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#1 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Yuri's Night in Seattle » 2006-04-09 17:39:14
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 · Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
at The Museum of Flight
Join fellow Seattleites as we celebrate space and the future with other
cities around the world on the 45th anniversary of the first human
space flight and the 25th anniversary of the first NASA Space Shuttle
launch. Meet astronauts and visionaries, learn about the future of
space travel and enjoy snacks by Catering by McCormick & Schmick's
while listening to some of the Northwest's best bands.
The Celebration Includes
Musical Performances by:
KJ Sawka
Plan B
Optimus Rhyme
Boy Eats Drum Machine
m.O
Visuals by: Epiphanous
Invited Special Guests:
Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, retired NASA Astronaut
As a Rockwell Engineer, Dr. Dunbar
worked on the Shuttle Columbia
and helped support the crew for STS-1.
Prof. Don Brownlee, Stardust Principal Investigator
Dr. Robert Hoyt, Tethers Unlimited
Prof. Adam Bruckner, UW Aero & Astro Chair
Purchase Tickets Today!
Tickets for the event are $25 per person in advance ($21.25 for Museum
members) and $30 at the door - all ages.
Purchase tickets online at TicketWeb.com, at the Museum of Flight Store
or by phone at 866-468-7623
#2 Re: Mars Society International » Mars in Argentina!! » 2005-12-09 03:10:27
Hi! I´m looking to create a section of the Mars Society in Argentina. Does anybody knows anyone involved in that, or how can I do it? By the way, i´m looking for co-founders or members from the american down-under! Greetings!
Leandro
Hello,
Probably your best bet would be to advertise a meeting at a library or some free space (coffee shop?) in a newspaper or get an Op-Ed in one with the mention of the meeting.
#3 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Suited for Mars: - An Advanced Spacesuits Symposium. » 2005-06-01 18:10:54
Non of the Hardsuit folks I invited have replied.
But, Paul Webb the originator of the Skin Suit or Mechanical Counter pressure suit is coming to the Spacesuit Symposium!
#4 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Suited for Mars: - An Advanced Spacesuits Symposium. » 2005-05-25 14:47:43
Description
This notice is issued by the NASA/JSC to post a Request for information (RFI) via the internet and to solicit responses from knowledgeable parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry and academia the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of contemplated concepts.
Pressure suits will be necessary to protect the crews from hostile environments throughout all mission phases of the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE). The following pressure suit capabilities will be required:
1) Crew protection and survivability during launch, entry and abort scenarios, including spacecraft depressurization,
2) Zero-gravity extravehicular activity (EVA) apability for in-space activities such as contingency EVA (including crew transfer between vehicles), assembly, maintenance or repair, and
3) Surface EVA capability for planetary exploration.
The Government is currently conducting a trade study to determine the quantity and type of pressure suits that may be required to meet the requirements of the VSE. Parties are asked to provide information detailing the technical feasibility, challenges of, and potential evolutionary pathway for meeting all of the VSE requirements with a single suit approach. Respondents are asked to give consideration to technical requirements (such as vehicle interfaces, mobility, comfort and environmental conditions), commonality, logistics, maintenance and sparing, operational impacts and life cycle costs. Respondents are also asked to provide information on associated technologies that could make a single suit concept feasible.
More at:
#5 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Suited for Mars: - An Advanced Spacesuits Symposium. » 2005-05-23 17:46:38
NASA is looking for Spacesuit input:
PRESSURE SPACE SUITS TO PROTECT CREWS FROM HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS THROUGHOUT ALL MISSION PHASES TO SUPPORT THE VISION FOR SPACE EXPLORATION (VSE)
#6 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Suited for Mars: - An Advanced Spacesuits Symposium. » 2005-05-23 02:14:13
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2005
"Suited for Mars: An Advanced Spacesuits Symposium."
Imagine you're 5 kilometers from the habitat module on Mars and your spacesuit has just sprung a leak which will kill you in a few minutes. You really need a repair kit fast. Fortunately you have one and your partner on the EVA applies a fabric cuff made with contractile polymers that with a flip of a switch quickly seals the leak.
