May.28.2004
Space News
Holiday
break... I will be traveling over the
next week or so and postings will be even more intermittent
than usual and probably none at all over this weekend.
Space
station sim... NASA
helps with development of the Space
Station Sim video game: Maryland
Game Developer Vision Videogames Receives NASA Space Act Agreement
to Develop Space Station Game - Vision Videogames - May.31.04
Venus
transit... On
June 8th Venus will transit over the face of the Sun. You can
watch a webcast at Exploratorium:
Transit of Venus. More info at Sun-Earth
Day 2004 Venus Transit and a fascinating history story at
James
Cook and the Transit of Venus - Sceince@NASA - May.28.04.
News
briefs... The
Economist takes a dim view of the recent ESA review of the Beagle
2 failure: Mars
Attacks! A bungled report into the failure of a Mars lander
- Economist.com - May.27.04 (via NASA
Watch)....
...
Expedition
9 makes contact: ARISS
School Group Contact a First for Astronaut, Expedition 9 - ARRLWeb
- May.27.04 (via spacetoday.net).
May.27.2004
Space News
Near
space sci-fi... Inspired by the JP
Aerospace and its proposed high altitude Dark
Sky station, Stephen Gordon posted this short story at The
Speculist: Dark
Sky Station October 9, 2016 Journal of Captain Marvin Orr Day
1 - May.25.04 (via K.Kert).
There's
something wonderfully Jules Verne-like about the JP Aerospace
airship designs, especially the proposed orbital
airship. I can imagine them inspiring a lot of fun
sci-fi.
Robert Zimmerman on space... Check out the fascinating
interviews with space historian and author Robert
Zimmerman at the SpaceShow on May
11, 04, March
30, 2004, Feb.10,
04, and Dec.3,
2003.
Also, SciScoop
has posted a Q&A
with Robert Zimmermann. (Via K. Kert.)
News
briefs... At the FAA COMSTAC
meeting on May 20th Brant Sponberg presented an interesting
overview of the Centennial
Challenges (ppt). ...
...
Some
interesting ideas for protecting people from space radiation:
Shields
Up! New Radiation Protection for Spacecraft and Astronauts -
Space.com - May.27.04
...
...
Beautiful images of Saturn taken by Hubble and Cassini: Saturn
Seen From Far and Near - JPL News - May.26.04
...
...
Activists plan to a political blitz on the Capitol:
Space
Exploration Alliance to mobilize 'Moon-Mars Blitz' on Capitol
Hill - CSA - May.26.04 ...
...
Vote atSciScoop
on which NASA center you think should be closed (Via K.Kert)...
...
Bruce Behrhorst of NuclearSpace.com
recommends To
the End of the Solar System: The story of the nuclear rocket
(Amazon affiliate link), by Dr. James A. Dewar, Dec.2003.
May.26.2004
Space News
News
briefs... Frank Sietzen reports on the coming crunch
time for the space
initiative : Analysis:
Summer showdown for space plan By Frank Sietzen - UPI - May.25.04...
...
The Spacearium
is offering a big list of rocket
scripts. See also this educational page and applet for Converging
Diverging Nozzle design at Virginia Tech.
May.25.2004
Space News
The
SpaceShow
this week:
Tuesday,
May 25, 2004 Space Show features Dayna Steele Justiz ...the
founder and President of TheSpaceStore.com.
Sunday,
May 30, 2004 Space Show "features returning guest Patrick
Bahn, CEO of TGV
Rockets, Inc. TGV rockets is now located in Norman OK
and is a company dedicated to achieving low cost suborbital
flight. TGV was founded in 1998 and is growing rapidly. Mr.
Bahn is also a key member of The Suborbital Institute. He
will be discussing these issues with Space Show listeners,
as well as reporting to us from the
NSS ISDC Annual Conference which will be in progress in
Oklahoma City while Mr. Bahn is conducting this interview."
