Griffin, Heinlein, and spaceflight - Space Review - July 16, 2007

Griffin, Heinlein, and spaceflight - Space Review - July 16, 2007
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/911/1

Many of you have expressed the interest in going back to the Moon and
possibly being there yourself.
At present the only way we have done that for ourselves is through our
imagination and with the help of the writers of Science Fiction.

Since I have been talking about my recent interest in reading old
Science Fiction books I found this weeks Space Review interesting.
- LRK -

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http://www.thespacereview.com/article/911/1
Griffin, Heinlein, and spaceflight
by Jeff Foust
Monday, July 16, 2007

Snip
Heinlein and Griffin’s interest in spaceflight

I have a confession to make. I didn’t get interested in space because of
Robert Heinlein. [Laughter] I got interested in Heinlein because I was
interested in space. [Applause] I mean, I am an aerospace professional
with very minor and fleeting periods aside. I’ve really never done
anything but aerospace and most of that’s been space. And I have been
studying to do this, or doing it, since I was five years old. I got
interested and I was born in ’49 so that tells you about when I was
starting in on this. I got interested when, I guess more or less
coincidentally, my mother gave me a book called A Child’s Book of Stars…

And so, unlike maybe many of you, I didn’t become interested in space
because of science fiction. I became interested in science fiction
because of space. And to be interested in a science fiction as a kid,
and I read many, many other genres as well, but to be interested in
science fiction was to be interested in the works of Robert Heinlein.
But that order of things has given me a different perspective on
Heinlein’s career and contributions than I think many others may have.
Snip
.....

So, in science fiction literature, Tom Swift, I think, led inevitably to
Asimov, Clarke, and inevitably Heinlein. And if asked, I would say that
I think that Asimov painted the broadest canvas and Clarke was the best
technician. But Heinlein was the guy that put you there. Heinlein’s
literary skills combined with his technical knowledge put you there, in
a way that no one else did and, frankly, that not even the best in my
opinion have done since. I enjoy reading science fiction to this day,
and my own opinion would be that I’ve not seen Heinlein’s equal at
putting you there…
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Feel free to let me know what it is that you think you would like to do
on the Moon if you could be there.

Maybe you would like to write your own novel and help take us there.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/xoopsfaq/index.php?cat_id=1#4
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2

NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM
http://www.amazon.com/No-Plot-Problem-Low-Stress-High-Velocity/dp/0811845052

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Larry Kellogg

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

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http://www.thespacereview.com/index.html
This week in The Space Review…


     Destinations for exploration: more than just rocks?
     <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/912/1>

While NASA’s current exploration plans are focused on a return to the
Moon and later human missions to Mars, are those the only—or
best—destinations for astronauts in the inner solar system? Dan Lester
and Giulio Varsi argue that in-space destinations, like the Lagrange
points, have benefits that may far exceed those of planetary surfaces.
Monday, July 16, 2007


     Griffin, Heinlein, and spaceflight
     <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/911/1>

One of the keynote speakers at the recent Heinlein Centennial symposium
was NASA administrator Mike Griffin. The Space Review provides
highlights of his talk as well as a complete transcript of his speech.
Monday, July 16, 2007


     Solar power satellites and space radar
     <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/910/1>

One of the key obstacles to the development of a space radar system is
the large power requirements for such spacecraft. Taylor Dinerman
suggests that one solution could be through the use of solar power
satellites, in the process providing a near-term market for such systems.
Monday, July 16, 2007


     The ultimate solution to global warming: emigration
     <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/909/1>

Greenhouse gas policy is a mere warmup to the environmental policy
challenge of the millennium: waste heat. Sam Dinkin looks ahead and up
to tackle this challenge.
Monday, July 16, 2007


     Review: The Telescope <http://www.thespacereview.com/article/908/1>

Thanks to a variety of technological advancements, astronomical
telescopes are getting bigger and more powerful with each passing year.
Jeff Foust reviews a book that delves into the history and technology
associated with telescopes and their prospects for the future.
Monday, July 16, 2007


Snip
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NASA Science News for July 16, 2007

Accelerating from 0 to 60, then slowing down for a stop light is no
problem for an ordinary automobile. But if you were piloting a
rocketship, it wouldn't be so easy. Most rocket engines are designed to
burn full-on (liftoff!) or full-off (coasting through space) with no
in-between. And that can be a problem--namely, how do you land this
thing? In today's story we learn how engineers are developing technology
for throttling next-generation lunar landers.

FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/16jul_cece.htm?list965414

Snip
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http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642892,00.html
The Slow-Motion Space Mission

[This article consists of a complex diagram. Please see hardcopy of
magazine.] The designers at NASA are preparing to fly what may be the
feeblest spacecraft they've ever built--and they couldn't be prouder of
it. Never mind the decades of unmanned probes that have gone roaring
into the void at tens of thousands of miles per hour, fire streaming
from their tails. The new ship will putt-putt into interplanetary space
under the power--if that's even the word--of an engine that accelerates
by barely 15 m.p.h. (24 km/h) per day, or zero to 60 in more than half a
week. Yet the places the ship is going--and the remarkable way it will
get there--could open an entire new era in space travel.

Snip
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http://spacereport.blogspot.com/
FLORIDA SPACErePORT
July 16, 2007

*Russia Proton-M Booster Puts U.S. Satellite Into Orbit* (Source: RIA
Novosti)
A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket has successfully delivered U.S.
telecommunications satellite, DirecTV-10, into orbit. The rocket was
launched from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. The launch services
were provided by International Launch Services, a U.S.-Russian joint
venture with exclusive rights for worldwide commercial sales and mission
management of satellite launches on Russia's Proton carrier rockets. ILS
has conducted a total of 47 commercial Proton launches since 1996, and
has 14 scheduled launches through 2010.

Snip

*Throttling Back to the Moon* (Source: NASA)
Accelerating from 0 to 60 then slowing down for a stop light is no
problem for an ordinary automobile. But if you were piloting a
rocketship, it wouldn't be so easy. Most rocket engines are designed to
burn full-on (liftoff!) or full-off (coasting through space) with no
in-between. And that can be a problem--namely, how do you land this
thing? For a lunar landing, velocity drops from almost 4,000 mph to 0 in
about one hour. The Apollo Lunar Module descent engine, the all-time
throttling champ, did it perfectly on six landings in 1969-72. It could
throttle from 10,125 lbs down to 1,250 lbs. It was also a simple engine,
burning corrosive fuel and oxidizer that ignited on contact, and fed by
pressurized tanks, eliminating the need for pumps.
Snip
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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