Will Humanity Mine The Moon For Titanium?
Apparently silver isn’t the only thing Earth’s nearest neighbor harbors upon the surface. Astronomers have discovered another element which could aid lunar settlers in their quest to conquer the Moon.
A new map of the Moon has revealed an abundance of titanium ore that is up to 10 times richer than on Earth, a finding that could one day lead to a lunar mining colony, astronomers said on Friday. [...]
“Lunar titanium is mostly found in the mineral ilmenite, a compound containing iron, titanium and oxygen,” they said.
“Future miners living and working on the Moon could break down ilmenite to liberate these elements. (Moon Daily)
Aside from the obvious uses of titanium (i.e. planes, rockets, buildings, etc.), the strong light weight element is also the metal of choice for surgical implants (as titanium is able to remain harmlessly within the human body for decades).
Although titanium alone will not convince humanity for the need to settle the Moon, it’s presence (along with the discovery of water and the ability to extract oxygen from lunar soil) will probably add to the case of inhabiting Luna first before our species decides to conquer more ambitious objects (like Mars and Callisto).
(Image: Titanium Crystals, Credit: Heinrich Pniok)
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Experience Martian Gravity Without Leaving Earth?
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/23024940 w=500]
For those of you who are Mars-bound, Adam Norton has developed a clever way of simulating reduced gravity without having to visit the red planet.
Mars Gravity Simulator is a fully functioning experiment adapted from the design of Apollo- era lunar gravity simulators, but made for Martian conditions. It can be used to assess maneuverability of Astronauts at a gravity approximately 40% Earth gravity, as well as to study gait changes for those conditions. Lunar locomotion styles from the Apollo landings were tested for speed and efficiency as well as to establish a figure for the approximate change in the walk/run transition speed at Mars gravity. (Adam Norton / Performance Space)
As you can see from the video above, this is actually an ingenious way to train future explorers intent upon settling Mars on how to “trot” upon the crimson world’s surface.
Norton’s adapted design is inexpensive enough (at least relatively speaking) to be adapted by the public as well as the private sector, not to mention private citizens seeking to envision themselves living off world.
Note: Since Martian gravity is almost 2/5 Earth norm, future residents could probably forsake wearing gravity suits (unless they plan on making a return trip to Earth in near future).
(via New Scientist, Video Credit: Adam Norton and Performance Space, Image Credit: NASA and Craig Bender)
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NASA And Russia Dream About Nuclear Space Ships
For those of you dreaming of reaching Mars, Mercury and other faraway destinations minus the chemical rockets, NASA and Russia are warming up to the idea of using nuclear spaceships in the not so distant future.
Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos and NASA will discuss the development of a nuclear-powered spaceship on April 15, agency director Anatoly Perminov said on Monday. [...]
A nuclear engine design is to be completed by 2012, while the project’s implementation will require 17 billion rubles ($600 million). (RIA Novosti)
Although $600 million is chump change (at least as far as US federal spending goes), Russia is reportedly going to should most of the cost, with NASA filling in the rest.
As a bonus, NASA and Russia are open to partnering with other nuclear powers, which means we could see eastern nations (like China and Japan) as well as European countries contributing their scientific know how in order to ensure that the rocket is a success.
While chemical rockets are useful in helping us reach neighboring worlds like the Moon, we are going to need something a little bit faster if we want to see boot prints upon crimson soil.
(Hat Tip: Space Travel)
Read MoreExtraterrestrial Farmers To Raise Grain Without Soil? (Aeroponics)
If you were to attempt to raise a garden utilizing only lunar or Martian soil, chances are that your precious plants would either die a horrible death or survive albeit malnourished.
While there are probably exceptions to this rule (i.e. asparagus might be able to thrive within Martian dirt), the vast majority of terrestrial plants will need terrestrial soil in order to thrive, which poses a huge problem for humanity (as people need to eat off world, let alone find employment).
Instead of importing tons of terrestrial soil from the homeworld or manufacturing large quantities from humans, it’s probably wiser to raise them without soil thanks to aeroponics.
Growing plants without any soil may conjure up images from a Star Trek movie, but it’s hardly science fiction. Aeroponics, as one soilless cultivation process is called, grows plants in an air or mist environment with no soil and very little water. Scientists have been experimenting with the method since the early 1940s, and aeroponics systems have been in use on a commercial basis since 1983.
“Who says that soil is a precondition for agriculture?” asked Graber. “There are two major preconditions for agriculture, the first being water and the second being plant nutrients. Modern agriculture makes extensive use of ‘soilless growing media,’ which can include many varied solid substrates.”
In 1997, NASA teamed up with AgriHouse and BioServe Space Technologies to design an experiment to test a soilless plant-growth system on board the Mir Space Station. NASA was particularly interested in this technology because of its low water requirement. Using this method to grow plants in space would reduce the amount of water that needs to be carried during a flight, which in turn decreases the payload. Aeroponically-grown crops also can be a source of oxygen and drinking water for space crews. (Astrobiology Magazine)
Using Aeroponics would not only reduce the overall cost of raising grain, but enable us to establish “self sustaining” colonies beyond the Jovain lunar worlds (such as Callisto, Ganymede and Saturn’s Titan), but also upon asteroids and Centaurs (aka giant comets like Chiron) as well.
While aeroponics would not be feasible for every time of plant available (i.e. raising forests would require tons of soil), it would make it easier to settle upon the worlds that dance around our yellow sun which would aid humanities quest to conquer the final frontier.
Read MoreNASA Taking A Second Look At Mercury
After six long years of space travel, NASA’s Messenger probe will finally be able to experience a close encounter with the world known as Mercury.
Although most of the planet has already been mapped, scientists are hoping that Messenger will be able to confirm whether or not the first rock from the Sun harbors water upon its Sun baked surface.
Most intriguing is what Messenger will find when it peers into craters near Mercury’s poles. The day side of Mercury reaches 800 degrees Fahrenheit, but within the shadows of the polar craters, where the Sun never shines, temperatures are thought to be around minus 300 degrees.
That means there could be large deposits of water ice on Mercury. Radar measurements from Earth have already given suggestions of water, but some scientists believe that the deposits could instead be sulfur or silicates, which could produce the same radar results. (New York Times)
If water is confirmed to exist within the shadowy craters of Mercury, it could potentially open up the planet for settlement in the semi-distant future.
While colonists would be insane to venture outside during the Mercurian day, they would be able to explore the surface during the night without fear of being irradiated thanks to the planet’s magnetic field.
Although the existence of water ice would not raise Mercury’s profile as a world humanity would need to conquer (unless of course a massive amount of metals and minerals are discovered upon the surface), it would help make the world a lot easier to inhabit for future settlers.
Read MoreSilver Discovered On The Moon?
Despite finding an abundance of water upon Earth’s nearest neighbor, NASA has unveiled that the Moon also contains trace amounts of silver as well.
Another intriguing result was the variety and amount of other substances inside Cabeus.
LCROSS and a sister probe, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), found evidence of all kinds of compounds, including elemental hydrogen, carbon monoxide, ammonia, methane, mercury, calcium, magnesium and silver. And these materials made up a surprisingly large chunk of the crater floor.
“Where we impacted, up to 20 percent was something other than dirt,” Colaprete said. “It was ices, volatiles, light metals. That was a surprise, that you had so much of this material in there.” (Space.com)
While Cabeus’s true wealth lies in the fact that the crater contains an abundance of water, the fact that silver exists on the lunar surface is good news as it gives future settlers a potential means to form their own monetary system apart from Earth.
Although it’s doubtful that we will see a “silver rush” to the Moon (as settling the off white world will cost billions), the valuable metal could aid lunar colonists in the electronics arena as silver is an excellent conductor of electricity.
(Image Credit: Wikipedia)
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Video: Inflatable "Tents" For Off World Settlers?
(Image Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)
For those of you who envisioned outposts made out of metal, plastic and off world dirt, you may soon be disappointed that NASA and ESA have a different vision for conquering the final frontier, one filled with lots of hot air.
Gary Spexarth, manager of lunar surface systems design at NASA, believes that, despite their appearance, current inflatable habitats are far better suited than metal structures to the harsh environments of space. ’You could think of these inflatable modules as a big spacesuit,’ he said. ’The fabric is extremely tough and durable, but also designed to be as lightweight as possible. Unlike rigid metallic structures that can shatter or bend if hit by a micrometeorite, flexible material is able to recover to a certain extent.’ [...]
A promising candidate is US company Bigelow Aerospace, which was founded by real-estate tycoon Bob Bigelow to develop inflatable extensions for the ISS. In 2004, Bigelow acquired the licences to NASA’s Transhab programme and has since successfully launched the Genesis I and II inflatable test craft. It now hopes to launch an 180m3 spacecraft called the Sundancer while looking at the possibilities of creating an inflatable Moon base. Bigelow’s work has far exceeded what others have been able to achieve in the field, largely thanks to the massive amounts of private funding. The company also recently announced that it is working with Boeing on the development of a commercial space-station system. (The Engineer)
Although inflatable structures have their own challenges (mainly dealing with the issue of folding them properly), deploying them upon the surface of the Moon, Mars, etc. is wiser than attempting to build settlements directly from extraterrestrial soil.
NASA has previously announced their intentions on using inflatable outposts for space as well as on the Moon, although they have yet to materialize thanks to the political makeup of Congress.
Currently Bigelow Aerospace is leading the front with its inflatable space stations, and with NASA stuck in budget limbo (due to Congress’s opposition to Obama’s first vision for space) we may have to rely upon Bigelow to establish beachheads upon the Moon.
(via Spaceports)
Read MoreNASA Gives Us 600 Million Reasons To Revisit The Moon
Mini-SAR map of the Circular Polarization Ratio (CPR) of the north pole of the Moon. Fresh, “normal” craters (red circles) show high values of CPR inside and outside their rims. This is consistent with the distribution of rocks and ejected blocks around fresh impact features, indicating that the high CPR here is surface scattering. The “anomalous” craters (green circles) have high CPR within, but not outside their rims.
After discovering water on the Moon (thanks in part to India’s satellite), it looks like scientists have discovered large quantities of ice water in the lunar north pole.
Using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have detected ice deposits near the moon’s north pole. NASA’s Mini-SAR instrument, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 1 to 9 miles (2 to15 km) in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it’s estimated there could be at least 1.3 trillion pounds (600 million metric tons) of water ice. [...]
Numerous craters near the poles of the Moon have interiors that are in permanent sun shadow. These areas are very cold and water ice is stable there essentially indefinitely. Fresh craters show high degrees of surface roughness (high CPR) both inside and outside the crater rim, caused by sharp rocks and block fields that are distributed over the entire crater area. However, Mini-SAR has found craters near the north pole that have high CPR inside, but not outside their rims. This relation suggests that the high CPR is not caused by roughness, but by some material that is restricted within the interiors of these craters. We interpret this relation as consistent with water ice present in these craters. The ice must be relatively pure and at least a couple of meters thick to give this signature. (NASA)
Although it was known for quite some time that the Moon did possess large quantities of water near the north pole, it was unclear as to how much until now.
The large amount of water ice should make it relatively easy for astronauts to establish outposts upon the lunar surface without heavily depending on Earth for water and supplies.
Future settlers can also use the water to make rocket fuel, which will help humanity in their quest to conquer our star system.
Despite the fact that Congress still debating over how we will get to the Moon (or rather whether partnering with the private sector is a good idea), it’s only a matter of time before humanity revisits and settles upon Earth’s nearest neighbor.
(via Universe Today)
Read MoreJUNO To Trek Where Humans Dare Not Travel (Jupiter)
(Image Credit: NASA)
Despite its romantic place in celestial history, Jupiter is one hostile region.
Of the four Galilean moons that orbit this Jovian world, only Callisto is is known to be habitable for humans due to the planet’s radiation belts.
But before we can even attempt to conquer the Galilean moons is a distant future, we are going to have to scout out the gas giant in order to ensure that our species is able to survive orbiting our star systems largest gas giant.
Using a spinning, solar-powered spacecraft, Juno will make maps of the gravity, magnetic fields, and atmospheric composition of Jupiter from a unique polar orbit. Juno will carry precise high-sensitivity radiometers, magnetometers, and gravity science systems . During its one-year mission, Juno will complete 33 eleven-day-long orbits and will sample Jupiter’s full range of latitudes and longitudes. From its polar perspective, Juno combines in situ and remote sensing observations to explore the polar magnetosphere and determine what drives Jupiter’s remarkable auroras. (New Frontiers, NASA)
NASA has already begun building the titanium shield that will protect the delicate satellite from the raging ions, protons and elections of the planet (which are strong enough to kill robots, let alone humans).
“For the 15 months Juno orbits Jupiter, the spacecraft will have to withstand the equivalent of more than 100 million dental X-rays,” said Bill McAlpine, Juno’s radiation control manager, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “In the same way human beings need to protect their organs during an X-ray exam, we have to protect Juno’s brain and heart.” [...]
With guidance from JPL and the principal investigator, engineers at Lockheed Martin Space Systems designed and built a special radiation vault made of titanium for a centralized electronics hub. While other materials exist that make good radiation blockers, engineers chose titanium because lead is too soft to withstand the vibrations of launch, and some other materials were too difficult to work with.
Each titanium wall measures nearly a square meter (nearly 9 square feet) in area, about 1 centimeter (a third of an inch) in thickness, and 18 kilograms (40 pounds) in mass. This titanium box — about the size of an SUV’s trunk – encloses Juno’s command and data handling box (the spacecraft’s brain), power and data distribution unit (its heart) and about 20 other electronic assemblies. The whole vault weighs about 200 kilograms (500 pounds). (Astrobiology Magazine)
JUNO is expected to survive at least 15 months in Jovian orbit, which should give scientists plenty of information on not only how extensive Jupiter’s radiation belts are, but their exact width and strength as well.
These measurements could determine whether Ganymede (which is larger than the planet Mercury) is worthy of human settlement.
While this information will not benefit our species in this day and age (or even our grandkids for that matter), it may help us map out safe locations of travel within the Jupiteran system, helping humanity survive within the system without being radiated like popcorn in a microwave.
(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LMSS)
Read MoreVideo: Senator Bill Nelson Says Obama Wants NASA To Go To Mars
(Image Credit: NASA / ESA)
According to Senator Bill Nelson, President Barack Obama wants NASA to change course and instead prepare itself for a close encounter of the red planet.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
While this news should cheer Martian fans, it is doubtful that Obama or Nelson will be able to convince the public that a Mars mission is possible (especially during a recession).
Hopefully Nelson or Obama can provide more details as to how we will go about funding a Mars mission (outside of sending more robots that is), otherwise we can safely rule out ever seeing a man or woman creating crimson foot prints off world–at least not from America.
Read MoreLuna, Luna, Dripping Wet? (Moon Water)
(Image Credit: Image: ISRO / NASA / JHUAPL / LP)
Orbiting approximately 1 light second away from Earth, the Moon (also known as Luna) surprised scientists after water ice was discovered upon its surface.
Recently NASA discovered more ice water upon the Moon, painting a picture that Earth’s nearest neighbor is not as dry as we once thought.
(NASA) Using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, scientists have detected ice deposits near the moon’s north pole. NASA’s Mini-SAR instrument, a lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 1 to 9 miles (2 to15 km) in diameter. Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it’s estimated there could be at least 1.3 trillion pounds (600 million metric tons) of water ice.
“The emerging picture from the multiple measurements and resulting data of the instruments on lunar missions indicates that water creation, migration, deposition and retention are occurring on the moon,” said Paul Spudis, principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. “The new discoveries show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought.” [...]
“After analyzing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit,” said Jason Crusan, program executive for the Mini-RF Program for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.
(Image Credit: USGS / JPL / NASA)
Previously it was assumed that the Moon was extremly dry, and that any water discovered would be heavily mixed with dust, rocks and other chemicals.
Now it seems as if there might be an “abundance” of water upon Luna, which could translate into future colonies upon this barren world.
(NY Times Dr. Spudis, a scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, said he guessed the water ice in the north polar craters might be 90 percent pure. He said the team was currently analyzing data covering the south pole craters. [...]
In addition to the water near the poles, scientists also reported that a very thin layer of water covers much of the lunar surface. Water, it appears, not only exists, but is also moving around. “The moon is working in a way you didn’t expect,” Dr. Spudis said.
If scientists can locate more craters with large volumes of water ice, humanity may witness the first off world settlements being established within the next 20 years!
Whether those colonies are American (via the private sector) or Chinese has yet to be determined, but either way the Moon is establishing itself as the next stop for humanity (a thought that might not please a few Martian fans).
–Posted on my iPhone
Read MoreNASA: Can The iPhone Keep The Vision Alive? Yes It Can!
This is probably the best move NASA has made since launching a web page to prove why the agency was still relevant.
While that last manuver obviously failed (as Obama is outsourcing the Moon to the private sector), their latest iPhone app may help show the public how fun (not to mention difficult) it is to roam upon the Moon without a nearby gas station.
NASA may want to consider creating more of these apps upon other worlds such as Mars, Titan or even Pluto (in order to help keep “the vision” alive), although hopefully they will consider porting this app over to Android (as I know plenty of space geeks who would enjoy a road trip on the Moon).
(Hat Tip: Mashable)
– Posted from my iPhone
Read MoreDear Space Geeks, Obama Is Right (NASA Woes)
After news broke out that President Obama is ending NASA’s dreams of establishing lunar bases, the reaction from the pro space community was rather “less than thrilling.”
(Lunar News Network) It’s all over. The U.S. is getting out of the manned space exploration business. The Obama Administration has decided not to fund the Constellation program. NASA will not return to the Moon and go on to Mars and beyond. The dream is dead.
(The Write Stuff) Administration officials and a former astronaut on Wednesday called President Barack Obama’s plans for NASA “exciting” and “bold”, saying that he was replacing a failed moon program with a new $6 billion project to develop commercial rockets capable of taking astronauts into orbit. [...]
But conspicuous by its absence was any mention of a commitment to develop a new government owned and operated “heavy-lift” rocket capable of taking humans beyond the low Earth Orbit.
While some see this move as killing America’s future among the heavens, this manuaver will actually force NASA to do something that they should have done from the very beginning–aggressively partner with the private sector (aka New Space).
In fact, this is actually what President Obama proposed when re-charting NASA’s course.
(New York Times) President Obama will end NASA’s return mission to the moon and turn to private companies to launch astronauts into space when he unveils his budget request to Congress next week, an administration official said Thursday.
The shift would “put NASA on a more sustainable and ambitious path to the future,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While NASA has accomplished some extraordinary achievements during it’s life time (landing on the Moon being one of them), the price tag in doing so is not worth the extra deficits if the only result is more flag poles and foot prints.
If humanity is to ever conquer the final frontier, then they need to learn how to not only live off world, but thrive there too–both literally and fiscally.
Giving New Space the American reigns may not bring comfort to many people (as the chance of failure is potentially large).
But to simply fund NASA attempts at making space accessable to all (while skyrocketing the costs) and expecting different results is–whether you like it or not–the definition of insanity.
– Posted from my iPhone
Read MoreDear NASA, Please Don't Rock The Space Boat (Saturn's Titan)
(Image: This side-by-side image shows a Cassini radar image of Ligeia Mare, on the left compared to Lake Superior on the right. Credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC)
After discovering methane lakes upon Saturn’s Titan, scientists have yet to figure out the chemical makeup of these mini seas (which could be worth billions of dollars–provided that you could actually get there).
One scientist by the name of Dr Ellen Stofan may have a “simple” solution for landing an interplanetary space boat upon the methane lakes–provided she receives the funding.
(Physorg.com) The proposal is to launch the mission, dubbed the Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) in January 2016, and to make flybys of Earth and then Jupiter to pick up the required gravitational energy to reach Saturn’s moon. It would arrive on Titan in June 2023. The estimated cost of the mission is less than $425 million, which is quite low in comparison to many space exploration missions, such as the $3.2 billion Cassini-Huygens mission launched in 2004.
