Interactive: Saturn's Titan Will Require Space Elevators

Over at Planet Quest, NASA has developed a short, interactive tour that lets audiences know about Saturn's most mysterious moon, Titan.

What made this virtual tour interesting was the fact that according to NASA a single spark would be enough to engulf this moon in flames. This basically translates to the banning of rockets launching from the moon's surface, which requires an alternative method for transporting the methane off of Titan's surface.

It looks like LiftPort's and Black Line Ascension's great grand kids (assuming they will be running the space elevators future franchises) will be very busy in the distant future.

Note: To enjoy the virtual tour, simply click on the image below.

Has The Military Space Race Begun? (India)

With China's recent ASAT test hitting the bullseye, it looks like India is taking its first steps in defending itself from heavenly attacks.

(Space War) India will set up an aerospace defence command to shield itself against possible attacks from outer space, officials said Sunday. [...]

"As the reach of our airforce is expanding it has become extremely important that we exploit space and for it you need space assets," Tyagi told reporters in the western city of Gandhinagar.

"We are an aerospace power having trans-oceanic reach and we have started training a core group of people for the aerospace command," the air chief marshall said without specifying a time-frame for the ambitious project.

Although India seeks to have a weapon free zone for the cosmos, such a measure is very unlikely given the history of our human race. With India building up its aerospace program, it is only a matter of time until Pakistan, and other middle eastern countries (like Iran) begin establishing themselves in the cosmos.

And when that happens, either humanity will begin to colonize its lunar neighbor (and beyond) for nationalistic reasons, or make a bigger mess of our paradise world. Here's praying to the former.

Spaceport Sweden Launches

(Hat Tip: Space Ports)

With Space Port America being launched by Virgin Galactic, it was about time that the Swedish decided to enter into the space race with a port of their own.

(Space Port Sweden) The official inauguration of Spaceport Sweden was made today at Kiruna Airport by Mrs. Maud Olofsson, Minister for Enterprise and Energy as well as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden. Spaceport Sweden is now open for business and starts off by signing an agreement with Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial space line that will give the general public the opportunity to become astronauts. [...]

Spaceport Sweden aims to be Europe's first and most obvious place for personal suborbital spaceflight. The conditions are ideal as Spaceport Sweden is the combined expertise of several Kiruna-based Swedish companies whose successful development has earned them international respect: the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), ICEHOTEL, LFV Group (Kiruna Airport) and Kiruna's business-development company Progressum. Their reputation for service consistently attracts attention with regards to aerospace operations, testing and tourism.

Although in their infancy, commercial space ports should give humanity a taste of exploring the universe, thus encouraging us to (eventually) colonize the Moon and beyond. Spaceport Sweden is a collaboration of various companies, including the Ice Hotel, and the Swedish Space Corporation, (not to mention several other entities).

Hopefully their entry will encourage the commercial European space industry and provide some much needed competition against Space Adventures (as it brings about more innovation).

Iran To Enter Space Race?

Ironically, the nation that many perceive to be responsible for a future nuclear war with Israel is aiming to establish itself as a major space power in the region.

(New Scientist Space) The report quotes Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, as saying that a space launcher has been assembled and "will lift off soon", carrying an Iranian satellite. [...]

"This has been anticipated for some time - the Iranians have been saying they will launch satellites" says Doug Richardson, editor of Jane's Missiles and Rockets.

Their first aim might be reconnaissance. "They are concerned about what capabilities Israel has, and the only way they can find out is by observing from space," says Bhupendra Jasani of King's College in London, UK, an expert in the military applications of space. "Clearly they can't fly aircraft, that would be a violation of airspace, and they would be shot down very quickly."

With Iran entering the field of space, Israel will no doubt up the antie by probably sending astronauts into the heavens via kosher power. This will probably encourage hawkish space race in the middle east, which could easily spill over in the west, especially after China's ASAT test.

Either way, military space race may benefit humanity in the long run, as long as it remains "cold."

Mars May Be Holding Its Atmospheric Breath

After previously thinking that Martian oceans may be underground, now some scientists speculate that its atmosphere may lie underneath as well.

(Space.com) New findings suggests the missing atmosphere of Mars might be locked up in hidden reservoirs on the planet, rather than having been chafed away by billions of years' worth of solar winds as previously thought.

Combining two years of observations by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, researchers determined that Mars is currently losing only about 20 grams of air per second into space.

Extrapolating this measurement back over 3.5 billion years, they estimate that only a small fraction, 0.2 to 4 millibars, of carbon dioxide and a few centimeters of water could have been lost to solar winds during that timeframe. (A bar is a unit for measuring pressure; Earth’s atmospheric pressure is about 1 bar.)

If most of the Martian atmosphere lies under the soil, then there is serious hope of not only colonizing the red planet, but cultivating it into a second Earth. The key to doing this would be to simply find a way to unleash (or free) the CO₂ trapped underneath the surface, which would therefore allow streams and rivers (and maybe even oceans) to grace its desert surface.

Of course if humanity had the technology to do this, the process would probably take thousands of years (if not 100,000). Even though terraforming would be quite expensive, it may become a necessary evil if humanity is to become independent of Earth within this system, as well as beyond.

Are Martian Oceans Underneath Its Soil?

With evidence of liquid water beneath Martian soil recently appearing, some scientists speculate that the red planet may have a wet, frozen secret buried beneath its crimson sands.

(New Scientist Space) Mars is losing little water to space, according to new research, so much of its ancient abundance may still be hidden beneath the surface.

Dried up riverbeds and other evidence imply that Mars once had enough water to fill a global ocean more than 600 metres deep, together with a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide that kept the planet warm enough for the water to be liquid. But the planet is now very dry and has a thin atmosphere.

It had been previously assumed that Mars had lost its atmosphere and water due to solar activity from the Sun. However, new evidence suggests that this theory may be just that--a theory.

Observations by the European Space Agency's Mars Express hint that Mars is not losing enough atmosphere and water to justify the previous theory, leaving not only more questions about how Mars lost its original atmosphere but hope that oceans may lie beneath a world some see as a second Earth.

Space Tractors Could Defend Earth Against Asteroids

Despite the Hollywood glitz of Armageddon and Deep Impact, no human bomb would be strong enough to either alter the asteroid (and its fragments) course or destroy the incoming space rock.

However, where nuclear bombs fail, space tractors may prevail.

(Washington Post) NASA astronaut and former University of Hawaii solar physicist Edward Lu is calling for a new spacecraft that would divert asteroids on a path to slam into Earth.

The small space tractor, costing between $200 million and $300 million, would hover near an asteroid to exert enough gravitational pull that the space rock's orbit would change and a collision with our planet would be averted, Lu said before a crowd packed into a 300-capacity auditorium at the University of Hawaii-Manoa Monday night.

"We're only trying to get a really tiny change in the velocity of the asteroid to prevent an impact," he said.

Although it is not as spectacular as a nuclear detonation, a space tractor seems to have a greater chance at averting a serious asteroid strike. Lu research may come in handy as one asteroid, Apophis, is scheduled to approach Earth around the year 2029, and some scientists are concerned that its second trip in 2036 may hit our planet.

Hopefully one can be built in order to test Lu's theory out, as this technology would not only benefit Earthlings, but future Martians, Lunatics Lunar colonists and other potential home worlds orbiting our star.