Space Travel's topics - tribe.net

Space "gravity"

2009-10-16T18:57:35Z

Would spinning ship sections actually provide gravity?

I've been watching a lot of Babylon 5 and it occurs to me that the thrust provided by spinning sections might be relative to the observer. At the very least, it seems that it wouldn't be possible to have a "stable" platform with a spinning section. They'd have to be counter spinning at half speed producing centrifugal force in both sections.

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

JP Aerospace -- balloning to space

2009-10-05T19:09:17Z

Have you guys heard about JP Aerospace? This is low budget independent space program. They figure they could make it to orbit by using specialized balloons. Sounds crazy? Well, at least they are putting their time and money where their mouth is.

This is their blog update:
http://www.jpaerospace.com/blog/

Their main site indicating past upper atmosphere missions:
http://www.jpaerospace.com/

posted in Space Travel - 6 replies

Review of US Human Space Flight Plans Committee summary report

2009-09-09T15:58:10Z

* NASA's budget should match its mission and goals. NASA should be given the ability to shape its organization and infrastructure accordingly, while maintaining facilities deemed to be of national importance.
* International partnerships: The U.S. can lead a bold new international effort in the human exploration of space. If international partners are actively engaged, including on the "critical path" to success, there could be substantial benefits to foreign relations, and more resources overall could become available.
* Short-term Space Shuttle planning: Under current conditions, the gap in U.S. ability to launch astronauts into space will stretch to at least seven years. The Committee did not identify any credible approach employing new capabilities that could shorten the gap to less than six years. The only way to significantly close the gap is to extend the life of the Shuttle Program.
* Extending the International Space Station: The return on investment to both the United States and our international partners would be significantly enhanced by an extension of ISS life. Not to extend its operation would significantly impair U.S. ability to develop and lead future international spaceflight partnerships.
* Heavy-lift: A heavy-lift launch capability to low-Earth orbit, combined with the ability to inject heavy payloads away from the Earth, is beneficial to exploration, and it also will be useful to the national security space and scientific communities.
* Commercial crew launch to low-Earth orbit: Commercial services to deliver crew to low-Earth orbit are within reach. While this presents some risk, it could provide an earlier capability at lower initial and lifecycle costs than government could achieve. A new competition with adequate incentives should be open to all U.S. aerospace companies. This would allow NASA to focus on more challenging roles, including human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, based on the continued development of the current or modified Orion spacecraft.
* Technology development for exploration and commercial space: Investment in a well-designed and adequately funded space technology program is critical to enable progress in exploration.
* Exploration strategies can proceed more readily and economically if the requisite technology has been developed in advance. This investment will also benefit robotic exploration, the U.S. commercial space industry and other U.S. government users.
* Pathways to Mars: Mars is the ultimate destination for human exploration; but it is not the best first destination. Both visiting the Moon First and following the Flexible Path are viable exploration strategies. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive; before traveling to Mars, we might be well served to both extend our presence in free space and gain experience working on the lunar surface.
* Human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit is not viable under the FY 2010 budget guideline.
* Meaningful human exploration is possible under a less constrained budget, ramping to approximately $3 billion per year above the FY 2010 guidance in total resources.
* Funding at the increased level would allow either an exploration program to explore Moon First or one that follows a Flexible Path of exploration. Either could produce results in a reasonable timeframe.

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

Transparent Aluminum Is ‘New State Of Matter’

2009-07-31T19:27:20Z

What is a femto?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727130814.htm

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

Nasa defends its spaceflight plan

2009-07-30T18:22:31Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8175749.stm

Engineers developing Nasa's new rockets have denied that the agency's human spaceflight plans are too expensive, too risky and subject to long delays.

The US space agency has already spent four years developing its next-generation rockets, called Ares.

The engineers defended their work before a presidential panel tasked with reviewing Nasa's plans beyond 2010, when the shuttle is due to be retired.

They said Ares was the safest, fastest way to get Americans back into space.

Critics have asked questions about the technical scope of the next-generation human spaceflight programme, known as Constellation, and Nasa's ability to manage its cost.

Some have called for the Ares launchers to be scrapped in favour of adapting existing rockets.

"We have done what we said we would do and we are well on the way to our first test flight," said Steve Cook, head of the Ares project office at Nasa's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Speaking during a public hearing, Mr Cook dismissed suggestions by some that the space agency was on a flawed path with Ares.

"There have been several outside reviews since we began," he explained.

Other officials told the panel they were working to solve technical challenges with the new system, including a slim possibility that powerful energy waves created during a launch could injure astronauts or make it impossible for them to perform basic tasks.

Norman Augustine, chair of the review committee and former chief executive of aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, said members would offer broad options to President Obama.

Those could range from continuing to fly the space shuttle to moving forward with the Constellation programme without any changes, he said.

"We will not be in the tweaking business," Mr Augustine said during a news conference.

Under a $35bn (£21bn; 24bn euros) plan put in place under former President George W Bush, Nasa is working to retire the shuttle fleet by the end of 2010 and to fly its new Ares-Orion system by 2015.

President Obama appointed the Augustine committee in May to gather information from space agency officials, scientists, the aerospace industry and from Congress about the best future course for US manned space flight.

Former chief

Engineers said that Nasa planned to launch a test version of the Ares I rocket by October 31.

Under current plans, Ares I would launch astronauts in Orion, an Apollo-like capsule that is being designed to carry crew to the Moon and other destinations.

Work is not as far along on a larger rocket called Ares V, which would lift heavy payloads into orbit for a mission to the Moon and an eventual trip to Mars.

Former Nasa Administrator Michael Griffin met with the panel privately before Wednesday's hearing. In a letter addressed to Mr Augustine, Dr Griffin said the Constellation programme was being subjected to "broad but shallow criticism" when Nasa needed continuity in its planning.

"Do not close off options. Do not allow the parochial voices of the small-minded, the self-interested, and the uninformed to prevail. Choose the future," the former space agency chief wrote in the letter.

He said that the space agency's funding had been in decline since the Clinton Administration, yet, he added: "No essential mission responsibility has been removed from Nasa as a result. Indeed, tasks have been added.

"This strategy cannot work. A safe and robust human spaceflight program cannot be built 'on the cheap'."

Dr Griffin led Nasa from April 2005 to January 2009. In April, Dr Griffin took up the post of professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Some 40 Year Anniversary Nasa links...

2009-07-16T18:05:48Z

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11_landing/

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo40/

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo40/

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

BBC News: Enhanced Moon footage revealed

2009-07-16T17:51:51Z

See so yourself:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8154686.stm

Though they had little to work with to begin with and it shows...

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

If it came from space,it's got lots of it,maby even a polo field,....

2009-04-04T07:31:25Z

http://www.ufocasebook.com/2009/canavyweapons.html

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Next Shuttle - March 11th

2009-03-18T15:27:17Z

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/mar/HQ_09-051_STS-119_launch_date.html

"NASA managers completed a review Friday of space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight and selected the official launch date for the STS-119 mission. Commander Lee Archambault and his six crewmates are now scheduled to lift off to the International Space Station at 9:20 p.m. EDT on March 11."

posted in Space Travel - 11 replies

Mojave Airport/Spaceport video

2009-03-14T20:43:44Z

Space.com put on this video of what all goes on in Mojave Airport. Includes footage of SpaceShipTwo simulator.

http://www.space.com/common/media/video/player.php?videoRef=SP_090303Mojave20082

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

updates on SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo

2009-03-14T20:21:41Z

WhiteKnightTwo Eve took a first flight.

PDF file from Scaled Composites:
http://www.scaled.com/news/wk2_21_12_08.pdf

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

tribe on space science

2009-03-14T07:11:05Z

I don't know if you guys are interested, but I started a tribe specifically on science done in space, or about space.

http://tribes.tribe.net/spacesciences?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B42536d99-ada8-4546-92b9-2b413104c5b3%5D

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

British Space Plance concept

2009-03-12T20:02:39Z

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/090311-tw-space-plane.html

"Launching into orbit could become a little easier and cheaper, thanks to a futuristic space plane that looks like it might have flown straight out of a Star Wars film.

The European Space Agency and British government have awarded $1 million euros ($1.28 million dollars) to Reaction Engines Limited (REL), a British aerospace company, as part of a multi-million dollar development program for an air-breathing rocket engine that could power the Skylon spaceplane. The unpiloted, reusable vehicle is designed to take off from an airstrip, deliver cargo into orbit and return to the same runway."

I heard of their concept of air breathing rocket hybrid engine either in the late 70's or early 80's. I'm surprised to see that they still want to do it.

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

ISS and Space Debris

2009-03-12T18:37:11Z

"Station Astronauts Take Shelter from Space Debris

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station took refuge inside their Russian-built Soyuz lifeboat Thursday when a potentially life-threatening piece of space debris zipped too close to their orbiting laboratory.

The three astronauts, two Americans and one Russian, moved into the station's attached Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft at 12:35 p.m. EDT (1635 GMT) as a safety precaution in case the debris - a small piece of a spent satellite motor - slammed into the orbiting lab and ripped a hole in its outer hull. The astronauts were ready to evacuate the space station if the debris hit the station and depressurized its living space.

Notice of the incoming debris came overnight, too late for flight controllers to plan a maneuver to fire the station's thrusters and put more space between it and the space trash, NASA officials said. But the debris apparently did not impact the $100 billion orbiting lab as it flew 220 miles (354 km) above Earth. "

Can you say >>>>>>RED ALERT<<<<<<<<<, or >BRACE FOR IMPACT< ?

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

SpaceX - launches coming

2009-03-12T08:26:38Z

Have you guys been tracking SpaceX? http://www.spacex.com

They are setting to make progress this year, with the inauguration of Falcon 9, commercial launches of Falcon 1, and their marketing of Dragon capsule as an alternative to the retiring Space Shuttle program (STS).

Along with Orbital Science they have recently secured contract with NASA to supply cargo to ISS, this is above and beyond the COTS requirement of demo flights to ISS.

Its looking promising with them.

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

SPACE URINE recycling system - the fix....

2009-03-12T07:45:26Z

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090310-sts119-urine-recycler.html

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Tucked away with the new hardware set to launch into space aboard NASA's shuttle Discovery on Wednesday night is a desperately-needed spare part for the International Space Station's urine recycler.

