Category Archives: Activism

Activism, Space participation, SpaceCasts

Alan Stern & Mystery Guest discuss Uwingu/Mars crater naming on The Space Show today

Dr. Alan Stern and a “mystery guest” will discuss Uwingu and their Mars Crater Naming campaign on The Space Show today:

Dr. Alan Stern on Uwingu with /mystery guest today, 12 pm PST; 3 pm EST, http://www.thespaceshow.com . Call us @ 1-866-687-7223

A magazine names a crater: Newsweek Names a Mars Crater – Newsweek. No, the IAU  does not “control” the names of celestial bodies. They are one group proffering names for celestial bodies. If other people use and recognize a name for a celestial body or feature, then that is the name for that body or feature for those people regardless of what the IAU names it. The IAU cannot force anyone to use the name in their database.

More info in the earlier posting here: Name a Mars Crater at Uwingu.

Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

Spacevidcast 7.06 – Will private space kill the Space Launch System?

Rick Boozer, author of The Plundering of NASA: an Exposé, was a guest on the latest episode of Spacevidcast:

Caption:

If you get value from Spacevidcast, help by putting value back in the show! http://www.patreon.com/spacevidcast will keep the show going. As little as $1.00 goes a long way!

We chat with Rick Boozer, author of “The Plundering of NASA: an Exposé” about his latest article on Space.com. Our question: can the Space Launch System survive in a marketplace where private space can do it cheaper, faster and better? His original op-ed is here: http://www.space.com/24628-will-space…

In space news: SpaceX showed a little leg on their next mission, It’s future day, H-IIB lofts a weather satellite, Orbital is creating a new Minotaur-C rocket for the commercial market and Yuris night!

Special link, an IndieGoGo project to help save some old Astronomy plates and preserve unknown discoveries –http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ast…

Spacevidcast is a weekly show all about space and the comsos. Covering major events from NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, SpaceX and more, Spacevidcast is your weekly news and views show for every space geek! Featuring monthly live shows and weekly cosmic updates, get your Space Geek on right here! Don’t forget to subscribe.

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Activism, Contests and Games, Space Systems

European Rover Challenge 2014

Here’s an announcement from PlanetPR:

European Rover Challenge 2014

Europe approaching Mars

The European Rover Challenge 2014, an international Mars rover contest, will be held in Poland in September. It will be accompanied by a Convention attended by world class space researchers, as well as a Science Picnic. The trio of events is hosted together thanks to the hospitality of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.

The hosting of ERC 2014 in Poland was first announced in autumn, at the European Mars Society Convention in Paris. The Challenge will be held at the Regional Science-Technology Centre in Podzamcze (near Chęciny), from September 5th to 7th. Detailed information can be found on the Challenge website: www.roverchallenge.eu.

ERC2014

“Simultaneously with the Challenge, we’ll host an European Mars Conference on the topic ‘Humans in Space’, intended for experts who share the vision of a manned flight to Mars, as well as for other professionals (e.g. members of the space industry, the medical industry, academics from other fields), and entrepreneurs. Everyone will also have a chance to see many different experiments and scientific demonstrations in the tents of the nearby Science Picnic. There’ll be something for audiences of all ages and tastes.” – says Mateusz Józefowicz, Chairman of Mars Society Polska, the ERC organizers.

The main event, the Challenge involving analogues of Mars rovers, is a competition for teams of students and recent graduates of higher education institutions, who, with the help of their faculty, try to first design and build and then, in September, field the best rover. The core of the Challenge are four practical tasks: a science task involving obtaining and analyzing samples, a “blind” navigation task, in which the team will have to guide the rover to a certain destination using just GPS coordinates and no camera input, and two engineering tasks that will require using and repairing equipment. During all of the tasks, the teams will have to control their rovers without seeing them directly.

“The ERC is a European variation of the prestigious University Rover Challenge, organized in the USA by The Mars Society – a contest that has seen a number of successful Polish teams.” – explains Adam Jarubas, the Marshall of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. “We are very happy that this year the students can compete in Poland, at our Regional Science-Technology Centre. The project fits right into our Regional Innovation Strategy.” – he adds.

The European Rover Challenge 2014 is organized by Mars Society Polska, in cooperation with Planet PR, the Marshal Office of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, the Regional Science-Technology Centre in Podzamcze near Chęciny,  ABM Space Education, and the Austrian Space Forum.

ERC logo

Activism, Education, Space participation

Space Frontier Foundation invites applications for Teachers in Space workshop

Joe Latrell of the Space Frontier Foundation (and Photos-to-Space) sent this announcement:

Teachers in Space Announces Opening for Flight Experiment
Summer Workshop Applications

The Space Frontier Foundation’s Teachers in Space (TIS) project today announced that teacher’s applications are now being accepted for its Flight Experiment summer workshop.

Teachers in Space is a project to inspire student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging teachers with authentic astronaut training and real space science experiences combined with information and resources they bring into classrooms across America.

The workshop is offered for high school teachers of math, science and technology.

The Flight Experiment workshop offers hands-on, repeatable experience with suborbital and orbital experiment design and launch processes. Participants will build, launch, track, retrieve, and analyze captured data from weather balloon experiments which can be recreated within a typical classroom budget. Teachers will learn about commercial spaceflight, suborbital and glider and balloon flight, meteorology, basic glider controls, basic instrumentation, control surfaces, and simple pre-made instruments that will be flying with teachers in gliders and on weather balloons. They will also learn about pressure change, accelerometers, and dosimeters. The experience will culminate with teachers practicing what was learned during the week as they launch their own weather balloons.

Leading the workshop are award winning master teachers James Kuhl, Earth Science Teacher from Syracuse, NY, Rachael Manzer, STEM Coach from Hartford, CT,  Luther Richardson, Physics Instructor, Columbus High School (Columbus, GA) & Systems Engineer for AstroSystems, LLC, and Joe Latrell Project Coordinator from Teachers in Space, PA.

The workshop will be held in Columbus GA, on July 21-25, 2014.

If you are a teacher of science, technology, engineering, or math at the high school level we encourage you to apply. Space is limited; only 30 seats are available. The deadline for workshop applications is April 1, 2014. The workshop is free of charge to qualified applicants.

U.S. High School STEM (Science Technology Engineering or Math) teachers may apply at: http://tis.spacefrontier.org

Activism, Mars, Space participation

Name a Mars Crater at Uwingu

Uwingu is a private company set up by a group of leading astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program managers, writers and educators (all of whom currently work at Uwingu as volunteers) to raise money for space research. They aim to provide innovative public involvement products that bring a sense of participation and fun to space activities.

Following last year’s successful test with the naming of exoplanets, today Uwingu announces the Mars Crater Naming campaign in which you can offer a name for one of the 500,000 craters found so far on the Red Planet, most all of which have no names. Uwingu has created a dynamic, on line map that will continually update with the latest names. The goal is to raise $10M for space science projects from the fees for posting a name.

See Uwingu’s Mars Crater Naming FAQ regarding the usual questions about the “official” status of such names. No group can claim that only one name and only their selected name can apply to each and every feature in the solar system. Everyone has a right to suggest a name for a feature on Mars and future Mars residents can decide for themselves whether they will use that name or the name they choose themselves or a technical name assigned to it by a particular subset of astronomers.

Here is the official announcement from Uwingu:

Crowdsourced Mars Crater Naming Project Launched –
500,000 Craters to be Named on New Mars Map

Feb. 26, 2014 – BOULDER, Colo. — For years, space mission rover teams have taken it upon themselves to name landmarks on Mars.

Uwingu_logo_5-25-10

Beginning today, the public can get involved in Mars exploration much the same way. Through Uwingu’s newly redesigned web site at www.uwingu.com, now anyone can help to create the Uwingu’s new Mars map, with names for all the approximately 500,000 unnamed, scientifically catalogued craters on Mars.

In almost 50 years of Mars exploration by spacecraft, only about 15,000 features have been named on Mars by scientists and others around the world. Yet over 500,000 Martian craters catalogued from NASA and European space mission imagery remain unnamed. Uwingu is setting a goal of naming all these unnamed Martian craters and completing its new Mars map before 2015—the 50th anniversary year of humankind’s first missions to Mars.

The completed project aims to generate over $10M in funds for space research and education—larger than any other private space grant program in history.

Uwingu’s Mars map grandfathers in all the already named craters on Mars, but opens the remainder up for naming by people around the globe. Unnamed craters in the Mars database range from under a kilometer across to over 350 kilometers (over 200 miles) across. Craters can be named for almost anything or anyone, including friends, family, co-workers, heroes, pets, places on Earth or in space, sports teams, musical artists.

Says Uwingu’s advisor and Mars scientist Dr. Teresa Segura, “This project is truly groundbreaking for public participation in the exploration of Mars. Only imagination limits your choices, Aad I love that it supports funding for space research and education!”

Prices for naming craters vary, depending on the size of the crater, and begin at $5 dollars.

Uwingu makes a shareable Web link and a naming certificate available to each crater namer for each newly named crater.

“Every crater named on this public Mars map contributes to the Uwingu fund for space research and education”, added Uwingu founder and planetary scientist Dr. Alan Stern, “So name a crater on Mars—and make an impact of your own!”

Uwingu_Mars_Crater_Naming_Project

About Uwingu:

Uwingu (which means “sky” in Swahili, and is pronounced “oo-wing-oo”) was formed by a team of leading astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators. The company includes space historian and author Andrew Chaikin, space educator Dr. Emily CoBabe-Ammann, author and former museum science director Dr. David Grinspoon, planet hunter Dr. Geoff Marcy, planetary scientist and aerospace executive Dr. Teresa Segura, planetary scientist and former NASA science director Dr. Alan Stern, planetary scientist and CEO of the Planetary Science Institute, Dr. Mark Sykes, former Executive Director of the Planetary Society Dr. Louis Friedman, and space artists Jon Lomberg and Dan Durda. In 2012, Uwingu successfully concluded one of the 25 largest Indiegogo crowd-funding campaigns ever to launch an ongoing series of public engagement projects. Visit Uwingu’s web site at www.uwingu.com to learn more and join in the public naming of planets around other stars.