Copenhagen Suborbitals gives a briefing on the development of the turbopump for their liquid fueled engine: How to Build a Rocket Turbo Pump – Wired Science/Wired.com
Monthly Archives: March 2013
NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Art Contest
The National Space Society is sponsoring a student art contest:
- NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Student Art Contest « National Space Society Blog
- NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Art Contest
NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Student Art Contest
O’Neill Cylinder space settlement by Rick Guidice [NASA]
The National Space Society (NSS) is looking for student artists to create illustrations for the NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement. Submitted artwork should realistically illustrate at least one of the Milestones in the Roadmap document.
All students at any grade level between the ages of 10 and 25 are eligible. Submitted artwork is intended to be used by NSS to promote a future of humans living and working in space and may be used on the NSS website, Ad Astra magazine, and/or a future calendar (we hope to publish a future Space Settlement Calendar with this art work, but that is not yet certain).
Original artwork from entries submitted to the NSS/NASA Space Settlement Design Contest (including previous years) is especially encouraged.
Deadline
The due date is April 22, 2013 (11:59 pm Pacific Time). Our goal is to have winners announced on May 1, 2013.
Prizes
One piece of art will be awarded the Grand Prize for being the best artwork overall.
Up to 12 (twelve) entries will be selected as First Prize recipients from different grade level categories. These include grades 5-8, 9-12, undergraduate, and graduate.
Other additional pieces of art may be selected for Honorable Mention.
All accepted entries will receive certificates of participation. All winning entries will receive certificates of merit and the following prizes (more prizes may be added to this list during the contest).
The Grand Prize winner will receive:
- Publication on the cover of the National Space Society magazine, Ad Astra
- An award certificate at the annual International Space Development Conference
- Complimentary registration to the 2013 International Space Development Conference in San Diego, California (does not include travel, accommodations, meals, etc.)
- 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine
- 5 complimentary copies of the Ad Astra magazine the art work is featured on
- Publication in a future National Space Society Space Settlement Calendar (if published), including being a finalist for the cover art for such calendar
- 5 complimentary copies of any future Space Settlement Calendar featuring the work
- Publication on the NSS website “Winner’s Gallery” for this contest
- Possible publication in the various forms of web, banners, posters, brochures, and/or other NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement publications
Each First Prize winner will receive:
- 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine
- Publication in a future National Space Society Space Settlement Calendar (if published)
- 2 complimentary copies of any future Space Settlement Calendar featuring the work
- Publication on the NSS website “Winner’s Gallery” for this contest
- Possible publication in the various forms of web, banners, posters, brochures, and/or other NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement publications
Any Honorable Mention winners will receive:
- 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine
- Possible publication in a future National Space Society Space Settlement Calendar
- A complimentary copy of any future Space Settlement Calendar featuring the work
- Publication on the NSS website “Winner’s Gallery” for this contest
- Possible publication in the various forms of web, banners, posters, brochures, and/or other NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement publications
The works of art accepted to the NSS Space Settlement Art Contest will be on public display in the Gallery of Submitted Space Settlement Art.
Bob Zimmerman on The Space Show and on John Batchelor Show
Bob Zimmerman on the Space Show on Tuesday discussed a range of recent space news, rocket company updates, and more: Robert (Bob) Zimmerman, Tuesday, 3-26-13 – Thespaceshow’s Blog.
And on the John Batchelor radio program on Tuesday, he talked about the following topics:
Segment 1:
Space and NASA
Dragon is on its way home. (Landing momentarily.)
Engine tests for SpaceShipTwo a success.
How big will Stratolaunch be? Big, very big!
NASA suspends all outreach and education efforts under sequestration.
He will also be on the Batchelor program tonight (12:30 am) and on Thursday evening. In tonight’s show they will discuss:
Science:
Curiosity back to full science, releases a new panorama.
Comet ISON not brightening as much as hoped.
The weird polar vortexes of Venus.
Space memorabilia auctions in New York and Paris bring in big bucks
The space memorabilia auction at Bonhams yesterday (see earlier posts here, here and here) seems to have done fairly well: Apollo 13 Souvenir Rakes In $84,100 in Space History Auction – Space.com
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An separate memorabilia auction in Paris on Tuesday brought in lots of euros for a Soviet era items including a spacesuit used in the 1980s : Soviet spacesuit auctioned for 112,000 euros – AFP/Phys.org
LEO – Low Earth Orbit: 2D spaceflight mission simulator
A message about a new game for iPad, Android and Kindle.:
200 CLICKS UP… 17,000 MILES PER HOUR
LEO – LowEarthOrbit is a prerequisite for wannabe space pilots, a place where the rules work differently than here on Earth. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it straight away…
Back in 1965 Gemini astronaut Jim McDivitt attempted the world’s first orbital rendezvous.
After reaching orbit, 17000 miles per hour through the black sky, he aimed his capsule toward a discarded booster and squeezed on some thrust. He expected the booster to grow in his windscreen, but it got smaller. Jim tried again – test pilots don’t give up easy – until all of his spare fuel was expended.
The laws of physics did not seem to apply! They learned an important truth that day racing around our planet… the faster you go, the further you will fall behind.
You’ll be able to try this stuff, and more. LEO – Low Earth Orbit is a game for your iPad, Android tablet or computer. It lets you fly in space, learning hands-on the lessons of orbital mechanics that confounded the early astronauts. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, but you are going to need perseverance!
You’ll cover simple lessons, like how and when to fire your engine to make your elliptical orbit circular. How do you transfer from one circular orbit to another? How do you get back to Earth? That’s kind of important, to your family at least, and all space odysseys start with training!
Get that stuff squared away and we’ll give you some real work to do. Space Station rendezvous sounds easy but it isn’t. Docking isn’t so bad, and giving the Station a push out to a new orbit should be a piece of cake.
Occasionally one of those crazy space walking astronauts needs rescuing, and then there’s the space junk — debris left up there by people who don’t treat space like a National Park . Darned dangerous stuff, and you’ll want to get out of the way. Who needs a collision at 8 kilometres per second?
Luckily, the geniuses at head office have got a plan. Have you heard of the Space Junk bounty? They’ll be putting missiles on your ship so you can blast some of that debris into space-dust. I’m sure there’s nothing at all wrong with that plan!
So it’s time to fire up LEO – Low Earth Orbit and get to work. Pay attention to your lessons because wishful thinking will not save you, and physics doesn’t care who your Daddy is!
Visit LEO-LowEarthOrbit.com for release data, product information, media resources and the LEO blog.