2008 Draws to a close and a New Year Ahead

Kendall and Jim sent me links on the recent report on details of how
the Columbia Astronauts died.

Not the most pleasant read for closing a year but food for thought on
what happened and how similar circumstances can affect us all.
Sometimes we don't listen to those who are closest to a problem and
make judgments based on outside pressures.
If you choose to read the articles, please do so with an eye to how we
each conduct our lives in relation to others.
Maybe some pointers on how to make for a better time in the future.
- LRK -

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/science/space/31NASA.html?ref=science
New Report on '03 Disaster Details How Astronauts Died

Seven astronauts slipped into unconsciousness within moments and their
bodies were whipped around in seats whose restraints failed during the wildly
spinning final moments of the shuttle Columbia in 2003, according to a new report from the
space agency.
snip
--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/081230report/
NASA ISSUES NEW REPORT ON THE COLUMBIA TRAGEDY

NASA released a detailed engineering study Tuesday outlining lessons
learned about astronaut survival based on an analysis of the 2003 Columbia
disaster. The study does not provide any significant new details about the
fate of Columbia's crew - investigators earlier concluded the seven
astronauts died of sudden oxygen loss and blunt force trauma as the crew
module broke up - but a new timeline shows the pilots attempted to
troubleshoot a cascade of problems in the final moments before the
spacecraft's computers lost control. The timeline also shows, in grim
detail, the forces acting on the shuttle's crew module in the final minute
or so before it broke apart, subjecting the astronauts to a sudden loss of
air pressure that occurred so rapidly they did not have time to close
their helmet visors.
snip
--------------------------------------------------------------------

More links can be found at the NASA Watch post.
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2008/12/columbia_report.html
Columbia Report Issued
NASA Report: Understanding Columbia's Loss, SpaceRef

"Accidents are things to be avoided. However, by the very nature of
how we currently send humans into space and return them to Earth,
there is a substantial amount of risk involved. Much of that risk has
been identified and is manageable. But not all of it. Of course, when
you hear this discussion, someone inevitably says that the only way to
make these things risk free is not to do them.

Well, we have decided to do these risky things, now haven't we?"

NASA Space Shuttle and Constellation Program Actions Resulting From
SCSIIT Recommendations
snip
--------------------------------------------------------------------

What about next year?
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/M08-271_2009_Robotic_Season.html
NASA KICKS OFF 2009 FIRST ROBOTICS SEASON WITH LIVE BROADCAST

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA Television will broadcast the annual
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
Robotics Kickoff event on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009, at 7 a.m. PST from
Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.

During the live broadcast, FIRST Robotics founder Dean Kamen will
reveal the competition scenario for 2009, launching a six-week design
and building frenzy for thousands of students in 1,687 international
student teams.

The event also will be streamed live at NASA Robotics Alliance Project
(RAP) Web site at http://robotics.nasa.gov.
snip
--------------------------------------------------------------------

When I was working at NASA Ames these events were always a lot of fun.
I had the opportunity to help as a volunteer in setting up, retrieving
items, and general clean up.
I think the students had more fun even if their robots didn't survive
the ordeals of the game.
A lot of creative work and hands on practice in overcoming adversity.
You can see the potential engineers hard at their tasks.
The adrenaline rush was there.
- LRK -

Well I hear noises in the kitchen with Sangad making Thai food.
It seems we are to have some friends over to remind me I will be a
year older come 10:30 pm.
I try not to look at the magic mirror for it has quit telling me I am
the fairest of them all.
I wish I could wipe the silly smirk off its face.

Bought myself an upgrade to National Instruments LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI
and will continue studying what makes the brain tick.

The floor has piles of books on the brain, neurobiology, and who folks
think we are.
Best get another book shelf.

Need a longer day and sometimes neglect you folks.

Sangad and I flew up to see Mom(98), my brother and sister and had a great time.
My brother puts on a great spread. The Army daughter and family drove
up after Christmas.

It had snowed for two weeks in the Seattle WA area like I had never seen before.
Two foot of snow and no garbage pickup. Downed trees and power outages, and
people adapt, part of what the human brain helps us do.

Wonder how we will do on the Moon?
Exciting times.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

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

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

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

Apollo 8 Television

Colin Mackellar has updated the Honey Suckle Creek web site to have
some videos of the Apollo 8 mission with Earth view.
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/index1.html

See the snips below.
- LRK -

And what I first saw when we had the Lunar Prospector web site up.
http://www.archive.org/details/Apollo_8_-_Go_For_TLI


Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

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

Apollo 8 Television
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/msfn_missions/Apollo_8_mission/

Apollo 8 had onboard an RCA black and white slow-scan TV camera. Like
the Westinghouse Lunar Surface TV Camera used on Apollo 11, this
produced a non-interlaced 320 line 10 frames per second picture which
was scan-converted to 525 line 29.97fps (i.e. NTSC compatible) at the
three prime MSFN stations.

During the mission, six broadcasts originated from Apollo 8. Five of
these were relayed to Houston from Goldstone – and one from Madrid.
(Until just before Apollo 11, there were no video circuits from
Honeysuckle Creek to the outside world. While Apollo 8 TV was seen on
station, it could not be released in real time.)

These video clips from Apollo 8 were on a tape loaned by Goddard
Apollo TV Engineer Dick Nafzger to the Applied Physics Lab at Johns
Hopkins University. The 2 inch quadriplex tape contains daily mission
highlights. These pictures were seen live worldwide during the
mission. This recording is generally better than other existing
recordings I have seen. The picture instability at the start of each
clip is an artifact of the tape playback. (You could save these files
to your hard disk for repeat viewing.)

snip
==============================================================
Colin Mackellar sends. - LRK -
--------------------------------------------
Hi Larry,

Thanks for the updates....

For what it's worth, I've uploaded the Apollo 8 video that we found
(in the search for Apollo 11 video) to

http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/msfn_missions/Apollo_8_mission

and just click on

Apollo 8 onboard video

The quality is generally better than what was seen live in 1968.

All the files are MPEG4 format - and I've also added a Flash version
of the highlights from Transmission 4 (the reading from Genesis in
lunar orbit).

Have a great Christmas.

best wishes

Colin

snip
==============================================================
NASA Television Commemorates Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_M08-268_NASATV_Apollo8.html

Dec. 22, 2008

Al Feinberg
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1058
al.feinberg@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-268

NASA TELEVISION COMMEMORATES APOLLO 8 CHRISTMAS EVE BROADCAST

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will honor the 40th anniversary of the
historic Christmas Eve broadcast by the Apollo 8 crew with special
programming Dec. 24 and 25 on the NASA TV Public Channel (101).

Forty years ago, Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the
first humans to visit another heavenly body as they successfully
orbited the moon in their Apollo 8 spacecraft. On Dec. 24, 1968, the
three astronauts devoted one of their mission's six live television
transmissions to reading from the biblical book of Genesis during
what has since come to be known as the Christmas Eve Broadcast.