Currently we use have no spacesuit built for traversing rough terrain on planetary surfaces which is light enough, can be use for weeks and is field serviceable. The only spacesuits designed, built and used for surface exploration on another planetary body have been the 12 Apollo A7L's and A7LB's used on the Moon's surface six times for just a few hours each. They were truly works of great genius but after only a few hours of use they showed signs of wear. The Moon has very abrasive dust and the bearings which allowed free wrist movement began to show signs of failure as dust got into the works.
To address spacesuits designed issues the Mars Society will launch the first annual Advanced Spacesuits Symposium. With the advances in relevant technologies, such as smart fabrics, electroactive polymers and the demands of the president's new vision for space exploration comes a time to look again at the spacesuit. To protect a human on the surface of a planet a spacesuit must be as complicated as a manned spacecraft making it the most critical piece of human to machine interface hardware possible. Any future surface spacesuit design needs to successfully operate hundreds of hours in dusty environments. This places demands on future spacesuits, which will far exceed the Moon Suits capabilities.
"Suited for Mars: An Advanced Spacesuits Symposium" will take place Friday the 12th of August 1 PM to 5 PM at the 8th International Mars Society convention that will be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, August 11-14, 2005.
Aerospace professionals from throughout the industry who have worked on or are simply interested in advanced spacesuit concepts are invited to attend this symposium where we plan to gather all the major players in the field.
Deadlines: 31 May 05 (abstract) / 12 August 05 (full paper)Abstracts should be sent via email to msabstract@aol.com
The Mars Society was founded in 1998 and is a nonprofit organization that promotes the goal of human exploration of the Red Planet. Currently the Mars Society operates two research facilities. Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) located on Canada's Devon Island in the Arctic Circle and the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) located in the desert southwest of the United States. The Mars Society has chapters and membership worldwide.
For more information about the Mars Society, or to register for the conference, visit
http://www.marssociety.org/]www.marssociety.org/
#7 Re: Human missions » Don Peterson Critque of Bush Plan » 2004-05-23 01:29:51
This is a small part of the whole article...
2.2.1 Is lunar testing the most efficient and effective way to test various Mars Program test objects (i.e., objects intended for use in the HMEP, such as: rovers, pressure suits, solar arrays, radiators, batteries, habitats, communications antennae, etc.)?
Clearly, there are some aspects of the Mars vehicles and systems, such as aerobraking and parachute descent, that cannot be tested on the moon. Tests of some other systems and components, (e.g., solar arrays, energy storage devices, thermal conditioning systems, etc.) could probably be done with greater validity (and at much lower cost) in environmental chambers where the solar constant, day/night cycle, atmosphere effects, and temperature could model Martian conditions quite accurately.
In fact, it seems that the only truly unique factor in lunar testing is the effect of 1/6 gravity, which is important for systems and components that involve mass dynamics (e.g., rover vehicles, fluid flow devices, etc.). Even in these cases it isn't obvious that testing devices designed for Mars gravity (about 2/5 earth) in lunar gravity (about 1/6 earth) will yield any more valid results than testing in earth gravity (again at much lower cost) using the same "reduced gravity emulators," (underwater neutral buoyancy, sling supports and slanted walls to reduce weight effects, Zero-G aircraft, air bearing floors, etc.) that apparently produced satisfactory results in the Apollo Program. It is also worth noting that the robotic vehicles now on Mars were all successfully designed and tested without benefit of a low gravity test environment.
In any event, the differences between the lunar environment and the Mars environment will impose significant differences between the design and operation of lunar test objects (rovers, solar arrays, energy storage devices, thermal conditioning systems, etc.) and the analogous Mars objects. This in turn will necessitate some rather complicated manipulation of "modeling factors" to make lunar test results applicable to Mars equipment, and the program will incur extra cost and complexity to field and operate and analyze two sets of substantially different equipment in two significantly different environments.
