Bridge to nowhere?

[neufer]

Rock Bridge on Mars
Posted in: Mars by Nancy Atkinson

Any chance the Mars rockbridge could look like this one in Wadi Rum, Jordan -- also known as the Valley of the Moon?

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A landform on Mars that looks like a naturally occuring bridge across a chasm. Credit: NASA/JPL/U of Arizona/ colorization by Stu Atkinson.

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<<The HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took an image of a thin channel, and a portion of it contains a naturally occurring bridge over the chasm. Kelly Kolb from the HiRISE team says it is probably a remnant of the original surface, the rest of which has collapsed downward. It isn’t likely there’s a opening underneath the formation, but if there were, it would look very similar to a rock bridge formation found in Jordan in the Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon. Kolb also said this is unlikely to be a channel formed by a running water, as there are no obvious source or deposit regions. The channel is probably a just a collapse feature.>>

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colber ... e-in-space

[owlice]

Heh, Yogi, I'll bet you could use those two pictures, write an email about this being "proof" that ... oh, Mars came from Earth or some such... and have it go viral, if only you had gullible conspiracy theorists types in your address book!

Not that I'm suggesting you try this, of course.

Boo Boo

geckzilla might have a candidate to send such an email to, however...

[neufer]

Heh, Yogi, I'll bet you could use those two pictures, write an email about this being "proof" that ... oh, Mars came from Earth or some such... and have it go viral, if only you had gullible conspiracy theorists types in your address book!

Not that I'm suggesting you try this, of course.

Boo Boo

Sorry, Boo Boo, I only believe in Masonic conspiracies
like those involving George Washington, Shakespeare, etc...

Natural Bridge by Frederic Edwin Church, 1852

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<<Natural Bridge, in Rockbridge County, Virginia is a geological formation in which Cedar Creek (a small tributary of the James River) has carved out a gorge in the mountainous limestone terrain, forming an arch 215 ft high with a span of 90 ft. It consists of horizontal limestone strata, and is the remains of the roof of a cave or tunnel through which the creek once flowed. The Natural Bridge was a sacred site of the Native American Monacan tribe, who believed it to be the site of a major victory over pursuing Powhatans centuries before the arrival of whites in Virginia. Some believe George Washington came to the site in 1750 as a young surveyor on behalf of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. To support claims that Washington surveyed the area, some tour guides claim the initials "G.W." on the wall of the bridge, 23 ft. up, were carved by the future president. Legend also has it that George Washington threw a rock from the bottom of Cedar Creek over the bridge. In 1927, a large stone was found, also engraved "G.W." and bearing a surveyor's cross, which historians accepted as proof that he indeed surveyed the bridge.>>

Was George Washington was a time traveler who borrowed a Jumping Pillow

Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park™, only 5 miles from scenic Natural Bridge , is a Virginia Campground and family vacation resort in Virginia that offers up some of the finest camping in Virginia. When staying at Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge, camping will never be the same for your family again! Campground Open March 12 - November 29.

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[geckzilla]

geckzilla might have a candidate to send such an email to, however...

Needs to be something a political spin can be placed on. Either "The government is covering up x" or "The government secretly caused x" will do.

[owlice]

I have faith that if Yogi put his mind to it, he'd come up with something that would do, and do handsomely!

[neufer]

geckzilla might have a candidate to send such an email to, however...

Needs to be something a political spin can be placed on.
Either "The government is covering up x" or "The government secretly caused x" will do.

I have faith that if Yogi put his mind to it, he'd come up with something that would do, and do handsomely!

I can't X-plane why these guys are shirtless:

Bell X-1-2

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<<The X-planes are a series of experimental United States airplanes and helicopters (and some rockets) used for the testing and evaluation of new technologies and aerodynamic concepts. Some members of the series have been well publicised, while others, such as the X-16 project, have been developed in secrecy. The first of the X-planes, the Bell X-1, became well known as, in 1947, it was the first aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight. Later X-planes yielded important research results in a multitude of aerodynamic and technical fields, but only the North American X-15 rocket plane of the early 1960s achieved comparable fame to that of the X-1. X-planes 7 through 12 were actually missiles, and some other vehicles were unpiloted. Most X-planes are not expected to go into full-scale production, however an exception to the rule was the Lockheed Martin X-35, which competed against the Boeing X-32 in a fly-off as part of the Joint Strike Fighter Program, and is expected to enter production as the F-35. Most of the X-planes have been operated by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) or, later, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), often in conjunction with the United States Air Force. However, not all US experimental aircraft have been designated in the X-plane series; some received U.S. Navy designations prior to 1962, while others have been known only by manufacturers' designations, non-'X'-series designations, or classified codenames.>>

[Beyond]

Hey Art, it's easy to X-Plane why they don't have shirts on - It's HOT! I can't X-Plane why they have pants on instead of SHORTS.

[neufer]

The Fall and Rise of ‘X’

In this image, the X-37B is being encapsulated in its fairing atop an Atlas V rocket. Photo Credit: USAF

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The two X-34s were moved from their hangars at Dryden to the National Test Pilot School in California. Photo Credit: NASA

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<<They are at the very edge of current U.S. technological capabilities; one is a supposedly mothballed technology test-bed, the other a super-secret space plane that is currently on orbit – but set to land soon. They are the X-planes, experimental spacecraft that are proving out concepts and capabilities whose beginnings can be traced to the dawn of the space age.

It would appear from amateur observers on the ground that the secretive U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane – will be landing soon. This prediction is based off the fact that the craft is dropping in altitude and the more basic fact that it is nearing the limit of its orbital capabilities and has to return to terra firma. According to the U.S. Air Force, the X-37B can remain on orbit for around nine months or 270 days at maximum, this means that the craft should be landing sometime in the middle of January.

The X-37B or Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Apr. 22, atop an Atlas V rocket. Not much is known after launch due to a media blackout imposed by the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force remains mum about the details surrounding the landing and recovery of the X-37B. It is known that the spacecraft will land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. In many ways the craft resembles the shuttle with stubby wings, landing gear and a powerful engine that allows the craft to alter its orbit (much to the dismay of many observers on the ground). When the X-37B does touch down, it will do so at a 15,000 foot-long runway that was originally built to support the shuttle program. The X-37B is one-quarter the size of the space shuttle. It is about 30 feet long and roughly 10 feet tall, with a 15-foot wingspan. It has a payload bay much like its larger, manned cousin – but naturally whatever that payload was for this mission – it was classified. The space plane was constructed by the Boeing Phantom Works. It is operated out of Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. Another launch of the craft may take place as early as this March.

Meanwhile, as the X-37B is ready to head to the hangar, another X-craft appears to be given a new lease on life. Two of the X-34 spacecraft, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital), were moved from their hangars at Dryden Flight Research Center to the National Test Pilot School located in the Mojave Desert in California. These technology test-bed demonstrator craft will be inspected by the NASA contractor with the idea of flying them once again. The roughly 60 foot-long spacecraft were put into mothballs back in 2001. If their flight status is renewed they would add to the growing fleet of robotic spacecraft that the United States appears to be building.

The ‘X’ craft have a long and storied history in American aviation and space exploration. One of the most famous of the “X’ planes – was the legendary X-15. None other than the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, flew in this program which tested out concepts that would be later employed in the space shuttle. As the X-37B prepares to end its first mission and the X-34 may be at the verge of a rebirth – could we be at the dawn of a new ‘X’-era? Only time will tell.>>