Posted on by Fraser Cain

Biggest Pinhole Camera Ever

A NASA institute has selected a new University of Colorado at Boulder proposal for further study that describes how existing technologies can be used to study planets around distant stars with the help of an orbiting “starshade.”

The concept by CU-Boulder Professor Webster Cash of the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy was one of 12 proposals selected for funding Sept. 28 by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, or NIAC. Cash’s proposal details the methods needed to design and build what essentially is a giant “pinhole camera” in space.

The football field-sized starshade would be made of thin, opaque material and contain an aperture, or hole, in the center roughly 30 feet in diameter to separate a distant planet’s light from the light of its adjacent parent star, Cash said. A detector spacecraft equipped with a telescope would trail tens of thousands of miles behind the orbiting starshade to collect the light and process it.

Such a system could be used to map planetary systems around other stars, detect planets as small as Earth’s moon and search for “biomarkers” such as methane, water, oxygen and ozone. Known as the New Worlds Imager, the system also could map planet rotation rates, detect the presence of weather and even confirm the existence of liquid oceans on distant planets, he said.

“In its most advanced form, the New Worlds Imager would be able to capture actual pictures of planets as far away as 100 light-years, showing oceans, continents, polar caps and cloud banks,” said Cash. If extra-terrestrial rainforests exist, he said, they might be distinguishable from deserts.

“To me, one of the most interesting challenges in space astronomy today is the detection of exo-solar planets,” said Cash. “We have created an affordable concept with very practical technology that would allow us to conduct planet imaging in visible and other wavelengths of light.”

The beauty of the pinhole as an optical device is that it functions as an almost perfect lens, said Cash, who is a professor in CU-Boulder’s astrophysical and planetary sciences department. ‘This device would remove the limiting problem of light scattered from the parent star due to optical imperfections.”

The successful proposal was authored by Cash, Princeton University’s Jeremy Kasdin and Sara Seager of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Nine other proposal advisers from universities and industry contributed to the New Worlds Imager concept, said Cash.

NIAC was created in 1998 to solicit revolutionary concepts from people and organizations outside the space agency that could advance NASA’s missions. The winning concepts, chosen because they “push the limits of known science and technology,” are expected to take at least a decade to develop if they eventually are selected for a mission flight, according to NASA.

In 1999, Cash headed a winning NIAC proposal for a new, powerful x-ray telescope technology that will allow astronomers to peer into the mouths of black holes. That telescope package is now under development by NASA as the multi-million dollar MAXIM mission and is slated for launch next decade.

Other concepts funded in 2004 by NIAC include a proposal for a lunar space elevator, new super-conducting magnet technology for astronaut radiation protection and a magnetized beam plasma-propulsion system.

Teams that submitted winning proposals to NIAC this year were awarded $75,000 for a Phase 1, six-month viability study. Those proposals that go on to win approval for Phase 2 studies next year by the space agency will be funded with up to $400,000 for two additional years, according to NASA.

“We are thrilled to team up with imaginative people from industry and universities to discover innovative systems that meet the tremendous challenge of space exploration and development,” said NIAC Director Robert Cassanova. Cassanova also is a member of the Universities Space Research Association, which administers NIAC for NASA.

Original Source: UCB News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Astronomers on Supernova High Alert

Image credit: NASA
Three powerful blasts from three wholly different regions in space have left scientists scrambling. The blasts, which lasted only a few seconds, might be early alert systems for star explosions called supernovae, which could start appearing any day now.

The first two blasts, called X-ray flashes, occurred on September 12 and 16. These were followed by a more powerful burst on September 24 that seems to be on the cusp between an X-ray flash and a full-fledged gamma-ray burst, a discovery interesting in its own right. If these signals lead to supernovae, as expected, scientists would have a tool to predict star explosions and then watch them go off from start to finish.

A team led by Dr. George Ricker of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology detected the explosions with NASA’s High-Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-2). Science teams around the world using space- and ground-based observatories have joined in, torn and conflicted over which burst region to track most closely.