The urine recycling system, which was first delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) last November by the shuttle Endeavour, has been malfunctioning since it was installed. Though the technology may sound icky, it is considered vital for the space station to accommodate crews of six astronauts, double its current occupancy of three."

This must be the ickyest fact about permanent space travel/colonization. You have to drink preprocessed ......LOL.....urine. I'm having a hard time writing this with a straight face.

Fincke's comments:
>"This is exactly why it's good to have the space station to try these things out, rather than trying them for the first time on the moon," Fincke said. "This way, we can figure out all the little tricks and gotchas, and perfect the technology, and then we can go farther away from home."<

Gotchas? Perfect technology? Sounds like something out of Quark!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pqLjOg0hwo&playnext_from=PL&feature=PlayList&p=60E23F019AC1BAE4&index=55

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Naming Node 3 for ISS

2009-03-12T07:30:45Z

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html

"Help us to name another important addition to the station - Node 3 and its cupola!
Vote using the poll on the right.

Voting will be open until March 20th, 2009. NASA will announce the winning name in April 2009."

And Stephen Colbert wants its: http://www.colbertnation.com/home

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

China's military space station

2009-03-10T11:02:30Z

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sfn-090309-china-space-lab.html

"China is aggressively accelerating the pace of its manned space program by developing a 17,000 lb. man-tended military space laboratory planned for launch by late 2010. The mission will coincide with a halt in U.S. manned flight with phase-out of the shuttle."

I just hope its not armed.

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Armadillo Aerospace - still working

2009-03-08T21:28:10Z

http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=365

'Trashed a vehicle

It’s been a while, but we pretty much trashed a vehicle last month. We were doing the first test of the “super mod” with completely full propellant tanks and an external high pressure helium tank with a computer controlled high pressure valve for tank pressure regulation. The goal for this design is to get enough performance from one of the modules to do the level 2 lunar lander challenge without having to use Pixel, because we still worry a lot about slosh and propellant balance on the quad vehicles. Moving to external pressurization is also one of the major performance growth paths for us in the future, so it is a useful development direction.'

after math:
http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/2009_02_12/after.jpg

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Simulated Mars Mission - Russia and Europe

2009-03-08T21:13:32Z

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDGOCDNRF_index_0.html

"On 31 March, a crew of six, including a French pilot and a German engineer, will embark on a 105-day simulated Mars mission. They will enter a special facility at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow, to emerge only three months later.

Their mission will help in understanding the psychological and medical aspects of long-duration spaceflight. Media representatives are invited to meet the participants just before they enter the isolation facility. "

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Kepler is launched!

2009-03-08T19:43:16Z

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

"The Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft lifted off on time at 10:49 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spectacular nighttime launch followed a smooth countdown free of technical issues or weather concerns."

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

ESA looking for input for Lunar Lander

2009-03-05T03:10:11Z

ESA article:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMBM4CDNRF_index_0.html

"2 March 2009
ESA's Directorate of Human Spaceflight is inviting industrial, technology and scientific communities to provide inputs for experiments and payload elements for accommodation on its first lunar lander."

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

about OCO launch failure

2009-03-04T18:37:36Z

As you probably know NASA's OCO satelite that was lost in a launch provided by Orbital Sciences.

Its a big blow or Orbital Sciences since they are also slated to provide pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the ISS

A NASA investigation is starting and board members have been selected:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/mar/HQ_09-047_OCO_MIB.html

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

new space videos on Space.com

2009-02-26T22:30:30Z

These are a compilation of videos of new space arena over the last year or so...

http://www.space.com/common/media/show/player.php?show_id=21&ep=0

RIP Jim Benson.

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Searl Effect Generator

2009-02-07T00:11:30Z

www.youtube.com/watch

The Searl Effect: Large-Scale Antigravity video.google.com/videoplay

Filmed in 1994 at the IFNE Conference in Denver, this hour-long presentation by John Searl describes the inner-workings of the infamous Searl-Effect Generator and IGV Propulsion System with photos, schematics, construction details, and a concise summary of 1960's testing that you simply can't afford to miss! John Searl is one of the most controversial figures in Antigravity research, but since beginning his work in the 1940's, he's arguably become "the father of modern Antigravity". His claim is simple: that after a childhood dream showing a rotating set of rollers on a metallic ring, he constructed a device called the Searl Effect Generator (SEG) that seems to produce massive Antigravitational thrust. Searl is one of the cultural icons in the Antigravity

American Antigravity - www.americanantigravity.com

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

pale blue dot

2009-02-06T12:04:26Z

check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47EBLD-ISyc

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

warp

2009-02-06T11:59:37Z

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/28/warp-speed-engine-02.html

posted in Space Travel - 14 replies

Burt Rutan /note

2009-02-01T05:35:50Z

Scaled UP....http://www.livescience.com/blogs/2008/01/25/space-ship-two-eerily-familiar%e2%80%a6/

posted in Space Travel - 4 replies

Magnetic shield for spacefarers???

2009-01-31T18:29:53Z

From our friends at the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7706844.stm

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Lab tests show how to produce a protective 'hole' in the plasma

Future astronauts could benefit from a magnetic "umbrella" that deflects harmful space radiation around their crew capsule, scientists say.

The super-fast charged particles that stream away from the Sun pose a significant threat to any long-duration mission, such as to the Moon or Mars.

But the research team says a spaceship equipped with a magnetic field generator could protect its occupants.

Lab tests are reported in the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

The approach mimics the protective field that envelops the Earth, known as the magnetosphere.

Astronauts' risk

Our star is a constant source of charged particles, and storms that arise on the Sun's surface result in huge numbers of these particles spilling into space.

As well as this plasma, or "solar wind", high velocity particles known as cosmic rays also flood through our galaxy.

The Earth's magnetosphere deflects many of these particles that rain down on the planet, and our atmosphere absorbs most of the rest.

The first time we switched it on, it worked
Ruth Bamford

International space agencies acknowledge that astronauts face a significant risk of ill health and even death if they experience major exposure to this harsh environment.

And even the spacecraft themselves are not immune to the effects. A solar flare crippled the electronics on Japan's mission to Mars, Nozomi, in 2002, for example.

But researchers from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), the Universities of York and Strathclyde, and IST Lisbon have shown how it might be possible to create a portable mini-magnetosphere for spaceships.

People scale

In its experimental set-up, the team simulated the solar wind in the laboratory and used magnetic fields to isolate an area inside the plasma, deflecting particles around the "hole".

It was not initially clear the idea would work, said Ruth Bamford, who led the research.

"There was a belief that you couldn't make a little hole in the solar wind small enough to do this at all," Dr Bamford, from RAL, told BBC News.

"It was believed that you had to have something very large, approaching planetary scale, to work in this way."

The team has had to take into account the physics of plasmas at the comparatively tiny human scale. To create its metre-sized trial, the team used a plasma jet and a simple $20 magnet.

"The first time we switched it on, it worked," said Dr Bamford.

What is more, the trial field seems to adjust itself automatically. "It does have the capacity to be somewhat self-regulating, just like the Earth's magnetosphere is," Dr Bamford explained.

"When it gets a strong push from the solar wind, the bubble gets smaller. The video shows us increasing the pressure of the solar wind, and the shield gets smaller but brighter."

Power issues

Many more experiments are needed, Dr Bamford admits, to understand how best to harness the effect; and a practical implementation is probably 15 to 20 years away.

To protect a spaceship and its crew, she said, the craft itself might carry the magnetic field generator. Alternatively, it was possible to envisage a constellation of accompanying ships dedicated to the purpose of providing the umbrella where it was needed most.

The approach will probably also work with a field that is not on constantly, but cycles on and off - conserving the power that is precious on long-term missions. The details of how to cycle the field and control its shape must be hammered out, however.

"There're a lot of things to work out, like control, reliability, weight to launch, and so on," said Dr Bamford.

"I don't think it'll come down to as little as sticking fridge magnets on the outside of the spacecraft."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7706844.stm

Published: 2008/11/03 23:57:22 GMT

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

Thoughts on private space flight

2009-01-31T14:01:04Z

So, I believe that the Spaceship one form factor is a very good idea. Unfortunately, it's also as old as the shuttle and was originally developed by an airline company.

So, I have some "bleacher manager" thoughts for future designs.

Currently, the model is an air-breathing launcher vehicle and a rocket/shuttle for extra atmospheric flight and landing. However, if we beef up launcher vehicle, we could get a two-stage launch out of it. With a swept wing form, we still get the lift needed, but it can handle an internal rocket of it's own. So the launcher vehicle gets as high as possible on air/fuel engines then kicks on a liquid rocket boost. This sends both vehicles above the oxygen layer and closer to extra-atmospheric heights. Then, before the rocket boost kicks off, you launch the second stage vehicle and use the rest of the rocket fuel to make a controlled drop into the oxygen layer and kick back on the air breathing engines.

posted in Space Travel - 7 replies

Sacramento comic creators make it to TOP 10 in Worldwide Competition!

2008-08-19T00:46:56Z

Hi, all. This is Ben Schwartz, a Sacramento comic store owner and small press comic publisher with ECV Press. I am also a co-writer with Hai-Na-Nu Saulque on our new project Hank Houston. We entered a worldwide competition to find the best new comic for Platinum Studios to produce and we have made it to the TOP 10.

From this point forward the winner will be determined by your votes. We need your support and help to spread the word! Please take a look at our website where you will find, concept sketches, alien designs, pin-ups, daily webcomics and a link to give us your vote! Give us a vote and tell your friends.

www.hankhouston.com

Thank you in advance for all of your support and help in taking Hank Houston to the TOP!

Ben Schwartz

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

Whom do we want for Prez?

2008-08-04T03:16:14Z

George may be an ill-spoken hick, but he has a human-rated space program, and he did pick Michael Griffin to be NASA's administrator. Who out there can do as well?

posted in Space Travel - 17 replies

A portfolio on Nasa...

2008-08-03T17:20:18Z

I found this interesting -- enjoy(?):

http://www.portfolio.com/interactive-features/2008/01/NASA?TID=rm/goo/NASA_Budget_and_Timeline/NASA+Budget+&+Timeline+CT

posted in Space Travel - 11 replies

Well, it's official

2008-07-29T06:08:14Z

http://www.space.com/news/080728-whiteknight2-rollout.html
White Knight 2 and Space ship Two by Rutan are part of the Virgin fleet: Virgin Galactic.

