Earlier I discussed some of the highlights of the #MarsExpress mission as a whole. Now, I want to share something I promised earlier this week: some of my favourite images taken by VMC @esamarswebcam! 📷🔴🛰️ Heres a 'double vortex' in 2012 near the north polar cap (📷: ESA)
). In this thread I'll use a combination of VMC images available on Flickr & VMC images processed by our internal pipeline (but only where they are already in the public domain). Now: pictures of Mars! 🔴📷
Time for a close up! This is a photograph of Valles Marineris, taken by VMC in 2008 🔴📷. Processed using our internal ESAC pipeline. (📷: ESA).
VMC managed to catch the caldera of Olympus Mons in October 2019! 🌋😀 Processed using our internal ESAC pipeline. (📷: ESA).
Speaking of Olympus Mons, I love this image of a cloud over the volcano! 🌋 (actually, I already shared it when discussing how we plan observations:
😀). Processed using our internal ESAC pipeline. (📷: ESA).
This is an image of the northern polar cap of Mars, taken in January of this year. I love seeing these images of the beautiful patterns visible! ❄️🏔️🔴 Processed using our internal ESAC pipeline. (📷: ESA).
The wonderful thing about VMC @esamarswebcam is how accessible the images are & have been for many years. @landru79 has produced some fantastic videos of VMC observations, including these videos of flybys over the North polar cap ❄️📽️
This is a great image from November 2019 to illustrate the fact that we can see 'twilight clouds' with VMC @esamarswebcam (the subject of our next study as a VMC team led by @jorgeherber!) ☁️📷🔴🛰️
I love this image from 2017 showing a dust storm over the northern polar cap! ❄️🌪️🔴 Processed using our internal ESAC pipeline. (📷: ESA).
PEOPLE OF SPACE! I’m super excited to be hosting this week! We’ll be covering a bunch of topics that are near and dear to me including #space (obviously), astronomy, supernovae, radio astronomy, science communication, and MORE
🧵 #science#scicomm#spacetwitter#intro#Thread
But who is this random dude yelling at us about space?
Well the short version is that I’m a physicist who finished high school with every intention of becoming a lawyer - pictured is 19yo me not caring about science #accidentalscientist#accidentalphysicist#throwback#SPACE
The mission patch was based on a design from well known Italian fashion designer, Emilio Pucci. The design has three stylized birds flying over the Hadley-Appenine landing site with the crew names on the lower part of the outer border.
In an early version of an Easter egg, the crew snuck a Roman numeral XV into the crater shadows. According to a story I heard from one of Al Worden's @ExploreSpaceKSC presentations, NASA discouraged Roman numerals on the Apollo patches, thus the hidden nature.
Before his passing last year, @WordenAlfred was a regular astronaut host at @ExploreSpaceKSC giving presentations guiding tours and being an affable ambassador of the Apollo program to a new audience.
On board were (left to right) Lunar Module Pilot Jim Irwin, Commander Dave Scott, and Command Module Pilot Al Worden
The landing site was Hadley-Appenine, on the edge of Mare Imbrium. It was bordered by Hadley Rille, a valley-like geological structure and the Montes Apenninus, or Appenine Mountains. The Palus Putredinus was a lava field that filled the area.
Today I’ll be working on some research for the big Mars exhibition! As I said yesterday, I’m working on researching how people have been imaging the Red Planet throughout history.
Today we have orbiters circling Mars and rovers that take pictures of the surface. But the history of imaging Mars stretches back centuries, from depicting Mars in art to the canals people thought they saw on the planet.
What are some of your favourite images of Mars and why?
Going to talk about designing a temporary display today!
In Science Museum lingo, there are 2 kinds of displays:
🚀Exhibitions (temporary displays) - these can last up to a year
🚀Galleries (permanent displays)
Even a temporary display might take several years to prepare for, with overviews and detailed proposals.
Exotic solvents & life's building blocks are among the more speculative #astrobiology topics, but still important to study scientifically! Our own system contains places potentially able to host life unlike on Earth. Not just Titan!
All Earth life is carbon-based and needs water to survive. 💦
'Mildly' exotic life might share these traits, but use e.g. other information molecule (or differently coded DNA, even with different/more 'letters') or opposite chirality (left/right-handedness) of some compounds.
There are countless possibilities of different information molecules and their coding. Is Earth DNA and RNA a ', frozen accident', or does it have a phys/chem reason? And is all life chiral? In the same way, or is that another frozen accident? What about the amino acids we use?