The boat would carry a mass spectrometer, sonar, cameras and meteorology instruments. The main objective of the proposed mission is to analyze the lakes to determine their precise chemical composition, but a secondary objective is to study the cycling of methane and other hydrocarbons to work out how these systems operate. Sonar would be carried to check the depths of the lakes and the bottom contours, and the cameras would send images back to Earth.
Stofan wants the “space boat” to land either in the Ligeia Mare or the Kraken Mare (note: she probably would want both, but NASA may not due to budget cuts).
Regardless of where we land, this idea sounds better than the hot air balloon probes proposed earlier (since we could determine whether or not establishing an outpost on Titan is worth it in the distant future).
(Hat Tip: Gizmodo)
Read MoreWill The Dawn Space Probe Unlock The Secrets Of The Asteroid Belt?
Last month Dawn, a space probe sent to analyze the mega asteroid Vesta and its bigger brother Ceres officially entered the asteroid belt.
Contrary to what you might have seen on Star Wars, it’s very unlikely that Dawn will run into an over sized boulder, let alone a large pebble as it travels its way between the inner and outer planets.
Despite the fact that Dawn is about 600 days away from its first destination (that would be Vesta), its analysis could determine whether or not establishing mining colonies within the asteroid belt is worth the hassle.
Dawn’s final destination is Ceres, a world that may hold promise for water ice, making it a valuable asset (at least as far as space real estate goes).
NASA still has not determined what it will do after Ceres, although hopefully they will consider exploring other promising asteroids (like Pallas, Juno and Hygiea).
Read MoreMicrosoft And NASA Say "Be A Martian" (Launch Website)
It looks like the worlds largest tech company has teamed up with the worlds largest space agency in order to promote us Earthlings to explore the red planet.
(NASA) NASA and Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., have collaborated to create a Web site where Internet users can have fun while advancing their knowledge of Mars. [...]
“We’re at a point in history where everyone can be an explorer,” said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With so much data coming back from Mars missions that are accessible by all, exploring Mars has become a shared human endeavor. People worldwide can expand the specialized efforts of a few hundred Mars mission team members and make authentic contributions of their own.”
Participants will be able to explore details of the solar system’s grandest canyon, which resides on Mars. Users can call up images in the Valles Marineris canyon before moving on to chart the entire Red Planet. The collaboration of thousands of participants could assist scientists in producing far better maps, smoother zoom-in views, and make for easier interpretation of Martian surface changes.
By counting craters, the public also may help scientists determine the relative ages of small regions on Mars. In the past, counting Martian craters has posed a challenge because of the vast numbers involved. By contributing, Web site users will win game points assigned to a robotic animal avatar they select.
While the idea will appeal to kids, it may not draw much interest to adults (both young and old) who may want something more than “points” online.
Microsoft and NASA may want to consider adding other incentives, like a free micro-gravity flight or even a free trip aboard Virgin Galactic’s White Knight to help stir the masses.
Readers can visit BeAMartian.jpl.nasa.gov in order to experience the site for themselves.
Read MoreWater Is Wet–And So Is The Moon?
Update: Image selected from Digital Fortress, original artist (thus far) unknown.
Despite it’s dry appearance, it looks as if Earth’s little brother has some water after all.
After NASA “bombed” the moon (or rather smashed two objects into the surface), the American space agency can now confirm that some parts of Luna are wetter than the Sahara Desert.
(NASA) Preliminary data from NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater. The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. [...]
Scientists long have speculated about the source of significant quantities of hydrogen that have been observed at the lunar poles. The LCROSS findings are shedding new light on the question with the discovery of water, which could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously suspected. [...]
“We are ecstatic,” said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. “Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water.”
This is great news for Lunar fans, as it means that we may actually see a lunar colony within our life time.
While NASA had yet to figure out how to efficiently extract and filter Moon water, it’s presence means that NASA will not have to seed Luna with hydrogen tanks (in order to ensure that future colonists had plenty to drink).
