Monthly Archives: February 2017

Contests and Games, Space participation, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

Space Nation Astronaut Program – train for a chance to go to space

The Space Nation Astronaut Program aims to involve the public in space flight. Their first initiative is a space flight training app for cell phones with

which people all around the world can compete in challenges to gain a deeper understanding of space exploration and the science and technology behind human spaceflight. Candidates earn points by completing tasks and advance through multiple merit levels to earn the ultimate mission: a trip to space.

The trip to space will be on a suborbital rocket vehicle.

The Finland base project is a collaboration of four companies – Cohu Experience, Axiom Space (commercial space station builder), Fun Academy, and Edge of Space (high alt balloons) – who plan “to create concrete ways to make space travel dreams possible for everyone”.

A crowd-funding campaign has raised over 2,350,000 euros in just the first few days. Here is a video outlining the Space Nation plan:

More at Finnish company raising funds for astronaut training competition – SpaceNews.com

Activism, Space Policy, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week – Feb.6.2017

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Feb. 6, 2017: 2-3:30 pm PST (5-6:30 pm EST, 4-5:30 pm CST): We welcome back Dr. Phil Metzger to discuss space development, ISRU and advanced technologies for space development.

2. Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017: 7-8:30 pm PST, 10-11:30 pm EST, 9-10:30 pm CST: We welcome Dr. Pascal Lee, astrobioligist, regarding his award winning film, Mars simulation at Devon Island and more.

3. Friday, Feb. 10, 2016: 9:30-11 am PST; (12:30-2 pm EST; 11:30 am – 1 pm CST) We welcome back Dr. Erik Seedhouse regarding his new book on spaceports.

4. Sunday, Feb. 12,, 2017: 12-1:30 pm PST (3-4:30 pm EST, 2-3:30 5 pm CST): Dr. Armen Papazian is back with us for new ways to approach space development financing and more.

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.

The Space Show - David Livingston
David Livingston
Activism, General, SpaceCasts

Video: TMRO.tv Orbit 10.05 – The impossible space thruster may be possible

The latest TMRO.tv live program is now in the archive:

The physics defying EmDrive returns to the show! Dave Distler gives us a quick refresher on what the EmDrive is, changes since last year and a bit about its peer review process.

Space news topics discussed:

* Juno flies over Jupiter without working main engine
* Cassini Offers Best-Ever Views of Saturn’s Rings
* Intelsat 33e enters service after engine trouble
* CRS-10 Leapfrogs Echostar 23 on SpaceX Manifest
* Worldview 4 has entered service with some stunning imagery
* OSIRIS-REx Will Hunt For Earth Trojan Asteroids

TMRO.tv is viewer supported:

TMRO:Space is a crowd funded show. If you like this episode consider contributing to help us to continue to improve. Head over to http://www.patreon.com/tmro for information, goals and reward levels. Don’t forget to check out our SpacePod campaign as well over at http://www.patreon.com/spacepod

Europa, Titan, & other deep space sites, Gas giants Saturn, Jupiter, et al, Space Science

Cassini views the little moon Daphnis up close

In early January, the Cassini spacecraft took this marvelous shot of the small moon Daphnis as it travels along in a gap in Saturn’s rings: Cassini: Mission to Saturn: Daphnis Up Close 

The wavemaker moon, Daphnis, is featured in this view, taken as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made one of its ring-grazing passes over the outer edges of Saturn’s rings on Jan. 16, 2017. This is the closest view of the small moon obtained yet. Daphnis (5 miles or 8 kilometers across) orbits within the 42-kilometer (26-mile) wide Keeler Gap. Cassini’s viewing angle causes the gap to appear narrower than it actually is, due to foreshortening. The little moon’s gravity raises waves in the edges of the gap in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Cassini was able to observe the vertical structures in 2009, around the time of Saturn’s equinox. [Full caption and larger images]
Check out the latest Cassini shots from the Saturnian system in the Mission to Saturn Images gallery and the Raw Images gallery. 

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Astronomy, Science and Technology

Video: “How Stars Form” – Christopher McKee

A SETI Institute seminar by Christopher McKee on how stars are made:

Stars are the atoms of the universe. The process by which stars form is at the nexus of astrophysics since they are believed to be responsible for the re-ionization of the universe, they created the heavy elements, they play a central role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, and their formation naturally leads to the formation of planets. Whereas early work on star formation was based on the assumption that it is a quiescent process, it is now believed that turbulence plays a dominant role. In this overview, I shall discuss the evolution of our understanding of how stars form and current ideas about the stellar initial mass function, the rate of star formation, the formation of massive stars, the role of magnetic fields, and the formation of the first stars.

 

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