the cman blog » Pictures http://cman.cx/blog 'c' is for: connor, clinton, computers, and change Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:50:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Take these and shut up. http://cman.cx/blog/index.php/2009/07/19/take-these-and-shut-up/ http://cman.cx/blog/index.php/2009/07/19/take-these-and-shut-up/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:48:57 +0000 Connor http://cman.cx/blog/?p=473 Busy as all hell. Not abandoning the blog again.

Had a very pleasant and restful Sunday. The first in a few weeks. Took a couple hours to go out on the Mississippi with Turbo and take some pictures. Feel free to share. All images are Creative Commons Licensed Attribution, No Derivitives.

Existing UP Bridge over Mississippi at Clinton, IA

New Clinton Marina Complex

A Heron takes wing on the Mississippi

Der Immigrant windmill in Fulton, IL

Turkey vultures take in the sun on the shores of the Mississippi at Clinton, IA
All photos:
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]]> http://cman.cx/blog/index.php/2009/07/19/take-these-and-shut-up/feed/ 0 The Little Robots That Could. http://cman.cx/blog/index.php/2009/05/08/the-little-robots-that-could/ http://cman.cx/blog/index.php/2009/05/08/the-little-robots-that-could/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 15:53:11 +0000 Connor http://cman.cx/blog/?p=337 The Mars Rover, Opportunity watches its own tracks.
Nothing Earth shattering here. Just neat that these two little robots are still truckin’. They were built, launched 27 millionmiles, and landed on Mars for about $820 million. One shuttle mission on the other hand will set you back $450 mil. Originally designed to last for 90 martian days (24 hours, 39 minutes), Spirit landed on January 4, 2004 and Opportunity on January 24, 2004.

They have continued to work and provide useful science and imaging since then in temperatures that range from -79 F to a bit above freezing, in a environment of fine-grained dust and howling winds without being touched by human hands. No oil change, not wipe down, nothing.

Remember, they were designed and built with technology from the mid-1990′s. At this rate they’ll outlast GM and Chrysler.

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