From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Sat Nov 4 16:37:32 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 13:37:32 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Would I do that - delete your e-mail - sorry about that - what can I say Message-ID: <002a01c70059$7077d7a0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Adriano Autino sent me an e-mail, which it looks like I deleted without reading. Not to be stiffed, Adriano wrote me back and asked why I did that. My only excuse was that I guessed my spam checker let me do it. I try to look at what is set up to be deleted but when the list goes more than a page, I often just do a bulk delete. So, if you think I had my nose up in the air, and I deleted an e-mail you wrote, cut me some slack, and write me back and ask, "Why did you do that?" We may not have a problem there as there are only 882 of you left reading the lunar-update list and I am sure you have enough noise in your life that one less list wouldn't be missed. - LRK - You may have noticed that my posts have been rather sporadic. It seems that retirement still doesn't make for enough hours in the day. Amazon.com knows who I am and some books just arrived. See below what just came and have not been looked at yet. - LRK - And if that wasn't enough to occupy my time, Al Globus at NASA Ames asked if I would help find material for the work they are doing to update the National Space Society's web site for a section on space settlements to be forthcoming. http://www.nss.org/ http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/colonies.html The NSS is interested in Space Settlements in, well, space, but they would accept materials from a Lunar Settlement and so I have been Googling around for material on what one might find on the Moon. http://isru.msfc.nasa.gov/lib/workshops/lrsm2005.html http://www.sbir.nasa.gov/SBIR/abstracts/05/sbir/phase1/SBIR-05-1-X9.01-9561. html?solicitationId=SBIR_05_P1 http://www.pubs.asce.org/WWWdisplay.cgi?0602371 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/research/technology-onepagers/in-situ_resou rce_Utiliza14.html Al also asked if anyone on the team might be interested in doing some 3D modeling with something like Google's acquisition of SketchUp. You can now build your own 3D models and put them into Google Earth or share them on 3D Warehouse. - LRK - http://sketchup.google.com/ http://sketchup.google.com/product_3dwh.html http://earth.google.com/index.html http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html And before we leave, I should mention that the e-mail from Adriano was to ask if I would sign a petition to add a statement to a countries constitution that would acknowledge moving humanity into space is our right to do and let us come back without being disowned, something to think about. Galileo spent a lot of time in his room just for expressing ideas about where he thought Earth was going. Even today, governments have a lot to say about how high you can jump off of mother Earth. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- "The Constitution recognises the sacred and inalienable right of every citizen of Earth to travel from Earth to Space, to the Moon and to any natural or artificial celestial body, as well as to return to his or her own country or other countries on the Earth, while preserving all of their rights as a terrestrial citizen." -------------------------------------------------------------- I am still reading the articles on the TDF web site. http://www.tdf.it/ http://www.tdf.it/Italy/homeit.html http://www.tdf.it/english/homeen.html http://www.tdf.it/IC1/TDF_IC1_Home.htm - LRK - Thanks for continuing to look up with me. If you have something I should see, well, write me. Will try not to delete. :-) Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== THE SOVIET SPACE RACE WITH APOLLO By ASIF A. SIDDIQI http://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Space-Race-Apollo/dp/0813026288 -------------------------------------------------------------- SPUTNIK AND THE SOVIET SPACE CHALLENGE By ASIF A. SIDDIQI http://www.amazon.com/Sputnik-Soviet-Space-Challenge-Siddiqi/dp/081302627X -------------------------------------------------------------- STAGES TO SATURN - A Technological History of the Apollo/Saturn Launch Vehicles By ROGER E. BILSTEIN On-line as SP4206 http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/sp4206.htm http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4206/contents.htm At Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Stages-Saturn-Technological-History-Vehicles/dp/081302 6911 -------------------------------------------------------------- SATURN By ALAN LAWRIE with ROBERT GODWIN http://www.amazon.com/Saturn-Apogee-Books-Space-Lawrie/dp/1894959191 -------------------------------------------------------------- VIRTUAL LM: A Pictorial Essay of the Engineering and Construction of the Apollo Lunar Module By SCOTT P. SULLIVAN http://www.amazon.com/Virtual-LM-Pictorial-Engineering-Construction/dp/18949 59140/ -------------------------------------------------------------- BUILDING MOONSHIPS - The Grumman Lunar Module By JOSHUA STOFF http://www.amazon.com/Building-Moonships-Grumman-Module-America/dp/073853586 9 -------------------------------------------------------------- APOLLO The Definitive Sourcebook By RICHARD W. ORLOFF and DAVID M. HARLAND http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Definitive-Sourcebook-Springer-Exploration/dp/0 387300430 ============================================================== http://sketchup.google.com/ SketchUp - Model your world - from Google http://sketchup.google.com/product_suf.html (Free) http://sketchup.google.com/product_sup.html (SketchUp Pro 5 - $495) http://www.sketchup.com/?sid=5 About Founded in 1999 and based in Boulder, Colorado, SketchUp was created by a small group of AEC software industry veterans who envisioned developing 3D design software that would make design exploration more accessible. We envisioned a software program: * That would allow design professionals to draw the way they want by emulating the feel and freedom of working with pen and paper in a simple and elegant interface. * That would be fun to use and easy to learn. * That would be used by designers to play with their designs in a way that is not possible with traditional design software. The result of our vision is SketchUp. We hope that you will enjoy working with our program and please contact us with any comments, questions, or complaints regarding SketchUp. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Snip http://www.sketchup.com/?id=7 SketchUpdate SketchUpdate provides the latest news regarding SketchUp and our customers. It contains tips and tricks designed to increase your productivity with SketchUp, and case studies highlighting the amazing things our customers are doing with SketchUp. Snip http://www.sketchup.com/?section=support SketchUp Support There are many resources available to help you learn how to use Google SketchUp (free) and SketchUp Pro, as well as to solve any problems you may have when using them. Snip ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Sun Nov 5 21:47:25 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sun, 5 Nov 2006 18:47:25 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Why We Explore - Sven's Space Place Message-ID: <002f01c7014d$e4f576b0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Why We Explore - Sven's Space Place Donald F. Robertson sent me this note, which set me off looking to see if Sidiqqi's books might be on-line. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- Hey, Larry, glad to hear your retirement is proving so productive! The Sidiqqi books are fantastic. I read them back when they were published as a single volume by the NASA history office. The most innovative -- not to say ironic -- of his conclusions is that the Soviets lost, not because of "centralized planning," but because of the extreme bulcanized disorganization of their effort. I also highly recommend David Harland's "Exploring the Moon: the Apollo expeditions." By showing what was done, even with first-generation equipment and techniques, this book demonstrates why those who say that robots can do everything we need to do in space are so wrong. This book shows why we should send astronauts everywhere we can, and reserve robots for where we have no better choice. -- Donald -------------------------------------------------------------- When you send Google off looking for an item you tend to find where the item is referenced as well as maybe the item itself. What happens then is that you are presented with a wealth of information that can lead you down many paths. Prepare for information overload. :-) Looking, looking, looking for: -------------------------------------------------------------- Siddiqi, Asif, Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974 (NASA SP-2000-4408, 2000). -------------------------------------------------------------- Since I have the two paperbacks I will not spend too much time searching for an on-line version but I will list a few interesting links below that turned up that may compete for my reading time. Your distraction may vary. :-) Hope you find some reasons for why we explore and some ideas for how you might look up. -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/index.html Why We Explore http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/ Sven's Space Place -------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for continuing to look up with me. Do you see anyone else looking up? Maybe they are just a Space Tourist. What is in their view finder? Is that upturned umbrella really an antenna? What are they tracking? :-) Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== THE SOVIET SPACE RACE WITH APOLLO By ASIF A. SIDDIQI http://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Space-Race-Apollo/dp/0813026288 -------------------------------------------------------------- SPUTNIK AND THE SOVIET SPACE CHALLENGE By ASIF A. SIDDIQI http://www.amazon.com/Sputnik-Soviet-Space-Challenge-Siddiqi/dp/081302627X -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- APOLLO The Definitive Sourcebook By RICHARD W. ORLOFF and DAVID M. HARLAND http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Definitive-Sourcebook-Springer-Exploration/dp/0 387300430 -------------------------------------------------------------- Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration) (Paperback) By DAVID M. HARLAND http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Moon-Expeditions-Springer-Exploration/dp/185 2330996/ ============================================================== NOTE: If you look at some of these essays you will find a number of references at their ends. Many of these also have live links that will provide you with more information. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/index.html OVERVIEW From the time of our birth, humans have felt a primordial urge to explore -- to blaze new trails, map new lands, and answer profound questions about ourselves and our universe. Now, as America charts a new course into the cosmos, NASA's History Office offers a broad perspective in a series of essays titled "Why We Explore." Drawing parallels to the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, NASA Chief Historian Steven J. Dick writes about our current Age of Space, "a continuous story of voyages further and further from the home planet." WHY WE EXPLORE 10.16.06 - Voyages to the Beginning of Time The recent award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to NASA astrophysicist John Mather and University of California Berkeley astrophysicist George Smoot reminds us that NASA not only undertakes voyages in space, but also in time. + Read More http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_24.html Pluto, center and it's previously known moon Charon 09.05.06 - Pluto, Classification and Exploration The universe is what it is, not what we want it to be, and science must always be open to correcting its mistakes. + Read More http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_23.html This global view of the surface of Venus is centered at 0 degrees east longitude. 08.12.06 - Voyages to the Planets: Venus Less than a century ago, the planet Venus was most often referred to as "Earth's sister planet." + Read More http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_22.html Project Mercury Astronauts 06.29.06 - The Voyagers Exploration doesn't happen by sitting still, physically or intellectually. + Read More http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_21.html Astronaut Edwin E. 05.30.06 - The Voyages of Apollo No single essay can do justice to the events that took place between 1968 and 1972, four years that, as time passes, seem all the more remarkable for human history. + Read More http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_20.html -------------------------------------------------------------- ARCHIVE http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_Collection _archive_1.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_Collection _archive_2.html Snip ============================================================== http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/ Sven's Space Place I have an irresistible urge to find out what went on behind the scenes during the Space Race of the Cold War. What I saw as a kid and a young man was just the the media picture, not the true story. To try to tell the real story is the purpose of this site. I also wish to share personal memories of great space events. -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/histind1.htm Space History Notes Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/radioind/radioin1.htm Space Radio Notes Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/trackin1.htm Space Tracking Notes Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/sounds/sounds.htm Sounds From Space Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/linkpage.htm Links Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/nyheter.htm What's New Snip ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Mon Nov 6 16:42:20 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 13:42:20 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] National Space Society Space Settlement Art Contest Message-ID: <000d01c701ec$70d5adf0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Put on your thinking caps and get out the sketch pad. What would it be like to live in space? Want to see your art work on the 2008 NSS Calendar? -------------------------------------------------------------- Snip -- National Space Society Space Settlement Art Contest http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=21212 "The National Space Society is sponsoring an art contest in which artists are to create visions of a spacefaring future - a future of space settlement, be they on the Moon, on Mars, on asteroids, or orbiting independently in space. Twelve winning entries will be chosen to illustrate the NSS 2008 Space Settlement Calendar." Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- More information at the NSS web site. Some links posted below. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nss.org/ Snip Space Settlement Art Contest (October 31, 2006) NSS is sponsoring an art contest in which artists are to create visions of a spacefaring future - a future of space settlement, be they on the Moon, on Mars, on asteroids, or orbiting independently in space. Twelve winning entries will be chosen to illustrate the NSS 2008 Space Settlement Calendar. Judges include world-renowned space artists David Hardy and Pat Rawlings. For all the contest details go to http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/ Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.nss.org/settlement/ Space Settlement "The people of Earth have both the knowledge and resources to colonize space." http://www.nss.org/settlement/sitemap.html Space Settlement Site Map [Take note of the above link. - LRK -] -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/ Snip The NSS Space Settlement Art Contest will run until January 31, 2007. Prizes The 12 winning entries will receive prizes. Four First Prizes will be awarded in each of the following four categories: 1. Orbital settlements 2. Settlements in or on asteroids 3. Settlements on the Moon 4. Settlements on Mars In addition, one image will be awarded the Grand Prize for being the best artwork overall. This work will be honored with an award at the annual International Space Development Conference and will be featured on the cover of the NSS Space Settlement Calendar. The prizes are: For the Grand Prize winner: * Publication as the cover of the National Space Society 2008 Space Settlement Calendar * Beyond-Earth Enterprises 8 ounce Flight Container for sub-orbital rocket launch and return (value $1,500.00). * Physical copy of Mojoworld 3 Professional (value $480.00) * $250.00 cash prize * 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine * A complimentary copy of the calendar For each of the four First Prizes winners: * Publication in the National Space Society 2008 Space Settlement Calendar * Physical copy of Mojoworld 3 Professional (value $480.00) * Beyond-Earth Enterprises Large Photo Kit for sub-orbital rocket launch and return (value $74.95). * $100.00 Cash Prize * 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine * A complimentary copy of the calendar For the remaining 7 winning entries: * Publication in the National Space Society 2008 Space Settlement Calendar * Electronic copy of Mojoworld 3 Professional (value $480.00) * Beyond-Earth Enterprises DNA Flight Kit for sub-orbital rocket launch and return (value $34.95) * 1 year complimentary membership in the National Space Society, including a subscription to Ad Astra magazine * A complimentary copy of the calendar Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/judges.html NSS Space Settlement Calendar Art Contest Judges To determine the winning entries in the National Space Society's Space Settlement Art Contest, we have selected a mix of internationally renowned space artists and space activists. The five judges that have been chosen to serve are: David A. Hardy Space Artist and Author Fellow, International Association of Astronomical Artists Sir Arthur Clarke Award Winner www.hardyart.demon.co.uk Peter Kokh President, Moon Society http://moonsociety.org/ Editor, Moon Miners Manifesto http://www.moonsociety.org/publications/ Jim Plaxco Member, International Association of Astronomical Artists Chair, NSS Space Settlement Calendar Committee www.marsartgallery.com and www.artsnova.com Pat Rawlings Space Artist Art Director, Science Applications International Corp. Fellow, International Association of Astronomical Artists www.patrawlings.com George Whitesides Executive Director, National Space Society www.nss.org/about/bios/whitesides.html For information about the judging process see Judging Guidelines for Submitted Artwork. http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/judging.html Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nss.org/settlement/calendar/resources.htm NSS Space Settlement Art Contest Resources Page Snip ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Tue Nov 7 14:02:03 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 11:02:03 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Bizarre Lunar Orbits - 11.06.2006 Message-ID: <001201c7029f$37035790$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Bizarre Lunar Orbits - 11.06.2006 What goes bump in the morning? Oh, not our car accident several years back but something else that could make for a bad hair day. When you put a satellite around the Moon, you would think that it should just keep orbiting. Satellites going around Mars seem to stay up, but going around the Moon is not quite the same. The Moon it turns out is bumpy in terms of how the gravitational field looks to the spacecraft. A tug this way and that as you go around will disturb your orbit. Without adjustments, you will find yourself bumping into the mountain tops. Science at NASA has an interesting article about Bizarre Lunar Orbits. When the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter goes to the Moon, the orbit selected will affect how much fuel will be needed to maintain the desired track. Hope they note some of the past experiences with lunar orbiters. http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/ http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/index.html - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA Science News for November 6, 2006 Mysterious concentrations of mass in the Moon's ancient lava seas disturb the orbits of Moon-circling spacecraft. NASA is taking these "mascons" into account as the agency prepares to return to the Moon. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/06nov_loworbit.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/06nov_loworbit.htm Nov. 6, 2006: Near the end of the mission of Apollo 16, on April 24, 1972, just before returning back home to Earth, the three astronauts released one last scientific experiment: a small "subsatellite" called PFS-2 to orbit the Moon about every 2 hours. The intention? Joining an earlier subsatellite PFS-1, released by Apollo 15 astronauts eight months earlier, PFS-2 was to measure charged particles and magnetic fields all around the Moon as the Moon orbited Earth. The low orbits of both subsatellites were to be similar ellipses, ranging from 55 to 76 miles (89 to 122 km) above the lunar surface. Instead, something bizarre happened. The orbit of PFS-2 rapidly changed shape and distance from the Moon. In 2-1/2 weeks the satellite was swooping to within a hair-raising 6 miles (10 km) of the lunar surface at closest approach. As the orbit kept changing, PFS-2 backed off again, until it seemed to be a safe 30 miles away. But not for long: inexorably, the subsatellite's orbit carried it back toward the Moon. And on May 29, 1972?only 35 days and 425 orbits after its release?PFS-2 crashed. Snip "Lunar mascons make most low lunar orbits unstable," says Konopliv. As a satellite passes 50 or 60 miles overhead, the mascons pull it forward, back, left, right, or down, the exact direction and magnitude of the tugging depends on the satellite's trajectory. Absent any periodic boosts from onboard rockets to correct the orbit, most satellites released into low lunar orbits (under about 60 miles or 100 km) will eventually crash into the Moon. PFS-2 released by Apollo 16 was simply a dramatic worst-case example. But even its longer-lived predecessor PFS-1 (released by Apollo 15) literally bit the dust in January 1973 after less than a year and a half. So what does this mean for eventual lunar exploration? Be careful of the orbit chosen for a low-orbiting lunar satellite. "What counts is an orbit's inclination," that is, the tilt of its plane to the Moon's equatorial plane. "There are actually a number of 'frozen orbits' where a spacecraft can stay in a low lunar orbit indefinitely. They occur at four inclinations: 27?, 50?, 76?, and 86?"?the last one being nearly over the lunar poles. The orbit of the relatively long-lived Apollo 15 subsatellite PFS-1 had an inclination of 28?, which turned out to be close to the inclination of one of the frozen orbits?but poor PFS-2 was cursed with an inclination of only 11?. Snip Author: Trudy E. Bell | Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science at NASA -------------------------------------------------------------- More to the story... Lunar mascons are a mystery. Although scientists generally agree they resulted from ancient impacts billions of years ago, it?s unclear how much of the excess mass is due to denser lava material filling the crater or how much is due to upwelling of denser iron-rich mantle material to the crust. Regardless of composition or origin, the mascons make the Moon the most gravitationally "lumpy" body known in the solar system. Although mascons also exist on Mars, none have been found on Venus or Earth; those two larger planets, however, have had an active tectonic (geological) past that has drawn their crusts down into their interiors several times in the past few billion years, homogenizing the distribution of mass. Details about the subsatellites of both Apollos 15 and 16, including their orbital parameters, appear on p. 5-5 of Apollo 16 Mission Report. http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16mr.html [NOTE: This link will take you to an 18 Mb PDF version of the Apollo 16 Mission Report courtesy of Glen Swanson and Ron Wells. Paragraph 5-5 starts on page 44 of 393 pages. Thanks Ron. - LRK -] Snip More about the mascons in the context of the gravitational lumpiness of the moon is "Improved Gravity Field of the Moon from Lunar Prospector," by Konopliv and colleagues. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/281/5382/1476 An account of the deliberate crashing of Lunar Prospector into the Moon may be found here. http://www.ae.utexas.edu/research/cfpl/lunar/pressrelease/discussion.html The Vision for Space Exploration http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/index.html ============================================================== http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/links.html What does it take to get to the Moon? The following files require Acrobat Reader to view. Get Acrobat Reader. http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html See LUNAR PROSPECTOR MISSION DESIGN AND TRAJECTORY SUPPORT. AAS98-323.pdf (387kb PDF file) http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/project/pdf/AAS98-323.pdf The complete Status Report archive in an Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF file. LPStatus.pdf (255 kb PDF file) http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/datavis/LPStatus.pdf LUNAR PROSPECTOR End of Mission & Overview Press Kit (550 kb PDF file) http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/resources/LPBckgrn.pdf Snip ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Thu Nov 9 15:43:30 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 12:43:30 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Space Vision 2006 - November 9 - 12, 2006 - University of Central Florida Message-ID: <000e01c7043f$b7f49a20$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Space Vision 2006 - November 9 - 12, 2006 - University of Central Florida SEDS - Students for the Exploration and Development of Space http://www.mmae.ucf.edu/seds/ http://www.seds.org/ Looking at the JPL Space Calendar for today I see that I am not in Florida but the SEDS Space Vision 2006 Conference is. http://www.spacevision2006.org/ The generation coming up is the one that will go to space if they can make it happen. Take a look at who is going to be talking to them. [See speaker list below and do read their biographical information.] - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/ Snip # Nov 09 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #80 (OTM-80) http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/sig-event-details.cfm?newsID=701 # Nov 09 - Comet Comet Urata-Niijima Closest Approach To Earth (0.591 AU) http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db_shm?des=112P http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/0112P_1.html # Nov 09-12 -New[Nov 08] Space Vision 2006 Conference, Orlando, Florida http://www.spacevision2006.org/ Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- The USA Mid Term elections are now over and it is safe to turn on the TV, well almost safe. What happens now that there will be a power shift may need some input from you all. The, "He told me to do it" may turn into, "Do you think you should do it?" Let's hope that going to space makes sense to the US Congress. - LRK - When you read the Peter Diamandis' bio you will see his motto. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamandis' mission is to open the space frontier for humanity. His personal motto is: "The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!" -------------------------------------------------------------------- I like that. Looks like the students at the University of Central Florida feel the same way. How about you? - LRK - Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.spacevision2006.org/ Welcome to the official website of the annual SEDS National Conference, SpaceVision 2006. This year's conference is being hosted by the University of Central Florida SEDS Chapter in sunny Orlando, Florida. SpaceVision 2006 will be a time for SEDS students from across the country to come together to share their interests and goals, to hear and network with top name speakers and professionals in the space industry, and to experience the history and shape the future of humanity's climb to the stars. Please check back regularly as more information and details are available and updates are added. Use the menu to the left to guide yourself through the site. Snip ============================================================== http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor y&id=20&Itemid=36 Confirmed SpaceVision 2006 Speakers Click on the speakers name for a full bio. Tim Bailey http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29& Itemid=36 Space Generation Foundation, Yuri's Night Grant Bonin http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32& Itemid=36 Mission Concepts Director, 4Frontiers Corporation Samuel Coniglio http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31& Itemid=36 Vice President of the Space Tourism Society Mark K. Craig http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66& Itemid=36 President of the American Astronautical Society James H. Crocker http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64& Itemid=36 Vice President, Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Dr. Peter Diamandis http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55& Itemid=36 Founder and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation Brian Enke http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33& Itemid=36 Research Analyst at the Southwest Research Institute, Author of "Shadows of Medusa" Jeff Feige http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52& Itemid=36 Strategic and Space Policy Consulting, Natonal Aerospace Development Center Loretta Hidalgo http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56& Itemid=36 Space Generation Foundation, Yuri's Night World Space Party James A. M. Muncy http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53& Itemid=36 President and Founder of PoliSpace Joe Palaia http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30& Itemid=36 VP of Operations, R&D and Cofounder of the 4Frontiers Corporation Dr. Robert Richards http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28& Itemid=36 Director of Optech Space Division, Founder of SEDS Canada, the International Space University, and Space Generation Foundation, Russell R. Romanella http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65& Itemid=36 Director of the International Space Station/ Payload Processing Directorate, NASA KSC Tony Taliancich http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=51& Itemid=36 Deputy, Atlas East Coast Launch Operations, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Rick Tumlinson http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63& Itemid=36 Space Frontier Foundation George Whitesides http://www.spacevision2006.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27& Itemid=36 Executive Director of the National Space Society Snip http://www.seds.org/ http://www.mmae.ucf.edu/seds/ ============================================================== THE DAY IN SPACE __________________ In today's space news from SpaceRef: -- Election Implications For NASA http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2006/11/election_implic.html -- Election Implications For NASA - Part 2 http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2006/11/election_implic_1.html "One thing is certain, however. While there is a Republican majority in Congress, explaining the rationale behind the VSE as being "because the President has directed us to do this" works well enough. However, with the prospect of losing control of both the House and Senate, this will no longer suffice as far as Congress is concerned. Supporters of the VSE at NASA and the White House (if there are any left) are going to need to find a new, non-partisan underlying rationale for the VSE. The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 was a start - but it is going to take more than a piece of legislation to keep the VSE on track as a new Congress puts its costs and plans under a microscope." Snip ============================================================== http://www.marssociety.org/ Mars Society http://www.nss.org/ National Space Society http://www.space-frontier.org/ Space Frontier Foundation http://valencia.spacegeneration.org/ Space Generation Advisory Council http://www.gozerog.com/home_full1.aspx Zero Gravity Corporation http://www.yurisnight.net/ Yuri's Night http://www.worldspaceweek.org/ World Space Week http://www.astronautical.org/ The Human + Machine Equation in Pasadena November 14-15 The AAS National Conference and 53rd Annual Meeting will be held November 14-15, 2006 at the Pasadena Hilton, Pasadena, California. The focus will be the synergy of robotic and human space exploration, and the conference will lead off with the Carl Sagan Memorial Lecture and Award Presentation. Sessions will address Robotics and the New Age of Space Exploration; Motivating Tomorrow's Scientists and Engineers; Human/Robotic Cooperation; Lessons Learned from Other Industries - The Art of Integrating Science, Technology and Humans; Humans and Machines Exploring Space: Moon, Mars and Astronomy; NASA Center Directors' Views on Inter-center Collaboration; and a special concluding session on MRO. http://www.optech.ca/ Optech - Measurement at the Speed of Light http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fnec&ti=100 Lockheed Martin Orion Crew Vehicle The Orion program will provide a state-of-the-art human space flight system capable of safely transferring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon, Mars and other destinations beyond low earth orbit (LEO). ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Mon Nov 13 19:58:20 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:58:20 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] The Moon has gas? Message-ID: <000401c70787$fb1ed630$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> The Moon has gas? Viktor Toth wrote the following: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Larry, Haven't seen this in your mailing list yet: http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061106/full/061106-12.html Viktor -------------------------------------------------------------------- The above link is about the possibility that the Moon may have burped not all that long ago, geologically speaking. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- Published online: 8 November 2006; | doi:10.1038/news061106-12 The Moon has gas Eruptions confound the idea that our nearest neighbour is a geological dead zone. Katharine Sanderson Some think the Moon has been geologically dead for billions of years. But Peter Schultz of Brown University, Rhode Island, is not one of them. His results show that some lunar craters were formed as recently as 10 million years ago by gas eruptions, suggesting that there's still something bubbling away beneath the Moon's surface. In terms of lunar geology, 10 million years is yesterday. It was thought that all volcanic activity stopped 3.2 billion years ago, and that any young craters were caused by meteor impacts. Time to think again, say Schultz and his colleagues in this week's Nature1. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- Part of what I wrote Viktor. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Viktor, Wake me up. I read this somewhere else and thought so active only 10 million years ago instead of back at the beginning, what does that do for me now, dead is dead, and then went back to trying to learn the 3D SketchUp drawing program. http://sketchup.google.com/product_sup.html I guess I don't multitask too well or there aren't enough hours in the day. I have the free version of SketchUp from Google and sent off for the $20, good for 8 hours, demo CD of SketchUp Pro 5, which if you like you can license activate for another $495. Was thinking I could use the program to make some lunar colonies in 3D and use to portray on the Internet. The NSS would prefer to see floating cities in the sky but would accept lunar materials to help build such entities. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nss.org/settlement/ Since Viktor mentioned the Moon has gas question, I thought we might look at that a little more. See some links below. - LRK - Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061106/full/061106-12.html Published online: 8 November 2006; | doi:10.1038/news061106-12 The Moon has gas Eruptions confound the idea that our nearest neighbour is a geological dead zone. Katharine Sanderson Some think the Moon has been geologically dead for billions of years. But Peter Schultz of Brown University, Rhode Island, is not one of them. His results show that some lunar craters were formed as recently as 10 million years ago by gas eruptions, suggesting that there's still something bubbling away beneath the Moon's surface. Snip Traces of radon, spotted by the Apollo mission in 1975, hinted that the Moon was still belching gas. The latest results can now tie those observations to features on the surface, says Paul Spudis, of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. Those features are the craters at an area called Ina, a relic of volcanic activity. To find out how old these craters are, and what caused them, the researchers set about comparing them with better understood craters in other areas. Snip Together, the data have led Schultz to think that the craters must have been formed by volcanic activity ? gas eruptions ? no later than 10 million years ago. He suspects that things are still on the move: "We realize that there are still things happening on the inside." Spudis sees the finding as suggestive, rather than definitive. Snip The gas is unlikely to make any difference to those thinking of colonization, Spudis says. "But you never know ? for long-term habitation, it may end up being important." Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: So maybe I was too quick to leave the article. I should put this in the cue for places that might be interesting to consider for a future lunar colony and something I might be able to model with SketchUp Pro 5. Thanks Viktor for waking me up. - LRK - ============================================================== http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0611/10moon/ Moon's escaping gasses expose fresh surface BROWN UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE Posted: November 10, 2006 Conventional wisdom suggests that the Earth's moon has seen no widespread volcanic activity for at least the last 3 billion years. Now, a fresh look at existing data points to much more recent release of lunar gasses. Snip ============================================================== http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=4669&r=rss The Moon's fresh face Research indicates that volcanic gas has been released from the Moon's surface within the last one to ten million years. Provided by Brown University November 10, 2006 Conventional wisdom suggests that the moon has seen no widespread volcanic activity for at least the last three billion years. Now, a fresh look at existing data points to much more recent release of lunar gasses. The study, published in the journal Nature by geologists Peter Schulz and Carl? Pieters of Brown University and Matthew Staid of the Planetary Science Institute, uses three distinct lines of evidence to support the assertion that volcanic gas has been released from the Moon's surface within the last one to ten million years. The researchers focus on a D-shaped area called the Ina structure that was first recognized in images from Apollo missions. The unusual sharpness of the features first called Schultz's attention to the area. "Something that razor sharp shouldn't stay around long. It ought to be destroyed within 50 million years," said Schulz. On Earth, wind and water quickly wear down freshly exposed surface features. On the airless moon, constant bombardment with tiny space debris accomplishes a similar result. By comparing the fine-scale surface features within the Ina structure to other areas on the moon with known ages, the team was able to place its age at closer two million years. Snip ============================================================== http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3967790/ What the moon has to offer Scientists point to building materials, energy sources Updated: 12:27 p.m. PT Jan 15, 2004 WASHINGTON - The moon is a smorgasbord of useful resources that could be used to support a lunar base and even improve life on Earth, scientists say. President Bush announced Wednesday that he wants to establish a base on the moon as a stepping stone toward further human exploration of the cosmos. With its weaker gravitational pull to tug on spacecraft, the moon makes a better jumping-off place than Earth, he said. Bush noted Wednesday that lunar soil could be processed to make rocket fuel and create breathable air. But the list goes well beyond that, other scientists said after Bush?s speech. Snip ============================================================== http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22dec_lunartaurid.htm An Explosion on the Moon 12.23.2005 So you thought nothing ever happens on the moon? December 23, 2005: NASA scientists have observed an explosion on the moon. The blast, equal in energy to about 70 kg of TNT, occurred near the edge of Mare Imbrium (the Sea of Rains) on Nov. 7, 2005, when a 12-centimeter-wide meteoroid slammed into the ground traveling 27 km/s. "What a surprise," says Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) researcher Rob Suggs, who recorded the impact's flash. He and colleague Wes Swift were testing a new telescope and video camera they assembled to monitor the moon for meteor strikes. On their first night out, "we caught one," says Suggs. The object that hit the moon was "probably a Taurid," says MSFC meteor expert Bill Cooke. In other words, it was part of the same meteor shower that peppered Earth with fireballs in late October and early November 2005. (See "Fireball Sightings" from Science at NASA.) Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: I sure hope we get some more satellites going around the Moon so that we get some close up pictures of recent activity on the Moon, maybe even as it happens. - LRK - ============================================================== http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showforum=17 Unmanned Spaceflight.com Unmanned Spaceflight.com > Earth & Moon > SMART-1 + Lunar Exploration -------------------------------------------------------------- Forum on the above topics. More people looking up and talking about it. - LRK - ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Tue Nov 14 23:37:16 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:37:16 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Building a Lunar Settlement? Message-ID: <001601c7086f$bb606fc0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Building a Lunar Settlement? Put yourself on the Moon and consider what you need to build a Lunar Settlement. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/AtHomeAstronomy/activity_04.html Building a Lunar Settlement About this Activity In this activity you'll learn what is needed sustain human life on the moon. Many of the things that we take for granted are unavailable in the harsh lunar environment. You and your family will build a model lunar settlement that provides all the necessities for healthy and happy human inhabitants. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- What will you decorate your walls with? - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/art/moonbow1.htm Art in a Lunar Settlement - Some Relevant Assumptions by Peter Kokh It seems reasonable to assume that once economic activity justifies an honest-to-goodness settlement on the Moon, those choosing to make this barren raw world their adopted homeland will be able to freely import familiar art and craft materials from Earth with which to express themselves and humanize their habitat space. Settlers will be engaged in the production of exports (helium-3 for future fusion plants, construction materials with which to build bigger, less costly facilities in space: research stations, factories, tourist resorts, solar power satellites, etc.; agricultural products for use in such facilities; and more). These exports and others will be their sole coin with which to pay for imports: items necessary for the construction and support of the settlement that they cannot, or at least not yet, make for themselves. The Moon is rich with elements from which to make building materials. Lunar oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, titanium, magnesium, and calcium comprise most of the crust. Other elements are to be found in less abundance. But the above will suffice to make useful metal alloys, glass, fiberglass, glass composites, ceramics, and even lunar concrete - as well as free oxygen for air, fuel, and water production. An early read of the data from this Spring's Clementine lunar polar orbiter suggests that there are water ice-reserves in permanently shadowed polar craters (permashade). Until all the data has been analyzed, we cannot be confident of this "eureka". And even if confirmation is forthcoming, it may require further analysis, perhaps ground-truth missions, to determine if this resource exists in economically recoverable quantities. If fortune smiles, the prospects for a self-sufficient lunar settlement will rise considerably. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- Some are practicing by participating in learning activities. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.galaxymaine.com/SA/SA2f.htm#lunar Building a Lunar Settlement Objectives and State of Maine Learning Results Performance Indicators: Learners will be able to recognize (brainstorm) needs for human survival in space. (3-4. Science and Technology. K. #6.) Learners will be able to design and build a model lunar settlement. (3-4. Science and Technology. J. #4, L. #4.) (5-8. Science and Technology. L. #4.) Learners will be able to communicate their design concepts and ideas with other students. (3-4. Science and Technology. L. #7.) (5-8. Science and Technology. L. #6.) The General Idea: Here is a chance for you to use up some of those interesting scraps and snips of things that most people throw away, but could make perfect components for a model lunar settlement. In this activity, students first think of everything they would need to survive for years on a lunar settlement, and then design and build a model of such a settlement from various easy to find parts. This activity can take on different meanings to different age groups. For older students, the question of what is necessary to survive in space can have special significance, since they soon may be candidates for space missions themselves. For younger students, this activity is more of an open ended creative process of building a home on the moon. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions? Check out the FAQ below and then check the navigation links on the left. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.space-frontier.org/PROJECTS/Moon/faqs.html A PROJECT OF THE SPACE FRONTIER FOUNDATION RETURN TO THE MOON THIS TIME WE STAY Frequently Asked Question Snip -------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/361069.cms 'Time is right to put an Indian in space'Add to Clippings [ 8 Nov, 2006 0059hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] BANGALORE/MUMBAI: India's top scientists gathered under one roof on Tuesday to laud the fact that the country was ready to put an Indian in space by 2014 and perhaps one on the moon six years later. About 80 scientists from across the country gave the green signal to the manned space mission at a meeting organised by Indian Space Research Organisation at its headquarters. Scientists, expressing appreciation for Isro's four-year study on the issue, were unanimous in suggesting that "time is appropriate" for India to undertake a manned mission to space. Among those who took part in the day-long deliberations was India's first cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma, who flew in a Russian rocket in April 1984. He spent eight days in a Russian space station. "At the end of the meeting the opinion was unanimous that India should launch a manned space flight," an Isro spokesperson told TOI. The decision will now be formally ratified by the Centre, as was done in the case of the unmanned Indian lunar mission. This much-awaited lift off of India's first manned space flight will be from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. Isro subsequently plans to put a man on the Moon by 2020, four years before China. "In the manned mission to space, we are just looking at reaching space and back. There is no proposal about the Moon now," an Isro official said. The scientists' approval for this ambitious Rs 10,000-crore project, which will be spread over eight years, assumes significance in the context of Pakistan and Malaysia sending people into space. In fact Malaysia has not ruled out the possibility of one of its astronauts of going to the Moon by 2020. China has embarked on manned space flights and is also exploring the possibility of setting up a permanent lunar settlement. The feeling was that India with its excellent capabilities in the space sector should not be left out. ============================================================== Thanks much for your opinion Donald. May I share it with the lunar-update list? Larry > -----Original Message----- > Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2006 1:05 PM > To: Larry Kellogg > Subject: Re: [lunar-update] Space Vision 2006 - November 9 - 12, 2006 > - University of Central Florida > Good afternoon, Larry, Here's my opinion of what the change in power means, adapted from some things I've written in Jeff Foust's spacepolitics.com. I may be over-optimistic, but I think it very unlikely a Democratic Congress would actively oppose the VSE. First, it will be at or near the bottom of their list of priorities. Second, NASA under Dr. Griffin has done a masterful job of spreading the contractor wealth -- being against the VSE is likely to mean being against jobs in your state. Third, as recent votes in Congress have demonstrated (somewhat to my surprise, it must be said), support for something like the VSE (if not the VSE itself) is bi-partisan: many younger Democratic politicians are not ideologically opposed to human spaceflight. Fourth, as Republican advertisements have been pointing out, the Democratic Congressional leadership is likely to be from the San Francisco area, and it is often forgotten that we do have a major presence in the space industry -- NASA Ames, Loral Space, and Lockheed Martin are all headquartered here, as are more than our share of second and third tier subcontractors. Two of the nation's remaining commercial satellite factories are here. San Francisco area politicians (if not Nancy Perlosi herself) are aware of and often supportive of spaceflight issues. Likewise, New York is likely to have new power, and there are a surprising number of aerospace contractors in that city, as well as in the State. I do expect a different tone, and automated space science may fare better under a Democratic Congress. But no Democratic Congress is likely to retreat entirely from human spaceflight, and, given that, there are not a lot of clear -- and politically and financially acceptable -- alternatives to something like the VSE. The VSE after all was designed to find a way forward in human spaceflight with a minimum up-front investment, and while Dr. Griffin has backed off from that to some degree by building new medium class launch vehicles, it is still far cheaper than most of the obvious alternatives. By the time the Democrats actually get around to addressing the issue, the VSE is likely to be pretty firmly entrenched. Viewed as a jobs program, it may even get more positive attention than it has under Mr. Bush. I think our biggest ally in this is simple conservatism (with a small "c"). Relatively few politicians in either party are actively opposed to human spaceflight, and some of those that are cannot be seen to back down in the face of China (and, in a few years, India) joining the "club." Combined with that, and more importantly, the Democrats have much bigger fish to fry. My prediction is that, unless there is a major change in the non-political arena (e.g., the VSE runs into serious technical or managerial problems or there is another Shuttle accident or, lest we forget, someone gets killed building the Space Station), the VSE will slide beneath the radar. Even if one of those things happen, the nation has a history of rallying behind the project of the day, and the result might even be a net (political) gain -- as was the loss of Columbia. The ball really is in Dr. Griffin's court now to make the execution of the VSE as smooth and invisible as possible. Wish him luck because he's going to need it. ============================================================== http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20051101faessay84604/melvin-r-laird/iraq-learn ing-the-lessons-of-vietnam.html Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam Melvin R. Laird >From Foreign Affairs, November/December 2005 Summary: During Richard Nixon's first term, when I served as secretary of defense, we withdrew most U.S. forces from Vietnam while building up the South's ability to defend itself. The result was a success -- until Congress snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by cutting off funding for our ally in 1975. Washington should follow a similar strategy now, but this time finish the job properly. MELVIN R. LAIRD was Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973, Counselor to the President for Domestic Affairs from 1973 to 1974, and a member of the House of Representatives from 1952 to 1969. He currently serves as Senior Counselor for National and International Affairs at the Reader's Digest Association. SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT Richard Nixon was elected in 1968 on the assumption that he had a plan to end the Vietnam War. He didn't have any such plan, and my job as his first secretary of defense was to remedy that -- quickly. The only stated plan was wording I had suggested for the 1968 Republican platform, saying it was time to de-Americanize the war. Today, nearly 37 years after Nixon took office as president and I left Congress to join his cabinet, getting out of a war is still dicier than getting into one, as President George W. Bush can attest. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- The above is offered for consideration as the U.S.A. Congress changes and we look at where the money is going. I hope we continue to look towards going towards the Moon but we will have to consider obligations already accepted. - LRK - ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Thu Nov 16 17:44:44 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:44:44 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly - Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (NASA SP-2006-4535) Message-ID: <001101c709d0$d0bfd970$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly - Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (NASA SP-2006-4535) Dan Lasley sent me a note on a forth coming monograph about the LLRV. I have yet to find it at the Dryden History site, so do keep an eye out for it (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/index.html). Landing on the Moon with no air resistance (vacuum) and with a pull of only 1/6 th what would be felt on Earth makes for an interesting training exercise. How do you go about training for landing on the Moon while still here on Earth? I built an air cushion cart for a 500 pound cruise box so my supply person could move the box of electronic equipment from an airplane into the supply room using a vacuum cleaner on blow. It was just a plastic pillow made out of bubble wrap inside a 2 x 4, plywood box frame with pin holes poked in the bottom side. When you filled the pillow with air from a vacuum cleaner blowing into it, the escaping air underneath would let you slide the heavy box over the floor. If you took the box off and stood on the platform, the pillow would balloon up and you could attempt to slide around the shop in thrust vector mode. Not done too many times as I tended to destroy the shop. :-) Now think of a metal bed frame with a jet engine blowing down and you sitting in the bed trying to fly this bed in a controlled fashion to a save landing. There are some links below to some info on the LLRV that was flown out of NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base, California. I should think that a monograph entitled, "Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly - Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (NASA SP-2006-4535)" should be an interesting read. - LRK - Until then - some links - see here and below - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://area51specialprojects.com/llrv.html LUNAR LANDING RESEARACH VEHICLE By: T.D. Barnes - NASA Contractor - 1060s Snip ------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== Larry, Thought you'd like to see this. If you haven't heard of NASA's monographs, you can get them for the price of