In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 8, host Zoe Bentley meets SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory air quality program manager Kirk Stoddard. They discuss behind-the-scenes work at SLAC, the most powerful known greenhouse gas, and an unusual fossil creature. Plus, I like the hilarious story about ten minutes in!
In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 7, host Zoe Bentley meets astrobiologist Dr. Britney Schmidt, who talks to us about her travels in Antarctica, why ice is fascinating, and how all of that relates to Europa. Can life survive under an ice sheet? What funny things happened in Antarctica? Find out all of this in the latest episode of Exogeology ROCKS!
Woo-hoo! I’ve just finished the sixth installment in the Exogeology ROCKS! video series. The first five can be seen here.
In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 6, we meet Dr. Cynthia Phillips, a planetary geologist for the SETI Institute. She tells us about some interesting worlds in our solar system including Europa, Io, and Mars, how to use images to study them, and much more. I particularly like her stories about her funniest and most exciting experiences as a planetary geologist.
Tonight, Curiosity reached its destination: Gale Crater, Mars.
Curiosity's first image taken from the surface of Mars. Woo-hoo! (Image credit: NASA)
Curiosity, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), traveled for about 352 million miles (567 million km) from a cleanroom at JPL on Earth to a place called Mount Sharp in Gale Crater on Mars. It’s hard to imagine traveling so far.
Curiosity's cleanroom, way back in 2010.
Mount Sharp, the area on Mars Curiosity will explore. (Image credit: NASA)
Tonight, August 5, Curiosity’s team worked through the “Seven Minutes of Terror” while everyone else, including myself, just hoped and wished for the best.
Can you even imagine how hard it would be to land a rover? Can you imagine just how nervous you’d be that all the work put into Curiosity would either have the chance to succeed amazingly or just fail terribly? I can’t, but that’s what Curiosity’s team must have felt.
Landing Curiosity had several stages. (Image credit: NASA)
Finally, can you imagine the relief and excitement as Curiosity landed safely on solid ground? I can, but not even half as much as Curiosity’s team, I’m sure.
I’m so, so glad Curiosity made the landing safely. Congratulations, Curiosity! You ROCK!
You’ve heard that exogeology rocks, but just what is exogeology? Why does it rock?
I recently gave a speech on just that: Why Exogeology ROCKS!
I’m pleased to announce the fifth episode of Exogeology ROCKS! In this episode, we hear from Professor Geoff Marcy, Professor of Astrophysics at University of California, Berkeley. Professor Marcy tells us about the search for exoplanets—planets which orbit around other stars.
How are exoplanets found? Are there other Earth-like planets? Could there be aliens on them? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 5.
You can watch the previous four episodes here.
Watch the sixty-first clue of Zoe’s Geo Party!, a 61 clue long trivia game. Look for a new video clue every weekday! This is the last clue of the last category in the last round.
Today’s video is the final clue of this Zoe’s Geo Party! game! I call it: Finale Geo Party!
Finale Geo Party! is a little bit different from the previous Geo Party!, because there’s only one clue. You’ll see the correct response tomorrow. After Tuesday, Zoe’s Geo Party! will be taking a break. We’ll be back with another game in 2012.
Write your guess on the Exogeology ROCKS! Facebook page and enjoy the finale. Remember to phrase your response to each clue in the form of a question! While you’re there, be sure to become a fan of Fractured Fate on Facebook.
Click here to watch the previous episodes.
Happy Thanksgiving from Exogeology ROCKS!
What am I thankful for?
I’m thankful for my family and friends of course. My family has always helped me reach my goals and been there for me, and so much more. I’m thankful for my friends, too, all for different reasons.
I’m also thankful for the people who discover more and more about the world, the solar system, and the universe. There’s so much to see and learn about everything, everywhere, and I’m thankful that I can keep learning about everything possible all the time.
That’s one reason why I started Exogeology ROCKS! and Zoe’s Geo Party!—so I can tell other people about things I learn about exogeology and everything else.
I’m also thankful for good food, well written fiction, and amazing places.
What are you thankful for?
-Zoë Bentley
Exogeology ROCKS! presents the thirty-first clue of Zoe’s Geo Party! , a 61 clue long trivia game. Look for a new video clue every weekday! This is the first clue of the first category in this round.
This week’s category was filmed in Milpitas, California, where I recently moved to and where I now live part time. Where do you live? I like hearing from people all over the world. Post your answer on the Exogeology ROCKS! Facebook page along with your response to the latest clue, and enjoy the category. Remember to phrase your response to each clue in the form of a question!
AS SEEN ON THE TODAY SHOW:
Want to know more about Zoe and her family? Check out these websites:
Do Life Right blog by Lisa Bentley
Do Life Right publishing company by Lisa Bentley
Wright on Time Books by Lisa Bentley
Teagan’s Creations by Teagan Bentley
And, of course, look around on Exogeology ROCKS!