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=953]Don Peterson objections to Bush Jr SEI
#8 Re: Life support systems » Lets brainstorm on suit design - We will need suits after all » 2004-04-23 04:38:58
That's not a bad idea. Why not just pressurize the torso - eliminating most of the problems with the problem concave areas. Leave the legs and arms in unpressurized sleeves with adjustable straps so that size changes can be accomodated.
One advantage is that the torso/head region can be reinforced against impacts and made to be more ofa hard shell. If an astronaut takes a tumble and cuts open his kneepad, there's no explosive decompression. Instead, there's a localized hickey effect and blood being siphoned out of a cut. While not a great situation, it's not instantly lethal and can easily be treated in the field.
From single track mountain biking, I can attest that crashes overwhelmingly favor the extremeties for tearing up clothing. Any design that eliminates that weak link is inherently safer already regardless of what other advantages the design confers.
This is one solution that has been suggested.
A soft pressure torso or hard upper torso like the current EMU Hut has some nice aspects to them. But, in either case you would require some sort of dam at the neck, arms and legs.
#9 Re: Life support systems » Lets brainstorm on suit design - We will need suits after all » 2004-04-23 04:34:21
Maybe this mechanical pressure can be limited to the fingers and that can be a good idea. As far as I know there pressurized clothes are most unwelcome.
In 1980's Mitchell Clapp worked on a MCP glove and most current work focuses on them. Like James Waldie's work.
#10 Re: Life support systems » Lets brainstorm on suit design - We will need suits after all » 2004-04-13 15:48:13
A wet suit would depressurize just as if you were wearing jeans. Somehow, I don't think that will work.
Mechanical counterpressure does work. Do a google look up on MCP, space activity suit, Biosuit, Dava Newman and Peter Webb.
There are issues with the concept. Not least is more testing of a full suit is needed to reach some conclusions about the best design.
-If made of rubber or spandex like materials then maintaining body size becomes an issue. You can't gain or loose much weight before the suit won't fit.
-The breasts area (women), armpits, palms and crouch all have problems with loss of mechanical counter pressure. Padding and bladders have been used to fix these problems.
-The suit fits really tightly making donning and doffing hard and painful.
Painted on suits offers a fix to all these issues, but is even less likely to meet with astronaut approval.
The major advantages of MCP is the near nude range mobility, the light weight and the easy storability.
#11 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Yuri's Night in Seattle » 2004-04-05 02:15:05
With the rest of the world Seattle will be celebrate Yuri's Night.
April 12th 8 PM till 2 AM at the Space Needle!
Come help Seattle celebrate the first human in space
This year Seattle joins a global grassroots network of people who have rediscovered an inspiration for hope in our common future in space.
Yuri's Night Seattle is part of a worldwide celebration to mark the anniversary of the first human space flight by Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.
On April 12, Seattle space buffs will be gathering at the Space Needle (where else?) for cocktails, munchies and a techno dance party. There will also be a space costume contest with fabulous prizes! The event runs from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Yuri's Night 2004 organizers around the globe are planning 45 parties in 21 countries.
Yuri's Night Seattle brings together a cross-section of enthusiasts; science fiction writers; scientists and engineers who have worked on NASA’s exploration efforts and shuttles; innovators in private industry; and anyone with a passion for the potential of space.
Keynote speaker will be Donna Shirley, former manager of NASA JPL's Sojourner Rover on Mars and currently is the director of the Experience Science Fiction Museum, slated to open this summer. Other notable guests include SF author Greg Bear, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, and scientist Jordin Kare, a pioneer in laser launch technology.
