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To accomplish these migrations, people have had to live off the land by hunting for food, gathering building materials, and mining resources needed for survival.  It just wouldn't be practical or economical to bring everything you need with you.  Space is the same way.  Like on Earth, we will have to learn to use materials found in the space environment to become permanent residents of the extraterrestrial realm, rather than \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/cm\/blog\/analogsfieldtesting\/posts\/post_1342721729941.html\"\u003Etemporary campers\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-QSL4XLEKnPU\/UBSpxgRsZPI\/AAAAAAAABuk\/RKz2ZDCh1Vo\/s1600\/RESOLVE_logo.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"161\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-QSL4XLEKnPU\/UBSpxgRsZPI\/AAAAAAAABuk\/RKz2ZDCh1Vo\/s200\/RESOLVE_logo.png\" width=\"150\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\nAs I mentioned in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2012\/07\/a-resolve-to-mine-moon.html\"\u003Elast post\u003C\/a\u003E, I went to Hawai'i Island last week to take part in NASA's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/isru\/index.html\"\u003Ein situ resource utilization\u003C\/a\u003E (ISRU) lunar rover field testing, facilitated by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.uhh.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPISCES\u003C\/a\u003E) on the flank of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mauna_Kea\"\u003EMauna Kea\u003C\/a\u003E. The mission simulation \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/cm\/blog\/analogsfieldtesting\/posts\/post_1343767437112.html\"\u003Esuccessfully showed\u003C\/a\u003E that a rover arriving on the surface of the Moon can find and verify the existence of subsurface water ice within a 5-7 day timeframe expected for a lunar polar mission. NASA is gearing up to fly this prospecting mission around 2017 to confirm the presence of water ice and other volatiles. Once we know for sure that there is accessible water on the Moon, the next step will be designing more sophisticated missions to harvest the resource on a larger scale to make consumables that will drive down the cost of space exploration.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis field campaign consisted of two projects carried out at two nearby Mauna Kea locations. The main project was \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/isru.nasa.gov\/3rd_Field_Test.html\"\u003ERESOLVE\u003C\/a\u003E, which stands for \"Regolith and Environment Science \u0026amp; Oxygen and Lunar Volatiles Extraction.\" RESOLVE represents the third generation of ISRU technologies previously tested in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/hawaii_analog_2008.html\"\u003E2008\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/kennedy\/exploration\/hawaii_testing.html\"\u003E2010\u003C\/a\u003E. This time, the systems were completely integrated onto one rover, which was remotely controlled  with lunar-like communications, power, and other operational constraints.  NASA conducted the demonstration as if it were a real mission with control centers in Hawaii, Texas, Florida, and Canada, along with an additional \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/cm\/blog\/mission-ames\/posts\/post_1342737399087.html\"\u003Escience backroom\u003C\/a\u003E in California.  The Hawaii control center was a bustling room with about 30 people sitting at computer terminals in constant communication working on an array of tasks to keep the systems running smoothly.  Here I am sitting at the real-time science desk.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-DIk38jiu3Y4\/UBTeEfKPYEI\/AAAAAAAABvA\/XysGR2-eLb4\/s1600\/RESOLVE_control_room.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-DIk38jiu3Y4\/UBTeEfKPYEI\/AAAAAAAABvA\/XysGR2-eLb4\/s320\/RESOLVE_control_room.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KfI6WHJxZKs\/UBSoTLCipfI\/AAAAAAAABuA\/lFf30ZZ78sg\/s1600\/RESOLVE_control.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KfI6WHJxZKs\/UBSoTLCipfI\/AAAAAAAABuA\/lFf30ZZ78sg\/s320\/RESOLVE_control.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003ENASA conducted the 9-day RESOLVE field operations at Pu'u Haiwahine, which is located about a mile west of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Onizuka_Center_for_International_Astronomy\"\u003EHale Pōhaku\u003C\/a\u003E about 9000 feet in elevation.  It's a very dusty place with volcanic ash deposits that resemble lunar basaltic plains - at least it did after we cleared away all of the grass and brush.  As part of the PISCES field logistics team, one of my jobs was helping move vegetation and large rocks from the planned rover traverses. The plants were non-native invasive species, so we were actually doing the ecosystem a favor by clearing them.  The PISCES crew and I also helped map out and deploy RESOLVE drilling targets, ensured the generators kept running, facilitated local transport of equipment, and otherwise kept the field operation running smoothly.  It was invigorating being outdoors in the picturesque setting supporting the operation of the state-of-the-art prototype lunar rover.  Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of the Pu'u Haiwahine field camp where I worked most of the time.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Xgpoi_lMZ7M\/UBTg6nyBzyI\/AAAAAAAABvc\/R2DcriGhVxg\/s1600\/RESOLVE_tent.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-Xgpoi_lMZ7M\/UBTg6nyBzyI\/AAAAAAAABvc\/R2DcriGhVxg\/s320\/RESOLVE_tent.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-4FU-VKAnd6Y\/UBSo0Oz456I\/AAAAAAAABuM\/PPAxLCC1MkE\/s1600\/RESOLVE_camp.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-4FU-VKAnd6Y\/UBSo0Oz456I\/AAAAAAAABuM\/PPAxLCC1MkE\/s320\/RESOLVE_camp.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Artemis Jr. rover, built by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.newhamburgindependent.ca\/news\/ontario-drive-and-gears-lunar-rover-to-scale-new-heights-for-nasa-this-week\/\"\u003EOntario Drive and Gear\u003C\/a\u003E for the Canadian Space Agency, carried the RESOLVE payload.  Moving at a clip of 10 centimeters per second, the rover's neutron spectrometer continuously looked for hydrogren in the regolith below. When it located a \"hot spot\" of interest, the rover scientists would instigate a search pattern to locate the maximum neutron anomaly where they would then drill. The drill (made by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.norcat.org\/\"\u003ENORCAT\u003C\/a\u003E) takes up to an hour to reach 1 meter in depth, which is the maximum target for this mission. You can view a time-lapse video of the drill in action \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/TMrYlOcOET0\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.  A near infrared spectrometer points at the drill site to continuously take spectra, which the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/cm\/blog\/mission-ames\/posts\/post_1342737399087.html\"\u003Escience team\u003C\/a\u003E can use to interpret minerology. Core samples taken with the drill are deposited into the RESOLVE \"OVEN\" (Oxygen and Volatile Extraction Node), which cooks them to 150°C. This is enough to drive off the water and volatiles for further collection and analysis by a gas chromatograph known as \"LAVA\" (Lunar Advanced Volatile Analysis). A mock lander housed communication and laser-based survey equipment to monitor the rover's position relative to the lander. The rover also has stereo cameras to observe the terrain and help it autonomously avoid obstacles.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-zkqZaQxtCl0\/UBSpXWxNfHI\/AAAAAAAABuY\/HhfhWuFo_Qs\/s1600\/RESOLVE_ArtemisJr_rover.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-zkqZaQxtCl0\/UBSpXWxNfHI\/AAAAAAAABuY\/HhfhWuFo_Qs\/s320\/RESOLVE_ArtemisJr_rover.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KGEcykOLMio\/UBTjVuF8c1I\/AAAAAAAABvw\/Vzkz8Aikze4\/s1600\/RESOLVE_lander_rover.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-KGEcykOLMio\/UBTjVuF8c1I\/AAAAAAAABvw\/Vzkz8Aikze4\/s320\/RESOLVE_lander_rover.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe second project dealt more specifically with testing instruments to answer science questions through NASA's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/nspires.nasaprs.com\/external\/solicitations\/summary.do?method=init\u0026amp;solId=%7B41BBFB9D-67A0-8B94-FC75-0CECBC362E50%7D\u0026amp;path=open\"\u003EMMAMA\u003C\/a\u003E program (Moon Mars Analog Mission Activities). Canada once again built the rover (named Juno 2), and individual principal investigators from different institutions in the U.S. and Germany supplied the instruments to test on it.  The payloads carried by Juno 2 were \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/vapor-fieldtesting.blogspot.com\/\"\u003EVAPoR\u003C\/a\u003E (Volatile Analysis by Pyrolsis of Regolith), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/IzFvfLCcWak\"\u003EMeSH\u003C\/a\u003E (Mechanized Sample Processing and Handling System), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/adsabs.harvard.edu\/abs\/2010cosp...38..501K\"\u003EMIMOS IIA\u003C\/a\u003E (Miniaturized Mössbauer Spectrometer and X-RAY Fluorescence Spectrometer), and a mapping system comprised of a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/csBcv48ELP0\"\u003EGPR\u003C\/a\u003E (ground-penetrating radar) and magnetometer.  MIMOS IIA, MeSH, and VAPoR all help determine the mineral and chemical composition of the regolith, while the GPR provided geophysical maps of the subsurface.  Having previously worked on another \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/07\/lunar-science-forum.html\"\u003Eplanetary analog GPR project\u003C\/a\u003E, I was very eager to contribute to that part of the MMAMA field campaign.  However, my PISCES field logistics duties prevented me from interfacing much with the MMAMA team until their last day of operation, but that was enough for me to initiate a dialog with the GPR project \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.si.edu\/ofg\/Staffhp\/MegonigalP.htm\"\u003Elead\u003C\/a\u003E on future collaboration opportunities. Here are some photos of the MMAMA Juno 2 rover with the MIMOS IIA (left) and GPR (right) deployed.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-bILT5xigymk\/UBTsXaUkeZI\/AAAAAAAABwU\/2rv25z9antY\/s1600\/MMAMA_Juno2_MIMOS.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-bILT5xigymk\/UBTsXaUkeZI\/AAAAAAAABwU\/2rv25z9antY\/s320\/MMAMA_Juno2_MIMOS.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-xST5QDTGlBY\/UBTsVaEWTtI\/AAAAAAAABwM\/N8VgT2wJbPk\/s1600\/MMAMA_Juno2_GPR.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-xST5QDTGlBY\/UBTsVaEWTtI\/AAAAAAAABwM\/N8VgT2wJbPk\/s320\/MMAMA_Juno2_GPR.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe MMAMA test site is situated about 13,000 feet elevation within the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mauna_Kea_Ice_Age_Reserve\"\u003EMauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve\u003C\/a\u003E.  It has informally been dubbed \"Apollo Valley\" as a reference to the fact that NASA astronauts \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/history.nasa.gov\/SP-350\/ch-7-8.html\"\u003Etrained in Hawaii\u003C\/a\u003E before their famous expeditions some 40 years ago.  This location is well above the tree line where no vegetation can thrive.  The formerly glaciated terrain is strewn with angular basaltic rocks that presented mobility challenges to the rover.  Thus, part of the test was not only putting the science instruments through their paces but also pushing the rover's abilities to its limits.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-0cY-F7GuL-s\/UBUG4eFxIuI\/AAAAAAAABxs\/MHFgxxJe8EE\/s1600\/Apollo_Valley_1a.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"141\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-0cY-F7GuL-s\/UBUG4eFxIuI\/AAAAAAAABxs\/MHFgxxJe8EE\/s640\/Apollo_Valley_1a.jpg\" width=\"580\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe final day of field operations was also NASA's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/home\/hqnews\/2012\/jul\/HQ_12-237_NASA_Hawaii_Missions.html\"\u003Emedia day\u003C\/a\u003E.  The Juno 2 rover joined Artemis Jr. at the Pu'u Haiwahine site where various local and national media were treated to a demonstration of their abilities and Q\u0026amp;A times with NASA officials. Some of the media representatives included a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.discoverychannel.ca\/\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EDiscovery Channel Canada\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E film crew, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/blogs\/shortsharpscience\/2012\/07\/artemis-hawaii-test.html\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ENew Scientist\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E , and a reporter from the local \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com\/sections\/news\/local-news\/nasa-returns-mauna-kea.html\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EHawaii Tribune-Herald\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.  An \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2012-07-19\/nasa-tests-moon-exploration-equipment-in-hawaii\/4140498\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EABC News\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E radio interview with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/isru.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENASA ISRU project\u003C\/a\u003E leader Bill Larson sums up why we were there for this work:\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cobject align=\"middle\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/fpdownload.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0\" height=\"25\" id=\"mp3playerlightsmallv3\" width=\"210\"\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"sameDomain\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/podcast-audio-video-blog-player\/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http:\/\/mpegmedia.abc.net.au\/news\/audio\/news-audio\/201207\/20120719-pacbeat-hawaiinasa.mp3\u0026autoStart=no\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"quality\" value=\"high\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#ffffff\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/podcast-audio-video-blog-player\/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http:\/\/mpegmedia.abc.net.au\/news\/audio\/news-audio\/201207\/20120719-pacbeat-hawaiinasa.mp3\u0026autoStart=no\" quality=\"high\"  width=\"210\" height=\"25\" name=\"mp3playerlightsmallv3\" align=\"middle\" allowScriptAccess=\"sameDomain\" wmode=\"transparent\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/go\/getflashplayer\" \/\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\n \u003C\/object\u003E\n \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/\" style=\"border-bottom: none; color: #2da274; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 41px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EPodcast Powered By Podbean\u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWhile most of the PISCES logistics team spent Friday breaking camp and helping NASA pack up their equipment, I went to the proposed \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/hi-seas\/\"\u003EHI-SEAS\u003C\/a\u003E site on the northern slope of Mauna Loa to help the project's co-PI survey possible locations for the human habitat they plan to build there later this year.  This project is a partnership between the University of Hawaii and Cornell University and, like RESOLVE, is also facilitated by PISCES.  The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cosmiclog.nbcnews.com\/_news\/2012\/07\/06\/12605485-crew-selected-for-mock-mission-to-explore-foods-final-frontier\"\u003E6-member HI-SEAS crew\u003C\/a\u003E is in for a real treat on their 120-day mission, as there are many interesting cinder cones, lava tubes, and other features within easy walking distance from the site.  I won't post any pictures of the HI-SEAS site because it's still top secret.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI wrapped up my week doing outreach along side NASA, CSA, and PISCES volunteers at a public event held at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.imiloahawaii.org\/calendar\/day_view\/day:July+21,+2012#event_911\"\u003E'Imiloa Astronomy Center\u003C\/a\u003E.  Hundreds of people came to see the Artemis Jr and Juno 2 rovers in action and learn about the exciting work being done in Hawaii to help humanity colonize space.  A few lucky people (including me!) even got to drive the Juno 2 rover around.  The kids had a blast driving a pair of small \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunarscience.nasa.gov\/explorationuplink\/\"\u003EExploration Uplink\u003C\/a\u003E rovers, which had also been out at the field site all week remotely controlled by students all over the country via the internet.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-TaIAcsd6Nt0\/UBT4jlO7ZyI\/AAAAAAAABw0\/BpDBzB7HYCk\/s1600\/IMG_0493.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-TaIAcsd6Nt0\/UBT4jlO7ZyI\/AAAAAAAABw0\/BpDBzB7HYCk\/s320\/IMG_0493.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-oOYrdIOYyeE\/UBT44gxz49I\/AAAAAAAABxA\/dr70QHo0sWo\/s1600\/IMG_0496.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-oOYrdIOYyeE\/UBT44gxz49I\/AAAAAAAABxA\/dr70QHo0sWo\/s320\/IMG_0496.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNASA's next step with RESOLVE will be developing a flight-ready prototype and testing it under similar temperature, pressure, and radiation conditions expected on the lunar surface.  In the meantime, the world's eyes are on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/msl\/index.html\"\u003EMars Science Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E, aka Curiosity, as it prepares for its landing on the Red Planet in just over a week.  This is the largest, most sophisticated robotic mission ever sent to another planet.  Learn more at the very engaging website \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/getcurious.com\/\"\u003Egetcurious.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/--dMNUnpD04M\/UBT7FmUwpDI\/AAAAAAAABxM\/D5YmqdcNt5I\/s1600\/Brian_RESOLVE_ArtemisJr_rover.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/--dMNUnpD04M\/UBT7FmUwpDI\/AAAAAAAABxM\/D5YmqdcNt5I\/s320\/Brian_RESOLVE_ArtemisJr_rover.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\nTo learn more about ISRU in general and the RESOLVE mission in particular, I highly recommend perusing the NASA \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/isru\/index.html\"\u003EISRU site\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/pdf\/667862main_FS-2012-07-026-JSC-ISRU-Fact-Sheet-Screen.pdf\"\u003Efact sheet\u003C\/a\u003E.  While you're at it, check out the NASA \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/40054892@N06\/collections\/72157630575315010\/\"\u003EFlickr album\u003C\/a\u003E for their photos from this year's field test.  If you're interested in getting involved with PISCES, I invite you to consider attending the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pisces.hawaii-conference.com\/\"\u003E2012 PISCES Conference\u003C\/a\u003E, which will be held November 11-15 in Honolulu. I went to the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/11\/towards-establishing-lunar-research.html\"\u003E2010\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2011\/12\/moon-is-not-4-letter-word.html\"\u003E2011\u003C\/a\u003E meetings and found them very useful venues for learning about the ISRU activities being carried out in Hawaii and for networking with key individuals within NASA and elsewhere making it happen. Going forward, I plan to direct more of my research towards ISRU and get involved with projects that help us live off the land on the Moon and Mars.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI'll leave you with video of Bill Larson explaining the motivation behind the NASA ISRU project:\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ciframe frameborder=\"0\" height=\"327\" src=\"http:\/\/www.phanfare.com\/embed\/4139803-5688952-163784622-b0b309952873f75ef76e4e4424eb56a6\" width=\"580\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ci\u003EThis post dedicated to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.sallyridescience.com\/\"\u003EDr. Sally Ride\u003C\/a\u003E, whose pioneering spirit served as an inspiration to us all.\u003C\/i\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/5260090034918476243\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=5260090034918476243\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/5260090034918476243"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/5260090034918476243"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2012\/07\/roving-for-resources-on-analog-moon.html","title":"Roving for resources on an analog Moon"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-QSL4XLEKnPU\/UBSpxgRsZPI\/AAAAAAAABuk\/RKz2ZDCh1Vo\/s72-c\/RESOLVE_logo.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"19.8236111 -155.4708333"},"georss$box":{"$t":"19.704109600000002 -155.6287618 19.9431126 -155.3129048"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-4943109629862563358"},"published":{"$t":"2012-07-13T15:21:00.001-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2012-08-02T17:13:01.167-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hawaii"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"NASA"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"PISCES"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"A RESOLVE to mine the Moon"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I will be on the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii next week working with the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.uhh.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES)\u003C\/a\u003E.  As I've described in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/search\/label\/ILRP\"\u003Eprevious posts\u003C\/a\u003E, PISCES is an international research and education consortium headquartered at the University of Hawaii at Hilo that aims to develop, test, and validate technologies for use on the Moon, Mars and beyond.  When humans return to the Moon and journey to Mars, they will have to live off the land.  It's just too costly to bring everything we need with us.  That includes rocket fuel for the return trip, water, oxygen, and other consumables.  Thus, it is critical that we learn how to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/isru\/index.html\"\u003Eutilize in situ resources\u003C\/a\u003E if we are to establish permanent presences on other worlds.  \n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAs a geophysicist by profession, my interest lies with applying my terrestrial geophysical exploration knowledge to other planetary bodies.  To this end, I carried out experiments at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/water-and-electricity-do-mix-on-mars.html\"\u003EFMARS in 2009\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/02\/seismic-success-at-mdrs.html\"\u003EMDRS in 2010\u003C\/a\u003E to study the human factors elements associated with astronaut-conducted geophysical surveys to prospect for subsurface resources like water.  I presented my findings at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/03\/lpsc-poster-on-mars-analog-geophysics.html\"\u003ELunar and Planetary Science Conference\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/07\/lunar-science-forum.html\"\u003ELunar Science Forum\u003C\/a\u003E, the results of which became my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/05\/und-capstone-week.html\"\u003EUND master's thesis\u003C\/a\u003E.  Now, I am embarking on a Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii to take this work to another level in analog environments such as Hawaii.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-b1kKa1PumnI\/UADCOlc0n2I\/AAAAAAAABrk\/j3sf_QGiW5o\/s1600\/RESOLVE_2012.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"267\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-b1kKa1PumnI\/UADCOlc0n2I\/AAAAAAAABrk\/j3sf_QGiW5o\/s400\/RESOLVE_2012.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"hasCaption\"\u003ECSA's Artemis Jr. rover with the NASA RESOLVE payload. (credit: NASA)\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\nThe main system being tested at PISCES this year is the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/%20http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/systems\/ground\/resolverover.html\"\u003ERegolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE)\u003C\/a\u003E experiment.  This consists of a lunar rover and drill provided by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.asc-csa.gc.ca\/eng\/media\/advisories\/2012\/0710.asp\"\u003ECanadian Space Agency\u003C\/a\u003E (CSA) to support a NASA payload that turns regolith (dirt) into rocket fuel, water, and air. A system developed from the RESOLVE prototype may travel to the Moon in the next few years to prove that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.com\/16222-moon-water-ice-shackleton-crater.html\"\u003Ewater seen from orbit\u003C\/a\u003E is accessible and that useful products can be made from it.\u0026nbsp; It could be the key that finally makes the solar system accessible to \nhumans in a safe, cost-efficient manner.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EThis is the third field season for the PISCES program.  I had previously tried to get involved with the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/hawaii_analog_2008.html\"\u003E2008\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/kennedy\/exploration\/hawaii_testing.html\"\u003E2010\u003C\/a\u003E field campaigns and am happy that things worked out this time for me to join the effort.  My main job will be supporting whatever the NASA and CSA engineers need me to do.  I'll be learning from them and finding ways my talents can fit into the larger picture of planetary resource prospecting.  In turn, I'll mold my upcoming doctoral work to extend and further enable the  goals of initiatives like RESOLVE to support exploration of the solar system. For example, I think I could bring a lot to bear on the question of knowing \u003Ci\u003Ewhere\u003C\/i\u003E to look for resources, although the objective of this week's field work is to test \u003Ci\u003Ehow\u003C\/i\u003E to dig and process the materials.\u0026nbsp; These are questions the new company \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.planetaryresources.com\/\"\u003EPlanetary Resources\u003C\/a\u003E is addressing in the context of asteroid mining too.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nSome media outlets have already picked up this exciting story.\u0026nbsp;  For example The \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hawaiitribune-herald.com\/sections\/news\/local-news\/moon-research-center-moves-forward.html\"\u003EHawaii Tribune Herald\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E recently ran a story about how Hawaii Governor Abercrombie signed a bill into law paving the way for the creation of a lunar research park on Hawaii Island.  It discussed the benefits not only to planetary prospectors but also to local residents.  After all, in space you have no other option but to be \"green\" and use all available resources.  Technologies developed for space have direct application here on Earth to lesson our environmental footprint.  \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/47964218\/ns\/technology_and_science-space\/\"\u003EMSNBC\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E and \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/science\/space\/moon-mars\/the-moon-still-beckons-to-russia-anyway-analysis-9750204\"\u003EPopular Mechanics\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E had really nice articles about the experiment in the larger context of space mining too. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/kennedy\/news\/releases\/2012\/release-20120710.html\"\u003ENASA has invited\u003C\/a\u003E reporters out to the field site on Thursday, July 19, and I'll be helping with the PISCES outreach day at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.imiloahawaii.org\/\"\u003EImiloa Astronomy Center\u003C\/a\u003E on Saturday, July 21.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI'll post again in about a week to describe more specifically how the field testing went. Meanwhile, you can read up on the experiment on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/systems\/ground\/resolverover.html\"\u003ENASA's website\u003C\/a\u003E and follow the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NASA.ISRU\"\u003ENASA In Situ Resource Utilization Facebook page\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/4943109629862563358\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=4943109629862563358\u0026isPopup=true","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4943109629862563358"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4943109629862563358"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2012\/07\/a-resolve-to-mine-moon.html","title":"A RESOLVE to mine the Moon"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-b1kKa1PumnI\/UADCOlc0n2I\/AAAAAAAABrk\/j3sf_QGiW5o\/s72-c\/RESOLVE_2012.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Mauna Kea, HI, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"19.8236111 -155.4708333"},"georss$box":{"$t":"19.704109600000002 -155.6287618 19.9431126 -155.3129048"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-4239643585247848035"},"published":{"$t":"2011-12-01T09:54:00.000-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-12-14T00:06:35.601-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"conference"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hawaii"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"PISCES"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"zblog"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"'Moon' is not a 4-letter word"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"What is the most innovative and sustainable way to approach space research, education, and commerce beyond low Earth orbit?  Those were the themes of the recent \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/\"\u003EInternational Lunar Research Park (ILRP) Leader's Summit\u003C\/a\u003E, which I had the  privilege of attending thanks to generous support provided by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/siliconvalleyspaceclub.net\/\"\u003ESilicon Valley Space Club\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aerospacehawaii.info\/\"\u003EState of Hawaii\u003C\/a\u003E.  While \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/11\/towards-establishing-lunar-research.html\"\u003Elast year's meeting\u003C\/a\u003E dealt with identifying the \"what\", this year's meeting focused on the \"how\" aspects of those themes in the context of a research park.  Developed first as a terrestrial prototype in Hawaii, this research park could later expand to the Moon.  You can learn all about the concept on the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/internationallunarresearchpark\/\"\u003EILRP website\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/ilrpexploratoryworkshop2011\/\"\u003EApril 2011 ILRP Exploratory Workshop website\u003C\/a\u003E, or \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/spaceportalnow\/people\/r-bruce-pittman\"\u003EBruce Pittman\u003C\/a\u003E's Fall 2011 \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nss.org\/adastra\/volume23\/v23n3.html\"\u003EAd Astra\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E article titled \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/?p=109\"\u003E\"Been There...Never Done This!\"\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/?p=109\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"384\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-gr09c7aG__Q\/TuDrwEGAEVI\/AAAAAAAABec\/Rwi-vlbhONY\/s640\/AdAstra-ILRP.jpg\" width=\"590\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEver since Obama quipped, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.airspacemag.com\/moon\/2010\/04\/%E2%80%9Cwe%E2%80%99ve-been-there-before-buzz-has-been-there-%E2%80%9D\/\"\u003E\"We've been there before\"\u003C\/a\u003E in reference to the Moon during his \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/remarks-president-space-exploration-21st-century\"\u003EApril 2010 speech\u003C\/a\u003E cancelling the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Constellation_program\"\u003ENASA Constellation Program\u003C\/a\u003E, the lunar research and exploration community has been scrambling to erase the notion that the Moon is a 'been there, done that' kind of world.  It's no secret that I'm a big fan of getting \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/to-moon-or-mars.html\"\u003Ehumans to Mars\u003C\/a\u003E as soon as possible and perhaps even eventually \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/11\/terraforming-mars.html\"\u003Eterraforming\u003C\/a\u003E it, but ever since I attended the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/07\/lunar-science-forum.html\"\u003ELunar Science Forum\u003C\/a\u003E last year I've gained a greater appreciation for the added value of a more integrated exploration strategy involving both the Moon and Mars. While this reasonable idea is favored by many, it is not currently in political favor, and therefore NASA suffers from having an unclear direction.\nAddressing this concern, \"The 'Moon' is not a 4-letter word,\" became one\n of the most memorable mantras for the ILRP summit (kudos to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/moonexpress.com\/index.php\/mission-controlmenuitemtype\/main-menu-mission-control-team-article\/robert-richards\"\u003EBob Richards\u003C\/a\u003E for thinking of it).\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/ilrpexploratoryworkshop2011\/agenda\/international-lunar-research-park-overview\"\u003EFrank Schowengerdt\u003C\/a\u003E\n kicked off the summit with an overview of the ILRP concept as an \ninternational public-private research park consortium based in Hilo, \nHawaii utilizing the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.hilo.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPICSES\u003C\/a\u003E\n field site on the flank of Mauna Kea.\u0026nbsp; Over a period of years, this \nwould lead to a lunar \"robotic village\" and a permanent human outpost on\n the Moon.  Benefits would be many and include STEM education, \ncommercial opportunities, high tech jobs, resource\/energy conservation \ntechnology spin-offs, etc.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\n\"The ILRP could become the largest peaceful, cooperative international endeavor in the history of the world.\" -- Dr. Frank Schowengerdt\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/ames\/about\/people\/marlaire.html\"\u003EMichael Marlaire\u003C\/a\u003E then briefed attendees on the great success of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/researchpark.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENASA Research Park\u003C\/a\u003E\n (NRP) located at NASA Ames in the heart of Silicon Valley.  The NRP \nbegan in 1998 and now has over 80 partners, the largest of which is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/\"\u003EGoogle\u003C\/a\u003E.  It has produced many \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/researchpark.arc.nasa.gov\/PublicDocs\/EBSReport_2010.pdf\"\u003Eeconomic benefits\u003C\/a\u003E and spawned a host of successful startups like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.tibion.com\/\"\u003ETibion\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.apprion.com\/\"\u003EApprion\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomenergy.com\/\"\u003EBloom Energy\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nanostellar.com\/\"\u003ENanostellar\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.benetech.org\/\"\u003EBenetech\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.skytran.us\/\"\u003ESkyTran\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thendrc.org\/\"\u003EThe National Disaster Resiliency Center\u003C\/a\u003E.  Two National Research Council reports in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/books.nap.edu\/catalog.php?record_id=10115\"\u003E2001\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/books.nap.edu\/catalog.php?record_id=12546\"\u003E2009\u003C\/a\u003E\n feature the NRP.  The basic idea is that the ILRP could be a NRP-like \nresearch park spurring innovation towards lunar development.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-Sk6mx_sWs1o\/Tv_JowG9SoI\/AAAAAAAABfU\/sNW-TRpE7eU\/s1600\/ILRP2011_NASASpacePortal.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"239\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-Sk6mx_sWs1o\/Tv_JowG9SoI\/AAAAAAAABfU\/sNW-TRpE7eU\/s320\/ILRP2011_NASASpacePortal.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\nThe value proposition of the ILRP was a big topic as well. We discussed the business case for extracting resources from the Moon, marketing aspects why potential customers should embrace such a plan, and what unmet consumer needs the ILRP could fill.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/spaceportalnow\/people\/lynn-harper\"\u003ELynn Harper\u003C\/a\u003E of NASA's \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/spaceportalnow\/\"\u003ESpace Portal\u003C\/a\u003E gave a good talk on her reasons for exploring space in the first place: 1) prevent death of our species, 2) provide warning for natural disasters, 3) medical breakthroughs improve life, 4) scientific discovery, 5) promote safety, 6) generate new wealth, 7) inspire and innovate, 8) education, 9) benefits always begin on earth, 10) promote peace.\u0026nbsp; Video game designer \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Henk_Rogers\"\u003EHenk Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E eloquently pointed out that \"the technology we need to survive on another planet is exactly the technology we need to survive here.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nRepresentatives from Hawaiian Airlines, Boeing, NORCAT, Google, and others also spoke on the spin-off potential for innovation with manufacturing, sustainability, and educational opportunities.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/ames\/about\/people\/rasky.html\"\u003EDan Rasky\u003C\/a\u003E and others argued for the potential of adventure tourism to advance the ILRP terrestrial prototype business case too.\u0026nbsp; The common theme was that extraordinary endeavors tend to yield extraordinary solutions with benefits that far outweigh expectations.\u0026nbsp; Finally, we discussed the need for and benefits of strong strategic alliances with the local Hawaiian community.\u0026nbsp; After all, one can argue that colonizing space is really just an extension of the seafaring Polynesian culture.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-OPBaBNeMD1k\/Tv_Q4AgpiqI\/AAAAAAAABfg\/jX23qAHeQtg\/s1600\/429362main_IMG_2419.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"199\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-OPBaBNeMD1k\/Tv_Q4AgpiqI\/AAAAAAAABfg\/jX23qAHeQtg\/s320\/429362main_IMG_2419.JPG\" width=\"300\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\nThe single biggest technical driver for the ILRP is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/In-situ_resource_utilization\"\u003Ein-situ resource utilization\u003C\/a\u003E\n (ISRU), and there were many sessions at the conference devoted to this \nsubject.  NASA's ISRU Managers Jerry Sanders and Bill Larson spoke on the importance of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/researchers\/sara\/grant-solicitations\/fsat\/\"\u003Eanalog field testing\u003C\/a\u003E\n to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.  One can only \ndevelop technologies in the laboratory so far, which is why testing in \nremote, stressful field environments is so critical. Sanders contrasted the \ndifference between mission-based analogs like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/desertrats\/index.html\"\u003EDesert RATS\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/NEEMO\/index.html\"\u003ENEEMO\u003C\/a\u003E, or \n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pavilionlake.com\/\"\u003EPavilion Lake\u003C\/a\u003E and hardware-based analogs like that done at Hawaii's \n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.hilo.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPISCES\u003C\/a\u003E field site.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nLarson described how the PISCES site fulfills all of the requirements for a good analog test site in terms of geology, weather, infrastructure, and support.\u0026nbsp; Past field campaigns in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/home\/hqnews\/2008\/nov\/HQ_08-288_Rover_Hawaii_Tests.html\"\u003E2008\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/kennedy\/moonandmars\/hawaii_testing.html\"\u003E2010\u003C\/a\u003E (pictured above) yielded a \nwealth of information that has led to the near-closing of the ISRU loop.\n  The next installment is set for summer 2012, which will be a lunar \npolar mission dress rehearsal with a possible Mars \nISRU power\/propulsion demonstration.\u0026nbsp; I later gave a presentation in a \nbreakout session on ways to merge mission- and hardware-based analog test scenarios \ntogether at the PISCES site based on my experiences at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/BrianFMARS\"\u003EFMARS\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/BrianMDRS\"\u003EMDRS\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/ilrpexploratoryworkshop2011\/agenda\/robkelso\"\u003ERob Kelso\u003C\/a\u003E summed up the ISRU drivers in his keynote address on the need for a systems of systems approach to develop the necessary interoperability standards and interfaces needed to live off the land on the Moon or Mars.  Once these technologies are tested on Earth, they will be taken to the Moon, initially via robotic and teleoperated systems.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-uy_Hovs-XqM\/Tvl77sjGiTI\/AAAAAAAABes\/YJvDcisEyCE\/s1600\/ILRP2011_AlanStern.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-uy_Hovs-XqM\/Tvl77sjGiTI\/AAAAAAAABes\/YJvDcisEyCE\/s320\/ILRP2011_AlanStern.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003ESpurred by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003EGoogle Lunar X PRIZE\u003C\/a\u003E (GLXP), a fleet of robots will descend upon the lunar surface within the next few years.  \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/users\/alex-hall\"\u003EAlex Hall\u003C\/a\u003E, who leads the GLXP as its Senior Director, briefed us on the progress of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/googlelunarxprize.com\/lunar\/teams\"\u003EGLXP teams\u003C\/a\u003E as they scramble to win the prize before it expires at the end of 2015.  Discussions centered around ways these robots can work together to establish the lunar robotic village envisioned by the ILRP.  In his talk, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nd.edu\/%7Ecneal\/\"\u003EClive Neal\u003C\/a\u003E discussed having some standard scientific payloads that GLXP landers could carry such as seismometers - a subject very near and dear to my heart.\u0026nbsp; The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.shackletonenergy.com\/\"\u003EShackleton Energy Company\u003C\/a\u003E presented their ambitious plans to land humans on \nthe moon by 2019 with zero government funding and to establish a \npropellant depot there by 2020.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alan_Stern\"\u003EAlan Stern\u003C\/a\u003E (pictured left) of the GLXP team \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/moonexpress.com\/\"\u003EMoon Express\u003C\/a\u003E gave a keynote address on today's new commercially and scientifically driven paradigm for lunar exploration.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-_qphq-uFCHI\/Tvl8qb6UvkI\/AAAAAAAABe4\/UoFZROFg-1c\/s1600\/ILRP2011_KimiyaYui_and_BrianShiro.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-_qphq-uFCHI\/Tvl8qb6UvkI\/AAAAAAAABe4\/UoFZROFg-1c\/s320\/ILRP2011_KimiyaYui_and_BrianShiro.jpg\" width=\"150\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\nAll-in-all, this year's ILRP summit was a worthwhile experience that I am thankful to have had.\u0026nbsp; While much work lies ahead, I am confident \nthat the tide towards a balanced exploration approach including both the Moon and Mars will prevail.\u0026nbsp; While NASA has demonstrated a strong \ninterest in the ILRP program, it's too soon to tell how completely the agency will back the project.\u0026nbsp; That's one reason it's being developed as a multinational public-private partnership that is not reliant on any one space agency.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAs a bonus, I got to meet \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2011\/07\/20110726_astronauts_e.html\"\u003Enewly minted\u003C\/a\u003E JAXA astronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/htmlbios\/yui.html\"\u003EKimiya Yui\u003C\/a\u003E at the ILRP meeting (pictured right).\u0026nbsp; He sat next to me during a technical working group session and later gave a keynote on the challenges of exploring the Moon.  We had a nice\n conversation about his two years of ASCAN training with NASA.\u0026nbsp; He had seen my FMARS\/MDRS presentation and said that with that kind of experience under my belt, I should have a leg up in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2011\/11\/nasa-astronaut-candidate-application.html\"\u003Eastronaut application\u003C\/a\u003E process.\u0026nbsp; It's always nice to hear such compliments!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI'll leave you with a stunning \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/blogs\/nstv\/2011\/11\/3d-moon-flyover-reveals-greatest-detail-ever.html\"\u003E3D flyover of the Moon\u003C\/a\u003E based on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LRO\/news\/lro-topo.html\"\u003Elatest lunar topographic map\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" 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flashVars=\"videoId=1288910855001\u0026playerID=2227271001\u0026playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAADqBmN8~,Yo4S_rZKGX0rYg6XsV7i3F9IB8jNBoiY\u0026domain=embed\u0026dynamicStreaming=true\" base=\"http:\/\/admin.brightcove.com\" name=\"flashObj\" width=\"486\" height=\"412\" seamlesstabbing=\"false\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" swLiveConnect=\"true\" allowScriptAccess=\"always\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/shockwave\/download\/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/4239643585247848035\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=4239643585247848035\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4239643585247848035"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4239643585247848035"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2011\/12\/moon-is-not-4-letter-word.html","title":"'Moon' is not a 4-letter word"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-gr09c7aG__Q\/TuDrwEGAEVI\/AAAAAAAABec\/Rwi-vlbhONY\/s72-c\/AdAstra-ILRP.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Waikoloa, Waikoloa Village, HI, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"19.9430556 -155.7902778"},"georss$box":{"$t":"19.9281291 -155.81001880000002 19.957982100000002 -155.7705368"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-3199406556876325039"},"published":{"$t":"2011-08-18T02:15:00.005-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-07-16T18:43:48.940-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"conference"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hawaii"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"PISCES"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"International Lunar Research Park Leaders Summit announced"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Hawaii is one of the most uniquely suited locations on Earth to practice and prepare for future lunar surface exploration. \u0026nbsp;I first blogged about the exciting\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/11\/towards-establishing-lunar-research.html\"\u003EInternational Lunar Research Park (ILRP)\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;initiative last November. \u0026nbsp;I'm\u0026nbsp;happy to report that the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/ames\/news\/releases\/2011\/11-37AR.html\"\u003EHawaii-NASA partnership\u003C\/a\u003E has built a great deal of momentum\u0026nbsp;and is gearing up for its first targeted conference\u0026nbsp;this November. \u0026nbsp; The following announcement of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter\/\"\u003EILRP Leaders Summit\u003C\/a\u003E comes courtesy of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aerospacehawaii.info\/\"\u003EHawaii Office of Aerospace Development\u003C\/a\u003E. I hope to see you there!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/2011-ILRP-Leaders-Summit-Announcement.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"208\" src=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/2011-ILRP-Leaders-Summit-Announcement.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAs the global economic recession poses increasingly significant challenges for nations worldwide, questions abound concerning the potential for humans to pioneer the frontiers of space. Yet many visionaries from around our planet, who recognize the substantial scientific, educational and commercial benefits of space exploration, are seeking to enhance the capacity for people to learn, work, and ultimately live beyond the Earth. Clearly, these efforts will require innovative approaches that can help reduce the costs, expand the benefits, and enhance the feasibility of both robotic and human missions to space.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe State of Hawai`i is exploring a novel strategy for advancing space exploration and development through an \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/internationallunarresearchpar\"\u003EInternational Lunar Research Park (ILRP)\u003C\/a\u003E - initially prototyped through terrestrial analog facilities in Hawai`i, and subsequently deployed robotically on the Moon (with eventual human habitation). The ILRP would be multinational in scope (to help reduce the costs per nation), developed through public-private partnerships (to leverage entrepreneurship and expand commercial opportunities), and massively participatory (to engage the public and enhance the program's long-term sustainability).\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWe will be discussing the ILRP concept with representatives from government, industry and academia at a \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter\/\"\u003Eleaders summit\u003C\/a\u003E\" on the island of Hawai`i in November, with the goal of developing a plan that potentially could implement a multinational, lunar-based research park within a decade. Given your professional interests, experience and expertise, we believe you might find this concept intriguing, and could make invaluable contributions in exploring the ILRP vision with Summit delegates. As such, we hope you will seriously consider participating in this discussion.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAdditional information on the ILRP concept and Summit may be found online at:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/internationallunarresearchpark\/\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/sites.google.com\/site\/internationallunarresearchpark\/ \u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/\"\u003Ehttp:\/\/lunar.uhhconferencecenter.com\/ \u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWith Aloha and best wishes,\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Jim Crisafulli, Director \n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aerospacehawaii.info\/\"\u003EHawaii Office of Aerospace Development  \u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Frank Schowengerdt, Director\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.uhh.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPacific International Space Center For Exploration Systems\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Osamu Odawara, Chairman \n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/justsap.org\/\"\u003EPacific International Space Alliance\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EWhile we're on the topic of the Moon, check out the amazing \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/resources\/apollopanoramas\/\"\u003Enew panoramic images of the Apollo landing sites\u003C\/a\u003E from the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/\"\u003ELunar and Planetary Institute\u003C\/a\u003E.  The fully zoomable and pannable images make you feel like you're an astronaut gazing out over the lunar landscape.  This one is from Apollo 17:\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/resources\/apollopanoramas\/pans\/?pan=JSC2004e52773\u0026amp;zoom=True\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"61\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/resources\/apollopanoramas\/images\/browse\/JSC2004e52773.jpg\" width=\"600\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/3199406556876325039\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=3199406556876325039\u0026isPopup=true","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/3199406556876325039"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/3199406556876325039"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2011\/08\/international-lunar-research-park.html","title":"International Lunar Research Park Leaders Summit announced"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Honolulu, HI, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"21.3069444 -157.8583333"},"georss$box":{"$t":"21.1885989 -158.0162618 21.4252899 -157.7004048"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-354417934786311915"},"published":{"$t":"2011-01-07T23:42:00.014-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2012-03-04T16:25:41.752-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The Lunar Core"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"As the self-professed \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/astronaut-seismologist.html\"\u003EAstronaut Seismologist\u003C\/a\u003E,\" I am very excited by yesterday's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/topics\/moonmars\/features\/lunar_core.html\"\u003ENASA announcement\u003C\/a\u003E confirming that the Moon does indeed have a core.\u0026nbsp; The news accompanies a report published in the journal \u003Ci\u003EScience\u003C\/i\u003E by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1199375\"\u003EWeber \u003Ci\u003Eet al.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp; Having just read the paper and its extensive supplemental material, I will devote this post to conveying my initial impressions of the research.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.com\/scienceastronomy\/moon-core-apollo-data-110106.html\"\u003ESPACE.com\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2011\/01\/110106144751.htm\"\u003EScience Daily\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/sciencenow\/2011\/01\/at-long-last-moons-core-seen.html?rss=1\"\u003EScience\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.discovery.com\/space\/moon-core-formation-110107.html\"\u003EDiscovery News\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-1344980\/Moon-liquid-core-just-like-Earth-reveal-sensors-left-lunar-surface-astronauts-40-YEARS-ago.html\"\u003EDaily Mail\u003C\/a\u003E had very public-friendly writeups on this story that are worth a look too.\u0026nbsp; If you prefer to listen, check out this \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencefriday.com\/program\/archives\/201101074\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ENPR Science Friday\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E interview with Renee Weber:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E \u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cobject classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/fpdownload.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0\" width=\"210\" height=\"25\" id=\"mp3playerlightsmallv3\" align=\"middle\"\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"sameDomain\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/podcast-audio-video-blog-player\/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http:\/\/public.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/totn\/2011\/01\/20110107_totn_04.mp3\u0026autoStart=no\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"quality\" value=\"high\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#ffffff\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/podcast-audio-video-blog-player\/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http:\/\/public.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/totn\/2011\/01\/20110107_totn_04.mp3\u0026autoStart=no\" quality=\"high\"  width=\"210\" height=\"25\" name=\"mp3playerlightsmallv3\" align=\"middle\" allowScriptAccess=\"sameDomain\" wmode=\"transparent\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/go\/getflashplayer\" \/\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\n \u003C\/object\u003E\n \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 41px; color: #2DA274; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: none;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\"\u003EPodcast Powered By Podbean\u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/sciencenow\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/sn-lunarcore-thumb-autox600-5112.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"280\" src=\"http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/sciencenow\/assets_c\/2011\/01\/sn-lunarcore-thumb-autox600-5112.jpg\" width=\"288\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThe gist of the paper is that the moon has a solid inner core, a liquid outer core, and a mushy partially molten region above the outer core.\u0026nbsp; The Earth has all of these same features in its deep interior too.\u0026nbsp; Scientists have long suspected the Moon to have a core due to indirect evidence such as the composition of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/news.nationalgeographic.com\/news\/2007\/01\/070111-moon-core.html\"\u003Elunar rock samples\u003C\/a\u003E or the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/news\/n0202\/14moon\/\"\u003Elunar Love numbers\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; The Weber \u003Ci\u003Eet al.\u003C\/i\u003E paper provides the first direct evidence of seismic wave reflections off the lunar core. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis finding is a big deal because by knowing the structure of the lunar core, we can understand the moon's present and past thermal state, the history of the lunar \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geodynamo\"\u003Edynamo\u003C\/a\u003E, and the origin and evolution of the Moon.\u0026nbsp; After all, the prevailing theory is that the Moon formed from a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpl.arizona.edu\/outreach\/origin\/\"\u003Egiant impact\u003C\/a\u003E into the Earth, so its history tells us a great deal about our own planet too.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EBetween 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts\u0026nbsp;installed seismometers at the  Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16 landing sites for the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/lunar\/missions\/apollo\/apollo_11\/experiments\/pse\/\"\u003EApollo Passive Seismic Experiment\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; The Apollo 11 instrument died after only 2 weeks, but the rest faithfully radioed data back to  Earth until they were switched off in 1977.\u0026nbsp; Almost all of our knowledge about the lunar interior comes from this data, which was plagued by many problems.\u0026nbsp; For starters, the small number of Apollo landing sites were all clustered together on the near side of the Moon, which limits the perspective and effectiveness of the seismic network.\u0026nbsp; The lunar \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Seismogram\"\u003Eseismograms\u003C\/a\u003E themselves were very noisy due to intense scattering of the seismic energy in the regolith and almost complete lack of energy attenuation due to the lack of significant water on the Moon.\u0026nbsp; This has made interpreting Apollo seismic data very difficult because traditional seismic analysis techniques don't work well without clear wave \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronomynotes.com\/solarsys\/s8.htm#seismology\"\u003Ereflections and refractions\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ctable border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Ctable cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TSgTUnY52QI\/AAAAAAAABSw\/eYaj62K2ft8\/s1600\/A11setup5.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"276\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TSgTUnY52QI\/AAAAAAAABSw\/eYaj62K2ft8\/s320\/A11setup5.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EBuzz Aldrin installing a seismometer at the Apollo 11 site.\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/epscx.wustl.edu\/seismology\/book\/chapter3\/chap3_sr\/3_7_10_s.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"276\" src=\"http:\/\/epscx.wustl.edu\/seismology\/book\/chapter3\/chap3_sr\/3_7_10_s.jpg\" width=\"234\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EComparison of seismograms on Earth and the Moon.\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAfter nearly 40 years since Apollo, modern seismological data processing techniques have grown sophisticated enough to take on even the messiest of lunar seismic data.\u0026nbsp; Weber and her colleagues used an array processing technique to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in the data and detect a number of seismic phases corresponding to the inner core, core-mantle, and partial melt boundaries.\u0026nbsp; The trick that others before them had not done was applying a polarization filter to suppress the noise after stacking the seismograms.\u0026nbsp; This brought out a number of reflectors between the P- and S-wave arrivals, which they interpreted as being from the deep core layers.\u0026nbsp; They looked for core reflections at the four long-lived Apollo seismic stations coming from 38 clusters of deep \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-news\/science-at-nasa\/2006\/15mar_moonquakes\/\"\u003Emoonquakes\u003C\/a\u003E at depths ranging from 700 to 1200 kilometers beneath the Moon's surface.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe way they did this was time-shifting the seismograms to align them with predicted core reflection arrival times for a range of prospective core radii.\u0026nbsp; For each case, they then summed the shifted traces.\u0026nbsp; Noise, being random, tends to cancel itself out, but real signals add to each other coherently and appear as bumps.\u0026nbsp; Through an iterative approach, they were able to find the best-fitting radii and P- and S-wave speeds of each layer in the lunar interior models tested (For you seismologists, the models considered PcP, ScP, ScS, PcS, and PKiKP reflections.).