Yesterday, the first round of Zoe’s Geo Party! ended. Thirty clues have been revealed so far—which one was your favorite? Which category was the best? How can the next round be made even better? I appreciate all feedback.
The last six categories have gotten a lot of responses. Remember, to respond to a clue, comment on my Exogeology ROCKS! Facebook page. All the correct responses have been revealed except the one to the most recent clue, but you can still go back and watch past clues.
Round 2 will premiere on Monday, October 24th.
For now, I’m Zoe Bentley and Exogeology ROCKS!
MESSENGER was inserted into orbit around Mercury yesterday, March 17th. Launched on August 13th, 2004, MESSENGER has been in interplanetary flight for over six and a half years! I bet that after this long waiting, the MESSENGER team is thrilled to finally be in orbit. As for me, I think visiting Mercury ROCKS!
MESSENGER is a NASA Mercury orbiter. It’s name is an acronym for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging. One of its goals is to learn about the topography of Mercury’s surface, and another is to find out the composition of its atmosphere.
On its way to Mercury, MESSENGER has had one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys, and three Mercury flybys. In one of these Mercury flybys, volcanism on the surface and water in the exosphere were discovered. Also on the way to Mercury, MESSENGER took this ROCKIN’ “family portrait” of our Solar System:
There’s a lot about Mercury we’ve found because of MESSENGER. For example, could you imagine seeing a whole side of a planet which you’ve never seen before? MESSENGER gave us just that in this picture:
The instruments on board will be turned on and checked on the 23rd of March, and on the 4th of April the mission’s primary science phase begins. I look forward to seeing what new discoveries are made about our amazing innermost planet!
Exogeology ROCKS!
-Petra Stone
Zoë Bentley and astronaut Mark Kelly
Happy Halloween! Guess what’s finally finished? Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 4. It’s been a long time in the works, but I’ve completed the fourth episode of my Exogeology ROCKS! series. Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 4 features an interview with Captain Mark Kelly, mission commander of STS-134, the last scheduled space shuttle mission. For the first time ever, I’ve uploaded the full episode of Exogeology ROCKS! in one piece.
Watch Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 4 here.
Check out the other episodes here, they ROCK!
Have a ROCKIN’ Halloween!
Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 3 is now complete. Woo hoo! That’s three episodes of my Exogeology ROCKS! series done. Episode 3 features an interview with Pan Conrad, a NASA astrobiologist at JPL.
You can watch Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 3 on YouTube. It’s in two parts, so make sure to watch both part one and part two. Episode 3 will soon be up on Exogeology ROCKS! in the Meet Real Exogeologists section.
If you haven’t seen the first two yet, you can watch them here on my website, as well as a bonus track for Episode 1.
Yay! My second article is on the NASA website! You can read it here on the JPL website and here on the NASA website. In the article I wrote about my great experience visiting NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
I recently posted on Exogeology ROCKS! about my first article for NASA, How I Became Interested in Exogeology.
Blogging for NASA really ROCKS!
Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 2 is finally finished! This is the second episode of my Exogeology ROCKS! series. In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 2, I interview Joy Crisp, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It sure ROCKED going to JPL and meeting a real exogeologist!
You can see Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 2 here on my website, in the Exogeology ROCKS! Episodes/ Meet Real Exogeologists section.
Parts one and two also on YouTube. You can see part one here and part two here.
Don’t forget to watch Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 1 and its bonus track!
Keep checking up on Exogeology ROCKS! and be on the lookout for Episode 3. I’m Zoë Bentley and Exogeology ROCKS!
Welcome to the new website for Exogeology ROCKS!
Exogeology ROCKS! is all about exogeology, or geology on other planets. You can see the old website here, but this website has all the same information, and more! Exogeology ROCKS! was created for the NASA/USA Today “No Boundaries” contest, and won second place. I decided to continue my Exogeology ROCKS! project since it was so much fun and I plan to become an exogeologist. Since winning entries can’t be changed after the contest ends, I’ve transferred all my information over onto this website.
I’ll be updating the site with new blog posts, videos, games, and more new content. So keep visiting exogeologyrocks.com!
You can also become a fan of Exogeology ROCKS! on Facebook and follow Exogeology ROCKS! on Twitter.
I finally finished the Exogeology ROCKS! website! Look around! Everything’s up and running. Let’s go over all that I have so you don’t miss a thing:
Good question! This page explains the basic concept of exogeology. Look at it first, so you can better understand the rest of the site.
What is the Exogeology ROCKS! website all about? I’ve explained here why I made the website, what there is to do on it, and a bit about myself.
This is the best part! 
