Monday 22 June - Nell

Last March two ultra runners, along with Border Collie Nell, were reported overdue in the Fisherfield Forest and Dundonnell MRT were called out together with members of Torridon MRT.

The missing party were all found near Loch an Nid, the runners suffering from mild hypothermia, and were flown out by the coastguard helicopter. However Nell ran off frightened by the helicopter so the following morning two members of Dundonnell MRT, Alison Smith and Rachel Drummond, accompanied by their SARDA dogs, went back to the scene of the rescue to look for Nell, taking with them a disposable barbecue and sausages.

Soon they were cooking up the sausages, Nell appeared on the rocky hillside and was lured closer by the smell of the food. She was eventually secured and all walked the five miles back to the road.

Unharmed by her adventure Nell was re-united with her owner, the daughter of one of the rescued runners.

Heart-warming. And well done Alison and Rachel.

Sorry, I don't know who to credit with the photos. 

Sunday 21 June - SARDA

What a wonderful photograph of Jib, member of Aberdeen Mountain Rescue Team. Wearing goggles allows Jib to take part in helicopter rescue missions by protecting her eyes from flying debris.

Photo copyright Jamie Greig.

Sunday 14 June - NASA-JPL My trip to Mars draws near - launch now scheduled for 17 July

Engineers at NASA's JPL have been busy getting the Mars Rover, Perseverance, ready for the start of  its journey to Mars landing at Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021. The crater is some 45km in diameter and Perseverance will land on the flat floor of the crater just east of the ancient river delta.

The rover's mission is to look for signs of past life, collect rock and soil samples, and cache them for possible return to Earth at a later date in a joint venture with the European Space Agency (ESA).

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this photo of Mars in July 2018 near its closest approach to Earth since 2003 - 36.9 million miles.The two Moons of Mars are Phobos (right) and Deimos (left).

Jezero crater lies within the small circle near the centre of the photograph. Crater not visible. Photo Mars Orbiter Mission 2014

Perseverance landing ellipse in Jezero crater

The name plate attached to Perseverance's robotic arm

The laser-etched titanium plate weighs 104g and measures 43cm long by 8.26cm wide and was cut using a water-jet. The surface was coated with black thermal paint before a computer-guided laser generated the name 'Perseverance' by ablating the surface.

The name plate acts as a rock and debris shield to protect the cables which carry power and data to the computer in the body of the rover to the actuators in the arm. Power is also carried to the instruments and drill in the turret. (Photo and details courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Perseverance gets its flight wheels which are 52.5cm in diameter. The wheels are re-engineered versions of Curiosity's and have twice as many treads, slightly curved instead of chevron

The protective antistatic foil will be removed before launch. The spokes are titanium.

Perseverance during mass properties measurements

Precision mass properties measurements are crucial to to a safe landing on Mars, ensuring the spacecraft travels accurately throughout its journey and has a successful entry, descent and landing.

On a rover turnover fixture the Perseverance’s centre of gravity is determined relative to its x-axis (tail to front) before moving Perseverance to a spin table the surface of which sits on a spherical air bearing that levitates on a thin layer of nitrogen gas. The centre of gravity of is then determined relative to Perseverance's z-axis (top to bottom) and the y-axis (left to right). The engineers then rotate the rover slowly back and forth calculating the imbalance in its mass distribution.

After analysis of the data, 6.27kg were added to the rover's centre of gravity which brought it within 0.025mm of the spot mission designers had intended. (Source NASA JPL-Caltech)

Perseverance's mast mounted camera system can zoom, focus and take 3D images and video at high speed to allow detailed examination of distant objects

Descent stage

Mars Helicopter - Ingenuity can be seen fixed to the yellow/cream structure (red arrow)

Weighing 1.8kg, Ingenuity will test powered flight on Mars and is powerful enough to lift off on Mars where the atmosphere is less than 1% the density on Earth's. It will take off, fly for up to 90 seconds for a distance of 300m and land with commands from Earth sent in advance. It will fly up to 5 metres above the surface.

