May10

Trailer for “Gravity” – film with George Clooney & Sandra Bullock

by TopSpacer on May 10, 2013 at 4:06 am
Posted In: Solar Sci-Fi, Space films and videos

The movie Gravity stars George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as astronauts on the International Space Station. An accident leaves them stranded. The first trailer for the film has jut been released.  ‘Gravity’ Trailer: Watch George Clooney Get Lost In Space -  MTV.com

Here is a synopsis of the movie:

Academy Award® winners Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side,” “The Proposal”) and George Clooney (“Up in the Air,” “Syriana”) star in “Gravity,” a heart-pounding thriller that pulls you into the infinite and unforgiving realm of deep space.  The film was directed by Oscar® nominee Alfonso Cuarón (“Children of Men”).
Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring.  But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes.  The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth…and any chance for rescue.  As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left.

But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

“Gravity” was written by Alfonso Cuarón & Jonás Cuarón.  Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman (the “Harry Potter” films) are the film’s producers.  Stephen Jones (“Knowing”) served as executive producer with Nikki Penny (“Clash of the Titans”) co-producing.

The behind-the-scenes team includes multiple Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (“Children of Men,” “The New World”), production designer Andy Nicholson (supervising art director “Alice in Wonderland”), editor Mark Sanger (VFX editor “Alice in Wonderland”), and costume designer Jany Temime (the “Harry Potter” films).  The effects were handled by Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Timothy Webber (“The Dark Knight”) and Oscar®-winning special effects supervisor Neil Corbould (“Gladiator”).

“Gravity” was filmed entirely at Shepperton Studios in London, England.

A Warner Bros. Pictures production, “Gravity” will be released in 3D and 2D and distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company.

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May10

Space on the John Batchelor Show: Bob Zimmerman & Hotel Mars

by TopSpacer on May 10, 2013 at 2:55 am
Posted In: Activism, SpaceCasts

Bob Zimmerman reports on the latest space news during regular weekly slots (usually Tuesday and Thursdays) on the John Batchelor radio program. See the iTunes free Podcast for links to the latest shows.

Tuesday’s segment: Space:

  • Europe successfully launches its new Vega rocket for the second time.
  • Sarah Brightman’s tourist flight to ISS is confirmed.
  • The first Cygnus/Antares launch is delayed one month until August at the earliest.
  • Private space is winning

Thursday’s segment: Climate:

Tornadoes at their lowest in U.S. in 50 years.

[ Update: Bob made a special appearance on the Friday night program to discuss the ammonia coolant leak on the ISS and other issues regarding the Station:

  • ISS leak
  • ISS switches from Windows to Liinux.
  • ISS needs more closet space.

]

===

Charles Lurio, spoke on the John Batchelor Show on Wednesday during the weekly Hotel Mars segment with David Livingston. They talked about the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, suborbital spaceflight, and space tourism: The John Batchelor Show Hotel Mars, Wednesday, 5-8-13 | Thespaceshow’s Blog.

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May09

Video: The euphoria of space exploration

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 9:29 pm
Posted In: Activism

An uplifting talk by a young engineer about the promise of space and humanity’s place in it:  Mars and the Euphoria of Human Exploration: Tim Ellis at TEDxTrousdale (via Spaceports blog):

From the caption:

Tim Ellis is a current graduate student and undergraduate alumni of the University of Southern California’s Viterbi Engineering School with both degrees in Aerospace Engineering. His primary involvement on campus is centered around the Rocket Propulsion Lab, a purely student-run group dedicated to designing, building, and flying research-scale rocket vehicles and engines.

He was the conceptual design and dynamics team leader in the planning and development of USCRPL’s “Traveler” rocket, slated to be the first ever launched by a university to international space at over 400,000 ft altitude. Beyond “Traveler”, Tim was also a lead designer of the Silver Spur 3 project, which successfully flew to 60,000 ft and over 3,000 mph.

Currently, he is working on developing USC’s first bipropellant rocket engine, aimed to discover ways to drastically lower the cost and difficulty of access to space without sacrificing performance. Additionally, as an undergraduate, Tim was an active member in the professional leadership fraternity Delta Omicron Zeta.

Outside of school, Tim will be returning for a third consecutive internship with the private space group Blue Origin, LLC, a startup founded by Amazon.com owner Jeff Bezos, to advance the presence of humans in space.