– Posted from my iPhone
Read MoreAlmost Star Trek: EBF3 Tech Could Help "Replicate" Tools For Lunar Settlers
Even though Star Trek replicators are still a few centuries away, it looks like a device called the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (or EBF3 for short) could help future lunar colonists create the tools they need on site without having to radio Earth for supplies.
(NASA) Electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) is an emerging cross-cutting technology for producing structural metal parts that has been developed by researchers at Langley over the past four years. The EBF3 process uses a focused electron beam in a vacuum environment to create a molten pool on a metallic substrate. The beam is translated with respect to the surface of the substrate while metal wire is fed into the pool. A part is thus built directly from a computer file in a layer-additive fashion. This process has gained interest in the Exploration community for the astronauts to fabricate structural spare parts and new tools during long duration human exploration missions. DARPA has also expressed interest in EBF3 as a manufacturing process that could be used for building large space structures on-orbit.
Despite appearing on MSNBC, this NASA seems to have released info regarding this technology last May, although it seems to have received very little attention.
What makes this significant is that lunar settlers can use the technology to help create spare parts for their vehicles and off world habitats (since the moon dirt is rich in minerals and metals).
Read MoreNASA To Irradiate Monkeys (What Will PETA Say?)
(Image Credit: Space Chimps)
If humanity is to ever conquer the final frontier, then we have to understand the effects of radiation beyond current assumptions.
Since human subjects are hard to find, it looks like NASA has chosen the next best thing–monkeys.
(Telegraph.co.uk) If a manned mission to Mars ever takes place, the human pilots will be outside Earth’s protective magnetic field for several months, unprotected from solar radiation. Little research has been done on this sort of long-term exposure to low doses of radiation. [...]
Eleanor Blakely, a biophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said: “Obviously, the closer we get to man, the better.”
The researchers are to pay particular attention to the effects on the monkeys’ central nervous systems and behaviour. The monkeys, previously trained to perform a variety of tasks, will be tested to see how the exposure affects their performance.
While PETA has yet to publicly show their displeasure regarding these tests (via their blog or on Facebook), these experiments are necessary in order to determine whether its safe to live off world (as there are not many radiation safe worlds within our star system).
NASA is already promising that the monkeys used in the experiment will have free health care for the rest of their lives, although the data from these tests should help determine how safe it is for humanity to travel to other worlds–along with all of their animal friends too.
(Update: Hat Tip Mars News)
Update (11/19): It looks like PETA has spoken. Oy!
Read MoreThe Moon: Water, Water Everywhere, But None For NASA To Drink
After discovering water upon the Lunar surface, the space community went a buzz with the possibilities.
(Space.com) The discovery of water on the moon announced this week could make our celestial neighbor a more attractive candidate for a future manned mission. [...]
“This makes the moon a more attractive destination to go to,” said University of Colorado astrophysicist Jack Burns, chair of the science committee for the NASA Advisory Council. “It’s a game-changer in the sense of future human exploration to the moon, in that now there is the potential of resources of water that future astronauts could tap so that we don’t have to bring this water from Earth.”
While the discovery of water does make Luna a lot more attractive than what we previously thought, it may not be enough for a lunar colony to become self sustaining (water wise).
(Universe Today) But the message the scientists wanted everyone to take away from today’s press conference is that a combination of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) that resides in upper millimeter of the lunar surface doesn’t actually amount to much. The average amount of water, if extracted, is about a quart (1 liter) of water per ton of surface soil, or about 16 ounces (.5 liters) of water might be present for every 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of surface soil near the moon’s poles. For soil near the equator, only about two tablespoons of water is believed to be present in every 1,000 pounds (450 kg).
Even though it would be in NASA’s interest to scoop up large volumes of lunar soil for in order to create oxygen, it may not be practical to do something similar for water.
If the human body needs approximately 64 ounces of water a day, astronauts would need to dig up four football fields (hat tip: Discovery Magazine) worth of lunar soil in order for one person to adequately survive for one day!
Unless NASA can discover larger supplies of water ice beneath the surface or near the polar regions, then future colonies will probably be importing large volumes of water from our earthen cradle.
Read MoreEstablish First Contact (& Subscribe)
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