Carnival Of The Space Geeks (To The Tenth Power)

Editor's note: The tenth Carnival of Space is up over at Why Homeschool and has thus far been the best roundup of what is happening in the space arena (at least as far as blogs are concerned).

Some interesting posts include:

• Paul Gilster of Centauri Dreams discusses a new theoretical propulsion system that may enable humanity to travel to the gas giants fairly quickly (and beyond).


• Brian Wang of Advanced Nanotechnology breaks down space solar power to the megawatt level, as well as discusses why finding ways to increase "light power" would benefit Bigelow and NASA space stations.


• James of Surfin' English elaborates on all the fun forms of radiation that can kill us, not to mention why computers enjoy it less than we do.


• Stuart Atkinson who posts at The Verse poetically portrays the thoughts of a Martian rover forced to commit suicide by exploring a deep crater.


• Bigelow Aerospace has some interesting images from their successfully launched Genesis II space station (which I have yet to write a future post on).

But the best post in this carnival goes to Louise Riofrio of A Babe In The Universe whose recent spacesuit design may enable humans to gracefully walk upon Martian and lunar soils.

(A Babe In The Universe) The skintight inner garment is a sandwich of stretchable materiels that zip on like a flightsuit. It is suitable for suborbital and Low Earth Orbit Access, like the "pumpkin suits" used today. Upon exposure to vacuum, the proprietary materiel automatically tightens to compensate. Unlike present-day soft suits, there is no loss of flexibility. The prototype is covered in silver rubber for visibility. [...]

For EVA and planetary exploration, the suit can be armoured. The outer pieces on the chest and arms are made of composite materiels that are stronger than steel. The manufacturer guarantees the materiel to 250 degrees fahrenheit, or the highest likely to be encountered in Space. As on present spacecraft, multiple aluminised layers insulate the wearer from extreme cold. The outer armour can be quickly changed to adapt for different environments. When lunar explorers are ready to return home, the outer layers and all that yucky lunar regolith can be left behind on the Moon.

The most interesting thing about this prototype is the fact that the suit can be customized to fit different needs. For example, a colonist on Mars may require a suit that deals with the potentially toxic soil via winds while on the Moon one may need to design a static free dust to keep lunar soil at bay.

Brian Dunbar over at Space For Commerce is hosting next week's Space Carnival, and for those of you desiring to enter the carnival see this post for details.

Are Nuclear Rockets The Way To Go?

(Image: NASA's Ares V rocket, Credit: NASA via New Space Scientist)


With the cost of space skyrocketing (no pun intended), one scientist has proposed using nuclear rockets in order to cut the expense of space flight.

(New Scientist Space) Carried out by university students funded by CSNR, the study examined the potential savings from incorporating nuclear power into NASA's Ares V, the launch vehicle being developed to haul heavy cargo, including parts for a lunar base, to the Moon.

Under this scenario, the Ares V would use ordinary chemical rockets to launch into Earth orbit, where it would dock with the Orion crew vehicle that would have launched on a separate Ares I rocket. In NASA's current plans, a second stage on the Ares V would then ignite to send the crew and cargo out of Earth orbit and towards the Moon. But in Howe's scenario, this Earth-departure stage would be nuclear-powered instead.

By having the first stage of launch via chemical rockets, scientists could avoid not only mass protests from the anti-nuke crowd, but also ease fears from neighboring nations that a country was launching a nuclear missile at their front door.

Whether people like it or not, nuclear powered rockets may become the future of space travel as solar power and chemical rockets may be limited in power and expense, respectively.

Unless a scientist can find a better way of traveling throughout the cosmos, we may end up having our future descendants laugh at us over our timid behavior about splitting the atom above home world's atmosphere.

Virgin Galactic May Dominate Space Tourism Industry

Image: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo drawing and drop-ship in flight, Credit: Virgin Galactic, via Space.com)

It isn't the fact that Virgin Galactic has a better marketing team, or that it is backed by a billionaire that may ensure its dominance of the space tourism industry. It also has nothing to do with how many future spaceports they will establish, as EADS Astrum may outnumber Virgin in the next decade.

It also has nothing to do with the fact that Virgin spacecraft may be safer than their various rivals (although that in it self is definitely icing on the cake!). The main reason Virgin Galactic may dominate the industry may be the fact that they may be giving passengers 30 minuets of weightlessness in space--five to ten times more than the competition.

(Space.com) What you get for your $200,000 includes three days of pre-flight preparation, bonding and training onsite at the spaceport.

The big day arrives with departure of the White Knight Two that cradles SpaceShipTwo, hauling the vehicle and passengers to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) in altitude for release.

Space travelers will then be rocketed to around 360,000 feet (109,728 meters) in altitude, some 68 miles (109 kilometers) high. The pilots will glide the spaceship at just over stall speed to allow maximum time, around 30 minutes, for passengers to press their faces against large windows that offer a view of more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) in any direction. The suborbital journey ends with SpaceShipTwo gliding to a runway landing.

Note: Emphasis is of the editor, and not Space.com.

Virgin Galactic seems to have already secured well over 200 clients from 30 nations ranging from the US, Russia, Japan and even New Zealand!

By giving people the opportunity to experience 30 minuets of spacial bliss, Virgin may force the competition to either "keep up or keep out" of the market, improving the overall experience of space flight for everyone.

Europe Constructs A Space Dump Truck

(Image: 20 Ton ATV developed by Europe, Credit: ESA via BBC)

With America and Asia taking most of the space glory, Europe has decided to make its mark in the industry by constructing a large "space truck."