Tickets are $25 for students; $35 for non-students. Tickets are available at the Yuri's Night website at
[http://www.yurisnight.net/seattle]http://www.yurisnight.net/seattle
#12 Re: Space Policy » Bush Sets Wrong Goal? » 2004-01-19 04:00:31
I printed off this article (Space Ref: Inside Bush's Space Plan)as soon as the third installment became available, and studied it for clues. To me, it sounds as if Bush, Cheney and O'Keefe came up with the entire plan without consulting a single engineer. It's suggestive the CEV will be constructed in orbit from commercial launchers, and science return is not emphasized. No concern is made as to whether the plan is sensible (read: economical), so long as it can be done without a large budget increase. And there is no mention of the need to reform NASA's current mode of operations, only that NASA should be refocusing its efforts on manned exploration. It seems what we might gain from a lunar mission was not important; 'Just go there on the cheap, no matter the gain' seemed to be their mantra.
This will not help, Bush, Nasa; you'll only set a lower standard...
The three part article is BS written by BS-ers about BS-ers. Not worth reading! They plan a book to be out in July...no kidding...and it will be just as much BS! Cowing is now going around saying Howard Dean is anti-space because he wants to balance the budget before doing any new space programs! This is journalism in it's finest.
#13 Re: Space Policy » Bush Sets Wrong Goal? » 2004-01-18 02:36:09
Enyo, We won't be back to the moon before Bush is out of the White House.. The presidency is limited to two terms. Also, thats under the impression that he gets re-elected. Being that this is the first thing Bush has done That I like, I am not voting for him.
Right and the major costs happen about 7 or 8 years down the road in this "plan".
I don't plan to vote based on what a politician promises.
The CEV is vastly under funded, IMHO.
#14 Re: Space Policy » Bush Sets Wrong Goal? » 2004-01-17 04:33:02
Did you watch a different new conference than me???
I watched the one where Bush said we will be going back to the Moon several times (as in Apollo) and maybe making a Moonbase and maybe going to Mars someday...many years after he retires!
I should have said many things not directly related to human spaceflight. Case in point Hubble. This is only the beginning folks...
#15 Re: Space Policy » Bush Sets Wrong Goal? » 2004-01-16 06:16:52
For you all who wonder how can Bush just add a Billion to the NASA budget and expect to build the Moon rovers and CEV...
They plan to gut everything not Moon related.
That is to say all programs not directly related to Moon rovers and CEV will die. Mars missions don't need to restart for a decade...
#16 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » MarsFest '04 - Celebration of Landings on Mars » 2004-01-02 19:17:51
MarsFest '04
Saturday, January 10, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The Museum of Flight in Seattle
On Christmas Day 2003, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express with went into orbit, Britain's Beagle 2 lander hopefully touched down on the Martian plains of Isidis Planitia, marking the first extraplanetary visit of an ESA probe. A few thousand kilometers away and two weeks later, on January 3rd of this year, NASA/JPL's lands its golf-cart-sized robotic explorer 'Spirit' in Mars' Gusev Crater. And on January 24th, Spirit's twin, 'Opportunity', will touch down at Meridiani Planum on the other side of the red planet. Never before has such an international armada of spacecraft converged on another planet, and the National Space Society Seattle Chapter, Mars Society Puget Sound and the Planetary Society join the Museum in celebrating this historic "Earthling invasion" with a full day of Mars-related programs, exhibits, video screenings and live feeds from NASA TV.
Leading off the formal programs is an 11:00 a.m. multimedia presentation by JPL Solar System Ambassador Dr. Ron Hobbs. His talk entitled "Return to Mars" places the current ESA and NASA missions in the context of almost forty years of Martian exploration that began in 1965 when Mariner 4 captured twenty-one photographs of the planet as it flew by. At 1:00 p.m., Dr. Hobbs moderates a panel discussion among local Mars experts, including: Prof. Adam Bruckner, chair of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington; Conway Leovy, who worked on the Mariner 6 and 7 and Viking Lander science teams; Jeff Slostad, who worked on the robotic arm of the ill-fated Mars Polar Lander; and James Tillman who was a co-investigator on the Viking Lander weather sensors. These men know their Mars science and hardware! Don't miss their wide-ranging discussion.
