Astronomy.com blog : NASA

NASA technology in your world

Karri Ferron — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:58:00 GMT

NASA recently released its 2009 edition of Spinoff, an annual publication that chronicles successfully commercialized NASA technology. It’s easy to get lost in the magazine or its Web counterpart.

The 2009 issue features 49 “spinoffs” in the areas of health and medicine; public safety; consumer, home, and recreation; environmental and agricultural resources; and more. I enjoyed many of them, but my favorites are the life rafts that use water to prevent the them from capsizing, the star-mapping tools used to track whale sharks, and the “anti-gravity” treadmill that now helps patients relearn to walk or run.

Also, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s lunar landing, the creators of the publication have also recapped how Apollo continues to provide tangible benefits to the lives of people in the United States and around the world.

Do you appreciate how NASA has given the technology it develops back to the public? Or do you think these commercialized products aren’t anything to write home about? Which 2009 spinoffs are your favorites?

Leaving Earth behind

Bill Andrews — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:03:00 GMT

The International Space Station may not inspire everyone with awe, but it has kept humanity consistently in space at all times for just over 9 years. NASA photo

I inadvertently let an anniversary slip by a few weeks ago. It wasn’t a major one (I’m not sleeping on the couch), but it was nifty enough that I wish I could have celebrated appropriately.

I refer, of course, to the ninth anniversary of the last day every human being was on Earth. On October 31, 2000, the first resident crew of the International Space Station (ISS) launched, and ever since at least two people have been in space at all times. It doesn’t quite break the continuously-off-the-Earth record (currently standing at 10 years, from 1989-1999, thanks to Russia’s Mir space station), but 9 years is still pretty impressive.

Just think: just more than 9 years ago might be the last time ever that all of humanity was located on a single planet. Sure, it’s not like the astronauts and cosmonauts traveled very far, and the ISS crew certainly can’t survive independently of Earth, but it’s still a first step for proving our species might not be tied to this planet forever.

To me, celebrating the last day of earthbound humanity is a little like celebrating Yuri’s Night on April 12, which commemorates Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 seminal flight into space. They both seem a little underwhelming as bases for celebration, until you think about how momentous they really were. In Yuri’s case, living beings possessed the ability to venture out of Earth’s grasp and return safely for the first time in billions of years. That’s just crazy! (Don’t even get me started on how unbelievable it is that there are people walking around who’ve actually set foot on the Moon.) Similarly, the last time all Homo sapiens were ever centrally located is a pretty shocking achievement for a species as fragile as us.

So next year (barring any unforeseen developments), I’ll definitely party for the decentralization of humanity’s big 1-0, and maybe you can join me. Maybe by then I’ll have figured out what an appropriate way to celebrate might be. Or a catchier name for the event.

Have any suggestions for the big party? Or do you think this is much ado about nothing, and mankind’s a long way off from real space travel?

This is the way the world ends

Bill Andrews — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:42:00 GMT

This isn’t going to happen in 2012! Baseless theories, like a proposed planetary alignment on the scale of this photo illustration, have led many to fear the year 2012 needlessly. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (NASA) photo

Rejoice, for the end is nigh. Not of the actual world, of course, but of 2012’s marketing campaign.

As you are no doubt aware, Roland Emmerich’s end-of-the-world epic, 2012, opened this weekend. As in Emmerich’s previous movies (Independence Day, Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow), 2012 features mass destruction and plucky everyday people who become heroes. But, whereas the destruction was somewhat limited before — even the aliens focused on large cities — the entire world now lies on the chopping block.

Infinitely worse, though, pseudo-scientific ads and posters featuring a fictional (but very realistic) Institute for Human Continuity were part of the movie’s ad campaign, making people think the world really might end in 2012. And being in charge of correspondence here at Astronomy magazine, I bore the brunt of many letters asking about the supposed planetary alignment, or the phantom Planet X/Nibiru impact, or why we help NASA cover up the facts that point to planetary destruction. This meant the movie 2012 went from “seems dumb, but it might be fun to watch” to “I hate this movie” pretty quickly for me.

