From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Thu Oct 4 17:15:44 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:15:44 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] 50th Anniversary of The Space Age - 1957 - 2007 Message-ID: <47055800.8030803@gmail.com> 50th Anniversary of The Space Age - 1957 - 2007 http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_927.html Fifty years ago today on Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, humanity's first artificial satellite, thereby ushering in the Space Age. Image Credit: NASA It was just a BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.... and around the world it went. Radio Ham Operators picked it up, the news picked it up, and people looked up. Sputnik was launched and a month later Sputnik 2 was launched with a dog named Laika. - LRK - ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/10/dayintech_1004 Oct. 4, 1957: Russ Puts Man-Made Moon in Orbit! By Tony Long Email 10.04.07 | 12:00 AM 1957: The Space Age dawns a little sooner than expected with the successful launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union. It's a pivotal moment, the kind of event that -- five decades later -- still has people asking, "Do you remember where you were when ??" But Sputnik may not have been quite the world-beater it seemed at the time. In recent interviews leading up to the 50th anniversary of the launch, Boris Chertok, one of the founders of the Soviet space program, admitted that Sputnik was something of a lash-up, a hastily put-together gamble using a spare rocket and a satellite assembled from what was on hand. Nevertheless, as it had been with the sudden emergence of the USSR as a nuclear power eight years earlier, the American public was caught off guard by Sputnik and frightened by the implications of a successful Soviet rocket launch. If the Soviets could put a basketball-sized artificial satellite into orbit, they could certainly put a nuclear-tipped missile into a target in the United States. Snip ---------------------------------------------------------------- Orbiting satellites is nothing to speak of today. We communicate around the world with their assistance. Sangad watches Thai TV in our front room in California U.S.A. by way of Telstar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_networks_by_country The grandchildren have a cell phone. Even I have a cell phone. You can play interactive shoot-um up games on the Internet. http://www.blizzard.com/starcraft/ So who will care if we go to the Moon? Who will care if Japan, China, India, etc. survey, mine, exploit, and generally open up a new space frontier. - LRK - ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG Massively multiplayer online role-playing game Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online role-playing video games (RPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world. As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a fictional character (most commonly in a fantasy setting)[1] and take control over many of that character's actions[2]. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world, usually hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game. MMORPGs should also be distinguished from their text-based relatives, sometimes called MU*s (more specifically MUDs, MUSHes, MOOs etc. depending on the codebase, which are generally free games based on an open source codebase. [2] MMORPGs are very popular throughout the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million as of 2006.[3] Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005,[4] and Western revenues exceeded one billion USD in 2006.[5] Snip ---------------------------------------------------------------- Well maybe something will come of Russia and NASA working together to find a watering hole, but who will put a fence around it? - LRK - ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL0350549020071003 U.S. and Russia sign pact to hunt for water on Mars, moon Wed Oct 3, 2007 7:27pm EDT By Michael Stott MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States, the world's great space powers, celebrated the eve of the first satellite launch 50 years ago with a pact to use Russian technology on NASA missions to seek water on the moon and Mars. NASA administrator Michael Griffin signed the cooperation deal with his Russian counterpart at a ceremony on Wednesday at the U.S. embassy residence in Moscow attended by cosmonauts and astronauts and featuring a recorded greeting from space. Both sides avoided mention of superpower rivalry during the Cold War and recent clashes over U.S. "Star Wars"-style missile defense plans to concentrate on what they had achieved together, first in the Apollo-Soyuz joint mission of 1975 and later with the International Space Station. "What better example to set for the citizens of our countries and the world about what is possible if we work together in a spirit of cooperation, partnership and friendship?" NASA flight engineer Clayton Anderson said in a video message sent from the International Space Station. Snip ---------------------------------------------------------------- Should be interesting times. Now if you would just put chemicals back into the kids chemistry set, maybe we would get some kids interested in chemistry. ---------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/chemistry_pr.html Don't Try This at Home Garage chemistry used to be a rite of passage for geeky kids. But in their search for terrorist cells and meth labs, authorities are making a federal case out of DIY science. By Steve Silberman Snip ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.nasa.gov/ Cute splash flash page - Beep, Beep, Beep ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/spaceage_splash/index.html http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/ Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. The story begins in 1952, when the International Council of Scientific Unions decided to establish July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958, as the International Geophysical Year (IGY) because the scientists knew that the cycles of solar activity would be at a high point then. In October 1954, the council adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface. In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY and solicited proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake development. In September 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY. The Sputnik launch changed everything. As a technical achievement, Sputnik caught the world's attention and the American public off-guard. Its size was more impressive than Vanguard's intended 3.5-pound payload. In addition, the public feared that the Soviets' ability to launch satellites also translated into the capability to launch ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons from Europe to the U.S. Then the Soviets struck again; on November 3, Sputnik II was launched, carrying a much heavier payload, including a dog named Laika. Immediately after the Sputnik I launch in October, the U.S. Defense Department responded to the political furor by approving funding for another U.S. satellite project. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard, Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on the Explorer project. On January 31, 1958, the tide changed, when the United States successfully launched Explorer I. This satellite carried a small scientific payload that eventually discovered the magnetic radiation belts around the Earth, named after principal investigator James Van Allen. The Explorer program continued as a successful ongoing series of lightweight, scientifically useful spacecraft. The Sputnik launch also led directly to the creation of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In July 1958, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act (commonly called the "Space Act") , which created NASA as of October 1, 1958 from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and other government agencies. Snip ============================================================== 2007 October 4 From:jeff at thespacereview.com (Jeff Foust) Sender: owner-spacereview at klx.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: jeff at thespacereview.com [ If you no longer wish to receive announcements from The Space Review, please follow the instructions at the end of this message. ] Welcome to this special issue of The Space Review: Looking back versus looking ahead --- The 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik is a natural occasion to take measure of what we have -- and have not -- accomplished in space. Jeff Foust describes how this is a more appropriate time to start looking ahead. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/972/1 Sputnik's blastoff: the terrifying view from the launch site --- The launch of Sputnik was the first time a rocket had deliberately flown a trajectory intended to place something in orbit. Jim Oberg describes how, to the people witnessing the launch, that flight actually looked frightening. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/971/1 SpaceWar 2057 --- Sputnik opened up a whole new environment for the military to exploit, but one that has been used to support combat rather than as a battlefield itself. Dwayne Day explains why the slowing pace of military space developments makes it unlikely we'll see revolutionary changes in the military's use of space over the next half-century. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/970/1 Sputnik in perspective: the totalitarian heritage --- Sputnik was one of the most famous products of one of the worst totaltarian regimes to exist in human history. Taylor Dinerman examines why the Soviet Union, like Nazi Germany before it, was drawn to rocketry. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/969/1 The Exploration of, and Conquest of, the Moon! --- Journeys to the Moon were on the minds of aerospace experts and the public alike in the years prior to the launch of Sputnik. Ken Murphy reviews two 1950s-era books that took very different approaches to how humans might go to the Moon. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/968/1 Editor's Note: The Space Review will return to its regular weekly schedule on Tuesday, October 9. We appreciate any feedback you may have about these articles as well as any other questions, comments, or suggestions about The Space Review. We're also actively soliciting articles to publish in future issues, so if you have an article or article idea that you think would be of interest, please email me. Until next week, Jeff Foust Editor, The Space Review jeff at thespacereview.com == This is the spacereview mailing list, hosted by klx.com To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo at klx.com with the word unsubscribe spacereview in the body (not subject) of the message. For more information please visit http://www.thespacereview.com Snip ============================================================== NASA Science News for October 4, 2007 Fifty years after the launch of Sputnik kicked off the Space Age, an ultra-modern probe heading for Pluto is using retro Sputnik-like tones to communicate with Earth. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/04oct_beaconmonitor.htm?list965414 Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml! Snip ============================================================== http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_sc/space_race_1 By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer /Wed Oct 3, 11:23 AM ET / CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Soviets beat the United States at getting a satellite, and a man, into space. Now, the Chinese may get to the moon before the U.S. can make a return visit. Fifty years after Sputnik became the world's first artificial satellite, a new race is under way with the finish line on the moon. NASA, the former lunar champion, already is predicting defeat. "I personally believe that China will be back on the moon before we are," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a low-key lecture in Washington two weeks ago, marking the space agency's 50th anniversary, still a year away. "I think when that happens, Americans will not like it. But they will just have to not like it." Griffin's candor startled many in the space community, but insiders acknowledge the reality. China has pulled off two manned spaceflights with its own rockets and is eager to head for the moon. NASA has a 2020 deadline for returning Americans to the moon. China would like to beat that. Snip ============================================================== http://www.newsblogpk.com/sputnik-50th-anniversary-sputniks-anniversary-raises-questions-about-future-of-space-exploration/ Sputnik - 50th Anniversary, sputnik?s anniversary raises questions about future of space exploration Fifty years ago next week, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I ? little more than a beeping metal ball ? into space. Never before had an artificial object orbited the Earth. That achievement on Oct. 4, 1957, stunned and alarmed America. It also triggered an epic space race between the world?s superpowers that would culminate nearly 12 years later, when Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. The Soviets never made it there. ?Sputnik I changed the world,? NASA administrator Michael Griffin says. ?It changed history.? THE SPACE RACE: How it unfolded 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Fri Oct 5 13:56:05 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:56:05 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] KAGUYA (SELENE) - Lunar orbit injection was confirmed Message-ID: <47067AB5.8000204@gmail.com> KAGUYA (SELENE) - Lunar orbit injection was confirmed http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/f13/index_e.html To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond, well at least TO THE MOON. KAGUYA is in orbit around the Moon. I have missed the news with doing homework with the grandchildren. Did it make the six o'clock news? Were they jumping up and down in Time's Square? Is this going to be a repeat of the Apollo Missions, Ho Hum, yeah, if you say so? Come on, get excited! Soon to release two smaller satellites. - LRK - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/index_e.htm *KAGUYA (SELENE)* *The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA)* launched *"KAGUYA (SELENE)" *by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle at 10:31:01 a.m. on September 17, 2007 (JST) from Tanegashima Space Center. The major objectives of the "KAGUYA" mission are to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration. *"KAGUYA"* consists of a main orbiting satellite at about 100km altitude and two small satellites (Relay Satellite and VRAD Satellite) in polar orbit. The orbiters will carry instruments for scientific investigation of the Moon, on the Moon, and from the Moon. Snip ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ... and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration. Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *** JAXA MAIL SERVICE *** Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KAGUYA (SELENE) Result of the Lunar Orbit Injection Maneuver (LOI1) - Lunar orbit injection was confirmed - October 5, 2007 (JST) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performed the lunar orbit injection maneuver (LOI1) for the "KAGUYA" (SELENE) at 6:20 a.m. on October 4, 2007 (Japan Standard Time, JST.) The KAGUYA is a lunar explorer launched by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 13 (H-IIA F13) on September 14, 2007 (JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center. As a result of the orbit calculation after the maneuver, we have confirmed that the KAGUYA was injected into the following lunar orbit. The satellite is confirmed to be in good health. Injected orbit Apogee altitude 11,741 km Perigee altitude 101 km Period 16 hours 42 minutes We are now pleased to be able to report to you that we have safely delivered messages and signs that were collected from 412,627 people around the world through the Wish upon the Moon Campaign and engraved on the sheets to be aboard the KAGUYA to the Moon. We would like to express our profound appreciation to all perticipants and hope your continued support to the KAGUYA mission. You can also check this information on the following Special Site: [http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/f13/index_e.html] This page URL: http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/20071005_kaguya_e.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- Publisher : Public Affairs Department Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building, 1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260 Japan TEL:+81-3-6266-6400 JAXA WEB SITE : http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html About This Mail Service : To change registered e-mail address, or to cancel this service, please access to http://www.jaxa.jp/pr/mail/index_e.html Snip ============================================================== http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/05/content_6831664.htm Japan's probe satellite put into orbit around moon. www.chinaview.cn 2007-10-05 11:08:28 TOKYO, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Japan's first lunar probe satellite was successfully put into orbit around the moon, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said Friday. The agency announced that the Selenological and Engineering Explorer was injected into a lunar orbit with an Apogee altitude of 11,741 km and an Perigee altitude of 101 km. Its period is 16 hours and 42 minutes. The satellite, dubbed "Kaguya" after Japanese ancient fable, was lift off on Sept. 14 with a H-2A rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan's southern Kagoshima prefecture. The agency performed the lunar orbit injection maneuver on Oct. 4. Snip ============================================================== http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/10259202.html Kaguya Now the Moon's Captive So far, so good. Early today Japanese space officials confirmed that the Kaguya spacecraft, launched three weeks ago, has slipped into lunar orbit as planned. Yesterday an onboard rocket fired at 6:20 a.m. (Japan Standard Time), allowing the craft to settle into a looping 16.7-hour polar orbit that ranges in altitude from 63 miles (101 km) to 7,296 miles (11,741 km) A brief press release posted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency notes that "the satellite is confirmed to be in good health." Kaguya, named for a mythical lunar princess, represents Japan's first dedicated lunar mission since 1990. Over the next few days it'll release two smaller satellites: one will be tracked carefully to map the Moon's gravity, and the other will serve as a radio relay. Snip ============================================================== THE DAY IN SPACE __________________ In today's space news from SpaceRef: -- Mikulski Delivers on Commitment to Pay NASA Back, Includes $1 Billion in Budget http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=23719 -- Senate Passes Mikulski-Hutchison Amendment to Add $1 Billion in NASA Funding http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=23712 "U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences, and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), the Chairman of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriation (CJS) Subcommittee, today passed an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 CJS appropriations bill to provide $1 billion in additional funding for NASA. The funding will reimburse the agency for costs incurred for returning the Space Shuttle to flight status following the Columbia disaster and implementing recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board." -- NASA Scientist Available for Interviews About New Jupiter Findings http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=23718 "What NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft found when it flew by Jupiter on Feb. 28, 2007, stunned scientists who now are releasing more information in nine journal articles in Science." -- Result of Selene's Lunar Orbit Injection Maneuver http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=25620 "The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performed the lunar orbit injection maneuver (LOI1) for the "KAGUYA" (SELENE) at 6:20 a.m. on October 4, 2007 (Japan Standard Time, JST.) " Snip ============================================================== Jeroen Lapre' is working on short film that takes place on the Moon. - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Maelstrom II cast, crew, consultants, and friends, now that a 3rd of the edit is locked, we have finally posted the first match-a-mation task for this project! http://www.distant-galaxy.com/maelstrom2/Sequences/CountDownSeq/M2CD_R1B_S03T1_1OctK7.html If you know of any Maya match-a-mators that would be willing to volunteer, please let me know. Cheers -jeroen http://www.distant-galaxy.com/maelstrom2/MaelstromII.html 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Sat Oct 6 12:33:57 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:33:57 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Japan probe approaches moon; who's next? Message-ID: <4707B8F5.9060300@gmail.com> Japan probe approaches moon; who's next? http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-1.html?tag=nefd.also Nice collection of images and thought provoking paragraphs at CNET.com See links below. - LRK - Mark Gray of Spacecraft films posted a link to short video clip they put together for remembering 50 years in space. Needs Quicktime 7 H.264 codec which there is a link to Apple.com to down load if you don't have. See link below. - LRK - Natasha Dantzig for the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference dropped my a line alerting me to a new talk that they have up on their web site by Carolyn Porco about her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs). Exciting times. You may enjoy. http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/178 See Natasha's note below. Also you may like to look at the many other TED/Talks at this list. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/list BOY ARE WE EXCITED! Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-1.html?tag=nefd.also Japan probe approaches moon; who's next? October 4, 2007 12:01 PM PDT The Kaguya spacecraft, aka Selene, was launched September 14 by the Japanese Space Agency and is expected to reach lunar orbit Thursday. This is the first of many planned trips to the moon by a new cast of space explorers. China is expected to launch its first lunar exploration satellite later this month; India has plans for a moon launch in April 2008; the next U.S. moon mission is slated for 2008; and Russia could be flying private citizens around the moon and back as early as 2009. All of those countries are making plans to land a spacecraft on the moon by 2012--with astronauts and cosmonauts to follow soon after. Reports say Germany is also interested in joining the space community. Meanwhile, Google is offering $30 million to encourage private teams to land a rover on the moon by December 2012. JAXA and the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation released the furthest high-definition image of the earth (left)--from about 68,000 miles away. It was taken by the Kaguya explorer from the halfway point of its journey to the moon. Click here for CNET News.com's special coverage celebrating the anniversary of Sputnik's launch. Captions by CNET News.com's Andy Smith Credit: JAXA --------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-2.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-3.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-5.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-6html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-7.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-8.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-9.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-10.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-11.html?tag=ne.gall.pg http://www.news.com/2300-11397_3-6211234-12.html?tag=ne.gall.pg Snip ============================================================== Mark Gray of www.spacecraftfilms posted a link on the ProjectApollo at yahoogroups.com a link to small piece he put together as a retrospective of the first 50 years in space. - LRK - 50 Years of the Space Age http://www.spacecraftfilms.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=23 Snip http://www.spacecraftfilms.com/ ============================================================== http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/04/AR2007100401922.html What Sputnik Launched By Charles Krauthammer Friday, October 5, 2007; Page A21 Fifty years ago this week, America was shaken out of technological complacency by a beeping 180-pound aluminum ball orbiting overhead. Sputnik was a shock because we had always assumed that Russia was nothing but a big, lumbering and all-brawn bear. He could wear down the Nazis and produce mountains of steel but had none of our savvy or sophistication. Then one day we wake up and he has beaten us into space, placing overhead the first satellite to orbit the Earth since God placed the moon where it could give us lovely sailing tides. At the time, all thoughts were about the Soviets overwhelming us technologically. But the panic turned out to be unwarranted. Sputnik was not subtle science. The Soviets were making up for their inability to miniaturize nuclear warheads -- something that does require sophistication -- by developing massive rockets. And they had managed to develop one just massive enough to hurl a ball into Earth orbit. We had no idea how lucky we were with Sputnik. The subsequent panic turned out to be an enormous boon. The fear of falling behind the Communists induced the federal government to pour a river of money into science and math education. The result was a vast cohort of scientists who gave us not only Apollo and the moon, but the sinews of the information age -- for example, ARPA (established just months after Sputnik) created ARPANET, which became the Internet -- that have ensured American technological dominance to this day. Snip http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/10/02/VI2007100201937.html Sputnik 50 Years Later Snip ============================================================== Hello Larry, This is Natasha Dantzig for the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference. I'm writing to let you know that we've just released a new talk by Carolyn Porco in which you may have an interest. Below you'll find the link to her TEDTalk, as well as a talk summary and a speaker bio. I'm contacting you because we occasionally reach out to specific bloggers when we see an intersect between the topics of our releases and the subject matter covered in your blog. As such, we're providing these links for your review and consideration for blogging purposes. Many thanks for your consideration, and please don't hesitate to get in touch with me directly if you need more information. Best, Natasha TEDTalk Details: TALK: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/178 BIO: http://www.ted.com/speakers/view/id/160 About this Talk Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco says, "I'm going to take you on a journey." And does she ever. Showing breathtaking images from the Cassini voyage to Saturn, she focuses on Saturn's intriguing largest moon, Titan,with deserts, mudflats and puzzling lakes, and on frozen Enceladus, which seems to shoot jets of ice. BIO Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from the Cassini-Huygens mission, orbiting Saturn and its largest moon, Titan. She and a team of scientists from NASA and the European Space Agency have been analyzing the images that Cassini has been sending back since it left Earth in 1999. They've found many new rings and four new moons (so far). And they've produced breathtaking images and animations of the stormy face of Saturn, its busy rings, and its jumble of moons and moonlets. Back in the mid-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto a team at JPL that was crunching the mountains of data coming back from the Voyager fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's "ringlets," and on a spoke pattern noticed in the rings, made an important connection between Saturn's rings and its magnetic field -- and cemented her connection with Saturn. Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process and interpret the Cassini images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. -- Natasha Dantzig t: (212) 260-3707 c: (415) 425-6378 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Sun Oct 7 17:31:45 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2007 14:31:45 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Another Apollo Astronaut Film - "The Wonder Of It All" Message-ID: <47095041.3030102@gmail.com> Another Apollo Astronaut Film - "The Wonder Of It All" http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/ There has been talk of late about the movie, "In the Shadow of the Moon", that has Ron Howard's name tacked on to get your attention. http://www.intheshadowofthemoon.com/ Another movie coming out and has had some special showings is, "The Wonder Of It All", a documentary film by Jeffrey Roth. http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/screen.html Ron Wells sent me this bit of information. ------------------------------------------------------------ ... While it was very interesting to see those guys now in their mid- to late-seventies and listen to them after all this time, I would like to bring to your attention another film about the Apollo astronauts which Jack Schmitt mentioned to me recently. This one features only 7 of those who walked on the moon, and is called "The Wonder of it All". The website for it is: http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/ You should have a look through the various pages. When you see the "screening" link, you will note that it is at present limited to special presentations, some of them introduced by the astronauts themselves. ... ------------------------------------------------------------ This is a link to a trailer to the film. http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/trailer2.html and earlier information about tailer and ordering information. http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/trailer.html and links with a YouTube version of the railer. http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/links.html Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000890.html ... quote Only 12 men in history have walked on the moon and yet there is no personal account of how these historical missions affected each man personally. The Wonder of it All recounts the narrative of their journeys from childhood to the present. The story unfolds as each astronaut talks candidly about his adventure, with never heard statements until now. This film has been in the making for 2 years. Our goal is to make a humanistic story that shows these remarkable men talking about there lives and how walking on the moon affected each one personally. We have conducted in depth interviews with 7 of the men that made these journeys. With over 12 hours of footage that we shot, we had the painstaking task of narrowing that down to 90 minutes. ... Moonwalkers interviewed for the The Wonder of it All include: # Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 # Alan Bean, Apollo 12 # Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 # John Young, Apollo 16 # Charles Duke, Apollo 16 # Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 # Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 Snip ============================================================== http://www.nasm.si.edu/events/eventDetail.cfm?eventID=677 Show *The Wonder of It All* Special Movie Screening Saturday, October 13 8:00 PM Lockheed Martin IMAX? Theater National Mall Building Admission: Free, Tickets Required *Ticket Request Form Join the National Air and Space Society for a special showing of The Wonder of It All, introduced by Director/Executive Producer Jeffrey Roth. This award-winning 90-minute documentary features interviews with seven moonwalkers who talk about their lives and how walking on the moon affected them personally. Many of the photos in the film were donated by the astronauts from their private collections and have never been seen before. After the movie, Roth will answer questions about his passion for preserving human spaceflight history and his experiences in making this film. This is a National Air and Space Society event. *Snip ============================================================== http://www.novaspace.com/spacefest/Movie.html THE WONDER OF IT ALL The Wonder of it All is a critically acclaimed and award-winning film by Jeffrey Roth. Not typical of all the other Apollo tributes and memoirs, this film focuses on most Apollo moonwalkers and details how their lives were influenced by being one of only a dozen humans to set foot on another world. All but one of these men will be at Spacefest. Snip Note: Spacefest 2007 is now over but the web site has some interesting information. [August 17-18-19 at the Mesa Convention Center] http://www.novaspace.com/spacefest/Report.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPeB3xDOMQw ============================================================== 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Tue Oct 9 20:17:47 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:17:47 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Dr. Robert W. Bussard Has Died Message-ID: <470C1A2B.9080602@gmail.com> Dr. Robert W. Bussard Has Passed M. Simon on his blog site states that Tom Ligon who worked for Dr. Bussard has informed him that Dr. Bussard has died. You can read more about Dr. Bussard on M. Simon's blog. Thanks to Larry Klaes for the alert. http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2007/10/dr-robert-w-bussard-has-passed.html So far this is the main reference to Dr. Bussard's passing. Maybe some of you have more information but wanted to pass this along now. I am sure the news will have it soon. - LRK - Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Bussard Robert W. Bussard (1928-2007) was an American physicist working primarily in nuclear fusion energy research. He is the recipient of the Schreiber-Spence Achievement Award for STAIF-2004.[1] He is also a fellow of the International Academy of Astronautics. Dr. Bussard passed away on October 6, 2007.[2] His work will continue as funding was arranged and received on August 21, 2007 and he was able to create a staff of physicists to continue. Snip 1 - STAIF-2004 Archives 2 - M. Simon (2007-10-08) . Dr. Robert W. Bussard Has Passed. Classical Values. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. ============================================================== http://www.rexresearch.com/bussard/bussard.htm Robert W. BUSSARD Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) Fusion Snip ============================================================== http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1996321846673788606 Should Google Go Nuclear? Clean, cheap, nuclear power (no, really) Google engEDU 1 hr 32 min 37 sec - Nov 9, 2006 www.google.com Snip ============================================================== http://newenergyandfuel.com/ Details On Dr. Robert W. Bussard Passing Away October 9, 2007 Through the grief of those closest to Dr Bussard some details are coming out. Dr. Bussard was a cancer victim of two kinds who was in the last weeks enduring radiation and chemotherapy for the disease. Reports are he worked continuously while in treatment and assembled a good team to continue the research and development of the IEC fusion method he has been developing from funding provided by the US Department of Defense. When funding for the research resumed Dr. Bussard attracted a friend who is a PhD plasma physicist recently working at Los Alamos and a PhD whose experience is in experimentation. Some staff from the previous lab in San Diego are on their way to join the team. Dr. Bussard?s friends assert that he did everything he could to ensure that the work on IEC fusion will continue. This morning M. Simon at Power and Control Blogspot posted an excellent eulogy that contains a brief list of some of Dr, Bussard?s most noteworthy work and a strong link list. See: http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2007/10/dr-robert-w-bussard-has-passed.html Of note, Dr. Bussard was a trained engineer and added physics expertise as working requirements demanded until he became the preeminent magnetic confinement physicist/engineer in the field. Dr. Bussard gained famed in his youth for his design of the Bussard Collector that is often referred to in futuristic science stories. 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Fri Oct 12 15:23:02 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:23:02 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Moon Colony Blueprint Message-ID: <470FC996.9020205@gmail.com> Moon Colony Blueprint Planning on living on the Moon? What will it take? - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2007/10/moon-colony-blu.html Moon Colony Blueprint By John Baichtal October 12, 2007 | 9:32:48 AM An international symposium of 30 space scientists have designed a "closed loop" lunar habitat called Luna Gaia that is 90-95 percent self sufficient. The symposium's 168-page report sets down a plan for an 11-person base to be located in Peary Crater at the lunar north pole. The symposium is the product of the International Space University . Around since 1987, the ISU offers two Master's programs in Strasbourg as well as a non-degreed summer program offered in a different city every year. Over 2,500 students have attended classes there in the past 20 years. The core curriculum includes space mission design & management, system engineering, space science, and engineering fundamentals. Every year it conducts a NASA-sponsored symposium with a different space-themed topic. 2006's was Luna Gaia. So how does this relate to GeekDads? The answer is, pure inspiration. While the description of the proposed habitat is extremely dry, it addresses a number of issues like water reclamation, extracting oxygen from moon rocks, and budgeting power gleaned from photovoltaic panels. Stuff that, couched a different way, might actually be fascinating to your average GeekKid. Why not sit down with some Legos or graph paper and build your own lunar colony? One dome for growing plants, maybe. One for storing your rover. You'll need a landing pad for crew rotations and the (supposedly minimal) supply runs. Equipping your base with all the essentials is a great way to teach kids about the necessities and hazards of space exploration. If you're using Legos, the Lego Mars Mission line is great (though a bit militarized) because it has cool elements like astronauts, domes, tubes, big knobby rover tires, and so on. Snip --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you think it might be a bit risky to set up shop on the Moon? Have you considered all the details and prioritized your List? - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://bioastroroadmap.nasa.gov/index.jsp Bioastronautics Roadmap Introduction http://bioastroroadmap.nasa.gov/introduction.jsp 16 teams of discipline-area experts identified and assessed 45 risks that are associated with health, safety, and performance of crews during space flight. Risks were derived from deliberations by discipline experts and from advisory committee reports. Risks have been assessed by criteria including Risk Rating, Countermeasures available etc. Snip --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reading Peter Eckart's "SPACEFLIGHT LIFE SUPPORT AND BIOSPHERICS." Thinking I need a way to recycle some of the deposits of the two Bichon-Frise dogs I am having to take care of. Then there are the baby diapers from the daughters baby that seems to be spending a lot of time with us. Anyone for a Dry Toilet? http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Dry_20Toilet Maybe a portable Plasama Waste Disposal system. Not sure I have room for a commercial grade system. http://www.plasmawastedisposal.com/ How about watching "Dirty Jobs" on cable for inspiration? http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/dirtyjobs/application2.html Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== Larry Klaes passed info from Sky & Telescope on the beginning of tracking satellites. - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 Years of Satellite Tracking October 11, 2007by Phil Rossoni IBM staff member John P. (Gianpiero) Rossoni (left), the author's father, stands with Project Moonwatch organizer Fred Whipple at the IBM 704's printer in the MIT Computation Center in October 1957. Phil Rossoni Last week, on October 4th, the whole world took note of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Today, the 11th, marks the anniversary of another Sputnik event that also deserves notice ? especially for the long-time Sky & Telescope readers who helped to make it happen. Full article here: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/10454107.html Snip ============================================================== If you read the above article you will find this link to remembering "Project Moonwatch. " - LRK - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.skyandtelescope.com/skytel/beyondthepage/9313906.html Where were you on October 4, 1957? That?s the day, 50 years ago, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Even though they knew of the Soviets? plans, American officials found themselves scrambling to track Earth?s new ?moon.? A worldwide network of tracking cameras wasn?t ready yet, but dedicated teams of amateur astronomers ? organized by the late Fred Whipple under Project Moonwatch ? were. To compute the satellite?s orbit, scientists needed to know where and when it crossed the sky from multiple locations. So each Moonwatch team created an ?optical fence? along the celestial meridian, with up to a dozen observers using low-power, wide-field telescopes like the one shown here. At one point, the project had enlisted about 5,000 volunteers and 230 teams worldwide. Snip ============================================================== http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/ Moon Colony Blueprint By John Baichtal An international symposium of 30 space scientists have designed a "closed loop" lunar habitat called Luna Gaia that is 90-95 percent self sufficient. The symposium's 168-page report sets down a plan for an 11-person base to be located in Peary Crater at the lunar north pole. The symposium is the product of the International Space University . Around since 1987, the ISU offers two Master's programs in Strasbourg as well as a non-degreed summer program offered in a different city every year. Over 2,500 students have attended classes there in the past 20 years. The core curriculum includes space mission design & management, system engineering, space science, and engineering fundamentals. Every year it conducts a NASA-sponsored symposium with a different space-themed topic. 2006's was Luna Gaia. Snip ============================================================== http://ssp06.isunet.edu/document/team_project/LunaGaia.pdf (7 Mb, 168 p) Luna Gaia - A closed-loop habitat for the Moon. FINAL REPORT International Space University Summer Session Program 2006 Snip ============================================================== http://www.amazon.com/Spaceflight-Support-Biospherics-Technology-Library/dp/1881883043 *Spaceflight Life Support and Biospherics (Space Technology Library, V. 5) (Paperback)* by Peter Eckart (Author) *Key Phrases: *inedible plant material , habitability aspects , prebreathing time , Spaceflight Life Support , Acta Astronautica , Space Shuttle (more... ) 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Sat Oct 13 13:10:46 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 10:10:46 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] ILEWG9 Intl Lunar Conference, Sorrento, Italy 22-26 Oct 07 Message-ID: <4710FC16.2050206@gmail.com> ILEWG9 Intl Lunar Conference, Sorrento, Italy 22-26 Oct 07 ?Co-hosted by ASI & ESA, Co-sponsors: COSPAR, IAF, Space agencies ?Co-chairs: S. Di Pippo(ASI), J. Wu (China), M. Wargo(NASA), B.H.Foing(ILEWG/ESA) Maybe some of you who are nearer to Italy than I will have a chance to attend this years ILEWG conference. Already it is number 9. Just seems like yesterday that I had posters up in my office at NASA Ames for the first one. Bernard Foing even dropped in one time to see what we had done with the Lunar Prospector mission. Here are some more links. - LRK - The International Lunar Conference in Italy in October: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=40925 9th ILEWG International Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon (ICEUM9/ILC2007) Lunar Explorers group at the event -- http://www.lunarexplorers.net -- with help from a few SEDS folks, Ryan Kobrick (CUSEDS), Melissa Battler (SEDS Canada), and Yuki Takahashi (Caltech SEDS). Here is some history about the ILEWG. The pdf is only 17 pages. Page 17 has an Exploration Roadmap. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.iafastro.com/fileadmin/template/main/Documents/Events/2007IAC/PL6_introduction.pdf ILEWG Involves 14 agencies and 23 countries:-Founding agencies (1994) : ASA, ASI, BNSC, CNES, DARA, ESA, ISAS, NASA, NASDA, RSA-Joining agencies: ISRO (2000), CNSA (2002), CSA, DLR (2005) ----------- Past/FutureILEWG/COSPAR/IAF/IAA Community events ?ILEWG ConferencesonExploration& UtilisationoftheMoonICEUM: Beatenberg94, Kyoto 96 , Moscow 98, ESTEC 2000, HawaiiNov2003, UdaipurNov04, Toronto05, Beijing06, Sorrento22-26 Oct07, US 08 ?COSPAR/ILEWG: Washington92, Hamburg 94, Nagoya 98, Warsaw 00, Houston 02, Paris 04, Beijing06, Montreal 08, Bremen 10 ?IAF/IAA/ILEWG: Houston 02, Bremen 03, Vancouver04, Fukuoka05, Valencia06, Hyderabad07, Glasgow08, Korea09 ?EGS/EGU/ILEWG lunar sessions: Hamburg95, Vienna 97, Nice 98, The Hague 99, Nice 00 ?04, Vienna05-06-07-08?ILEWG Website: http://sci.esa.int/ilewg ?Publications: 7 ICEUM volumes + 6 COSPAR books Adv Space Res. ?Public outreach: 18000 Google quotes ------------------------------------------------------------- There is more information at the ESA web site listed below. http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=34125 - LRK - If you get a chance to go to Italy this month and participate in the conference, pass back some reflections. - LRK- Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== The International Lunar Conferencein Italy in October: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=40925 9th ILEWG International Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon (ICEUM9/ILC2007) * 22-26 October, 2007, Sorrento, Italy* Please note that on Wednesday 24 October, sessions 6., 7. and 8. will be held in parallel. On Thursday 25 October, sessions 6. and 7. will run in parallel. Monday 22 October 2007 13. Young Lunar Explorers session Chair: T. Krovel 4. Media Briefing (TBC) 17:00 - 18:00 Tuesday 23 October 2007 1. Plenary Opening Chair: B.H. Foing 09:00 2. Results from SMART-1 and latest reports from Chang'E 1 and Selene Chair: J. Green 09:30 3. Agencies activities and plans Chairs: B. Foing et al. 11:00-13:00 4. Media Briefing (TBC) 5. Status of Future Missions: Chandrayaan-1, LRO/ LCROSS, Future landers and orbiters Chairs: S. Espinasse, M. Coradini 14:00 Wednesday 24 October 2007 6. Science and Exploration of the Moon: Results, Open Questions New Approaches Chairs: M. Grande, P. Sreekumar, G. Chin, D. Kendall 08:30 6.1 Science instruments 6.2 Upcoming missions 14:00 6.3 General tools 6.4 Science for exploration 6.5 Science and human exploration 7. Technologies, Infrastructures, Resources for Future Robotic and Human exploration Chairs: L. Taylor, S. Hovland, K. Matsumoto 08:30 7.1 Landers 7.2 Rovers 7.3 Support technologies (24 Oct 14:00) 7.4 Power and ISRU Co-Chairs: L. Taylor & S. Hovland 7.5 Instruments Technologies 8. Societal, legal, policy, economics Chairs: R.Richards, S.Durst, D.Isakeit 08:30 13B. YLE Session Chairs: T. Krovel, A. Grinberg, R. Walker 14:00 Thursday 25 October 2007 6. Science and Exploration of the Moon: Results, Open Questions New Approaches Chairs: M. Grande, P. Sreekumar, D. Kendall 08:30 6.6 Science from the Moon 6.7 Science on the Moon 7. Technologies, Infrastructures, Resources for Future Robotic and Human exploration Chairs: L. Taylor, S. Hovland, K. Matsumoto 08:30 7.6 Transport and Orbital Support 7.7 Architectures 7.8 Human Support 7.9 Human Operations Friday 26 October 2007 9. Next steps for Robotic Landers, Rovers and Outposts Chair: K.Matsumoto, S.Hovland 10. International Prospects for utilization and human exploration Chair: M. Wargo 11:00 11. Reports & recommendations from working groups Chair: B. Foing 12:00 12. ICEUM9 declaration Chair: B. Foing 15:00 - 15:30 [See web site for more detail. - LRK -] Snip ============================================================== http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=34125 International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) What is ILEWG? The International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) is a public forum sponsored by the world's space agencies to support "international cooperation towards a world strategy for the exploration and utilization of the Moon - our natural satellite" (International Lunar Workshop, Beatenberg (CH), June 1994). The Forum is intended to serve three relevant groups: 1. actual members of the ILEWG, ie delegates and representatives of the participating Space Agencies and organizations - allowing them to discuss and possibly harmonize their draft concepts and plans in the spirit of the Beatenberg Declaration 2. team members of the relevant space projects - allowing them to coordinate their internal work according to the guidelines provided by the Charter of the ILEWG 3. members of the general public and of the Lunar Explorer's Society who are interested and wish to be informed on the progress of the Moon projects and possibly contribute their own ideas The ILEWG Forum also hosts the Lunar Explorer's Society. http://www.lunarexplorers.net/ Snip ============================================================== http://www.lunarexplorers.net/ Welcome to the online home of the Lunar Explorers Society! Working for a permanent presence of humanity on the Moon The Lunar Explorers Society is an international space advocacy organization that aims to promote the exploration of the Moon for the benefit of humanity. We believe that the Moon is the next and most important step in the human exploration of the solar system. We are dedicated to help achieve this goal through furthering international cooperation, outreach activities and general enlightening of the public. In pursuing this aim we hope to bring the best of humanity to the Moon, and to bring the benefits of the Moon to all people on Earth through a sustainable exploration process. Snip ============================================================== The NSS web site has put a link to the "LUNA GAIA" pdf file. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------------- LUNA GAIA: A Closed-Loop Habitat for the Moon. Design for a >90% self-sufficient 11-person base by a team of 30 space scientists. International Space University, 2007, 168 pages. http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/index.htm snip - LRK - The symposium's 168-page report sets down a plan for an 11-person base to be located in Peary Crater at the lunar north pole. 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Thu Oct 18 16:11:56 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:11:56 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] NASA ANNOUNCES WEB COVERAGE OF NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION Message-ID: <4717BE0C.6040105@gmail.com> NASA ANNOUNCES WEB COVERAGE OF NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/oct/HQ_M071039_STS-120_Web_Coverage.html In reading about writing science fiction I am told that the Dialogue is supposed to help present the theme and to contribute to the suspense or stress that is needed to interest the reader. How to interest you? Move that story forward, the shuttle to launch to the ISS October 23 with some known cracks. Risk is acceptable. What will really happen? Tune in next week. - LRK - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ft-071012-sts120-shuttledate.html CAPE CANAVERAL ? In an engineering showdown next week, shuttle managers will recommend launching Discovery on Oct. 23 despite concerns raised by an independent safety group about tiny cracks in critical wing panels. NASA shuttle chief Wayne Hale will tell agency leaders that the defects are too small to allow hot gases to burn through the composite carbon covers and destroy the spaceship during atmospheric re-entry. And he'll note that new testing techniques developed after the 2003 Columbia accident show the cracks have not grown despite repeated exposure to re-entry temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. "As it stands right now, based on the discussions and the detail that Wayne Hale heard yesterday, he said the risk as laid out is acceptable to proceed with the launch," Kyle Herring, a spokesman for NASA's Johnson Space Center, said Thursday. snip ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just like in the Saturday Matinee of old, often you were left with some pending disaster and you wouldn't know if the hero would save the heroine unless you came back next week. The story of shuttle cracks, creaks, and groans goes on. Will it make it to the ISS in one piece? Tune in for the live web cast and see for yourself. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ When we start sending astronauts back to the Moon the suspense will be there too. A new rocket, new space capsule, new crew, new launch pads, new controllers, tune in, well in a year or two if we are still funding this thriller. We will be funding this thriller, won't we! Will there be a women in the lunar crew? Thanks for looking up with me. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== NASA Announces Web Coverage of Next Space Shuttle Mission http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/oct/HQ_M071039_STS-120_Web_Coverage.html Oct. 18, 2007 Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine.trinidad at nasa.gov Jeanne Ryba Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 jeanne.m.ryba at nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-139 NASA ANNOUNCES WEB COVERAGE OF NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A prelaunch webcast, live blogs, podcasts, pictures and videos highlight NASA's Internet coverage of space shuttle Discovery's STS-120 mission to the International Space Station. Discovery is scheduled to lift off on Oct. 23 at 11:38 a.m. EDT. NASA will provide continuous online updates at: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle A live webcast featuring STS-112 astronaut Sandra Magnus will start the in-depth coverage of the mission at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 22. A blog will update the countdown beginning about six hours before Discovery's launch. Originating from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the blog is the definitive Internet source for prelaunch information. During the 14-day mission, Discovery's seven astronauts will add a module called Harmony to the International Space Station. The Italian-built segment will become a connecting point for future laboratories built by the European and Japanese space agencies. Discovery's crew includes astronaut Daniel Tani, who will move into the orbiting laboratory as part of the Expedition 16 crew. He will replace Clayton Anderson, who launched to the station in June and will return to Earth aboard Discovery. Tani will live and work on the station until returning to Earth aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-122 mission, targeted to launch Dec. 6. Visitors to NASA's shuttle Web site can read about the crew's progress and watch the spacewalks live from the space station. As Discovery's flight concludes, the NASA blog will detail the spacecraft's return to Earth. -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe at mediaservices.nasa.gov Snip ============================================================== http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html Space Shuttle Crew Arrives Friday As preparations for the launch of space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120 enter the final days, Discovery at the launch pad. the astronauts are due to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida midday on Friday. The countdown will begin at 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday, starting at the T-43 hour mark. Snip ============================================================== http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html STS-120 is the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station, and will launch an Italian-built U.S. multi-port module for the station. Retired Air Force Col. Pamela A. Melroy will command the STS-120 mission to take the Node 2 connecting module to the station. Melroy, a veteran shuttle pilot, is the second woman to command a shuttle. Marine Corps Col. George D. Zamka will serve as pilot. The flight's mission specialists will be Scott E. Parazynski, Army Col. Douglas H. Wheelock, Stephanie D. Wilson and Paolo A. Nespoli, a European Space Agency astronaut from Italy. Zamka, Wheelock and Nespoli will be making their first spaceflight. Expedition 15/16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson will return to Earth from the space station aboard shuttle mission STS-120. That flight will carry his replacement, Daniel Tani, to the station. Tani will return on shuttle mission STS-122. Snip ============================================================== NASA Sets Space Shuttle Discovery Prelaunch Events Oct. 18, 2007 Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine.trinidad at nasa.gov George Diller Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 george.h.diller at nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-140 NASA SETS SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY PRELAUNCH EVENTS CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - News conferences, events and operating hours for NASA's Kennedy Space Center News Center are set for the upcoming launch of space shuttle Discovery. The STS-120 mission to the International Space Station is set to lift off at 11:38 a.m. EDT on Oct. 23. On Friday, Oct. 19, the seven Discovery crew members are scheduled to arrive at the Kennedy Space Center at 12:30 p.m. Badged media planning to cover the event must be at Kennedy's News Center by 11 a.m. for transportation to the Shuttle Landing Facility. Commander Pam Melroy will make a brief statement to media. NASA Television will provide live coverage. NASA TV also will broadcast live countdown status briefings and news conferences Oct. 20-22. Complete listings of news briefing times and participants as well as hours of operation for the Kennedy News Center and media credentialing office are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/index.html For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For the latest information about the STS-120 crew and mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle -end- 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Wed Oct 24 12:52:24 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:52:24 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] Chang'e-1 - new mission to Moon lifts off - ESA to assist in tracking information Message-ID: <471F7848.4010706@gmail.com> Chang'e-1 - new mission to Moon lifts off - ESA to assist in tracking information http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMPM53Z28F_index_0.html The Shuttle mission STS-120 launched to the ISS on October 23, 2007 and on October 24, China launches a mission to the Moon. http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/index.html I watched the shuttle launch on NASA TV. Nice! http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ More links to China's Moon launch below. http://in.reuters.com/news/pictures/articleslideshow?articleId=INIndia-30130920071024&start=1 If all goes well we will have both the Japan and China orbiting the Moon. Now who will get to see the maps of the Lunar Resources? -------------------------------------------------------- http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMPM53Z28F_index_0.html Snip During ESA?s SMART-1 mission, the Agency provided the Chinese with details of the spacecraft's position and transmission frequencies, so that the Chinese could test their tracking stations and ground operations by following it. This was part of their preparation for Chang?e-1. Now it is time for Chang?e-1 itself to fly. Hermann Opgenoorth, Head of ESA?s Solar System Missions Division says, ?Participation in Chang?e-1 gives European scientists and ESA experts a welcome opportunity to maintain and pass on their expertise and to continue their scientific work. Based on the experience gained with this first mission, we intended to cooperate on the next missions in China's Chang?e line of lunar explorers.? Snip -------------------------------------------------------- It helps to have tracking around the world to view the Moon as Earth turns. Not everyone has NASA's Deep Space Network to use. In the early Apollo missions there were ships positioned in strategic locations to aide in tracking. Now China launches and some are concerned that they are using ships to talk to the spacecraft. Makes for headlines, if headlines are what you want to read. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------- http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SETSN80&show_article=1 China to test space weapon in launching moon satellite: rights group+ Oct 23 07:41 AM US/Eastern HONG KONG, Oct. 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)?A Chinese submarine will send test signals that could change the course of a satellite when China launches its first moon orbiter, as part of the country's effort to develop space war technology, a human rights watchdog said Tuesday. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said two survey ships are deployed in the South Pacific Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean to send signals to maneuver the lunar exploration satellite, expected to be launched Wednesday. At the same time, a nuclear-powered submarine will send simulated signals to the satellite as a test, it said in a statement. Once the satellite-maneuvering technology matures, the group said, China would have the know-how to destroy other satellites in space in wartime. China could launch cheaply-made weapon-carrying objects into space and change their courses to destroy or damage satellites of other countries by sending signals from submarines, the center said. China shocked the world in January by firing a missile at an old weather satellite without notifying anyone in advance, showing off its anti-satellite weaponry and its ability to shoot down satellites without being immediately noticed. Snip -------------------------------------------------------- Nice to know that ESA is working with China. - LRK - -------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5262 China enters the new moon race with Chang'e-1 launch By Rui C. Barbosa, 10/24/2007 5:08:55 AM At the beginning of a 35 minute launch window that opened at 10:05 UTC, a CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A (CZ3A-15) was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, located in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, carrying the first Chinese lunar probe, Chang'e-1 (ChangEr-1). This was the 104th successful orbital Chinese launch, the 45th successful orbital launch from Xichang, the ninth orbital Chinese launch in 2007 and the sixth launch from Xichang in the current year. Free launch video available (read more). -------------------------------------------------------- Well now are you all looking up? Who would like to look up with you? Just point to the sky, and see who looks up. Say hi, smile, and enjoy the moment. Thanks for looking up with me as well. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMPM53Z28F_index_0.html Chang'e-1 - new mission to Moon lifts off - ESA to assist in tracking information 24 October 2007 A bold new mission to the Moon was launched today by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA). Chang?e-1 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan, atop a Long March 3A rocket. Chang?e-1 represents the first step in the Chinese ambition to land robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020. Chang?e-1 has four mission goals to accomplish. The first is to make three-dimensional images of many lunar landforms and outline maps of major lunar geological structures. This mapping will include the first detailed images taken of some regions near the lunar poles. Chang?e-1 is also designed to analyze the abundance of up to 14 chemical elements and their distribution across the lunar surface. Thirdly it will measure the depth of the lunar soil and lastly it will explore the space weather between the Earth and the Moon. The spacecraft is large, weighing in at 2350 kg and it will operate from a low, circular lunar orbit, just 200 km above the surface of the Moon. From here, it will perform its science mission for a full year. ESA is collaborating with the Chinese on this mission by providing spacecraft and ground operations support services to CNSA. The two agencies will also share data and encourage a visitors? programme so that researchers can learn from each other. During ESA?s SMART-1 mission, the Agency provided the Chinese with details of the spacecraft's position and transmission frequencies, so that the Chinese could test their tracking stations and ground operations by following it. This was part of their preparation for Chang?e-1. Now it is time for Chang?e-1 itself to fly. Hermann Opgenoorth, Head of ESA?s Solar System Missions Division says, ?Participation in Chang?e-1 gives European scientists and ESA experts a welcome opportunity to maintain and pass on their expertise and to continue their scientific work. Based on the experience gained with this first mission, we intended to cooperate on the next missions in China's Chang?e line of lunar explorers.? Snip ============================================================== http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/071024_change_launch.html *China Launches First Moon Probe By Staff reports and wire service posted: 24 October 2007 08:02 am ET According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, China successfully launched its first lunar probe on Wednesday. The Chang'e I blasted off at about 6:05 pm on a Long March 3A carrier rocket from the No. 3 launching tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. The mission is named after a Chinese goddess who, in a popular fairy tale, lives on the Moon. Chang'e 1 is based on China's Dongfanghong 3 telecommunication satellite platform and reportedly carries a 280-pound (127-kilogram) payload of science instruments for its planned one-year mission. The spacecraft carries a total of eight primary instruments to photograph and map the lunar surface, probe its depth, study the regolith's chemical composition, and analyze the space environment around the Moon. ** *Snip ============================================================== http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21449023/ China successfully launches first lunar probe First step in Beijing?s plan to send a rover to moon and back Updated: 3:24 a.m. PT Oct 24, 2007 BEIJING - China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday, the first step in an ambitious 10-year plan to send a rover to the moon and return it to earth. State television showed pictures of the Chang'e 1 orbiter taking off with a trail of smoke from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in southwestern China. The launch comes just weeks after China's regional rival Japan put a probe into orbit around the moon in a big leap forward for Asia's undeclared space race. India is likely to join the regional rivalry soon, with plans to send its own lunar probe into space in April. The Long March 3A rocket carrying the probe blasted off shortly after 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) after officials from the China National Space Administration said weather conditions were good for a liftoff. Several thousand people living within 1.5 miles of the launch center and under the rocket's trajectory were evacuated two hours before the launch, the official Xinhua News Agency said. More than 2,000 tourists were also on hand to watch the rocket soar into space after paying 800 yuan (around $106). Snip ============================================================== http://in.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idINIndia-30130920071024 China launches moon orbiter with patriotic blast Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:52pm IST By Royston Chan XICHANG, China (Reuters) - China launched its first moon orbiter on Wednesday amid a blaze of live-to-air patriotic propaganda celebrating the country's space ambitions and technological prowess. The Chang'e One orbiter lifted off from the southwestern province of Sichuan at 1005 GMT. Barring technical failure, it will reach its lunar orbit on November 5 and spend more than a year scanning the lunar surface in preparation for an unmanned moon vehicle planned for 2012 and a manned landing in future decades. Chinese television broadcast the event more or less live, and senior leaders were present to witness the country's latest feat in space. A Beijing control centre called the launch a "complete success", the Xinhua news agency reported. A torrent of state media reports has celebrated Chang'e One, named after a mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, as visible proof of the country's growing strength. "Without a doubt, the launch of the Chang'e One will again show the world that Chinese people have the willpower, confidence and ability to constantly scale the heights of science and technology," said a commentator on the Sina Web site (news.sina.com.cn). The patriotic upswell was echoed by thousands of space enthusiasts, tourists and reporters from across the country who crowded slopes and viewing platforms near the small city to watch the launch, cheering as the rocket disappeared into the clouds leaving a ribbon of smoke. Snip ============================================================== http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/environment/blastoff+for+chinas+moon+orbiter/955847 Blast-off for China's moon orbiter Last Modified: 24 Oct 2007 By: Channel 4 News China launches its first moon orbiter amid a blaze of live-to-air patriotic propaganda celebrating the country's technological prowess. The Chang'e One orbiter lifted off from the southwestern province of Sichuan at 10.05 GMT. Barring technical failure, it will reach its lunar orbit on 5 November and spend more than a year scanning the lunar surface in preparation for an unmanned moon vehicle planned for 2012 and a manned landing in future decades. Chinese television broadcast the event more or less live, and senior leaders were present to witness the country's latest feat in space. A Beijing control centre called the launch a "complete success", the Xinhua news agency reported. 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ============================================================== From larry.kellogg at gmail.com Tue Oct 30 17:10:46 2007 From: larry.kellogg at gmail.com (Larry Kellogg) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:10:46 -0700 Subject: [lunar-update] "KAGUYA" moves to regular control mode Message-ID: <47279DD6.7060801@gmail.com> "KAGUYA" moves to regular control mode http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/20071021_kaguya_e.html KAGUYA (SELENE) Completion of the Critical Phase Reminds me of the initial orbit adjustments for Lunar Prospector except it was not 3 axis stable, but rather just a spinner. ----------------------- See LUNAR PROSPECTOR MISSION DESIGN AND TRAJECTORY SUPPORT. AAS98-323.pdf (387kb PDF file) ----------------------- Here they will be able to have the instruments face the Moon. All the better for getting the details. - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/f13/index_e.html Thank you for supporting the ?KAGUYA? [October 26, 2007 Updated] JAXA would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you who sent us supporting messages for the KAGUYA and its project team since we started to request messages on July 17. We have received over 800 messages. The KAGUYA is now preparing for regular observations in the lunar orbit. We will update you through the project site. (Image: KAGUYA orbit 3D simulation) http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/f13/topics/img/topics_20071026_e.jpg * Project Site snip ------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing to do with our Moon, just some comet getting agitated. You know, something like we did with a big punch in the nose. Natural, or some alien force a testing? - LRK - ------------------------------------------------------------- http://cometography.com/pcomets/017p.html Article about comet 17P/Holmes exploding (From Bob MacBird, Conroe, Texas) ------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.spaceweather.com/comets/gallery_holmes.html *Summary:* Comet 17P/Holmes shocked astronomers on Oct. 24, 2007, with a spectacular eruption. In less than 24 hours, the 17th magnitude comet brightened by a factor of nearly a million becoming a naked-eye object in the evening sky. Look for a golden 2.5th magnitude fuzzball in the constellation Perseus after sunset. [sky map ] [ephemeris ] [3D orbit ] ------------------------------------------------------------- Soooo, many things to look up at. - LRK - Larry Kellogg Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/ BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/ RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update ============================================================== http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/10/20071021_kaguya_e.html KAGUYA (SELENE) Completion of the Critical Phase October 21, 2007 (JST) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) injected the KAGUYA main satellite in its scheduled orbit and shifted its operation mode to the regular control mode. Both the KAGUYA main satellite and its two baby satellites are in good health. The "KAGUYA" (SELENE) is a lunar explorer launched by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 13 (H-IIA F13) on September 14, 2007, (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Tanegashima Space Center. We completed the KAGUYA?s critical phase and are now moving to the initial functional verification phase. During the verification phase, we will check out onboard equipment in the current lunar orbit until mid December, then start regular observations. We would like to express our profound appreciation for the cooperation and support of all related personnel and organizations that helped contribute to the successful launch and tracking operation of the KAGUYA. You can also check this information on the following Special Site: [ http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/f13/index_e.html ] Critical phase: a period starting from launch through being ready for initial functional verification including payload separation from the launch vehicle, injection into the lunar orbit, and shift to a regular control mode. Regular control mode: attitude control method of a satellite with three axis control to observe the Moon's surface by having the observation equipment face the moon at all times. : Mission website: Lunar Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE) Moon Images Shot by Its Monitor Cameras (PDF) * Partially revised on Oct. 24. Launch of KAGUYA/H-IIAF13 Special Site SELenological and ENgineering Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE) Index for 2007/10 Snip http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/communication/com_information_e.htm ============================================================== http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/return_to_the_moon/message/919 Selene Lowers Orbit To Observation Altitude Aviation Week & Space Technology, 10/29/2007, page 20 Edited by Frank Morring, Jr. Controllers will spend the next three weeks checking out the science instruments on Japan's Selene lunar orbiter, now in final science observation orbit at an average altitude of 100 km. (62 mi.). The orbit lowering was completed Oct. 19 and confirmed by JAXA the next day. With Selene in position, it no longer needs major orbital adjustments, save for counteracting the Moon's irregular pull, which gradually draws the circular orbit into an ellipse. The team needs to reset the satellite once its orbit becomes a 70 X 130-km. oval. It is to be moved in an equal but opposite oval to gain time between maneuvers. "As a precaution, we deliberately set our first orbit to 80 km. and 120 km., which includes an extra safety margin of 10 km.," says Project Manager Yoshisada Takizawa. JAXA expects to perform the procedure bimonthly. Takizawa says 50-60 kg. of extra hydrazine propellant have been conserved since launch from Tanegashima Sept. 14, meaning more time for observation. Snip ============================================================== Oct. 30, 2007 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov Michael Mewhinney Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 650-604-3937 michael.mewhinney at nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-233 NASA TO ESTABLISH NATIONWIDE LUNAR SCIENCE INSTITUTE WASHINGTION - NASA has announced its intent to establish a new lunar science institute. This effort, with dispersed teams across the nation, will help lead the agency's research activities for future lunar science missions related to NASA's exploration goals. Named the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI), the effort will be managed from NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif. Ames currently manages a similar distributed NASA Astrobiology Institute. NLSI's operations are expected to begin March 1, 2008. NLSI will augment other, already established lunar science investigations funded by NASA by encouraging the formation of interdisciplinary research teams that are larger than those currently at work in lunar science. "I am excited about NLSI," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "As the National Academy of Sciences has told us, the science to be done at the moon and from the moon are of high value, and NLSI will help us coordinate and expand a number of in-depth research efforts in lunar science and other fields that can benefit from human and robotic missions that are part of NASA's exploration plans." NLSI research teams will address current topics in basic lunar science, and perhaps astronomical, solar and Earth science investigations that could be performed from the moon. They also will offer a quick response capability for lunar science support to NASA's Exploration initiative. A national search for a NLSI director is currently underway. Most work done under NLSI's banner will take place at other NASA centers, universities and non-profit research groups around the nations. These groups will be competitively selected after scientific peer review. Initially, NASA will select four or five teams for grants of $1 to $2 million each for three years, with renewals of up to five years. NASA will solicit team proposals in a 2008 NASA Research Announcement. By late 2008, about 50 researchers around the U.S. could be working under NLSI's banner. By 2010, that number could double. Funds for this effort are part of the president's proposed 2008 NASA budget for the lunar science project within the planetary research program, now under consideration in Congress. "We're delighted NASA Ames was chosen to lead this exciting new lunar science research office," said S. Pete Worden, Ames center director. "This will complement the agency's ongoing lunar research and further the implementation of the nation's exploration efforts." The lunar science institute is modeled after the highly successful NASA Astrobiology Institute, based at Ames. Established in 1997, the NASA Astrobiology Institute promotes, conducts and leads integrated multidisciplinary astrobiology research in addition to training a new generation of astrobiology researchers. For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe at mediaservices.nasa.gov --------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=23910 --------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2007/07_79AR.html --------------------------------------------------------------- Snip ============================================================== http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/oct/HQ_07234_ESMD_Work_Assignments.html Oct. 30, 2007 Melissa Mathews/Beth Dickey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1272/2087 melissa.mathews-1 at nasa.gov; beth.dickey-1 at nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-234 NASA ANNOUNCES NEW CENTER ASSIGNMENTS FOR MOON EXPLORATION WASHINGTON - NASA announced Tuesday which agency centers will take responsibility for specific work to enable astronauts to explore the moon. The new assignments cover elements of the lunar lander and lunar surface operations. The agency also announced work assignments for Ares V, a heavy-lift rocket for lunar missions. "NASA's Constellation Program is making real progress toward sending astronauts to the moon," said Rick Gilbrech, associate administrator for Exploration Systems, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "Work on our new fleet of rockets and spacecraft, Ares I and Orion, is already well under way. With these new assignments, NASA will launch the next phase of its exploration strategy - landing crews and cargo on the surface of the moon." A center-by-center breakdown of assignments is available on the web at: http://www.nasa.gov/constellation The Ares V and lunar lander assignments will ramp up in fiscal year 2011, with surface system assignments in fiscal year 2012. While these decisions will result in budget and personnel allocations at the centers, detailed estimates will not be available until after prime contractors are formally selected for the work. Each center will have the opportunity for additional work assignments as Constellation Program elements become further defined. "These work assignments are helping to shape a true Constellation identity for each NASA center, which in turn will help the agency to foster the kinds of expertise needed to achieve our space exploration goals," Gilbrech said. NASA's Constellation Program is working to send astronauts to the moon, where they plan to set up a lunar outpost to prepare for human exploration further into the solar system. The first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, aboard an Ares I rocket, is scheduled for no later than 2015. Astronauts will return to the moon by 2020. -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe at mediaservices.nasa.gov 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 gmail.com) Please send suggestions for postings directly to Larry. ==============================================================