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May09

NASA ScienceCast: A sunset triangle in May

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Posted In: Astronomy

This NASA ScienceCast program describes this May night sky:

The three brightest planets in this month’s night sky are lining up for a beautiful sunset conjunction at the end of May.

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May09

Planetary Society Hangout: Emily Dean & a Sol in the life of Opportunity

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Posted In: Activism, Space Science, SpaceCasts

The latest Planetary Society Hangout features with Emily Dean who works as an engineer on both the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. The show is titled a “Sol in the Life of Opportunity”:

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May09

Amateur astronomer captures images of giant Gamma Ray Burst

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 8:54 pm
Posted In: Astronomy

Amateur astronomer Patrick Wiggins captured images of the visible light from the largest gamma-ray burst ever recorded.  GRBs are seldom bright enough to be seen with amateur telescopes but this one was especially energetic across the spectrum and for several hours.

Brilliant gamma-ray burst

This animation from NASA shows, before and after, the patch of sky
where GRB 130427A appeared on April 27, 2013. The image was produced
by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Here is a larger view.
Credits: NASA / DOE / Fermi LAT Collaboration
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May09

Grote Reber inducted into Inventors Hall of Fame

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 8:26 pm
Posted In: Astronomy, Space Radio

A reader points me to the news that Grote Reber, a ham radio operator and amateur astronomer, has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the radio telescope:

From the induction description:

Grote Reber (1911 – 2002)
Navigational Instrument
Patent No. 2,519,603
Radio telescope

Reber, a pioneering radio astronomer, built the first substantial radio telescope dedicated to astronomy. Radio astronomy allows for the detection of objects and phenomena not possible with optical astronomy, utilizing a radio receiver that can amplify faint cosmic signals, making the waves strong enough to be recorded and charted.

More about Grote from the History of Radio Astronomy | Susquehanna Astronomical Society:

[...] the U.S. Radio Engineer and Amateur Radio Operator, Grote Reber (W8GFZ) (b.1911-d.2002) built the first radio telescope at his home in Wheaton, Illinois. His design was considerably more advanced than Jansky’s, consisting of a parabolic sheet metal mirror 9 meters in diameter, focusing to a radio receiver 8 meters above the mirror. The entire assembly was mounted on a tilting stand allowing it to be pointed in various directions, although not turned. The telescope was completed in 1937.

Reber’s first receiver operated at 3300 MHz and failed to detect signals from outer space, as did his second, operating at 900 MHz. Finally his third attempt at 160 MHz was successful in 1938, confirming Jansky’s discovery. He found that the radio radiation came from all along the plane of the Milky Way and from the Sun. Reber turned his attention to making a radio-frequency sky map, which he completed in 1941 and extended in 1943.

Reber later donated his telescope to the NRAO in Green Bank, West Virginia, and helped supervise its re-construction at that site. The telescope was then mounted on a turntable, allowing it to be pointed in any direction. Reber helped with a reconstruction of Jansky’s original telescope as well.

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May09

Video: JP Aerospace mission highlights

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 8:13 pm
Posted In: Near Space, Space participation

This video shows highlights of the six April 2013 JP Aerospace high altitude flights, which carried a total of 2400 PongSats for students: Mission Highlights Video – JP Aerospace Blog

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May09

ESTCube, now in orbit, to test E-Sail propulsion

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Posted In: Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Systems

The Estonian student Cubesat project ESTCube successfully reached orbit via a Vega rocket this week:

Paul Gilster writes about the E-sail propulsion concept, developed by Pekka Janhunen of Finland, which will be tested by ESTCube: To Ride the Solar Wind.

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May09

Interview with space activist Christopher Carson

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 3:54 pm
Posted In: Activism, Space films and videos, The Moon

Lunar settlement advocate Christopher Carson (Luna Project) has a prominent role in the documentary Lunarcy! (2012). Moonandback spoke with him at the recent Space Access ’13 conference in Phoenix:

 

 

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May09

The Rocket Company: Chapters 4-6

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 5:57 am
Posted In: Rockets, Space books

I continue the serialization of the updated version of the book The Rocket Company by Patrick J. G. Stiennon and David M. Hoerr, with illustrations by Doug Birkholz.  This week you can obtain the following chapters of the book:

Download these within the next week. Only four chapters will be available at any one time.

