Rocket Science for the Rest of Us

Last week, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died at the age of 82. 

Neil was one of the few select men to take part in the Apollo missions, and as the first man to set foot on the moon, he became an icon for the space program, and an inspiration to people around the world.  How many of us dreamed to follow, literally or figuratively, in his footsteps?  How many who are active in the space program now were inspired by his accomplishments?

Neil Armstrong will be in the history books for ages to come--and for doing something the whole world can feel proud about.  How amazing is that?  Plus, he lived to see the revitalization of the space program, but in the commercial arena, which I believe is more robust and promising than the if the government continued its monopoly.  His legacy will not die.

Some people say he's left a "hole" in the world, but (aside from the impact on his friends and family), I disagree--his life fired the imagination of two generations, at least, and the promise of his great accomplishment will be carried on by others.  The world is richer for his having been in it.  He has earned his eternal rest.



You can view his official bio on the NASA website. My prayers go to his friends and family.

OK, so the lesson reads kind of dry--science vs. engineering data, front and back end processing...  However, here's the exciting culmination of all of that:

It's interesting to see how simply studying the changes in radio waves sent from a probe to Earth can tell us about the make-up of the celestial bodies it passes by.  However, the biggest payoff of this section for the amateur space enthusiast is the list of resources in the last paragraph--magazines to check out and links to get educational materials from NASA.  I had a lot of these as a homeschooler, and they are detailed and great for self-learning or teaching.

I'm a little behind the curve on this one, but in April, Planetary Resources announced its creation and its mission to start a mining operation on asteroids in near Earth orbit.  (Near Earth objects are .98 to 1.3 AUs from the Sun; and AU being the distance between the earth and the sun.)  They intend to mine these asteroids for precious metals--primarily platinum and palladium, which will give the best return on investment--and for water, which is one of the most useful resources for earth and space.

This is going to be a long-term project running, no doubt, into the billions of dollars before it bears fruit.  Good thing there are some extremely rich people with vision to set it in motion:  director James Cameron (net worth approx $700 million) and Google co-founder Larry Page (net worth 16.7 billion).  Say what you want about the "one percent," but it's the one percent with vision and ambition that will fund what we aspire to--and when they succeed, we will all benefit in things like cheaper medical equipment and automobile fuel cells.  How?  "A single platinum-rich space rock 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide contains the equivalent of all the platinum-group metals ever mined throughout human history," company officials said in an article in Space News.  (Learn more about platinum applications here: http://www.platinum.matthey.com/applications/)

In the meantime, they have several steps to take, many of which will mark firsts in commercial space, like the launch of the first private space telescope in low earth orbit to seek out potential asteroids.  They will also need to develop inexpensive robotic probes to check out the asteroids, and then of course, mining robots.  You can read about their process here.  http://www.planetaryresources.com/technology/

I love what they say in the beginning:  "With technological advances that are coming out of exponential technologies and investors willing to bear the risk, small teams are now able to do what only governments and large corporations can do before."  That's what makes this centruy so exciting to live in.

I am definitely a fan of Planetary Resource's vision and mission.  I'll be watching to see how well they can make it a reality.

As we start moving toward the privatization of space exploration, it's probably only natural that someone would think about crowdsourcing space studies.  Uwingo, a start-up company with the goal of funding space experiments and programs, is taking the leap:

Uwingu, which means “sky” in Swahili, is a small start-up company, a for profit LLC, consisting of astronomers, planetary scientists, former space program executives, and educators who passionately want to create new ways for space exploration, research, and education to be funded.  They are looking for start-up capitol of $75,000 to build and market products in order to generate funds for grants for space and astronomy research.  I wish they'd tell us a little more about this product they are developing, but I am definitely for the overall goal.

Their target date is less than a month away, and they are falling far short of their goal.  They have donation levels starting at $10.  If you are interested in being a small part of the space race, this might be a place to put in your two cents (times 500).  I contributed last week--my first-ever step into crowdsourcing.