“Each burst has been beautiful,” said Ricker. “Depending on how these evolve, they could support important theories about supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. These past two weeks have been like ‘cock, fire, reload.’ Nature keeps on delivering, and our HETE-2 satellite keeps on responding flawlessly.”

Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions known other than the Big Bang. Many appear to be caused by the death of a massive star collapsing into a black hole. Others might be from merging black holes or neutron stars. In either case, the event likely produces twin, narrow jets in opposite directions, which carry off tremendous amounts of energy. If one of jets points to Earth, we see this energy as a “gamma-ray” burst.

The lower-energy X-ray flashes might be gamma-ray bursts viewed slightly off angle from the jet direction, somewhat similar to how a flashlight is less blinding when viewed at an angle. The majority of light particles from X-ray flashes, called photons, are X rays — energetic, but not quite as powerful as gamma rays. Both types of bursts last only a few milliseconds to about a minute. HETE-2 detects the bursts, studies their properties, and provides a location so that other observatories can study the burst afterglow in detail.

The trio of bursts from the past few weeks has the potential of settling two long-standing debates. Some scientists say that X-ray flashes are different beasts all together, not related to gamma-ray bursts and massive star explosions. Detecting a supernova in the region where the X-ray flash appeared would refute that belief, instead confirming the connection between the two. Follow-up observations of the September 24 burst, named GRB040924 for the date it was observed, are already solidifying the theory of a cosmic explosion continuum from X-ray flashes up through gamma-ray bursts.

More interesting for supernova hunters is the fact that X-ray flashes are closer to Earth than gamma-ray bursts are. While the connection between gamma-ray bursts and supernovae has been made, these supernovae are too distant to study in detail. X-ray flashes might be signals for supernovae that scientists can actually sink their teeth into and observe in detail. Yet for now, it is just watch and wait.

“Last year the discovery of GRB030329 by HETE-2 sealed the connection between gamma-ray bursts and massive supernovae,” said Prof. Stanford Woosley of the University of California at Santa Cruz, who has championed several theories concerning the physics of star explosions. “These two September bursts may be the first time we see an X-ray flash lead to a supernova. We might know very soon.”

In addition to all of this, GRB040924 goes on record as generating the fastest response ever for a gamma-ray burst satellite. HETE-2 detected the burst and relayed information through the NASA-operated Gamma-ray Burst Coordinates Network in under 14 seconds, which led to an optical detection about 15 minutes later with the Palomar 60-inch telescope, just north of San Diego. Dr. Derek Fox of Caltech was the lead on this observation.

“We all expect much more of this type of exciting science to come after the launch of Swift,” said Dr. Anne Kinney, director of NASA’s Universe Division. Swift, to launch in October, contains three telescopes (gamma ray, X ray and UV/optical) for quick burst detection, swift relay of information, and immediate follow-up observations of the afterglow.

HETE was built by MIT as a mission of opportunity under the NASA Explorer Program, collaboration among U.S. universities, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and scientists and organizations in Brazil, France, India, Italy and Japan.

Additional information about the physics of star explosions:
While many scientists say that X-ray flashes are gamma-ray bursts viewed slightly off angle, another theory is that the star explosion that causes the X-ray flash is rich in baryons (a family of particles that includes protons and neutrons), as opposed to leptons (particles that include electrons). A baryon-dominated blast would produce more X rays, and a lepton-dominated blast would produce more gamma rays. This is because the baryons move more slowly than leptons; and slower moving matter would make a softer (lower-energy) burst at all angles.

According to Dr. Stanford Woosley, the supernova / gamma-ray burst connection is this: When a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel, its core will collapse, yet without the star’s outer part knowing. A black hole forms inside surrounded by a disk of accreting matter, and, within a few seconds, this launches a jet of matter away from the black hole that ultimately makes the gamma-ray burst. The jet pierces the outer shell of the star about nine seconds after its creation. The jet of matter, in conjunction with vigorous winds of newly forged radioactive nickel-56 blowing off the disk inside, shatters the star within seconds. This shattering represents the supernova event, and the amount of radioactive nickel-56 gives its brightness. However, from our vantage point, we will not see the supernova until about two weeks after the gamma-ray burst because the region is enshrouded by gas and dust, blocking light.