See also the electronic version of the updated book is available at  The Rocket Company eBook by Patrick Stiennon, David Hoerr, Peter Diamandis, Doug Birkhol: Kindle Store/Amazon.com.

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May09

“2001: A Space Odyssey” as a children’s comic book style menu in 1968

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 5:51 am
Posted In: Space Arts, Space films and videos

Never would have imagined that 2001: A Space Odyssey, a wonderfully visual but intellectually complex movie, would be depicted in comic book style in a children’s restaurant menu : “2001: A Space Odyssey” Howard Johnsons Children’s Menu (1968) – Dreams of Space/Books and Ephemera – May.8.13

Here are three of the panels:

1968HowardJohnson2001-12[1]

1968HowardJohnson2001-20[1]

1968HowardJohnson2001-22[1]

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May09

Sci-Tech: A robot Dragonfly from Festo

by TopSpacer on May 9, 2013 at 5:35 am
Posted In: Science and Technology

Here’s a video of the amazingly complex flying techniques of a robotic dragonfly called the BionicOpter developed by the company Festo (link via ralph.ewig):

Just like its model in nature, this ultralight flying object can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings.

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May08

Looking in on the Zooniverse citizen science space projects

by TopSpacer on May 8, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Posted In: Activism, Astronomy, Space participation

A scan of of what’s happening with the space related citizen science projects at Zooniverse:

Update May.9.13: Here is a report by Katy Maloney about a recent Zooniverse workshop held n Chicago at the Adler Planetarium :

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May08

Search for Space Warps in new citizen science project

by TopSpacer on May 8, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Posted In: Astronomy, Space participation

A new citizen science project from Zooniverse is titled Space Warps.

This project is a gravitational lens discovery engine. Large astronomical surveys can use Space Warps to find gravitational lenses in their data through the collaborative efforts of citizen scientists.

Here is an animation of the gravitational lenses effect:

More information about the project is described here: New Project: Join the Search for ‘Space Warps’ – Zooniverse

Gravitational lenses – or ‘space warps’ – are created when massive galaxies cause light to bend around them such that they act rather like giant lenses in space. By looking through data that has never been seen by human eyes, our new Space Warps project is asking citizen scientists to help discover some of these incredibly rare objects. We need your help to spot these chance-alignments of galaxies in a huge survey of the night sky. To take part visit www.spacewarps.org.

Gravitational lenses help us to answer all kinds of questions about galaxies, including how many very low mass stars such as brown dwarfs – which aren’t bright enough to detect directly in many observations – are lurking in distant galaxies. The Zooniverse has always been about connecting people with the biggest questions and now, with Space Warps, we’re taking our first trip to the early Universe. We’re excited to let people be the first to see some of the rarest astronomical objects of all!

The Space Warps project is a lens discovery engine. Joining the search is easy: when you visit the website you are given examples of what space warps look like and are shown how to mark potential candidates on each image. The first set of images to be inspected in this project is from the CFHT (Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope) legacy survey.

[See above video.]

Computer algorithms have already scanned the images, but there are likely to be many more space warps that the algorithms have missed. We think that only with human help will we find them all. Realistic simulated lenses are dropped into some images to help you learn how to spot them, and reassure you that you’re on the right track. Previous studies have shown that the human brain is better at identifying complex lenses than computers are, and we know at the Zooniverse that members of the public can be at least as good at spotting astronomical objects as experts! We’re going to use the data from citizen scientists to continuously train computers to become better space warp spotters.

This is a really exciting project and you can read more on the Space Warps blog. As with our other projects it can also be found on Twitter (@SpaceWarps), on Facebook and you can discuss any interesting objects you find on Space Warps Talk. We’re really excited about this project and think you’ll be able to make some amazing discoveries through it.

 

 

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May08

SGAC opens “Find an Asteroid” competition

by TopSpacer on May 8, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Posted In: Activism, Space participation, Space Science

The SGAC (Space Generation Advisory Council) has opened a Find an Asteroid project:

SGAC gives you the opportunity to take part in an Asteroid Search Campaign. Partnering with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, and supported by the Minor Planet Center, SGAC has slots available for 10 -15 teams to participate. Team up with your SGAC friends and start hunting!

Registration is now open.

Form a team with 3 – 5 SGAC members and apply by June 1, 2013.
The search campaign will take place 14 August – 18 September, 2013.

