Two decades ago, under President Reagan, NASA developed the "Teacher in Space" program, and planned to fly other civilians on the shuttle. Christa McAuliffe was the first teacher to fly. After the Challenger explosion took her life, no more civilians flew, except for the odd politician.
McAuliffe's backup was Barbara Morgan. Now a full astronaut, Morgan will finally get her ride into space aboard Endeavour on STS-118. Morgan will conduct class from orbit, as McAuliffe would have done. She will also operate the shuttle's remote manipulator arm.
Whatever she teaches from orbit, however, will not be as important as the lesson she is teaching simply by being there. It is a lesson of steadfastness in the face of tragedy, of patience, of vision, and of personal courage.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
California To Deal With Mojave Accident
The Federal Aviation Administration will allow California authorities to investigate the rocket engine explosion that killed three last month at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The FAA considers the tragedy an "industrial accident," not an accident related to flight, and so will leave the matter to the state.
How the accident will affect the first passenger flight of Virgin Galactic is unclear. That flight was not scheduled until late 2009 even before the accident. A rough parallel may be drawn with the Apollo 1 fire that killed three astronauts in January, 1967. That led to a major overhaul of the Apollo Command Module, but less than two years later, Christmas, 1968, three Apollo astronauts were orbiting the Moon.
Apollo, of course, had a deadline to meet. Virgin Galactic and the builder of its ships, Scaled Composites, are fighting no such deadline. Still, they can't simply tease potential customers; they need to fly at some reasonable point in time. We will see in the next weeks and months whether the explosion is a serious setback to the space tourism industry.
How the accident will affect the first passenger flight of Virgin Galactic is unclear. That flight was not scheduled until late 2009 even before the accident. A rough parallel may be drawn with the Apollo 1 fire that killed three astronauts in January, 1967. That led to a major overhaul of the Apollo Command Module, but less than two years later, Christmas, 1968, three Apollo astronauts were orbiting the Moon.
Apollo, of course, had a deadline to meet. Virgin Galactic and the builder of its ships, Scaled Composites, are fighting no such deadline. Still, they can't simply tease potential customers; they need to fly at some reasonable point in time. We will see in the next weeks and months whether the explosion is a serious setback to the space tourism industry.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Hiroshima and Roswell
Today is the anniversary of the American atomic attack on Hiroshima, Japan. Some UFO researchers have speculated that the alien craft they say crashed near Roswell was flying over New Mexico because the aliens were concerned about our new atomic capability, and New Mexico was home to both Los Alamos and the world's only atomic strike force, based at Roswell.
First, any aliens acting on that theory would've been taking the very long view. At that time, humans were still centuries away from threatening anybody but each other. An interstellar civilization, conceivably, might take such a long view. That granted, let's look at some numbers.
The first atomic explosions that supposedly captured the attention of the aliens took place in 1945, two years before Roswell. Assuming the aliens cannot travel faster than light (because assuming anything else wouldn't get us anywhere), that would mean the aliens at Roswell came from, at most, a bit less than two light years away. The nearest star to the Sun is some more than four light years distant.
That would mean that if aliens visited Roswell in 1947 reacting to the atomic blasts, they likely came from a base in our Solar System. Indeed, several years ago, Nick Pope, who investigated UFOs for the British Ministry of Defence, told this author in an instant message conversation that he thought an alien base in the Solar System was the most likely explanation for many UFO reports.
So, why haven't we found such a base? Perhaps because we haven't really looked. Some researchers, including some reputable scientists, are urging NASA and SETI researchers to keep an open mind about alien bases or artifacts in the neighborhood. The alien probe that observed the blasts at Trinity Site, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, and sent that information to its masters, may yet be waiting for us.
First, any aliens acting on that theory would've been taking the very long view. At that time, humans were still centuries away from threatening anybody but each other. An interstellar civilization, conceivably, might take such a long view. That granted, let's look at some numbers.
The first atomic explosions that supposedly captured the attention of the aliens took place in 1945, two years before Roswell. Assuming the aliens cannot travel faster than light (because assuming anything else wouldn't get us anywhere), that would mean the aliens at Roswell came from, at most, a bit less than two light years away. The nearest star to the Sun is some more than four light years distant.
That would mean that if aliens visited Roswell in 1947 reacting to the atomic blasts, they likely came from a base in our Solar System. Indeed, several years ago, Nick Pope, who investigated UFOs for the British Ministry of Defence, told this author in an instant message conversation that he thought an alien base in the Solar System was the most likely explanation for many UFO reports.
So, why haven't we found such a base? Perhaps because we haven't really looked. Some researchers, including some reputable scientists, are urging NASA and SETI researchers to keep an open mind about alien bases or artifacts in the neighborhood. The alien probe that observed the blasts at Trinity Site, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, and sent that information to its masters, may yet be waiting for us.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Phoenix to Mars
Early Saturday, NASA launched its Phoenix Lander mission to Mars. So far, the flight is going perfectly.
Phoenix is designed to land within the Martian Arctic Circle next May and use a long robotic arm to dig into the ice and soil in a search for organic compounds that might suggest earlier life on Mars. That's the official objective of NASA and the scientific community. We know, however, that life is extremely adaptive. We know part of the polar ice is water ice. Some scientists think water may exist under the surface of Mars. Finding live life is not completely out of the question.
Next summer could be a fascinating time.
Phoenix is designed to land within the Martian Arctic Circle next May and use a long robotic arm to dig into the ice and soil in a search for organic compounds that might suggest earlier life on Mars. That's the official objective of NASA and the scientific community. We know, however, that life is extremely adaptive. We know part of the polar ice is water ice. Some scientists think water may exist under the surface of Mars. Finding live life is not completely out of the question.
