2013 photo

Origins … Or rather … The Search for Origins !

It’s the ODYSSEY that is important

Back to the Future

Dr R.J. (Bob) Williams [Retired] Cartographer

Topographic Surveyor, Geographer & Geospatial Scientist

QUALIFICATIONS – Professional BA Computing Studies (Canberra CAE) MSc (Cartography) (U Wisconsin) PhD (UNSW)

QUALIFICATIONS – Trade Topographic Surveyor Photogrammetrist Cartographic Technician

Videre Parare Est

THE ROSETTA MISSION BACK TO THE FUTURE AND

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 This is a big step for human civilisation  

ESA’s Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain

Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured another place in the history books    

We've turned science fiction into science fact today

Warwick Holmes told ABC from the ESA's operations centre in Darmstady, Germany.

THE ROSETTA MISSION November 12, 2014 WELCOME  TO  A  COMET  

Photo:  ESA  

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission

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BACK TO THE FUTURE – Ben Bova 1989

I don't think of what I do as science fiction, I think of it as historical reports of events that haven't happened yet Ben Bova# presented the Keynote Address to the ASPRS/ACSM/AUTO-CARTO 9 Conference, Baltimore

Welcome to Moonbase With the premise that man returns to the moon in 1999 and establishes a permanent base there by 2020, science fiction author and editor Ben Bova fashions an intriguing “manual'' for pioneers arriving at the lunar community. With 50 detailed illustrations by NASA artist Rawlings, the guidebook covers Moonbase history, architecture, ecology, transportation, science projects, jobs, training, industries, tourism, sports (“lunar jai alai''), entertainment, day-to-day life, duties, rights and laws. Combining fact and fiction in this “future history”, Bova presents a compelling and persuasive argument for mankind's continual exploration of the moon and the establishment of a base on the lunar surface.

# President Emeritus of the National Space Society and a past president of Science Fiction Writers of America, Dr. Bova received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in 2005, "for fueling mankind's imagination regarding the wonders of outer space”.

AUTO-CARTO 9 Session: Spatial Relations and Data Base Model Paper and presentation by R.J.Williams titled Geographic Information: Aspects of Phenomenology and Cognition

American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing - American Congress on Surveying and Mapping

Welcome to Moonbase

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THE ROSETTA MISSION – Rosetta’s WORLD January 20, 2014

June 8 2011 — The spacecraft was transferred into a spin stabilised mode and all electronics except the onboard computer and the hibernation heaters were switched off January 20, 2014 – The spacecraft woke up and started post-hibernation procedures. Rosetta restored communications with ESA’s Operations Centre and greets the Earth with a “hello world” message.

Rosetta now navigates by the stars using a kind of small telescope. It is possible that comet dust surrounding the probe will obscure its view by scattering the light. To prevent this from causing Rosetta to lose its way, smart software was developed to reliably recognise constellations for navigation purposes even when there is major interference from dust particles.

September 10, 2014 — Rosetta enters the Global Mapping Phase, orbiting 67/C-G at an altitude of 29 km (18 mi)

Date: 27 March 2014 Satellite: Rosetta Depicts: Star field with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Photo:  ESA  

http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/53909-rosetta-osiris-wac-image-of-comet-67pcg/ 4  

James Cook portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c.1775, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

Captain James Cook …” the ablest and most renowned navigator this or any country hath produced. He possessed all the qualifications requisite for his profession and great undertakings ...” - Lord Palliser, Cook's superior in the Navy

"I had the ambition to not only go farther than man had gone before, but to go as far as it was possible to go.” Cook’s Second Voyage 1774

James Cook (1728-1779) was a remarkable navigator and explorer, whose legacy is still with us. His three voyages across the Pacific had profound influence on many areas of human endeavour: astronomy, marine surveying, cartography, geography, natural history and anthropology.

Cook was the first to map the coastline of eastern Australia, New Zealand and many islands of the Pacific. He sailed further south than any explorer before him.

Amongst Cook’s great achievements was his ability to navigate with a chronometer to calculate longitude. This transformed mapping.

The Endeavor was not only on a voyage of discovery. It was also a laboratory for testing the latest theories and technologies, much as spaceships are today.

BACK TO THE FUTURE – James Cook 1768-71 Voyages of Discovery

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THE ROSETTA MISSION – Philae’s WORLD November 12, 2014

As Philae approached Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014, the lander's downward-looking camera ROLIS (ROsetta Lander Imaging System) took images of the descent.

Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR French National Centre for Space Studies president Jean-Yves Le Gall, left, French president Francois Hollande, centre, and former French minister and astronaut Claudie Haignere, right, wear 3D glasses during a broadcast of the Rosetta mission at the Cite des Sciences, Paris. Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP

Francois Hollande enjoying a 3D presentation about the mission at the Cite des Sciences in Paris

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BACK TO THE FUTURE – RASVY 1985 Manned and Unmanned Vehicles – A Big Idea!

603.  Applications. Perhaps the most significant military breakthrough related to computer technology of the future will be the rendering of integrated circuitry invulnerable to enemy sabotage. This, combined with high speed, secure data communications to the field, will permit the transfer of vital information about the terrain and its effects in real time to the ground commander currently operating on that terrain. Intervisibility and mobility computations and realistic computer-generated views will be components of this information.

603.  A more profound area of application is expected in the field of airborne navigation systems. It will include both military and civilian aircraft, particularly low-flying manned and unmanned weapon systems. In all these cases, DTMs will afford real time information about the terrain below and the effects of distant terrain on the aircraft whether it is using terrain matching for navigation or making use of natural cover to avoid enemy detection.

Royal Australian Survey Corps Digital Terrain Modelling: An Overview 15 April 1985

Christmas IslandElevation model produced in 1985

Mount Macedon, VICElevation model produced in 1985

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BACK TO THE FUTURE – RASVY 1981 Terrain Matching Navigation

The Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) guidance system provides position data by measuring and comparing actual terrain profiles with the digitally stored relative terrain elevations along the mission route. TERCOM assists with the flight navigation and target positioning weapons.

Royal Australian Survey Corps Future Tactical Applications of the Digital Topographic Database AUTOMAP Fourth Edition, December 1981 DSVY-A/DEF/MISC/5157D

TERCOM navigation "maps" consist of a series of strips of land that the missile is expected to fly over, encoded as a series of altitudes. Since a radar altimeter measures distances, height over the ground, and not an absolute altitude, the maps generally encode a series of changes in altitude, not the absolute altitude itself. Additionally, the strips of land on either side of the expected path are also stored.

A series of such maps are produced, typically from data from radar mapping satellites. When flying over water, contour maps are replaced by magnetic field maps. The missile's radar altimeter feeds measurements into a smaller buffer, which periodically "gates" the measurements over a period of time and averages them out to produce a single measurement. The series of such numbers held in the buffer produce a strip of measurements similar to those held in the maps. The two are compared to overlay the buffer's strip on the known map, and the positioning of the strip within the map produces a location and direction. The guidance system can then use this information to correct the flight path of the missile. During the flight to the target the accuracy of the system has to be enough only to avoid terrain features. This allows the maps to be relatively low resolution in these areas. Only the portion of the map for the terminal approach has to be higher resolution, and would normally be encoded at the highest resolutions available to the satellite mapping system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TERCOM

USA DMA

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BACK TO THE FUTURE – RASVY 1950-60s Anaglyphs#

Anaglyph:  a stereoscopic photograph with the two images superimposed and printed in different colors, producing a stereo effect when the photograph is viewed through correspondingly colored filters.

UK Military Survey

Anaglyphs were first developed in the mid nineteenth century. A Frenchman, Louis Ducos du Hauron, first printed anaglyphs in 1891. His process consisted of printing the two negatives which form a stereoscopic photograph on to the same paper, one in blue (or green), one in red. The viewer would then use coloured glasses with red (for the left eye) and blue or green (right eye). The left eye would see the blue image which would appear black, whilst it would not see the red; similarly the right eye would see the red image, this registering as black. Thus a three dimensional image would result.

A stereo-plotter uses stereo photographs to determine elevations. It has been the primary method to plot contour lines on topographic maps since the 1930s.

The Royal Australian Survey Corps (RASVY) had a long time association with UK MILSVY and used the same equipment until 1966 when the WILD B8 stereo-plotters (below) were introduced into service. This analog stereo-photogrammetric equipment uses sophisticated optics.

During the 1950s and 1960s UK Military Survey (MILSVY) used the Multiplex stereo-plotter (right). This equipment projects anaglyphs.

