Mars rover picture

Mars (click to enlarge)

The Planets

Mars Curiosity Rover selfie

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earth bound full sized simulators (Link to blow up)

"Social-Justice Warriors Are Worrying about..."

"White Male Privilege on Mars"

Despite the fact that we’re clearly pretty far from colonizing Mars, the social-justice crowd is already freaking out that it’s going to be an oppressive, white-male dominated society and that we must act now to stop it.

“The last thing we need is to wake up in 50 years and find that a bunch of #gamergate nobheads are running Mars,” Martin Robbins writes in a piece for the Guardian titled, “How Can Our Future Mars Colonies Be Free of Racism and Sexism?” Robbins explains that part of his concern comes from the fact that humans’ colonization of new lands has traditionally been oppressive.

Islamic Leaders Issue Fatwa Prohibiting One-Way Trips To Mars

Well, they've got that covered now.  No need to worry it any longer.  Seems like a bit of a wast of time, though, doesn't it?  Who wants a one-way trip to Mars?

You may be wondering why anyone would want to take a one-way trip to Mars, and honestly I wonder that myself. However, Dutch company Mars One plans to do just that, and they received over 200,000 applicants vying to take the trip. In December of 2013 the group was paired down to 1058 candidates. If there are any Muslim candidates they may now want to reconsider.

 Reportedly, around 500 Saudis and other Arabs applied for the Mars One mission. The fatwa committee believes that some of them may be fleeing to Mars to escape punishment from Almighty Allah. However, the committee says not even traveling to Mars will allow one to escape Almighty Allah's judgment. They say, "This is an absolutely baseless and unacceptable belief because not even an atom falls outside the purview of Allah, the Creator of everything."

Okay then.  But here's the kicker that makes the whole thing suspect.

Professor Dr. Farooq Hamada, who presides over the fatwa committee, shared the motivation for issuing the fatwa: "Protecting life against all possible dangers and keeping it safe is an issue agreed upon by all religions and is clearly stipulated in verse 4/29 of the Holy Quran: Do not kill yourselves or one another. Indeed, Allah is to you ever merciful."

Let's look at that in slow motion.  Do.....not....kill....yourselves....or....one....another....

Seems good in theory, but the application of verse 4/29 has been spotty, to say the least, for anyone who has been following current events since, say 700 AD.

Fatwa or not, I am a little too fond of good old mother earth for a one-way trip to a barren red planet. Sorry Mars One, but I will monitor your progress from the comfort and safety of my comfy earthbound couch.

Read more here.

'Nasa says Mars mystery rock ‘appeared’ from nowhere'

"A mysterious rock which appeared in front of the Opportunity rover is “like nothing we’ve ever seen before”, according to Mars exploration scientists at Nasa."

"Experts said they were “completely confused” by both the origins and makeup of the object, which is currently being investigated by Opportunity’s various measuring instruments."

"Astronomers noticed the new rock had “appeared” without any explanation on an outcrop which had been empty just days earlier. The rover has been stuck photographing the same region of Mars for more than a month due to bad weather, with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California monitoring the images it sends."

 

"We had driven a metre or two away from here, and I think the idea that somehow we mysteriously flicked it with a wheel is the best explanation," Squyres said. Squyres is the lead Mars Exploration rover scientist.

 

Where do you think this rock came from? Unserious answers welcomed.