A Year in Hawaii

Who could argue with an itinerary that puts you in Hawaii for a year? Add a nice secluded location with beautiful views. And then throw in a few companions who can enjoy it all with you.

This is what you would get, according to one "tourist":

 It is kind of like having roommates that just are always there and you can never escape them so I'm sure some people can imagine what that is like and if you can't then just imagine never being able to get away from anybody.

That tourist is NASA mission commander Carmel Johnston as quoted in a BBC article.  She and her five teammates (three men and three women) have just completed a year on the northern slope of Mauna Loa in Hawaii replicating the harsh realities of living on the surface of Mars.  It is all part of a NASA program called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS). It represents the longest period of time a US-sponsored team has tested the human conditions on Mars.  Russia had its own similar experiment years ago that lasted longer

While NASA still has plenty of spacecraft and equipment issues to resolve before a real mission to Mars, it is important to understand the human element before we set out.  We already know robotic rovers can last for years on the Martian surface.  But how about humans? The results of HI-SEAS are encouraging, yet just the beginning.

Juno Completes First Jupiter Flyby

NASA reported that the Juno spacecraft completed its first of 36 planned flybys of Jupiter.

Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, stated:

We are getting some intriguing early data returns as we speak...It will take days for all the science data collected during the flyby to be downlinked and even more to begin to comprehend what Juno and Jupiter are trying to tell us.

The image above is the first of many coming our way. 

Third World Space Program?

"I wouldn’t say we have a Third World space program...We have very talented and capable people."

--Senator Rubio contradicting Donald Trumps earlier statement, when he said during a Florida visit, "Look what's happened with our whole history of space and leadership...Look what's going on folks. We're like a Third World nation." So much for inspiring leadership. 

A New Planetary Neighbor

It appears we overlooked our nearest neighboring star, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri, as a potential host of planets. Until now.

A new paper published in Nature tells the story:

At a distance of 1.295 parsecs, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun’s closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface.

How did we miss it? It seems we have been more interested in stars like our own sun, but attitudes are changing. 

Now that the speculation has started, we can expect much more attention regarding his new world.

Maybe this would have been as easier trip for the voyagers in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Aurora rather than Tau Ceti, which is about three times more distant. It seems to be another case of reality trumping fiction. 

Flying Bum: The Name Says it All

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a Flying Bum! Okay, it's a crashing Bum in what was only the second maiden flight of this canceled US DOD airship later revived by Hybrid Air Vehicles and a grant from the United Kingdom.

Officially called the Airland 10, the part-dirigible hit a telegraph pole in England earlier today and crash landed. Even the Wright Brothers had a rocky start, but this aircraft is not so new. 

While America aims for Mars, Great Britain aims for a level (pole-free) cow pasture.

Mars Society Debate: ARM

If you were planning to attend the 2016 Mars Society Convention (or have yet to decide) you can watch a debate on the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) with some notable speakers. You can decide if ARM is an essential part of a Martian mission or an unnecessary diversion.

The Mars Society announcement notes:

ARM is intended to send a robotic spacecraft to a Near Earth Asteroid to collect a small boulder from the object and move it to cislunar space. Astronauts will then visit the captured boulder during a planned Orion mission in 2026 in order to test deep space operations in advance of a trip to the Red Planet.

Speakers for ARM will be (1) Dr. Louis Friedman, Co-Founder & Executive Director Emeritus, The Planetary Society; (2) Dr. Thomas Jones, Former NASA Astronaut, Author and Former Member, NASA Advisory Council.

Speakers against the mission will be (1) Dr. Robert Zubrin, President & Founder, The Mars Society, and President, Pioneer Astronautics; and (2) Art Harman, Director, Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration, and Former Legislative Director, Office of Congressman Steve Stockman.

The debate takes place on Thursday, September 22nd, at 7:30pm at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

It should be an informative debate on a key piece of the puzzle as we wind our way to Mars.

Revisiting 2001: A Space Odyssey

If you too are a fan of Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, you should enjoy this 1976 recording of Arthur C. Clarke's reading from his book that inspired the film (which itself was inspired by his short story The Sentinel).

And as an extra treat, I included a video from 2014 where Dr. Brian Cox and actors from the film discuss its meaning then and now. 

Great stuff that shows us how science fiction can drive a civilization towards a better future, as well as a better understand of itself. 

Great Image: Martian Landscape

NASA's Curiosity recently provided us with another impressive view of the Martian surface.  Here is the story from NASA:

This 360-degree vista was acquired on Aug. 5, 2016, by the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover as the rover neared features called "Murray Buttes" on lower Mount Sharp. The dark, flat-topped mesa seen to the left of the rover's arm is about 50 feet high and, near the top, about 200 feet wide. 

Another Home 39 Light Years Away?

Gliese 1132b, which is about 1.2 times the size of Earth, orbits the red dwarf star GJ 1132, which itself is only about 20 percent the size of our sun. And now we learn the exoplanet, about 39 light years from Earth, may contain oxygen in its atmosphere. 

But that is as far as it goes. Oxygen or not, the planet seems hostile to life. As noted in Sci-News, Dr. Laura Schaefer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has bad news:

On cooler planets, oxygen could be a sign of alien life and habitability...But on a hot planet like GJ 1132b, it’s a sign of the exact opposite – a planet that’s being baked and sterilized.

How hot is it? About 450 degrees Fahrenheit. So not the a very likely candidate for life as we know it. 

This is just a theory for now, yet science is taking us further and further each year, and atmospheric studies of exoplanets is just around the corner. So the search will continue. 

Mythology and Space Exploration

"Among the myths we have used to name and claim the heavens is Cassiopeia, a constellation in the northern hemisphere. It is named for a mythical queen of Aethiopia, whom Poseidon punished for her vanity by lashing her to her throne. Cassiopeia’s daughter, Andromeda, was also made to suffer for her mother’s sins by being chained naked to a rock, where she waited for the sea monster Cetus to rape her. In the myth, Perseus saved Andromeda and took her as his wife, but as a constellation, she still waits chained to her rock."

--Leila A. McNeill in her Aron article "The Struggle of Women in Science is Written in the Stars." Her piece shows how the modern search for our place in the universe still blooms from some pretty archaic thinking. 

The Viking Anniversary and NASA Planning

It was 40 years ago this summer that the Viking 1 and 2 missions landed on Mars (the first landing on July 20, 1976 (Viking 1) and the second on September 3, 1976 (Viking 2).  The Viking missions represent the first foray into a long relationship with the Red Planet that has led to many more missions, greater insights, and planned manned missions.

Now NASA has chosen six companies to work on space habitats that will move us towards Mars. The six companies are:

- Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas
- Boeing of Pasadena, Texax
- Lockheed Martin of Denver
- Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia
- Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado
- NanoRacks of Webster, Texas  

Jason Crusan, director of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems, stated:

The next human exploration capabilities needed beyond the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule are deep space, long duration habitation and in-space propulsion. We are now adding focus and specifics on the deep space habitats where humans will live and work independently for months or years at a time, without cargo supply deliveries from Earth.

All of this is part of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 program. About $65 million is expected to be expended as part of this 2 year project. 

This is progress, whether we are talking the Moon or Mars.  Clear steps towards such missions will excite the public, engage the private sectors, and hopefully wake up our leaders to the potential of space exploration.  

Image:  Carl Sagan with a model of Viking 1.  No, Sagan did not make it to the surface of Mars, though You can see Dr. Sagan's speech on Mars shortly after the Viking landing here.  

A Strange Orbiting Object

What is 200 kilometers in diameter, located outside the plane of the solar system, and orbits the sun is a direction opposed to everything else in the solar system? Your guess is really as good as anyone else's at this point since scientists are baffled.

This trans-Neptunian object (TNO) is the subject of a New Scientist article that reports on recent findings from the Pan-STARRS 1 Outer Solar System Survey.  The paper associated with this discovery (titled "Discovery of A New Retrograde Trans-Neptunian Object: Hint of A Common Orbital Plane for Low Semi-Major Axis, High Inclination TNOs and Centaurs") labels the newly discovered NTO "Niku" (Chinese for "rebellious").