And apparently I’m not the only one. NASA set up a web page explaining, “Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012.” While that sure is nice of them, isn’t it a little sad that NASA has to go on record and officially let people know these random Internet rumors and hoaxes aren’t true? Do people really need to be reminded that what happens in movies isn’t necessarily true?

So, basically I want to know: Did you see or do you plan on seeing 2012? Given my personal animosity, you may be able to predict my response, but the reviews aren’t making it sound that great either. One thing’s for sure, though. Once the movie’s been out a while, the ads will stop, and my life will get a lot easier. For about a year and a half, anyway.

Kids: Learn about Apollo 11 from the experts

Karri Ferron — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:25:00 GMT

Next week (November 16–20), NASA’s Digital Learning Network will host a series of videoconferences with NASA employees who had a special connection with Apollo 11 to let students hear firsthand accounts from people who made the lunar landing possible. The 1-hour programs will be held each day at 1 p.m. EST from a different NASA location and will be webcast to the public. The schedule will run as follows:

Monday: (from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virgina) Explore the work of aerospace pioneer John Houbolt, and learn how a young engineer convinced his boss that lunar exploration would be possible only if something called “Lunar Orbit Rendezvous” was used as the passageway to the Moon.

Tuesday: (from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama) Learn how a rocket taller than the Statue of Liberty was constructed and why it tipped the scale of the space race in favor of the United States.

Wednesday: (from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida) Discover America’s spaceport, where the Apollo 11 astronauts made their final preparations before counting down to launch on the fastest rocket in the world, the Saturn V.

Thursday: (from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston) Learn more about the home of the astronaut corps and take a peek inside NASA's Mission Control Center, the setting of communication with Apollo 11 astronauts.

Friday: (from NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California) Discover how NASA may one day return to the Moon and explore the universe beyond with the Constellation Program.

Are we boldly going places?

Bill Andrews — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:55:00 GMT

NASA’s done a good job getting us into space, but should it work harder on convincing people why that’s a good idea? NASA photo

Chances are you’ll recognize the phrase, “To boldly go,” as part of the monologue introducing each episode of Star Trek. I’ve heard it called the most famous split infinitive in the English language, and whatever a person’s science knowledge or familiarity with Star Trek, they’ll usually recognize “To boldly go — where no one has gone before.”

Jeremy McCarter argues in “Rocket Men,” a story in the November 9 issue of Newsweek, that we need more of Star Trek’s ilk. He says a big factor in NASA’s past successes was the public’s general fascination with space, thanks to TV shows and popular books. He quotes from the book Rocket Men (2009) that “all three of rocketry's founding fathers read From the Earth to the Moon, and it changed the course of their lives.” To really get the population excited about space, he says, we need to show space once again as a backdrop for excitement, drama, and adventure, and not just the place where killer asteroids, aliens, and lousy movies come from.

Now, half the fun of the article was renewing my geek cred as McCarter listed off popular depictions of space. I agreed with almost all his characterizations, especially his praise for the underappreciated TV show Firefly and its movie sequel, Serenity. And while I can’t lay claim to having seen The Empire Strikes Back “several hundred” times, as he does, I once performed in a musical adaptation of it.

But, more than simply agreeing about classic sci-fi, I agreed with everything else McCarter said too. If we really want to go out and conquer the stars — or even just the nearest planets and their moons — we need a public that thinks it’s a good idea. Science and a sense of adventure have historically gone hand in hand, and if that isn’t clear to us anymore, someone has messed up. NASA does a pretty good job of keeping folks amused with its videos and tweets, but amusing is a long way from astounding, mesmerizing, or even just super cool.

I’m probably not an expert on super cool (see Star Wars musical reference, above), but I know Star Trek, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels, and Contact helped get me interested in space, and I’m definitely not the only one. NASA’s been going into space for a few decades now, but perhaps it’s time it start boldly going.

