Mentatul

Tag: space

  • Interesting NASA Experiments

    Interesting NASA Experiments

    There’s some pretty interesting human activity going on in outer space during this period. For example, NASA recently launched InSight^, yet another probe heading for Mars (yes, I do believe we’ve spending a bit too much on Mars). Along with that, they also launched two cubesats^, the world’s first interplanetary such (cheaper) satellites^. “MarCO-A and MarCO-B are demonstrating a number of cubesat technologies during their nearly 7-month cruise to Mars, including a folding high-gain antenna and a cold-gas propulsion system.”

    Then there’s this highly “visual” mission that saw a NASA rocket spew color clouds in the atmosphere, as part of a study on the magnetic field. “The vapor tracers that are released are made of barium, lithium, and trimethylaluminum, the same ingredients you might find in fireworks”:

    https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/29/15892738/nasa-sounding-rocket-terrier-improved-malemute-vapor-tracers^

    And last but not least, here are some findings about how spaceflight has caused changes in the gene expression of an astronaut twin. In order to make the analysis possible, NASA kept one brother on Earth and the another spent one year on the International Space Station:

    https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-twins-study-confirms-preliminary-findings^

    Say what you will about the USA, but their space program still kicks some major ass.

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  • Careful with That Orbit Now

    Careful with That Orbit Now

    Scientists and aerospace engineers alike have long been worried about the consequences of junking Earth’s orbit^. On this site the topic was first mentioned shortly after North Korea put an (apparently) useless satellite^ up there. This is a serious issue, as highlighted by this year’s conference on space debris, which was understandably worried about recent initiatives that consist of launching entire constellations of micro-satellites:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/21/thousands-of-tiny-satellites-are-about-to-go-into-space-and-possibly-ruin-it-forever^

    The title of the article linked above is a bit misleading, as it is often the case with these for-profit media publications that rely on grabbing attention. No, this won’t ruin our orbit “forever”. But if the worst comes to pass, it will, however, ruin it for a couple of generations. So, from a single person’s perspective, it is forever.

    Should we expect the worst to happen? With SpaceX alone planning to plant about 3000 (yes, that’s three thousand) satellites in orbit during the next decade, I think it is a valid concern. Especially as this is done with little (if any) preparation to mitigate orbital pollution:

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-26/elon-musk-s-plan-to-girdle-earth-with-satellites-hits-turbulence^

    We’re being reckless with our satellite launches. This can cause an orbital catastrophe that might see us lose a lot of our assets there, leading to an informational collapse. So far, I haven’t seen any of these organizations that dump junk around the orbit even consider a valid, peer-reviewed de-orbiting strategy. This seems extremely short-sighted for a species that is increasingly relying on its extra-terrestrial ventures.

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  • Let’s Give Mars a Rest

    Let’s Give Mars a Rest

    I am happy to announce that there is a fair to good possibility that seeding life on Mars may be much more difficult than previously thought. In a recent study, an extensive analysis of the chemical elements present on the planet’s surface (particularly in the regolith^) has shown that Martian soil might very well be outright poisonous for life:

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toxic-compounds-may-sterilize-martian-soil/^

    So why am I happy because of this “bad news”? Because it’s not bad at all. I believe that given the current state of our society and civilization, Mars is too costly and too early an investment to make. Mars is not going to be easy to colonize in the next decades. Before we go about colonizing Mars, I believe we should do our homework. And I’m not talking only about the technology to shield us from the radiation in space, but also about our own society. A species that is still governed by what I can only call “uncontrolled survivalistic behavior” is not ready for the responsibility of being the shepherd of a new ecosystem.

    I can’t agree with this “let’s start colonizing other planets” fad. Eric Mack has a very good point when he says that “this notion that Mars or the Moon is our salvation because the end of the world is nigh is really silly”. If we’re so good at destroying ecosystems, perhaps we should consider fixing this problem before we go off trying to pollute other worlds.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2017/05/03/stephen-hawking-mars-colony-moon-space-elon-musk/#7117bf826537^

    The second page of the article above brings a very good point: “Let’s just run through the scenarios: rising sea levels, famine, epidemics, ecological collapse… If all those came to pass, even all at the same time, Earth would still be more habitable than anywhere else in our solar system. Really, you can’t undersell the value of a working magnetic field and an atmosphere, even one with a little too much carbon dioxide in it”:

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2017/05/03/stephen-hawking-mars-colony-moon-space-elon-musk/2/#761a6189d1c5^

    As a child, I was eager to read anything there was available about Mars. It was “my favorite planet”. Perhaps two decades of increasingly boring news about “water found on Mars” made me a bit allergic to our obsessive interest in the planet.

    Lately, things shifted into overdrive as various corporations started to jump on the “colonization” bandwagon. I guess it’s pretty good PR to say you’re going to build a colony on Mars or the Moon, but as the adage says “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

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  • Trump, in. Musk, out. Escaping to Mars

    Trump, in. Musk, out. Escaping to Mars

    After months of reading the media coverage about the elections in the USA, the Tesla Motors chief has become seriously depressed. Fortunately, after a meeting with his secret team of advisers, Musk came up with a plan^:

    “We realized that there is a fantastic business opportunity here. There are very many Americans who, like me, would prefer to evacuate Earth after the election, regardless of who wins. Therefore, in the coming years, we intend to purchase several mining companies and strip-mine the planet, sending as many people as possible to Mars. For a modest price, of course.”

    Around the world, demonstrators gathered in support of the measure. Apparently, the same feeling is felt in many other countries; the feeling that democracy is a fake and that the options on the menu are controlled by the Establishment^.

