The Other Shoe: Lost in Space - Dawn At Ceres

(Moving GIF of Ceres Taken By Dawn - Thanks to NASA/JPL)

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Welcome back My Dear Shoevians to The Other Shoe. Well, it has been nearly two weeks since last I published, and for that I apologize. The pain in my; neck, back, arms and hands has just been off the charts for the past three months. I keep promising that I will publish a regular schedule, and then my the reality of my condition weighs in and I am left apologizing for my shortcomings. This time? I will make no promises, I will just do the best I can and publish the best and as often as I can.
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Just because I am not writing, and publishing, doesn’t mean that I am not; watching, reading and taking notice. Just in the past week two events of significant note. First, Pope Francis has released an encyclical on… … … (wait for it)… … CLIMATE CHANGE! Yes, it was quite the bombshell in American politics. Further, this was not just some note on Catholic teachings, this was a One Hundred Ninety-Two page document! I really wanted to dig into this document, this week, but time and pain have pushed that back to another time. I will download the encyclical and read it, then I will write and publish my findings for you, My Dear Shoevians.
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Second, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is continuing its surveillance of the Dwarf Planet Ceres. You might remember that, several weeks ago, Dawn returned some intriguing images, of Ceres, showing bright shinny objects glowing on the surface. Dawn grows closer and closer, and just yesterday, returned images with clarity… and raising more questions. Therefore, I have decided to make my return edition of ‘Lost in Space’ about the Dawn spacecraft and the Dwarf Planet Ceres. Here we go, enjoy!
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: Dawn's Arrival at Dwarf Planet Ceres

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(Dawn's Arrival at Dwarf Planet Ceres)

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First a little about the Dawn orbiter and the mission in general. From the beginning the whole Dawn mission, at NASA/JPL, was fraught with difficulties, starts, and stops. The xenon ion thrusters[3] used by Dawn were the very first of their kind to be used by NASA. Based on the ion thruster technology pioneered for the Deep Space 1 spacecraft. The technological hurdles were not the only obstructions to the Dawn mission. From inception Dawn was cancelled, put in “Stand Down” mode and then only finally reinstated when Orbital Sciences Corporation offered to build the orbiter “for cost”.
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: Dawn Mission Patch

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(Dawn Mission Patch)

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Dawn was launched on September 27^th, 2007 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17-B. It was not until just recently that Dawn moved form its relative obscurity to the front pages of news June 6^th, 20145. This happened when Dawn first caught an image of the unexplained “bright Spots” on the Ceres’ surface. The Dawn spacecraft was suddenly thrust into the limelight with its accidental discovery.
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: Dawn Survey Orbit Image 9

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(Dawn Survey Orbit Image 9)

From Web Site – “A variety of craters and other geological features can be found on dwarf planet Ceres. NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image of Ceres from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 5, 2015.”[6]
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The internet and all the conspiracy blogs came to life and everyone had their own opinion on just what these “Bright spots” were and why they had never been seen before. Now, as if Ceres and Dawn had suddenly become aware of their social status, on June 11tr, 2015 images of the same area now showed a “pyramid-like structure”. This is when I decided that it was time for me to come out of my medical hiatus and take some time to research this topic. My Dear Shoevians, I am sure that you have noticed, by now, that I am not weaving my context around the images I am sharing… as I have done on every other edition of ‘Lost in Space’ and ‘The Mars Report’ to date. I have done this in purpose, and for a very good reason.
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(Dawn Survey Orbit Image 10)

From Web Site – “This image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows an intriguing mountain on dwarf planet Ceres protruding from a relatively smooth area. Scientists estimate that this structure rises about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the surface. Dawn captured this image from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 14, 2015.”[8]
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The images I am sharing are interesting… nothing more. From a scientific viewpoint, this is nothing mystical or mysterious. This is just a natural phenomenon with which we have yet to encounter. I have heard and read many fantastical and wild theories about the “bright spots”. I am unimpressed. Everything from “a crashed spacecraft of an extraterrestrial life form headed to earth” to “an unknown phosphorescent life form”. I will be quite frank with you, My Dear Shoevians. This is neither and ‘none of the above’.
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(Dawn Survey Orbit Image 6)

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More than likely if it is a spacecraft? It is likely one of ours that we have lost track of, that crashed when trying to make it through the Kuiper Belt. This is a very dense asteroid belt, even more dense and populated than the asteroid belt that separates our terrestrial planets from our gas giants. I am more than happy to take advantage of all the excitement to drive traffic to my blog.
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(Dawn Fly-Over Ceres – NASA/JPL)

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However, I refuse to get caught up in idle and uninformed postulation about something we know little to nothing about. And like our news cycle will leave this mystery in the dust, Dawn is now leaving Ceres behind. By the end of the summer, only the devout nutcases will still be talking about the “bright lights on Ceres”. I know I won’t.
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(THE Image of Ceres from Dawn – “Bright Spots”)

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I hope that everyone has enjoyed the; images, moving GIF and the video I have shared here today. I encourage ALL of YOU My Dear Shoevians to comment on this article. Discuss these lights objects and the “pyramid like structure”. I would like to hear everyone’s ideas and thoughts. This is the kind of news that helps get American’s eyes back on the stars! We need more and more of these types of stories. As I have said before, and will say again and again,
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“Earth is mankind’s cradle, it was never meant to be our grave!”
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Our final image of the day is the best! Below you can see a map of the surface of Ceres as made by composites of images taken form Dawn.
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