Deeper?

Yesterday's meeting was a science team, brought together to debate goals and configurations for a robotic mission to Phobos... I was there to discuss whether subsurface access was feasible for a modest mission, ranging from rock abrasion tools to multi-segmented drills. Anchoring is an issue... it is more like docking with the small planetoid rather than a proper landing. I argued that a cold-gas hovercraft is the best way to approach and stay close to outcrops and boulders, as wheels hitting bumps would send a craft up into space.

My dinner companion was the study co-I, Alan Hildebrand, of Chicxulub fame... yami_mcmoots will probably appreciate this ;-).

I'm over my personal angst... I think that I just don't do shallow or first interactions well. But deeper... yes.

Back home for a couple of weeks

Back from Vancouver, via lunch in Seattle with the cute and cuddly who_is_she. Driving across the border southward, I had to go through an hour of moderate snowfall, but traction stayed good on I-5.

I bought quantities of Canadian chocolate -- Smarties, Aero bars, Coffee Crunch, etc -- for my kids, who regard them as exotic. Actually, they view Canada as strange and exotic generally. I think that is because it is close enough to their home culture that it is recognizable and hence in perspective for the kids, while cultures in places like Japan or Morocco are so alien and opaque to my offspring that I may as well have gone to Mars in their view...

Now, I can stay home for a couple of weeks, before any more business travel. Time to rest and catch up with Pat, the kids and set up lunches with friends.