Although designed for transporting food, water, oxygen and technology to the International Space Station (aka ISS), this space craft can will also give the ISS a rocket boost--not to mention serve as a solar dump truck.

(BBC News) New oxygen supplies brought up by the ATV are simply vented into the station; water is carried out in bags; fuel is piped across to Zvezda.

The ATV will stay at the station for six months. At intervals of 10 to 45 days, the vehicle's thrusters will be used to boost the platform's altitude.

Over time, the ISS crew will use the vehicle as a refuse skip, filling the cargo section with all their waste. After undocking, the ATV will destroy all this material - and itself - in a controlled re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

Although we often dream of space stations "reusing, reducing and recycling" 100 percent of everything they bring on board, the reality is that astronauts are going to need the option of throwing some items away.

Since transporting garbage back to Earth is expensive (and releasing it into space can cause future problems), storing space junk inside this ATV may help decrease the future supply of orbital garbage that dangerously circles our planet.

Making Artificial Life More Life Like

(Image: Japanese robot venture Squse President Mikio Shimizu, Credit: Space Daily)

Japan, probably the worlds undisputed king of robotic technology (or at least the nation with greatest recognition in the field) had released a robotic hand prototype that looks "almost human."

(Space Daily) A Japanese robot maker on Tuesday unveiled what it called the world's first prototype of an artificial hand with "air muscles" that can do even delicate work like picking up a raw egg. Squse, a Kyoto-based robot and factory automation manufacturer, said it has developed a 400-gramme (14 ounce) hand with five human-sized fingers with artificial fibres that can be controlled by air pressure.

"So far, robots have an image of helping people do heavy lifting, but we aim at delicate work as a human hand can do," company president Mikio Shimizu said.

Despite this hand being "eerily similar" to our own flesh and blood, this technology may prove to be useful in constructing androids who can operate machinery in places too hazardous due to radiation.

On a more distant scale, these artificial limbs could also serve as replacements for future colonists, in the event of one injuring a hand (or foot) beyond repair.

Another Martian Rover On The Way?

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/J.-L. Lacour, CEA)


It looks as if NASA is scheduled to send yet another rover to explore the Martian surface. But unlike its previous cousins, Spirit and Opportunity this robot will be armed with a fairly powerful "weapon."

(Space Spin) When the JPL-NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover launches in 2009, it will carry this combination laser-telescope unit and enable the gadget-packed rover to know a great deal about rocks in its general vicinity. The ChemCam package includes a mast unit, projecting above the rover with a laser and telescope, and a body unit, the brains of the beast, with three spectrographs and the instrument controls. [...]

The ChemCam laser emits very short pulses of 7 nanoseconds, through a small telescope that focuses the beam to a spot where the power density exceeds 10 megawatts per square millimeter, producing a plasma of vaporized material from the target rock. The unit operates on targets at distances between 4 and 30 feet. The unit also contains a camera to take extreme close-up pictures of the targets to show geologic context for each sample. The telescope and electronics were built by CESR, a research institute in Toulouse, France. The mast unit was funded by CNES, the French Space Agency. The full ChemCam flight model will be delivered to JPL in Spring of 2008.

Although the rover's main job will be simply analyzing the geologic activity of Martian rocks, hopefully it can inform scientists whether or not Mars holds any valuable resources upon its rusty soil.

Thus far, Mars is a barren world waiting to be conquered, but until any valuable resources can be located upon the red planet, then humanity may not be able to justify sending people there--at least financially.

Carnival Of The Space Geeks (The Eighth Wonder)

Fraser Cain is hosting the eighth round of the Carnival of Space, and has some fairly interesting posts lined up including:

• Paul Gilster on Centauri Dreams discusses Modeling Exoplanet Atmospheres and makes an interesting note that the further one travels from our Sol Star, the more water we find.


• Dave Rankin on Tales of the Heliosphere discusses how ingrained the 24 hour cycle is to Earth life, which may make colonizing space a little bit more difficult (than previously thought).


• Fraser Cain from Universe Today analyzes the theory about microscopic black holes buzzing inside Earth (scary if you ask me)


• Amanda Bauer on Astropixie reviews how devastating an asteroid impact would be to planet Earth (with a cool video as well!)


• Louise Riofrio from the ever enlightening A Babe In The Universe talks about the beauty and value of the International Space Station, with an image that makes you wish you were there.

But one of the best posts has to go to Henry Cate of Why Homeschool who discusses the future "gold rush" within our asteroid belt:

(Why Homeschool) When I was fourteen I read a book about asteroids. One of the points in the book has stuck with me over a couple decades. The book said that a small asteroid of about one cubic mile was worth about $50 billion. This was in the 1970s. Nowadays the number would be closer to $300 billion. Scientists have found that asteroids have a greater density. There appears to be a greater concentration of metals when compared to the earth. [...]

Early space development may be largely financed by tourists, at least in the short term. Over the years more people and industry will start to move out into space. Mining the asteroids may prove to be the next gold rush. Stories are told of miners walking along the river banks picking up nuggets of gold. It may be that at some point men in rocket ships will be able to fly to the asteroids and pick up valuable metals.

The asteroid belt could very well be the key towards humanity colonizing our solar system. Although the influx of metals and minerals from asteroids will probably drop the prices due to economics of scale, the availability of these metals will translate into more resources available to colonies and star ships.

Despite the fact that tourism is currently driving humanities quest to the stars, hopefully mining these dancing space rocks can fund our ability to not only conquer our star system, but nearby ones as well.