Interview:
Glenn Reynolds An exchange with the
Instapundit,
Professor of Law, author, and long time space
activist about issues of space law and space
politics, and about space development using
armies of Davids.
Interview:
Peter Kokh Discussion with the
editor of the Moon Miners's Manifesto
about lunar base simulations, living on the
Moon, and other lunar development topics.
Nothing like going there
but a space simulation will prepare you for the
trip. The Space
Simulations section lists hundreds of programs
that provide a wide range of simulated space activities.
Below is a sampling of programs in various categories
of space vehicles, spacecraft, etc.
Spaceflight
* Orbiter
- "a realistic space simulation using proper
physics for the modelling of planetary motion,
gravitational fields, free space and atmospheric
flight etc." Supported by a large community
of users. Lots of add-on
modules for all sorts of rocket and spacecraft
designs, see SpaceShipOne
add-on above.
* The
Space Shuttle Simulator
Planetarium Style
* Celestia
- "travel throughout the solar system, to
any of over 100,000 stars, or even beyond the
galaxy"
* MPL
3D - Solar System is 3D interactive simulation
of the close universe in real time.
It's
a Whole New Outer Space Out There
Sending Personal Items and
Student Science Experiments into Space
For about twenty million dollars you can send
yourself to the International Space Station.
Soon for about 200 hundred thousand dollars you
can send yourself into space via a brief suborbital
flight. If you can't afford those prices but
want to experience the vicarious thrill of sending
a photo or some other small personal item into
space, there are now several options as shown
below. Also, if you are a student with a great
space science project but can't get a ride for
your payload on a NASA rocket, there are options
opening up for you as well..
Some items can be see floating inside the Bigelow
Aerospace Genesis 1 inflatable prototype
habitat module currently in orbit. For the next
module that will be launched in the autumn of
2006, the public is invited to place photos and
small items in the module for a fee. Once in orbit,
a close-up photo of your photo or item as it floats
weightless will be obtained and sent to you. See
their Fly
Your Stuff section for more details.
(Photo credits: UP Aerospace
& KRQE 13) UP
Aerospace plans to launch up to four
of its SpaceLoft
rockets to greater than 100 km this fall
from the New
Mexico spaceport. With its partner firm
ZG
Aerospace, they will carry items from
the public as well as research projects
from schools, collleges, researcher labs,
etc.
Beyond
Earth Enterprises Beyond
Earth Enterprises, now based in Roswell,
New Mexico, has launched several high altitude
rockets carrying items from schools and
the general public. See their store
for a range of payload options.
.Masten
Space Systems Masten
Space Systems is developing a vertical
takeoff and landing vehicle called the
XA-1.0. It will be capable of flying to
altitudes greater than 100km and do so more
than once per day. They plan to focus on the
K-12 and college educational markets, carrying
small science payloads at low cost to over
100km. For example, to put your experiment
in a CanSat, a soda-can sized container, will
cost $99.
JP
Aerospace JP
Aerospace launches high altitude balloons,
airships, and sounding rockets. One of their
most popular programs is called PongSats.
A PongSat is a ping pong ball split open
and filled with a small science experiment
by a student.
Several thousand Pongsats have now flown
to near
space and higher. The above picture
shows a box full of these fun picosats on
the gondola of a high altitude balloon.
Real-Time Space Viewers
Earth
Weather maps, remote sensing
and spysat images.
Space
Weather
Sun, solar wind, aurora images
and the latest data