Transitioning to WordPress (site will be down over the weekend)

After moving one blog mostly over to WordPress (2.8), I'm moving the second one as well. I'm not doing this out of the joy for WordPress (as I think Blogger has many superior features, especially when it comes to media content and blogging).

However the "shell" of WP is much more user friendly, and since my only (major) complaints about WordPress are behind the scenes, I'll transition for the sake of my readers.

Stay tuned for the new template.

Switching To WordPress

After months of debate I have decided to switch two of my blogs (IsraGood and Colony Worlds) from Blogger to WordPress.

Now I'm not making this decision based on "WordPress is better than Blogger" because IMHO they both have strenghths where the other has weaknesses.

Anyways both IsraGood & Colony Worlds will be down throughout the day, as I import comments, posts and attempt to maintain permalinks on the site.

I will also be sporting new premium themes for each site so stay tuned!!

--Posted via iPhone

Carnival Of The Space Geeks (100 And 101)

The 100th Carnival of Space (note: we've had that many already?!) was hosted by Brian Ventrudo upon One Minute Astronomer which featured many interesting articles ranging from deadly neutron stars to extraterrestrial tweeting to words of Wisdom from NASA's former leader, Mike Griffin.

Interesting articles within our star system included:

• David Portree (from Beyond Apollo) highlights a previous plan to land a man on Mars.
• Ken Murphy of Out of the Cradle reviews the Orphans of Apollo film, which focuses on the private sectors attempts at making space a reality beyond governmental employees.

Be sure to check out the rest of the entries on One Minute Astronomer--and without further delay here is last week's Carnival of Space which was hosted by Davide Portree on Robot Explorers.

Interesting articles ranged from space diamonds to extraterrestrial ponderings to close encounters with the asteroid kind.

A few interesting posts within our star system included:

• Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams makes a strong case for not only solar sails (which could reduce the travel time between gas giants) but for exploration as well.
• Stuart Atkinson from Cumbrian Sky goes in depth regarding NASA's Lunar hesitation regarding Moon bases.

There were many other interesting articles (so be sure to read the rest!), and for those of you thinking about joining in on the next round of space geek madness, be sure to check out Universe Today for more details on how to enter.

Lunar Dust Dilemma Solved (Via Space Umbrellas?)

Despite having the potential to feed our energy gluttonous world, lunar dust can be fetal to both humans and our robot friends, not to mention very electric (thanks in part to the solar wind).

While scientists have suggested melting down nearby Moon soil in order to counter the rough dust particles, it may be better to construct large space umbrellas thanks to new research regarding lunar dust.

(Moon Today) "Before you can manage the dust, you have to understand what makes it sticky," says Brian O'Brien, the sole author of the paper. His analysis is the first to measure the strength of lunar dust's adhesive forces, how they change during the lunar day -- which lasts 710 hours -- and differ on vertical and horizontal surfaces. O'Brien used data from the matchbox-sized Dust Detector Experiments deployed on the Moon's surface in 1969 during the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions. [...]

O'Brien found that later, as the Sun rose and the angle of incidence of the Sun's rays on the dusty vertical surface facing east decreased, the electrostatic forces on the vertical cell weakened. The tipping point was reached when the Sun was at an angle of about 45 degrees: then the pull of lunar gravity counteracted the adhesive forces and made the dust start falling off. All dust had fallen by lunar night.

"These are the first measurements of the collapse of the cohesive forces that make lunar dust so sticky" O'Brien says.

If the Sun is really influencing the stickiness of lunar dust, then the easiest way to combat it may be to erect an enormous space umbrella over the Lunar base.

While this may not give a future settlement an aesthetic look (which would not matter unless one was into the lunar hotel business), it could help reduce the amount of dust that makes it inside these future space habitats (a feature that may appeal to long term residents).

(Image Credit: Fashionably Geek)

Did Somebody Say Anti-Germ Space Paint?

Aside from radiation, micro gravity and cabin fever, keeping a space ship clean can easily spell the difference between life and death.

Since micro gravity has a way of encouraging the growth of deadly organisms, future explorers will probably have to spend a lot of time keeping their "space trailer" squeaky clean--especially the walls.