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Saw this article in Space News:  San Quentin Inmates Building Satellite Hardware for NASA.    In a nutshell NASA's Ames Research Center has contracted with San Quentin to produce Poly Picosatellite Orbial Deployers (PPODs), whcihc are used to mount cubesats on several kinds of launch vehicles and then fling them into orbit at programmed times.  Cubesats are small satellites that are used by government, commercial, and educational organizations for smaller experiments in space.

I think it's a great idea as it gives these people skills they can use when they are released--which indeed was the idea that led to the start of the program.  The article did not say whether this was cheaper labor for NASA, or at least competitive.  I'd hope so.  While I appreciate the humanitarian aspects of the program, we really should be putting space dollars to space.  As long as we're doing both, it's win-win.

Links to the lessons: http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf7-1.php and http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf7-2.php

These lessons are pretty straightforward and administrative in nature, so I grouped them. 

I'm not sure I learned a lot from these lessons, as the planning stage is similar to ones I'd seen before.  However, I was hit again by how much pre-planning takes place.  Of course, as you'll read in Phase E, all that planning can get overcome by budget and political requirements of the day.  (Not like we've ever seen that before, right?)  I've said it more than once, but I'll say it again--that's one way I think Commercial Space has an advantage: they aren't tied to the whims of a Congress that changes every 2 years, or a President that can change every four.  Commercial interests, of course, can change as well, but usually, companies are not so willing to dump their investments.

I was surprised, however, about how much mission planning goes into when they can get the best DSN coverage.  (DSN=Deep Space Network).  This makes sense because what good is a mission if we can't receive the data--but I hadn't given much through to how the system gets taxed.  This makes me wonder--if we are going to increase our space presence--do we need more receiving stations on Earth, and is this another potential area for Commercial Space?

BTW, thanks to those who send condolences on the loss of our dog, Layla.  She will always be a big part of us, but she was such a great dog, we just could not be without canine love.  Saturday, we adopted a shepherd/hound mix, Toby.  He's setting in nicely, and we all adore him.

I know everyone's excited about the Mars Rover, but in the manned space arena, NASA has announced the selection of Boeing Space Exploration and SpaceX for final phase developing funding of the Commercial Crew Program.  Sierra Nevada received a smaller award, but it's still in the running.  ATK's Liberty Launch didn't get an award this time.

You can read all about it at Space News.  In the meantime, congrats to these three for completing one more step toward commercial manned space! 

Thanks, everyone, for your patience.  What a summer it has been!  I think I'm back on my feet now, so let's catch up on our space studies.  If you've been following the lessons in the sidebar--congrats!  Hope you get a little refresher on those things we missed.

Doppler Effect. Lesson 6.4 here:  http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf6-4.php

I have to admit, I always have a hard time wrapping my head around this one, and the little pulse graphics don't help me.  I prefer to visualize it as a wave--like a slinky, for example.  If you hold one end still and move the other in an even up-and-down pattern, you get a wave of a certain length and frequency.  Now move one end away from the other, but don't change the rhythm of the up-and-down motion.  Your frequency stays the same, but the wavelengths are longer.  The difference in the wavelengths is your Doppler shift.

Paul Hewitt explains it very well--and he's funny, too.

We hear Doppler shifts all the time--the most common example is in how a train whistle or a siren sounds higher when approaching and lower when moving away.

Doppler shifts are great for telling position and distance--or how fast you are speeding down the highway.  Come back tomorrow, and I'll tell you a funny story involving Doppler shift, my father, and my husband.  For now, let's move on. 

Reflection of Radio Waves: Lesson 6.5 here:  http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf6-5.php

This is a pretty basic lesson, and a phenomenon we are all familiar with, although I didn't know about the skipping phenomenon with x-rays. What the lesson doesn't tell you, either, is how x-ray astronomy is giving us a whole new look at the universe.



Refraction:  Lesson 6.6 here:  http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/basics/bsf6-6.php

Again, this is a common phenomenon on earth, but it's cool to see how it's being used in space exploration.  I wonder if that's how tricorders are supposed to work when analyzing atmosphere, etc?  (I'll need to check out The Physics of Star Trek, if I can find it in my husband's library.)