Category Archives: Activism

Activism, General, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week

Here’s the schedule for guests and topics on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Dec. 16, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome back BRUCE PITTMAN for commercial space updates, perspectives and more.

2. CLASSROOM: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): We welcome back DR. JIM LOGAN AND DR. JOHN JURIST to discuss human spaceflight and space radiation for Mars and deep space HSF. Prior to this Classroom program, Dr. Jurist will post a special radiation PPT on both The Space Show Blog & The Classroom blog (see website newsletter for URLs). We will be referring to some of these slides during our program but we will not be going through the PPT slide by slide. This PPT is for information and educational purposes.

3. Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, 9:30-11 AM PST (11:30- 1 PM CST, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EST): We welcome back DR. JASON CASSIBRY [Univ. of Alabama at Huntsville] for updates on his fusion work and more.

4. Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PST (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM CST). OPEN LINES AND 2014 SPACE PREDICTION SHOW. All space & stem comments welcome. Also, call in with your space industry predictions for 2104. This is our first ever New Years prediction show! Be a part of it!

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.

Activism, Mars, SpaceCasts

Mars Quarterly, Fall 2013 + Opportunity rover on Hotel Mars + Bob Zimmerman on Batchelor show

The Mars Society opens access to the latest issue of the  The Mars Quarterly (Fall 2013).

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Dr. William Farrand of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado talked with David Livingston and John Batchelor on this week’s Hotel Mars segment about the history of the Mars rover Opportunity and what it has been doing lately:  John Batchelor Hotel Mars, Wednesday, 12-11-13 –  Thespaceshow’s Blog

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Bob Zimmerman also spoke about various Mars topics and news from several other space related areas this week on the Batchelor show:

 

Activism, Mars, Simulators

Mars Society kicks off a new field season at Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)

The Mars Society begins another round of crews staying at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah:

Kick-Off of the 2013-14 MDRS Field Season

The Mars Society is pleased to announced the beginning of the 2013-14 Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Field Season, with crew 131 from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University arriving earlier today at the Mars hab in southern Utah. A chilly start to the field season has the MDRS facility covered in snow and ice with temperatures well below freezing. 

Enclosed please find the first Commander Report (Crew 131) written by Chelsea Iwig:

Commander Report (12/07/13)

Crew 131 arrived on Mars today after a long journey from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. Upon arrival the crew immediately began

settling into their rooms, cleaning the Hab and organizing the laboratory and upstairs living area. Two crew members went to get the food and supplies for the crew’s two-week stay on the Red Planet. Once the supplies were brought back, they were inventoried and organized in the upstairs cabinets. Currently, the crew is finishing up making dinner and writing reports.

Tomorrow Crew 131 will be officially entering sim (simulation) after some outdoor orientation activities and a crew photo. The crew will also be making all final preparations for the studies they will be conducting while on Mars. These studies include a usability study on an aeroponics device that was built by students in the Human Factors undergraduate program at Embry-Riddle as well as a usability study on a pair of space suit gloves provided by a private space suit design company called Final Frontier Design.

Additionally, the crew will be conducting an exercise study looking at the effect of exercise on stress and mood as well as a sleep pattern study looking at how the crew’s sleep patterns change when in an isolated and confined environment. Finally, the last study will involve testing out a variety of behavioral questionnaires to determine which are best for monitoring crew function and cohesion. Data collection for these studies will begin on Monday.

Overall, the crew is settling in to their new home for the next two weeks and is excited to begin their research. The crew is also eagerly awaiting the opportunity to explore Mars in their first EVA, which will be on Monday.

 
For regular updates about our MDRS crews and their research, please visit the MDRS Facebook page. Also consider joining our MDRS Twitter feed: @MDRSupdates.
Activism, General

The Space Show this week

Here’s the line up of guests for The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome back MICHELLE EVANTS for updates regarding X-15 and her book on the subject, The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space.

2. Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): We welcome back DR. WENDELL MENDELL. Dr. Mendell is a planetary scientist at NASA JSC. We will be discussing the Moon and much more during this program.

3. Friday, Dec. 13, 2013, 9:30-11 AM PST (11:30- 1 PM CST, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EST): We welcome DR. DAVID BRAIN to the program to discuss the MAVEN mission, Mars, and more.

4. Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PST (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM CST). We welcome back ERIC LERNER of Focus Fusion. We will be discussion fusion energy updates with our guest.

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.

Activism, Mars, Space Settlement

Panel session on leveraging public interest in deep space missions at Dupont Summit, Dec. 6 + A Venus mission proposal

The organization SpaceSoc seeks to promote A Realistic Space Settlement Future. The group is sponsoring a panel discussion at the upcoming Dupont Summit event in D.C. : How can Mars human space settlement advocacy be better? Get YOUR view INCLUDED at a Dec 6 Wash, DC conference. – SpaceSoc

3:00 – 3:50 pm
Chair: Rahmin Bender, Policy Studies Organization
SpaceSoc’s Public Campaign to Take Humans to Mars
Tom E. Diffenbach, SpaceSoc
Anmol Singh, SpaceSoc

Lifeboat Foundation’s Response to NASA’s Asteroid Initiative Public Engagement Request
Kevin Berry, Legendary Projects
You can suggest topics for the panel to focus on:

How can Mars human space settlement advocacy be better? That’s a question you can answer as part of SpaceSoc’s Mars4U roundtable at the Dupont Summit – also live online – on Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy on Dec 6 in Washington, DC, USA. The Dupont Summit is an annual conference of the Policy Studies Organization (PSO), an affiliate of the American Political Science Association and International Political Science Association. PSO bridges political research with political practice.

Continue to the questionnaire… 

More about the panel session: SpaceSoc’s Public Campaign to Take Humans to Mars  (pdf)

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Short of radical terraforming, the hellish surface of Venus is no place for settlements. However, floating habitats atop its dense atmosphere might one day be possible. Jon Goff writes about one plan (JBIS paper – PDF) for the first human mission to Venus : Random Thoughts: Inspiration Venus? – Selenian Boondocks.