\u0026nbsp; The best-fitting lunar interior velocity and density models from this analysis are shown in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TSghuB3mo9I\/AAAAAAAABS0\/OgbR-NYaCzQ\/s1600\/Weber_etal_2011_LunarModel.png\"\u003Efigure\u003C\/a\u003E below.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TSghuB3mo9I\/AAAAAAAABS0\/OgbR-NYaCzQ\/s1600\/Weber_etal_2011_LunarModel.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"307\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TSghuB3mo9I\/AAAAAAAABS0\/OgbR-NYaCzQ\/s400\/Weber_etal_2011_LunarModel.png\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nInterestingly, this study found that the lunar core is only 40% solidified, meaning 60% of it is still in a liquid state.\u0026nbsp; However, the small temperature differential between the inner core boundary and the core-mantle boundary means that the Moon's liquid outer core is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/subadiabatic\"\u003Esubadiabatic\u003C\/a\u003E and therefore stably stratified.\u0026nbsp; Without a strong temperature gradient to drive convection in the outer core, there can be no movement of the liquid iron alloy to generate a magnetic field.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThere are still many lingering questions that will only be answered when we establish a more extensive \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/iln.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003Elunar seismic network\u003C\/a\u003E in the future.\u0026nbsp; If we had a global network of seismometers on the Moon, we could gain a more complete understanding of the forces that causes moonquakes, for example.\u0026nbsp; The Moon is a small planetary body and therefore should have cooled quickly.\u0026nbsp; Why is some of it still molten?\u0026nbsp; Obviously, the lunar mantle acts as a very good insulator and has prevented all of the Moon's initial heat from escaping.\u0026nbsp; Why?\u0026nbsp; If the Moon can keep a molten core for this long, maybe other small bodies can too.\u0026nbsp; How does this change our understanding of heat transport in planets?\u0026nbsp; The Earth's internal heat drives not only the generation of its magnetic field but also the entire \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Plate_tectonics\"\u003Eplate tectonic \u003C\/a\u003Esystem and its secondary effects like volcanism and earthquakes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI had seem some of Weber's preliminary findings in the poster she presented at last year's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/01\/meeting-astronauts-schmitt-and-feustel.html\"\u003EGround Based Geophysics on the Moon\u003C\/a\u003E workshop and remember thinking it was exciting that someone was taking a fresh look at the Apollo seismic data.\u0026nbsp; She's hardly alone in that pursuit.\u0026nbsp; Over the years many people have tried to eek out more information from the Apollo seismic data with only incremental  improvements in our understanding of the lunar interior.  Yesterday's  publication seems to have finally broken new ground in a significant way.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAccording to her \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/planetary.msfc.nasa.gov\/Renee.html\"\u003Ebio\u003C\/a\u003E, Weber and I are about the same age.\u0026nbsp; While I have dabbled in planetary seismology for the past decade, she has accomplished what I could not: get funding to carry out planetary seismology research professionally.\u0026nbsp; In my first career as a graduate student, I tried very hard to make that happen to no avail.\u0026nbsp; My hat's off to Dr. Weber for making it work and for her contributions towards advancing seismology on the Moon and Mars.\u0026nbsp; Maybe one day I'll install a seismometer on another planet that will contribute to a future iteration on this work.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/354417934786311915\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=354417934786311915\u0026isPopup=true","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/354417934786311915"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/354417934786311915"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2011\/01\/lunar-core.html","title":"The Lunar Core"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TSgTUnY52QI\/AAAAAAAABSw\/eYaj62K2ft8\/s72-c\/A11setup5.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-7899198089129622785"},"published":{"$t":"2010-11-30T16:46:00.011-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-07-16T18:43:48.971-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"conference"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hawaii"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"PISCES"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Towards establishing a Lunar Research Park"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Ask most people what they like about the Big Island of Hawaii, and you'll get responses ranging from enjoying its \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.gohawaii.com\/big-island\/guidebook\/topics\/beaches\"\u003Ebeaches\u003C\/a\u003E to exploring its \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/havo\/\"\u003Eactive volcanoes\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; Astronomy buffs may highlight the world-class \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ifa.hawaii.edu\/mko\/\"\u003Eobservatories on Mauna Kea\u003C\/a\u003E or the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.imiloahawaii.org\/\"\u003E'Imiloa Astronomy Center\u003C\/a\u003E in Hilo.\u0026nbsp; In fact, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/geology.com\/records\/highest-mountain-in-the-world.shtml\"\u003Eelevation extremes\u003C\/a\u003E of the island make it the most environmentally diverse place on earth, sporting all but one of the world's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification\"\u003Eterrestrial climate zones\u003C\/a\u003E, including desert, tropical, temperate, and even tundra.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFrom an \u003Ci\u003Eextraterrestrial\u003C\/i\u003E perspective, this eco-range also means that Hawaii harbors very good planetary analog environments.\u0026nbsp; The high elevation, dry weather conditions, and lunar regolith-like volcanic deposits make Hawaii an ideal place to practice for missions beyond Earth.\u0026nbsp; That's why it served as a training ground for \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/history.nasa.gov\/SP-350\/ch-7-8.html\"\u003EApollo astronauts\u003C\/a\u003E in the 1960s and why the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.hilo.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPISCES\u003C\/a\u003E (Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems) program has called Hawaii home since 2007 with successful \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.hilo.hawaii.edu\/index.php?id=3\"\u003Einternational field campaigns in 2008 and 2010\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; Here is a photo showing the alien landscape on the flanks of Mauna Kea near the Saddle Road, where PISCES is located.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TPrNYhVEeqI\/AAAAAAAABRA\/vi6LKqSN2fE\/s1600\/MaunaKeaMoonscape.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"252\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TPrNYhVEeqI\/AAAAAAAABRA\/vi6LKqSN2fE\/s1600\/MaunaKeaMoonscape.jpg\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI had the honor of being invited to attend the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/justsap.org\/2010-justsapsymposium.html\"\u003EJUSTSAP Symposium\u003C\/a\u003E on the Big Island recently.\u0026nbsp; The conference was the 20th annual gathering of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/justsap.org\/\"\u003EJUSTSAP\u003C\/a\u003E  (Japan-U.S. Science, Technology and Space Applications Program) in  Hawaii. The group was established in 1990 to explore ways U.S. and  Japanese scientists, educators, government officials, and business  professions can collaborate on international space exploration.\u0026nbsp; It has  catalyzed and facilitated numerous aerospace activities between the U.S. and Japan from microgravity research to in situ resource utilization (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/In-situ_resource_utilization\"\u003EISRU\u003C\/a\u003E) through the PISCES program.   They may soon be re-named to PISA (Pacific International Space Alliance)  as the bilateral partnership expands to include other countries. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/justsap.org\/\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"104\" src=\"http:\/\/justsap.org\/wp-content\/themes\/revolution_blog_narrow-10\/images\/justsap.jpg\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWith the theme \"\u003Ci\u003EThe Next Giant Leap: Building Sustainable Settlements Beyond Low-Earth Orbit\u003C\/i\u003E\", the main topic of discussion at this year's JUSTSAP Symposium was how to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, with particular emphasis on establishing a multinational research and development park on the Moon.\u0026nbsp; JUSTSAP attendees scoped out a roadmap toward launching a  sustainable presence on the Moon by 2020 - beginning with the  development of prototype analog site in Hawaii via \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.hilo.hawaii.edu\/index.php?id=19\"\u003EPISCES facilities\u003C\/a\u003E, followed by precursor robotic missions to the lunar  surface, and, finally, a manned outpost.\u0026nbsp; Project teams formed during the  symposium will continue these discussions throughout the coming year.\u0026nbsp;  The end goal for 2011 will be to encourage President Obama to officially launch this multinational venture while attending the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.eastwestcenter.org\/news-center\/news-releases\/hawaii-to-host-apec-summit-in-2011\/\"\u003EAPEC Summit in Hawaii\u003C\/a\u003E next fall. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TPrNZvsQQuI\/AAAAAAAABRE\/9XAGTOg730I\/s1600\/Lunar_Prospecting.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"321\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TPrNZvsQQuI\/AAAAAAAABRE\/9XAGTOg730I\/s1600\/Lunar_Prospecting.jpg\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/justsap.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Preliminary__Agenda_-_2010_JUSTSAP_Symposium_11-3-10.pdf\"\u003EPanel presentations and breakout sessions\u003C\/a\u003E from renown experts focused on where\/when\/why\/how we might settle the Moon and operational options for lunar habitation.\u0026nbsp; The long term vision is to have a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Research_park\"\u003Eresearch park\u003C\/a\u003E on the Moon to make the outpost economically sustainable.\u0026nbsp; Like Silicon Valley, it would be closely tied to one or more universities, and perhaps a branch university could even be on the lunar surface one day.\u0026nbsp; Aspects of terrestrial precursors, robotics, ISRU, education, training, regulation, and commerce were prominent in the discussions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThere was general consensus that lessons learned from the establishment of Intelsat, the International Space Station, Panama Canal, Antarctic Treaty, Law of the Sea, and CERN would all have important ramifications for establishing an international Lunar Authority.\u0026nbsp; This was the topic I found most fascinating.\u0026nbsp; Like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Port_authority\"\u003Eport authorities\u003C\/a\u003E on Earth, a lunar authority would be a quasi-governmental public authority chartered to operate the infrastructure of the lunar settlement.\u0026nbsp; The authority would actually own the land and operate most public infrastructure elements, while tenants would include the companies, universities, and other inhabitants of the research park.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe meeting was very well-attended by representatives from the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENASA Ames Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E since Hawaii and NASA Ames are now partners in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hawaii.gov\/gov\/news\/files\/2010\/april\/unique-partnership-with-nasa-ames-research-center-announced\"\u003ESpace Act Agreement\u003C\/a\u003E, the first of its kind collaboration between NASA and a state government.\u0026nbsp; The State of Hawaii has a very active \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aerospacehawaii.info\/\"\u003EOffice of Aerospace Development\u003C\/a\u003E, which coordinates many of the aerospace activities around the state, including the JUSTSAP Symposium.  NASA's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/about\/highlights\/Gary_Martin_biography.html\"\u003EGary Martin\u003C\/a\u003E emphasized that the President's recent signing into law of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/75522\/president-signs-nasa-2010-authorization-act\/\"\u003ENASA Authorization Act\u003C\/a\u003E is the first time in history that going to Mars and moving civilization off the planet has been built into legislation, so it is highly significant.  He also shared that during the early 2000's, NASA was actually forbidden to show images of people on the Moon or Mars for fear of derailing the ISS program.  They've come a long way in a short time.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOne of the other main goals of JUSTSAP is to inspire the  next generation of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to pioneer  the space frontier.\u0026nbsp; I think was probably only one of two people in  attendance under the age of 40, so they still have their work cut out  for them in this arena.  The question of \"Why go to the Moon?\" kept  coming up as a necessity to answer for the post-Apollo era generation.\u0026nbsp; We need bold ideas to excite the next generation.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOne speaker used the  metaphor of the Polynesian explorers \"conquering the impossible\" by  venturing out across the Pacific to settle Hawaii.\u0026nbsp;  The same spirit and  strategy could apply to the Moon. \u0026nbsp; At first we'd have to bring all of  our food and resources with us, but over time, we must learn how to live  off the land and turn the Moon into an oasis for life just like  settlers did to Hawaii.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E. . .\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI returned to the Big Island the week following the symposium to spend some quality vacation time with my family.\u0026nbsp; While driving to South Point (aka: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ka_Lae\"\u003EKa Lae\u003C\/a\u003E), we came across the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ssc.se\/?id=9855\"\u003EPete Conrad Ground Station\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; The facility's two antennas allow it to provide a wide range of telemetry, tracking, and control (TT\u0026amp;C) services to a range of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ssc.se\/customers.aspx\"\u003Ecustomers\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ssc.se\/missions.aspx\"\u003Emissions\u003C\/a\u003E (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.uspacenetwork.com\/site_locations\/hawaii_01.html\"\u003Etechnical details here\u003C\/a\u003E).\u0026nbsp; Bigelow Aerospace reportedly uses it as part of the control network for his private space stations.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116117595_Web_5\/0_0_3f646299bfaf23e345a23f0b024c750b_1.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"214\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116117595_Web_5\/0_0_3f646299bfaf23e345a23f0b024c750b_1.jpg\" width=\"285\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116117647_Web_5\/0_0_a7a8fd2aab4cac05ea27b4ecb0ec629b_1.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"214\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116117647_Web_5\/0_0_a7a8fd2aab4cac05ea27b4ecb0ec629b_1.jpg\" width=\"285\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWe also visited the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.aloha.net\/%7Etashima\/\"\u003EAstronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center\u003C\/a\u003E at the Kona Airport.\u0026nbsp; The center is a memorial to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/htmlbios\/onizuka.html\"\u003EAstronaut Onizuka\u003C\/a\u003E, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1978, flew on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/STS_51-C\"\u003ESTS 51-C\u003C\/a\u003E mission in 1985, and perished in the Challenger disaster in 1986.\u0026nbsp; A native of Kona, Onizuka was the first Hawaiian astronaut.\u0026nbsp; The space center's many \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.moonchasers.com\/oscimages\/diagramlg.jpg\"\u003Eexhibits\u003C\/a\u003E serve not only as a memorial to Onizuka's accomplishments but also as an educational resource to the community.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116153630_Web_2\/0_0_fe6b21addc30f7d472d3a743476eb902_1.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"180\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116153630_Web_2\/0_0_fe6b21addc30f7d472d3a743476eb902_1.jpg\" width=\"134\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116154269_Web_2\/0_0_771239ce232d105918fea3f76d6e89c3_1.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"180\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116154269_Web_2\/0_0_771239ce232d105918fea3f76d6e89c3_1.jpg\" width=\"241\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116154097_Web_2\/0_0_dd56b0ce9cfec20751b3e5c73c267714_1.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"180\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn-2-service.phanfare.com\/images\/external\/4139803_4920280_116154097_Web_2\/0_0_dd56b0ce9cfec20751b3e5c73c267714_1.jpg\" width=\"134\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003ELeft: Onizuka bust, Center: view inside the space center, Right: spacesuit from Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI'll leave you with wise words from Astronaut Onizuka (1980):\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EIf I can impress upon you only on idea ... let it be that the people who make this world run, whose lives can be termed successful, whose names will go down in the history books, are not the cynics, the critics, or the armchair quarterbacks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThey are the adventurers, the explorers, and doers of this world.\u0026nbsp; When they see a wrong or a problem, they do something about it.\u0026nbsp; When they see a vacant place in our knowledge, they work to fill that void.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nRather than leaning back and criticizing how things are, they work to make things the way they should be.\u0026nbsp; They are the aggressive, the self-starters, the innovative, and the imaginative of this world.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nEvery generation has the obligation to free men's minds for a look at new worlds ... to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nYour vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but by what your mind can imagine.\u0026nbsp; Many things that you take for granted were considered unrealistic dreams by previous generations.\u0026nbsp; If you accept these past accomplishments as commonplace then think of the new horizons that you can explore.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFrom your vantage point, your education and imagination will carry you to places which we won't believe possible.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMake your life count--and the the world will be a better place because you tried\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/7899198089129622785\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=7899198089129622785\u0026isPopup=true","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7899198089129622785"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7899198089129622785"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/11\/towards-establishing-lunar-research.html","title":"Towards establishing a Lunar Research Park"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TPrNYhVEeqI\/AAAAAAAABRA\/vi6LKqSN2fE\/s72-c\/MaunaKeaMoonscape.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Kailua, HI, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"19.6405556 -155.9955556"},"georss$box":{"$t":"19.4788811 -156.2290151 19.8022301 -155.76209609999998"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-4968419503535336039"},"published":{"$t":"2010-07-24T21:40:00.001-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-07-16T18:43:48.948-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"conference"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"MDRS"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Lunar Science Forum"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvi9wAsBEI\/AAAAAAAABLY\/ERB5SkROsqU\/s1600\/LSF_conf_poster.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"236\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvi9wAsBEI\/AAAAAAAABLY\/ERB5SkROsqU\/s200\/LSF_conf_poster.JPG\" width=\"150\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003ELast week I attended the 3rd annual \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ELunar Science Forum\u003C\/a\u003E (LSF) held at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/naccenter.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENASA Ames Conference Center\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;  The 3-day meeting sponsored by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENASA Lunar  Science Institute\u003C\/a\u003E (NLSI) dealt with topics \"of the Moon, on the Moon, and from the Moon.\"\u0026nbsp; The LSF was one of several lunar- and space-focused meetings during the week that also included the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lasp.colorado.edu\/ccldas\/lgc2010\/\"\u003ELunarGradCon\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov\/events\/nextgenworkshop\"\u003ENext Generation Lunar Scientists and Engineers Workshop\u003C\/a\u003E (NGLSE), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/leag\/\"\u003ELunar Exploration Analysis Group\u003C\/a\u003E (LEAG), and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/newspace2010.spacefrontier.org\/\"\u003ENewSpace2010\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; I want to thank the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENLSI\u003C\/a\u003E for providing the travel grant that made it possible for me to attend the meeting. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAfter introductory speeches from Ames Director \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/centers\/ames\/about\/centerdirector.html\"\u003EPete Worden\u003C\/a\u003E (whom I know from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.isunet.edu\/\"\u003EISU\u003C\/a\u003E), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www-space.arc.nasa.gov\/staff\/jennifer-heldmann\"\u003EJen Heldmann\u003C\/a\u003E (whom I know from the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pscischool.jpl.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EPSSS\u003C\/a\u003E), and others, science journalist \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.andrewchaikin.com\/\"\u003EAndrew Chaikin\u003C\/a\u003E delivered a very engaging an opening talk titled \"Luna 2.0.\"  One of his slides showed the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lroc.sese.asu.edu\/\"\u003ELROC\u003C\/a\u003E mission patch, which says in Latin \"Science enables Exploration. Exploration enables Science.\"  That sentiment really set the stage for the conference by giving a broad overview of how the new suite of missions studying the moon are producing some great science and paving the way for future human and robotic exploration.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn collaboration with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www-space.arc.nasa.gov\/staff\/carol-stoker\"\u003ECarol Stoker\u003C\/a\u003E, I presented a poster titled \"Iterative Science Strategy on Analog Geophysical EVAs.\"  The abstract is available online \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunarscience2010.arc.nasa.gov\/iterative-science-strategy-analog-geophysical-evas\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E, and you can view the entire \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.scribd.com\/doc\/34623452\/Lunar-Science-Poster-2010\"\u003Eposter\u003C\/a\u003E below.  The LSF poster expands upon some of the work I previously presented at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/03\/lpsc-poster-on-mars-analog-geophysics.html\"\u003ELPSC\u003C\/a\u003E a few months ago.  The main purpose of this new poster was to showcase the fluid nature of conducting field science and how crews on future planetary missions will need to bootstrap their way along as they learn new things on each EVA.  Such a strategy lends itself well to permanent bases where you have the luxury of being able to continually return to sites of interest to conduct followup field measurements.  Sortie style mission scenarios may not allow for this kind of iterative strategy and therefore may not yield as much science return.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.scribd.com\/doc\/34623452\/Lunar-Science-Poster-2010\" style=\"display: block; font: 14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; margin: 12px auto 6px; text-decoration: underline;\" title=\"View Lunar Science Poster 2010 on Scribd\"\u003ELunar Science Poster 2010\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cobject data=\"http:\/\/d1.scribdassets.com\/ScribdViewer.swf\" height=\"650\" id=\"doc_849966498028951\" name=\"doc_849966498028951\" style=\"outline: medium none;\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"100%\"\u003E  \u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/d1.scribdassets.com\/ScribdViewer.swf\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"wmode\" value=\"opaque\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#ffffff\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"FlashVars\" value=\"document_id=34623452\u0026access_key=key-1dc6ot5129bs5evx3pmm\u0026page=1\u0026viewMode=list\"\u003E\u003Cembed id=\"doc_849966498028951\" name=\"doc_849966498028951\" src=\"http:\/\/d1.scribdassets.com\/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=34623452\u0026access_key=key-1dc6ot5129bs5evx3pmm\u0026page=1\u0026viewMode=list\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"650\" width=\"100%\" wmode=\"opaque\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E  \u003C\/object\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EPresentations in the morning on the first day dealt with the latest results from the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ELRO\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lcross.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ELCROSS\u003C\/a\u003E missions.\u0026nbsp;  Afternoon talks addressed lunar drilling, the (network formally known as the) \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/iln.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EInternational Lunar Network\u003C\/a\u003E, strategies for planetary geologic surface operations, astronaut training needs, and even the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/desert.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EMars Desert Research Station\u003C\/a\u003E, where I spent \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2006\/12\/mdrs.html\"\u003E2 weeks\u003C\/a\u003E earlier this year.\u0026nbsp;  One really popular talk was eloquently given by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.starstryder.com\/\"\u003EPamela Gay\u003C\/a\u003E on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.moonzoo.org\/\"\u003EMoon Zoo\u003C\/a\u003E, which is an exciting new web application that allows anyone to help scientists look for and classify interesting features on the Moon.  The day wrapped up with the presentation of the Shoemaker Award and briefings by the directors of the NASA \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EScience\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/exploration.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EExploration Systems\u003C\/a\u003E Mission Directorates.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.moonzoo.org\/\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"73\" src=\"http:\/\/www.moonzoo.org\/images\/moon_zoo.gif\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOn Day 2, I attended the Geophysics and Biology session during the morning.\u0026nbsp;  \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www-geodyn.mit.edu\/mtz.html\"\u003EMaria Zuber\u003C\/a\u003E gave an excellent overview of the outstanding geophysical questions on the Moon and how we need a combination of orbital remote sensing and ground-based human and robotic missions to help answer them.  Other talks delved into how ground penetrating radar, laser altimeter, seismometer, and radiometric data contribute to the geophysical picture of the Moon.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn his introduction to the biology part of the session, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christopher_McKay_%28planetary_scientist%29\"\u003EChris  McKay\u003C\/a\u003E spoke about the importance of life science to lunar exploration.  He made the point that humans tend to only bring plants with them when they travel to a new place intending to stay there.  When we start taking plants to the Moon or Mars, that will signify when we're there to stay.\u0026nbsp;  This is one reason why one \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003EGoogle Lunar X PRIZE\u003C\/a\u003E team plans to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spaceref.com\/news\/viewpr.html?pid=27860\"\u003Etake a plant to the Moon\u003C\/a\u003E within a few years.\u0026nbsp; In the session, I learned a new word: \"astrophycology\", which means the study of algae in space.  Algae could play an important role in ecological life support systems, and there are a number of nanosat missions in the works to learn about how they deal with the challenges of the space environment.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvpNgf2hhI\/AAAAAAAABLg\/ZP-IY1C2Yq0\/s1600\/Ames_tent.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"149\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvpNgf2hhI\/AAAAAAAABLg\/ZP-IY1C2Yq0\/s200\/Ames_tent.jpg\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EI had to leave the LSF meeting after lunch on Day 2, so I missed the second half of the meeting, which delved into greater detail on topics such as lunar poles, sampling, geology, and geochemistry.  To see more impressions people had during the meeting, check out its twitter hashtag \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/#search?q=%23lsf2010\"\u003E#lsf2010\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAttending the LSF meeting was a highly valuable experience for me.  The range of topics in the talks and posters helped broaden my appreciation for the cutting edge science being done with lunar data.  I was able to meet with friends and colleagues I've known from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/epsc.wustl.edu\/\"\u003EWashington University\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.isunet.edu\/\"\u003EInternational Space University\u003C\/a\u003E, past planetary science meetings, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronauts4hire.org\/\"\u003EAstronauts4Hire\u003C\/a\u003E.  