The article goes on to ponder the cause, be be it billiards among the planets or the mysterious Planet Nine. Just a quick hint - Planet Nine is not a suspect.

It seems we have plenty more to discover about our neighborhood. Who says there's nothing new under the sun (or orbiting it)?

Reign of the Perseids

It sounds like the name of a planet near Vulcan, but Perseids is the name of the meteor shower peeking this evening over the northern hemisphere.

Blame it on a comet called Swift-Tuttle, which takes 133 years to orbit the sun. Each August the Earth passes through the comet's tale, creating a magnificent show. 

The Irish Times noted the Perseids even inspired John Denver years ago. His song Rocky Mountain High includes the lyrics “The Colorado rocky mountain high/I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky.”

Astronomy can be pretty inspiring. 

North Korea on the Moon?

I am reading news reports that North Korea would like to send a mission to the Moon within 10 years. Is this idea similar to the plot of that movie where the Nazis place a secret base on the dark side of the Moon? 

Hyon Kwang II, director of the scientific research department of North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration, stated:

Even though the U.S. and its allies try to block our space development, our aerospace scientists will conquer space and definitely plant the flag of the DPRK on the moon.

I wonder why. 

Of course, DPRK is an abbreviation for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Why is it every country with "democratic" in its name is never democratic?

With all the trouble that country is causing on planet Earth we certainly do not need it on another world. I may want to see more journeys into space, but this might be one time where I think the space-faring country has more important tasks back here at home.

U.S.S. Enterprise: Cleaning an Icon

The Smithsonian Institute made a film showing the cleaning process the curators went through before displaying the original model of the Enterprise used in the 1960s series. It was an act of devotion that is appreciated by fans around the world.

Vimeo provided this summary of the film:

This is a short film showing the process of the detail paint work on the conservation of the original U.S.S. Enterprise miniature, used in all 79 episodes of the original Star Trek television series. The detail paint work was done between the 11th and the 23rd of April 2016 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The model is now on display in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

If you watched the recent film Star Trek Beyond you might remember a similar scene at the end of the film. However, I believe that the repair process was a little more elaborate and on a larger scale (in the movie, at least). 

Great Image: Orion Nebula

The image above of the Orion Nebula was captured by Josh Borup at the picket post mountain trail head in the Arizon desert during a new moon. Mr. Burup used a Canon T3i and an 80mm Refractor on an Orion Atlas mount.  You can see more photos such as these at The Planetary Society.  You can also see more photos from Mr. Borup at this link. 

Google Goes to the Moon

I am happy to read that a private company has permission to land a rover on the Moon. Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Moon Express the permission, which it sought in part to win the Google Lunar X Prize.  This is a first for commercial space anywhere. 

On its website, Moon Express stated: 

The federal interagency approval of the Moon Express 2017 lunar mission establishes an important precedent for the private sector to engage in peaceful space exploration, bringing with it monumental implications for the advancement of technology, science, research, and development, as well as commercial ventures that expand Earth’s economic sphere.

What is interesting is that private companies have been spending more time talking about private trips to Mars and simply foregoing the Moon until now.  For instance, Mars One is still working on a Martian mission. 

Let's hope we start to see more commercial traffic heading to the moon and elsewhere.

More Discoveries on Planet Earth

Have you heard if Luca? It stands for the Last Universal Common Ancestor and existed when the Earth was only 560 million years old. And what was it ancestor too? Well, life itself, or so some theorize.

It is believed to have thrived in deep sea vents where it served as the source of the life to follow.  However, it was not fully alive as we would define it since it also dependent on chemical components. 

If this is all confusing then I suggest you read the full story in the New York Times. 

And if you are surprised we are unable to agree on the nature of life, remember that this is something we can study here in Earth. It is better answering these questions here before guessing about them on distant worlds we are just starting to bring into focus.