Listen
to recents shows by space historian Robert
Zimmerman and
author Sylvia Engdahl that are now available for downloading.
Hear the
SpaceShow programs live at KKNW, 1150 AM in Seattle, and on
line at www.live365.com/stations/dlivingston?site=dlivingston.
May.24.2004
Space News
The shape
of the first space hotel?
Spiral
space development...
Bigelow Aerospace
is slowly releasing more information about its space habitat
development projects: Bigelow
Aerospace to Tackle Inflatable Space Habitats - Space.com -
May.24.04. The company has an ambitious schedule for launching
prototypes of their inflatable systems in the coming year. The
Genesis Pathfinder projects will eventually lead to the launch
of the large ((20,000 to 23,000 kg) Nautilus
habitat.
I'm particularly
interested in what the Nautilus design looks like. I've always
been a fervent proponent of the Gerard
O'Neill scheme for large scale settlement of space via huge
space habitats that rotate to provide artificial gravity. (See
the L5 artworks.)
The central challenge of such a scenario is how to get from
here (small space modules) to there (rotating island-sized behemoths)?
It would appear that such huge rotating structures could only
be built directly, not incrementally. That would require an
enormous initial investment, which most likely could only come
from a government and that is unlikely for a long, long time.
Perhaps,
however, incremental development of rotating structures is not
out of the question. I've toyed with the idea of how one might
build in a spiral around a rotating core. This would allow for
starting with a small, low cost seed structure and then incrementally
developing outward as more space becomes needed and the money
to pay for it is generated.
There are
obviously a lot engineering questions and options for such structures.
Perhaps, for example, a double spiral would be needed to keep
the system balanced around a fixed axis. The
construction might proceed longitudinally as well as radially
as shown by this sea
habitat.
Most likely,
Bigelow's Nautilus has nothing at all to do with such ideas
but is still fun to speculate about how the company's habitats
might lead to much bigger things someday.
News
briefs... This Russian firm - ZAO
- Aerospace Systems - has a lot of plans for Mars exploration
- Expedition
to Mars : Current project state - and will be launching
a prototype spacecraft this summer:
Test schedule . (Item via K. Kert.)
...
...
More updates on the space initiative in Moon-Mars
initiative: where do things stand now? - The Space Review -
May.24.04 * A
few words with Craig Steidle - The Space Review - May.24.04
...
...
This article exaggerate the deprivations that a space traveler
will undergo but is still an interesting analysis of the economic
forces on the development of such an industry: The
price of privation - The Space Review - May.24.04 ...
...
The company that owns space.com, Space News, and other space
related businesses is changing its name: Space
Holdings Enters Next Stage of Growth Plan with Name Change to
Imaginova - Space.com - May.24.04
Losing
money for space...
Britain had a tough post-WWII period but in the last couple
of decades its economy has come roaring back. (See GDP
ratings.) Yet despite this wealth it could not find a few
pounds to fund the Beagle 2 mission sufficiently:
This miserly
approach to unmanned space exploration came despite the complete
absence of a human spaceflight program. The British example
indicates that if a society decides that space is not important
enough for humans to explore, then it is also not important
enough to spend a lot of money on robots to explore it.
According
to many US scientists, canceling the NASA human space program
would result in a windfall for unmanned programs. There is no
evidence whatsoever for this belief. The British example in
fact shows the opposite. Not only would the money fail to go
to space science, the funding for it would actually decrease.
Without the cover of the human program, the space science program
funding would be exposed for what it is: preposterously big
compared to that for all other sciences outside of medicine.
News
briefs...
The German company Environmental
Studies offers a diverse array of services based on satellite
tracking: "Precision Farming, Wildlife/ pet/ dog/ animal/
bird GPS/GSM tracking collars."...
...It's
also nice to see this German group - Alltra
-Alltranpsport - offering interesting ideas for space tourism,
lunar and Mars bases. (Link via a HobbySpace)...
