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Riding With Robots

@ridingrobots.bsky.social

1.3K followers 490 following 550 posts

Robotic solar system exploration, night sky photography, exasperating earnestness. Opinions my own.

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 7d

The government is shut down, but they can't stop me from posting stuff here.

At Mars this weekend, it's all eyes on the skies. NASA's robotic explorers – in orbit and on the ground – will attempt observations when Comet 3I/ATLAS cruises past the Red Planet on Oct 3

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQH...

NASA Spacecraft Observe Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS as It Approaches Mars

YouTube video by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

www.youtube.com

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 7h

Writing about space today in the cabin where Ed Abbey wrote some of his books.

“This is the most beautiful place on Earth. There are many such places.”

A small wooden cabin under a large tree. Mountains glowing red with sunset in the background.

A road sign reads: Desert Solitaire Road. Mountains glowing red with sunset in the background.

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BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 9h

Some percentage of America is OK with the President of the United States constantly issuing forth a withering stream of lies, contempt, and vituperative grievances and attacks on Americans who are their brothers, sisters, friends, parents, and co-workers.

Those people are telling you who THEY are.

Michael J. Stern @michaeljstern.bsky.social · 9h

Remember this?

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Maxim Peter Griffin @maximpetergriff.bsky.social · 15h

8/10/25 - nocturn

small hours
big time

clear night for Draconids meteor shower
look up at Ursa Minor then left to Hercules

turn all the lights off
do not sleep

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 15h

This new catalogue of dust devils gives us a much clearer picture of the Red Planet’s weather and climate.

But besides pure science, it will also be useful for planning future missions, like dealing with the irksome dust that settles on the solar panels of our robotic rovers.

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celli @aliascelli.bsky.social · 17h

I love words.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 19h

grawlix | noun | a series of typographical symbols (such as $#!) used in text as a replacement for profanity

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Steve Brown - astronomy and astrophotography @sjbastro.bsky.social · 17h

Renewable energy overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity in the first half of this year - a historic first, according to new data from the global energy think tank Ember. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity

Developing countries lead the historic clean energy charge but the US and EU rely more on fossil fuels than before, a think tank study shows.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Hourly Cosmos @hourlycosmos.bsky.social · 1d

Petroglyphs at Parowan Gap - From Bill (ridingrobots.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2nDk5hi

I'm most definitely not the first person to watch the sky here.

Near Parowan, Utah

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NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 1d

Never forget that Dolly Parton gave a million bucks for covid research at the *very start* of the pandemic—including money that helped fund the development of the Moderna vaccine.

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Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 1d

Look at her go!
#invertebrates 🌿

Screen shot of Project Monarch app map of progress of a monarch butterfly from southern Ontario to Oklahoma.

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 1d

Moonrise over Salt Lake City

The full moon rises in hazy skies over tall mountains. In the foreground, city lights carpet the valley floor. Photo: Bill Dunford

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d

It's a pretty big deal that the NYC Bar Association--one of the most prominent and respected bar associations in the country--is accusing the President of ordering the "unlawful summary execution," i.e. murder--of civilians in violation of US and international law. www.nycbar.org/press-releas...

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Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.bsky.social · 1d

A someone who has written extensively about the eugenic roots that permeates those who claim to be building so-called artificial general intelligence, I'm here to tell you to please NOT compare criticism against corporations claiming to build a machine god, with eugenics. The audacity.

if you're writing a sentence that sounds like eugenics but you go "oh that's fine to say because it's not a real person" (whatever that means) you may want to consider what made you okay with saying that.

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Andy @andyoregon.bsky.social · 2d

Jess Waters recycling the same guy over and over to represent “former” different enemies

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Jamison Foser @jamisonfoser.bsky.social · 1d

aside from the whole "that definitely isn't constitutional" part can anyone see any problems with Trump just transferring government revenue to whatever bank account he wants or nah?

George Pearkes @peark.es · 1d

Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT

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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 1d

“Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy’s policies and positions pose to the nation’s health cannot be ignored.”

Opinion | Six surgeons general: It’s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.

We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

wapo.st

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 1d

I was able to catch the launch while I was at the Cape for Europa Clipper. This is such a cool mission, following up on NASA's DART asteroid impact. Go Hera! www.esa.int/Space_Safety...

