Solar Science, Space Systems

Sunjammer solar sail to fly far in 2014

The NASA funded Sunjammer Project will fly the largest solar sail ever deployed in space, a  1200 sq. meter sail built by L’Garde. Scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2014, the Sunjammer spacecraft will aim for a location 300M kilometers from earth. The goals of the project include:

1. Demonstrate segmented deployment of a solar sail with ~4X the area of that vacuum tested at Plum Brook, “cookie cut” from the center of a much larger sail.

2. Demonstrate attitude control plus passive stability and trim using beam-tip vanes.

3. Execute a navigation sequence with mission-capable accuracy.

4. Fly to and Maintain Position at L1 and pole sitter positions

Taking advantage of the sunlight force on the sail, such spacecraft should be able to achieve stable orbital locations relative to earth that would provide excellent places to detect solar  storms and send warnings back home. Sunjammer will carry two solar wind measurement  instruments built by groups in the UK:

Living in Space, Simulators

HI-SEAS project simulates long space voyage

The NASA funded project HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) is investigating human factor challenges for a Mars mission. They are starting with a four-month simulated mission with 6 non-astronaut “crew members” in a dome near Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano. One of the issues that will focus on is food, in particular those foods that can be stored for long voyages but are still tasty : Aloha, Mars! What we’ll eat, wear and play with to ease boredom in space – Cosmic Log

Here is a video from earlier this year when the project participants carried out a short term simulation at the Mars Society‘s Mars Desert Research Station in Utah:

DIY space, Rockets

Copenhagen Suborbitals: Video describes new test pad and rocket plans

Copenhagen Suborbitals posts a new video that

describes the building of the new test stand VTC 3 and what it will be used for testing.  Peter Madsen describes the idea behind and the progression of the Copenhagen Suborbitals testing facilities. He also describes the next generation of rockets and what is in the pipeline from the rocket engine department.

Space films and videos, Space Settlement

Video: “Elysium” – new movie to feature an orbital space colony

Huge rotating habitats,  promoted in the 1970s and 80s by Gerard O’Neill and others as the best places to put space settlements, always seemed to me to provide ideal locales for exciting science fiction. However, except for Babylon 5, I don’t know of any high profile sci-fi work that has used them. Till now.

This summer the movie Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, appears from the trailer (see below) to make in-space colonies key factors in the plot. The scenario is a future where the rich live utopian high-tech life styles in the Elysium space colony while everything is going to hell on earth. Damon plays a character on earth who is determined to reach the colony Elysium to obtain a life-saving cure. (See IMDB.com synopsis.)

This follows from a common but spurious criticism that space settlement is about abandoning earth and pursuing a feckless dream of a space utopia. This is a silly misrepresentation of what space settlement is all about. Developing space does not mean rejecting earth any more than if someone moves to Alaska it means abandoning the continental US. Alaska is extremely useful in many ways for the rest of the country, particularly with respect to resources.  Thankfully there is a small but significant number of people who think Alaska is a great place to live. Space will one day support earth and provide homes for a small but significant number of people who find space a wonderful place to live. And like Alaska, it will also be a great place to visit.

Activism, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week

The guests on The Space Show this week include:

1. Monday, May 27, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): No show today for the Memorial Day holiday.

2. Tuesday, May 28, 2013 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): MICHELLE EVANS returns to discuss her new book, “The X-15 Rocket Plane. For more information, see www.amazon.com/The-X-15-Rocket-Plane-Outward/dp/0803228406/ref=onegiantlea20.

3. Friday, May 31: , 2013, 9:30-11 AM PST (11:30- 1 PM CST, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EST): We welcome back DON BEATIE to discuss his book, “No Stone Unturned, A Life Without Bound.” I have two copies to give away to the first two listeners asking questions for this program. See www.amazon.com/No-Stone-Unturned-Without-Bounds/dp/1926837185/ref=onegiantlea20.

4. Sunday, June 2, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PST (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM CST). DR. BILL ROWE returns with the latest on his medical research and human spaceflight. Visit his website for more information, www.femsinspace.com.

See also:
/– The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
/– The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
/– The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

Everyone can participate in space