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Nuclear pulse rockets

2008-07-11T07:51:42Z

As opposed to nuculear... :)

Someone mentioned these in another thread. How do they work? (theoretically of course.)

I was under the impression that most nuclear engines were just fancy steam engines, useful in space only (with no better top-end than rocket fuel)

posted in Space Travel - 11 replies

How Do YOU Talk to Environmentalists?

2008-07-11T07:22:23Z

Say a company wants to buy a piece of a scenic mountain range and strip mine it for copper. Earth-lovers are against it in droves, but they also want to drive electric cars. What do you tell them?

posted in Space Travel - 13 replies

Let Us Reason Together, or Die Trying

2008-07-10T13:38:45Z

I get a real feeling of futility from this tribe, because so many posts seem to end with a whimper. People suggest technologies (often without knowing that they already exist), and then fade away. They report news without proposals for action They joke about cost, wondering who will pay I guess (certainly not they). They hope, vaguely, that something will happen "soon".

Let's try something more fundamental. Let's see if we can agree on a set of axioms. Some proposals:

(1) Essentially all of Earth's resources for producing wealth are owned, or their use would certainly be prevented by conflict if not owned and proven useful.

(2) All crave a higher standard of living.

(3) Without the possibility of emigration or immigration, the Earth's population must increase indefinitely or extinguish completely.

(4) Within any region, there are individuals who succeed in accumulating greater wealth than their neighbors.

(5) Having obtained some wealth, it is generally easier to obtain more.

(6) The fundamental science to create self-sustaining human colonies in space exists.

Is this list correct? (No? Then correct it.)

Is it complete?

Where does logic take us?

posted in Space Travel - 11 replies

UFO's?

2008-01-14T06:34:45Z

A German UFO Base in Brazil: http://youtube.com/watch?v=EdMO-yRHzPg

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

Germs sent to space come back meaner, scientist reports...

2008-01-13T03:44:23Z

From: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/09/25/germs.in.space.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It sounds like the plot for a scary B-movie: Germs go into orbit on a spaceship and come back stronger and deadlier than ever.

The space shuttle Atlantis mission in September 2006 carried salmonella into space.

But it really happened.

The germ: Salmonella, best known as a culprit in food poisoning.

The trip: Space shuttle mission STS-115, September 2006.

The reason: Scientists wanted to see how space travel affects germs, so they took some along -- carefully wrapped -- for the ride.

The result: Mice that were fed the space germs were three times more likely to get sick, and died more quickly, than mice fed identical germs that had remained behind on Earth.

"Wherever humans go, microbes go -- you can't sterilize humans. Wherever we go, under the oceans or orbiting the earth, the microbes go with us, and it's important that we understand ... how they're going to change," explained Cheryl Nickerson, an associate professor at the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University.
Don't Miss

Nickerson added, in a telephone interview, that learning more about changes in germs has the potential to lead to novel new countermeasures for infectious disease.

She reports the results of the salmonella study in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers placed identical strains of salmonella in containers and sent one into space aboard the shuttle, while the second was kept on Earth, under similar temperature conditions to the one in space.

After the shuttle returned, mice were given varying oral doses of the salmonella and then were watched.

After 25 days, 40 percent of the mice given the earthbound salmonella were still alive, compared with just 10 percent of those dosed with the germs from space. And the researchers found the amount of bacteria it took to kill half the mice was three times larger for the normal salmonella than for the space germs.

The researchers found 167 genes had changed in the salmonella that went to space.

Why?

"That's the 64 million dollar question," Nickerson said. "We do not know with 100 percent certainty what the mechanism is of space flight that's inducing these changes."

However, they think it's a force called fluid shear.

"Being cultured in microgravity means the force of the liquid passing over the cells is low." The cells "are responding not to microgravity, but indirectly to microgravity in the low fluid shear effects."

"There are areas in the body which are low shear, such as the gastrointestinal tract, where, obviously, salmonella finds itself," she went on. "So, it's clear this is an environment not just relevant to space flight, but to conditions here on Earth, including in the infected host."

She said it is an example of a response to a changed environment.

"These bugs can sense where they are by changes in their environment. The minute they sense a different environment, they change their genetic machinery so they can survive," she said.

The research was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Louisiana Board of Regents, Arizona Proteomics Consortium, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center, National Institutes of Health and the University of Arizona. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

UK to the moon?

2007-12-16T05:37:29Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7143197.stm

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Going to Mars

2007-10-09T04:18:37Z

Wishing on a Red Star
By Wayne M.H

With the advent of science fiction mankind has dreamed about life on and the possibilities of landing a man on our neighboring planet, Mars. However this dream has recently been in debate as to the practicalities and justification of such a mission. The purpose of this paper is to show that a manned mission to the red planet is not only practical, but in the best interest of both the United States and the world in general.

Some nations highlight their place in history with winning mighty wars and swift conquests, persuasive culture, or great works. Currently the United States is facing a loss of credibility in the eyes of world opinion while facing the rise of new powers such as China and the EC. In order to regain some of that credit, we must find a way to rebuild the world’s admiration and respect in us once more. War is no longer a viable option of doing so, so we must look to a more creative endeavor. In the late 1960’s the United States found a way to raise it’s statue by landing a man on the moon, an accomplishment on par with the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. We now have another opportunity to do so with landing a man on Mars. As NASA Administrator Michael Griffin states in his essay - “Why Explore Space” he says, “ I believe America should look to its future, and consider what that future would look like if we choose not to be a spacefaring nation“.

In 2004 President Bush, in response to the Columbia accident, announced plans for the colonization of both the Moon and Mars in order to give NASA a clearer mission. According to some experts NASA plans to land people on Mars around 2030 (Update). However this can and should be accomplished not by a unilateral American action, but as a global project that makes this a endeavor of the entire human race.

There are other reasons for going on such a mission as well. As author Homer Hickam in a Wall Street journal stated, “When NASA does cutting edge work, new products are devised and people, Americans, are put to work as well“. (Update). Currently the work NASA provides pumps nearly 13.6 billion dollars a year into the economy, including the employment of many hi-skilled, high-paid workers. (By the Numbers) A specific benefit will be in the field of environmental studies. NASA and other science organizations will have to master a greater understanding of how to properly maintain a closed environment, thus hopefully carrying that information over to maintaining our own environments here on Earth.

There have been some very creditable counter arguments against a manned mission to Mars. When the US spent 20.4 billion dollars into the Apollo program (By the Numbers), Martian Luther King Jr. criticized such an act by saying that the money could be better served by using it to provide a national guaranteed income. (Chernus -10). Today that argument is still valid, with critics pointing out that funds for the projected 500 billion dollar project could be spent elsewhere. Some have suggested that the new space initiative is just a hollow political move that in the end will disappear just like the one proposed by his father. Others point out that manned missions are not only unsafe, but unnecessary and less cost effective. (Update).

Clearly space exploration is not the most pressing need in any society, and before the Iraq war, an argument for a manned mission to Mars seemed to be less valid. Yet our nation is now currently spending 141.7 billion dollars a year in Iraq and Afghanistan, with an additional 42 billion dollars being asked for this year raising the price to 190 billion dollars a year. (Flaherty). Thus with the country spending this extra amount every year, such a creative proposition gains more credibility. But we as a nation shouldn‘t need to shoulder this burden alone. Instead of getting into another space race with other space agencies, we could spread the cost of going to Mars by making it an international project. This would also have a secondary effect of strengthening international relations. As to the nature of space flight itself, it should be noted that those going on such a mission are eager volunteers who know the risk they are taking and why they are taking it. Space probes are a handy tool in our kit of exploration and should be used to go were we can’t. However if we as humans want to expand across the stars we at some point will need to actually be among them. Finally whether the President’s space initiative is political or not isn’t the issue. We as a people should not decide our course simply on partisan politics alone.

Ultimately our country is facing a new world in front of us, whether it be Mars or our very own planet. We must decide what our new place in that world will be.

“By the Numbers: Mars Exploration.” Issues @ Controversies On File 17 Mar.2000. Issues & Controversies @ FACTS.com. Facts On File News Services. 19 Sept. 2007 www.2facts.com
Chernus, Ira. “Dr.King’s Dream: Freedom, Not Space Travel”. Mauk, John. Mertz, John. Inventing Arguments. Boston,. Thomson Higher education. 2006
Flaherty, Anne. “Gates seeks 190 billion for wars”. www.yahoo.com 9/26/07 Yahoo News 9/26/07. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200770926/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe_/us_iraq
Griffin, Michael. “ Why Explore Space? www.nasa.gov 1.18.07. NASA. 9/19/2007. www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/griffin_why_explore_html
Morring Jr., Frank. “After the Moon”. Aviation Week and Space Technology, 00052175, 4\16\2007, Vol. 166, Issue 15. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost . Clinton Comm. College. 9\19\07 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost
“Update: Mars Exploration.” Issues and Controversies On File 13 Aug. 2007. Issues & Controversies @ FACTS.com Facts on File News Services. 19 Sept. 2007 www.2facts.com

Copyright Wayne M.H. 2005

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

JPL Open House this weekend!!!

2007-05-15T23:10:16Z

Hey there all you uber nerds!!! Once agaiin, the Pasadena pencil pushers are opening up their doors to the public!!!:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/oh.cfm

I've gone the last 5 years in a row. You can talk to real live rocket scientists, learn about current and future mission plans, and see how our tax dollars are being spent and/or wasted!!! Also, you can do your civic duty in cheering up depressed project coordinators who have grand ideas, but little or no funding. Oh, and they make really cool coffee mugs, pens, TShirts and frisbees!!!

Be there, or be an inverted toroid!!!

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Save the Human Race -- get off of Earth...

2007-05-10T04:00:29Z

So says one of the Masters of Science today:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/06/14/humansurvival.hawking.ap/index.html

posted in Space Travel - 23 replies

Bay Area Yuri's Night 2007 at NASA Ames - Ticket prices about to go up!

2007-03-28T23:29:05Z

Prepare for Liftoff!

WWW.WORLDSPACEPARTY.ORG

Get ready for something entirely different.

On April 13th the Bay Area joins the world in celebration of space exploration
in a unique convergence of artists, scientists, astronauts, performers and
musicians.

