As the axe prepares to fall on human space exploration, another element in the Constellation program which could take us to the Moon, Mars and beyond passes a critical test. The new 5-segment solid rocket booster which will power Aires I and V passed a full firing test with flying colors!
Watch the video, cheer for American technology, and call Congress to save Constellation so we can go to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/ares/10-202.html
August 31, 2010
August 26, 2010
VP: "This is a Chance to Do Something Big!" OK, How About Going to Mars Then?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2013683,00.html
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| The First Landing on Mars (Credit NASA) |
Mr. Vice President, there will be nothing bigger in this century than the first human landing on Mars and the establishment of a permanent base on the Moon. And you can make it happen. A bold, vibrant space program will relaunch America's leadership in high technology and save and create a great many jobs.
Please act now to save the Space Shuttles, build Constellation, and honor JFK's legacy with a bold space program to go to the Moon, Mars and asteroids. Not decades from now, but within 10-15 years.
That's "something big!"
August 25, 2010
CEO of Intel Warns U.S. Tech Leadership Endangered
Intel's CEO Paul Otellini issued a warning this week that government policies are endangering American technological leadership, and that, "the next big thing will not be invented here. Jobs will not be created here."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20014563-38.html?tag=mncol;1n
President Obama's cancellation of human space exploration will accelerate our decline, and it awards a head start of one or two entire decades to China, Russia and others to take over human space exploration. They, not us will be the nations to benefit from the resulting investments and jobs. China's recent announements that they will go to the Moon by 2017, have their heavy lift rocket completed by 2014, and launch next year the first module of their own space station is proof the rest of the world won't wait--they are seizing the power, jobs, investments, and even the national prestige while we plan to go to sleep for decades.
Technological leadership is something which must be continually rebuilt, and with a bold, vibrant U.S. space program we can regain the competitive edge. Without; we may end up as the country to whom the new great powers in the world will outsource their cheap manual labor.
The Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration calls on the President and Congress to adopt a bold "in this decade" plan to return to the Moon and go to Mars, and in the process rebuild our technological leadership.
Please call and write your Members of Congress (202-224-3121) and all House and Senate candidates, as well as the White House (202-456-1111) with this vital message. The "next big thing" could be invented while preparing for the first human landing on Mars.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20014563-38.html?tag=mncol;1n
President Obama's cancellation of human space exploration will accelerate our decline, and it awards a head start of one or two entire decades to China, Russia and others to take over human space exploration. They, not us will be the nations to benefit from the resulting investments and jobs. China's recent announements that they will go to the Moon by 2017, have their heavy lift rocket completed by 2014, and launch next year the first module of their own space station is proof the rest of the world won't wait--they are seizing the power, jobs, investments, and even the national prestige while we plan to go to sleep for decades.
Technological leadership is something which must be continually rebuilt, and with a bold, vibrant U.S. space program we can regain the competitive edge. Without; we may end up as the country to whom the new great powers in the world will outsource their cheap manual labor.
The Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration calls on the President and Congress to adopt a bold "in this decade" plan to return to the Moon and go to Mars, and in the process rebuild our technological leadership.
Please call and write your Members of Congress (202-224-3121) and all House and Senate candidates, as well as the White House (202-456-1111) with this vital message. The "next big thing" could be invented while preparing for the first human landing on Mars.
August 23, 2010
Mars Exploration Technology Benefits Everyone on Earth
When discussing the space program, you may sometimes hear that it is "a waste of money," that we should "spend the money here where it can do some good," or even that "we can't afford it." What many people may not be aware of is the fantastic number of "spinoffs," or technology developed for space missions which has practical and valuable uses in our daily lives. This is why space exploration is an investment in everyone's future.
The microelectronics and computers which we depend upon today for example were developed in part by the need to miniaturize electronics for the Apollo mission. Those over a certain age will remember bulky tube radios as well as the smaller transistor radios which replaced them. It was the absolute necessity to make small computers for the space program which greatly accelerated this development.
Here's an excellent example of a technology designed for Mars which benefits solar energy production on Earth; self-cleaning solar panels. The fine dust on Mars can greatly reduce the efficiency of the solar panels which power rovers and other landers. Dust on Earth-bound solar installations suffer the same problem. Without rigging bulky windshield wipers, how would you solve this problem?
Working with NASA, Malay Mazumder, invented the way to do the job at Boston University:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11057771
As with microelectronics, while it would be useful to have self-cleaning solar panels on earth, alternatives are workable if time and energy consuming, such as spraying water on them. A hundred million miles from humanity, that option doesn't exist, and this necessity is what drove the demand to create self-cleaning panels. Perhaps this technology would have been developed sometime soon without the absolute need for use on Mars--or perhaps not. Result: more efficient solar generation on Earth!
Here's another: radar technology developed to locate subsurface water on Mars will now be used to find water deep under the deserts on earth!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-290
Now imagine the demand to create an almost closed ecosystem to support Moon and Mars colonists for months and years at a time, and you get an idea of how this demand may benefit the environment on Earth.
Space exploration is indeed an investment which will be paid back many times over in technological advances to improve our lives and clean up the environment. We can't afford not to invest in space exploration.
The microelectronics and computers which we depend upon today for example were developed in part by the need to miniaturize electronics for the Apollo mission. Those over a certain age will remember bulky tube radios as well as the smaller transistor radios which replaced them. It was the absolute necessity to make small computers for the space program which greatly accelerated this development.
