Sunday, April 26, 2020
Come To Adobe ColdFusion Developer Week!
Just short and sweet... Adobe ColdFusion Developer Week is coming up. May 18-22, 2020.
Hubble: A 30 Year "Failure"
Way back in the primitive days of post-WW2 America, astronomer Lyman Spitzer wrote a paper discussing the benefits of a space-based telescope. He spent the next couple of decades trying to convince anyone to help with the development of this telescope.
After many funding problems, a bunch of technical issues, an extreme delay caused by a Space Shuttle disaster (that traumatized almost half of U.S. school kids, including yours truly) and a sky-rocketing budget, on April 24, 1990, NASA finally launched the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
Hubble has had a somewhat difficult history. It was a very ambitious undertaking with a lot of moving parts that had to be precise to an extremely small degree. It had plenty of naysayers, and the cost overruns made it an easy target for jokes about NASA and budgets.
But the HST is an instrument that is going to significantly improve our abilities to look further into space than we've been able to, and we were going to get back some AMAZING pictures.
And then....
After many funding problems, a bunch of technical issues, an extreme delay caused by a Space Shuttle disaster (that traumatized almost half of U.S. school kids, including yours truly) and a sky-rocketing budget, on April 24, 1990, NASA finally launched the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
Hubble has had a somewhat difficult history. It was a very ambitious undertaking with a lot of moving parts that had to be precise to an extremely small degree. It had plenty of naysayers, and the cost overruns made it an easy target for jokes about NASA and budgets.
But the HST is an instrument that is going to significantly improve our abilities to look further into space than we've been able to, and we were going to get back some AMAZING pictures.
And then....
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| Credits: Left: E. Persson (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile) / Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; Right: NASA, ESA and STScI |
The initial results were quite a bit underwhelming. The jokes took on a whole new life, even prompting Jay Leno to joke that Hubble should be shot down and put out of its misery. The project was a bust.
But fortunately, NASA has some pretty smart, persistent people working there. They realized that there was a problem with the mirror, and, since HST was designed to be manually serviced, they set out to do just that. It took a few space walks to get the mirror fully corrected, but after just the first fix in 1993, they got...
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| Spiral Galaxy M100 - Before/After 1st Fix Credits: NASA |
Hubble was working a lot better.
In the ensuing years, Hubble has been upgraded and significantly improved. It has made over a million impressive observations, made numerous discoveries, significantly increased our knowledge of our universe, given us stunning images to look at and sparked an interest in space. Hubble is a pretty impressive redemption story and has become an unimaginable success. Not too shabby for a project that was only supposed to last for 3 years.
The James Webb Space Telescope has some pretty large shoes to fill.
The James Webb Space Telescope has some pretty large shoes to fill.
Happy 30th "Birthday", Hubble!
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The Hubble Space Telescope, seen from the space shuttle
Discovery during the observatory's deployment
on April 25, 1990. (Image: © NASA)
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| Jupiter Moon Transit, January 24, 2015 (Image credit: NASA/ESA/STScI) |
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| Hubble took this image, titled "Cosmic Reef," released April 24 to celebrate its 30th anniversary. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/STScI) |
And a big THANK YOU to NASA, the ESA, the Goddard Space Flight Center and everyone else involved with Hubble.
Friday, April 17, 2020
Goodbye to an Old Friend
Today, I said goodbye to one of my oldest friends; a friend that has been with me for almost two decades.
This friend came along at the beginning of my software development career and has seen me through the many ups and downs of my path as a professional geek. When my youngest child was born, this friend was already there. Many years ago, this friend was destined for permanent retirement; thrown out like common refuse. Worthless. Headed for oblivion. But I saw value. I came to the rescue.
Home to home and half way across the state, this friend has followed me. It has been a rock and a comfort for me. I have battled many dangerous enemies with this friend. It has witnessed many of my adventures. This friend has helped me to face many challenges.
Sadly, it's time to say goodbye.
When I first found this friend, it was in a professional setting. Over the years, the friendship has moved to mostly leisure time.
The COVID-19 Quarantine has given me a chance to reconnect with this friend in a way that I haven't really experienced much in those ensuing 20 years. The last three weeks of Work-From-Home have given me the chance to spend a great deal of professional time with this friend, as opposed to the countless hours of fun and games this friend has been there for.
But the decision was made to move on before this craziness began. Commitments were made. Other companies were engaged to implement this split. I feel a little bad trading this friend in for a newer, younger model. But it had to be done.
My friend of 20 years will be leaving me today.
I am frankly quite impressed that it has made it this long. Only ONE of its siblings survived this far, and that one met its end about 3 years ago. I wish I remembered the brand. I believe my brother and I purchased office furniture at Office Depot. We bought several of these chairs, and then a couple of Executive Chairs. All of them lasted MUCH longer than I ever expected them to. Whatever it was, it was a very impressive brand.
But, alas, it is time to move on.
I can only hope that this new chair is able to form the same long-lasting bond that the other one did. It's not as fancy as the old one was, but, so far, it's comfortable.
Time will tell.
This friend came along at the beginning of my software development career and has seen me through the many ups and downs of my path as a professional geek. When my youngest child was born, this friend was already there. Many years ago, this friend was destined for permanent retirement; thrown out like common refuse. Worthless. Headed for oblivion. But I saw value. I came to the rescue.
Home to home and half way across the state, this friend has followed me. It has been a rock and a comfort for me. I have battled many dangerous enemies with this friend. It has witnessed many of my adventures. This friend has helped me to face many challenges.
Sadly, it's time to say goodbye.
When I first found this friend, it was in a professional setting. Over the years, the friendship has moved to mostly leisure time.
The COVID-19 Quarantine has given me a chance to reconnect with this friend in a way that I haven't really experienced much in those ensuing 20 years. The last three weeks of Work-From-Home have given me the chance to spend a great deal of professional time with this friend, as opposed to the countless hours of fun and games this friend has been there for.
But the decision was made to move on before this craziness began. Commitments were made. Other companies were engaged to implement this split. I feel a little bad trading this friend in for a newer, younger model. But it had to be done.
My friend of 20 years will be leaving me today.
 |
| Goodbye, old friend. |
I am frankly quite impressed that it has made it this long. Only ONE of its siblings survived this far, and that one met its end about 3 years ago. I wish I remembered the brand. I believe my brother and I purchased office furniture at Office Depot. We bought several of these chairs, and then a couple of Executive Chairs. All of them lasted MUCH longer than I ever expected them to. Whatever it was, it was a very impressive brand.
But, alas, it is time to move on.
 |
| Hello, new friend. |
I can only hope that this new chair is able to form the same long-lasting bond that the other one did. It's not as fancy as the old one was, but, so far, it's comfortable.
Time will tell.
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