ALTAIR VI D.S.F. Portree's Blog - Lunar railroad(1998)

http://altairvi.blogspot.com/2007/11/lunar-railroad-1998.html
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Generally speaking, the most efficient form of cargo transport in terms
of energy expended is a pipeline and the least efficient is a truck on a
road. Somewhere in between are barges on canals and railroad cars on
tracks. In April 1998, David Schrunk, Madhu Thangavelu, Bonnie Cooper,
and Burton Sharpe proposed using robots teleoperated from a near-polar
moon base (perhaps at Newton crater) to build a railroad around the
moon's south pole (bottom image above) at about 85° of latitude. The
circular railroad, which would begin and end at the base, would be used
to build and service solar arrays paralleling its entire 950-kilometer
length.

Snip
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It is December 1, 2007 and I have David S. F. Portree's blog listed on
my blog site's 'Links I Like' as one that you should consider for
interesting writing about things Moon, Mars, and Beyond.
http://altairvi.blogspot.com/2007/12/rpif-report.html

On his November 30, 2007 post, he writes about a lunar railroad that
David Schrunk, etal., presented at the Space 1998 Conference back in 1998.
- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------
/"Physical Transportation on the Moon: The Lunar Railroad," David
Schrunk, Madhu Thangavelu, Bonnie Cooper, and Burton Sharpe, Space 98,
Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference and Exposition on
Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Space, Rodney G. Galloway
and Stanley Lokaj, editors, pp. 347-353; paper presented at the Space 98
Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 26-30, 1998./
--------------------------------------------------------------

You know David Schrunk, etal. from their book, "The Moon: Resources,
Future Development and Colonization". They have a revised version out now.
http://www.amazon.ca/Moon-Resources-Future-Development-Settlement/dp/0387360557/

You see you are not alone in your interest about humans exploring space.
- LRK -

If you are looking for a lot more information and things to read, then
also take a look at all the material that David Brndt-Erichsen has added
to the National Space Society web site for space settlement. Just
recently he added G. Harry Stine's book Space Power to the SSP Library.
http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/spacepower/

More links below.
You will see, much to enjoy.
- 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://altairvi.blogspot.com/
Altair VI
David S. F. Portree's blog

Saturday, December 1, 2007
RPIF adventures
http://altairvi.blogspot.com/2007/12/rpif-report.html

What, December already? Two months have passed since I became Manager of
the Regional Planetary Information Facility (RPIF) at the U.S.
Geological Survey's campus in Flagstaff, Arizona. I like the job because
it places me close to planetary scientists doing exciting work and
because it makes me custodian of an astonishing collection of planetary
maps and unique space history resources.

I enjoy helping researchers. A big part of my job is to make our
collection more accessible. I'm overseeing the creation of a reference
core for our collection, along with weeding superfluous materials,
putting materials online, and proactively seeking new materials. The
goal is a leaner, meaner RPIF that can serve a meaningful outreach
function for the USGS Astrogeology Branch.

That said, I don't have the option of writing when I want to write. I've
grown used to that freedom during my past dozen years of freelancing.
There's been some mention of making use of my writing skills, and I plan
to be proactive about it. But distributing maps, getting our collection
organized, and getting all of our materials into storage conditions
conducive to their preservation are consuming all of my time right now,
and probably will continue to do so for some time to come.

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.amazon.ca/Moon-Resources-Future-Development-Settlement/dp/0387360557/
The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement (Paperback)
by David Schrunk (Author), Burton Sharpe (Author), Bonnie L. Cooper
(Author), Madhu Thangavelu (Author) "People have speculated about the
origin of the Moon for centuries ..."
Snip

Review
"...a comprehensive overview of the peculiar challenges and opportunites
presented by the industrial colonisation of the moon...an inspiring
read..." �Chemistry & Industry
"As a reference book for forward-looking engineers and architects, 'The
Moon' can be recommended... it presents a convincing and detailed
account of the reasons for returning to the Moon and the ways in which
this may be achieved." �Peter Bond, The Journal of the British
Astronomical Association
"Anyone who has an interest in the future development and colonisation
of the Moon will find this book an informative and stimulating read."
�C. Welch, Space Flight --This text refers to an out of print or
unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
The Moon: Resources, Future Development and Settlement describes
feasible human settlement of the Moon in the coming century. Small
scale, tele-operated and autonomous robotic in-situ resource utilization
(ISRU) projects are first, followed by electric power, communication,
and transportation networks manufactured from lunar resources. These
infrastructure networks are field tested an commissioned in the polar
regions of the Moon, and permanent human settlements are then
established. Through several phases of development, the utility networks
grow, and the number of permanently inhabited bases increases to inculde
all areas of interest on the Moon. The book stresses that the envisioned
"Planet Moon Project" will link the technological and cultural expertise
of humanity to the virtually limitless resources of space. From that
beginning, the people of the Earth reap substantial benefits from space,
and the human species will evolve into a spacefaring civilization.

Snip
==============================================================
Go to the National Space Society web site for much information.
- LRK -

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

http://www.nss.org/settlement/library.html
The NSS Space Settlement Library contains over 18,000 pages on site,

http://www.nss.org/settlement/space/index.html
Orbital Settlements

http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/index.html
Lunar Bases and Settlement

http://www.nss.org/settlement/moon/library/index.htm
Lunar Bases & Settlement Library

http://www.nss.org/settlement/mars/index.html
Settling Mars

http://www.nss.org/settlement/asteroids/index.html
Asteroids

http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/index.htm
http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/index.htm

http://www.nss.org/settlement/L5news/index.html
The L5 News was published from September 1975 until April 1987.

http://www.nss.org/settlement/roadmap/index.html
The NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement

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

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

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

NASA HONORS LEGENDARY FLIGHT DIRECTOR GENE KRANZ

Krantz on Console

Credit NASA
http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/IMAGES/SMALL/GPN-2000-001406.jpg

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

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/nov/HQ_M07170_Kranz_Ambassador_Award.html

TOLEDO, Ohio - NASA will honor Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz with the
presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his
involvement in the U.S. space program. Kranz will receive the award
during a ceremony at 2 p.m. CST on Dec. 6 at the Central Catholic
High School.
Snip
----------------------------------------------------------------

The Apollo missions are long past, and hopefully soon a new history will be
created with humans on the Moon.
It is good to remember those that helped make it happen before and hopefully
this will interest the generation coming up to help in the next quest. 

What are your kids thinking about?
- LRK -

----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/AofEphotos.html
NASA Ambassador of Exploration Award
The Ambassador of Exploration Award recognizes the sacrifices and
dedication of the Apollo, Gemini and Mercury astronauts. Each astronaut
or their surviving families will be presented a lunar sample, part of
the 842 pounds of moon rocks and soil returned during the six lunar
expeditions from 1969 to 1972.

An inscription describes the rock as "a symbol of the unity of human
endeavor and mandkind's hope for a future of peace and harmony."
Snip
----------------------------------------------------------------

Will this generation of students coming up get similar awards?
Talk it up.

"/Failure Is Not an Option/."
- 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
==============================================================

Nov. 30, 2007

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz@nasa.gov

Michele Jurek
Central Catholic High School, Toledo, Ohio
419-255-2306, ext. 148
mjurek@centralcatholic.org

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-170

NASA HONORS LEGENDARY FLIGHT DIRECTOR GENE KRANZ

TOLEDO, Ohio - NASA will honor Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz with the
presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his
involvement in the U.S. space program. Kranz will receive the award
during a ceremony at 2 p.m. CST on Dec. 6 at the Central Catholic
High School. Kranz is a 1951 graduate of Central Catholic. The award
will remain at the Toledo school for display. Reporters who would
like to attend the ceremony should contact Michele Jurek
(mjurek@centralcatholic.org) at 419-255-2306, ext. 148, by 3 p.m. on
Dec. 5.

The award is a moon rock encased in Lucite and mounted for public
display as inspiration to a new generation of explorers who will help
return humans to the moon and eventually travel on to Mars and
beyond. The rock is part of the 842 pounds of samples collected
during the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972.

NASA is giving the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first
generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space
programs for realizing America's vision of going to the moon. NASA
also is recognizing several key individuals who played significant
roles in the early space programs.

