May 2008 Archives

Greg Chapman - Research

I work for a cable channel that makes great documentaries and I enjoy the majority of programs that we send out on air, but that doesn't mean that I soley satisfy my non-fictional thirst with Nat Geo. One of my favorite documentary series over the past couple of years has been FX's 30 Days.

Hosted by Morgan Spurlock, the show delves in to the unordinary lives of people for 30 Days to show viewers, such as myself, what it is like to be transplanted from comfortable surroundings and in to a unknown world. The show caught my attention right from the start when Morgan and his girlfriend lived on minimum wage for 30 Days during its premiere episode. It really shocked me in to thinking of what my own life would be like if had to live like that, and this was before Congress boosted minimum wage levels this past year!

And of course I had seen Super Size Me while in college and was curious about a show that Spurlock was attached too.

Thought I would pass along a clip from the show for Nat Geo viewers that aren't familar with it yet...Give it a chance, let me know what you think.

30 Days begins its new season on Nat Geo Channel's sister network FX on Tuesday June 3 at 10p et/pt

On Sunday, June 1, the National Geographic Channel will be premiering Stonehenge Decoded. National Geographic Channel takes you on an archeology roller coaster ride to derive what it's mystical purpose was, how it was built in a time of lesser technology, and what it meant to people that built it. Below are a number of links that can help you explore this topic along side the channel.

Preview clips from the show ahead of the premiere.

If video isn't your thing, we have photos too!

Head straight to the Salisbury Plain for the closest look to the temple, aside from being right there.

Play the offical Stonhenge Decoded game - guaranteed brain teasers that frustrate even the smartest person.

Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel has his own theory of who built the temple.....

Source: NASA

[10:16 pm]
Greg: Well that's it...Mark May 25, 2008 down on your calendar as when Science took the next step in Mars exploration. NASA has acheived its goal and the Lander will begin to send back more images of the Martian atmosphere any minute. Even more important we will be seeing data in the next couple of days of whether or not the Lander found water. Stay tuned.

I just wanted to say thank you to Robert Denise and Miles Smith for joining us here tonight. They are both extremely busy people tonight and wanted to say thanks to them for spending some time with us. And also a big thanks to NASA's Veronica McGregor.

Big thanks to the good folks over at Move Networks. Inc. for feeding us the live video stream from NASA.

And on the Nat Geo side, I want to thank Executive Producer Howard Swartz for cooking up this great idea, Elspeth Johnson for spending the day at Phoenix Mission Control and finally our great operations team - Fletch and Co. - for having a seamless night.

Goodnight everyone. We are another step closer to figuring out what else is roaming in our universe.

Until next time...

Sunday is almost here. NASA's Phoenix Lander sets down at (estimated) 7:53 pm est and the National Geographic Channel will be ready to give you all the information you need to know about the mission.

Below are some links to help give you a background of the mission and also addtional multimedia that the channel has put together ahead of this potential ground breaking mission to Mars.

Take the Naked Science Quiz to test your intellect about Mars.

Latest news on the mission.

Nat Geo Channel's multimedia & NASA's multimedia

Relive past missions and heights of NASA's success here.

Youngest supernova observed in the milky way.

And more science related photos.

Greg Chapman Research

Today is a special day around here at National Geographic. Not only is it a beautiful day here in the Nation's Capitol, but it is also the final day of the 2008 Geo Bee.

The Geo Bee is an annual, nationwide geography competition for students in grades four through eight around the country. It is meant to help increase awareness and interest in the subject of geography, with the hopes school systems will integrate the subject more in to their curriculum.

I'll post the results as soon as they are available.

Take today's quiz and see if you can rank up there with this year's contestants.

By the way, it is hosted by Jeopardy's Alex Trebek, (I'm a pretty big fan of Jeopardy....pretty much like the rest of the country.)

Jennifer Peedom - Essential Viewing Group

When I bumped into fellow Australian climber Lincoln Hall at Advance Base Camp on Everest in 2006, we were both on the mountain for different film projects. Neither of us could have imagined that soon they would be working on a film about Lincoln himself, based on an unimaginable set of circumstances that occurred that season on Everest.