I forged new relationships with potential future collaborators on several different projects too, so there may be more great research and field work opportunities for me in the future.  As always, stay tuned to this blog for my latest adventures.\u003C\/http:\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvo6RsTY0I\/AAAAAAAABLc\/3kCkMEaCe5I\/s1600\/Moon_science.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"213\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvo6RsTY0I\/AAAAAAAABLc\/3kCkMEaCe5I\/s400\/Moon_science.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/4968419503535336039\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=4968419503535336039\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4968419503535336039"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4968419503535336039"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/07\/lunar-science-forum.html","title":"Lunar Science Forum"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TEvi9wAsBEI\/AAAAAAAABLY\/ERB5SkROsqU\/s72-c\/LSF_conf_poster.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"37.415279 -122.048332"},"georss$box":{"$t":"37.398236 -122.0775145 37.432322 -122.0191495"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-163885171599106081"},"published":{"$t":"2010-06-06T17:15:00.002-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-07-16T18:47:55.095-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Earth"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"NOAA"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"ocean"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Aquanaut Gravity Comparisons"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TAxj59WI6PI\/AAAAAAAABKk\/OrMpqpAdJwY\/s1600\/NEEMO.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"70\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TAxj59WI6PI\/AAAAAAAABKk\/OrMpqpAdJwY\/s200\/NEEMO.jpg\" width=\"70\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EWhat is gravity like on the Mars compared to the Moon or an asteroid?  See for yourself in this really \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=i4jXBCmYzTM\"\u003Ecool video\u003C\/a\u003E made by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/htmlbios\/hadfield.html\"\u003EAstronaut Chris Hadfield\u003C\/a\u003E and crewmates on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/nasa.gov\/neemo\/\"\u003ENEEMO-14\u003C\/a\u003E mission at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aquarius.uncw.edu\/\"\u003ENOAA Aquarius Reef Base\u003C\/a\u003E. If you're curious to learn more about the underwater habitat, check out the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=q1NAqyT5tlY\"\u003ENEEMO-14 overview video\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OpN9MmKfzbY\"\u003Evideo tour of Aquarius\u003C\/a\u003E too.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"486\" style=\"background-image: url(\u0026quot;http:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/i4jXBCmYzTM\/hqdefault.jpg\u0026quot;);\" width=\"600\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/i4jXBCmYzTM\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/i4jXBCmYzTM\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\" width=\"600\" height=\"486\" allowScriptAccess=\"never\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" wmode=\"transparent\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFor more great information on the NEEMO-14 mission, check out their \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/40054892@N06\/\"\u003EFlickr photos\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/NASAanalogTV\"\u003EYouTube videos\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/NASA_NEEMO\"\u003ETwitter profile\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Key-Largo-FL\/NASA-NEEMO\/120100478009378\"\u003EFacebook page\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nasa.gov\/cm\/newui\/blog\/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=analogsfieldtesting\"\u003Emission support blog\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nStay turned for a future post with more on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Aquanaut\"\u003Eaquanaut\u003C\/a\u003E opportunities!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/163885171599106081\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=163885171599106081\u0026isPopup=true","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/163885171599106081"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/163885171599106081"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/06\/aquanaut-gravity-comparisons.html","title":"Aquanaut Gravity Comparisons"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/TAxj59WI6PI\/AAAAAAAABKk\/OrMpqpAdJwY\/s72-c\/NEEMO.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Key Largo, FL, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"25.0865151 -80.4472802"},"georss$box":{"$t":"24.9310471 -80.68073969999999 25.2419831 -80.2138207"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-2012931071429757388"},"published":{"$t":"2010-05-18T12:29:00.005-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-05-18T12:36:55.714-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"education"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Seismology on the Moon"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S_MTa5tXZ_I\/AAAAAAAABJs\/qfH_Gr7ueos\/s1600\/MoonInterior.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"196\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S_MTa5tXZ_I\/AAAAAAAABJs\/qfH_Gr7ueos\/s200\/MoonInterior.jpg\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EWhen we go back to the Moon, we'll need to employ geophysics to study its interior and will glean important insights into understanding the origin of the Earth-Moon system.  In the process, we'll also learn valuable information to help people live and work on the lunar surface.  For example, we can characterize the seismic hazard and find resources of interest in the subsurface.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBack in January 2010, I joined a small group of like-minded terrestrial and planetary geophysicists at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/01\/meeting-astronauts-schmitt-and-feustel.html\"\u003ELunarGeo2010 meeting\u003C\/a\u003E, which was held at Arizona State University.  The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lroc.sese.asu.edu\/EPO\/\"\u003ELROC Outreach\u003C\/a\u003E team was there interviewing some meeting participants on camera for their \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lroc.sese.asu.edu\/lrolive\/\"\u003ELRO Live!\u003C\/a\u003E education and public outreach project.  \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5Hlw7AHbTJk\"\u003EMy interview video\u003C\/a\u003E surfaced on the web yesterday:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"361\" width=\"600\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/5Hlw7AHbTJk\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/5Hlw7AHbTJk\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"600\" height=\"361\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIt was an honor to be included in the LROC Live! video project along with others such as Astronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=C0IjlrfaEOo\"\u003EHarrison \"Jack\" Schmitt\u003C\/a\u003E (a geologist who holds the record for EVA time on the Moon), Astronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QxNCZwP7gYw\"\u003EDrew Feustel\u003C\/a\u003E (who fixed Hubble and is the only current geophysicist-astronaut), and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wzramu2xiVw\"\u003EBarbara Cohen\u003C\/a\u003E (who heads the U.S. component of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/iln.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EInternational Lunar Network\u003C\/a\u003E).  Dr. Schmitt gave a very well-thought-out rationale why we should return to the Moon that I'd like to share with you now:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"361\" width=\"600\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/C0IjlrfaEOo\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/C0IjlrfaEOo\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"600\" height=\"361\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMore videos are on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Return2Moon09\"\u003ELRO Live! YouTube channel\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/2012931071429757388\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=2012931071429757388\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2012931071429757388"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2012931071429757388"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/05\/seismology-on-moon.html","title":"Seismology on the Moon"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S_MTa5tXZ_I\/AAAAAAAABJs\/qfH_Gr7ueos\/s72-c\/MoonInterior.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Tempe, AZ, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"33.414768 -111.9093095"},"georss$box":{"$t":"33.2714805 -112.142769 33.5580555 -111.67585000000001"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-7945620000935912858"},"published":{"$t":"2010-03-22T00:23:00.660-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-07-16T18:43:48.974-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"conference"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hawaii"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Earth and Space 2010"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003ELast week I attended the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/content.asce.org\/conferences\/earthspace2010\/index.html\"\u003E12th annual Earth \u0026amp; Space 2010 conference\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; The American Society of Civil Engineers (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.asce.org\/\"\u003EASCE\u003C\/a\u003E) sponsors the biennial meeting to bring together experts from a variety of disciplines to discuss exploration, engineering, construction, and operations in challenging environments both on Earth and throughout the solar system.\u0026nbsp; Civil engineering holds the key to solving many of the challenges needed to create sustainable outposts in hostile environments including providing power, mitigating low gravity and dust, protecting against radiation, using local resources, exploring the subsurface, and much more. \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/content.asce.org\/conferences\/earthspace2010\/index.html\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"100\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6ktShg3OpI\/AAAAAAAABFA\/d0hUFdYBsFk\/s400\/EarthSpace2010.png\" width=\"550\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6H_mbHfwiI\/AAAAAAAABE0\/s2M0efycZxc\/s1600-h\/DSC00451.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6H_mbHfwiI\/AAAAAAAABE0\/s2M0efycZxc\/s320\/DSC00451.JPG\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThe meeting was held at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sheraton-waikiki.com\/\"\u003ESheraton Waikiki\u003C\/a\u003E hotel, which offered breathtaking views of the ocean, as shown from the window in the meeting facility here.\u0026nbsp; Tracks in the conference dealt with lunar and martian regolith  materials, sustainable development, intelligent  sensors, aerospace vehicle control, offshore wind turbines,  fluid dynamics and heat transfer, structural health monitoring, disaster mitigation (engineering seismology),  nanotechnology, and advanced construction materials.  I spent the  majority of my time at the meeting in Track B, which focused on  exploration and utilization of extraterrestrial bodies.\u0026nbsp; I took copious \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/4208599\/EarthSpace2010.doc\"\u003Enotes\u003C\/a\u003E from  the technical sessions, but I'll just summarize a few of the presentations here.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ETechnologies and Approaches Enabling Planetary Exploration\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/coewww.rutgers.edu\/%7Ebenaroya\/\"\u003EHaym Benaroya\u003C\/a\u003E kicked off the session with a really good interdisciplinary, holistic treatment of lunar settlements\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=7R48j1RG-boC\u0026amp;printsec=frontcover\u0026amp;dq=Lunar+Settlements+Haym+Benaroya\u0026amp;source=bl\u0026amp;ots=VqIegwuM6o\u0026amp;sig=wEYwbHIJtvargBlnWy4v1QLqvMw\u0026amp;hl=en\u0026amp;ei=cj-pS_DyAsKblgeG6c21Dw\u0026amp;sa=X\u0026amp;oi=book_result\u0026amp;ct=result\u0026amp;resnum=2\u0026amp;ved=0CBIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage\u0026amp;q=\u0026amp;f=false\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; He considered topics ranging from the the lunar environment (radiation, low gravity, dust\/regolith, moonquakes, etc.) to engineering (habitat structures, power systems, resource extraction, power, etc.) to human factors (physiology, psychology, politics\/law, business, tourism, etc.).\u0026nbsp; He stressed that the first generation of lunar missions will bring everything with them; second generation missions will utilize local assembly of structures; and third generation systems will make their resources from local materials.\u0026nbsp; The right to ownership for resources like Helium-3, platinum, and solar power needs to be worked out, and we need to strike a balance between economic development and environmental preservation.\u0026nbsp; I found his discussion on how tourism would deal with issues of insurance and health care very interesting too.\u0026nbsp; Benaroya is the author of two new books on this subject: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=7R48j1RG-boC\u0026amp;lpg=PP1\u0026amp;ots=VqIegwuM6o\u0026amp;dq=Lunar%20Settlements%20Haym%20Benaroya\u0026amp;pg=PP1#v=onepage\u0026amp;q=\u0026amp;f=false\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ELunar Settlements\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.springer.com\/astronomy\/extraterrestrial+physics%2C+space+sciences\/book\/978-1-4419-0870-4\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ETurning Dust to Gold: Building a Future on the Moon and Mars\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; He projects milestones of returning to the Moon in 2024, landing on Mars in 2034, establishing a permanent Mars colony by 2041, first human born on the Moon in 2099, and terraforming of Mars by 2169.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6lRF7bHvZI\/AAAAAAAABFE\/KuuP1qp-lbk\/s1600-h\/DSC00450.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6lRF7bHvZI\/AAAAAAAABFE\/KuuP1qp-lbk\/s320\/DSC00450.JPG\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/isru.msfc.nasa.gov\/scientist_curreri.html\"\u003EPeter Curreri\u003C\/a\u003E gave a fascinating talk on the rationale why humans must establish permanent off-world colonies in order to avoid extinction.\u0026nbsp; He based the argument not on the possibility of a catastrophic impact event but instead on the human propensity for self-extinction.\u0026nbsp; Basically, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moore%27s_law\"\u003Eexponential growth of technology\u003C\/a\u003E puts potentially dangerous technology like nuclear weapons in the hands of more and more people as time moves forward.\u0026nbsp; It's only a matter of time before someone has both the ability and the motivation to push the button and cause widespread extinction on Earth.\u0026nbsp; Curreri estimated that in 1950, 10 people had access to technology that could end life on Earth, but in 2010 the number is closer to 1000.\u0026nbsp; Thankfully, most of these people are not likely to use the technology, but he argued that, based on the psychological literature, the murder-suicide rate is 0.2-0.3% in any population.\u0026nbsp; Multiplying this rate by the number of people with the ability to make humanity extinct, he forecasted that the probability of humans blowing themselves up will reach 1 in 2090!\u0026nbsp; We'd better act fast to ensure our survival.\u0026nbsp; If we had just one permanent human colony off Earth, that rate would be cut to only 0.1 in 2090.\u0026nbsp; To completely ensure the survival of the human species, Curreri \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/link.aip.org\/link\/?APCPCS\/880\/904\/1\"\u003Erecommends\u003C\/a\u003E building at least 70 \"mini\" \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Space_habitat\"\u003EO'Neill-Glaser style habitats\u003C\/a\u003E in space that support populations of 300 people, utilize space solar power, and pay for themselves in 25 years.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBrand Griffin of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/gray-research.com\/\"\u003EGray Research\u003C\/a\u003E presented a very promising lunar exploration strategy called \"Lunar Daylight Exploration.\"\u0026nbsp; He noted that with only 1 rover, 2 astronauts, and 3 days, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Apollo_17\"\u003EApollo 17 mission\u003C\/a\u003E covered 36 km, setup 10 scientific experiments, and returned 110 kg of samples.\u0026nbsp; That's really good.\u0026nbsp; He posed the question what could the Apollo crew had done with more time and today's modern robotics?\u0026nbsp; Griffin envisions a low-cost approach of lunar exploration inspired by Apollo whereby robotic rovers and landers first go scout out the most important scientific sites.\u0026nbsp; Later, 2-person human crews land at the locations deemed to have the highest scientific value and spend an entire lunar day (14 Earth days) exploring the areas.\u0026nbsp; The rovers, which had previously been teleoperated, would also be able to be manually driven by the astronauts up to 768 km when they arrive.\u0026nbsp; He envisions an overall strategy using 4 robotic landers and 10 crewed missions in this scenario.\u0026nbsp; This \"campout\" model has greatly reduced consumables, radiation exposure, physiological degradation, and risk compared with longer term lunar mission concepts.\u0026nbsp; This would allow us to visit more places, do a greater variety of science, and gain experience with planetary surface operations.\u0026nbsp; I think these sorts of missions would be excellent training opportunities for Mars astronauts as well.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EIn Situ Resource Utilization\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThe first Track B session of the meeting dealt with ISRU, and it was so popular that the meeting organizers had to find a larger room.\u0026nbsp; NASA's \u003Cspan class=\"timestamp-story\"\u003EIn Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)  Program Manager Bill Larson\u003C\/span\u003E gave the first talk on \"Overcoming the Hurdles of Incorporating In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) into Human Lunar Exploration.\"\u0026nbsp; He defined ISRU as any hardware or operation that harnesses and utilizes '\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/In_situ\"\u003Ein situ\u003C\/a\u003E' resources to create products and services for robotic and human exploration.\u0026nbsp; These resources could be both natural and manmade (e.g., reusing discarded materials).\u0026nbsp; IRSU encompasses a wide range of activities such as resource mapping\/characterization, mission consumable production, surface construction, energy generation\/storage\/transfer, and equipment manufacturing\/repair.\u0026nbsp; ISRU is a critical capability required for sustainable long term human space exploration, but it is largely unproven.\u0026nbsp; This is why mission planners are usually reluctant to put ISRU in the critical path of a mission.\u0026nbsp; Therefore, we need to develop ISRU technologies now so they are mature in time for lunar and martian exploration.\u0026nbsp; The caveat is that this could lead to higher up front costs and potentially delay human exploration.\u0026nbsp; However, in the long term, it will minimize uncertainties, shortfalls, and costs while increasing sustainability, crew safety, and capabilities.\u0026nbsp; Larson said ISRU research and funding will increase if Congress approves the President's proposed NASA budget.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/423682main_DSC05875_1600-1200.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/423682main_DSC05875_1600-1200.JPG\" width=\"300\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/423645main_DSC05840_1600-1200.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/423645main_DSC05840_1600-1200.JPG\" width=\"300\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nLarson, Dale Boucher, and Robert Fox also spoke at length about the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pisces.hilo.hawaii.edu\/\"\u003EPISCES\u003C\/a\u003E lunar analog field work done on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2008 and 2010.\u0026nbsp; They highlighted the recent January-February 2010 field test of a closed ISRU cycle whereby a rover scooped up tephra and dumped it in a carothermal reactor where it was heated to 1650-1800 °C using solar collectors in a methane environment.\u0026nbsp; This produced carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which went into a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Methanation\"\u003Emethanation\u003C\/a\u003E reactor to produce methane and water.\u0026nbsp; Then, they separated the water into hydrogen and oxygen via electrolysis.\u0026nbsp; The oxygen yield was 9-10% by mass, which is pretty good. You can see photos of the field work above or \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/directorates\/esmd\/home\/hawaii_lunar_tests.html\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/offices\/ipp\/home\/isru_gallery_new_index.html\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ow.ly\/user\/NASAdust2thrust\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; You can also read about the project on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.com\/scienceastronomy\/090108-am-pisces-hawaii.html\"\u003ESPACE.com\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/the.honoluluadvertiser.com\/article\/2010\/Feb\/09\/ln\/hawaii2090329.html\"\u003EHonolulu Advertiser\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; Follow the group \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/NASAdust2thrust\"\u003E@NASAdust2thrust\u003C\/a\u003E on twitter too.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EPlanetary Analogs\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Planetary Analogs session may have been my favorite.\u0026nbsp; It focused on work being done on Earth to test procedures, methodologies, equipment, and technologies for later application to lunar and martian exploration.\u0026nbsp; The challenges faced by people on long duration deployments to remote outposts (established or temporary) are similar to those future explorers will face on Mras.\u0026nbsp; Two talks focused on how \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spaceref.com\/news\/viewsr.html?pid=32040\"\u003EAntarctica South Pole Traverses\u003C\/a\u003E are like operations on the Moon or Mars.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/environment\/gallery\/2008-12\/traversing-antarctica\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/www.popsci.com\/files\/imagecache\/photogallery_image\/articles\/Image%204_0.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ksc.nasa.gov\/admin\/mentor\/vrm.html\"\u003ERobert Mueller\u003C\/a\u003E (NASA), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marsonearth.org\/1998\/TEAM\/team.html#AnchorHoffman\"\u003EStephen Hoffman\u003C\/a\u003E (SAIC), and Paul Thur (Raytheon) discussed how the long 1600 km (1000 mi) traverse from McMurdo Station to the South Pole is analogous to lunar or martian traverses.\u0026nbsp; Both must tackle issues of resupply, caches, cold conditions, etc.\u0026nbsp; The NASA concept for a lunar traverse is 4 crewmembers on a 6-month mission to cover thousands of kilometers.\u0026nbsp; This will allow for regional to near global access and the ability to do much more science than staying put at one base.\u0026nbsp; They defined the \"Support Equipment Ratio\" (SER) as the ratio of support equipment needed vs. the amount of deliverable cargo.\u0026nbsp; In the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spaceref.com\/news\/viewsr.html?pid=32040\"\u003E2009-10 Antarctic South Pole traverses\u003C\/a\u003E, the SER was 1.38:1, and this will drop to 1.15:1 once they completely switch from steel skis to plastic sleds.\u0026nbsp; NASA's analysis suggests a lunar traverse would have a SER of 0.97:1, which is pretty close to the Antarctic experience.\u0026nbsp; For either Antarctica or the Moon, the biggest technology development issues pertain to gray water recovery and environmentally friendly waste disposal.\u0026nbsp; Crews for long duration lunar or martian traverses will likely train in Antarctica.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S62zNTI5MXI\/AAAAAAAABFY\/MIJ2FAwPzfE\/s1600-h\/DSC00455.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S62zNTI5MXI\/AAAAAAAABFY\/MIJ2FAwPzfE\/s320\/DSC00455.JPG\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EHoffman later gave another presentation emphasizing that we now have more than 50 years of Arctic and Antarctic experience  that we can leverage for lunar or martian exploration.\u0026nbsp; Some of the examples included the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Norwegian-British-Swedish_Antarctic_Expedition\"\u003ENorwegian-British-Swedish Expedition\u003C\/a\u003E of 1949-52 (15 crew, 1240 km longest traverse), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/International_Geophysical_Year\"\u003EInternational Geophysical Year\u003C\/a\u003E traverses of 1956-58 (8-9 crew, 2300 km longest traverse), \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/traverse.npolar.no\/historical-traverses\/us-traverses\"\u003EQueen Maud Land\u003C\/a\u003E traverses of 1964-68 (10-11 crew, 1556 km longest traverse), and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marsonearth.org\/northwest_passage_drive\/\"\u003ENorthwest Passage Drive \u003C\/a\u003Etraverse of 2004 (4 crew, 250 km traverse).\u0026nbsp; His main focus was how these types of expeditions are analogous to mobile exploration scenarios in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/20090012109_2009010520.pdf\"\u003EMars Design Reference Architecture 5.0\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; Hoffman summarized a workshop held last year on \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2060\/20090041627\"\u003EArctic and Antarctic Analogs for Planetary Surface Traverses\u003C\/a\u003E\".\u0026nbsp; I encourage readers to click on the link to read the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2060\/20090041627\"\u003EPDF report\u003C\/a\u003E of from that workshop.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/antholonet.com\/MarsEvolve\/MobileHab.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"190\" src=\"http:\/\/antholonet.com\/MarsEvolve\/MobileHab.JPG\" width=\"340\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S63DNfJlIII\/AAAAAAAABFc\/Ia3EDbbuNGA\/s1600-h\/Mars_traverses.png\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"190\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S63DNfJlIII\/AAAAAAAABFc\/Ia3EDbbuNGA\/s320\/Mars_traverses.png\" width=\"250\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBrian Glass from NASA Ames rounded out the session by summarizing some of the major terrestrial Mars analog sites and their relative strengths and weaknesses for drilling automation testing.\u0026nbsp; Drilling is an important activity for most proposed exploration strategies since it allows the study of subsurface ice\/volatiles, the regolith\/upper crust, biomarkers\/life, heat flow, resource characterization, etc.\u0026nbsp; While teleoperated drilling might be okay on the Moon, the time delay to Mars means that we'll have to automate the work.\u0026nbsp; Some of the sites he compared were \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.barringercrater.com\/\"\u003EBarringer Crater\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/desert_rats.html\"\u003EBlack Point\u003C\/a\u003E in Arizona, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/home\/moses_lake_062008.html\"\u003EMoses Lake\u003C\/a\u003E in Washington, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marte.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ERio Tinto\u003C\/a\u003E in Spain, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.inl.gov\/\"\u003EIdaho National Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Atacama_Desert\"\u003EAtacama Desert\u003C\/a\u003E in Chile, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lonar_crater_lake\"\u003ELonar Crater\u003C\/a\u003E in India, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/home\/hawaii_lunar_tests.html\"\u003EMauna Kea\u003C\/a\u003E in Hawaii, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/McMurdo_Dry_Valleys\"\u003EDry Valleys\u003C\/a\u003E of Antarctica, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/mars\/news\/amase\/\"\u003ESvalbard\u003C\/a\u003E in Norway, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marsonearth.org\/\"\u003EDevon\u003C\/a\u003E\/Ellesmere\/Axel Heilberg Islands in Canada.\u0026nbsp; For a more complete treatment of Mars analog sites on Earth, check out  the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S0032063303001909\"\u003E2004  NRC report\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; I got to know Brian on Devon Island last summer during the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2006\/12\/fmars.html\"\u003EFMARS\u003C\/a\u003E mission.\u0026nbsp; He helped me out by turning off radio transmissions to his automated drill experiment during my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/water-and-electricity-do-mix-on-mars.html\"\u003Eelectromagnetic experiment\u003C\/a\u003E. You can watch him in the video below.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"401\" width=\"500\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/s4epFI6WPec\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/s4epFI6WPec\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"500\" height=\"401\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ELunar Habitats, Drilling, and Sample Return\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPresentations given by Kriss Kennedy and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.plugin-creations.com\/us\/ash\/home\/vitae.pdf\"\u003EA. Scott Howe\u003C\/a\u003E of NASA compared the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/pdf\/315828main_LSS_Overview_for_Industry_Culbert.pdf\"\u003ELunar Surface Systems Project\u003C\/a\u003E Habitation Team architectures for Scenarios 12.0 and 12.1, which correspond to horizontally and vertically oriented habitats, respectively.\u0026nbsp; Both call for missions with a crew of 4 for durations up to 180 days.\u0026nbsp; The vertical habitat concept has the advantage of larger floor surface area and easier docking compared to the horizontal architecture.\u0026nbsp; In both cases, the issue of protection from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Galactic_cosmic_ray\"\u003Egalactic cosmic radiation\u003C\/a\u003E remains unsolved.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pub\/olga-bannova\/4\/444\/901\"\u003EOlga Bennova\u003C\/a\u003E proposed a water wall popup shelter to serve as protection during \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Solar_Energetic_Particles\"\u003Esolar particle events\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/20100003414_2010003480.pdf\"\u003EHabitat Demonstration Unit\u003C\/a\u003E (HDU) will be tested in July 2010 at the NASA \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/desert_rats.html\"\u003EDesert RATS\u003C\/a\u003E campaign outside Flagstaff, Arizona.\u0026nbsp; They plan to have a crew of 2-4 take part in a 14-30 day analog field mission.\u0026nbsp; That sounds like something I'd love to do.\u0026nbsp; Kennedy showed a really cool video animation of the mobile lunar surface system architecture in action, but I can't find it online.  Instead, check out \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/externalflash\/LunarOutpost\/index.html\"\u003ENASA's online lunar outpost\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; The 12.0 (left) and 12.1 (right) architectures are shown below:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S63NLicq94I\/AAAAAAAABFo\/4DCQ58ifm1E\/s1600-h\/lunar_mobile_architecture_12.0.png\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"201\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S63NLicq94I\/AAAAAAAABFo\/4DCQ58ifm1E\/s320\/lunar_mobile_architecture_12.0.png\" width=\"300\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S63NO-mhjLI\/AAAAAAAABFs\/3egeKpnxQFU\/s1600-h\/lunar_mobile_architecture_12.1.png\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"201\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S63NO-mhjLI\/AAAAAAAABFs\/3egeKpnxQFU\/s320\/lunar_mobile_architecture_12.1.png\" width=\"300\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPlanetary drilling, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sample_return_mission\"\u003ESample return\u003C\/a\u003E, and dust mitigation were big themes too with several  sessions devoted to them.\u0026nbsp; This post is getting long, so I'll skip the long-winded summaries, but you can see my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/4208599\/EarthSpace2010.doc\"\u003Enotes\u003C\/a\u003E for the details.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EAstronaut Jack Schmitt Awards Reception\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6rMbIJWQSI\/AAAAAAAABFU\/oShA4MkwqkU\/s1600\/DSC00480.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6rMbIJWQSI\/AAAAAAAABFU\/oShA4MkwqkU\/s320\/DSC00480.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EIf you're a regular reader of this blog, you probably remember that back in January, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/01\/meeting-astronauts-schmitt-and-feustel.html\"\u003EI met Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt\u003C\/a\u003E at the LunarGeo 2010 workshop.\u0026nbsp; One of the reasons I was so excited about attending the Earth \u0026amp; Space 2010 conference was because \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harrison_Schmitt\"\u003ESchmitt\u003C\/a\u003E would be there too. The first astronaut scientist to walk on another world received the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.asce.org\/pressroom\/honors\/columbia_award.cfm?hdlid=1\"\u003EColumbia Medal\u003C\/a\u003E for his long-standing contributions to space exploration and gave the keynote address at the ASCE Awards Reception.\u0026nbsp; His talk focused on lunar science and the energy resources that are available there (particularly \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Helium-3\"\u003EHelium-3\u003C\/a\u003E). \u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.higp.hawaii.edu\/%7Egjtaylor\/\"\u003EJeff Taylor\u003C\/a\u003E gave the reception's opening talk on why we should explore the Moon. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6rMS9wWuBI\/AAAAAAAABFQ\/8Mq99cgQOb8\/s800\/DSC00473.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"375\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6rMS9wWuBI\/AAAAAAAABFQ\/8Mq99cgQOb8\/s800\/DSC00473.JPG\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EFuture astronaut Brian Shiro with former astronaut Jack Schmitt (March 16, 2010)\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\n\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPrior to the keynote addresses, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/riofriospacetime.blogspot.com\/2010\/03\/rewards.html\"\u003EA Babe in the Universe\u003C\/a\u003E and I had an interesting discussion about human missions to Mars.\u0026nbsp; She thinks we can get by with as little as two or perhaps even one person on the crew.\u0026nbsp; I think you need at least four people and preferably more.\u0026nbsp; We both agreed that more long term isolation studies like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/MARS-500\"\u003EMars 500\u003C\/a\u003E are needed to work out the psycho-social and crew selection issues.\u0026nbsp; All-in-all, the Earth \u0026amp; Space 2010 meeting cemented in me a better understanding of the engineering issues related to living off-world and that the Moon has a lot to offer as a testbed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/7945620000935912858\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=7945620000935912858\u0026isPopup=true","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7945620000935912858"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7945620000935912858"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/03\/earth-and-space-2010.html","title":"Earth and Space 2010"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S6ktShg3OpI\/AAAAAAAABFA\/d0hUFdYBsFk\/s72-c\/EarthSpace2010.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"3"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Waikiki, Honolulu, HI, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"21.27713790435088 -157.83130645751953"},"georss$box":{"$t":"21.272138904350879 -157.83860195751953 21.282136904350882 -157.82401095751953"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-7459380137545344114"},"published":{"$t":"2010-01-22T06:20:00.007-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2013-07-16T18:43:48.961-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"astronaut"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"conference"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Meeting Astronauts Schmitt and Feustel at LunarGeo2010"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/meetings\/lunargeo2010\/images\/lunargeo-logo.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"177\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/meetings\/lunargeo2010\/images\/lunargeo-logo.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EFor the past two days, I have been at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/meetings\/lunargeo2010\/\"\u003EGround-Based Geophysics on the Moon\u003C\/a\u003E workshop in Tempe, Arizona (aka: \"LunarGeo2010\").  This meeting is the first of its kind to bring together planetary and terrestrial geophysicists to review what we learned about the Moon from past geophysical studies and to plan future studies - robotic and human.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAstronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harrison_Schmitt\"\u003EJack Schmitt\u003C\/a\u003E gave the first keynote address.  He related his experiences doing \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ares.jsc.nasa.gov\/HumanExplore\/Exploration\/EXLibrary\/docs\/ApolloCat\/Part1\/ASE.htm\"\u003Eactive seismic experiments\u003C\/a\u003E during the Apollo 17 mission.\u0026nbsp; He was the only professional scientist to ever visit the Moon and holds the record for the most EVA time spent working outside on another planetary body (22 hours).\u0026nbsp; The Moon is the only place in the solar system where humans have carried out ground-based geophysical studies such as seismology, heat flow, electromagnetic soundings, and gravity.\u0026nbsp; Without the data Schmitt and his Apollo colleagues collected, we would know significantly less about lunar interior and history, and by extension the rest of the solar system as well.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAstronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Andrew_J._Feustel\"\u003EDrew Feustel\u003C\/a\u003E was also at the meeting.\u0026nbsp; He presented his work helping to develop the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/meetings\/lunargeo2010\/pdf\/3003.pdf\"\u003EPlanetary Exploration Geophysical Systems\u003C\/a\u003E (PEGS), which is a rover that collects seismic and other geophysical data for rapid subsurface reconnaissance.\u0026nbsp; He's tested the system at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Meteor_Crater\"\u003EMeteor Crater\u003C\/a\u003E and in Antarctica.\u0026nbsp; Feustel logged about 21 hours of EVA time fixing the Hubble Space Telescope on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/STS-125\"\u003ESTS-125\u003C\/a\u003E, which was featured in the \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/nova\/hubble\/\"\u003EHubble's Amazing Rescue\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E Nova special that I saw at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/12\/agu-recap.html#day2\"\u003EAGU meeting\u003C\/a\u003E last month.\u0026nbsp; Feustel is slated to fly again on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/STS-134\"\u003ESTS-134\u003C\/a\u003E later this year.\u0026nbsp; I spent some quality time talking with both Schmitt and Feustel about their experiences, and I'm honored to have met them. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1llSitqd-I\/AAAAAAAAA88\/YaQZnm7aKpE\/s1600-h\/DSC_0143.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"265\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1llSitqd-I\/AAAAAAAAA88\/YaQZnm7aKpE\/s400\/DSC_0143.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cb\u003E3 generations of astronaut geophysicists (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1pamAjr1CI\/AAAAAAAAA9o\/5erHzahMP6I\/s800\/DSC_0144.jpg\"\u003Ealt pic\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.dtm.ciw.edu\/scs\/\"\u003ESean Solomon\u003C\/a\u003E also gave a very good keynote presentation on the outstanding questions relating to our understanding of the Moon's internal structure and evolution.\u0026nbsp; These questions included: How did the Moon differentiate? What is the lunar crustal thickness and structure? What is the vertical mixing history in the lunar mantle? What is the origin of the lunar hemispherical asymmetry? Was there ever a lunar core dynamo? What is the history of lunar volcanism? What is the distribution of lunar interior volatiles? What generates moonquakes?\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ipgp.fr\/%7Ewieczor\/\"\u003EMark Wieczorek\u003C\/a\u003E expanded upon the overview with descriptions of the latest gravity maps from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/article\/special\/kaguya\/seika01_e.html\"\u003EKaguya\u003C\/a\u003E and the promise of the upcoming \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/moon.mit.edu\/\"\u003EGRAIL\u003C\/a\u003E mission.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1nsWpk_26I\/AAAAAAAAA9M\/JXMt9DxeR3s\/s1600-h\/schmitt.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1nsWpk_26I\/AAAAAAAAA9M\/JXMt9DxeR3s\/s1600\/schmitt.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThere were many other great talks and posters on seismology, heat flow, ground penetrating radar, magnetic, lunar laser ranging, etc.\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment\"\u003ELunar Laser Ranging\u003C\/a\u003E (LLR) deserves special mention because it is the only experiment from the Apollo era continuing today.\u0026nbsp; They can currently measure the distance to the Moon with a 1.5 cm accuracy, and within a couple of years it'll be down to the millimeter level. Among other things, LLR data has helped us understand minor variations in the Moon's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/news\/n0202\/14moon\/\"\u003Emoment of inertia\u003C\/a\u003E, which tells us that the lunar core is about 400 km thick.\u0026nbsp; The speaker noted that the LLR program needs more corner reflectors, so I was wondering if the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003EGLXP\u003C\/a\u003E rover(s) could include them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn addition, I thought it was interesting that several presentations addressed the problem of how to take heat flow measurements of the lunar surface without contaminating the reading.\u0026nbsp; The footprints astronauts leave decrease the albedo and compact the regolith and heat the local area, which makes heat flow measurements higher than they would be naturally.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAlong with LLR, only seismology can verify the extent and character of the lunar core, as well as crust and mantle structure. That's why geophysics has consistently been a top priority in all recent reviews of lunar science priorities such as the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/sites.nationalacademies.org\/SSB\/CurrentProjects\/ssb_052412\"\u003EPlanetary Decadal Survey\u003C\/a\u003E (2003) and the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nap.edu\/catalog.php?record_id=11954\"\u003EThe Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon Report\u003C\/a\u003E (2007).\u0026nbsp; To meet this need, NASA and its international partners are planning to land a series of autonomous geophysical stations to build upon the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ares.jsc.nasa.gov\/HumanExplore\/Exploration\/EXlibrary\/docs\/ApolloCat\/Part1\/PSE.htm\"\u003EApollo seismic network\u003C\/a\u003E through an effort known as the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/iln.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EInternational Lunar Network\u003C\/a\u003E (ILN).\u0026nbsp; In July 2008, the US, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, and the UK signed a charter to define the program.\u0026nbsp; The ILN will nominally consist of 4 stations active for 6 years starting around 2015.\u0026nbsp; You can learn more about the ILN from the recent\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/iln.arc.nasa.gov\/sites\/iln.arc.nasa.gov\/files\/ILN%20Final%20Report.pdf\"\u003EILN Final Report\u003C\/a\u003E .\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe 50 attendees at the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/meetings\/lunargeo2010\/\"\u003ELunarGeo2010 workshop\u003C\/a\u003E discussed how the planetary and terrestrial geophysical communities might come together to contribute to these efforts.\u0026nbsp; I hope this is only the first of many such bridge-building meetings. I'm glad I could be a part of it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1luED0OWNI\/AAAAAAAAA9E\/qOarJWxJsWY\/s1600-h\/DSC_0026.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"265\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1luED0OWNI\/AAAAAAAAA9E\/qOarJWxJsWY\/s400\/DSC_0026.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe workshop was very beneficial to me, as I got to speak with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.boulder.swri.edu\/%7Egrimm\/\"\u003EBob Grimm\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.boulder.swri.edu\/%7Edstillman\/\"\u003EDavid Stillman\u003C\/a\u003E about my \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/water-and-electricity-do-mix-on-mars.html\"\u003EFMARS electromagnetic experiment\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.geosc.uh.edu\/people\/faculty\/robert-stewart\/index.php\"\u003ERob Stewart\u003C\/a\u003E (a former CSA astronaut finalist) about my upcoming MDRS active seismic experiment.\u0026nbsp; I'd like to thank \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.com\/adastra\/070510_adastra_mockmars.html\"\u003EVeronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto\u003C\/a\u003E for graciously sharing her photos with me and for her logistical support to organize the workshop.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EUpdate: 22 May 2010\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI met Dr. Schmitt again at the Earth \u0026 Space 2010 conference, which you can read all about \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/03\/earth-and-space-2010.html\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EUpdate: 17 May 2010\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lroc.sese.asu.edu\/EPO\/\"\u003ELROC Outreach\u003C\/a\u003E filmed me answering a student question during the workshop, and the video is now online:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject width=\"600\" height=\"361\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/5Hlw7AHbTJk\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/5Hlw7AHbTJk\u0026hl=en_US\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"600\" height=\"361\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/7459380137545344114\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=7459380137545344114\u0026isPopup=true","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7459380137545344114"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7459380137545344114"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2010\/01\/meeting-astronauts-schmitt-and-feustel.html","title":"Meeting Astronauts Schmitt and Feustel at LunarGeo2010"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/S1llSitqd-I\/AAAAAAAAA88\/YaQZnm7aKpE\/s72-c\/DSC_0143.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Tempe, AZ, USA"},"georss$point":{"$t":"33.414768 -111.9093095"},"georss$box":{"$t":"33.2714805 -112.142769 33.5580555 -111.67585000000001"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-8208768621175416971"},"published":{"$t":"2009-11-16T19:04:00.008-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-11-16T19:49:31.643-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fun"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Space Simulators"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Let's face it.  Until the cost of spaceflight significantly decreases, only a few highly qualified and lucky people will be selected as astronauts to fly in space.  But that doesn't mean they have to have all of the fun.  Here are some free space simulators you can download to hone your skills.  Some are targeted at students for educational purposes, some are just for fun, and others are real research tools used by NASA.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EORBITER\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/orbit.html\"\u003EORBITER\u003C\/a\u003E is a free flight simulator that goes beyond the confines of Earth's atmosphere. Launch the Space Shuttle from Kennedy Space Center to deploy a satellite, rendezvous with the International Space Station or take the futuristic Delta-glider for a tour through the solar system.  Many \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/sites.html\"\u003Eaddons\u003C\/a\u003E that expand the simulator's capabilities are available. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/download.html\"\u003EWindows\u003C\/a\u003E only)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/images\/gallery45.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/images\/gallery45.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/images\/gallery60.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk\/images\/gallery60.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EStation Spacewalk Game\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/3d_resources\/station_spacewalk_game.html\"\u003EStation Spacewalk Game\u003C\/a\u003E allows you to experience the thrill of conducting repair work on the International Space Station. After negotiating your way through the airlock, you, the astronaut, will be tasked with four jobs critical to help power up the space station so it can continue to operate at full capacity. But you have to move quickly and carefully, with a limited quantity of oxygen you must complete your extravehicular activities (EVAs) and get back into the airlock before your air supply runs out.  This game features simulations of actual EVAs conducted by NASA astronauts on missions to provide power to the space station. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/zip\/386303main_ssg-mac.zip\"\u003EMac\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/zip\/386289main_ssg-win.zip\"\u003EWindows\u003C\/a\u003E versions)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/386197main_ssg4-430x323.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/386197main_ssg4-430x323.png\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ELunar Rover Simulator\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.frassanito.com\/RoverSIM\/\"\u003ELunar Rover SIM\u003C\/a\u003E is based on NASA's Constellation Program architecture.  It lets you drive the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/home\/LER.html\"\u003ELunar Electric Rover (LER)\u003C\/a\u003E around on the moon, test multiple cameras\/views, and dock with the lunar habitat base. It also features \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Liquid_oxygen\"\u003ELOX\u003C\/a\u003E refueling stations, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov\/systems\/system.cfm?System=11\"\u003EATHLETE rover\u003C\/a\u003E, and the lunar EVA suit. It is based upon specifications of the actual \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/constellation\/\"\u003EConstellation\u003C\/a\u003E architecture and approximates lighting conditions at one of the possible lunar base sites.  This software was written by the same guys who made the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.frassanito.com\/work\/animations\/animations\/ARES1X\/Ares1X.html\"\u003EAres I-X video\u003C\/a\u003E. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.frassanito.com\/RoverSIM\/LunarRover_Mac.app.zip\"\u003EMac\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.frassanito.com\/RoverSIM\/LunarRoverPC.zip\"\u003EWindows\u003C\/a\u003E versions)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.frassanito.com\/RoverSIM\/LR_Splash.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/www.frassanito.com\/RoverSIM\/LR_Splash.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EMaestro\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mars.telascience.org\/\"\u003EMaestro\u003C\/a\u003E is the actual software the JPL science team uses to plan the daily driving sequences for the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marsrovers.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ESpirit and Opportunity rovers\u003C\/a\u003E on the surface of Mars.  They look at imagery and build up a list of activities they want to accomplish each day, taking into account constraints like time and power.  Maestro is publicly available, with many actual MER rover data sets. NASA is working toward extending its capabilities for future missions such as the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl\/\"\u003EMars Science Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/anon.nasa-global.speedera.net\/anon.nasa-global\/mars\/Maestro-Linux.tar.gz\"\u003ELinux\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/anon.nasa-global.speedera.net\/anon.nasa-global\/mars\/Maestro-Mac.dmg\"\u003EMac\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/anon.nasa-global.speedera.net\/anon.nasa-global\/mars\/Maestro-Win.exe\"\u003EWindows\u003C\/a\u003E versions, check for \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mars.telascience.org\/update\"\u003Eupdates\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov\/images\/userInterfaces2-800.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"271\" src=\"http:\/\/www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov\/images\/userInterfaces2-800.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EMars Flight\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/education.grc.nasa.gov\/MarsFlight\/index.htm\"\u003EMars Flight\u003C\/a\u003E is an immersive and interactive Mars airplane simulation.  This exciting application allows you to control the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marsairplane.larc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EARES Mars Airplane\u003C\/a\u003E from an Earth-bound control center.  Many enhancements are planned for the future, including a comprehensive set of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wingsovermars.arc.nasa.gov\/learnMore.html\"\u003Ecurriculum enhancement activities\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.geofusion.com\/MarsDemo\/MarsDemo.html\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/education.grc.nasa.gov\/MarsFlight\/MACDownload.htm\"\u003EMac\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/education.grc.nasa.gov\/MarsFlight\/PCDownload.htm\"\u003EWindows\u003C\/a\u003E versions)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIf you like flying around on Mars, you might also like the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.geofusion.com\/MarsDemo\/MarsDemo.html\"\u003EGeoplayer Mars Demo\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wingsovermars.arc.nasa.gov\/images\/simShot.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"310\" src=\"http:\/\/wingsovermars.arc.nasa.gov\/images\/simShot.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EMars Simulation Project\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mars-sim.sourceforge.net\/\"\u003EMars Simulation Project\u003C\/a\u003E simulates future human settlements on Mars.  It models the human behavior of scientists, engineers, doctors, technicians, etc. as they go about their day-to-day lives in the virtual Martian environment. There are many different settlements spread out across the planet, ranging from simple 4-person initial landing habitats to more mature bases hosting dozens of people and advanced buildings. The settlers spend much of their time maintaining their settlements, growing crops in their greenhouses, and manufacturing needed parts and equipment from collected local resources. They also go out on rover missions to explore and study the surrounding area, prospect and mine mineral concentrations, and trade with their neighboring settlements. The settlers have to contend with accidents, equipment malfunctions, illnesses, injuries, and even death. Survival depends on the settlers working together, building relationships, improving skills and balancing the needs of their settlements. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mars-sim.sourceforge.net\/downloads.html\"\u003ELinux\u003C\/a\u003E and other *NIX operating systems)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mars-sim.sourceforge.net\/images\/ScreenShot3.png\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"235\" src=\"http:\/\/mars-sim.sourceforge.net\/images\/ScreenShot3.png\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EMars Colony Simulator and Mars Colony Online\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hyperkat.com\/mcad.html\"\u003EMars Colony Simulator\u003C\/a\u003E is a concept demo of a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mars_Direct\"\u003EMars Direct\u003C\/a\u003E-based Mars colony.  It allows the user to freely walk or drive around the 3D landscape and inside buildings that include a crew habitat and a farm greenhouse.  The habitat is based on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/desert.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EMDRS\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/arctic.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EFMARS\u003C\/a\u003E stations that are operated by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marssociety.org\/portal\/MarsSimulatorHelp\/\"\u003EThe Mars Society\u003C\/a\u003E.  There is also a separate demo of an unmanned \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hyperkat.com\/virtualbots.html\"\u003ERover Simulator\u003C\/a\u003E.  More information is available on the developer's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hyperkat.com\/colonyets.html\"\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hyperkat.com\/blog\/\"\u003Eblog\u003C\/a\u003E. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hyperkat.com\/MarsColonyDemoII.exe\"\u003EWindows\u003C\/a\u003E only)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hyperkat.com\/Images\/mc05.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/hyperkat.com\/Images\/mc05.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hyperkat.com\/Images\/mco3.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"210\" src=\"http:\/\/hyperkat.com\/Images\/mco3.jpg\" width=\"280\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hyperkat.com\/MarsOnline.html\"\u003EMars Colony Online\u003C\/a\u003E is the online version of Mars Colony Simulator for multiplayer roleplaying.  It allows groups of players to live and work together to ensure their colony's survival.  So far, it's limited to 64 players.  You can even do some geophysics \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/water-and-electricity-do-mix-on-mars.html\"\u003Elike I did as FMARS\u003C\/a\u003E by using \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ground-penetrating_radar\"\u003Eground penetrating radar\u003C\/a\u003E to look for subsurface water, as the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xjq4ASkHkcU\u0026amp;feature=player_embedded\"\u003Evideo\u003C\/a\u003E below shows.  More videos are on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hyperkat.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/props-to-thedubman\/\"\u003Ehypercat blog\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"405\" width=\"500\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/xjq4ASkHkcU\u0026color1=0xb1b1b1\u0026color2=0xcfcfcf\u0026feature=player_embedded\u0026fs=1\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/xjq4ASkHkcU\u0026color1=0xb1b1b1\u0026color2=0xcfcfcf\u0026feature=player_embedded\u0026fs=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowScriptAccess=\"always\" width=\"500\" height=\"405\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMany more simulators for a variety of operating systems are available at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/astrotips.com\/Downloads.phtml\"\u003EAstroTips.com\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/8208768621175416971\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=8208768621175416971\u0026isPopup=true","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/8208768621175416971"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/8208768621175416971"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/11\/space-simulators.html","title":"Space Simulators"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"3"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-4986702148435019812"},"published":{"$t":"2009-11-14T13:38:00.008-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-11-15T00:07:12.559-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Terraforming Mars"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv89eoJ8DWI\/AAAAAAAAA2w\/uEaMW2sLeiQ\/s1600-h\/lcross-impact_01_01.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv89eoJ8DWI\/AAAAAAAAA2w\/uEaMW2sLeiQ\/s200\/lcross-impact_01_01.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EThe big news yesterday was \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LCROSS\/main\/prelim_water_results.html\"\u003ENASA's annoucement\u003C\/a\u003E that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lcross.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ELCROSS\u003C\/a\u003E 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 \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogsearch.google.com\/blogsearch?q=LCROSS\u0026amp;oe=utf-8\u0026amp;client=firefox-a\u0026amp;um=1\u0026amp;ie=UTF-8\u0026amp;ei=Wjv_Sv6tJ5KKswPdgOmHCw\u0026amp;oi=blogsearch_group\u0026amp;ct=title\u0026amp;as_maxm=11\u0026amp;as_miny=2009\u0026amp;as_maxy=2009\u0026amp;as_minm=11\u0026amp;as_mind=13\u0026amp;as_maxd=14\u0026amp;as_drrb=b\u0026amp;ctz=600\u0026amp;c1cr=11%2F13%2F2009\u0026amp;c2cr=11%2F14%2F2009\u0026amp;btnD=Go\"\u003Ewritten something\u003C\/a\u003E about this landmark discovery, so I won't repeat it here (The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/11\/14\/science\/14moon.html\"\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/a\u003E had a nice article.)  