In order to get back into the swing of things, I'll be writing about something a bit on the far-reaching conceptual side tonight. So, what's trending in our future? Well, you can get a brand-spanking new human colony, fresh from Terra, delivered to any suitable exo-planet, and it can be done with as little as 40,000 humans! Yup, you heard that right folks, just 40,000 humans!
Well now that we got the sales pitch out of the way, that's really what's being talked about right now. Colonization of alien planets. From the moon to Mars and beyond, it's been the hot topic of discussion in the astronomer community lately. A recent article that we'll be discussing in this post can be found by clicking here from Space.com
A recent set of data which was presented by Cameron Smith, an anthropologist at the Portland State University in Oregon, hypothesizes that it would take 40,000 people to successfully survive a 150 year voyage through the Cosmos to a new planet for colonization, or as Smith puts it; "over [a] five-generation voyage". Of these 40,000 "23,000 would be men and women of reproductive age" Smith includes in his study. Of course, with such a large amount of people, one would think you would need a large ship to contain all of these people. Smith acknowledges this, but he "stressed that it makes sense".
There is also a suggested option of "sending frozen sperm and eggs on the voyage with a limited number of human "tenders"". Although Smith didn't seriously consider this option in his new paper, this could be a viable option to sort of do a voyage at a lower risk than the proposed 40,000. Of course, this would most likely alter human psyches in ways that are irreversible and cause unknown changes to these voyagers that are more likely than not unwanted.
In all of this, I'm siding more with the lower risk option of a smaller crew. If something were to go catastrophically wrong, it would be a lesser of a loss. Once we become more confident and stable with our newer starship technology, then we should move forward with a larger initial colony crew. You know, the song "Rocket Man" by Elton John comes to mind with the line "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids". Well, maybe it wasn't back then, but we've come a long way in understanding what's around us. I think we're ready to take that step. Sorry Mr. John, but we'll have to go against your ideas. Hope you come to visit us at least once though!
Monday, July 28, 2014
We're back yet again!
Hello fellow readers. I'm back after a long dance with life. Be on the lookout for new posts from me! I will most likely post a new one tonight.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The End of a Magnificent Satellite: The ESA GOCE Spacecraft
Good evening readers. As I write this, the European Space Agency's Gravity and Ocean Mapping GOCE spacecraft is making its death plunge back through Earth's atmosphere. Where it lands however is still a mystery to us all. An article with details is available by clicking here.
The GOCE is powered by a Xenon ion engine, but ran out of fuel back in mid-October, and has since started to descend slowly but surely back to Earth. The satellite was used to map out Earth's gravity field and oceans, and has performed beyond expectations. The satellite is expected to come crashing back into Earth sometime between now and tomorrow morning. Until then, we wait in anticipation on where it lands. Who knows, maybe you'll have a souvenir courtesy of the ESA via special delivery by tomorrow morning :)
The GOCE is powered by a Xenon ion engine, but ran out of fuel back in mid-October, and has since started to descend slowly but surely back to Earth. The satellite was used to map out Earth's gravity field and oceans, and has performed beyond expectations. The satellite is expected to come crashing back into Earth sometime between now and tomorrow morning. Until then, we wait in anticipation on where it lands. Who knows, maybe you'll have a souvenir courtesy of the ESA via special delivery by tomorrow morning :)
Monday, October 21, 2013
Commercialization of Space Travel: It's Robust, It's Ambitious, and It's Innovative.
Good day readers! Today I'm going to do a bit of analysis (this will be lengthy, so please bear with me) and look into the big buzz of commercialization of space travel. We currently have three companies in the ever-growing and developing market: SpaceX, Oribital Sciences and Virgin Galactic. We'll look at each in detail and their accomplishments.
SpaceX:
SpaceX was founded by founder of PayPal Elon Musk back in 2002, having a vision of changing space tech to eventually having people live on other planets in a cost-effective and feasible manner. In 2008, SpaceX had their first successful launch and orbit of the Falcon 1 which would lay the groundwork for their current vehicle, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. In the same year, NASA awards SpaceX with a $1.6B contract, garnering worldwide attention. In 2009, the first successful delivery of a satellite into Earth orbit is done. In 2010, the Falcon 9 has its first successful launch, pushing the mission objective of SpaceX to launch the Dragon Capsule, the first private spacecraft to be developed and launched. In 2012, the Dragon Capsule visits the International Space Station (ISS), furthering SpaceX to higher acclaim and attention from many people and countries. Following the end of 2012 to now in 2013, SpaceX is developing a new craft; the Grasshopper, which has so far shown to be very promising in all of its tests.
SpaceX has continued to meet all expectations and even exceed them, developing cost-effective methods of space travel, and is coming near the point where they will develop a rapidly reusable rocket by combining data points from both the Falcon 9 v1.1 and the Grasshopper tests. It's been a truly exciting past five years for SpaceX, and many are expecting great follow-through from them going forward.
