contents: "LIVING ALOFT: Human Requirements for Extended Spaceflight


...the early phases of a science require...a certain disregard for the formalisms and pedantic, creeping construction of the ultimate scientific edifice. Perhaps what is essential is a foundation of sensible, if vague, ideas and orienting attitudes- correct in their broadest sweep if not in their precise predictions.

Jack P. Hailman
Science, 168, 701 (1970)

Table of Contents


Cover

Mary M. Connors
NASA Ames Research Center

Albert A. Harrison
University of California, Davis

Faren R. Akins
University of Santa Clara


Prepared at Ames Reseach Center


Scientific and Technical Information Branch 1985
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Washington, D.C.

ESA - SMART-1 - SMART-1 leaves Earth on a long journey to the Moon: "SMART-1 leaves Earth on a long journey to the Moon

28 September 2003
ESA PR 60-2003. SMART-1, Europe�s first science spacecraft designed to orbit the Moon, has completed the first part of its journey by achieving its initial Earth orbit after a flawless launch during the night of 27/28 September.

The European Space Agency�s SMART-1 was one of three payloads on Ariane Flight 162. The generic Ariane-5 lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe�s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, at 2014 hrs local time (2314 hrs GMT) on 27 September (01:14 Central European Summer time on 28 September).
42 minutes after launch, all three satellites had been successfully released into a geostationary transfer orbit (742 x 36 016 km, inclined at 7 degrees to the Equator). While the other two satellites are due to manoeuvre towards geostationary orbit, the 367 kg SMART-1 will begin a much longer journey to a target ten times more distant than the geostationary orbit: the Moon. "

SNIP
SEE FULL ARTICLE - LRK -

ESA - Science - Home:

"More

SMART-1 on its way to the Moon

Introduction to the SMART-1 mission

By Sun power to the Moon

The SMART way to travel

Masterpieces of miniaturisation"

Science & Technology: SMART-1 on its way to the Moon: "SMART-1 on its way to the Moon
27 Sep 2003
European Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana
SMART-1 has been successfully deployed.
Under good weather conditions, flight V162 lifted off at 23:14 UT from the European Spaceport in Kourou. Within 45 minutes after the flawless launch, SMART-1 seperated from its Ariane 5 launcher and started its long journey to the Moon.
The spacecraft has deployed its solar arrays and is currently undergoing initial checkout of its systems under control from ESA/ESOC. This checkout will continue until 4 October and will conclude with the initial firing of SMART-1’s innovative ion engine. "

Arianespace: "Launcher version:Ariane 5
Payload(s): INSAT-3E, e-BIRD and SMART-1
Customer(s): For INSAT-3E: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
For e-BIRD: Eutelsat>
For SMART-1: European Space Agency
Mission: For INSAT-3E: Telecom and TV coverage
For e-BIRD: Internet
For SMART-1: Advanced research & technology testbed & first European Moon mission
Payload prime contractor(s): For INSAT-3E: ISRO/ISAC
For e-BIRD: Boeing
For SMART-1: Swedish Space Corporation "

Arianespace: "One of the last major milestones in preparations for Flight 162 occurred today when the mission's Ariane 5G was transferred from its final assembly building to the launch zone at Europe's Spaceport.

Riding atop its massive mobile launch table, the Ariane 5 moved on the 2.8-km.-long twin rail line that links the final assembly building with the launch zone.

Once in the launch zone, the table was locked into position over the large flame ducts that direct exhaust from Ariane 5's two solid rocket motors and the core stage's Vulcain cryogenic main engine.

All is on schedule for tomorrow evening's liftoff of Flight 162 with the three-satellite payload of Europe's SMART-1 lunar probe, the Eutelsat e-BIRD broadband services satellite, and the Indian Space Research Organisation's INSAT-3E telecommunications/video broadcast platform.

The 19-minute-long launch window for Flight 162 opens at 8:02 p.m. local time in French Guiana (11:02 p.m. GMT, 7:02 p.m. in Washington, D.C., and 1:02 a.m. on Sept. 28 in Paris). "

JPL News -- Galileo End of Mission Status: "2003 News Releases

Artist's concept of Galileo approaching Jupiter. - SEE WEB PAGE - LRK -

Related Links:
+ Galileo home page
+ Images, animations, webcasts and feature stories

Galileo End of Mission Status
September 21, 2003
The Galileo spacecraft's 14-year odyssey came to an end on Sunday, Sept. 21, when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter's shadow then disintegrated in the planet's dense atmosphere at 11:57 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The Deep Space Network tracking station in Goldstone, Calif., received the last signal at 12:43:14 PDT. The delay is due to the time it takes for the signal to travel to Earth.
Hundreds of former Galileo project members and their families were present at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for a celebration to bid the spacecraft goodbye.
'We learned mind-boggling things. This mission was worth its weight in gold,' said Dr. Claudia Alexander, Galileo project manager. "

Jet Propulsion Laboratory: "Galileo Ends Its Historic Mission
The Galileo spacecraft's 14-year odyssey came to an end on Sunday, Sept. 21, when the spacecraft passed into Jupiter's shadow then disintegrated in the planet's dense atmosphere at 11:57 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. Hundreds of former Galileo project members and their families were present at JPL for a celebration to bid the spacecraft goodbye. "

TMO Progress Report: "The Interplanetary Network Progress Report, published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reports principally on activities of the Interplanetary Network Directorate (IND) in planning, research, technology development, implementation, and operations in the areas of network, communications, navigation, information systems, Deep Space Network (DSN) science, mission support, communication standards, protocols, and spectrum engineering. Tasks funded by the JPL Director's Research Discretionary Fund and the Caltech President's Fund that involve the IND are also included"

Press Release #H03-247: "July 25, 2003

Melissa Motichek
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1272

Eileen Hawley/Doug Peterson
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111



Release: #H03-247

NEXT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CREW NAMED

Veteran NASA astronaut Michael Foale and seasoned Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri are set to be the eighth crew to live aboard the International Space Station. They're scheduled to begin their mission in October, when they launch into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. "

snip

NASA Awards Contract For News Ames University Center: "Moffett Field - Sep 17, 2003
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., this month will award a cost-plus-award-fee contract valued at more than $330 million to the University of California system to develop a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). The University of California, Santa Cruz, will manage the contract."

Chandra :: Photo Album :: The Moon :: 16 Sep 03: "The Chandra observations (right) of the bright portion of the Moon detected X-rays from oxygen, magnesium, aluminum and silicon atoms. The X-rays are produced by fluorescence when solar X-rays bombard the Moon's surface. "

The Moon: Lunar Prospecting With Chandra - See Photo album.
- LRK -

Marshall Space Flight Center News Release 00-250 (8-22-00): "
For Release: August 22, 2000
Release: 00-250

One year later: Chandra 'changes way we look at the universe'
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is marking its first year in orbit with an impressive list of astronomy 'firsts.'

Through Chandra's images, humans witnessed for the first time the full impact of a blast wave from an exploding star, a flare from a brown dwarf -- or failed -- star, and a small galaxy in the process of being cannibalized by a larger galaxy.

'Our goal is to identify never-before-seen phenomena, whether it's new or millions of years old. All this leads to a better understanding of our universe, ' said Martin Weisskopf, chief project scientist for the Chandra program. 'Indeed, Chandra has changed the way we look at the universe.'

Chandra was launched in July 1999 and recorded its first images in mid-August 1999. After only two months in space, the observatory revealed a brilliant ring around the heart of the Crab Pulsar in the Crab Nebula --the remains of a stellar explosion -- providing clues about how the nebula is energized by a pulsing neutron, or collapsed, star."

Chandra :: Chronicles

See the stories about what the X-ray Telescope is finding. - LRK -

Chandra Press Room :: Lunar Prospecting With Chandra :: September 16, 2003: "Lunar Prospecting With Chandra
September 16, 2003

CXC RELEASE: 03-08

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
Phone: 256-544-6535

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, CFA, Cambridge, MA
Phone: 617-496-7998
cxcpress@cfa.harvard.edu "

Observations of the bright side of the Moon with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected oxygen, magnesium, aluminum and silicon over a large area of the lunar surface. The abundance and distribution of those elements will help to determine how the Moon was formed.

"We see X-rays from these elements directly, independent of assumptions about the mineralogy and other complications," said Jeremy Drake of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., at a press conference at the "Four Years with Chandra" symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.

"We have Moon samples from the six widely-space Apollo landing sites, but remote sensing with Chandra can cover a much wider area," continued Drake. "It's the next best thing to being there, and it's very fast and cost-effective."

snip

Lunar Prospecting With Chandra: "Lunar Prospecting With Chandra

Huntsville - Sep 16, 2003
Observations of the bright side of the Moon with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected oxygen, magnesium, aluminum and silicon over a large area of the lunar surface. The abundance and distribution of those elements will help to determine how the Moon was formed.
'We see X-rays from these elements directly, independent of assumptions about the mineralogy and other complications,' said Jeremy Drake of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Mass, at a press conference at the 'Four Years with Chandra' symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.
'We have Moon samples from the six widely-space Apollo landing sites, but remote sensing with Chandra can cover a much wider area,' continued Drake. 'It's the next best thing to being there, and it's very fast and cost-effective"

snip

Structure of the Universe: "Structure of the Universe

Hans Haubold, UN Outer Space Office, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria
A. M. Mathai, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

