Trivial Tuesday

I have decided to not go with a space program themed question this week.  Instead, this question came to me while listening to Security Now! on the TWiT network.

During a conversation on encryption algorithms, it was mentioned that this communication system was created in the 1840′s by counting the number of  letter dies, from a printing press,  used for a standard newspaper page.  What system am I referring to?

This is another question that will either be answered quickly or will go unanswered.  I hope it’s somewhere in between, but that’s just my optimism.  Have a good day and good luck.

7 Years After

Yesterday, as we all know was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, but it was also another anniversary of man’s need to explore.  I didn’t want to overshadow the big anniversary yesterday, so I decided to wait until today.  Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of Viking 1 landing on the surface of Mars (July 20, 1976).  This is the first time the United States landed a probe on the red planet.  The USSR did land two probes that landed, but lost contact almost immediately after landing.  The Viking 1 mission lasted three days short of 5-years from launch to mission end.  This marks our first time as a presence on the surface of another planet.  I have no doubt that we will go back to the moon in a few short years, but I do hope that I am alive to see man land and walk on the surface of Mars.  Have a good day.