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Ned Wright

@mapping3k.bsky.social
529 followers 139 following 468 posts

UCLA astronomer working on space CMB and IR. On the COBE, WMAP, SIRTF and WISE missions. Asteroid (241527). See my cosmology tutorial at www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog…

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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 7h
Your favorites list will ring
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 7h
iPhone? In Settings click Focus then click Sleep I schedule 10 PM to 6 AM for no calls ringing thru Of course the Swedish Academy is straight out of luck
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
But we just don't have the rocket capability to go fast. It's a big limit to what we can do in the solar system. Solar or nuclear electric propulsion gives a high exhaust velocity (~30 km/s) but very low thrust. Nuclear thermal propulsion is still untried and it could fry other spacecraft.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So ESA's JUICE mission www.esa.int/Science_Expl... successfully executed a gravity assist flyby of the Earth today on its way to Jupiter. Congratulations! But why spend 8 years getting to Jupiter? The Hohmann transter only takes 2.6 years. Time is money after all.
esa.int
Juice
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
But the vampires will be repelled more! I am 10 days past my flu & COVID shots so my protection should be pretty good by now.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I'd say "Get an EV" but my 2027 Bolt was in the shop W-F last week and popped the same warning light this week on Tuesday. So it's in at least until Monday. 8+ days in the shop over two weeks. Not great. And I have a loaner but it uses gas so I'll have to go to a gas station!
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I remember going to China to teach in a short course and give a conference talk: they just looked at my ticket and peeled off a bunch of $100s.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In 1964 I went to an NSF Summer Science Training Program at VPI and learned FORTRAN on two IBM 1620 machines: one with 20,000 digits of RAM and one with 60,000 digits. A fully functional compiler in 10 kB! Then a PDP 11 and an IBM 7094 and an IBM 360. No microprocessors.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
We are pretty sure they are working for Putin. Russia in 2016 was never a hoax.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I remember lining up at my elementary school to get the Salk vaccine. Polio was scary.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I had basal cell carcinoma on my face which led to a successful Mohs surgery and then annual checkups. I hope your treatment and followup go as smoothly.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Recently opened near me. Strangely enough I have nothing to do with it.
Brick building with a blue & green sign reading “Cosmo Prof”
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A credit line for the artist is the obvious solution. JPL might object that it isn't their tradition.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Back in LA but a rainy Labor Day weekend is a totally different place. Using my Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrored Room - “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” souvenir coffee cup.
Wet green background seen through picture windows and glass sliding doors with man holding coffee cup in foreground.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Back in LA after 6400 miles in a 2027 Bolt. Annoying that Tesla has some charging stations that are only for Tesla vehicles. SUPER annoying that GM includes these stations in their their route planning database! Nothing like arriving at a charger with low battery and not being able to use it.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
On the road again! Back to LA 2027 Chevy Bolt uses a Tesla charging port but the red superchargers with the hole has a cord too short to reach the Bolt port. So I have to hog two spaces But the new superchargers have longer cords.
Old supercharger with short cord New supercharger with loner cord
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Trump tore up the JCPOA with Iran. He tore up NAFTA. He tore up the USMCA he himself negotiated. He can't be trusted. Also he probably can't get a deal better than the JCPOA, so he has LOST the war with IRAN, and he can't bring himself to accept it. So get solar+battery for your house and an EV!
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The naval blockade of Iranian ports can STOP oil getting out. The threat of Iranian drones and mines can STOP oil getting out. So both the US and Iran can STOP oil getting out, but only by agreeing on a peace deal can they ALLOW oil to get out. But Trump can't be trusted to keep to any deal! 2/3
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Trump claims the US controls the Strait of Hormuz and that plenty of oil is getting through. But the price of gas is up 88 cents/gallon and diesel is up $1.90/gal. Conclusion: Trump is deliberately screwing over America! But more likely Trump is just lying about our "control". 1/3
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Is this the ceremony where they give out service medals? In 2018 I received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal at a ceremony at JSC, but the administrator Jim Bridenstine spoke not President Trump.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Weather is fine and the Moon is eclipsed But night mode on my phone gets stars and overexposes the Moon
Dark night sky with stars, a tree, and the Moon
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Of course the Woods Hole forecast is a chance of light rain
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Lunar eclipse tonight peaking at 0012 EDT. Here’s a pic of the Moon rising over Water St a couple of nights ago.
Waxing gibbous Moon in a twilight sky with power lines and poles
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Revisiting what remains of the R/V Chain (just the nameplate hanging in the Captain Kidd) 57 years after I spent a week at sea on her during my gap year between college and grad school working at NRL.
