Can You Hear Me Now?

Three generations of Mars rovers: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

A three-month tour has stretched to 15 years for the hardy Martian rover Opportunity.  January 25, 2019, will be the 15th anniversary of the NASA rover Opportunity’s arrival on Mars, but the rover is on an extended quiet leave, thanks to a “global dust storm.”  that has blocked Opportunity’s transmission since June 10, 2018. 

Opportunity was the second of two rovers launched during 2003 to explore Mars.¹  The first rover, Spirit, worked until 2010.  Following are scientific findings made by the rovers as described in the NASA report The Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity:

• Life could have existed on Mars because rock samples showed signs of persistent soaking in water.

• Other analyses by the rovers found soils and rocks had extremely high concentrations of materials that typically form in either hot springs or volcanic steam vents. These conditions may have been favorable for supporting microbial life. On Earth, microbes known as “extremophiles” thrive in similar environments.

• Chemically neutral, “drinkable” water once persisted on Mars before an acidic period in the ancient past, thus creating more favorable conditions for microbial life.

• Following the trail of past water on Mars, the rovers successfully allowed scientists to characterize much of what the red planet was like when liquid water flowed there.²

Both rovers have been successful missions and provided Earth with pictures and data that have contributed to our scientific knowledge of the Martian planet.  The global dust storm is expected to continue for several months to come, keeping Opportunity incommunicado for that time.

For updates on the status of communication with Opportunity see the Mission Status page for Opportunity at:  https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/status_opportunityAll.html.³
 
For more about space exploration see the book display inspired by the 15th Anniversary of the Rovers on Mars at the Al Harris Library.  The books in the display can be checked out.

1.    Brueck, Hilary.  “NASA’s Mars Opportunity rover is celebrating its 15th birthday with a nap because of a giant dust storm.  Look back at its unlikely journey”.  Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-opportunity-rover-15th-birthday-photos-2018-7.

2.    “The Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity”.  NASA Mission Pages, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html. 

3.    “Opportunity Updates”.  Mars Exploration Rovers, https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/status_opportunityAll.html.

World War I and Veterans' Day

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria led to the outbreak of a war that involved many nations of the world.  Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Central Powers making up the Ottoman Empire were in conflict with the Allied Powers that included Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Japan.  The United States joined the Allies in 1917 in a conflict that became known as World War I or the Great War.  

Based upon events that occurred in 1915 and 1916 which involved violations of international law and warnings that were made by German authorities, U.S. President Wilson went to Congress and asked for permission to go to war.  War was officially declared by Congress on April 6, 1917, but American soldiers were not deployed to France until 1918.  The two million soldiers who were sent to France played a vital role in the final six months of the war.  By the end of the war, approximately eighty-five million soldiers had been killed while twenty-one more were wounded.  During the six months that American soldiers fought, fifty-three thousand died on the battlefield.  Around half of that number of troops died in the concluding battle of the war, Meuse-Argonne.  The fighting ended on November 11, 1918, the day which became Armistice Day and has been Veterans’ Day since 1954.  Veterans’ Day is now an official United States public holiday observed annually on November 11, honoring all military veterans.

This "war to end all wars" ended with the sigining of the Treaty of Versailles.  This event began another chapter in world history because the wounds that brough on war were not healed, and another conflict would begin within the next twenty years.  

To learn more about the Great War, the battles, the locations, and the involvement of the United States and other nations, take a look at the books on display at the Al Harris Library, as well as many others in the collection.  All are available for you to check out and enjoy!  

National Book Awards 2018

Come and check out the 2018 National Book Award finalists and winners display at the Al Harris Library!  The 2018 winners were announced on November 14 at an awards ceremony in New York City.  The winners by category are Fiction:  The Friend by Sigrid Nunez; Nonfiction: The New Negro: the Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart; Poetry: Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed; Translated Literature: The Emissary by Yoko Towada; and Young People's Literature: The Poet X by Elizabeth Ascevedo.


Sponsored by the National Book Foundation, the National Book Award began in 1950 when a consortium of book publishing groups sponsored the 1st annual National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.  Their goal was to enhance the public's awareness of exceptional books written by fellow Americans and to increase the popularity of reading in general.  If you would like to find out more about the National Book Awards, please go to nationalbook.org.

November is National Aviation History Month

Image:  Charles Lindbergh, Portrait phot, 1927.  Britannia Image Quest.

 In addition to the other events that we recognize, November is also known as National Aviation History Month.

According to the Government Book Talk website:  

    “National Aviation History Month is dedicated to exploring, recognizing and celebrating America’s great contributions and achievements in the development of aviation. Aviation history refers to the history of development of mechanical flight — from the earliest attempts in kites and gliders to powered heavier-than-air, supersonic and space flights.”  https://bit.ly/2irLSPj

National Aviation History Month provides us an opportunity to reflect upon the high points of aviation history.  To assist with this reflection, the Al Harris Library has created a book display representing our many books on aviation.  They provide information about the men and women from all countries who have made contributions to aviation.  The books illustrate the beginnings of aviation, its use during 20th century warfare, commercial development, and space exploration.

This focus on National Aviation History Month is appropriate for Weatherford, Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) because Weatherford is the birthplace of retired astronaut General Thomas Stafford and SWOSU has experienced a successful long-time relationship with NASA.  Many SWOSU students have held internships with NASA and some SWOSU graduates have held successful careers at NASA.

Please come by and check out books from our display!

Banned Books Week 2018

Many libraries, including the SWOSU Libraries, will celebrate the 2018 Banned Books Week and the freedom to read during the week of September 23-29.  Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.  Hundreds of books are challenged or removed from libraries each year.  A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group, but a banning is the actual removal of those materials. 

More information on banned/challenged books can be found on the American Library Association's frequently challenged books pages.

We hope you will come by and see our displays of just some of the hundreds of books that have been banned or challenged over the years.

Come help us celebrate our freedom to read!

Travel One Book at a Time!

Are you planning a vacation this summer? This could mean staying in Oklahoma, traveling across the United States, or even seeing other parts of the world. If you’re not sure where you want to go, checking out a book may help you make that decision. 

If your time or budget is limited, you may consider vacationing in Oklahoma, because there are several interesting places in Oklahoma to visit. You can travel Oklahoma by reading Weird Oklahoma: Your Travel Guide to Oklahoma’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets, or a variety of books on Route 66 and others aspects of Oklahoma.  Perhaps you have always dreamed of going to New York City or leaving the country and seeing the world. If you have, reading a book can help you plan your vacation. To get better snapshots from your travels, be sure to check out Travel and Street Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots.

Whether you have a vacation or a staycation this summer, there are many excellent books that will help you plan your vacation or make your staycation seem like you have actually visited exotic places. Take a look at the books that are available for you to check out here at the Al Harris Library and plan a great travel adventure!