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#28626 Re: Human missions » Long duration Human space missions - Can we survive them? » 2005-02-08 05:56:21
Bright Idea: UNM prof helps NASA feel the burn
On Earth, fitness comes from muscles working to resist weight, bones thickening from impact work and the heart straining to keep up with the body. But in space, where even the heaviest of barbells floats, astronauts can't easily get the resistance, impact and cardiovascular workout they need to keep healthy.
without proper exercise, astronauts lose about 1 percent of their bone mass per month, similar to the rate of bone loss of women with osteoporosis.
Outlines a new device or machine in the article.
#28627 Re: Human missions » 2005 budget year effects - How it will effect Nasa's Future » 2005-02-08 05:50:30
Lots of news with job losses due to 2006 budget dollars available. I wonder if this will translate down into the shuttle standing army.
The NASA Glenn Research Center expects to eliminate more than 650 jobs by the end of next year in light of a $120 million budget cut that is part of President Bush’s fiscal 2006 budget proposal.
NASA Glenn director Julian Earls said the cuts are a result of the space agency focusing more on space exploration and less on aeronautics, which is what NASA Glenn was built on. As a whole, NASA is slated to receive a 2.5% increase in its budget for fiscal 2006, which begins Oct. 1.
Staff size at NASA Glenn will go from the current 1,860 employees to around 1,200 by the end of 2006, and the research center’s budget will shrink from the current $636.6 million to $519 million in fiscal 2006. Dr. Earls does not predict additional cuts in the next several years.
NASA Eliminating 700 Jobs in Glenn Research Center Cleveland
NASA Langley to cut 1,000 jobs
Director Roy Bridges Jr. announced today that he will have to reduce the workforce by 1,000 employees by the end of fiscal year 2006.
That would take the center from 3,900 civil service and contract employees to 2,900.
Langley braces for 'big hit' from new federal budget
That reduction represents a shift in spending toward the ambitious space-exploration program that Bush outlined a year ago, and away from some of the airplane and flight research that has been a specialty at Langley.
The near-term effect will be a reduction in the center's overall budget from $830 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 to an annual budget of only about $600 million in the 2006 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
Bridges said later that the biggest money shift affecting Langley will be a reduction in spending for an area of aeronautics known as "vehicle systems." The center will lose $89 million a year in that area, which includes some basic aerodynamic research and development of evolutionary improvements in airplanes.
Much of the expertise needed for that work will still be required work such as developing aircraft that can fly in atmospheres other than Earth's, but the budget won't support the number of experts now on the payroll, Bridges said.
He said cutbacks in programs during the current fiscal year have left some employees with no work.
"We can't afford to be carrying this overhead," he said.
#28628 Re: Life support systems » Backpacking on Mars - A base in a backpack... possible? » 2005-02-08 05:33:50
Here is a thought on the tent, make a x pattern in the fabric from corner to corner out of a blatter or tube sown between layers from the base to the top of the dome. Inflate under pressure this tube and the tent will take shape Add internal environment to support crew members inside.
One might setup a temporary camp around a solar powered compress c02 refueling station. Using the station to power a small reclaiming compressor to return the used air to the bottles each morning. Setup as many of these stations as possible from the base camp and spiral them out from it as we explore the area.
#28629 Re: Life support systems » Iss Plant growth experiments - planning the future in 0g » 2005-02-07 21:30:48
But with the trouble some down mass to the red planet being a must for survival, what can we expect to take from these vary design you have mentioned above. Are they light weight and easy to setup or time consuming to make use of?
#28630 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Express (MEX) - ESA orbiter » 2005-02-07 21:26:41
Or to whiplash, backlash back into the probe with a force as some have said would be present damaging the delicate craft.
#28631 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Electron flow within a wire. » 2005-02-07 21:23:27
Yup and what you have described is a DC current motor, also another popular belief is in hole flow or positive charged particle movement. But from either stand point the net result is the device still works for either theory.
