Astronaut for Hire

Terraforming Mars

11/14/2009 01:38:00 PM

The big news yesterday was NASA's annoucement that LCROSS definitely exhumed water in its October 9 impact into the Moon. That's good news because it confirms the presence of water on our closest neighbor. This means we have a ready source of hydrogen, oxygen, and water for rocket fuel and life support. It makes the prospect of establishing a permanent human base on the Moon much more feasible. Almost every space blog seems to have written something about this landmark discovery, so I won't repeat it here (The New York Times had a nice article.) Congratulations to the LCROSS team!

One day in the hopefully not-too-distant future we'll have a permanent research base on the Moon, but it'll likely be operated much like McMurdo Station, Antarctica is here on Earth. It'll require frequent resupply of life's necessities, and in the event of emergencies, people can leave. The Moon will probably never support a large human civilization, but Mars could be another story if we're willing to make a few changes there.

This week is the National Geographic Channel's (NGC) second annual Expedition Week. It features some interesting programs like Drain the Ocean, Giant Crystal Cave, Easter Island Underworld, Bizarre Dinosaurs, and Egyptian Secrets of the Afterlife. Any series with "Expedition" in the title grabs my attention, but I was particularly drawn to one of the series' other offerings: Mars: Making the New Earth, which will air on Thursday, November 19. That happens to also be my son's second birthday, so now I have two reasons to look forward to the date! The show is all about how and why humans could transform Mars into a habitable planet. You can watch a promotional clip of the program here:

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Billions and Billions of Worlds

11/07/2009 11:02:00 PM

In observance of the first annual Carl Sagan Day honoring the late, great astronomer and communicator, I'd like to share an inspiring link to a 360-degree panorama of the cosmos titled "One thousand billion worlds" by acclaimed astrophotographer Serge Brunier. Click the link to view full screen, wait for the Flash file to load in your browser, and enjoy exploring the heavens in any direction on the celestial sphere. It's almost as much fun as Google Sky.

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A tsunami kind of month

11/04/2009 11:14:00 PM

With last month's earthquakes and tsunamis in Samoa on Sept. 29 and Vanuatu on Oct. 7, the spotlight has been on my workplace. The Samoa event produced the first tsunami casualties on American soil since the 1975 Hawaii tsunami. 34 people died in American Samoa and about 160 more in neighboring Samoa. This has spurred a lot of recent visits by the news media, school groups, concerned citizens, and several government review panels. The tsunamis were also popular on Twitter. I usually keep this blog focused on my astronaut aspirations, but today I'll break tradition and write about my job.

For the uninitiated, I work as a Geophysicist at NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. I have been here 4 years and in that time have gained a great deal of experience during more than 10 significant tsunami events.  Founded in 1949, PTWC was the world's first tsunami warning center.  Since the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the tsunami warning system has been expanding rapidly.  At PTWC, we now serve about 130 countries, states, or territories in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Caribbean Sea.

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"Mars" Redux

10/23/2009 10:46:00 PM

I'm going back to Mars! Or at least a close approximation of it. This time, instead of the Canadian arctic, I'll be headed to the Utah desert.

There must be truth in advertising because this blog's title says it all. I was just asked to command the 89th crew to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah from January 24 through February 7 next year. To get a flavor for the simulated Mars habitat and its surroundings, you can view some recent photos of MDRS taken by Popular Science or read their conversation with Robert Zubrin about how to live in Mars.

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Looking Back to Look Forward

10/22/2009 04:40:00 PM

Today is a big day for the space exploration community. The Augustine Commission has released its full report, which substantiates their positions made in the summary report last month. I haven't read the report yet, but reviews are already popping up all over the blogosphere. Universe Today and SpaceRef provide great overviews. Space Politics and Space Policy Online collected some of the initial reactions from members of Congress. New Scientist took an interesting approach by numerically ranking the five alternatives presented by the Commission. Now, the Obama administration must consider the alternatives and choose the future path of America's human space exploration program. Wired offered some encouraging insight into the Obama administration's likely support, but his decision might not come until February. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin wrote a particularly moving plea to the President to think big and select the Flexible Path Option. Aldrin recently also advocated an international public-private partnership for developing the Moon.

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Saving the World

10/15/2009 04:30:00 PM

Most astronauts have transformative experiences while viewing the Earth as a fragile oasis in space. NASA's famous 1972 Apollo 17 photo of the entire Earth helped bring a part of that experience to everyday citizens and in the process sparked the modern environmental movement. A more recent photo of the Earth and Moon as seen from Mars further emphasizes just how isolated the Earth is compared to the larger universe:

Today, I join over 13,000 other bloggers around the world in observing Blog Action Day as part of Earth Science Week. The purpose of Blog Action Day is to generate discussion about climate change, which is the single biggest threat to life on Earth. Although I could stress the doom and gloom scenarios of what could happen if we continue on a business as usual path, this post will take a more optimistic view. Public favor and political will towards sustainable living are on the rise, and I believe we are poised on the precipice of a new age characterized by a more enlightened and responsible relationship with our home planet.

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Meeting Astronaut Yvonne Cagle

10/10/2009 05:14:00 PM

Today was a good day because I got to meet an astronaut. Dr. Yvonne Cagle spoke to kids at the ʻEwa Beach Children's Fun Day held at Holomua Elementary School. Dr. Cagle is currently assigned to NASA’s Ames Research Center, where she serves as Program Manager for the Commercial Suborbital Research Program and strategic liaison to Silicon Valley partners. Here is a photo of her and me:

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These ASCANS are Chumps

10/09/2009 08:23:00 PM

NASA's new crop of astronauts has been affectionately nicknamed the "Chumps" by the previous 2004 astronaut class. This continues a long-standing tradition whereby the previous class of astronauts nicknames the new astronaut candidates, collectSPACE reports.

   

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SpaceShipOne Plus 5

10/04/2009 01:08:00 AM

Today is October 4. On this date back in 1957, the world changed when the USSR launched Sputnik 1 into orbit. History was made again on October 4, 2004 when SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE by being the first private spacecraft to reach suborbital space twice in the span of a week. I was there in St. Louis in 2004 as Burt Rutan received the award, and it made an indelible impression upon me. Below is a photo of me with Rutan as well as autographs I collected from him and other members of the Mojave Aerospace Ventures team who built the spacecraft.

  

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NASA Offers Glimpse of ASCAN Training

9/24/2009 12:40:00 PM

Earlier today The Researcher News (NASA Langely's newspaper) published a story featuring a tour the 2009 ASCAN Class took of facilities at the Langley Research Center. The class learned about Langley's work in aeronautics, atmospheric science, and flight test hardware at the National Transonic Facility and the NASA Engineering and Safety Center. They also visited the Rendezvous Docking Simulator, which is the only surviving docking training simulator from the Gemini and Apollo eras.

The announcement included a video (2 min 25 sec) from the tour and interviews with ASCANs Jack Fischer (who has previously been a guest author on this blog here and here) and Reid Wiseman. Near the end of the video, Wiseman sums up the ASCAN life:

It's awesome so far. Absolutely fantastic. Way better than I had imagined. - Reid Wiseman

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