One of the things that I still remember about the IGY is that scientists were really concerned about Earth’s mantle, the molten layer of rock that lies just beneath the crust.  There have been efforts made to drill into the mantle to examine Earth’s interior close up.  But the mantle lies several miles beneath the lighter continents that float on top of it and the efforts failed. That’s why I was really intrigued by a news story about a recent discovery in the Atlantic Ocean.  Apparently geophysicists have recently discovered that all those other scientists were wrong.  You don’t have to drill a deep hole to reach the mantle.  There’s apparently a huge chunk of it lying completely exposed . . . . . on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. MORE>>

Although Pluto is no longer officially recognized as a planet (www.guam.net/planet/pluto.html) we are still sending a spacecraft to examine this mysterious world.  It’s called New Horizons and it was the fastest spacecraft ever launched (36,000 mph).  It took only nine hours to reach the Moon’s orbit; it took the Apollo astronauts almost four days to make the same trip. As New Horizons makes her way toward Pluto, she is performing some interesting maneuvors and seeing some fantastic sights. MORE>>

Last week, I told you about a robot that was all set to explore the deepest cenote on the planet, and that the really big innovation about this robot is that it will explore on its own without wires or tethers or human intervention.  It can build and follow 3D maps, explore and map unknown territory, and return home using its own maps, without any aid from a GPS system. Well, it’s not the only autonomous robot out there.  Last weekend DARPA launched Orbital Express a payload that carried six different satellites.  This week, we will talk about these satellites, their origins and what they hope to accomplish. MORE>>

We’ve sent robots to the depths of space and the depths of the ocean and now we’re going to send them to the depths of a cenote.  The Maya word d’zonot (cenote) means “hole in the ground” and cenotes (pronounced say noh tays) are giant sinkholes in limestone found all over the Yucatan Peninsula.  They cluster around the enormous crater rim that marks the final resting place of the big rock that took out the dinosaurs and are apparently a result of that gigantic impact. Join us this week as we meet DEPTH-X, our first step in exploring the hidden depths and maybe meeting our neighbors!   MORE>>