...Frank
Sietzen give an update on the space initiative: Analysis:
One step ahead for space plan - UPI - May.21.04...
...
Students
develop some interesting spacesuit designs for Mars What
to Wear on Mars - Tech Trends - May.22.04 using radiation
resistant fabric from Radiation
Shield Technologies (RST) - Creators of Demron (TM)
May.22.2004
Space News
The
Rocket
Company
comes
to an end. The final installment
tells how the founder of the Rocket Company seeks to reduce
the cost of transportation to Mars just as he did for access
to LEO. If successful, large numbers of people will be able
to travel to the Red Planet for permanent settlement.
May.21.2004
Space News
Nearspacecraft
hunting...
An interesting new specialty has arisen. Stratofox
Aerospace Tracking & Recovery Team is described as a
"team of Amateur Radio operators, mostly in or near Silicon
Valley, who perform or participate in tracking and recovery
operations for amateur rocketry and high-altitude balloon ('amateur
aerospace') flights."
Space
collecting is a great hobby but don't base your
financial future on it: Space
buffs bring in treasures: Experts appraise memorabilia, leaving
some people disappointed - Florida Today - May.21.04 ...
...
Also, watch out for anyone offering you a Moon rock at a deep
discount: $5M
Moon Rock Stolen From Malta Museum - space.com - May.21.04
News
briefs...
Another
asteroid between Earth and Venus is found: .New
Object is 2nd Rock from the Sun - Space.com - May.20.04
...
...
Look out for bright Iridium flares: NightSky
Friday - Satellite Spotting: See Dramatic Iridium Flares Now
- Space.com - May.21.04 )...
...
Abuse
of the tort system reaches even to the sky. Please help the
General
Aviation Legal Defense Fund
(via Transterrestrial
Musings)...
...
NSS recognizes the pioneers in private space development:
Historic Firsts Challenge the Edge of Space: NSS annual conference
to bring together pioneering leaders during the 'Summer of Space'
- NSS - May.20.04
May.20.2004
Space News
News
briefs... Watch
fires around the world at FIRE
GLOBE: The Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC)
...
...
Maybe the apparent nano-fossils in the Mars
meteorite were not so farfetched afterall: Claim
made for new form of life - BBC - May.19.04 ...
...
SpaceWorks
Engineering offers an interesting concept for altering the
course of earth-menacing asteroids: Asteroid
Eaters: Robots to Hunt Space Rocks, Protect Earth - space.com
- May.19.04
May.19.2004
Space News
Secret
Soyuz in Oakland... The Chabot Space Center is restoring
at Soyuz spacecraft from the early 1960's that was a big secret
project at the time: SOYUZsecret.com
- brought to you by the Chabot Space Center - Oakland, Ca.
* "In
search of secrets, Soyuz x-rayed" - collectSPACE - May.18.04
News
briefs ... A
closed (or nearly so) cycle space habitat will use waste not
only for gardening but power:Waste
Not: NASA-supported researchers are working to develop a fuel
cell that can extract electricity from human waste.- Science@NASA
- May.18.04....
...
More about the CSXT launch (including a video) in the Advanced
Rocketry Section.
May.18.2004
Space News
Another
CSXT article... The CSXT launch is getting wide coverage:
Amateur
rocket fired into space - BBC - May.18.04
News
briefs...Space Adventures working with advertising
firm "to send a prominent Japanese figure to the International
Space Station (ISS) within the next several years": Space
Adventures And Dentsu Working Together To Send First Japanese
Private Explorer To Space - Space Adventures - May.18.04
...
...
Greg Klerkx's book on NASA continues to attract attention: How
to Fix NASA: A critic with a new book says the space agency
needs an overhaul - MSNBC/Newsweek - May.18.04
More
CSXT reports... First
amateur rocket blasts into space - New Scientist - May.18.04
* Rocketman'
on Cloud 9 - TwinCities.com - May.18.04 (via spacetoday.net)
CSXT
sets amateur rocket altitude record,.. An
amateur team finally reaches 100km. Congratulations to Ky Michaelson's
Civilian
Space eXploration Team, which made it to space last Sunday
with the 21-foot ‘Go Fast’ rocket: Rocket
Carrying Ham Radio Payload Reaches Space! - ARRLWeb - May.17.04
(via
RocketForge). See May
7th press release.
