Category: Other Worlds and Tech

Avatars on Mars, Falcons in Florida and oceans in space

Posted on by Inara Pey

CuriosityCuriosity, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), has been wrapping things up in the “Pahrump Hills” region at the base of “Mount Sharp”, the mountain-sized mound of deposited material occupying the centre of Gale Crater.

For the last several months, the rover has been engaged on what geologists on Earth call a “walkabout”, zigzagging back and forth across the area, looking for targets of interest for follow-up investigations, and allow the science team to better understand the geology and form of the region.

This method of activity is a change from how Curiosity has largely operated to date, which has seen the rover primarily move from point-to-point along its route, only re-visiting sites as a part of its onward movement towards the goal of reaching and climbing “Mount Sharp” (such as when travelling into, and then back out of the “Glenelg” and “Yellowknife Bay” regions Curiosity first explored in 2012 / 2013).

Curiosity's wandering through
Curiosity’s wandering through “Pahrump Hills”, which started with one of the tree lines into the region at the top of the image

In this respect, and as Aileen Yingst, the Deputy Principal Investigator with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the rover, describes, Curiosity has been demonstrating just how much of an avatar it is for the science team, allowing them to careful investigate, examine and catalogue “Pahrump Hills” in a rich, practical way using the very human technique of the “walkabout”, which will serve the mission well as the ascent up “Mount Sharp” continues.

Most recently, and since collecting samples from “Mojave 2″, the area of rock displaying interesting crystalline elements within it, Curiosity has been looking at an area geologists dubbed “pink cliffs”, which shows further signs of the crystalline structures, and might be a candidate for further investigation. If so, it will be the last stopping point in “Pahrump Hills” before Curiosity continues its climb up “Mount Sharp”.

Oppy Reaches 11

January 25th, 2015 saw NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, reach it’s eleventh anniversary on Mars. The rover, one of two MER vehicles, arrived on Mars at January 25th, 2004 (Universal Time), ready to start a mission initially planned to last just 90 days.

Since then, and up to its anniversary, “Oppy” has travelled a distance of some 41.7 kilometres (25.9 miles). While this doesn’t sound that much (and in truth, a human science team could have travelled that far in just a few days, including time for any science carried out along the way), remember that “Oppy’s” forward speed is measured in centimetres per hour.

As one of two solar-powered MER rovers (the second, Spirit having finally succumbed to the hostile environment on Mars around March 215th, 2011), Opportunity has carried out an incredible amount of work, and greatly contributed to our understanding of the planet, returning compelling evidence about wet environments on ancient Mars.

A panoramic view of Endeavour Crater as seen from “Cape Tribulation” an uprising close to the crater’s rim, the summit of which Opportunity reach in January 2015, marking its 11th anniversary on Mars (click for full size)

The rover marked its anniversary by reaching the summit of “Cape Tribulation”, an uprising close to the rim of 20 kilometre (13.7 mile) wide Endeavour Crater, which the rover has been gradually circumnavigating. This involved a change in elevation for “Oppy” of about 135 metres (440 feet), and afforded it a panoramic view of the crater and the land around it, presenting a unique opportunity for geological observations of the crater and its rim.

 A New Mars Mystery

That night, too, there was another jetting out of gas from the distant planet. I saw it … That night another invisible missile started on its way to the earth from Mars, just a second or so under twenty-four hours after the first one.

– The narrator, H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds

Okay, so it’s unlikely to be the sign of an impending invasion of Martians possibly ticked-of at the way we’re cluttering-up their planet with our probes and landers and rovers, but recent events high in the atmosphere of Mars have given rise to some excitement.

The images, originally capture in 2012, show huge plumes rising some 250 kilometres (156 miles) into the most tenuous reaches of Mars’ thin atmosphere.

Martian high-altitude plumes
Martian high-altitude plumes (image: ESA)

The plumes occurred on two separate occasions in March and April 2012, and were spotted by amateur astronomers. Each time, they developed with relative rapidity, rising upwards and outwards to cover areas of some 1000 x 500 kilometres (625 x 312.5 miles) in a period of around 10 hours before remaining visible for up to 10 days at a time, their structure and form changing on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, neither event was seen from orbit about Mars, occurring so high on the planet’s limb as to be effectively out-of-sight for the NASA and ESA orbital vehicles, and by the time word had spread sufficiently about the observations, the events were largely over.