In 1966 I, then Sapper Williams (left), undertook a six month Basic Topographic Surveying Course at RASVY School of Military Survey.

Both the Multiplex and the WILD B8 equipments were used on that course.

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http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/31445-instruments/?fbodylongid=896

THE ROSETTA MISSION – Ptolemy’s WORLD January 20, 2014

Ptolemy is the first example of a new concept in space instrumentation, which has been devised to tackle the analytical challenge of making in situ isotopic measurements of solar system bodies. The instrument concept is termed 'MODULUS' which is taken to mean Methods Of Determining and Understanding Light elements from Unequivocal Stable isotope compositions.

MODULUS was named in honour of Thomas Young, the initial translator of the Rosetta stone, whose name is immortalised by the measure of elasticity known as Young's Modulus.

The scientific goal of the MODULUS concept is to understand the geochemistry of light elements, such as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, by determining their nature, distribution and stable isotopic compositions.

Finishing touches to the Ptolemy experiment now on board the Philae lander

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CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY was an ancient Hellenistic mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and astrologer.

Ptolemy was the author of several scientific treatises. The second is the Geography, which is a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world.

Ptolemy also devised and provided instructions on how to create maps both of the whole inhabited world (oikoumenè) and of the Roman provinces. In the second part of the Geographia he provided the necessary topographic lists, and captions for the maps.

Ptolemy defined Geography as “a graphic representation of the whole known part of the world, along with the things occurring in it”. Ptolemy later defined Chorography as the study of its smaller parts--provinces, regions, cities, or ports. Ptolemy implicitly would include the making of views (not simply maps of small regions) in this category, since he claims that chorography requires the skills of a draftsman or artist rather than those of a scientist, which are needed for the practice of geography.

The term chorography fell out of use in the Renaissance as city views and maps became more and more sophisticated and required a set of skills that required not only skilled draftsmanship but also some knowledge of scientific surveying. The term was replaced by CARTOGRAPHY.

A printed map from the 15th century depicting Ptolemy's description of the Oecumene. Oecumene is a term originally used in the Greco-Roman world to refer to the inhabited universe (or at least the known part of it).

BACK TO THE FUTURE – Ptolemy C. 150AD Geography

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Harley, J.B. and David Woodward (Eds), The History of Cartography, Volume One: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987, p.183.

THE ROSETTA MISSION – OSIRIS January 22, 2015 Rosetta is revealing its host comet as having a remarkable array of surface features and with many processes contributing to its activity, painting a complex picture of its evolution.

GETTING TO KNOW ROSETTA’S COMET

The OSIRIS (Optical, Spectrocopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System) scientific camera, has imaged some 70% of the surface to date: the remaining unseen area lies in the southern hemisphere that has not yet been fully illuminated since Rosetta’s arrival. The scientists have so far identified 19 regions separated by distinct boundaries and, following the ancient Egyptian theme of the Rosetta mission, these regions are named for Egyptian deities, and are grouped according to the type of terrain dominant within.

Rosetta comet's diverse terrain stuns scientists

The frozen surface of comet 67P is a diverse landscape that includes dust dunes, huge icy boulders, towering cliffs and deep crevasses, according to new data from the Rosetta spacecraft. Five basic – but diverse – categories of terrain type have been determined: dust-covered; brittle materials with pits and circular structures; large-scale depressions; smooth terrains; and exposed more consolidated (‘rock-like’) surfaces.

12  Photo:  ESA  

BACK TO THE FUTURE – CSIRO 1970s – RASVY 1978

Terrain Pattern Maps for Planning

CSIRO TERRAIN PATTERN MAPDigitised by SSGT Bob Williams

1978

SHOALWATER BAY AREA - QUEENSLAND

RASVY TRAFFICABILITY MAP

During the period December 1978 – February 1979 (then) SSGT Bob Williams, a member of the Royal Australian Survey Corps (RASVY), worked in collaboration with the Directorate of Engineers – Army, the Joint Exercise Planning Staff (JEPS), and Dr Joe Walker and his staff at CSIRO’s Division of Land Use Research to digitize terrain pattern maps compiled by CSIRO and using software written by CSIRO’s Bruce Cook to form the basis of Trafficability Overprints for the Shoalwater Bay Training Map. A series of overlays that showed GO-NO GO areas under a range of environmental conditions and a series of overlays that showed FIRE RISK areas were compiled for use by JEPS (Joint Exercise Planning Staff) but these were never published.