I am thoroughly looking forward to Perseverance's journey to the Red Planet and will provide updates nearer the launch and throughout its voyage as well as more details of the mission and the rover's scientific instruments.

All images courtesy NASA JPL - Caltech

Sunday 31 May - A fine circuit

I was a bit concerned to read that two walkers were charged by police after being rescued a week ago from Beinn a' Chroin, a Munro near Crianlarich. Apparently they were not equipped for the ascent, got in to difficulties and the Killin Mountain Rescue Team were called out. The pair were subsequently charged in connection with 'culpable and recklesss conduct' having placed the officers and MRT members at risk from coronavirus.

I don't condone their actions in breaking the 'stay local' guidelines (they'd driven 60 miles) but reporting the walkers to the procurator fiscal was not a proportionate response in my view, and I do wonder if the fiscal will think it worth spending public money to proceed. Mountaineering Scotland pointed out that charging the pair had caused "concern in the outdoor community". It certainly made me feel uneasy. What next?

Thankfully, Mountain Rescue Scotland* has said: "Mountain rescue teams are here to help. If people get into difficulties in the hills they should be clear that mountain rescue assistance is provided without cost and without judgement".

"We want to encourage everyone who is able to access the hills to make sure they stay safe and are well prepared before they go".

Fine, but calling out rescue teams should be a last resort. As an example of self-reliance read Sir Hugh's account here of self extraction from a hill with a broken arm.

* My note: Cairngorm, Lochaber, Glencoe and Tayside MRTs are not members of Scottish Mountain Rescue.

We were unaware of these goings-on as we dropped down to cross the Frandy Burn to the gate which fortunately was open, either by accident or design, so our disposable gloves were unnecessary.

The Frandy Burn

As we joined the grassy path for the climb to Mailer's Knowe a couple on the track by River Devon stopped to check their GPS which suggested to us that they might not be local. They followed us for a couple of kilometres or so before they branched off for Tarmangie Hill leaving us alone with the skylarks and cuckoos for the rest of the day.

It was hot so I changed in to shorts at the top of Scad Hill before we strolled over Cairn Morris, crossed the stile without using our hands and arrived at Skythorn's small cairn. What a day to be on a hill.

Scad Hill.

This was the third day of lockdown easing and a Sunday so we reckoned Tarmangie Hill would have more than its fair share of visitors and Andrew Gannel Hill likewise. Sure enough figures appeared at the latter's summit as we spoke, no doubt on routes from Dollar and the 'Hillfits (Hillfoots) villages, walks which we've often done ourselves. We didn't want to join them so followed the long, broad ridge above the Brioch Burn towards Backhills.

Horror. The south and south east slopes of Frandy Hill were being prepared for conifer plantations, a growing threat to the lovely open hillsides of the Ochils. Then we noticed that the northern side of Middle Hill was likewise being prepared. Our hearts sank. Will the Ochils ever be left in peace?

By contrast the extensive bog cotton swaying in the light breeze lifted our spirits and we often stopped to gently handle it or brush our hands against the heads as we walked.

Just one of the areas of bog cotton

A long stop for lunch was now in order and we lazed in the sun pondering just when or if we'll ever be able to return to the Highlands without the constant worry of Covid 19. We've more or less reconciled ourselves to staying home this year perhaps driving further afield on day trips when that's eventually allowed. But will things really be much different next year in the absence of a vaccine, treatment or both? And how effective might a vaccine be for the likes of us, not old, but not young either! We just have to enjoy the present, and right now that wasn't altogether difficult to do.  Not difficult at all.

Frandy Moss is a familiar spot to us and we know our way through the bog in the wettest of conditions, but today there was no need to pick our way so we wandered at will before the easy ascent to the cairnless top of our last hill of the day. Spacious and open with the usual wonderful views to the north.

Another halt to finish our tea, a descent through old pastures to the track by the burn, a walk through the small shady wood and a return to the car along the Water Board road, stepping aside occasionally to make way for anglers driving home after fishing on the reservoir.

That last paragraph barely captures our feeling of contentment.

Friday 29 May - Return

On Thursday Nicola Sturgeon duly confirmed the promised slight easing of the lockdown and hillwalking could resume, with the proviso that you stayed local. No problem for us except to decide which hills to climb.

There were lots of cars parked at Castlehill Reservoir but we hadn't planned to stop there or the Woodland Trust carpark in Glen Devon which in any case was closed. Thwarted, people had parked their cars in small lay-bys and many others were half on verges and half on the road with the typical disregard for others which seems so common these days. They were mostly picnickers down by the river.

At the head of Glen Eagles though, we we were in glorious isolation back among the hills after ten long weeks of exile. Cuckoos welcomed us and have been constant companions on this and our three other days in the Ochils.

Fishing had resumed on Lower Glendevon Reservoir as per lockdown easing although we were surprised to find the boats out rather than anglers on the banks. It was good to see the country make tentative steps back to some sort of normality

From our chosen top we could see patches of snow lingering on Beinn Ghlas and Ben Lawers and other hills further north, all beyond our reach for the moment as was a good photograph given the heat haze.

It was a grand day out over the hills in a very welcome cool south easterly breeze watching the larks soaring, a sight we've missed so much this year. As a bonus Lynne spotted a nest among the tussocks with the young staring skywards, beaks gaped.

Anyone for Tossing the Caber?

All construction has been halted during lockdown except, of course, if it involves a bit more destruction of the Ochils. Four new bigger turbines to be installed.

West Craigs, which we traversed on our way back

It was simply bliss to be back among the hills but crowds of idiots descended on the Loch Lomond area and Glen Coe at the weekend, flouting the guidance on travel, so Nicola is threatening to change this guidance to law. Not sure how that will go down with those of us who've done our best to comply.  

Covid -19. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory builds VITAL in 37 days.

When I post about NASA it is usually related to my interest in their human space exploration programmes past and present or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's robotic exploration, most recently the upcoming launch of the Mars Rover, Perseverance (more of that in the next post). This however is different: "This is the story of how a team of engineers, fuelled by a desire to help during the crisis, brought VITAL into being" 

Some of the dozens of engineers involved in creating a ventilator prototype specially targeted to coronavirus disease patients at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Called VITAL (Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally), the prototype was created in 37 days in March and April 2020.

Left to right, standing: Shaunessy Grant, Michael Johnson, Dave Van Buren, Michelle Easter.

Left to right, kneeling: Brandon Metz, Patrick Degrosse.On April 30, the Food and Drug Administration approved VITAL for a ventilator Emergency Use Authorization. 

"Developed in just 37 days by NASA's Jet PropulsionLaboratory in response to the coronavirus pandemic, VITAL (short for Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally) wouldn't replace current hospital ventilators, which can treat a broader range of medical issues. 

Designed specifically for COVID-19 patients, the prototype is composed of far fewer parts than traditional ventilators and is intended to last three to four months. Its license is being offered free to manufacturers through the Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. 

More than 100 manufacturers from around the world applied for a free license to build VITAL, and licensees will be announced later this month.

This is the story of how a team of engineers, fuelled by a desire to help during the crisis, brought VITAL into being. 

On March 11, Mechanical Systems Engineer David Van Buren found himself waiting in line for a cup of coffee at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. It was a typical bustling Wednesday before mandatory teleworking kicked in, but Van Buren wasn't focused on his typical workload.

Instead, the mechanical systems engineer was crunching coronavirus numbers. In February, he'd given a lecture on pandemics in relation to COVID-19 for his physics course at Cal State Los Angeles, and he saw clear signs of a developing pandemic.

