From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Tue Sep 5 00:52:53 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2006 21:52:53 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] SMART-1 Swan Song: Valuable Data Until The LastFinal Moments Message-ID: <001401c6d0a7$268787d0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day. Have been off line for a bit. Was up to Washington State to see my father who had been hospitalized and while there he passed away. He was 95. We had a lot of family there and before he went to sleep we had a happy time telling him all the neat things he had taught us as kids. Like, you had better be coming home when the sun was near the horizon, a hands width above, you just had an hour left before sunset. If late, you could hear his whistle five blocks away. Coming Dad. Now we see how mom does who is 96 and ticked off that she needs to use a walker to assist creaky hips. - LRK - SMART-1 also ended its mission. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/index.html SMART-1 swan song: valuable data until final moments 4 September 2006 Right up to its final orbits, SMART-1 continued delivering valuable data, extending the mission's legacy as a technology and scientific success. Scientists and engineers met today at ESOC to review mission achievements including final AMIE camera images. ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 ============================================================ Space Weather News for Sept. 3, 2006 http://spaceweather.com LUNAR FLASH: As planned, Europe's SMART-1 spacecraft crashed into the Moon this morning, Sept. 3rd, at 0542 UT. The resulting flash was too faint for most backyard telescopes, but a team of astronomers using the big 3.6m CFHT telescope in Hawaii did manage to photograph the explosion. Visit http://spaceweather.com for updates and images. ============================================================ [Spaceref-daily] SpaceRef Breaking News - SMART-1 Crashes on TheMoon ------------------------------------------------------------ According to ESA: "Early this morning, a small flash illuminated the surface of the Moon as the European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft impacted onto the lunar soil, in the 'Lake of Excellence' region. The planned impact concluded a successful mission that, in addition to testing innovative space technology, had been conducting a thorough scientific exploration of the Moon for about a year and a half." -- SMART-1 impact update http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=20748 -- Impact landing ends SMART-1 mission to the Moon http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=20747 -- Intense final hours for SMART-1 http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=20746 -- Amateur observers prepare to watch SMART-1 impact http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=20745 -- SMART-1 impacts Moon http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=21930 -- SMART-1 star tracker views the Moon in earthshine http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=21929 -- Smart-1 - End-of-Mission Summary / ESA TV News / 03-09-2006 http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=21928 -- SMART-1 maps its own impact site http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=21919 SpaceRef is a privately held company based out of Reston, Virginia, U.S.A. Copyright SpaceRef Interactive Inc., 2005 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 Wed Sep 6 23:04:30 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2006 20:04:30 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Coverage of STS-115 - NASA Targets Friday Launch for Shuttle Atlantis Message-ID: <002b01c6d22a$56dea8d0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day - NASA Targets Friday Launch for Shuttle Atlantis Hmmmm, kick the tires, check the water, and why won't she start? Where is a fuel cell that works when you need one? - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html Coverage of STS-115 STATUS REPORT 55 Last Updated: 08:30 p.m. EDT, 09/06/06 By William Harwood CBS News Space Consultant Editor's Note... 1. CBS News Space Place Downloads / STS-115 Mission Archive 2. This site includes pre-formatted text that requires a fixed-width font. If the text is too small, increase the font size in your browser's preferences. 3. SIGN UP NOW for CBS News Space Shuttle Status Reports. Be advised it can take up to a full day for your name to be added to the mailing list. Changes and additions: # SR-51 (09/06/06): Troubleshooting plan; MMT meeting on tap # SR-52 (09/06/06): Adding fuel cell background; vendor links # SR-53 (09/06/06): Updating countdown, flight plan, ascent data to reflect possible Sept. 7 launch # SR-54 (09/06/06): NASA managers mull fuel cell options # SR-55 (08/06/06): Launch reset for Friday pending resolution of fuel cell problem Snip ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/downloads.html Space Place Downloads CBS NEWS SPACE REPORTER'S HANDBOOK The CBS News Space Reporter's Handbook, by William Harwood, is available in pdf format. The SRH includes detailed crew and mission background while a separate set of appendices covers station/shuttle program statistics, space demographics data, abort background and information about the Challenger and Columbia disasters. STS-115 SRH changes and additions: # 08/25/06: Posting STS-115 edition and updated appendices SRH: STS-115 Supplement (87 pages; 4 megabytes) SRH: Appendices (6.7 megabytes) SRH: STS-51L/107 Remembered (6 megabytes; included in appendices) ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.space.com/spaceshuttle/ Snip After Scrub, NASA Targets Friday Launch for Shuttle Atlantis NASA is now targeting Friday for the launch of its shuttle Atlantis, but the mission can only lift off if engineers settle a fuel cell system glitch that prevented a planned Sept. 6 space shot, mission managers said late Wednesday. > Read More http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060906_sts115_newlaunchdate.html CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is now targeting Friday for the launch of its shuttle Atlantis, but the mission can only lift off if engineers settle a fuel cell system glitch that prevented a planned Sept. 6 space shot, mission managers said late Wednesday. 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.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html#ARCHIVE CBS NEWS REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK In an effort to keep this page relatively compact, CBS News status reports are moved to an FTP archive the day after they are originally posted on this page. If you're looking for a quote or need to check when something happened, please check out the archive. # STS-115 Mission Archive Table of Contents: * 08/29/06: NASA reverses rollback decision, moves Atlantis back to pad with improved forecast * 08/29/06: Shuttle rollback underway * 08/28/06: Crawler problems add hours to rollback time * 08/28/06: Ernestor threatens KSC; rollback preps underway * 08/27/06: NASA defers rollback decision to Monday; Tuesday launch still possible * 08/27/06: Rollback options debated; launch windows reviewed * 08/27/06: Monday launch ruled out * 08/27/06: Monday launch no longer appears possible; Ernesto takes turn toward Florda * 08/27/06: MMT defers decision on booster, range safety tests * 08/26/06: NASA managers discuss additional tests * 08/26/06: Lightning strike one of most powerful on record * 08/26/06: Launch delayed 24 hours * 08/26/06: Sunday forecast worsens; lightning checks still in work; fuel cell loading complete * 08/25/06: NASA works around stormy weather; optimistic about Sunday * 08/25/06: Countdown on track; weather outlook worsens slightly * 08/25/06: STS-115 mission preview * 08/24/06: Countdown begins; crew arrives for final preps * 08/16/06: NASA clears Atlantis for Aug. 27 launch * 08/15/06: Flight readiness review begins; KU bolt update * 08/15/06: Mission flight plan updated * 08/13/06: Engineers troubleshoot KU bolt issue * 08/09/06: Atlantis crew ready to kick start station assembly * 08/07/06: Astronauts arrive for practice countdown * 08/03/06: NASA sticks with Aug. 27 launch target; lighting doesn't support Aug. 26 * 08/02/06: Atlantis finally moved to launch pad * 07/27/06: Launch window opening moves up one day to Aug. 27 * 07/24/06: Atlantis moved to Vehicle Assembly Building * 07/21/06: Setting up STS-115 pages; Atlantis prepped for roll over to VAB Snip ============================================================ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html Launch Status Briefing At a 6 p.m. briefing on Wednesday, NASA's STS-115 Mission Management Team announced that because of the fuel cell anomaly it would be prudent to spend another 24 hours to research the issue. The management team will meet again at 1 p.m. on Thursday to assess the data gathered about the fuel cell issue and decide whether the launch will take place on Friday. "We want to fly a good mission, we want to fly a safe mission, we want to have a successful mission," said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program director. Hale reported that more tests and analysis would be necessary because there has been no previous failure of this nature in the history of the program. Deputy Orbiter Project Manager, Ed Mango said "We put together a huge amount of data, but it's not complete yet. We have to put all the data on the table and look at it." Mango also reported that the signature reading on the fuel cell cooling pump had never been seen before. "We'll need more time to understand what this signature really means," he said. Weather Officer Lt. Col. Patrick Barrett reported that for a Friday launch day, Kennedy will experience much the same weather conditions as earlier this week. There may be some upper level clouds coming into the area during the early morning hours and a 30 percent chance of weather prohibiting launch continues over the next few days. [More links at the NASA web site. - LRK -] Snip ============================================================ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5522536 Wayne Hale's Insider's Guide to NASA by Nell Boyce Morning Edition, June 30, 2006 . NASA is getting ready to launch its first space-shuttle mission in more than a year as it struggles to resume normal flights after the February 2003 Columbia disaster. It's a critical time for the agency, and also for its space-shuttle programmer, Wayne Hale, who is in charge of the entire effort to get the shuttle flying again. Normally, you might see Hale on TV, talking about technical things such as "ice frost ramps" or the aerodynamics of foam. But Hale has another side. He's a compulsive e-mail writer who composes lyrical reflections on life at NASA. Life, Death and Rocket Science Every few months, thousands of people in the space-shuttle program open their e-mail boxes to find Hale's meditations on life, death and the meaning of rocket science. The e-mails often describe the interior lives of behind-the-scenes workers at NASA. For example, when space shuttle Discovery blasts off, Hale will be watching from a spot at Kennedy Space Center called "The Firing Room." It's where flight controllers make the critical decision about whether to go ahead with the launch and count down the final seconds. Hale knows exactly what they'll be feeling. He spent 15 years as a flight director in charge of re-entry, watching the weather and having to make a similar call: go or no-go. One recent e-mail described that feeling: "I have given the Go 28 times. Every time was the toughest thing I have ever done. And I have never ever been 100 percent certain, it has always been gray, never a sure thing. But the team needs to have confidence that the decision was good. It is almost a requirement to speak the words much bolder than you feel, like it is an easy call. Then you pray that you were right." Behind NASA's "Go Go Go" attitude, it seems, there's a lot of angst. And that's what Hale often talks about in his emails. They end up circulating far beyond his staff as people forward them on to friends and outside contractors. The e-mails can be pensive, but also funny. Sometimes they sound like a sermon, other times like a letter from a close friend. "I have this impulse that is just almost uncontainable of an idea that has to be expressed," Hale says. "I'm not sure I could suppress it if I wanted to. It's just got to come out." Hale admits that for a mechanical engineer who normally just writes technical reports, this is a little unusual. "You know," he says, "it's not easy for an engineer maybe to put words on paper." But Hale does just that -- or at least he types the words onto a computer screen. He often composes his essays in airports and hotel rooms, whenever he's alone and has free time. The e-mails deal with things that NASA people might feel, but rarely talk about. Inside a Flight Directors Meeting 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 Sep 7 18:46:13 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2006 15:46:13 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Why Nerds Are Unpopular - and - Pluto planet or not! Message-ID: <001501c6d2cf$6c78d800$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day. On the ProjectApollo Yahoo groups there has been a discussion thread about the lack of interest in the Apollo missions even during the launches and the problems experienced by students who were in awe by what was happening and were considered non-conformists. One of the writers thought the below link was applicable to students in the USA that were considered Nerds for being interested in science and space. The article is taken from Paul Graham's book "Hackers & Painters", http://www.paulgraham.com/hackpaint.html I know the topics don't jump right out and say we are going back to the Moon, but I did find that the articles struck a chord with my growing up even though that was before we went to the Moon. Maybe you will see some similarities in your early school experiences. What and how we are teaching today's students may well affect our success at going forth and exploring space. See what you think. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------ Why Nerds Are Unpopular http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html February 2003 When we were in junior high school, my friend Rich and I made a map of the school lunch tables according to popularity. This was easy to do, because kids only ate lunch with others of about the same popularity. We graded them from A to E. A tables were full of football players and cheerleaders and so on. E tables contained the kids with mild cases of Down's Syndrome, what in the language of the time we called "retards." We sat at a D table, as low as you could get without looking physically different. We were not being especially candid to grade ourselves as D. It would have taken a deliberate lie to say otherwise. Everyone in the school knew exactly how popular everyone else was, including us. Snip So far I've been finessing the relationship between smart and nerd, using them as if they were interchangeable. In fact it's only the context that makes them so. A nerd is someone who isn't socially adept enough. But "enough" depends on where you are. In a typical American school, standards for coolness are so high (or at least, so specific) that you don't have to be especially awkward to look awkward by comparison. Few smart kids can spare the attention that popularity requires. Unless they also happen to be good-looking, natural athletes, or siblings of popular kids, they'll tend to become nerds. And that's why smart people's lives are worst between, say, the ages of eleven and seventeen. Life at that age revolves far more around popularity than before or after. Snip ------------------------------------------------------------ Of recent there has been the discussion about whether Pluto should be still be considered a planet or not. Ron sent me a link to where you can vote and express your opinion and read what others think after doing so. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------ Larry: Put this in your blog/newsletter. Also, sign it and pass it on, so-to-speak. http://plutopetition.com/ Ron ------------------------------------------------------------ http://plutopetition.com/unplanet.php Much Ado about Pluto by Dr. Tony Phillips and Amelia Phillips, Sept. 4, 2006 Popular culture has fully embraced the idea that Pluto is a planet[1]. We see Pluto on placemats and postage stamps, on lunch boxes, in text books. The tiniest planet is beloved by school kids, who are themselves tiny. Pluto the planet is even more popular than Pluto the cartoon dog. But sometimes popularity is not enough. Last month the International Astronomical Union shocked Pluto-lovers everywhere by announcing that Pluto is not a planet. What happened? The story begins 76 years ago: 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 ============================================================ As you read Paul Graham's articles on the web you will see links to other articles he has written and this one I found interesting as I think about how best to talk to you folks. Brings back memories of my classes and my wondering why we were doing it that way. Might beg the question on how would you like to see posts from me in the here and now. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html The Age of the Essay September 2004 Remember the essays you had to write in high school? Topic sentence, introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, conclusion. The conclusion being, say, that Ahab in Moby Dick was a Christ-like figure. Oy. So I'm going to try to give the other side of the story: what an essay really is, and how you write one. Or at least, how I write one. Mods The most obvious difference between real essays and the things one has to write in school is that real essays are not exclusively about English literature. Certainly schools should teach students how to write. But due to a series of historical accidents the teaching of writing has gotten mixed together with the study of literature. And so all over the country students are writing not about how a baseball team with a small budget might compete with the Yankees, or the role of color in fashion, or what constitutes a good dessert, but about symbolism in Dickens. With the result that writing is made to seem boring and pointless. Who cares about symbolism in Dickens? Dickens himself would be more interested in an essay about color or baseball. Snip Good writing should be convincing, certainly, but it should be convincing because you got the right answers, not because you did a good job of arguing. When I give a draft of an essay to friends, there are two things I want to know: which parts bore them, and which seem unconvincing. The boring bits can usually be fixed by cutting. But I don't try to fix the unconvincing bits by arguing more cleverly. I need to talk the matter over. At the very least I must have explained something badly. In that case, in the course of the conversation I'll be forced to come up with a clearer explanation, which I can just incorporate in the essay. More often than not I have to change what I was saying as well. But the aim is never to be convincing per se. As the reader gets smarter, convincing and true become identical, so if I can convince smart readers I must be near the truth. The sort of writing that attempts to persuade may be a valid (or at least inevitable) form, but it's historically inaccurate to call it an essay. An essay is something else. Snip If all you want to do is figure things out, why do you need to write anything, though? Why not just sit and think? Well, there precisely is Montaigne's great discovery. Expressing ideas helps to form them. Indeed, helps is far too weak a word. Most of what ends up in my essays I only thought of when I sat down to write them. That's why I write them. In the things you write in school you are, in theory, merely explaining yourself to the reader. In a real essay you're writing for yourself. You're thinking out loud. But not quite. Just as inviting people over forces you to clean up your apartment, writing something that other people will read forces you to think well. So it does matter to have an audience. The things I've written just for myself are no good. They tend to peter out. When I run into difficulties, I find I conclude with a few vague questions and then drift off to get a cup of tea. Snip ============================================================ I wore salt and pepper peg pants once and had wavy hair back then that the girls could put up. Other than that I wore glasses and would probably have been considered one of the Nerds. At a pre-planning for our 25th high school class reunion, two of the football guys asked me if I remembered them chasing be around the school yard in grade school. I did! Wonder if they remember the smoke bomb I set off in school the last day of 9th grade, probably had no idea who was controlling the lighting for some stage productions in high school. :-) - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html What You Cant Say January 2004 Have you ever seen an old photo of yourself and been embarrassed at the way you looked? Did we actually dress like that? We did. And we had no idea how silly we looked. It's the nature of fashion to be invisible, in the same way the movement of the earth is invisible to all of us riding on it. What scares me is that there are moral fashions too. They're just as arbitrary, and just as invisible to most people. But they're much more dangerous. Fashion is mistaken for good design; moral fashion is mistaken for good. Dressing oddly gets you laughed at. Violating moral fashions can get you fired, ostracized, imprisoned, or even killed. If you could travel back in a time machine, one thing would be true no matter where you went: you'd have to watch what you said. Opinions we consider harmless could have gotten you in big trouble. I've already said at least one thing that would have gotten me in big trouble in most of Europe in the seventeenth century, and did get Galileo in big trouble when he said it-- that the earth moves. [1] Nerds are always getting in trouble. They say improper things for the same reason they dress unfashionably and have good ideas: convention has less hold over them. Snip ============================================================= So where are the "Edisons"? - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html Great Hackers July 2004 (This essay is derived from a talk at Oscon 2004.) A few months ago I finished a new book, and in reviews I keep noticing words like "provocative'' and "controversial.'' To say nothing of "idiotic.'' I didn't mean to make the book controversial. I was trying to make it efficient. I didn't want to waste people's time telling them things they already knew. It's more efficient just to give them the diffs. But I suppose that's bound to yield an alarming book. Edisons There's no controversy about which idea is most controversial: the suggestion that variation in wealth might not be as big a problem as we think. I didn't say in the book that variation in wealth was in itself a good thing. I said in some situations it might be a sign of good things. A throbbing headache is not a good thing, but it can be a sign of a good thing-- for example, that you're recovering consciousness after being hit on the head. Variation in wealth can be a sign of variation in productivity. (In a society of one, they're identical.) And that is almost certainly a good thing: if your society has no variation in productivity, it's probably not because everyone is Thomas Edison. It's probably because you have no Thomas Edisons. Snip Recognition So who are the great hackers? How do you know when you meet one? That turns out to be very hard. Even hackers can't tell. I'm pretty sure now that my friend Trevor Blackwell is a great hacker. You may have read on Slashdot how he made his own Segway. The remarkable thing about this project was that he wrote all the software in one day (in Python, incidentally). For Trevor, that's par for the course. But when I first met him, I thought he was a complete idiot. He was standing in Robert Morris's office babbling at him about something or other, and I remember standing behind him making frantic gestures at Robert to shoo this nut out of his office so we could go to lunch. Robert says he misjudged Trevor at first too. Apparently when Robert first met him, Trevor had just begun a new scheme that involved writing down everything about every aspect of his life on a stack of index cards, which he carried with him everywhere. He'd also just arrived from Canada, and had a strong Canadian accent and a mullet. The problem is compounded by the fact that hackers, despite their reputation for social obliviousness, sometimes put a good deal of effort into seeming smart. When I was in grad school I used to hang around the MIT AI Lab occasionally. It was kind of intimidating at first. Everyone there spoke so fast. But after a while I learned the trick of speaking fast. You don't have to think any faster; just use twice as many words to say everything. With this amount of noise in the signal, it's hard to tell good hackers when you meet them. I can't tell, even now. You also can't tell from their resumes. It seems like the only way to judge a hacker is to work with him on something. Snip ============================================================= I ordered the book so that I could read some of the other articles. Maybe pick up some pointers on communicating better. If there are topics that you would like me to look into, feel free to drop me a line. You know that Jeff Marraccini put a lot of the old lunar-update posts on the web site. http://news.altair.com/pipermail/lunar-update/ Maybe something back in ancient history needs re-telling. :-) - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.paulgraham.com/hackpaint.html Hackers & Painters We live in the computer age, a world increasingly shaped by programmers. Who are they, what motivates them, and what impact will they have on the rest of us? That impact is ever more visible. Everything around us is becoming computerized. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV and VCR will be components in a computer network. Your car has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet. What's next? Hackers & Painters examines the world of hackers and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on a fast-moving tour of what he calls "an intellectual Wild West." Why do kids who can't master high school end up as some of the most powerful people in the world? What makes a startup succeed? Will technology create a gap between those who understand it and those who don't? Will Microsoft take over the Internet? What to do about spam? If you want to understand what hackers are up to, this book will tell you. And if you are a hacker, you'll probably recognize in it a portrait of yourself. O'Reilly, 2004, 272 pages, hardcover. ISBN 0596006624. 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 Sat Sep 9 04:16:44 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 01:16:44 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Stung by a Sting Ray - not a good day Message-ID: <001101c6d3e8$4a329460$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day. The recent death of Steve Irwin down under in Australia by a Sting Ray has been on the news and I was asked how could this occur and what happens when stung by a Sting Ray. We probably won't get stung on the Moon by a Sting Ray but if you want to go to the Moon I would suggest that it would not be wise to step on a Sting Ray while you are on Earth and playing tag with one would not be advisable either, even if you see folks doing so in some aquarium. Let me share a snip of an article from the dailytelegraph that makes it sound like Sting Ray stings don't happen too often, then I would hope you take the time to read the other article I copied for it is worth noting that getting cut up by a barbed, poisonous stinger from a Sting Ray can and has been deadly. I would like you to be around to look up with me after your summer swims. - LRK - ============================================================= http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20355300-5001021,00.html Death only 4th of its type By Karina Dunger September 05, 2006 12:00 Article from: The Daily Telegraph THE extraordinary way in which Steve Irwin died has scientists amazed, with only three previous known cases of fatal stingray attacks recorded in Australia. Irwin was stabbed in the chest as he swam face-down in the water, suffering a puncture the size of a hand. There had been only 17 recorded stingray deaths worldwide. The first reported Australian death was in 1945 when a swimmer at the St Kilda baths in Melbourne was dragged from the water bleeding from a wound to his chest. The finding on his subsequent death was that he had been struck by a stingray. Irwin's death was highly unusual as it was caused by the trauma of being stung, rather than the injection of lethal venom, according to Dr Geoff Isbister, a clinical toxicologist and expert in bites and stings. "What happened to Steve Irwin is like being stabbed in the heart. It has little to do with the venom and all to do with the trauma caused by the barb of the stingray," Dr Isbister said. "Although the venom may cause tissue damage, the physical trauma in this case would have been enough to cause a lethal injury." Dr Isbister said little was known about stingray venom because almost no research had been conducted. The barbed tail of a stingray did not evolve as a weapon of attack but it does have a terrible capacity for inflicting damage and its venom causes severe pain when it is injected into the body. Snip ============================================================= Think of the above this way, getting hit in the chest by a hunters broad head arrow causes a massive shock to your system and the spinning arrow bores a hole. Add some poison that will dissolve your tissue as long as it is there, just makes the hole get bigger and bigger day by day. If you don't die from the shock, you could die when the muscle turns to liquid, especially if that muscle is your heart or lung. Throw in some bacteria just to make things fester. Read the below and be kind to the Ray, it could save your Day. - 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.potamotrygon.de/fremdes/stingray%20article.htm STINGRAY INJURIES, ENVENOMATION, AND MEDICAL MANAGEMENT BY STEVE GRENARD Some people keep and breed venomous snakes because they are graceful. Some keep tarantulas because they are unique. And some keep stingrays for these same reasons. But all can be dangerous! In Colombia, health authorities register more than 2,000 cases of freshwater stingray incidents annually. Over a five year period in one small local hospital there were eight deaths, 23 amputations of lower limbs, and 114 other cases where victims were unable to work. Veterinarians should be aware of these facts. The stingrays are unique aquarium fish. They are found both in the saltwater and freshwater sections of aquarium shops and make unusual, appealing and fascinating additions to any large aquarium. Rays are members of the Class Chondrichthyes, or cartilaginous fish. There isn't a bone in their bodies; their skeletons are all cartilage! The stingrays are also placed in the Subclass Elasmobranchii, a distinction they share with sharks and chimeras (batfish). There are more than 150 species scattered among some 20 or so genera, most of which are found in pelagic waters and saltwater estuaries where they bottom feed on oysters, clams, and crustaceans. They own a good set of dental grinding plates and, coupled with their strong jaws, they easily crack open shellfish, bivalves, and other mollusks. But the impressive mouth parts of rays, although well suited for feeding, are not responsible for injuries to people. Human injuries, including a number of fatalities, are the result of being stung by their ``tail stingers." Rays vary in size from a mere 10 to 12 inches to some 6 feet in width, and most measure at least 3 feet long. Their tails are often almost twice as long as their bodies. The most popular of the aquarium rays kept by hobbyists are the freshwater rays of South America. These are members of the Family Potamotrygonidae. Native people in South America where these fish are found are absolutely terrified by them, considering the often casual attitudes towards the vast number of other dangerous creatures in their realm. Reports of injuries inflicted on hobbyists by captive rays are rare and many such incidents, if they occur, may be so inconsequential that they are not reported in the literature. Nevertheless, the potential for both serious injury and sequelae of such injuries (as well as effects of stingray venom, should it be introduced into the wound ) exists for hobbyists and professional aquarists. Veterinarians called upon to treat or manage aquarium fish may also be consulted in such injuries, so an account of this subject is warranted. The stingray's venom apparatus is composed of the tail, or caudal appendage, along with a barbed spine and its enveloping integumentary sheath, and associated venom glands. There is a wedge-shaped area of tissue that is in close contact with the spine; thus, when the spine is lying flat against the dorsal surface of the ray, it is bathed in a m?lange of venom and mucus. There is a great deal of confusion concerning the terms sting, spine, and barb. The sting properly refers to the entire structure: the spine, its sheath, and the venom glands. The term spine properly refers to the rigid surface of the sting, which is made of dentin. The barbs are the backwards facing serrations associated with the lateral aspect of the spine. Depending on species, one or more spines may be present on the dorsal surface of the tail. The barbs facilitate the tearing of the ray's integumentary sheath and the broadening of the victim's wound. Barbs also work like a backwards pointing fish hook and make disengagement more time consuming and traumatic. In short, the "sting" of the stingray is a well-crafted, trauma- and venom-inducing apparatus that has survived the test of time over millions of years. Since it is not used for food gathering, its purpose may be purely defensive. The actual venom glands were passed upwards to some forms of more advanced bony fishes and air-breathing aquatic and terrestrial snakes, culminating, perhaps, in the world's only extant venomous mammals: the echnida and the duckbilled platypus, both of Australia. Curiously, in this same part of the world there resides the only known venomous bird: the oil bird of Papua, New Guinea. Evolutionary biologists have not, however, studied the evolution of venom glands and envenomating as a distinct subject, so therefore it is only possible to speculate how stingray venom glands and delivery systems are related to venom-producing functions in more advanced life forms. Stingrays are generally non-aggressive and intelligent creatures. They have been called the "pussycat of the sea" and devotees of diving programs on educational TV are often treated to images of scuba divers hitching a ride with some of the larger forms. This is a precarious activity at best, however, since the stingray's spine is in a perfect position to inflict injury to a human pressed against their dorsum. And if frightened, roughly handled, or captured, they react quickly by using their tail to place the sting in close contact with the object of their discomfort. Stingrays cannot raise or lower their stings voluntarily. The wound they inflict comes from the arching forward flick of their muscular tail. Envenomation occurs when the tip of the spine penetrates the ray's integumentary sheath and lacerates the skin of the victim simultaneously. Human injuries also occur during stingray capture, when people attempt to haul them into a boat. Another common scenario is for the victim, wading in shallow water, to accidentally step on a stingray buried just beneath the sand. In these instances, the ray flicks up its tail, usually lacerating the leg. Contrary to popular "nature documentaries," it is extremely hazardous to swim directly over, or in close proximity to, a stingray. A flick of the tail is apt to pierce a person's body, and a serious, even potentially fatal, situation is in the offing. THE NATURE OF STINGRAY INJURIES Stingray injury has two aspects: 1) immediate physical trauma from the powerful penetrating action of the spine, and 2) envenomation at the site of the wound with the contents of the ray's integumentary sheath. Although venom is not always deposited during a "sting incident," these two insults often work in dangerous synchrony. Most traumatic injuries inflicted by rays occur to the lower limbs of bathers and boaters, and to the hands and arms of fisherman, hobbyists and other handlers. If a major blood vessel is lacerated, hemorrhage can occur and could even be fatal. There is at least one case in the literature of a victim whose femoral artery was pierced by the spine of a stingray; the victim bled to death. In about 5% of such injuries, the spine is broken off and remains in the wound, especially when the fish is pulled off the victim. Penetration of any part of the trunk (chest, abdomen, groin) is a serious medical emergency. Introduction of the ray's necrotizing venom directly into the body cavity of a person has been known to cause insidious necrotizing effects on the heart and other internal organs, and death is often inevitable. All stingray venoms are very similar. They contain serotonin, 5-nucleotidase, and phosphodiesterase. The latter two enzymes are responsible for the necrosis and tissue breakdown seen in stingray envenomations; serotonin is the cause of inexorable pain in the region of the injury. These actions will continue unabated if left untreated. Minor, untreated stings, particularPolkadot Ray 2ly among hobbyists, often result in lesions resembling bacterial cellulitis. Since the serotonin in stingray venoms produces severe and immediate onset of local pain, any sting that is relatively free of pain indicates that no actual envenomation occurred and the ``lucky" victim endured a ``dry" sting. This may be due to one or more of several reasons: the sheath was previously ruptured, releasing its venom store; the sheath failed to penetrate the wound; the sheath failed to rupture, so the venom remained contained; or, the spine had been broken off previously. But for those people who receive a dose of venom along with the physical trauma of being hit, the tissue necrosis and subsequent secondary bacterial infection that occurs as a result is extremely difficult to treat; and many months and several courses of intravenous antibiotics may be necessary. Stings to the legs should be treated, as well, by several weeks (or perhaps months) of bed rest to help prevent exacerbation of the necrosis and bacterial infection occasioned by the dependent position in which legs are kept when the victim stands upright or walks. Injuries from freshwater stingrays are extremely common in some South American countries where these fish are plentiful and come in frequent contact with local people. In Colombia, health authorities register more than 2,000 cases of freshwater stingray attacks annually. Over a five-year period in one small local hospital in that country there were eight deaths, 23 amputations of lower limbs, and 114 other cases where victims were unable to work for up to 8 months. It should be noted, however, that clear cause and effect reactions are not readily understood where reported systemic effects occur in stingray envenomations. Among the catalog of such effects are: diaphoresis, nausea, cardiac arrhythmia (flattened and biphasic T-waves), anxiety, headache, tremors, skin rash, diarrhea, generalized pallor, delirium, neuritis, limb paralysis, paresthesias, lymphangitis, abdominal pain, arthritis, fever, hypertension and hypotension, dyspnea, congestive heart failure, and syncope. Some of these effects can be explained by allergy and psychological reactions, and stingray experts are unsure as to the true extent to which systemic effects, or their absence, are consistent and dependable signs of a realistic prognosis. As an example, in one autopsy report a stingray envenomation to the chest in a 12-year-old boy was found to result in death due to necrosis of heart muscle tissue. This was the result of a freak accident wherein an "airborne" stingray (caught on a hook and line and hauled into the boat) slammed against the child, using its spine to penetrate the left lung and pericardium, perhaps penetrating the heart itself. Asymptomatic for some time after the incident, the sequestered venom caused an insidious and unrelenting necrosis of the myocardium, culminating in right ventricular rupture and fatal cardiac tamponade. Stingray injuries almost always occur in inexperienced and/or uniformed people grappling with live, terrified rays, or those people unlucky enough to step on one while wading. Unprovoked attacks, probably based on some territorial imperative, have also been recorded. Aquarium stingrays make fascinating, unusual, bizarre and, yes, usually friendly inhabitants. Friendly when treated kindly, and conditioned accordingly (stingrays are classified as "intelligent" compared to many other kinds of fish). But, it is also necessary to treat them with respect. Handling of aquarium captives must be kept to a minimum. Trying to net them is a foolhardy exercise. Moving them from one aquarium or transporting them should be done by devising some way of trapping them, underwater, removing the trap with them inside, and then releasing them at their destination. All but the smallest stingrays should NOT be netted. Extreme caution must be exercised at all times. This might include the handler wearing gloves and a heavy long-sleeved shirt. FIRST AID AND MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF STINGRAY TRAUMA -- ENVENOMATION Although stingray injuries are more common than one would expect, deleterious sequelae are a rarity thanks to quick and careful disinfection of the wound, preferably under medical or veterinary supervision. Professional assistance is necessary to make sure there are no traces of venom left at the site by assuring that any remaining parts of the integumentary sheath or broken spine pieces are removed, surgically if necessary. These can be visualized by x-ray. First-Aid measures include the following essential steps: 1. Control any visible hemorrhage; if a blood vessel is pierced, apply hard direct pressure, regardless of how painful that might be, over the source of the bleeding. 2. Do not apply a tourniquet or pressure bandage on the entire limb; widespread swelling and systemic effects are unlikely in limb bites. 3. Immediately place the bitten spot into water as hot as one can stand; caregivers might test it before placing the victim's sting in it. This should quickly help to lessen pain, and the area should remain immersed until pain subsides. 4. Disinfect the area immediately on removal from hot water. The sting area can be treated with Betadine [tm] solution and scrubbed with a soft bristle brush with clean cool water and a mild disinfectant soap, such as Phisohex [tm] or similar preparation. 5. Seek medical help even if the bite is considered trivial. The site should, at the very least, be x-rayed for the presence of broken spines and spine barbs. Medical care measures include the following essential steps: 1. Treating physicians can use an infiltrating injection of 1% lidocaine to control pain if indicated. The lidocaine infiltration can be made directly into the sting or wound. Curiously, this technique has proved to be helpful in minimizing tissue necrosis, although the mechanism is not clear. 2. If unbearable pain persists, the victim may require a regional nerve block, which should be performed by an anesthesiologist under controlled conditions. 3. The wound area should be radiographed for the presence of spine and barb fragments. 4. If the radiology results are positive or suggestive, the wound should be explored under anesthesia. The use of an operating microscope is helpful in confirming the presence of the sheath and smaller fragments, as well as aiding in their removal. 5. The area should be left open to granulate and sutures should not be used, or used loosely if surgery requires 6. The patient should be observed in the hospital overnight for symptoms and signs of allergy, and these treated accordingly. 7. Tetanus prophylaxis should always be given, unless recently boostered. 8. Patients should be discharged on a broad-spectrum antibiotic such as is recommended for cutaneous lesions 9. If the patient is hospitalized, antibiotics can be loaded by injection or via an IV administration until discharge. The most troublesome expected sequelae of this type of sting are tissue necrosis and secondary bacterial infection. 10. All penetrating wounds of the trunk (as mentioned previously) must be thoroughly worked up. The patient should be admitted to the hospital and given IV antibiotics immediately. Insidious necrosis and bacterial infection of internal organs in the vicinity of such stings is a possibility, and can be a fatal result of such wounds, sometimes days or even weeks after the initial incident. Symptomatology may be absent until infection and tissue destruction become overwhelming. At this point, little or no result from medical intervention can be expected. 11. Penetrating stings to the chest in the region of the heart should be evaluated by echocardiography. The presence of even a small pericardial effusion may indicate pericardial and possibly myocardial penetration. Such cases should also be followed on the basis of serial laboratory studies of cardiac enzymes such as creatine kinase. CK levels have risen to high levels within 8 hours of penetration, but even this evidence may present itself critically late for meaningful intervention. A decision may need to be reached to open the chest and disinfect and clean the area of penetration prior to the possibility of cardiac muscle destruction. Author's note: Much of the information in the above discussion was gleaned from: Williamson, et al (eds). 1996. Venomous and Poisonous Marine Animals. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. Any reader interested in aquatic organism envenomations and poisonings will find this comprehensive book extremely valuable. I thank Steve Grenard for the permission to use this article here on www.potamotrygon.de. I also thank Yuuichi Miura for the Stingray pictures shown above. To access his WWW page containing breeding and husbandry information on these fish [click here] Andreas Ochs ============================================================= http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/topics/lh_stingray_city.htm Stingray City Limits Q: I recently returned from a vacation to Grand Cayman, where I did several dives at 'Stingray City'. When I got home, I tried to learn more about stingrays but couldn't find out much. Can you tell me a bit about the natural history of the rays at Stingray City and whether or not they are dangerous? - Brenda Denver, CO A: Very little is known about the biology of most skates and rays - including stingrays - because they have been largely overshadowed by their more infamous relatives, the sharks. This is unfortunate, as these 'pancake sharks' are fascinating creatures in their own right. There are at least 96 species of stingrays worldwide (families Dasyatididae and Urolophidae combined), of which 5 are common in the Caribbean. The species predominant at 'Stingray City' is the Southern Stingray (Dasyatis americana). The biology of the Southern Stingray has received scant attention from most of my colleagues. It just so happens, I did some field research on the behavior, ecology, and life history of this species a few years ago in the Bahama Islands. What follows is a synopsis of my findings; much of this information is original and has not been published before - let it not be said I am a closed-fisted teacher! Snip Stingray City has been called "the most exciting 12-foot dive in the world". Thousands of divers have hand fed and handled the resident Southern Stingrays without serious incident. While a few divers have had their hands or arms 'bitten', the flattened dental plates of these rays do minimal damage (often little more than a reddish pucker-mark called a 'stingray hickey'). But there has been at least one serious injury inflicted by a stingray on a diver at Stingray City. Although the rays at Stingray City are pretty much habituated to contact with divers, stingrays are potentially dangerous and one would be wise to bear that in mind when interacting with them. Stingrays, like sharks, are basically 'path of least resistance' types: given an opportunity to flee rather than fight, most will simply swim away. But if persistently harassed, stingrays are quite capable of defending themselves. Some 1,500 stingray-related injuries are recorded in the United States every year, mostly minor wounds around the feet and ankles. But some stingray injuries are deadly serious. A couple of years ago, a 35-year-old Australian bloke on holidays in Fiji was stung in the chest as he swam over a large stingray; the barb punctured his heart and he died a day later as a result of his injuries. The 'sting' which gives these fishes their common name is a modified dermal denticle mounted near the base of the tail, about one-third along its total length. The sting consists of a blade-like barb with serrations along both edges and a venom gland at the base. The serrae point toward the base of the spine, making removal difficult and very painful. The venom is a fairly powerful nerve toxin which affects the heart in complex and dangerous ways. But like most fish toxins, stingray venom is a large protein that can be broken down by heat. First aid should begin with immersion of the wound in hot but non-scalding water (110 to 113? F) for 30 to 90 minutes. The wound should then be cleaned with soap and water and any broken bits of stingray spine should be removed; no attempt should be made to tape or sew the wound closed, unless necessary to stop excessive bleeding. If the wound shows signs of infection (redness, swelling, pus), administer antibiotics. Treatment by a physician is indicated in any stingray envenomation. But the best way to treat a stingray spining is not to allow it to happen in the first place. When wading in shallow water, perform the 'Stingray Shuffle': drag your feet rather than step as you would on land; this reduces the likelihood that you accidentally tread on a buried stingray by giving it a chance to escape. When diving over sand flats in deeper water, stay well off the bottom and watch for the rhomboidal outline that could indicate a buried stingray. If a stingray consistently turns to face you or raises its stinger-bearing tail above its back like a scorpion, it would be prudent to back off. Stingrays have enough problems living in the shadow of their infamous sharky cousins and having to go through life looking like a cowflop with eyes. 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 Sat Sep 9 19:30:12 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2006 16:30:12 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Jonathan's Space Report - No. 570 - 2006 Sep 9, Somerville MA Message-ID: <000901c6d467$e688e8d0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day, Watched the Shuttle Atlantis launch today. Maybe you caught it too. Jonathan's Space Report just appeared in my e-mail and maybe you don't subscribe so thought I would re-transmit. If you have already seen it, I apologize. You may want to check it out on-line. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html Snip The Space Report ("JSR") is issued about twice a month. It describes all space launches, including both piloted missions and automated satellites. Back issues are available online. To receive the JSR each week by direct email, send a message to majordomo at host.planet4589.org, with a blank subject line and message body containing the single line "subscribe jsr". Feel free to reproduce the JSR as long as you're not doing it for profit. If you are doing so regularly, please inform Jonathan by email. Comments, suggestions, and corrections are encouraged. You can mail Jonathan McDowell at jcm at host.planet4589.org. Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- or back issues in the directory http://host.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/ I think it gives an indication of what kind of space activity is going on. To develop the resources available from the Moon and Space there will need to be an interest from those outside the government as well. What interests you? 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 ============================================================== Jonathan's Space Report No. 570 2006 Sep 9, Somerville MA --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shuttle and Station -------------------- OV-104 Atlantis was launched at 1514:55 UTC on Sep 9 on mission STS-115. The RSRM-94 solid rocket boosters separated at 1517 UTC and the Orbiter's main engines shut down at 1523 UTC, followed by separation of external tank ET-118. ET-118 and Atlantis were then in a 58 x 220 km x 51.6 deg orbit. ET-118 made one partial orbit of the Earth, reentering over the Pacific. Atlantis fired its OMS engines at apogee at 1552 UTC to raise the orbit to 228 x 285 km. Atlantis will carry the P3/P4 truss segments to the Station, including a large new set of solar panel arrays. P3 carries a rotary joint to rotate the solar arrays, and an attachment point for external payloads. P4 carries two Solar Array Wings, and an Integrated Equipment Assembly with batteries and controllers as well as a thermal control system radiator. P3 and P4 were attached to each other on the ground and form a single unit; P3 will be connected to the end of the P1 segment on the Station (P2 was the name for a segment which was intended for an earlier version of the Station design but was never built). Location Cargo Mass Bay 1-2 Orbiter Docking System 1800 kg? Bay 3P APC with SPDU 20 kg? Bay 3-12 Truss segment P3/P4 15821 kg Sill OBSS 201 450 kg? Sill RMS 301 390 kg -------------------------------------------------------- Total cargo: 18481 kg? Note: NASA uses a different definition of "cargo". Note: OBSS serial number from Bill Harwood's page, http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/current.html SPDU is a (Shuttle?) power distribution unit. The OBSS is the Orbiter Boom Sensor System, which can be attached to the RMS (Remote Manipulator System). Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter --------------------------- MRO was inserted into a 426 x 43000 km x 93.3 deg orbit around Mars on 2006 Mar 10. During aerobraking the periapsis was lowered to only 105 km, and friction with the atmosphere lowered to apoapsis. On Aug 30 several months of aerobraking were completed and MRO riased its periapsis to 210 km. After another burn on Sep 5, the spacecraft was in an approximately 289 x 440 km x 92.5 deg orbit around Mars, close to its final science orbit. Voyager 1 --------- On 2006 Aug 13 at 2113 UTC, Voyager 1 reached 100 AU from the Sun. Pioneer 10 is at 91.2 AU, Voyager 2 is at 80.4 AU, Pioneer 11 at 70.4 AU. SJ-8 ---- China launched the Shi Jian 8 satellite on Sep 9 from the Jiuquan space center into a 177 x 445 km x 63.0 deg orbit. SJ-8, unlike earlier SJ satellites, is a recoverable satellite derived from earlier FSW reconnaissance and microgravity satellites. It will study the exposure of seeds to microgravity and radiation. The Xinhua news agency reports that the launch vehicle was a CZ-2C. Both CZ-2C and uprated CZ-2D rockets are used for the recoverable satellites. Based on orbital data, I estimate that the launch time was 0700 UTC. H-2A ---- Japan's H-2A F8 second stage, which was used to launch the Daichi (ALOS) remote sensing satellite in January, appears to have exploded. 21 debris objects were cataloged around Sep 8. Koreasat -------- Koreasat 5 (also called Mugunghwa 5) was launched on Aug 22 by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL into equatorial geostationary transfer orbit. The Alcatel Alenia Spacebus 4000C1 satellite will provide Ku-band capacity for Korea Telecom and Ka-band and SHF band transponders for the South Korean government's Agency for Defense Development. Table of Recent Launches ----------------------- Date UT Name Launch Vehicle Site Mission INTL. DES. Jul 4 1838 Discovery (STS-121) Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 28A Leonardo (MPLM-1) Module 28 Jul 10 1208 Insat 4C GSLV Sriharikota SLP Comms F02 Jul 12 1453 Genesis 1 Dnepr Dombarovskiy Tech 29A Jul 21 0420 Kosmos-2422 Molniya-M Plesetsk LC16/2 Early warn 30A Jul 26 1943 BelKA ) Dnepr Baykonur F03 Baumanets ) Unisat-4 ) PICPOT ) ICECube-1 ) ION ) RINCON ) AeroCube-1 ) CalPoly CP1 ) SEEDS ) nCube-1 ) HAUSAT-1 ) MEROPE ) CalPoly CP2 ) KUTESat ) SACRED ) Voyager ) ICECube 3 ) Jul 28 0705 Kompsat-2 Rokot Plesetsk Imaging 31A Aug 4 2148 Hot Bird 8 Proton-M/Briz-M Baykonur LC200/39 Comms 32A Aug 11 2215 JCSAT-10 ) Ariane 5ECA Kourou ELA3 Comms 33A Syracuse 3B) Comms 33B Aug 22 0327 Koreasat 5 Zenit-3SL SL Odyssey Comms 34A Sep 9 0700? SJ-8 Chang Zheng 2C Jiuquan Micrograv. 35A Sep 9 1515 Atlantis (STS-115) Shuttle Kennedy LC39B Spaceship 36A .-------------------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617) 495-7176 | | Somerville MA 02143 | inter : jcm at host.planet4589.org | | USA | jcm at cfa.harvard.edu | | | | JSR: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html | | Back issues: http://www.planet4589.org/space/jsr/back | | Subscribe/unsub: mail majordomo at host.planet4589.org, (un)subscribe jsr | '-------------------------------------------------------------------------' ============================================================== 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 Sep 11 16:35:39 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:35:39 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] History - Links to some Lunar and Planetary Flight Missions Message-ID: <001e01c6d5e1$d8e1ea80$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day. We stand on the shoulders of giants. We have been going to space with missions for a few years now. Just looking at the Moon, we have seen a number of spacecraft head that way. Googled a few links on Lunar and Planetary Flight Missions, and copied some below should you have an interest. 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.gl.ciw.edu/~huntress/Mission%20Histories.html I have been a participant in robotic exploration of the solar system almost from its beginning in the 1960s. As a result, I have also become a student of its history, particularly of the Russian planetary exploration program--a mysterious backdrop to the U.S. program and its invisible competitor throughout the Cold War era. History of Lunar and Planetary Flight Missions Download a timeline of lunar and planetary robotic flight missions: Mission Timeline.xls http://www.gl.ciw.edu/~huntress/Mission%20Histories_files/Mission%20Timeline .xls Download a history of lunar and planetary robotic flight missions: SSR Mission History.pdf http://www.gl.ciw.edu/~huntress/Mission%20Histories_files/SSR%20Mission%20Hi story.pdf Made on a Mac http://www.gl.ciw.edu/~huntress/Wes%20Huntress.html Wes Huntress Director, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington ============================================================== http://my.execpc.com/~culp/space/timeline.html Time Line of Space Exploration October 4, 1957 - Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958. November 3, 1957 - Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958. January 31, 1958 - Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite in orbit, lifts off at Cape Canaveral using a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C rocket. It carries a scientific experiment of James A. Van Allen, and discovers the Earth's radiation belt. March 5, 1958 - Explorer 2 is launched by a Jupiter-C rocket, and fails to reach orbit. March 17, 1958 - Vanguard 1 satellite is launched into orbit, and continues to transmit for 3 years. May 15, 1958 - Sputnik 3 is launched by the U.S.S.R. October 1, 1958 - N.A.S.A. is founded, taking over existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics. October 11, 1958 - Pioneer 1, U.S. - IGY space probe, launched to a height of 70,700 miles. January 2, 1959 - Luna 1, first man-made satellite to orbit the sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R. March 3, 1959 - Pioneer 4, fourth U.S.-IGY space probe was launched by a Juno II rocket, and achieved an earth-moon trajectory, passing within 37,000 miles of the moon. It then fell into a solar orbit, becoming the first U.S. sun orbiter. September 12, 1959 - Luna 2 is launched, impacting on the moon on September 13 carrying a copy of the Soviet coat of arms, and becoming the first man-made object to hit the moon. October 4, 1959 - Luna 3 translunar satellite is launched, orbiting the moon and photographing 70 percent of the far side of the moon. April 1, 1960 - Tiros 1, the first successful weather satellite, is launched by the U.S. August 18, 1960 - Discoverer XIV launches the first U.S. camera-equipped Corona spy satellite. April 12, 1961 - Vostok 1 is launched by the U.S.S.R., carrying Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin, the first man in space. He orbits the Earth once. May 5, 1961 - Mercury Freedom 7 carries Alan B. Shepard,Jr., the first U.S. Astronaut into space, in a suborbital flight. August 6, 1961 - Vostok 2 is launched by the U.S.S.R., carrying Cosmonaut Gherman Titov, the first day-long Soviet space flight. February 20, 1962 - Mercury Friendship 7 lifts off with John H. Glenn, Jr., the first American in orbit, and orbits the Earth three times. May 24, 1962 - Mercury Aurora 7 is launched with M. Scott Carpenter, making three orbits. July 10, 1962 - Telstar 1, U.S. satellite, beams the first live transatlantic telecast. December 14, 1962 - U.S. Mariner 2, the first successful planetary spacecraft, flies past Venus, and enters a solar orbit. June 16, 1963 - Vostok 6 carries Soviet Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova, the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times. June, 1963 - Martin Schmidt interprets the behavior of 3C 273 - the first known quasar. July 31, 1964 - U.S. Ranger 7 relays the first close-range photographs of the Moon. March 18, 1965 - The first space walk is made from Soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov. Duration is 12 minutes. March 23, 1965 - First manned flight of the Gemini program, Gemini 3 carrying Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young. Made three orbits around the earth. March 24, 1965 - Ranger 9 transmits high-quality images of the moon, many of which were shown live in the first television spectacular about the moon. June 3, 1965 - Edward White II makes the first U.S. space walk from Gemini 4. Duration is 22 minutes. July 14, 1965 - U.S. Mariner 4 returns the first close-range images about Mars. November 16, 1965 - Soviet Venus 3 is launched, becoming the first craft to impact Venus on March 1, 1966. December 4, 1965 - Gemini 7 is launched carrying Frank Borman and James A. Lovell, Jr., making 206 orbits around Earth and proving a trip to the Moon possible. December 15, 1965 - American astronauts Walter Schirra, Jr. and Thomas Stafford in Gemini 6 make the first space rendezvous with Gemini 7. February 3, 1966 - Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. March 1, 1966 - Soviet Venera 3 impacts on Venus, the first spacecraft to reach another planet. It fails to return data. March, 1966 - Soviet Luna 10 is the first spacecraft to orbit the moon. June 2, 1966 - Surveyor 1 is the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon. August 14, 1966 - U.S. Lunar Orbiter 1 enters moon orbit, and takes the first picture of the Earth from the distance of the moon. April 23, 1967 - Soviet Soyuz 1 is launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. October 18, 1967 - Venera 4 sends a descent capsule into the Venusian atmosphere, returning data about its composition. September 15, 1968 - Soviet Zond 5 is launched, the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon and return. October 11, 1968 - Apollo 7 is the first manned Apollo mission with Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and Walter Cunningham. It orbited the earth once. December 21, 1968 - Apollo 8 is launched with Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr. and William A. Anders, the first Apollo to use the Saturn V rocket, and the first manned spacecraft to orbit the Moon, making 10 orbits on its 6-day mission. January, 1969 - Soyuz 4 & 5 perform the first Soviet spaceship docking, transferring Cosmonauts between vehicles. July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11. July 31, 1969 - Mariner 6 returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the equatorial region. August 5, 1969 - Mariner 7 returns high-resolution images of the Martian surface, concentrating on the southern hemisphere. Snip April 19, 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off for the ISS on a construction mission. The crew will install the mobile robotic arm on the station (Canadarm 2) and supply the Destiny laboratory module with new experiments, using the Rafaello logistics module. April 28, 2001 - Soyuz spacecraft TM-32 lifts off for the ISS with the first space tourist, business executive Dennis Tito, who pays the Russians $20 million for the ride. June 30, 2001 - NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is launched on a trajectory for a gravity boost past the moon to a position 1.5 million km outside Earth's orbit. From that position it is to measure cosmic background radiation from the dark extragalactic sky. July 12, 2001 - Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off in the pre-dawn darkness for the ISS with the Joint Airlock which will enable space walks to be performed directly from the space station itself (I am there to watch the launch!). August 10, 2001 - Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off for the ISS with the Leonardo laboratory module and SimpleSat, an experimental low-cost astronomical telescope. September 22, 2001 - Deep Space 1 successfully completes its flyby of comet 19P/Borrelly. October 16, 2001 - Galileo completes another flyby of Jupiter's moon Io, passing only 181 km from Io's south polar region. December 5, 2001 - Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched carrying the Raffaello logistics module back to the ISS with new supplies. Questions Your questions and comments regarding this page are welcome. You can e-mail Randy Culp for inquiries, suggestions, new ideas or just to chat. Updated 22 March 2002 ============================================================== http://moon.google.com/ Welcome to Google Moon In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969, we've added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps interface to help you pay your own visit to our celestial neighbor. Happy lunar surfing. More about Google Moon Snip ============================================================== http://kevinforsyth.net/detritus/ The Moon is a Junkyard: A Catalogue of Lunar Detritus Compiled by Kevin S. Forsyth Luna - The Moon - represents a contradiction to a child of the Apollo era. It seems to simultaneously embody both the old and the new. It is our most primeval heavenly body, an ancient rock embedded in the deepest lizard brain of the collective unconscious. But for more than forty years, it has also been the target of our most advanced scientific inquiry, and its face is littered with the remnants of high technology. This page is an attempt to catalogue the dozens of sites where human-built hardware lies, intact or shattered, on the lunar surface. Primary source for these data is the NSSDC at Goddard Space Flight Center. The site is most easily viewed in a full-screen, 1024x768 browser. Click on the small, colour-coded squares to learn about a landing or impact site, or use the list of sites link below the map. Photographs are links to captions and/or further information on each mission. Both near and far sides are listed. As always, comments, questions, and especially corrections/additions are welcome. Kevin S. Forsyth ============================================================== http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/apollo.biblio.html APPOLO LUNAR SURFACE JOURNAL WWW Links and Bibliography Last revised 26 May 2006 In addition to the web sites and books mentioned here, readers may want to consult a list of NASA History publications, several of which are now available on the World Wide Web. See, also, NASA Histories On-line and NASA History Office Interesting Aerospace History Links. Sources of Apollo photos and videos are discussed in the Photos and Video chapter. Web Sites of Interest Snip ============================================================== http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonmap/ Moon Maps & Sketches [See tool bar at top of page for drop down box - LRK -] A collection of maps and sketches showing lunar features, landing locations, impact locations, folklore outlines, antique drawings and various other lunar details. To view a map simply select from the drop down list above and click the "Display" button. The map will then appear in the current frame. Below is a description of each map. Those sites denoted with an "L" are links to other web site. I've also included links to sites that contain moon maps and drawings. NOTE: Some Maps Are Large In Size And Depending On Your Connection Speed Could Be Slow Loading... Snip Copyright C 2002 By Keith Cooley - eMail:krcool at hiwaay.net - ============================================================== http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060819110802.htm Source: European Space Agency Date: August 19, 2006 European Moon Probe Finds Calcium On Lunar Surface The D-CIXS instrument on ESA's Moon mission SMART-1 has produced the first detection from orbit of calcium on the lunar surface. By doing this, the instrument has taken a step towards answering the old question: did the Moon form from part of the Earth? Scientists responsible for the D-CIXS instrument on SMART-1 are also announcing that they have detected aluminium, magnesium and silicon. "We have good maps of iron across the lunar surface. Now we can look forward to making maps of the other elements," says Manuel Grande of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth UK, and D-CIXS' Principal Investigator. Knowing how to translate the D-CIXS orbital data into 'ground truth' has been helped by a cosmic coincidence. On 9 August 1976, the Russian spacecraft Luna 24 was launched. On 18 August it touched down in a region of the Moon known as Mare Crisium and returned a sample of the lunar soil to Earth. In January 2005, SMART-1 was high above Mare Crisium when a giant explosion took place on the Sun. Scientists often dread these storms because they can damage spacecraft but, for the scientists responsible for D-CIXS, it was just what they needed. The D-CIXS instrument depends on X-ray emission from the Sun to excite elements on the lunar surface, which then emit X-rays at characteristic wavelengths. D-CIXS collects these X-ray fingerprints and translates them into the abundance of each chemical element found on the surface of the Moon. Grande and his colleagues could relate the D-CIXS Mare Crisium results to the laboratory analysis of the Russian lunar samples. They found that the calcium detected from orbit was in agreement with that found by Luna 24 on the surface of Mare Crisium. As SMART-1 flew on, it swept D-CIXS over the nearby highland regions. Calcium showed up here too, which was a surprise until the scientists looked at the data from another Russian moon mission, Luna 20. That lander had also found calcium back in the 1970s. This boosted the scientists' confidence in the D-CIXS results. Ever since American astronauts brought back samples of moonrock during the Apollo Moon landings of the late 1960s/early 1970s, planetary scientists have been struck by the broad similarity of the moonrocks and the rocks found deep in the Earth, in a region known as the mantle. This boosted the theory that the Moon formed from debris left over after the Earth was struck a glancing blow by a Mars-sized planet. However, the more scientists looked at the details of the moonrock, the more discrepancies they found between them and the earthrocks. Most importantly, the isotopes found in the moonrocks did not agree with those found on Earth. "The get-out clause is that the rocks returned by the Apollo missions represent only highly specific areas on the lunar surface and so may not be representative of the lunar surface in its entirety," says Grande; hence the need for D-CIXS and its data. By measuring the abundance of several elements across the lunar surface, scientists can better constrain the contribution of material from the young Earth and its possible impactor to condense and form the Moon. Current models suggest that more came from the impactor than from Earth. Models of the Moon's evolution and interior structure are necessary to translate the surface measurements into the Moon's bulk composition. D-CIXS was a small experimental device, only about the size of a toaster. ESA is now collaborating with India to fly an upgraded version on the Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan, due for launch in 2007-2008. It will map the chemistry of the lunar surface, including the other landing sites from where samples have been brought back to Earth. In this way it will show whether the Apollo and Russian landing sites were typical or special. "From SMART-1 observations of previous landing sites we can compare orbital observations to the ground truth and expand from the local to global views of the Moon," says Bernard Foing, Project Scientist for SMART-1. Then, perhaps planetary scientists can decide whether the Moon was indeed once part of the Earth. The findings will appear in the Planetary and Space Science journal, in an article titled: "The D-CIXS X-ray spectrometer on the SMART-1 mission to the Moon - First Results", by M.Grande et al. -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/index.html http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM1RHBUQPE_Life_0.html SMART-1 on the trail of the Moon's beginnings 18 August 2006 The D-CIXS instrument on ESA's Moon mission SMART-1 has produced the first detection from orbit of calcium on the lunar surface. By doing this, the instrument has taken a step towards answering the old question: did the Moon form from part of the Earth? Snip ============================================================== http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/apollohoax.html Bad Astronomy Yes We Did Go To The Moon! ALERT! This page is basically a list of links to websites that either support or refute the claim that NASA never sent men to the Moon. I have my own detailed rebuttal of the Fox television program ``Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon?'' in my Bad TV section. Sometimes, I think I have heard everything when it comes to Bad Astronomy. Then something comes along so strikingly nuts that I have to wonder what still lies ahead! In this case, the craziness involves people who think that the NASA Apollo Moon missions were faked. There are lots of rumors spreading around about this, and rest assured they are all completely false. The claims made by these conspiracy theorists are actually all wrong, and some are laughably so. Some involve some subtle (but understandable!) physics, while others are easily shown to be false. I plan on having a thorough debunking of this on this site eventually. This is a large undertaking because of the sheer number of the claims, so I don't plan on having it done anytime soon. However, the number of emails I have received has prompted me to set up this page as a stopgap measure. Below are listed pages by both the conspiracy theorists and the debunkers. Although not every claim by the conspiracy theorists is covered by the debunkers, you'll see that many of their major claims are, making it pretty clear that the lesser claims are bogus too. 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 Sep 12 20:55:32 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 17:55:32 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] 40th Anniversary (1966), Gemini XI (11) Launch - Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon Message-ID: <000f01c6d6cf$51bca650$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> My, my, and another 40 years gone by with Gemini-XI launched in 1966. Wonder what will be remembered 40 years from now? - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/#0609 Snip # Sep 12 - Asteroid 844 Leontina Occults HIP 87555 (6.8 Magnitude Star) # Sep 12 - 40th Anniversary (1966), Gemini 11 Launch (Charles Conrad and Richard Gordon) http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/gemini/gemini-xi/gemini-xi.html # Sep 12-14 - 5th Space Internetworking Workshop, Hanover, Maryland # Sep 12-15 - 7th SEA Scientific Meeting: Los Nuevos Retos de la Astrofisica Espanola, Barcelona, Spain Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- The above link copied below and more at Wikiipedia. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gemini Project Gemini - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of the United States of America. It operated between Projects Mercury and Apollo, during the years 1963-1966. Its objective was to develop techniques for advanced space travel, notably those necessary for Project Apollo, whose objective was to land men on the Moon. Gemini missions involved extravehicular activity and orbital maneuvers including rendezvous and docking. Gemini was originally seen as a simple extrapolation of the Mercury program, and thus early on was called Mercury Mark II. The actual program had little in common with Mercury and was in fact superior to even Apollo in some ways. (See Big Gemini.) This was mainly a result of its late start date, which allowed it to benefit from much that had been learned during the early stages of the Apollo project (which, despite its later launch dates, was actually begun before Gemini). Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- Also read "On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4203/toc.htm On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini by Barton C. Hacker and James M. Grimwood Published as NASA Special Publication-4203 in the NASA History Series, 1977. http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4203/cover.htm -------------------------------------------------------------- How would you like to spend 02d 23h 17m 08s in a Volkswagen without being able to get out and stretch your legs? My knees hurt just sitting here with the laptop. Hope you have a little more space in going back to the Moon and Mars. :-) 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 ============================================================== Gemini-XI (11) Pad LC-19 () Titan-II (11) Crew: Charles Conrad Jr. Richard F. Gordon Jr. Backup Crew: Neil A. Armstrong William A. Anders CapCom: Clifton C. Williams Jr. (Cape) John W. Young (Houston) Alan L. Bean (Houston) Milestones: Payload: Gemini-XI capsule Mission Objective: Primary objective was to rendezvous and dock with Gemini Agena target vehicle (GATV-5006) which was launched 9/12/66 from Launch Complex 14 as TLV-5306 in 1st revolution. Secondary objectives included: Practice docking, Perform EVA. Conduct 11 experiments, Maneuver while docked (high apogee excursion), Conduct tethered vehicle test, Demonstrate automatic reentry and Park GATV-10 in 352.4km orbit. Spacecraft weight: 3798kg. GATV weight: 8097kg Launch: September 12, 1966 9:42:26.546 am EST. The launch was postponed twice; On September 9 due to a small leak in the first stage oxidizer tank of the GLV; and on the 10th due to a suspected malfunction of the autopilot on the GLV. On the day of the launch there was a 16 min hold due to a suspected leak around the command pilot's hatch. Orbit: Altitude: 1368.9 km (739.2nm) Inclination: 28.83 degrees Orbits: 44 Duration: 2 Days 23 hours 17 min 8 seconds Distance: km Landing: September 15, 1966. Landing was at 24deg 15.4min North and 70deg 0.0min West. Miss distance was 4.9km (2.65nm). Recovery ship USS Guam (crew onboard in 24 min). Mission Highlights: All Primary objectives and most secondary objectives were achieved. Experiment D-16, Power Tool Evaluation was canceled when the EVA was terminated early. During EVA, astronaut Gordon tethered the two spacecraft together with a 30-meter line. Automatic reentry was successful. Snip ============================================================== http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4203/appd1.htm Appendix D-1 Experiments by Flight * Gemini 3 * Gemini IV * Gemini V * Gemini VI-A * Gemini VII * Gemini VIII * Gemini IX * Gemini X * Gemini XI-A * Gemini XII Snip http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4203/cover.htm On The Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini by Barton C. Hacker and James M. Grimwood ============================================================== 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 Sep 14 14:56:34 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 11:56:34 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] How think you about the plans to go to the Moon with only four aboard? Message-ID: <000701c6d82f$8096b220$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day, My below comment on the last post prompted a reply from Bill about his concern that the plan to only take 4 people back to the Moon seemed to be much like the Apollo missions and not one for really exploring the Moon. I have included a snip from his e-mail and my reply for your consideration as well. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- How would you like to spend 02d 23h 17m 08s in a Volkswagen without being able to get out and stretch your legs? My knees hurt just sitting here with the laptop. Hope you have a little more space in going back to the Moon and Mars. :-) - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- Bill had an earlier input about signing up for Jonathan's Space Report (JSR) on a Majordomo list server. He discovered that anything you have in your e-mail that is in addition to the subscribe request gets commented on by the list server as not valid commands. --------------------------------------------------------------- To receive the JSR each week by direct email, send a message to majordomo at host.planet4589.org , with a blank subject line and message body containing the single line "subscribe jsr". --------------------------------------------------------------- I was also surprised by this the first time I signed up on a Majordomo list server. When it says "Blank", that means no hidden characters as well, like you get in HTML pages or Microsoft Word Docs. Plain text messages without any tag lines make it easier to find that you have successfully subscribed. The upside from feeding Majordomo more than it wants is that you usually get an email on how the list server works. I suppose that is a hint to do it their way the next time. :-) - 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 ============================================================== Snip of Bill's e-mail, and then my reply. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- Larry, here you bring up a point that has been bugging me a lot concerning the next generation NASA human spaceflight vehicle (or whatever schmancy moniker they're putting on it). I'm sure you know by now it's just a scaled up and teched up version of Apollo. I find that scary and disconcerting. In this day and age, we should be looking for the B2 Bomber version of the shuttle, maybe something that's HTOL, SSTO. Without doing a lot of research, I don't know if that's possible, but my intuition says some version of it should be. Maybe TSTO with a mother ship that climbs the initial 50,000 or 100,000 feet. My knowledge base is extensive, but not overly in depth in most areas, but it seems to me that NASA should be able to do a "Better, Stronger, Faster" version of something like what Burt Rutan did that will get us to LEO. Heck, I think with some modifications, Rutan's bird could do that. He'd have more to worry about (heat shields, orbital maneuvering and what not), but the basic craft could get there. Snip Ok, sorry, I'll get off my soap box now. My intuition tells me NASA is looking the wrong way on this one. We are the only country on the planet with a viable, if old and cranky, reusable spacecraft, and I think we should be looking to extend that legacy, not squash it. Even if they wind up reusing the new Lockheed Martin vehicle, it's still got to have a whole landing team go get it instead of it landing at its home base. Thanks for letting me vent. Bill -------------------------------------------------------------- Let me share what I answered and maybe some of you may care to vent some about our plans to go back to the Moon. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- Venting is good, Bill. Our hot water tank did that after the temp got turned up to max. Shocked some flowers outside from the discharge but saved me a hot water tank explosion. :-) Soap boxes used to be made of wood and standing on them let you see over the crowd. Not sure I would want to stand on cardboard one today. My thought about bigger would be better is that I feel we will be lucky if we get anything to the Moon with humans aboard. It is all about money (or lack of) and the changing politics with each administration change. We have had plans to go back to space before and when the cost estimates came in congress dumped them. When the first charts came out for the Vision for Space Exploration they showed how as the shuttle flights quit the launches to the Moon could take place and not increase the budget by much. Now with the war in IRAQ and Katrina costs, there have been cuts in budgets so the squeeze is on even more. Our government is borrowing money to pay the day to day expenses. That isn't the way I was brought up. The talk about not enough money in the Social Security fund is partly due to borrowing the money from the fund that could have been invested to grow. Now they don't want to raise taxes to pay it back because the public would cry out. Spending a bundle of money to fix the problem in New Orleans from Katrina is a drain on government money but it has been indicated that the original dike building money was misspent as well, so now you spend it again. The money spent and the lives lost in Iraq would certainly fund a lot of going to the Moon, but you probably would not get the authorization to spend that kind of money JUST to go to the Moon. The Lunites haven't bombed any trade centers and we don't need to go get them. http://os.jointhesaga.com/OSWiki/mediawiki-1.4.6/index.php/Lunite --------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/explore_main_old.html NASA's new spaceship is the key to making the Vision for Space Exploration a reality. The Vision, announced by President Bush in January 2004, will extend humanity's presence across the solar system, starting with a return to the moon by the end of the next decade, followed by journeys to Mars and beyond. Snip Building on the best of Apollo and shuttle technology, NASA's 21st century exploration system will be affordable, reliable, versatile and safe. The centerpiece of this system is a new craft designed to carry four astronauts to and from the moon, support up to six crewmembers on future missions to Mars, and deliver crew and cargo to the international space station. Snip --------------------------------------------------------------- I think the operative word here is "affordable". Unless the individual states get their share of pork keeping the funding coming is always iffy. When you start talking about setting up a Lunar Base you will be talking big bucks and probably some International cooperation. All while we dump our obligations for the ISS, an International cooperation exercise. Four to the Moon doesn't a Lunar Colony make, but then the taxpayers may baulk at paying for others to go live there. If the desire to develop the Moon after we get some folks there again continues, there will still be problems of putting larger masses into space. You dump empty fuel tanks and hardware by stages so that you have a chance at accelerating the remaining mass to the required speeds to make it to the Moon with the relatively short kick near Earth. The Russians didn't get the N1 to work with all those engines firing. Here we are trying to use what we have seen work without having to spend the money to think of something completely new. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1883348.stm There has been a suggestion to launch several stages to Earth orbit, mate them, refuel them, and do the trans lunar insertion burn. When you look back at the Gemini missions you see that sending two vehicles up to later mate up, presented problems and aborts. Florida weather is just one of the variables. Hardware failures and sensor failures come to mind as well. Launch pad accommodations for more than one vehicle at a time is there as well. All of these can be worked on if you have the money and the will to do so. I did get to see the shuttle Atlanta launch on TV this week but watched a lot longer on the Internet. When the buzz drops to just a sound byte on the 6:00 o'clock news, you probably don't have a lot of public support. When you scan the cable channels and see the trash being showed one wonders just were the public interest is. I don't think it is on setting up a Lunar Colony or even a research outpost. You need to have a special interest group large enough to swing votes since that seems to be the way our government works. Just put the envelope in my re-election fund box, please, and I'll see what I can do. Let the Chinese orbiter find Platinum on the Moon and send a robotic Lunar lander and return scoop of rare earth material and maybe a remote mining consortium will be set up. When the landers break down, maybe a field rep will need to be sent up to fix it. The Russians have already run rovers on the Moon and had rocks returned robotically. No loss of life when they broke down, just loss of face and money. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1970-095A http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Luna.html Ok, let me get off my soap box. Maybe something here for the lunar-update list to chew on. :-) Thanks for your ideas and looking up with me. Larry -------------------------------------------------------------- [Additional note: Any venting on how these posts might best serve will be appreciated and acted on as well. Here is a wooden soap box to stand on. - 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 Sat Sep 16 23:40:01 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 20:40:01 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Lunar Base Proposals - a sample of - what see you there? Message-ID: <001e01c6da0a$f5f79750$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day, What to do, what do you want to do, what do you want me to do? A Lunar Base, what do you see? What to do, what do you want to do? If you could, would, should, go to the Moon, what would you want to do? At 68 years young, I don't see me physically going to the Moon even if the powers to be make it so. I had thought though that it might be interesting if I could find some way to go there virtually on the web. My thoughts tend to fade into dreamland and the wife is tired of hearing thoughts about same with no actual progress. Don't know if you would want to go with me or not. Jeroen Lapre' is still working on his short movie, Maelstrom II, based on the short by Arthur C. Clarke that will take place on the Moon. Arthur C. Clarke isn't getting any younger either, so at least he is motivated to complete it soonest. http://home.comcast.net/~jeroen-lapre/ArthurCClarke/MaelstromII/MaelstromII.html It has been some time since I watched Space: 1999 on TV. Now I suppose you could watch chapters on your iPod should you want to travel to Moonbase Alpha, if only someone would think of making it so. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_1999 Paul Graham wrote "Hackers & Painters, and has a number of essays on the web. I read the book and have been reading his essays and these got me thinking about what it is that you folks might like to see in the way of going to space. Paul is a Lisp programmer and the company "ViaWeb" he started got bought by Yahoo for making on-line stores. He used Lisp to help build his web application. http://www.paulgraham.com/road.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hackpaint.html http://www.paulgraham.com/index.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ind.html http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html Why Nerds are Unpopular My train of thought often runs amuck and on strange tracks. What I think might be the greatest idea, might give others a reason to throw tomatoes, so if you would like to throw a salad, feel free to throw those leaves wrapped around ideas that you might like to see implemented, discussed, explained, or just laid out on the table. - LRK - Have copied a few links about Lunar Base Proposals below just to show that folks have been thinking about it for awhile and that there are different ideas of how to go about getting us there and setting up a Lunar Base. You probably have some ideas of what we should be doing if you had your say. It is ok, you can whisper it to me, I'll only tell the whole lunar-update list. :-) 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.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/lunarbase_euro_020620.html SPACE.com -- International Team Explores Lunar Base Proposals By Leonard David Senior Space Writer posted: 07:00 am ET 20 June 2002 A first-of-its-kind workshop is underway in Europe to blueprint extraterrestrial bases for human settlement of the Moon. The international lunar base design study involves the talents of engineers, architects, industrial designers and specialists in medicine and psychology. The multi-nation moon base conference is being held at the European Space Agency's (ESA) European Space Research Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, from June 10-21. Experts are hammering out concepts for bases to support a human return to the Moon. A trio of Moon base scenarios is at the core of the 2002 Lunar Base Design Workshop. Each case study focuses on a 2020 timeframe to establish a small permanent habitat on the lunar surface. Study teams are comprised of students with a bachelor's degree or higher, versed in a variety of disciplines. Tin can design: out with the old Driving the workshop is the need to show the European Space Agency (ESA) that the time for a Moon base project is now, said Paul van Susante, a civil engineer who is co-managing the study. He is also a research assistant at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. "We're taking an interdisciplinary, reasonable, and systematic approach," van Susante told SPACE.com. "The lunar base designs of the past are pretty limitedand don't incorporate the specific conditions of living on the Moon for extended periods of time. The tin can design is outdated and not necessary anymore," he said. Groups of lunar base designers are diving into case studies that involve a six-person outpost, situated near the Moon's South Pole. Some production capacity would be available to habitat dwellers in the year 2020. Lunar surface material, for instance, can be transformed into building materials and simple forms of solar cells. Use of remotely controlled robots is envisioned too. Snip ============================================================== http://www.russianspaceweb.com/lunar_base.html In the 1960s, the Moon Race between the United States and the Soviet Union made many scientists in both countries believe that human colonization of the Moon was at hand. Lunar bases became a frequent subject for the popular press and sci-fi novels; however, the space community also started looking at the problem seriously. Advocates of lunar settlements believed that a permanent outpost on the Moon would allow extensive exploration of the Earth's natural satellite for future mining of its resources, for the use of its surface as a platform for astronomy research and as a "proving ground" for further planetary exploration. Early proposals In Russia, Konstantin Tsiolkovskiy, a visionary of space exploration, suggested use of the Moon as a source of raw materials for the human quest into space. (136) Project Horizon In June 1959, Wernher Von Braun and his group working at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., issued the first part of the study of a "Lunar Military Outpost" for the US Army, called Project Horizon. Saturn-I and Saturn-II rockets, whose development started about a year earlier, were to resupply the base. The study estimated that total 245 tons of construction materials, hardware and supplies had to be shipped to the lunar surface. (138) Korolev studies In the 1960s, Sergei Korolev, the father of the Soviet space program, was one of the first leaders in the country's space industry, to raise the possibility of building a long-term outpost on the surface of the Moon. In 1960, in the wake of the first Soviet successes in sending unmanned probes to the Moon, Korolev published an article in Pravda, the official publication of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the article, bylined "Professor K. Sergeev," Korolev outlined in general terms his plans for space exploration, including lunar expeditions: "The opportunity for direct exploration of the Moon causes a particular interest, first with the landing of automated scientific probes... and later by ways of sending researchers and constructing a habitable scientific station on the Moon." (137) In 1962, Korolev further discussed the idea of the lunar base in the "Notes on Heavy Interplanetary Spacecraft and Heavy orbital Station," which were not been published until two decades later. In the "Notes" Korolev discussed developing infrastructure to support interplanetary travel, including a base to store consumables for interplanetary spacecraft. The topic came up during a meeting of the Chief Designers Council, an informal governing body in the Soviet space industry, when it considered future tasks for the N1 moon rocket. The consideration of a lunar base than reached the government level, which reacted with a decree on November 17, 1967, giving the green light to a "Galactika" (Galaxy) project. The plan assigned the industry to evaluate a broad range of issues associated with human exploration of the Moon, Venus and Mars. KBOM studies Snip ============================================================== http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html Google Job Opportunities Google Copernicus Center is hiring Google is interviewing candidates for engineering positions at our lunar hosting and research center, opening late in the spring of 2007. This unique opportunity is available only to highly-qualified individuals who are willing to relocate for an extended period of time, are in top physical condition and are capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences as soy low-fat lattes, The Sopranos and a steady supply of oxygen. The Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.) is a fully integrated research, development and technology facility at which Google will be conducting experiments in entropized information filtering, high-density high-delivery hosting (HiDeHiDeHo) and de-oxygenated cubicle dwelling. This center will provide a unique platform from which Google will leapfrog current terrestrial-based technologies and bring information access to new heights of utility. Snip ============================================================== http://www.androidpubs.com/Chap07.htm The first lunar base will most probably be entirely robotic. The reasons are very simple and practical. First, the costs of maintaining a robotic base will be much lower than the costs of a manned base. Second, due to the absense of humans, there will be no loss of life among the crew. Third, the initial tasks which need to be done at a lunar base can be easily carried out by robots. Fourth, far fewer and less complex facilities are necessary to sustain the robots than would be required to sustain humans. In order to accomplish any task, only four things are necessary: resources, power, labor, and planning. Some people think that money is also necessary, but it is not. Money is only used to trade for one or more of the other four. On the moon, we will have free resources! That is, nobody will charge us for the materials we find there. This is in marked contrast to the earth, where you must pay someone for every resource you need except air or seawater (if you are near the ocean). The moon also has an abundance of free power - solar power. Again, nobody will charge us for using the solar power we find there. Our labor at the first lunar base will be androids. Since they must be operated from the earth they will not be free, but they will cost roughly the same as earth-bound workers. Most planning can be done here on earth and thus will not be too expensive. Indeed hundreds of companies around the world are already making lots of plans for space, the moon, lunar bases, trips to Mars and so on. Thus we will be able to reap the results of that planning at very low cost. Snip ============================================================== http://www.astronautix.com/craft/chirbase.htm Chinese Lunar Base Class: Manned. Type: Lunar Base. Destination: Moon. Nation: China. Beginning in 2000, Chinese scientists began discussing preliminary work on a Chinese manned lunar base. Although not funded, it remains a long-term objective of the Chinese space program in the second quarter for the second quarter of the 21st Century. Beyond the initial Project 921 programmes for development of a manned earth orbit capability, Chinese scientists began talking during the course of 2000 of more ambitious plans for a lunar base. At Expo 2000 at Hannover the centre piece of the Chinese pavilion was a display of two Chinese astronauts planting the flag of the People?s Republic on the lunar surface. On October 4, 2000 Associated Press reported that Zhuang Fenggan, vice chairman of the China Association of Sciences, declared that one day the Chinese would create a permanent lunar base with the intent of mining the lunar soil for Helium-3 (to fuel nuclear fusion plants on Earth). On October 13, 2000, Xinhua News Agency reported a more definite timetable. These seemed to be the dreams of academics rather than a definite funded programme, but at least indicated the expected course of development during the 21st (?Chinese?) Century: Snip http://www.astronautix.com/index.html ============================================================== http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/ Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century Papers from a NASA-sponsored, public symposium hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29-31, 1984 edited by W.W. Mendell published by The Lunar and Planetary Institute http://www.lpi.usra.edu/ Houston TL799.M6L83 1985 919.9'104 86-50 ISBN 0-942862-02-3 * Table of Contents http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/toc.html * Index http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lbsa.conf..863. * Associate Editors http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/editors.html Copyright ? 1986 by the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Made available electronically by the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Snip ============================================================== http://www.spacedaily.com/spacenet/text/lunar-b.html JAPAN SPACE NET Talk About Lunar Base Getting Serious Once simply the fodder for science-fiction stories, building a base on the moon is now being looked at in earnest by Japan. Tokyo -- December 19,1996 -- Recently some 170 of the world's top space scientists, engineers and mission specialists attending the Second International Lunar Workshop in Kyoto, debating not only an extensive scientific re-exploration of the lunar landscape, but the setting up of a permanent manned presence within thirty years. Speaker after speaker talked of the scientific and technical benefits to be accrued from exploring the moon. Some pointed to the huge tasks ahead developing critical technology needed even to get there again. But while the problem of raising finance was conveniently skipped during the five day confab, one topic dominated discussions; how to build a lunar base. An interim declaration proposed by Chairperson Dr. Maria Perino, an engineer with Alevia Spazio, recognized that "The establishment of a permanently human-tended lunar base is the most crucial and decisive step toward human expansion into space." Assuming the capability to get there, itself a matter of intense debate, a 50 member sub-committee spent two days wrestling with some of the thornier issues. These included what the base should be made of, when it should be built and how it should be supplied. "Fifteen years ago a lunar base seemed very exotic...now there is a growing consensus on what a lunar base might be like," said Dr. Wendell Mendell, a planetary scientist from NASA. However, aside from the barest details, while some matters were agreed on by all, other points swirled around a mire of controversy. Don't expect a city, and don't expect it soon Snip ============================================================== http://members.aol.com/dsfportree/rtr.htm Excerpts from Romance to Reality: moon & Mars plans Copyright 1996-2006 David S. F. Portree. Author note: I launched the Romance to Reality website in August 1996. At its height, the site included more than 400 summaries of classic, seminal, and illustrative moon & Mars exploration planning documents spanning from 1950 to 2003. Romance to Reality led to my book Humans to Mars: 50 Years of Mission Planning, 1950-2000 (2001), several popular-audience magazine articles, invitations to speak at events across the U.S., information queries from students, filmmakers, journalists, authors, and NASA engineers, and, in 2003, an invitation to join the research faculty of the Mars Institute, which hosted the site during its final three years. I retired the site in July 2006 so that I could apply its contents to print publications. The 53 document summaries that follow (one for each year the website covered) form a fitting epitaph for Romance to Reality. Snip ============================================================== [Note: Based on the above link, the links I have posted to David's work will now fail. Wish the best on his future projects. Hope to see David's work in print. - LRK -] -------------------------------------------------------------- http://news.altair.com/pipermail/lunar-update/2003-September.txt Snip >From larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net Mon Sep 1 16:52:39 2003 >From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) >Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 15:52:39 -0500 >Subject: [lunar-update] "Romance to Reality" Comes to the Mars Institute >Message-ID: Good Holiday here, but a Monday off anyway. Well we have been looking for Aliens and visitors from outer space and we have thoughts about seeing if there is or ever has been life on Mars. (I could even think of looking in cold storage at our Moon's south pole. - LRK -) What about the idea of just moving out and putting this life form on some other chunks of rock in Space. Sort of let the other life forms see us coming thing. But you need a plan. Plans we do. We write up plans and present them and then write some more. You think not. Take a look at all the plans David S. F. Portree has collected over the last 7 years. Reading assignment. Read the 300 plans and then see if you want to walk the talk. - LRK - ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.marsinstitute.info/rd/faculty/dportree/rtr/ Romance to Reality: moon & Mars mission plans It is part of the nature of man to start with romance and build to a reality. - Ray Bradbury 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 Sep 18 00:48:59 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 21:48:59 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century - Oct. 29-31, 1984 Message-ID: <002f01c6dadd$c20e9140$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day. Have passed this link before and even though the papers in it date to 1984 it is a starting place to look at going back to the Moon. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/ Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century Papers from a NASA-sponsored, public symposium hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29-31, 1984 edited by W.W. Mendell published by The Lunar and Planetary Institute http://www.lpi.usra.edu/ Houston ------------------------------------------------------------- I copied a snip from the Table of Contents for the Lunar Base Concepts section. I am wondering if these items would be of interest to look at more in depth? I also added it to the links section of my web site. http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/links.html Maybe I could develop some pictorial representations and add them to the reports section as well. http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/reports.html Some folks like reading, some looking at pictures, and others just like to listen. Have not done anything with audio or iPod down loads but anything is possible in this digital age. During the Lunar Prospector mission there were some 3600 readers on the lunar-update list. Since the mission ended in July of 1999, the list has slowly settled to now only 901 readers. Some of you have been with me from the beginning and some of you are recent readers. The list is moderated to cut down on the amount of spam that now hits e-mail lists. Postings to the list from non-members bounce and I delete them. If you have ideas or topics you would like to hear more about, just send them directly to me. I can pass to the list with comments or not as seems fitting. If you think others might be interested in the topic of going to space let them know they are free to join the list. Here to serve. - 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.amazon.com/Lunar-Base-Handbook-Space-Technology/dp/0072401710 The Lunar Base Handbook (Space Technology Series) (Paperback) by Peter Eckart (Author) Book Description Lunar Base Handbook provides an overview about the Moon and its environment, the current status of lunar base design, tools we need to design a lunar base, checklists and flow charts that outline the design process, and technological requirements of a lunar base. The main audience for this book is engineers, but it is also interesting for scientists, managers, lawyers, undergraduates, and high school students, and readable for the interested layman. Snip ============================================================== http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/ Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century Papers from a NASA-sponsored, public symposium hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., Oct. 29-31, 1984 edited by W.W. Mendell published by The Lunar and Planetary Institute http://www.lpi.usra.edu/ Houston TL799.M6L83 1985 919.9'104 86-50 ISBN 0-942862-02-3 Table of Contents http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/toc.html This work relates to NASA Contract Nos. NASW-3389 and NAS-9-17023. The U.S. Government has a royalty free license to exercise all rights under the copyright claimed herein for Governmental purposes. All other rights are reserved by the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Published by the Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3303 NASA Road One, Houston, TX 77058-4399. Printed in the U.S.A. Library of Congress CIP data available from the Library of Congress, CIP Division, or from the publisher. Cover illustration: two inhabitants of the Moon overlook an advanced lunar installation from a museum construction site. The original, primitive lunar base lies to the left of a large electromagnetic launch facility, which dominates the vista. An array of solar dynamic generators on the horizon supplement the power from a nuclear reactor to operate greenhouses, industrial processing plants, scientific research laboratories, and a spaceport. Artist: Pat Rawlings, Eagle Engineering Co., Houston, Texas. Copyright C 1986 by the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Made available electronically by the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Snip ============================================================== Table of Contents http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/toc.html Snip LUNAR BASE CONCEPTS 33 http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...33. [needs last . in the URL - LRK -] Lunar Bases: A Post-Apollo Evaluation 35 Lowman, Paul D., Jr. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...35L Evolution of Concepts for Lunar Bases 47 Johnson, Stewart W. & Leonard, Ray S. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...47J Strategies for a Permanent Lunar Base 57 Duke, Michael B., Mendell, Wendell W. & Roberts, Barney B. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...57D Preliminary Design of a Permanently Manned Lunar Surface Research Base 69 Hoffman, Stephen J. & Niehoff, John C. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...69H Merits of A Lunar Polar Base Location 77 Burke, James D. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...77B Nuclear Energy-Key to Lunar Development 85 Buden, David & Angelo, Joseph A., Jr. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...85B Nuclear Powerplants for Lunar Bases 99 French, J. R. http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=1985lb sa.conf...99F 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 Sep 18 16:00:31 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 13:00:31 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] September 18, 2006 - Just another day in Space - See you there Message-ID: <002001c6db5d$192674f0$05000100@LRKLUNARUPDATE> September 18, 2006 - Just another day in Space Well spaceship Earth is on its way through space and it would be wise to know what lies on the path ahead. There seems to be some that are looking up at the many sights to see. The oxygen generator acted up on the ISS. It makes oxygen, they throw the hydrogen away. When you decide to live permanently off world you had better come prepared to fix it with what you have in your tool kit. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/cda75b4a1db84010vgnvcm1000004eecb ccdrcrd.html High Maintenance Broken gyroscopes, missing parts, air leaks: Is the International Space Station falling apart? By Dawn Stover | December 2004 You might think that astronauts living onboard the International Space Station spend most of their waking hours observing Earth and conducting experiments. In fact, the bulk of their time is devoted to housekeeping: unpacking groceries, collecting trash, repairing everything from computers to the toilet, and slogging through mundane maintenance checklists. It's not surprising that equipment breaks down occasionally-that's why the space station carries backup systems and spare parts. But now that the station has been permanently occupied for four years, it's beginning to show signs of wear and tear. In recent months, astronauts have had to overhaul essential gear, including space suits, exercise equipment and an oxygen generator. "The ISS is a disaster waiting to happen," warned a NASA flight controller in an anonymous internal survey done in 2003. But officials maintain that safety hasn't been compromised and that patching up equipment is great training for future exploration missions. "Many of the operational techniques and processes we're developing now, in order to operate without a lot of supply shipments, will be required for those longer missions," says Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's program manager for the station. Here, a look at recent and future "training opportunities." 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 ============================================================== As noted in the JPL Space Calendar - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- # Sep 18 -Hot[Sep 17] Soyuz TMA-9 Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 13S) http://www.skyrocket.de/space/index_frame.htm?http://www.skyrocket.de/space/ doc_sdat/soyuz-tma.htm http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/060917undocking/index4.html # Sep 18 - Workshop on Exploring and Using Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer Data, Adelphi, Maryland http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/PRODOCS/misr/workshop/current_workshop.html # Sep 18-20 - Pale Blue Dot III Workshop, Chicago, Illinois http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/pale_blue_dot/index.shtml # Sep 18-20 - Meeting: Recent Developments in the Study of Gamma-ray Bursts, London, United Kingdom http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/event.asp?id=3188&month=9,2006 # Sep 18-20 - Conference: Astronomical Data Analysis IV, Marseille, France http://www.oamp.fr/conf/ada4/ # Sep 18-22 - 6th Microquasar Workshop: Microquasars and Beyond, Como, Italy http://www.brera.inaf.it/microqw6/ # Sep 18-22 - European Planetary Science Congress, Berlin, Germany http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2006/index.html # Sep 18-22 - Meeting: LISA Astro-GR at AEI, Potsdam, Germany http://www.aei.mpg.de/~pau/LISA_Astro-GR at AEI # Sep 18-23 - Conference: Physical Processes in Circumstellar Disks, Vidago Palace, Portugal http://www.astro.up.pt/disks2006/ Snip ============================================================== Space Weather News for Sept. 18, 2006 http://Spaceweather.com SOLAR ECLIPSE: On Friday, Sept. 22nd, the Moon's shadow will cut across Earth, producing an annular ("ring of fire") solar eclipse. Unfortunately, most of the eclipse takes place over uninhabited ocean, but sky watchers in South America and Africa will be able to see at least a fraction of the display. Visit http://spaceweather.com for timetables and animated maps of the eclipse. SPACESHIP SILHOUETTES: The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station yesterday. In a moment of cosmic coincidence, an amateur astronomer in France caught the two spacecraft separating just as they passed in front of the sun. His unusual photo, entitled "Spaceship Silhouettes", may be found on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com . Snip ============================================================== -- Harmful chemical leaks in space station, AP http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/science/4195265.html "We don't exactly know the nature of the spill ... but the crew is doing well," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager. "It's not a life-threatening material." "The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent, Suffredini said." Snip ============================================================== Another matter of nomenclature --- When Anousheh Ansari made it into orbit Monday, she was called by many the first female space tourist, although not without a bit of controversy. Jeff Foust examines the debate and whether the term "space tourist" itself is all that useful. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/706/1 Snip ============================================================== http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/09/18/spacetourist_spa.html?category=huma n&guid=20060918090030 NASA Resigned to Space Tourism Irene Klotz, Discovery News Sept. 18, 2006 - It's a busy time aboard the International Space Station, which just got its first new addition since before the 2003 Columbia accident. The shuttle Atlantis crew has left, a Russian Progress capsule needs to be dumped and a new crew is coming aboard to take over control of the half-built outpost. Not the ideal time for a space tourist, or spaceflight participant in NASA parlance, but the fourth visitor is en route, nonetheless. "I think there are risks having non-professionals (aboard)," the station's incoming commander Michael Lopez-Alegria said in an interview. "If nothing else, you reduce your efficiency because you always have to have one guy looking at him out of the corner of his eye." Unlike the previous three station tourists, this tourist is a woman. Soft-spoken space philanthropist Aneousheh Ansari, whose family sponsored the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private manned spaceflight, bought a seat on Russia's Soyuz capsule for about $20 million after officials ruled out Japanese-born businessman Daisuke Enomoto for undisclosed medical reasons. 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 Sat Sep 23 01:01:11 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:01:11 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] How would we live on the Moon? Message-ID: <001401c6decd$4a68c540$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good evening, I spent the day cleaning out my garage. That is attempting to clean it out. Found myself going through old papers and reading some lunar-update posts as well as questions answered for Michelle Mock back in 2001. She has a web site and provides a service for kids to ask questions. http://www.imagiverse.org/team/ http://www.imagiverse.org/questions/index.htm http://www.imagiverse.org/whats_new.htm I copied below an answer I wrote back in 2001 with some updated URLs. Maybe you have answers to some of the questions I posed but didn't answer. 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 ============================================================== QUESTION: How would we live on the Moon? ANSWER: From Larry Kellogg on March 30, 2001 Since we have only been to the Moon with the Apollo missions we have not really lived on the Moon, more like a visit far away with no McDonalds's or gas stations. We didn't even stay a lunar day but got there usually in the morning light to beat the heat of the Sun. (Maybe three of our days. But you had to sleep with the lights on) When moving to any new location you would have to bring most everything with you to start. Sort of like loading up a wagon train and heading out west in the early gold rush days. Bring your own pans, food and provisions. Bring your own transportation. Bring everything you might need, including your own water and air to start with and at a very expensive price. It is hard to get up off of Earth and you would probably start out near a full moon if you were going to use solar panels for electricity. The ride to grandmother's house is about 105 hours but varies depending on how far away the moon will be from Earth as its orbit is elliptical, so some months are better than others. You probably don't want to dive straight into the Moon, but would go into orbit around the Moon and then maybe drop off in a Lander like they did during the Apollo missions. The Apollo Lander only had room for two people. Larger vehicles would be even harder to shoot to the moon, so how many would you need in the first landing party to set up shop. Could you do it with five? Do you bring a doctor along or make one of your astronauts be qualified in more than one job? Where is your house? Did you bring one or send one ahead on a different spaceship? Did it assemble itself or was it just the rocket turned around and landed like in the movies? Did you bring along a bathroom or a port-a-potty? Did you bring along Sun Block 15 or higher? What are you going to wear outside in a vacuum? What do you do when the sky falls in (meteors)? What do you want to do when you get there? Did you bring a book, a set of gulf clubs? (Were you going to work seven days a week?) Who did you pick to come with you? Can you get along well in a sardine can or do you punch someone out if they get on your nerves? There is no air or liquid water for protection from radiation from the sky. You will have to figure out how to get the things you need or bring them all with you. If we really have ice in a dark crater at one of the poles, how will you get it out when down in the bottom of the crater it is very, very, very cold? If you came for iron and it is near the equator, how will you get that water to where you are going to work (and you thought an hour commute was bad)? The lunar day is two of our weeks long and the night is two weeks long too. About a 300 degree C swing in temperature. (That is really hot to really cold.) You thought waking up on a cold morning took some warming up, how about your car out that has been cold soaked for two weeks and now is going to fry eggs by lunar noon? (the Moon's near side always faces Earth but as the Moon goes around the Earth the Sun line or terminator goes around the Moon too - the far side is lit when we look up at the dark of the new moon) You probably want your air tight shelter to be buried part way into the Moon's regolith and covered by more cinders and rocks to protect you from those Solar flares and from high energy galactic radiation. Did you bring a John Deer tractor or were you thinking of using a bull dozer? Did you bring your crane to move things around? Your