While cleaning up the space ship may appeal to those in love with Mr. Clean, it may be better for space agencies to coat their space craft walls with anti-germ paint instead.

(Fox News) Scientists at the University of South Dakota have invented a new germ-killing molecule that can be added to commercial brands of paint to give the paint long-lasting antimicrobial properties.

The molecule includes a bleach-like substance called an N-halamine. N-halamines are already used widely, but the South Dakota researchers were able to develop a new type known as Cl-TMPM. [...]

In tests, Staphylococcus aureus organisms were killed with 10 minutes of contact, and E coli organisms were killed with 5 minutes of contact. Paint treated with Cl-TMPM was even effective against the superbug MRSA and other drug-resistant bacteria.

Unfortunately the new paint is only effective against a small selection of organisms, although hopefully scientists will be able to expand it to a variety of organisms known to infest human habitats (whether on our homeworld, off world or even in space).

If perfected, this paint would not only save future explorers countless hours in "de-germing" their extra terrestrial habitats, but make living on another world a lot safer as well.

(Image Credit: eHow)

One Small Step Away From The Moon? (NASA)

Despite pursuing a vigorous course to achieve lunarhood on Earth's nearest neighbor, it looks like NASA's plan for a Moon encounter may potentially be delayed by a few years.

(Orlando Sentinel) NASA's internal plans had called for Ares V to go to the moon in 2018, though the agency had announced a public goal of 2020. Internal deadlines are used by NASA to keep programs on track and to provide a margin of error for developmental problems. But because of growing budget woes, the agency is resetting its internal date to 2020. And privately, engineers say that means the public 2020 date to send humans back to the moon is in deepening trouble.

The news is the lastest sign of upheaval in the agency's Constellation Program which has been beset by financial and design trouble for the past few years. There is even talk now of cutting down the maximum number of crew that the Orion capsule can carry from six to four. It is the latest effort by NASA managers to reduce costs and the weight of the spacecraft.

This news (if true) could not have come at a worse time for NASA as the agency is already having trouble securing a leader after Mike Griffin left. Hopefully NASA can get its game on by 2020, otherwise we may see future Lunar citizens speaking Chinese.

Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Alice In Spaceland)

Last week's Carnival of Space was hosted by Alice Enevoldsen upon Alice's AstroInfo which featured posts ranging from hot pink galaxies to our Sun's evil twin brother to even Steven Colbert making history by having a treadmill named after him.

Interesting articles readers here might want to check out include:

• Bruce Irving of Music of the Spheres highlights the Mars 500 mission which will test whether humans can spend 17 months locked inside a tiny trailer--and live to tell the tale (without going insane).
• Ralph Buttigieg from The Discovery Enterprise argues a Venus before Mars approach, an idea that might anger a few individuals (note: I personally think visiting Ceres first would be wiser).
• Brian Wang from Next Big Future reports on (hopefully) promising steps by the private sector to bring about SPS (aka Solar Powered Satellites).
• David Portree of Robot Explores dusts off the NASA archives, exposing the agency's former plans at retrieving Martian soil.

Be sure to read the rest of the entries, and for those of you interested in joining this weeks upcoming Carnival of Space, feel free to contact Universe Today for details on how to enter.

Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Universe Today Plus Moon Surprise)

(Note: Preview from the upcoming Moon film.)

Fraser Cain of Universe Today hosts the 98th Carnival of Space which highlighted articles ranging from the mysteries of dark matter to the hand of Galactus (note: you do remember who Galactus is, right?) to interstellar starships (which may require a lot of fuel).

Articles readers here may want to check out include:

• Brian Wang of Next Big Future posts an interview of Tom Shelley (VP of Marketing for Space Adventures) by Sander Olsen about a round trip rocket ride around the Moon. Starting price: $100 million.
• David Portree from Beyond Apollo highlights some interesting history regarding NASA's failed attempts at establishing an orbital space station during a time when politicians viewed space as a fad.
• Ken Murphy from Out of the Cradle was able to preview the upcoming film Moon, a movie that every space geek (and space geek lover) should see.