In March 1972 the NSW Government invited CSIRO to participate in a joint study of land use on the South Coast of the State. CSIRO was asked to undertake a pilot survey of resources in the area to provide a ‘rational basis for planning decisions on a wide variety of land uses’.

The report titled Land Use on the South Coast of New South Wales (1978) includes a Chapter by Bruce Cook on Computer Methods.

LAND USE ON THE SOUTH COAST OF NEW SOUTH WALES

TRAFFICABILITY AT SHOALWATER BAYJ.Walker and A.P.Spate, Woodland Ecology Unit, Division of Land Use Research, CSIRO, July 1976

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THE ROSETTA MISSION – Rosetta and Philae Voyage of Discovery – The Search for Knowledge

Photo:  ESA  

Artist impression showing Philae separating from Rosetta and descending to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The European Space Agency's unprecedented mission of cometary exploration is named after the famous 'Rosetta Stone'. This slab of volcanic basalt - now in the British Museum in London – was the key to unravelling the civilisation of ancient Egypt. French soldiers discovered the unique Stone in 1799, as they prepared to demolish a wall near the village of Rashid (Rosetta) in Egypt's Nile delta. The carved inscriptions on the Stone included hieroglyphics – the written language of ancient Egypt – and Greek, which was readily understood. After the French surrender in 1801, the 762-kilogram stone was handed over to the British.

By comparing the inscriptions on the stone, historians were able to begin deciphering the mysterious carved figures. Most of the pioneering work was carried out by the English physician and physicist Thomas Young, and the French scholar Jean François Champollion. As a result of their breakthroughs, scholars were at last able to piece together the history of a long-lost culture.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Why_Rosetta

Just as the Rosetta Stone provided the key to an ancient civilisation, so ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the oldest building blocks of our Solar System – the comets. As the worthy successor of Champollion and Young, Rosetta will allow scientists to look back 4600 million years to an epoch when no planets existed and only a vast swarm of asteroids and comets surrounded the Sun.

The Philae obelisk is one of two obelisks found in upper Egypt in 1815. The inscriptions on it are in Egyptian hieroglyphs and in ancient Greek. The obelisk, in keeping with its bilingual nature and the "translation" metaphor of the Rosetta space mission, gives its name to the mission Philae robotic lander.

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“So! The Pharaohs, the tombs, the monuments, the great civilisation who built them – you’re not interested in them. But, the mummy’s curse you find …”

Granddaughter: “Exciting!”

Grandfather: “Ah yes! I can see that. Alright then. You shall hear all about it. But, first we must take a trip together”.

Granddaughter: “Where will we start then?”

Grandfather: “At the source of course!”

BACK TO THE FUTURE – Knowledge ! Geography – Chorography (Cartography)

The greatness of the Egyptian civilisation came about by the Egyptians’ ability to manage their environment and to build their infrastructure. This required “knowledge”:

q  knowledge of astronomy,

q  knowledge of geometry,

q  knowledge of mathematics,

q  knowledge of engineering and

q  knowledge of organisation.

This dialogue is from National Geographic / Destination Cinema production Mysteries of Egypt. The ‘source’, of course, refers to the Nile River. The Nile, as the documentary describes, is the ‘life-blood’ of Egypt and the greatness of the Egyptian civilisation came about by the Egyptians’ ability to manage their environment and to build their infrastructure.

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Dr R.J Williams Quote used at

In presentation titled GEOGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE: KNOW YOUR WORLD THROUGH STORY-TELLING

THE ROSETTA MISSION ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the oldest building blocks of our Solar System – the comets

It’s all about KNOWLEDGE and the SCIENCES that are fundamental in the search for KNOWLEDGE

BACK TO THE FUTURE – Geography is “a graphic representation of the whole known part of the world, along with the things occurring in it”

It’s all about KNOWLEDGE and the SCIENCES that are fundamental in the acquisition of knowledge essential in:

v MANAGING OUR NATION v MANAGING OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENT v MANAGING OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMRNT v MANAGING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE and v ENSURING THE SAFETY and SECURITY OF OUR PEOPLE

GEODESY and CARTOGRAPHY 16