A rocket ascends from a launch pad on a pillar of flame. A waterway in the foreground. Photo: Bill Dunford

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Shannon Stirone @shannonstirone.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s the thing I wish everyone could hold in their minds about writers—we love em dashes. We use em dashes. We are humans and not AI. We will not be deleting our em dashes just because AI uses them too. We were here first. You can pry my em dashes from my cold dead hands. F*ck AI.

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 1d

First images of comet #3I/ATLAS from Europe's Mars orbiters 😍

Observing the comet from 30 million km away, #ExoMars reveals the halo of gas and dust surrounding the comet's nucleus.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭🧪

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 2d

Sound on

Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 2d

A mountain stream flowing by yellow bushes under a bright blue sky.

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David Burbach 🌹 @dburbach.bsky.social · 2d

One of the amazing things about this mission is that we took a piece of rock lost from Mars millions of years ago, found out of place on our Earth, and we BROUGHT IT HOME 🪨😊

Daniel Pomarède @pomarede.bsky.social · 2d

Today, Percy checks out the calibration target of her SHERLOC instrument, including a slice of a Martian meteorite and five spacesuit materials.

ℹ️ science.nasa.gov/resource/she...
ℹ️ www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/how-nas...

#Mars 0ct. 6, 2025 - Sol 1645
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 🧪🔭

The calibration target with, at left, five swatches of spacesuit materials that scientists are studying as they degrade. The first sample at top is polycarbonate for use in a helmet visor; inscribed with the address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it doubles as a geochache for the public. Other materials in the left row, from top: Vectran; Ortho-Fabric; Teflon; coated Teflon. Right row, from top: aluminum gallium nitride on sapphire; a quartz diffuser; a slice of Martian meteorite; a maze for testing laser intensity; a separate aluminum gallium nitride on sapphire with different properties.

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 2d

The world is full of fear. It also has this. I hope you can find a little where you are, in one way or another.

Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah this evening

Colorful autumn aspens and green pines in late afternoon light on a mountainside in Utah. I hope you have new, better dreams. Photo: Bill Dunford

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Michael Battalio @battalio.com · 2d

Did Perseverance see 3I/Atlas? Yes, maybe.

Is Avi Loeb using this as an opportunity to falsely impugn actual science in an effort to blow smoke up his own ass? Yes, undoubtedly.

Basically nothing Loeb has been in the news for in the last 5 years has proven correct. Stop falling for his grift.

Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 4d

Last night, NASA's Perseverance rover looked up at the night sky once more, to capture interstellar #comet 3I/Atlas flying by the red planet.

The distance was "only" 0.2 AU or 30 Mio km, far closer than the comet ever got to Earth. 🔭 #3IAtlas

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Simeon Schmauß

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Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 2d

To any (mutual) space journos, I'm happy to answer a few questions about the 3I/Atlas images from Perseverance in the hope we can debunk some of the misinformation that is going around currently.

Simeon Schmauß @stim3on.bsky.social · 4d

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 2d

The night side of Saturn illuminated by ringshine. If you were at the planet's cloud tops anywhere in the glowy regions near the bottom of the image, the rings would span the night sky, blazing with reflected sunlight.

Hourly Cosmos @hourlycosmos.bsky.social · 2d

Glow In The Dark - From Gordan Ugarković (ugordan.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/4hsoyr

This very long exposure view of Saturn shows the planet's nightside. The image was taken on 21st January 2007 from a distance of 1.5 million km and at a phase angle of 113 degrees. Cassini was high above the ring plane, looking down on Saturn's north polar area.

The planet's daylit side was severely overexposed resulting in some light bleeding in the camera optics (showing as a blue glow approx. on Saturn's north pole and also as a subtle circular artifact at image center). The nightside below the equator (which is illuminated by reflected ringshine) is also overexposed. The mid-northern latitudes seen here glow due to light diffused through the rings on the unlit side and show clouds on the planet. The dark band marks the equator, from where the rings appear edge-on and hence provide no illumination. Inner edge of the D ring is barely visible at lower left.

For a comparative simulated view at the time see here.