Final Essay

Here is my final paper. This is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-wKz1-isPb_eE95RXNmQlQ1QXlxbEg4LU84Zmpyc181czQ4/view?usp=sharing

Event 5 (extra credit): Museum of Jurassic Technology

The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City was a unique experience for me. This museum contains a vast collection of artistic and scientific exhibits that are very diverse. The first thing that caught my attention was a quote from Russian rocket scientists, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: A planet is a cradle of mind, but one cannot live in a cradle forever. This quote was written with a collection of his research and designs for rockets with thrusters, boosters, and space stations. The next project that looked fascinating was a miniature model of a moon by F.W. Wright. The space theme seemed to dominate much of the museum, but there was a plethora of other unique exhibits. The museum displayed an older organ, some of the first microscopes, and a collection of cat’s cradle. The museum was unique as it had a variety of objects and artworks. There was a phone exhibit portraying some of the first phones and other exhibits that contained dog portraits. The collection was diverse, to say the least.

Selfie in front of museum with admission ticket 

More importantly, a part of the experience at the museum was the Tula Tea Room. This is a Russian-style team room created to mimic the study of Tsar Nicolas II. I was served tea and led to a small garden outside where they had pet birds, flowers, and a small fountain. This interactive aspect of the museum emphasized hospitality while portraying a historic room.

Tea offered in the Tula Room 

Fountain in middle of garden 

Garden on the second floor of museum 

One of the pet birds in the garden 

Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed in the museum. Therefore, the only images I can obtain were ones of the garden described previously.

Event 4 (Extra Credit): Leonard Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site

Leonard Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site is considered the birthplace of the internet. Outside of 3420 Boelter Hall, a sign reads those exact words: birthplace of the internet. Leonard Kleinrock is a computer scientist and professor at UCLA’s engineering school. He is known for developing the internet. He played a major role in creating ARPANET, which is the precursor to the internet.

Sign outside Boelter Hall 3420 

The first message sent on the ARPANET was sent in 1969 from UCLA to Stanford. The message was sent from the university’s third generation computer known as SDS Sigma. Kleinrock and his group were the first to send a message on ARPANET paving the way for the tremendous internet boom that dominates modern day society.

SDS Sigma 

Prior to visiting this site and researching some history regarding the internet, I was oblivious that UCLA was the place where the first internet message was sent. I often pass by this room to get to other classes, but never gave it much attention. Such an incredible feat corroborates the school’s ambition and success throughout the years but is often overlooked by students. We have access to many incredible sites on campus, but we often narrow our school experience to class and work-related obligations.

Additional Machinery on the right side of room 

Visiting and recognizing Kleinrock’s work showed me that all great things have simple beginnings. The computer used in the room was the size of a refrigerator, and the machinery seemed ancient compared to today’s technology. However, everything done in that room set the foundation for the amazing advancements we enjoy today.  

Selfie with the computer displayed at the site

Event 3: Meteorite Gallery

This week I visited the UCLA Meteorite Collection at UCLA perfectly tying in our discussion of space. The UCLA collection is the largest in the West Coast containing almost three thousand samples. One particular piece came from the Seymchan meteorite that landed in Russia in 1967. The piece captured my attention immediately due to its uniqueness. It was spotted due to being composed of both silicate mineral and metallic iron nickel. The piece was a natural piece of art.

Seymchan meteorite 

Another piece that was displayed in the middle of the room was a 357-pound individual iron meteorite (shown below). This is UCLA’s oldest meteorite dating back to 1934. The Meteorite gallery combined many aspects of our class. The first and most obvious is the study of space that has historical, artistic, and economical influence as mentioned in lecture. The gallery incorporates science, art, and technology beautifully. The science behind the meteorites is displayed in a creative manner similar to an artistic museum. In addition, each piece from the meteorite contains a small barcode under it, that can be easily scanned by a phone providing immediate information about it.  

Oldest Meteorite Present in the Gallery 

The importance of such a gallery ties with our very first discussion of two cultures. Prior to this course, I never stepped foot in the Meteorite gallery. Such a fantastic display was easily accessible but completely ignored. This is one of the most important things that I was able to take away from my visit to the gallery as well as this course. Diversifying your scope of knowledge and expertise is not as inaccessible as we might think. We limit our thinking by categorizing ourselves into one and only one field. As we discussed the topic of Space this week, most of the example provided were billion-dollar projects by large national companies. How can students begin interacting with space and not simply go through the history of space projects? The Meteorite Collection essentially brings space to the students allowing for access to incredible knowledge.

Small collection of chondritic meteorites 

Selfie at Gallery 

Unit 9: Space

Although this week’s topic of space connected different elements of previous discussions, it was very unique. Learning about the history of Copernicus and his ideas of a heliocentric solar system was a refresher from previous history courses. However, I learned that Copernicus studied medicine before devoting his time to studying space (Vesna). This is an interesting fact that corroborates the connectedness of different fields. He was able to incorporate medical knowledge in his spatial observations (Westman).

Artist's rendition of Connection of Space and Medicine

This week’s lectures also saddened me. The story of Laika, the dog who was sacrificed and sent to space for research purposes, touched me deeply (George). Laika did not survive past a week and the study was simply an indirect attack on the United States by Russia. It was conducted to make the following claim: Russia is a superior nation. This brings to light some of the questions from the medical topics of previous weeks. What is considered ethical research? How can research be monitored to prevent unethical experiments?  

Curiosity Rover 

Discussions of space cannot be made without the mention of Sputnik and other satellites. I became interested in this topic and researched recent projects in space. Mark Rober, a NASA engineer, helped create a car-sized rover that was sent to Mars in 2012. The planning of such an event took billions of dollars but was ground-breaking. The rover named Curiosity allowed for live footage to be received from Mars. In the video below, he discusses his opinion of his work at NASA and briefly touches on the engineering masterpiece that is Curiosity.

Sources

George, Alice. “The Sad, Sad Story of Laika, the Space Dog, and Her One-Way Trip into Orbit.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 11 Apr. 2018, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/sad-story-laika-space-dog-and-her-one-way-trip-orbit-1-180968728/.

Greicius, Tony. “NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Finds a Clay Cache.” NASA, NASA, 29 May 2019, www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-curiosity-mars-rover-finds-a-clay-cache.

Rober, Mark. “NASA's Curiosity Landing- 1 of Her Creator's POV.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Aug. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCKogFDM3Zg.

Vesna, Victoria. “8 Space pt1 1280x720.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=277&v=6ZIqTR332l8.

Westman, Robert S. “Nicolaus Copernicus.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 May 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolaus-Copernicus.