"It didn't take much extrapolating to see the potential of what could happen here," Van Buren said. "And at the same time, I was thinking about our work; we have these missions and efforts to explore other planets, but I started questioning if what we were doing at JPL was what we should be doing," Van Buren said.

That same morning, JPL Chief Engineer Rob Manning's thoughts were preoccupied by the virus, and he needed coffee, too.

"I had just seen some projections, and I was worried," Manning said.

In a chance encounter, the two chatted about upcoming work and a bit about their coronavirus concerns.

"I went back to my desk after talking with Rob, and the question was still nagging me," Van Buren said. "We have incredible engineering talent and capabilities here. How can we help reduce the ventilator shortage that could be coming?"

This, well before most people even knew the meaning of "ventilator," let alone the fatal implications of a shortage.

Van Buren sent an email, outlining a plan to develop and proof a low-cost respirator design that could be made quickly and in volume. Manning was hooked.

"We needed to do something, and this was it," Manning said.

Thirty-seven days later, a team of more than 50 - some working on-site at JPL, but most from home - had designed, built and tested VITAL, a breathing aid that would help critically ill COVID-19 patients and bolster scarce stocks of traditional hospital ventilators.

The timeline is a feat nearly unheard of in medical device development, completed by a research and development center that makes robots for space, not breathing aids for humans. In JPL terms, the team would say they crammed an entire planetary flight mission - from formulation to launch to landing - in a little more than a month. Most team members worked 14-hour days, seven days a week, and mandatory telework restrictions established on March 17 put unique strains on an already daunting task. Van Buren said the obstacles discouraged no one.

"The difference is the purpose," Van Buren said. "Landing something on Mars is incredibly exciting, but saving lives is a different beast."

The Medical Link

So how did the team turn the initial idea into action? 

Enter Leon Alkalai, engineering fellow in the Office of Strategic Integration, who for the past six years has led a medical engineering forum at JPL aimed at identifying the Lab's unique space technologies that could be applied to solving challenging problems in healthcare and medicine.

"The broad vision has been there," Alkalai said. "David's idea brought the urgency and the opportunity for JPL to make a significant contribution in a unique way, and I wanted to help in any way I could."

The ventilator had to meet specific high-pressure oxygen flow rates to aid COVID-19 patients battling Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome; it had to be made of far fewer parts than a typical hospital ventilator to keep costs down; those parts had to be widely available in the U.S. supply chain so the ventilators could be built in mass quantities; and those parts couldn't be the same used by traditional ventilators so manufacturing VITAL wouldn't block production of other ventilators.

Van Buren canvassed JPL for experts, and the team - now about a dozen or so strong - held its kickoff meeting Monday, March 16 in Left Field, a whiteboard-lined space typically used for brainstorming early mission concepts. The team had turned the room into a ventilator learning station. And thanks to one world-renowned pulmonologist, the learning curve was about to get steep.

No Time to Breathe

As the Medical Director of the School of Respiratory Therapy for East Los Angeles and Santa Monica Colleges, Dr. Michael Gurevitch had access to a supply of ventilators, circuits, valves and filters he could bring to the Lab to give a crash course on what was needed to make a COVID-19-fighting device.

"Since coronavirus restrictions had shut down the colleges, the school leadership granted us access to grab just about anything we needed from their labs that would help aid JPL's project," Gurevitch said. 

After the meeting, VITAL's design team, led by Mechatronic Engineer Mike R. Johnson, turned Gurevitch's lecture into requirements as they developed a working concept, design and prototype.

"They were amazing. They not only grasped the medical concepts and physiology," Gurevitch said, "but they understood how those requirements would interface with the mechanics of the device."

Called to the Lab in a Pandemic

While a majority of the team worked from home, a limited staff stayed on Lab as mission-essential to work on prototype assembly and testing.