Kranz worked on NASA's Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space missions.
Kranz was the lead flight director during the Apollo 13 mission. An
explosion aboard the spacecraft during Apollo 13 required Kranz and
other team members to help resolve the crisis and safely bring the
astronauts back to Earth. Kranz was a co-recipient of the
Presidential Medal of Freedom for the Apollo 13 Mission. For
information about Central Catholic High School, visit:

http://www.centralcatholic.org/

For more images of the award, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/AofEphotos.html

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.amazon.com/Failure-Is-Not-an-Option/dp/B000FC0O7M/
*Failure Is Not an Option (Kindle Edition)*
by Gene Kranz

*Amazon.com*
In 1957, the Russians launched /Sputnik/ and the ensuing space race.
Three years later, Gene Kranz left his aircraft testing job to join NASA
and champion the American cause. What he found was an embryonic
department run by whiz kids (such as himself), sharp engineers and
technicians who had to create the Mercury mission rules and procedure
from the ground up. As he says, "Since there were no books written on
the actual methodology of space flight, we had to write them as we went
along."

Kranz was part of the mission control team that, in January 1961,
launched a chimpanzee into space and successfully retrieved him, and
made Alan Shepard the first American in space in May 1961. Just two
months later they launched Gus Grissom for a space orbit, John Glenn
orbited Earth three times in February 1962, and in May of 1963 Gordon
Cooper completed the final Project Mercury launch with 22 Earth orbits.
And through them all, and the many Apollo missions that followed, Gene
Kranz was one of the integral inside men--one of those who bore the
responsibility for the /Apollo 1/ tragedy, and the leader of the "tiger
team" that saved the /Apollo 13/ astronauts.

Moviegoers know Gene Kranz through Ed Harris's Oscar-nominated portrayal
of him in /Apollo 13/, but Kranz provides a more detailed insider's
perspective in his book /Failure Is Not an Option/. You see NASA through
his eyes, from its primitive days when he first joined up, through the
1993 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, his last
mission control project. His memoir, however, is not high literature.
Kranz has many accomplishments and honors to his credit, including the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, but this is his first book, and he's not
a polished author. There are, perhaps, more behind-the-scenes details
and more paragraphs devoted to what Cape Canaveral looked like than the
general public demands. If, however, you have a long-standing
fascination with aeronautics, if you watched /Apollo 13/ and wanted
more, /Failure Is Not an Option/ will fill the bill. /--Stephanie Gold/

Snip
==============================================================
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Kranz
Eugene Francis "Gene" Kranz (born 17 August 1933) is a retired NASA
flight director and manager. Kranz served as a flight director during
the Gemini and Apollo programs, and is best known for his role in saving
the crew of Apollo 13. He is also famous for his trademark flattop
hairstyle, and the wearing of vests (waistcoats) of different styles and
materials during missions for which he acted as flight director. Kranz
has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Snip
==============================================================
http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4223/sp4223.htm
Edited by
Glen E. Swanson

The NASA History Series
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA History Office
Office of Policy and Plans
Washington, D.C., 1999

*http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4223/contents.htm
SP-4223 "Before This Decade Is Out..."

Chapter 6. Eugene F. Kranz.
*http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4223/ch6.htm

[118]
Eugene F. Kranz, flight director, is shown at his console on May 30,
1965, in the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control
Center at Houston during a Gemini-Titan IV simulation to prepare for the
four-day, 62-orbit flight. (NASA Photo S-65-22203.)

[119]
From a very young age, Eugene F. Kranz developed a unique interest in
space flight. Born in Toledo, Ohio, on August 17, 1933, Kranz formerly
declared his interest in the subject by writing a high school thesis
which explored the possibilities of flying a single-stage rocket to the
Moon. However, after graduating from Parks College of St. Louis,
Missouri, with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering, Kranz's interests
became more down to earth as he shifted from space travel to aviation.

[131]
Gene Kranz working at his flight director's console in the Mission
Operations Control Room at Houston circa 1965. (NASA Photo S-65-60057.)

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

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

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

Many things going on and I have been remiss in mentioning them.

In the military, it was, "No Excuse Sir."

