This is Vince Needham's personal page.
If you can read this, your browser is unable to properly import or use
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Please upgrade to a more modern browser.
Phoenix descends to Mars

Risen From the Ashes

On Sunday, 25 May, the Phoenix lander successfully touched down near the north pole of Mars! Entry, descent and landing was nearly flawless, and the lander is now beaming back pictures and preparing to dig into the ice-laden soil. Sophisticated chemistry labs onboard will help us to "follow the water" and untangle the geological history of the Red Planet. As a bonus, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped this magnificent, amazing shot of Phoenix floating beneath its parachute!

The navigation bar to your left is your guide to my pages, and special content is highlighted below. Watch this space for the latest news!

Cricket Still Jacobs Tubbs

Genealogy

The Needham genealogy was updated on 20 January 2007. There are quite a lot of changes, which are outlined on the introductory page of the site. Besides updating the lineage, there are three new photo galleries and a variety of other added documents.

The Simmons family tree has finally received its long-promised update as of 20 June 2007. The big news here is the discovery that Daniel Boone is my sixth-great-uncle. The Boone line is a well-researched one, so many new families have been added to the database.

I've just discovered that I'm a ninth cousin of Presidential candidate Barack Obama. His mother, from Kansas, was a Dunham and descended of Jonathan Singletary/Dunham (1639-1724). I've also learned of a similar relationships to the Bushes, by way of John Prescott (1604-1681), and to Richard Nixon on both sides of the family through Henry Howland (father of Pilgrim John Howland) and Martha Strode (a grandparent of Daniel Boone). I'll get all the details posted to the family sites soon.

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

Space Exploration

Every April Kansas State University hosts a Boy Scout merit badge conference, where local experts counsel Scouts concerning a variety of topics. I've counseled the Space Exploration merit badge for several years now. The first half of the class includes a PowerPoint presentation focusing on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. After that, we go out and launch model rockets (usually into the teeth of a strong Kansas spring breeze!).

Several of my presentations are archived here. The requirements were finally updated last year, but since the Vision for Space Exploration is revolutionizing our approach to space travel, I'll be rather freely interpreting things to stay current.

What Else Is New?

In the off chance that you didn't already know what the war was about or who Bush and the Republicans are beholden to:

  • "Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP - the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company - along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields..."
    New York Times, 19 Jun 2008
  • "Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, a Congressional committee has concluded... The release of the documents comes as the administration is defending help that United States officials provided in drawing up a separate set of no-bid contracts, still pending, between Iraq’s Oil Ministry in Baghdad and five major Western oil companies to provide services at other Iraqi oil fields."
    New York Times, 03 Jul 2008
  • "President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to end a federal ban on offshore oil drilling and open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration..."
    New York Times, 18 Jun 2008

What I'm Reading

  • Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon & Schuster, 2005
  • Komarr, Lois McMaster Bujold, 1998

Last updated on Thursday, 03-Jul-2008