Space Food

I was watching Modern Marvels on TV about potatoes.  In one of sequences they showed growing mini potatoes in air without any dirt.  The mini potatoes grew faster than potatoes grown in dirt.  This reminded me about space food and thought I would see what might be of interest.  As for potatoes here are some links.

Space Spuds to the Rescue
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/spacespuds.html
Quantum Tubers™
http://www.quantumtubers.com/
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff2000/er5.htm

Potatoes will be important for the space traveler but there needs to be more than french fries and what is good in space may well be good here on Earth as well.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/presskits/spacefood/factsheets.html
Space Food Fact Sheets

Space Food
Many people are curious about what astronauts eat in space. NASA nutritionists make sure they have plenty of healthy, appetizing food while they're living in orbit.
+ Read the Fact Sheet (PDF 98 Kb)
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/71426main_FS-2002-10-079-JSC.pdf

Incredible Edibles from Space
Space food technology spinoffs benefit dining rooms throughout the world. NASA licenses dozens of space-age technologies and connects with the private sector for the creation of products that improve lives here on Earth.
+ Read the Fact Sheet (PDF 2.5 Mb)
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/71427main_Space_Food_Spinoff_FS-2004-08-007-JSC.pdf

Cosmic Cuisine
NASA space food scientists are developing an Advanced Food System that will provide future crews traveling to the moon and Mars with safe, nutritious and appetizing food while minimizing volume, mass and
waste.
+ Read the Fact Sheet (PDF 59 Kb)
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/137398main_FS-2005-10-055%20Cuisine_1.pdf

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Some other information to test your taste buds.
- LRK -

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-food.htm
How Space Food Works

By the 1960s, NASA achieved an extraordinary technological feat by sending men into space. Yet one deceptively simple aspect of space travel took several more years to perfect: the food. Today most space food looks a lot like food here on the ground. What started out as tasteless paste squeezed out of a toothpastelike tube has come a long way from space exploration's early days. Astronauts are even getting treated to gourmet meals designed by celebrity chefs.


But what is space food? A typical space menu is made up of a lot of the same items found in homes and restaurants here on Earth. It might include foods such as:
   *  Beef stroganoff
   * Brownies
   * Crispy rice cereal
   * Chicken stew
   * Scrambled eggs
   * Pineapple
   * Granola bars
   * Macaroni and cheese
   * Chocolate pudding

The biggest differences between space food and regular food are in the packaging and design. Space food must be carefully contained so it doesn't float around in the low-gravity (microgravity) environment.
Even something as simple as a few crumbs can become deadly in low gravity. Loose pieces of food can become lodged in shuttle  vents or can waft into an astronaut's nose or mouth and pose a choking or breathing hazard. Liquids can float away as well, so drinks like coffee, orange juice, apple cider and tea are packaged as powders. Astronauts add water to the contained drinks to rehydrate them.

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When we look up and think about space travel it excites the imagination.  Give some students the challenge to figure out what is needed to survive and see what they find.
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01581/SpaceTravelEnglish/lifesupport/food.html
- LRK -

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http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01581/SpaceTravelEnglish/lifesupport/food.html
Space Travel 101
Food

Eating aboard a spacecraft is more than just grabbing some fast-food. Biological, operational, and engineering factors all play a part in the types of food that are available in a spacecraft. These factors involve the effect of the food on the astronaut, the structure of the food's container, and how manageable the food and container is, respectively. The following table lists factors that determine good space food.

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Some history about Space food.
- LRK -

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_food
Space food

Space food is food products, specially created and processed for consumption by astronauts in outer space. The food has specific requirements of providing balanced nutrition for the health of individuals working in space, while being easy and safe to store, prepare and consume in the machinery filled low gravity environments of contemporary manned spacecrafts. In recent years, space food have been used by various nations engaging on space programs as a way to share and show off their cultural identity and facilitate intercultural communication.

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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
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http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Food_Vital_During_Long_Space_Flights_999.html
Food Vital During Long Space Flights
by Staff Writers
Chicago IL (SPX) Aug 20, 2009

A new study in the Journal of Food Science explores the impact of space flight on the nutritional value  of foods. Maintaining the health of the crew aboard a spacecraft is a critical issue especially during extended trips. Because foods may lose their nutrients during extended space missions, food scientists are analyzing ways to increase shelf life of nutrients in the food.

Researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center in Houston evaluated the stability of fatty acids, amino acids and vitamins in supplements and in foods from a long-duration spaceflight on the International Space Station (ISS). Tested items included tortillas, almonds and dried apricots, commercially-packed salmon, freeze-dried broccoli au gratin, multivitamins, and vitamin D supplements.

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http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Space-travel-to-accelerate-food-science-discoveries
Space travel to accelerate food science discoveries
25-Jul-2005

Space travel to accelerate food science discoveries as the US space organisation NASA calls on food researchers to answer the needs of its astronauts, reports Lindsey Partos. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as part of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme, is seeking a host of developments within the context of its 'Advanced Life Support:  Food Provisioning and Biomass' topic.

The development of long duration, shelf-stable food to allow 3 to 5 year storage, food preparation equipment, and "highly automated| equipment to process or prepare crops grown in space or bulk stored ingredients are among the areas requiring new research, says NASA.

Understanding the most extreme conditions for food products has already brought gains for product formulation on Earth, and to innovative food firms opting to invest in ambitious development areas.
Danish food firm Arla Food Ingredients, for example, recently developed a new yoghurt for consumption by NASA's astronauts.

The dairy ingredients supplier worked with US food technologists at the Johnson Space Centre to design safe, health-promoting, lightweight foods.

When the expedition 11 crew took off to the International Space Station in mid-April, Arla's fruit flavoured yoghurts were on board.

"In the near and mid-term, new products are expected to arrive on the shelves, influenced by our experiences for the International Space Station," Carsten Hallund Slot, project manager at Arla Foods Innovation told FoodNavigator.com.

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http://www.space-travel.com/reports/South_Korean_Space_Foods_Receive_Russian_Certification_999.html
South Korean Space Foods Receive Russian Certification
by Staff Writers
Seoul, Korea (XNA) Mar 25, 2010

South Korean food products designed to be consumed in space have received certification from a Russian laboratory, the state-run Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) said Wednesday.

A total of 10 types of specially manufactured food products, including traditional dishes like fried Kimchi, hot pepper paste, bulgogi or beef stew, and bibimbab, a bowl of mixed rice and vegetables, have won the certification by the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBMP) last week after passing extensive testing, the KFRI said in a statement.

All food products were adjusted to fit the European astronauts' different tastes, and were specially repackaged to have longer shelf life, according to KFRI, as they were produced under high pressure and heat with below-five percent moisture content.

It added the new products will first be tested in the Russian- led Mars-500 experiment where six astronaut candidates will be locked up in an area totally segregated from the outside world and try the food in order to check its viability in a space-like environment.

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

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H.R. 5781 - Title: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010

It is Friday, 7/30/10, and I started watching C-SPAN - H.S. House of Representatives which includes floor debates.  I thought that H.R. 5781 would be on the agenda as I got an e-mail reiterating Elon Musk concern that the bill might pass and limit the amount of money Space X would get and that it would provide for more 'Pork' for other NASA and Russian funded support.

Excerpt from what I received:
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NASA’s Authorization bill (H.R. 5781) will be debated on the floor of the US House of Representatives tomorrow. Despite the imminent retirement of the Space Shuttle, H.R. 5781 authorizes over five times as many taxpayer dollars to fly NASA astronauts on the Russian Soyuz than it invests in developing an American commercial alternative, moreover at a time when jobs are sorely needed in the United States.  Quite simply, this bill represents the sort of senseless pork politics that has driven our national debt to the point where our economy can barely service it.
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Granted, one might not like to spend money for the Russians to fly our astronauts to the ISS but if you don't have any other way at the moment to get them their I would think you would need to pay the taxi driver.  If you would like to take a different taxi well it would be nice if they were to come along before you miss your appointment.  If you want to help someone else build their taxi, I guess you can do that too.   If you have both the money for the ride now and some change to help your local friend that would be nice too.   Not enough money to do both, well maybe spend less on Black Ops, just a thought.
- LRK -

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http://www.spacenews.com/policy/10072-rally-stall-nasa-authorization-bill.html
Thu, 29 July, 2010
Commercial Space Advocates Rally To Stall NASA Authorization Bill
By Amy Klamper

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Commercial space advocates are working to kill the bill. For example, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company eager to fly NASA astronauts to the international space station aboard its Falcon 9-launched Dragon capsule, is e-mailing supporters to urge their lawmakers to vote no on H.R. 5781.
 
“If you care about the future of American space exploration, your urgent help is needed,” SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk wrote in the e-mail. “The only hope for the average citizen to one day travel to space is in danger due to the actions of certain members of Congress.”

Lawmakers are running out of time to move measures to a vote before the U.S. government’s new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
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Watching the House of Representatives on C-SPAN is making me tired.  You see the BP Oil Spill is taking up a lot of time with discussions about new legislation to see that it doesn't happen again and to make them pay.  A minute for you to talk, two minuets for you over there to rebut, and why won't you tell me what the next bill is on the agenda.   Ow, my head hurts.  No talking about H.R. 5781 as it seems there were some late night hall discussions and maybe now is not the time to bring to the floor.
- LRK -

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http://www.spacenews.com/policy/100730-vote-nasa-bill-unlikely.html
Fri, 30 July, 2010
Vote on NASA Bill Appears Unlikely Before September
By Amy Klamper

WASHINGTON — A controversial House NASA authorization bill that appeared headed for a floor vote July 30 has stalled, and it appears unlikely the measure will be taken up before lawmakers leave town for a six-week summer break that begins Aug. 2.

House leadership aides said just before midnight July 29 that the bill, a three-year authorization that recommends funding the U.S. space agency at roughly $19 billion a year through 2013, would not be taken up July 30, and that it is very unlikely the measure will come to a vote before lawmakers head home to campaign in their districts.

Although the bill, H.R. 5781, would not actually fund NASA, it would set guidelines for how much Congress can spend on the agency’s programs. In June House appropriators approved a $19 billion budget for NASA next year, but fenced off most of the agency’s $4.2 billion human space exploration budget pending enactment of an authorization bill.

The House Science and Technology Committee approved H.R. 5781 with strong bipartisan support July 22, sending forward a bill that authorizes only a small fraction of the $3.3 billion NASA sought to invest in a commercial crew transportation system over the next three years. The bill authorized $150 million through 2013 for commercial crew and another $300 million in the form of government-backed loans or loan guarantees. The measure also would continue much of the work being done under NASA’s Constellation program, a 5-year-old effort to build new rockets and spacecraft optimized for lunar missions that President Barack Obama targeted for termination in his 2011 spending proposal delivered to Congress in February.

With little time remaining in the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) sought to bring the measure to the House floor under suspension of the rules — a move that prevents amendments to a bill and requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass. But Gordon encountered resistance from House members hoping to weigh in on the measure during floor debate. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other House Democrats met with Gordon early July 29 to address concerns with key elements of the legislation.

“We had a good conversation about the difficult choices facing the agency and promised to continue to work together to reach consensus on the bill,” Schiff said of the meeting through a spokesperson July 29.

Schiff was one of 13 Democratic members of the California delegation who urged Gordon’s committee to restore funding for commercial crew and cargo initiatives and exploration technology programs requested in NASA’s 2011 spending plan.

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If you thought you were going to get some gold coins thrown your way and now looks like you are only going to get copper pieces, I guess you are saying "Not Fair",   Why didn't you bring a bigger bag of coins, and forget all those other hands that are outstretched.  Get back, get back, see me, see me.
- LRK -

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http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/07/29/4779210-showdown-over-space-policy
Showdown over space policy

Alan Boyle writes: Rocketeers ranging from SpaceX's millionaire founder to the maverick engineers behind the DIRECT heavy-lift design effort are sounding the alarm over a space spending bill due for consideration by the House on Friday. Their bottom line: Support the Senate version of the bill instead.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38267623/ns/technology_and_science-space

H.R. 5781, the House's version of the $19 billion NASA authorization bill for fiscal 2011, lops off most of $6 billion being sought by the Obama administration for boosting the development of commercial spaceships capable of bringing astronauts to the International Space Station over the next five years. Instead, it would put more money into the internal NASA rocket development program - although not as much as previously budgeted under a plan that an independent panel said was "not viable."


For a detailed analysis of the various plans, check out this comparison from the Space Foundation, and this Popular Mechanics commentary by Rand Simberg.

Many folks on the entrepreneurial space frontier say the House spending plan is so deficient that the Senate version must prevail, even though it also short-changes commercial space development. They say the alternative could be an extended period of dependence on the Russians for crew transport.

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So the legislative process goes on, inside and outside and in the halls.   It doesn't seem to be a done deal and if there isn't any money to fund then it will just be words on paper.  Keith Cowling adds a few words at NASA WATCH.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2010/07/showdown-ahead.html
Showdown Ahead For H.R. 5781?
By Keith Cowing on July 29, 2010 7:26 P

Commercial Space Advocates Rally To Stall NASA Authorization Bill, SpaceNews
http://www.spacenews.com/policy/10072-rally-stall-nasa-authorization-bill.html

"House sources said July 28 that a floor vote on the NASA authorization could come as early as July 29, but opponents of the bill -- primarily commercial space advocates -- were successful in stalling the measure, which now is unlikely to be considered before July 30, sources said. Gordon is seeking to bring the measure to the House floor under suspension of the rules, a procedural tactic that prevents amendments to a bill during limited floor debate and which requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass."

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To schedule or not to schedule, that is the question?
Then there is, to vote for or not to vote for, and who will think me
bad if I do or don't.
Will I need the other representatives support on MY BILL when I present?
My, my, decisions, decisions.
- LRK -

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http://www.spacepolitics.com/2010/07/30/hr-5781-schedule-and-supporting-the-home-team/
HR 5781 schedule, and supporting the home team
July 30, 2010 at 6:17 am · Filed under Congress, NASA

It’s not a guarantee that action on the bill is delayed, but HR 5781, the NASA authorization bill, does not appear on the House floor schedule for Friday as distributed by the office of the House Majority Leader. Several bills are up for consideration under suspension of the rules, some of which were postponed from yesterday, but the NASA bill is not among them. Schedules, as always, are subject to change.
http://majorityleader.gov/links_and_resources/whip_resources/dailyleader.cfm?pressReleaseID=4417

Meanwhile, in a meeting with the editorial board of Florida Today, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk elaborated on his comments in the call-to-action email the company sent out yesterday morning. “It seems like just a basic rule of thumb — maybe you want to spend as much on the American team as you do on the Russians,” Musk

told the paper, noting that the bill authorizes several times as much money for buying seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft as it does for commercial crew development. “It just seems like a crazy time to be doing that sort of thing.”

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Okay, I passed some folks links to H.R. 5781 at Thomas.loc and the search links had expired.
If that is the case with you, then just go to the thomas.loc home page and do your own search.
Knowing how may come in handy later when you have something else you would like to check on.
- LRK -

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http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html
THOMAS
In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, legislative information from the Library of Congress

[Note:  In Search Bill Summary & Status  - use 'Bill Number' search option, enter H.R. 5781]
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I think politics is messy and not the most efficient way to run a government.  Then again, it is very nice to be able to stand up and say what you want done. In some places one would just be told what to do, or else. 

- LRK -


Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.amazon.com/Agendas-Alternatives-Public-Policies-2nd/dp/0673523896
Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (2nd Edition) [Paperback]
John W. Kingdon

John Kingdon attempts to answer very difficult questions in his work "Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies." What makes an idea's time come? What makes people in and around government attend to some subjects and not to others? In short, Kingdon explores how ideas become policy in his 1994 award-winning book.

The book makes many interesting conclusions, as Kingdon uses scientific research methods to discuss how ideas become policy. It is amazing that Kingdon is able to quantify how influential certain groups are to policy formulation and implementation. In doing this, he looks at the influence of groups in and outside of  overnment. Kingdon then goes onto his major two concepts of the policy primeval soup and the political stream. Both of these are wonderful illustrations of how policymaking happens.

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http://www.amazon.com/Agendas-Instability-American-Politics-Political/dp/0226039390
Agendas and Instability in American Politics (American Politics and
Political Economy Series) [Paperback]
Frank R. Baumgartner (Author), Bryan D. Jones (Author)

Product Description
In this innovative account of the way policy issues rise and fall on the national agenda—the first detailed study of so many issues over an extended period—Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones show that rapid change not only can but does happen in the hidebound institutions of government.

Short-term, single-issue analyses of public policy, the authors contend, give a narrow and distorted view of public policy as the result of a cozy arrangement between politicians, interest groups, and the media. Baumgartner and Jones upset these notions by focusing on several issues—including civilian nuclear power, urban affairs, smoking, and auto safety—over a much longer period of time to reveal patterns of stability alternating with bursts of rapid, unpredictable change.

A welcome corrective to conventional political wisdom, Agendas and Instability revises our understanding of the dynamics of agenda-setting and clarifies a subject at the very center of the study of American politics.

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http://www.amazon.com/End-Chaos-Quality-Ascendancy-Democracy/dp/0977066002
The End of Chaos: Quality Laws and the Ascendancy of Democracy [Hardcover]
David G. Schrunk (Author)

Product Description
The book discusses the application of well established quality programs to laws and lawmaking. Quality programs have the potential to end the chaos of laws and to improve the effectiveness, cost-efficiency and user-friendliness of laws in the solution of societal problems. By this means governments will be able to  scend to the status of True Democracy, in which governments always serve the best interests of the people as a whole and reflect their highest aspirations.

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

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Food for Mars - It’s a daunting challenge, NASA says

Eric had a comment, [On the ultimate: "I'll take that to go..." > In further support for a Lunar Base (which would be better at restocking and supplying those traveling further away), you may want to point out a current problem that NASA has with a trip to Mars right now, astronauts eating healthy.  Just take a look at them apples!  Imagine, on top of being cooped up in a small space craft for months, and this is what there is to eat?  Yuck!]

It has been awhile since I had thought about what astronauts had to eat and how that might change for long stays away from home, like at a lunar base or a long trip to Mars.  It is one thing to pack for a trip up the coast by car.  It is even more interesting packing a submarine for 90 days under water, but what do you do when you are in a spaceship for six months or more when you consider the return trip time and any time at a landing site?

Before I left NASA Ames they were working on how to grow your vegetables in space.  I don't know what is happening now.  The shuttle is going away, the ISS may stay up awhile longer but isn't self sufficient, and we aren't talking about humans to the Moon, so I wonder if there will be the political will to continue planing on how to feed astronauts for long duration flights.

Much food for thought and a number of links within the article.  :-)
- LRK -

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http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/61399/title/Science_%2B_the_Public__Food_for_Mars
Food for Mars - It’s a daunting challenge, NASA says

 By Janet Raloff
Web edition : Monday, July 26th, 2010

CHICAGO — Most people find the palatability of in-flight entrees an oxymoron. But even frequent fliers seldom encounter more than a few such meals per week. Astronauts, in contrast, may have to survive months in orbit dining on a really limited menu of processed foods and reconstituted beverages served from oh-so- lamorous plastic pouches.  Luckily, even the International Space Station can restock its pantry several times a year because these foods are relatively perishable. Which explains the problem NASA faces in planning for really long missions — like a trip to Mars.

Astronaut foods may appear indestructible, but many crew favorites don’t retain their nutrition or palatability for even a year, notes Michele Perchonok.

She should know. Perchonok manages not only NASA’s advanced food technology program, but also the development and preparation of foods for shuttle astronauts. At the Institute of Food Technology annual meeting, on July 20, she described NASA’s limited larder.

Foods destined for space shuttle missions must have a shelf life of a year, and 18 months if they’ll be deployed on the International Space Station. Of the roughly 65 foods currently available for stocking spacecraft and deemed really palatable by NASA taste panels, 10 will lose their appeal within a year — turning off-color, mushy or tasteless, she reported. By the end of five years, Perchonok says, “we’re down to seven items.”

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Well this sounds like packing a submarine with everything you want to eat.  Try packing for a round trip to Mars.  Where do you throw the wrappers?  And how long will this link remain if we aren't going to send humans to the Moon.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stseducation/stories/Michele_Perchonok_Profile.html
Michele Perchonok, Shuttle Food System Manager

Food is very important to today's astronauts. It provides them with both nutrition and a comfort from home. It's also important to Michele Perchonok. As the shuttle food system manager, Perchonok is responsible for making space food taste good and be good for the crews.

Seven months prior to spaceflight, Perchonok works with NASA astronauts to develop personalized food menus. She conducts taste-tests with shuttle crews in the Space Food Systems Laboratory.  The laboratory, located at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is responsible for preparing astronauts' meals to fly in space. The lab also researches and develops new foods and packaging that can be flown on future missions.

In addition to working with shuttle missions, Perchonok is the Advanced Food Technology team lead. Advanced Food Technology scientists are researching food for long-duration missions to the moon and Mars. Specifically, food researchers are looking at increasing the shelf life of food by improving packaging. They are also studying the possibility of growing plants on lunar and planetary surfaces.

"Food by definition needs packaging to protect it and keep it safe, and packaging ends up being quite a contributor to trash at the end,"  Perchonok said. "So we're looking at food packaging that would provide us with a long shelf life, because once you go to Mars you need a five-year shelf life on food. But, at the same time, you need to try to minimize the massive volume of the packaging."

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Astronauts living on lunar or planetary surfaces will need more than the current food warmer and re-hydration station to prepare fresh foods. Perchonok hopes to provide future astronauts with juicers, food processors and bread- or pasta-makers. Plants like wheat and soybeans can be processed and milled into flour and then used in the galley as food ingredients. "Then we can use the flour to make pasta, bread, cookies or breakfast cereals," she said.

The new food preparation equipment must be small, light-weight and multipurpose. One tool currently being developed will be able to do the work of three.

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NASA continues its tradition of investing in the nation's future by emphasizing three major education goals -- attracting and retaining students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines; strengthening NASA and the nation's future workforce; and engaging Americans in NASA's mission. To compete effectively for the minds, imaginations and career ambitions of America's young people, NASA is focused on supporting formal and informal educators to engage and retain students in education efforts that encourage their pursuit of disciplines needed to achieve the Vision for Space Exploration.
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Hmmm, . . . .to achieve the Vision for Space Exploration.  ?????

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
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http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2006/06_45AR.html
Ruth Marlaire
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: (650) 604-4709/9000
June 27, 2006

RELEASE : 06_45AR


NASA to Study Plants to Help Astronauts Grow Food in Space

Someday, astronauts may grow food efficiently in space and use plants to clean spaceship air, thanks to a two-year experiment scheduled aboard the International Space Station.

The next space shuttle mission, STS-121, will carry the Tropi experiment's apparatus into space when the shuttle hurtles into orbit after its July 1 scheduled launch. Scientists will study a weed in the cabbage and mustard family, to see if its roots grow more readily toward red or blue light, according to scientists.

"Arabidopsis thaliana is a common weed, which we've found in our parking lots," said Mike Eodice, the experiment's project manager at NASA Ames Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley.  "NASA has selected this plant as a model specimen for space research since the plant's genetic structure has been fully mapped. The plant is also a good research specimen because it is very hearty," Eodice explained.

Researchers will use a small video camera to observe the roots while they grow inside seed cassettes. The cassettes will be housed within a special plant research facility, called the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS), developed by the European Space Agency.

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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/food_819.html
        Hey, NASA! What's for Dinner?
By Glen Golightly
Houston Bureau Chief
posted: 02:50 pm ET
19 August 1999

HOUSTON - Tang, Space Food Sticks and goop squeezed out of a tube remain in many people's minds the sole diet for space travelers.

Things have improved a lot since the 1960s - today's space shuttle crewmembers even have the option of taking shrimp cocktail aloft on missions.

For longer missions though, such as a Moon base or trips to planets,
astronauts will spend part of their time farming, milling and cooking
what they grow.

The food working group at the Advanced Life Support Program works on current issues such as what crews aboard the International Space Station will eat and what to feed the long-term space traveler.

Charles Bourland, Ph.D oversees the group and spends a lot of his time preparing for the International Space Station crews scheduled to begin occupying the station next year.

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10655622/
1,000-day ‘space mission’ will sail the sea
Sailor sees parallels between long-term voyage and life in orbit
 by Tariq Malik
updated 12/30/2005 8:47:42 PM ET

 An extended voyage being likened to long-term space travel is about to set sail right here on planet Earth.

Two sailors are preparing to shove off in a custom-built ship from a New York City pier on 1,000-day trek across the southern Atlantic Ocean. The journey, set to begin in early January, is one part personal challenge and one part mock Mars mission for its captain — New York artist Reid Stowe.

"I’ve been working on this expedition for years," said Stowe, an accomplished sailor since his youth, in an interview. "Right now I’m in ‘go’ mode."

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

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

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

Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator 'IKAROS' Successful Attitude Control by Liquid Crystal Device

When I saw this I thought of the  Crookes radiometer with its four black and white vanes spinning inside a glass bulb when it sat in the Sun light.

I was wrong. IKAROS is in a true vacuum and uses sunlight pressure, while the Crookes radiometer is using the movement of air molecules around the paddles in a partial vacuum.   Learn something new everyday.
- LRK -

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

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2010/07/20100723_ikaros_e.html
 Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator 'IKAROS' Successful Attitude Control by Liquid Crystal Device

                                                 July 23, 2010 (JST)
                           Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performed an attitude control experiment (*1) of the solar sail of the Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator "IKAROS," after its deployment, using an attitude control device, or the liquid crystal device, on July 13, 2010 (Japan Standard Time, the following dates and time are JST, unless otherwise noted. ) We have since confirmed that the attitude control performance was successfully accomplished as planned through post-experiment data verification and analysis. The IKAROS was launched from the Tanegahima Space Center on May 21, 2010.


The liquid crystal device is a thin-film instrument to change the surface reflection characteristics of sunlight by turning on and off the power of the device. It is an engineering test device to control attitude using only sunlight pressure without any additional propellant.

Two kinds of technologies are extremely important for a spin solar sail, like the IKAROS's sail: one is technology to generate small attitude control torque (*2) constantly without causing oscillation on the large flexible sail, and the other is technology to control the direction (attitude) of large angular momentum generated by the spinning membrane without consuming propellant. The attitude control method using sunlight pressure is one of the most feasible methods for satisfying the above two technological requirements, and JAXA has been a global leader in developing this original method.

JAXA will continue the attitude control experiment by the IKAROS to evaluate the details of the attitude control performance while continuing to conduct research on attitude control technology using sunlight pressure as a technology that enables navigation for longer in time and further in distance by a solar sail.

*1 The IKAROS usually uses its onboard thrusters attached to its main body, not the liquid crystal device, for attitude control during normal operations.

*2 Torque is a moment of force to rotate an object about an axis or pivot. For the attitude control experiment using the liquid crystal device this time, the attitude control torque was minimal as sunlight pressure was used for attitude control, thus, by generating torque constantly, it was possible to control attitude without causing vibration on the membrane.

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http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/ikaros/index_e.html
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Some on the Crookes radiometer.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crookes_radiometer

The Crookes radiometer, also known as the light mill, consists of an airtight glass bulb, containing a partial vacuum. Inside are a set of vanes which are mounted on a spindle. The vanes rotate when exposed to light, with faster rotation for more intense light, providing a quantitative measurement of electromagnetic radiation intensity. The reason for the rotation has historically been a cause of much scientific debate.[1][2]

It was invented in 1873 by the chemist Sir William Crookes as the by-product of some chemical research. In the course of very accurate quantitative chemical work, he was weighing samples in a partially evacuated chamber to reduce the effect of air currents, and noticed the weighings were disturbed when sunlight shone on the balance.   Investigating this effect, he created the device named after him. It is still manufactured and sold as a novelty item.

snip
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http://www.howstuffworks.com/question239.htm
-------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
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==============================================================
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question239.htm
How does a Crookes' radiometer work?

A Crookes' radiometer has four vanes suspended inside a glass bulb as you've described. Inside the bulb, there is a good vacuum. When you shine a light on the vanes in the radiometer, they spin -- in bright sunlight, they can spin at several thousand rotations per minute!

The vacuum is important to the radiometer's success. If there is no vacuum (that is, if the bulb is full of air), the vanes do not spin because there is too much drag. If there is a near-perfect vacuum, the vanes do not spin unless they are held in a frictionless way. If the vanes have a frictionless support and the vacuum is complete, then photons bouncing off the silver side of the vanes push the vanes, causing them to rotate. However, this force is exceedingly small.  If there is a good but incomplete vacuum, then a different effect called thermal transpiration occurs along the edges of the vanes, as described on this page. The effect looks as though the light is pushing against the black faces. The black side of the vane moves away from the light.

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==============================================================
http://www.xs4all.nl/~johanw/PhysFAQ/General/LightMill/light-mill.html
How does a light-mill work?

In 1873, while investigating infrared radiation and the element thallium, the eminent Victorian experimenter Sir William Crookes developed a special kind of radiometer, an instrument for measuring radiant energy of heat and light.  Crookes's Radiometer is today marketed as a conversation piece called a light-mill or solar engine.  It consists of four vanes, each of which is blackened on one side and silvered on the other.  These are attached to the arms of a rotor which is balanced on a vertical support in such a way that it can turn with very little friction.  The mechanism is encased inside a clear glass bulb that has been pumped out to a high, but not perfect, vacuum.

When sunlight falls on the light-mill, the vanes turn with the black surfaces apparently being pushed away by the light.  Crookes at first believed this demonstrated that light radiation pressure on the black vanes was turning it around, just like water in a water mill.  His paper reporting the device was refereed by James Clerk Maxwell, who accepted the explanation Crookes gave.  It seems that Maxwell was delighted to see a demonstration of the effect of radiation pressure as predicted by his theory of electromagnetism.  But there is a problem with this explanation.  Light falling on the black side should be absorbed, while light falling on the silver side of the vanes should be reflected.  The net result is that there is twice as much radiation pressure on the metal side as on the black.  In that case the mill is turning the wrong way.

When this was realised, other explanations for the radiometer effect were sought and some that people came up with are still mistakenly quoted as correct.  It was clear that the black side of each vane would absorb heat from infrared radiation more than the silver side.  This would cause the rarefied gas to be heated on the black side.  In that case, the obvious explanation is that the pressure of the gas on the darker side increases with its temperature, creating a higher force on the dark side of the vane which thus pushes the rotor around.  Maxwell analysed this theory carefully — presumably being wary about making a second mistake.  He discovered that, in fact, the warmer gas would simply expand in such a way that there would be no net force from this effect, just a steady flow of heat across the vanes.  So this explanation in terms of warm gas is wrong, but even the Encyclopaedia Britannica gives this false explanation today.  A variation on this theme is that the motion of the hot molecules on the black side of the vane provide the push.  Again this is not correct, and could only work if the mean free path between molecular collisions were as large as the container, instead of its actual value of typically less than a millimetre.

snip

The correct solution to the problem was provided qualitatively by Osborne Reynolds, better remembered for the "Reynolds number".  Early in 1879 Reynolds submitted a paper to the Royal Society in which he considered what he called "thermal transpiration", and also discussed the theory of the radiometer.  By "thermal transpiration", Reynolds meant the flow of gas through porous plates caused by a temperature difference on the two sides of the plates.  If the gas is initially at the same pressure on the two sides, it flows from the colder to the hotter side, resulting in a higher pressure on the hotter side if the plates cannot move.  Equilibrium is reached when the ratio of pressures on either side is the square root of the ratio of absolute temperatures.  This counterintuitive result is due to tangential forces between the gas molecules and the sides of the narrow pores in the plates.  The effect of these thermomolecular forces is very similar to the thermomechanical effects of superfluid liquid helium.  This liquid, which lacks all viscosity, will climb the sides of its container towards a warmer region.  In fact, this form of liquid helium climbs so quickly up the sides of a thin capillary tube dipped into it, that a fountain is produced at the tube's other end.

The vanes of a radiometer are not porous.  To explain the radiometer, therefore, one must focus attention not on the faces of the vanes, but on their edges.  The faster molecules from the warmer side strike the edges obliquely and impart a higher force than the colder molecules.  Again, these are the same thermomolecular forces responsible for Reynolds' thermal transpiration.  The effect is also known as thermal creep, since it causes gases to creep along a surface that has a temperature gradient.  The net movement of the vane due to the tangential forces around the edges is away from the warmer gas and towards the cooler gas, with the gas passing around the edge in the opposite direction.  The behaviour is just as if there were a greater force on the blackened side of the vane (which as Maxwell showed is not the case); but the explanation must be in terms of what happens not at the faces of the vanes, but near their edges.
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==============================================================
http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/10141/1/02-2086.pdf
Thermal Transpiration in Microsphere Membranes
Marcus Young, Yen Lin Han, E.P. Muntz, G. Shiflett
USC AME Department
Andrew Ketsdever
Air Force Research Laboratory
Amanda Green
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Abstract. Self-assembled glass microsphere membranes as an alternative transpiration membrane for application in a Knudsen Compressor are discussed. A performance model is constructed and used to compare the performance of glass microsphere membranes to silicon aerogel membranes for this application. An initial experimental Knudsen Compressor stage based on glass microsphere membranes has been  designed and experimentally tested. Preliminary performance results show a discrepancy between the predicted and observed pressure differences produced by the single stage.  Several possible explanations for the discrepancy are discussed. Two variations of a proposed design for a Knudsen Compressor employing a microsphere transpiration membrane are discussed. It is concluded that beds of glass microspheres may be attractive candidates for transpiration membrane materials over the entire pressure range of operation for a micro-scale vacuum pump, lOmTorr to 760 Torr.

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

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

Is the Moon Really a 'Been There Done That' World?

I have been up in Washington State this last week for my mother's 100th birthday and had limited access to the Internet.  [Did have a cup of coffee at Starbucks and use their 'attwifi' free service a couple of times.
http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/wi-fi-connect]

I would have liked to have gone over a couple of hills from our home in California to attend the NASA Lunar Science Institute's annual Lunar Forum at Ames Research Center.
http://lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov/

Jeff sent me the link below which I will pass to you if you did not follow the event.
- LRK -

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

http://www.universetoday.com/2010/07/26/is-the-moon-really-a-been-there-done-that-world/
Is the Moon Really a 'Been There Done That' World?
via Universe Today by Nancy Atkinson on 7/26/10

If there's only one thing we've learned from all the highly successful recent Moon missions – the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LCROSS, Chandrayaan-1 and Kaguya — it's that the Moon is perplexingly different from our perceptions of the past  40 years. The discovery of water and volatiles across the surface and in the permanently shadowed regions at the poles changes so many of the notions we've had about Earth's constant companion. Basically, just within the past year we've realized the Moon is not a dry, barren, boring place, but a wetter, richer and more interesting destination  than we ever imagined. And so, the proposal for NASA to effectively turn away from any human missions to the Moon, as well as Administrator Charlie Bolden's 'been there, done that' comments is quite perplexing – especially for the lunar scientists who have been making these discoveries.

"It's been quite a year for the Moon," said Clive Neal, a lunar geologist from Notre Dame, speaking last week at the NASA Lunar Science Institute's  annual Lunar Forum at Ames Research Center. "And things got quite depressing around February 2010."

That's when President Obama proposed a new budget that effectively would end the Constellation program and a return to the Moon.

At the Forum, lunar scientists shared their most recent findings – as well as their attempts to model and comprehend all the data that is not yet understood. But they saved any discussion of NASA's future until the final presentation of the meeting.

snip
-------------------------------------

More info on the Lunar Science Institute.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/
NASA Lunar Science Institute

The NLSI brings together leading lunar scientists from around the world to further NASA lunar science and exploration Events

   * 2010 Jul 19: 22nd Annual Planetary Science Summer School
   * 2010 Aug 10: NLSI Executive Council Meeting
   * 2010 Sep 14: LEAG meeting (abstracts due June 30th!)
   * 2010 Sep 19: European Planetary Science Conference
   * 2010 Oct 5: Robotic Science From the Moon

News

snip
-------------------------------------

There seems to be some interest in our Moon judging from the long list of presentations.
Maybe you were there and would like me to pass on some impressions.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
http://lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov/agenda
Agenda 2010 and Presentations

Printer Friendly version
http://lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov/print/agenda
Agenda 2010 and Presentations

snip
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Earlier Bob sent me this link but I was limited to cellphone access much of the time.

Where we go (or not) in space is still being negotiated by legislative actions.  What gets funded will be the real proof of what happens in the near term.  Where we go in the future will be up to you and your representatives if in the USA.  Now if you are in some other country, well you may have your own plans for exploring the Moon and making it a profitable concern.  We could probably use some competition.  :-)
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7117177.html
Compromise preserves JSC role in spaceflight
By JEFF MOSELEY
GREATER HOUSTON PARTNERSHIP
July 20, 2010, 9:49PM

Louis L’Amour, the great writer known for his novels about America’s frontier, once wrote, “Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more.”

That bit of wisdom is apropos in assessing the news about the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, a legislative compromise passed out of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation last week.  This bipartisan compromise strikes the right balance between the Obama administration’s commercial initiatives while maintaining U.S. spaceleadership.

The legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, was a hard-won compromise that maintains the Johnson Space Center’s important role in human space exploration and serves as a blueprint for NASA’s future. Equally important, the legislation, if passed into law, would also prevent the loss of as many as 7,000 jobs in the Houston region.

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

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov/
Welcome

The NASA Lunar Science Institute is pleased to announce the 3rd annual NASA Lunar Science Forum, to be held July 20-22, 2010, at the NASA Ames Conference Center, Moffett Field, California. This year's forum will feature sessions on scientific results from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Crater Observation Sensing Satellite, as well as the presentation of the annual Shoemaker Medal and associated keynote lecture. As in past years, science sessions are structured to report on both recent results and future opportunities for lunar science, education and outreach.

The conference will review the state of knowledge, and opportunities for science:
   Of the Moon: Study the nature and history of the Moon (including research on lunar samples) to learn about this specific object and thereby provide insights into the evolution of our solar system.
   On the Moon: Investigate the effects of the lunar environment on terrestrial life, the equipment that supports lunar inhabitants, and the effects on the lunar environment of robotic and human presence.
   From the Moon: Use the Moon as a platform for performing scientific investigations, including observations of the Earth and other celestial phenomena that are uniquely enabled by being on the lunar surface.

Sessions are structured to report on recent results and anticipate future opportunities for lunar science. Presentations on elements of education and public outreach are included to better understand how lunar exploration can be used to stimulate public interest in space exploration and improve science literacy.

snip
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http://lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov/posters
Lunar Science 2010 Forum

Posters

All posters may be displayed for the duration of the Forum beginning Monday Evening 5PM, July 19 - Thursday July 22, 12:30PM (please remove your poster promptly after closing remarks, posters left up after 2PM Thurs will be discarded). You are welcome to stand by your poster at your convenience. You can find the poster sessions, which include all posters and all topics simultaneously, on the agenda. Each poster should not be larger than 48"X 48".
Topic

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

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

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project - ASTP July 15-24, 1975

The folks on FPSPACE have been reliving the Apollo Soyuz Test Project which started 35 years ago and went from July 15-24, 1975.
http://www.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo/fpspace

I should have said something but have been busy installing Windows 7 on my laptop and of course putting up with all the changes and upgrades and computer stalls.
- LRK -

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

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz_Test_Project

The Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) (Russian: Экспериментальный полёт «Союз» — «Аполлон») (Eksperimantalniy polyot Soyuz-Apollon) flew in July 1975. It was the last Apollo mission, the first joint U.S./Soviet  space flight, and the last manned US space mission until the first Space Shuttle flight in April 1981.

Though the mission included both joint and separate scientific experiments (including an engineered eclipse of the Sun by Apollo for Soyuz to take photographs of the solar corona) and provided useful engineering experience for future joint US/Russian space flights such as the Shuttle-Mir Program and the International Space Station, its primary purpose was symbolic. ASTP was a symbol of détente that the two superpowers were pursuing at the time, and it ended the tension of the Space Race.

This was astronaut Deke Slayton's only flight. He was chosen as one of the original Mercury Seven in April 1959 but had been grounded until 1972 for medical reasons.
snip
---------------------------------------------------

Another view of on-line information.
- LRK -

---------------------------------------------------
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/astp/astp.html
The Apollo Soyuz Test Project
Program Overview

Apollo Soyuz Goals
Apollo Soyuz was the first international manned spaceflight. It was designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft, to open the way for international space rescue as well as future joint manned flights.

Apollo Soyuz Spacecraft
The existing American   Apollo and Soviet   Soyuz spacecraft were used. The Apollo spacecraft was nearly identical to the one that orbited the Moon and later carried astronauts to Skylab. The Soyuz craft was the primary Soviet spacecraft used for manned flight since its introduction in 1967. A docking module was designed and constructed by NASA to serve as an airlock and transfer corridor between the two craft.

Apollo Soyuz Flight Summary
The Flight of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project

July 15-24, 1975

Apollo Crew : Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand, Donald K. Slayton

Soyuz Crew: Valeriy Nikolayevich Kubasov, Alexei Arhipovich Leonov

09 days, 07 hours, 28 minutes

The Soyuz was launched just over seven hours prior to the launch of the Apollo CSM. Apollo then maneuvered to rendezvous and docking 52 hours after the Soyuz launch. The Apollo and Soyuz crews  conducted a variety of experiments over a two-day period. After separation, Apollo remained in space an additional 06 days. Soyuz returned to Earth approximately 43 hours after separation.