Delivering the MarsFest keynote address at 3:00 p.m. is special guest Dr. Robert Zubrin. Founder and current president of the Mars Society, Dr. Zubrin is a tireless promoter of human exploration of Mars, as well as a respected engineer and scientist and a best-selling author. Following the discussion, he will sign copies of his most recent book, "Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic" (J. P. Tarcher, 2003), which details the dramatic story of the Mars Society's scientific expeditions to build and test simulated habitats for Martian exploration in the terrestrial Arctic and the U.S. desert Southwest.
MarsFest is free with regular museum admission:
Adults (18-64) $11.00; Seniors $10.00; Youth 5-17 $6.50; Kids under 4 free, Adult groups of 10 or more $10 each; Part of "City Pass" Program
The Museum of Flight
9404 E Marginal Way South
Seattle, WA 98108
206-764-5700
***
#17 Re: Unmanned probes » Beagle 2 - What's happening? » 2003-12-26 02:16:24
Heh, Mars Express might even be able to see Beagle 2 with its 5 meter resolution camera... especially if it's broke into a thousand shiny pieces.
If Beagle's parachute failed and it broke up it did so at very high velocity.
If an airbag failed then it might be in bigger pieces and it might be possible under good lighting conditions to see it...
then at least we would know how it failed. Not knowing exactly what happened is the drag.
Already people are using it for why we should not send humans to Mars...
:angry:
#18 Re: Unmanned probes » Beagle 2 - What's happening? » 2003-12-25 23:17:05
The search will continue in coming days using the Mars Odyssey spacecraft now in orbit and deep space ground stations at Jodrell Bank and Stanford."
Stanford...the California university? Or a city/facility/other(?) in England?
The Jodrell Bank Dish is nicknamed the "Big Ear" and Stanford, California's is the "Big Dish". Both were used to litsen for MPL.
Things don't look good for Beagle 2 as Jodell hasn't heard it, yet.
Mars Express will be over Beagle 2's landing/crash site and has had good comms with it before release so it has the best shot at hearing it. Fingers crossed 
#19 Re: Human missions » Reasons against Mars Direct » 2003-12-20 02:59:18
All very interesting...but your point was?
Spectra is not Kevlar. Fishing line is not made of Kevlar. I'm not sure SpiderWire fishing line is Spectra.
Where did I say Spectra was Kevlar?
I've bought Spectra fishing line to catch fish with. Spectra is used to make tethers. I was talking about tethers.
#20 Re: Human missions » Reasons against Mars Direct » 2003-12-19 23:56:46
Try Spectra (fishing line).
I may be guilty of spreading false information. When I worked at the Technology Center of Allied Signal Fibers in Colonial Heights, Virginia, one co-worker pointed out that SpiderWire brand fishing line is made there. He told me that SpiderWire is made from Spectra, which Allied Signal Fibers version of Kevlar. Since then Honeywell bought the Technology Center. Well, after doing some checking I found out SpiderWire is in fact made at the plant I worked in Virginia, and it's made of gel-spun polyethylene fibers. Spectra is high modulus polyethylene fiber, which I think is the same thing. The process for gel-spun polyethylene was originally developed for bulletproof vests. Kevlar is Poly (p-phenylene terephtalamide), which is in the aromatic polyamide (aramid) family. So Spectra and Kevlar are not the same thing. Spectra is more UV resistant, in fact it's as resistant as PET, and has a higher modulus. However, Spectra is slippery so it's difficult to weave into a fabric. It can be scoured in an acid bath to reduce the slipperiness so it can be woven, but it still has a problem with static load. Under static load the fibers tend to creap. That can be reduced with the acid bath treatment, but you still have to keep the static load low to prevent creap. Spectra is great for impact resistance, such as keeping out a bullet or holding a fish that is jerking the line.
References:
Maine Sailing Partners - Sail cloth, Polyester
Iowa State University - Technical Guide for KEVLAR Aramid Fiber
Spectra News
Spider Fishing
All very interesting...but your point was?
A comparison of Kevlar, Spectra and steel
Anyway Tethers Unlimited has used Spectra and find it easy to work with...
But which is used doesn't matter...it not a steel cable, it not heavy...