Original Source: NASA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Spaceflight Could Decrease Immunity

Image credit: NASA
A NASA-funded study has found the human body’s ability to fight off disease may be decreased by spaceflight. The effect may even linger after an astronaut’s return to Earth following long flights.

In addition to the conditions experienced by astronauts in flight, the stresses experienced before launch and after landing also may contribute to a decrease in immunity.

Results of the study were recently published in “Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.” The results may help researchers better understand the affects of spaceflight on the human immune response. They may also provide new insights to ensure the health, safety and performance of International Space Station crewmembers and future spacefarers on extended missions.

“Astronauts live and work in a relatively crowded and stressful environment,” said Duane Pierson, the study’s principal investigator and NASA Senior Microbiologist at Johnson Space Center, Houston. “Stresses integral to spaceflight can adversely affect astronaut health by impairing the human immune response. Our study suggests these effects may increase as mission duration and mission activity demands increase,” he added.

The white blood cell count provides a clue to the presence of illness. The five main types of white cells work together to protect the body by fighting infection and attacking foreign material. The most prevalent white blood cells are called neutrophils.

From 1999 to 2002, scientists from NASA, Enterprise Advisory Services, Inc., of Houston, and the Boston University School of Medicine compared neutrophil functions in 25 astronauts. They made comparisons after five-day Space Shuttle missions and after nine to 11 day missions.

Researchers found the number of neutrophils increased by 85 percent at landing compared to preflight levels. Healthy ground control subjects, who did not fly, exhibited no more than a two percent increase. Researchers also discovered functions performed by these cells, specifically ingestion and destruction of microorganisms, are affected by factors associated with spaceflight. The effect becomes more pronounced during longer missions.

The increase in astronaut neutrophil numbers resulted in a corresponding increase (more than 50 percent) in total white blood cell counts at landing. The increase is a consistent consequence of stress.

Pierson emphasized that “no astronauts in the study became ill; however, longer exploration missions may result in clinical manifestations of decreased immune response.”

Researchers concluded the general effect of spaceflight, pre- and post flight-related stress decreases the ability of crewmembers’ neutrophils to destroy microbial invaders. This finding suggests crewmembers returning from longer missions may be briefly more susceptible to infections than before launch, because these cells are not as efficient in ingesting and destroying infectious agents.

“Having a better understanding of the impact of stress on immunity will help us better understand the risks of infectious disease for Space Station crewmembers and future travelers on long-duration missions,” Pierson said.

For information about NASA’s space research on the Internet, visit:

http://spaceresearch.nasa.gov/

Original Source: NASA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Saturn’s Irregular Shepherd Moon

In its own way, the shepherd moon Prometheus (102 kilometers, 63 miles across) is one of the lords of Saturn’s rings. The little moon maintains the inner edge of Saturn’s thin, knotted F ring, while its slightly smaller cohort Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) guards the ring’s outer edge.

This view is a composite of nine raw images combined in a way that improves resolution and reduces noise. The final image was magnified by a factor of five. One of the component images was previously released (see PIA 06098).

The image clearly shows that Prometheus is not round, but instead has an oblong, potato-like shape. The moon was discovered during the Voyager mission, and scientists then noted ridges, valleys and craters on its surface. Hints of its varied topography are present in this view, although Cassini will likely obtain much better images of Prometheus later in the mission.

The component images were taken over about ten and a half minutes. During that time, the spacecraft’s motion caused some blurring of the F ring in the background. Cassini was below the ring plane at the time the images were obtained, and the view here is across the rings toward the distant arm of the F ring. Sunlight is coming from below left.

These images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera on July 1, 2004, around the time Cassini entered Saturn’s orbit. The spacecraft’s distance from the planet ranged from approximately 181,000 to 190,000 kilometers (112,000 to 118,000 miles) during the time the exposures were taken. The image scale is approximately 11 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org .