However, investigations into images of the planet taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit around the Earth have revealed similar plumes being imaged in the past. However, with the exception of an image captured in 1997, none have been anywhere near as high or dramatic as the 2012 events.

So what might have caused this plumes to occur? The answer to that question is uncertain.

Continue reading “Avatars on Mars, Falcons in Florida and oceans in space” →

Yes, you can have a View-Master with your virtual reality

Posted on by Inara Pey
The re-vamped View-Master for VR from Mattel, and one of the scenic discs that accompany it
The re-vamped View-Master for VR from Mattel, and one of the scenic discs that accompany it (image: Mattel Inc.)

Alongside all the the news and hype surrounding VR in 2014, there were a lot of witty / dour comments relating to the old Mattel View-Master system, and how people would prefer to have that, rather than strapping a plastic brick to their forehead.

Well, it looks like the laugh might be on those cracking such jokes, as Mattel have announced that the View-Master brand is to be revamped as a virtual reality headset system utilising Google Cardboard software.

Announcing the move at the New York City Toy Fair, which opened to the public in – wait for it – New York City on February 14th, 2015, Mattel’s Senior Vice President of Global Brands, Doug Wadleigh said the aim of the partnership is “to create the View-Master brand for the next 75 years,” and offer kids the chance to have “a collectible they can keep in their room.”

The iconic View-Master has been through many iterations during it 75-year history
The iconic View-Master has been through many iterations during it 75-year history, but has always had the same basic functionality (image: doyouremember.co.uk)

The original View-Master, which incredibly celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2014, was once a staple part of many children’s toy boxes. With it, kids could load circular reels of 3D images into a hand-held, binocular-like device with a lever on the side which is used to flip through the pictures, providing the user with a stereoscopic views of landmarks, scenery, historic events, and so on.

The new system announced at the NYC toy fair retains much of this original functionality. It comprises a hand-held  device into which a mobile phone running the Cardboard software can be fitted.

Like the original, it is designed to use special scene “reels”; only rather than being placed in the unit, the disc-like reels are placed on a flat surface in front of the user. When viewed through the device, they generate AR-style navigational environments which the user then “enters”. This allows, for example, the key locations in a virtual “tour” to be visualised AR-style, and then individual locations within the tour selected and viewed immersively, with additional information on sights and locations being provided by pop-up text boxes.

In actual fact, the “reels” are optional, if people prefer, they will be able to download the immersive experiences directly to their smartphone for us with the new View-Master. However, the reels are being provided to maintain the “collectible” aspect of the original View-Master system, which Mattel see as an additional selling-point for the system. They plan to grow the range of available reels over time to provide many different types of experience, some of which – in a possibly canny move – might be built around the company’s other products.

For example, Mattel is already talking in terms of a video shot from within one of their “Hot Wheels” toy cars as it races through a “Hot Wheels” track, putting the person watching “behind the wheel” of the car.

Commenting further on the re-vamp, Wadleigh said, “The View-Master was first introduced in 1939, giving consumers access to spectacular 3D worlds by simply selecting a reel and looking through a device. By working with Google’s Cardboard platform, we are now able to take that experience even further, bringing the discovery and immersive viewing experience of the View-Master to the digital age.”

Google are also delighted with this further move into a broader VR presence for Cardboard, which comes hard on the heels of LG launching their VR for G3 virtual reality headset. Commenting on the partnership with Mattel, which doesn’t include any licensing arrangement or revenue sharing for Google, Cardboard Product Director Mike Jazayeri, said in a press release, “We developed Google Cardboard as an open platform to inspire companies like Mattel to rethink how to deliver new user experiences through technology. Many of us on the Google Cardboard team grew up playing with View-Master, so we were excited to collaborate with Mattel and to see the viewer evolve and work with Google Cardboard.”

The new View-Master is due to go on sale from autumn 2015 at a suggested price of $29.99 (£19.50) for the headset (sans smartphone), and the company hope to have it available for both Android handsets and iPhones. One image disc will be supplied with the device, and additional discs will be sold at $14.99 (£9.75) each.

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IXV paves the way for PRIDE and more

Posted on by Inara Pey
An artist's impression of ESA's IXV lifting body attached to its upper sage booster during its first sub-orbital flight
An artist’s impression of ESA’s IXV lifting body attached to its upper sage booster during its first sub-orbital flight

On Wednesday, February 11th, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched a Vega rocket from their Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, South America. The rocket has been Europe’s launch system for lightweight payloads since 2012, and in this capacity it has generally been used to lift Earth observation mission payloads into polar orbits, where they can see as much of the Earth’s surface as the planet rotates beneath them.

