Space Media | Colony Worlds

Article: Why Humans Need To Revisit The Moon

Posted by darnell on Mar 2, 2007 in Blog, Moon, Space Media | 0 comments

Note: Charles Krauthammer has written an excellent article in the Washington Post detailing why we need to place humans back on the Moon. Although Martian fans will not like his analysis of traveling to the red planet (which he estimates is a century away at best), his rationale for visiting the moon can not be easily refuted.

Here is a snippet:

(Washington Post) Moreover, the moon base is not pointless. The shuttles were on an endless trip to the nowhere of low Earth orbit. The moon is a destination. The idea this time is not to go to plant a flag, take a golf shot and leave, but to stay and form a real self-sustaining, extraterrestrial human colony. [...]

A century ago there seemed to be nothing in Antarctica, either. We went there first for adventure, then for discovery. The concrete scientific advances Antarctica has yielded (regarding climate change and the ozone layer, for example) have been as important as they were unexpected. [...]

And then there’s the glory. If you find any value, any lift of the spirit in a beautiful mathematical proof, in an elegant balletic turn, in any of the myriad human endeavors that have no utility but only breathtaking beauty, then you should feel something when our little species succeeds in establishing new life in a void that for all eternity had been the province of the gods. If you don’t feel that, you are — don’t take this personally — deaf to the music of our time.

You may want to consider reading the rest of the article, and any space bloggers worth their salt may want to consider reposting their thoughts on their digital cybernetic diaries.

Review: NOVA And The Space Elevator

Posted by darnell on Jan 9, 2007 in Blog, Future, Space Elevator, Space Media, Technology | 0 comments

Despite being fashionably late (okay 15 minuets late) I was able to catch a glimpse of the NOVA ScienceNow that was mentioned previously.

The show will be posted online for those who missed it, and should be mildly entertaining at best. After watching the shows presentation of the space elevator, here is the good, the bad and the ugly.

______________________

For the Optimist: The show did a great job at explaining the overall concept of a space elevator by comparing it with a yo-yo, not to mention explaining in layman’s terms how carbon nanotubes are created in the first place.

The show also highlighted Dr. Edwards, as well as mentioning an interesting fact about Arthur C. Clark conceiving of the idea of communication satellites before there time (and linking that with the space elevator idea now).

A large portion of time was given towards the X-Prize Cup SE teams, which made up for them being overshadowed by their rocket neighbors on camera.

______________________

For the Pessimist: Dr. Edwards was only given eight seconds (or was that ten?) of air time, although the MIT student’s explanation made up for his loss. Also, there was no mention of LiftPort in the entire show (that I saw).

It also seemed as if the show removed all criticism about the SE project, (a reason why LiftPort may have been removed) in order to create a positive spin. Although this may help out the SE in the short term, such criticism is necessary as it demonstrates how hard of a project this is (which helps eliminate frustration over the apparent slowness in building this project).

______________________

For the Realist: The show was very well balanced with imagery as well as breaking the whole concept into “child-like bites.” This presentation is something you could show in front of most audiences, and they would come away with the general grasp of the project.

Unfortunately it looked as if the Space Elevator was a “loss leader” segment, whose main aim was to drive traffic to the other three discussions on the show (aging, mayan ruins via satellite, and the language of bacteria organisms).

Perhaps next time they feature a segment about space, they could go more in depth about the SE, which means:

Highlighting the potential problems and payoff’s of constructing a real space elevator
Giving Dr. Brad Edwards five minuets of air time as well as Michael Laine of LiftPort
Give the public a time frame of when to expect one in their lifetime (i.e. Edwards says 2018, while LiftPort plans one in 2031).

______________________

Overall Opinion: B+ (it’s a great start, but lets make the sequel to this even better) I’m definitely looking forward towards another show.

NOVA To Interview The Space Elevator Geeks

Posted by darnell on Jan 8, 2007 in Blog, Space Elevator, Space Media | 1 comment

(Hat Tip: Brian via LiftPort Staff Blog)

It looks like the NOVA ScienceNOW team will be interviewing the LiftPort Corporation (Michael Laine and Tom Nugent) as well as the father of the modern day space elevator, Brad Edwards of Carbon Designs.

Brad Edwards is volunteering his time to answer any questions users may have regarding the feasibility of this project, although you can browse through some of the common questions over here.

The show is suppose to air on January 9^th or 10^th, depending on who you talk to.

Note: Does anybody by any chance know the exact time?

Martian Rovers On IMAX Theatres

Posted by darnell on Jan 19, 2006 in Blog, Mars, Space Media | 0 comments

The little rovers that braved the elements of the red planet will be featured on IMAX theatres on January 27th.

(Space.com) Disney’s new IMAX film Roving Mars, set to open nationwide on Jan. 27, chronicles the exploits of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission that entered its third year exploring the surface of the red planet this month. [...]

“My original idea was to wait for the rovers to die and that it would be a dramatic ending,” Roving Mars director George Butler told SPACE.com. “However, these rovers won’t die, which is excellent news.”

It will be interesting to see the tale of these machines on the big screen. The film is about 100 minutes long and consists primarily of film that the rovers took while on Mars. This film should be a treat for kids and space loving adults of all ages.

(Space.com) “That, to me, was the determining factor,” Butler said. “Honestly, I was not really interested until I heard these rovers were equipped with IMAX quality cameras. Then I thought, ‘Wow, if I could put Mars on an IMAX screen that would be great.’” [...]

“We’ve been saying for years that the PanCam images were good enough to look good on an IMAX screen and by God they do,” [Steve Squyres, the mission's leader at Cornell University] said, adding that he and his team have not been able to view rover imagery at its full potential until now. “A computer screen falls woefully short. It’s like looking through a soda straw.”

Although Mars has yet to prove its worth as a future home for humanity, this movie will not doubt sow seeds for space travel within the next generation.