Be sure to check out the rest of the entries, and for those of you thinking about joining this weeks upcoming round (note: which this author keeps forgetting) should visit Universe Today for more info.

Are Traditional Space Elevators The Wrong Way Up?

After being first envisioned by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, then perfected by Yuri Artsutanov, Jerome Pearson and Brad Edwards, the space elevator has captured the imaginations of thousands of individuals who believe it's humanities best hope for colonizing the solar system en masse.

This radical space concept led to the creation of two startups (LiftPort and Blackline Ascension), as well as support from NASA who (despite their skepticism) is offering $4 million in prize money towards successful teams/companies (thanks in part to their Centennial Challenge).

Despite the momentum that the space elevator community has built up over the years, their dreams of a 100,000 km "beanstalk" stretching into the heavens may not come to pass as the earliest plans for a structure coming into being hover around 2030.

Rather than spend decades perfecting carbon nanotubes and power climbers (key ingredients if a traditional space elevator is to become a reality), it may be better to focus on Skyhooks (aka orbital space elevators) instead.

Instead of grasping the Earth's surface from either a seaport or a mountain top, a Skyhook would hover 150 km above our home world, giving it several advantages over its earth bound cousins.

While a traditional space elevator would require a massive counterweight at the end (i.e. an asteroid or a large space station), a Skyhook would only need a light counterweight at the top of the structure, which might be feasible with today's technology (not to mention this economy as well).

A Skyhook would also be much shorter than their traditional brethren, spanning a length of no more than 4,000 km compared to 100,000 km for a traditional space elevator. Even if a Skyhook's cable had to be fashioned from carbon nanotubes (which may not be needed as Kevlar and/or Spectra might be sufficient), it would be much easier to fashion due to its shorter length.

Last but not least, Skyhooks would probably not need to beam power to their transport climbers from below, a feat that may be extremely difficult for traditional space elevators (especially 100,000 km away!). Instead, climbers transporting cargo on a Skyhook could be powered by miniature nuclear reactors or via solar power from the rays of the sun.

Although Skyhook's have a significant advantage over their earth bound friends, their Achilles heal lies in the fact one would need to construct a rocket/jet hybrid capable of "breathing air" when flying through our atmosphere, and later on switching to rocket engines when they reach the edge of space.

Fortunately the British are in the process of developing a new craft called Skylon (by Reaction Engines Limited) which may help remove that hurdle, making the construction of a Skyhook possible.

While space elevator enthusiasts may still opt to construct their terrestrial beanstalk in an attempt to link heaven and earth, it may be wiser to focus their efforts on Skyhooks instead--especially now that companies like Lockheed Martin may seriously pursue building a Skyhook which in the end could help open the final frontier to the masses.

Google: We Would Invest In A Space Elevator, But Only If It Worked

Last week, the search engine giant known as Google launched a venture fund creatively known as Google Ventures, which the company will use to invest in startups in and outside of its main industry (example: cleantech, healthcare, bio-tech, etc.).

Erick Schonfeld from TechCrunch had a chance to interview both Google execs running the fund, Bill Maris and Rich Miner (the latter known for helping create the Android OS running on T-Mobile's G1 and other phones), and here is what they had to say regarding a potential investment regarding space elevators.

(TechCrunch) The day of the announcement, I chatted on the phone with Bill Maris and Rich Miner, the two Google executives who are managing the fund to get a sense of what they are interested in and how the fund will work.

It turns out they are open to investing in pretty much anything from the Internet and cloud computing to healthcare and mobile. "We don't want to artificially limit ourselves," says Miner. What about space elevators? "Show me one that works," retorts Maris, "and I will invest in it." The two of them will run the entire fund pretty much by themselves, bringing in other Googlers as needed for expertise and to help evaluate startups.

Note: Emphasis mine.

While Google is not shy about investing in space related projects (after all the founders helped launch the Google Lunar X-Prize a little over a year ago), there seems to be a high amount of skepticism regarding space elevators as a whole--at least among Googler engineers.

Perhaps the newly founded International Space Elevator Consortium could help convince Google that a space elevator is something worth investing in, as gaining the support from a public company could go a long ways towards convincing the masses that this long term project is indeed viable.

Japanese Space Androids To Conquer Lunar Frontier

(Hat Tip: Engadget)

What does an country with moon aspirations do when its rival outnumbers it 10 to 1? Send in the robots of course! It looks as if the Japanese are seriously considering leveraging their silicon friends in order to make lunar life more habitable.

(Times Online) But by 2020, Japan predicts, humanoid robots will be ready to colonise the Moon. [...]

The group's remit was to draft a five-year plan on the development and exploitation of space - a programme for action that was initially to have included the goal of putting a human Japanese astronaut on the Moon within the next 20 years. In the latest plans, though, robots have inherited the prime position in Japan's first – and still unconstructed – lunar lander. Experts have been arguing for years that the country’s aim should be to develop humanoid robots to the point where they are capable of everything people can do, and more.

Unless Japan desires to create Cylons (or worse, Terminators) they may want to refocus their efforts on beefing up their own citizens for the lunar stroll.

Although robots would give the land of the rising sun an early advantage against China, it may also devalue their claims of ownership over certain lunar real estate (as a country would have to have a very good reason for injuring a human as opposed to destroying a machine).

Another Blue Collar Space Job: Firefighters

(Image Credit: NASA, Hat Tip: Gizmodo)

If one were to list which blue collar space jobs would be needed for the future, Firefighters would be right at the top of the list (or at least up there with pig farmers).

Since fires can spread a lot faster in micro gravity than on our home world, NASA is preparing future explorers by equipping them with new ways to douse the space flames.

(MSNBC) "In space, fires are like spheres. They're not shaped like what we have on Earth," said James Butz, vice president of operations for Colorado-based ADA Technologies, which last week announced it had received a grant worth nearly $100,000 from NASA to continue work on an extinguisher that coats fires in a fine mist. [...]

The key to getting the droplets small enough is to use compressed gas. The system uses water and nitrogen so it is environmentally non-toxic and has an unlimited shelf life. Also, because oxygen and nitrogen will be aboard the spacecraft, the extinguisher can be refilled if needed.

This technology will not only be critical for future colonists traveling between the worlds, but also to settlers living upon dwarf worlds (like Ceres and Pluto) where the gravity is not as strong.

Even though NASA is preparing future explorers on how to deal with fires on a smaller scale, they may one day need a more specialized force (especially if humanity begins to thickly populate the spheres that dance around our Sun).

Can A New Spaceship Save Russia?

It looks as if the nation that helped bring us to the stars (via Sputnik) is now seeking to build a spaceship that can not only take them beyond our terrestrial sky, but towards the Moon as well.

(MSNBC) The Russian space agency on Tuesday ordered design work to start for a next-generation spaceship capable of flying missions to the moon, setting the ground for a potential new space race with the United States.

The space agency granted the state-controlled RKK Energiya company the $23 million contract for the initial work on a new, reusable craft to replace the 40-year-old Soyuz spacecraft.

With the world wide recession leaving none unscathed (even the NewSpace industry), it may be difficult for Russia to compete against NASA, although an alliance with China may help them close the gap.

Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Astroengine And Cheap Astronomy)

Two weeks ago, Ian O'Neill of AstroEngine fame hosted the 96^th Carnival of Space. There were many interesting articles posted which ranged from lucky space billionaires to Martian girl rovers to even mentions of a Venus manned mission.

Articles readers here might want to check out include:

• Dr. Bruce Cordell of 21^st Century Waves keeps the faith by forecasting a second renaissance of the space industry within six years!
• Paul Scott Anderson from The Meridiani Journal informs everyone about Martian mud volcanoes which may still be active on the red planet.
• Emily Lakdawalla via The Planetary Society discusses the salt that may keep Martian water unfrozen in a brine like state.

Be sure to check out the rest of the entries over at AstroEngine, as space here fails to mention the other interesting articles (like interstellar probes).


__________________________________

Last week's Carnival of Space was hosted by Steve Nerlich upon Cheap Astronomy, which highlighted many articles ranging from bouncing Martian boulders to who really fathered American space stations to even how to detect exo-planet worlds via their magnetospheres.