The February 11th mission was different, however. This was launched due west, out over the Atlantic and directly towards Africa. And, rather than carrying a satellite, the rocket carried a new, experimental spaceplane, very unglamorously called IXV,  for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle.

Dubbed a “mini-shuttle” by some in the media, IXV is more correctly a lifting body design. That is, it has no wings of any description. Instead, it uses its own aerodynamic shape to generate lift and stability during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. This particular principle of flight isn’t new. Lifting body designs have been used for a number of experimental purposes over the years, including in the 1960s and 1970s as NASA investigated potential designs for a reusable space vehicle (although the evolving mission requirements for the space shuttle meant that a lifting body design was eventually rejected in favour of a delta wing configuration).

The IXV mission
The IXV mission

In popular culture, and for those old enough to remember, footage of the crash and disintegration of a lifting body piloted by Bruce Peterson, was used in the opening titles of the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Unlike the fictional Steve Austin, however, Peterson survived his crash without the aid of bionics, although he did lose his sight in one eye … courtesy of an infection which occurred while he was in hospital after the crash. More recently, the use of a lifting body approach has been been demonstrated by Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser vehicle, which had been intended to fly crews to and from the International Space Station.

Europe’s IXV is an uncrewed vehicle, weighing just under 2 tonnes. It’s primary objective is to research the re-entry and flight characteristics of such a vehicle shape and to test the re-entry shielding technologies that ESA are developing. All of this is with a view to developing a new generation of reusable space vehicles that could be employed for both crewed and uncrewed missions. The first of these is likely to be PRIDE – the Programme for Reusable In-orbit Demonstrator in Europe – a genuine spaceplane using a combination lifting body / winged design.

ESA's PRIDE aims to demonstrate the use of a reusable spaceplane in satellite launch operations
ESA’s PRIDE aims to demonstrate the use of a reusable spaceplane in satellite launch operations

PRIDE is designed to be launched atop a rocket and, once in orbit, deploy satellite payloads prior to returning to Earth for a conventional runway landing, refurbishment and reuse. In this, it would be somewhat similar to the US Air Force’s uncrewed and classified X-37B spaceplane, which is capable of long duration orbital flights, notching-up some 1,367 days in space in just 3 missions between 2010 and 2014. However, unlike the X-37 programme, which is believed to be both an advanced technologies test vehicle and potentially capable of undertaking reconnaissance activities when in orbit, PRIDE would be a purely civilian operation.

Another potential use for the technologies seen in IXV is in providing the means to operate reusable boosters as a part of Europe’s next generation of launch vehicles, which would be capable of flying themselves back to a safe landing after use. Lifting body technologies and the re-entry systems used on IXV might also be used in missions to returns samples from Mars and the asteroids to Earth, and spaceplane technologies in general might one day form a part of ESA’s strategy for ferrying crews to / from orbital space facilities in the future.

The technologies being tested by IXV may one day be used in reusable boosters forming a part of ESA's next generation of launchers
The technologies being tested by IXV may one day be used in reusable boosters forming a part of ESA’s next generation of launchers

IXV’s maiden flight was relatively short – just under 2 hours in duration – and sub-orbital in nature. Boosted to an altitude of around 450 kilometres (281 miles), the vehicle cruised over Africa prior to initiating re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of some 7.5 kilometres per second (just under 16,800 miles per hour), using its shape to generate lift and stability, and two tail-mounted “paddles” for steering. Once through the heat of re-entry and slowed to hypersonic speeds, a special parachute deployed to slow the vehicle to subsonic speeds. This allowed the main parachute system could be deployed, which brought the car-sized vehicle to a relatively “soft” splashdown at just 7 metres a second (12.5 mph), so it could be recovered by the vessel Nos Aries.

The entire mission, from launch to splashdown, occurred almost precisely on schedule. Only a slight delay prior to lift-off causing the schedule to be adjusted. Ironically, recovery of the vehicle following splashdown took almost as along as the mission itself, and an overcast sky in the recovery zone presented images being captured of the vehicle’s descent by parachute.

Nevertheless, the mission was a great success. Now begins a long trawl through the data gathered by some 300 instruments and sensors spread throughout and over the little spaceplane.

All images and video, courtesy of the European Space Agency

LG morph Cardboard into plastic to rival Samsung in the mobile VR world

Posted on by Inara Pey
LG's VR for G3 uses Google Cardboard to bring VR to users of their G3 'phones
LG’s VR for G3 uses Google Cardboard to bring VR to users of their G3 ‘phones

In June 2014, Google informed the world that, in order to enjoy a VR experience on your mobile ‘phone, all you need is … Cardboard. Then, as I reported at the end of 2014, Samsung announced the availability of its Gear VR headset, which utilises their Galaxy Note 4 phablet and technology from Oculus VR, while Zeiss released VR One for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6.

Now, not to be outdone, Samsung’s home-grown rival in the world of mobile devices and consumer electronics, LG, is also getting in on the act.

On Monday, February 9th, LG announced the availability of VR for their G3 handsets. Like Google’s DIY cardboard kit (made available in full kit form by Dodocase, to save you having to source the parts yourself), VR for G3 is a hand-held unit providing a set of optics into which LG’s new range of G3 ‘phones can sit. In fact, not only does it look like Google Cardboard’s grown-up cousin, it is actually based on the cardboard headset design and is intended to be used with the Google Cardboard development environment for mobile VR experiences, and any apps built using that environment.

What’s more, it’s free. Well, free for those buying a new LG G3 handset, and then possibly only for a limited time period. Currently, no details have been released on pricing once the promotional period has ended. It is also currently unclear if VR for G3 will be made available as a separate accessory for the G3 ‘phone.

The hand-held headset is modelled on Google's original Cardboard DIY headset, and utilises the Cardboard development environment and applications
The hand-held headset is modelled on Google’s original Cardboard DIY headset, and utilises the Cardboard development environment and applications

“This is just the beginning of the virtual reality movement, which until recently was expensive and inaccessible to everyday consumers,” Chris Yie, vice president and head of marketing communications at the LG Electronics Mobile Communications, was quoted as saying in a press release from the company announcing the move. “By leveraging Google Cardboard, not only are regular consumers able to participate in the VR experience, we’ll be able to introduce this technology to future developers who may one day show us how VR can be used to improve our lives.”

VR for G3 will be rolled-out across LG’s global markets over the coming month, and the promotion will include a code allowing purchasers of the handset and headset to download the VR game Robobliteration.

With a screen resolution of  2560 x 1440, and packing a whooping 538 pixels-per-inch, the G3 handset is seen by LG as an ideal candidate for running immersive VR applications, and the hand-held headset includes optics specifically designed to leverage the screen’s capabilities.  As with Google’s original Cardboard design, a ring mounted on the left side of the headset, together with a small magnet within the unit work with the gyroscope sensor in the G3 to select applications and scroll through menus without the user needing to touch the display.

The G3 'phone sits within the snap-one cover of the headset, but the unique design of the 'phone, with it's back-mounted sleep button meanes that it doesn't have to be removed in order to place the phone into, or bring it out of, sleep mode
The G3 ‘phone sits within the snap-one cover of the headset, but the unique design of the ‘phone, with it’s back-mounted sleep button means that it doesn’t have to be removed in order to place the phone into, or bring it out of, sleep mode

Google are also keen to emphasise their involvement in LG’s entry in to the VR marketplace. “With Google Cardboard, we wanted to create more immersive and delightful experiences for anyone on their mobile devices,” Andrew Nartker, Product Manager for Google Cardboard is also quoted as saying in the LG press release. “We are excited about VR for G3, and the rich ecosystem of developers and manufacturers who are innovating with Google Cardboard and making VR more easily accessible.”

How much of an actual market exists for mobile VR has yet to be seen (by necessity, VR-on-the-go is more suited to sitting down rather than wandering the streets, so many might perfer to await the arrival of Oculus Rift CV-1 and similar headsets). However, it would appear that manufacturers like LG might see it as a way of reinvigorating ‘phone sales in the face of an saturated market.

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All images courtesy of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

 

“I spy with my big eye…” and landing a rocket on Earth

Posted on by Inara Pey

CuriosityNASA’s Curiosity rover has been a busy bunny on Mars. Currently still parked in the “Pahrump Hills” terrain on the lower slopes of “Mount Sharp”, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has now completed its latest drilling activity, collecting samples from a rock dubbed “Mojave 2”.