To commemorate the anniversary, NASA TV will air the following special
programs:

"The Annual John H. Glenn Lecture -- An Evening with the Apollo 8
Astronauts," a panel discussion with Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and
Bill Anders recorded Nov. 13, 2008, at the Smithsonian's National Air
and Space Museum. Former U.S. senator and NASA astronaut John Glenn
provided their introduction.

"The Apollo 8 Crew Remembers Historic Mission, Live from the Newseum,"
a panel discussion with the Apollo 8 astronauts moderated by Nick
Clooney and recorded Nov. 13, 2008, at the Newseum in Washington.

"De-Brief Apollo 8," an historical documentary of Apollo 8, narrated
by Burgess Meredith (1970).

"Apollo 8 Christmas Video," a 10-minute documentary featuring Apollo 8
astronauts describing their historic mission. (Excerpts from the John
H. Glenn Lecture recorded Nov. 13, 2008.)

"Apollo 8 -- December 21, 1968," a NASA Manned Space Flight Film
Report on the Apollo 8 mission (1970).

The NASA Television Video File also will include footage documenting
the Apollo 8 mission's Christmas Eve broadcast. For program times and
listings, consult the NASA Television schedule online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

-end-

snip
==============================================================
http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS08/a08av.htm
THE APOLLO PROGRAM
APOLLO 8
Audion & Video

Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum

Apollo 8
Mission Summary
Apollo 8 Facts
Apollo 8 Crew
Spacecraft
Images
Audio/Video

snip
==============================================================
Google YouTube Apollo 8 Videos

TinyURL - http://tinyurl.com/9mcbwa

==============================================================
Apollo 8 Go For TLI
Internet Archive: 21 min 42 sec - Better quality than what we had
on the Lunar Prospector web site. - LRK -
Moving Image Archive > Open Source Movies > Apollo 8: Go For TLI

http://www.archive.org/details/Apollo_8_-_Go_For_TLI

This voyage, manned by astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and
William A. Anders, was man's first to another celestial body, and
included an orbit around the Moon on Christmas Day, 1968. Also
featured on this episode are air-to-ground tapes of the astronauts'
descriptions of the mission, as well as onboard photography of the
Earth, Moon and intravehicular activity.


This movie is part of the collection: Open Source Movies

Audio/Visual: sound, color / b&w
Language: English
Keywords: NASA; apollo; apollo 8; apollo program; moon; space race

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Solstice Meteor Shower

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

Space Weather News for Dec. 21, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

URSID METEORS: Earth is entering a stream of debris from comet
8P/Tuttle and this is causing the annual Ursid meteor shower.
Forecasters expect the Ursids to peak on Dec. 22nd with 8 to 10
meteors per hour flying out of the constellation Ursa Minor (the
Little Dipper). The display is usually mild, but outbursts of Ursids
occasionally surprise observers with rates many times normal.

Watching these northern meteors can be a chilling experience, so why
not stay inside and listen to them instead? Spaceweather.com is
broadcasting live audio from the Air Force Space Surveillance Radar in
Texas. When a meteor passes over the radar--"ping"--there is an echo.
Give it a try; feedback is welcomed.

Ping
http://wowzaweb.streamguys.com/~spaceweather/
snip
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At various times throughout the year one can look up at night and see
flashes of light caused by space dust burning up in our atmosphere as
Earth crosses the tails of long gone meteors.

Sometimes you can even listen to the resulting electromagnetic
disturbances in the force. :-)

We have mentioned the topic of sounds from space before and with the
proper listening methods many electromagnetic disturbances can be
transformed into audio sounds. Fun to listen to and study.

Mother Earth creaks and groans too. Squeezing rocks and crystals can
make varying electrical fields which may be transmitted and converted
to audio sounds or traces on an oscilloscope if only you know where
and how to receive them.

You might even want to build your own receiver.
- LRK -

---------------------
ULF & ELF & VLF
http://home.flash.net/~evogel/ev-schu.html

Schumann Resonance Receiver
The current design incorporates a number of changes that (can) lower
the frequency response down to the ULF-ELF range. The design
intentions are as follows:

snip
http://home.flash.net/~evogel/index.html
Introduction

NOTE: This site is still under (re)construction. Some of the pages
still have live links to the old site pages. To get back to the new
site use the back button. Some of the links offered may also be dead.
I am working to clean these links up.

This site documents work I have done over the last 5 or more years.
Much of the work is dated, but may be of interest to others.

These days my focus is to develop techniques to allow an amateur like
myself to "see" q-bursts and eventually be able to detect sprites.
This search has led me to develop techniques that may be of interest
to others.

snip
http://home.flash.net/~evogel/ev-links.html
Links
---------------------

Thanks for looking up with me [listening too]

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://spaceweather.com/
snip
SOLSTICE WEBCAST: Today is the northern winter solstice. When the
solstice sun came up this morning over Ireland, a shaft of sunlight
traveled down an 18 meter tunnel to illuminate the inner chamber of
Newgrange, a massive prehistoric burial mound in County Meath. It
looked like this:

http://spaceweather.com/swpod2008/21dec08/NEWGRANGE_ITIMES_strip.jpg

Newgrange is 5000 years old, predating the better-known Stonehenge in
the neighboring island of Great Britain by more than a thousand years.
This makes it one of the oldest megalithic monuments in the world with
a known astronomical function. Curators of Newgrange webcast this
morning's event; you can watch it here.
http://www.servecast.com/opw/211208/index.html

snip
==============================================================
SPACESOUNDS - We Are Listening
http://www.spacesounds.com/

Nice intro sequence then select different sounds you would like to listen to.
- LRK-

http://www.spacesounds.com/home/index.html

What is your vision?
- LRK -

http://www.spacesounds.com/look/index.html

snip
==============================================================
Earth Mode Communications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_low_frequency
snip

ULF has been used by the military for secure communications through
the ground. NATO AGARD publications from the 1960s detailed many such
systems, although one suspects the contents of the published papers
left a lot unsaid about what actually was developed secretly for
defense purposes. Communications through the ground using conduction
fields is known as "Earth Mode" communications and was first used in
WWI. Radio amateurs and electronics hobbyists have used this mode for
limited range communications using audio power amplifiers connected to
widely spaced electrode pairs hammered into the soil. At the receiving
end the signal is detected as a weak electric current between two
further pairs of electrodes. Using weak signal reception methods with
PC based DSP filtering with extremely narrow bandwidths it is possible
to receive signals at a range of a few kilometers with a transmitting
power of 10-100W and electrode spacing of around 10-50m.

snip
==============================================================
Large earthquakes may broadcast warnings, but is anyone tuning in to listen?
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/su-lem121207.php

Like geological ninjas, earthquakes can strike without warning. But
there may be a way to detect the footfalls of large earthquakes before
they strike, alerting their potential victims a week or more in
advance. A Stanford professor thinks a method to provide just such
warnings may have been buried in the scientific literature for over 40
years.