Congratulations to the LCROSS team!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOne 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.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThis week is the National Geographic Channel's (NGC) second annual \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/channel\/expedition-week-main\"\u003EExpedition Week\u003C\/a\u003E.  It features some interesting programs like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4964\/Overview\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EDrain the Ocean\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/3569\/Overview\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EGiant Crystal Cave\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/3829\/Overview\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EEaster Island Underworld\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4041\/Overview\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EBizarre Dinosaurs\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4043\/Overview\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EEgyptian Secrets of the Afterlife\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.  Any series with \"Expedition\" in the title grabs my attention, but I was particularly drawn to one of the series' other offerings: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4588\/Overview\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EMars: Making the New Earth\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, 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:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cembed allowfullscreen=\"true\" bgcolor=\"#000000\" flashvars=\"videoRef=07257_00\u0026amp;autoStart=false\u0026amp;shareURL=http%3A%2F%2Fchannel%2Enationalgeographic%2Ecom%2Fseries%2Fexpedition%2Dweek%2F4588%2FVideos%2F07257%5F00\" height=\"279\" name=\"flashObj\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/shockwave\/download\/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash\" src=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/channel\/videos\/satellite\/satelliteEmbedPlayer.swf\" swliveconnect=\"true\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"496\" \/\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOther video segments featuring interviews with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christopher_McKay_%28planetary_scientist%29\"\u003EChris McKay\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Zubrin\"\u003ERobert Zubrin\u003C\/a\u003E on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4588\/Videos\/07449_00\"\u003Ehow to terraform Mars\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4588\/Videos\/07450_00\"\u003Eethics\u003C\/a\u003E of whether we should do it at all are available on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4588\/Overview#tab-Videos\/07257_00\"\u003ENGC website\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp; McKay's passion for Mars exploration led him to found a series of conferences on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/spot.colorado.edu\/%7Emarscase\/Home.html\"\u003E\"The Case for Mars\"\u003C\/a\u003E that inspired Zubrin to write his \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Mars-Plan-Settle-Planet\/dp\/0684835509\"\u003Ebook by the same title\u003C\/a\u003E.  Zubrin then went on to found \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EThe Mars Society\u003C\/a\u003E (with McKay's support) and establish the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/arctic.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EFMARS\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/desert.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EMDRS\u003C\/a\u003E simulated Mars bases.  I spent a month \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2006\/12\/fmars.html\"\u003Eat FMARS this past July\u003C\/a\u003E and will lead a crew on a 2-week mission to MDRS in Utah this coming January.  The NGC video clips feature some astronauts in simulated space suits traversing terrain near the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/desert.marssociety.org\/\"\u003EMDRS\u003C\/a\u003E.  Below are two images depicting a terraformed Mars from the NGC program:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv8-fFhfTyI\/AAAAAAAAA24\/yLZL8JWbQi8\/s1600-h\/4588_mars-making-the-new-earth-02_04700300.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv8-fFhfTyI\/AAAAAAAAA24\/yLZL8JWbQi8\/s400\/4588_mars-making-the-new-earth-02_04700300.JPG\" width=\"280\" height=\"179\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv8-jZBcGBI\/AAAAAAAAA3A\/DaKWe2oWPPY\/s1600-h\/4588_mars-making-the-new-earth-06_04700300.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv8-jZBcGBI\/AAAAAAAAA3A\/DaKWe2oWPPY\/s400\/4588_mars-making-the-new-earth-06_04700300.JPG\"  width=\"280\" height=\"179\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe subject of terraforming Mars first grabbed my attention about eight years ago when I read the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mars_trilogy\"\u003EKim Stanley Robinson Mars series\u003C\/a\u003E: \u003Ci\u003ERed Mars\u003C\/i\u003E, \u003Ci\u003EGreen Mars\u003C\/i\u003E, \u003Ci\u003EBlue Mars\u003C\/i\u003E, \u003Ci\u003EThe Martians\u003C\/i\u003E.  The award-winning science fiction novels are all about the large-scale human colonization of Mars starting in 2026 and spanning 200 years.  During that time, the colonists are able to transform the planet from a cold, dry, barren landscape into a relatively warm, wet, and green one.  They develop many engineering and medical technology breakthroughs that allow them to live in the harsh environment, and this ultimately changes humanity.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kimstanleyrobinson.info\/w\/index.php5?title=Mars_trilogy\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv85ub7tCyI\/AAAAAAAAA2o\/59xA_xYGgU8\/s400\/Mars_trilogy.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn Robinson's books, the people splinter off into two main groups: \"the Reds\" and \"the Greens.\"  Reds want to preserve Mars in its natural state so as not to disturb the geological and potentially biological secrets locked away in the martian past.  Greens want to exploit the resources of Mars to terraform it into a place where human society can flourish.  After a series of conflicts, the Greens won, and Mars was changed forever.  Zubrin is definitely a Green and is one of the strongest advocates of colonizing Mars.  He and The Mars Society have detailed \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.newmars.com\/wiki\/index.php\/Main_Page\"\u003Ehow we could make this happen\u003C\/a\u003E.  McKay is not quite a pure Red in that he'll gladly colonize Mars if we can prove that native life does not exist there.  However, if there is any life there, McKay argues we should leave it alone to evolve on its own.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIt's a tough ethical question.  Should humans conquer another planet and colonize Mars?  After all, the history of our species is one of expansion into essentially every place on Earth.  It is logical that we will continue this trend outward into the cosmos.  I just hope we do it in a responsible way with rules like \u003Ci\u003EStar Trek\u003C\/i\u003E's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Prime_Directive\"\u003EPrime Directive\u003C\/a\u003E rather than James Carmeron's vision in his new \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.avatarmovie.com\/\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAvatar\u003C\/i\u003E movie\u003C\/a\u003E.  The tremendous response to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/virgle\/index.html\"\u003EGoogle's 2008 April Fool's Day joke\u003C\/a\u003E illustrated just how widespread interest in Mars colonization is.  It's mostly a question of political will and money.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/4986702148435019812\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=4986702148435019812\u0026isPopup=true","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4986702148435019812"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4986702148435019812"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/11\/terraforming-mars.html","title":"Terraforming Mars"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sv89eoJ8DWI\/AAAAAAAAA2w\/uEaMW2sLeiQ\/s72-c\/lcross-impact_01_01.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"3"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-1586569298314016914"},"published":{"$t":"2009-09-14T21:19:00.011-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-28T12:14:07.853-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"astronaut"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Lunar exploration, orbital flight, and more"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"The past few days were busy for space news.  Here are some of the interesting stories I've been following:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003E14-day Simulated Lunar EVA Ends\u003C\/b\u003E (Sept. 14)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNASA's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.ksc.nasa.gov\/d-rats\/\"\u003EDesert RATS\u003C\/a\u003E (Desert Research and Technology Studies) is a working group of researchers who conduct field tests of operations and technologies under \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/analogs\/\"\u003Eplanetary analog\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Extra-vehicular_activity\"\u003EEVA\u003C\/a\u003E conditions.  This summer, they've been in the desert near Flagstaff AZ testing, among other things, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/home\/LER.html\"\u003ELunar Electric Rover (LER)\u003C\/a\u003E (the same one I blogged about \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/01\/nasa-impresses-obama-with-new-moon.html\"\u003Epreviously\u003C\/a\u003E).  Astronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/htmlbios\/gernhard.html\"\u003EMike Gernhardt\u003C\/a\u003E and geologist \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasm.si.edu\/staffDetail.cfm?staffID=74\"\u003EBrent Garry\u003C\/a\u003E spent 14-days living in the LER conducting a simulated lunar mission.  They drove the rover around, tested its new spacesuit docking ports, conducted geological EVAs, and even docked the rover to a simulated \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Wx6ZTyQGi5w\"\u003Elunar habitat module\u003C\/a\u003E.  The 14-day simulated lunar mission drew to a close yesterday on September 14.  \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/onorbit.com\/\"\u003EOnOrbit\u003C\/a\u003E broadcasted the crew emerging from the LER live on ustream, which is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ustream.tv\/recorded\/2157998\"\u003Earchived here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3506\/3880040135_98e99a4d2f.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3506\/3880040135_98e99a4d2f.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI've been following the Desert RATS program on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/Desert_RATS\"\u003ETwitter\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nasa.desertrats\"\u003EFacebook\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/nasadesertrats\/\"\u003Eflickr\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/view_play_list?p=E364BF268AC691BB\u0026amp;sort_field=added\"\u003EYouTube\u003C\/a\u003E.  Additionally, more photos are on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=664719807\"\u003ENASA Edge Facebook page\u003C\/a\u003E, and more videos are on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/view_play_list?p=6C862DADBEB5F5A0\"\u003ESpaceRef\/OnOrbit YouTube channel\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ESept. 16 Update:\u003C\/b\u003E To learn more about the LER, check out this \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/asunews.asu.edu\/20090916_LER\"\u003EASU News article\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ESept. 25 Update:\u003C\/b\u003E Check out this \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blog.nasm.si.edu\/2009\/09\/25\/fourteen-days-on-%E2%80%9Cthe-moon%E2%80%9D-in-arizona\/\"\u003Egreat article on the 14-day mission\u003C\/a\u003E by Brent Garry.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EArmadillo Airspace Qualified for Prize\u003C\/b\u003E (Sept. 13)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.armadilloaerospace.com\/\"\u003EArmadillo Airspace\u003C\/a\u003E successfully met the requirements of Level 2 of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/space.xprize.org\/lunar-lander-challenge\"\u003E2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge\u003C\/a\u003E and qualified for the $1 million prize sponsored by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/centennialchallenges.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ENASA Centennial Challenges\u003C\/a\u003E program.  Their Scorpius vehicle ascended an altitude of 50 meters, translated horizontally 50 meters, and landed safely on a rocky lunar-like surface and then repeated the flight in the opposite direction.  You can read more about the achievement \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.commercialspaceflight.org\/?p=659\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.  Note that two other teams are hot on the heels of Armadillo Airspace; \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.masten-space.com\/\"\u003EMasten Space Systems\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/unreasonablerocket.blogspot.com\/\"\u003EUnreasonable Rocket\u003C\/a\u003E plan to their own flight attempts prior to the October 31 deadline.  If more than one team successfully completes all of the requirements, a panel of judges will choose the winner.  Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X-PRIZE Foundation, described the Armadillo flight in the video below:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"340\" width=\"560\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/EL6qriiHkEE\u0026hl=en\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/EL6qriiHkEE\u0026hl=en\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"560\" height=\"340\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ESerbo-Croatians plan to Orbit Earth\u003C\/b\u003E (Sept. 12)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interorbital.com\/\"\u003EInterorbital Systems\u003C\/a\u003E announced that it is developing a two-person orbital crew module as an addition to its orbital tourism operations. The company’s modular \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interorbital.com\/Neptune%20Modular%20Page_1.htm\"\u003ENEPTUNE 1000 rocket\u003C\/a\u003E will loft the spacecraft to orbit. Following three initial test flights, the first human crewed private orbital flight is planned in late 2011 with test pilots Nebojša Stanojević, a Serbian, and Miroslav Ambruš-Kiš, a Croatian, both of whom are seasoned explorers. Nebojsa is an accomplished filmmaker who has sailed around the world in a 30-ft boat. Mirolslav is a journalist and mountain climber with Mt. Everest and Annapurna on his list of conquests. They are also both team members of the Google Lunar X PRIZE Team \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/lunar\/teams\/synergy-moon\"\u003ESYNERGY MOON\u003C\/a\u003E, a team with which I share a common affiliation.  The two-man capsule is designed to orbit the earth for approximately 12 hours or 8 orbits around the planet.  The planned launch location is on the island of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.mapsouthpacific.com\/tonga\/eua-island-map.html\"\u003E'Eua\u003C\/a\u003E in the Kingdom of Tonga (a place where I've \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/album.php?aid=68199\u0026id=647406400\u0026l=a12fbfb740\"\u003Epreviously worked\u003C\/a\u003E back in 2002).  You can learn more on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/spaceports.blogspot.com\/2009\/09\/interorbital-systems-has-crewed-capsule.html\"\u003Espaceports blog\u003C\/a\u003E.  A really nice video of Miroslav discussing the upcoming adventure (with English subtitles) and animation of the mission is below:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"340\" width=\"560\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/X-ds8O-INCE\u0026hl=en\u0026fs=1\u0026\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/X-ds8O-INCE\u0026hl=en\u0026fs=1\u0026\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"560\" height=\"340\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ENASA selects target for lunar impact\u003C\/b\u003E (Sept. 11)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNASA has \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2009\/11sep_lcrosstarget.htm?list970856\"\u003Eannounced\u003C\/a\u003E the impact site for the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lcross.arc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ELCROSS\u003C\/a\u003E satellite.  The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) is racing the moon for a projected impact at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cabeus_%28crater%29\"\u003ECabeus A Crater\u003C\/a\u003E near the lunar south pole in only 24 days on Ocboer 9, 2009 at 11:30 UTC (7:30am EDT, 4:30am PDT).  NASA also has a more \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LCROSS\/main\/LCROSS_crater.html\"\u003Edetailed press release\u003C\/a\u003E that includes some video animations and close-up views of Cabeus A.  The impact will be a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lcross.arc.nasa.gov\/mission.htm\"\u003Edouble event\u003C\/a\u003E since the spacecraft will first hurl its 2.5-ton spent Centaur rocket motor to the surface before following it to see what the impact stirs up before crashing itself into the crater.  Scientists hope that the impact will excavate frozen water in the permanently shadowed region of the crater, and telescopes around the world will be trained on the Moon to observe the impact for any signs of water.  Amateur astronomers are \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LCROSS\/main\/observing_the_impacts.html\"\u003Eencouraged\u003C\/a\u003E to observe the event too.  You can learn more about it from the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/groups.google.com\/group\/lcross_observation?pli=1\"\u003ELCROSS_Observation Google Group\u003C\/a\u003E.  LCROSS was launched on June 18, 2009 \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/06\/end-of-kaguya-and-beginning-of-lro.html\"\u003Ealong with the LRO\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2009\/images\/lcrosstarget\/385735main_NMSU_LCROSS_medium-1_strip.gif\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"325\" src=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2009\/images\/lcrosstarget\/385735main_NMSU_LCROSS_medium-1_strip.gif\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003ESept. 28 Update:\u003C\/b\u003E NASA has \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LCROSS\/main\/index.html\"\u003Ejust announced\u003C\/a\u003E that the target impact location has been changed from Cabeus A to Cabeus (proper).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cb\u003EAussie Astronaut Interview\u003C\/b\u003E (Aug. 9)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/portraits\/thomas-a-thumbnail.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"96\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/portraits\/thomas-a-thumbnail.jpg\" width=\"73\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAnd in astronaut news, last month \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marsdrive.com\/\"\u003EMarsDrive\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marsdrive.com\/index.php?option=com_content\u0026amp;view=article\u0026amp;id=319\u0026amp;Itemid=129\"\u003Einterviewed\u003C\/a\u003E astronaut \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jsc.nasa.gov\/Bios\/htmlbios\/thomas-a.html\"\u003EAndy Thomas\u003C\/a\u003E.  Thomas is an Australian who became a U.S. citizen in order to become a NASA astronaut (and it worked!).  The interview touches upon topics of astronaut selection, living on Mir, and the future of the private space industry.  You can read the whole interview \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/marsdrive.com\/index.php?option=com_content\u0026amp;view=article\u0026amp;id=319\u0026amp;Itemid=129\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/1586569298314016914\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=1586569298314016914\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/1586569298314016914"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/1586569298314016914"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/09\/lunar-exploration-orbital-flight-and.html","title":"Lunar exploration, orbital flight, and more"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3506\/3880040135_98e99a4d2f_t.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-5728698927869236507"},"published":{"$t":"2009-09-11T19:54:00.016-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-14T17:42:04.324-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"astronaut"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"NASA"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"policy"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"AsHos Must Keep Hoping"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"A few days ago, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hsf.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EAugustine Commission\u003C\/a\u003E released its Summary Report (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/pdf\/384767main_SUMMARY%20REPORT%20-%20FINAL.pdf\"\u003Epdf\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spaceref.com\/news\/viewsr.html?pid=32327\"\u003Ehtml\u003C\/a\u003E) reviewing the U.S. human spaceflight program.  In a nutshell, they recommend that NASA needs $3 billion more annually to maintain its planned human space exploration program and that the gap in U.S. human launch capability will be at least seven years.  The first two sentences of the 12-page document set the ominous mood: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EThe U.S. human spaceflight program appears to be on an unsustainable trajectory.  It is perpetuating the perilous practice of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/photos.al.com\/photos\/huntsvilletimes\/d39776c067524143622d74c08c4d0541.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"277\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.al.com\/photos\/huntsvilletimes\/d39776c067524143622d74c08c4d0541.jpg\" width=\"420\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWith this bleak budget outlook and the reality that 19 new AsCans are now in training at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/06\/nasas-2009-astronaut-candidate-class.html\"\u003ENASA\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/05\/csa-announces-2-new-astronauts.html\"\u003ECSA\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/05\/esa-announces-6-new-astronauts.html\"\u003EESA\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/05\/new-esa-csa-and-jaxa-astronauts.html\"\u003EJAXA\u003C\/a\u003E, the space agencies are not likely to be taking any additional recruits in the foreseeable future.  What does this mean for Astronaut Hopefuls (AsHos) like you and me?  First, let's review the report.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI like how the Augustine Commission stressed that planning a human spaceflight program should start with choosing goals rather than choosing destinations. The destinations and technologies needed to support them will follow once the goals are made clear.  NASA's goals haven't been clear for decades.  The bold conclusion of the Committee was that the \"ultimate goal of human exploration is to chart a path for human expansion into the solar system.\"  That's certainly a worthy goal, but how do we get there?  They considered the following five key questions: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWhat should be the future of the Space Shuttle? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Committee determined that after the Shuttle is retired sometime in 2011, the gap in American human launch capability will be \u003Ci\u003Eat least seven years\u003C\/i\u003E.  Seven years!  There has never been a gap that long since the human space program began. They made a vague reference to \"recertification\" of the Shuttles to keep them operational longer but did not expand upon the idea.  It looks like NASA astronauts will be hitching rides on Russian or other vehicles for a long time to come.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ci\u003EDoes this mean NASA won't need pilot astronauts for several years?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWhat should be the future of the International Space Station (ISS)? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNo surprises here.  Instead of deorbiting the station in 2015, the Committee recommends keeping the ISS fully operational until 2020 to give the U.S. and its international partners time to get a return on their investment.  After all, it's taken 25 years and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.gao.gov\/archive\/1998\/ns98212t.pdf\"\u003E$100 billion\u003C\/a\u003E to build the massive structure.  The Committee was careful to emphasize that \u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003Enot\u003C\/span\u003E extending ISS operation \"would significantly impair U.S. ability to develop and lead future international spaceflight partnerships.\" In other words, if we mess this up, our leadership role in space will be compromised.  The ISS could serve as a springboard to future international collaborations in space or otherwise if it's leveraged properly.  One way to keep it going longer, perhaps significantly beyond 2020, is to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/S0265-9646%2897%2900022-2\"\u003Ecommercialize the ISS\u003C\/a\u003E.  There is precedent for this.  For example, the NSF contracts operation of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/od\/opp\/support\/mcmurdo.jsp\"\u003EMcMurdo Station\u003C\/a\u003E in Antarctica to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/rpsc.raytheon.com\/\"\u003ERaytheon Polar Services\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ci\u003EDoes this mean scientist astronauts (commercial or otherwise) whose experiments can be carried out on the ISS will be the main type of astronaut for the foreseeable future?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EOn what should the next heavy-lift launch vehicle be based? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/2\/2e\/SDLV_rockets.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/2\/2e\/SDLV_rockets.jpg\" width=\"172\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/constellation\/\"\u003EConstellation Program\u003C\/a\u003E's reliance on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/4\/40\/Nasabudget.gif\"\u003Ewedge funding\u003C\/a\u003E depends on the retirement of the Shuttle in 2010 and abandonment of the ISS by 2016 to have the funds necessary to build the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/ares\/\"\u003EAres\u003C\/a\u003E launch vehicle, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/orion\/\"\u003EOrion\u003C\/a\u003E capsule, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/altair\"\u003EAltair\u003C\/a\u003E lunar lander.  The Committee determined that given schedule delays, the Ares I and Orion will not be finished in time to reach the ISS before its currently planned termination. They prefer the Ares V Lite (aka: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ares_IV\"\u003EAres IV\u003C\/a\u003E?) combined launch vehicle instead of separate Ares I and V launchers.  I think it's really cool that they cited on-orbit refueling as a possible way to offset costs while also stimulating the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.commercialspaceflight.org\/?p=545\"\u003Ecommercial launch industry\u003C\/a\u003E.  Interestingly, I saw no mention of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.directlauncher.com\/\"\u003EDirect Launcher\u003C\/a\u003E (formerly Direct 2.0) in their report and wonder if they even considered it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFormer NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spacepolitics.com\/2009\/09\/11\/griffin-sounds-off\/\"\u003Enot happy\u003C\/a\u003E with the Committee throwing his Ares plans out the window, but he has a lot to answer for with perhaps overestimating how well the Constellation program was adhering to cost and schedule estimates.  He's slotted to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/blogs.orlandosentinel.com\/news_space_thewritestuff\/2009\/09\/griffin-replaces-bolden-at-congressional-hearing-.html\"\u003Etestify before Congress\u003C\/a\u003E next week (look for \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/sciencedems.house.gov\/publications\/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=2590\"\u003Edetails here\u003C\/a\u003E).  Several members of Congress are already \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spacepolitics.com\/2009\/09\/14\/congressional-reaction-to-the-augustine-report\/\"\u003Ereacting\u003C\/a\u003E to the Augustine Report.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ci\u003EPerhaps pilot and flight crew opportunities for astronauts on commercial craft will start to materialize.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EHow should crews be carried to low-Earth orbit? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spacex.com\/dragon.php\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"130\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/63\/Spacexdragon.jpg\" width=\"200\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThe Committee found that the Ares I and Orion development schedule is not aligned with the expected ISS lifetime, meaning the proposed government-operated Orion crew-delivery system won't be ready in time to be used for the orbiting outpost.  Astronauts don't necessarily have to be launched to LEO by government vehicles, though.  The Committee advocated turning crew transport over to the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.commercialspaceflight.org\/?p=607\"\u003Ecommercial sector\u003C\/a\u003E.  They recommend NASA expand \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/offices\/c3po\/home\/index.html\"\u003Ecompetition funding\u003C\/a\u003E to catalyze the rapid development of a commercial crew capsule to low earth orbit (LEO).  Establishing these commercial programs could \"increase launch volume and potentially lower costs to NASA and all other launch services customers.\"  Then, they said something that's music to my ears: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EThis would have the additional benefit of focusing NASA on a more challenging role ... developing cutting-edge technologies and concepts, ... overseeing the development and operation of exploration systems ... beyond low-Earth orbit.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn other words, NASA must get back into the business of developing new technologies to enable the strategic exploration of space for decades to come and leave routine operations to someone else.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ci\u003EAssuming NASA gets more funding to continue the push beyond LEO, does this mean astronauts too can focus their training for exploration beyond LEO?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWhat is the most practicable strategy for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe committee recognized the following three alternatives for exploration of the inner solar system: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cu\u003EMars first\u003C\/u\u003E, with a Mars landing, perhaps after a brief test of equipment and procedures on the Moon.