Did any movies, books, or TV shows inspire you to get into space? Do you think NASA’s doing a fine enough job right now, thank you very much? Or do you (impossibly) think Firefly wasn’t that good?

Approach of the robot armada!

Bill Andrews — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:23:00 GMT

In this artist’s illustration, an orbiter works together with blimps and rovers to explore an unfamiliar landscape. NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory photo

Wolfgang Fink has a dream straight out of science fiction: Instead of sending a paltry robot or two to distant planets, scientists should send multiple expendable robots. Robots that can talk to one another and adapt to unexpected events. Robots that can think.

Creepy as that might sound to some, it’s really just the next step in space exploration, according to Fink, visiting associate in physics at the California Institute of Technology and a professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“This armada of robots,” Fink said, “will be our eyes, ears, arms and legs in space, in the air, and on the ground, capable of responding to their environment without us, to explore and embrace the unknown."

In particular, he thinks such a plan would be perfect for studying Saturn’s moon Titan, with its mysterious geological features and complex weather systems. (Of course, this armada also could work on any other body scientists wish to study, such as Mars or Venus.) Fink and his team are working on robots that would do the work of a field geologist or astronaut, and they’d be able to work alone or as part of a team. Current proposals already exist for these robots to explore Titan, calling specifically for a lunar orbiter, an air balloon, and several rovers.

"We are basically heading toward making robots that command other robots," said Fink. "It's sort of like commanding a small army of robots operating in space, in the air, and on the ground simultaneously."

Now, this is all pretty clever, and the fact that actual scientists can legitimately suggest such robots is just more proof that we’re living in the future. But to refer to such a futuristic concept (particularly reminiscent of a finger-twiddling robot in Isaac Asimov’s story “Catch That Rabbit”) with the anachronistic term “armada” is truly genius. I mean, can you think of anything catchier than “The robot armada”?

Ares I-X finally reaches T-minus-zero

Matt Quandt — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:42:00 GMT

Three days ago, Contributing Editor Mike Reynolds wrote his first in what will be a series of blogs about meteorites and meteorite collecting. While we talked with Mike about that first piece, we learned that he was going to attend the Ares I-X launch. In this entry, he shares what it was like to witness Wednesday’s successful test flight. Mike also took photos of the event, and we'll post those with this entry soon.

Ares I-X lifted off from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center after a number of countdown starts and stops over 2 days. The flight appears to be a success, and we await the data from the myriad of probes on the rocket.

This is a big rocket! Going out to the pad the night before the first launch attempt October 27 underscored what everyone had been saying about Ares. Not only did the size surprise me at a height of 327.4 feet (100 meters), but the mock-up Orion and Escape Tower caught me off guard. Like most, I have seen illustrations and mock-ups of Orion. But at first glance at the pad Monday night, it looked like a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and escape tower!

I felt the frustrations of the Ares I-X launch team on both days. With a 4-hour launch window Tuesday, all felt optimistic a launch would happen. The Florida weather was, well, Florida weather: unpredictable. It was approaching 90° Fahrenheit and muggy. NASA had specific weather conditions for this mission that included flying through no clouds and maximum wind velocities. The no-cloud issue was due to the concern that as Ares I-X would pass through clouds, static electricity would build up and damage the instrumentation packages. The wind issue is a normal condition for launches; 20 knots maximum in the case of Ares I-X. Even though I enjoyed the breeze as I waited — and waited, and waited — I knew conditions were not right.

For the Tuesday launch attempt, a variety of problems came up. First the launch team was behind in pre-launch preparations. Weather dynamics came and went: green (go for launch) to red (no-go). Then there was the now-infamous tarp issue:

There is a series of probes mounted in the top of the rocket. To expose these probes for flight, the launch team would pull on a lanyard to remove a tarp at the top of Ares I-X. Note that the gantry did not go up to the top of the rocket. So when they pulled on the lanyard, the tarp became stuck! This caused another delay. By the time the tarp was finally free, the weather was green and go. At that point launch security “found” a cargo carrier ship in the splashdown zone. How was it allowed to get into that closed zone in the first place? So another delay. By the time the cargo carrier was out of the splashdown zone, the weather was red and no-go, and the Ares I-X launch attempt was scrubbed for the day.