In October, Japan instituted a nationwide earthquake warning system
that heralds the advance of a big earthquake; its sophisticated
machinery senses the shaking deep in the earth and transmits a warning
signal that can beat the tremors to the surface by seconds.

Antony Fraser-Smith, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and
of geophysics, has evidence that big temblors emit a burst of
ultra-low-frequency electromagnetic radio waves days or even weeks
before they hit. The problem is that nobody is paying enough
attention.

Fraser-Smith has been interested in electromagnetic signals for
decades. Most of these waves come from space, he said, generated in
the upper atmosphere by the sun and then beamed down to Earth.

In 1989, Fraser-Smith and his research team were monitoring
ultra-low-frequency radio waves in a remote location in the Santa Cruz
Mountains as part of a long-term study of the signals reaching Earth
from space. On Oct. 5, 1989, their equipment suddenly reported a large
signal, and the signal stayed up for the next 12 days. At 2:00 p.m. on
Oct. 17, 1989, the signal jumped even higher, about 20 to 30 times
higher than what the instruments would normally ever measure,
Fraser-Smith said. At 5:04 p.m. the 7.1 magnitude Loma Prieta
earthquake hit the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay areas, killing
63 people and causing severe damage across the region.

Fraser-Smith originally thought there was something wrong with the
equipment. After ruling out the possibility of technical malfunctions,
he and his research team started to think the Loma Prieta quake had
quietly announced its impending arrival, and that their equipment just
happened to be in the right place at the right time to pick up the
message.

"Most scientists necessarily make measurements on small earthquakes
because that's what occurs all the time," Fraser-Smith said. "To make
a measurement on a large earthquake you have to be lucky, which we
were."

Along with Stephen Park, earth sciences professor at the University of
California-Riverside, and Frank Morrison, professor emeritus of earth
and planetary science at UC-Berkeley, Fraser-Smith continued to study
the phenomenon of earthquakes emitting electromagnetic waves through a
study funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

When the USGS terminated the funding in 1999, he decided to move on to
other things. But he was recently drawn back into this issue by a
local private company that wanted to use his methods to develop
earthquake warning systems.

"I took a new look at the measurements, concentrating entirely on
large earthquakes," Fraser-Smith said, "and all of a sudden I could
see the forest through the trees."

He found three other studies describing electromagnetic surges before
large earthquakes, just as he had found at the Loma Prieta site. The
earliest report was from the Great Alaska earthquake (M9.2) in 1964.
Up until now, most of the focus for earthquake warnings and
predictions has been on seismological studies, but no seismic
measurements have ever shown this kind of warning before a big quake,
Fraser-Smith said.

This technique will probably only yield results for earthquakes of
approximately magnitude 7 or higher, because background waves from the
atmosphere will tend to mask any smaller signals. But these are the
quakes people are most concerned about anyway, from a safety and
damage point of view.

Some seismologists are suspicious that these results are real,
Fraser-Smith said. But it would take little effort to verify or
disprove them. He is calling for federal funding for a
mission-oriented study that would place approximately 30 of the
ultra-low-frequency-detecting instruments around the world at hotspots
for big quakes. It would cost around $3 million to buy 30 of these
machines, he said, which is cheap compared to the cost of many other
large studies.

Every year, there are on average 10 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or
higher around the world. So within just a few years, he said, you
could potentially have 10 new measurements of electromagnetic waves
before big quakes-surely enough to determine whether the previous four
findings were real.

###
snip
==============================================================

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

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

Mars Orbiter Completes Prime Mission

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

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/
Seasonal Freezing and Thawing on Mars - 11/25/08

On Mars, the stuff we know as "dry ice," or frozen carbon dioxide, is
a powerful agent for change. In winter, it forms a polar ice cap. In
spring, it becomes an expanding gas that carves channels in the
surface and sends loose debris into landslides.
snip
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Spacecraft around Mars, and spacecraft now around our Moon.

One waits years for these events to take place and then time marches
on and they do their missions and our life goes on down here on mother
Earth.

I trust you have done a better job of looking up than I.

Local events seem to creep up and my multitasking not the best.
Have been reading about our brain and looking at software to emulate.
Too many books, not enough time, but most interesting.
Just keeps my head down and not looking up enough.

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
==============================================================
Mars Orbiter Completes Prime Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_08-324_MRO_CompletesMission.html

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dec. 11, 2008

RELEASE : 08-324


Mars Orbiter Completes Prime Mission


PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has completed
its primary, two-year science phase. The spacecraft has found signs of
a complex Martian history of climate change that produced a diversity
of past watery environments.

The orbiter has returned 73 terabits of science data, more than all
earlier Mars missions combined. The spacecraft will build on this
record as it continues to examine Mars in unprecedented detail during
its next two-year phase of science operations.

Among the major findings during the primary science phase is the
revelation that the action of water on and near the surface of Mars
occurred for hundreds of millions of years. This activity was at least
regional and possibly global in extent, though possibly intermittent.
The spacecraft also observed that signatures of a variety of watery
environments, some acidic, some alkaline, increase the possibility
that there are places on Mars that could reveal evidence of past life,
if it ever existed.

Since moving into position 186 miles above Mars' surface in October
2006, the orbiter also has conducted 10,000 targeted observation
sequences of high-priority areas. It has imaged nearly 40 percent of
the planet at a resolution that can reveal house-sized objects in
detail, 1 percent in enough detail to see desk-sized features. This
survey has covered almost 60 percent of Mars in mineral mapping bands
at stadium-size resolution. The orbiter also assembled nearly 700
daily global weather maps, dozens of atmospheric temperature profiles,
and hundreds of radar profiles of the subsurface and the interior of
the polar caps.

"These observations are now at the level of detail necessary to test
hypotheses about when and where water has changed Mars and where
future missions will be most productive as they search for habitable
regions on Mars," said Richard Zurek, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif.

snip
==============================================================
Mars Orbiter Completes Prime Mission
12.11.08 --

Among other findings, the spacecraft has found signs of a complex
Martian history of climate change that produced a diversity of past
watery environments.
Read more
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro-20081211.html

snip
==============================================================
Mission Overview
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/mission/index.html

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched August 12, 2005, is on a
search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a
long period of time. While other Mars missions have shown that water
flowed across the surface in Mars' history, it remains a mystery
whether water was ever around long enough to provide a habitat for
life.
snip

Powerful Communications and Navigation Link

The orbiter's telecommunications systems will also establish a crucial
service for future spacecraft, becoming the first link in a
communications bridge back to Earth, an "interplanetary Internet" that
can be used by numerous international spacecraft in coming years.
Testing the use of a radio frequency called Ka-band, Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter may demonstrate the potential for greater
performance in communications using significantly less power.

The orbiter also carries an experimental navigation camera. If it
performs well, similar cameras placed on orbiters of the future would
be able to serve as high-precision interplanetary "eyes" to guide
incoming landers to precise landings on Mars, opening up exciting -
but otherwise dangerous - areas of the planet to exploration.

The orbiter's primary mission ends about five-and-a-half years after
launch, on December 31, 2010.

More information about Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is available online
at http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro.

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Hubble Directly Observes a Planet Orbiting Another Star

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

Hubble Directly Observes a Planet Orbiting Another Star
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13nov_fomalhaut.htm?list965414

Nov. 13, 2008: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first
visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star. Estimated to
be no more than three times Jupiter's mass, the planet, called
Fomalhaut b, orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25
light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis, or the
"Southern Fish."
snip
---------------------------------------------

Julian alerted me to the BBC link on this discovery (see below) and I
had skipped over the SpaceRef link in looking at their latest post.
(also below).
I had only looked at the Science @ NASA link here (above and below).

Here is another NASA link.
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-289_Hubble_planet.html

Now if the Hubble repair mission gets launched and is successful maybe
we will have more discoveries.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html

We have gone from thinking that everything revolves around us to
seeing we are just a spec amongst many.

Now if someone can just see the blinking of some Morse Code on one of
these planets wouldn't that be something to talk about.
Where did I put my signaling LASER?


Thanks for looking up with me.


Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
Hubble Directly Observes a Planet Orbiting Another Star
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/13nov_fomalhaut.htm?list965414

Nov. 13, 2008: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first
visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star. Estimated to
be no more than three times Jupiter's mass, the planet, called
Fomalhaut b, orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25
light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis, or the
"Southern Fish."

Fomalhaut has been a candidate for planet hunting ever since an excess
of dust (a telltale sign of planet formation) was discovered around
the star in the early 1980s by NASA's Infrared Astronomy Satellite,
IRAS.

In 2004, the coronagraph in the High Resolution Camera on Hubble's
Advanced Camera for Surveys produced the first-ever resolved
visible-light image of the region around Fomalhaut. (Note: A
coronagraph is a device that can block the bright light of a central
star to reveal faint objects around it.) It clearly showed a ring of
protoplanetary debris approximately 21.5 billion miles across and
having a sharp inner edge.

This large debris disk is similar to the Kuiper Belt, which encircles
the solar system and contains a range of icy bodies from dust grains
to objects the size of dwarf planets, such as Pluto.

Hubble astronomer Paul Kalas, of the University of California at
Berkeley, and team members proposed in 2005 that the ring was being
gravitationally modified or "shepherded" by a planet lying between the
star and the ring's inner edge.

Now, Hubble has actually photographed a point source of light lying
1.8 billion miles inside the ring's inner edge. The results are being
reported in the November 14 issue of Science magazine.

snip
==============================================================
Exoplanets finally come into view
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7725584.stm

The first pictures of planets outside our Solar System have been
taken, two groups report in the journal Science.

Visible and infrared images have been snapped of a planet orbiting a
star 25 light-years away.

The planet is believed to be the coolest, lowest-mass object ever seen
outside our own solar neighbourhood.

In a separate study, an exoplanetary system, comprising three planets,
has been directly imaged, circling a star in the constellation
Pegasus.

While several claims have been made to such direct detection before,
they have later been proven wrong or await confirmation.

The search for exoplanets has up to now depended on detecting either
the wobble they induce in their parent star or, if their orbits are
side-on to telescopes, watching them dim the star's light as they pass
in front of it.

Being able to directly detect the light from these planets will allow
astronomers to study their composition and atmospheres in detail.

snip
==============================================================
Hubble Telescope
http://www.spaceref.com/video/hubble_telescope.html

Hubble Directly Observes Planet Orbiting

After eight years and repeated photographs of a nearby star in hopes
of finding planets, University of California, Berkeley, astronomer
Paul Kalas finally has his prize: the first visible-light snapshots of
a planet outside our solar system.

[Nice YouTube video - LRK -]
snip
==============================================================

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

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

NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image

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

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old
image of Earth on Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the
iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966.
Using refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when
it was originally taken. The data may help the next generation of
explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon.

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

Pictures here as well.
http://www.moonviews.com/archives/2008/11/image_collection_from_a_garage.html
http://www.moonviews.com/archives/2008/11/image_collection_from_a_garage.html#more

Last time I was at NASA Ames Research Center I was told that
McDonald's restaurant was closed.
It looks like this is where they set up shop.

Image below: McMoons at NASA ARC - home of the Lunar Orbiter Image
Recovery Project (LOIRP) Credit: LOIRP/MOONVIEWS.COM
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2008/IMG_3115.m.jpg

Image below: ANother view of McMoons at NASA ARC - home of the Lunar
Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) Credit: LOIRP/MOONVIEWS.COM
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2008/IMG_2741.m.jpg


Thanks for looking up with me.


Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=26919

"NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old image of Earth on
Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1
spacecraft took the iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar
surface in 1966. Using
refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA produced the
image at a much
higher resolution than was possible when it was originally taken. The
data may help the next
generation of explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon."

More information on the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP)
is available at
http://www.moonviews.com

snip
http://www.spaceref.com/video/video?id=138

==============================================================
NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-291_Lunar_Orbiter_image.html

Nov. 13, 2008

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov

Kimberly Newton
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5026
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-291

NASA RESTORES HISTORIC LUNAR ORBITER IMAGE

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old
image of Earth on Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the
iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966.
Using refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when
it was originally taken. The data may help the next generation of
explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon.

In the late 1960s, NASA sent five Lunar Orbiter missions to photograph
the surface of the moon and gain a better understanding of the lunar
environment in advance of the Apollo program. Data were recorded on
large magnetic tapes and transferred to photographic film for
scientific analysis. When these images were first retrieved from
lunar orbit, only a portion of their true resolution was available
because of the limited technology available.

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, located at NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., is taking analog data from
original recorders used to store on tape and 1,500 of the original
tapes, converting the data into digital form, and reconstructing the
images. The restored image released Thursday confirms data from the
original tapes can be retrieved from the newly-restored tape drives
from the 1960s when combined with software from 2008.

snip
==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2008/08_99AR.html
Kimberly Newton
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5026
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
RELEASE : 08_99AR


Correction -- NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image


MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old
image of Earth on Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the
iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966.
Using refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when
it was originally taken. The data may help the next generation of
explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon.

In the late 1960s, NASA sent five Lunar Orbiter missions to photograph
the surface of the moon and gain a better understanding of the lunar
environment in advance of the Apollo program. Data were recorded on
large magnetic tapes and transferred to photographic film for
scientific analysis. When these images were first retrieved from lunar
orbit, only a portion of their true resolution was available because
of the limited technology available.

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, located at NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., is taking analog data from
original recorders used to store on tape and 1,500 of the original
tapes, converting the data into digital form, and reconstructing the
images. The restored image released Thursday confirms data from the
original tapes can be retrieved from the newly-restored tape drives
from the 1960s when combined with software from 2008.

"I'm glad that we could offer our services to the project team and
play a part in the recovery of such an historic image of the moon,"
said Ames Director S. Pete Worden.

Future images will be made publically available when they are fully
processed and calibrated. The intent of this project is to facilitate,
wherever possible, the broadest dissemination and public use of these
images.

"It's a tremendous feeling to restore a 40-year-old image and know it
can be useful to future explorers," said Gregory Schmidt, deputy
director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute at Ames. "Now that we've
demonstrated the capability to retrieve images, our goal is to
complete the tape drives' restoration and move toward retrieving all
of the images on the remaining tapes," he added.

As the images are processed, they will be submitted to the Planetary
Data System, which NASA's Space Science Mission Directorate in
Washington sponsors in cooperation with NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The images also will be calibrated with
standard mapping coordinates from the U.S. Geological Survey's
Astrogeology Research Program in Flagstaff, Ariz.

NASA will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009 to map the
moon's surface. The restoration of the Lunar Orbiter images to high
quality images will provide the scientific community with a baseline
to measure and understand changes that have occurred on the moon since
the 1960s. These data could help mission planners assess the long-term
risk to lunar inhabitants from small meteor impacts and establish
longitude and latitude lines for lunar mapping.

"This effort was made possible by the vision and dedication of
Apollo-era NASA employees, independent researchers, and a true veteran
team of engineers and young students," said Dennis Wingo, the program
lead for the project.

NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and Innovative
Partnerships Program Office in Washington provided initial funding for
the project. Engineering and logistics for the project team were
provided by Wingo of SkyCorp, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., with donated
services by Keith Cowing from SpaceRef Interactive, Inc., Reston, Va.,
under the auspices of Alliance of Commercial Enterprises and Education
for Space, and the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

To view the image and for more information about the Lunar Orbiter
Image Recovery Project, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/LOIRP

and

http://www.moonviews.com

For more information about NASA's exploration program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

- end -

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Direct From The Moon

I received another e-mail from Minjae Ormes (see below) with info on
an upcoming National Geographic Channel program, "Direct From The
Moon", which will air Monday, November 17, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

I looked at the video trailer and found it entertaining, even the
GEICO ad with the Gecko. :-)
Also available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp3sc6OBv38
(less the Gecko)
- LRK -

Gunjan Gupta and Larry Klaes have kept me posted on Chandrayann-1.
Here is a link to the announcement that Chandrayaan-1 is now in orbit
around the Moon.
- LRK -
--------------------------------------------

Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO)
lunar orbiter, was captured into orbit around the Moon on 8 November.
One day later, the spacecraft performed a manoeuvre that lowered the
closest point of its orbit down to 200 km from the Moon.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMJD85KXMF_index_0.html

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

On Mars the Phoenix Lander mission comes to a close.
Bob passed this link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7721032.stm

And here is a NASA link.
- LRK -
---------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html
Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work on Red Planet

11.10.08 -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications
after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal
decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not
providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power
necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments.

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

I have had my head buried in books about the brain and not the best in
multitasking.
Thanks to all that have alerted me to what is happening up and out there.
- LRK -

"The Cerebral Code - Thinking A Thought In The Mosaics Of The Mind" by
William H. Calvin
http://williamcalvin.com/bk9/index.htm

Also, "How Brains Think - Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now" by
William H. Calvin
http://williamcalvin.com/bk8/

Also close to home, the Army daughter and her husband are back from
Iraq and getting situated back on base in New York.
Expect them out in December to pick up the kids and dogs.
That should relieve be of my chauffeur job and let me return to just
being retired. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me. [and for me]

Larry Kellogg

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

Hi Larry –

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I wanted to send you a video from
Direct From The Moon, which is coming up next week as part of our
first annual Expedition Week (http://natgeotv.com/expedition). I have
also included the program description again, just so that you have
them together in one email:

Direct From the Moon – Monday, November 17, at 9 p.m. ET/PT
Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin enthralled the nation
when they became the first men to land on the moon. Nearly 40 years
later, lunar exploration has returned to the headlines as scientists
are uncovering a treasure trove of information from the moon about the
birth of our solar system. Now, high-definition video of the moon's
surface is being beamed directly back from just above the moon,
unveiling the astonishing lunar terrain in spectacular detail thanks
to Kaguya, a Japanese lunar orbiter launched in September 2007.
Custom-built to map the lunar surface and measure the moon's magnetic
and gravitational fields, Kaguya will also allow scientists to perform
pioneering analysis, setting the groundwork for future missions to the
moon and a prolonged lunar base. We also hear directly from Aldrin as
he watches breathtaking images of the moon's craters, haunting plains
and an actual "full Earth-rise." Then, NASA scientists discuss the
challenges involved and innovations under way for establishing a lunar
outpost. Direct from the Moon features images so powerful, some
scientists claim they will inspire the next generation of lunar
exploration.

Direct From the Moon Video: Humankind's first steps on the surface of the moon.
(http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/player.html?channel=1806&category=5569&title=06061_00)

Also available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp3sc6OBv38
Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful week!

Best,
Minjae

snip
==============================================================
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMJD85KXMF_index_0.html
Chandrayaan-1 now in lunar orbit

10 November 2008
Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) lunar
orbiter, was captured into orbit around the Moon on 8 November. One
day later, the spacecraft performed a manoeuvre that lowered the
closest point of its orbit down to 200 km from the Moon.

The spacecraft's liquid-fuel propelled engine was fired at 12:21 CET
(16:51 Indian Standard Time) when it was at a distance of about 500 km
from the Moon. This reduced the spacecraft's velocity, enabling the
Moon's gravitational field to capture Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit.
In this configuration, the orbit's point closest to the lunar surface
was at 504 km and the spacecraft circled the Moon in 11 hours.

This lunar orbit insertion manoeuvre was executed from the
Chandrayaan-1 Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking
and Command Network at Bangalore. The performance of all the systems
on board Chandrayaan-1 was registered as normal.

snip
==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20081110.html
Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work on Red Planet - 11.10.08

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ceased communications
after operating for more than five months. As anticipated, seasonal
decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not
providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to collect the power
necessary to charge batteries that operate the lander's instruments.

Mission engineers last received a signal from the lander on Nov. 2.
Phoenix, in addition to shorter daylight, has encountered a dustier
sky, more clouds and colder temperatures as the northern Mars summer
approaches autumn. The mission exceeded its planned operational life
of three months to conduct and return science data.

The project team will be listening carefully during the next few weeks
to hear if Phoenix revives and phones home. However, engineers now
believe that is unlikely because of the worsening weather conditions
on Mars. While the spacecraft's work has ended, the analysis of data
from the instruments is in its earliest stages.

"Phoenix has given us some surprises, and I'm confident we will be
pulling more gems from this trove of data for years to come," said
Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of
Arizona in Tucson.

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Astrobotic Technology, Inc., Reveals Ambitious Moon Mission Plan for May 2010.

John Reed sent me a link, which I found interesting and will share.
- LRK -
--------------------------------------------

You may recall my conviction that the private sector will beat NASA to the moon [and probably to Mars]...enjoy this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081030/sc_space/privatefirmrevealsambitiousmoonmissionplan

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

Here is the Space.com link with the story about Astrobotic Technology
and Carnegie Mellon plans.
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------
http://www.space.com/news/081030-astrobotic-lunar-exploration.html
*Private Firm Reveals Ambitious Moon Mission Plan *
*By Tariq Malik <http://www.space.com/php/contactus/feedback.php?r=tm>*
Senior Editor
posted: 30 October 2008
5:30 pm ET

A private group planning to launch a moon rover to the famed Apollo 11
landing site in a bid to win a $20 million prize announced an ambitious
plan Thursday to send five more spacecraft to explore the lunar poles.

The Pittsburgh, Pa.-based firm Astrobotic Technology, Inc., led by
Carnegie Mellon University roboticist William "Red" Whittaker, announced
plans to launch its first rover to NASA's Tranquility Base in May 2010
to win the Google Lunar X Prize competition
<http://www.space.com/common/media/video.php?videoRef=240907_Moon2_Google>,
the company announced Thursday.

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

John was wondering what kind of maps they might have to work with for
the Tranquility Base area.
I found a few links which might be of interest and have listed them below.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

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

NASA had pictures from the orbiters before and I am sure Carnegie
Mellon University would have access to them as we do for some of the
pictures. - LRK -

This is a nice web site that lets you go down to the closest images.
http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~durda/Apollo/landing_sites.html

Then there is the collection Google has put together for Google Moon.
http://www.google.com/moon/

The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal has much information.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/main.html
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/a11.html

Another nice site in the UK, The Apollo Explorer.
http://www.apolloexplorer.co.uk/
http://www.apolloexplorer.co.uk/apollo11.htm

The USGS did a lot of work in preparing for the Apollo Lunar missions.
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/maps/
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/maps/images/AP11trav.jpg
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/panoramas/

And then there is the Lunar and PLanetary Institute
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/

snip
==============================================================

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

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

FIVE YEARS ON MARS Sunday, November 2 @8PM ET/PT

Received an e-mail from Minjae Ormes (see below) with info on upcoming National Geographic Channel programs she thought you folks might be interested in.

Nice to see the Lunar programs starting to be mentioned as well as the very successful Mars missions.

If you watch the programs, let me know what you think.
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

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

Hello Mr. Kellogg -

My name is Minjae Ormes and I am working with National Geographic Channel to promote their programs and interactive features online. I came upon your writings on To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond while researching folks in the science community who might be interested in some of our upcoming programs, and wanted to reach out to you.

The following are three programs that I thought might be of interest to you and your readers. I would be happy to send you additional information if you are interested, including some photos/videos:

*FIVE YEARS ON MARS
Sunday, November 2 @8PM ET/PT*

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/five-years-on-mars-3963/Overview

National Geographic Channel talks to the scientists behind NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, about the legendary feats and obstacles the Rovers have overcome.

*CALLING ALL ALIENS
Sunday, November 2 @10PM ET/PT*

National Geographic Channel takes you behind-the-scenes at the California-based Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, where new techniques and remarkable technologies are being put in place to find the real E.T.

*DIRECT FROM THE MOON (Part of the Expedition Week, November 16 – 23)
*Monday, November 17 @9PM ET/PT

Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin enthralled the nation when they became the first men to land on the moon. Nearly 40 years later, lunar exploration has returned to the headlines as scientists are uncovering a treasure trove of information from the moon about the birth of our solar system. Now, high-definition video of the moon's surface is being beamed directly back from just above the moon, unveiling the astonishing lunar terrain in spectacular detail thanks to Kaguya, a Japanese lunar orbiter launched in September 2007. Custom-built to map the lunar surface and measure the moon's magnetic and gravitational fields, Kaguya will also allow scientists to perform pioneering analysis, setting the groundwork for future missions to the moon and a prolonged lunar base. We also hear directly from Aldrin as he watches breathtaking images of the moon's craters, haunting plains and an actual "full Earth-rise." Then, NASA scientists discuss the challenges involved and innovations under way for establishing a lunar outpost. *Direct from the Moon* features images so powerful, some scientists claim they will inspire the next generation of lunar exploration.

Also, below is the full press release for *Five Years on Mars* and *Calling All Aliens*. Please let me know if you would like more information on any or all of these programs.

Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

Best,

Minjae

--
Minjae Ormes l Digital Consultant
http://www.minjaeormes.com
[e] minjae.ormes@gmail.com [c] 917.539.7646

snip
==============================================================

*NEWS* *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*


*NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL TAKES YOU ON REAL-LIFE ADVENTURES TO THE RED PLANET AND THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE! *

*Like Pixar's /Wall-E/, Join the Adventures of Spirit & Opportunity*

*Two Robotic Rovers Making History While Exploring the Surface of Mars, *

*And Then Join the Out-of-This-World Quest to Make Contact with ET*

* *

Five Years on Mars * Premieres Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 8 PM ET/PT*

Calling All Aliens * Premieres Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 10 PM ET/PT***

(*WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 22, 2008*) This November, let the National Geographic Channel take you on two real Space Age adventures — to the Red Planet and beyond!

It could be the basis for a sequel to the Pixar sci-fi movie Wall-E, except this is the real-life odyssey of two robots. On Sunday, November 2, 2008, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, NGC brings the adventures of solar-powered robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity to the screen in *Five Years on Mars*, a vivid high-definition visualization of their parallel missions on either side of the Red Planet. Using photo-realistic animation based on the actual landscape as captured by the rovers' cameras, the one-hour special dramatizes the trials and tribulations of these intrepid explorers while highlighting new scientific information on the planet's geology and water history.

Launched in 2003, Spirit and Opportunity were originally expected to collect data over 90 Martian days, called "sols." What began as a short-term science mission looking for evidence of ancient water has turned into one of the greatest adventures of the Space Age. After almost five years in operation, they have astonishingly survived, proving more resilient and luckier than anyone could have predicted. They've trekked miles across hostile plains, climbed mountains, ventured in and out of deep craters, gotten stuck in sand dunes, survived dust storms and mechanical failures, and cheated death so often no one will venture a guess as to how much longer they might last.

*Five Years on Mars* captures the emotional highs and lows experienced by the scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., who spend their days seeing through the rovers' eyes and now think of Spirit and Opportunity in almost human terms. Spirit is the hard luck rover who trekked for months across a barren desert, scaled a mountain and lost a wheel before finding anything of scientific interest. Opportunity is the lucky one for whom everything has gone right from the moment it landed right on top of abundant evidence of early Martian water.

"It was like being inside this bizarre Martian mystery novel," says Steve Squyres, lead scientist, JPL. "Every sol or two you'd get a new clue handed to you, and it really improved our understanding of what we were dealing with here."

Later that same night, on November 2, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, venture even further into space and see the remarkable ways scientists are searching for extraterrestrial life in *Calling All Aliens*. From building the most sensitive "ear" of all time — the massive Allen Telescope Array — to sending interstellar CD and text messages, there are myriad ways to try to make contact.

