Aside from radiation, micro gravity and cabin fever, keeping a space ship clean can easily spell the difference between life and death.

Since micro gravity has a way of encouraging the growth of deadly organisms, future explorers will probably have to spend a lot of time keeping their “space trailer” squeaky clean–especially the walls.

While cleaning up the space ship may appeal to those in love with Mr. Clean, it may be better for space agencies to coat their space craft walls with anti-germ paint instead.

(Fox News) Scientists at the University of South Dakota have invented a new germ-killing molecule that can be added to commercial brands of paint to give the paint long-lasting antimicrobial properties.

The molecule includes a bleach-like substance called an N-halamine. N-halamines are already used widely, but the South Dakota researchers were able to develop a new type known as Cl-TMPM. [...]

In tests, Staphylococcus aureus organisms were killed with 10 minutes of contact, and E coli organisms were killed with 5 minutes of contact. Paint treated with Cl-TMPM was even effective against the superbug MRSA and other drug-resistant bacteria.

Unfortunately the new paint is only effective against a small selection of organisms, although hopefully scientists will be able to expand it to a variety of organisms known to infest human habitats (whether on our homeworld, off world or even in space).

If perfected, this paint would not only save future explorers countless hours in “de-germing” their extra terrestrial habitats, but make living on another world a lot safer as well.

(Image Credit: eHow)

Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.

Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.

Whether it takes a few decades or a few centuries, humans will probably populate the solar system along with a few animal friends such as dogs, pigs and ants.

While one may also expect bamboo to dominate much of the visible plant life (at least as far as off world forests go), we may find space colony offices filled with a few specific house plants.

(GreenSpaces Blog) We have tried and tested these plants for 15 years at Paharpur Business Centre and Software Technology Incubator Park (PBC™ – STIP) in New Delhi, India. It is a 20 year old, 50,000 ft2 building, with over 1,200 plants for 300 building occupants.

PBC™ – STIP is rated the healthiest building in Delhi by the Government of India.* Their study found that there is a 42% probability of increasing blood oxygen by 1% if one is inside the building for 10 hours. [...]

We saved over 15% in energy costs as we did not have to inject 15-20 cfm of fresh air in to the building as suggested by ASHRAE – an industry standard.

Unless one is fortunate enough to live on the Moon, oxygen will be considered a precious commodity off world.

Despite their fancy names, these three plants may not only help keep air fresh and clean, but they could also help reduce the overall cost and energy needed to maintain a space colony (which is good news for space settlers heading for Mars, Callisto and Titan).

While this may mean that off world settlers will have to hire an extra gardener to ensure that these plants are growing up healthy and strong, future colonists may welcome the extra greenery (as it may help keep them from becoming too home sick).

(Hat Tip: LifeHacker)

Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.

Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.

Although microgravity is not exactly the greatest place to sustain an injury (unless you are a dangerous microbe), many scientists are exploring new ways of conducting surgery in a weightless environment.

While a space doctor will be needed to help mend the wounds of astronauts, they may choose to use lasers to seal the wound instead of medical stitches.

Since regular earthly stitches are composed of synthetic material and catgut, scientists may prefer using lasers as it would translate into one less item to pack (as well as one less requirement for a future space doctor).

(Hat Tip: Gizmodo)

Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.

Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.

(Hat Tip: Space Transport News)

As any space faring lunar loving citizen will inform you, living on the Moon will not be easy. Not only will one have to deal with radiation and micrometeorites, but also lunar dust (which is not exactly healthy).

Fortunately it looks as if scientists have figured out an innovative way of removing these pesky particles–without have to resort to “air showers.”

(New Scientist) To solve the problem, Clark’s team is working on SPARCLE, a “lunar dust buster” that astronauts could utilise in the airlock to a moon base. The device consists of a positively charged metallic nozzle fitted to an electron gun, similar to those used in electron microscopes, which fires a focused beam of electrons from a hot filament.

Following a moonwalk, astronauts would scan the beam across the surface of their dirty equipment, showering it with electrons until all the dust particles and the surface become negatively charged and start to repel one another. This would loosen the particles’ grip, allowing them to fly to the positively charged nozzle where they are captured.

If NASA found a way to build this within their lunar outposts, they would probably not need to develop fancy human rated rovers, allowing the astronauts to simply explore the Moon’s surface without fear of tracking the white powder to the annoyance of all their lunar crew members.

Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.

Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.

Despite being arrayed in a dazzling display of colors (whether in stripes or spots), Jupiter is not one of the safest locations to establish a colony thanks in part to radiation (with the only exception being the lunar moon Callisto).

In order for humanity to survive upon Jupiter’s other moons, we may need to create a radiation map for future settlers.

(Astrobiology Magazine) It’s dangerous to remain too long inside the radiation belts of Jupiter. The high-energy particles can damage space probes, and they also can destroy biological molecules or other signatures of life that might exist on inner moons like Europa. A new study plans to determine just how hazardous an impact the radiation belts have on the Jovian system. [...]

Patterson and his colleagues are building a detailed map of the surface of Europa and another map of its sister moon Ganymede. The project—led by Louise Prockter of John Hopkins University as part of NASA’s Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program—will identify dead zones where radiation would likely fry any interesting chemical compounds, as well as possible safe havens that might harbor material expelled from the ocean below.

While it is probably doubtful that Europa will visited by anything but robots (as its frozen bare surface is bathed in Jupiter’s deadly radiation belts), its bigger brother Ganymede may show more promise in the long run (especially if adequate shielding is built for the Jovian settlements).

Either way a radiation map will benefit future explorers (and robots) who may be able to locate valuable resources upon Jupiter’s Galilean satellites.

(Image Credit: NASA / JPL)

Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.

Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.

(Hat Tip: Lunar News Network)

Perhaps one of the greatest pleasures in space is micro-gravity. While the lack of terrestrial pull can make your heart sing, the environment is not exactly great for your immune system, bones or muscles (and yes, that includes your heart as well).

While scientists may have devised ways to counter the effects of micro-gravity on the body via drugs and electrodes, no one seems to have thought about the creature comforts of drinking coffee without the aid of space bag–until now.

While the fact that one can enjoy a hot cup of coffee (or tea) without a straw will appeal to millions of Starbucks fans, this technology could easily be adapted for medical doctors who may need to hook up a patient with an IV bag.

Unless future space stations find a way to develop artificial gravity, future colonists may end up using these micro-gravity cups throughout our solar system.

Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.

Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.