Sunday, March 25, 2007

We Have Arrived


We are here in the Mojave Desert at a Research Station. It is really dry, drier even than I predicted. The research station is located along a dry lakebed that is extremely flat. It looks very much like Edwards Air Force Base where NASA somtimes lands the Space Shuttle. Behind the station, away from the dry lakebed, are eroding mountains. It is very different from the gelogic formations of Indiana. I will be working with field geologists sometime this week to learn more.


I learned some information about Zzyzx today. It is not a town as I had thought. Instead, it is a resort from the mid 1940s. It was built to be a Mineral Springs and Health Resort. There are still many remnants of a resort here but most of the facilities have long begun to fall apart.



To learn more of how Zzyzx became a research facility, follow the link:


Now answer these questions:

1. What is the name of the dry lake?

2. Who was the man who built the Health resort?

3. What year did the resort go out of business (as a resort)?

4. Weekend classes are offered at Zzyzx. List 5 topics you could study there.

5. Who prepares the food at Zzyzx?
6. How does the station get electricity?

7. How does the station provide drinking water?

8. which two Mars rovers were developed and tested near Zzyzx? (more at the bottom)

You cannot fly directly to Zzyzx. Get on any site (maybe some travel site) and figure out a way to get to Zzyzx from where you are. Try to figure out how much that trip would cost.










3 comments:

miraclemom said...

I'm glad you made it safely. Looks like a great place with lots of sunshine!

miraclemom said...

Looking at the pictures again, it reminds me either of Camp Green Lake in the movie "Holes", or Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars". Either way, it looks awesome!

fireball said...

It looks like the place is falling apart, but it still looks like a nice place. I wish I could go there someday. What did you learn about the Mojave today?