On Wednesday, October 28, the Rotating Service Structure rollback was a little late. Weather was again an issue. The Ares I-X launch team kept pushing back the launch time. I thought we were in for a repeat of the previous day. Finally, all was a go, and Ares I-X screamed off the pad.

I didn’t know what exactly to expect, even though I’ve covered launches all the way back to 1975, including the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and Apollos 11 and 17.

I was surprised at how quickly Ares I-X pitched over — I thought something had gone wrong. Since this was a ballistic lob, there was no need for a straight up then pitch over. The flight was short and sweet, accompanied by a loud cheer from the press site. The launch was fairly noisy, as we’ve grown accustomed to with the shuttle. Separation of the Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) first stage was different than that of the shuttle because it separated from a mock-up second stage and Orion. The SRBs on the shuttle fall away from the External Tank.

The Ares I-X launch was spectacular. The question now is: Will this be Ares’ only launch?

Mad scientists’ revenge?

Bill Andrews — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:57:00 GMT

Stewart David Nozette, later arrested by the FBI for attempted espionage, worked on the LRO’s Mini-RF hardware. NASA Photo

We here at Astronomy magazine try to stay out of politics as much as we can because, after all, astronomy can be plenty controversial on its own — Pluto, anyone?. But sometimes, we just can’t help it. Take, for instance, the case of Stewart David Nozette (pictured at right), the former NASA scientist who was arrested October 19 for allegedly trying to sell government secrets.

This illustration shows NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) over the lunar surface, with the Mini-RF antenna attached to its Moon-facing panel. The scientist who worked on the Mini-RF, Stewart David Nozette, was arrested for attempted espionage on Monday. NASA Photo

Nozette worked on both the Chandrayaan-1 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions that made recent headlines with discoveries of water on the Moon. He also worked at some pretty high-level government organizations, including the Air Force's Phillips Laboratory (now a part of the Air Force Research Laboratory), the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (now called the Missile Defense Agency), the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He even went to MIT, the most well-known villain-training school ever (and my alma mater).

Allegedly, Nozette tried selling secrets to an undercover FBI agent posing as an Israeli spy, for a grand total of $11,000. But at least that’s not all the money his alleged espionage may have gotten him — the FBI says he worked for an Israeli aerospace company that paid him $225,000 in the last 11 years. It doesn’t look particularly good for Nozette right now — if convicted he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Coming so fast after the October 9 arrest of a CERN physicist for suspected links with al-Qaeda, I wonder if we’re not seeing the rise of the real-life mad scientist. Usually, I’ve found, people think of scientists as one of two stereotypes: the absent-minded, stuffy, but generally harmless lab-coat wearer, and the evil genius who either wants to become immorally rich or rule the world. I’ve only met a few scientists who fits either description perfectly, but it seems Nozette might come close to the latter. Maybe he just got tired of being thought of as the former? Either way, I think we can all agree this probably is not the best way to dissuade the public of its stereotypical notions.

So what do you think? Happy that scientists are taking a stand and showing the world they’re not all harmless old eccentrics? Or horrified that a member of your favorite lunar mission might turn out to be a spy?

Behind the scenes of Hubble 3D IMAX movie

Bill Andrews — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:17:00 GMT

STS-125 astronauts Mike Massimino (lower left) and Mike Good (right, on arm) rehearse Hubble Space Telescope repairs in NASA’s NBL in this IMAX footage from Hubble 3D. NASA photo

Toni Myers is my kind of big-time Hollywood director. She’s worked on such famous space-themed IMAX movies as Space Station 3D, Destiny in Space, and 1985’s The Dream is Alive. I remember seeing Dream is Alive when I was just a kid, and it played no small role in my fascination with the skies. She’s also the director, writer, and editor of the upcoming IMAX movie Hubble 3D, due to be widely released in IMAX theaters March 19, 2010. Even though she’s still hard at work editing, I talked to Myers recently about NASA, movies, and the tyranny of deadlines. Here are some of the highlights, slightly edited for clarity.

Astronomy: What made you start making movies about space?

Myers: Well, at the time of the first IMAX space film, I was part of a team founded by Graeme Ferguson (the co-inventor of IMAX). When the IMAX projector was put in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Mike Collins, the director at that time [and an Apollo 11 astronaut] saw IMAX and said, “This is the medium. This is the only thing that can really convey what we experienced.”

Graeme heard that loud and clear. We’d made other films on other topics before, but once he heard [how Collins felt] we launched a campaign to try and get the IMAX camera into space. That was the start of actually making films in space, and it was really spearheaded by Graeme, who founded the unit.

IMAX camera operator Peter Kragh (left) films STS-125 astronauts Mike Good (foreground) and Mike Massimino (to the right inside the Hubble mock-up) as they rehearse Hubble repair activities at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) in Houston, Texas. NASA photo

Astronomy: Have you ever wanted to branch out beyond space and try making other types of movies?

Myers: We do do other films, though we seem to specialize in airless environments. Our units have produced three 3-D underwater films. We make those in collaboration with a very wonderful cinematographer/director by the name of Howard Hall, and we first made one in 1994, Into the Deep. That’s an adventure of a different kind in a different direction. But we do seem to come back to space a lot. One thing just leads to another, and it is a topic of endless fascination. I’d love to go myself!

Astronomy: Speaking of going to space, you must work pretty closely with NASA to make these films. What’s that like?

Myers: The collaboration has been absolutely wonderful, right from the beginning. We supply the training and the cameras and the filmmaking expertise; NASA supplies the astronauts and the spacecraft. I think NASA could see right away how these films bring an experience that is only the privilege of a small sector of people to absolutely everybody, from the age of 3 to 103. Actually, I think the biggest fans of the films are the NASA engineers and crews because they’re seeing things in the film that they don’t get to see normally. There’s a level of detail that isn’t readily available anywhere else. Even when we saw the first footage come back for The Dream is Alive, all of us sat absolutely jaws-on-the-floor at seeing what the Earth looked like 6 stories high. It was absolutely like being there.

Astronomy: With your latest film, Hubble 3D, are you focusing on the science the Hubble Space Telescope has done, or the story of getting it to work, or something else entirely?

Myers: There will be some early material of its original deployment in space, and we’ll track the story a little bit about the flawed mirror and the first service mission. But the main mission that we’ll focus on is last May’s STS-125, which is the last service mission. We also plan several flights through Hubble data, which we’re animating in 3-D — for instance, one is from Earth right to the heart of the Orion Nebula. We basically want to allow people all over the world to see some splendid examples of how Hubble has changed our whole idea of what our universe is. But, it won’t be everything, that’s for sure!

Hopefully, as with some of the other films, we can inspire people to pursue a career in astronomy. An example of that – totally unexpected by us – is when Susan Helms was going to be one of the first permanent “inmates” of the International Space Station. She was interviewed on the Today show, and they asked her what had inspired her to become an astronaut, and she said, “The IMAX film The Dream is Alive.” We didn’t plan that one, believe me! You can’t begin to cover all the science there is on any given topic in 40 minutes. What you can do is really open people’s eyes as to what is out there. Our goal is to have people leaving the theater wanting to know more.

In this footage from the upcoming film Hubble 3D, Astronaut Andrew Feustel transfers the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement unit from the telescope to its temporary stowage position in the space shuttle Atlantis cargo bay. NASA photo

Astronomy: Do you know what your next project might be?

Myers: I actually don’t. We were doing our last underwater film, Under the Sea 3D, in conjunction with this one, so the two films were going in parallel for about 18 months. I haven’t had a minute to think forward. I should, but I think my biggest challenge right now is getting this one finished. I’d love to do more space films, and there are lots of science films that are very interesting. But I really just have been so totally immersed in this I haven’t given it much thought.