The one-hour special takes viewers to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, Calif., where scientists have activated 42 out of the planned 350 giant radio dishes that make up the Allen Telescope Array. SETI never had a dedicated instrument like this to use in the search for ET 24/7 — until now. Funded in part by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the dishes collect datastreams from outer space that are then analyzed to determine if they carry any unusual frequencies. Monitoring computers alert the scientific team when a particularly strong signal comes through … but so far nothing has led them to believe that ET is trying to phone Earth.

Jodie Foster's character in the movie Contact was based on Jill Tarter, director of the Allen Telescope Array project and considered the "Grande Dame" of SETI research. SETI lost funding from NASA and Congress back in 1993, and they are now a nonprofit organization counting on donations like Paul Allen's … and anyone who wants to buy a telescope in the array.

"You can buy a telescope and have your name on it," says Tarter. "The price tag is $100,000. That's a big number in some sense, but a very small number for a radio telescope!"

SETI astronomer Seth Shostak, who hosts a weekly radio show called "Are We Alone?," is very optimistic about his colleagues' ingenuity in undertaking the search and about the advancements in technology.

"Our galaxy has a few hundred billion star systems, so it doesn't surprise that me we haven't found other intelligent life yet," says Shostak. "But the search is speeding up, and I think everybody deep down inside wishes that the experiment would succeed while they're still around to see that happen."

In Florida, one company claims it can make that happen for just $299. For that price, anyone can send a CD, text or music message out into space using a radio transmission device. Across the globe in Moscow, radio engineer Alexander Zaitsev, in conjunction with METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence), has sent several messages into space on a directive from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Also in Russia, they are planning to take it a step further by sending samples of human DNA into space to show what we're made of to any highly intelligent life forms out there.

But not everyone is eager to make contact. Author David Brin thinks it is dangerous to try to communicate to a life form that we have no real knowledge of. He fears ET will come to annihilate the human race.

"I'm not claiming that there are a million deadly horrible probes out there," says Brin. "But there is no proof that there are not."

Also on November 2, in between *Five Years on Mars* and *Calling All Aliens*, catch an encore presentation of *Naked Science: Life on Mars *at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Join NASA's Phoenix Mission to determine if life could have existed — or can exist — on our closest planetary neighbor.

*Five Years on Mars* is produced by Mark Davis Productions for the National Geographic Channel. For Mark Davis Productions, producer, writer and director is Mark Davis. For the National Geographic Channel executive producer is Howard Swartz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

*Calling All **Aliens* is produced by VIDICOM in association with ARTE/ZDF, Channel 5 Russia, SBS TV Australia and co-produced with SPIEGEL TV and Corona Films St. Petersburg. Executive producer is Peter Bardehle and director is Christian Schidlowski. For the National Geographic Channel, producer is Lauren Cardillo, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

# # #


Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary in January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD, which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high-definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to more than 68 million homes. For more information, please visit www.natgeotv.com .


NGC-472-102208

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Chandrayaan-1 lifts off for the Moon

Wish them luck on getting into orbit around the Moon.
- LRK -

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

http://www.chandrayaan-i.com/
Chandrayaan-1 lifts off for the Moon

Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh (India): India's first unmanned flight to
the moon blasted off from Sriharikota, off the Andhra Pradesh coast,
early morning on Wednesday.

Snip
-----------------------------------------------------------
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/10/21/india.space/?iref=mpstoryview
India launches unmanned mission to moon

(CNN) -- India launched its first lunar mission Wednesday, with hopes
of achieving high-resolution images of the moon's topography and
diving into the international space race.

The launch of the unmanned lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1, or "moon
craft" in ancient Sanskrit, came at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday (8:50 p.m. ET)
from the Sriharikota space center.

The two-year mission seeks high-resolution imaging of the moon's
surface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions, ISRO said.
It will also search for evidence of water or ice and attempt to
identify the chemical breakdown of certain lunar rocks, the group
said.

ISRO on its Web site said the mission would lay the groundwork for
future lunar missions and "probe the physical characteristics of the
lunar surface in greater depth than previous missions by other
nations."

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

It is hard enough to get into orbit around Earth.
Then you have to leave Earth Orbit at the correct moment to put you on
a track that will lead the Moon enough to feel the Moon's
gravitational pull as it comes around to meet you.
Add to that the correct amount of change in velocity to actually be
captured by the Moon's gravity to get you into Lunar Orbit.
Finish up with some circularizing adjustments and then begin your mission.

For a really good time, make sure your orbit is adjusted before you
get pushed into the Lunar surface or clipped by a tall mountain.

To get an idea of what they are in for.
See LUNAR PROSPECTOR MISSION DESIGN AND TRAJECTORY SUPPORT.
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/project/pdf/AAS98-323.pdf (387kb PDF file)
- LRK -

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

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

==============================================================
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081021/ap_on_re_as/as_india_moon_mission
India readies 1st moon mission in Asian space race

By GAVIN RABINOWITZ and SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press Writers
Gavin Rabinowitz And Seth Borenstein, Associated Press Writers – Tue
Oct 21, 5:11 pm ET
NEW DELHI – Scientists have better maps of distant Mars than the moon
where astronauts have walked. But India hopes to change that with its
first lunar mission.

Chandrayaan-1 — which means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit — is
scheduled to launch from the Sriharikota space center in southern
India at 8:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday in a two-year mission aimed at laying
the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.

Chief among the mission's goals is mapping not only the surface of the
moon, but what lies beneath. If the launch is successful, India will
join what's shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese and
Japanese crafts already in orbit around the moon.

snip
==============================================================
http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/home.htm
http://www.isro.org/chandrayaan/htmls/about_chandrayaan.htm

CHANDRAYAAN-1: India's first mission to the Moon

"THE MOON" with the history of the early solar system etched on it
beckons mankind from time immemorial to admire its marvels and
discover its secrets. Understanding the moon provides a pathway to
unravel the early evolution of the solar system and that of the planet
earth.

Through the ages, the Moon, our closest celestial body has aroused
curiosity in our mind much more than any other objects in the sky.
This led to scientific study of the Moon, driven by human desire and
quest for knowledge. This is also reflected in the ancient verse.
Exploration of the moon got a boost with the advent of the space age
and the decades of sixties and seventies saw a myriad of successful
unmanned and manned missions to moon.Following this, a hiatus of about
one and a half-decade followed. During this period we refined our
knowledge about the origin and evolution of the moon and its place as
a link to understand the early history of the Solar System and of the
earth.

Snip

http://www.isro.org/pslv-c11/photos/index.htm
Photos
snip

http://www.isro.org/pressrelease/Oct22_2008.htm
Press Release

snip
==============================================================
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/moonmission/Election_Story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080069654

Chandrayaan-1 blast off successful
Pallava Bagla
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 6:23 AM (Sriharikota)

India's first unmanned rocket to the moon has been successfully placed
in its orbit. ISRO Chairmain Dr G Madhavan Nair described it as a
historic moment for India.

