Anybody Out There

There was an interesting article on the BBC website about our search for other intelligent life forms that have so far been unsuccessful, but it only has to be a matter of time until one of these searches finds a trace of another inhabited world.

The problem is finding it. New techniques mean that we can now target our searches better than ever before. Selecting and targeting solar systems which have known planets that are within a habitual zone around a star. This should narrow our search and result in a higher probability of success.

Although increased that probability is still however small. The problem is finding another inhabited planet that is at the right stage of development. For example, the earth is around 4.5 billion years old and in that time we have been sending out radio signals for the last 100 years., so unless you hit the right moment in a planets life you would never know anyone was there. The whole thing is a numbers game and with billions of plants around other stars and with millions of them having the possibility of hosting life, it is all about getting the right one.

One thing is for sure, we are going to turn up more negatives than positives on this search, and for that reason it could  take hundreds of years to find the first one. It doesn't mean that they are not out there, more that we haven't found them yet.

Apollo 13

Forty two years ago at thirteen minutes past seven in the evening (UTC) the spacecraft Apollo 13 blasted off from Cape Canaveral to the moon. It was to be the Americans third mission to the moon, but as anyone interested in spaceflight will no it never made it. Just under fifty seven hours into the mission, with the main spacecraft docked to the lunar module, one of the oxygen tanks in the main spacecraft exploded damaging the all the other oxygen tanks and fuel cells. It was caused by a fault that developed before the spacecraft was launched, that was completely missed before the launch.

From then on it the mission turned from one of getting men to land on the moon to one to save the lives of the crew. It is a story of cool minds doing what they do best, finding solutions to problems as they arose and fixing them any way they could with what equipment was available on the spaceship. At the start as the crew used the lunar module as a lifeboat. Even so the crews chances of survival looked slim to say the least. As the people on the ground worked on the problems their chances increased and increased, until they finally made it back to earth.

It is a story that has been told in Ron Howard's film, Apollo 13, based on a book by the Jim Lovell the commander of the mission. It is a film I love and a tribute to what was done to make sure that the mission didn't end in disaster. It shows what the human mind is capable of in times of adversity. What seems strange is that since the last mission to the moon, Apollo 17, forty years ago this year that man hasn't been back. It is like all the knowledge that was developed back then has been wasted, and it could be years before man steps foot on the moon again.

Night Sky

The night sky is rather amazing at the moment and with the good weather and the clear skies we have been lucky to see some amazing conjunctions of planets. Recently Jupiter and Venus have been close together in the sky and over the last couple days the Moon has been very close to Venus in the nights sky, making a particularly stunning spectacle (see photo).

Other than Jupiter and Venus there are currently two other planets that are visible in the night sky. You can also see Mars and Saturn in the sky is you know where to look. A good way of finding them and identifying the constellations is by using the a free computer program called Stellarium. Of course if you want to see what the sky really has to offer you will need to get out into the countryside and away from the street lights of the towns and cities that pollute the night sky.