Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 13, 2007 in Science
Sadly with all of the light pollution here in NYC it’s hard for me to see much when I look up at the night sky, but the few times I manage to spot something I’m always wondering “just what star or planet is that?” So I was happy to discover this nifty gizmo which can solve all of your astronomical identification needs:
“Take the MySky out of its package, plug in some batteries, go outside, preferably at night although even when you can’t see them, the stars are still there during the day. Now let the MySky figure out its location and time via GPS. There are three different basic modes to using the night sky – Identify, Find, & Guided Tour. In ‘Identify’ Mode, the default, you will be presented with a real time LCD view of the night sky, complete with constellations. Simply point it to the object of choice in the real sky, and shoot. It will identify! You can also take a ‘Guided Tour’ of the best objects available to you at the moment based on your location, date & time. Finally, if you want to locate a specific object (planet, comet, galaxy, etc.) – you can navigate through the menus, select the item and your MySky will point out its location in the real sky.”
Recently the head of NASA predicted that China would beat the United States back to the moon. To me this is depressing as the issue isn’t re-creating technology from the late 60’s but is about funding the space program. So this well done BBC article caught my eye as it shows how Wernher von Braun’s plan for going to Mars was shot down:
“In the summer of 1969, two weeks after Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun delivered to Nasa a detailed, fully costed plan for landing humans on Mars. Dr von Braun, who had masterminded America’s lunar programme, intended to send astronauts on an initial excursion to the Red Planet lasting two years, with a fly-by of Venus on the journey home.
The mission was to reach Mars by 1982 and would be accomplished using a nuclear-powered rocket. This would be parked in Earth orbit and used to ferry 800-tonne spaceships to Mars and back. The annual cost, von Braun estimated, would peak at $7bn in 1974, running at $6bn thereafter. But by the end of the 1960s, politicians and the media had had their fill of space; the timing was also wrong economically. As a result, the proposal fell on deaf ears.”
…with all this talk of Sputnik I’d like to see a new space race for the 21st century. Why don’t we work with Russia, China, India and Europe to return to the moon? It would save taxpayers money, inspire people across the globe, and maybe just improve international relations. That system of working together could then be used as a preamble to a Mars project.
“Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.
“Parallel universes really do exist, according to a mathematical discovery by Oxford scientists described by one expert as “one of the most important developments in the history of science”. The parallel universe theory, first proposed in 1950 by the US physicist Hugh Everett, helps explain mysteries of quantum mechanics that have baffled scientists for decades, it is claimed. In Everett’s “many worlds” universe, every time a new physical possibility is explored, the universe splits. Given a number of possible alternative outcomes, each one is played out – in its own universe.”
“Bacteria that became more dangerous in space may help scientists design better antibiotics on Earth, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They found that a type of Salmonella that causes food poisoning became more virulent after spending 12 days at near-zero gravity in the space shuttle, killing more mice than Earthbound bacteria and killing them more quickly.
Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, might help protect both astronauts and people infected on the ground, said Cheryl Nickerson of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University.”
“NASA posted a hiring notice for new astronauts Tuesday, seeking for the first time in almost 30 years men and women to fly aboard spacecraft other than the shuttle. The pilots, scientists, engineers and educators that NASA recruits will train primarily for three- to six-month missions aboard the international space station. However, some could be among those who stroll on the surface of the moon as part of NASA’s plan to return human explorers to the lunar surface by 2020 aboard the shuttle fleet’s successor spacecraft.
“Yes, I think it’s quite likely,” said Ellen Ochoa, who supervises NASA’s astronaut corps as the director of flight crew operations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The space agency’s help-wanted notice for 10 to 15 new space fliers was posted Tuesday on www.usajobs.com, the federal government’s employment Web site.”
This is an interesting story from the BBC on a skycar that a company called Moller is working on (their website is quite interesting and worth a glance). It’s funny because I grew up watching science fiction I’ve always not thought much of skycars because you’d see them in shows like the Jetsons, while more realistic technology like a permanent moon base would be featured in shows like Space:1999, so it would be ironic if I lived to see flying cars take off in my lifetime while we’re still so earthbound:
When I first read this I got excited, the idea of Russia or China landing on the moon would force the United States to re-invest in NASA and perhaps lead to a Mars landing as part of a new space race. But alas my fanboy hopes were dashed when I read further as it seems the Russians don’t even want to get to the moon until 2025 which pretty much makes their plans science fiction:
“MOSCOW, Aug. 31 (UPI) — Russia says it will send cosmonauts to the moon by 2025, with plans for a permanent manned base. Anatoly Perminov, head of the space agency, said a manned flight to Mars is scheduled for after 2035.”
“The soil on Mars may contain microbial life, according to a new interpretation of data first collected more than 30 years ago. The search for life on Mars appeared to hit a dead end in 1976 when Viking landers touched down on the red planet and failed to detect biological activity.
But Joop Houtkooper of the University of Giessen, Germany, said on Friday the spacecraft may in fact have found signs of a weird life form based on hydrogen peroxide on the subfreezing, arid Martian surface. His analysis of one of the experiments carried out by the Viking spacecraft suggests that 0.1 percent of the Martian soil could be of biological origin.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 14, 2007 in Science
Yes we all know that the real Skylab came crashing to Earth back in 1979 (too late for the Space Shuttle to save it), however a little bit of Skylab history is in danger of being lost. It seems that an organization is trying to save full scale training mockup from being lost to the ravages of neglect:
“In 1968 NASA ordered two identical flight qualified space stations (Skylab) built along with 3 full scale training mockups. One flight version, the 1st US Space Station was flown in 1973 and orbited the Earth until 1979; the second flight element is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum. One full scale mockup, used by astronauts and engineers at MSFC during the 3 crewed Skylab missions (73-74) was on display for many years at the US Space and Rocket Center (USRC) located in Huntsville Alabama. Several years ago the Skylab exhibit was moved outside. The original temporary weather coverings have failed and Skylab has suffered the effects of rain, sun, wind, plants, dust/dirt, mold, animals and vandals. Right now the Skylab artifact is nearing a point of no return.
To save Skylab the Alabama/Mississippi section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) started the Skylab Restoration Project (SRP). AIAA is seeking volunteers to help save this unique part the US Space Program.”
…saveskylab.org is collecting funds, so give a hand if you can!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 12, 2007 in Science
Above: View of the space shuttle from the TS-118: Endeavour Mission (click the image to see it at full size – trust me it’s worth it).
Not too long go a bridge fell apart here in the good old US of A, and after the disaster that claimed a few lives everyone has gone back to sleep (and they’re still finding bodies no less). It’s my thinking that the space shuttle is another disaster waiting to happen again, and like that bridge it’s because we’ve neglected NASA for the last thirty years ago. The space shuttle is 70s technology and while it’s cool that they can still still get into orbit giving the crew some glue to fix tiles isn’t the answer:
“A detailed laser inspection on Sunday of the difficult-to-reach area on Endeavour’s belly could send astronauts out to repair the 3-inch wound later in the week, although NASA said that prospect appeared less likely than it did a day earlier. A penetration, if severe enough, could let in searing gases when the shuttle returns to Earth in a possible replay of the Columbia accident. As a pair of spacewalking astronauts installed a new beam to the international space station on Saturday, engineers back on Earth scrutinized images of the gouge, the result of a strike by fuel-tank foam insulation at launch.”
…I’d like to see every 2008 Presidential candidate tell us what they’re going to do to re-invent NASA.
“NASA is to launch a spacecraft on a nine-month journey to Mars, where it will dig below the surface for clues to the existence of past or present life. The Phoenix probe is scheduled to lift off on Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a Delta II rocket.
The mission will aim to shed light not only on the history of this water ice but also on whether the region could support microbial life. Crucial to this question will be tests for complex, carbon-based chemicals (organics) in the soil and signs the ice periodically melts. “The real question we’re trying to answer is: ‘has that ice melted’, because liquid water in contact with soil may provide us with a habitable environment,” said Peter Smith, the mission’s principal investigator and a professor at the University of Arizona.”
“A new moon has been discovered orbiting Saturn – bringing the planet’s latest moon tally up to 60. The body was spotted in a series of images taken by cameras onboard the Cassini spacecraft. Initial calculations suggest the moon is about 2km-wide (1.2 miles) and its orbit sits between those of two other Saturnian moons, Methone and Pallene. The Cassini Imaging Team, who found the object, said Saturn’s moon count could rise further still.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 18, 2007 in Science
Shown above is the trailer for ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ and it’s well worth checking out. I guess it’s no secret that I’m a space exploration fanboy at heart (and I got my L5 Society membership card from the late 70s to prove it too), so when I read about this upcoming British documentary I got very excited. The film is about the Apollo missions from 1968 and 1972, when nine American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. This era feels like a lost golden age to me, so my hope is that this film might spark some interest in getting humans back to the moon and maybe visiting Mars too. The film should be hitting theaters in early September, so tell your fellow fanboys (and fangurls) about it.
“Think life on Earth is weird? It might be even weirder on distant planets and moons, according to a new report. Instead of thriving on water, extraterrestrial organisms might live in a sea of liquid methane. Or instead of getting energy from the sun, they might thrive on hydrochloric acid. These possibilities could revolutionize future space missions in search of life elsewhere in the solar system, says the report, issued today by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
The report concludes that scientists need to consider an expanded list of characteristics that define life, including so-called “weird” life-forms that may thrive where Earth organisms couldn’t. Instead of dispatching spacecraft to dig into the subsurface of Mars, considered a prime candidate for primitive life because of its watery past, the report says the probes may have better luck on Saturn’s moon Titan, which has seas of liquid methane and ethane.”
It’s hard to believe it, but sixty years ago today (July 8th, 1947) the first news story about UFOs appeared in Roswell, New Mexico:
“The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today, that the field has come into possession of a flying saucer. According to information released by the department, over authority of Maj. J. A. Marcel, intelligence officer, the disk was recovered on a ranch in the Roswell vicinity, after an unidentified rancher had notified Sheriff Geo. Wilcox, here, that he had found the instrument on his premises. Major Marcel and a detail from his department went to the ranch and recovered the disk, it was stated. After the intelligence officer here had inspected the instrument it was flown to higher headquarters. The intelligence office stated that no details of the saucer’s construction or its appearance had been revealed.”
It’s interesting because while we’re still debating if the above episode even happened, the real revolution is that in scientific circles it’s now been pretty well accepted that someplace out there are aliens (who may or may not be like us). I think the major turning point in this debate was when Carl Sagan started to push this idea in the 80s about forty years after Roswell. And I half suspect that we might encounter alien life forms in our lifetimes, although they might only be humble microbes living on Mars or Titan.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 15, 2007 in Science
The amazing walking robot above was developed in South Korea by the Humanoid Robot Research Center (Hubo Lab). Here’s the description of the project:
“HUBO-FX1 is the human-riding robot having 12 DOF. The development concept is that the robot can walk naturally with carrying a person or a load of 100kg, so the lower body takes after legs of human and the upper body takes after a chair. A person who sits on the upper body can control the robot naturally using the built-on joystick installed. It has many kinds of sensors. Each ankle has the 3-axis force/torque sensor which measures a normal force and 2 moments. Each foot has the inclination sensor which measures angle of the slope. Also the rate gyro and the inclination sensor of the body can do a stabilization of itself. HUBO-FX1 is 2m in height and 150kg in weight. It is possible to perform forward walking, backward walking, side walking and turning around.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 29, 2007 in Science
Above: An artist’s concept of the Neptune-sized planet GJ436b (right) orbiting an M dwarf star, Gliese 436, at a distance of only 3 million miles.
The inner fanboy in me is very pleased to be alive in an era when we’re discovering so many new planets outside the solar system (236 count ’em all!). However I’m sad about two things:
1. That visionaries like H.G. Wells and Issac Asimov never lived to see this day (although they both knew it was coming).
2. And that I’ll never be able to visit any of those planets (although I’d gladly settle for watching someone set foot on Mars before I die).
“Astronomers have discovered 28 new planets outside of our solar system, increasing to 236 the number of known exoplanets, revealing that planets can exist around a broad spectrum of stellar types–from tiny, dim stars to giants. “We added 12 percent to the total in the last year, and we’re very proud of that,” said one of the study team members Jason Wright of the University of California at Berkeley. “This provides new planetary systems so that we can study their properties as an ensemble.”
The planets are among 37 new objects spotted within the past year. Seven of the objects are failed stars called brown dwarfs, with masses that dwarf the largest, Jupiter-sized planets but too small to sustain the nuclear reactions necessary for stellar ignition. John Johnson of the University of California at Berkeley and his colleagues presented the findings here today at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Astronomers don’t directly spot extrasolar planets, but rather look for stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets. The planet’s size and distance from the parent star affect how strong or weak of a wobble, and more sophisticated techniques for measuring the stellar wobbles has led to an ever-lengthening list of such outer planets. Now they can detect wobbles of a meter per second compared with the 10-meter limit just 15 years ago.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 21, 2007 in Science
The Earth Guide from the Japan Science and Technology Agency is a beautiful infographic that answers some basic astronomy questions. This flash website features some nice illustration and a very slick looking interface, it’s well worth a visit for armchair space explorers:
