The National Space Symposium is being held in Colorado Springs this year. The convention will bring together some 9,000 people from around the world who are engaged in the range of areas that now constitute mankind's involvement with space. Included are representatives from various government space agencies, private sector aerospace, NewSpace, the military, academia, etc.
The featured speaker will be today's Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Tightening The Focus On Mars
In the wake of budget cuts that have decimated its Mars exploration program, NASA is trying to formulate a smaller, less expensive approach to exploring the Red Planet. The focus of the new approach will be the search for Martian life-- either extinct life or, possibly, extant life.
Instead of multibillion dollar missions, NASA is asking for project proposals in the $500-$750 million range that would still be scientifically valuable and push forward the search for life. NASA wants the first mission under the new regime ready to fly by 2018 or 2020.
Instead of multibillion dollar missions, NASA is asking for project proposals in the $500-$750 million range that would still be scientifically valuable and push forward the search for life. NASA wants the first mission under the new regime ready to fly by 2018 or 2020.
Friday, April 13, 2012
North Korean Failure
North Korea attempted to launch a satellite yesterday, but the rocket failed soon after liftoff, and the vehicle crashed into the sea.
Several nations had protested the launch, seeing North Korea's space program as a cover for an effort to develop missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads to the United States, for example. The U. S. and North Korea, recall, are still technically at war. Upon confirmation of the attempt, President Obama stated that even though the mission failed the attempt still represented a threat to security. He therefore canceled the next shipment of food to North Korea. Almost certainly, that will harm people who have no control over what Pyongyang does.
In a break with the past, North Korean television informed its viewers of the rocket's failure. Maybe the new young ruler will have a different approach to governing-- or maybe acknowledging the failure is the requisite first step towards blaming others for it.
Several nations had protested the launch, seeing North Korea's space program as a cover for an effort to develop missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads to the United States, for example. The U. S. and North Korea, recall, are still technically at war. Upon confirmation of the attempt, President Obama stated that even though the mission failed the attempt still represented a threat to security. He therefore canceled the next shipment of food to North Korea. Almost certainly, that will harm people who have no control over what Pyongyang does.
In a break with the past, North Korean television informed its viewers of the rocket's failure. Maybe the new young ruler will have a different approach to governing-- or maybe acknowledging the failure is the requisite first step towards blaming others for it.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Expanding Universe
A new study looking at galaxies in the early universe gives added evidence that the universe is not only expanding, but that the expansion is accelerating.
That acceleration puzzles scientists. By adding up all the matter in the universe, physicists get to the conclusion that the acceleration should be slowing down; the gravity associated with all that mass should eventually pull the universe back into a Big Crunch. The observed facts say otherwise, however. In attempting to explain their observations, physicists have postulated the existence of dark energy. They don't know what it is, and can't detect it directly, but they need it to make their theory work.
In that way, dark energy might be similar to Einstein's cosmological constant. He included that factor in his equation describing the universe even he didn't understand why he needed it. Einstein eventually disavowed his cosmological constant. Now, however, it looks like something akin to the cosmological constant is in fact necessary.
The universe is a strange old place.
That acceleration puzzles scientists. By adding up all the matter in the universe, physicists get to the conclusion that the acceleration should be slowing down; the gravity associated with all that mass should eventually pull the universe back into a Big Crunch. The observed facts say otherwise, however. In attempting to explain their observations, physicists have postulated the existence of dark energy. They don't know what it is, and can't detect it directly, but they need it to make their theory work.
In that way, dark energy might be similar to Einstein's cosmological constant. He included that factor in his equation describing the universe even he didn't understand why he needed it. Einstein eventually disavowed his cosmological constant. Now, however, it looks like something akin to the cosmological constant is in fact necessary.
The universe is a strange old place.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
North Korea Conundrum
Perhaps later this week, North Korea will attempt to launch a rocket in what the nation insists is its space program. Most other governments, however, suspect North Korea is simply using the concept of a space program to cover the development of missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads to the U. S., for example. By all accounts, it already has nuclear bombs, though they would probably have to be miniaturized to fit atop a missile, which is another technological challenge.
Whatever North Korea's actual intent is, the fact is that rockets constitute a dual-use technology. Rockets can be used to open space, or to terrorize and destroy places on Earth. The fact also is that a nuclear missile attack on another nation would be suicidal for the Pyongyang regime. Hopefully, it will stick to building a space program if it insists on having rockets at all.
Whatever North Korea's actual intent is, the fact is that rockets constitute a dual-use technology. Rockets can be used to open space, or to terrorize and destroy places on Earth. The fact also is that a nuclear missile attack on another nation would be suicidal for the Pyongyang regime. Hopefully, it will stick to building a space program if it insists on having rockets at all.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Martian Elephant
NASA has released an image of a lava flow on the surface of Mars that looks surprisingly like the head of an elephant in profile, complete with a big ear, a little eye, and a trunk. Of course, that has nothing to do with Mars and everything to do with how the human mind seeks out patterns in nature, even if it has to make them up.
Mars especially has fostered such leaps of the human imagination. At the turn of the twentieth century, the astronomer Percival Lowell argued that there was an advanced civilization on Mars because he saw a network of canals stretching across Mars and connecting cities to the planet's polar caps. The problem was that nobody else saw Lowell's network. Decades later, a cottage industry grew up around a NASA image that seemed to show something like a human face on Mars alongside a pyramid complex. Under different lighting conditions, the face and pyramids looked like ordinary mesas.
In this political year, having found an elephant on Mars, let's see if NASA can also find a jackass.
Mars especially has fostered such leaps of the human imagination. At the turn of the twentieth century, the astronomer Percival Lowell argued that there was an advanced civilization on Mars because he saw a network of canals stretching across Mars and connecting cities to the planet's polar caps. The problem was that nobody else saw Lowell's network. Decades later, a cottage industry grew up around a NASA image that seemed to show something like a human face on Mars alongside a pyramid complex. Under different lighting conditions, the face and pyramids looked like ordinary mesas.
In this political year, having found an elephant on Mars, let's see if NASA can also find a jackass.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Putting Parameters On Technological Intelligence
For the first time in human history, scientists can realistically search for extraterrestrial life. We may find simple life nearby-- on Mars, Europa, Titan, Enceladus, and perhaps elsewhere. What most people really want to find, however, is advanced life, life we can marvel at, relate to, even communicate with.
Currently, the only way we can really search for that kind of life is through SETI, which is limited to turning up what we can call technological intelligence. A civilization might be vibrant and brilliant-- on the order of ancient Rome or China, or Europe before 1900-- but SETI will never find it. So, can we say anything about technological intelligence?
Well, we know it's possible, because we're here. We can say there's probably not another such civilization in our general neighborhood, else we'd probably know it by now. We can say no one civilizarion has yet spread throughout our galaxy, else we'd likely know it. So, we can begin to put some hard parameters on technological intelligence. The challenge now is to begin to tighten those parameters.
Currently, the only way we can really search for that kind of life is through SETI, which is limited to turning up what we can call technological intelligence. A civilization might be vibrant and brilliant-- on the order of ancient Rome or China, or Europe before 1900-- but SETI will never find it. So, can we say anything about technological intelligence?
Well, we know it's possible, because we're here. We can say there's probably not another such civilization in our general neighborhood, else we'd probably know it by now. We can say no one civilizarion has yet spread throughout our galaxy, else we'd likely know it. So, we can begin to put some hard parameters on technological intelligence. The challenge now is to begin to tighten those parameters.
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