Space Arts, Space films and videos

Kickstarter: AROUND – an animated adventure film

Artist Jamie Givens has opened a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of an animated film celebrating exploration and adventure: AROUND Animated Adventure Film by Jamie Givens — Kickstarter

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The story I want to tell is a celebration of these and other explorers and adventurers, told in an animated epic poem. The animation style will be similar to a motion comic, but with much more atmosphere and drama, with a focus on beautiful, detailed art. We will render those moments of grit, blood, sweat and clenched teeth. Pushing through an Antarctic storm while pulling a 500-pound sledge. The lightning crack as a cornice collapses en-route to a mountain summit. The freezing spray of foam across the face in a Southern Ocean gale. This is a story of climbers, sailors, astronauts, big-wave surfers, skiers – anyone who has ventured into the unknown to see what is on the other side. Those who go, and see and do. Those who go up, over and AROUND.

I am a climber, sailor, skier and mountaineer, and have been inspired my whole life by epic stories of exploration. Through AROUND I wish to do my part in continuing to inspire the next generation of explorers and doers. I’m sure many people who are reading this have experienced that moment of bliss and joy when seeing something for the first time, earned by hard steps, burning lungs and sacrifices along the way. You are the people I am appealing to to help make this film happen.

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Uncategorized

European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) gets construction green light

The current generation of large telescopes are amazing but the E-ELT will dwarf them:

Green Light for E-ELT Construction

Artist’s impression of the European Extremely Large Telescope

This artist’s impression shows the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in its enclosure. The E-ELT will be a 39-metre aperture optical and infrared telescope sited on Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Atacama Desert, 20 kilometres from ESO’s Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal. It will be the world’s largest “eye on the sky”. Credit:ESO/L. Calçada

At a recent meeting ESO’s main governing body, the Council, gave the green light [1] for the construction of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) in two phases. Spending of around one billion euros has been authorised for the first phase, which will cover the construction costs of a fully working telescope with a suite of powerful instruments and first light targeted in ten years time. It will enable tremendous scientific discoveries in the fields of exoplanets, the stellar composition of nearby galaxies and the deep Universe. The largest ESO contract ever, for the telescope dome and main structure, will be placed within the next year.

The E-ELT will be a 39-metre aperture optical and infrared telescope sited on Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Atacama Desert, 20 kilometres from ESO’s Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal. It will be the world’s largest “eye on the sky”.

“The decision taken by Council means that the telescope can now be built, and that major industrial construction work for the E-ELT is now funded and can proceed according to plan. There is already a lot of progress in Chile on the summit of Armazones and the next few years will be very exciting,” said Tim de Zeeuw, ESO’s Director General.

The construction of the E-ELT was approved by ESO’s Council in June 2012 under the condition that contracts with a value larger than 2 million euros could only be awarded once the total cost of the telescope (1083 million euros at 2012 prices) was funded to a 90% level. An exception was granted for the civil works at the site, which started with thegroundbreaking ceremony in June 2014 and are making good progress.

For the time being, 10% of the overall project costs have been shifted to a second phase. With the accession of Poland to ESO, the current funding commitments to the E-ELT have now reached more than 90% of the total cost of the first phase that will bring a fully working E-ELT. Additional commitments from upcoming Member State Brazil are expected in the coming years.

To prevent the project from slipping, the ESO Council has decided that construction of the first phase of the 39-metre telescope can now proceed. This funded work includes the contract for the telescope’s dome and main structure — the largest in ESO’s history — which will be awarded in late 2015, and leads to the construction of a fully working E-ELT.

Telescope components that are not yet funded include parts of the adaptive optics system, some of the instrument work, the innermost five rings of segments of the telescope’s main mirror (210 mirror segments) and a spare set of primary mirror segments needed for more efficient telescope operation in the future. The construction of these components, whose postponement does not reduce the extraordinary scientific achievements the telescope will already be able to accomplish at the end of phase one, will be approved as additional funding becomes available, including that expected from the upcoming Member State Brazil.

Moonrise over Cerro Armazones

This image of the future home of the E-ELT was taken in November 2014 from ESO’s nearby Paranal Observatory. The levelling of the summit of Cerro Armazones is well advanced (lower left) and the new wider road that is being built up the mountain can also be well seen.  At the time of the picture the Sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean and the last rays of its light were catching Cerro Armazones. The full Moon was also rising in the East at the same time. Credit:ESO/G. Lambert

For further information consult this FAQ and Messenger article that explains the details.

“The funds that are now committed will allow the construction of a fully working E-ELT that will be the most powerful of all the extremely large telescope projects currently planned, with superior light collecting area and instrumentation. It will allow the initial characterisation of Earth-mass exoplanets, the study of the resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies as well as ultra-sensitive observations of the deep Universe,” concludes Tim de Zeeuw.

Contests and Games, Simulators, Software

Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager – “the ultimate game of space exploration”

The UK company Slitherine Ltd  created the space-themed game Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager.

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Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager (SPM) Road to the Moon is the ultimate game of space exploration.

It is the mid 1950s and the race for dominance between the US and the Soviet Union is about to move into a new dimension: space. Take charge of the US or Soviet space agencies – your duty is be the first to the moon. Carefully manage your budget by opening programs, spending R&D funds on improving the hardware, recruiting personnel and launching space missions in this realistic turn based strategy game.

Road to the Moon features the race to the Moon, the historical event that started in the early 1960s and that ended in July 1969, after the successful completion of the Apollo 11 mission.

The game features both a campaign and a sandbox mode. In campaign mode, you will be able to play as the Director of either NASA or the Soviet Space Agency in order to beat the other side to be the first on the Moon. You can also lead the  Global Space Agency (GSA), an fictional space agency that combines programs from all the major space agencies in the world . In the GSA campaign, you will need to address the requests and short-term goals issued by government, and is geared towards those players who prefer a game experience focused on exploration instead of competition.  Alternatively, all three space agencies feature a Sandbox mode, which provides a more open-ended experience and allows you to try out different approaches without any political pressure.

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You will be able to develop dozens of programs. Some examples include the X-15 and the PKA space planes, the Sputnik satellite, the Mercury, Voskhod, Apollo and Soyuz manned spacecraft and the Mars Viking probe. You are not limited to missions that did launch, as as the game also allows you to try out many concepts that were planned but that never left the drawing board. For example, instead of sending men to the Moon using the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) approach used by Project Apollo in the late 1960s and early 1970s, you will be able to rewrite history and use either the alternative Gemini Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR) or Gemini Direct Ascent (DA) schemes. The number of options available ensure every game will be different and there is huge replay value.

To verify its accuracy and authenticity, the game, is being developed in consultation with Dr. Buzz Aldrin, former U.S. Air Force combat pilot (66 missions in Korea) and NASA astronaut, who took part in the first Moon landing mission and became the second human being to walk on the Moon.

If you have any interest in space exploration and the events that transpired during the ‘Race to the Moon’, this is a game you just do not want to miss!

Continue…

Some background about the game: Second man to walk on moon helps create space game (From This Is Local London)

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Here are a couple of reviews:

History, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

Nova program about Neil Armstrong

The PBS Nova science program is presenting a show tonight (9:00 pm ET) about Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon –

Everyone knows Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon. But this modest and unassuming man was determined to stay out of the spotlight. Now, for the first time, NOVA presents an intimate portrait of Armstrong through interviews with his family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly before. Discover and relive Armstrong’s achievements before and after Apollo, from his time as a Navy combat veteran and later as a pioneer of high-speed flight to his leading role in the inquiry into the Challenger disaster and his efforts to encourage young people to take to the skies. Along the way, we learn how Armstrong’s life became the inspiring story of heroic risk-taking and humble dedication that ultimately advanced humanity’s adventure in space.

DIY space, Mars, Space Science

Mars One selects ten finalists for university experiment on Mars mission

Here’s an announcement from Mars One:

Mars One announces ten potential university payloads
to fly to Mars in 2018

Amersfoort, 1st December 2014 – Mars One is proud to present the ten Mars One University Competition finalists eligible to fly to Mars. One of these ten payloads will receive the once in a lifetime opportunity to fly on Mars One’s first unmanned Lander mission to Mars in 2018. For the first time ever the public will be able to decide which payload receives the extraordinary opportunity to fly to Mars.

The ten remaining projects from an initial 35 submissions were submitted by diverse universities worldwide. In order to get this far, the payload proposals needed to meet all requirements as described by Mars One supplier Lockheed Martin. Mars One community members, social media followers, and the general public will have the opportunity to vote on and select the winning payload. Voting opportunities for the public will be opened in the first weeks of December, 2014. Voting submission will be accepted until December 31st, 2014. The winning university payload will be announced on January 5th, 2015.

The winning payload needs to be feasible and meet the requirements and restrictions as outlined in the Proposal Information Package (PIP) and on-going discussions with Lockheed Martin, who will build the 2018 lander. Additionally, if in any case the winning team can not perform or adjust to additional requirements the runner-up will be chosen instead.

Arno Wielders, Co-founder & CTO of Mars One said, “These ten final projects are unique and creative and we are very happy with the payload proposals these teams have presented. It would be highly interesting to see each and every one of these projects being launched to Mars. Now it is up to the public to decide which project they would like to have on Mars.”

Here are the ten finalists in the Mars One University competition with a brief payload description.