There are two nations with satellites going around the Moon.
Having waited for years to see it happen, the days slip by without a word.
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/11/20071128_kaguya_e.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/11/05/china.orbit.ap/

I hope you have signed up for some of the news letters and are watching
even if I am distracted.

While I was at NASA Ames we had missions to Venus and so had the Russians.
Now ESA has a spacecraft there and not much being said from these lips.
http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/venusexpress/index.html

Interesting results from spacecraft and rovers at Mars and the evening
news isn't even turned on to see if they are in the news.
I have been helping with 5th and 6sth grade homework and putting up with
video games.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/

When I can sneak in some time, have been communicating with David
Robertson in England about building artificial neural networks using
LabVIEW as a programming language.  Time flies and my LabVIEW software
was at version 7.1 and it is now at version 8.5 so playing with 30 days
evaluation down load.
http://edt.missouri.edu/Summer2005/Thesis/PogulaS-072105-T2944/research.pdf
http://www.ni.com/labview85/

The grandchildren wanted to spend some of their money at Toys R Us and
the kid in me bought a Lego Robot, Mindstorms NXT 8527.  It uses LabVIEW
under its programming icons.  Will I be able to build 'AMEE', probably
not.  Still, thinking about what would be helpful if I was building a
Lunar Base Camp.
http://www.digitalanimators.com/HTM/Articles/Nov/redplanet_cinesite.htm
http://mindstorms.lego.com/

Here in the USA, Thanksgiving has come and gone.  The stores are selling
Christmas Trees, and I'll turn 70 New Years Eve.  Mom is 97.  The days
are getting shorter.

Many of you are doing interesting things and a time to be excited.  Just
not enough hours in the day.

Have a daughter in Iraq and her kids will be glad when she is home
safe.  She lost three men in her platoon the other day.  Nice that we
have the Internet and e-mail to communicate with but not the same as
being state side.  Maybe those that go to a Lunar Colony or a Martian
Base will do better at getting along.  Seems we should practice that in
the here and now.


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.jaxa.jp/press/2007/11/20071128_kaguya_e.html
KAGUYA (SELENE)
Composition of 3-D Movies with Terrain Camera Images
November 28, 2007 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully demonstrated
production of stereo movies (3 dimensional movies) of the Moon surface
by using stereoscopic images obtained with the Terrain Camera (TC)
onboard KAGUYA on Nov. 3, 2007 (Japan Standard Time, JST). This
verification was performed as part of the initial check out of mission
instruments onboard "KAGUYA" (SELENE), which was injected into the
Moon's orbit at an altitude of about 100 km. These are the first 3-D
movies of the Moon including its polar areas with an aerial resolution
of 10 meters.
Anaglyph images*1 and movies were also produced.

*1: Anaglyph images are 3-D images viewed with red and blue 3-D glasses
Snip
Mission website:

SELenological and ENgineering Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE)
<http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/selene/index_e.html>

==============================================================
*China's Lunar Mission* Sends Images of Moon To Earth
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009270831
AHN - Nov 26, 2007
Beijing, *China* (AHN) - *China's* first-ever *lunar* probe on Monday
has begun sending images of the moon back to Earth, with the first batch
comprising some 19 *...

*
*China's Lunar Mission* Sends Images of Moon To Earth
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gmM4yVvNcBP10Uif7l2ONuIXdVEg
AHN - Nov 26, 2007
Beijing, *China* (AHN) - *China's* first-ever *lunar* probe on Monday
has begun sending images of the moon back to Earth, with the first batch
comprising some 19 *...

**China* acclaims moon images, *mission* deemed a success
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSPEK26717520071126
Reuters - Nov 25, 2007
"The full success of our country's first *lunar* exploration *mission*
is helping to turn the Chinese nation's 1000-year old dream of reaching
the moon a *...*

Snip
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http://spaceweather.com/
SOLAR WIND DRIES VENUS: Europe's Venus Express spacecraft has made an
important discovery: the solar wind dries out Venus. Unlike Earth, Venus
has no global magnetic field to deflect particles from the sun; when
solar wind hits Venus it erodes the upper atmosphere. Hydrogen and
oxygen atoms fly into space, removing from Venus the chemical building
blocks of water. The process makes an already hellish planet even worse.
Get the full story from the ESA.

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

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