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Picture of the Week: луна основа May 9, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Picture of the Week, Russia , add a comment

‘луна основа’ (or is it основа луна? My current knowledge of Russian grammar and diction is nonexistent, despite my ethnic roots) translates roughly to “moon base”, and not so roughly to a goal of modern Russia.

The above is a picture of the Moon above St. Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург). Yesterday, Russia (in theory) swore a new President into office, Dmitry Medvedev ( Дмитрий Медведев; that’s straight off Wikipedia, so that’s gotta be correct, right? :) ); a quick search turned up nothing on his record in relation to Russia’s moon base aspirations, but considering his relationship with Putin and the relatively recent announcement (August 31st, 2007) of the country’s official plans for a base by ~2032, things probably won’t change much. Though, dramatic moon missions always make for good PR, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Medvedev follow in Bush’s footsteps and have a large step forward in Russia’s moon efforts as an early kickstart to his term.

Conan O'Brien: Space Elevator Interview (News) May 6, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Carbon Nanotubes, Current News, Space Elevator, Youtube , add a comment

This past Friday (May 2nd), Brian Turner of the Kansas City Space Pirates was a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, to be interviewed about the Space Elevator concept (a concept covered here just the other day).

Here’s the interview via Youtube, and the full episode is actually also available from the official site.

The interview’s very funny, as you might expect from Conan, and there’s some great stuff in there about the plan for space elevator(s), e.g. how many and when. A great, short layman’s-terms rundown of what’s up in the world of the space elevator.

I think this makes Brian Turner/the Space Pirates something of geek heroes, as well :)

MoonPop Bonus: "Iron Man" (News) May 4, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Current News, MoonPop , add a comment

Just got back from seeing “Iron Man” on one of the most beautiful days I have ever seen (hey, after winter lasted until like ~April 20th here, nature owes us Oregonians one), and in a film making a cool $100 million+ after three days (good for second-best for a nonsequel ever), there’s a little MoonPop in there for us Lunatics’ enjoyment.

The film (possibly the most intelligent/genuinely thoughtful blockbuster I’ve ever seen, and the first real successful pop look at the meanings of the post-9/11 era; and I always say, a pop look is the most important kind, as that’s what most people actually see) includes Mr. Tony Stark in the film’s eponymous suit several times making high, test launches to see what altitude his flying suit can manage.

All the attempts are at night, and the one object he focuses on as he soars to the limits of technology’s capabilities? The Moon, of course. Beautifully so, too. ‘Shooting for the moon’, you could say.

An allegory for mankind’s current push to, once again, stretch our technologies to the limit in pursuit of the Moon (and finding inspiration in the process)? I would say so, especially considering the other deep material in the film regarding current events. For entertainment, this film makes a surprising number of serious choices in its means of (very effective) engagement.

For a film that has an astounding 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and yet also is making $100 million in one weekend (that’s a lot of spectators!), a little thought on the meaning of the Moon both says a lot (about the profile of this type of thinking), and will go a long way.

MoonPop: "2001: A Space Odyssey"-The Trip to the Moon May 4, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : MoonPop, Youtube , add a comment

For your Youtube viewing pleasure today is this week’s moon colonization in pop culture highlight: the sequence from Stanley Kubrick‘s legendary 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey” involving a trip from Earth to the Moon, with one of the most unique choices in film history as far as sound design, and the level this design is taken to:


An interesting thing I noticed upon watching this again is the lander the astronauts use, which has strong similarity to a current NASA design and previous Picture of the Week feature here at Luna C/I. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? :)

Elevator to the Moon (and the Fountains of Paradise Along the Way) May 3, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Arthur C. Clarke, Black Line Ascension, Carbon Nanotubes, private sector, Space Elevator , add a comment


“Elevator to the moon, whistling a favorite tune…”
-“Satellite” , by Guster

A concept supported/pioneered by the likes of Arthur C. Clarke (initially in his book The Fountains of Paradise, and that he considered to be the greatest part of his science legacy; he also described the idea of communications satellites….in 1945) and NASA itself as of late, the Space Elevator is a seemingly radical, and yet very real, alternative for transport into space.


It’s pretty much as it sounds, functioning as an elevator that climbs upwards along a ribbon, a 22,000-mile-long cable or tether going straight up into a fixed position in orbit from an oceanic, equatorial location on the Earth’s surface, allowing cheap and easy transport of all kinds of materials (or people) in a similar manner to a more typical elevator.

“What we’re talking about is building the biggest thing…ever.”
-Steven Steiner, MIT, in a NOVA feature on the Space Elevator

Initially described as a concept in 1960 by a Russian engineer, Yuri Artsutanov, the recent (approx. 1991) discovery of carbon nanotubes (a material 10,000 times as thin as a human hair, but stronger than steel) provides a base for the actual design and construction of a space elevator. The concept is real enough for NASA to support an annual X prize-like contest to race prototypes, and for various companies to pop up that are taking the idea very seriously.

A space elevator would be far less expensive than space shuttles, despite the spectacular nature of it, even down to ’100th or 1,000th’ of the cost, particularly for the actual transport of goods per weight. The cost to build it would be around $10 billion, compared to $1.7 billion for one space shuttle, with a cost of $450 million to launch it each time. Not too bad, considering.

A space elevator would make population and transport of goods to Lunar and Martian colonies far easier, and could be constructed on the Moon itself for surface-orbit transport there.

Space elevators are an (as the amount of links here attests to) enormous concept/movement, with a lot of momentum behind it; almost as much as I’ve seen for lunar colonization itself. Any time private companies are investing themselves in an idea as large as this, that can be an indicator of the seriousness and imminent nature of a technology or concept. In other words, this could be something in the headlines before the end of the next President’s administration.

Expect a lot of discussion here about the various aspects of the space elevator, and how they pertain to moon colonization and integration; perhaps, even, I’ll manage to explore to topic personally at some point soon for you all.

Picture of the Week: Earthnauts May 1, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Mars, Picture of the Week , add a comment


This week’s Picture of the Week comes from Mars. Well, sort of.

That is several ‘astronauts’ exploring around at the Mars Desert Research Station, the second of four such stations to be built in order to test habitats and lifestyles, somewhat ahead of what NASA is up to. These sort of stations will provide invaluable for figuring out the details of Lunar and Martian colony life, and the lessons from one could be applied to another.

It’ll be interesting to see, in particular, the psychological kinds of studies one can get from these…