#28632 Re: Human missions » A new EELV v SDV - A new spacedaily opinion piece » 2005-02-07 21:18:31
If we are able to upgrade either of the delta or atlas rockets to heavy lift capacity, then why would down sizing a SDV any different.
#28633 Re: Human missions » Article about colonizing Mars - Does someone remember this? » 2005-02-07 21:14:15
Science and Exploration will continue all throughout and long after "settlement" is completed. We are still learning alot about the Earth, are we not?
This may be true but at what level or percentage are those that contribute and do science versus those that would be just settlers. So how much real science do we get for the small quantity of personel within this new structuring once all the hard initial work is done.
#28634 Re: Human missions » A new EELV v SDV - A new spacedaily opinion piece » 2005-02-07 12:55:29
Well another problem is how much is in the budget for the development of the CEV a mere 753 million for a demonstrator vehicle in 2008.
I would have expected a functional unit not some mockup by that date.
#28635 Re: Life support systems » Iss Plant growth experiments - planning the future in 0g » 2005-02-07 12:46:38
This article list some of the hardware and experiments returning on the next soyuz.
Scientific research also high-lighted the week. Sharipov conducted three runs with the Russian Plasma-Crystal experiment, while Chiao worked with two student experiments. "Plazmennyi Kristall" studies how plasma-dust crystals and fluids behave in microgravity when excited by radio waves. Chiao installed the EarthKAM experiment on a bracket in one of the Station's windows. Students at 160 middle schools around the world have snapped more than 900 Earth observation images by remote control.
Chiao also worked with the Space Experiment Module-Satchel project, which contains 11 sample vials, one each from schools around the United States. The sample vials are exposed to microgravity for three to six months.
#28636 Re: Human missions » More ISS hardball - How does this affect US vision? » 2005-02-07 12:45:49
This article list some of the hardware and experiments returning on the next soyuz.
[url=http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_2558180] Danville astronaut packs items for return to Earth
Chiao and Russian prepare for Discovery's arrival at Space Station [/url]
Scientific research also high-lighted the week. Sharipov conducted three runs with the Russian Plasma-Crystal experiment, while Chiao worked with two student experiments. "Plazmennyi Kristall" studies how plasma-dust crystals and fluids behave in microgravity when excited by radio waves. Chiao installed the EarthKAM experiment on a bracket in one of the Station's windows. Students at 160 middle schools around the world have snapped more than 900 Earth observation images by remote control.
Chiao also worked with the Space Experiment Module-Satchel project, which contains 11 sample vials, one each from schools around the United States. The sample vials are exposed to microgravity for three to six months.
#28637 Re: Unmanned probes » Mars Express (MEX) - ESA orbiter » 2005-02-07 11:45:53
Been waiting long enough for this one.
Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding - or MARSIS set to deploy
To seek water - which might provide oases for life - as deep as several kilometres below the Martian surface.
#28638 Re: Interplanetary transportation » Just Cancel The Shuttle Program - Not in five years, do it right now. » 2005-02-07 11:42:25
The standing army is one of those things that we can not afford to continue paying for.
New NASA budget plan to study closures, Agency will look at its 10 field centers; KSC is safe
Lots more article links on spacetoday.net
#28639 Re: Human missions » The need for a Moon direct *2* - ...continue here. » 2005-02-07 11:10:19
Though this is hidden under a budget article it does show mining image.
Space budget: the great unknown
"NASA can't carry this out without cannibalizing itself," Stern said. "The scientific community is rightfully concerned. Their budget looks like a steak dinner."
#28640 Re: Life on Mars » Utah Microbes Point to Mars - Research into extremophiles » 2005-02-07 10:47:16
While the article is not about microbes found in utah it however may explain why we may not find them on mars.
Dust particles in a storm create an electrostatic charge whenever they strike one another or the ground. In field experiments led by William Farrell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, electrical fields of 10 kilovolts per meter were measured in dust devils on Earth. Such experiments suggest that dust devils on Mars could generate very large electric fields of about 5 to 20 kilovolts per meter.
ouch
#28641 Re: Life support systems » Iss Plant growth experiments - planning the future in 0g » 2005-02-07 07:51:53
Well on the moon there would be no above ground green house, it would be underground with lighting being made artificially.