I made a 20 minute episode of Exogeology ROCKS!, and a 3 minute bonus track on Pluto. Don’t miss either one! Episode One of Exogeology ROCKS! features an interview with a planetary astronomer, Dr. Larry Lebofsky from Tucson, Arizona, and was made to show that exogeology really does ROCK!
After watching Exogeology ROCKS!, I bet you’ll want to know how to become an exogeologist yourself. I’ve created this page to show you how to do just that.
Want to know more about what life is like for a real exogeologist? Read Petra’s Blog, a blog written by me as the fictional exogeologist Petra Stone. Petra writes about her favorite experiences in exogeology, and exogeology in general. There are tons of posts with lots of information, so go to Petra’s Blog and start reading!
Play a crossword puzzle, search in a crossword puzzle, and solve online jigsaw puzzles in this fun category.
There are a wide variety of things you’ll see on the job as an exogeologist. Each set of photographs in the gallery shows you some of those, along with a short description about what you see. Have fun looking around, because these photos ROCK!
Have you read everything on Exogeology ROCKS! and you want to find out more? Here are some great links to get you started.
If you have any suggestions about how to improve my site, add more info, or make it more fun, use the “Contact Me” form to send me your reviews.
You can get to any of these pages from the sidebar on the right hand side of the page. I’ve put a lot of effort into this, so don’t miss out! There are lots of rockin’ things to do!
Until next time, I’m Zoë Bentley, and Exogeology ROCKS!
Wow! An eruption; that ROCKS! Only, it doesn’t at all. All flights to and from Iceland were postponed, including mine. It turns out I’ll have to wait a few more days before going home. The Icelandic volcano Fimmvorduhals near Eyjafjallajoekull glacier erupted just recently on March 21. It was a small, relatively harmless eruption. There was ash, flights were canceled, and there were evacuations, but there wasn’t much damage done considering what could have happened. Yesterday it erupted again–and I was there. Well, not there precisely, but in Iceland, so I was affected by the eruption (just a canceled flight).
Don’t ask me how to pronounce the name of the glacier; I have no idea, even though I’ve been hearing it on all the television and radio channels (I’m not a linguist). The volcano is just as difficult to pronounce. Somehow I manage to get the locals to understand me when I’m pronouncing local cities and words. It helps to know that “j” is pronounced like “y”…
I wish I’d been nearer to the volcano, but on the other hand, I was far enough to be out of harm’s way. Even still, I would have loved to see it erupt (from the sky)! Not only was there lava, but this time there was flooding due to the fact that the volcano was under a glacier! The March eruption wasn’t directly under the glacier, so there wasn’t any flooding. But yesterday’s eruption was in the main crater, which was underneath the icecap. I should figure out what would happen if a volcano erupted under the north Martian ice cap…
There might even be another eruption. There’s another volcano, Katla, which is more destructive and has an easier name. It could affect a larger area than Fimmvorduhals, even causing global damage! Fimmvorduhals, which was the one that erupted yesterday, had ash that spread all the way to the UK and stopped flights to and from there. A colleague of mine in Ireland told me that her flights were canceled due to ash there (the ash can cause a lot of damage to airplane motors)! Wow, ash can go a long ways! The lava itself seems to be less of a problem than the ash and flooding. I hope I get to see something from above when I fly home.
I guess I’ll have a bit more time to look around as a tourist before I go, and time to do more research, too, of course. Isn’t it awesome that geology can be so exciting? It’s not all just looking at rocks. Exogeology is pretty exciting, too. I mean, Io has more volcanic activity than any other body in the Solar System. And ice on Mars is being studied for traces of water ice, which is part of what I’m doing right now! Exogeology most certainly ROCKS!
To find out more about the recent Iceland eruption, read these articles:
The last link has a great photo; it really shows the scale of the eruption.
My movie, Exogeology ROCKS!, is here!
Click on Exogeology ROCKS! Episodes/ Meet Real Exogeologists on the sidebar. Exogeology ROCKS! is a video I made about what exogeology is, and an interview with a real exogeologist. I hope it helps you see that exogeology really does ROCK! I filmed, hosted, interviewed, and edited the whole 20 minute movie. It was hard, but really fun. See what you think of it!
Don’t forget the bonus track on Pluto!
Until next time, I’m Zoë Bentley, and Exogeology ROCKS!
Hello out there! It’s Zoë again with great news! I now have a working Photo Gallery up. Petra posted new blogs recently too, about a post per day, so keep checking up on her on Exogeology ROCKS!
The photo gallery is over on the sidebar underneath the “Games and Puzzles” category. I’ve made 5 different sets of photographs: Mineral and Rock Samples, Geologic Formations, Astronomy Pictures, Spacecraft and Landers, and Telescopes and Observatories. Check them all out! Each photo has a great description of whatever it has in it, and the pictures ROCK!
Until next time, I’m Zoë Bentley and Exogeology ROCKS!