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cu\u003EMoon first\u003C\/u\u003E, with lunar surface exploration focused on developing the capability to explore Mars.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cu\u003EFlexible path\u003C\/u\u003E to inner solar system locations, such as lunar orbit, Lagrange points, near-Earth objects and the moons of Mars, followed by exploration of the lunar surface and\/or Martian surface.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI was encouraged by their statement praising \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/06\/lets-aim-for-mars.html\"\u003EMars as a destination\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EA human landing followed by an extended human presence on Mars stands prominently above all other opportunities for exploration.  Mars is unquestionably the most scientifically interesting destination in the inner solar system ...  If humans are ever to live for long periods on another planetary surface, it is likely to be on Mars.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nbut then I was deflated to read that they feel Mars is not the best first  destination:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EMars is the ultimate destination for human exploration; but it is not the best first destination.  Both visiting the Moon First and following the Flexible Path are viable exploration strategies.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI guess Robert Zubrin's inspiring \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marssociety.org\/portal\/ZubrinTestimony\/attachment_download\/file\"\u003EAugust 5 testimony\u003C\/a\u003E didn't sway them into favoring a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mars_Direct\"\u003EMars first\u003C\/a\u003E option.  Zubrin later \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.marssociety.org\/portal\/AugustineNumbers\/\"\u003Ecriticized their budget estimates\u003C\/a\u003E as being way too high.  According to him, rather than spending 12 years and $14-20 billion per year ($168-240 billion total) on the Ares program (which is what the Augustine Committee's proposed $3 billion increase would allow), NASA should instead have a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Request_for_proposal\"\u003ERFP\u003C\/a\u003E offering up to $5 billion for the commercial development of an heavy launch vehicle within 5 years.  Such a dramatic idea was apparently not given serious consideration by the conservative Augustine Commission.  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Summary Report ignores Mars as a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/images.spaceref.com\/news\/2009\/table.4.1.jpg\"\u003Ebudgetary scenario\u003C\/a\u003E and only considers the Moon and Flexible Path alternatives with different technology development scenarios.  That's how they came up with the $3 billion per year extra recommendation to keep an exploration program afloat.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI'm not opposed to exploring the Moon at all, but I don't like to see Mars relegated to the category of \"someday\" without serious consideration.  The Committee feels that exploring the Moon will allow us to \"develop the operational skills and technology for landing on, launching from and working on a planetary surface ... that will one day allow us to go to Mars.\" Yes, it will.  Whether that's necessary in order go to to Mars is a matter for debate.  Either way, we need to explore the Moon in its own right, and it's the perfect place to gain a foothold as a space-faring species.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/327727main_jsc2007e113280_low.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"235\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/327727main_jsc2007e113280_low.jpg\" width=\"420\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe Flexible Path alternative is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/32767421\/ns\/technology_and_science-space\/\"\u003Einteresting\u003C\/a\u003E because it includes traveling to Lagrange points, near-Earth objects, lunar and martian orbit, and landing on a moon of Mars.  It emphasizes humans working along with robotic probes on small planetary surfaces to achieve a series of \"firsts\" to help keep the momentum of space exploration going.  It doesn't exclude humans going to the surface of the Moon or Mars either.  I'm happy for this recommendation to NASA to expand its scope beyond a narrow Moon-only focus for human space exploration.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ci\u003EWhat is the timeline?  Will any of the current astronaut corps get to travel to the Moon, Mars, an asteroid, or a Lagrange point?  What about those of us AsHos \"on deck\" who will be join\/replace them in the coming decade?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIt comes down to this:  Either NASA gets more money allowing U.S. human space exploration to expand beyond LEO, or it doesn't.  We've spent \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.thebailoutandyou.com\/fundsusage.htm\"\u003E$517 billion\u003C\/a\u003E bailing out failed industries, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Financial_cost_of_the_Iraq_War\"\u003E$790 billion\u003C\/a\u003E in Iraq, and countless more on other wasteful government programs.  The U.S. spends a staggering \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.boston.com\/news\/world\/middleeast\/articles\/2006\/09\/28\/cost_of_iraq_war_nearly_2b_a_week\/\"\u003E$2 billion\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ci\u003Eper week\u003C\/i\u003E in Iraq alone!  Surely a measly $3 billion \u003Ci\u003Eper year\u003C\/i\u003E can be found somewhere to shore up NASA's shortfall.  We need to be investing in science and technology to spur job growth, improve education, and regain American competitiveness on the world stage.  That's the kind of change Obama supposedly represents.  I hope he steps up to the plate and delivers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SqouBdjfGpI\/AAAAAAAAAxA\/vd6SvSHz3Us\/s1600\/017-apollo-11-AS11-40-5880-mondfussabdruck-m-astronautenschuh-unmoeglich.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SqouBdjfGpI\/AAAAAAAAAxA\/vd6SvSHz3Us\/s320\/017-apollo-11-AS11-40-5880-mondfussabdruck-m-astronautenschuh-unmoeglich.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EWhen will astronauts next put bootprints on another planetary body?  We're at a crossroads in space exploration.  Given the country's problematic economic situation and focus on other issues like health care, can we really expect space to get the attention it deserves?  After all, the Augustine Commission report hasn't really garnered much mainstream \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasawatch.com\/archives\/2009\/09\/reaction_to_aug.html\"\u003Emedia attention\u003C\/a\u003E yet.  Perhaps NASA won't get a funding increase and will be forced to scrap the Constellation program, setting us back years.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHowever, if NASA administrators, Congress, and the President take the Augustine Commission report recommendations to heart, we could see the birth of a truly new era of human spaceflight.  We'll establish a base on the Moon, visit Mars, and start learning how to really live and work beyond Earth.  The demand for talented people will spur an Apollo-like bump to our economy and create opportunities for astronaut hopefuls to join in the fun.  I'll see you there.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHere is what another astronaut hopeful and reader of this blog, Curt Holmer, has to say:  \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EWhat does this mean for the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/tech.groups.yahoo.com\/group\/astronaut-hopefuls\/\"\u003EAsHo group\u003C\/a\u003E? Well to me, it means that we are looking at least a 5 year gap until the next selection and probably longer. With the ramp up of commercial industry it may be fair to say that the best chance for people in this group is with the private sector, but will probably be more in the realm of pilots and flight crew rather than scientist types. This will be especially true if the operational lifetime of the ISS is not extended, or if adequate funding isn't allocated to allow the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/science\/nlab\/\"\u003Enew National Laboratory\u003C\/a\u003E to reach full and productive capacity. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWith everything that's on the country's plate right now it’s hard to see that space exploration will get the necessary boost in funding if it’s not lucky enough to be able to keep at current levels. Given how shuttle launches barely make the news anymore, and you sure as heck don't see any coverage of ISS Crew launches from Russia, unless we find something to ignite the country's interest in space science this is going to be a very tough job even for the commercial sector. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nDoes this mean that I'm going to give up [trying to become an astronaut], heck no. ... We need to be a leading voice in why this is important both for our country and for our species as a whole. \u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWhat do \u003Cu\u003Eyou\u003C\/u\u003E think?  What is the outlook for astronaut hopefuls in the next 5-10 years?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr\/ \u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/5728698927869236507\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=5728698927869236507\u0026isPopup=true","title":"4 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/5728698927869236507"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/5728698927869236507"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/09\/ashos-must-keep-hoping.html","title":"AsHos Must Keep Hoping"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SqouBdjfGpI\/AAAAAAAAAxA\/vd6SvSHz3Us\/s72-c\/017-apollo-11-AS11-40-5880-mondfussabdruck-m-astronautenschuh-unmoeglich.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"4"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-4252365266472173855"},"published":{"$t":"2009-08-25T22:24:00.003-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:42:31.597-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"education"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Moon 101"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I stumbled upon an excellent lecture series called \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/lunar\/moon101\/\"\u003E\"Moon 101 - A Course in Lunar Science for non-specialists\"\u003C\/a\u003E, which was presented by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spudislunarresources.com\/\"\u003EDr. Paul Spudis\u003C\/a\u003E and other lunar experts to NASA Johnson Space Center employees from June-October 2008.  The lectures cover a range of topics related to lunar geology and exploration in a form that's easy to understand.  They are available both in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/lunar\/moon101\/\"\u003Evideo\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spudislunarresources.com\/moon101.htm\"\u003EPDF slide\u003C\/a\u003E forms.  Although the website says the videos only work with Internet Explorer or Netscape, I found that they worked just fine in Firefox on a Mac (not Safari though).   \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nas.nasa.gov\/About\/Education\/SpaceSettlement\/spacersource84\/images\/adlunbase.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/www.nas.nasa.gov\/About\/Education\/SpaceSettlement\/spacersource84\/images\/adlunbase.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"476\" height=\"459\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nA recent \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.com\/common\/media\/video\/player.php?videoRef=SP_090728_MoonAgain-02\"\u003Espace.com video\u003C\/a\u003E provides a nice overview why many people think \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/In-situ_resource_utilization\"\u003Ein situ lunar resources\u003C\/a\u003E are plentiful and could provide resources to support a lunar base or even a lunar economy.  In particular, it speculates that the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2008\/12\/081217192743.htm\"\u003Edetection of hydrogen\u003C\/a\u003E in permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles could be due to the presence of water.  The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LCROSS\/main\/index.html\"\u003ELCROSS mission\u003C\/a\u003E is just 44 days away from its planned \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lcross.arc.nasa.gov\/impact.htm\"\u003Eimpact\u003C\/a\u003E with one of these craters to see if any water is really there.  That is, if it doesn't \u003Ca href=\"   http:\/\/www.space.com\/missionlaunches\/090826-lcross-anomaly.html\"\u003Erun out of fuel\u003C\/a\u003E first. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2005\/14apr_Moonwater.htm\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2005\/images\/moonwater\/neutrons_strip2.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"476\" height=\"302\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIt's been a few years since I kept current on the latest research in this area, but I'm hoping that taking an \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.edu\/Academic%20Programs\/Camp_showone.aspx?courseno=42\u0026instructorname=Gaffey,%20Mike\"\u003EExtraterrestrial Resources course\u003C\/a\u003E this semester will help me learn more about the state-of-the-art on the subject.  Classes start this week, and I'm looking forward to another stimulating semester in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.space.edu\/\"\u003EUND Space Studies\u003C\/a\u003E program."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/4252365266472173855\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=4252365266472173855\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4252365266472173855"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/4252365266472173855"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/08\/moon-101.html","title":"Moon 101"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-8203175710577077440"},"published":{"$t":"2009-07-17T17:49:00.024-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2012-03-04T16:33:50.377-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"To the Moon or Mars?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/apollo\/40th\/index.html\" onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/317621main_toolkit-LogoVectorCMYK.gif\" style=\"cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 216px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 234px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E40 years ago yesterday \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Apollo_11\"\u003EApollo 11\u003C\/a\u003E blasted off from Earth on its way to its historic July 20 landing on the Moon.  NASA has a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/apollo\/40th\/\"\u003Ebig celebration campaign\u003C\/a\u003E underway in honor of the anniversary.  They recently released very nice partially restored \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/hd\/apollo11.html\"\u003EApollo 11 video footage\u003C\/a\u003E in HD.  One of the interesting things NASA is doing to commemorate the anniversary is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/externalflash\/apollo11_radio\/index.html\"\u003Ereplaying the mission audio in real time\u003C\/a\u003E just as it was recorded from July 16-24, 1969.  The \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/apollo\/40th\/\"\u003ENASA Apollo 40th website\u003C\/a\u003E has all kinds of other goodies like lost audio and transcripts that are worth checking out too.  For more blast from the past nostalgia with a modern twist, the website \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wechoosethemoon.org\/\"\u003E\"We Choose the Moon\"\u003C\/a\u003E is also broadcasting the mission audio with other rich multimedia treats, including \"live\" twitter transmissions from the Apollo \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ap11_capcom\"\u003ECapCom\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ap11_spacecraft\"\u003Espacecraft\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ap11_eagle\"\u003Elander\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI have ambivalent feelings about the Apollo 40th anniversary.  One one hand, I think this celebration to commemorate one of humanity's most significant and inspiring achievements is perfectly natural and warranted.  On the other, it is a painful reminder that in the past 40 years we haven't pushed the envelope of human space exploration beyond low earth orbit.  President Bush's 2004 \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vision_for_Space_Exploration\"\u003EVision for Space Exploration\u003C\/a\u003E policy has had significant effects throughout NASA as it reorganizes itself to return to the Moon and eventually reach Mars via the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/constellation\/main\/index.html\"\u003EConstellation Program\u003C\/a\u003E.  The implementation of this new exploration strategy is not without its critics, and the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/offices\/hsf\/index.html\"\u003EAugustine Commision\u003C\/a\u003E is currently conducting an independent review to sort out whether the approach needs adjusting. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Case-Mars-Plan-Settle-Planet\/dp\/0684835509\" onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/1\/1a\/Caseformars.jpg\" style=\"cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 356px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 234px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EOne debate is whether the main focus should be on returning humans to the Moon or going to Mars.  While I think we can and should \u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003Edo both\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E, my preference is to have a space program with Mars as its primary goal.  Mars is a more hospitable place and offers exciting science opportunities due to the presence of water and possibility for life.  A human Mars mission poses unique challenges for technology development like protecting a crew on the long journey from radiation and bone\/muscle loss.  Plus, with companies like \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/spacex.com\/\"\u003ESpaceX\u003C\/a\u003E and initiatives like the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003EGoogle Lunar X PRIZE\u003C\/a\u003E poised to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BxinxVnTiLo\"\u003Erevolutionize\u003C\/a\u003E how we travel to low earth orbit and the Moon, I think government could better focus its attention on the more ambitious goal of reaching Mars.  This doesn't preclude government returning to the Moon at all, but it means activities on the Moon should not be ends in themselves and instead should directly contribute to a Mars pioneering effort.  \u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EIn situ\u003C\/span\u003E manufacturing the rocket fuel needed for a return journey will make a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mars_Direct\"\u003EMars mission affordable\u003C\/a\u003E for a few tens of billions of dollars, so it is within our reach.  We just need the collective will to do so.  Yesterday on the NPR talk show \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.onpointradio.org\/2009\/07\/nasas-next-frontier\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EOn Point with Tom Ashbrook\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E Mars Society President Robert Zubrin argued this point very convincingly (and plugged our \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.fmars2009.org\/\"\u003EFMARS mission\u003C\/a\u003E).  You may want to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wbur\/storage\/2009\/07\/onpoint_0716_2.mp3\"\u003Ehave a listen\u003C\/a\u003E below or \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nss.org\/resources\/books\/non_fiction\/NF_037_caseformars.html\"\u003Eread his book\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E \u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cobject classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http:\/\/fpdownload.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0\" width=\"210\" height=\"25\" id=\"mp3playerlightsmallv3\" align=\"middle\"\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"sameDomain\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/podcast-audio-video-blog-player\/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wbur\/storage\/2009\/07\/onpoint_0716_2.mp3\u0026autoStart=no\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cparam name=\"quality\" value=\"high\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#ffffff\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/\u003E\n \u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\/podcast-audio-video-blog-player\/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wbur\/storage\/2009\/07\/onpoint_0716_2.mp3\u0026autoStart=no\" quality=\"high\"  width=\"210\" height=\"25\" name=\"mp3playerlightsmallv3\" align=\"middle\" allowScriptAccess=\"sameDomain\" wmode=\"transparent\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http:\/\/www.macromedia.com\/go\/getflashplayer\" \/\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\n \u003C\/object\u003E\n \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; padding-left: 41px; color: #2DA274; text-decoration: none; border-bottom: none;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.podbean.com\"\u003EPodcast Powered By Podbean\u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI found Zubrin's analogy comparing the Moon with Greenland and Mars with America during the European age of exploration particularly apt.  Although Greenland was certainly closer and easier to reach than America, no major colonization happened there because it's such a barren, inhospitable place.  America had abundant resources available to support a pioneering population.  Ultimately, the inventions created by Americans like democracy, electricity, telegraph (later telephone), railroad, etc. changed the world and Europe along with it.  That kind of innovation was possible thanks to the challenges, opportunities, and resources America offered.  The same kind of leap in human civilization can happen if we expand the frontier to Mars. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EIn other lunar news...\u003C\/span\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOne very interesting thing that caught my eye today was a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2009\/17jul_lroc.htm\"\u003ENASA press release\u003C\/a\u003E showing some of the first images taken by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/06\/end-of-kaguya-and-beginning-of-lro.html\"\u003Erecently launched\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LRO\/main\/index.html\"\u003ELunar Reconnaissance Orbiter\u003C\/a\u003E (LRO) \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lroc.sese.asu.edu\/\"\u003Ecamera\u003C\/a\u003E.  The pictures released today shows five of the six Apollo landing sites (only Apollo 12 wasn't imaged).  The lunar modules are visible on the surface, and in at least the case of Apollo 14, you can also see footprints and equipment left behind. I wonder if the \"scientific instruments\" seen in this photo is the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lpi.usra.edu\/lunar\/missions\/apollo\/apollo_14\/experiments\/pse\/\"\u003EApollo 14 seismometer\u003C\/a\u003E.  Very cool! \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2009\/images\/lroc\/369228main_ap14labeled_540.jpg\" onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/headlines\/y2009\/images\/lroc\/369228main_ap14labeled_540.jpg\" style=\"cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 342px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 540px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFinally, it's also of note that today marks the 34th anniversary of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Apollo-Soyuz_Test_Project\"\u003EApollo-Soyuz Test Project\u003C\/a\u003E docking.  That mission was politically very important, and it marked the end of the Apollo era and beginning of the Shuttle era.  As the Shuttle era is now drawing to a close, what will be the next chapter in the story of space exploration?  It's up to us."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/8203175710577077440\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=8203175710577077440\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/8203175710577077440"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/8203175710577077440"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/to-moon-or-mars.html","title":"To the Moon or Mars?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-7723292196524106218"},"published":{"$t":"2009-07-08T08:55:00.006-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:42:31.598-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fun"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Buzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/buzzaldrin.com\/\"\u003EBuzz Aldrin\u003C\/a\u003E teamed up with Snoop Dogg and Talib Kweli to make a rap video called \"Rocket Experience\", which you can watch below.  There's also a really funny video on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.funnyordie.com\/videos\/f7a26d7505\/making-of-buzz-aldrin-s-rocket-experience-w-snoop-dogg-and-talib-kweli\"\u003EMaking of the Rocket Experience\u003C\/a\u003E.  These videos are on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xgIYZcHZh3U\"\u003EYouTube\u003C\/a\u003E too in case you want to watch them there. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAccording to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/funnyordie.com\/\"\u003EFunny or Die\u003C\/a\u003E, who produced the video, a portion of the proceeds from the song sales will go to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/secure.groundspring.org\/dn\/index.php?aid=18991\"\u003EShareSpace Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E, to further benefit and support the work of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/draft.blogger.com\/post-edit.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026amp;postID=7723292196524106218\" http:=\"\" nss.org=\"\"\u003ENational Space Society\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/planetary.org\/\"\u003EThe Planetary Society\u003C\/a\u003E and the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.astronautscholarship.org\/\"\u003EAstronaut Scholarship Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cobject classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" height=\"384\" id=\"ordie_player_0be5c681fc\" width=\"600\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/player.ordienetworks.com\/flash\/fodplayer.swf\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"flashvars\" value=\"key=0be5c681fc\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed width=\"600\" height=\"384\" flashvars=\"key=0be5c681fc\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" quality=\"high\" src=\"http:\/\/player.ordienetworks.com\/flash\/fodplayer.swf\" name=\"ordie_player_0be5c681fc\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cdiv style=\"font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left; width: 512px;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.funnyordie.com\/videos\/0be5c681fc\/buzz-aldrin-s-rocket-experience\" title=\"from Buzz Aldrin and FOD Team\"\u003EBuzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience\u003C\/a\u003E from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.funnyordie.com\/buzz_aldrin\"\u003EBuzz Aldrin\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAldrin also has a new book commemorating the 40th anniversary titled \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Magnificent-Desolation-Long-Journey-Home\/dp\/0307463451\"\u003EMagnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.  (Thanks for catching the error, spacekiwi!)"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/7723292196524106218\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=7723292196524106218\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7723292196524106218"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7723292196524106218"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/07\/buzz-aldrins-rocket-experience.html","title":"Buzz Aldrin's Rocket Experience"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-8715488465539405585"},"published":{"$t":"2009-06-19T14:19:00.014-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:42:31.599-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The End of Kaguya and Beginning of LRO"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"The Japanese lunar orbiter with the impressive HDTV camera has met its end as mission controllers guided it to the surface for a planned impact in a shaded region near Gill Crater at approximately 89\u0026deg;S, 266\u0026deg;E (In a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2009\/06\/20090611_kaguya_e.html\"\u003EJune 11 press release\u003C\/a\u003E, JAXA showed the impact site location.).  As it approached the moon, Kaguya took a series of still images, which are available in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2009\/06\/20090619_kaguya_hdtv_e.html\"\u003EJune 19 JAXA press release\u003C\/a\u003E or in the animated sequence I created from them below:\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SjwuNs7_TFI\/AAAAAAAAAic\/RRaBjppmq00\/s800\/20090619_kaguya_hdtv_ani.gif\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 338px;\" src=\"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SjwuNs7_TFI\/AAAAAAAAAic\/RRaBjppmq00\/s800\/20090619_kaguya_hdtv_ani.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349198139042020882\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ltvt.wikispaces.com\/Kaguya+Impact#toc8\"\u003ELTVT wiki\u003C\/a\u003E has collected a lot of information on the impact itself.  Jeremy Baily and Steve Lee observed the impact from the Anglo-Australian 3.9m Telescope at Siding Spring, New South Wales, Australia.  You can learn more on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.phys.unsw.edu.au\/~jbailey\/kaguya.html\"\u003Etheir webpage\u003C\/a\u003E, or take a look at their image showing the impact in a sequence of four frames:\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.phys.unsw.edu.au\/~jbailey\/kaguya_impact.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 164px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.phys.unsw.edu.au\/~jbailey\/kaguya_impact.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SjwwzCjmVaI\/AAAAAAAAAig\/02LzsNZKkoM\/s1600-h\/LRO_launch.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SjwwzCjmVaI\/AAAAAAAAAig\/02LzsNZKkoM\/s320\/LRO_launch.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349204110826952098\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EMore stunning lunar images from Kaguya are available in the mission's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www3.nhk.or.jp\/kaguya\/archive\/index_e.html\"\u003Eimage archive\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn other lunar news, the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lro.gsfc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003ELunar Reconnassiance Orbitor\u003C\/a\u003E (LRO) had a successful \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/LCROSS\/launch\/launch_blog.html\"\u003Elaunch\u003C\/a\u003E yesterday from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas V.  