Original Source: NASA/JPL/SSI News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Wallpaper: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope 25th Anniversary

Twenty-five years ago, on September 28, 1979, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) was inaugurated on top of Mauna-Kea, a 4,200-meter high dormant volcano on the island of Hawai?i.

From the photographic emulsion of the first light to today’s 340 Mega-Pixel digital camera, CHFT?s instruments are cutting edge; its camera is the largest ever built in operation on a telescope. With high-resolution or multi-object spectroscopy, adaptive optics and polarimetry, CFHT has played an important role for a quarter of a century in the development of astronomy, thanks to the support of its member agencies in Canada, France and the State of Hawaii.

Once one of the large telescopes in the world, with a mirror 3.6-m in diameter (a ‘small’ telescope by today’s standards), CFHT continues to serve the astronomical community with stunning images and groundbreaking discoveries, from the small bodies of our solar system to remote galaxies; this has been possible due to a state-of-the-art instrument complement well-suited to the relatively modest size of its mirror and the extraordinary quality of its site.

The spectacular image released today is one of the best ground-based images ever made combining wide field and high resolution. It is the result of tens of hours of telescope time spent on a single 1-degree by 1-degree field for the CFHT Legacy Survey (CFHTLS), one of CFHT’s most ambitious scientific endeavors so far. Canada and France are devoting 500 nights of telescope time to the CFHTLS over 5 years to tackle important questions in today’s astronomy.

While there are still years to go to complete the CFHTLS, this image comes as a spectacular milestone to celebrate 25 years of excellence… and counting!

Original Source: CFHT News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

NASA Pushes the Limits with New Awards

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) has announced its 2004 Phase 1 awards. Twelve proposals to boldly go beyond the frontiers of space exploration were selected for a six-month study period beginning in October 2004.

The NIAC was created in 1998 to solicit revolutionary concepts from people and organizations outside the agency that could greatly advance NASA’s missions. The proposals push the limits of known science and technology. The proposals are expected to take at least a decade to be fully realized. NIAC’s intention is to discover ideas that may result in beneficial changes to NASA’s long-range plans.

“We are thrilled to team up with imaginative people from industry and universities to discover innovative systems that meet the tremendous challenge of space exploration and development,” said Dr. Robert Cassanova of the Universities Space Research Organization (USRA), and NIAC director. The USRA runs the Institute for NASA.

The NIAC sponsors research in two phases. Proposals selected for Phase 1 awards typically receive up to $75,000 for a six-month study that validates the viability of the concept and identifies challenges that must be overcome to make the proposal a reality.

The results of the Phase 1 studies are evaluated. The most promising are selected for further research into the major feasibility issues associated with cost, performance, development time, and technology through a Phase 2 award. Phase 2 studies can be up to two years long and receive as much as $400,000.

Proposals selected for the 2004 Phase 1 awards:

? A Deep-Field Infrared Observatory near the Lunar Pole (Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Roger J. Angel, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.)

? Extremely Large Swarm Array of Picosats for Microwave/RF Earth Sensing, Radiometry, and Mapping (PI: Ivan Bekey, Bekey Designs Inc., Annandale, Va.)

? Redesigning Living Organisms to Survive on Mars (PI: Dr. Wendy F. Boss, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.)

? Analysis of a Lunar Base Electrostatic Radiation Shield Concept (PI: Dr. Charles R. Buhler, ASRC Aerospace Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, Fla.)

? New Worlds Imager (PI: Dr. Webster Cash, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.)

? Efficient Direct Conversion of Sunlight to Coherent Light at High Average Power in Space (PI: Dr. Richard Fork, University of Alabama, Huntsville, Ala.)

? Use of Superconducting Magnet Technology for Astronaut Radiation Protection (PI: Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston)

? Wide-Bandwidth Deep-Space Quantum Communications (PI: Ricky Morgan, Morgan Optics Corporation, San Diego)

? Lunar Space Elevators for Cislunar Space Development (PI: Jerome Pearson, Star Technology and Research, Inc., Mount Pleasant, S.C.)