#21 Re: Human missions » Reasons against Mars Direct » 2003-12-19 03:08:30
I also want to reiterate that Mars Direct and its children are also not safe enough for regular manned flights. The artifical gravity scheme is dangerous and heavy, all that redundant cable you use is by no means light-weight, and astronauts will have to do more than walk when they get there; 90 days ought to be the target zero-G limit... and what if your cable doesn't break cleanly?
Dr. Zubrin also underestimates the harm caused by cosmic radiation, which will easily exceed safe dosage without shielding during transit, even without a solar flare. I suspect that he has convienantly shrugged off this hazard to make MD more apealing to Congress. A heavy-duty radiation shield will be needed, more than food/water can provide, which will risk chemical being dangerously overweight and awfully close to the zero-G limit for NTR engines.
Cable? What cable? Try Spectra (fishing line). The problem with a tether system is stopping it and restarting it nothing else.
Go check out:Tethers Unlimited for more tethers info.
I've talked with experts beyond Zubrin. Zubrin is not downplaying the radiation problem from cosmic rays and 10 centimeters of water is generally adequate to protect from most solar flares.
If we must shield from radiation and water is not used M2P2 possibly offers a high tech solution.M2P2 as a radiation shield (a PDF)
#22 Re: Human missions » Reasons against Mars Direct » 2003-12-19 02:50:42
Politics will change anything designed to something less functional. We must work against this trend and educate people so they also fight it.
Rather than fighting, let's try to work co-operatively. The politicians control funding to the space agencies, and right now they are the only ones with funding to start space exploration or settlement. Let's get them to work with us, not fight against them.
Huh? I wasn't suggesting we fight anyone. The trend towards reduction of costs and reduction of functionality is the "it" to fight against. We want to educate the politicals and public against wasting energy in this way.
Mars will not make a profit for anyone unless they are really bright...
What Mars currently brings are data points beyond Earth in weather and possibly biology...
#23 Re: Human missions » Reasons against Mars Direct » 2003-12-17 18:18:39
MD is far from a "flag and footpints" missions. 18 months of surface time! To prevent a Mars mission from suffering the same fate as Apollo isn't a technological one, its political. I think the best way to keep the momentum going is to make it an international program. Then, if you stop, the whole world is angry with you, and you look weak. That can be a very strong political motivator - who could imagine the U.S. talking about returning to the moon if China didn't mention it?
This is very true. The thing people seem willing to forget is Apollo created an infrastructure capable of may things beyond sending people to the Moon. Yet we abandoned it! This for the promise of completely reusability system which would cost less and what we got was the STS. Politics will change anything designed to something less functional. We must work against this trend and educate people so they also fight it.
#24 Re: Human missions » Reasons against Mars Direct » 2003-12-06 05:04:21
Delay Mars
Wait until we are ready to go big, and go to stay. In the mean time, go back to the Moon, and get Nasa used to supporting humans on other worlds over the long term while building super-engines, inflatable modules, and Mars fuel factories. Mars Direct gets us there in a hurry, but gets us off just as fast... No flags and footprints!
Delaying a trip to Mars isn't going to prevent it from being a one shot deal. I don't think anything done to prevent "Flags and Footprints" would be effective.
Without a drastic reduction in costs or a society interested in science for science's sake cost cutting will be inevitable.
I also don't think we should play into the hands of those trying to set the rules of engagement in their favor either. A 18 month stay on Mars is nothing like a few days on the Moon. I don't believe the "Flags and Footprints" term has meaning here.
#25 Re: Human missions » George Bush Jr planning on kennedy speach - mostly moon, but as prep for mars » 2003-12-05 17:43:17
you know, wouldn't it be more in bush's interest to wait until february after all the mars missions have landed to make some grand announcement like this?
The alternative date people have suggested for the announcement is the State of the Union. Which would be after the landing and operation of the the first of the two rovers.
But it also is near the three anniversaries of the USA's space tragedies, Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia all within a couple of weeks from the State of the Union Address on January 20, 2004.