This article is published in the Encyclopedia of Applied Physics, Vol. 23 (Page 47 - 81), 1998 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, ISBN: 3-527-29476-7 "

SNIP FROM INTRODUCTION - LRK -
INTRODUCTION

Every culture, from the ancient tale-spinners of the Indus Valley to the modern technocrats of the Silicon Valley, has held its own unique view of the cosmos. Astronomy, the oldest science mainly based on observation, cannot be separated from physical law and mathematics. Big advances in space science and technology in this century have allowed astronomers to look both deeper into space and farther back in time, thereby discovering a close connection between particle physics and cosmology. The study of the creation, evolution, and structure of the universe has become a legitimate subject for astronomers, physicists, and mathematicians.

The article presents an outline of the current knowledge about the structure - more precisely the structural elements - of the universe from the point of view of the standard "big-bang" model (dubbed macrocosmos) and the standard model of fundamental particles (dubbed microcosmos). In this regard an important point has to be made that the article does not consider the time dependent phenomena that ought to characterize the evolution of the universe but is focused on the structural elements of the universe as discovered by observation at the present stage of the evolution of the universe. One can ask the question of how it is possible to understand the universe on the basis of its structural elements? The ancient atomic philosophers may have answered: This objection is similar to that of someone saying, how can the entire poem of Homer, the Iliad, be composed of only 24 letters, those 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. Hidden in that thought is, that the richness of the poem is not compromised by the fact, that a method exists to ultimately trace it back to a few, very elementary and simple elements, such as the formal contents of the Greek language to the 24 characters, that are being referred to as the Greek alphabet. However, the degree of the current understanding of the structural elements of the universe (compared with the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet) reveals the fact, that the scientific establishment is still far away from understanding the beauty of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole (compared with the Iliad).


snip

Bayesian analysis of lunar laser
ranging data
William H. Jefferys
Judit Gyorgyey Ries
ABSTRACT
In 1969, astronauts first placed a retroreflector on the moon for laser ranging
of the moon, and since then the McDonald Observatory of the University
of Texas has been ranging to these and other later-placed retroreflectors.
By determining the round-trip time of a very short but powerful laser
pulse, important and extremely precise information about lunar motion and
earth rotation can be obtained. The problem is an interesting one from the
point of view of signal-to-noise, for in unfavorable circumstances, nearly
all of the detected photons are not laser returns but simply background
photons. Other interesting features of this problem are the fact that the
data are censored; and that it is necessary to take into account the Poisson
nature of the data. Determining which photons are actual returns is critical
to the initial data analysis. In this paper we describe how a Bayesian
analysis of the return data can be used to improve the results.

snip

What is escape velocity?: "Space Environment
How does gravity work in space?

What is escape velocity?
Escape velocity is the speed that an object needs to be traveling to break free of a planet or moon's gravity well and enter orbit. For example, a spacecraft leaving the surface of Earth needs to be going 7 miles per second, or nearly 25,000 miles per hour to enter orbit."

SEE TABLE ON ESCAPE VELOCITY
Earth 11.2 km/sec 25038.72 mph

Jupiter 59.5 km/sec 133018.2 mph

The Scientist - Update on Astrobiology: "Update on Astrobiology
Scientists gather at CONTACT conference to discuss 'biology elsewhere'
E-mail
article

By A.J.S. Rayl

Courtesy of NASA


In Search of Life: The hunt for 'biology elsewhere' has gone as far as Mars (above) and to the depths of the Lechuguilla caves in New Mexico, where Penelope Boston (below) searches for extremophiles.
© Val Hildreth-Werker

SEE IMAGES ON WEB PAGE - LRK -


Just three weeks before E.T. flew back into movie theaters to celebrate his 20th anniversary, a group of interdisciplinary scientists, science fiction authors, teachers, and others interested in the real quest for extraterrestrial life assembled in the Silicon Valley for the 19th annual CONTACT conference (www.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/contact)."

Solar Flares on Steroids: "Solar Flares on Steroids
Solar flares that scorch Earth's atmosphere are commonplace. But scientists have discovered a few each year that are not like the others: they come from stars thousands of light years away.

September 12, 2003: On August 24, 1998, there was an explosion on the sun as powerful as a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Earth-orbiting satellites registered a surge of x-rays. Minutes later they were pelted by fast-moving solar protons. Our planet's magnetic field recoiled from the onslaught, and ham radio operators experienced a strong shortwave blackout.

None of these things made headlines. The explosion was an 'X-class' solar flare, and during years around solar maximum, such as 1998, such flares are commonplace. They happen every few days or weeks. The Aug. 24th event was powerful, yet typical.

A few days later--no surprise--another blast wave swept past Earth. Satellites registered a surge of x-rays and gamma-rays. Hams experienced another blackout. It seemed like another X-class solar flare. Except for one thing: this flare didn't come from the sun.

It came from outer space.

'The source of the blast was SGR 1900+14, a neutron star about 45,000 light years away,' says NASA astronomer Pete Woods. 'It was the strongest burst of cosmic x-rays and gamma rays we've ever recorded.'

SGR 1900+14 is a special kind of neutron star called a magnetar. "Magnetars have the strongest magnetic fields in the universe: a million billion (1015) gauss," he says. For comparison, the magnetic field of the sun is less than 10 gauss in most places, and about 1000 gauss near sunspots.

snip

Solar Flare Theory: "These pages are about solar flares, the biggest explosions in the solar system. Their purpose is to provide"
* some general information about solar flares.
* a "feel" for scientific research into the energetic emissions from flares.
* a glance into the future of solar flare research.

Solar Physics Glossary: "Solar Physics Glossary "

From A to X :-) - LRK -

Photographic History of the DSN: "The photographs in this album hang in the fourth-floor hallway of Building 303 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. In order to make them available to a wider audience, we have created this album. In addition to all of the facilities of the Deep Space Network, we have included photos of Parkes Radio Observatory, Australia, and the Very Large Array, Socorro, New Mexico. These two great radio observatories have collaborated and augmented the Network on some very special science events, namely, the Voyager encounters with Uranus and Neptune, and the Giotto rendezvous with Comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup. "

AIP FYI #118: Senate Appropriations Committee Language on NASA Space Flight | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference: "STATUS REPORT
Date Released: Friday, September 12, 2003
American Institute of Physics
AIP FYI #118: Senate Appropriations Committee Language on NASA Space Flight
As reported in FYI #117, the Senate Appropriations Committee has passed its FY 2004 spending bill for NASA, S. 1584. Not surprisingly, much of the language on NASA in the accompanying committee report (S. Rpt. 108-143) deals with the report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), and NASA's plans to return the space shuttle to flight. Selected portions of the report relating to the CAIB's findings, and NASA's Space Flight Capabilities, are highlighted below. The full report is available at http://thomas.loc.gov .
'NASA is at a crossroad in its history. Because of the tragic loss of the Shuttle Columbia, the Committee believes that both the Congress and NASA must make a renewed commitment to safety as the highest priority in the NASA budget.... We know more about the Columbia tragedy now that the Columbia Accident Investigations Board [CAIB] has issued its final report. The findings are disturbing but provide a foundation for NASA to assess and institute the substantial reforms that must be made to make a return to flight both safe and successful.' "

snip

S. 1584 [Report No. 108-143], FY 2004 NASA Excerpts (part 1) | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference: "STATUS REPORT
Date Released: Friday, September 12, 2003
Senate Appropriations Committee
S. 1584 [Report No. 108-143], FY 2004 NASA Excerpts (part 1)
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Appropriations, 2003 $15,338,907,000
Budget estimate, 2004 15,469,300,000
Committee recommendation 15,338,907,000
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 to conduct space and aeronautical research, development, and flight activities for peaceful purposes designed to maintain U.S. preeminence in aeronautics and space. NASA's unique mission of exploration, discovery, and innovation is intended to preserve the United States' role as both a leader in world aviation and as the pre-eminent space-faring Nation. It is NASA's mission to: advance human exploration, use and development of space; advance and communicate scientific knowledge and understanding of the Earth, the Solar System and the Universe; and research, develop, verify and transfer advanced aeronautics and space technologies.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION "

snip

Part 2 here

READ THE REST TO SEE JUST HOW COMMITTED YOU ARE. - LRK -

Program / Schedule - ILC2003: "Program / Schedule
Note: this program/schedule is updated on a weekly basis. Please check back regularly for latest ILC2003 information.

Sunday 16 November:

* Registration 16:00-18:00 HST
* Reception 17:30-19:00
Monday 17 November: Opening Welcome; International Lunar Programs / Sessions 1-2
* Registration, Refreshments 07:30
* Conference Opening and Aloha Welcome 08:15: Hawai�i Kama�aina; Mayor of Hawaii, Honorable Harry Kim; Hawaii State Governor, Honorable Linda Lingle (invited)
* Introductions 08:45 (Special Invitation to Prime Minister of India, Honorable Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee)
* Keynote 09:00 � Captain John W. Young: NASA Astronaut (active), Apollo 16 Moonwalker, Columbia STS-1 Commander (invited / accepted)
* Break 09:55
* Session 1: 10:15-11:55 Lunar Activities and Programs of the International Space Agencies: Europe - Bernard Foing (invited), ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, ILEWG 4 Chair; Russia - Erik Galimov, Vernadsky Institute, Moscow, ILEWG 3 Chair; Japan - Hitoshi Mizutani, ISAS, Kanagawa, ILEWG 2 Chair; USA - Michael Duke, Colorado School of Mines, Golden (formerly NASA SSED), ILEWG 2002 Chair; India - ISRO Director Krishnaswami Kasturirangan (invited); China - CNSA Director Luan Enjie (invited); Pakistan - SUPARCO AMOS Manager Ghulam Murtaza; Mexico - Jesus Raygoza, MexLunarHab; Canada - Marc Garneau, CSA President; Australia, Indonesia (all invited)
Session 1 Chairs: Steve Durst, USA; Jean-Pierre Swings, Europe
*Welcome Luncheon 12:15 - Special Presentation: �First Woman on the Moon� (call for papers)
* Recommendations to International Space Agencies, and the International Lunar Exploration Working Group 13:25-13:55; "
snip

SEE WEB SITE FOR FULL SCHEDULE - LRK -

International Lunar Conference 2003: "Latest Conference News:
Abstracts are now posted on the ILC2003 website. Click here to view.
Call for Papers abstract submission deadline has been extended to 31 August. Click here for more details.

About the ILC2003
The International Lunar Conference 2003 is a decisive week-long gathering of American and international space program representatives, scientists and engineers, astronomers, business people and entrepreneurs, educators and enthusiasts -- all seeking to develop global and inter-global understandings, strategies, initiatives and enterprises leading to a permanent human presence on our Moon as early as possible."

"Romance to Reality" Comes to the Mars Institute | Press Release - August 27, 2003 | Mars Institute - To further the scientific study, exploration, and public understanding of Mars: "'Romance to Reality' Comes to the Mars Institute

Mountain View, CA, - August 27, 2003 - Famed author Ray Bradbury once said 'It is part of the nature of man to start with romance and build to a reality.' It is only fitting that today when Mars is closer to Earth than it has been in nearly 60,000 years and that the romance of Mars still strongly calls to humanity that we re-launch historian and Mars Institute Faculty member David S. F. Portree's 'Romance to Reality' on the Mars Institute web site.

First launched on August 28, 1996, the popular educational web site now contains more than 300 summaries and descriptions of documents from the history of planning for moon and Mars voyages. The new site sports a new look, including a logo donated by professional space exploration artist Pat Rawlings.

'Romance to Reality has been my lunatic obsession these past 7 years,' laughs Portree. But Portree launched the site with a serious purpose in mind: to help get humans to Mars. 'I thought that if people knew the sheer number of ideas that exist for going to Mars, then the goal of humans on Mars would become more attainable,' Portree explains.

Romance to Reality has led to numerous invitations for its author to write and speak about Mars exploration. In 2001, for example, NASA published Portree's book Humans to Mars: Fifty Years of Mission Planning. 'NASA engineers and scientists contact me with questions,' Portree adds, 'as do many students around the world.'

snip

NOW PART OF THE MARS INSTITUTE. - LRK -

Romance to Reality - Moon and Mars Mission Plans | David S. F. Portree | Faculty | Mars Institute - To further the scientific study, exploration, and public understanding of Mars: "Romance to Reality: moon & Mars mission plans
It is part of the nature of man to start with romance and build to a reality.
- Ray Bradbury
Romance to Reality contains more than 300 detailed annotations (that is, summaries and descriptions) of classic, seminal, and illustrative moon and Mars exploration and settlement studies dating from 1950 to present. These are arranged in 14 sections by subject. I continually add to this site because I want to
teach about the challenges and opportunities of exploring and settling the moon and Mars
make widely available the legacy of ideas engineers and scientists have developed for exploring and settling the moon and Mars
provide an exciting glimpse of possible futures by looking into the past
help in a small way to build a future including human activities on the moon and Mars
My criteria for selecting documents to annotate are admittedly fluid. I give emphasis to studies which emerged as important to later planning, but also include those that help to illustrate the wide range of moon and Mars options. Romance to Reality is meant to be a primer for building the future, not merely a catalog of unrealized dreams. - David S. F. Portree"
snip

MANY PLANS LINKED HERE. THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. NEED TO WALK THE TALK - LRK -