Cyano Knights – Generating O2 out of CO2 (Germany)

This project aim is to change a small amount of the 95% carbon dioxide Mars atmosphere into oxygen with the power of cyanobacteria. The Cyano Knights team would like to transport cyanobacteria to Mars that will deliver oxygen made out of their photosynthesis of carbon dioxide. The activities of the cyanobacteria will be monitored in different environmental conditions on plates in quarantined boxes in order to determine the best working solution for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars. Read more: Cyano Knights – Generating O2 out of CO2.

HELENA – Oxygen Production & Art Time Capsule (Australia)

The HELENA team plans to demonstrate oxygen production from water in the Martian soil through electrolysis. HELENA’s primary science payload is an electrolysis module housed in a custom made chassis unit designed to demonstrate key life-support technology; producing oxygen from water extracted out of the Martian soil. Read more: HELENA – Oxygen Production & Art Time Capsule.

IHISS: In situ Habitat Improvement through Soil Strengthening (USA)

The IHISS team will test in situ materials as a shield for the habitats on Mars. Soil will be collected with the soil acquisition payload and injected with a polyester resin in order to develop a new composite material. The composite material will be moved over a series of sensors which will be activated to obtain the control data, average radiation amount, and average temperature cycle. With the data collected from the experiment, IHISS will determine how useful a shield of this composite material will be for the human habitats on Mars. Read more: IHISS: In situ Habitat Improvement through Soil Strengthening.

MARA-DS: Material Radiation Degradation Study (USA)

The MARA-DS team designed a project to record the energy and impact events of Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) and Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) flux at the surface of Mars. The payload will establish a baseline control for the radiation environment while also measuring the massed radiation flux through the potential habitat structural material of JSC Mars-1: a Martian regolith simulant. The information collected will help plan for protective Martian habitat structures. Read more: MARA-DS: Material Radiation Degradation Study.

Mars Micro-Greenhouse (United Kingdom)

The Mars Micro-Greenhouse team intends to bring a small pressurised greenhouse utilising an aeroponic system to Mars. The team will try to demonstrate the ability to grow small plants with atmosphere obtained from the Martian environment, with a minimum of material imported from Earth. This will be demonstrated by growing lettuce in the growth chamber of the payload using an aeroponic system, obtaining a supply of carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere. Read more: Mars Micro-Greenhouse.

MIDDAS: Mars Ice Deposit Detection by Application of Seismology (USA)

The MIDDAS team intends to locate the presence of ice-water in a vertical column of regolith beneath the 2018 Mars lander. This will be done by using a seismic source on the Martian surface to allow sensors to record velocity changes in acoustic seismic waves that are transmitted through the shallow subsurface and are reflected back to the sensors. The payload will use this data to detect the presence of ice-water. Read more: MIDDAS: Mars Ice Deposit Detection by Application of Seismology.

PECR: PhotoElectroChemicalReduction of CO2 (India)

The PECR team aims to convert CO2 to a useful state by activation/reduction. Photoelectrochemical and photoelectrocatalytic methods involving p-type semiconductor electrodes will be used for the sequestration of CO2. Additionally, solar energy will be used for the conversion. The project can be considered an artificial photosynthetic process. Read more: PECR: PhotoElectroChemicalReduction of CO2.

Seed (Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands)

The Seed team intends to grow the first plant on Mars. More specifically, the team would like to grow Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings in a container that includes growth medium, water delivery system, carbon filtering systems, light stimulation, and a small photographic camera. The mechanism is fully automatic and the available energy should be enough to maintain a proper temperature for plant growth. Read more: Seed.

S.P.A.R.C.: Sensing Pressure and Atmospheric Research Console (USA)

The S.P.A.R.C. team proposes to observe Martian weather patterns. Dust devils, dust storms, and clouds will be videotaped, and data such as pressure and temperature will be recorded from the atmosphere. From the visual and atmospheric data, it will hopefully be possible to characterize Martian weather patterns. Read more: S.P.A.R.C: Sensing Pressure and Atmospheric Research Console.

Urine Greenbox: Urine to Water with Energy Recycle (USA)

The Urine Greenbox team aims to evaluate the reliability and operation of a system to convert urine into clean water and hydrogen. Project Urine Greenbox consists of using synthetic urine to produce hydrogen/energy and clean water. The process uses a urea and urine electrolysis and will include the capability to measure the amount of clean water produced, hydrogen produced, and basic sensors to test the quality of the water. Read more: Urine Greenbox: Urine to Water with Energy Recycle.

More information

About Mars One:  Mars One is a not-for-profit foundation that will establish permanent human life on Mars. Human settlement on Mars is possible today with existing technologies. Mars One’s mission plan integrates components that are well tested and readily available from industry leaders worldwide. The first footprint on Mars and lives of the crew thereon will captivate and inspire generations. It is this public interest that will help finance this human mission to Mars.

 

Everyone can participate in space