Yuri's Night is a commemoration of humankind’s first venture into space, by
Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. This gathering bridges national, cultural,
generational and social barriers to ignite excitement about what is new on the
horizon in space exploration and to remind us of the magnificent feats
humanity is capable of.

Yuri's Night Bay Area will be held at Moffett Field in the NASA Ames Research
Center's massive SOFIA hangar, home to the world's largest aerial observatory.
Our host for the evening is pioneering space traveler Anousheh Anasari, the
first privately funded female to reach orbit. She is joined by Dr. Chris
McKay, world renowned expert in astrobiology and terraformation with the Space
Science Division of NASA Ames Research Center, as they welcome you to a
dazzling array of interactive art installations and science demos, interwoven
with musical and acrobatic performances by some of the world's finest
entertainers.

Cutting-edge interactive technology and live demos including:

* Exploration of the world through NASA World Wind
* Gigapan, explorable high resolution panoramas from around the world
* A portal into Second Life
* Burning Man Earth, Google's Black Rock City browser

Science demonstrations and innovations from the worlds of robotics,
engineering, and astronomy, will also be on display:

* ASME's Human powered vehicle
* NASA robotics, including the next generation of rovers
* Exclusive heavenly imagery from Slooh

Engage with space-inspired and technology-infused art installations, including:

* StarZipper, created by internationally renowned artist Michael Light
and collaborator Dave Rattray
* Peter Foucault's Motion Sensor Drawing Robots
* Spot Drave's collaborative evolutionary high-definition visual
algorithm generator, Electric Sheep
* Meet the artists and scientists face to face or chat virtually with
visitors from around the globe at a kiosk.

Experience rare video works documenting art in space:

* Matières Chorégraphiques by Kitsou Dubois, celebrated French dancer,
choreographer and artistic director of Ki Productions

* Projects from the Zero Gravity Arts Consortium, Lowry Burgess's
monumental project The Seed of the Infinite Absolute, Lorelei Lisowsky, and
Frank Pietronigro's 'Drift Painting' in microgravity
* Meet Japan's space artist Ayako Ono
* Jean Luc Soret's Space Art project videos curated direct from Paris's
International @rt Outsiders Festival.

Enter the Documentary Dome and fuel your imagination with the planet's
greatest space-related documentaries, including screenings of:

* Dr. Maryanne Galvin's 'What's Going On Up There?'
* 'Hubble: 15 Years of Discovery': a project of international cooperation
between European Space Agency & NASA that dramatically documents The Hubble
Space Telescope.
* HBO's original production, 'From the Earth To The Moon'

Witness awe-inspiring space-themed performances by an armada of acrobats and
dancers, featuring:

* KC Bella Fuega and Spiral Hoop Dance (orbital hooping and bellydance)
* Flowtoys (celestial light performance and UFO flowplanes)
* VigilAntiUP (intergalactic stilting)
* A Parade from the Future (with cutting edge Bay Area circuit benders
and other worldly creatures).

Live dance and acrobatics fused with audiovisual performances, will be
coordinated with a world-class lineup of live electronic music:

PLAID - Warp Records, UK

TELEFON TEL AVIV - Hefty Records, Chicago
BLUETECH - Aleph Zero, Native State, Portland
OOAH + BORETA - Glitch Mob, LA/SF
SUTEKH - Context, Soul Jazz, Leaf
MR. PROJECTILE & JONAH SHARP (aka SPACETIME CONTINUUM) - Merck, Reflective,
Astralwerks
RD - Designed Disorder, Glitch Mob
WELDER - Cyberset
MOZAIC - Nexus
DR. TOAST - False Profit

Music environs will be complimented by a team of visual artists -- including
KOSHO, CELESTINESTAR, RECURSIVEVIDEOLAB and VIBERATION -- spinning light into
space throughout the night.

Meanwhile, outside on the tarmac, the SPACE COWBOYS will have their own
dynamic lineup of djs aboard their interstellar party transporter, the UNIMOG.
Also on the tarmac will be Playaflies and Rabbit in the Moon's outside VJ
set PLUS large scale sculpture and multimedia installations from the bay
area's finest and beyond.

This year’s theme is the greenification of space. The event is bio-diesel
powered, a variety of organic food and drink will be available, waste products
will be composted and recycled, and one tree will be planted for every ticket
sold in an effort to offset the event's carbon emissions.

Come join us in celebrating the accomplishments of mankind on a collective
cosmic journey to the depths of space and beyond.

***********************

Friday, April 13th, 2007

Event opens at 6:30pm

NASA Ames Research Center* Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA, 94035

Tickets are on sale now. Limited $25 presale tickets still available, but not
for long!

Purchase advance tickets at: www.worldspaceparty.com/tickets

Limited VIP tickets available. Privileges include: VIP room overlooking the
main floor, open bar and food throughout the evening, a chance to meet silicon
valley innovators and dynamic thinkers, exclusive Bay Area Yuri's Night
memorabilia and much more to be announced.

PLUS! Space Cadets are invited to go weightless and experience zero-gravity on
Sunday, April 22, 2007! This unique VIP experience will provide you with a
ZeroG flight flown from San Jose International Airport PLUS exclusive access
to all Yuri's Night Bay Area 2007 events. 3-2-1 Liftoff! VIP Flight Tickets
$5,000.00 each. Email zerogartists@mac.com to reserve your seat today. Don't
let this zero gravity opportunity to fly float by!

As always, please check www.worldspaceparty.com for the latest…

Yuri's Night Bay Area Crew, Over and Out.

End Transmission.
-----------------------------------------------
References to NASA Ames shall not be construed as official NASA approval or
endorsement of any non-Governmental or commercial entity or activity.

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Slow that puppy down - reentry with momentum tethers?

2007-02-16T06:46:29Z

How about this. Use a tether with suitable mass and length to spin up to where your rotational velocity is equal to your orbital velocity, but in the opposite direction. Cut the connection at the right moment and you are speed zero relative to the earth. You will drop like a rock and have way less energy to deal with when you hit the atmosphere.

But will this work? Have to crunch through the numbers...did I mention I am lazy and spend most of my free time playing WoW?

posted in Space Travel - 6 replies

Technology of Space Travel

2007-02-13T21:18:58Z

I started a website, called www.aceize.com -- I've been reviewing the current state of the science of space travel with the end goal of space colonization in mind. I'd love to get some feedback, or some people who can challenge some of the ideas I presented. For example today I posted an article on quantum computing http://www.aceize.com/node/176 -- I'm not really sure if I got the information correct. Or the article about the ESA's Plank Mission, which is supposed to study the origins of the universe http://www.aceize.com/node/174 -- where I deride the Big Bang Theory (as I do every chance I get). I'd love to get some feedback, especially something meatier than, "you're dumb".

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Indian capsule returns from space...

2007-02-13T12:48:56Z

Indian capsule returns from space (as taken from the BBC)...

The rocket carrying the capsule was launched on 10 January
India says it has successfully tested the technology which ensures the safe return of astronauts from space after an orbiting capsule returned to Earth.
The capsule splashed down in the Bay of Bengal off the east coast after 11 days orbiting the earth, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said.
Isro chief Madhavan Nair said it was a key step in India's plan to send an unmanned mission to the moon in 2008.
The test's success also paves the way for future manned missions, he said.
Crucial phases
An Indian-built rocket launched the 500kg satellite, Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, and three other satellites, from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on 10 January.
The coastguard was in the process of recovering the space capsule, Isro confirmed.
The BBC's Habib Beary in Bangalore says the re-entry and recovery phases of a spacecraft are essential for any manned mission to space.
With the success of the experiment India joined the select club of nations - the US, France, Russia, China and Japan - who have mastered the technology.
Last July India failed to launch its heaviest communications satellite and test-fire its longest-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile.

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Arsenal of Hypocrisy

2007-02-07T20:30:47Z

59 min 5 sec google video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4835966027154828456

"The Space Program and the Military Industrial Complex"

posted in Space Travel - 7 replies

Life Support for Men from Earth

2007-01-19T04:04:14Z

What technologies do we know of for handling the summer heat in, say, Phoenix, AZ, while working on a roof?

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Blue Origin, Spacecraft...

2007-01-18T06:56:55Z

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6230245.stm

The billionaire founder of Amazon.com has released the first images of the launch of a private spacecraft that could bring space travel to the masses.

A video of the cone-shaped Goddard vehicle shows it climbing to about 85m (285ft) before returning back to Earth.

The test launch took place in November 2006 in a remote part of Texas, but details have only now been released.

The images mark the first time Jeff Bezos has broken his silence on the work of his space company, Blue Origin.

Writing on the company's website, Mr Bezos said: "We're working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go; and so that we humans can better continue exploring the Solar System."

"Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we're working on it methodically."

Short trip

Mr Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 with the intention of developing a vertical take-off and landing vehicle, called New Shepard, able to take passengers to the edge of space.

No timescale for commercial trips has been announced but documents released by the US Federal Aviation Administration suggest they could start as early as 2010.

The latest videos show there is still a lot of development work to do before the company reaches that stage.

My only job at the launch was to open the champagne
Jeff Bezos

The footage shot on 13 November 2006 from a site about 200km (120 miles) east of El Paso in Texas shows the first craft to launch under the New Shepard programme.

Called Goddard, the retro-looking development vehicle is shown standing on four legs before blasting off in a cloud of smoke from thrusters on its base. The vehicle continues to ascend for approximately 10 seconds, reaching a height of nearly 300ft (90m).

It then starts to descend before making a controlled landing back on its feet approximately 25 seconds after take-off.

The launch, described by Mr Bezos as "both useful and fun", was watched by friends, family and a team of engineers.

"My only job at the launch was to open the champagne," said Mr Bezos.

The website message does not say whether the vehicle contained any passengers or why there was a delay between the launch and release of the footage.

Commercial space

Mr Bezos now hopes to recruit a team of engineers to the New Shepard programme to develop the design and increase the altitude and duration of flights.

Artist's impression of Genesis 1 in space
Companies like Bigelow Aerospace hope to construct space hotels

In particular, he is looking for "experienced propulsion engineers" and people with "experience on large, modern vehicles such as Delta IV or Atlas V".

Blue Origin is one of several private companies vying to open up space to the public.

US-based Space Adventures has already taken four space tourists to the International Space Station, while in September 2006, Sir Richard Branson unveiled a mock-up of a rocket powered vehicle that will carry six passengers and two pilots to an altitude of about 140km (85 miles).

His Virgin Galactic design is based on SpaceShipOne, the craft designed by Scaled Composites that won the Ansari X-Prize in 2005. The first passengers could take off in 2009.

Other entrepreneurs jostling for their place in space include hotel tycoon Robert Bigelow who launched Genesis 1, an experimental inflatable spacecraft, in July 2006.

Mr Bigelow hopes the water-melon shaped craft could form the basis of a future space hotel.

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Zero-gravity surgery 'a success'

2006-10-31T00:06:58Z

Read so yourself:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5383764.stm

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

sci fi parables

2006-10-30T23:33:43Z

What will the technology of the future really look like?
What will the civilizations of the future really look like?
What are our possible futures? The best and the worst
most likely outcomes?
Where are we headed? How might we get there?
How would we colonize our solar system in teh next 50 years? Nevermind how improbable that is or all of the things that won't let that happen politically. How would we colonize our Galaxy starting 100 years from
now whether or not we have faster than light propulsion? How could we get to the stars? Realistic
technology for realistic science fiction? I WANT MY SCIENCE FICTION TO BE BELIEVABLE!!!. (dangit)
So? how do we put the modern science back into science fiction? less
http://tribes.tribe.net/scifiparables
http://tribes.tribe.net/scifiparables#

posted in Space Travel - 13 replies

Orbital High Ground...

2006-10-28T05:47:47Z

I suppose it was indeed only a matter of time?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6063926.stm

US adopts tough new space policy

The document outlines US military and commercial ambitions in space
The US has adopted a tough new policy aimed at protecting its interests in space and denying "adversaries" access there for hostile purposes.
The document - signed by President Bush - also says "freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power".

The document rejects any proposals to ban space weapons.

But the White House has said the policy does not call for the development or deployment of weapons in space.

The United States will preserve its rights, capabilities, and freedom of action in space... and deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests

However, some military experts warn that by refusing to enter into negotiations on space weaponry, the US is likely to fuel international suspicions that it will develop such weapons.

The 10-page strategic document states that the US national security "is critically dependent upon space capabilities, and this dependence will grow".

"The United States will preserve its rights, capabilities, and freedom of action in space... and deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests," it says.

Satellite fears

The document also sets out US commercial ambitions, saying it is committed to encouraging and facilitating a growing entrepreneurial space sector.

The Bush administration says there is no shift in its policy
It is the first revision in US space policy for 10 years, and it is a forthright one, the BBC's Nick Miles in Washington says.

It addresses concerns voiced in a 2001 Pentagon report that said technological advances would enable potential enemies to disrupt orbiting US satellites, our correspondent says.

Unclassified details of the policy published on the internet say space capabilities, including spy and other communication satellites, are essential for national security.

But the White House said the policy was not a prelude to putting weapons in orbit and that there was no shift in US policy.

"The notion that you would do defence from space is different from that of weaponisation of space. We're comfortable with the policy", White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

President Bush authorised the policy in August but it was not released until October.

During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan proposed a defence shield using laser or particle beam technology to "intercept and destroy" incoming nuclear missiles.

The Strategic Defence Initiative, or "Star Wars" programme as it came to be known, was abandoned in 1993.

posted in Space Travel - 4 replies

Waiting for the perfect human Mars flight: Why humans may NEVER land on Mars

2006-10-13T00:56:04Z

The technology to send humans to Mars has existed for many years. Yet one of the reasons why no one has landed on Mars is because certain folks won't allow it until a human Mars flight can be made perfect. Of course if that policy is maintained indefinitely, then human's will land on Mars the day perpetual motion machines are perfected. Meanwhile, there are those of us who do want a human Mars flight risked depsite the inability to make it perfect. In other words, launching humans to Mars now would very likely be a suicide mission in the minds of some people. OK, so it might be a suicide mission. But at least it would be tried, and those on the Mars flight would be volunteers anyway. The only other option would be to NEVER send humans to Mars since a perfect Mars flight can never be attained. Ho ve!

posted in Space Travel - 9 replies

I'll pay for a human Mars flight (once I get the billions of dollars to do it)

2006-07-18T20:36:45Z

I just decided that in the unlikely event that I were to become a multibillonaire, I WILL FINANCE A HUMAN MARS FLIGHT, MOST LIKELY THE ONE PROPOSED BY THE MARS SOCIETY ( www.marssociety.org ). Because as far as I can tell, NO ONE who is able to afford it is interested in financing a human Mars flight. And unless I do it, there's a good chance that ONE ONE will ever set foot on Mars.

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

Bigelow does it again!!!

2006-07-14T15:54:02Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5173388.stm

It's supposedly meteorite proof. But is it cosmic ray proof? 16 inches of Kevlar does not seem like that much...

In any event, I'm very happy it lifted off okay. In about 40 minutes, they'll start getting feedback from orbit.

HooRAY for privateers like Bigelow!!!

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

China is going for the Moon...

2006-07-12T22:23:49Z

Fire up the potato lauchers:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/06/19/space.china.reut/index.html

posted in Space Travel - 8 replies

New Planets?

2006-07-07T19:16:19Z

Does anyone know if that body outside of Pluto was deemed a planet? Also, what do you think should be the qualifications of a planet?

posted in Space Travel - 11 replies

Deep Space Network troubles

2006-06-28T23:26:07Z

Is this as disturbing as I think it is?

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=20684

It seems NASA is once again overlooking some obvious fundamentals. No DSN means no communication between probes and planet Earth. Or is there another way?

posted in Space Travel - 7 replies

my new tribe

2006-06-28T22:14:38Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/thoughtexperiments?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B4d0755c0-c1c9-4d6e-b228-0719981db199%5D

i have recently started this new tribe, and there are two thought experiments based on space.
1. I hope that people will come join my tribe
2. Would it be helpful and/or kewl to double post those thought experiments over in this
tribe?

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Sally Ride's birthday

2006-06-06T17:39:16Z

Just wanted to mention that today is Sally Ride's 55th birthday. It's also my 41st birthday. So there ya go!

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

Space Port Boom...

2006-05-18T00:29:40Z

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/05/16/space.port.boom.ap/index.html

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Eileen Collins quits

2006-05-07T10:55:27Z

I just heard that Eileen Collins plans to quit NASA soon. But you know if she stayed on long enough, he might have ended up becoming among the first to fly the CEV (if it's ever built).

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

Gemini 12 Arrives in Chicago...

2006-04-13T18:23:42Z

Fellow Astronomers and Space enthusiasts,

I recently had the grand opportunity to document the arrival of the
Gemini XII space capsule at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. A
bright morning found the capsule gleeming in the sunshine on a truck
bed as I arrived...and here was an actual piece of American history
presented right before me.

A full account of the event with detailed pictures can be found here
at the Chicago Astronomer:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=geminixii

It is broken into three chronological threads for easier viewing.

As individuals of science and space exploration, I'm sure you will
enjoy this report.

Respectfully,

Chicago Astronomer Joe
Administrator
The Chicago Astronomer
http://astronomer.proboards23.com

30 most recent posts: http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?
action=recent

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

NASA's Budget Woes...

2006-03-31T22:37:20Z

By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 16 March 2006
06:32 am ET

In response to what he called "unacceptable" cuts to science programs in NASA’s fiscal year 2007 budget, Republican Congressman John Culberson of Texas has taken up the cause of U.S. scientists and engineers outraged by the proposed reductions.

In a March 9 "urgent personal letter" to the scientific community, Culberson said he is adamant in restoring funding for such items as a mission to Europa and space science research within NASA. The proposed budget included $3 billion worth of cuts to NASA’s space science missions, including the reduction of funding to astrobiology by 50 percent.

"Eliminating virtually all scientific research funded by NASA and canceling the Europa mission is completely unacceptable to me," Culberson explained in the letter.

Culberson has laid out a strategy to find federal dollars that can be pumped into NASA to fend off the proposed cuts, slow downs, deferrals, and outright cancellation of space science work. One source of funds he has identified is a surplus of money within the bureaucracy of Homeland Security.

By utilizing part of a surplus of Homeland Security funds, that money can be sent "where it is needed most for the nation’s security in the future—for scientific research and planetary exploration that NASA is now canceling," Culberson explained in his letter.

"Time is short. It is urgent that your letters and phone calls go out right away," Culberson said in the communiqué.

Culberson said the NASA 2007 budget cancels missions like the Terrestrial Planet Finder, a long sought mission to Europa, while cutting astrobiology research—actions that "cannibalizes" NASA’s scientific research.

NASA rationale

In the astrobiology arena, NASA kicked off this new interdisciplinary field in the mid-1990s. Since then, it has rapidly become a driving science for the space exploration mission, be it in Mars studies, or probing faraway moons, such as Jupiter’s Europa or Saturn’s Titan.

As to why astrobiology has been cut—and why so large—it is certainly about money, observed Thomas Pierson, Chief Executive Officer of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

"NASA is not being given enough money to do all of its assigned tasks," Pierson told SPACE.com. As to why so large a cut, he added, from the community’s perspective, "there is no justifiable reason."

But from a NASA point of view, the rationale was included in a March 13th "Dear Colleague" letter from NASA Associate Administrator for Science, Mary Cleave. In the letter, she provided an update on the activities of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

Astrobiology research funding is reduced 50 percent in the President’s Fiscal Year 2007 NASA budget "for several reasons," Cleave wrote.

"The lower flight rate for Mars missions, plus the recognition that human exploration missions to Mars are further in the future than previously assumed, have reduced some of the urgency for rapid progress in astrobiology research," Cleave said. "It should also be noted that astrobiology experienced a rapid growth in funding several years ago, and this reduction brings it more into balance with the rest of the research program."

Negative message

"This worries me," said Jonathan Lunine, Professor of Planetary Sciences and of Physics at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "The reasoning cited in the Associate Administrator Cleave’s letter is that the lower flight rate envisioned to Mars makes the current level of astrobiological research inappropriate. But we are in the midst of a flood of new results right now—at Mars, with Stardust, at Titan, at Enceladus, with new extrasolar planet discoveries, and so on," Lunine emphasized to SPACE.com.

Why cut astrobiology in this fiscal year, Lunine questioned. "And, more fundamentally, at my home institution the vast majority of prospective graduate students cite astrobiology as a key draw in choosing a graduate career in planetary science."

Lunine said that the astrobiology cut, if sustained, "will send a very negative message about space science careers to the talented students who are our future. Surely NASA doesn’t want that?"

Permanent black eye

Pierson of the SETI Institute said that astrobiology is the brand new field of choice for thousands of the best and brightest students in the United States.

"There is an entire generation just now leaving school with their advanced degrees, and NASA is saying to them: ‘Whoops, we really didn’t mean it. Please stand by for five or ten years and we’ll get back to you.’ These are our best and brightest students, and NASA cannot in good conscience pull the plug on the future of space science. They won’t be there when NASA needs them again in the coming years," Pierson advised.

For NASA to precipitously scale back their support now will be catastrophic, Pierson added. "It will create a permanent black eye for NASA, and for U.S. science."

posted in Space Travel - 6 replies

Chicago Astronomer Update - 05 March 2006...

2006-03-06T16:01:19Z

I think it's a great time to be an astronomer. Information at our
finger tips, knowledgable friends and with modest equipment...the
heavens open up to us.

Here is just a sampling on what's going on at the Chicago Astronomer:

============

* - 60mm Finder Scope project
I have finally attached a great new finder scope to my 4.5" OTA.
Looks good, works great and the full account of the project can be
found here:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=recent

I greatly thank Chicago Astronomers Bill and Steve who both
unknowingly helped me build this from different directions.

------------------------

* - I understand the Comet Pojmanski is putting on a nice display in
our eastern skies now. In binoculars, it shows a pale blue fuzz ball
close to Venus. Info can be found here:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Comets&thread=1140899290&page=1

I haven't been able to view it yet, but I hope to soon before it
heads out and away starting Monday.

---------------------------

* - Jupiter has developed a new Great Red Spot. Quite exciting. I
haven't had the chance to observe this, but perhaps when the next
clear pre-dawn sky presents itself, I can catch both Jupiter and the
comet. Information on the new spot can be found here:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=solarsystem&thread=1141465329&page=1

-------------------------

* - Telescopes worthless by year 2050:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Equipment&thread=1141361808&page=1

-------------------------

* - Yerkes may NOT be sold afterall -

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=News&thread=1103333806&page=1

-------------------------

* - The THEMIS Martian Orbiter images:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=mars&thread=1141465994&page=1

-------------------------

* - S.M.A.R.T 1 Lunar Orbiter to smash into the Moon:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=smart1&thread=1141462438&page=1

-----------------------------

* - Mission to the Asteroids Canceled:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=SpaceTravel&thread=1132647656&page=1
-----------------------------

* - Ancient Astronomical Copper Disk Deciphered:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Ancient&thread=1141367437&page=1

-----------------------------

* - 2004 VD17 Earth Grazer to buzz Earth in 2102:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Comets&thread=1141346874&page=1

----------------------------

* - Golfing outside the ISS:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=russian&thread=1141197571&page=1

----------------------------

No need to plod thru the countless threads...You can check up on the
30 most recent postings on the Chicago Astronomer just by visiting
this link:

http://astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?action=recent

------------------------------

Current Chicago Astronomer Stats:

22412 Hits 118607 Pageloads 330 Members

-----------------------------

All looking good and thanks for your participation at all levels.

Chicago Astronomer Joe
Administrator
http://astronomer.proboards23.com

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

U.S. could have reached Mars 20 years ago

2006-03-04T03:12:09Z

I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS!!

Griffin: US Could Have Reached Mars 20 Years Ago
February 17, 2006
For further information about the Mars Society, visit our website at
www.marssociety.org.

Speaking in testimony to the House Science Committee yesterday, NASA
Administrator Mike Griffin said that the USA could have sent
astronauts to Mars by the early 1980's.

According to reportage on CNN:

<Griffin countered [remarks by Rep Sherwood Boehlert, (R-NY)]that
NASA has a lot of ground to make up to implement the Bush
administration's plan to phase out the troubled space shuttle program
by 2010 and focus on building spacecraft capable of a return to the
moon by 2018 and later a mission to Mars.

"The United States did have these capabilities," Griffin said. "We
allowed them to atrophy. We proactively made decisions as a country
that caused those capabilities to go away.

"If we were sitting here today with the capabilities that this nation
had purchased as of the end of the Apollo program, we could go to
Mars within a decade. We have a decade's worth of hard work in front
of us just to be able to get back to where we were.">

Griffin's remarks completely debunk the assertions made in some
quarters that human missions to Mars are a goal for the far future.
Had sensible policies been pursued in the past, American astronauts
would have walked on Mars during Ronald Reagan's first term in
office, and the first children born on Mars a decade later might be
entering middle school – on Mars – right about now.

The task now is to move forward. NASA's attempt to resume human
exploration is being hamstrung by the fact that it is wasting nearly
its entire human spaceflight budget on the Shuttle program, which is
not contributing towards reaching for the Moon or Mars in any way.

Only one more Shuttle flight is really needed: that to repair and
upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. That mission should be flown
without further delay. After that, the Shuttle program should be shut
down, and its $5 billion per year budget moved over to fund the
development of a heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV) and the other
flight elements needed to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars. The
HLLV could also be used to launch and complete the International
Space Station much more rapidly than can be done through prolonging
Shuttle operations.

Provided this policy is implemented, humans may yet reach Mars in our
time.

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

A PLANETARY SOCIETY TAKE ACTION ALERT...

2006-02-15T01:03:56Z

==================
A PLANETARY SOCIETY
TAKE ACTION ALERT
==================

Science Eviscerated in NASA Budget
Take action now to stop the Administration from
jeopardizing our future in space.
http://planetary.org/programs/projects/space_advocacy/

"Eviscerate" is not too strong a word to describe what
the Administration is doing to the NASA science program.
We need your help today to reverse this short-sighted
action.

On Thursday, February 16, the House Science Committee
will hold a hearing on the Administration's proposed
NASA 2007 budget. Although the fiscal year 2007 budget
does not take effect before October 2006, and Congress
has not even approved it, NASA has already begun canceling
2006 research projects and mission studies, including the
mission to Europa. Even programs Congress has voted into
law are being "delayed indefinitely".

Together, with The Planetary Society, you can stop this
from happening. You can take action today to help reverse
these decisions and keep alive the exploration of the solar
system and the search for extraterrestrial life. Send a
letter to the House Science Committee and ask them to
direct NASA not to cancel programs before Congress has
the chance to consider them.

Take action at:
http://planetary.org/programs/projects/space_advocacy/

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Future rebellions

2006-02-06T06:18:19Z

Before colonizing Mars and any other planet, we need to take steps to reduce the need for any "resistance movements" on these planets. Earth doesn't need to waste tons of money and resources to have colonists rise up and against "Earth oppression".

Except for Star Trek, every SciFi show I can remember involving Mars and other planets always has a popular seperatist movement. While these are simply scifi shows, all we have to look to is our history. It's human nature to want to be independant if there's a seperation (ocean\space)between two groups of people.

Instead there should be some preexisting recognition that any colonies will recieve full rights and representation in either a US (if we're the main supporter) or a more likely a UN goverment. However it should be recognized that these colonies are in fact for the benefit of Earth.

posted in Space Travel - 18 replies

The Chicago Astronomers Preview "Roving Mars"...

2006-01-28T11:31:02Z

The Chicago Astronomer crew were invited to preview the greatly
anticipated new IMAX film, "Roving Mars" on the 26th of January.

It proved to be a magnificent experience and it's telling of the
Martian Rovers and their long journey to the distant planet was exciting. The launch sequence alone makes the movie, but the intricate details of the prep is painstaking accomplished.

A full Chicago Astronomer review of the film can be be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/chh85

But, I highly recommend this film to any one interested in space
exploration and astronomy.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Guzmán
Administrator
Chicago Astronomer
<http://astronomer.proboards23.com>

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Starship class

2006-01-28T06:20:07Z

When you think about, having a spacecraft officially labled a "starship" is rather silly. In space, what other kind is there? It's like calling an aircraft carrier the "Seaship Abraham Lincoln", as well as every other destroyer, battleship, submarine, and patrol boat. In reality (and more entertaining), the different ships would be recognized by either their role and or class.

There have been some exceptions. In ST.ENT. the previous class (Neptune) has been recognized as a survey ship. In reality this is what the NX-01 would be as well since it's mission would be as using it's new W5 engines to explore deep space. The later Enterprises would probably be considered Cruisers because they are large multipurpose ships bouncing around the Federation. Although the Galaxy class were sometimes called Explorer type, it's not realistic to have a ship in unexplored space zip back tens of thousands of light years to Earth in a couple days. Thus it was a cruiser.

B5 was pretty good at making distinctions in types like having distinct warships (destroyers) and survey (explorers), ect. However by the time B5 Crusade, they reverted back to the old habit by having the captain identify the ship as the "Starship Excaliber". Actually if anything it's a gunship, and would be rather unwieldy in close combat because the ship has to point itself to fire it's main guns.

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Memoirs regarding a Death Trap…

2006-01-26T23:47:42Z

AKA: The Space Shuttle...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/01/17/shuttle.astronaut.reut/index.html

posted in Space Travel - 13 replies

Mars Rovers IMAX film

2006-01-26T14:42:21Z

http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_rovingmars_060125.html

I've never seen an IMAX film, living as I do in the beautiful backwaters of Santa Barbara. But this looks like a good excuse to go down to L.A. and give it a go. Y'all probably already knew about this, but just in case...

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Probes on other worlds

2006-01-24T01:19:25Z

If I have my space exploration history correct, space probes have been landed onto only three other planets: Venus, Mars and Jupiter (though of course it would be more accurate to say that a probe was sent into Jupiter's atmosphere rather than make a "landing" on it). Of course if you include moons and other celestial objects, that number would be higher.

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

Get Ready for More Radical Breakthroughs!

2006-01-13T19:50:36Z

'Grand challenges' spur grand results
In October 2004 SpaceShipOne roared into space (twice) — the first privately funded spacecraft ever to reach suborbit, nearly 70 miles above Earth. A year later, "Stanley," a Volkswagen Touareg modified by Stanford University students, rumbled across some 130 miles of desert without a human driver, navigating the rough terrain guided by computer programs and sensors.