This isn’t actually the rock from which the science team had originally hoped to gather samples. That rock, dubbed “Mojave” broke apart as a result of the percussive action of the rover’s drill during a “mini-drill” test. As a result, the rock was ruled out as a sample gathering target. “Mojave” was of particularly interest to scientists as Curiosity had images tiny, rice-grain sized crystalline minerals that might have resulted from evaporation of a drying lake, thus presenting the science team with a further insight into environmental conditions within Gale Crater.

To counter this loss, the team relocated Curiosity to  “Mojave 2”, another rock within the same outcrop as “Mojave”, and which exhibits similar crystalline features. In doing so, the team were able to bring into play software improvements only recently uploaded to the rover as a part of an overall systems upgrade, which was deployed to one of the rover’s two computer systems at the end of January.

The software improvements for the drill are the result of investigations into the fracturing of a rock during a previous attempt to obtain samples prior to the rover arriving on “Mount Sharp”. Like an Earth-based hammer drill, the rover’s drill uses a percussive action, so that as well as drilling into a rock, the drill bit effectively hammers its way into the rock. In all, there are six settings governing the amount of percussive energy used during drilling, which range from a gentle tapping (level 1) through to hammering at the rate of 30 times a second with a 20-fold increase in energy imparted (level 6).

During early drilling operations the software monitoring these percussion settings “learned” that defaulting to the “level 4” setting best met the needs of gathering samples in the harder rock types the rover initially encountered. However, this was proving too forceful for the softer rocks closer to, and on, “Mount Sharp”, but the software was unable to switch down to a lower setting.

The drill hopes on "Mojave 2" captured by Curiosity's Mastcam. Towards the top is the small, "mini drilling" test bore, just a couple of centimetres deep, created on Sol 881 (January 28th, 2015, PDT) and some 10 centimetres below it, the sample-gathering bore hole, some 6.5 centimetres deep, cut on Sol 882 (January 29th, 2015, PDT).
The drill holes on “Mojave 2” captured by Curiosity’s Mastcam. Towards the top is the small, “mini drilling” test bore, just a couple of centimetres deep, created on Sol 881 (January 28th, 2015, PDT) and some 10 centimetres below it, the sample-gathering bore hole, some 6.5 centimetres deep, cut on Sol 882 (January 29th, 2015, PDT).

The new update causes the drill software to reset to “level 1” after each drilling operation, and then step through the levels incrementally until the ideal is found. As a result, a sample was gathered from “Mojave 2” without the drill needing to step beyond the “level 2” percussion action.

Drilling operations on “Mojave 2” took place on Sol 881 and Sol 882 (January 28th and 29th, PDT, respectively). As per standard operating procedure, the first drilling operation was a test “mini drilling” to see how the rock responded to encroachment and cutting. The second, which took the dill to a depth of around 6.5 centimetres (2.6 inches). The gathered samples were then sifted and sorted through the CHIMRA system in the rover’s turret, prior to being transferred via the surface scoop to Curiosity’s primary laboratory systems, ChemMin and SAM.

At the same time as Curiosity was carrying out its initial analysis of the “Mojave 2” rock, NASA released an image captured by the HiRise (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) carried aboard the orbiting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which forms the mainstay of the rover’s communications with Earth. The image, which was taken on December 13th, 2014, reveals Curiosity mid-way through its “walkabouts” in “Pahrump Hills”, when it was seeking potential targets of interest for further study.

While not the first time the rover has been imaged from orbit, this is one of the clearest pictures from the rover yet capture from an altitude of around 280 kilometres (175 miles) above the surface of Mars.

"I see you!" - MRO's HiRise image of the curiosity rover, obtained on December 13th, 2014, as the rover explores the "Pahrump Hills" region on a basal slopes of "Mount Sharp"
“I see you!” – MRO’s HiRise image of the curiosity rover, obtained on December 13th, 2014, as the rover explores the “Pahrump Hills” region on a basal slopes of “Mount Sharp”

Initial results from ChemMin (the Chemical and Mineralogy) instrumental has shown that the rock was likely effected by water that was much more acidic in nature than evidenced through the analysis of other rock samples obtained by the rover. The still-partial analysis shows a significant amount of jarosite, an oxidized mineral containing iron and sulphur that forms in acidic environments. This raises the question of whether the more acidic water was part of environmental conditions when sediments were being deposited to form “Mount Sharp”, or the result of fluids soaking the rocks at a later time.

ChemMin was also unable to identify a clear candidate mineral for the crystalline deposits which first attracted the science team to the outcrop; this presents the possibility that the minerals responsible for originally forming the crystals may have been leached away over time and replaced by other minerals during later periods of wet environmental conditions.

It is hoped that SAM – the Sample Analysis at Mars – suite of instruments may be able to reveal more about the nature and composition of the samples once they have completed their round of analysis. Depending on the outcome of this work, Curiosity may be ordered to gather a further rock sample from “Pahrump Hills”, or may be ordered to continue upwards and into new territory on “Mount Sharp”.

Continue reading ““I spy with my big eye…” and landing a rocket on Earth” →

Of mansions and motifs

Posted on by Inara Pey
Explore the Great Gatsby - the Buchanan's mansion and pier with its green light from Gatsby's estate: "“I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him."
Explore the Great Gatsby – the Buchanan’s mansion and pier with its green light from Gatsby’s estate: ““I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him.”

At 09:00 SLT,  the Seanchai Library’s retelling of  F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragic tale, The Great Gatsby draws to a close as Corwyn Allen reads the final part of the story. The reading will take place at Explore the Great Gatsby Online, the interactive venue conceived and developed by Caledonia Skytower as a part of Seanchai Library’s presence in Kitely, and operating in support of a production of Simon Levy’s stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby, which also ends it run at the Tacoma Little Theatre (TLT) on February 8th.

I’ve covered Explore the Great Gatsby twice  so far in this blog. The first time as a result of an invitation extended to me by Caledonia and TLT’s Managing Artistic Director Chris Serface ahead of the official opening of the installation and the play. This gave me the opportunity to preview the unique collaborative, cross-functional and educational nature of the partnership between Seanchai Library and TLT. My second, more recent visit, was to explore the initial sets visitors to the installation would be able to explore, and the opportunities within them to discover more about the story, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writings, and the man himself.

As indicated in both of those articles, the Explore the Great Gatsby installation was intended to grow over time, thus encouraging visitors – particularly those who attended TLT’s performances of the play –  to make return visits. Given the significance of Sunday, February 8th as noted above, I also decided to take a further trip to Explore the Great Gatsby and see the latest additions and updates.

Explore the Great Gatsby - Gatsby's mansion: "The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden."
Explore the Great Gatsby – Gatsby’s mansion: “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.”

New since my last visit is the Gothic opulence of Jay Gatsby’s “new money” mansion, its great towers and spires rising high above the trees, fairly shouting news of the wealth of their owner to the world at large. The scene of lavish parties – all intended to lure Daisy Buchanan to his door – the mansion’s ground floor can be explored by visitors, and several iconic elements have been reproduced, including the location of the final scene of tragedy, the swimming pool. There are a number of interactive elements to the mansion, which provide gateways to further information on the novel, so careful examination of the rooms is encouraged!

Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s mansion (which serves as a façade for a model of the Tacoma Little Theatre), has undergone further exterior work, allowing it to stand in strong contrast to Gatsby’s ostentatiousness, exactly as F. Scott Fitzgerald intended.  Thus it – and the bay which sits between it and Gatsby’s edifice – serves to underline Fitzgerald’s observation of the divide that existed between those of established wealth and those newly-rich.

Explore the Great Gatsby - The buchanan's mansion: "Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay ... The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens."
Explore the Great Gatsby – The buchanan’s mansion: “Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay … The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens.”

With a wealth of interactive elements throughout, including links to the Tacoma Little Theatre, resources that explore the story of the Great Gatsby in more detail, and the opportunity to really immerse yourself a a piece of truly great American literature, Explore the Great Gatsby is very much worth taking the time to visit – and if you haven’t already done so, I’d urge you to so – it will remain open and available to visitors through until March 1st, 2015.

Signing-up to Kitely (if you need to) is easy, and the Seanchai Library team provide the necessary guidance for those who might need it. What’s more, once you are signed-up, you have the freedom to explore the rest of Seanchai Library’s extensive projects and offerings in both the Seanchai Homeworld, and through their satellite worlds.

Explore the Great Gatsby - you can also explore other locations within the installation, such as the Fitzgerald Gallery, the Welcome Centre and that other iconic landmark from the the story, the Valley of Ashes: "But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg."
Explore the Great Gatsby – you can also explore other locations within the installation, such as the Fitzgerald Gallery, the Welcome Centre and that other iconic landmark from the the story, the Valley of Ashes: “But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.”

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