On mars above ground would do but the climate would need to have a power source to keep it warm even at night and probably supplemented for daylight sun levels at first.
How would one build an external green house for the ISS or the moon. Would that not require solar panels that are opaque or adjustable for the amount of sunlight blocking and a chamber just behind them for the plants to grow within.
#28642 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Iceberg B-15A to Ram Glacier » 2005-02-07 06:26:15
Watched the movie the day after, where the ice sheets brake off and cause the gulf stream to change with drastic weather patterns to become violent for the northern hemisphere. Plunging them into a mini ice age.
The continued icebergs a float makes me wonder if there is more to this senario than one might think?
#28643 Re: Science, Technology, and Astronomy » Deep Impact Crashing mission - Comet Tempel 1 target » 2005-02-07 06:22:06
Did a little digging an found the original Nasa JPL news release.
The link at the top of the release brings you to the 3d orbit visualization tool.
Note: Make sure you have Java enabled on your browser to see the applet.
#28644 Re: Human missions » Article about colonizing Mars - Does someone remember this? » 2005-02-07 06:11:18
With colonization of the moon or mars it means that exploration or science objectives are done. This is a problem since governments are there to do science and not to colonize. Since there is no low cost means to get there and no return profits other than the price per seat to go. Making that last step to start colonization will be difficult against the goverments stacking of the deck IMO.
#28645 Re: Human missions » Finally, a sensible solution to the Hubble debate - ... that we can all agree on...maybe. » 2005-02-07 06:02:43
Question for those in the know on what type of batteries will be used in the HOP (Hubble II) or the type of gyro's. If they are the same short live units (5yrs) to which are in the Hubble, then why bother, for to get to 10 years means more cost on both accounts.
The problem with modular design still comes back down to the individual stages being more capable when fully fueled to give the performance for the change in lift required by either modifying of a stages weight or by adding another inline module between other stages to get the particular job done.
#28646 Re: Human missions » More ISS hardball - How does this affect US vision? » 2005-02-04 14:31:08
THE MOON IS NEARER FROM THE ISS
It sometimes seems that ambitions focusing on the Moon and Mars may eclipse all other problems involved in studying the universe, the International Space Station (ISS) being the main one. The fate of the station, which in the past two years has totally depended on Russia's efforts to keep it working, is a source of more concern for the Russians than for its ISS partners.
Today, every country involved in space exploration is interested in the Moon. India has announced ambitious plans to explore it from orbit. China has a developed lunar program and is soon to open a space center in Shanghai, where preparations for its first manned expedition will be made.
It would seem from the rest of the article that the russian's are banking on the shuttle flying again.
#28647 Re: Human missions » Post central for information on CEV III - Continued from previous » 2005-02-04 14:28:11
well one way to know is to see how much the US built rd-180 is, from I think pratt an wittney versus if it where bought direct.
If we can not complete on low price of a like size then lets go for the super size heavy lift and corner the market. 
#28648 Re: Human missions » Post central for information on CEV III - Continued from previous » 2005-02-04 13:36:33
One would hope that some standardization of parts used for what ever configuration of the CEV would be in the process.
That each would not be different and that the partners in the exploration of beyound LEO would also have the same componentary to make use of.
#28649 Re: Human missions » Finally, a sensible solution to the Hubble debate - ... that we can all agree on...maybe. » 2005-02-04 13:31:50
We know the figure for the shuttle fuel and oxidizer, the external tank foam shedding or otherwise, the solid boosters 4 or 5 segment length but have few numbers for the launch cost, or for refurbishment or replacement of tile or tiles.
I quite agree though that something is wrong with the estimated cost of using the shuttle.
#28650 Re: Unmanned probes » Interstellar Boundary EXplorer (IBEX) » 2005-02-04 12:18:37
Eberhard Mobius and Marty Lee of the UNH Space Science Center will work with NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, mission along with engineers, scientists and UNH students to build critical parts of special cameras for the IBEX spacecraft.