advanced data centers, ensuring a stable and green energy supply, and cultivating AI talent. However, the energy issue supply is the greatest challenge. To clarify, let’s reframe the problem in terms of the Olympics. Given Taiwan’s OEM (original equipment manufacturer) roles in the technology sector, Taiwan is not an athlete in the AI Olympics, or even a trainer, but rather a training ground for global AI athletes (AI companies). In other words, Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem provides world-class training facilities and equipment that have already attracted
Nothing like the spectacular, dramatic unraveling of a political party in Taiwan has unfolded before as has hit the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over recent weeks. The meltdown of the New Power Party (NPP) and the self-implosion of the New Party (NP) were nothing compared to the drama playing out now involving the TPP. This ongoing saga is so interesting, this is the fifth straight column on the subject. To catch up on this train wreck of a story up to Aug. 20, search for “Donovan’s Deep Dives Ko Wen-je” in a search engine. ANN KAO SENTENCED TO PRISON YET AGAIN,
Despite her well-paying tech job, Li Daijing didn’t hesitate when her cousin asked for help running a restaurant in Mexico City. She packed up and left China for the Mexican capital last year, with dreams of a new adventure. The 30-year-old woman from Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, hopes one day to start an online business importing furniture from her home country. “I want more,” Li said. “I want to be a strong woman. I want independence.” Li is among a new wave of Chinese migrants who are leaving their country in search of opportunities, more freedom or better financial prospects at a
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