Blog update: new email updates service

I have also just updated the email updates for the blog, using MailChimp. Cleaner format, and you can also now subscribe from below the content of a blog post, in the sidebar or through an occasional pop-up. All current subscribers have been transferred to the new format already, so you don’t need to do anything. For this post, you might get both the old one and the new one today. If you do happen to get a copy of the old email as well still (for posts after this one), then you can just unsubscribe from that one. If you don’t get the new one, check your junk email folder and add my email address to your contacts (paulscottanderson@mac.com). With this, the emails are setup to go out at the same time each day, but only on days when there is a new blog post (this post serves as a first test, for 7:00 PM PT). There is also the ability to send emails other than just blog posts, if needed and other options. Thanks!

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NASA’s Opportunity rover celebrates 13 amazing years on Mars

Opportunity looks back at its landing spot within Eagle crater, after leaving tracks behind in the soil. This is where the rover began its journey 13 years ago. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Thirteen years. That is how long NASA’s Opportunity rover has now been exploring Meridiani Planum on Mars; not bad for a robot which was designed with a hoped-for nominal 90-day mission. Today marks the 13th anniversary of the landing of Opportunity, on Jan. 24, 2004 PST (Jan. 25, 2004 UTC). The mission since then has been nothing short of incredible, as Opportunity soon found evidence that Meridiani Planum used to be a much wetter place than it is now. It was a place where microbial life could have existed; whether it actually did or not is still unknown but Opportunity continues to provide more clues as it continues exploring vast sandy plains and mountainous crater rims.

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