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The Space Log
Space for Everyone - May 2005

May.31.2005

10:35 am: News briefs ... This week's Space Review has an array of interesting articles:

10:35 am: News briefs ... Students involved in the Virginia Tech Sounding Rocket Project recently carried out a launch from Wallops Island. The rocket used an "Improved Orion" motor provided by NASA. The students focused on the development of the payload, which measures "the atmospheric particles that comes from the recondensation of evaporated meteoric material that enters the earth's atmosphere." Prof. Chris Hall posted More Rocket Launch Photos - Spacecraft - May.27.05. ...

... Nice to see non-governmental SETI projects getting some front page attention on the Washington Post: Finding Support in the Search for E.T.: With Stronger Telescope and Renewed Vigor, Scientists Scan the Sky - WashPost - May.30.05

1:55 am: The SpaceShow this week:

Tuesday, May 31, 2005, 7:00-8:30 pm (Pacific Time ) - Elon Musk of SpaceX will discuss progress and plans with regard to the development of the Falcon launch vehicles.

Wednesday, June 1, 2005, 7-8:30 pm (Pacific Time) - George Tyson, CEO of Mojave based Orbital Commerce Project, Inc., will discuss plans to offer suborbital training to both businesses and individuals.

Thursday, June 2, 2005, 7-8:30 PM (Pacific Time) - Robert Zimmerman will review the recent ISDC conference.

Sunday, June 5, 2005, 12-1:30 PM (Pacific Time) - Dr. Brad Edwards "returns to discuss all matters relating to the space elevator."

The interviews are discussed on the Spaceshow Forum at Space Investor.

1:55 am: This week's AMSAT news: Bangalore, India Students On Hamsat * OSCAR-11 Report - 25 May 2005 * AMSAT Board of Directors Nominations
+
ARISS Status:
New York School Contact Successful * Japanese School Contact * Upcoming School Contacts * ARISS International Teleconference Held * SuitSat Educational Proposal * Dayton Hamvention 2005 * Columbus Module * Astronaut Training * Field Day * School Selection Committee Meeting Held


May.27.2005

12:15 am: News briefs ... The Team America Rocketry Challenge program had another successful year. Several hundred finalists competed last weekend in Virginia and a team from Minnesota got the grand prize: Minnesota Team New Champion of the World's Largest Rocket Contest - AIA - May.21.05. An all girls team also did well: The Rocket Girls from North Dakota - NPR (audio) - May.25.05 ...

... Alan Boyle reports on a mysterious spot on Titan: Titan’s puzzling red spot - Cosmic Log /MSNBC.com - May.25.05 ...

... And here he reports on the 7-UP suborbital spaceflight contest: The latest zero-G giveaway - Cosmic Log/MSNBC.com - May.26.05 ...

... More about Greg Olsen's return to the ISS queue: US Businessman Ready for Space Again - Kommersant - May.26.05 ...

... The comsat industry will get a boost if MSV is a success: MSV to launch new telecom satellite - ScienceDaily - May.25.05


May.25.2005

4:35 pm Arts and the ISS ... More about the ESA initiative (Developing a cultural policy for the International Space Station - ESA - May.20.05) to support utilization of the ISS for artistic purposes: The Arts Catalyst for the European Space Agency: Developing A Cultural Policy For The International Space Station - Arts Catalyst - May.23.05.

The emailed version of this announcement included the caveat: "At this stage, no restriction on the types of utilization has been set, however it should be noted that it is very unlikely that an artist would have the opportunity themselves to go to the International Space Station, certainly in the foreseeable future."

What a shame. I think an artist might have a better chance of developing a profitable space product than most any mission specialist. As regular readers might expect, I can't resist suggesting that a European artist in glass or metals be selected to develop techniques for creating artworks that take advantage of microgravity. See Arts & Crafts in the Future section.

This could also be a great project for a school group. They could send up a bunch of Pongsat sized containers filled with various concoctions of light and heavy materials with instructions to the astronauts to shake vigorously, bake for 1 hour, let cool, bring back to earth.(Yes, I know all this would involve extensive safety reviews.) Maybe some of the melted globs would display esthetic qualities that could be refined further in later studies.

9:00 am: News briefs ... While many kids growing up in the 50s-60s like me were inspired by the space race to enter technical fields, it sometimes seems that subsequent generations never picked up the space bug. However, that is obviously an exaggeration. For example, one of Google's top guys is taking his capital gains and heading for an astronomy job: Top Engineer Leaving Google for Astronomy Job - WashPost - May.24.05. Meanwhile, Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, has become a member of the board of trustees for the X PRIZE Foundation...

... Speaking of Google, Microsoft seems to be playing catch-up in the satellite imagery tools race: MSN announces satellite-mapping service - CNET - May.23.05...

... More about amateurs doing big time astronomy: Astronomers, Amateur Skywatchers Find New Planet 15,000 Light Years Away - Ohio State Univ. - May.23.05 * Amateur and Professional Astronomers Team to Find New Planet - Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophysics - May.23.05 ...

... Virgin Galactic should sign up this famous British soccer star for a ride to space: Beckham's dreams of space travel - BBC - May.20.05 ...

... The NSS Ad Astra magazine offers some excellent articles on China and its space plans: Special Report: Emerging China, Engaging China - ad Astra/Space.com - May.25.05

9:00 am: SciTech news ... Liquid ammonia may provide a practical approach to hydrogen storage for fuel cells. As a liquid, ammonia ((NH3) holds 1.7 times more hydrogen than liquid hydrogen in a given volume. It is fairly easy to crack the hydrogen from the nitrogen and the resulting nitrogen/hydrogen gas can be used directly with an alkaline fuel cell without having to filter out the nitrogen. (Ammonia as Hydrogen Source for an Alkaline Fuel Cell Battery Hybrid System, K. Kordesch et al., pdf)

The EV company Zap and Apollo Energy System are developing a prototype car with a complete system of ammonia storage, cracker and fuel cell: ZAP and Apollo Demo On-Board Ammonia Reformer for Alkaline Fuel Cell Car - Green Car Congress - May.23.05. I would recommend, however, that they hire a new car designer: Producing Hydrogen - Apollo Energy Systems - May.05 ...

... Meanwhile, the available of fuel cells for sale is slowly expanding. Check out the portable fuel cell systems at Voller Energy Portable Fuel Cells * Shipments of new portable fuel cell commence - gizmag - May.25.05....

... We may be watching nanotechnology on our TV sets soon: Move Over Plasma TVs: Nano-Screens Are Coming - Technology Review - May.23.05


May.24.2005

5:20 pm: The SpaceShow this week:

Tuesday, May 17, 2005, 7:00-8:30 pm (Pacific Time ) - Robert Pearlman of collectSpace returns to discuss space memorabilia and collecting. .

The interviews are discussed on the Spaceshow Forum at Space Investor.

Check out recent interviews with space advocate, lobbyist, and entrepreneur Jim Muncy and with Dr. Stephen Johnson of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the Space Studies Department of the University of North Dakota.

Note: The Space Show is now podcasting. Subscribe your pod casters to www.gigadial.net/public/station/11253/rss.xml.

5:20 pm: This week's AMSAT news: AMSAT Receives Certification * AO-51 June Schedule * AO-51 AMSAT Kid's Day June 2005 * AO-51 AMSAT Kid's Day Certificate * An Amateur Radio Station on Columbus * AMSAT-UK at The Space Technology Education Conference +
ARISS Status:
Japanese School Contact Successful _+ Albany Hills School Contact + Upcoming School Contact + Space Day 2005 Update + SuitSat Status + Expedition 10 Crew Debrief + Dayton Hamvention 2005 + School Selection Committee Meeting Held


May.23.2005

4:40 pm: Space telescope tradeoffs ... Joan Horvath has sent me a note expressing concern that the effort to save the Hubble may backfire and cause "delays or worse" to the next generation of space observatories:

Our community has been supporting Hubble's mission extension without really asking the question of what goes by the wayside if indeed Hubble is fully funded without any additional dollars put into the astronomy funding line.

In the current budget environment, NASA dollars - particularly space science dollars - are tight. The latest possible victims are the two planet-hunting major telescopes currently being developed at JPL, the Space Interferometry Mission, SIM (sim.jpl.nasa.gov) and Terrestrial Planet Finder, TPF (tpf.jpl.nasa.gov).

It has been getting almost zero press that SIM and TPF really need public support - everyone wants to see us find new planets, but there really needs to be some broad understanding that extending Hubble's life looks like it is going to lead to SIM and TPF delays or worse, since it's all the same budget and there has not been enough public energy out there to expand the budget to be able to both extend Hubble's mission AND keep these new missions on track.

SIM and TPF need support during this next week, while budget markups are ongoing in Congress; anyone interested should send a fax to members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, Space etc. (Wolf/VA; Taylor/NC; Kirk/IL; Weldon/FL; Goode/VA; LaHood/IL; Culbertson/TX; Alexander/LA; Mollohan/WV; Serrano/NY; Cramer/AL; Kennedy/RI and Fattah/PA).

If you are a constituent of one of these members, so much the better! Planet finding has captured the public imagination lately in ways few other things have, and it seems rather a shame to let the schedule on which we can make serious advances in this area slip and slip out into infinity and beyond without a ripple....

Joan
CEO, Takeoff Technologies LLC
www.takeofftech.com

2:00 pm: News briefs ... Sam Dinkin talks about the role of space journalists in the opening of the new frontier and about the future of the Space Journalism Association: The duty and power of space journalists - The Space Review - May.23.05 * Transcript of his remarks during the Space Journalism award presentation at the ISDC ...

... Dwayne Day provides an excellent myth-busting article about weapons in space: General Power vs. Chicken Little - The Space Review - May.23.05. Too bad this isn't on the NY Times editorial page. Jeff Foust discusses it further at Milspace reality vs. fantasy - Space Politics - May.23.05 ...

... Taylor Dinerman writes about the new NASA administrator and the challenges that he faces: Mike Griffin's choice - The Space Review - May.23.05.


May.22.2005

2:05 pm: Space value networking ... If you are a business student looking for a great space related subject for a term paper project, Michael Mealling has a suggestion for you. In his NSS ISDC presentation, he talked about developing Value Networks. ISDC Presentation: Value Networks in a Space Economy - Masten Space Systems - May.10.05 and Value Networks in a Space Economy (pdf) by Michael Mealling - ISDC - May.05.

I missed his presentation but he gave me a condensed version the other day. As I understand it, the basic idea is that no company stands alone but is embedded in a network of supporting companies that provide it with goods, services, markets, and other necessary resources. One way to model such an economy is as a set of interconnected nodes, where a node represents a particular company or type of company.

Michael believes one could model a space economy this way and learn from it. Each company node would require the development of a business plan showing the necessary resource inputs and market outputs, i.e. the connections to the other nodes. The models of all of the nodes would need to match up their inputs and outputs with each other.

A company using lunar regolith to produce oxygen, for example, would need equipment and energy as inputs and it would need customers, e.g. Moon base occupants and in space rocket transport services.

Sign up with the The Consortium for the Development of Space Value Networks if you would like to get involved in this. Note that Michael believes that "its easier to teach a business person about space than it is to teach a space person about business?"

1:30 pm: News briefs ... The FAA says space advertising shouldn't be visible from the ground:FAA: Space billboards don't fly - CNET - May.20.05 ...

... WildBlue tries to make consumer broadband internet by satellite a reality: WildBlue to Roll Out Satellite Broadband Internet Service First Week of June - SatNews Daily - May.20.05 ...

... And Mobile Satellite Ventures tries to make a reality of other satellite based wireless services ...

... SETI@Home was the first of the projects to use home computers to provide a massive parallel computation system. The electric sheep screen-saver tries to take advantage of the same approach but for a more esthetic motivation: Sheep in Shining Armor: Let your PC join an army of several million others and save the world while you sleep - Discover Magazine - Aug.04 (Item via a HS reader.)


May.21.2005


Eli Kintisch (right) accepts the first annual Space Journalism Prize.
Sam Dinkin (left), founder of the prize, presented the prize during
the National Space Society's conference in Washington D.C.

10:45 pm: Space Journalism Prize Winner ... The newly-formed Space Journalism Association announced Friday that it awarded its first annual Space Journalism Prize to Eli Kintisch. The $1,000 award goes to Kintisch for a three-part series about the Ansari X Prize and SpaceShipOne published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in September 2004:

  1. A new space race - Sept.21.05
  2. Dreams-turned-schemes launch one spaceworthy rocket ship - Sept.22.05
  3. SpaceShipOne aims to claim $10 million - Sept.23.05

The press release goes on to say:

"Eli's series best described the challenges and prospects of personal spaceflight and the new commercial frontier that SpaceShipOne opened last year," said prize founder Sam Dinkin. "He was able to communicate the promise of a new commercial era in space to a broad, general audience, giving him the winning edge in a very competitive field of entries."

The Space Journalism Prize was founded earlier this year as a way to promote outstanding journalism on spaceflight topics in print and online media. Journalists ranging from established reporters in print media to new voices online submitted several dozen articles for consideration.

The prize is the first major activity of the Space Journalism Association, a new organization dedicated to supporting high-quality journalism on space topics. More details about the association will be announced at a later date. Additional information about the prize can be found at the association's web site, www.spacejournalism.com.

I served as one of the judges for the contest along with Sam Dinkin and Jeff Foust. There were over thirty entries and I was very impressed that so many of them were of very high quality and depth.

10:45 pm: News briefs ... Catching up on space news after several days of conferences....

... Peter Kokh of the Moon Society offers some counterpoint to the proposal that the first lunar base must necessarily reside on the North pole: Not So Picture Perfect: Proposed Lunar Landing Site Has Drawbacks - ad Astra/Space.com - May.17.05 ...

... Apogee books is publishing an interesting early sci-fi book: Edison's Conquest of Mars: The Original 1898 Sequel to H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds by Garrett Putnam Serviss - 1898 ...

... Today the finals for the Team America Rocketry Challenge! were held in Great Meadow, Virginia....

... The Mars Society opens an auction of Mars related memorabilia: The Mars Society Auctions - the Leonard Bromberg Collection ...

... NASA begins a study of whether daily periods in artificial gravity produced by rotation can ameliorate the effects of zero gravity: Artificial Gravity: NASA Spins Up New Study - Space.com - May.18.05


May.16.2005

12:50 pm: GIS for the masses ... People keep coming up with cool things to do with the Google maps system: Hey Google, Map This! - Wired News - May.16.05. I expect these kinds of user friendly Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to become more and more common as they include practical info such as housing.

12:50 pm: News briefs... This Java games page includes links to several astronomy/space related programs: Java Technology: Games Home....

... Amateur astronomers show there stuff with a big scope: Dream come true: Canadian amateur astronomers receive rare opportunity: an observing session with a giant telescope. - Astronomy Magazine - May.16.05 * Canadian astronomers look deep into stellar cocoon - Spaceflight Now/Gemini Observatory - May.15.05 ...

... You can monitor the latest solar storm with the Space Weather viewer and the images in the Living Space section: Solar storm may disrupt communications: Cell phones, spacecraft may be affected by geomagnetic eruption - Florida Today - May.16.05

12:30 pm: Space discussion ... Joel Achenbach, who wrote the Washington Post Sunday magazine article about space, will be available at an online chat forum today starting at 1:00pm at Post Magazine: To Infinity and Beyond. (Via SpacePolitics.com.)

3:00 am: Space in the papers ... Last week, one Washington Post article - The End of A Space Odyssey: After 39 Years, the 'Star Trek' Franchise Falls Out of Orbit - WashPost - May.8.05 - took the cancellation of the Star Trek Enterprise TV show as confirmation that everyone has lost interest in space since we now know that "Space is not a good place for humans." (I guess this means we should remove Spaceship Earth from space as soon as possible!)

Less than a week later, the same newspaper had a long Sunday magazine article - To Infinity and Beyond - WashPost - May.13.05 - that reports: "Space is back. The space buffs are re-energized, and they're coming up with schemes that will blow your mind."

This article mostly presents the ancient "Space is NASA, NASA is Space" paradigm but near the end it describes independent space efforts such as the SpaceShipOne project and SpaceX. The piece is rather superficial and done with a slightly condescending, mocking tone.

Both articles confirm that your average weblog devoted to a particular subject like space or sci-fi provides more reliable information than what you get from non-specialized reporters in a better-than-average newspaper.

One part of the End of A Space Odyssey article that I take seriously is where it describes the movement by the hardcore trekker fans to create their own shows such as those from Star Trek New Voyages and ExeterStudio.com. A community of a few million people can form via the internet to support such independent programming. Furthermore, I would expect new creative ideas to come out of such a community and to revitalize the genre over the next few years

I described a similar under-the-media-radar community building approach in this article, in which I argued that trying to convince everybody to love space is pointless. In fact, only a relatively small community of dedicated people is needed to sustain long term development and settlement of space. The problem is that currently there are only a few tens of thousands of space advocates in the US who are really energized and active. If that number got up to a million or two, we would quickly create a real space odyssey for humanity.

3:00 am: News briefs... Here's a list of space artifacts missing and possibly stolen from the Cosmosphere museum: Cosmosphere discovers artifacts sold: Missing artifacts total more than 400 - collectSpace - May.14.05 ...

... Forming a US policy with regards to China's progress in space is complicated: Many fret as China progresses in space: Should we work with or against? - Florida Today - May.15.05.

3:00 am: The SpaceShow this week:

[Update 12:25 pm: Monday, May 16, 2005: 7-8:30PM Pacific, Jim Muncy of PoliSpace is tonight's special guest.]

Tuesday, May 17, 2005, 7:00-8:30 pm (Pacific Time ) - features Kent Miller program manager of the National Space Society's upcoming International Space Development Conference in Washington DC, May 19-22.

Sunday, May 22, 2005, 12:00-1:30 pm (Pacific Time) - Dr. Stephen Johnson, Associate Professor of Space Studies at the University of North Dakota..

The interviews are discussed on the Spaceshow Forum at Space Investor.

Check out recent interviews that include space advocate Ken Murphy who maintains the Lunar Bibliography, financier Tom Olson of the Colony Fund, and astronaut Wally Schirra.

Note: The Space Show is now podcasting. Subscribe your pod casters to www.gigadial.net/public/station/11253/rss.xml.

12:35 am: This week's AMSAT news: Other AMSAT activities at Dayton * Dayton AMSAT Forum * New TlmEcho Version * Orbital Debri Report + ARISS Status


May.14.2005

2:05 am: News briefs... Congratulations to Alan Boyle on the third anniversary of his Cosmic Log website, which always has a lot of great postings, especially with regard to developments in alt.space : Happy birthday, dear C-Log - COSMIC LOG/MSNBC.com - May.13.05 ...

... A former ISS resident goes trekking: After ISS, a Starship Ride for NASA Astronaut - Space.com - May.13.05

2:00 am: SciTech news ... Sounds like we will know within a year or so if sonofusion is real or not: Bubble Power: Tiny bubbles imploded by sound waves can make hydrogen nuclei fusion and may one day become a revolutionary new energy source - IEEE Spectrum - May.05 * Bubble Power - Newswise - Apr.26.05 ...

... Here's a nice neat way to extract power form nuclear radiation: New 'Nuclear Battery' Runs 10 Years, 10 Times More Powerful - PhysOrg - May.12.05. ...

... This article looks at the status of fuel cells and where they are starting to sell: For fuel cell innovation, the tank is half full - Cnet News.com - May.13.05


May.13.2005

2:40 am: Traveling space ed ... Get your school to invite The Traveling Space Museum "We Bring The Adventure Of Space To You!".The program brings " full-scale and fully functional simulators into schools and [uses] them as teaching tools." The simulators include:

  • Odyssey Space Lab - "a 12 foot-long, full-scale replica of a space laboratory module that would be found as a part of the International Space Station."
  • Orion Shuttle - "12 foot-long motion-controlled flight simulator that resembles the Space Shuttle and gives students the sensation of piloting a spacecraft in low Earth orbit. "
  • Mission Control - "has a complete set of teleconferencing and Internet links that correspond with workstations aboard the Odyssey SpaceLab. Mission Control is also equipped to teleconference with cadets piloting the Orion flight simulator at a third school."

[May.14.05 - update: Here's an article about the TSM: Traveling Space Museum Brings the Adventure to Earth - Space.com - May.11.05]

... Erik Viktor's Spaceworld2000 is another traveling space and science education exhibition.

2:40 am: News briefs ... Alan Boyle reports on an interesting program about videos made during the training of the crew for the Columbia mission: Columbia's chroniclers - COSMIC LOG/ MSNBC - May.11.05. They are the inspiration for a documentary program called Astronaut Diaries appearing this week on the Discovery Science Channel. ...

... Hope this kid makes it to space soon enough: First Teenager in Space.


May.12.2005

3:20 pm: News briefs ... On RLV News I recently mentioned that Robert Zimmerman has noticed early signs of a worldwide effort to colonize space: Space Watch: The new colonial movement - UPI - Mar.11.05. Dan Shrimpsher gives his endorsement to the idea: Amen - Space Pragmatism - May.11.05 ...

... To really explore and colonize space, we will need faster transport. Nuclear reactor technology currently offers the best candidate to power such transport. This week NASA announced that it will cut back on specific nuclear spacecraft projects but will still focus on development of the reactor technology: Prometheus, ISS Research Cuts Help Pay for Shuttle and Hubble Repair Bills - space.com - May.12.05 ...

... Some politicians and activists hear the word nuclear and go bananas: Oh My Goodness, NASA is going to Nuke Space! - Space Pragmatism - May.11.05 * McKinney and Prometheus - Space Politics - May.12.05. (I always like to point out that unlike the radioisotope type of power systems used on Cassini, space nuclear reactors have little radioactivity until they are turned on after they get into space.) ...

... From the above discussion, I see that NASA has an agreement with the Keystone Center to help develop a "public involvement strategy" on issues related to space such as Mars Sample Return Program and Project Prometheus Program (pdf). See the Space Controveries section for more about nuclear power in space and other contentious issues. ...

... The Planetary Society is trying to raise money to support the research into the mystery of the Pioneer spacecraft trajectories: The Unfinished Quest to Solve the Pioneer Anomaly - Planetary Society - May.10.05 ...

... The effort to search for deep subsurface water on Mars took a step forward: Mars probe uses solar heating to fix boom glitch - Spaceflight Now - May.11.05

3:20 pm: SciTech news ... The ongoing advances in engineering the micro-world will also help us develop the macro-world of space: Micromachines to Produce Propellant and Air on Mars - Space.com - May.11.05 ...

... New phenomena are being discovered such as this unusual low temperature ignition catalyst: Platinum nanoparticles bring spontaneous ignition - Nanotechweg.org - Apr.25.05 (via a HS reader) ...

... You can monitor nanotech developments at nanotechweb.org.


May.10.2005

3:20 pm: Mars Song Contest deadline has been extended:

Due to popular demand, the deadline for the Third International Space Pioneer Song Contest has been extended from April 30, to May 31, 2005. This is a drop-dead deadline. There will be no further expensions. So, space bards, if you want your music sung throughout the universe, among nations yet unborn, on planets yet unknown, GET YOUR SONGS IN NOW!

Third International Space Pioneer Song Contest - Mars Society - March 17, 2005

11: 55 am: News briefs ... NSS plans a legislative lobbying assualt on Capitol Hill before the ISDC starts: Advocates Set Their Sights on Congress for 2005 'Space Blitz' - adAstra/Space.com- May.10.05 ...

... Dan Shrimpsher considers ways to promote space with the public: Space Pragmatism: If NASA Won't do it.... (PR Again) - SpacePragmatism - May.05. I think working with the NSS or one of the other major space advocacy groups is a good way to go.

