A look at some of the ideas discussed at the recent Human to Mars Summit on how to create sustainable Mars colonies: How to build a Mars colony that lasts – forever – New Scientist
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One technology that looks very important for making things, both small and large, in space colonies, wherever they might be, is 3-D printing: 3-D Printing Could Build Moon Base In-Situ – Aviation Week
With the loss of another reaction wheel, he Kepler space telescope has lost the ability to maintain the stable orientation needed for observing stars to detect transits of exoplanets: Kepler Mission Manager Update – NASA.
The managers of the project, however, insist that the mission is not finished and they will still be able to do some interesting science with the spacecraft. There is also a lot of data left to analyze.
Nevertheless, for small planets with orbit periods like the earth or Mars, the longer the observation time the better. A earth sized planet only decreases the star’s light by about 0.01% when it transits across the face of the planet. So the more transits, the better. At least three transits are needed for confirmation of an exoplanet. Kepler began observations in 2009 so there would have been 3-4 transits at an earth size orbit but only 1-2 for a Mars orbit.
There was a NASA briefing this afternoon on the situation and some notes were posted at
Examples:
Alan Boyle : “[Principle Investigator William Borucki] bristles at suggestion that @NASAKepler‘s planet-hunting mission is over. “Reasonable possibility” of resuming data collection.”
Jeff Foust: “Bill Borucki: well on our way to determining “eta Earth”, fraction of stars with Earth-sized planets in hab zones. (key goal of mission)”
Jeff Foust: “Borucki: we’ll declare the mission over when there’s no possibility of getting critically important science.”
Skylab, the first US space station, was launched 40 years ago from yesterday. Here’s a NASA video about the project:
Skylab’s May 14, 1973 launch into low-Earth orbit was the nation’s first foray into significant scientific research in microgravity. The three Skylab crews proved humans could live and work effectively for long durations in space. This NASA video recounts the history of the program and showcases Skylab’s legacy as a major stepping stone to the successful construction and operation of the International Space Station and future long-duration human missions to asteroids, Mars and other destinations.
Joe Latrell of Photos-to-Space starts a new series of video news reports. This episode of 90 Second Science covers the return of Chris Hadfield, UP Aerospace’s next flight, Sierra Nevada’s Dreamchaser and a look back at Skylab.
90 Second Science for May 14 from Joe Latrell on Vimeo.
Here’s a video of Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about America’s exploration of space at Rice’s 100th commencement: