Sarah Cruddas, “Scientist, Presenter, Reporter”, talked with David Livingston on Friday about “UK space development, interests, commerce, and journalism, space tourism, China, space policy”: Sarah Cruddas, Friday, 5-3-13 – Thespaceshow’s Blog
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Here is a video of Yariv Bash, CEO and founder of the Google Lunar X PRIZE team SpaceIL, giving a talk back in February:
In a multi-part interview with Moonandback, Henry Spencer discussed various aspects of asteroids including their composition, origin, probes, mining, Planetary Resources, and more:
NextBigFuture.com hosts the latest Carnival of Space.
Bob Zimmerman reports on the latest space news during regular weekly slots (usually Tuesday and Thursdays) on the John Batchelor radio program. See the iTunes free Podcast for links to the latest shows.
Tuesday 04/30/13 Batchelor Hour 4 :
Thursday 05/02/13 Batchelor Hour 4
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On this week’s Hotel Mars segment, Jeff Foust talks with David Livingston and John Batchelor about the recent Antares Orbital Sciences launch and about the NASA commercial cargo and crew program: John Batchelor Hotel Mars, Wednesday, 5-1-13 – Thespaceshow’s Blog.
The Planetary Society‘s weekly Hangout yesterday included Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission , which will take off in 2016 on a mission to visit the near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid (101955) . The show also included Mike Puzio, age 9, of North Carolina who won the OSIRIS-REx Name That Asteroid contest (see earlier posting).
Here is a video of recent JP Aerospace missions in which 2400 student PongSats “flew to the edge of space on six high altitude balloons. The peak altitudes ranged from 92,000 to 103,000 feet”: PongSat Mission Video – JP Aerospace Blog
Some recent space policy related items :
On Tuesday on the International Space Station, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield display a new Canadian $5 banknote that includes an image of the Canadian-built robotic arm used on the station:
Caption:
In a live videostream from the International Space Station to the Bank of Canada’s Ottawa head office, CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield revealed the new Canadian $5 bank note that proudly features Canadian space robotics achievements Canadarm2 and Dextre. Also on hand for this historic announcement were Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and Chairman of the Board at VIA Rail Canada, Paul G. Smith, who was present for the unveiling of the new $10 note. Credit: CSA/NASA
Kristian von Bengtson of Copenhagen Suborbitals gives an update on the wind tunnel testing of a model of their Tycho Deep Space II capsule and the modifications they have made to its design: More Winds – More Testing -Wired Science/Wired.com.
Here’s a report on the Estonian cubesat project ESTCube, which will test the E-sail propulsion concept from Pekka Janhunen of Finland: Electric Space Sail to Get Its First Test – IEEE Spectrum.
Both the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers are back in action after a month’s rest while communications with Mars was blocked as it passed on the far side of the Sun from the earth:
Astronaut Chris Hadfield explains how the orientation of the International Space Station, where he is living at the moment, is controlled:
Famous technology investor and rocket enthusiast Steve Jurvetson recently attended a “7 conference” and recorded the live performance of the astronaut band “Bandella”:
They describe Bandella as an unlikely band of NASA astronauts with Chris Hadfield currently in space (guitars, vocals, first Canadian Commander of the ISS), Micki Pettit (lead vocals, wife of Don Petit, the first to enter the SpaceX Dragon capsule in space), Cady Coleman (flute, 180 days in space so far) and other stars who drift into nearer-earth orbit.
Here are some pictures of the event: Earth Day Serenade from Space – Flickr.
The MOOC Production Fellowship competition will provide 25000 Euro to each of the ten winning MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) programs out of the 200 that have entered. The winners will be determined by online voting. Anyone may vote for the contestants until May 23rd. The winning courses will be offered for free at the iversity online learning site.
I received a message from Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Berlin, Institute of Technology about their Space Technology entry in the competition. The course has no prerequisites “other than a basic understanding of maths”.
The course “Space Technology” covers the fundamentals of space engineering, as well as further related subjects like space law, space politics or management of a space project.
At first, a brief introduction of our solar system and the space environment will give an idea about the destination space. On a trip to space, one has to expect an extremely harsh environment with vacuum, zero-gravity, deadly radiation, micrometeoroids and extreme temperatures. Still, space engineering enables spacecraft and humans to survive under these conditions.
Most of today’s space applications are based on satellites. Therefore, a focus will be set on satellites and their subsystems. Here, subjects like mechanical structures, thermal control, electrical power systems, attitude determination and control, data management and communications will be introduced using a mixture of theory and real mission examples.
One of the most fascinating sectors of space technology is human space flight. A section will be devoted to human spaceflight. In this section several topics like life support systems, astronaut training and space stations will be addressed.
This video also describes the course:
I recently pointed here to the International Space Apps Challenge program, which aims to encourage “collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on Earth and life in space”. Stephen Murphey interviewed one of the competitors, Pablo Carranza Vélez, about his project, which involved “using the Raspberry Pi to create a space worth redundant computer”: How the International Space Apps Challenges Creates Innovation – DIY Space Exploration.
The website The First Men on the Moon: The Apollo 11 Lunar Landing provides
an online interactive featuring the Eagle lunar landing. The presentation includes original Apollo 11 spaceflight video footage, communication audio, mission control room conversations, text transcripts, and telemetry data, all synchronized into an integrated audio-visual experience.
Until today, it has been impossible to comprehensively experience mankind’s shining exploratory accomplishment in a singular experience. We have compiled hours of content available from public domain sources and various NASA websites. Thamtech staff and volunteers generously devoted their time to transcribe hours of speech to text. By using simultaneous space and land based audio and video, transcripts, images, spacecraft telemetry, and biomedical data—this synchronized presentation reveals the Moon Shot as experienced by the astronauts and flight controllers.
A NASA outreach effort with the MAVEN Mars orbiter:
NASA Invites Public to Send Names And Messages to Mars
WASHINGTON — NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere.
The DVD will be in NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch in November. The DVD is part of the mission’s Going to Mars Campaign coordinated at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (CU/LASP).
![MAVEN-web-shot[1]](https://i1.wp.com/hobbyspace.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/MAVEN-web-shot1.jpg?resize=513%2C478)
The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.
“The Going to Mars campaign offers people worldwide a way to make a personal connection to space, space exploration, and science in general, and share in our excitement about the MAVEN mission,” said Stephanie Renfrow, lead for the MAVEN Education and Public Outreach program at CU/LASP.
Participants who submit their names to the Going to Mars campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement with the MAVEN mission.
“This new campaign is a great opportunity to reach the next generation of explorers and excite them about science, technology, engineering and math,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from CU/LASP. “I look forward to sharing our science with the worldwide community as MAVEN begins to piece together what happened to the Red Planet’s atmosphere.”
MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars’ atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.
“This mission will continue NASA’s rich history of inspiring and engaging the public in spaceflight in ongoing Mars exploration,” said David Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The university will provide science operations, science instruments and lead Education and Public Outreach. Goddard manages the project and provides two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory provides science instruments for the mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, the Deep Space Network and the Electra telecommunications relay hardware and operations.
To participate in the Going to Mars campaign, visit http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/goingtomars
For more information on MAVEN, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/maven
NASA pays Russia for Soyuz flights while waiting for Congress to fund the commercial crew transport program:
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A leading astronomy organization criticizes cuts to planetary science programs in the President’s proposed 2014 budget : Astronomers warn about NASA planetary funding cuts – Space Politics
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Pat Hynes urges greater appreciation and support for the ISS: The ISS – Pat Hynes Blog.
The Space Studies Institute, whose mission is “to complete the missing technological links to make possible the productive use of the abundant resources in space”. SSI just announced that it is starting a new project with Prof. Jim Woodward of California State University Fullerton: Exotic Propulsion Initiative – Space Studies Institute.
SSI has always prided itself on focusing our resources on projects that work to provide technologies that further the cause of space settlement and permanent life off Earth. We’ve announced two efforts, the G-Lab and the E-Lab, to provide technologies required for understanding the amount of gravitational force and practical closed life-support systems required for long-term or permanent human habitation in space.
To these projects we have added the Exotic Propulsion Initiative, to explore exotic propulsion opportunities at the very borderlands of physics.
Much public and press excitement has been generated by the DARPA-funded “100 Year Starship” effort, and work on warp drive theory and concepts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
An intriguing and thoughtful recent book by Professor Jim Woodward, Making Starships and Stargates: The Science of Interstellar Transport and Absurdly Benign Wormholes
, has further heightened interest in “exotic” physics propulsion concepts.
While no one can predict if or when these technologies might become practical, we can say for certain that not funding basic research will consign any breakthroughs to the realm of science fiction forever.
Accordingly, SSI has established our Exotic Propulsion Initiative to take bold new risks that are unlikely to find conventional funding. Donations to the project will be first used to extend and replicate Professor Woodward’s provocative research findings at his lab at CalState Fullerton, and as resources permit, to open new avenues of exploration into advanced propulsion with other scientists.
Professor Woodward has donated major royalties from his book to SSI in order to jump-start this project’s funding. We are grateful for his donation and are very pleased to be able to offer an opportunity to all interested parties to extend and increase his gift.
Uwingu announces a new campaign:
Uwingu Launches World’s First ‘Adopt-a-Planet’ Campaign
Space company Uwingu announces the launch of the world’s first ‘Adopt-a-Planet’ campaign. This open-ended campaign gives anyone in the public—worldwide—the opportunity to adopt planets around other stars at www.uwingu.com.
May 1, 2013 – BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder, Colorado— Today, space company UwinguTM announced the launch of the world’s first ‘Adopt-a-Planet’ campaign. This open-ended campaign gives anyone in the public—worldwide—the opportunity to adopt exoplanets in astronomical databases via Uwingu’s web site at www.uwingu.com. Proceeds from the naming and voting will continue to help fuel new Uwingu grants to fund space exploration, research, and education.
In Uwingu’s Adopt-a-Planet campaign, any nominated name that reaches 1,000 votes will qualify its namer to adopt the exoplanet of their choice with that name. Winners can choose which planet they would like to name from exoplanet lists created by astronomers.
Adopted planets and the planet’s name’s originator will be publicized by Uwingu. Additionally, the namer will receive $100 in Uwingu store credits, an adoption certificate, and links to in-depth information about their adopted planet. The first 10 names to reach adoption status will receive $500 in Uwingu naming/voting credits as a bonus.
Uwingu will also give recognition to names that reach thresholds of 100 and 500 votes as they climb toward adoption eligibility.
“This is a great way for the worldwide public to connect to the sky and space!” said Uwingu CEO and astronomer Dr. Alan Stern. Stern continued, “In our Adopt-a-Planet campaign every person who nominates a planet can win, and at their own pace, knowing they are funding space research and education along the way.”
Uwingu’s current “baby book” of names is growing daily, with over 1,240 names submitted to date.
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