Next summer could be a fascinating time.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Following Up on Exploration
On this date in 1492, Columbus left Spain, sailing west. By March, 1493, he was back in Spain, reporting on what he thought he'd found. In November, 1493, he was back in the Caribbean, this time commanding seventeen ships carrying one thousand men and enough European livestock to support a new colony. Columbus also carried the grand title of viceroy.
American Apollo astronauts first set boot on the Moon in 1969, and there is still no lasting human presence there.
Part of the difference is a difference in the law. Ferdinand and Isabella felt quite free to claim all lands discovered by their explorers, whereas, under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, no nation could claim any celestial body. Still, NASA had ambitious post-Apollo plans, including lunar bases and manned missions to Mars in the 1980s. The United States, so proud of its pioneer heritage, pulled back.
The difference in the two choices cannot be economic. At the time of Columbus' discovery, Ferdinand and Isabella were still assembling modern Spain by absorbing smaller kingdoms. They had just finally defeated the Moors, denying Islam a beachhead in emerging Christian Europe. They were persecuting Jews through the Spanish Inquisition. Their plates were full, yet they acted aggressively and built an empire. At the time of the Apollo lunar landings, the United States was the world's leading economic power, and the leader of the Free World. It was in a far stronger position to build upon Apollo than Spain had been to build upon Columbus.
Perhaps the difference was timing. Columbus' discovery was a kind of culmination of a process begun decades earlier by Portugal to systemically develop the ability to sail the ocean, reach new lands, and open new trade routes. Ferdinand and Isabella immediately grasped the potential in Columbus' discovery, and acted.
Apollo, though, was more of a brilliant improvisation, brilliantly carried out. Once the lunar landing had been achieved, America had no notion of what to do next. Only now are we beginning to sketch a future that brings space activities into the human economy. Only now, perhaps, are we developing the plans, philosophy, and technological base to become a truly spacefaring civilization.
American Apollo astronauts first set boot on the Moon in 1969, and there is still no lasting human presence there.
Part of the difference is a difference in the law. Ferdinand and Isabella felt quite free to claim all lands discovered by their explorers, whereas, under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, no nation could claim any celestial body. Still, NASA had ambitious post-Apollo plans, including lunar bases and manned missions to Mars in the 1980s. The United States, so proud of its pioneer heritage, pulled back.
The difference in the two choices cannot be economic. At the time of Columbus' discovery, Ferdinand and Isabella were still assembling modern Spain by absorbing smaller kingdoms. They had just finally defeated the Moors, denying Islam a beachhead in emerging Christian Europe. They were persecuting Jews through the Spanish Inquisition. Their plates were full, yet they acted aggressively and built an empire. At the time of the Apollo lunar landings, the United States was the world's leading economic power, and the leader of the Free World. It was in a far stronger position to build upon Apollo than Spain had been to build upon Columbus.
Perhaps the difference was timing. Columbus' discovery was a kind of culmination of a process begun decades earlier by Portugal to systemically develop the ability to sail the ocean, reach new lands, and open new trade routes. Ferdinand and Isabella immediately grasped the potential in Columbus' discovery, and acted.
Apollo, though, was more of a brilliant improvisation, brilliantly carried out. Once the lunar landing had been achieved, America had no notion of what to do next. Only now are we beginning to sketch a future that brings space activities into the human economy. Only now, perhaps, are we developing the plans, philosophy, and technological base to become a truly spacefaring civilization.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Spaceport America on Its Way
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority today announced it has selected a construction and design team to build the terminal and hangar for Spaceport America, a facility meant to be home to private spaceflight companies. Virgin Galactic, for example, plans to build its headquarters there.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, currently a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, has helped push the spaceport idea to the edge of concrete reality in his state, but he has not stressed any specific space policy in his presidential campaign. Perhaps that's because he doesn't think Americans are particularly interested in the subject. If he sees potential in the emerging private space industry, however, maybe he should put out a proposed national space policy and push it as he stumps around the country. Nothing he's said so far has gotten his poll numbers out of single digits.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, currently a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, has helped push the spaceport idea to the edge of concrete reality in his state, but he has not stressed any specific space policy in his presidential campaign. Perhaps that's because he doesn't think Americans are particularly interested in the subject. If he sees potential in the emerging private space industry, however, maybe he should put out a proposed national space policy and push it as he stumps around the country. Nothing he's said so far has gotten his poll numbers out of single digits.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
A Leaky Endeavour
NASA is trying to launch Space Shuttle Endeavour on another construction mission to the International Space Station, but before that can happen engineers need to track down a leak in the living area of the shuttle. Atmosphere is escaping from the shuttle cabin, or from the tube connecting the cabin to a SPACEHAB module to be carried in the payload bay. Engineers have not yet pinpointed the location of the leak, but they seem to be concentrating on the shuttle itself, not the SPACEHAB module. SPACEHAB is a private contractor based in Seattle that builds modules that supports scientific and commercially-oriented experiments.
This will be Endeavour's first flight since 2002. For those five years, it has been receiving upgrades to various systems. Endeavour, on paper, will be the fittest, most capable shuttle ever to fly-- just as soon as NASA can find and plug that leak.
This will be Endeavour's first flight since 2002. For those five years, it has been receiving upgrades to various systems. Endeavour, on paper, will be the fittest, most capable shuttle ever to fly-- just as soon as NASA can find and plug that leak.
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