A rocket is carrying India's maiden spacecraft to the moon,
Chandrayaan-1 and the scientists ensured the launch was smooth.

During its two-year life Chandrayaan-1, an Indian mission with
international partners will map the moon's resources like never
before.

snip
==============================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan
Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-1, lit: Lunar Craft-1), is an unmanned lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India's national space agency. The mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as an impactor. The spacecraft was launched by a modified version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 22 October 2008.
snip
==============================================================

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

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

SpaceDev Founder Jim Benson Dies at 63 - October 10 2008

I was reading the Saturday/Sunday, October 18 - 19, 2008, The Wall
Street Journal, and noticed a very nice Remembrance for JIM BENSON 1945
- 2008.

You have probably followed the SpaceDev story and know they made the
thrusters that powered Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne in 2004 when it became
the first private craft to reach space.
http://www.spacedev.com/press_detail.php
http://www.spacedev.com/

--------------------------------------------------------
http://www.spacedev.com/press_more_info.php?id=285
Oct 10, 2008 0:00
SpaceDev Founder Jim Benson Dies
POWAY, CA - October 10, 2008 - SpaceDev, Inc. (OTCBB: SPDV) announced
today that SpaceDev Founder and Board Member James Benson, 63, died
peacefully in his home. Benson was diagnosed in 2007 with a glioblastoma
multiforme brain tumor, the cause of his death early this morning.
--------------------------------------------------------

When Mr. Benson founded SpaceDev, in 1997, he had hoped to build an
all-inclusive space-exploration company that would put rovers on the
moon and lay claim to asteroids near Earth. That didn't happen, but he
had told The Wall Street Journal in 2007 that there were minerals
waiting to be extracted there that "would probably create the first
trillionaires."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122428279540846067.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
Rocket Man Ran a Proper Business, But Loftiest Plans Were Ill-Starred

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/726/1

Who the vision now has?

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.space.com/news/081010-jimbenson-obit.html
*SpaceDev Founder Jim Benson Dies at 63 *
*By Tariq Malik
Senior Editor
posted: 10 October 2008
9:25 pm ET

American entrepreneur Jim Benson, founder of the aerospace firm SpaceDev
that helped build the rocket engine that launched the world's first
privately-built manned spaceship into suborbital space, died early
Friday of a brain tumor, the company announced today.

Benson died in his sleep from a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor,
which he was diagnosed with last year, SpaceDev officials said. He was 63.

"Jim was a true visionary
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=081010-ben
son-portrait-02.jpg&cap=SpaceDev+founder+Jim+Benson.+Credit%3A+SpaceDev."
said Mark Sirangelo, SpaceDev's CEO and Chairman of the Board. "He saw
that space exploration could be more effective if done commercially, and
formed SpaceDev to make that dream become a reality."

Benson founded the Poway, Calif.-based SpaceDev in 1997 after 30 years
working in the computer industry.

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081011/sc_space/spacedevfounderjimbensondiesat63

==============================================================
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=26665
*SpaceDev Founder Jim Benson Dies

**PRESS RELEASE*
*Date Released:* Thursday, October 9, 2008
Source: SpaceDev, Inc. <http://www.spacedev.com/>

SpaceDev, Inc. announced today that SpaceDev Founder and Board Member
James Benson, 63, died peacefully in his home. Benson was diagnosed in
2007 with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor, the cause of his death
early this morning. Mr. Benson had resigned from an operational role in
SpaceDev in September 2006. He retained a seat on the Board of Directors
of SpaceDev where he had continued to support the Company that he
founded in 1997.

"Jim was a true visionary," said Mark Sirangelo, SpaceDev's CEO and
Chairman of the Board. "He saw that space exploration could be more
effective if done commercially, and formed SpaceDev to make that dream
become a reality. He will be missed by many but his legacy contained in
SpaceDev will continue to forward his vision for the commercialization
of space. On behalf of the employees, board and shareholders of SpaceDev
we would like to express our condolences to the Benson family."

snip
==============================================================

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

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

Liquid Mirror Telescopes on the Moon

Spin me another one.

In one science fiction story I read, a mirror was made out of ice,
coated with a reflective metal compound, and used to bounce a
communication laser off of it and into the view port of the lunar base
doing bodily harm to the occupant. The Sun came up, ice melted, and all
that was left was some fine powdery residue on the lunar regolith.

Here we want to spin us a large reflector for a telescope and in the
past we have heard that mercury would do this on Earth, but mercury is
HEAVY and the vapors are not good for you. You probably wouldn't be
breathing them in the vacuum of the Moon but then your mirror wouldn't
be too good if all the liquid left to contaminate the vacuum.

Here we have a different substance used for the liquid and again coated
with a very thin film of metal.

Take a look at the article and see just how the story is spun up.
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------
NASA Science News for October 9, 2008

A team of internationally renowned astronomers and opticians may have
found a way to make 'unbelievably large' telescopes on the Moon.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/09oct_liquidmirror.htm?list965414

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!
<http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml%21>
--------------------------------------------


Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2007/07_36AR.html

John Bluck
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650-604-5026
E-mail: jbluck@mail.arc.nasa.gov

June 21, 2007
RELEASE : 07_36AR
NASA Liquid-Mirror Telescope on Moon Might See Deeper Back in Time
Someday, astronauts on the moon may pour liquid onto a disc-shaped mesh
to make a huge mirror for a powerful telescope, according to a technical
article just made public.

The liquid would include a silver-coated surface, and would be part of
an optical-infrared telescope with a 66-foot (20-meter) to 328-foot (100
meter) aperture capable of observing objects 100 to 1,000 times fainter
than the James Webb Space Telescope, the authors say. The technical
paper will appear in the June 21, 2007, issue of the journal, Nature.

"In this case we have shown how the moon is ideal (for) using liquid
mirror technology to build a telescope much larger than we can
affordably build in space," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames
Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, and a co-author of the
technical paper. The lead author is Ermanno Borra, Laval University,
Quebec, Canada. "Such telescopes, perhaps 100 meters in diameter can see
back to the early phases of the universe after the Big Bang," Worden added.

The authors envision making lunar, infrared telescopes to study normal
and dwarf galaxies.

snip
==============================================================
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/09oct_liquidmirror.htm?list965414
Liquid Mirror Telescopes on the Moon
10.09.2008

October 9, 2008: A team of internationally renowned astronomers and
opticians may have found a way to make "unbelievably large" telescopes
on the Moon.

"It's so simple," says Ermanno F. Borra, physics professor at the Optics
Laboratory of Laval University in Quebec, Canada. "Isaac Newton knew
that any liquid, if put into a shallow container and set spinning,
naturally assumes a parabolic shape--the same shape needed by a telescope
mirror to bring starlight to a focus. This could be the key to making a
giant lunar observatory."

Borra, who has been studying liquid-mirror telescopes since 1992, and
Simon P. "Pete" Worden, now director of NASA Ames Research Center, are
members of a team taking the idea for a spin.

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

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