Mechatronic engineer Michelle Easter worked as prototype logistics and hardware test lead for VITAL. "We were considering the FDA approval process on top of making sure each part we choose is available for mass production, and not just available, but available right now," Easter said. "This had to be technically excellent, and the parts had to be readily available. We're not used to that at JPL. If I'm working on a flight instrument and I want a part, I'll just give a company a 20-month lead time to custom build it. That's not an option here."

Despite the early growing pains, the team found their groove, designing, building and testing two different prototype models - one powered by a blower and another by a pneumatic system. Both contain about one-seventh the parts of a traditional ventilator, and both can deliver the high-pressure oxygen flows needed for COVID-19 patients while keeping the lungs slightly inflated even as they exhale - key for patients to stave off infections like pneumonia.

"It's been amazing to be a part of such a grassroots project, and watching it just explode in an organic way from those first meetings into these working prototypes," Easter said. "I joke that I've met all my new favorite coworkers from this project. Because everyone on this team has a big heart, and they're on this project because they want to make a difference. That pureness of intention is incredible. Everybody is all in for the good, and it just feels great."

Jargon Jumble, Telework Tango

Systems Engineer Stacey Boland is no stranger to JPL's penchant for acronyms and jargon, but as operations lead on VITAL, she was tasked with essentially writing a user manual for the device as it was being built.

"The medical professionals definitely have their own language," Boland said. "Different specialties within the healthcare profession even seem to have their own dialects - so there's been a fair amount of iteration and editing involved."

Boland's other job is working on the MAIA instrument (Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols) - NASA's first time partnering with epidemiologists and health organizations to use satellite data to study human health. "In a given day, I'm talking to doctors, engineers, managers, visual strategists and sometimes also regulators," Boland said. 

It uniquely qualified her for a position on VITAL. And while there were a lot of different points of view to try to reconcile, a sense of purpose prevailed. "We all talk. We all listen. We're all learning together. There's something beautiful and enabling in having a singular focus - there's a real unmet need and we're responding to it. There truly is a sense that we're all in this together."

Ready to Help

With the prototypes built, Leon Alkalai connected the team with Dr. Matthew Levin at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. On April 22, barely a month after the project began, the ventilator passed critical tests in the center's high-fidelity human simulation lab, performing under a wide variety of simulated patient conditions.

On April 30, after reviewing the 505-page submission, the FDA approved VITAL for a ventilator Emergency Use Authorization. The selection process for which companies would be granted a free license was underway.

The team's accomplishments have captured the world's attention as well. On April 23, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine held a media briefing where JPL Associate Director of Strategic Integration Dave Gallagher discussed the development of VITAL. Two days later, Gallagher was in the White House, showing off the ventilator to President Donald Trump.

"Congratulate the engineer, OK? Say hello to Dave," Trump said to Gallagher, referring to Van Buren.

For Van Buren, the congratulations go all around for the team, and beyond.

"The medical workers, the people knitting face masks, providing PPE for groups on the front lines ... the amount of compassion people are displaying while we are all trying to cope with this epidemic is really heartwarming."

What VITAL will mean to the world is yet unknown. Currently, ventilator usage remains below critical levels in the United States, but that doesn't mean VITAL won't be needed if coronavirus cases spike again in the future.

"It looks like we're near the peak in the U.S., but it could get worse as easily as it gets better," Van Buren said. "We won't know it's over until it's obvious we have beat it. No matter what happens, what we've shown through this project is a pathway to get important, time-sensitive work done. There will be another pandemic, and we're putting in place principles on how to attack them here."

It has the potential to save lives, but all who helped build it hope coronavirus numbers never swell to a place where hospital ventilator capacities are exhausted."

Courtesy NASA JPL-Caltech

Sent from my iPhone

Some hope at last

Mountaineering Scotland is leading discussions with partners in the Mountain Safety Group on how to deliver a phased return to the hills and mountains.

It has drafted proposals which will be submitted to the Scottish government outlining how activities like hill walking, climbing and bouldering can be re-introduced.