Astronomy: Maybe a vacation’s in order?

Myers: Uh, yeah! That always looms as a nice thing, but then you start worrying, “Well I better get the next project going!” You know how it goes with deadlines.

Astronomy: A little too well, in fact. On that note, then, my last question: Anything else you’d like to add?

Myers: I’d like to say that the crew of the final repair mission (STS-125) was absolutely superb in terms of the work they did. They had an incredibly difficult mission in terms of the intricacies of what they had to do outside on their spacewalks, and I’m in awe of what they accomplished. Also, we wouldn’t be doing this film if it weren’t for Warner Brothers. Going into space was a new adventure for them, and I’m just so thrilled that they wanted to do it. So I do want to give them credit for agreeing to launch with us to the stars!

And finally, I just wanted to highlight the fact that I think the legacy of Hubble itself is absolutely astonishing. Every time I look at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and some of those gravitational lens photos and things, it’s just life altering, isn’t it? I think a lot of people haven’t had that experience, and I hope this film gives them a little bit of it.

Astronomy contributing editor attends White House star party

Matt Quandt — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:53:00 GMT

Special guest blog from Contributing Editor Martin Ratcliffe

President Barack Obama and his family joined 150 school children, dozens of amateur astronomers, professional scientists, and education and public outreach professionals Wednesday night during the Star Party at the White House. And how cool was this? “Cool” doesn’t even come close. I was lucky to be a part of the exciting events running one of the planetarium domes set up on the South Lawn of the White House.

Thirty of us spent most of the day setting up for the 2-hour evening event. And weather cooperated except for some strong winds during the daytime. A more perfect night could not have been achieved, with crystal clear skies of the nation’s capital.

Crater impact experiments and samples of Moon rock provided great activities to highlight today’s LCROSS impact on the Moon. Many telescopes ranging from 2 to 18 inches were available. Dr. Stephen Pompea demonstrated the 2-inch Galileoscope, and he showed me a great view of Jupiter’s moons. Dean Koenig of the Starizona company brought his amazing f/2 Fastar imaging system, which showed one group of children a quick image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) right after they had seen M31 in my planetarium dome. The teacher had asked if they could see M31 directly, and I suggested they visit the Fastar scope and ask for a CCD image, and they saw it in all its glorious detail.

This unique night included special guests such as astronaut John Grunsfeld (Hubble servicing mission), Sally Ride (first American woman in space), Buzz Aldrin (second man on the Moon), and Charlie Bolden (NASA administrator, who helped launch Hubble from the cargo bay of the space shuttle).

White House staffers said presidents are not known to spend much time at events on the South Lawn. The Obamas spent more than an hour at the event, and the family showed a great deal of interest. They looked through telescopes at Jupiter and the Moon, and after his formal remarks, the president and first lady viewed the famous Double-Double in Lyra. As readers of Astronomy magazine know well, these objects are star party favorites.

Two planetarium domes were there, one supplied by Sky-Skan, Inc., a major digital planetarium supplier, and a second from Goddard Space Flight Center. The Obama family, daughters included, climbed into the Sky-Skan dome along with 25 school children, and they spent 10 minutes flying around the solar system and asked interesting questions. With two girls of my own, I know how important it is to expose your kids to science, and astronomy is a great way to do it. It was a great privilege to present the planetarium show for the president’s family, huddled as we were inside the 25-foot diameter dome.

Providing a cosmic perspective to young children is fun, engaging, and important, and bringing astronomy to the nation’s attention for a brief moment Wednesday night was the highlight of nearly 6 months of behind-the-scenes work by NASA educators, who, following encouragement from IYA organizers and many individuals to host a star party at the White House, were called in by the White House to plan the event.

Martin Ratcliffe, in addition to being a contributing editor to Astronomy magazine, is also Director of Professional Development for Sky-Skan.