postage ($3 or so). I have a couple (one on analog computing, one on the X-15); both are excellent. Dan -------------------------------------------------------------- >From: owner-history at lists.hq.nasa.gov >On Behalf Of Garber, Stephen J. (HQ-ND020) >Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 9:34 AM >To: history at lists.hq.nasa.gov >Subject: NASA History Division internship opportunity and new publication The NASA History Division is looking for interns for the winter/spring 2007 semester. More information is at http://history.nasa.gov/interncall.htm on-line. The deadline for applications is December 22. Please forward this information to any interested students. We are also pleased to announce a new monograph. Unconventional, Contrary, and Ugly: The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (NASA SP-2006-4535) by Gene J. Matranga, C. Wayne Ottinger, Calvin R. Jarvis, with D. Christian Gelzer is Monograph in Aerospace History #35. With a foreword by Neil Armstrong explaining the importance of the LLRV, this monograph tells the fascinating story of how engineers, largely at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, developed a vehicle to touch down on the Moon. These engineers faced remarkable challenges, considering that the Moon has no atmosphere (to support winged flight), one-sixth of the Earth's gravity, and obviously no existing physical guiding infrastructure for pilots such as beacon lights or landing strips. An electronic version of this monograph should be available soon through the Dryden History site (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/history/index.html ). Hard copies of this monograph may be requested through NASA Dryden (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/about/contact_us.html ) as well. Stephen Garber NASA History Division Mail Suite CO72, Room 7U82 NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 202-358-0385 202-358-4382 or 202-358-2866 fax -------------------------------------------------------------- THANKS DAN, DON'T SEE IT THERE YET BUT SEE SOME OTHER LINKS ABOUT THE LLRV BELOW. - LRK - ============================================================== Flight Research: Problems Encountered and What They Should Teach Us. A number of people (including Ezra Kotcher with the Army Air Forces [AAF] at Wright Field in Ohio, John Stack at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics [NACA] in Virginia,... 21 Nov 04 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88795main_Thompson.pdf - 1.2MB ============================================================== http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/LLRV/index.html Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) Photo Collection http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/LLRV/HTML/index.html Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) Photo Gallery Contact Sheet ============================================================== http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LLRV Lunar Landing Research Vehicle >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle or LLRV was an Apollo Project era program to build a simulator for the Moon landings. The LLRVs, humorously referred to as flying bedsteads (see also Flying bedstead), were used by the FRC, now known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to study and analyze piloting techniques needed to fly and land the Apollo Lunar Module in the moon's low gravity environment. Success of the two LLRVs led to the building of three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles (LLTVs) used by Apollo astronauts at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, predecessor of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Snip ============================================================== http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-026-DFRC.html FACT SHEETS Lunar Landing Research Vehicle The LLRVs, humorously referred to as "flying bedsteads," were created by a predecessor of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to study and analyze piloting techniques needed to fly and land the tiny Apollo Lunar Module in the moon's airless environment. (Dryden was known as NASA's Flight Research Center from 1959 to 1976.) Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/about/Organizations/Technology/Facts/TF-2 004-08-DFRC.html FACT SHEETS Lunar Landing Research Vehicle Contributions to the nation's early space program by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center can be measured in several engineering disciplines, but none are as significant as the two Lunar Landing Research Vehicles (LLRV) created and flown by the Center in the 1960s. Snip ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Fri Nov 17 18:26:58 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:26:58 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Leonid meteors and Project Constellation Message-ID: <002b01c70a9f$e14aec10$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Leonids and Project Constellation Something for now and hopefully something for later; lights in the sky this weekend and to light the sky when we go back to the Moon. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- Space Weather News for Nov. 17, 2006 http://spaceweather.com Every year in mid-November, Earth glides through a veritable minefield of comet dust clouds. The source of the debris is Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. This weekend Earth will graze one of those clouds, producing a mild outburst of Leonid meteors. If forecasters are correct, the outburst will peak around 0445 UT on Sunday, Nov. 19th (11:45 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 18th). The timing favors observers in western Europe, Brazil and the Atlantic coast of North America, who could see as many as 100 meteors per hour. Dark skies are strongly recommended. Please visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and more information--including links to a meteor radar where you can listen to the Leonids. http://spaceweather.com/images2006/19nov06/skymap_north.gif -------------------------------------------------------------- Project Constellation is NASA's current plan for space exploration. Keep pushing to see that it happens. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Constellation Project Constellation >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Project Constellation is NASA's current plan for space exploration. It consists of a family of new spacecraft, launchers and associated hardware that allow for a variety of missions, from Space Station resupply, to lunar landings. Most of the Constellation hardware is based on systems originally developed for the Space Shuttle, although the key hardware, the Orion Spacecraft (formerly known as the "Crew Exploration Vehicle" or CEV), is heavily influenced by the earlier Apollo Spacecraft, using a two-part crew and service module system. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- More links below. Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/ The Leonid Meteors Predicting the most spectacular meteor storms is now a remarkably exact science, with some excellent Leonid displays happening in recent years, for observers in the right parts of the world. These predictions involve the accurate modelling of dust trails within the Leonid stream. Leonid outburst in 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------- http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/ 2006 LEONID FORECASTING The 2006 Leonids will show a dust trail encounter with the 1932-dust trail of comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, as well as the possible return of the Filament component. David Asher's original prediction put the peak time at 04:45 UT on November 19, with a peak rate of about 100 per hour, visible from western Europe and western Africa. Peak time of the Filament component is uncertain. The traditional maximum of the annual Leonid shower is earlier on November 17, around 16:45 UT, well placed for the western USA (early morning of November 18 local time). More information: Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leonids.html The Leonids Leonids Made Simple Leonid Main . Introduction . Observing . Predictions History . Photos . Artwork . Links . Leonid MAC '99 Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/ Meteor Showers and Viewing Tips 2006 Meteor Showers The next meteor shower is the Leonids on November 17-20. Name Date of Peak Moon Phase Quadrantids January 3 Evening crescent Lyrids April 22 Morning crescent Eta Aquarids May 6 Past first quarter Delta Aquarids July 28 Evening crescent Perseids August 12 Almost full Orionids October 21 New Moon Leonids November 17 New Moon Geminids December 14 Morning crescent What are meteor showers? An increase in the number of meteors at a particular time of year is called a meteor shower. Comets shed the debris that becomes most meteor showers. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet's orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation. Meteor showers are named by the constellation from which meteors appear to fall, a spot in the sky astronomers call the radiant. For instance, the radiant for the Leonid meteor shower is located in the constellation Leo. The Perseid meteor shower is so named because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus. Snip ============================================================== http://www.martiansoil.com/archives/cat_project_constellation.php January 24, 2006 True Names Alan Boyle (writing at MSNBC.com) reports on names that sources say will be used in the vehicles of Project Constellation. The launch vehicles will be called Ares, with the Crew Launch Vehicle or "Stick" will be the Ares I, the heavy-lift version or "Magnum" will be the Ares 5. The CEV's Apollo-like capsule and service module will be called Antares and the lunar lander will be called Artemis. (With thanks to Mark Whittington at Curmudgeon's Corner.) -------------------------------------------------------------- http://exploration.nasa.gov/documents/project_constellation_wbs.pdf Code T Office of Exploration Systems Enterprise Project Constellation Work Breakdown Structure [38 page PDF file of what constitutes the Project Constellation - LRK -] -------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Constellation Project Constellation >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Project Constellation is NASA's current plan for space exploration. It consists of a family of new spacecraft, launchers and associated hardware that allow for a variety of missions, from Space Station resupply, to lunar landings. Most of the Constellation hardware is based on systems originally developed for the Space Shuttle, although the key hardware, the Orion Spacecraft (formerly known as the "Crew Exploration Vehicle" or CEV), is heavily influenced by the earlier Apollo Spacecraft, using a two-part crew and service module system. The new transportations system, which uses both an Earth Orbit Rendezvous and a Lunar Orbit Rendezvous technique, can be broken down into three parts: The Orion Crew & Service Modules, the Lunar Surface Access Module, and the Earth Departure Stage. The rockets to be used for launching of the different components consist of the unmanned Ares V (for launch of the Earth Departure Stage and either the LSAM or cargo), and the manned Ares I for launch of the Orion Spacecraft. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html The new crew spacecraft will have more volume than the Apollo capsules, reducing development time, boosting stability, and permitting safe travel for up to six crewmembers. NASA has selected Lockheed Martin Corp. as the prime contractor to design, develop, and build Orion, America's spacecraft for a new generation of explorers. The Orion crew capsule will carry astronauts back to the moon and later to Mars. The first flight with astronauts aboard is planned for no later than 2014. Orion's first flight to the moon is planned for no later than 2020. Snip http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/orion_contract.html -------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29 Orion (spacecraft) Orion is a manned spacecraft currently under development by the United States. Prior to receiving its current name Orion was known as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The new spacecraft will replace the current Space Shuttle fleet after the shuttles are retired in 2010, and will be launched from Kennedy Space Center on the new Ares I crew launch vehicle. Orion will initially handle logistic flights to the International Space Station, but will be a key component for future missions to the Moon and Mars after 2015. Together with the Earth Departure Stage (EDS), the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), and the Ares I and Ares V Shuttle Derived Launch Vehicles (SDLV), Orion is one of the elements of NASA's Project Constellation. [1] Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Surface_Access_Module Lunar Surface Access Module >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The LSAM launches its ascent stage to return the astronauts to Lunar Orbit. Enlarge The LSAM launches its ascent stage to return the astronauts to Lunar Orbit. The Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) is the planned American moon landing vehicle that will allow astronauts to land there around 2020 as part of NASA's Project Constellation. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Departure_Stage Earth Departure Stage >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The Ares V Earth Departure Stage (EDS) is the high-energy cryogenic upper stage of NASA's proposed new Ares V launch vehicle. Its purpose is to provide propulsion for the Orion spacecraft as part of Project Constellation operations in Earth orbit, near-Earth space, and beyond. Unlike the S-IVB stage of the earlier Saturn V launcher, which had to propel the entire Apollo spacecraft (i.e. both the Apollo Command/Service Module and Lunar Module) into both a low Earth "parking" orbit and then again to the Moon, the EDS will boost only the Orion spacecraft's Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) into space; the Orion CSM stack will be launched separately atop an Ares I launch vehicle and will link up with the EDS/LSAM on orbit, a method of known as Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR), a technique considered by NASA and Dr. Wernher von Braun for the Apollo program in the early stages of planning, but was dropped in favor of the lunar orbit rendezvous approach. Once all vehicle components are properly configured, the EDS will restart and propel the complete Orion spacecraft to Earth escape velocity for transits to lunar orbit and other destinations. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/index.html NASA's Ares rockets, named for the Greek god associated with Mars, will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations. Snip http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/154047main_Ares_V_Labeled.jpg -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14594789/ Lockheed Martin to build future moonship Team chosen over Northrop Grumman, Boeing for $3.9 billion Orion project By Alan Boyle Science editor MSNBC Updated: 9:05 a.m. MT Sept 1, 2006 Lockheed Martin on Thursday won NASA's multibillion-dollar nod to build the Orion crew exploration vehicle, a spaceship with a look and a mission that echoes the space agency's giant leap to the moon in the 1960s. The announcement kicks off an effort to produce spacecraft that would replace NASA's fleet of space shuttles, due for retirement in 2010. NASA's timetable calls for the cone-shaped Orion ships to bring cargo or up to six crew members to the international space station by 2014, and carry up to four astronauts to the moon and back by 2020. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=17675&rsbci=21&fti= 0&ti=0&sc=400 Orion Crew Vehicle The Orion program will provide a state-of-the-art human space flight system capable of safely transferring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon, Mars and other destinations beyond low earth orbit (LEO). Utilizing a safe, affordable, staged approach to accomplishing these missions, the Lockheed Martin Orion Team is focused on providing NASA the capability to return to the Moon by the middle of the next decade with a low risk, high confidence program plan. The Lockheed Martin Orion team -- Lockheed Martin, United Space Alliance, Honeywell, Hamilton Sundstrand, and Orbital -- brings to bear the nation's premier human space flight and exploration expertise in the development of NASA's next generation crew transportation system. Our collective expertise spanning five decades in large-scale systems integration, planetary exploration, human space flight systems and operations, launch vehicles, military aircraft, and autonomous flight systems provides a critical foundation for NASA's vision for space exploration. NASA will fly out the remaining Space Shuttle missions through 2010 as it completes the International Space Station and other missions that will utilize the Space Shuttle. Then an exciting new chapter in space exploration will begin as the Orion crew vehicle begins its missions to the International Space Station and ventures forth to return human explorers to the moon with a bold new mission of exploration as we prepare for human missions to Mars. Our state-of-the-art capsule concept provides a solution that is highly extensible for those future missions. This 21st century spacecraft design: Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fnec&ti=106 Lockheed Martin VIDEO GALLERY http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&prfr=false&ci=16800&sc =400&rsbci=16800&rsbi= Lockheed Martin Photo Gallery ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Sat Nov 18 18:24:49 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:24:49 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Would you like to see an Astronaut go to an Asteroid? - Have you seen this? Message-ID: <005601c70b68$bec9d0b0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Would you like to see an Astronaut go to an Asteroid? - Have you seen this? Bob asked me --- ------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Kellogg: Did you see this article? Bob MacBird Conroe, Texas http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1950258,00.html ------------------------------------------------------------- I had not, and proceeded to bend Bob's ear about some questions I had with the article as it stated that Dr. Chris McKay was a deputy scientist in the Constellation science office at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Maybe so, but there is a David McKay at JSC and I know a Chris McKay that works at NASA Ames Research Center, so I wondered if Chris was also now at JSC too. Things have changed around at Ames since I left and for all I know Chris could be working at JSC or at Ames or both. That sent me off looking to see what I could find about what was happening at Ames and whether Chris was now at JSC. I found a Space.com link and it reads better but still left questions. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.space.com/news/061116_asteroid_nasa.html NASA Studies Manned Asteroid Mission By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 16 November 2006 06:32 am ET NASA is appraising a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid-gauging the scientific merit of the endeavor while testing out spacecraft gear, as well as mastering techniques that could prove useful if a space rock ever took aim for our planet. Space agency teams are looking into use of Constellation hardware for a human Near-Earth Object (NEO) mission-an effort underway at NASA's Ames Research. Another study is delving into use of Constellation components to support an automated Mars sample return mission. That study is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Snip "A human mission to a near Earth asteroid would be scientifically worthwhile," said Chris McKay, deputy scientist in the Constellation science office at the NASA Johnson Space Center. "It could be part of an overall program of understanding these objects. Also, it would be useful, instrumentally, in terms of understanding the threat they pose to the Earth." Stationed at NASA's Ames Research Center located in California's Silicon Valley, McKay told SPACE.com that work is underway to evaluate the science enabled by sending crews to asteroids, and to judge how best to assure safe and efficient exploration. Snip ------------------------------------------------------------- Hmmm, Chis Mckay at Johnson Space Center in Texas, and at Ames in Silicon Valley California. I know Chris is tall and lanky but .... The headlines are a little different in the Guardian article. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1950258,00.html Wanted: man to land on killer asteroid and gently nudge it from path to Earth . Nasa evokes Hollywood in effort to avoid catastrophe . Mission would bridge gap between moon and Mars David Adam Friday November 17, 2006 The Guardian It is the stuff of nightmares and, until now, Hollywood thrillers. A huge asteroid is on a catastrophic collision course with Earth and mankind is poised to go the way of the dinosaurs. To save the day, Nasa now plans to go where only Bruce Willis has gone before. The US space agency is drawing up plans to land an astronaut on an asteroid hurtling through space at more than 30,000 mph. It wants to know whether humans could master techniques needed to deflect such a doomsday object when it is eventually identified. The proposals are at an early stage, and a spacecraft needed just to send an astronaut that far into space exists only on the drawing board, but they are deadly serious. A smallish asteroid called Apophis has already been identified as a possible threat to Earth in 2036. Snip ------------------------------------------------------------- Uumm, You may want to read both articles and then an interview with Simon "Pete" Warden the new Director at Ames Research Center. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasatech.com/NEWS/Oct06/who_1006.html Dr. Simon "Pete" Worden Center Director, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Snip Another example is the Virtual Environment Interface for Remote Inspection. This is one of the concepts that Dr. Steve Ellis here at Ames is studying, and this has a number of applications, particularly telesurgery, control of unmanned aerial vehicles, and more issues related to air traffic control. These are the kinds of efforts that are coming out of a lot of the space-related applications that NASA does with regard to day-to-day life here on Earth. One thing that has not been fully defined that the agency is heavily involved in developing is what we're going to do about Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) or asteroids. This is an area that Congress mandated NASA take a good look at, particularly the detection and characterization of potentially threatening, small NEOs. These are objects that are down to 100 meters in size that hit the planet every so often, and the last one we know of that hit, in 1908, had the force of several megatons and flattened a forest in Siberia at Tunguska. We are very deeply involved here at Ames, along with some of the other centers, in supporting studies at NASA Headquarters as to how we might meet this issue. And indeed, in the end, NASA has been asked that if we detect one of these things, what should we do about mitigating it? This is an exciting effort-I think it is about as exciting as you can get, trying to figure out how to play cosmic two-shot billiards. Snip ------------------------------------------------------------- Also a more sober statement that the Constellation Program Milestone Review has been completed. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061116/dcth044.html?.v=68 NASA Completes Milestone Review of Next Human Spacecraft System Thursday November 16, 1:47 pm ET Snip Once the project-level reviews are complete, the Constellation Program will hold another full review to reconcile the baseline from this first review with any updates from the project reviews. A lunar architecture systems review of equipment associated with surface exploration and science activities on the moon is expected in the spring of 2009. ------------------------------------------------------------- Talk about Asteroids, talk about Mars, talk about going to the Stars, but first to the Moon Please, the money is in a squeeze. Maybe one of you can tell me if Dr. Christopher McKay still works at NASA Ames Research Center. I can still find a phone number for him there. :-) Maybe will just CC him on this post. Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== [Google News is good at telling you the last links you were just at. Altogether the search found 27 articles and listed 13 here. - LRK - You might look at the headlines and even see how the articles are twisted. I hope Chris McKay knows where he works, maybe both at Ames and JSC. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1111267739 ----------------- http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/18/stories/2006111801432200.htm Getting set to deflect asteroids that may one day head for the ... Hindu, India - 22 hours ago It is the stuff of nightmares and, until now, Hollywood thrillers. A huge asteroid is on a catastrophic collision course with the ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1950167,00.html Wanted: man to land on killer asteroid Guardian Unlimited, UK - Nov 16, 2006 It is the stuff of nightmares and, until now, Hollywood thrillers. A huge asteroid is on a catastrophic collision course with Earth ... http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061116/dcth044.html?.v=68 NASA Completes Milestone Review of Next Human Spacecraft System Yahoo! News (press release) - Nov 16, 2006 WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has completed a milestone first review of all systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Ares I and Ares V rockets. ... http://www.space.com/news/061116_asteroid_nasa.html NASA Studies Manned Asteroid Mission Space.com - Nov 16, 2006 By Leonard David. NASA is appraising a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid-gauging the scientific merit of the endeavor while ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15750600/ NASA studies sending crew to asteroid MSNBC - Nov 16, 2006 By Leonard David. NASA is appraising a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid - gauging the scientific merit of the endeavor while ... http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/10589.html NASA mulling possible manned asteroid landing Earthtimes.org - Nov 17, 2006 CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA officials are mulling the possibility of dispatching a manned mission to an asteroid sometime soon. Teams ... http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23374864-details/'Armageddon'+ast eroid-busting+mission+may+lift+off+for+real/article.do 'Armageddon' asteroid-busting mission may lift off for real This is London, UK - Nov 17, 2006 Hollywood got there first, with the Bruce Willis film Armageddon. But now Nasa is drawing up its own emergency plans for what to ... http://www.shortnews.com/shownews.cfm?id=58373&CFID=9365213&CFTOKEN=74900031 Nasa Searches for 'Bruce Willis' ShortNews.com, Germany - Nov 16, 2006 In 2036, experts claim, an asteroid named Apophis might strike the earth and cause global disaster. Nasa's solution: move the rock ... http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/recent.titleStory&sp=l 63093 Wanted: Man To Land On Killer Asteroid And Gently Nudge From Path ... AND, South Africa - Nov 16, 2006 By (AND) - www.andnetwork.com. It is the stuff of nightmares and, until now, Hollywood thrillers. A huge asteroid is on a catastrophic ... NASA Might Send Astronauts To An Asteroid http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005541529 All Headline News - Nov 16, 2006 Cape Canaveral, FL (AHN) - NASA officials are thinking about sending astronauts to a big rock sometime soon. The trip would be to an asteroid near Earth. ... http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/16/1456222 NASA Proposes Manned Asteroid Mission Slashdot - Nov 16, 2006 eldavojohn writes "NASA has proposed a manned asteroid mission to a near earth object. They mention this being viewed as a "gap-filler ... http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200611171150.htm NASA explores ways of deflecting asteroid strikes Hindu, India - Nov 16, 2006 By David Adam. NASA evokes Hollywood in effort to avoid catastrophe in a mission that would bridge gap between moon and Mars. It ... http://presszoom.com/story_121330.html NASA Completes Milestone Review of Next Human Spacecraft System PressZoom (press release), Netherlands - 23 hours ago NASA has completed a milestone first review of all systems for the Orion spacecraft and the Ares I and Ares V rockets. The review ... --- In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the 13 already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included. --- ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Wed Nov 22 00:05:40 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:05:40 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Asteroid 2006 WV - Whisssh - Wave bye-bye - 0.9 lunar distances - Nov. 21st. Message-ID: <000e01c70df3$dbb9f640$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Asteroid 2006 WV - Whisssh - Wave bye-bye - 0.9 lunar distances - Nov. 21st. A 13 meter rock, discovered 17 November 2006, reported 19 November 2006, flying by 21 November 2006. Oh Oh OH. Easy come, easy go, unless that had been dead on. Hmmmmm. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.hohmanntransfer.com/crt.htm#2006wv 2006 WV Current assessments: NEODyS [backup] & JPL NEOPO Diameter: 13 meters (JPL estimate) JPL: Orbit Viewer NEODyS: object home page [backup] & observations [backup] Circulars: MPEC 2006-W24 Notes: 2006 WV was discovered on 17 Nov. 2006 by the Catalina Sky Survey and was announced two days later, which is when NEODyS and JPL posted it as an impact risk. JPL reports this object will pass Earth at 0.9 lunar distances (LD) on Nov. 21st. Packed designation: K06W00V Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- What else has recently been discovered? - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/ Near Earth Object Program The following table lists potential future Earth impact events that the JPL Sentry System has detected based on currently available observations. Click on the object designation to go to a page with full details on that object. Sentry is a highly automated collision monitoring system that continually scans the most current asteroid catalog for possibilities of future impact with Earth over the next 100 years. Whenever a potential impact is detected it will be analyzed and the results immediately published here, except in unusual cases where an IAU Technical Review is underway. For more information on impact monitoring and risk assessment see our Impact Risk Introduction and Frequently Asked Impact Risk Questions. It is normal that, as additional observations become available, objects will disappear from this table whenever there are no longer any potential impact detections. For this reason we maintain a list of removed objects with the date of removal. Where is 1950 DA? 121 NEAs: Last Updated Nov 21, 2006 Sort by Palermo Scale (cum.) or by Object Designation Recently Observed Objects (within past 60 days) Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- Any of you see it go by? We see these bits of rock, often after they go by, then figure out how close they were. Zip zip there you are right among the zip-top bags. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.suntimes.com/news/quicktakes/143766,CST-NWS-qt21.article Quart-sized zip-top bags fix everything November 21, 2006 BY ZAY N. SMITH Sun-Times Columnist News Item: "Airlines say they're prepared for an onslaught of Thanksgiving travelers who may not know that big bottles of shampoo, mouthwash and hair spray are banned from. . . ." And remember, even as you are struggling with the new carry-on rules and being patted down, even at that moment, the Department of Homeland Security is allowing uninspected cargo onto your airplane. Missed us by that much The latest asteroid to be discovered four days after a near miss with Earth is Asteroid 2006WP1, which, it was discovered on Monday, had passed between the Earth and moon last Thursday. Asteroid 2006WP1 is not to be confused with Asteroid 2006 WV, which, QT reported on Monday, was discovered Sunday just as it approach for a near miss with Earth sometime today, if NASA's calculations are correct. And you were worried? NASA is on top of these things. License to fish, drive ... Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- I bet you weren't worried, I bet you didn't even know we had a couple of near misses. Was that thunder I just heard, or a sonic boom of an incoming .... Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== [If I hadn't looked at JPL's Space Calendar I would not have known a rock was passing by. - LRK -] -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/#0611 Snip # Nov 21 - New[Nov 19] Asteroid 2006 WV Near-Earth Flyby (0.002 AU) # Nov 21 - Asteroid 2002 XY38 Near-Venus Flyby (0.028 AU) # Nov 21 - Asteroid 2001 WV1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU) # Nov 21 - New[Nov 17] Asteroid 2006 VP13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU) # Nov 21 - Asteroid 6135 Billowen Closest Approach To Earth (1.702 AU) Snip ============================================================== http://www.hohmanntransfer.com/crt.htm#2006wa3 Consolidated Risk Tables for objects under recent observation & active risk analysis Sources last checked at 0107 UTC on 22 November 2006 Risk monitoring Web sites were last checked at 0107 UTC, 22 Nov. 2006 (6:07pm at A/CC). -- All "time UTC date" header notations are for when information was recorded by A/CC. 0107 UTC 22 Nov. * JPL has posted 2006 WA3 as a risk. 2225 UTC 21 Nov. * NEODyS has reposted 2006 SU49 as a risk. * 2006 WA3 MPEC 2006-W46 dated "2006 Nov. 21, 22:21 UT" reports the discovery of 2006 WA3 at 2006 Nov. 18.26436 by the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS), which observed it at Nov. 18.26-29, 18.34-37, 19.23-29, and 21.17-20. It was also observed from the Spacewatch 1.8m telescope (Nov. 21.11-12) and Farpoint Obs. (Nov. 21.14-18). 2102 UTC 21 Nov. * NEODyS has posted 2006 WS1 as a risk. 1959 UTC 21 Nov. * NEODyS has posted 2006 WP1 as a risk. 1726 UTC 21 Nov. * NEODyS has posted 2006 WX1 as a risk. 1618 UTC 21 Nov. * JPL has updated its 2006 SU49 risk assessment. * NEODyS has removed 2006 UR216 as a risk. * JPL has updated its 2006 WV risk assessment. * JPL has removed 2006 WX as a risk. * DOU MPEC 2006-W43 dated "2006 Nov. 21, 07:24 UT" reports observation of -- 2006 SU49 from Spacewatch 1.8m (Nov. 20.07-08) -- 2006 UR216 from MLS (Nov. 20.46-47) -- 2006 WV from LINEAR (Nov. 18.28-32), Robert Hutsebaut via RAS Obs. (Nov. 20.42), and Great Shefford Obs. (Nov. 20.88 & 21.10) -- 2006 WX from Faulkes Telescope North education program (Nov. 20.45) 0520 UTC 21 Nov. * JPL has posted 2006 WP1 as a risk. * JPL has posted 2006 WX1 as a risk. 2134 UTC 20 Nov. * 2006 WP1 MPEC 2006-W33 dated "2006 Nov. 20, 19:36 UT" reports the discovery of 2006 WP1 at 2006 Nov. 18.29615 by the Mt. Lemmon Survey (MLS), which observed it at Nov. 18.30-32, 18.38-40, and 19.30-32. It was also observed from Great Shefford Obs. (Nov. 19.07-09) and the Spacewatch 1.8m telescope (Nov. 19.45-46). * 2006 WS1 MPEC 2006-W36 dated "2006 Nov. 20, 19:55 UT" reports the discovery of 2006 WS1 at 2006 Nov. 19.05865 by the MLS, which observed it at Nov. 19.06-11 and 20.16-19. It was also observed from Farpoint Obs. (Nov. 20.10-12). * 2006 WX1 MPEC 2006-W41 dated "2006 Nov. 20, 20:36 UT" reports the discovery of 2006 WX1 at 2006 Nov. 19.46485 by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS), which observed it at Nov. 19.46-48 and 20.50-51. It was also observed from Sandlot Obs. (Nov. 20.36-38) and MLS (Nov. 20.41-43). Snip ============================================================== http://www.brera.mi.astro.it/sormano/sael.html Sormano Astronomical Observatory: Small Asteroids Encounters List Last update: November 21, 2006 Computations by: Piero Sicoli , Francesco Manca (sormano at tin.it). Small Asteroids Encounters List This list includes small asteroids ( H > 22 ) having an Earth MOID (Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance) distance lower than 0.015 A.U, and is a complement of the ( MBPL )Minor Body Priority List for objects of smaller size. Circumstances of the encounter with our planet are closer in time to the epoch of available observations and are reported in italic and within . Moreover closest approaches for three centuries are computed only for objects having orbital elements with the uncertainty number U lower or equal to 5. For information about the U parameter adopted by the Minor Planet Center see MPC 24597 and the related page about the U value. For the most interesting close encounters (depending on MOID, U parameter, nominal distance, propagation of the error etc.) the future minimum (min) and maximum (max) miss distances in AU are computed using the OrbFit Software Package. These values, based on a 3-sigma uncertainty confidence level, are reported at the left of the nominal result and a symbol " r " means that available radar observations have been included in the orbital solution. For all the entries, Earth MOID (software by F. Manca, G. Matarazzo, P. Sicoli , Sormano Observatory ) and encounter parameters (software by A. Testa, Sormano Observatory) are computed again at each orbit update. The list, in connection with The Spaceguard Foundation, could be a support for observing and research plans. Snip ============================================================== http://spaceguard.esa.int/SGF/ The Spaceguard Foundation home page Welcome to the home page of the Spaceguard Foundation, an association aimed at the protection of the Earth environment against the bombardment of objects of the solar system (comets and asteroids). According to the foundation by-laws: ... the Association is therefore an entity eminently oriented within the most general framework of scientific research and shall pursue the following purposes: * to promote and co-ordinate activities for the discovery, pursuit (follow-up) and orbital calculation of the NEO at an international level; * to promote study activities - at theoretical, observational and experimental levels - of the physical-mineralogical characteristics of the minor bodies of the solar system, with particular attention to the NEO; * to promote and co-ordinate a ground network (the Spaceguard System), backed up by possible satellite network, for the discovery observations and for astrometric and physical follow-up. The Spaceguard Foundation has been officially set-up on March 26, 1996, in Rome. It is presently hosted by the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale of italian National Research Council (CNR) in Rome, although this is probably only a temporary settlement; its E-mail address is spaceguard at rm.iasf.cnr.it Please note that the present WWW pages are under construction and still at a preliminary stage: for any problem please refer to Giovanni Valsecchi (giovanni at rm.iasf.cnr.it): any help, comment and proposal will be highly appreciated! Snip ============================================================== http://www.nss.org/settlement/asteroids/index.html Asteroids If the dinosaurs had a space program, they would still be here. As an example of the economic value of space resources, let's consider the smallest known M-type asteroid, the near-Earth asteroid known as 3554 Amun (two kilometers in diameter): The iron and nickel in Amun have a market value of about $8,000 billion, the cobalt content adds another $6,000 billion, and the platinum-group metals add another $6,000 billion. - John S. Lewis, Mining the Sky. There are two things you need to know about asteroids: * Asteroids can make us extinct (the threat). * Asteroids can make us rich and provide homes for trillions of people (the promise). Snip [Check out the changes at http://www.nss.org/settlement/] - LRK - ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Thu Nov 23 22:57:32 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:57:32 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop (CSAW) - & - Towards a European Infrastructure for Lunar Observatories Message-ID: <000401c70f7c$ac6fadf0$6501a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop (CSAW) And in Germany - Towards a European Infrastructure for Lunar Observatories We are working on Thanksgiving weekend here in the USA but there are other things going on. Canada looks up and maybe we will get to look down too. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/events/2006/csaw.asp Introduction To support planning for Canada's participation in future space astronomy missions by developing science priorities and generating ideas for future space instruments and missions, the Canadian Space Agency will host the first Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop (CSAW) on Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24, 2006, at the John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Quebec. Recent successes for Canadian contributions to international satellite missions such as ODIN, VSOP, and FUSE, and balloon-borne experiments such as BLAST, and Canada's own astronomy satellite, the highly successful MOST telescope, have made this a fertile period in space astronomy in Canada. The future promises to be just as exciting, with guaranteed access to international space observatories such as JWST, Herschel, Planck, and ASTROSAT through active participation by Canadian astronomers and industry partners. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- And in Germany - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.astron.nl/moon/ SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOP Towards a European Infrastructure for Lunar Observatories II Bremen, November 23-24, 2006 sponsored by EADS and ASTRON Scope of the workshop This is the second workshop on the prospect of Lunar observatories, following the March 2005 workshop. http://www.astron.nl/p/lunar_observatories.htm Snip H?nefeldstra?e 1 28199 Bremen Germany -------------------------------------------------------------- Keep us posted. Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/#0611 Snip # Nov 23 - Asteroid 1381 Danubia Occults HIP 57681 (7.9 Magnitude Star) # Nov 23 - Asteroid 2003 YO1 Near-Venus Flyby (0.046 AU) # Nov 23 - Asteroid 17078 Sellers Closest Approach To Earth (1.834 AU) # Nov 23-24 - Workshop: Towards a European Infrastructure for Lunar Observatories II, Bremen, Germany # Nov 23-24 - Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop: Creating Ideas for the Next Decade, Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Canada Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/events/2006/csaw.asp Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop (CSAW) When: November 23 ? 24, 2006 Where: Canadian Space Agency John H. Chapman Space Centre 6767 Route de l'A?roport Saint-Hubert, Quebec J3Y 8Y9 Telephone: (450) 926-4800 Introduction To support planning for Canada's participation in future space astronomy missions by developing science priorities and generating ideas for future space instruments and missions, the Canadian Space Agency will host the first Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop (CSAW) on Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24, 2006, at the John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Quebec. Recent successes for Canadian contributions to international satellite missions such as ODIN, VSOP, and FUSE, and balloon-borne experiments such as BLAST, and Canada's own astronomy satellite, the highly successful MOST telescope, have made this a fertile period in space astronomy in Canada. The future promises to be just as exciting, with guaranteed access to international space observatories such as JWST, Herschel, Planck, and ASTROSAT through active participation by Canadian astronomers and industry partners. Program Overview The purpose of the first Canadian Space Astronomy Workshop is to provide a forum for astronomers, engineers, and students to exchange information, identify emerging needs and opportunities and to begin defining specific ideas for Space Astronomy missions to be carried out by the Canadian astronomical community during the next decade. This will be done in a workshop-style environment geared to facilitate discussions and to help foster the creation of teams around resulting concepts, and the participation of our international colleagues in this exercise is encouraged. The Canadian Space Agency and its partners will use the outcome of the workshop to initiate the definition of a long-term plan to promote the study and observation of the Universe from space and to establish future priorities of the Canadian Space Astronomy program. The program is planned to comprise a mix of plenary sessions, invited talks, posters and breakout sessions. The structure and topics of the breakout sessions will take into account the nature of the ideas submitted by the astronomical community through the Call for Ideas associated with this workshop, which will help determine the final program. A dedicated poster session is also being planned, which will allow authors the opportunity to highlight current research results, describe current or near-term missions, elaborate concepts for future missions, and detail their scientific rationale. Snip ============================================================== CANADIAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY http://www.casca.ca/indexeng.html http://www.casca.ca/indexfr.html http://www.casca.ca/ecass/issues/2006-ss/soapbox/prez/prez.html >From the new President ... Up the down staircase. Do you ever get the urge when standing at the bottom of a down-bound escalator, to make a headlong rush to the top? If yes, then perhaps you are suited to a career in modern astronomy! With the growing advances world-wide, it seems that one has to run just to stand still, and it takes a mad dash to re-emerge at the top. The older one gets, the more immobilizing can be the ?what ifs? borne from experience. Will my way be blocked by some down-bound traffic? What if I fatigue half-way up? Even if I reach the top, is there a support system (maybe an ambulance!) for me? To succeed, each one of us needs to keep some of the madness that comes with youthful enthusiasm, and we need to foster a new generation with the confidence to make the dash as we pass the torch. There are some indications that I am no longer youthful, but I am still perhaps sufficiently mad and unencumbered to be of some use as the CASCA President. I certainly believe passionately that ours is a great science for humanity, in which Canada can show leadership and excel. Snip ============================================================== http://www.astron.nl/moon/ SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOP Towards a European Infrastructure for Lunar Observatories II Bremen, November 23-24, 2006 sponsored by EADS and ASTRON Scope of the workshop This is the second workshop on the prospect of Lunar observatories, following the March 2005 workshop. http://www.astron.nl/p/lunar_observatories.htm The main goal of the workshop is to provide timely input in the programmatic discussion in preparation to the ESA Ministerial Council in 2008. This workshop is aimed both at informing the community about the current status of a European lunar observatory, and to solicit input from the community for the science ? specifically related to astronomy and astrophysics ? that could and should be done from the moon. Topics that have been discussed in the past range from low-frequency radio observatories to submm-wave, infrared, optical, or X-ray telescopes and particle detectors. Synergies with other experiments, e.g. with a network of seismic sensors or other detectors spread over a part of the lunar surface have also been considered. Nonetheless new ideas are still welcome. Snip H?nefeldstra?e 1 28199 Bremen Germany ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Sat Nov 25 02:29:35 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 23:29:35 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] Interplanetary Communication : Lunokhod Images Message-ID: <000b01c71063$75e92990$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Interplanetary Communication : Lunokhod Images Larry Klaes passed the following and I must share. Thanks Larry for keeping us posted. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- >Hi Walden2, > >A message has been posted in the forum on Interplanetary Communication >that you asked us to keep an eye on. > >To view and/or reply to the post then click on the link below : - > http://www.MentalLandscape.com//forum_posts.asp?TID=115&PID=457#457 > Snip > _____ >> >Forum: Photographs >Topic: Lunokhod Images >Posted By: DonPMitchell > >Wow, I actually found a new Lunokhod panorama today. The catalog is >still far from complete, given the reported numbers of images returned. >But I seem to have just about all that have ever been published. > > http://www.mentallandscape.com/C_Luna17_Horz35.jpg > >Maybe I should offer cash prizes for new images. :-) > > -------------------------------------------------------------- There are many images here so enjoy. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogMoon.htm Soviet Moon Images Russian probes returned the first images of the Lunar far side and the first images from the Lunar surface. While a manned landing was never accomplished, the final phase of Soviet exploration included a number of impressive robotic missions, returning samples and roving the surface. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to see some more of our nearest neighbor. The adventure has just begun. Keep us posted. Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_programme Lunokhod programme >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lunokhod (Russian for "Moon walker") 1 and 2 were a pair of unmanned lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union. They were in operation conterminously with the Zond series of flyby missions. The Lunokhod missions were primarily designed to explore the surface and return pictures. This complemented the Luna series of missions that were intended to be sample return missions and orbiters. They were designed by NPO Lavochkin. Snip ============================================================== http://www.astrosurf.com/lunascan/luna_21.htm LUNA 21/LUNOKHOD 2 The Russian lunar space probe lander/rover was active in le Monnier (upper left), a flooded crater with a very dark floor which forms a small bay in Mare Serenitatis. Le Monnier is 61 km wide and 2400 meters deep and straddles both Sections 25 and 24. Snip ============================================================== WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK ============================================================== This is the lunar-update at news.altair.com https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update This list is a moderated list. The moderator is Larry Kellogg (larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Tue Nov 28 18:09:56 2006 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:09:56 -0800 Subject: [lunar-update] SATCOM2 - Global Satellite Communications Technology and Systems (1998) Message-ID: <456CC1C4.9030508@gmail.com> Global Satellite Communications Technology and Systems (1998) http://www.wtec.org/loyola/satcom2/toc.htm Good day - Laptop power on switch - failed the "Power On" test. No laptop. While digging through a stack of material to find the service contract for the laptop repair, found a lot of interesting material to look over and think about. Looking at the dates on some of the papers I began to wonder how things might have changed since they were written Below is a chapter on launch systems that was written in December of 1998. That is only eight years ago. The paragraph following the one I copied below starts out with the sentence, "Considerable change has occurred since the last report." If you read the chapter, and maybe the whole report, think about what has changed since this was written and then look into the future and consider what will need to happen to get us back to the Moon. - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.wtec.org/loyola/satcom2/04_03.htm LAUNCH SYSTEMS Introduction The increased use of commercial satellites to meet the burgeoning worldwide market for telecommunications has placed increased demands on the launch service industry. The capacity of this industry will not be adequate to meet the needs of all the proposals for new satellites. Even though not all the proposals will get to the marketplace, there appears to be a shortage of launch capacity. In addition, this industry has new challenges to meet. In contrast to the past when most of the commercial satellites were placed into GEO, new satellites will also be placed into LEO and MEO. These latter orbits will be used by constellations of satellites requiring the launch of numerous satellites at a time and the launch of satellites to replace failed satellites, with little lead time. In addition, there is considerable pressure on the launch industry to make a considerable decrease in the price of entrance into space as well as to increase the reliability of the launches, a point that has been watched with considerable interest by the investment banking community. Considerable change has occurred since the last report. This is no longer an industry where the need for government and military launches exceeds that of the commercial world. Private investment in new or improved launch systems has increased and may now be even greater than that of governments. To meet the increasing demand for launches, U.S. corporations have acquired launch service capability from other nations and booked launches considerably in advance of their need, just to improve their own position in this competitive growth market. In addition, new launch vehicles are being developed to increase the capacity of the industry and to reduce costs. While much has been done to increase the lift capability of the launch vehicles, little progress has occurred in making significant decreases in the cost of launches. The added lift capability is needed to meet the demands for heavier commercial spacecraft and the need to launch more than one satellite at a time. This latter capability is especially important for the launch and subsequent insertion of numerous satellites into the multi-satellite LEO and MEO orbits. The purpose of this section is to highlight the changes in this industry that have occurred in the five years since the last report. Snip --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You might also like to take a look at the reports archive page. - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Study reports completed by WTEC Inc. http://www.wtec.org/reports.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This one is about the development of robotics and you might like to look at what they have to say about robots in space. - LRK - http://www.wtec.org/robotics/welcome.htm Assessment of International Research and Development in Robotics --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.wtec.org/robotics/report/03-Space.pdf CHAPTER 3 SPACE ROBOTICS Brian Wilcox, Robert Ambrose, Vijay Kumar WHAT IS SPACE ROBOTICS? Space robotics is the development of general purpose machines that are capable of surviving (for a time, at least) the rigors of the space environment, and performing exploration, assembly, construction, maintenance, servicing or other tasks that may or may not have been fully understood at the time of the design of the robot. Humans control space robots from either a ?local? control console (e.g. with essentially zero speed-of-light delay, as in the case of the Space Shuttle robot arm (Figure 3.1) controlled by astronauts inside the pressurized cabin) or ?remotely? (e.g. with non-negligible speed-of-light delays, as in the case of the Mars Exploration Rovers (Figure 3.2) controlled from human operators on Earth). Space robots are generally designed to do multiple tasks, including unanticipated tasks, within a broad sphere of competence (e.g. payload deployment, retrieval, or inspection; planetary exploration). Snip --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think I will go read some of these. Have one I wrote 1984 on titled, "RETURN TO THE MOON". Wonder what we were thinking back in 1984. That is only 22 years. You aren't in a hurry to get back to the Moon are you? Not the same as what I have in hand, but you get the picture. - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.astronautix.com/craft/jsce1984.htm /Class/: Manned. /Type/: Lunar Base. /Nation/: USA. /Agency/: NASA JSC. In 1984 a Johnson Space Center team lad by Barney Roberts took NASA's first look at a return to the moon after the shuttle was in service. It anticipated later studies in using NASA's planned infrastructure - the shuttle, a shuttle-derived heavy lift vehicle, space station, and orbital transfer vehicle to build a permanent 18-crew moon base in 2005-2015. Snip --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay tuned and see what is proposed on December 4. (See below) Thanks for looking up with me. Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsltr.: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== -------------------------------------------- THE DAY IN SPACE __________________ In today's space news from SpaceRef: -- NASA Exploration Strategy and Lunar Architecture Briefing