Melinda and Bill Gates pledged $437 million in their Grand Challenges for Global Health. They toured India recently.
AP via Gates Foundation

Chalk up two new technological accomplishments for the 21st century. In both cases, the designers were motivated to be the first to do something — and to win a cash prize. The Ansari X PRIZE for spaceflight paid out $10 million from a private foundation. The DARPA Grand Challenge for robotic vehicles awarded $2 million, put up by the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Using "grand challenges" to stimulate scientific progress isn't new. In 1714 the British government offered the equivalent of about $12 million to answer a vexing question: How could His Majesty's ships calculate their longitude — how far they were east or west of home — to avoid shipwrecks and other disasters? Great scientists of the day attacked the problem, but it was solved by John Harrison, a self-taught watchmaker.

In 1900 mathematician David Hilbert proposed 23 math problems he hoped would be solved in the 20th century (16 of them were). A problem "should not be too difficult lest it mock at our efforts," he said in presenting his challenges. "It should be to us a guidepost on the mazy paths to hidden truths...."

Now the early 21st century is seeing a raft of new grand challenges. The aim: Change the world — one prize at a time.

The cluster of challenges may be the result of both bad and good news facing science today, says Gilbert Omenn, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C. On the downside, budget deficits have put federal science funding in jeopardy. Scientists are "quite anxious" about their projects, he says. Private "grand challenges" offer fresh resources and encouragement.

At the same time, breakthroughs like the sequencing of the human genome, announced in 2003, have brought exuberance, showing that complex scientific problems are solvable.

"Prizes change the public perception about an issue," says Peter Diamandis, founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation in Santa Monica, Calif. People begin to believe that a problem is solvable. "The more prize money, the more the issue is seen as important by the public."

Last June, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation put an exclamation point after "grand challenge" when it announced one of the richest in history. The Grand Challenges for Global Health pledged $436.6 million (including $31.6 million from British and Canadian sources) toward solving some of the world's worst health problems. Preliminary funds have been granted to 43 groups attacking 14 challenges. They include: developing vaccines to prevent malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV that don't require refrigeration, needles, or multiple doses; finding new ways to stop the spread of insect-borne diseases; and developing more nutritious crops to feed the hungry.

"It's marvelous," Dr. Omenn says. The challenges are attacking problems "that have been neglected, probably to our shame, for lack of confidence that there was anything that could be done."

The AAAS has made "Grand Challenges, Great Opportunities" the theme of its annual meeting in St. Louis next month. And last July, a special issue of Science magazine asked, "What don't we know?" identifying 125 questions that puzzle researchers (though offering no prizes). Among them: "What is the biological basis of consciousness?" "What is the universe made of?"

"Science is shaped by ignorance," said 2004 Nobel physics laureate David Gross in an essay in that issue. "Great questions themselves evolve, of course, because their answers spawn new and better questions in turn."

Meanwhile, prize-based Grand Challenges continue to spring up:

• The Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, Mass., is offering seven $1 million prizes for the solutions to seven classic problems in mathematics. The institute, founded in 1998, issued its challenge in May 2000. So far, no prizes have been awarded.

• Inspired by the X PRIZE's success, NASA has created its Centennial Challenges Program, funding a number of $250,000 challenges aimed at speeding space exploration. They include finding a way to extract oxygen from moon rocks and making advanced explorer robots.

• The Methuselah Mouse Prize will award more than $3 million to the first researcher who can extend the lifespan of a certain species of mouse from about three years to five years. "It's analogous to the sword in the stone. Whoever pulls it out gets the money," says David Gobel, cofounder of the Methuselah Foundation, which sponsors the prize, first offered in 2003.

But a successful grand challenge involves more than money, Omenn says. It needs to be clearly stated, socially worthy, and difficult but not impossible to achieve. It's misleading to assume "if you put a big enough amount of money on a stump every problem is solvable," he says.

Now that the first X PRIZE has been won, the X Prize Foundation is moving on to create new challenges, Mr. Diamandis says. The foundation expects to offer a prize, with NASA, for the first private orbital spaceflight. It also wants to offer a prize to uncover new energy sources for cars.

"Our mission is to cause radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity and to use prizes as our primary method," he says.

The government's DARPA robotic vehicle challenge was spurred by the X PRIZE concept. In the first DARPA challenge in 2004, none of the vehicles came close to completing the course. In 2005, four vehicles finished.

"The rate of success in just one year shows how powerful these challenges can be," says Ian Murphy, an X Prize Foundation spokesman.

By Gregory M. Lamb, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
visit: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2006-01-11-grand-challenges_x.htm

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Space Elevator!

2006-01-13T19:29:50Z

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9454786/

http://keithcu.com/wordpress/?p=6

posted in Space Travel - 22 replies

NEW FAA space travel rules

2006-01-01T01:02:22Z

http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/media/ai57.pdf

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Earth Mars laser com-link

2005-12-28T18:30:30Z

A NASA–MIT Lincoln Laboratory team will forge the first laser communication link between Mars and Earth. This unique experiment, part of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, will greatly benefit the transmission of data from robotic spacecraft.

more....

http://www.physorg.com/news721.html

posted in Space Travel - 12 replies

Virgin spaceport to be built in N.M.

2005-12-15T14:53:48Z

http://www.happynews.com/news/12132005/virgin-spaceport-to-be-built-.htm

posted in Space Travel - 3 replies

China: The next step?

2005-12-05T17:55:52Z

Now that the Chinese have launched their second man mission, with two men this time, what is their next actual step? I know they have some vague plans to reach the moon by 2020 as well as construct a space station, but what will be on the agenda for their next launch, maybe a docking?

Athough it may seem slow, their step by step approach, as well as a lack of public scrutany, may very well get them to the moon at or before we do. If that's the case we might very well find our selves in another space race.

posted in Space Travel - 6 replies

X Prize forgotten

2005-11-30T15:32:08Z

Who else is pissed off that almost no one's made mention of the anniversary of SpaceshipOne's X Prize win?!

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Space birth

2005-11-24T05:12:42Z

Let's make a virtual bet!

What year will the first baby be born in space?

posted in Space Travel - 10 replies

NASA tribe

2005-11-10T18:37:14Z

NASA tribe:
http://tribes.tribe.net/nasa

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Failure is an option

2005-10-24T17:11:17Z

Sorry to get all bummed out and stuff, but that History Channel show on the last 30 years of NASA history kind of disappointed me. Not that it wasn't a good show. It's just that the show's reporting of the mounting failures of NASA keep getting me to think that space exploration may soon come to a permanent end. And like I said in another thread, making space exploration popular again may be the only way to save it.

posted in Space Travel - 17 replies

Virgin: The First Steps?

2005-10-23T03:16:43Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4365612.stm

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Sagan was wrong

2005-10-19T18:17:31Z

Didn't Carl Sagan say that if the Viking missions were rovers that that would substantially enhance support for space exploration? Considering that there are now two active rovers on Mars that have lasted more than a year beyond their expected expiration date, you'd think that substantially-enhanced support for space exploration would be happening now. Nope! Space exploration is still considered an "aberrant" interest by those in the "mainstream" "culture."

posted in Space Travel - 9 replies

This is in German

2005-10-19T00:19:12Z

...but it appears to be a magnetic-nozzle plasma thruster that avoids the problem of the cathodes being in contact with the plasma.

http://diepresse.at/Artikel.aspx?channel=h&ressort=ws&id=512951&lp=de_en

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

The Cheap Mars Flight Tribe

2005-10-15T17:43:24Z

Since the other Mars tribe turned out to be a disappointment for me, I decided to start my own Mars tribe. Thus, comes The Cheap Mars Flight Tribe. Try it, you might like it: http://tribes.tribe.net/cheap-mars-flight

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Space Funding

2005-10-15T17:27:51Z

Okay, so most of space travel has been PR based or public works projects. Most corporations don't have a profit motive, so how do we get spacecraft flying?

Along this front, the next Girls Gone Wild Video is planned to be in zero-G. I think they'll be using the vomit comet, but wouldn't it be interesting if, once again, pornography opened up a new technology?

posted in Space Travel - 7 replies

Cassini protests unnecessary?

2005-10-01T14:07:44Z

I recently heard on The History Channel that NASA put the nuclear power core of the Cassini space probe in some kind of ceramic material designed to survive an explosion of the launch vehicle containing the probe. If that's true, then those anti-nuclear folks who protested the Cassini launch were wasting their time.

posted in Space Travel - 2 replies

Pluto probe for real!

2005-09-29T19:06:35Z

After so many years of false starts, it looks like the Pluto probe is finally about to happen:

Sept. 26, 2005
RELEASE: 05-283

NASA'S PLUTO SPACE PROBE BEGINS LAUNCH PREPARATIONS

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft arrived at the Kennedy
Space Center, Florida on Saturday for final preparations and
testing for the probe's decade-long journey. It will be the
first spacecraft to visit Pluto and its moon Charon.

New Horizons arrived at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility
aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane and was moved to a
clean room for processing and testing. It is scheduled to
launch on a Lockheed Martin Atlas V rocket in January 2006.
New Horizons recently completed four months of space-
environment tests at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., and the John Hopkins University Applied
Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., where it was designed and
built.

Carrying seven scientific instruments the compact, nearly
1,000 pound probe will fly by Pluto and Charon as early as
summer 2015. Its mission is to characterize the global
geology and geomorphology of the bodies, map their surface
compositions, record temperatures, and examine Pluto's
complex atmosphere. Fly bys of ancient rocky objects farther
out in the solar system may be undertaken during an extended
mission.

In October New Horizons will undergo a series of functional
tests, readiness checks, and an "end-to-end" test with the
tracking facilities of NASA's Deep Space Network. In
November, hydrazine fuel for attitude control and course
correction maneuvers will be loaded, and the spacecraft will
undergo a final spin-balance test.

At the Atlas Space Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, processing is underway on the Atlas V.
Stacking of the vehicle at Launch Complex 41 begins in early
October and will be completed late that month or in early
November. A launch countdown rehearsal will be performed in
November. In December, the flight-ready spacecraft will be
transported to the launch pad for hoisting on to the Atlas
V.

Following final launch approval, liftoff is scheduled for
Jan. 11, 2006, during a two-hour launch window that opens at
2:07 p.m. EST. Launch windows are also available daily from
Jan. 12 through Feb. 14, 2006.