3:05 am: News briefs ... The latest Space Review had several interesting articles:

  • Of Moonbuggies and the Vision - Anthony Young wonders if the best and brightest of America's aerospace students will find the jobs that will let them fulfill their potential.
  • New Horizons indeed - S. Alan Stern tells how the spacecraft that will go to Pluto got its name.
  • Spysats for profit - Sam Dinkin suggests a system that I believe would come in very handy when I can't find my car in the parking lot. All I would need is a web ready cell phone and a link to Google maps.
  • The Bush Administration and space weapons - Taylor Dinerman wants the US to go ahead and develop the systems needed to protect its satellits

... The new Indian amateur satellite seems to be working well: Excellent quality of transmission by Hamsat - Zee News - May.9.05 ...

... Here's an interesting profile of a space workers hangout: Space: the Florida frontier - Floridian - May.9.05 ...

... The Sanswire airship is finally getting off the ground: GTEL Announces Floating and Testing of Sanswire One - GTEL - May.9.05.

3:05 am: SchTech news ... Nanotech starting to show its power. First, fantastic new batteries and now low cost flat screens:PhysOrg: Motorola Debuts First Ever Nano Emissive Flat Screen Display Prototype - PhysOrg - May.0.05


May.9.2005

12:35 am: The SpaceShow this week:

Monday, May 9, 2005, 7:00-8:30 pm (Pacific Time ) - Wally Schirra and Ed Buckbee return to discuss their new book, The Real Space Cowboys (Amazon affiliate link).

Tuesday, May 10, 2005, 7:00-8:30 pm (Pacific Time ) - Paul Smith is back on The Space Show to discuss his new book, remote viewing and its application to space development.

Sunday, May 15, 2005, 12:00-1:30 pm (Pacific Time) - Tom Olson joins The Space Show to discuss and update us on developments with entrepreneurial space commerce and more.

The interviews are discussed on the Spaceshow Forum at Space Investor.

Check out recent interviews with science editor Alan Boyle of MSNBC and historian and columnist Robert Zimmerman.

12:35 am: This week's AMSAT news: HAMSAT Available for Use * AMSAT at Dayton * Membership Drive and Prize Drawing at Dayton * AMSAT-NA Membership Dues Changing * UO-11 Silent
+
ARISS Status:
Upcoming School Contacts * ARRL Article on Chiao's Record Breaking Contact * ARISS International Meeting Held


May.8.2005

3:55 pm: Space Design Contest ... Norman Goh of the University of Toronto dropped me a note about an interesting competition for which he is the chairman:

The University of Toronto Space Design Contest (UTSDC) is an annual contest for high school students. Teams of up to five compete by developing a design for a particular space related project (survey missions, space settlements, etc), and presenting it in a medium of their choosing. This contest is meant to be an application of creativity, technical knowledge, presentation skill and teamwork. Contestants submit their reports to UTSDC to review, and will have the opportunity to present their designs at an event hosted on the University of Toronto St. George campus.

More information can be found at our website utsdc.sa.utoronto.ca. An annual report will be made available within the next month or so.

3:45 pm: News briefs ... Dan Shrimpsher wants to know what is going on with NASA public relations: NASA Public Affairs Office - Space Pragmatism - May.7.05...

... A related issue that aggravates me is the way NASA will "disappear" a whole web site when a program like the X-33 or Orbital Space Plane is canceled. Such web materials, which are public property after all, should go to easily accessible archives. Instead, they vanish as if NASA is embarrassed to acknowledge them ...

... Check out the pictures of the Saturn V undergoing restoration in Houston: "Funds sought to restore Saturn V" - collectSPACE - May.7.05...

... Also check out this fascinating imagery of the earth: Envisat making sharpest ever global Earth map - ESA - May.5.05.

3:55 pm: SchTech news ... Inflatable structures, like those under development by Bigelow Aerospace, are becoming increasing capable for many applications. Inflatable composite structures enable lightweight transportable buildings - gizmag - May.7.05.


May.6.2005

4:45 pm: Indian amateur satellite in orbit ... Congratulations to Amsat - India for the sucessful launch of the HamSat spacecraft for amateur radio communications. The status of the bird is available at amsat.org ...

... Congrats also to India on the launch of their Cartosat-1 remote sensing spacecraft with stereoscopic imaging: India's space program launches new satellite - Financial Times - May.4.05 * India launches remote sensing satellite - spacetoday.net - May.5.05

4:45 pm: News briefs ... Artist, space analyst and pal, Phil Smith has a newly revised and very cool website ...

... More imagery of Martian dust devils: Gusev Dust Devil Movie, Sol 456 (Plain and Isolated) - NASA - Apr.21.05 * NASA posts 'movies' of dust devils on Mars / Photo sequences by rover are online - SFGate - May.5.05 ...

... We may be getting closer to answering the question of what-in-the-devil-happened to the Mars Polar Lander: .Has orbiter found NASA's lost Mars Polar Lander? - Spaceflight Now - May.5.05. ...

... This July Lunar Explorer will release a "fully immersive, interactive, Virtual Reality simulation of the Moon. It is a vivid and stunningly realistic visual experience of being on the Moon". ...

... This is a rather depressing piece but we can hope that as spaceflight becomes more routine and safe, the attitudes of kids (and of the parents who instill them) will change: At Space Day, Leery Dreams of Stardom: Students' Vision Tempered by Columbia - WashPost - May.6.05

4:45 pm: News briefs ... Gee, if diesel engines can provide this kind of performance and fuel economy, and with low emissions as well, who needs hybrids?: World 100,000 mile record: 140 mph for 30 days averaging 40 mpg - gizmag - May.05 ...

... It takes no great leap of imagination to believe that blindness will essentially be eliminated in the next couple of decades via both medical treatments and new technologies: Jeepers Creepers, Bionic Peepers - Wired - May.5.05 .


May.4.2005

5:05 pm: News briefs ... In response to questions from a couple of HS readers, I tracked down a bunch of sites for Space-y Sound Effects and for the Latitude/Longitude coordinates of cities around the world...

... Brian Webb offers a unique site for space news and general info regarding Vandenberg and elsewhere in southwest US: Space Archive - The Southwest's Source for Regional Space News.


May.3.2005

5:05 pm: News briefs ... Back from Phoenix and the Space Access Society conference. Will try to get back up to speed soon. ...

... The Gaia Selene - Saving the Earth by Colonizing the Moon DVD is now available at Amazon (affiliate link). I earlier posted their press release about the debut at the upcoming ISDC meeting in DC. ...

... Here's another space multimedia offering: DEEP SPACE A multimedia trip in photographs and music which begins millions of light years into deep space and travels back past galaxies and nebula, radio sources and supernova remnants to our own small planet Earth. The full download version runs for 12 minutes at 1280px by 1024px resolution and also comes with high-quality MP3s, a screensaver and 12 high-resolution wallpapers. ...

... Info on the possibility of water on the Moon: Prospecting for Lunar Water: Settling alien worlds is thirsty work. - Science@NASA - Apr.28.05. Note that there is no doubt that Lunar Prospector detected hydrogen on the Moon. The question is whether it is in water or some other form.

5:05 pm: News briefs ... Physics can sure produce some surprising stuff: Flying circles around the helicopter - New Scientist - Apr.30.05

2:05 am: The SpaceShow this week:

Tuesday, May 3, 2005, 7:00-8:15 pm (Pacific Time ) - the show features science writer Alan Boyle of MSNBC.com and Cosmic Log.

Sunday, May 8, 2005, 12:00-1:30 pm (Pacific Time) - The show feature Kenneth Murphy who will discuss space education and outreach.

The interviews are discussed on the Spaceshow Forum at Space Investor.

2:05 am: This week's AMSAT news: Ron Broadbent - SK * HAMSAT Launch * AMSAT-UK Colloquium * Space Day * ARRL FD - AO-51
+
ARISS Status:
Italy Schools Contact Successful * Successful Swiss School Contact * ESRIN Contact Successful * ARRL Article on New Hampshire Contact * ARRL Articles on ISS Crew Change


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