NASA Ames is named in honor of Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physicist and one of the founding members of NACA. At last estimate NASA Ames has over US$3.0 billion in capital equipment, 2,300 research personnel and a US$860 million annual budget.
Beryl, the mineral of which emerald is a variety, has a chemical composition of Be 3 Al 2 (SiO 3) 6. When pure, beryl is colorless and known as goshenite.. Trace amounts of chromium or vanadium in the mineral cause it to develop a green color.
The base mineral composition of rubies differs from that of emeralds (Al 2 O 3 for rubies, Be 3 Al 2 Si 6 O 18 for emeralds) so the chromium trapped within the crystal lattice of each absorbs different colors of the visible spectrum of light; the chromium in rubies reflect red and the chromium in emeralds reflect green.