McCain For Human Space Exploration, Obama Not So Much

With the upcoming November elections in the United States, both John McCain and Barack Obama are cementing their positions regarding various subjects--including the Vision for Space Exploration.

(Orlando Sentinel) U.S. Sen. John McCain took one small step -- but not a giant leap -- toward outlining his NASA policy today by announcing his support for the agency's moon-Mars program in a release that commended NASA on its 50th birthday.



"As President, I will act to make ensure our astronauts will continue to explore space, and not just by hitching a ride with someone else. I intend to make sure that the NASA constellation program has the resources it needs so that we can begin a new era of human space exploration," said the Republican presidential candidate in a statement. The impact was perhaps diminished somewhat by the statement's failure to capitalize "Constellation."



Meant to replace the space shuttle, set to retire in 2010, the Constellation program aims to send astronauts to the Moon, and eventually Mars, aboard a series of new rockets and capsules.

John McCain has previously stated his interest in sending a man to Mars, while Barack Obama has largly "danced around the issue," supporting robotic exploration but speaking nothing about landing people on other worlds.

(Orlando Sentinel) None of them included manned missions to the moon or Mars –- pillars of NASA’s current exploration agenda. Patti Grace Smith, former Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation with the Federal Aviation Administration, said Obama instead was focused on:



1. Closing the gap between the shuttle and its replacement.

2. Completing the International Space Station.

3. Using NASA to monitor climate change.

4. Supporting scientific research

5. Keeping weapons out of space



You can hear her presentation here, about 20 minutes into the panel discussion (first video). After this posting, the Obama campaign forwarded an e-mail from Patti Grace Smith, which notes she was "summarizing points that were already released as part of Obama's plan" and that she is not a representative for Obama, just an "early Obama supporter and fundraiser."

Even though neither campaign has expressed a desire to fully fund NASA (which would actually allow them to accomplish these visionary goals), McCain has at least shown an interest in expanding our civilization beyond our homeworld, instead of viewing the solar system through the lenses and instruments of robots.



While the space community needs to work with both parties in order to ensure that space exploration does not become a partisan issue, they should be more than willing to vote against candidates content to keeping the human race Earth bound.

Martian Desalination Factories: Providing Clean Water And Iron?

Whether or not Mars held oceans on its surface in the past, one thing is clear--there is a lot of water on the red planet. Despite most of it being frozen, future astronauts will probably have to filter the Martian water in order to be able to drink it safely.



Even though Mars has an abundance of water (not to mention soil that may be able to grow Asparagus), the planet lacks major known resources of any kind--especially in the "metal department."



While some may suggest future colonists scour the crimson world in search of resources (or import them from the asteroid belt), it may be better for future settlers to simply collect from the water they filtrate via desalination factories.

(Globes Online) A study by "Globes" found that that the Ashkelon desalination plant, produces 6,500 cubic meters of fresh water a day, and discharges iron into the Mediterranean as a byproduct. The 100-million cubit meter a year plant is owned by the VID consortium, VID is consortium of IDE Technologies Ltd. and Veolia Water SA. [...]



During the reverse osmosis desalination process, the facility removes iron from the seawater before it its pushed through the desalination membranes that produce fresh water. Ministry of Environmental Protection officials from the Coastal and Marine Division told "Globes" that they were unaware that the Ashkelon facility discharges this iron into the sea, in the form of "red water", and that they were taken by surprise when they learned about it.

Although Israel's desalination plants (or factories) will have to be improved in order to reduce (or hopefully eliminate) the iron being fed back into the oceans, these factories may have stumbled upon a unique way for future colonists to extract metals from Martian water.



Since Mars has plenty of rust within its soil, there is a good chance that a large percentage of that has mixed in with its water. While this is no guarantee that humanity would be able to turn "rust into iron," these desalination factories might be able to extract some iron from the crimson planet's "water supply."



(Image Credit: House Renovation Tips)

Google Celebrates NASA At 50

For those of you who daily use the search engine giant, Google has decided to join in the "festivities" by temporarily redesigning their logo in order to honor the space program.



On July 29^th, 1958, NASA came into being in a direct response to the USSR's launch of Sputnik. Eleven years later NASA was able to land a man on the Moon, which helped spark our young species quest to ultimately colonize our solar system (and beyond).



While the agency has had its ups and downs, its successes and failures, one thing still holds true regarding NASA--no one has come even close to achieving what this agency has (as far as sending humans and robots to scour our solar system goes).



So happy birthday NASA! Here's to 50 more years of success, and hopefully you will be celebrating your 100^th birthday on another world.

Carnival Of The Space Geeks! (63 And 64)

Note: Since I missed the Carnival of space from two weeks ago (hosted by Jon Voisey over at the Angry Astronomer), here is a brief recap below.

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Articles from the 63^rd Carnival of space ranged from the hazards of retrieving Martian soil, to colonizing other star systems, to some potential sad news regarding Centauri A (which is a little over four light years away from Earth).