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| Dust Covering Mars Rover Spirit's Solar Panels Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech |
Working with NASA, Malay Mazumder, invented the way to do the job at Boston University:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11057771
As with microelectronics, while it would be useful to have self-cleaning solar panels on earth, alternatives are workable if time and energy consuming, such as spraying water on them. A hundred million miles from humanity, that option doesn't exist, and this necessity is what drove the demand to create self-cleaning panels. Perhaps this technology would have been developed sometime soon without the absolute need for use on Mars--or perhaps not. Result: more efficient solar generation on Earth!
Here's another: radar technology developed to locate subsurface water on Mars will now be used to find water deep under the deserts on earth!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-290
Now imagine the demand to create an almost closed ecosystem to support Moon and Mars colonists for months and years at a time, and you get an idea of how this demand may benefit the environment on Earth.
Space exploration is indeed an investment which will be paid back many times over in technological advances to improve our lives and clean up the environment. We can't afford not to invest in space exploration.
August 14, 2010
Watch How Constellation Will Take Us to the Moon, Mars and Beyond
For people unfamiliar with the Constellation system, and the ways it can take us to the Moon and Mars, it is useful to watch this video prepared by NASA.
The Administration intends to kill the program, ending perhaps for decades the goal of Americans returning to the Moon and making history by landing on Mars. Congress may save it or save a smaller, less-capable version; but we need the full program. Watch what Constellation can do and contact Congress to build the full Constellation system now.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel; watch our videos and share with your friends. We offer some special NASA films which illustrate important aspects of human space exploration. www.youtube.com/savemannedspace
The Administration intends to kill the program, ending perhaps for decades the goal of Americans returning to the Moon and making history by landing on Mars. Congress may save it or save a smaller, less-capable version; but we need the full program. Watch what Constellation can do and contact Congress to build the full Constellation system now.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel; watch our videos and share with your friends. We offer some special NASA films which illustrate important aspects of human space exploration. www.youtube.com/savemannedspace
August 11, 2010
John Glenn: Save the Space Shuttle
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| John Glenn (NASA Photo) |
- Congress must not kill the Space Shuttle program.
- Build the Constellation system.
- Go to Mars.
The fact is that the Shuttle Orbiters were each designed for 100 launches, and none have exceeded 38 launches. To throw them away is to waste America's resources at a time when we need them most and to endanger the Space Station. Further, the shuttles have been constantly updated and improved over the years, and most importantly, the factors which caused the loss of the two Shuttles have been addressed. The solid booster rockets were redesigned, and careful inspection on each mission can spot any damaged or missing tiles.
More can and should be done to improve Shuttle safety; for example the new X-37, a NASA micro-shuttle given to the USAF, has far more durable tiles and composites, (http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Space-Shuttle-Jr.html) and a refit with such materials would advance safety. Replacing the solid rockets with safer liquid boosters has been proposed over the years. While the materials to repair tiles on orbit existed since 1980, it was not until after the Columbia tragedy that repair kits were installed on each Shuttle.
Read the "right stuff;" read John Glenn's report on why the shuttles must be kept in operation, as well as many other critical recommendations:
http://oncampus.osu.edu/2010/06/john-glenn-statement
August 10, 2010
Use the Shuttles as (Medium) Heavy Lift--and Get to Mars by 2018
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| Proposed Shuttle-C Launch (NASA) |
The Space Shuttle system is medium-heavy lift. We have it today! It could launch everything needed to take us to the Moon, Mars and beyond; just as it launched everything for the ISS. It would take more launches than with Constellation, but it could be done.
The ideal way to use this existing resource would be to build the planned Shuttle-C or Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle, which would be an unmanned cargo carrier with rockets on it, attached to the existing Shuttle external tank and booters in place of the Orbiter. This would greatly increase payload size and weight. This would be the fast-and-cheap interim solution to the Constellation. Neil Armstrong supported this concept in his May 2010 statement to Congress:
http://legislative.nasa.gov/hearings/5-12-10%20ARMSTRONG.pdf
http://legislative.nasa.gov/hearings/5-12-10%20ARMSTRONG.pdf
A few unmanned cargo missions to Mars in 2016 to land the habitation modules, power systems, water-to-fuel plant, and to place 3 communications satellites into Martian orbit would allow for a very well-equipped human mission to Mars at the most optimum (shortest transit time) launch window in 2018. Such Shuttle-C launches would eliminate the need to modify the existing Shuttle launch pads, saving more time and money. Shuttle-C could launch 3 times the payload of the Shuttle+Orbiter system; 170,000 pounds. Constellation will lift 309,000 pounds--that's why we need it; but until it is ready we should not sit and do nothing. The Mars landing mission would be launched in 2018 using the then-completed Constellation.
Shuttle-C could also take us to the Moon, as it can launch the Moon lander and habitation modules. In either scenario, crew would be transported to the assembled Moon or Mars spaceships/transfer vehicles by regular Shuttle Orbiter flights. Note that the Shuttle Orbiters were designed to last for 100 launches, and none have exceeded 38 launches.
It is a criminal waste of America's resources to scrap the shuttles and to ignore the dirt-cheap Shuttle-C concept; thus needlessly delaying missions to Mars and the Moon.
Congress is urged to authorize the continuation of the shuttle program, to build Shuttle-C cargo pods and to use it to launch payloads for the initial Moon and Mars missions while Constellation is being built. We can land Americans on Mars in 2018!
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| Proposed Shuttle-C on Orbit (NASA) |
Wikipedia's page on the Shuttle HLV:
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