Just a quick note today on a fun, recent interview I gave with Paul Carr on the Wow! Signal Podcast, where I had the opportunity to discuss the very conceptual genesis of my personal scientific journey as a geologist and space scientist: the lure, importance, and incredible promise of asteroid mining and capitalizing on extraterrestrial […]
Read More Pushing Asteroid Mining on the Wow! Signal PodcastWhen seriously considering the possibility of xenoarchaeology as a practicable science, I’ve proposed (as have others) the endeavor to be deeply interdisciplinary. Solid archaeological methodologies will need to be complemented with and modified by a strong foundation in planetary science. I also often suggest that the practice of xenoarchaeology will find its most frequent utility in “debunking” rushed, […]
Read More Cycloidal Ridges on Europa: A Xenoarchaeological AnalogueResearchers at the Tsinghua University in Beijing recently published a plan just daring enough to work/make people nervous. After an extensive review of the orbits of thousands of candidate near-Earth objects, the research team headed by Associate Professor Baoyin Hexi identified a small asteroid that with a nudge at the opportune moment would settle into […]
Read More Plans afoot for snaring a space rockThe future is now. GIS forerunner company ESRI has recently published much of their geospatial analysis capability online… for free. Implementing the philosophy that knowledge is power and that all peoples and nations should be empowered to make smart and responsible decisions, ESRI is seeking to change the world by making powerful GIS tools available […]
Read More Exploring Test Cell C with ArcGIS OnlineBy education and trade, I’m a geologist, having worked now in the professional world for more than six years getting my boots dirty performing hydrogeology, water resources, drilling, geomorphology research, and environmental contaminant transport and remediation work in some of the most remote territory this country has to offer. However, in my push toward becoming […]
Read More A Radioactive Astronaut-Hopeful (Space update)-Just a post on a personal note this morning. I’ve been filling in as a part-time geology lab instructor at the College of Southern Nevada for the past two years. Now, with a few semesters behind me, I find myself pleasantly surprised by what I (admittedly) was interested in as more of a resume-booster than […]
Read More A love of teachingTitan has eclipsed Mars. Not literally, mind you, but conceptually. With active surficial geology the likes of which are known only to Earth, and considering the recent discovery of possible biochemical signatures of alien life, to me Titan has become the most interesting exploration destination in the solar system. Take the above image, for starters. Whereas […]
Read More Titan eclipses MarsThis past Friday I was fortunate enough to reunite with my friend Dr. Steve Metzger of the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) to participate in another field season of dust-devil-chasing with a platoon of Mars researchers. The crew this year included Dr. Asmin Pathare of PSI, Dr. Lori Fenton of the SETI Institute, Tim Michaels of […]
Read More Chasing Mars through Eldorado ValleyPenn State geoscientists have just made the first true bio-geospatial analysis of extinction patterns caused by the Yucatan impact 65 million years ago. What does this mean, exactly? -They managed to make the first determinations about where, how badly, and for how long specific places on Earth were devastated by the impact. Let me tell you, it […]
Read More CSI: Extinction Event…A short note, today, on something that struck me while out in the east-central Nevada project area for work: Remote fieldwork = contingency planning. That’s really all there is to it. Take my latest trip this week, for example. In our project area, we’re really off the grid. What we call a road can at […]
Read More Contingency Plans
Chronicles of an Atomic Astrowright 