    We’ve reached out to NASA for a comment. We got the following statement out of NASA’s administrator, Charles Bolden:

    “We’re really thankful to Elon. Considering that in the following years more and more of our country’s budget will go into buggy fighter airplanes^ and cyber-warfare^, we will probably find ourselves without a job by 2020. We expect that after the elections Elon’s business will… let’s say skyrocket… and he’ll definitely consider hiring us into the sprawling SpaceX empire.”

    Not surprisingly, many personalities have already pledged several hundreds of millions of dollars in order to be on the first boat to leave the backward, dying world.

    “We’ll bring high quality rap to Mars, we’ll make Mars an artist’s paradise”, said Kanye West, donning a cap with a blinged-out racing car wheel with a picture of Mars in the middle.

    Religious personalities won’t be missing either. Here’s what Romanian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Daniel had to say: “We believe that every man, woman and child has the right to spiritual education. Our 21st century educational model is unsurpassed in the entire Europe. Our Sunday School will provide the perfect spiritual nourishment for the home-sick cosmonaut.”

    BREAKING UPDATE: soon after publishing this article, we were contacted by Donald Trump’s campaign HQ with the following statement:

    Donald would like to thank you for publishing what is undoubtedly a truth of the modern world. This state of fact has upset Mister Trump for a great many years, which is partially the reason for his sometimes erratic behavior. However, Donald would like to promise that shortly after he is being elected, he will formally request that SpaceX is given at least as much budget as NASA.

    Also, as a new-found faithful Christian, Donald will take a page from the Bible and send his flesh and blood, his son, lovingly called Donald Trump Junior, as one of the first colonists to Mars. Mister Trump has asked me to forward the following official statement:

    “Donald will sacrifice himself to deliver all Martians from sin. He will work tirelessly from his mansion on top of Olympus Mons to best represent Mars in the colony’s relations with me, Emperor of Earth, Trump the First.”
     

    This text has been published in the “Satire” category for a good reason.
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  • The Overview Effect

    The Overview Effect

    When we become aware of our planet’s fragility and beauty, a cognitive shift in awareness occurs. This short but emotional presentation shows what a few of those that went through the difficult training required to travel away from Earth have to say about The Overview Effect:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHMIfOecrlo^

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  • The next Step after the Reuse of Space Launch Vehicles

    The next Step after the Reuse of Space Launch Vehicles

    After several failed attempts, SpaceX made history when it managed to successfully land its reusable Falcon 9 rocket booster on a (robotic) ship stationed off the Florida coast:

    http://www.space.com/32517-spacex-sticks-rocket-landing-sea-dragon-launch.html^

    SpaceX has been planning and trying to reuse launch vehicles for quite a few years now. This success is a milestone for reducing the cost of our ventures into space. The road towards efficient space exploration and development is, however, a long one.

    Let’s think bigger. Let’s think about large space stations, asteroid mining, colonies on the Moon and Mars. Many of these projects will need an initial investment originating from Earth, probably consisting of pre-manufactured goods. As a species, we have to think long-term.

    Returning the boosters back to Earth is a costly business. The immediate costs are the fuel and support operations. The long term cost is that we might deprive ourselves of an important head-start when it comes to building in outer space. This potentially has a much greater impact than the immediate costs. So should we really bother so much about returning our launch vehicles? What if we take the reuse concept one step further?

    A booster is essentially a huge fuel tank coupled to a propulsion system. In the coming decades, advancements in robotics will make it increasingly feasible for us to consider asteroid mining or building large extraterrestrial habitats, either in Earth’s orbit or on other planets. Hopefully, we will soon find ways to re-use everything we struggle so hard to escape Earth’s gravity with.

    Updated on May 6, 2016: SpaceX did it again^. Congratulations to them!

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  • North Korea’s Most Dangerous Weapon: Incompetence

    North Korea’s Most Dangerous Weapon: Incompetence

    As you might know, on the 7th of February 2016, North Korea launched an “Earth observation satellite”. Governments across the world were probably right in condemning the operation. The same type of rocket can also be used for nuclear warfare.

    What about the satellite? Well, apparently it’s tumbling in orbit, useless:

    http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/news/a19365/north-korean-satellite-is-tumbling-in-orbit/^

    Fun fact: there are about 2000 satellites orbiting our planet and an estimated 300.000 pieces of space junk. On average, we’re losing one satellite per year. A collision between two satellites could have dire consequences.

    One of those consequences has a name. It’s called the Kessler syndrome: a cascade of collisions that would exponentially increase the amount of orbital junk. It would ultimately mean the swift destruction of most of our fleet of satellites:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome^

    North Korea can be all sorts of dangerous, especially since it couldn’t care less about any advice coming from the international community. Dictator Kim Jong-un is therefore free to play “launch the satellite” and “detonate nuclear bombs underground”.

    Unfortunately for all of us, disasters don’t care much about the grandiose desires of totalitarian leaders. North Korea’s most recent failure casts an ominous shadow over all of its scientific and military programs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being in the same boat with a drunken madman armed with explosives. For the sake of all of us, I hope the intoxication wears off, and soon.

    Note: the drunken man analogy is not directed at North Korea or at Kim Jong-un. Rather, it’s an analogy of the entire socio-political situation over there. I believe that we, as a society, should work together to help educate the future political class and those that vote people in power. Kim Jong-un is a son of Earth just like all of us. The reasons of his behavior can be found in his upbringing and surrounding social climate. The same can be said of all of us. If we change the social environment, we change our civilization.

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