News
briefs... More
about the use of the Orbital
Recovery space tug to rescue the Hubble: Space
Tug Could Save Hubble - Wired News - May.15.04 ...
...
Boeing's Connexion
satellite broadband service for airliners finally gets off the
ground: Hi-flying
Wi-Fi debuts on transatlantic flight - New Scientist - May.17.04
May.14.2004
Space News
More
alt.space business... Bigelow
Aerospace, which recently signed
a contract to launch a payload on the new SpaceX
Falcon V, also plans a series of launches on the low cost Russian
Dnepr rocket: Bigelow
signs contracts for Dnepr launches - spacetoday.net - May.14.04.
What exactly the company is launching isn't public yet but is
assumed to be related to their work with inflatable space habitats.
...
...
Orbital
Recovery signs up Arianespace for launch services beginning
in 2007: Arianespace
will launch Orbital Recovery Ltd.'s "space tugs" -
Arianespace - May.12.04 * First
space tug set to launch in 2007 - New Scientist - May.13.04.
Now that the company has signed up its major hardware contractors
and arranged for ESA to pay about half of the space tug development
cost, the only big task left is to sign up with a satellite
or space insurance company to rescue a comsat. From what Dennis
WIngo said at SA'04,
such a contract does not seem far away.
News
briefs... Congrats
to Alan Boyle on the second birthday of his precocious web log:
The
terrible twos - Alan Boyle: Cosmic Log - May.13.04 ...
...
Some amateur astronomers take comet finding really seriously
(and successfully): Comet
Man - St.Louis Dispatch - May.11.04 (via spacetoday.net)...
...
Check
out the alt.space
- journal of the new space race, which includes cool resources
like an archive of
streaming movies ...
...
I earlier mentioned Jeff Foust's article
on NASA's apparent intention to pursue a large spacecraft for
the Lunar Reconaissance mission. Kaido Kert points out, though,
that Goddard Spaceflight Center is also looking at small lunar
orbiters: NASA
Presolicitation Notice: Lunar Microsat Network Feasibility Study
- SpaceRef - May.7.04 * Mini-Moonsat
Network to be Studied - Space.com Astronotes - May.11.04
May.13.2004
Space News
ISS
will cross over Jupiter and
the east coast of the US tonight. Space
Station Eclipses Jupiter - science@NASA - May.12.04. Will
occur around 9:30pm.
See a great
image of a transit of the Saturn by the ISS on www.wonderplanets.de
- Torsten Edelmann. More on transits at Computing
sun & moon transits by the International Space Station -
ISS-Transit.sourceforge.net.
See also
the Philp Masding's Space
Station observations page and his ISS
VRML Simulator.
More on
ISS observation and photography in the Satellite
Watching section.
CSXT
amateur rocket launch
raising interest and a ham radio transmitter:
Homegrown
Rocketeers Prepare for Their Next Space Shot - Space.com - May.12.04
* Ham
Radio-Carrying Rocket Hopes to Reach Space - ARRLWeb - May.12.04
GPS
brief ... GPS
selling soda: Pop-Top:
Coke Can Goes GPS - Space.com Astronotes - May.12.04
Space
business briefs... Orbital
Recovery's development of a space tug continues moving along
nicely: Orbital
Recovery Ltd. Signs Launch Ariane Services Contract For the
ConeXpress Orbital Life Extension Vehicle "Space Tug"
- Orbital Recovery Corp - May.12.04 ...
...