Black painted board with CHAIN in gold letters and me wearing a white WISE cap and blue shirt.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Unfortunately the mission to reboost the Swift GRB mission has failed. This was an extremely ambitious project but it failed before it got to attempt the ambitious parts. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_b...
en.wikipedia.org
Swift boost mission - Wikipedia
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Got a backstage tour of WHOI yesterday including the yard and lab where Ocean Observation Initiative moorings are refurbished. This is a surface float which has solar panels, wind turbines, satellite communications, and meteorological instruments.
20 foot tall buoy colored white, yellow, and blue with humans for scale on the right.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Went on a road trip to Hyannis today. Had lunch at Spanky’s Clam Shack and then a harbor cruise. Heard a lot about Hyannisport, Then the JFK Museum and JFK Memorial shown below.
JFK Plaque based on the half dollar behind a round fountain
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Brothers are just 0th cousins.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Beautiful morning for a race. Here’s the elite women on Nobska Rd, 2 miles into the race.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
More than 100 portapotties have sprung up in Woods Hole around the start with more along the race route. Over 11,000 runners registered. Wheelchair start 7:40 AM EDT Sunday 8/16/26. These are at WHOI’s Redfield Lab.
Red brick building with blue portapotties and a white tent.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The R/V Hugh R Sharp has left Woods Hole. The Falmouth Road Race is in 2 days, and the starting line in front of the Captain Kidd is freshly repainted.
Blue sky, 2 cedar shingled buildings, and a street crossed by a blue/white/red/white/blue line marked “ START”
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I got an E-mail announcing the Planetary Defense Conference 2027 exercise. These are always fun. See cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/pd/cs/pdc27/ The conference is May 3-7 2027 in Montreal, so of course the risk corridor goes through the Montreal area. Will humans be smarter than the dinosaurs? Wait and see,
cneos.jpl.nasa.gov
Planetary Defense Conference Exercise - 2027
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Jetty at the National Marine Fisheries Service lab in Woods Hole. Normally one can fish from the jetty but it’s awash under a high spring tide.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Sophisticated observation of the 15% partial eclipse. Left is during eclipse while right is before
Sun shining through holes in a strainer spoon during the eclipse.  Notch is at lower rightSun shining through holes in a strainer spoon before the eclipse
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The R/V Hugh R. Sharp is back at WHOI’s Smith Dock this morning - 8/12/26.
Partly cloudy skies over a ship with a blue, gold, and white hull.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Trump lies about vaccines to push an anti-vax agenda and kill kids. Remember that Trump fast tracked COVID-19 vaccine development with Project Warp Speed and pushed himself to the front of the line in Dec 2020 to get the approved shot.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A lot of the overgrown vegetation has been cleared from the Saturn sign.
Lush green vegetation beside the Shining Sea Bikeway with a sign depicting Saturn for the scale model Solar System
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Had fun at the Science Stroll today Lots of exhibits set up on Smith Dock, MBL, Waterfront Park, and the Fisheries No big R/V in today but here’s a photo showing a big ferry pulling in.
Smith Dock with the R/V Tioga on the left, exhibit tents in the middle, and the ferry Aquinnah behind.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Good bike ride this AM (8/6/26) up to the Sippewissett Marsh which is just past Uranus on the scale model solar sytem.
Large marshland with a distant house.Different angle on the marsh.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
At 6 PM on 8/5/26 both the Lynx and the Corwith Cramer have gone out.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This morning 8/5/26 the R/V Hugh R. Sharp was gone. The Corwith Cramer and the Lynx are still docked.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Congratulations!
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
78 cents per egg or about 9$ a dozen Sounds right
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Shipping news: the Lynx, a topsail schooner that is a replica of a privateer from 1812, is tied up at Smith Dock. In the summer she sails daily with tourists out of Nantucket but maybe today’s weather is a bit too much, or she’ll be open during the Science Stroll
Two-masted tall ship tied up in Woods Hole.  Wooden hull painted black.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
It could mean a bigger ship is coming in. The Science Stroll is next Saturday, 8/8/26.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Shipping news: the R/V Hugh R. Sharp is back in Woods Hole, this time on the other side of Smith Dock so it’s closer to the Corwith Cramer.
Blue sky, wispy clouds, a big sailing ship on the left and a white and blue ship on the right
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The Eel Pond population of striped bass seems to be flourishing. These big guys were hoping I’d throw some dead squid culled from the MBL specimen holding tanks in the building behind me into the pond.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Ship news in Woods Hole: The Corwith Cramer is provisioning probablyto go out to sea.
Two-masted ship with a Sysco truck on Dyer’s Dock
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Yesterday 7/29/26 the visiting R/V Hugh R. Sharp from Delaware departed leaving the WHOI Smith Dock with just the small R/V Tioga. MBL’s R/V Discovery is tied up to the MBL dock.
Cloudy skies over the Smith Dock on the left and the MBL dock at right.
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Ned Wright @mapping3k.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I'd think about buying at 90% below the IPO price, and I am a rocket scientist.
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