Orbital Sciences:
Orbital Sciences is a relatively new face in the realm of private space travel but not so much to space travel as a whole. Founded in 1982, Orbital Sciences found its home in the manufacturing and launching of satellites and missile defense systems. The company has four main groups. The Space System Group (SSG) handles the main bulk of the satellite launches; commercial, civil and military. The Launch System Group (LGS) handles the sending of small payloads into orbit. The Technical Services Division (TSD) handles all the behind-the-scenes work to make sure that all operations run smoothly. The Advanced Program Group (APG) is the group that is involved with the development of the Cygnus Spacecraft, which brings Orbital Sciences into the light of commercial private space travel. In September of 2013, the Cygnus Capsule successfully docked with the ISS, a grand accomplishment for Orbital Sciences.
Albeit Orbital Sciences being new to the market, they were what has now made this area competitive, as before them there was only SpaceX. Many great things are also expected of Orbital Sciences.
Virgin Galactic:
Founded by the well-known jack-of-all-trades Richard Branson in 2004, Virgin Galactic plans to mainly provide suborbital spaceflights to "space tourists", as well as sub-orb launches for space science missions and small satellites. The first full successful test flight was conducted on April of 2013. Since the announcement of Virgin Galactic's plan for public space tours, over 500 persons have signed up and paid for a ticket to space. Public flights will begin December 25th, 2013 according to Richard Branson during a morning show in May of 2013.
Although not really in the same competition as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, Virgin Galactic is just a testament to the slowly but surely growing popularity of space travel to the public, and the continued innovation and resiliency of Richard Branson.
SpaceX:
SpaceX was founded by founder of PayPal Elon Musk back in 2002, having a vision of changing space tech to eventually having people live on other planets in a cost-effective and feasible manner. In 2008, SpaceX had their first successful launch and orbit of the Falcon 1 which would lay the groundwork for their current vehicle, the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. In the same year, NASA awards SpaceX with a $1.6B contract, garnering worldwide attention. In 2009, the first successful delivery of a satellite into Earth orbit is done. In 2010, the Falcon 9 has its first successful launch, pushing the mission objective of SpaceX to launch the Dragon Capsule, the first private spacecraft to be developed and launched. In 2012, the Dragon Capsule visits the International Space Station (ISS), furthering SpaceX to higher acclaim and attention from many people and countries. Following the end of 2012 to now in 2013, SpaceX is developing a new craft; the Grasshopper, which has so far shown to be very promising in all of its tests.
SpaceX has continued to meet all expectations and even exceed them, developing cost-effective methods of space travel, and is coming near the point where they will develop a rapidly reusable rocket by combining data points from both the Falcon 9 v1.1 and the Grasshopper tests. It's been a truly exciting past five years for SpaceX, and many are expecting great follow-through from them going forward.
Orbital Sciences:
Orbital Sciences is a relatively new face in the realm of private space travel but not so much to space travel as a whole. Founded in 1982, Orbital Sciences found its home in the manufacturing and launching of satellites and missile defense systems. The company has four main groups. The Space System Group (SSG) handles the main bulk of the satellite launches; commercial, civil and military. The Launch System Group (LGS) handles the sending of small payloads into orbit. The Technical Services Division (TSD) handles all the behind-the-scenes work to make sure that all operations run smoothly. The Advanced Program Group (APG) is the group that is involved with the development of the Cygnus Spacecraft, which brings Orbital Sciences into the light of commercial private space travel. In September of 2013, the Cygnus Capsule successfully docked with the ISS, a grand accomplishment for Orbital Sciences.
Albeit Orbital Sciences being new to the market, they were what has now made this area competitive, as before them there was only SpaceX. Many great things are also expected of Orbital Sciences.
Virgin Galactic:
Founded by the well-known jack-of-all-trades Richard Branson in 2004, Virgin Galactic plans to mainly provide suborbital spaceflights to "space tourists", as well as sub-orb launches for space science missions and small satellites. The first full successful test flight was conducted on April of 2013. Since the announcement of Virgin Galactic's plan for public space tours, over 500 persons have signed up and paid for a ticket to space. Public flights will begin December 25th, 2013 according to Richard Branson during a morning show in May of 2013.
Although not really in the same competition as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, Virgin Galactic is just a testament to the slowly but surely growing popularity of space travel to the public, and the continued innovation and resiliency of Richard Branson.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Analysis of the human brain. Mind reading and control on its way?
Good day readers! Today's post is in regards to a study done by Stanford University's School of Medicine, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Stanford NeuroVentures Program and the Gwen and Gordon Bell Family. The original article can be found by opening the link here.
The study was conducted on three patients all under evaluation for possible surgical treatment of "their recurring, drug-resistant epileptic seizures" where during the procedure, a part of the skull is removed and electrodes are positioned into various locations on the brain's surface.
The study conducted measured human brain activity and came up with some very interesting data. What the study showed specifically was the firing of nerve cells during real-life scenarios in various aspects, such as eating, talking with friends and taking a survey that involved mathematical calculations. The interesting point of data however was a specific group of nerve cells that became active when the patient not only performed mathematical calculations, but also spoke in quantitative terms, such as "more than" "greater than" and the like. This sort of data shows promise to understanding the human brain more intricately.
