to mars and back -part 2

     these four men and women . who having received a death sentence, or life sentence could easily be found among our current population if not here then a foreign nation would do and the diversity it may bring would be welcomed addition to such a feat as establishing a colony on mars. extensive psychological and physical examinations , and a handyman type of mentality would be what it takes to exist in a foreign land as mars would be.women also would be highly desired in establishment of a colony, and a 1:1 ratio maybe not necessary when considering men to women ration of new explorers, so that maybe more women as many as 6 women to 2 males may provide the best ratio to help humans initially survive a length of time. with the emphasis on breeding humans on the other end . 

     you could use the space ship you initially use as interplanetary vehicle to be utilized as a mars based habitat for initial survival of the colony. pre planned supplies would be accumulated on the planet surface for retrieval  by early explorers prior to their first arrival on the planet. multiple rockets would be used in the interplanetary trip to assure that the highest level of safety could be achieved through redundancy. if one rocket system or another has a system malfunctions then you could transfer personnel to another rocket for completion of mission. 

   currently we have a new rocket system to shuttle materials into space and fly back into earths orbit and land on its own . and there is even talk of a space ladder that would use robots to ferry materials skyward into space to a circling satellite station set in a stationary orbit around earth. from there we could load interplanetary spaceship with the supplies needed to establish a colony for one year minimum. that is we take everything including air , food and shelter to last a colony for one year. 

  people with a broad range of experiences and qualifications is desired among our prison lifers. a willingness to receive a second chance , as well as a desire to make the community as a whole. our explorers will be ex-cons and should always be treated accordingly. this would surely be a second chance for anyone but especially those individuals whose hope and prospects had dwindled. surely this should be a motivating factor to succeed. it will also be an experiment in society based on reform. when i had mentioned the ratio earlier i was not advocating multiple mating to males but was more interested  in diversity and a chance for women to also use in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination as a secondary means or prefer to not be pregnant at all per there choice. with multiple women more choices require additional women to assure human reproduction to occur at all on mars. 

     what role would religion be considered when it applies to this mission would be on a personal basis. each person is responsible for his own personal religious beliefs. religion is only to be considered as it relates to the individual . you can not impress your views on others or use religion as basis to make colony decisions. 

    all vocations will be open in the new colony and needed as it expands. efforts should be made to search for those skills in a person that would be most in need on a priority basis. module technicians capable of assembling modules to live in after we first arrive on mars. shelter is probably the number one priority of the early explorers . initially they would use their space vehicle as pre planned shelter that could easily be set up on a semi permanent basis. modules sent previously by supply ships and dropped by parachute into the area of where the planned community was going to be, will then be returned to the colony site . these modules would be filled with supplies they will need in the coming months to start the community on a track to self sufficiency. 

     if water exists and at least some metals in the form of ore like iron ore or some other type of metal say bauxite and maybe silica to make glass , and soon we have a basis for us to manufacture our own structures allowing the population to increase . water is the main key to it all as if water exists the 2 major components of water is hydrogen and oxygen. we could heat the water and release the oxygen and expel the hydrogen back into martian atmosphere. we could build a small nuclear generator such as those used on submarines to generate the heat and electricity we would need to initially start the colony. having heat would allow the water to boil, releasing the oxygen. having artificial light would allow one to grow food and vegetables necessary to sustain human nutritional needs.  some form of carbon material would be desirable to achieve sustainability of  human life as carbon plays a major role in producing food for our tables in the form of carbon dioxide . plants require it for photosynthesis , turning the suns energy into plant food. this may be present though not evident as it is here on earth. on earth we have lush green forests and jungles that help temper our environment , as well as become sources for storing the suns energy over a period of time. on mars the forests may be a sea of brown mold or green goo , which would serve as the flora and fauna of mars. 

     if we can not eventually be self sufficient then mars may not be the place to go. i would say any earth exploration event should only be attempted as a means to sustain life beyond our earth planet. our resources would be better spent trying to extend life beyond our earth planet, irregardless of how far that may be. 

   well we have checked out all the parameters of the project and have decided it is a go with our final five women and 3 men on board , i will attempt to take you along on this ride to another planet. and since you are going along . just ask yourself the question. just what was it you did to get life in prison?  i told a joke. think i heard a song like that one time in my life. gilbert o sullivan i believe or leo sayer. more soon. 

pretty as a picture      

      i know i was going to talk about the greenhouse , but have decided instead to talk about mars. you check out the greenhouse pics while i ramble on with my conceptual view of populating mars.   

     i was reading about the nasa mission to mars on their car size rover, with a name like conqueror or something like curiosity, and they believe they have found evidence of water on the planet.the infinite possibility of having life extend beyond our world.  with water all things are possible as through distillation and evaporation the possibility of sustaining a controlled environment could exist. a possible mars community could arise and through technology such as the ones being used to power curiosity , which is nuclear, a larger one would produce the heat and lights and to grow vegetables and support a colony under roof to protect ones life from mars harsh environment.

     in order to support life on another planet the essential chemicals or gases have to exist to support human life. to take them from earth and transport to another planet would be fruitless and costly . to have life exist beyond our planet is a possibility as defined by the iss- international space station circling earth now. we have the technology we just don't have the right resources on the other end to make it feasible or not a death sentence for the explorers to attempt. 

     now i have to question nasa" attempt at exploring with curiosity the rover. why didn't they put a drill capable of drilling 20 feet down . the extra weight created by adding twenty feet of drill stem could have been easily displaced by throwing the robot arm in the ditch. it looks awkward and clumsy in pics beamed back as if that is the best nasa could do. 

      knowing a little about geology and understanding principals of physics feel that the rover could easily drill 20 feet down in the alluvial stream bed hopefully finding a good and clear source of water. to me this is more important than traipsing and lolly gagging  about the alluvial plains of mars on a sight seeing trip at the tax payers expense. but the thought of being stuck in the hole with the drill in a down position would instantly end  the curiosity rover mission. 

      by now you assume this is just total ramblings from what ever, and you are wondering off. fear not there is more. now who should be the first explorers on mars? this is a possible life sentence as help would not be immediately available in fact may be weeks or months as i believe it takes months to just travel to mars let alone raise a rescue mission . our technology has to be tight and proven. meaning you can not have mistakes as any type of enclosure would have to be proven here on earth in the harshest environments first say Antarctica or possibly the sahara desert. if we couldn't survive and establish with out outside help communities in these harsh environments then we are wasting our time on mars. 

      but suppose we do have the technology and it is proven and all things are go, then who is our first explorers. as i have said it could possibly be a death sentence  as establishing a zero life loss protocol to the project would require relay stations orbiting the sun appropriately spaced at intervals between earth and mars to act as emergency res-ponders and weigh stations. expensive to maintain versus what we are going to get from mars. 

       first let me address the first explorers issue. i feel this enviable right should go to a young life in prison prisoner, who has either received a life sentence with no chance of parole or is on death row. in whatever nation and from whatever background as we would look for the best candidate , that would agree to join the mission . say four men and  four women equally would share the first trip to colonize mars . i will talk more about this as i have to get moving and come down to earth and realize i do have a life. tomorrow.

                                              

at summers end

     the sun shines bright and burns into your eyes and lights up the sky with brilliant rays of sunlight etching their way into your mind as yet another season wains. the sun and heat were relentless this summer , the cool breezes send chills up your arms whispering of winter coming . the harvest was fruitfall a generous amount of vegetables are being canned or frozen and already i am starting on next year. 

     the green house should be reconstructed and under roof within the next week . the end walls are done and the screen doors will soon be installed . need to purchase a vent and more wiggly wire to secure the plastic tomorrow.  but it will soon be covered with plastic. the pictures i am going to show you are of the greenhouse after i purchased it, and tomorrow i will have pics of greenhouse as it is now. hopefully you will find some improvements and hopefully this greenhouse will be a welcomed addition to our home farm. 

     everyone asks me what i am going to grow in the greenhouse. not quite sure and really havent thought that far ahead, as i have been concentrating on the rebuild process. i am already planning on improvements to the greenhouse after i install roof. a potting shed needs to be attached to the rear of the greenhouse. stone beds also will be installed with drip watering system. also i intend to create runoff reservoir to trap water landing on greenhouse site and reuse it for plant watering. beds will need to be planted on side of greenhouse. plan on filling these beds with rhubabrb and asparagus,. 

              

      so the pics above show wood ends and these have been replaced  with double wall plastic w/ steel framing. welll you can see for your self what the differences will be in tomorrows blog. until then have a good one. 

its coming!