? Large-Product General-Purpose Design and Manufacturing Using Nanoscale Modules (PI: Chris Phoenix, Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

? Magnetized Beamed Plasma Propulsion (PI: Dr. Robert M. Winglee of the University of Washington, Seattle)

? A Self-Sustaining, Boundary-Layer-Adapted System for Terrain Exploration and Environmental Sampling (PI: Dr. Craig A. Woolsey, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.)

Original Source: NASA News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Toutatis Safely Passes the Earth

Today, September 29, 2004, is undisputedly the Day of Toutatis, the famous “doomsday” asteroid.

Not since the year 1353 did this impressive “space rock” pass so close by the Earth as it does today. Visible as a fast-moving faint point of light in the southern skies, it approaches the Earth to within 1,550,000 km, or just four times the distance of the Moon.

Closely watched by astronomers since its discovery in January 1989, this asteroid has been found to move in an orbit that brings it close to the Earth at regular intervals, about once every four years. This happened in 1992, 1996, 2000 and now again in 2004.

Radar observations during these passages have shown that Toutatis has an elongated shape, measuring about 4.6 x 2.4 x 1.9 km. It tumbles slowly through space, with a rotation period of 5.4 days.

The above images of Toutatis were taken with the ESO Very Large Telescope (during a technical test) in the evening of September 28. They were obtained just over 12 hours before the closest approach that happens today at about 15:40 hrs Central European Summer Time (CEST), or 13:40 hrs Universal Time (UT). At the time of these observations, Toutatis was about 1,640,000 km from the Earth, moving with a speed of about 11 km/sec relative to our planet.

They show the asteroid as a fast-moving object of magnitude 10, about 40 times fainter than what can be perceived with the unaided, dark-adapted eye. They also prove that Toutatis is right on track, following exactly the predicted trajectory in space and passing the Earth at a safe distance, as foreseen.

Detailed calculations, taking into account all available observations of this celestial body, have shown that although Toutatis passes regularly near the Earth, today’s passage is the closest one for quite some time, at least until the year 2562. The ESO observations, obtained at a moment when Toutatis was very close to the Earth, will help to further refine the orbital calculations.

The “parallax effect” demonstrated!
Simultaneous images obtained with telescopes at ESO’s two observatories at La Silla and Paranal demonstrate the closeness of Toutatis to the Earth. As can be seen on the unique ESO PR Photo 28e/04 that combines two of the exposures from the two observatories, the sighting angle to Toutatis from the two observatories, 513 km km apart, is quite different. Astronomers refer to this effect as the “parallax”. The closer the object is, the larger is the effect, i.e., the larger will be the shift of the line-of-sight.

Interestingly, the measured angular distance in the sky of the beginnings (or the ends) of the two trails (about 40 arcsec), together with the known distance between the two observatories and the position of Toutatis in the sky at the moment of the exposures fully define the triangle “Paranal-Toutatis-La Silla” and thus allow to calculate the exact distance to the asteroid.

It is found to be very close to that predicted from the asteroid’s position in its orbit and that of the Earth at the moment of this unique observation, 1,607,900 km. This exceptional, simultaneous set of observations thus provides an independent measurement of Toutatis’ distance in space and, like the measured positions, a confirmation of its computed orbit.

More information about Toutatis is available at the dedicated webpage by the French discoverers and also at the specialised Near-Earth Objects – Dynamic Site.

Original Source: ESO News Release

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Halfway There: SpaceShipOne Hits Space Again

Image credit: Scaled Composites
There was a short delay and then SpaceShipOne took off at 1411 UTC (7:11am PDT) cradled under the White Knight carrier aircraft. It carried SpaceShipOne to an altitude of nearly 14 km (46,000 ft) and then released it.

Pilot Mike Melvill ignited the rocket, pointed the spacecraft directly up and accelerated to Mach 3, reaching the edge of space just a few minutes later – 100 km (62.5 miles).

