Here’s a preview of the night sky for July from NASA JPL:
Monthly Archives: July 2015
Starting in-space settlement small and building from there
Giant in-space colonies like those depicted in these renderings by artist Don Davis –
– look fantastic and would clearly be places where many people would live if they existed today. The problem, of course, is that they do not exist and it’s difficult to convince people that it’s possible to ever build such gigantic habitats. But there are in fact ways to get from here to there.
When I fly into a big city and look out the window as the plane descends, I’m always amazed at just how enormous such places are. How could mere mortals create such a vast landscape of houses, buildings, skyscrapers, roads, bridges, harbors, and more? The answer, of course, is a city starts as a small settlement and over many decades the incremental efforts of thousands upon tens of thousands of people and their machines working in parallel day after day, year after year, create such massive metropolises.
Such a process can create cities in space as well. New Rome in orbit doesn’t have to be built in a day. We just need to get small “starter” settlements off the ground, so to speak.
That’s easy to say but what about the high cost of getting to space?
Fully reusable space transports like that being developed by SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other companies can bring down the cost of getting to space by factors of 10-100. The cost of propellants is a less than a half percent of the cost of an orbital rocket launch. The rest of, say, the $60M cost of Falcon 9 goes for the vehicle, which currently is thrown away on each flight.
What about the detrimental effects of microgravity and radiation on human health?
Rotation of a habitat can provide artificial gravity and bulk materials such as water and structural metals can shield people in a habitat just as the atmosphere shields people on earth.
The toughest question is how to get started. When giant habitats like those above were being designed in the 1970s, it was assumed that most of the material would be sent from the Moon. All of this would be paid for by huge investments from governments who would appreciate the construction of in-space solar power stations feeding energy via microwave to the earth.
Excavation activities on the Moon, space base solar power, and big government funding do not look likely to happen anytime soon, to say the least. Is there any other way to get space settlement underway?
Yes, it can still happen if the process can start small and pay its own way. Al Globus, who works as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, describes in a set of three documents listed below a plan for small affordable space habitats in low earth equatorial orbit that will provide 1 g gravity and enjoy sufficient radiation protection for residents to live a healthy life. Space tourism will be a primary industry similar to the way many island economies on earth rely on tourism.
* Space Settlement the Easy Way, Al Globus and Stephen Covey, presentation at ISDC 2015, May 2015.
“This presentation shows how the results of the next two papers — “Space Settlement Population Rotation Tolerance” and “Orbital Space Settlement Radiation Shielding” — when combined suggest that small space settlements in equatorial LEO with little or no radiation shielding may be viable. Hopefully, this will be turned into a paper in the not-too-distant-future.”
* Space Settlement Population Rotation Tolerance, Al Globus and Theodore Hall, preprint, June 2015.
“This paper reviews the literature to find that space settlement residents and visitors can tolerate at least four, and proabaly six, rotations per minute to achieve 1g of artificial gravity. This means settlements can be radically smaller, and thus easier to build, than previously believed. Combined with the next paper on radiation shielding, the first space settlements can be two orders of magnitude less massive and closer to Earth than previous designs making launch from Earth practical.”
* Orbital Space Settlement Radiation Shielding, Al Globus and Joe Strout, preprint, May 2015.
“The major result of this paper is that settlements in low (~500 km) Earth ***equatorial*** orbits may not require any radiation shielding at all based on a careful analysis of requirements and extensive simulation of radiation effects. This radically reduces system mass and has profound implications for space settlement as extraterrestrial mining and manufacturing are no longer on the critical path to the first settlements, although they will be essential in later stages. It also means the first settlements can evolve from space stations, hotels, and retirement communities in relatively small steps.”
Globus answered questions about space settlements in a recent on line forum: A NASA Expert Is Here To Answer Your Questions About Orbital Settlements – Gizmodo.
Video: Growing better protein crystals in microgravity
Below is a NASA video and article about protein growth in microgravity. (Note that a Schering Plough protein crystal experiment carried out on Shuttle Columbia’s last flight led directly to a treatment for Hepatitis-C: Space KSC: I’m a Doctor, Not an Astronaut – Space KSC) :
ISS Benefits For Humanity: Hope Crystallizes
In one of many direct Earth applications of International Space Station research, the newest Benefits for Humanity video in the Benefits series highlights how high-quality crystals grown in microgravity lead to new therapeutics for disease. Learn how the investigation of protein crystals in space is helping to treat Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), an incurable genetic disorder affecting the muscles with onset usually in early childhood and primarily in young males.
Research into a disease like DMD involves the study of the structure of associated proteins by crystallization, which helps researchers better understand protein function. This comprises making millions of copies of that protein and arranging them in three-dimensional rows. Crystals grown on Earth are impacted by gravity, which may affect the way the molecules align on the surface of the crystal. Researchers have discovered that growing crystals aboard the space station allows for slower growth and higher quality crystals.
![earth-microgravity_0[1]](https://i0.wp.com/www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/earth-microgravity_0.jpg)
In microgravity, crystals grow more slowly, but the molecules have time to more perfectly align on the surface of the crystal which returns much better research data. Credits: NASA
Since 2003, scientists with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have conducted protein crystal growth investigations on the space station, including proteins associated with DMD. Having a better understanding of the protein’s shape enabled researchers to design a drug that fits specifically into a location on the protein associated with DMD. The research team estimates that the drug may be able to slow the progression of DMD by half.
“Studying this protein led to a huge discovery,” said Dr. Yoshihiro Urade, Ph.D., professor at the University of Tsukuba in Tsukuba, Japan. “What we’re talking about is potentially doubling the lifespan of many DMD patients, and it’s all because of research opportunities afforded to us by the International Space Station.”
With many other protein crystal growth studies occurring or planned aboard the space station, many thousands of other proteins’ structures could be determined. This is yet another way the orbiting laboratory is enabling research Off the Earth, For the Earth
Space Show interview now on line
My interview with David Livingston on The Space Show in the evening is now available on line: Dr. Clark Lindsey, Tuesday, 6-30-15 – Thespaceshow’s Blog.
Listen to the audio (mp3).
David provides a detailed review of our discussion. We had a fun chat about everything from smallsats to SpaceX to in-space fuel depots to NewSpace Global. (At NSG I am the managing editor of the NewSpace Watch daily report on happenings in the industry and community.)
David also provides a link to the slides (pdf) from my talk about the satellite industry that I gave at the Space Access meeting in Phoenix in the spring.
Paragon Space Dev Corp releases study of Mars One habitat life support design
The Mars One project was given a lot of grief several months ago when an MIT student team found several flaws in their preliminary outline for life support for the people living in a habitat on the surface of the Red Planet. (See Mars One (and done?) – MIT News.) Mars One, however, had contracted a study on life support by Paragon Space Development Corporation. Paragon is a leader in the field of environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) and has been involved in many projects for NASA, Boeing, and others.
Below is a statement from Mars One on the results of Paragon’s assessment of the feasibility of a sustainable habitat on Mars. The general conclusion is that it is feasible to sustain a crew on the planet. The results of the study are available in this document: Mars One Habitat ECLSS Conceptual Design Assessment (pdf).
Mars One will also participate in a debate with the MIT team at the upcoming Mars Society Conference in D.C. in August: Mars One to Debate MIT Critics at Mars Society Convention – The Mars Society.
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Keeping humans alive on Mars:
Independent Surface Habitat ECLSS Concept Design Assessment by Paragon
Amersfoort, 1st July 2015 – Mars One is pleased to present the initial conceptual design of the Surface Habitat Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) performed by Paragon Space Development Corporation®. The ECLSS is one of the key systems required to support a human settlement on Mars and will create a safe environment for the future Mars inhabitants, supplying them with clean air and water while recycling wastes.
“Paragon was provided the opportunity to conduct a completely independent study on the feasibility of a system that would support life on Mars and that study led us to believe that it is an attainable goal.” said Grant Anderson, President and CEO of Paragon. “If the will and the means are provided, we will see humans begin to explore and even colonize other planets in our lifetime.”
Mars One contracted Paragon due to their specialization in engineering and manufacturing thermal control and life support systems with a specific focus on extreme environments.
“An ECLSS design for a permanent human settlement on Mars has never been implemented and will need to consider the unique challenges of an extreme Martian environment.” said Arno Wielders, Mars One’s Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder. “Paragon is very experienced with both Space and extreme Earth conditions. They have an established reputation as an ‘honest broker’ and an impressive track record of developing innovative yet practical life support and thermal control solutions for spaceflight and terrestrial applications, which makes them a good match.”
The ECLSS Functions
The ECLSS will primarily provide water and a healthy and comfortable atmosphere within the habitat. Since shipping resources from Earth to Mars is a costly endeavour, all breathable air and the water for the habitat will be produced using local Martian resources, otherwise known as in-situ resource utilization or ISRU. This process is vital to the long term goal of self-sufficiency for humans on Mars. The functions of the ECLSS are distributed across its five primary systems, which are described below:
- The Atmosphere Management System (AMS) controls carbon dioxide and other trace contaminants, produces oxygen via the electrolysis of waters, detects fires, controls the pressures of different atmospheric gases, controls the air temperature, and monitors overall air quality;
- The in-situ Resource Processing System (ISRPS) provides two main functions, namely water recovery from Martian regolith (soil) and nitrogen/argon production from the Martian atmosphere;
- The Wet Waste Processing System (WWPS) isolates human generated wet waste (such as urine) and extracts purified (but non-drinkable) water that is subsequently processed by the WMS for use by the crew;
- The Water Management System (WMS) collects non-drinkable water from the ISRPS, WWPS, and excess humidity in the habitat atmosphere and purifies it to produce clean water for drinking, food preparation, and hygiene;
- The Thermal Control System (TCS) balances the heat generated by the crew and electrical devices with losses to the surroundings while maintaining the crew and the equipment within an acceptable temperature range.
“Paragon has been in business for more than two decades developing life support solutions for extreme environments and Mars is the ultimate destination for us.” said Barry Finger, Paragon Chief Engineer and Director of Life Support Systems. “The challenges to humans surviving and thriving on Mars are significant and not to be taken lightly, but we are convinced that the goal is achievable with the tools and technologies that exist today.”
Mars One’s ECLSS has been designed with specific focus on simplicity, redundancy, reliability, and maintainability. The conceptual design has identified an architecture with local resources supplying most of the consumable needs of the Mars One outpost. The full report is available here: Mars One Habitat ECLSS (ECLSS) Conceptual Design Assessment.
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. Mars One’s mission plan integrates core technologies that are readily available from industry leaders worldwide. The first footprint on Mars and lives of the crew thereon will captivate and inspire this generation and generations to come. It is this public interest that will help finance this human mission to Mars.
For more information about Mars One, please visit www.mars-one.com
About Paragon Space Development Corporation®: Paragon is a premier provider of environmental controls for extreme and hazardous environments. They design, build, test and operate life support and thermal control products and systems for astronauts, contaminated water divers, and extreme environment adventurers, as well as for unmanned space and terrestrial applications.
For more information about Paragon, please visit www.paragonsdc.com