     

      this isnt this years pics, but i have seen troubling signs of impending bad weather today at lowes. they have just received a load of snow blowers  fresh off truck. and the riding lawn mowers are now on sale . 

     i will in an attempt to be brief will move on to our subject at hand. well speaking of data as i have for the last 3 posts  and perusing the aisles of lowes it came to me about how much more technology is affecting my life as compared to when i was a child. the bar code system which can be scanned by an app on your phone , now is responsible for stocking, ordering , and information of parts off the shelves . for the food we eat , and virtually everything we purchase today. it allows freight to be tracked and ends up as data in an accountants profit or loss column. 

     computers are responsible for the food we eat as they monitor chicken houses and monitor environmental , nutrition , and health of livestock. after the meat is packaged and stamped a bar code symbol is attached. all facets of our life is dependent on artificial intelligence. technology isn't just data management but is also felt in design . computer aided drawing , and design has allowed manufacturers to apply design stress analysis to simulate actual field conditions. this process allows manufacturers money saving start up costs. this has lead to larger more productive machinery with computer monitoring and adjustment .

    medicine , energy production , warfare and defense systems , our telephone and our newspapers are dependent on some kind of artificial intelligence. and now i ask. 

   is this good for america? are we becoming to dependent on complex mechanisms  to sustain life as humans in the event of a major tragedy affecting the majority of our population. do we need to dumb down the basics so we can effectively run an operation without the artificial intelligence. our power plants are very susceptible to environmental tragedies and without proper backup may be near impossible to restart after a national tragedy. sometimes the reemergence of electricity to a national tragedy event has a calming and soothing affect on people directly affected by the lack of electricity. should we not fool proof our generating systems , and a multitude of other industries we are dependent on to be able to run on basic commands of run and stop if it is vital to our society. 

    seems we always are looking for more efficient means of doing things. we pay our bills on line and you could in effect search e-bay and find that little red porsche you have always wanted. and where is all this technology going to end if it will. are we at the pinnacle of the human races ascent on higher learning? have we learned all we can and where do we go from there. or is the human race destined for an ending similar to the science fiction novel " flowers for algernon" , where this rat and a supposedly disabled person took this drug to make them smart . the book is told through the disabled persons eyes as his perceptions and writing style changes as they take a drug to make them smarter. he becomes so smart he recognizes the inherent weakness of the drug and eventually reverts to his old self. a sad but important book in my life. will man get so smart he wont know what to think about. will the human race atrophy, wither and die. have we sanitized our minds. or will the fringe thinkers provide out of the box solutions to human survival

        if you had a machine that does everything for you, thought for you showed emotions, and basically was capable of everything you are, what would you do or want then? 

     technology is a tool we use to help us and hopefully never think for us. men on the moon with a computer that was half of my laptop , just amazes me.

     we live in a fabulous time. enjoy the ride. 

always wanted to do this.

   but the closest i came was carving me a pair of sasquatch shoes i have used on occasion. i actually carved a human foot on these platform logs to create a man ape foot much longer than mine. i used them on a survivalist neighbors garden in the soft soil looked great. it does take a bit of getting used to when wearing these and now i admit to how easy it is to roll off the sides of these shoes. couldn't imagine how  a woman walks in heels.

    imagine stilts take some getting used to along with uncle sam outfit and little kiddies wanting balloons in the heat. to me it is recipe for disaster as i could imagine me getting light headed and making everybody's  worse fears come alive as i start to weeble and wobble, and then fall down.  people running and screaming like a bad godzilla movie, as my shadow overpowers them with  doom as they might get caught under my hulking mass as i tumble face first into the hard grassy turf. yeah i better stay off stilts i am tall enough already. 

    again i digress as i should be talking about computers and technology as it has changed my life. well to understand where i am going with this you must understand  how i came to think about this subject at all. i bought a new cell phone which has  a touchscreen and internet capabilities with android base operating system and bluetooth as well as wifi capability. it is a learning experience and it also takes digital pics i have already shared with you and doubt you could  not  pick over a regular camera. this phone per se , also has gps capability and speech recognition as well as mapping ability. the only thing i need is a cell tower at the top of the hill for better service. but what i have isn't bad and i was and i am amazed at the capability of this phone. and it has good to excellent voice quality. when using as a phone. and the price is modest. it is dick tracy's wrist phone in reality. imagine shooting a video with your cell phone,  say something like the " silence of muslims", and you want to post it to u tube , you can do it in about five minutes . hardly time to get out of town before unfriendly's seek you out. this is amazing technology and doubt if they had me in mind when designing this thing. now i can sit down anywhere and write to my hearts content and post it to the world to see. no they were secretly hoping i would never buy one . oh well

      anyhow nothing makes you feel older than reminiscing about how things have changed. and i started thinking about how it has changed and decided to write about it. so humor me and read along. otherwise i might ave to change the colors on the side of your rubics cube to get your attention. 