Interesting articles readers here may want to check out include:

• Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams fame goes in depth about solar sails, and how desorption can accelerate the craft (making the outer planets more accessible).
• David Portree on Beyond Apollo highlights NASA's past plans for landing several men on Mars.
• Paul Scott Anderson from The Meridiani Journal enlightens us that Saturn's favorite moon Titan may have underground oceans.

More entries can be viewed upon Cheap Astronomy, and for those of you looking to join the next Carnival of Space, feel free to contact Fraser over at Universe Today.

Video: Could Skylon Jets Open Up The Final Frontier?

(Hat Tip: Skymania News)

Finding an inexpensive and effective way to travel beyond the heavens above has been the quest of humanity since the days of the Wright Brothers.

While some see space elevators as the key, it looks as if the British are placing their faith in air breathing Skylon jets.

(New Scientist) Unlike scramjets, Skylon is designed to run in air-breathing mode directly from launch up to a speed of Mach 5.5. At an altitude of 26 kilometres, the engine would switch to conventional rocket power and use onboard oxygen to propel the plane into space.

"It's a pretty unique concept," says Mark Hempsell, director of future programmes at Reaction Engines. "I think at the moment it's the only realistic way to make aircraft vehicles that go into space."

The design should be sufficient to power a 43-tonne plane that can loft 12 tonnes of payload into low-Earth orbit, about half what the space shuttle can carry, the firm says.

If successful, Skylon jets could not only help England leap frog ahead of the competition but also make space affordable for all.

While the Skylon alone will not help humanity become a space faring species, it may reduce the overall cost of traveling beyond the sky, making it easier for our species to construct orbital space stations (and perhaps even a modified space elevator, LockHeed style!).

Nitrogen Powered Rockets (For Titan, Triton And Pluto?)

(Image: A prototype of the Mini-Helicon Plasma Thruster. Credit: Donna Coveney / MIT)

Out "in the black" where the suns rays are much dimmer, future explorers will have to come up with innovative ways to travel to and from the gas giants, dwarf planets and the various moons that dance around their parent worlds.

While solar sails, magnetic sails and nuclear rockets could provide some measure of transport, they will probably be too expensive for the average star ship.

Since mining hydrogen directly from gas giants is suicidal due to their deep gravity wells and very fierce winds (with the only exception being Uranus), colonists beyond Jupiter may look towards nitrogen to solve their space transport needs.

(Space Travel) Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say their new rocket -- called the Mini-Helicon Plasma Thruster -- is much smaller than other rockets of its kind and could consume just one-tenth the fuel used by conventional systems. [...]

The scientists said the Mini-Helicon is the first rocket to run on nitrogen, the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere. Batishchev noted, however, it could be years before the technology can be used commercially.

While this technology will have some value on our home world, these nitrogen powered rockets may prove invaluable to worlds like Titan, Triton and Pluto who seem to be blessed with an abundance of nitrogen, respectively.

If future settlers could find ways to harvest this element from these worlds, then humanity may discover a means to travel not only throughout the outer planets, but perhaps beyond the Kuiper belt as well.

Rechargable Batteries (For Off World Settlers)

Regardless of how humanity decides to power its off world settlements (whether by solar power, geothermal, solar steam, or even algae), they are going to need an efficient and quick way to transfer the energy to not only space habitats, but future rovers as well.

While NASA and Germany have come up with innovative ways at storing energy, respectively, it looks as if researchers from Massachusetts may have developed a way to recharge electrical batteries at lightening speeds.

(Times Online) Scientists in the United States have invented a battery that can charge in seconds, promising a revolution in power storage that could also help green cars and renewable energy.

The advance allows lithium-ion batteries, the standard variety used in consumer electronics and cells for electric or hybrid vehicles, both to charge and discharge stored energy more quickly than at present. [...]

"If you can charge your phone in 30 seconds, that becomes a life changer," said Gerbrand Ceder, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who led the research. "It could change the way we think about technology like this: you would literally be able to charge up while you stand and wait."

This technology could enable future colonists to create fleets of rovers to travel across the surfaces of the Moon, Mars, as well as Jupiter's lunar children (Ganymede and Callisto to be exact).

Settlers could construct electric charging stations to supply rovers en route to distant destinations, thereby enabling explorers to travel their world without fear of running out of energy.

While this technology has yet to be perfected (not to mention tested on Earth), it may help humanity expand across the various worlds that orbit around our golden star Sol.

Mars Probably Has Liquid Water (Too Bad Its Very Salty)

(Image: Salty water droplets on Phoenix Mars Lander. Credit: NASA) 

With temperatures plunging below -100 degrees (in both Fahrenheit and Celsius), Mars is not exactly known as warm and friendly place to live upon.

While the red planet does boast an abundance of ice, it looks as if scientists have discovered that liquid water can exist upon its surface--in an extremely salty form.

(SpaceRef) Temperature fluctuation in the arctic region of Mars where Phoenix landed and salts in the soil could create pockets of water too salty to freeze in the climate of the landing site, Renno says.

Photos of one of the lander's legs show droplets that grew during the polar summer. Based on the temperature of the leg and the presence of large amounts of "perchlorate" salts detected in the soil, scientists believe the droplets were most likely salty liquid water and mud that splashed on the spacecraft when it touched down. The lander was guided down by rockets whose exhaust melted the top layer of ice below a thin sheet of soil. [...]

The wet chemistry lab on Phoenix found evidence of perchlorate salts, which likely include magnesium and calcium perchlorate hydrates. These compounds have freezing temperatures of about -90 and -105 Fahrenheit respectively. The temperature at the landing site ranged from approximately -5 to -140 Fahrenheit, with a median temperature around -75 Fahrenheit. Temperatures at the landing site were mostly warmer than this during the first months of the mission.

Perchlorate salts are not exactly healthy for humans, and their presence on Mars comes with a double blessing.

While this means that future colonists may have an easier time storing water (at least in liquid form), it also means that it will have to be heavily filtered if humans (not to mention our animal friends) are to ever drink it.

Why Japan Needs To Embrace Human Spaceflight

(Hat Tip: Hobby Space)

Earlier this month, the land of the rising sun decided to reverse its robotic space policy and actually embrace the idea of sending flesh and blood to explore the heavens above.

(Mainichi Daily News) The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) wants "to have the technology for independent manned missions," President Keiji Tachikawa announced last month, in a reversal of Japan's policy against manned space exploration.

The plan on manned space missions was due to be mentioned in a meeting of an expert panel at the government's space development strategy headquarters on Friday. While not setting any specific time frame, it does call for a review of current policy on manned space missions as part of plans for the proposed Space Solar Power System (SSPS), and a future manned mission to the moon.

This is a smart (although late) move for Japan, who had to watch as their rival China conducted its first spacewalk (establishing the Asian giant as the dominant space power).

Although Japan has successfully launched a satellite around the Moon (in HD nonetheless), they need to place more emphasis on sending their own citizens into space, especially now that China is intent on building a military space station by the end of next year.

Unlike their silicon beasts that roam the heavens above, a human presence will help the Japanese establish a public claim to outer space (as robots can always be blasted out of the sky without raising too much public outrage).

Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Out Of The Cradle)

Note: After taking a mini break from blogging (at least upon my Blogger blogs), not to mention migrating to HostMonster from GoDaddy (which took a lot longer than expected as there were quite a few errors to resolve) Colony Worlds is back from the cone of silence!

To kick things off, here is the latest Carnival of Space from Ken Murphy of Out of the Cradle. Interesting articles highlighted the search for anti-matter galaxies to converting the dwarf world Ceres into an intergalactic radio to even a free lunar book to inspire the children future lunar explorers.

A few articles that readers here may enjoy include:

• Brian Wang of Next Big Future mentions China's plans on building a military space station (which ironically may help "inspire" humanity to settle the heavens above us).
• Dr. Bruce Cordell from 21st Century Waves discusses India and NASA's attempts at seeking out lunar water (despite the odds).
• Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams highlights an interesting debate (started by Charlie Stross) regarding whether or not humanity will aggressively colonize our solar system within the 21st century.

Be sure to visit the rest of the entries from the Carnival of Space, as well as check out the past carnivals over on Universe Today!