Satellite Radio reaches past 2 million subscribers: Sirius
Satellite Radio Reaches 400,000 Subscribers - SIRIUS Satellite
Radio - May.11.04 * XM
Satellite Radio ... Adds 320,000 Subscribers, Ends Quarter at
1.68 Million - XM Radio - May.6.04
May.12.2004
Space News
Alt
Space conferences in
the next few months:
The
Fifth Annual Return to the Moon Conference
- July 16 – 18 at the Westin Casuarina, Las Vegas, Nevada
- An amazing speaker
list is lined up that includes:
- James
Cameron, director of such films as Alien, The Abyss,
Titanic, and many others. James Cameron is among the leading
innovators in film technology and an avid space enthusiast.
- Captain
John Young, whose long and distinguished career included
walking on the Moon during the Apollo 16 mission,
- Andrew
Chaikin, author of the book "A Man on The Moon" on which
the HBO Series "From the Earth To The Moon" was based. (He
is also the conference co-chairman with Rick Tumlinson.)
- Dr.
George Mueller also known as "The man who put men on
the Moon" for leading the Apollo program from 1963 to 1969.
Register
now
NSS's
23rd International Space Development Conference
- May 27-31 at the Clarion Meridian Hotel & Convention Center
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Still time to sign up. Check out
the speakers
and sessions
programs.
Mars
Society's 7th International Conference - August
19 -22 at the Palmer House Hilton hotel, in downtown Chicago,
Illinois. This conference
flyer (pdf) lists 36 sessions covering an enormous range
of Mars related topics.
Space
Frontier Conference 2004 - Nothing posted yet but
presumably the Space
Frontier Foundation will hold its yearly meeting this
October in L.A. as usual. At the recent Space
Access Society meeting there was talk of including a one
day space access session during the SFC meeting to get a six
month update on the latest developments with new space transports.
May.11.2004
Space News
The
SpaceShow
this week:
Tuesday,
May 11, 2004, 7:00-8:15PM PST - "Robert Zimmerman, a
returning Space Show guest. Mr. Zimmerman is an award winning
science writer and space historian. Mr. Zimmerman has been
a producer and screenwriter of feature films, documentaries,
industrials, and commercials..."
Sunday,
May 16, 2004,12-1:30PM PST - "Dr. Brian Greene, author
of the newly released book, 'The Fabric Of The Cosmos.' Dr.
Brian Greene, one of the world's leading physicists, has been
working on the unified theories and quantum gravity for more
than a decade. In 1990, he and a colleague discovered mirror
symmetry, launching a vibrant new field in physics and mathematics.
Later, he and his colleague discovered topology change, showing
that the fabric of space can tear, refuting Einstein's theory
that space can stretch, but not tear. His discoveries have
been published in the leading science peer review journals
as well as other science and popular press. Professor Greene
has lecture in more than twenty-five countries and is widely
regarded for a number of groundbreaking discoveries in superstring
theory. Dr. Greene is the author of the bestselling book,
'The Elegant Universe,' a book which became a finalist for
the Pulitzer Prize and the subject of the recent three-part
Nova PBS series hosted by Dr. Greene...."
Listen
to recents shows by space activists Brian
Chase and Marianne
Dyson that are now available for downloading.
Hear the
SpaceShow programs live at KKNW, 1150 AM in Seattle, and on
line at www.live365.com/stations/dlivingston?site=dlivingston.
News
briefs... The
President will apparently return to the subject of space soon:
New
Bush space speech planned by Frank Sietzen - UPI - May.10.04
* Revision
in space vision - Alan Boyle/MSNBC - May.10.04
...
...
NASA
sponsors student rocketeers: NASA
Student Launch Initiative: Rockets soar for student teams participating
in hands-on initiative sponsored by NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center - MSFC - May.10.04
May.10.2004
Space News
Lander
challenge update... The
following update
was posted on the rec.models.rockets
newsgroup yesterday about the competition for launching a model
rover, landing it safely, and remotely driving it to a target
site (See What
is Lander Challenge?):