Stuart Younie CEO of Mountaineering Scotland said: "We want to see an immediate return to hill walking, climbing and other outdoor activities as lockdown starts to ease, and have been encouraged by the way the outdoor sector in Scotland is working together to make this happen in a safe and responsible way"

Damon Powell, chairman of Scotttish Mountain Rescue said, "We hope to see everyone out there soon, but preferably not on a rescue!" (Source: BBC)

This last paragraph seems to me to be rather more measured view than that of one MRT south of the border.

Friday 24 April - Life goes on

Our seeds have now arrived from D T Brown, a delightful company to deal with, and planting has begun. Peas, cress, radish, spring onions, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce. and rocket, named :Rocket Artemis F1. When I pointed out to Lynne that the Artemis programme is NASA's current Moon mission and F1 engines powered the first stage of the Saturn V in the Apollo era, I was met with 'You're obsessed man!'  Oh well.

We also have Nasturtiums and Love in a Mist.

But we're not the only ones planting:

On our walk yesterday we came across this painted stone placed by the fence. Nice touch from someone. Thanks.

I'm beginning to think that a Twitter account might be better suited during the current restrictions than a blog. It's probably a better place to say nothing very much.

My birthday tomorrow, normally spent on a hill, but our usual walk will have to do.

Monday 20 April - I think this rather fine

It's taken a while, but this beautiful larch tree on the route of our daily walk, has come to life.

Taken with iPhone. Click to enlarge.

Sunday 19 April - four weeks on

These daffodils brighten up our daily walk but obviously they've had a close encounter with a tractor, probably delivering hay for the sheep. I like to think they were spared on purpose. Positive thoughts are needed at present.

We met not a soul before turning onto the now familiar single track road to Powmill. In the distance is King's Seat Hill, the snow patches on its steep north east slopes slowly shrinking.

At one of the few houses along our route the friendly dog barks his regular welcome; the cat observes us briefly then turns away, disinterested. It's a cat after all. I like cats. I like dogs for the opposite reason.

A lovely spot with dog, cats and hens.

At home I'm falling into an enjoyable routine, if jumping from one thing to another counts as routine.  
 
I've been uploading photos to Flickr, browsing climbing books and generally living vicariously on the tops and ridges of the Munros and others. I searched the bookshelves for Irvine Butterfield's High Mountains of Britain and Ireland, a book I bought over thirty years ago but never used preferring the SMC's Tables to identify the Munros and Tops using Grid References, then working out routes for ourselves.(Edit: We bought Butterfield’s book in 1988, three years before ‘compleation’ so I assume we thought it simply a book worth having for its own sake. Which it is.)

However, Butterfield's book is an excellent one and his photographs capture the landscape well. I remember a friend pouring over its pages at Ardmair the evening before we set off for Achintee, bound for a day on Bidein a' Choire Sheasgaich and Lurg Mhor. I teased him about using a guide book, and a non-SMC one at that, but he would have none of it!

There are other books to read of course;

Everest - The First Ascent, the untold story of Griffith Pugh, recommended by Sir Hugh and Gimmer.

James Naughtie's On The Road - American Adventures from Nixon to Trump.

The Haldanes of Gleneagles, a Scottish History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day, which Lynne has read but which I might find a bit dry.

Unfortunately, all this is a poor substitute for being on the hills. But never mind. Following the Sunday Times report into the UK Government's handling of the virus outbreak in its early stages, Cameron McNeish has the answer to Scotland's coronavirus problem: "I think it's very clear now that being shackled to England is seriously bad for our health@DissolvetheUnion". Really? Cringeworthy to say the least.
 
To cheer you up (well it cheers me up) I leave you with these:

Cuillin Main Ridge Traverse - approaching the Thearlaich-Dubh Gap (hidden) with Sgurr Thearlaich (right) and Sgurr Alasdair (left). Top of Great Stone Shoot between them.

Cuillin Ridge from near Gars-bheinn

Scanned 35mm slide. Am Basteir, April 1991 two months before we finished our round