The flight didn’t go as smoothly as designer Burt Rutan had predicted, however. Shortly after igniting its hybrid rocket engine and heading up into space, SpaceShipOne went into a harrowing corkscrew roll, spinning more than 20 barrel rolls. Melvill cut the spacecraft’s engine 11 seconds before it would have turned off automatically and was able to get control again. Melvill noted, “we would have gone much higher.”

In order to win the $10 million X-Prize, competitors need to complete the trip to space twice in two weeks carrying the pilot and the weight of two passengers. Instead of carrying dead weight, SpaceShipOne was filled with personal objects from the employees of the companies that built it.

Their next flight is expected to happen on October 4 – the 47th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik.

After the flight, Burt Rutan presented financier Paul Allen with tiny pine trees that had been carried into space. Rutan’s company has invested more than $20 million into SpaceShipOne, and recently inked a deal with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to develop a larger version of the prototype that could carry 5 paying passengers into space; it could start flying within a few years.

Written by Fraser Cain

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Eat Like a Martian in Alaska

Image credit: ISECCo
Ray and some friends built Mars Base Zero a few years ago on a borrowed plot of land just outside Fairbanks, Alaska. It’s a fairly normal looking greenhouse 11 metres (36 feet) long, and two-thirds as wide. One half of the cylindrical roof is clear plastic, and the other half is well insulated. There’s also a small apartment attached to one end for Ray to live in while he tends to his Martian garden.

Inside you’ll find a healthy crop of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and plenty of other produce to make a vegan smile – mostly, though, you’ll find potatoes. Through several years of experimentation, Ray has learned that a single human requires about 80 square metres (864 square feet) of soil to grow enough food to survive.

Assuming you’re willing to eat a lot of potatoes.

“We tried growing wheat, but we could have gotten several pounds of potatoes for an area that gave me just a cupful of wheat. I’m guessing that 4-5 chickens would eat the same amount as me. We might try fish, though.”

Collins is one of the original co-founders of the International Space Exploration and Colonization Co. (ISECCo); a non-profit organization hoping to contribute knowledge to the human exploration of space. Instead of building rockets in their garages, the ISECCo team decided to do something much lower budget: Closed Ecological Life Support System Research. Sort of like Biosphere II, but without all the fancy ecosystems… and drama.

They started in 1988, and built a series of experiments leading up to Mars Base Zero – a $30,000 investment. Maintaining the experiment has only cost $900 this year, since they planted the crops in May 2004. Ray figures he’s put $40,000 of his own money into the various experiments since 1988.

The only purpose of Mars Base Zero is to understand how much space is required, and which crops to grow to keep an astronaut well fed. If you could seal it up tight, and ship it to Mars, Ray figures that it would get enough sunlight on Mars to have the plants nearly growing as well as they do in Alaska.

Ray began this experiment on September 17, and he’s been keeping a detailed log of the food he’s been eating – the potatoes he’s been eating – and the, um, “waste” he’s been generating. He hasn’t lost any weight so far, but he has to eat several kilograms of food every day just to maintain. A nutritionist probably wouldn’t be too pleased with his diet so far, but Ray’s aware of the inadequacies and has new crops planned for next time around. If everything goes well, he’ll stay in for at least 30 days, and maybe as long as 60 days if the potatoes hold out. His wife is expecting to deliver their second child in December, so Ray’s got a hard deadline anyway.

Normally they plant in the spring, and then harvest in the fall. But Ray would like to try planting continuously, and keep it going as long into the winter as he can afford to pay for lights and heat. Eventually he hopes they’ll get to the point that it’s a year round operation.

And then they’ll take the experiment to the next level… underground.

ISECCo plans to build an underground dome, called Nauvik (Eskimo term for “nurturing place”), twice the same area as the greenhouse, but seal it completely off from the Earth’s environment. Water, air and other nutrients would be carefully monitored, and the plants would be grown by powerful lamps – the electricity bill alone will probably run $5,000 a month. The advantage is that they could simulate a lunar or Martian environment; even experimenting with different air pressures to see how the plants react. With the heat from the lamps, Ray expects one of the most difficult challenges will be keeping it cool.