The LRO objectives are to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.  It is the first in a series of new lunar missions NASA has planned to pave the way for its return to the Moon.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nOn the astronaut front, readers may be interested in a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/thelaunchpad.xprize.org\/2009\/06\/guest-blog-astronaut-is-born.html\"\u003Erecent The Launch Pad post\u003C\/a\u003E on one of ESA's new astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nI've been keeping very busy preparing for my trip to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.fmars.org\/\"\u003EFMARS\u003C\/a\u003E.  I leave in five days.  Last weekend, the crew met each other for the first time in Denver for a marathon mission planning weekend.  Once the press release from that comes out, you can expect another post here.  If anyone wants to help me pay for the expedition to an analog Mars, please surf on over to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/brianshiro.chipin.com\"\u003Emy chipin page\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/8715488465539405585\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=8715488465539405585\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/8715488465539405585"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/8715488465539405585"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/06\/end-of-kaguya-and-beginning-of-lro.html","title":"The End of Kaguya and Beginning of LRO"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SjwuNs7_TFI\/AAAAAAAAAic\/RRaBjppmq00\/s72-c\/20090619_kaguya_hdtv_ani.gif","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-2514749496333811365"},"published":{"$t":"2009-03-11T10:52:00.008-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:42:31.599-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fun"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Moon: the movie"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sbgs2tNZhFI\/AAAAAAAAAZU\/CmrifQ40An4\/s1600-h\/moon.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sbgs2tNZhFI\/AAAAAAAAAZU\/CmrifQ40An4\/s320\/moon.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312045078843851858\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EBlog reader \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.plasmaben.com\/\"\u003EBen\u003C\/a\u003E tipped me off to a really interesting movie called \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1182345\/\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style:italic;\"\u003EMoon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.  It stars \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sam_Rockwell\"\u003ESam Rockwell\u003C\/a\u003E as an astronaut spending a three year solo mission on the Moon mining Helium-3, which could be an important source of fuel for clean \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.com\/science\/space\/news\/2006\/12\/72276\"\u003Enuclear fusion\u003C\/a\u003E.  His only companion at the lonely outpost is his robot, voiced by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kevin_Spacey\"\u003EKevin Spacey\u003C\/a\u003E.  The suspense heats up in this scifi thriller as, just before he's set to go home, Rockwell realizes he's not alone.  You can watch a clip below.  There are more clips and images \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/moon-trailer.blogspot.com\/2009\/01\/moon-preview-clips.html\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.shocktillyoudrop.com\/films.php?id=5173\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIf Rockwell's performance in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Confessions_of_a_Dangerous_Mind\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style:italic;\"\u003EConfessions of a Dangerous Mind\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E is any indication, this should be a real treat.\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E  \u003Cspan style=\"font-style:italic;\"\u003EMoon\u003C\/span\u003E is an independent film that premiered at the 2009 \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sundance.org\/festival\/\"\u003ESundance Film Festival\u003C\/a\u003E.  You can read a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.ukfilm.tv\/magazine\/read\/moon_22.html\"\u003Ebrief review here\u003C\/a\u003E or excerpts from other reviews on the film's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Moon_(film)#Critical_reception\"\u003Ewikipedia page\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject width=\"600\" height=\"486\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/dn_XpaOu9iA\u0026color1=0x3a3a3a\u0026color2=0x999999\u0026hl=en\u0026feature=player_embedded\u0026fs=1\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/dn_XpaOu9iA\u0026color1=0x3a3a3a\u0026color2=0x999999\u0026hl=en\u0026feature=player_embedded\u0026fs=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAnyone in the Houston area on Monday, March 16 might consider attending a free pre-release screening of the film at JSC as part of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spacecenterlectureseries.com\/\"\u003ESpace Center Lecture Series\u003C\/a\u003E.  The event starts at 7:00pm with doorprizes before the movie, and afterwards the film's director \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Duncan_Jones\"\u003EDuncan Jones\u003C\/a\u003E (David Bowie's son) will host a Q\u0026A session. Although the event is free and open to the public, the organizers do ask that you \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.aiaa-houston.org\/rsvp16mar09\"\u003ERSVP\u003C\/a\u003E since space is limited.  (You can also watch full videos of previous lectures in the series, including Harrison Schmitt and Tom Jones, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.spacecenterlectureseries.com\/past.html\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.) \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight:bold;\"\u003EUpdate: April 12, 2009 \u003C\/span\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThere is a new high-definition 2-minute trailer for this movie.  Check it out: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cembed src='http:\/\/videomedia.ign.com\/ev\/ev.swf' flashvars='object_ID=14313551\u0026downloadURL=http:\/\/moviesmovies.ign.com\/movies\/video\/article\/970\/970549\/moon_trl_040909_flvlowwide.flv\u0026allownetworking=\"all%\"' type='application\/x-shockwave-flash' width='433' height='360'\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003Cdiv style='width:433;'\u003E\u003Ca href='http:\/\/movies.ign.com\/objects\/143\/14313551.html'\u003EMore Moon News \u0026 Previews\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/2514749496333811365\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=2514749496333811365\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2514749496333811365"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2514749496333811365"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/03\/moon-movie.html","title":"Moon: the movie"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/Sbgs2tNZhFI\/AAAAAAAAAZU\/CmrifQ40An4\/s72-c\/moon.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-2204954130692695534"},"published":{"$t":"2009-02-27T19:42:00.008-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:42:31.600-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Synergy Moon"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kemcom.net\/SynergyMoon\/images\/home-synergy-b.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 288px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kemcom.net\/SynergyMoon\/images\/home-synergy-b.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EThe latest entrant in the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003EGoogle Lunar X PRIZE competition\u003C\/a\u003E is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.synergymoon.org\/\"\u003ETeam Synergy Moon\u003C\/a\u003E, bringing the total number of teams to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/lunar\/teams\"\u003Eseventeen\u003C\/a\u003E.  I am excited to say that I am a member of this team.  Back in late 2007, some members of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interplanetaryventures.org\/\"\u003EInterplanetary Ventures\u003C\/a\u003E approached me via Facebook and asked if I'd be interested in discussing options for their proposed lunar project.  I agreed and ended up suggesting several possible science targets for the mission.  Over time, the team designated me as Science Officer and is now calling me Principal Investigator.  We haven't really started the hard design work yet, but now that our entrance into the competition is official, I expect more activity on that front.  I'll keep the readers posted on updates from time to time, or you can check out the links in the press release below.  Another unofficial press release from a couple of weeks ago is available \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kemcom.net\/ivnet\/media.html\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. \n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cblockquote\u003ESYNERGY MOON TEAM ENTERS GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMOJAVE, Calif. (February 27, 2009) -- The ambitious dream of returning to the Moon - this time to stay - is alive and well in a magnificently diverse team of space enthusiasts, artists, engineers, students, and explorers jointly called \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.synergymoon.org\/\"\u003ESYNERGY MOON\u003C\/a\u003E, the latest entrant in the X PRIZE Foundation's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003EGoogle Lunar X PRIZE\u003C\/a\u003E. The team, comprised of 48 members from 15 countries across the globe, is sponsored by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.eSpaceTickets.com\/\"\u003EeSpaceTickets.com\u003C\/a\u003E, the world's oldest space tourism contest organization. SYNERGY MOON has also partnered with rocket manufacturer \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interorbital.com\/\"\u003EInterorbital Systems (IOS)\u003C\/a\u003E, which competed in the historic 2004 \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/space.xprize.org\/ansari-x-prize\/\"\u003EANSARI X PRIZE\u003C\/a\u003E $10 MM Race to Space.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\"The Google Lunar X PRIZE is meant to open the field of lunar exploration to a global community of inventors, explorers, and entrepreneurs,\" said William Pomerantz, Space Projects Senior Director, X PRIZE Foundation. \"SYNERGY MOON is a fantastic addition to our roster of teams - the team includes a truly global set of innovators who will approach this difficult mission with new ideas and new passion.\"\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe SYNERGY MOON team was created through the collaboration of three interrelated organizations: \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interplanetaryventures.org\/\"\u003EInterPlanetary Ventures (IPV)\u003C\/a\u003E, a private sector space promoter; the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.humansynergyproject.org\/\"\u003EHuman Synergy Project (HSP)\u003C\/a\u003E, a multi-national sustainable projects group; and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interorbital.com\/\"\u003EInterorbital Systems\u003C\/a\u003E' rocket team, led by Roderick Milliron.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\"Our mission in entering the Google Lunar X PRIZE is to help create excitement and reignite the public's interest in space exploration,\" said Kevin Myrick, SYNERGY MOON Team Leader. \"We're working diligently to create and showcase innovative new technologies that will help support humanity's expansion throughout the solar system.\" \n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAs part of SYNERGY MOON's efforts to raise awareness of their efforts and participation in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, they've organized a variety of global promotional events, including space-themed concerts, art festivals, space-related fashion shows, and breathtaking core technology demonstrations including rocket engine hot firings, suborbital and orbital hardware testflights, and ultimately their X PRIZE lunar missions. These initiatives, along with a youth outreach program, are organized by Nebojsa Stanojevic, Director of the Human Synergy Project and SYNERGY MOON's International Promotion and Productions Coordinator.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nTo learn more about SYNERGY MOON's sponsors and partner organizations, visit \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.eSpaceTickets.com\/\"\u003Ewww.eSpaceTickets.com\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.interorbital.com\/\"\u003Ewww.interorbital.com\u003C\/a\u003E. SYNERGY MOON team updates are available at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.synergymoon.org\/\"\u003Ewww.synergymoon.org\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003Ewww.googlelunarxprize.org\u003C\/a\u003E. Each week, new features will be posted that detail the up-close-and-personal stories of the amazing personalities who make up SYNERGY MOON.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cu\u003EABOUT THE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE\u003C\/u\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe $30 million prize purse is segmented into a $20 million Grand Prize, a $5 million Second Prize and $5 million in bonus prizes. To win the Grand Prize, a team must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the Moon, rove on the lunar surface for a minimum of 500 meters, and transmit a specific set of video, images and data back to the Earth. The Grand Prize is $20 million until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15 million until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. For more information about the Google Lunar X PRIZE, please visit \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.googlelunarxprize.org\/\"\u003Ewww.googlelunarxprize.org\u003C\/a\u003E. \n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cu\u003EABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION\u003C\/u\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world’s attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private spaceship to win the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its revolution partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Exploration (Space and Oceans), Life Sciences, Energy \u0026 Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.xprize.org\/\"\u003Ewww.xprize.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nFor the uninitiated, check out this promotional video on the X PRIZE competition:\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject width=\"600\" height=\"486\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/9K4zosGUMBw\u0026color1=0xb1b1b1\u0026color2=0xcfcfcf\u0026feature=player_embedded\u0026fs=1\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/9K4zosGUMBw\u0026color1=0xb1b1b1\u0026color2=0xcfcfcf\u0026feature=player_embedded\u0026fs=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"600\" height=\"486\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/2204954130692695534\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=2204954130692695534\u0026isPopup=true","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2204954130692695534"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2204954130692695534"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/02\/synergy-moon.html","title":"Synergy Moon"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-440779674458151910"},"published":{"$t":"2009-02-19T22:39:00.013-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:44:59.188-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Earth"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Kaguya captures image of eclipse"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.kaguya.jaxa.jp\/image\/communication\/img_090218_01.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 456px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.kaguya.jaxa.jp\/image\/communication\/img_090218_01.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nLoyal readers of this blog know that Japan's \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.selene.jaxa.jp\/index_e.htm\"\u003EKaguya (Selene) Mission\u003C\/a\u003E has captured some stunning high definition \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wms.selene.jaxa.jp\/selene_viewer\/index_e.html\"\u003Eimages\u003C\/a\u003E of the Moon, including video and photos of the Earth rise (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/brianshiro.blogspot.com\/2007\/11\/new-hd-video-and-images-of-moon.html\"\u003Epartial\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/brianshiro.blogspot.com\/2008\/04\/new-full-earth-rise-hd-video-and-images.html\"\u003Efull\u003C\/a\u003E).  Never failing to disappoint, Kaguya has snapped another picture of the Earth from the Moon.  During the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/February_2009_lunar_eclipse\"\u003Epenumbral lunar eclipse\u003C\/a\u003E on February 10, Kaguya was on the far side of the Moon just as the Sun-Earth-Moon conjunction happened.  From the spacecraft's perspective, the Earth came between the Sun and the Moon, leaving only a ring of light because it isn't large enough to cover the entire solar disk.  This is the first time the \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diamond_Ring_effect_(Solar_Eclipse)\"\u003Ediamond ring\u003C\/a\u003E\" effect has been observed from the Moon.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIn other Kaguya news, the mission has now posted dozens of HD videos on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/JAXASELENE?gl=JP\u0026hl=ja\"\u003EYouTube\u003C\/a\u003E.  Some of these were featured in the National Geographic Channel's program \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/channel.nationalgeographic.com\/series\/expedition-week\/4058\/Overview\"\u003EDirect from the Moon\u003C\/a\u003E\" back in November.  The mission is also the subject of a special issue of Science magazine.  A summary of the papers in that issue is on the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2009\/02\/20090213_kaguya_e.html\"\u003EKaguya website\u003C\/a\u003E, or you can check out the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/content\/vol323\/issue5916\/index.dtl\"\u003EScience issue\u003C\/a\u003E itself.  Some of the highlights include a new \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/wms.selene.jaxa.jp\/selene_viewer\/en\/observation_mission\/lalt\/lalt_004.html\"\u003Eglobal lunar topographic map\u003C\/a\u003E with 0.5\u0026deg; spatial resolution and evidence for long-lived farside volcanism.\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/440779674458151910\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=440779674458151910\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/440779674458151910"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/440779674458151910"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/02\/kaguya-captures-image-of-eclipse.html","title":"Kaguya captures image of eclipse"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-5047481260051176285"},"published":{"$t":"2009-01-20T14:41:00.012-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:42:31.601-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"policy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"NASA impresses Obama with new Moon rover"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/305800main_image_1266_946-710.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/305800main_image_1266_946-710.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003ENASA's new \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\/home\/LER.html\"\u003ELunar Electric Rover\u003C\/a\u003E had the honor of concluding today's Presidential Inaugural Parade.  It was chosen from a record 1,382 parade applications to not only take part in the event but to bring up the rear as the parade's finale.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAccording to a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/topics\/people\/features\/NASA_56th_inaugural.html\"\u003ENASA press release\u003C\/a\u003E, Astronaut Mike Gernhardt will drive the rover and be accompanied by other members of the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/shuttle\/shuttlemissions\/sts126\/index.html\"\u003ESTS-126 crew\u003C\/a\u003E.  NASA goes on to say that cameras onboard the rover will record video of the parade.  Later, when NASA posts that video on it's website, I'll add it here as well.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nThe videos below are clips from the C-SPAN and MSNBC coverage.  They show the rover approach and turn toward the Presidential viewing platform.  Astronaut Rex Walheim and suit engineer Barbara Romig are visible wearing spacesuits attached to the back of the rover.  Rex Walheim then unattached from the rover and walked proudly with the flag in front of the new President.  For closeup screenshots and the CNN coverage video, see this \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/onorbit.com\/node\/705\"\u003EOn Orbit post\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject width=\"515\" height=\"440\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/albums.phanfare.com\/video\/4;4139803;3291199;58921388;558c0cad75657d3a1ad135584f063519\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http:\/\/albums.phanfare.com\/video\/4;4139803;3291199;58921388;558c0cad75657d3a1ad135584f063519\" width=\"515\" height=\"440\" wmode=\"transparent\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cobject width=\"640\" height=\"481\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/albums.phanfare.com\/video\/4;4139803;3291199;59085569;30c3493b81ca6ae6e238fc8dfac1af92\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\"\u003E\u003C\/param\u003E\u003Cembed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http:\/\/albums.phanfare.com\/video\/4;4139803;3291199;59085569;30c3493b81ca6ae6e238fc8dfac1af92\" width=\"640\" height=\"481\" wmode=\"transparent\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nBoth President and First Lady Obama seemed very impressed by the display, and Michelle Obama even exclaimed \"wow\" at one point.  I wonder if this is a good omen for NASA's future under the new administration.  Obama's space policy is available from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.barackobama.com\/pdf\/policy\/Space_Fact_Sheet_FINAL.pdf\"\u003Ehis website\u003C\/a\u003E or \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/obamanauts.org\/obama-space-policy\/\"\u003Eobamanauts.org\u003C\/a\u003E."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/5047481260051176285\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=5047481260051176285\u0026isPopup=true","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/5047481260051176285"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/5047481260051176285"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2009\/01\/nasa-impresses-obama-with-new-moon.html","title":"NASA impresses Obama with new Moon rover"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-2486613037422121054"},"published":{"$t":"2008-10-24T21:19:00.011-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:44:59.191-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"astronaut"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Earth"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"fun"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Fun with astronaut mode in Google Earth"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"If you've ever dreamed of going on a spacewalk, now's your chance to at least pretend thanks to the really cool \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/bbs.keyhole.com\/ubb\/download.php?Number=984013\"\u003EAstronaut Mode for Google Earth\u003C\/a\u003E.  The overlay makes it look like you're an astronaut floating above the planet.  It also works in \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en\/press\/pressrel\/earthsky_20070822.html\"\u003Esky mode\u003C\/a\u003E, so you can look away from the earth too. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nIf you feel lonely floating in space all by yourself, you can make the experience a little more interesting by also showing \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/adn.agi.com\/SatelliteDatabase\/SatelliteDatabase.kmz\"\u003Eall known orbiting satellites and spacecraft\u003C\/a\u003E.  The network link from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.agi.com\"\u003EAGI\u003C\/a\u003E shows in real time all 12,000+ earth-orbiting objects tracked by the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.stratcom.mil\/\"\u003EUnited States Strategic Command\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nHere are screenshots looking both towards earth (with the satellite database turned on) and away from earth at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Three_Kings\"\u003EOrion's belt\u003C\/a\u003E: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQLHpS7z9cI\/AAAAAAAAAU4\/Go93Jr_WbGI\/s1600-h\/GE_astronaut_satellites.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQLHpS7z9cI\/AAAAAAAAAU4\/Go93Jr_WbGI\/s400\/GE_astronaut_satellites.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260986826993432002\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQLHtSQefjI\/AAAAAAAAAVA\/4HxPvS7oIKU\/s1600-h\/GE_astronaut_skymode.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 286px;\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQLHtSQefjI\/AAAAAAAAAVA\/4HxPvS7oIKU\/s400\/GE_astronaut_skymode.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260986895531146802\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nMaybe you prefer to float over another planet.  Here are examples of spacewalks above the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tharsis\"\u003ETharsis Rise\u003C\/a\u003E on Mars using the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.modifiedmars.com\/modifiedmars.kmz\"\u003EModified Mars overlay\u003C\/a\u003E and over the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/South_Pole-Aitken_basin\"\u003ESouth Pole-Aitken basin\u003C\/a\u003E on the Moon using \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/bbs.keyhole.com\/ubb\/download.php?Number=681832\"\u003Ethis moon overlay\u003C\/a\u003E.  (Note that the Mars map shows \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/mola.gsfc.nasa.gov\/\"\u003EMOLA topography\u003C\/a\u003E; if you prefer something more photorealistic, try \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/bbs.keyhole.com\/ubb\/download.php?Number=73974\"\u003Ethis one\u003C\/a\u003E.) \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQMf2nq3QMI\/AAAAAAAAAVo\/aG6fY_ILMJU\/s1600-h\/GE_astronaut_mars.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;\" src=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQMf2nq3QMI\/AAAAAAAAAVo\/aG6fY_ILMJU\/s400\/GE_astronaut_mars.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261083812921032898\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQMf6qRFxvI\/AAAAAAAAAVw\/sK6FU27iM7s\/s1600-h\/GE_astronaut_moon.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQMf6qRFxvI\/AAAAAAAAAVw\/sK6FU27iM7s\/s400\/GE_astronaut_moon.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261083882337715954\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAccording to \u003Ca  href=\"http:\/\/www.gearthblog.com\/blog\/archives\/2007\/12\/astronaut_mode_for_google_earth.html\"\u003Ea post on the Google Earth Blog\u003C\/a\u003E, you can also use the astronaut overlay with the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/gearthblog.com\/blog\/archives\/2007\/09\/google_earth_flight.html\"\u003EGoogle Earth Flight Simulator\u003C\/a\u003E to simulate flying through the 3D world of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/earth.google.com\"\u003EGoogle Earth\u003C\/a\u003E.  Enjoy!"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/2486613037422121054\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=2486613037422121054\u0026isPopup=true","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2486613037422121054"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/2486613037422121054"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2008\/10\/fun-with-astronaut-mode-in-google-earth.html","title":"Fun with astronaut mode in Google Earth"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_CvV5s5E4M_Q\/SQLHpS7z9cI\/AAAAAAAAAU4\/Go93Jr_WbGI\/s72-c\/GE_astronaut_satellites.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6152535984695656521.post-7748516474278232284"},"published":{"$t":"2008-04-13T15:50:00.006-10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-09-12T00:44:59.194-10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Earth"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Moon"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"space"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"new \"Full Earth Rise\" HD video and images!"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"In a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/brianshiro.blogspot.com\/2007\/11\/new-hd-video-and-images-of-moon.html\"\u003Eprevious post\u003C\/a\u003E, I showed some of the Japanese Earth rise images taken from the lunar \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.selene.jaxa.jp\/index_e.htm\"\u003EKaguya (Selene) mission\u003C\/a\u003E.  While those images were impressive, the entire Earth wasn't in view.  There are new HD images of a full Earth rise, which are even more spectacular:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2008\/04\/img\/20080411_kaguya_01l.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2008\/04\/img\/20080411_kaguya_01.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2008\/04\/img\/20080411_kaguya_02l.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2008\/04\/img\/20080411_kaguya_02.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nNew Earth rise images press release:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2008\/04\/20080411_kaguya_e.html\"\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2008\/04\/20080411_kaguya_e.html\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nPrevious Earth rise images press release:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2007\/11\/20071113_kaguya_e.html\"\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.jaxa.jp\/press\/2007\/11\/20071113_kaguya_e.html\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight:bold;\"\u003EUpdate 02\/19\/2009:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nJAXA how now posted \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0ToOIKIHW4U\"\u003Ethis video\u003C\/a\u003E and more on YouTube."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/feeds\/7748516474278232284\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6152535984695656521\u0026postID=7748516474278232284\u0026isPopup=true","title":"5 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7748516474278232284"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6152535984695656521\/posts\/default\/7748516474278232284"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.astronautforhire.com\/2008\/04\/new-full-earth-rise-hd-video-and-images.html","title":"new \"Full Earth Rise\" HD video and images!"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"BrianShiro"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/00387138537627037829"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-GJCxDTbxD_I\/Vm6RmCeN3mI\/AAAAAAAAC5U\/foTuQWN5Egs\/s1600-r\/Brian_headshot_twitter.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"5"}}]}});