Here are a few stories readers may be interesed in.

• Louise RioFrio from A Babe in the Universe discusses the latest hints of water existing on the Moon, an item that may make living lunar side a reality.


• Jennifer Ouellette of Twisted Physics highlights some very tough organisms who are able to withstand high degrees of radiation. Hopefully scientists can exploit their genes, as it may help humanity live upon radiation safe worlds.


• Dr. Bruce Cordell via 21^st Century Waves makes some predictions regarding "the timing" of us colonizing the Moon, as well as some unfortunate news for Martian enthusiasts.


• David Portree from Altair VI talks about using lunar regolith as a propellant, an item that may help cut down the cost of interplanetary space travel.

Those were just a few of the many interesting articles from the Carnival of space two weeks ago, so be sure to read them all (if you have the time).

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Last weeks Carnival of Space was hosted by Bruce of Music of the Spheres! Articles mentioned there ranged from how to weigh a black hole to stunning images of the Moon (courtesy of Japan's lunar satellite) as well as to why our Sun is classified as a "dwarf" star.



A few articles of interest include:

• Ray Villard (of Cosmic Ray) goes in depth about the dwarf planet Ceres, and why we may eventually land upon the tiny world.


• Nancy Atkinson (who writes for Universe Today) wonders if humanity should build floating space cities above Venus's atmosphere, which could serve as a mid-point between Mercury and Earth.


• Brian Wang from Next Big Future informs everyone that the researchers have been able to create a carbon nanotube 30 centimeters long! (which is good news for the space elevator community).

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out the rest of the Carnival of Space over at Music of the Spheres!



For those of you desiring to submit your article to the next Carnival, please visit Universe Today for more details on how to enter.



(Image Credit: NASA)

More Radiation Safe Worlds (Around Saturn)

(Image: Saturn's radiation belts, Credit: NASA / JPL / APL)

Despite the fact that planetary magnetic fields provide shelter against deadly solar radiation, they are also accompanied with radiation belts, an item some would consider a mixed blessing.



While Earth, Callisto and Titan comprise the three major radiation safe worlds (at least when it comes to raising kids), two other icy worlds--Dione and Rhea--join the list as they orbit beyond Saturn's radiation belts (and within its magnetic field).

















Hopefully as technology improves (especially when it comes to building radiation resistant habitats), Saturn's other icy worlds will be safe enough for future colonists to establish outposts upon--without the fear of contracting cancer due to radiation exposure.



Although most of Saturn's residents will probably raise their kids upon Titan (because of its higher gravity), Dione and Rhea will probably attract a significant population due to its access to view the stars above (not to mention Saturn as well).



Update (7/21): Fixed excel sheet embedding code.

Welcome To Venus (Your Interplanetary Way Station)

(Inspired by Nancy Atkinson of Universe Today)



Venus, a world shrouded in dense clouds of sulfuric acid holds little promise of ever hosting future settlers.



Once thought to harbor a dense jungle underneath its "steamy atmosphere," Venus is now known to be an inhospitable world due to its crushing atmosphere and deadly climate.



Even though living upon the planet may be impossible (if not impractical), Venus may have a significant purpose for future space travelers beyond using the barren world as a convenient garbage dump.



Orbiting the sun at approximately 108 million kilometers, a space station orbiting Venus would have the opportunity to help resupply traveling shuttles, rocket ships, etc., braving the vaccum of space.



This would help not only cut down the cost of traveling to Mercury, but time as well (since spacecraft could always use the planet as a sling shot towards Mercury or Earth).



Since these future space stations would probably serve as interplanetary rest stops, they would probably have to be built with artificial gravity in mind, lest colonists suffer the side effects of micro gravity.



While Venus will unlikely boast a large population when compared to Mars, Ganymede and Callisto, its economy may rival that of its more "fertile" siblings orbiting the Sun.

Will ARCA Become The Lunar FedEx Of The Future? (GLXP)

Last year, FedEx launched a humerous Superbowl commercial, joking about how the company was willing to service businesses located anywhere--even on the Moon.



Even though FedEx currently has no plans to service companies located off world, about 14 teams are determined to send their little robots across the lunar surface in order to claim the multimillion dollar prize offered by Google.



While many of the teams hope to secure the "purse prize," in the hopes of attracting future investments (not to mention media attention), one contestant from Romania may find itself in a lucrative position of helping to send small packages inexpensively towards the lunar surface.

Although the Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association's (or ARCA) unique balloon-rocket-lander system will give them an advantage over the other teams competing in the Google Lunar X-Prize, it may also provide them with an opportunity to license their technology to packaging transportation services such as UPS, DHL and even FedEx.



After all, if NASA is going to establish lunar bases (not to mention China and Japan), then these companies may be interested in positioning themselves as the primary carrier for delivering Lunar packages.



(Image Credit: ARCA)