More here: SGAC’s “Find An Asteroid” campaign — be part of the UKSEDS team! – UKSEDS

 

 

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May08

Alternative fuel to hydrazine to be tested with NASA’s GPIM spacecraft

by TopSpacer on May 8, 2013 at 6:06 am
Posted In: Rockets, Space Systems

A US Air Force sponsored program has developed a non-toxic alternative propellant to the commonly used, but highly toxic and flammable, monopropellant hydrazine: New research key to revolutionary ‘green’ spacecraft propellant – US Air Force

The new fuel, labeled AF-M315E,  is an “energetic ionic liquid, or EIL”. It was developed by Dr. Tom Hawkins of the Air Force Research Lab with funding from the Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) Program.  AF-M315E  offers nearly twice the energy density of hydrazine, has very low vapor flammability and is non-toxic.

The fuel will be tested in space by NASA in 2015 using an engine developed for the fuel by Aerojet in the project called the  Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM)

The Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) project will demonstrate the practical capabilities of AF-M315E, a high-performance green alternative to hydrazine. This innovative, low-toxicity propellant is expected to improve overall vehicle performance. It boasts a higher density than hydrazine, meaning more of it can be stored in containers of the same volume; it delivers a higher specific impulse, or thrust delivered per given quantity of fuel; and it has a lower freezing point, requiring less spacecraft power to maintain its temperature.

 

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May08

Mars One receives 78,000 applications in 2 weeks for Mars settlement

by TopSpacer on May 8, 2013 at 5:44 am
Posted In: Activism, DIY space, Space participation

The Mars One organization released this announcement on Tuesday:

78,000 sign up for one-way mission to Mars
Amersfoort, 7th May 2013 –  Just two weeks into the nineteen week application period, more than seventy-eight thousand people have applied to the Mars One astronaut selection program in the hope of becoming a Mars settler in 2023.

Mars One has received applications from over 120 countries. Most applications come from USA (17324), followed by China (10241), United Kingdom (3581), Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina and India.

Bas Lansdorp, Mars One Co-Founder and CEO said: “With seventy-eight thousand applications in two weeks, this is turning out to be the most desired job in history. These numbers put us right on track for our goal of half a million applicants.”

“Mars One is a mission representing all humanity and its true spirit will be justified only if people from the entire world are represented. I’m proud that this is exactly what we see happening,” he said.

As part of the application every applicant is required to explain his/her motivation behind their decision go to Mars in an one minute video. Many applicants are choosing to publish this video on the Mars One website. These are openly accessible on applicants.mars-one.com.

“Applicants we have received come from a very wide range of personalities, professions and ages. This is significant because what we are looking for is not restricted to a particular background. From Round 1 we will take forward the most committed, creative, resilient and motivated applicants,” said Dr. Norbert Kraft, Mars One Chief Medical Officer.

Mars One will continue to receive online applications until August 31st 2013. From all the applicants in Round 1, regional reviewers will select around 50-100 candidates for Round 2 in each of the 300 geographic regions in the world that Mars One has identified.

Four rounds make the selection process, which will come to an end in 2015; Mars One will then employ 28-40 candidates, who will train for around 7 years. Finally an audience vote will elect one of groups in training to be the envoys of humanity to Mars.

MarsOne_Base

About Mars One:
The Mars One Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that will send humans to Mars in 2023 to establish the first permanent settlement outside Earth. Before the first settlers land on Mars a self-sustaining habitat will be set up with help of rovers and more settlers will follow every two years. We have designed a realistic plan by using only existing technology available through the private space industry. The first footprint on Mars will fascinate and inspire generations; it is this public interest that will help finance this human mission to Mars. Mars One is supported by space exploration experts from all over the world.

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May07

The X-15 and rocket vehicle reusability

by TopSpacer on May 7, 2013 at 4:38 pm
Posted In: History, Rockets

Space historian David S. F. Portree writes about the North American X-15 and what lessons can be learned from its reusability : The X-15 Rocket Plane: Implications for Reusable Booster Schedule & Cost (1966) – Wired Science/Wired.com.

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May07

Video: Time-Lapse | Earth by Bruce W. Berry

by TopSpacer on May 7, 2013 at 4:34 am
Posted In: Eyes in the Sky, Multiple media, Space films and videos

Here’s a very beautifully made time-lapse video composition of ISS imagery by Bruce W. Berry Jr   of Bruce Wayne Photography.

(Item via UniverseToday.com,)

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