It was one of the deadliest seasons on record on Mt Everest. Eleven people died, and Lincoln Hall very nearly made the death count twelve. As my team made our way up the mountain on our final summit push, I ran into Lincoln again. We stopped and chatted for a while, then climbed together briefly, between camps one and two. It was the last time I saw him on the mountain.

Following the expedition, I was exhausted and emotionally drained. On the way home to Australia, my husband and I having both lost about 10kg, decided to stop over in Thailand for a week to rest and recuperate. It was there that I received and email from a mutual friend of Lincoln's and mine with the shattering news that he had died. As I sat in the tiny internet café, I really wondered what the point of it all had been. The final, pointless death in a horrendous season. I vowed never to return. Later than night at dinner, I received a phone call from the same friend, with the news that Lincoln may still be alive. Only a couple of weeks later, we were both in Sydney, sitting in a café, looking at the blackened frostbitten tips of Lincoln's fingers.

It was decided that we would re-create much of Lincoln's ordeal, as no one had been filming. We would intercut this footage with actual footage from the mountain, including the extraordinary real radio transmissions made on the mountain at the time.

NASA announced on Tuesday that everything is on course for Phoenix Lander's dissent in to Mars' atmosphere on May 25th. The Lander will be making an unprecedented attempt at landing on the Martian ice caps and will be sending the first known data of the martian planet within days of landing.

The lander will be making the amazing journey at a mere 17,000 mph and will touch down on the planet as early as 7:53 pm, according to NASA scientists. The solar powered robot will then extend its nearly eight foot scoop and begin to dig through the ice and soil on Mars. The hopes are to find evidence of microbial life and begin to analyze at what extent life can or cannot exist on the planet.

Have a question about the landing? Submit your question here on the blog or in our community area for a chance to be answered during the NGC Blog's Live-blogging event on May 25th.

For more on the Mission go to the Phoenix Lander's Official Site

*** The Phoenix mission is led by Smith with project management at JPL. The development partnership is with Lockheed Martin, Denver. International contributions are from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Source: NASA ***

If any NGC blog reader read one of my very first posts, you may know of my affinity for The Simpsons. And as I gear up for the live blogging event with NGC's Matt Zymet during the Phoenix Lander event on May 25, (which I hope you all join), I thought I would share one of my favorite clips that give a humorus side to NASA.

Enjoy!

Greg Chapman - Research

On May 25, 2008 NASA's Phoenix Lander will enter the Martian atmosphere and land on its polar ice-cap into investigate Mars's past and to help further determine whether life on Mars can or has ever existed.

NGC's Matt Zymet and I, along with scientific experts will be live-blogging that night with reaction and commentary about the lander. It should be one of the most unique perspectives of Mars that we have been able to see to date. So please join us the night of May 25th and submit your questions to us ahead of time for a better chance for them to be answered by our experts.

Also take our poll question as to whether you think that life exists on Mars.

Viewers that caught the premiere of Inside a Cult on April 23 can testify to the stunning footage that was shown of the Strong City Cult and its leader Michael Travesser. Travesser and his followers are in the similar vein of other cults - the teaching of one leader about a judgement day soon approaching - but Travesser poses himself as not a follower of a God, but a God himself.

It has only been two weeks since the National Geographic Channel first aired this film and yet there has already been a need to update this saga. As you will see on Wednesday's encore airing of Inside a Cult, three children that were isolated in this compound have been removed and Michael Trevesser is now wanted for questioning related to some potential unlawful actions.

I don't have the complete details, but once the update is complete for Wednesday's airing, we'll all be able to find out what is going on.

Update: It's national news now.

Learn all you need to know about China's Geography, country facts, and a brief history overview

China is pushing architecture to its limits, while the world watches to see if they will finish everything on time.

If you are in the Washington D.C. area, the National Geographic Museum has the Visions of China photo exhibit until July 13. The exhibit profiles China's people, places, and booming infrastructure.

Videos: Polution problem in China?

More photos and wallpapers to click through