The study was conducted on three patients all under evaluation for possible surgical treatment of "their recurring, drug-resistant epileptic seizures" where during the procedure, a part of the skull is removed and electrodes are positioned into various locations on the brain's surface.
The study conducted measured human brain activity and came up with some very interesting data. What the study showed specifically was the firing of nerve cells during real-life scenarios in various aspects, such as eating, talking with friends and taking a survey that involved mathematical calculations. The interesting point of data however was a specific group of nerve cells that became active when the patient not only performed mathematical calculations, but also spoke in quantitative terms, such as "more than" "greater than" and the like. This sort of data shows promise to understanding the human brain more intricately.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Back with New Content - A Crucial Step for Fusion
Good day readers! I'm back from a long time of inactivity due to various factors. Now that I'm back though, let's get rolling again with a good piece of content.
Our post today is about some very exciting science that has been worked on (the theory that is) for almost a hundred years now, and has been practically worked on for only a few years at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). We're talking about fusion power. The article can be found here.
Researchers at the NIF a few days ago hit a crucial step towards harnessing fusion power. In late September, the amount of energy output exceeded the energy input. At the NIF, 192 of the world's most powerful lasers are fired simultaneously into a small pellet of hydrogen fuel. Now, let's go a bit into the topic of energy and fusion to see how important this is.
The Law of Conservation of Energy states that the total energy of an isolated system cannot change, but rather it is conserved over time. Now, if you think of fusion, it would seem that it circumvents this law. You're getting more energy out then what you put in. So how is that happening exactly? Well, the law also states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can change form.
This is where fusion's magic takes place. At the heart of our own sun, 4 hydrogen atoms are fused together to form a Helium-4 atom and the resulting release of energy is more that what it took to make those hydrogen atoms to fuse together. In short, this is essentially what happened a few days ago at the NIF.
Now, the final step that remains is the plateau called "ignition". This is the final step in which a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining, at which point the lasers of the fusion plant can be shut down and the reaction will continue so long as it has fuel available. We'll see as time goes on how the NIF progresses and hope to see this breakthrough occur in the near future.
Our post today is about some very exciting science that has been worked on (the theory that is) for almost a hundred years now, and has been practically worked on for only a few years at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). We're talking about fusion power. The article can be found here.
Researchers at the NIF a few days ago hit a crucial step towards harnessing fusion power. In late September, the amount of energy output exceeded the energy input. At the NIF, 192 of the world's most powerful lasers are fired simultaneously into a small pellet of hydrogen fuel. Now, let's go a bit into the topic of energy and fusion to see how important this is.
The Law of Conservation of Energy states that the total energy of an isolated system cannot change, but rather it is conserved over time. Now, if you think of fusion, it would seem that it circumvents this law. You're getting more energy out then what you put in. So how is that happening exactly? Well, the law also states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can change form.
This is where fusion's magic takes place. At the heart of our own sun, 4 hydrogen atoms are fused together to form a Helium-4 atom and the resulting release of energy is more that what it took to make those hydrogen atoms to fuse together. In short, this is essentially what happened a few days ago at the NIF.
Now, the final step that remains is the plateau called "ignition". This is the final step in which a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining, at which point the lasers of the fusion plant can be shut down and the reaction will continue so long as it has fuel available. We'll see as time goes on how the NIF progresses and hope to see this breakthrough occur in the near future.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
A vaccine for AIDS?
Well, something again has caught my eye, and this time it's in the medical field. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/10224574/Brazilian-scientists-to-test-AIDS-vaccine-on-monkeys.html
Yeah, you read that link right. They're planning to test an AIDS vaccine on monkeys coming this year. Now, let's take look at this a bit more.
Given the very scientific uninteresting name HIVBr18, this vaccine was developed by a team from the Medicine Faculty of the University of Sao Paulo, the Sao Paulo state Research Foundation (or FAPESP for short). The team has said that although the vaccine will not eliminate the virus in it's current state of development, it will keep the virus at a low enough level count to where the victim's immune system will not be compromised, nor will the virus become transferable. In short, the virus becomes almost inert. This research was initiated in 2001 by the gentlemen Edecio Cunha Neto, Jorge Kalil and Simone Fonseca. They hope to acquire a fair amount of funding to initiate the first clinical trials after these tests on the monkeys.
Yeah, you read that link right. They're planning to test an AIDS vaccine on monkeys coming this year. Now, let's take look at this a bit more.
Given the very scientific uninteresting name HIVBr18, this vaccine was developed by a team from the Medicine Faculty of the University of Sao Paulo, the Sao Paulo state Research Foundation (or FAPESP for short). The team has said that although the vaccine will not eliminate the virus in it's current state of development, it will keep the virus at a low enough level count to where the victim's immune system will not be compromised, nor will the virus become transferable. In short, the virus becomes almost inert. This research was initiated in 2001 by the gentlemen Edecio Cunha Neto, Jorge Kalil and Simone Fonseca. They hope to acquire a fair amount of funding to initiate the first clinical trials after these tests on the monkeys.
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