Perserverence lands on Mars

It's been a wild ride since I last posted about a Mars rover landing.  I've worked with NASA since then on Curiosity.  But nothing changes, I'm just as excited as ever!  First images:

animations

first NASA go pro footage released

Amazing!

https://archive.org/details/EVAGoPro

Feel free to download...

Secret garden

rear cargo storage

I'd like to build something like this for secure storage.

careful dis assembly and reconstruction

It was submerged in a mountain lake,

but for only a few seconds,

I powered it off immediately.

I slurped water from its ports.

For 3 days it lay,

in bag of rice.

I powered it on,

and behold it worked great!

But the down volume button was stucketh on.

Hence this careful dis assembly and reconstruction.

I used 99% alchohol to remove the rust and chemical build up.

The initial reaction with water caused only mild surface reaction.

After the cleaning, the phone went together fine and worked fine.

However, the down volume button was still stucketh on.

I hadn't broken anything, nor fixed it.

Down button + power on button = safe boot mode.

This meant every time the device powered on, it was in safe mode.

Restricting it to only run factory installed apps.

So it was only a phone, the internet, email, a camera and a text message device.

I used it as such for a month, no games, tools, or custom apps.

But my most beloved use of this device is GPS tracking, a custom app!

So I took it apart again!

The second time I soaked the motherboard and tactile key strip in alcohol.

Not just brushed the surface - but rather soaked the electronics in 99% alcohol fluid for an hour.

I let it dry, and put it back together, and it's working perfectly now!

Lego Space Shuttle

I was able to track down this classic LEGO set from the early 90s, which I feel represents the epitome of the interlocking-pieces toy concept perfectly, both in terms of variety and quality.

 I have a strong suspicion, no doubt really, that LEGOs played an important role in my creative development.

 I wanted to interact with a LEGO set from that era again, because as with anything, they just don't make them like they used to.

 So I began searching for the set which might appeal to my desire to own the perfect set.

 If I could only ever own one LEGO set, this Space Shuttle could be it!

The set consists of a nice assortment of parts and pieces. 

It includes multiple kinds of vehicles and several figures which give plenty of opportunity for interaction and story telling.

 The models in their assembled forms are clean and solid, built without too many specialty pieces.

 Thusly, they convey that approximation characteristic in their slightly blocky and crude forms, something that is a very big part of the charm of classic LEGO, for me anyways.

 But there's still enough variety to the pieces to really let the imagination go wild when realizing your own creations.

There are plenty of valuable unique pieces like wheels, turbines, hinges and clips.  

I also really liked the suggested other builds on the back of the box.  

That suggestion, and the fact that there are no directions on how to build them, may very well have been one of the key motivators which set my mind afire with an important concept. 

The idea that I can make anything.