solar panels could make electricity for a lunar day (our two weeks) but what do you use to read by for a two week night? Maybe a little nuclear reactor stuffed into a small meteor crater would make you some electricity and provide some heat. (Did you have any trouble getting a permit on Earth to launch it into space and did the protestors block your path to the launch site?) If we want to process the lunar regolith for building materials or distil water and hydrogen out of it, did we bring along a solar reflector or were we going to use the heat from that nuclear reactor? What were you going to use to sweep up tons of dust to get some Helium 3 to sell to Earth for that new fusion reactor that just came on line? Did you drive that street sweeper or did you use a robot? Did you remember to ship the robot up or were you going to build one on the Moon? Are you ready to phone home yet? Who is going to put up your TV dish and who was going to listen to you? The Earth is turning on its axis and makes one revolution in 24 hours. You are on the Moon looking down at the blue marble and it takes you one month to go around so where is your dish pointed? Were folks listening in at the Deep Space Network in California, or in Australia or Spain? (Maybe they were listening to someone going to Mars and forgot to point their dish at the Moon.) Who is paying for this? Who insured it and at what premium? (Did you leave any loved ones on Earth?) This story goes on and on and as you have seen, there are more questions than answers. You can get a lot of information about these things by taking a look at some courses taught at the University of Wisconsin by Harrison H. (Jack) Schmitt. Jack was on the last mission to the Moon, Apollo 17 and is a geologist. Here are some URLs. http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/neep602/LEC1/trip.html A Field Trip To The Moon http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-17/apollo-17.html Apollo 17 http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html Apollo Lunar Surface Journal http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollo.htm The Apollo Program http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo.html Project Apollo http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/neep602/lecture22.html NEEP602 Course Notes (Fall 1996) Resources from Space Lecture #22: Been there! Done that! Bought the T-shirt! Title: Lunar Base Activation http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/neep533/SPRING2004/neep533.html NEEP533 Course Notes (Spring 2004) Resources from Space Course Notes - Spring 2004 http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/fti?rm=courses Course Notes 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 Sat Sep 23 22:43:06 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 19:43:06 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Lunar Settlelment as part of Space Settlement - What's On Your Road Map? Message-ID: <000201c6df83$2b195c70$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day, Received an e-mail from Al Globus who conducts an annual Space Settlement Contest at NASA Ames Research Center. In the past I had the opportunity to help grade the papers submitted by students around the world. Haven't done that of late since I am now outside the Ames fence. :-) http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/colonies.html http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/Contest/ http://hometown.aol.com/oscarcombs/excerpts.html Al indicated that the National Space Society (NSS) is building a web site that is devoted to space settlement, which will include the idea of building a space settlement on the Moon. http://www.nss.org/ http://www.nss.org/settlement/roadmap/ He is looking for good materials. Will talk more with him and see what he has in mind. When I have a better picture of what they are doing will pass the information along as I am sure you folks may have ideas as well. Maybe this will be a way to take you to the Moon at least visually. See Snips 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 ============================================================== ============================================================== Hi! Long time no see. I'm now the chairman of the national space society (NSS) space settlement advocacy committee. Among other things, we are building a web site devoted to space settlement. One section is devoted to lunar settlements. Can you point us towards some good materials? We have a guy who does a great job of taking raw materials and arranging them for the site, but we need materials. Note: we are interested in permanent more-or-less self-sufficient settlements, not bases. Also, it occurs to me that you would be an excellent addition to the committee. It would involve a small amount of money to join the NSS, then participating in email exchanges and occasional telecons, and perhaps choosing a project to help with (e.g., the lunar settlement section of the web site). If you have any interest, please give me a call ... -------------------------------------------------------------- "Earth is the cradle of Mankind, but one cannot stay in the cradle forever," Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Al Globus http://alglobus.net ============================================================== ============================================================== http://www.nss.org/ Snip Al Globus, chairman of the NSS Space Settlement Committee, in the news (July 11, 2006) If we destroy planet Earth, will space stations save us? It's an old adage that says science fiction often becomes science fact. One hundred years ago, writers were keeping readers spellbound at the idea of flying machines and wireless radios. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1152525187092&call_pageid=991479973472&col=9919291311 47 Snip ============================================================== http://space.alglobus.net/ Orbital Space Settlement Today space is mostly rock and radiation. We can change that. In the 1970's Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill showed that we can build giant orbiting spaceships and live in them. These orbital space colonies could be wonderful places to live; about the size of a California beach town and endowed with weightless recreation, fantastic views, freedom, elbow-room in spades, and great wealth. In time, we may see hundreds of thousands of orbital space colonies in our solar system alone. Unlike earlier colonization events, no people need be oppressed and no ecosystems destroyed for the simple reason that there aren't any out there. If we do it, space colonization will be so important that only the origins of life itself is comparable. Even ocean-based Life's colonization of land half a billion years ago pales by comparison. Space settlement provides an unparalleled opportunity for the United States. The U.S. is an expansionistic nation and there's a lot more opportunity to expand in space than on Earth. America has been expanding steadily from the day the first colony was established on the Eastern Seaboard. Today this expansion takes the form of a world wide military presence. This policy has some severe problems. Namely, some of the people in areas occupied by the U.S. military are well armed, royally pissed, and getting way too good at killing American soldiers. These sorts of problems are inherent in any expansion here on Earth. So, what if the U.S. spent it's money on space colonization rather than global military control? * It's cheaper. The U.S. military budget is about $500 billion per year, far more than needed for space colonization. * Fewer casualties. America has lost only 17 astronauts in 45 years of spaceflight, compared to over 2,000 American soldiers and a lot more Iraqis and Afghanis in the current wars alone. * More real estate. The largest asteroid has materials sufficient for 1g living area equal to a couple hundred times the surface area of Earth (distributed into many colonies). * More energy. The readily available, completely reliable solar energy in space is 625 million times that available on Earth. * More money to be made. One small Near-Earth Asteroid has about $20 trillion (yes, that's with a 'tr') worth of precious metals. * And perhaps most important, no one need be oppressed and no ecosystem need be destroyed. Nothing is stolen -- everything can be created from rock and radiation at no one else's expense. Bottom line, there is a lot more wealth and power to be gained in space and you don't need to hurt anyone. Let's go! Snip Parting Words Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that new ideas pass through three periods: * "It can't be done." * "It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing." * "I knew it was a good idea all along!" Princeton professor Dr. Gerard O'Neill got us past the first period in the 1970s by showing that space colonies are technically feasible. We're now in the second stage. ============================================================== http://www.spacesettlement.org/ The Space Settlement Initiative Will people ever live and work on the Moon and Mars? Will the settlement of space take place in your lifetime? The settlement of space would benefit all of humanity by opening a new frontier, energizing our society, providing room and resources for the growth of the human race without despoiling the Earth, and creating a lifeboat for humanity that could survive even a planet-wide catastrophe. Unfortunately, it seems clear that, as things stand now, space settlement will not happen soon enough for any of us to see it. But that could be changed! The legislation proposed on this web site would: # save NASA and the taxpayers the cost of developing affordable space transport by allowing private enterprise to assume the burden of settling space # make it possible for ordinary people to purchase tickets and visit the Moon as tourists, scientists, or entrepreneurs # create vast wealth from what is now utterly worthless Snip ============================================================== http://www.space-settlement-institute.org/ The Space Settlement Institute A think tank dedicated to finding ways to make Space Settlement actually happen in our lifetimes. 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 Sep 26 23:01:04 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:01:04 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Lunar Settlement - Search For Materials - How To Pay For - Message-ID: <004f01c6e1e1$2cdba080$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day. Accepted Al Globus offer to join the national space society (NSS) space settlement advocacy committee to help find materials about establishing a Lunar Settlement and to add content for their Moon web site. Was looking for information on the Internet about "Lunar Settlements" and find a lot of offers to sell you Lunar Plots right now, not after you get their and stake your claim. Some say that your money will go into a fund to provide resources to get you to the Moon. I am just worried that my computer junk e-mail will increase because of where I have been. This is a nice looking piece of paper with legal sounding words. I have a bridge I would like to sell as well. :-) http://www.lunarsettlement.org/ The topic of how will you pay for launching to the Moon is a valid one though. Hopefully when I read again the books I have, I'll be better prepared to talk about costing. For now I will just look for material that you can use and might be useful for the NSS Moon site. While I am putting GOOGLE to the test you can be looking at the on-line NASA books that have been scanned and relate to space settlements. Will be re-reading them myself. They are found on the Space Settlements web site which you may already be familiar with. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.belmont.k12.ca.us/ralston/programs/itech/SpaceSettlement/index.ht ml or at http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Shall we design a Lunar Colony or Lunar Settlement that you could call home? What would you need to seal a lava tube? How deep would you need to dig to get a nice even temperature during lunar days and lunar nights? Any ideas for windows that darken to Solar flare activity or high energy bursts from space? How would you use the powdered regolith fines that you track in? What might you distil with your backroom solar reflector? Have you read Robert A. Heinlein's, "THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS"? - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Harsh-Mistress-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0312863551/ Amazon.com Tom Clancy has said of Robert A. Heinlein, "We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is." Nowhere is this more true than in Heinlein's gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review "We proceed down a path marked by his ideas." --Tom Clancy [NOTE: There are a number of longer reviews at the above Amazon.com link. - LRK -] ------------------------------------------------------------- If we can't design a Lunar Settlement, maybe we just need to make one up. Some of you are working on that, YES, ??? 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 ============================================================== David Schrunk said that he and the co-authors of "THE MOON - Resources, Future Development and Colonization" are coming out with a revised version next year. - LRK - http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Resources-Development-Colonization-Exploration/dp /0387360557/ Paperback $34.95 but cheaper if you pre-order. Looks like the earlier versions are going as collectors items for some rather high prices. http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Development-Colonization-Wiley-Praxis-Technology/ dp/0471976350 $255.49 I paid $64.95 back in April 2001 for the hardcover version. At least you can take a look inside here. - LRK - http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0471976350/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-4543509-3319235 #reader-link ============================================================== Another good reference book. - LRK - The Lunar Base Handbook (Space Technology Series) (Paperback) by Peter Eckart (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Lunar-Base-Handbook-Space-Technology/dp/0072401710/ Also his "SPACEFLIGHT LIFE SUPPORT AND BIOSPHERICS" - LRK - Spaceflight Life Support and Biospherics (Space Technology Library, V. 5) (Paperback) by Peter Eckart (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Spaceflight-Support-Biospherics-Technology-Library/dp/ 1881883043/ ============================================================== Two other books I'll be looking at again, and have mentioned in years past, are excellent resources too. I have had them since 1999 and the engineers at Ames kept borrowing mine. :-( - LRK - Space Mission Analysis and Design, 3rd edition (Space Technology Library) (Space Technology Library) (Paperback) (ISBN 1-881883-10-8) by Wiley J. Larson (Editor), James R. Wertz (Editor) $54.75 http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Analysis-Design-Technology-Library/dp/18818831 08/ Human Spaceflight: Mission Analysis and Design (Space Technology Series) (Space Technology Series) (Paperback) (ISBN 0-07-236811-X) by Wiley J. Larson (Author), Linda K. Pranke (Author) $49.16 "Human spaceflight, or human space missions, include any space missions with humans as passengers or as on-board, active participants in spacecraft control or science..." 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 Wed Sep 27 14:51:54 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:51:54 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] 2007 - Space Conferences - not too early to be thinking about Message-ID: <005001c6e266$00c6d4d0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Looking for information about Lunar Settlements and a couple of conferences coming up in 2007 might be of interest. -------------------------------------------------------------- Space Exploration 2007 - March 25-28, 2007 The Second International Conference and Exposition on Science, Engineering, and Habitation in Space,and the Second Biennial Space Elevator Workshop http://www.sesinstitute.org/ 26th International Space Development Conference - May 24-28, 2007 http://isdc.nss.org/2007/index.html Rutgers Symposium on Lunar Settlements - 3-8 June 2007 http://lunarbase.rutgers.edu/index.php Space Nuclear Conference 2007 (SNC '07) Embedded Topical Meeting at the 2007 ANS Annual Meeting June 24-28, 2007 . Boston, MA http://www3.inspi.ufl.edu/space07/index.html -------------------------------------------------------------- I am sure there are more but was my first look ahead. Let me know if there are more space conferences in your location and will pass along. - 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.sesinstitute.org/ Space Exploration 2007 - March 25-28, 2007 The Second International Conference and Exposition on Science, Engineering, and Habitation in Space,and the Second Biennial Space Elevator Workshop Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Conference topics to include: Planetary exploration, bases, habitation, space station. Engineering and construction in space and on the Moon and Mars. Space access, space transportation. Space elevator technologies and advanced concepts. Entrepreneurial ventures in space/for space. space power, space resource development. NEO's. Space Commerce, law, education Special events/activities to include: Keynote talks/planning sessions/panel discussions on above topics. Student Robotics Competition - an annual event in conjunction with the ASCE Earth and Space Conference Robotics Competition (held on even years). Banquet and Awards. Snip ============================================================== http://isdc.nss.org/2007/index.html 26th ANNUAL ISDC 26th International Space Development Conference - 2007 "From Old Frontiers to New" Dallas, Texas May 24-28, 2007 The frontier that was the Texas of yesterday has been transformed by determination and hard work into the 8th largest economy in the world and a leader in tomorrow's technologies. In 2007, North Texas will be the place to focus on the cultural and technological frontier of tomorrow --SPACE. The frontier spirit of taking harsh territory and wresting enormous value from it is the foundation of the National Space Society's 26th annual International Space Development Conference. Travel to the Dallas to meet the frontiersmen of tomorrow, the people who will be supplying the knowledge, the machines, and the manpower to turn the frontier of space into a place of new wealth for humanity. The Nation al Space Society of North Texas is proud to host this conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Addison. The hotel is within walking distance of Restaurant Row and Addison Circle, featuring hundreds of restaurants, bars, cafes and other diversions. There'll be little time for that with all the conference proceedings and exhibits. The three main program tracks are: 1. Space Transportation: To, Through, From 2. The Moon & Cislunar Space: Developing the Infrastructure 3. Mars & Beyond: Expanding our Reach Also featured will be medicine, educator tracks, a Children's Program, and best of all, exhibits of space hardware and mock-ups. Be sure to catch all of the excitement Memorial Day Weekend 2007 in Dallas at the ISDC! ISDC 2007 ============================================================== http://lunarbase.rutgers.edu/index.php Rutgers Symposium on Lunar Settlements 3-8 June 2007 New Brunswick, NJ http://lunarbase.rutgers.edu/aims_and_scope.php PROSPECTUS We are organizing for a Symposium that will bring together the leaders in the disciplines that are supporting the Return to the Moon, to stay, as part of the vision of the President of the United States, George W. Bush. Our interest is to invite pioneering minds in Engineering and Science, Business and Finance, Policy and the Social Sciences, to present current thinking on the Return to the Moon. As important, gaps in capabilities will be discussed and addressed. This weeklong Symposium will result in new teaming efforts in support of the Return to the Moon. The Symposium will be in New Brunswick, New Jersey, at the main campus of Rutgers University, 3-8 June in 2007. This Symposium is intended to be single-track, focusing on: * the technical issues, * the bio-issues, * the economical/financial issues, * the political issues, and * the social issues that underpin our manned, permanent return to the Moon, on the way to Mars and the Solar System. We, however, do not rule out multi-track presentations, but in principle believe that attendees would prefer to be able to participate in all the deliberations. We believe that by the Symposium date, the community's plans and ideas will begin to be crystallized, the international participation level will be better known, and the leaders in many of these areas will be ready to make their ideas more specific. To broaden the community, professional sponsorship will be solicited from premier societies, beginning with the International Academy of Astronautics. In addition, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics will be contacted. Financial support is to be sought from private and public sources, to make the Symposium most effective, and to help support attendance by experts from nations without travel support. Distinguished plenary speakers will be sought from the key focus areas of the Symposium. We will involve students at all levels in such a workshop. Please contact Haym Benaroya for additional information or to be placed on a mailing list. http://lunarbase.rutgers.edu/important_dates.php 31 October 2006: email benaroya at rci.rutgers.edu intent/interest in presenting or just attending Symposium 1 December 2006: submit abstract of presentation to benaroya at rci.rutgers.edu Full Papers are not required. Some authors will be invited to prepare a full paper for potential publication in the ASCE Journal of Aerospace Engineering. 28 February 2007: Register online for Symposium. Hotel information will be made available. http://lunarbase.rutgers.edu/subscribe_email_list.php Subscribe e-mail list Snip ============================================================== http://www3.inspi.ufl.edu/space07/index.html Space Nuclear Conference 2007 (SNC '07) Embedded Topical Meeting at the 2007 ANS Annual Meeting June 24-28, 2007 . Boston, MA About the Meeting Space Nuclear Conference 2007 (SNC '07) will be the second topical meeting organized by the Aerospace Nuclear Science and Technology (ANST) technical group. NASA funding has been established to develop capabilities for unmanned and manned missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Strategies implementing nuclear based power and propulsion technology, as well as radiation shielding protection, will be an integral part of successful missions of these types. The purpose of the meeting is to bring together and provide a communications network and forum for information exchange for the wide cross section of research and management personnel from government, industry, academia, and the national laboratory system that are involved in the initiative. To this end, the meeting will address topics ranging from overviews of current programs and plans to detailed issues related to space travel such as nuclear-based power and propulsion systems designs, materials, testing, safety, space environmental effects and nuclear power system radiation shielding for humans and electronic components, and human factor strategies for the safe and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants. This conference will have full-length technical papers, which will be peer reviewed and published on a CDROM, available at the meeting. At least one author is required to attend the conference and present his or her paper. Abstracts Due: December 1, 2006. Lynne Schreiber, Conference Administrator Tel: 352-392-9722 Fax: 352-392-8656 Email: space at ans.org Web: www.ans.org/goto/space07 ============================================================== 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 Sep 29 13:12:45 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2006 10:12:45 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Looking up - Who be you? - The Lunar View Is For All - Message-ID: <002801c6e3ea$7c45a7f0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day, I am reminded that my looking up here in Tracy is not the only place where folks are looking up. Peter Spirius in Germany sent me a link to a German web site about the Pioneer Anomaly and Andrew Nimmo sent me information about upcoming events relating to settling space. [See below.] If folks are looking up near you, feel free to tell me about it and I can share with the whole lunar-update list. If you have ideas at to what we should be looking for in the way of developing the Moon or Mars, the Asteroids or the Stars, pass that along too. I am working on an outline of what we might look for on a Lunar Settlement that might be established after we get back to the Moon. It is mentioned in books about Lunar Settlements that there is this large swing in temperature should you choose the equatorial regions, those two week days and then two week nights. Some of you have reminded me that if you select for a lava tube you might find the required protection already built in or if you bring along a Tonka Toy Lunar Excavator you can dig down a bit and find constant temperature under the regolith. A link for your consideration. See a bit more below. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper1.htm [This paper is published online in 6 parts, this being the 1st] PRINZTON A Rille-Bottom Settlement for Three Thousand People FORWARD by Peter Kokh -------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ============================================================== This from Peter Spirius over in Germany. - LRK - My German is not that good but was fun guessing at words. :-) -------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Larry, maybe interesting to you or to some of your german readers? There is an article about the "Pioneer Anomaly" in the internet edition of the mayor german news magazine DER SPIEGEL http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltraum/0,1518,437267,00.html Greetings, Peter ============================================================== I asked Andy to let us know when the new web site is active. - LRK - http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy-nimmo/ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andy-nimmo/Webpage2a.htm -------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Larry, In view of your recent remarks on space settlement your readers may be interested to note that the Space Settlers' Society celebrated our 26 th birthday on July 4th this year. Presently we don't have a website, though some ghost sites from the past may still be around, but like the NSS in a few weeks' time we are about to put up what we very much trust will be a growing settlement website. It will be called space-settlers.com as we are in process of forming our own company to fund and make things happen. When the time comes naturally we will be please to put a link from this to the NSS site if they'd be kind enough to reciprocate. In view of the fact that next year will see the 50th anniversary of Sputnik One and thereby of spaceflight, in co-operation with ASTRA and the Mars Society UK (Scotland) we are presently holding a joint recruitment drive. To this end we have arranged 4 meetings between now and the end of this year which any spacefans in the Glasgow area at the time of any of them will be welcome to attend. These are: Saturday 30th September - What's in our Solar System by space author Duncan Lunan of ASTRA Saturday 28th October - How to Get to Space Without Rockets by Andy Nimmo Liftport Ambassador to Scotland Saturday 25th November - A Future on the Moon by Ed Buckley Scotland's top space artist Saturday 2nd Deember - Settling Mars by Graham Dale Co-ordinator The Mars Society UK (Scotland). All meetings, which will be free of charge, will take place in the premises of the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS), 11 Queen's Crescent, Glasgow (just round the corner from St. George's Cross underground station) from 1800 to 2000 hours. It may also be of interest that Graham Dale of the Mars Society and Duncan Lunan, plus the members of the Mars Society Scotland are co-operating in writing a book to be called 'Building the Martian Nation' that will be all about settlement. Indeed, I'll be contributing to this myself in a talk The Economics of Settling Mars from 1500-1700 in the GCVS on Sunday 1 st October. Best wishes, Andy Nimmo (President: The Space Settlers' Society). ============================================================== -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper1.htm [This paper is published online in 6 parts, this being the 1st] PRINZTON A Rille-Bottom Settlement for Three Thousand People FORWARD by Peter Kokh On our long drive home from the Denver International Space Development Conference in May of 1988, I told some of my fellow Lunar Reclamation Society members about my general idea and what might be possible farther in the future. So this January when the chapter's new think tank, Milwaukee Space Tech(nology) & Rec(reation) - MilSTAR - decided to take Seattle Lunar Group (SLuG)'s Joe Hopkins up on his challenge to enter the NSS 1000-5000 person Lunar Base Design Competition, a rille site became our instant choice. [MilSTAR was later playfully renamed Copernicus Construction Company] http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/page9.htm At the 1989 International Space Development Conference in Chicago, the Competion winners were announced. We placed second (to an architecture student whose entry did not satisfy the constraints and conditions - but he was an "architecture student"). In our minds, our entry was clearly superior. But we were delighted to receive the second place award, handed us by Hugh Downs. Part I: THE RILLE AS A SETTLEMENT SITE Part I previously published in Moon Miners' Manifesto #26 June 1989 by Peter Kokh Snip -------------------------------------------------------------- PART I - A Settlement in a Rille Valley http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper1.htm PART II - Concepts for Rille Architecture http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper2.htm PART III - Industry & the Three Village System http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper1.htm PART IV - Village Residential Areas http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper4.htm PART V - Multiple Energy Systems http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper5.htm PART VI - The Import-Export Equation http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/papers/rille_paper6.htm Snip ============================================================== Peter Kokh - Bio - LRK - http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/bio_pk.htm Peter Kokh joined NSS, then NSI (National Space Institute) as "Life Member #2" shortly after it was founded by Werner von Braun in 1974. As a result of an L5 Society chapter colonizing effort by members of the Chicago and Minnesota chapters in September 1986, he helped confound the (Milwaukee) Lunar Reclamation Society (L5) that fall. He led the chapter into NSS two months before the L5/NSS merger in 1987. Snip http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/space_backgrounds.htm Space Background & Border Tiles by Peter Kokh - permission granted to use any of these, no attribution necessary. Pete's Collected Space Animation Gifs http://www.lunar-reclamation.org/anispace.htm ============================================================== http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1985lbsa.conf..405H Title: Lava tubes - Potential shelters for habitats Authors: Horz, F. Affiliation: AA(NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX) Publication: IN: Lunar bases and space activities of the 21st century (A86-30113 13-14). Houston, TX, Lunar and Planetary Institute, 1985, p. 405-412. Publication Date: 00/1985 Category: Lunar and Planetary Exploration Origin: STI NASA/STI Keywords: LUNAR BASES, SITE SELECTION, SPACE HABITATS, UNDERGROUND STRUCTURES, CAVES, LAVA, RADIATION SHIELDING Bibliographic Code: 1985lbsa.conf..405H Abstract Natural caverns occur on the moon in the form of 'lava tubes', which are the drained conduits of underground lava rivers. The inside dimensions of these tubes measure tens to hundreds of meters, and their roofs are expected to be thicker than 10 meters. Consequently, lava tube interiors offer an environment that is naturally protected from the hazards of radiation and meteorite impact. Further, constant, relatively benign temperatures of -20 C prevail. These are extremely favorable environmental conditions for human activities and industrial operations. Significant operational, technological, and economical benefits might result if a lunar base were constructed inside a lava tube. Snip ============================================================== http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/LavaTubes/description_lava_tubes.html DESCRIPTION: Lava Tubes and Lava Tube Caves * Lava Tubes and Lava Tube Caves * Ape Cave, Mount St. Helens, Washington * Indian Heaven Volcanic Field, Washington * Lava River Cave, Oregon * Mauna Ulu, Kilauea, Hawaii * Medicine Lake and Lava Beds, California ============================================================== 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 Sep 30 22:55:25 2006 From: larry.kellogg at sbcglobal.net (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 19:55:25 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Martian Lava Tubes Revisited - The Caves of Mars Message-ID: <004701c6e505$0c13f6f0$6401a8c0@LRKLUNARUPDATE> Good day, [lunar-update list and BCC] I know we have visited the subject of Lava Tubes recently, still, I think these two links and the ones they lead to, will prove interesting. They talk about Mars but consider the Moon as well. Lava Tubes might be used as a possible habitats in both cases. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.norwebster.com/mars/lavatube.html Martian Lava Tubes Revisited By R. D. "Gus" Frederick -------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.highmars.org/niac/index.html The Caves of Mars Martian Caves?? What do, duckweed, mice, Mother Goose and desert varnish have to do with Mars? Join us as we take you on a Cyber-Journey from beneath the lava flows of Oregon to toxic caves in Arizona, with many exotic side trips along the way, leading eventually to the Red Planet itself! -------------------------------------------------------------- A bit more about the above links posted 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.norwebster.com/mars/lavatube.html Martian Lava Tubes Revisited Presented to the Second Annual Mars Society Convention Boulder, Colorado. August 12 - 15, 1999 By R. D. "Gus" Frederick Disclaimer: One point to keep in mind during the reading of this paper, is that I am not trained as a geologist, and that this paper is purely an exercise in speculation. Abstract: One of the key elements for successful long-term human occupation of Mars, is a viable habitation scheme. Countless ideas have been proposed along these lines from converted landers to inflatable domes. The advantages of most schemes thus far are that they are location independent, to an extent. The lander lands and the habitation is set up. In other words, bring the habitat to Mars. But what if ready-made habitats were available? Select locations on the planet, which with minor modifications, would easily serve as a semi-permanent base of operations? These locations could well be lava tubes. Lava tubes are caves formed by flows of highly fluid lava--a "river" of molten rock flowing from an eruption source, either volcano or fissure. Often as the flow progresses, the tops and sides solidify. If the flow source stops, the remaining lava may pour out, leaving a hollow "tube" of rock. Not all lava flows produce tubes. Sometimes the flow sides form large "levees" as the sides harden, and the top remains liquid. On the Earth, the author has personally visited lava tubes on the flanks of Mount St. Helens, in Washington State, Central Oregon, the Big Island of Hawaii as well as tubes formed by fissure eruptions in Iceland. Many of the lava flows identified on the planet Mars feature the same characteristics as terrestrial flows, including lava tubes and levees. The main difference is a matter of scale: The Martian features dramatically dwarf their Earth-based counterparts. This paper offers some speculations on the utilization of these landforms for the construction of viable human habitats. With examples from many lava tube-related features here on Earth, I will demonstrate how their much larger Martian versions could provide a quick, easy and inexpensive way to provide long-term human outposts on the Red Planet. Snip ============================================================== http://www.highmars.org/niac/index.html The Caves of Mars http://www.highmars.org/niac/niac01.html About Martian Caves Dr. Penelope J. Boston; P.I. Natural subsurface cavities and subsurface constructs present the most mission effective habitat alternative for future human missions in the high-radiation environment of Mars. Additionally, lava tubes, other caves, cavities, and canyon overhangs are sites of intense scientific interest. They offer easier subsurface access for direct exploration and drilling, and may provide extractable minerals, gases, and ices. Expanding our NIAC Phase I feasibility assessment of a subsurface Mars mission architecture for the scientific exploration and human habitation of caves and subsurface facilities, we propose a two-part viability demonstration of selected technologies combined into a functioning system. This system can be integrated into both robotic precursors and human missions. Snip http://www.highmars.org/niac/niac02.html Martian Air Breathing Mice By Denise Murphy For any future missions to Mars, a simple and effective way for the explorers to survive would be to use the Martian atmosphere and turn it into usable, breathable air. Thanks to modern technology, the atmosphere of Mars can be compressed and adjusted to form a breathable mixture for humans. We've been experimenting with mice and crickets in sealed environments while pumping through a breathing mixture of 40% argon, 40% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. The purpose of these experiments is to see whether or not humans can survive unaffected when breathing such mixtures. However, this breathable mixture of gases differs from that of Earth, or any other used in Space missions. Snip http://www.highmars.org/niac/niac03.html Duckweed-Eating Martian Cave Mice How best to effectively demonstrate basic Advanced Life Support Systems in a small, remote location or educational setting? Requirements of space, mass, and logistical factors for many remote research facilities severely limit any sort of full-sized human CELSS/ALS setup. Likewise, building such a full-sized system for educational use would be quite expensive. Nevertheless, the need for such a system for analog testing use is essential for future Martian endeavors, especially those within the Martian underground. Snip http://www.highmars.org/niac/niac04.html Flat Crops for Mars Bioregenerative life support on Mars will require more than your 'garden variety' crops. Some the features we should be looking for is rapid growth, low light requirements, wide pH range and high nutrition with minimal wastes. And the simpler the required infrastructure, the better. Snip http://www.highmars.org/niac/niac05.html The Mother Goose Project Terrestrial lava tube caves are natural receptacles for accumulations of water. Often, due to lower temperatures coupled with the insulation properties of the surrounding rock, these accumulations are in the form of ice. Locating and cataloging similar features on Mars could be of value for the search for life and in helping to determine past climatic conditions on the Red Planet. Such features may also prove useful in future colonization efforts for shelter and as a potential source of water. But how to explore them? One unique approach recently proposed employs specialized swarms of insect-like mini-robots accompanying one or more flexible rover/relay station robots. Utilizing a robotic fractal approach that starts with a wide view of a promising area, then zooms in to reveal detail at a series of smaller scales, the approach mimics the actions of a scientist in the field. Snip http://www.highmars.org/niac/niac06.html Desert Varnish For the past decade, we have investigated the idea that the subsurface of Mars is the most likely place to find life or its traces. We have conducted extensive geomicro-biological, mineralogical, and geological fieldwork in a variety of desert caves. We have more recently discovered that some desert surface features (e.g. rock varnish) are microbiologically and mineralogically related to those that we study in the subsurface. As field scientists, we know that even on Earth the search for biosignatures of present life and indicators of past life depends upon recognition of structures, textures, and other data sets at widely varying spatial scales. In this sense, life detection for Mars is a classical field science investigation. Snip http://www.highmars.org/niac/education/ Educational Projects, Lessons & Resources The Caves of Mars Project is funded by a NIAC Phase II Grant from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. Copyright C 2002-04 - Complex Systems Research; Inc. ============================================================== 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. ==============================================================