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LCROSS Performs First Swing-By of the Moon, With Video June 24, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : LCROSS, NASA, Youtube , add a comment

NASA’s LCROSS lunar satellite made its first swing-by of the Moon on Tuesday, complete with streaming video. The LCROSS will be swinging around both Earth and the Moon multiple times, as it eases into a trajectory from which it will create an impact with the Moon, analyzing the resulting plume for signs of water ice.

Below is a video from NASA Television of the flyby:

NASA's LRO/LCROSS Missions Successfully Launched! June 19, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, LCROSS, Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, NASA , 1 comment so far

NASA’s twin lunar orbiter craft—the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)—were successfully launched on Thursday aboard an Atlas V rocket.

This marks the first mission (well, missions) in Constellation to be launched, the beginning of a big new era for NASA (“America’s first step in a lasting return to the Moon”, as the launch video embedded below declares it.)

The LRO will aim it’s seven instruments (which I’ll be taking individual looks at here at Luna C/I) at the Moon to collect detailed information about its environment, in preparation for colonization (and potentially mining) efforts,;while the LCROSS is designed to use one of its rocket phases to create an impact in a deep-shadow crater, analyzing the material to see if there is water ice present there—a potentially “smashing success“.

Embedded below is a pretty spectacular video from NASA of the launch, from on board the rocket itself (check out the SpaceX Falcon 1 launch video for a similar, if even more astounding, view of a rapid departure from Earth) :

Initial Wrap-Ups of Human Space Flight Committee's First Meeting Hit the Web June 18, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : U.S. Human Space Flight Committee , add a comment

The Committee with a slide of the COTS presentation behind them. on Twitpic

The major Human Space Flight Plans Committee held it’s first public meeting today, with a slew of presentations (which should be available online before long).

The all-day meeting was webcast live, and the committee had their official Twitter feed providing updates.

MSNBC’s Alan Boyle and Clark Lindsey’s RLV and Space Transport News blog have the best coverage wrap-ups that are up so far (with tons of links to press articles on particular presentations), while Jeff Foust was also Twittering extensively from the event itself.

Hit those links for the full slew of initial great coverage, and check back here soon for my own look at, and thoughts on, the happenings of the meeting :)

June 17th Human Space Flight Committee Meeting to Be Webcast June 16, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Augustine Panel, Constellation, U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee , add a comment

The first meeting of the Human Space Flight (Augustine) panel reviewing Constellation will be webcast live, for those of us who can’t make it out to the event in D.C. The meeting will be held from 9am-5pm EST on June 17th (this Wednesday).

 To stay even further involved with the panel’s goings-on, be sure to take part in their many interactive features, including their neat question submittal w/ public voting system feature.

Check back here on Wednesday and Thursday for coverage of all the significant developments that come from the meeting :)

"Moon" In Theaters Today in LA/NY! June 12, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : MoonPop , add a comment

Today is the New York/Los Angeles release date of the movie “Moon”, starring Sam Rockwell as a helium-3 miner that goes through a series of strange experiences.

“Moon” has a healthy 84% on Rotten Tomatoes so far (38 positive reviews, 7 negative; from the press), with some pretty hefty praise:

“Director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie), working from a script by Nathan Parker, pulls off sci-fi miracles on a $5 million shoestring. Moon is a potent provocation that relies on ideas instead of computer tricks to stir up excitement.” -Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“Why don’t we see movies this mesmerizing more often? ” -Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

As far as public awareness of the current outlook of moon colonization (and of fusion power), this film could be monumental. Sounds like a great film, too, which will definitely help.

I haven’t had a chance to check it out myself (I live in Portland, Oregon, where the film will be released July 3rd—click here for the full list of release dates), but I’ll have an extensive report (as part of my ongoing MoonPop series on moon colonization in pop culture) once it’s come around to the Northwest–I’m a film buff myself (even studied screenwriting briefly), so I can give multiple perspectives on the content :)

Here’s the trailer for the film, via The Film Stage on Youtube (and be sure to check out director Duncan Jones’ Twitter feed @ManMadeMoon):

JAXA's Kaguya/SELENE Mission Completed with Controlled Impact on Lunar Surface June 10, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Japan, Kaguya, Peak of Eternal Light, SELENE-2 , add a comment

This morning, Japan’s Kaguya (also known as SELENE) lunar orbiter (launched in September 2007) made a controlled impact with the lunar surface, ending what has been a highly successful mission.

That is a map released today of the orbiter’s impact location (near the Moon’s south pole).

A look at the some of the most significant accomplishments of the mission:

JAXA’s next mission, SELENE-2, is set to deliver a lunar rover to the surface and perform research on lunar geology and lunar base issues (surface construction, dust,  radiation, etc.).

JAXA put out a call for images of the orbiter’s impact, and other agencies such as the European Space Agency are churning out further information on the craft’s finale, so keep an eye here for more  images, video, and details as they come along over the next few days :)

Here’s an HDTV video uploaded yesterday, that’s low-altitude near the crater Zeeman, and one of the best I’ve seen so far:

LSSW: Going Fission For Power Options? June 9, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Fission Power, Lunar conservation, Lunar Surface Systems Workshop , add a comment

This is the latest in my ongoing series of coverage of the Lunar Surface Systems Workshop, where oodles of new, advanced concepts for NASA’s future lunar base were shown.

Lunar Surface Architecture Status: Part 5

Following the look at Scenario 4 in the presentation, are details of the Scenario 5 option—which is the use of nuclear fission power on the Moon. 

Scenario 5 is described as being basically the same as Scenario 4, but with fission as the primary power source instead of solar (which to me, seems like it could certainly free up potential base zones).

There’s two options talked about for location of the reactor: have an ATHLETE bury it close (100m) to the outpost:

FissionBuried

Or, have the reactor remain 400m away on the lander itself, with a system of regolith fill and bags to keep the system shielded:

FissionLander

Below is the manifest for the “buried” scenario (5.02), showing that the reactor would be deployed in early FY2020.

This manifest also has a significant difference than the one from Scenario 4: it shows operations beginning a full FY earlier, in FY2019! No mention of potential sorties either, and the graphic for the Robotic Assistant appears more current. Interesting:

Scenario502Manifest

I’m personally not too hot on the fission option at first glance.  Burying nuclear reactors under the surface seems like it could get out of hand as a precedent—having dangerous material buried all over the moon smells like an environmental disaster waiting to happen, and while NASA clearly would be careful, perhaps later colonists (companies, etc.) taking that lead would not.

—

Up next is the rather fun-sounding “extreme mobility” option, Scenario 8. Check back soon for that! (And yes, by the way, the pun in this post’s title is intentional ;) )

Japan's Kaguya Mission Ending June 10th (This Wednesday) June 7, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Japan, Kaguya , add a comment

Japan‘s Kaguya lunar orbiter mission, which produced a lot of famous HD video and still images (check out the official Youtube channel for lots of the goodies, in both Japanese and English), is winding down to an end this week, with the orbiter set to impact the Moon near the south pole this Wednesday, June 10th at 10:30 am PST.

Here’s the famous 2007 HD video of an Earthrise captured by Kaguya:

Check back here on the 10th for a retrospective on the mission, and a look at what’s next for JAXA :)

Official, Interactive U.S. Human Space Flight (Augustine) Panel Site Launches June 6, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Augustine Panel, NASA, U.S. Human Space Flight Committee, Vision for Space Exploration , add a comment

NASA has launched an interesting official site for the Norm Augustine-led Constellation review panel, called the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee.

The site is notable for an array of savvy, unexpected interactive features:

The site also has other handy information, like detailed bios of each of the panel members.

It’s wonderful to have such a level of interaction available with this panel—we can all become a part of the process :) And I was excited by just Dr. Chiao’s open call for comments; this is a whole another level of participation compared to that. So check it out, jump into the topics discussions, and get voting on the good questions ;)

New Kaguya HD Video: The Moon from 11km Up June 4, 2009

Posted by Nick Azer in : Japan, Kaguya , add a comment

A new video from the Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya