Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

The Quagmire of The Apollo Space Program

I enjoyed Dennis Wingo's recent post and I hope you have the time to read as well.

When we talk about going back to the Moon or on to Mars and the stars we need to understand how governments and politics work.
Unless we feel we need to prove some military might, we will have to find an economic justification to sell the idea to a paying customer.

It will be interesting to see if the need for rare minerals will provide a push to develop space as a source materials.
Will watch to see who sends in the first mining robots and finds a need to send some human maintainers.
- LRK -

  1. ----------------------------------------------
    The Quagmire of The Apollo Space ProgramPosted on January 18, 2015
  2. Why the Lessons of Apollo Have Still Not Been Learned 50 Years Later

    1. There is an old saying that history is his-story, or the story of whoever the victors are in war or society.  We know that Roman and Greek civilization was superior to others at the time because we have the Roman and Greek records that tell us so.  The Celts or Chinese might have thought differently.  In some respects the same is true of all history.  This is not to indict historians that have written on the subject of space but it is to say that everyone has a viewpoint and sometimes the official history does not fully illuminate a subject.

      I have never been satisfied with the “official” NASA history of the Apollo program.  I lived in Huntsville Alabama for a long time and it mystified me to an extreme why we did not at least launch the last two flight worthy Saturn V’s and their payloads, Apollo’s 18 and 19.   Over the years since I left the computer industry in 1987 and moved to Huntsville to begin my space career I have collected a pretty good library of space books and I have read them all.  I have participated in conferences, talked to and worked with many Apollo veterans, and have been a part of NASA’s attempts at new efforts to get exploration beyond Earth orbit going.  None of it has ever made sense to me, so I have spent time researching the history to try to understand why we were able to do it then, and why it has been so hard since Apollo to make progress.
  3. https://denniswingo.wordpress.com/
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As you can see Dennis has been active in looking at the Moon in many ways.
- LRK -

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Orbiter_Image_Recovery_ProjectThe Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) is a project funded by NASA, SkyCorp, SpaceRef Interactive, and private individuals to digitize the original analog data tapes from the five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft that were sent to the Moon in 1966 and 1967.[1]

    The first image to be successfully recovered by the project was released in November 2008. It was the first photograph of the Earth from the Moon, taken in August 1966. On February 20, 2014, the project announced it had completed the primary tape capture portion of the project.[2] One medium resolution image, most of one high resolution image and parts of three others are missing, apparently due to lapses at the time they were being recorded.[3] The rest of the Lunar Orbiter images have been successfully recovered and are undergoing digital processing before being submitted to NASA's Planetary Data System.[2]
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Miss McDonald's at NASA Ames but building being put to good use.
- LRK -

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    http://www.moonviews.com/mcmoons-aka-building-596/MOON VIEWS
  2. Recently in McMoons aka Building 596Category

    Photos From a Visit to McMoons
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It will be interesting to see just how the Moon develops in the years to come.
 
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth. The novel expresses and discusses libertarian ideals. Widely admired for its credible presentation of a comprehensively imagined future human society on both the Earth and the moon, it is generally considered one of Heinlein's major novels as well as one of the most important science fiction novels ever written.[1]

Originally serialized in Worlds of If (December 1965, January, February, March, April 1966), the book was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1966.[2]and received the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel in 1967,[3]
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==============================================================http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/is-mining-rare-minerals-on-the-moon-vital-to-national-security/
Is Mining Rare Minerals on the Moon Vital to National Security?

The seemingly barren moon may actually be a treasure-trove of priceless resources: a potentially bountiful, mineral-rich – yet untapped – cosmic quarry. Still, few see the moon as an alluring mining site, ripe for the picking of rare elements of strategic and national security importance.

Here on Earth, China recently blocked the export of rare earth elements to Japan for use in an array of products; from wind turbines and glass for solar panels to use in hybrid cars, and even guided missiles and other defense-oriented creations.

China is increasingly putting the pinch on quotas of such elements out of their country. And as the scarcity of these valuable minerals grows, so too does the concern in other nations regarding the availability of this limited resource.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Friday, January 09, 2015

NASA Selects Commercial Space Partners for Collaborative Partnerships - December 23, 2014 - RELEASE 14-341

Some of the emails from NASA included a press release for Collaborative Partnerships where companies can have access to some NASA resources but no money changes hands.
The company that caught my eye was Final Frontier Design in Brooklyn New York.
Other companies in the past have and are making space suits so you wonder what will happen with this new wannabe.
Some history may be of interest.
- LRK -

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December 23, 2014
NASA Selects Commercial Space Partners for Collaborative Partnerships

NASA announced Tuesday the selection of four U.S. companies to collaborate with NASA through unfunded partnerships to develop new space capabilities available to the government and other customers. The partnerships build on the success of NASA's commercial spaceflight initiatives to leverage NASA experience and expertise into new capabilities.

The Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC) initiative is designed to advance private sector development of integrated space capabilities through access to NASA’s spaceflight resources and ensure emerging products or services are commercially available to government and non-government customers within approximately the next five years.

The companies selected for the Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities and their projects are:

* ATK Space Systems, in Beltsville, Maryland, is developing space logistics, hosted payload and other space transportation capabilities.

* Final Frontier Design, in Brooklyn, New York, is developing intra-vehicular activity space suits.

* Space Exploration Technologies, in Hawthorne, California, is developing space transportation capabilities that could be used to support missions into deep space.

* United Launch Alliance, in Centennial, Colorado, is developing new launch vehicle capabilities to reduce cost and enhance performance.

“Companies in all shapes and sizes are investing their own capital toward innovative commercial space capabilities,” said Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "These awards demonstrate the diversity and maturity of the commercial space industry. We look forward to working with these partners to advance space capabilities and make them available to NASA and other customers in the coming years.”
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For more information about NASA initiatives and commercial space, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercial

For more information about the CSCC solicitation, which was released March 31, visit:

http://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/ccsc

For more information about the Lunar CATALYST initiative, go to:

http://go.nasa.gov/1Gv76kv

For more information about the 18 selected proposals for studies under the Asteroid Redirect Mission Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), go to:

http://go.nasa.gov/1sr6sRn

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A look at  Final Frontier Design.
- LRK -

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 Final Frontier Design

Space Craft

We are a private design firm crafting aerospace safety garments for the future of space travel.

The Space Suit Experience

Imagine yourself wearing a real space suit, performing astronaut-oriented tasks, and piloting your own craft on the Moon while pressurized in our flight simulator!

We invite you to visit our design studio, see how space suits are made, try out our latest prototype gloves in a negative pressure glove box and help contribute actual data in our live testing environment.

Prior participants have included former NASA astronauts and astronaut trainers, private citizen astronauts, and aspiring astronauts like yourself. Come join us and be a part of the growing commercial space industry!



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So are all space suits really for space or maybe for a PR shot.
Near space, space, outer space, pick your space.
Take a look at Orbital Outfitters.
- LRK -

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  1. http://orbitaloutfitters.com/about-us/
    Orbital Outfitters

  2. Orbital Outfitters is a NewSpace company that provides a range of services to vehicle developers and other companies in the aerospace sector. Our two primary lines of business are the development of space and pressure suits and the fabrication of full scale vehicle mockups for either engineering or PR purposes.

    We have assembled a top-level team of experts, craftspeople and manufacturers in the fields of space suit theory, design, manufacture and utilization, including human factors, space medicine and engineering. Supported by a business, legal, policy and marketing group, our team has the breadth and depth to support the growth of a strong new leader in the field of human life support and safety systems for use in space, while also pursuing and creating new markets here on Earth.

    We are incrementally developing our products and customer base, beginning with the suborbital human space flight market.

  3. ...
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  4. And of course space suits get planned for missions that get canceled like Constellation Space Suit.- LRK -
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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation_Space_Suit
  5. The Constellation Space Suit was a planned full pressure suit system that would have served as an intra-vehicular activity (IVA) and extra-vehicular activity (EVA) garment for the proposed Project Constellation flights, which were planned to begin after the Space Shuttle retired. The design of the suit was announced by NASA on June 11, 2008, and it will be manufactured by Houston, Texas-based Oceaneering International, the first company other than theDavid Clark CompanyHamilton Sundstrand, and ILC Dover (and, before 1964, B.F. Goodrich) to produce life-support hardware, as a prime contractor, for in-flight space use.
  6. ...
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  7. Some companies date back to Apollo, like ILC Dover.
    - LRK -
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ILC Dover, LP (also known as ILC) is an American special engineering development and manufacturing company based in Frederica, Delaware. ILC specializes in the use of high-performance flexible materials, serving the aerospace, personal protection, andpharmaceutical industries.

Best known for making space suits for NASA, ILC outfitted every United States astronaut in the Apollo program, including the twelve that walked on the moon. ILC also designed and manufactured the Space Suit Assembly portion of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), worn by astronauts during performance of extra-vehicular activity (EVA) on Space Shuttle missions and on the International Space Station.

Other ILC products include the airbag landing devices for Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions; lighter-than-air vehicles, including airships, aerostats, and zeppelins; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks and hood systems; and flexible powder-containment solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.
Apollo Spacesuit worn by Buzz Aldrin
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  1. PDF from NASA History on space suits.
    http://history.nasa.gov/spacesuits.pdf
    Space Suit Evolution
    From Custom Tailored To Off-The-Rack
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  3. Are you ready to suit up to go to the Moon?
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

http://www.davidclarkcompany.com/aerospace/history

David Clark Company has pioneered air and space crew protective equipment design, development and manufacture since 1941, with products ranging from anti-G suits to space suits.


David Clark Company's tradition of providing crew protective equipment for leading edge, manned aerospace programs continues into the future, as our designers apply their expertise to passenger and crew protection in the commercial space flight market.

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http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/suitnasa.html

SPACE EDUCATORS' HANDBOOK

THE SPACESUIT

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

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Department of Space Studies - University of North Dakota

Department of Space Studies
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences - Department of Space Studies

On my SpaceRef news letter today (SpaceRef Newsletter 01/09/2015.)
I noticed an advertisement for the University of North Dakota - Department of Space Studies.
It is located in Grand Forks North Dakota, and just a bit cold today.
I was born in Jamestown North Dakota (left when I was about 5 years old), so caught my eye.  

Nice to know we are offering college courses for those that might want to work in developing a space industry.
- LRK -

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Department of Space Studies
Space……Not Just for Astronauts

The UND Space Studies degrees are your best choice when preparing for a career in the space industry. Our Master of Science and Ph.D. programs are multi-disciplinary and include disciplines such as planetary science, space engineering, life support systems, space policy and law, space history and space-related aspects of business and management. Unlike a typical aerospace engineering degree, the Space Studies degrees provide the student with the broader background necessary to understand the linkages between engineering, space science, and policy.

Student Research Opportunities
  • Study of near-Earth and main-belt asteroids
  • Solar astronomy
  • Spacesuit and spacecraft simulator design, construction & testing
  • Development of a Lunar/Mars base
  • Remote sensing of the environment
  • Aerospace payload development
Learn More
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Current Research Projects: 

NDX-2 Spacesuit, Lunar Rover and Habitat 
Many students are heavily involved with this NASA funded, three year project. Students have been involved with designing, building and testing a new planetary spacesuit, rover and habitat to potentially be used in any future lunar or planetary manned missions.

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Some information about the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND Aerospace
- LRK -

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John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND Aerospace)

The John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND Aerospace) is a part of the University of North Dakota (UND) inGrand Forks, North Dakota. The school was formed in 1968. The school's fleet of 120 aircraft is based at nearby Grand Forks International Airport and is the largest fleet of civilian flight training aircraft in North America. Today, the school has many aerospace-related programs including commercial aviation, air traffic control, and airport management, Space Studies, Computer Science, and Atmospheric Sciences.[1] Currently, the school has over 500 faculty and 1,500 students making it the second largest of UND’s degree-granting colleges. The present dean of the school is Bruce Smith.
Unodak aero clifford hall.jpg
John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences - Clifford Hall
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We sometimes forget that it is individuals that do make a difference and we need to instill this attitude in our up and coming students.
John D. Odegard was the founder and dean of UND Aerospace at the University of North Dakota.
- LRK -

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  1. http://www.flightoftheodegard.com/AboutJohnDOdegard.aspx
    John D. Odegard was the founder and dean of UND Aerospace at the University of North Dakota. A department which began with only two donated aircraft and two faculty, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences has grown into one of the nation’s most widely respected aerospace education programs under his leadership. During his career as an aerospace educator, Odegard’s reputation for leadership earned him industry respect and many honors. 

    ...
    John D. Odegard, after a courageous battle with cancer, passed away in 1998. He is missed by his family, friends, his UND Aerospace family, and the aviation community. His legacy and spirit continue to live on at UND Aerospace, the house that John built.
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Well that is just one instance of what can be done when you have a passion for a project.
You probably know of many more.
Will keep a look out for other examples to share.
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
LUNAR STUDIES

Lunar research was one of the hallmarks of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in its first decade (the 1960s) as the United States prepared for the Apollo missions and LPL led the way in mapping possible landing sites. In the half-century since, the kinds of lunar research performed have changed, but the Moon is still an object of intense scrutiny. Our nearest neighbor in space lacks many of the processes occurring on the surface of Earth today, including the effects of wind, water and biology, so the rocks on its surface contain records of a much earlier era of Solar System history. On the other hand, because it lacks either an atmosphere or a strong internal magnetic field, its surface experiences effects that the Earth’s surface does not. Current LPL researchers study many different aspects of the Moon, including its composition, history, surface properties, magnetic field, interior structure, and even its tenuous atmosphere. Although the first studies were done with telescopes, we now have everything from the samples returned in the Apollo missions to modern spacecraft missions in orbit around the Moon.
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Moon Packed with Precious Titanium, NASA Probe Finds
SPACE.com Staff   |   October 11, 2011 07:00am ET
A new map of the moon has uncovered a trove of areas rich in precious titanium ore, with some lunar rocks harboring 10 times as much of the stuff as rocks here on Earth do.

The map, which combined observations in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths, revealed the valuable titanium deposits. These findings could shed light on some of the mysteries of the lunar interior, and could also lay the groundwork for future mining on the moon, researchers said.

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

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Thursday, January 08, 2015

Chris Hadfield - Next giant leap for mankind should be to moon

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/07/moon-base-before-mars-mission-chris-hadfield-astronaut

It is a New Year, 2015, and I like the above link that Geoff sent me.

You have probably seen many of the pictures Chris Hadfield has posted to the Internet from the ISS.
Wouldn't it be nice to see someone post some pictures from lunar activities at a new lunar outpost.

As Picard would say, "Make it so."
Picard - Make it So - Let It Snow

HAPPY NEW YEAR
- LRK -

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http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/07/moon-base-before-mars-mission-chris-hadfield-astronaut
Next giant leap for mankind should be to moon, not Mars, says Chris Hadfield
Sunday 7 December 2014 16.01 EST


Astronaut says technology is not good enough for Mars missions and focus should be on permanent lunar base.
Chris Hadfield
 Astronaut Chris Hadfield plays his guitar in the International Space Station. Photograph: Nasa/Rex
The next giant leap for mankind should be back on the moon not Mars, the astronaut Chris Hadfield has said.
Famous for sporting a military moustache, tweeting spacewalk selfies and strumming David Bowie songs on board the International Space Station (his hugely popular cover of Space Oddity has recently been reposted on YouTube with Bowie’s consent), Hadfield was the first Canadian to walk in space and became the first Canadian commander of the ISS when he took the reins last year on his final space mission.
Speaking at a Guardian Live event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Sunday, Hadfield criticised the current scramble to put an astronaut on the red planet. “If we started going to Mars any time soon everybody would die,” he said. “We don’t know what we are doing yet. We have to have a bunch of inventions between now and Mars.”
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Space Oddity

Published on May 12, 2013
A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.

Composition: “SPACE ODDITY”
Written by David Bowie
Published by Onward Music Limited

(Note: This video cannot be reproduced and is licensed for online music use only.)

With thanks to Emm Gryner, Joe Corcoran, Andrew Tidby and Evan Hadfield for all their hard work.

Captioning kindly provided by CHS (www.chs.ca)

Find out more:

Twitter: twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AstronautChrisHadfield?­­fref=ts
Google+: plus.google.com/113978637743265603454/po­­sts/p/pub
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Earth as seen from further away.
- LRK -

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  1. 10 Views of Earth from the Moon, Mars and Beyond [Slide ...

    www.scientificamerican.com › Space › Slide Shows

    Scientific American
    10 Views of Earth from the Moon, Mars and Beyond [Slide Show] .... NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 took this photograph, the first of Earth as seen from the vicinity of the  ...

  2. Pictures of Earth by Planetary Spacecraft | The Planetary ...

    Earth and the Moon as seen by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CTX. As it sped away from Earth on September 8, 2005, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter turned to  ...
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It will be interesting to see who will snap more selfies of themselves on the Moon.
- LRK -

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  1. China's moon rover snaps a view of earth we haven't seen ...

    io9.com/chinas-moon-rover-snaps-a-view-of-earth-we-havent-see-14...

    io9
    Nearly a month after the stunningly successful soft landing on the Moon by China's first lunar mission on Dec. 14, 2013, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has at ...
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Cheers, here is to those that would smile at us from the Moon.
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century
W. W. Mendell, Editor ©1985, Lunar and Planetary Institute
http://ads.harvard.edu/books/lbsa/...
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http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/mmm.htm 

MOON MINERS' MANIFESTO
The Moon Miners’ Manifesto has been edited and published by Peter Kokh ten times per year since December 1986. Presented here are (1) chronological collections of non-time-sensitive articles from previous issues, one PDF collection per calendar year, and (2) collected articles by theme.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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Moon and Mars - Videos

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