Mars: An Endless Dust Bowl?

With the recent broadcast on PBS of Ken Burn's latest documentary The Dust Bowl, I was reminded of the pitfalls of living on the surface or Mars (until we do some terraforming, mind you).  As with any colonization, Americans settled a new frontier out West completely unaware of what awaited them.  Of course, the tragedy in the American West was man made, whereas Mars has yet to experience our plow.  Yet I would expect stories of black walls of sand (or red on Mars) and ensuing madness as one tries to rid oneself of this sand would be future tales as well should we ever start to settle on the surface of Mars. 

In fact, NASA is currently tracking a massive dust storm developing on Mars that may engulf the entire planet (see an image of a similar storm in 2001 below).  Fortunately, we have two operating rovers on the surface that can observe this storm, as well as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter orbiting the planet with another unique view.  One of the rovers, Opportunity, depends on solar energy and would be most impacted by the storm.  At least in this case it will be quite a show with no danger to farmers.

Great Image: Centaurus A Black Hole

Here is a terrific image of a black hole at the center of Centaurus A, a nearby galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus, taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.  According to the Chandra's website:

Jets and lobes powered by the central black hole in this nearby galaxy are shown by submillimeter data (colored orange) from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile and X-ray data (colored blue) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Visible light data from the Wide Field Imager on the Max-Planck/ESO 2.2 m telescope, also located in Chile, shows the dust lane in the galaxy and background stars. The X-ray jet in the upper left extends for about 13,000 light years away from the black hole. The APEX data shows that material in the jet is travelling at about half the speed of light.

More from the website concerning Chandra, first launched on July 23, 1999:

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the Universe such as exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, and matter around black holes. Because X-rays are absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, Chandra must orbit above it, up to an altitude of 139,000 km (86,500 mi) in space. The Smithsonian's Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA, hosts the Chandra X-ray Center which operates the satellite, processes the data, and distributes it to scientists around the world for analysis. The Center maintains an extensive public web site about the science results and an education program.

Putting the New NASA Telescope to Work

Do you remember the story about those two telescopes the National Reconnaissance Office provided to NASA earlier this year?  Well, NASA issued a request for information (RFI) on Monday to determine how to use them in "innovative and imaginative" ways. 

NASA's Michael Moore, a senior program executive, stated the potential uses can "...range from simple balloon flights to complex missions in science using new technologies under development and the capabilities available with the International Space Station and our commercial space flight partners."

If you have any ideas, you have until January 7, 2013, to submit them to NASA.  The RFI allows only four pages for your idea, so do not be too wordy.  The submissions will be discussed at a 2-day workshop on February 5 and 6, 2013, in Huntsville, AL, with a final report on these proceedings to be finalized May 2013.

By The Way: The World is Not Ending

In about a month's time, or on December 21, 2012, to be exact, the world is supposed to end.  I just wanted to remind everyone again that this may be a slight exaggeration.  Hence, commence with your Christmas shopping. 

The story of the Mayan calendar that supposedly foretold this disaster was updated earlier this year based on findings in Xultún, Guatemala.  The wall paintings, some of the few remaining writings from a period almost obliterated by the book-burning Spanish, tells a story of time being recycled rather than ending.  As the New York Times wrote:

Rest assured, however, that nothing written on those walls foretells the world coming to an end on Dec. 21, 2012, as some have feared through a misinterpretation of the Maya Long Count calendar. That date is simply when one cycle of the Maya calendar ends and a new one begin...A change in the Long Count cycle, said Dr. Aveni, an astroarchaeologist, is like the odometer of a car rolling over from 120,000 to 130,000. “The car gets a step closer to the junkyard as the numbers turn over,” he said. “The Maya just start over.”

Amazon.com did well last holiday when everyone was buying books about the coming disaster, just like they will now do well with more books debunking this story.  Never underestimate the profitability of gullibility.

Happy Birthday, Carl Sagan!

Okay, I am a few days late since his birthday was last Friday (November 9), but I did not want the occasion to pass without a quick note.  While Dr. Sagan passed away about 16 years ago, his papers, books and television series Cosmos, as well as the Carl Sagan Memorial Station on Mars, are constant reminders of the talents and hard work he brought to astronomy and cosmology.  He was the great popularizer of science, as well as a social critic forever warning us of our blind spots.  In this 1994 interview with Anne Kalosh, he voiced his concerns:

We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster. 

A nice way to remember Dr. Sagan is to listen to his words in this video about this Pale Blue Dot we call home. 

Senator Coburn's Waste Book and NASA

Last month, Senator Coburn recently released his 2012 Waste Book, a government waste-watching effort of his for many years running. The Senator notes in his foreword:

Thousands, millions and even billions of dollars in an annual budget in excess of $3.7 trillion may not seem like much to Washington politicians, but these days a dollar can make a big difference for families on fixed budgets.

His latest report targets 100 government programs, including a number of government research programs.  And this year spending on space exploration is one of his targets, including (1) $947,000 spent by NASA's Advanced Food Technology Project to develop about 100 food items that could be consumed on Mars; (2) $1.6 million on apps to market the space program, such as Starlite, a "massive multiplayer online game to simulate the journey to Mars and the life of astronauts on the planet," and a free Xbox download Mars Rover Landing; (3) $771,000 for NASA to maintain a Lessons Learned Information System containing scientific information said to be outdated and little used; (4) $12.4 million for a new visitor center at NASA's Stennis Space Center facility in Mississippi; and (5) $300,000 in defense funds to support the 100-Year Starship Initiative's September symposium for interstellar discussion and related activities. 

While the Senator is looking for "waste," maybe he needs to learn a little more about how science works.  For instance, the Mars food project sounds like an excellent idea if we truly have our eyes set on a trip to the Red Planet. As part of the program, we are told:

Six volunteers will head into a barren landscape in Hawaii to simulate a 120-day Mars mission. In exchange, they receive an all-expenses-paid trip, plus $5,000 each, for completing the journey.
Volunteers will perform the activities Mars explorers might do, including wearing space suits and taking “Navy showers,” in order to see how different foods might affect their moods and health. In keeping with the purpose of the food study, one of the stated primary procedures for the participants is to “consume only ‘instant’ foods and foods prepared from shelf stable ingredients…and rate these foods.”Preparation for this extreme food-tasting challenge starts before the 120-day “mission.” Participants will attend a four-day workshop, and a two-week training exercise in the months leading up to the simulation, slated for early 2013.

And a quick look at the "outdated" Lessons Learned Information System shows information from the 1970s through 2012, so I am not sure what the report finds so troubling.  Finally, I am glad someone is thinking in terms of 100 years since Congress is unable to think past the next election.  Here is the mission of the 100-Year Starship Initiative:

100 Year Starship will pursue national and global initiatives, and galvanize public and private leadership and grassroots support, to assure that human travel beyond our solar system and to another star can be a reality within the next century.  100 Year Starship will unreservedly dedicate itself to identifying and pushing the radical leaps in knowledge and technology needed to achieve interstellar flight while pioneering and transforming breakthrough applications to enhance the quality of life on earth. We will actively include the broadest swath of people in understanding, shaping, and implementing our mission.

That said, money does not grows on trees and projects should held accountable, particularly in this time of tight budgets.  Yet this summary of problems strikes me more as overeager staffers trying to have fun at the cost of science so their boss can make a splash.  We need to have a real discussion about the merits of each program find ways to get even more funding to promising ideas that steer us towards a better future.