Spacelink: Apollo Soyuz
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/Redirect_Spacelink.html
[link moved - LRK -]

The Partnership: History of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4209/cover.htm

JSC Apollo Soyuz Press Release Images
http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/search/search.cgi?selections=ASTP&browsepage=Go&query=ASTP&field=missionid&startat=0&maxresults=5

Return to the History of Manned Spaceflight
[Not found]
Try this http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/spacehistory_toc.html

First 100 Manned Space Flights
[Not found]
Try this http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/100th.html

[Some links stale as last revised 04/23/2003 - LRK-]
snip
---------------------------------------------------

Tiny URL for a Google search link for ASTP images.
http://tinyurl.com/3x8td2b
- LRK -


Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo/fpspace
FPSPACE -- Friends & Partners in Space

About FPSPACE
English (USA)

Friends and Partners in Space (FPSPACE) was founded in 1994 as a means of encouraging informal exchanges between people interested in Russian space programs and international cooperation in space. It is not affiliated with any for-profit organization and is run on a volunteer basis by its members.
For more information on the project please visit the web site at www.fpspace.org. This site is currently being updated with new information.

To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the FPSPACE Archives.

snip
==============================================================
http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/fpspace/2007-May/022856.html
[FPSPACE] A Candid Retrospective of ASTP

At 11:26 AM 19-04-07, LARRY KLAES wrote:
>Now this is when the Web does good:
>
>http://www.io.com/~o_m/ssh/astp/astp.htm

The article says:

"The  ASTP Universal Docking Module ... would test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft in order to open the way for future Joint Missions.  "Joint" meaning both planned and unplanned - read: rescue - missions; In 1969, the space disaster movie Marooned  saw  world-wide release, and in light of the events of  Apollo 13, officials on both sides of the Iron Curtain began to show concern as to how one side could assist the other to rescue a crew stranded in orbit."

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

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

Total Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010

Larry Klaes passed this information about viewing the upcoming Solar
Eclipse on July 11.
- LRK -

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

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: Thilina Heenatigala <thilina_atn@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 15:47:58
To: <thilina.heenatigala@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Faces from Earth] Watch Live - Total Solar Eclipse of July 11, 2010

Greetings,

A spectacular total solar eclipse will occur on July 11, 2010 over the ancient statues of Easter Island, where those lucky enough to have made it to the Pacific will witness the last total eclipse to occur until November 2012.

But some of the Eclipse Chasers/Groups are taking the extra effort to web-stream the Eclipse online for the rest of the world to watch!

I have compiled a list of live web-streams, please share it with your friends and other groups. It's an opportunity not to be missed.

http://bit.ly/livesolareclipse

Cheers!

Thilina Heenatigala

General Secretary
Sri Lanka Astronomical Association
--
http://www.faces-from-earth.net/

snip
----------------------------------------------------

Sky and Telescope has an informtive article about the July 11, 2010 Solar Eclipse.
Go to the website to see a global image of the track.
- LRK -

----------------------------------------------------
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/83500827.html

An Exotic Solar Eclipse
February 3, 2010
by Fred Espenak and Jay Anderson

The third total eclipse of the Sun in three years is coming up on July 11th, when the long, thin finger of the Moon’s shadow will again draw its tip across Earth’s surface.

But unlike the spectacles in 2007 and 2008, which offered many possibilities for land-based viewing, the 6,800-mile (11,000-km) path of this eclipse is confined almost exclusively to the South Pacific Ocean. When greatest eclipse occurs, at 19:33:31 Universal Time (3:33:31 p.m. EDT), the duration on the central line is 5 minutes 20 seconds — but at a point hundreds of miles from any land.

Totality begins at sunrise almost 1,200 miles (2,000 km) northeast of New Zealand, at 18:15 UT. Five minutes later the Moon’s shadow makes the first of its very few appearances on terra firma. The island of Mangaia is a mountainous volcanic remnant in the Cook Islands just south of the eclipse path’s central line. The duration of totality here is 3 minutes 18 seconds, with the Sun 14° above the horizon.

snip
----------------------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/2010/rp.html
NASA Solar Eclipse Bulletins
Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171)

Two central eclipses of the Sun occur during 2010. The first is an annular solar eclipse on January 15 and is visible from a broad track across Africa, the Indian Ocean and south Asia. The second is a total solar eclipse on July 11 and is visible from a corridor that traverses the South Pacific.

Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (NASA/TP-2008-214171) contains detailed predictions for both of these events and includes Besselian elements, geographic coordinates of the paths of annulatity and totality, physical ephemeris of the antumbra and umbra, topocentric limb profile corrections, local circumstances for hundreds of cities, maps of the eclipse paths, weather prospects, and lunar limb profile figures. Information on safe eclipse viewing and eclipse photography is also included.

snip

The document Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010
(NASA/TP-2008-214171) was written by Fred Espenak (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA) and Jay Anderson (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA). Hard copies of this publication may be ordered using the Bulletin Request Form. Note that you must include a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) with postage for 12 ounces (340 grams) with your request. Do not send cash or checks.

The complete 2010 eclipse publication is also available in electronic format as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file: Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010 (12.1 MB)

[note: It is 90 pages. - LRK -]
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEpubs/2010/TP214171a.pdf

==============================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_11,_2010
Solar eclipse of July 11, 2010

A total solar eclipse will occur on July 11, 2010.[1]  A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth  and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into  darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across the surface of the Earth, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible over a region thousands of miles wide.

The eclipse will be visible over much of the southern Pacific Ocean, touching several small islands including Tuamotu in French Polynesia and Easter Island, as well as the southern tips of Argentina and Chile in South America.[2]
.
snip
[note:  has an animation of the coverage - LRK -]
==============================================================

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

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

Where is Rosetta, and PRISMA? Want to build a Lunar Rover or play ‘Moonbase Alpha’?

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

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002571/
The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla

Three days to Lutetia for Rosetta!
Jul. 7, 2010 | 06:34 PDT | 13:34 UTC

On July 10, 2010, at 15:44:56 UTC, the Rosetta spacecraft will fly within 3,162 kilometers of the largest asteroid yet visited by a spacecraft. Named (21) Lutetia, the 132-by-101-by-76-kilometer-diameter body is a puzzle to astronomers, who have been unable to determine its composition. Both the Rosetta orbiter and its still-attached Philae lander have a full slate of science observations planned for the encounter, which will serve both as a test of its instruments and procedures to prepare for its eventual cometary mission and as an opportunity to observe a unique solar system body.

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http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Rosetta/index.html
Call for Media: Rosetta flyby of asteroid Lutetia on 10 July

30 June 2010   ESA PR-14 2010: The media are invited to ESA's Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, to follow Rosetta's encounter with asteroid Lutetia on 10 July, 18:00–23:00 CEST. The first images of the asteroid will be released before midnight, with experts available for interview.
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Latest Rosetta navigation camera image of Lutetia is now live in the Rosetta blog
http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/5/
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Closer to home a bit of Collision Avoidance called for.
- LRK -

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http://www.prismasatellites.se/?id=17038
Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre!
Camille Chasset

No no, TANGO is not yet separated, and we are not talking here about a possible collision between MANGO and TANGO, but between PRISMA and an object called “COSMOS 2251 DEB”, one of the numerous debris resulting from the collision between an Iridium satellite and the COSMOS satellite last year.

All of you who believed that the PRISMA satellite would nicely stay in “asleep” state for a few weeks were wrong, and the last 24 hours have been pretty exiting. Yesterday, we indeed received the following “Close Approach Message” from the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) in California:

“Sir/Ma'am,

The United States Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) has identified a predicted conjunction between PRISMA (SCC# 36599) and SCC# 34544.

Primary Object: PRISMA (SCC# 36599)
Secondary Object: SCC# 34544
Time of Closest Approach: 06 JUL 2010 22:59 UTC

Overall miss distance: 144 meters
Radial (dU) miss distance: 76 meters
In-Track (dV) miss distance: -83 meters
Cross-track (dW) miss distance: -91 meters”

“Oj oj oj!” would say my Swedish colleagues! In short this was a warning informing us that tonight, 6th of July, at 22:59 UTC our satellite will get as close as 144m from the other object. It is difficult to get an idea of how “close” this is, but I can tell you that, compared to the immensity of Space, this is VERY close. Scary news!!!

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Thank you Canadian Space Agency
- LRK -

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http://tinyurl.com/2dv2qxz
Canadian Space Agency Issues RFP for Moon Rover Prototypes

   * By Marc Boucher
   * Posted July 7, 2010 7:07 AM

The Canadian Space Agency today issued a call for proposals to build two Lunar Exploration Light Rover (LELR) prototypes at maximum cost of $11 million per rover. Up to two contracts will be awarded with each contract requiring a prototype to be built. Only one contract will be awarded per bidder. Proposals are due by August 17th.

The winning bid(s) will have until December 31, 2012 to complete the contract. The winning contractor will design, development, produce, assemble and test the prototype, integrate payloads on the rover and conduct a field deployment.

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Well at least we will be allowed to imagine what it would be like to go to the Moon.
- LRK -

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http://www.moonbasealphagame.com/
Do you have what it takes ...

In ‘Moonbase Alpha’, players will step into the role of an exploration team member and will be immersed in a futuristic 3D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment. Available resources include an interactive command center, a lunar rover, mobile robotic repair units and a fully stocked equipment shed.

This 'First Person Explorer' serious game includes both a single player capability and LAN or internet multiplayer gameplay for up to six active players on a team. Selectable maps will be available for specific player numbers (e.g., 2 player map, 4 player map, etc.).  Each of these maps is represented and tracked individually within the game’s leader boards.

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http://www.massively.com/2010/07/06/moonbase-alpha-takes-one-small-step-goes-live/
Moonbase Alpha takes one small step, goes live
by Jef Reahard Jul 6th 2010 at 6:30PM

Ready for the federal government's first MMORPG? We're not either, but we're getting a taste of one possible future with today's release of Moonbase Alpha, a multiplayer simulation co-developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Virtual Heroes.

While the game is not technically an MMO as of yet, it will eventually feature a massively multiplayer version, in much the same way that the forthcoming Torchlight MMO started life as a smaller dungeon-crawler.  Moonbase Alpha looks to immerse players in a "futuristic 3D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment. Available resources include an interactive command center, a lunar rover, mobile robotic repair units and a fully stocked equipment shed," according to the game's website.

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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://www.spaceflightnow.com/proton/echostar15/gallery/
Next DISH Network satellite on the pad
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 7, 2010

A Russian Proton rocket has been erected on the launch pad for Saturday's planned liftoff carrying a new broadcasting satellite for DISH Network and its millions of customers across the U.S.

International Launch Services is managing the commercial rocket flight for the EchoStar 15 spacecraft, which will originate from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a 1840 GMT (2:40 p.m. EDT) blastoff.

After its four stages, payload and nose cone were assembled together horizontally, the Proton was transported by rail to Baikonur's pad 39 early Wednesday. Ground equipment then rotated the 191-foot-tall rocket to stand vertically for the final days of pre-flight prep work.

This will be the 357th Proton launch dating back to 1965 and the seventh of 2010. For marketer ILS, the mission represents the 61st commercial mission since 1996 and fifth this year

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http://tinyurl.com/2au2f9o
Sorry, NASA: Discover Blogger Almost Destroyed Your Moon Colony

I spent some fifteen minutes on the moon yesterday. It wasn’t pretty. A meteor strike knocked out my base’s life support; I crashed a robot into a NASA supply shed; and, while I fiddled around with a welding torch, a gas line exploded.

Moonbase Alpha, the first of two commercial-quality online games that NASA has just developed, taught me a lot: how a solar panel-powered life-support system might work, what “regolith processing” really means, and the weird gait I’d have if I tried to sprint on the lunar surface. Perhaps it also taught me that I’m not cut out to be an astronaut, but maybe I’ll try multiplayer mode before making that decision.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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Ten Cool Things Seen in the First Year of LRO

We waited a long time for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to be launched to the Moon and now a year has gone by in orbit.  Back then we thought humans were going back to the Moon also.  Hopefully folks will use the LRO data to find interesting things about the Moon and be useful for planning other robotic missions that might take place on the surface of the Moon.

By the time it is alright to mention humans and the Moon in the same sentence we will have sufficient justification to profitable to develop the Lunar resources.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/first-year.html
Ten Cool Things Seen in the First Year of LRO
06.23.10

Having officially reached lunar orbit on June 23rd, 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has now marked one full year on its mission to scout the moon. Maps and datasets collected by LRO’s state-of-the-art instruments will form the foundation for all future lunar exploration plans, as well as be critical to scientists working to better understand the moon and its environment. In only the first year of the mission, LRO has gathered more digital information than any previous planetary mission in history. To celebrate one year in orbit, here are ten cool things already observed by LRO. Note that the stories here are just a small sample of what the LRO team has released and barely touch on the major scientific accomplishments of the mission. If you like these, visit the official LRO web site at www.nasa.gov/LRO to find out even more!

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And you saw it mentioned here.
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/overview/index.html
LRO Overview

On the moon we will develop technologies to survive in the infinite frontier of space, because the moon presents the same challenges we will encounter throughout the universe: harmful radiation, electrified dust, and extreme temperatures.

Just as a scout finds the safest way for expeditions on Earth, NASA will first send a robotic scout, called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), to gather crucial data on the lunar environment that will help astronauts prepare for long-duration lunar expeditions.

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Images

- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/index.html
Moon Images from LRO

LRO Photographs

Images of the Moon

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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://lro.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Home site.
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http://wms.lroc.asu.edu/lroc_browse
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera

Browse images

Home
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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