    the 95 windows computer was a leap from the earlier apple computers i worked on but was slower than the new acad computers i was using in college. at that time i was 37, it was intimidating going back to college, and i  was in for technology shock as well.  i had spent time in college after high school that  hardly prepared me for what i was learning at a later time in my life. the only bad part was the 18 year olds understood technology better than i.

        but i caught on and the same with the new technology i adapted and survived and tried as well as tested the gadgets. trying to never be intimidated by something new. i was in awe of technology and soon had me a new 98 windows operating system with all the bells and whistles. actually more stuff than i would ever use. it was set up for a dragon point and speak writing system that would allow you to speak directly into your computer and then it would type automatically. it was supposed to learn your voice and learn from mistakes. well it worked ok but it was still faster to type and i am no expert at that. i bought my first digital camera and think i still have it. it was huge but i took a bunch of pics with it. at best i could crowd 5 pics onto it and then  i would grab a disposable 35 mm when i was on vacation if i wanted to take a bunch of pics. the 98  was a fairly good operating system and was easy to learn to fix . guess that is why they went onto the newer versions. 

      well tomorrow i will continue on with my ramblings about technology changes. later 

   

      technology revisited-  my first brush with a computer.
    my first year at ati was an introduction to the computers of that age. that age was was the year of 1975 , and the computers were massive at that time. we were taught basic and fortran programming to allow us to do time saving tasks involving complex mathematics. apple also had a computer we used at that time, and i believe windows was in its infancy. in fact they still used card readers to perform simple sorting and math computations involving massive computers occupying a large room at the college of wooster that were equipped with huge magnetic disks, and reel to reel tapes as storage devices to increase the computers speed and capabilities. we were able to time share on telephone modem we actually that we had to cradle a handset of an old dial telephone into and you could hear the digital signals beep as you made a connection. there was maybe 40 desks with input terminals and each terminal was linked to a printer.
   we were supposed to perform a variety of tasks and it was up to us to schedule lab time when it was convenient. it all interfered with my partying, so the time i would pick for lab was times i knew no one else would take. i was by my self and i did have an instructor who was helpful but was busy as i inputted a feed analysis program . several attempts at trying to program the computer yielded the same results . a simple try help was all the computer would tell me. since the instructor was busy i decided to type in help and hit the return key.
     the printer come alive and 10 huge sheets of useless information began pouring out the computer as it emptied its bowels into trash basket as the paper was overflowing the desk . a quick look at the wording on the sheet reprimanded me for my free thinking ways as it called me an idiot , an asshole and a bunch of other a-words before going on to b . at which time i figured this may be a long drawn out answer. and  now i am at close to 20 huge sheets of nothingness being thrust upon me. i was thinking how do i shut this off , where is the instructor, and then it dawned on me to break the phone connection and it stopped.
    it was explained to me that an over zealous grad student had programmed the computer to respond to the word help being typed in. i felt violated mentally and was always wary of asking for help after that experience.
     well it was about then we had radio telephones available in vehicles . can remember sitting in a oilfield truck calling a friend in  the middle of winter. telling him i was in the middle of a nudist camp. the telephone was crude but i am sure a forerunner of today's cell phone. and oh yes the most interesting thing i found in a nudist camp were his and her johns. i was relieved at the thought that when you are at your most vulnerable a sense of decency still exists to make us worthy humans. some things i guess cant be shared , and sometimes a little tidying beside the rattle of leaves is required to make oneself presentable. i digress. my next computer was a windows 95 i bought off someone in paper as a used item. it was functional and at that time aol, almost on line, was just starting up. so began the dial up age which i will go into more tomorrow.
   

 