It’ll be an expensive proposition. Especially without government or NASA funding. “We responded to a NASA request-for-proposal that was looking for unique ideas in closed system life support.” Ironically, the agency complained that their idea was “too unique”.

Maybe the astronauts weren’t willing to eat that many potatoes.

Written by Fraser Cain

Posted on by Mark Mortimer

Book Review: Leaving Earth

The Soviet Union began by vouching for human habitation once they had lost the race to the moon. Patsayev, Dobrovolsky and Volkov occupied the first Salyut which was the first manned orbital space station. During their three weeks in this small metal tube like craft they kept busy with adapting to a climate and facility created by ground-based designers who had no real appreciation of weightlessness. These cosmonauts succeeded in performing nonetheless with one highlight being the growth of many plants from a variety of seeds. By sticking to a rigid and very busy schedule of work, exercise and maintenance, they added significant insight into living in space for long durations. Sadly though this didn’t come freely for the Soviet Union as the cosmonauts tragically died while descending in their re-entry capsule.

Skylab was the USA’s response to Salyut. This behemoth, launched via the last Saturn V rocket system, provided over 12700 cubic feet of living space. This was a veritable mansion as compared to the Soviet Union’s Salyut. Here Conrad, Kerwin and Weitz completed a four week tour that was as much for repair and reconstruction as it was for scientific experiments. In a ‘we can fix anything’ mentality, they unstuck a solar panel, unpacked equipment and set up experiments. Surprisingly, they experienced no space sickness, just like the first Soviets, though this turned out
to be very rare.

In Salyut 4 Grechko and Gubarev, had brought seeds, amoebas, tadpoles, fish and flies to share their living quarters in Salyut 4. After 30 days of scientific experiments, observation and maintenance activity, they successfully returned to Earth. This was the Soviet Union’s first success in manned station return. With Salyut 6 the Soviet Union launched over eighteen different manned missions during its almost five years of operation. Residents stayed for over six months with a complement, at times, of up to four people. The Salyut 7 and Mir missions built upon the Soviet Union’s successes. Space flight durations were extended. Equipment was better designed, while experiments provided more insight on how the human body reacts to extended times in space. The cosmonauts learned to focus and control their emotions to stay mentally and emotionally fit in such an unnatural situation. They could repair aged or broken equipment, recover from unexpected failures and add significant structural components. This time saw amazing progress but the end of the Soviet Union also spelt the end for Salyut’s and Mir’s roles of being stars for communism.

Nevertheless, political expediency still is keeping the space program alive. Russia deorbited Mir to save money. They then joined with the USA and other nations to pursue construction of the International Space Station (ISS). Though Russia was able to impart some of their hard earned knowledge the USA considered the contribution to be more a form of economic relief for the newly recreated state. From this it appears the political climates have almost changed places as the Russian space program, by necessity, is relying on capitalism for its very survival while the NASA bureaucracy appears to be more interested in keeping itself alive than in advancing the space program. Yet the ISS is in space and is contributing to our knowledge.

Though this book contains many of the technical issues of the designs of space stations as well as the sordid details of politics, its greatest provision is the human experiences that so richly embellish the story. You read of cosmonauts that try farming plants throughout the interior of their craft in efforts to yield a worthwhile harvest. There is a female fighter pilot/cosmonaut that ended up wearing a dress and being a hostess in space. Innumerable misses of docking craft demonstrate the riskiness of the whole affair. As well, the complete dependency on temperamental machinery constantly kept stark terror a scant distance away. Most of all though, the reader can see the triumph of human ingenuity and community where coming together is not just a convenience but a necessity.

There are many people who believe that Mars is the next step for the human race. Robert Zimmerman shares in the belief and in his book Leaving Earth he shows how the previous thirty years have given humankind an incredible wealth of knowledge on how to do this. Within it are many excellent descriptions of good designs and bad designs, heroic actions to save a mission and errors in judgement that nearly doom them. Yet the message comes through again and again, if we want to go to Mars we have shown we have the ability, we only need the will.

To read more reviews, or order the book online, visit Amazon.com.

Review by Mark Mortimer