New Horizons is the first mission in NASA's New Frontiers
program of medium-class planetary missions. The Applied
Physics Laboratory will operate the spacecraft for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate. Principal investigator Alan
Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio,
leads the New Horizons science and mission team. Southwest
Research Institute directed the development of the mission's
seven science instruments.

The National Research Council ranked the first
reconnaissance of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt at the top of
its priority list for planetary missions this decade. A
close-up look at these mysterious bodies will provide new
information about the origin and evolution of our solar
system.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home

For information about New Horizons on the Web, visit

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Columbia lightning theory

2005-09-26T23:14:17Z

A couple of days ago I watched a documentary suggesting that the shuttle was destroyed by a bolt of super lightning. They showed photo of what looks like a bolt hitting the shuttle before exploding, as well as audio readings of electronical discharge as well. They also showed evidence of what is called lightning "sprites" which as giant electrical explosions that have been measured of reaching 50 miles into space.

Has anyone else heard of this theory?

posted in Space Travel - 8 replies

Lunar Base tribe

2005-09-22T16:41:50Z

Yes! There is a Lunar Base tribe. It's focused on the creation of a lunar base among other related space efforts:
http://lunarbase.tribe.net

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies

Should NASA’s budget be cut to help fund hurricane relief?

2005-09-12T16:24:31Z

Should NASA’s budget be cut to help fund hurricane relief? I say no for numerous reasons (which I believe most of us on this tribe might agree with). First of all, the NASA budget is about 1 percent of federal government spending. And if the reconstruction of the hurricane-affected areas is estimated to be over $150 billion, then how is a portion of NASA’s (relatively) tiny $15 or $16 billion budget going to help? Second (a very obvious second when you think about it), cutting the U.S. military budget in half should provide plenty of funding for reconstruction. Not only that, but even at half its current levels, the U.S. military budget would still be the BIGGEST MILITARY BUDGET ON EARTH!! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you war hawks think the current half-a-trillion-dollar military budget is too small. But I’m not here to debate the military budget. I’m here to defend NASA’s existence.

Lastly, possibly the best argument of all, I remember an argument for continued space exploration made by the late science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. He explained that when the microscope was first invented, most people thought it was a useless invention and that microorganisms had absolutely no effect on the world as we know it. But these days, we now know that modern medicine and the many treatments and cures that exist today could be impossible without the microscope. Similarly, space travel today may look useless and unbeneficial. But in a few hundred years, unforeseen benefits as great or even greater than the microscope might come about because of today’s space program.

Theatrically, the arguments I’ve made should end the opposition to NASA. Unfortunately, they won’t. With that being the case, I privatized space travel to be perfected very soon. That way, no one can say their tax dollars are being wasted on useless space missions. In the meantime, I still say we can have hurricane relief and a space program at the same time.

posted in Space Travel - 1 reply

Popularity solves everything (I guess)

2005-08-30T07:05:46Z

If space travel had always remained popular, there would very likely be moon bases and Mars colonies by now. Because space travel is unpopular, there exists no arguement that can justify its existence.

"Space travel gives us spin-off technology."
INVALID ARGUMENT.

"Space travel can allow the human race to continue if life on Earth is destroyed by an asteroid or other comparable disaster."
INVALID ARGMENT.

"Space travel will make it possible for us to acquire the limitless natural resources of outer space instead of ruining the Earth to get its natural resources."
INVALID ARGUMENT.

Now I'd like to offer the sports example. Sports, like space travel, is not essential for human survival. Nevertheless, sports are TITANICALLY popular. So popular, in fact, that even the suggestion of eliminating sports would have people rioting in the streets. Imagine if that same sort of support applied to space travel. All the arguments in support of space travel would suddenly be validated. Validated not on their own merits, but validated because space travel is popular.

So, now that we know space travel needs to be popularized in order to survive, how do we popularize it? The answer for me anyway is I don't know. Kind of makes me feel like an underpants gnome!

posted in Space Travel - 9 replies

Open Sourcing A Shuttle Replacement

2005-08-23T02:28:03Z

I've been considering this for a long, long time.

It's time for the geeks to take the space program back. It's time for geeks to start developing our own open-source solution to the Shuttle program.

My idea-steal the NASA CEV concept. Build a series of systems that can be mounted on a expendable launch booster-I've looked into the Titan III or Atlas, and the possiblity that we could get (steal) the plans for the Energya from Russia-all based upon a common series of connectors, frameworks, and systems. So long as you use the common series, you can go anywhere.

Anybody got any sites on examples of an initial proposal of this type?

posted in Space Travel - 20 replies

America's Space Program

2005-08-14T21:02:52Z

The Dream is still alive- The future of America's space program

A number of Americans held their collective breaths as the space shuttle Discovery started it's decent through the Earth's atmosphere. In an ironic twist, when it finally touched ground and thus became automatically grounded, America's space program was given a second chance. A great fear among those interested, was that a third accident would finally doom Nasa.

Roadmap to the Stars

After the Columbia disaster, President Bush laid out an ambitious plan for manned space flight for the first half of the 21st century. The first major step begins with the completion of the International space station as the final mission for our aging shuttle fleet, which will hopefully be replaced by a new generation of transporters. The CEV (Crew Exploration Vehical) is the core of a new system of spacecraft called "Project Constellation", which in my understanding is modular system that can be configured for a specific mission. All the meanwhile NASA will be sending lunar probes to find the best landing sites as well as other useful information.Then before the year 2020 man will return to the moon and hopefully go onto the Red planet around 2030.

Roadblocks

There have been several major complaints as to the wisdom of America dream of space flight. However the two largest seem to deal with the cost, both in human and finance.

Due to the previous tragedies including Challenger and Columbia, some have argued that such a loss of life is too high a cost. However it should be noted that while tragic, these people died following their dreams and true calling. These people are national heroes, a point personally felt when stopping to view the wall of fallen astronauts before I left Kennedy space center when the Columbia was still on the launch pad for it's fateful last flight.

And another cost deemed to high is that the money spent could be used for better things, including welfare. Again another point worth noting is that the space agency and aerospace agency employs thousands and thousands of highly skilled people, as well as those employed by spin off technologies including Sattelight providers like Dish Network and Direct TV to name a few.

The Next Frontier

I grimace when someone from Nasa sheepishly tries to explain the reasoning for space exploration by answering that it's for the quest for knowledge. Unfortunatly this comes off as acknowledging that the space program is in reality one big science experiment. Instead I see, if implemented correctly, a new frontier offering numerous real world opportunities and rewards.

1- Status: In history great civilizations have built their legacies mostly by two separate ways. They either gain notority by wars of conquest , and by creating great projects like the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China that have stood the test of time. Currently America's image and influence is lagging and in trouble of falling behind new powers arising like the EU, China, Brazil, and India during the next 50 years. Obviously war is no longer a viable option, so that leaves us with creating a grand project that will impress the neighbors. If you notice our greatest project, the moon landings, was during our greatest defeat, Vietnam.

2- Jobs: As stated earlier, NASA, the aerospace industry, and spin off industries provide a large source of skilled employment in this nation. And that's not including the untold jobs created in future development.

3- Technology and Products: There have been a number of technologies and materials produced as a side effect of the space program. And there are medicines that can only be produced or enhanced due to the unique properties of zero g.

4- Expansion and preservation: Although not really a consideration today, space will provide humanity a way of expanding beyond our Earth. But an ironic and unique twist to this will be the skills attained maintaining closed environments which can then be applied to our own environment. Finally, by having colonies outside of Earth help insure our survival due to natural or man made cataclysmic events.

5- Minerals and materials: Using various means our civilization would be able to mine and obtain raw materials by mining and processing asteroids, comets, and other planetary bodies in our solar system.

6- Quest for knowledge: A finally, yes there is there benefit of increased knowledge about our world and universe.

And here are two ways that can help improve our space program

1-Unmanned probes and robotic devices. These pieces of equipment help to not only reduce the risk to human life but the financial cost of exploration. And they expand our reach to places not currently attainable to manned space flight.

2-Advertising. In what may seem like an abomination to some, I advocate advertisement on visable space equipment. Imagine how much an ad would go for on the rocket carrying man's first trip to Mars, or even more the, landing craft. The profits could help greatly help subsidize our space program.

Currently the astronauts that I know of were born during the early to mid 60's. That means in theory those who will retrace Neil Armstrong's steps on the lunar soil will be of my age, or those born during the mid 70's. And chances are we will be the supervisors and mission commanders back here on Earth during the Martian expeditions. So we must ask ourselves if we should refocus our energies or take up the mantle.

These statements are of my personal thoughts and observations. I do not claim to know every aspect of this subject, nor believe my view is absolute. However I felt compelled to express several points which seemed to go ignored in our race for space.

Sincerely, Wayne M .H.

Here are a few questions to pounder...

1- Should humanity be venturing into space or is it in reality a virtual pipe dream?

2- Are we taking the correct path or steps in our reach for the stars? What can be improved on what we are doing now?

3- What will the future bring us in space flight? Will we see what is planned or will time reveal a totally different plan and course?

4- Have you ever dreamed of going into outer space, whether as a real astronaut or in fantasy visiting other worlds like on TV, the movies, or in writings?

posted in Space Travel - 4 replies

Grounded...

2005-08-12T16:36:48Z

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4723109.stm

I can't believe they had the SAME problem (though apparently not as threatening) after "working on it" for 2 and a half years. I realize the insulating foam is expendable, but didn't NASA take this into account vis-a-vis where and how it would fly away from the shuttle? Ugh...

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

Space Shuttle tile repair: It happened before on TV

2005-08-07T09:42:49Z

All this tile repair business with the Space Shuttle reminds me of The Cape: A syndicated TV series of the mid-to-late 1990s about fictional Space Shuttle astronausts. There was actually an episode where the Shuttle got damaged after undocking from Mir. And while the Shuttle remained in orbit for an extended period, the rescue crew on Earth rapidly trained for the repair of the damaged tiles on the orbitting Shuttle.

posted in Space Travel - 5 replies

HUMAN MARS MISSION LAUNCH TODAY!!!

2005-08-05T14:25:23Z

Yes! In the universe of Get Your Ass to Mars, the first human Mars flight is being launched TODAY! How about reading about it on the Cheap Mars Flight Blog? Go to: http://timeliketoons.tripod.com/gyatm-blog

posted in Space Travel - 0 replies