  technology and farming , how far have i come?
    remember those old days when a calculator was the greatest invention or maybe it was the portable radio. in first grade , i remember our class visiting another classroom and they had this huge abacus and i was in awe at such a magnificent machine. the chinese  pride themselves in their ability to manipulate the abacus to answer complex math problems. in second grade i remember we would receive a smaller version of the abacus to practice our adding. now i think they use a big yellow bird to teach children our age now , or perhaps several yellow birds at once , depending on the number.
    i was actually taught to count to 100 by the time i entered first grade as i worked in the woods with summer college help and they taught me how to add and subtract. i guess we could compare it to head start program as the department of forestry was paying these youths to work , and not necessarily teach me , but it was better than working for them. but they were thorough when teaching me . they would teach me biology and science related items and to appreciate the woods we were working in. this all took place when i was five and living at our other farm. the department of forestry had hired my grandpa to lead teams of these workers clearing trails and digging out research sites.and i would tag along.
   my next calculator was a slide rule. i think it was mr. dietrich who insisted all chemistry students learn to use a slide rule to calculate math problems.it was a very intimidating stick of wood as it symbolized intelligence . having one in a pocket protector and inserted in a white shirt pocket escalated one to a level of higher learning , whether you knew how to use it or not. i became quite proficient at using it, but always wondered at the how and why someone would ever come up with such a thing. but then i had no idea that x's and o's would the basis of the binary system and that would be the code to tell computers what to do. having achieved the mastery of the slide rule it then prepared me for the next great innovation . the digital calculator.
    they had the old adding machines that would add subtract divide and would figure interest, and these were the workhorse of most accounting systems at the time. this time i am talking about was the early seventies. the excitement in the adding industry came when people started using the digital calculator. my first calculator was the texas instruments ti-50. its bulky design and limitless features(you supplied the needed keystrokes to perform a variety of math related features). but when they came out i recall seeing student after student toting around their own personal computing device and already teachers and educators were begining to examine how these new adding tools would be allowed to be used. in college we were allowed to bring our calculators to take tests, and the only thing was that we had to show our work. some of the calculators i had were capable of storing complete complex math equations , as well as formulas needed to solve problems.
      i had went to an ag college , at ati agricultural technical institute, part of ohio state university, and i was being introduced to a new agriculture based on scientific data, and complex equations to determine such field measurements as soil acidity, moisture, cost per acre, and a variety of things.
     these hand held calculators were a blessing when it came to providing the answers needed by our instructors as they grilled us. tomorrow i will continue with my first introduction to computers and this was around the time i graduated from college. later

    well i am finally back from my hiatus of not writing and will try and update as to where i am at.
    my summer has been fraught with agony of projects unfinished and me dealing with my inability to accomplish even the simplest tasks with out any sense of order. chaos is my best friend and accompanies me everywhere. i try to find solace in the simple things but become agitated at all things mostly undone.
     i wonder if this is just a stage of my life i am going through. and wonder  how i had inner peace before at an earlier time of my life when i had less . it seemed as if i was happier and actually spent time on myself . it is hard being your own boss, as sometimes all you do is up for analysis. did i meet my quota , did i set the bar high enough. and if i was able to meet my goals i say to myself as if it was nothing, i still have more to do. at times i feel as if i am in a race to the end of my life and i have only so much time to burn. as if i actually would know when that time is and i might leave unfinished business, or perhaps no trace of me behind.  and in some respects would that be all bad. as far as the unfinished business goes , i imagine everyone leaves some baggage behind in ways . and even that , which may be things or memories will soon escape everyone's mind as time diminishes all .
    kind of depressing thoughts , but was not meant to be , but instead some thoughts i have had recently as i try to figure out why i am so brash at times. i think some people secretly call me an asshole but are not willing to admit it. pain has a way of invading your life, and this time i am talking about physical pain. i think arthritis is limiting me to an extent. mentally i think i am as sharp as i ever was, but it is the pain constant and torturing at times that makes me irritable. i am not fond of taking drugs but have found myself at the advice of my doctor now shoving 5or 6 depending on the day, down my gullet to make me even half sociable. and if you ask james the guy helping me on the greenhouse , he would say half is stretching things.
     i keep hoping for some cure to rid me of my pain , but only understand that keeping on keeping on is the only thing i can do. to just try and push on , no matter what. the end will come soon enough, but in the meantime i need to try and accomplish all i have set out to do. and to realize i am a better person than what i appear to be . and that i need to show this face more often when it comes to expressing myself.
    will write about the ducks as i have not been so lucky in this area of fowl raising. not because of sickness but because of predators. i have learned several things from the ducks this year, and one is that it isnt because they didn't try rearing large broods. in fact they were rearing every time i looked out the door or any time the female ducks would look crosswise at a male the rearing was on. broods of ducks were raised but inevitably something ate them. i loved watching the ducks and currently are down to 2 brave survivors . 2 males i provided to another friend for her pond and as potential mates to her one and only duck.
    i am pretty much a naturalist when it comes to things. try not to interfere with nature. not quite sure what the predator is yet, but think it might be a coon or a coyote. i have seen coyotes crossing in the back yard. an enclosure for the ducks with access to the water for breeding season is in order for next year.

    i have spent a good portion of my time working on reconstructing the greenhouse and it is evolving into a fine structure i can be proud of. and it wont be done soon enough. other projects are calling me and winter is coming. so much to do so little time .