Environmentalism and space exploration

I must admit that I let out a cynical laugh when I heard about the failed launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory yesterday. Apparently a faring on the Taurus XL rocket failed to separate properly and the spacecraft failed to reach orbit. The launch vehicle and its payload landed in the Indian Ocean near Antarctica. The observatory was intended to gather data on atmospheric carbon dioxide and around the globe, but all the mission achieved was to further damage the environment.

While I am sure that there is value in an empirical analysis of the global carbon cycle to see whether there are any associated changes in climate, I do wonder whether that value outweighs the monetary cost of the project and the damage to the environment caused by rocket launches. Taking a Space Shuttle launch as a case in point, whereas only a small proportion of the exhaust from the rockets is made up of greenhouse gases, there is a significant release of carbon monoxide that may react in the atmosphere to produce carbon dioxide. We could add to this the amount of greenhouse gas released as part of the construction and refurbishment processes.

I am sure that NASA and the other space agencies around the world are busy implementing green measures. Nevertheless, I do wonder why environmentalists do not question the need for space exploration as vocally as they question the need for jet air travel and the use of motor cars. Personally I would prefer that the money was spent dealing with diseases like malaria and ensuring that everyone on Earth had access to clean water.

Payments received: myLot and Homepages Friends

I recently received my first payment from myLot - a discussion-based social networking site that pays you for your contributions. The earnings are not staggering but it is nice to receive payment for sharing my opinions, which I would probably do on other forums for nothing. As with each of these sites it is always a bit of a gamble until you see the first payment turn up in PayPal and then you know that it is not a scam.

On the subject of scams, I was beginning to wonder whether Homepages Friends was above-board. They offer a front end to Yahoo's search engine that credits you with a little bit of money just about every time you use it. I had reached the minimum payment amount months ago but had not received payment. Just when I had given up with the site and stopped using it I was surprised to see a rather significant payment to my PayPal account.

It will be interesting to see whether they have sorted out their problems next time that I reach the minimum payment amount. Needless to say I will keep you all informed of my progress making pin-money on-line.

Wednesday wallpaper: Turner`s Venice, from the Canale della Giudecca

Continuing the series of wallpapers created from various artworks, this week I present J.M.W. Turner's Venice, from the Canale della Giudecca. The romantic landscape painter completed this work after his third and final visit to Venice in 1840. This and others of Turner's watercolour works of this period influenced some impressionist painters.

I really like Turner's work, so expect a few more sets of wallpapers depicting his paintings over the next few weeks.

1920 x 1200 1680 x 1050 1600 x 1200 1440 x 900

1280 x 1024 1280 x 960 1280 x 800 1152 x 864
1024 x 768 1024 x 600 800 x 600 800 x 480