Everything that has a Beginning has an Ending.

 

NASA said that its InSight Mars mission has ended.  The robotic spacecraft after a more than six-month journey landed on Mars, Nov. 26, 2018. Since then, InSight has been studying the planet's interior and seismic activity.  It detected more than 1,300 quakes with a 4.7 quake that shook the planet for six hours. On De. 21, 2022 NASA announced that two attempts to contact the spacecraft failed, likely because its batteries had lost power after dust accumulated on its solar panels and the rover fell silent thus its mission has ended.

This blog was a byproduct of a mission to transport the car of my friend the late Milos from Florida to his son in San Francisco.  My son John decided that it was risky to me to drive alone so we drove the three thousand miles together.  From San Francisco we returned to Chicago ( 2000 miles) by train and then by bus (400 miles) to Columbus, Ohio for a total of 5,000 miles.  My intend at that time was to stop posting but on advice of a friend, I continue posting mostly on my travels.

The most memorable posts were from an epic journey when together with my brother and two friends brought a sailboat from Spain to Greece a 1,400 nautical miles journey. It was our Odyssey and I described it as such on posts from Aug.15, 2015 to July 16, 2016. 

In the past 10 years, I uploaded 228 posts in my blog Cross Country Chronicles but as Jack Kornfield said in his Buddha book "everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well" 

There are many individuals from my immediate family, and those who love and care about me who encouraged and inspired me to write.  I want to thank and express my gratitude to seventy thousand plus individuals who followed my musings. I wish them all a good a pleasant trip in their lives. 

Artemis I

 

Artemis I is NASA's first step to returning to moon after 50 years since astronauts landed there for the last time.  The giant moon rocket at the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule will take off on Sept 2nd.

The SLS rocket will attempt to send the Orion capsule around the moon and back with no one aboard. Astronauts could circle the moon in 2024 and attempt a lunar landing in 2025.  Artemis exploration programs was named after God Apollo's twin sister Artemis in Greek mythology.

NASA official said that the moon missions will be central to its human spaceflight program which aims to establish ultimately a long-term presence on Moon's surface and prepare for future missions to Mars. 

NASA called off moon launch twice due to a hydrogen leak.  NASA said that Artemis I is now scheduled to launch on Sept 27 or Oct 2. 

The Storm

When we completed the passage of the Strait of Bonifacio and entered the Tyrrhenian Sea we were confronted by electric storms that had us surrounded in all four of the horizon’s cardinal points.  Lightning illuminated the night sky between the clouds and the sea in a phantasmagoria of “fireworks”, a stunning and awesome example of nature’s titanic power.  The spectacle was so astonishing that it made us reflect about something “out there,” higher than humans and difficult to comprehend.

The earth is the only known planet with an abundance of liquid water, which covers 70 percent of its surface and gives the planet its blue appearance from space. Earth has been aptly nicknamed the “blue marble”.  Incidentally, NASA recently found and reported evidence of high salinity water on Mars—a discovery that may have major implications regarding the existence of life outside earth.

Sea waves are oscillations caused by the friction of air when it moves across the surface of the water. This friction transfers energy and forms surface waves that are perpendicular to the direction of the wind.  When the wind is from the north, the direction that the waves move is southerly.  In a big body of water like the Tyrrhenian Sea, as depicted in a study from the University of Athens, the waves can be very large, and the longer a northerly wind blows, the larger the waves can become in the southern boundaries at the latitudes of Aeolian Islands and northern coast of Sicily.    

The top of a wave is known as its crest and the foot as its trough. The distance between two crests is the wavelength. The size of ocean waves depends upon the wind speed and the distance over which the wind blows upon the water. The smallest waves are called ripples.  As strong and prolonged winds push against raised crests, though, larger and more irregular waves form, which are known as seas.  When the waves reach shallow waters near the coast they slow down, but their height increases. 

The waves reach their maximum height when the rate at which they are traveling nearly matches the speed of the wind. Over time, they naturally separate into long, powerful waves with a common direction and wavelength. Constructive interference can cause rogue waves with documented heights above 25 meters.  An encounter with rogue waves can have serious or even catastrophic consequences, even on large vessels over 100 meters in length. 

When the wind dies down, seas and swells are slowly reduced by gravity and destructive interference from other waves.

Most waves are less than 3 meters high although it is not unusual for strong storms to double or triple that height especially in open seas.

When I was watching the electric storms, which had us surrounded, I was wondering which one could reach and strike us.  The northern one caught up with us just as the clouds were covering up the stars. The seas were roaring and building up, but since it was pitch-black we could not see the waves’ height. We could feel that we were being propelled by big waves and strong winds, though, and we could hear the “whistling” of the wind’s song produced by the strumming of the shrouds.  The anemometer at the top of the mast was recording wind velocities of 30-35 knots and gusts of 40-50 knots, so our captain Nikos decided it was time to reduce canvas.  With Kostas, our youngest sailor, doing the heavy lifting in front, and me in the middle handling the lines, we quickly double reefed the main and hoisted a storm jib in front—actions that kept the boat well balanced.  The experience during the night was frightening and made us feel vulnerable, especially when we realized the waves’ size at sunrise.  Riding the waves and occasionally achieving speeds up to 12 knots, due to planning, the fright turned into exhilaration and eventually changed into a peaceful state that was beyond our understanding.  It was at this moment that our desire to continue became paramount not because of an innate desire to experience more thrills but because of our longing to reach “Ithaca,” where loved ones were eagerly waiting for our return.