March 2012
A huge dust devil on Mars
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a NASA space probe designed to explore Mars from its orbit together with other probes and the Mars Rovers. On February 16, 2012 one of the instruments of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a huge camera called the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), captured images of a dust devil in the region called Amazonis Planitia, a large plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars.
A Case of Conscience by James Blish
The novel “A Case of Conscience” by James Blish was published for the first time in 1958. The first part was published as a novella in the magazine “If” in 1953. The novel won the Hugo Award for best novel of the year. In 2004, the original novella won the Retro Hugo Award given to works published 50 years earlier.
In 2049 a human expedition is on planet Lithia, where the environment isn’t suitable for human beings but there’s an intelligent species that developed a culture completely different from those that appeared on Earth. Despite the many biological and cultural differences, humans are able to establish friendly relations with the Lithians.
The human expedition biologist, Father Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez, is also a Jesuit priest and is concerned by what emerges from his studies on the Lithians. They seem to have developed a perfect civilization without conflict but they don’t have a concept of divinity. Father Ruiz-Sanchez ends up getting convinced that they were created by Satan.
ESA reveals a piece of the new satellite air traffic management system
ESA is about to show a new interactive display that is part of the Iris project at the Air Traffic Control Global Exhibition and Conference in Amsterdam from March 6 to 8.
The Iris Project is being developed as part of the European Union program called SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research), which has points in common with the American project NextGen (Next Generation Air Transportation System).
