Willy Ley - RANGER TO THE MOON

A small book of 128 pages written in 1965.

The promo on the front cover reads, "The fascinating story behind the
history-making flight of the American rocket Ranger VII -- what science
has learned about the moon's topography, orbit, origins.... ILLUSTRATED"

There is a picture section in the middle with 25 images.  A number are
drawings of what was thought craters were like.

It was very interesting to read about the history of what we knew about
astronomical bodies and the Moon in particular before we started sending
spacecraft to them.  In the beginning eyes only looked up and we wrote
about what we thought we saw, then after Galileo we improved what we
could see and we continued to write about what we thought we saw.  Later
we added cameras which improved what we could see.  There still were
different ideas about what the Moon was really like.  What has gone on
before is hard to change.  When you do your research will you find
volcanoes or meteor impacts?
- LRK -

On the back cover is this paragraph, "July 31, 1964: Ranger VII
transmits over 4,000 close-up photos of the lunar surface....A new era
of astronomy has been introduced---exploration by spacecraft."  It also
mentions that the Russian's crashed a rocket on the Moon before, back on
September 13, 1959.

This little book cost 60 cents back then.  You might find a copy on
Amazon.com for $3.75 or on eBay for as much as $39.99.
http://www.amazon.com/Ranger-Moon-Willie-Ley/dp/1251026680
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ranger-to-the-Moon-Willy-Ley-Good_W0QQitemZ270084189239QQcmdZViewItem


You know who Willy Ley is, right?
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Ley
*Willy Ley*, 1906 - June 24, 1969 was a science writer and space
advocate who helped popularise rocketry and spaceflight in Germany
and the United States.
--------------------------------------------------------------

You might want to see what the Ranger Missions were all about.  Take a
look at some of the links below.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
* Past Missions - Ranger 1-9*
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/past/ranger.html

*Spacecraft*
Mass: 305 to 367 kilograms (675 to 809 pounds)

Configuration: Cone-shaped structure mounted on six-sided base,
flanked by pair of solar panels. Dimensions about 3 to 4 meters (10 to
13 feet) high, 1.5 meter (5 feet) in diameter, spanning about 4.6 to 5.2
meters (15 to 17 feet) across solar panels

Science instruments: Varied; early Rangers emphasized study of
radiation environment in space, while later Rangers featured television
cameras

*Overview*

The Ranger project of the 1960s was the first U.S. effort to launch
probes directly toward the Moon. The spacecraft were designed to relay
pictures and other data as they approached the Moon and finally
crash-landed into its surface. A variety of difficulties plagued the
first several attempted missions in this series, but the later Rangers
were finally a complete success.

Ranger 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 23, 1961,
followed by the launch of Ranger 2 on November 18 of that year. In both
cases, the Agena B rocket engine failed to restart and both spacecraft
reentered Earth's atmosphere a short time later.

Ranger 3 was launched January 26, 1962, but an inaccuracy put it off
course and it missed the Moon. Ranger 4 had a perfect launch on April 23
of that year, but the spacecraft was completely disabled. The project
team tracked the seismometer capsule to impact just out of sight on the
far side of the Moon, validating the spacecraft's communications and
navigation system. Ranger 5 missed the Moon following its launch on
October 18, 1962, and was disabled. Ranger 6 was launched January 30,
1964, and had a flawless flight culminating in impact as planned on the
Moon; its television system, however, was disabled by an in-flight
accident and could take no pictures.

The next three Rangers, with a redesigned television, were completely
successful. Ranger 7 was launched July 28, 1964, and sent more than
4,300 pictures on its way down to target in a lunar plain, soon named
Mare Cognitum, south of the crater Copernicus.

Following launch on February 17, 1965, Ranger 8 successfully completed
its mission with a planned crash-landing in Mare Tranquillitatis, where
the Apollo 11 astronauts would land 4-1/2 years later. Ranger 8 garnered
more than 7,300 images.

Ranger 9 was launched March 21, 1965, and impacted the Moon in the
90-kilometer-diameter (75-mile) crater Alphonsus, sending back more than
5,800 images.

More Information:
*Ranger (1961-1965) (National Space Science Data Center)*
<http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/ranger.html>
*Ranger & Surveyor Missions Fact Sheet (PDF)*
<http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/rangsurv.pdf>
*More about Ranger* <http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/>

Snip
==============================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program
Ranger program

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The *Ranger program* was a series of unmanned space missions  by the United
States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images
of the surface of the Moon. The Ranger spacecraft were designed to collide
with the lunar surface, returning imagery until they were destroyed upon impact.

Ranger was originally designed, beginning in 1959, in three distinct phases,
called "blocks." Each block had different mission objectives and progressively
more advanced system design. The JPL mission designers planned multiple launches
in each block, to maximize the engineering experience and scientific value of the
mission and to assure at least one successful flight.

Total research, development, launch, and support costs for the Ranger
series of spacecraft (Rangers 1 through 9) was approximately $170 million.

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/ranger/

*Ranger* Photography of the *Moon*
<http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/ranger/>

Ranger Photographs of the Moon is the online version of the NASA
documents on the 1964-1965 NASA Lunar Ranger Program. It contains
selected Ranger 7, Ranger 8, and Ranger 9 mission images and
documentation from the photographic edition of the following Ranger
publications.

Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, Part I: Camera "A" Series,
Photographic Edition (1964)
Also published as Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, Part I: Camera
"A" Series, NASA SP-61 (1964)

Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, Part I: Camera "B" Series,
Photographic Edition (1965)
Also published as Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, Part I: Camera
"B" Series, NASA SP-62 (1965)

Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, Part I: Camera "P" Series,
Photographic Edition (1965)
Also published as Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, Part I: Camera
"P" Series, NASA SP-63 (1965)

Ranger VIII Photographs of the Moon, Photographic Edition (1966)
Also published as Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, NASA SP-111 (1966)

Ranger IX Photographs of the Moon, Photographic Edition (1966)
Also published as Ranger VII Photographs of the Moon, NASA SP-112 (1966)

Snip
==============================================================
http://agile.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/ranger.html
Ranger 3 & 5 Missions

Mission Overview

The Ranger program was a probe series to transmit close-up black and
white photographs of the Moon before crashing into the Lunar surface.
Three of the nine Rangers (7,8,9) were successful. Rangers 1 through 5
experienced technical problems which affected the success of the
missions: the launch vehicles malfunctioned for Ranger 1 and 2, Rangers
3 and 5 missed the Moon, and Ranger 4 landed on the back side of the
Moon and returned no data.

Ranger 3 was launched on 26 January 1962. It carried an instrument
designed to measure gamma-rays coming from the surface of the moon. It
was intended that the instrument would take some 60 hours of data during
the flight before lunar impact in order to determine the interplanetary
gamma-ray flux, and to determine the background for the lunar
measurements. Twelve hours of data were to be taken with the detector in
a stowed position, and the remaining data were to be taken with the
detector extended on a 6 ft. boom. These data permitted a determination
of the satellite body effect on the measured gamma-ray flux. Missing the
moon, the satellite went into a solar orbit (apogee 1.163 AU; perigee
0.9839 AU) and returned no further data.

Ranger 5 was launched on 18 October 1962. Missing the Moon by 725 km, it
went into a heliocentric orbit, with apogee 1.052 AU and perigee 0.949
AU, at orbital inclination 0.39 degrees. Five hours of data were taken
of the cosmic gamma-ray background, with the detector in the stowed
position only.

Snip
==============================================================
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Cover.htm
LUNAR IMPACT - A History of Project Ranger

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Info.htm#I_Top

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/TOC.htm

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4210/pages/Back.htm#B_Top

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

The Pioneer Web Page is Live on the NASA Portal

Larry Lasher says the Pioneer Missions Archive is now available for viewing.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/missions/archive/pioneer.html
The old links to the Space Projects web site are no more as you may have noticed.
There does not seem to be any redirect page at Ames to the NASA One Portal page.
I will have to update my web page as will others.

[http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Projects/pioneer/PNhome.html] DEAD.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================

The page is live:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/missions/archive/pioneer.html
Please announce it to your distribution lists.

================================
Larry Lasher, Ph.D.
Pioneer Project Manager
MS 213-13
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
voice: 650-604-3076
fax:   650-604-3913
email: Lawrence.E.Lasher@nasa.gov
Web Site: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/missions/archive/pioneer.html
/*Hail and Farewell - Pioneer.  You are dearly missed!*/

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Lawyers, insurance, and money: the business challenges of NewSpace

I finished reading the novel my cousin Louis Phillips Hudson wrote,
"the BONES of PLENTY" that details the trials of a North Dakota community
during the dust storms and depression of the 1930s.
http://www.amazon.com/Bones-Plenty-Borealis-Philip-Hudson/dp/0873511751

We hear a lot about global warming today but we have been dealing with
the problems we create by our use of machines to make our life easier
for a long time.  You plow the thick grasslands and the winds blow the
topsoil away.  We have seen this around the world.  We also know that
weather patterns change as the Sun varies its output.

Are you prepared for the next twist that nature throws at you?

I was born in 1937 and we left North Dakota when I was five and a half
but I remember many of the places Louis talks about.  I also remember
the talk about the problems of being the little guy who did the work but
didn't control what he got paid. Has that changed all that much for the
better in 70 years?

We also know that governments do not always make the best laws nor do
they always enforce them equally.  Going back to the Moon will present
many engineering problems, it will also present political problems. It
may be fun to launch rockets but how do you come up with the money to do
the big ones if you want to be a global enterprise?  Can you fill out
the proper paper work to meet the International Traffic in Arms
Requirements (ITAR)?

So what pops up on the e-mail, but some writings by Jeff Foust on this
week's issue of The Space Review.

You may find them interesting if you have not already read them.
- LRK -

In this week's issue of The Space Review: (see more below)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lawyers, insurance, and money: the business challenges of NewSpace
---
For years individuals and companies in the entrepreneurial space 
industry have focused on debating technology.  Now, Jeff Foust 
reports, there is a shift in emphasis towards business and legal 
issues critical to the industry's long-term success.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/840/1
---------------------------------------------------------------

Will it be all fun and games at your new Lunar Colony?

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
Welcome to this week's issue of The Space Review:

Lawyers, insurance, and money: the business challenges of NewSpace
---
For years individuals and companies in the entrepreneurial space 
industry have focused on debating technology.  Now, Jeff Foust 
reports, there is a shift in emphasis towards business and legal 
issues critical to the industry's long-term success.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/840/1

A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies (enjoy the crime, and 
the jazz...)
---
At the root of many popular science fiction tales, as well as space 
advocacy in general, is the belief that exploring and developing 
space will benefit humankind.  Dwayne Day reviews an animated series 
that takes a more dystopian viewpoint and raises the question of 
whether humanity really will be better off in space than on the Earth.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/839/1

Asteroid missions:  be patient, or bring lotsa gas
---
Some have suggested that near Earth asteroids might be interesting 
destinations for future human missions.  Tom Hill examines the 
orbital mechanics associated with such missions and finds that only a 
handful of asteroids would make good low-delta-v targets.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/838/1

Getting there
---
Last week's Falcon 1 flight, while not a complete success, was a big 
step forward for both SpaceX and the emerging space industry.  Derek 
Webber explains what makes that event such a milestone for the future 
of space access.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/837/1

European missile defense: why bother?
---
US proposals to place missile defense systems in Eastern Europe have 
met with strong opposition by some in Europe.  Taylor Dinerman argues 
that this is another reason why the US should pursue space-based 
missile defense options.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/836/1

Snip

==============================================================
Go to the web link and see what is planned for the kids in Utah
if they can scrape together enough for the trip.
-LRK-
---------------------------------------------------------------

THE DAY IN SPACE
__________________
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Help These Students See Their Experiment Launched
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1203

"Dear NASA Watch: My name is Carolyn Bushman. I teach at Wendover High School, Utah's only
NASA Explorer School. Wendover has 180 7-12 grade students. Last year I had the
opportunity of taking students to the Wallops Fight Facility to see their experiment fly on an
Orion Rocket. I met Pamela Ghaffarian of Franke Park Elementary, Multiage Classroom and she told me
how NASA Watch had helped get her students to Wallops.  Well this year I'm facing a
similar dilemma Due to cut backs the sub-sem is no longer happening, but the NES brought my attention
to a new opportunity of having an experiment flown out of New Mexico. My students
submitted an experiment and got it accepted."


Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Solar 'superflare' shredded Earth's ozone

Larry Klaes forwarded me the e-mail I copied below.

I found the subject about a 'superflare' interesting as well as Alex Bonnici's reference to Dennis Chamberland's novel "Quantum Storms".

We have mentioned the potential for danger to astronauts from Solar Storms so I looked at the NewScientist article and another one it references.
- LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn7142-superflares-could-kill-unprotected-astronauts.html Superflares could kill unprotected astronauts
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also went and looked at the reference to Dennis Chamberland's book "Quantum Storms" at his website
http://www.quantumeditions.com/

If you choose to go there you will see that Dennis is interested in both Space Colonies and Undersea Colonies.

Go to the bottom of his book page and you can read a bit about Dennis Chamberland and get a link to his blog page.
http://chamberland.blogspot.com/

On his blog page you will see that folks are working on Undersea Habitats in the now.
You might also find yourself taking a look at Chamberland's home page.
http://dennischamberland.com/

There you could go to his link about "Legue of the New Worlds"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The League of the New Worlds is a non-profit research foundation committed to the permanent human settlement of the ocean and space frontiers. It is our express purpose to plan, design, launch and permanently occupy the unsettled regions of the world’s oceans and space. We approach our purpose with an incremental development of off-the-shelf technologies integrated with intelligence and purposeful synergy, fusing the goals of ocean and space settlement into a single enterprise called the League of the New Worlds.
Snip
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been reading a novel that my cousin Louis Phillips Hudson wrote, "the BONES of PLENTY" that details the trials of a North Dakota community during the dust storms and depression of the 1930s.

It makes me wonder what it will be like trying to make a go of a Lunar Colony should you chose to form one.
http://www.amazon.com/Bones-Plenty-Borealis-Philip-Hudson/dp/0873511751

How to plan for all the government red tape, the profits taken by big business and the middle men, while you put your sweat equity into working with what nature hands out.

Pay your insurance premiums, your loans, and take care of normal or abnormal wear and tear on your equipment.

Will you find the challenge rewarding enough to make a go of it?

Will you see any profit at the end of the year?

Will you be able to raise a family? (there or leave them behind). If you have not read the three books in the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson you may find them enlightening in what it could be like on Mars in a terraforming environment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

It will a stimulating time working on the new problems that come along.

The Undersea Colony ideas will also get you thinking outside the box or maybe inside the habitat box. :-)
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry KelloggWeb 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 e-mail below was sent to me and others by Larry Klaes and it looks like Alex sent it to a number of groups before, so possibly you have seen it.In case you haven't, I left the e-mail addresses for the Yahoo groups so you could check them out should they be of interest. The content may well be of interest also.
- LRK -
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From: "Alex Michael Bonnici" >To: "The Carl Sagan Club Online" <thecarlsaganclubonline@yahoogroups.com>, <carlsaganscontact@yahoogroups.com>, <sagan-feynman@yahoogroups.com>, <FarFutureCalling@yahoogroups.com>, "SETI Bioastro" <bioastro@setileague.org>, "Major Matt Mason Club" <majormattmasonclubonline@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: SETI bioastro: Solar 'superflare' shredded Earth's ozone
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:01:56 +0200

Hello Gang,Here is a potential threat to our long term existence on planet Earth. This story caught my eye today because I am currently reading a fantastic science fiction novel entitled "Quantum Storms" by Dennis Chamberland that deals with a plot line similar this. Check out this link to a doorway to adventure:http://www.quantumeditions.com/

Alex

Solar 'superflare' shredded Earth's ozone
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11456-solar-superflare-shredded-earths-ozone.html The largest solar flare in the last 500 years may have shredded Earth's ozone layer to a greater extent than human-made chemicals have in recent decades, new research suggests, but the effect was only temporary. If such a flare occurred today, it would likely be even more damaging to the ozone and could increase the rate of skin cancer around the world.

Snip
==============================================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK
==============================================================

MIT models interplanetary supply chain

You say you plan to go to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond.

Do you have enough room in your vehicle to take everything you need all
in one trip?

Will you need to get more food later?

Do you have enough tents, pots and pans, and rolls of toilet paper?

Have you studied your charts and maps?
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------
From the age of instant information:
http://www.wikisky.org/

An article that explains it:

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/
The site features a map of more than half a billion astronomical
objects. You can navigate around it easily by clicking and dragging the
map and using a zoom-in/zoom-out sidebar. You can also search on
specific objects by name from a database, and it seems pretty tolerant
of requests that use informal terms. (Ask for a lobster or a rotten egg
and it will find you one.)
Snip
--------------------------------------------------------------

Will you have any support from the community you left behind?
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5048

Griffin maps out NASA's moon and Mars plans up to 2057

By Chris Bergin, 3/15/2007 12:49:05 AM
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin has given his thoughts on the direction
the US space program will be taking over the next 50 years, specifically
on the exploration of the moon and eventually Mars.

Griffin outlined the future - which he believes will "begin" once the
shuttle is retired in 2010 - with his projected 2022 end date for the
International Space Station, moon base plans and the potential for nine
missions to Mars within a 20 year period.
Snip
--------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
A bit from the MIT website. - LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://spacelogistics.mit.edu/

Interplanetary Supply Chain Network for Space Exploration

The graphic shows planetary surface nodes, orbital nodes and Lagrangian
nodes. The nodes are connected via arcs, representing launch, in-space
trajectories as well as entry-descent-and-landing operations. Elements
are traveling on these arcs, containing human crews, robotic agents,
propellant, collected samples as well as various supply items.

There also exists a supporting information network (not shown).


  MIT Space Logistics Project

Sustainable space exploration will require appropriate interplanetary
supply-chain management. Unlike Apollo, where everything was carried
along, future exploration will have to rely on a complex supply-chain
network on the ground and in space. The primary goal of the
Interplanetary Supply Chain Management and Logistics Architectures
(IPSCM&LA) project is to develop a comprehensive SCM framework and
planning tool for space logistics.

The overall objective of this project is to develop an integrated
capability for guiding the development of the interplanetary supply
chain that will be required to enable sustainable space exploration of
the Earth-Moon-Mars system and beyond. more>>
<http://spacelogistics.mit.edu/about.htm>

Snip
==============================================================
Info below from Larry Klaes e-mail. - LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------

MIT models interplanetary supply chain

For Immediate Release

THURSDAY, MAR. 22, 2007

PHOTO, GRAPHICS AVAILABLE - Contact:

Elizabeth A. Thomson, MIT News Office

Phone: 1-617-258-5402

Email: thomson@mit.edu

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--If you think shipping freight from Cincinnati to El
Paso is challenging, imagine trying to deliver an oxygen generation unit
from the Earth to a remote location on the moon.

By 2020, NASA plans to establish a long-term human presence on the moon,
potentially centered on an outpost to be built at the rim of the
Shackleton crater near the lunar South Pole.

To make such a scenario possible, a reliable stream of consumables such
as fuel, food and oxygen, spare parts and exploration equipment would
have to make its way from the Earth to the moon as predictably as any
Earth-based delivery system. Or more predictably: One missed shipment
could have devastating consequences when you can't easily replenish
essential supplies.

To figure out how to do that, MIT researchers Olivier L. de Weck,
associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and engineering
systems, and David Simchi-Levi, professor of engineering systems and
civil and environmental engineering, created SpaceNet, a software tool
for modeling interplanetary supply chains. The latest version, SpaceNet
1.3, was released this month.

The system is based on a network of nodes on planetary surfaces, in
stable orbits around the Earth, the moon or Mars, or at well-defined
points in space where the gravitational force between the two bodies (in
this case, the Earth and the moon) cancel each other out. These nodes
act as a source, point of consumption or transfer point for space
exploration logistics.

"Increasingly, there is a realization that crewed space missions such as
the International Space Station or the buildup of a lunar outpost should
not be treated as isolated missions, but rather as an integrated supply
chain," said de Weck. The International Space Station already relies on
periodic visits by the space shuttle and automated, unpiloted Russian
Progress re-supply vehicles.

While "supply chain" usually refers to the flow of goods and materials
in and out of manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and retail
stores, de Weck said that a well-designed interplanetary supply chain
would operate on much the same principles, with certain complicating
factors. Transportation delays could be significant-as much as six to
nine months in the case of Mars-and shipping capacity will be very
limited. This will require mission planners to make difficult trade-offs
between competing demands for different types of supplies.

A reliable supply chain will "improve exploration capability and the
quality of scientific results from the missions while minimizing
transportation costs and reducing risks" to crew members, de Weck said.

SpaceNet evaluates the capability of vehicles to carry pressurized and
unpressurized cargo; it simulates the flow of vehicles, crew and supply
items through the trajectories of a space supply network, taking into
account how much fuel and time are needed for single-sortie missions as
well as multiyear campaigns in which an element or cargo shipment might
have to be prepositioned by one set of vehicles or crew members while
being used by another.

In addition to determining a logical route, SpaceNet also allows mission
architects, planners, systems engineers and logisticians to focus on
what will be needed to support crewed exploration missions.

To experience an environment as close as possible to harsh planetary
conditions, MIT conducted an expedition to Devon Island in the Canadian
arctic in 2005. The researchers established a semi-permanent shelter at
the existing NASA-sponsored Haughton-Mars Research Station
(www.marsonearth.org) and compiled an inventory of materials at the
base, including key items such as food, fuel, tools and scientific
equipment, while carefully tracking inbound and outbound flights.

They also experimented with modern logistics technologies, such as radio
frequency identification, that autonomously manage and track assets with
the goal of creating a "smart exploration base" that could increase
safety and save astronauts and explorers precious time.
SpaceNet 1.3 is written in MATLAB, a high-level technical computing
language and interactive environment for algorithm development, data
visualization, data analysis and numerical computation.

The SpaceNet development team includes MIT graduate students,
postdoctoral associates and research staff led by de Weck and
Simchi-Levi, aided by partners at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory;
Payload Systems Inc., which provides science and engineering services
for spaceflight applications; and NASA industry partner United Space
Alliance.

For more information on SpaceNet 1.3, go to spacelogistics.mit.edu.

This work was funded by NASA.

Snip
==============================================================

THE DAY IN SPACE
__________________
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Enceladus Geysers Mask the Length of Saturn's Day
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22197

In a David and Goliath story of Saturnian proportions, the little moon Enceladus is weighing down
giant Saturn's magnetic field so much that the field is rotating slower than the
planet. This phenomenon makes it nearly impossible to measure the length of the Saturn day
using techniques that work at the other giant planets.


-- Mrs. Chippy joins NASA for astrobiology research in the desert!
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23688

"Remember me?  The adorable  :-)  little teddy bear that sent you e-mails from
Antarctica back in December?  Well I've been invited by a friend of Allan's (Dan Wray from Indiana)
from the NASA Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers to join the Spacebound Mojave expedition
that will be taking place beginning next week in Zzyyxx, California. We'll be teaming up with
NASA astrobiology scientists looking at understanding similar questions to some of
those that we explored in Antarctica - specifically how life can survive in extreme
environments."


-- NASA Studies Life's Limits in China's Extreme Deserts
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22195

"Searching for clues to the potential for life on Mars, NASA scientists recently
explored microbial communities in some of the world's oldest, driest and most remote deserts, in
China's northwest region, and found evidence suggesting that conditions there may be similar to
those in certain regions of Mars."


-- Space Traveler To Talk With Students � Directly From Space
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22194

"In his continued effort to inspire youth in the science of space travel,
Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., the fifth private space traveler, will speak with high school students in three
events across the United States through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
program."


-- NASA Spaceward Bound Scientists and Teachers Study the Mojave
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22193

"NASA scientists and teachers will step back in time as they investigate the Mojave Desert to
study the unique geologic formations and the supremely adapted microbes that
call it home. On March 28, 2007, news media representatives are invited to join the expedition."


-- Worldwide testing and ISS traffic push ATV launch to autumn 2007
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22192

"Jules Verne, the first of five Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV), stands on the
brink of flight. Its hardware is 100 percent assembled and ready to fly. The inaugural mission, set
for the second half of 2007, will follow an extensive three-year test campaign."

Snip
==============================================================
Keep a watchful eye open while you are on the Moon. - LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------

NASA has just released never-before-seen movies of intense activity in
an unexpected place on the sun. The images were captured by a space
telescope onboard Japan's Hinode spacecraft.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/21mar_chromosphere.htm?list965414

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 - Launched - 95 percent good

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 - Launched - 95 percent good - failed to
reach full orbital velocity

SpaceX has posted an update to yesterdays launch (update copied here).

- LRK -
------------------------------------------------

http://www.spacex.com/
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php#demoflight_2_launch_update_12
<http://www.spacex.com/updates.php>
DEMOFLIGHT 2 UPDATE

*Posted March 20, 2007*

The second test launch of Falcon 1 took place today at 6:10 pm
California time.  The launch was not perfect, but certainly pretty
good.  Given that the primary objectives were demonstrating responsive
launch and gathering test data in advance of our first operational
satellite launch later this year, the outcome was great.  Operationally
responsive (i.e. fast) launch has become an increasingly important
national security objective, so demonstrating rapid loading of
propellants and launch in less than an hour, as well as a rapid recycle
following the first engine ignition are major accomplishments.

We retired almost all of the significant development risk items, in
particular:

- 1st stage ascent past max dynamic pressure

- avionics operation in vacuum and under radiation

- stage separation

- 2nd stage ignition

- fairing separation

- 2nd stage nozzle/chamber at steady state temp in vacuum

Falcon flew far beyond the "edge" of space, typically thought of as
around 60 miles.  Our altitude was approximately 200 miles, which
is just 50 miles below the International Space Station.  The second
stage didn't achieve full orbital velocity, due to a roll excitation
late in the burn, but that should be a comparatively easy fix once we
examine the flight data.  Since it is impossible to ground test the
second stage under the same conditions it would see in spaceflight, this
anomaly was also something that would have been very hard to determine
without a test launch.

All in all, this test has flight proven 95+ percent of the Falcon 1
systems, which bodes really well for our upcoming flights of Falcon 1
and Falcon 9, which uses similar hardware.  We do not expect any
significant delay in the upcoming flights at this point.  The Dept of
Defense satellite launch is currently scheduled for late Summer and the
Malaysian satellite for the Fall.

I'd like to thank DARPA and the Air Force for buying the two test
flights and helping us work through a number of challenges over the past
year.  I'd also like to express my appreciation for the efforts of the 
Kwajalein Army Range (Reagan Test Site) and we look forward to many more
launches in the future.

Finally, thank you to everyone at SpaceX for working so hard to make
this a great test.  This is a big leap forward for commercial spaceflight!

--Elon--

------------------------------------------------

You can watch the video from the link on SpaceX homepage.
http://www.spacex.com/

Which should take you to their Video Gallery.
http://www.spacex.com/video_gallery.php
------------------------------------------------

Another take on this launch and others is at Florida Today where you can read
about a Delta 4 being disassembled so that pad damage due to cracks.
http://www.floridatoday.com/floridatoday/blogs/spaceteam/


Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
THE DAY IN SPACE
_________________

In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Falcon 1 Launched Into Space

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1202
<http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1202>

-- SpaceX Post-flight Comments Regarding Second Falcon 1 Launch

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23667
<http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23667>

"Falcon flew far beyond the "edge" of space, typically thought of as around 60 miles.  Our
altitude was approximately 200 miles, which is just 50 miles below the International
Space Station.  The second stage didn't achieve full orbital velocity, due to a roll excitation late
in the burn, but that should be a comparatively easy fix once we examine the flight data.  Since it is
impossible to ground test the second stage under the same conditions it would see in
spaceflight, this anomaly was also something that would have been very hard to determine without a test
launch."

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 - 20 March 2007 - Launches

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 Update 20 March 2007 - Launch Slips to 5:05
- aborts - recycle and launch.

There was an abort at T+00:00:10 and then they did a recycle and picked
up the count at T-00:16:00

After launch web cast showed the view from rocket looking back at Earth.
Nice.  See picture at http://kwajrockets.blogspot.com/

Lost contact with web cast. Maybe ended or overloaded. Was nice while it
lasted.
- LRK -


--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
DEMOFLIGHT 2 UPDATE
*Posted March 20, 2007*

Posted March 20, 2007

The launch time is now 5:05 PM (California time).

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 Update 20 March 2007

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 Update 20 March 2007 - Launch scheduled for
4 PM California Time (Tues)

Good day,
SpaceX launch of Falcon 1 rescheduled for today at 4 PM.

Maybe we will have a live video again at:
http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php

Larry

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php
DEMOFLIGHT 2 UPDATE
*Posted March 20, 2007*

The abort that occurred a few minutes before T-0 was triggered by our
ground control software. It commanded a switchover of range telemetry
from landline to radio, which took place correctly, however, because of
the hardware involved, this transition takes a few hundred milliseconds.
Before it had time to complete, our system verification software
examined state and aborted.

Our simulations done beforehand all passed, because the simulator did
not account for a hardware driven delay in the transition. We considered
putting the vehicle into a safe state yesterday and updating the ground
control software to make the very minor fix needed, but the safer course
of action was to stand down.

Yesterday afternoon and evening (Kwaj time), our launch team updated the
software to address the timing issue and verified that there were no
similar problems elsewhere. We ran the software through several
simulated countdowns and then once again with the rocket and range in
the loop.

All systems are now go for launch with T-0 at 4pm California time today
(Tues).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some info from before. - LRK -
================================================
Some info on Kwajalein where they are to launch.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/575/1
Snip
*Bjelde:* If you take the distance from El Segundo, California to Hawaii
and you double it, you are about 9 degrees off the equator, 8,500
kilometers. From here to California, you have all these atolls in the
South Pacific, such as Micronesia and Marshall Islands. Kwajalein is the
atoll of interest to us. Kwajalein Island is the main island in the
Kwajalein atoll. We�ll land there, set up shop there, have our office
there, and our command center. Everything is on Kwaj. Kwaj has a little
network, a little ring. We took advantage of existing facilities on
Kwajalein and built our own facilities on Omelek, which is a
40-kilometer offshoot from Kwajalein. This is a little island that
barely peaks out above the water, barely a third of a meter at low tide.
Snip

http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/kwa/
Kwajalein Atoll is located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 2,100
miles southwest of Hawai'i and 1,400 miles east of Guam. The island is
home to USAKA(United States Army Kwajalein Atoll), the Ronald Reagan
Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, and about 2,000 support personnel
and family members on Kwajalein and Roi-Namur islands.
Snip

http://kwajrockets.blogspot.com/
Kwajalein Atoll and Rockets
[A number of pictures of the Falcon 1 during countdown. - LRK-]


================================================
-- SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 Update 16 March 2007
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23640

*18 March Update: The flight readiness review conducted tonight shows
all systems are go for a launch attempt at 4pm California time (11pm
GMT) tomorrow (Monday). The webcast can be seen at
spacex.com/webcast.php <http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php> and will
start at T-60 minutes. Please check back for updates, as the launch will
be postponed if we have even the tiniest concern.*

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 Update 19 March 2007 - launch aborted at T-00:01:02 - try again tormorrow

Launch terminated at the last moment.
Video viewing terminated with the comment that they would reset for 24
hours and try tomorrow.

Abort happened because of the breakdown during countdown of the
communication link for telemetry.

Such is the life of a rocketeer.

- LRK -

================================================
Some info on Kwajalein where they are to launch.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/575/1
Snip
*Bjelde:* If you take the distance from El Segundo, California to Hawaii
and you double it, you are about 9 degrees off the equator, 8,500
kilometers. From here to California, you have all these atolls in the
South Pacific, such as Micronesia and Marshall Islands. Kwajalein is the
atoll of interest to us. Kwajalein Island is the main island in the
Kwajalein atoll. We�ll land there, set up shop there, have our office
there, and our command center. Everything is on Kwaj. Kwaj has a little
network, a little ring. We took advantage of existing facilities on
Kwajalein and built our own facilities on Omelek, which is a
40-kilometer offshoot from Kwajalein. This is a little island that
barely peaks out above the water, barely a third of a meter at low tide.
Snip

http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/kwa/
Kwajalein Atoll is located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 2,100
miles southwest of Hawai'i and 1,400 miles east of Guam. The island is
home to USAKA(United States Army Kwajalein Atoll), the Ronald Reagan
Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, and about 2,000 support personnel
and family members on Kwajalein and Roi-Namur islands.
Snip

http://kwajrockets.blogspot.com/
Kwajalein Atoll and Rockets
[A number of pictures of the Falcon 1 during countdown. - LRK-]


================================================
Well almost launched.
Now trying to determine why a terminal abort.
Update said to be coming in 10 minutes.

Thought I had something for you.

Now wait and see.

Larry Kellogg

-- SpaceX Falcon 1 Demoflight 2 Update 16 March 2007
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23640

*18 March Update: The flight readiness review conducted tonight shows
all systems are go for a launch attempt at 4pm California time (11pm
GMT) tomorrow (Monday). The webcast can be seen at
spacex.com/webcast.php <http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php> and will
start at T-60 minutes. Please check back for updates, as the launch will
be postponed if we have even the tiniest concern.*

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

The Universal Translator - How to Talk to The Dolphins, Crickets, Elephants, or Aliens

Back in April of 2004 I posted a bit to the lunar-update list and I thought I would share again since looking into space may need some new ideas as to what might help us see what is happening out there.
- LRK -
===================================================================
http://news.altair.com/pipermail/lunar-update/2004-April/000661.html
The Universal Translator - How to Talk to The Dolphins, Crickets, Elephants, or Aliens
===================================================================

This is a mind experiment.

Some time back read about how Dolphins might be interpreting their echo
location as actual images in their brain.  Not being inside of a Dolphin, I
don't really know how they experience their environment, then again, I don't
really know how I experience my environment either.

but -

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to see a lot more of our environment?

If we just had the right sensors and the conversion matrix to translate the
energy that is around us into some form that we can understand, wow what a
rush.

We would hear whistles, clicks, and many sounds from energetic actions
translated into the audio range.  Meteors entering our atmosphere is one
that comes to mind.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast19jan_1.htm
http://www.k5kj.net/meteor.htm
http://www.fathom.com/course/10701056/
http://www.dolphinear.com/data/dolphin_echo_location.htm
http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/BonyFish/senses.html
http://www.hawaii.edu/HIMB/sharklab/research/kajiura.html

So put on Geordi LaForge's visor.
----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dreamworld/2460/crew/laforge.htm
snip
Born blind due to a birth defect. Wore VISOR from 2340 to 2372 (advanced
optical sensor that allows him to see outside human visible spectrum). By
stardate 50893, received ocular implants to replace VISOR.
snip
----------------------------------------------------------------

An article in SCIENCE NEWS back in September of 2001 showed one more different way of
SEEING. Put an output stimulator on your tongue and see the input from a camera.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Seeing+Tongue-a078681631
The Seeing Tongue
In-the-mouth electrodes give blind people a feel for vision
by Peter Weiss
Snip
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we go to space we will need to SEE many events that would normally be
outside our normal experience.

Who of you will develop the next new sensors for translating the energies in
the surround into images the you can SEE?

Think about what you might be able to SEE as you read the poem I wrote.
See below. :-)
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================

The Universal Translator
Or
How to Talk to The Dolphins,
Crickets, Elephants,
Or
Aliens


The sound goes around.
To and fro it bounds.

I can see for you and me.
A picture for me,
A sound for thee.

How does a picture sound?
Can I send it around?

Would you hear in your ear,
What I see and fear?

How does it sound?
As I send it around?

My picture in sound.

What does my mind see?
What does my mind hear?

Just a wiggle and a squiggle,
An itch and a twitch.

Something in motion,
Much like the ocean.

It wiggles and squiggles,
With ups and downs,
And motion all around

Is it sound that rebounds?
Or the motion that goes around?

What is it I see?
What do you hear?
Is it by ear?
Or by bone?

Do I care how I hear?
What is it I hear?

But a motion applied to motion,
The difference I sense.

The vibration goes around
and it comes around.
Having seen what was there
Being modified by air

Do I really care?
If it is by air.

Could be from afar?
Or just from a jar?

This sound that went around.

How does it rebound?
When it goes around.

I send and I see
What comes back to me.

How does it differ?
>From what I send.

Does that tell me,
Where it has been?

The sound goes around
With a wiggle and a squiggle.
And an added jiggle.

What does it do,
For me and for you?

One day I'll see
What you have heard
And you can hear
What I can see.

What goes around
And comes back sound
May go around
And come to me,
As something to see.

The shrimp it clicks
The insect stamps

A shriek, a bellow

Over there, over here

A sensor, a sensor
Feeling this vibration.

To be in tune,
To listen to the moon,
In an afternoon.

A vision to see,
Using the medium
For free.

How do I see?
What does it mean for me?
Just a translation.

>From a vibration,
To an elation.

Its motion all around.

How does it vibrate?
How does it shake?
What information
Does it make?

The background,
All a twitter.

The background,
All around.

The noise,
How gray.

The noise
What does it say?

To enhance the dance
And see the prance.

The lights they play
What do they say?

A vibration against the white
A sound in the night
A magnetic push
A gravitational pull
How do they differ,
>From the background of all?

What information from around
When pushed and pulled by the sound?

A blare, a flair,
In the air, I don't care.
In the water, it's a medium,
In the ether, no tedium.

Radiation, it's the difference that counts.
How it wiggles and how it bounce.

A throb, a bob
A wiggle, a squiggle.

How it differs, because of the surround,
Is what goes, and comes around.

What differs from expectation,
Is what makes for information.

The play on the gray
Extracted today
Is what went,
And came back,
With information
On this and that.

Be it magnetic or electrostatic
It's the wiggle and the squiggle
That comes around
With information on the surround.

So where are you immersed?
And in what are you versed?

Can I change my wiggle,
To match your squiggle?

So that what I sent around
Come to from the surround.

It's the difference, that extra jiggle
That has information to make you giggle.

>From its sound
And image to see,
The medium is different
For you and for me.

May I transform my jiggle
To be heard as a giggle?

So what is seen from light to me
Is heard in the sea, an image for thee.

The difference applied
To light from aside,
May for me
And image be.

How do I see?
What does it mean for me?
Just a translation
>From a vibration
To an elation
An image to see.


Copyright May 28, 2001 by L & S Robotics, Larry Kellogg
Edited April 9, 2004 - LRK -
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

NASA Seeks To Readjust Lunar Robotic Program - Again

NASA Seeks To Readjust Lunar Robotic Program - Again
*Orbital Outposts: A Better Bet than a Moonbase?
*NASA Chief Says China May Make It To the Moon

Hmmmm, has this story been told before?
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------------------
NASA Seeks To Readjust Lunar Robotic Program - Again
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1199

"According to NASA sources, the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP)
office at MSFC is either being totally shut down or dramatically reduced in size with lunar
mission coordination moving back to NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC."

Snip
------------------------------------------------------

Web links that don't work, like the Pioneer 10/11, may be part of moving
items to NASA's ONE PORTAL. Still don't have a new URL for the Pioneer
10/11 move but Dr. Lasher says sometime in June. Will let you know when
that happens.

Still that is ancient history and here we are talking about the future,
which often moves further off into the future.
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/lunar.html
Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program 

The Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program (LPRP) supports America's return
to the Moon by executing lunar robotic missions to conduct research and
prepare for future human exploration.

LPRP missions will gather data important for reducing the risks of
returning humans to the Moon by 2020, such as examining the lunar
radiation environment, which has implications for astronaut safety.
Surface imaging and mapping will assist landing site selection by
identifying terrain hazards (slope, roughness, obstacles) as well as
areas of scientific and operational interest. Temperature and lighting
conditions over an annual cycle, along with a good characterization of
dust, environmental conditions, and radiation are needed for mission and
hardware design. Resource identification and mapping will inform
decisions about possible future use of in-situ resources. Future LPRP
missions may also demonstrate prototype technologies such as precision
landing and in-situ resource utilization.

Specific LPRP activities will include topographic mapping, resource and
mineral identification and mapping, identifying permanently lighted and
permanently shadowed areas near the lunar poles, and characterizing the
radiation and dust environment and landing site hazards. LPRP is
considering a mix of orbiters, landers, and impactors to obtain required
data.

LPRP's first mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), is in
development, with launch planned late in October 2008. LRO will provide
critical information about the Moon to enable selection of safe landing
sites with compelling exploration and scientific features. Using a
robust suite of instruments to measure the topography of the moon's
surface, LRO will take high-resolution images of sites of interest,
globally assess thermal and radiation environments, and assay potential
resources.

Launching with LRO is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite
(LCROSS). This low-cost secondary payload will investigate the presence
of lunar volatiles in a permanently shadowed region of the lunar
surface. The Lunar Architecture Team (LAT) study is examining lunar
exploration requirements needed to support a human lunar sortie by 2020.
The LAT is scheduled to conclude Phase 2 architecture refinements in
July 2007, and will assist in determining future missions and
instruments to follow LRO and LCROSS.

For more information, please see the
Lunar Precursor Robotic Program <http://lprp.msfc.nasa.gov/>,
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter <http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/> and the
Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite <http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov>
Web sites.

Snip
[Note: The above LPRP link will break. - LRK -]
------------------------------------------------------

Okay, can't get out of Low Earth Orbit, maybe try building a new home
there and then just drift away when you get your act together.
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.space.com/adastra/070316_orbital.html
*Orbital Outposts: A Better Bet than a Moonbase? *
*By Al Globus

Because we are planetary creatures, most people assume
the first and most numerous space settlements must be on the
Moon <http://www.space.com/moon/> or Mars. In fact, we may
live in orbit long before settling the Moon or
Mars <http://www.space.com/mars/>, and there may always be
far more space settlers in orbit than on any planet or moon.
Orbital settlements <http://www.nss.org/settlement/space/index.html>
are huge spacecraft, big enough for many thousands to live in
comfortably, that provide radiation protection, a breathable atmosphere,
nearly self-sufficient life support, and that rotate to provide something
that feels much like Earth-normal gravity at the rim.

Why do I think orbital settlements will precede and vastly outperform
those on planets and moons? Three reasons:

 1. It's easier.
 2. There's more.
 3. The kids will be able to visit Earth

Snip
------------------------------------------------------

Well if not invented here, then maybe made in China.
Who will be the first to open a big box store on the Moon?
- LRK -

------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031501830.html

NASA Chief Says China May Make It To the Moon

By Marc Kaufman

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, March 16, 2007; A06

The next humans to walk on the moon may well be Chinese, NASA's
administrator told Congress yesterday. He said that the combination of
budget cuts and restraints in the NASA lunar program and a determined and
well-funded effort by the Chinese made that once-unthinkable possibility a
real one.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told the House Committee on Science and
Technology that, based on the status of the Chinese space program and its
projected growth, China could land a man on the moon within a decade. Under
current projections, a U.S. lunar return would not take place until 2019 at
the earliest.

"If they wanted to mount a lunar mission, they could do so," Griffin said.
"And yes, they could get to the moon before we return."

The Chinese space program employs about 200,000 people, Griffin said, while
NASA has a workforce of about 75,000.

Griffin's assessment came during a day of NASA budget hearings in which both
Republicans and Democrats decried a lack of funding for NASA, which has been
given many ambitious missions.

Snip
------------------------------------------------------

More links from SpaceRef below if you have not already read.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================

THE DAY IN SPACE
__________________
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Mars Express radar gauges water quantity around Mars' south pole
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22126

-- Ice on Mars' South Pole Is Deep and Wide
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22125

"New measurements of Mars' south polar region indicate extensive frozen
water. The polar region contains enough frozen water to cover the whole planet in a
liquid layer approximately 36 feet deep. A joint NASA-Italian Space Agency instrument on the European
Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft provided these data."

-- RNA enzyme structure offers a glimpse into the origins of life
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22137

"Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have
determined the three-dimensional structure of an RNA enzyme, or "ribozyme," that carries out a
fundamental reaction required to make new RNA molecules. Their results provide insight into what may have
been the first self- replicating molecule to arise billions of years ago on the evolutionary
path toward the emergence of life."

-- NASA, AOL, Mad Science Host the Space Pennant Design Challenge
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22136

"For some scientists and engineers, designing something that flies in
space might be the pinnacle of a career. NASA now is offering that opportunity to grade
school students. NASA, AOL's Kids Service KOL and Mad Science are teaming up for the NASA Space
Pennant Design Challenge, which begins Thursday, March 15."

-- Global 'sunscreen' has likely thinned, report NASA scientists
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22129

"A new NASA study has found that an important counter-balance to the
warming of our planet by greenhouse gases � sunlight blocked by dust, pollution and other aerosol
particles � appears to have lost ground."

-- FY08 NASA Budget Request Insufficient for Space Exploration Program
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22128

-- Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Before the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23624

-- Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Before the House
Committee on Science & Technology
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23623

-- Statement of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin Before the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23622

-- Opening Statement by Rep. Mark Udall - House Committee on Science and
Technology Hearing: NASA's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23620

-- Opening Statement by Rep. Bart Gordon - House Committee on Science
and Technology Hearing: NASA's Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Request
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23621

"First, the FY 2008 budget request continues a pattern of Administration
requests that fail to ask for the level of funding that the White House had said NASA would need
to carry out the exploration initiative and its other core activities. Specifically, in
the three years since the President announced his exploration initiative, the White House has cut
NASA's five-year budget plan by a total of $2.26 billion. And based on this year's budget
submittal, that shortfall will worsen by another $420 million in FY 2009."

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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SpaceX Posts New Details of Dragon Spacecraft

It is time again to see if SpaceX can make it to space.
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------
In today's space news from SpaceRef:
-- SpaceX  <http://www.spacex.com/>Posts New Details of Dragon Spacecraft
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=23605

"The Dragon spacecraft is a pressurized capsule used for Earth to LEO transport
of pressurized cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members. Initiated internally by SpaceX
in 2005, Dragon will be utilized to fulfill our NASA COTS contract for demonstration of
cargo re-supply of the ISS."

--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.spacex.com/updates.php#demoflight_2_launch_update_6
DemoFlight 2 Update
*Posted March 5, 2007*

The launch window is now March 19th to 22nd (California time). During
extended ground testing in late February, one of our second stage thrust
vector control boards indicated a problem. Although our analysis showed
substantial margin for flight, we decided nonetheless to increase the
robustness of certain of the components and run a delta qualification.

The upgraded boards will be installed this week. If all goes well,
Falcon 1 will do a static fire next week and then launch in the week of
the 19th.

--Elon--

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I wish SpaceX good fortune as it would be another step to commercializing space.
Getting things to orbit cheaply is the hurdle we need to overcome.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
If we can go to LEO, can we build a home in space? - LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/index.html
Colonies in Space

Complete online book
by T. A. Heppenheimer
<http://www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/heppenheimer.html>

Copyright 1977, 2007
by T. A. Heppenheimer

The National Space Society is proud to present this online edition of
the complete text of the 1977 hardcover edition of the landmark book,
/Colonies in Space/. The key ideas are presented in Chapter 2
<http://www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/colonies_chap02.html>,
with the rest of the book an elaboration on those ideas. We were not
able to obtain permissions for many of the illustrations, but were able
to include the nice color plates
<http://www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/colorplates.html> in the
center of the book. See also our review
<http://www.nss.org/resources/books/non_fiction/NF_012_coloniesinspace.html>
of this book and our page about the author
<http://www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/heppenheimer.html>.

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==============================================================
http://www.nss.org/settlement/
Space Settlement Nexus

An all-volunteer effort <http://www.nss.org/settlement/committee.html>
including over 8,000 pages of reference materials
<http://www.nss.org/settlement/library.html>

*"The people of Earth have both the knowledge
 and resources to colonize space."*

That was the stated conclusion of this NASA-sponsored study in 1975!
There are two things you need to know about space settlement:

* *We can do it, starting now. *
* *A future with space settlements is vastly better than one without them.*

We Can Do It

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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The Prophet of Garbage - Solid Waste Managent

What to do when your landfills are full?

What to do when you haven't started a landfill and you are on the Moon?

What, you want to go camping and you forgot that roll of paper.

---------------------------------------
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/873aae7bf86c0110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
The Prophet of Garbage
Joseph Longo's Plasma Converter turns our most vile and toxic trash into clean energy—and promises to make a relic of the landfill

By Michael Behar | March 2007
It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder.

Snip
---------------------------------------
Same as above, but from a blog in Panama where the technology is being used. Format a bit easier to read. - LRK-
------
http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20070223212011318
Plasma Converter turns garbage into energy Friday, February 23 2007 @ 09:20 PM EST
Contributed by: Don Winner

By Michael Behar - It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder.
Snip
---------------------------------------

Going to the Moon will need creative minds to come up with new ideas to handle the everyday needs, and engineers to make it happen.

Just make sure you do a patent search to make sure someone has not already thought of YOUR idea.

Be prepared to spend a few years perfecting the product.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/873aae7bf86c0110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
The Prophet of Garbage
Joseph Longo's Plasma Converter turns our most vile and toxic trash into clean energy—and promises to make a relic of the landfill

By Michael Behar | March 2007

It sounds as if someone just dropped a tricycle into a meat grinder. I’m sitting inside a narrow conference room at a research facility in Bristol, Connecticut, chatting with Joseph Longo, the founder and CEO of Startech Environmental Corporation. As we munch on takeout Subway sandwiches, a plate-glass window is the only thing separating us from the adjacent lab, which contains a glowing caldera of “plasma” three times as hot as the surface of the sun. Every few minutes there’s a horrific clanking noise—grinding followed by a thunderous voomp, like the sound a gas barbecue makes when it first ignites.

“Is it supposed to do that?” I ask Longo nervously. “Yup,” he says. “That’s normal.”

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There are mandates in many places to reduce the amount of items going to landfill.
Buckminster Fuller had a lot of ideas, which he patented even if you could not accomplish the idea at the time.

He then made a living collecting royalties when someone else put the idea to work.

I suppose someone will have to pay to use the idea of a dry toilet on the Moon.
- LRK -
---------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller
http://www.buckminster.info/Ideas/07-IcosHouseToiletScientific.htm

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http://recoveredenergy.com/
TECHNOLOGY Recovered Energy, Inc. is an independent engineering and consulting firm dedicated to the promotion of the most current technologies for the recovery of energy from waste. In our opinion, the waste "problem" is the solution to our energy needs. We like to think of waste as an asset rather than a liability. Current technologies using plasma gasification and pyrolysis processes can convert almost any waste material into usable products such as electricity, ethanol, vitrified glass and other salable products. This is a true waste to energy system that goes way beyond the traditional incinerator and beyond standard gasification processes. We promote technology that allows for 100% conversion of waste to energy in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. green electricity. Plasma gasification and pyrolysis processes allow for the virtual elimination of landfills, recycling without sorting, the complete thermal conversion of all types of waste to energy in the form of green electricity or ethanol.

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- LRK - 241 pages.
---------------------------------------
http://www.recycle.ab.ca/Download/MSW_Options_Report.pdf
Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) Options:
Integrating Organics Management
and Residual Treatment/Disposal
April 2006

Snip
p. 162
7.2.3.4 Plasma Technology

Industrial applications of plasma arc technologies are well established and include electric arc furnaces used in the steel industry, and arc welding units used in the construction industry. Plasma technology is also used for treating hazardous waste. The technology involves relatively high capital and operating costs, but may offer some environmental advantages in certain applications. The environmental advantages include the ‘ultimate destruction’ of highly problematic hazardous materials such as PCBs and complex stable volatile organic compounds, due to the application of extremely high operating temperatures, and the resultant production of a vitrified inert ash.

Plasma arc processes use extremely high temperatures in an oxygen-starved environment to pyrolyze waste into simple molecules. A thermal plasma field is created by directing an electric current through a low pressure gas stream, thereby creating a stream of plasma at temperatures of 5,000 to 15,000°C. The by-products of the process are slags and combustible gases. The combustible gases are subsequently either combusted in an afterburner or treated by catalytic conversion.

Plasma may be either a net energy user or producer, depending on factors such as the nature of the waste, feedstock and scale of operation. In theory the sythetic gas produced by plasma technologies can be used in many applications, including fuel cells.

Two examples of companies offering plasma arc systems are “Pyrogenesis Inc.” and “Plasco Energy Group” (formerly RCL Plasma Inc.). Both companies claim to be able to treat processed MSW using plasma generators which create extreme heat and convert the waste into a synthetic gas, heat and an inert slag. The process forms a 1,000°C syngas composed of simple molecules such as H2, N2, CO, CO2, etc. This gas is then cleaned and combusted in an engine or turbine for energy recovery.

“Plasco” has been developing their patented Plasma Gasification Process (PGP) since 1973. According to the company, the gasification process itself has no air emissions, and the emissions from gas combustion in a Jenbacher engine fall well below the stringent CCME and Ontario A-7 guidelines. The City of Ottawa is considering the installation of a 75 tonne per day plant near its Trail Road landfill, to be owned and operated by “Plasco”. A Spanish waste management firm, “Hera”, has contracted for a 200 tonne per day “Plasco” facility in Barcelona, with an 85 tonne phase 1, and 115 tonne phase 2.

“Pyrogenesis” has operated their demonstration Plasma Resources Recovery System (PRRS) in Montreal since 2002, treating 25 to 100 kg/h. The units run for periods of several hours and not on a continuous basis. The unit has been tested on various Municipal Waste Integration Network / Recycling Council of Alberta Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Options: Integrating Organics Management and Residual Treatment/Disposal wastes including MSW, automobile shredder residue, tires, and hazardous waste. The information from the operation of this pilot unit has been used to scale up the design from 5 up to 200 tonnes per day. They are currently looking for a demonstration site for the technology, to scale the operation up to 20 tonnes/day. They also manufacture compact plasma gasification units, which can process over 5 tonnes per day of dry waste – plastic and paper. These units were developed under a contract from the US Navy, and one was installed on a “Carnival” cruise ship in 2003. These systems are scheduled for more cruise ships and possibly an aircraft carrier by 2007.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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