Catching up

Worldwide (Map) 
June 17, 2022 - 538,260,000 confirmed infections; 6,316,775 deaths
June 17, 2021 – 1.77,120,700 confirmed infections; 3,835,000 deaths

US (Map) 
June 17, 2022 - 86,154,500 confirmed infections; 1,012,900 deaths
June 17, 2021 – 33,500,000 confirmed infections; 600,700 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal) 
June 17, 2022 - 3,983,700 confirmed infections; 101,600 deaths
June 17, 2021 – 1.774,500 confirmed infections; 58,225 deaths

Posts from:
June 17, 2021, “Heavy heart” 
June 18, 2020, “He speaks” 

News blues

“Fauci ouchie”! Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has Covid, a mild case, thank the gods.
Read more >> 

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The Lincoln Project:
40 Feet  (0:47 mins)
Clear and present danger  (0:35 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - June 14, 2022  (2:05 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

I thought I’d misheard when I first learned the Men on the Moon – first people to land on the moon back on July 24, 1969 – left bags of garbage behind when the departed  I’d been astonished at the temerity – and lack of, well, respect. 

Who visit a unique place and leaves garbage?
Humans. That’s who.
Turns out that was the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

More than half a century of lunar exploration has left its mark on the moon… the relentlessly grey surface is littered with clapped-out robots, spacecraft parts, moon buggies (including one with a bible on the dashboard) and technical equipment.
Scattered around the Apollo landing sites are other items that were never meant to come home: a falcon’s feather, a javelin, bags of human waste, a family photo and an aluminium figure, the Fallen Astronaut, which lies on its side near a plaque bearing the names of 14 men who died in the pursuit of space exploration.
In all, the lunar junkyard holds nearly 200 tonnes of human objects. The dusty remains of five Saturn V rocket stages from the Apollo missions are the heaviest single items. Then there are the wreckages of spacecraft that smashed, or were crashed intentionally at the end of their missions, into the lunar surface. There are a dozen 1960s Soviet Luna probes; nearly twice as many US Rangers, Lunar Orbiters, Surveyors and more recent observatories; at least four Japanese spacecraft, and other robots sent from Europe, China and India. In April, the mangled remains of the first private moon mission, Israel Aerospace Industries’ Beresheet probe, became the latest addition when the lander’s gyroscopes failed.

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Alas, we humans aren’t satisfied with leaving garbage on our moon. Now, we’re leaving trash on Mars.
The Nasa team member likely responsible for leaving the debris was “surprised” to see the images. He said, “That shiny bit of foil is part of a thermal blanket – a material used to control temperatures.… My descent stage crashed about 2 km away. Did this piece land here after that, or was it blown here by the wind?”
Hmmm, someone needs to explain to this space cadet that “pieces” travel thither and yon when they’re abandoned.
Out of sight, out of mind?

The image [of the shiny bit of foil] has reignited concerns that space exploration risks contaminating the pristine Martian and lunar environments. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 created an obligation under international law to avoid the harmful contamination of outer space, the moon and other celestial bodies, but some argue that the law is not detailed enough to ensure protection. However, in the case of the Perseverance litter, Prof Andrew Coates, a space scientist at UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: “The good news is that everything is sterilised before it goes to Mars, and the space radiation environment helps during the nine-month trip to Mars as does the harsh surface environment.”

“Everything is sterilized”?
So, leave trash everywhere and anywhere – as long as it’s “sterilized”….(Moreover, how does one sterilize poop?)
Read more >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Goldilocks weather: not too hot, not too cold. Juuust right!

Afternoon meditation on the beach.

Happy Canada geese

SF Bay Area:
Sunrise: 5:46am
Sunset: 8:33pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:52am
Sunset: 5:07pm