Ice Storm and Keenen

Yesterday I made the drive down state to drop off custom mineral art orders, pick up cases of my agate book at my book distributor's, restock stained glass supplies, and go to my son's for Christmas.  I was in a hurry to rendevous with a customer, so I didn't get a chance to stop to document the ice storm.  Everything in the Lansing area is coated with a thick layer of ice.  I was able to capture just a couple of pictures at one of my stops.

And then there is Keenen, my grandson.  It is amazing how much he has grown and developed in just a couple of months since I was last here.

Mineral Art and ISS Space Walk

I have been working hard for the past few weeks on various custom mineral art orders.  For today's blog posting I decided to take a few photos....

An agate lamp showing all four sides of the shade:

A 24x12 inch agate window:

Two suncatchers...

Some of the twelve kitchen cabinet agate panels...

Earlier today the astronauts on the International Space Station took the first of at least two space walks to repair the pump for a cooling system.  The ISS has two of these cooling systems that are absolutely essential.  If the other cooling system were to fail, they would have to abandon the space station.  Today they removed the pump and used the robotic arm to move it out of the way.  In the next few days, they will install a new pump.  One of the two astronauts on the space walk is attached to the end of the robotic arm.

The earth is shown in the photo below...

Aerial Photos of Grand Marais

When I was told about the video showing the construction of the new restaurant in Grand Marais, I was trying to figure out who compiled the video and how they acquired the aerial photos.  I found out it was created by local resident, Chuck Cardinal.  He has a small helicopter that has a camera.  Then I was told he has a Facebook page:  Endless Horizons https://www.facebook.com/pages/Endless-Horizons/516969658410994?notif_t=fbpage_fan_invite .  Here is a sample of photos he has taken of Grand Marais.

The helicopter....

 

 

Sable River, Agates, and More

After being sick, yesterday was the first day I felt well enough to head out for a snowshoe.  Lois and I started at Sable Visitors' Center, snowshoed to the footbridge near Sable Falls, and then walked along side the cross country ski trail back to the car.  I must admit that the snowshoe took everything I had.  The snow was deep!It seemed more like February than December.

Because of the incredible cold weather we have had (I hear it is the coldest December in 35 years for our area), ice is building up along the sides of the river.

There is a worldwide agate group on Facebook.  Here are a few of the cool photos posted in the last few days.

Lake Superior agates...

This Scottish agate looks like a lake....

And of course I have to include an updated photo of my almost 7 month old grandson, Keenen.

Chinese Lunar Mission

Man has again landed on the Moon -- or at least a man-made space craft.  China launched the Chang'e-3 spacecraft on December 2 and reached orbit around 60 miles above the lunar surface less than five days later.  

Then, the spacecraft descended into an elliptical orbit with its lowest point less than ten miles from the lunar surface.   

 

Finally, this past Saturday just after 9:00 p.m, the lunar landing touched the surface, delivering the robotic rover, Yuta (means "Jade Rabbit"), to the lunar surface to begin its multi-month driving trek around the Moon's surface.  It is interesting that the Chinese government allowed the public to choose the rover's name via a public online poll.   The name, Yuta, comes from a Chinese myth about the pet white rabbit of a goddess, Chang'e, who is said to live on the moon.

A few hours after landing, small explosive devices were triggered to unlock the rover, the solar wings were deployed along with a ramp, and a cable connecting Yutu to the lander was cut allowing the Chinese team to roll the rover down to the Moon's surface for the first time.

 

Considering that China's space program is decades behind the programs in the U.S., Russia, and other countries, they are rapidly catching up.  They launched their first astronaut into space in 2003. Things progressed until 2012, when they had 18 space launches.

The Chang'e 3 success marked China's first-ever landing on the moon, and the first soft touchdown on the lunar surface since the former Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission in 1976. NASA's last soft lunar landing came in 1972, on the Apollo 17 mission.

The rover is a six-wheeled lunar rover equipped with at least four cameras, two mechanical legs that can dig up soil samples, and telescopes that will be used to study how solar activity affects the Earth's atmosphere.  To help the rover operate in the cold lunar environment which can reach temperatures as low as -180°C (-292°F), it is equipped with radioisotope heater units. 

CITES:
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/nasa-moon-probe-keeps-eye-chinese-lunar-lander-orbit-2D11765763
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/14/world/asia/china-moon-landing/
http://www.space.com/23971-china-moon-rover-landing-change3-success.html
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/newsphoto/2010-10-02/450/CFP410456463-103411_copy1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Location_of_Sinus_Iridum.jpg
http://astrobob.areavoices.com/files/2013/12/Chang3-moon-lander-orbit-change.jpg
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2013/12/China%20Moon%205.jpg
http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/cyGDdLCmtRN8KcoHcFE3Rg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM1NTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/China_Moon_Landing_%27Jade_Rabbit%27-a3bb70aac770b1f0cb898231ed9b05cb
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/12/15/world/15chinamoon_inline/15chinamoon_inline-videoSixteenByNine1050.jpg