Video: Phoenix To See If Martian Soil Is Fertile

(Video: NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will visit the north polar region of Mars in search of "habitable soil." Credit: NASA)

Of all the rovers that have or will grace the surface of Mars, Phoenix may prove to be the most important.

While the purpose of the other three rovers is to satisfy geologists by observing Martian rocks, the Phoenix rover's main duty is to find out whether Martian soil is fertile for life--and perhaps agriculture itself.

(NASA) "Our 'follow the water' strategy for exploring Mars has yielded a string of dramatic discoveries in recent years about the history of water on a planet where similarities with Earth were much greater in the past than they are today," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "Phoenix will complement our strategic exploration of Mars by being our first attempt to actually touch and analyze Martian water -- water in the form of buried ice." [...]

"In addition, our instruments can assess whether this polar environment is a habitable zone for primitive microbes. To complete the scientific characterization of the site, Phoenix will monitor polar weather and the interaction of the atmosphere with the surface."

While the overall purpose of Phoenix is to see if any life can survive in the barren soil, the space craft could ultimately inform us whether or not Martian soil is toxic towards life.

If proven to be safe for humans as well as plants, NASA could begin to draw out plans of harvesting crop on the red planet for future generations. Although humans may have to (create their own fertilizer (as importing it would be very expensive), growing our own food on the crimson planet could enable us to establish Mars as a second home for humanity.

Video: Bigelow Aerospace May Replace ISS

(Hat Tip: HobbySpace.com)

With the successful launch of Genesis II, Bigelow Aerospace presence in the heavens seems to be expanding (no pun intended) as they gear up to launch their next inflatable space station, Galaxy.

But while the NewSpace industry ponders the future aboard a commercial space station, NASA seems to be pondering a future without the International Space Station.

(Flight Global) NASA is discussing the commercial purchase of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to de-orbit the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its life.

The original plan was to de-orbit the ISS into the Pacific using the Space Shuttle at the end of the station's life in 2016. But the Shuttle is to be retired in 2010 and the ATV, designed to resupply the ISS and boost its altitude, is the only vehicle known to be able to de-orbit the station.

Although their may be some public outcry at sending the International Space Station (or ISS) to meet its fiery fate below, NASA probably realizes that keeping the ISS alive is futile at best.

With Bigelow Aerospace quickly establishing themselves in the heavens, support for the ISS will probably erode in Congress as our representatives will find it easier to give tax breaks to a company impacting their region of the country than a "global project" such as the ISS.

Video: Genesis I flying over Northern Russia.

Can Humans Tame Martian Weather?

(Image: Martian storm approaching explorer. Credit: Artist at NovaSpace.com)

Of all the worlds that dance around our Sol star, Mars may prove to be one of the most difficult to colonize. Despite having bearable radiation levels and potentially toxic soil, the biggest threat from settling the red planet may be from the weather itself.

(Space.com) "Although the storm threatens the rovers, it's giving us a great opportunity to track another powerful dust storm from start to finish," Wilson said. "We get to see where a storm starts and how it grows, then enter that information into a model to help us predict Martian weather in the future."

Callas noted that global dust storms spawn about every three Martian years (about six Earth years), and the last to occur was about two Martian years ago-so the current storm's potential to become a global event is on cue. If it does, Callas and his team will only be able to cross their fingers.

Although weather control has mainly existed in the realms of science fiction, humans have yet to devise a way to guide the weather patterns on our own planet, let alone the ones on Mars.

If we are unable to discover ways to tame Martian weather, future colonists may have to abandon the crimson world as either a scientific tourist stop or accept their fate of living below the surface.

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.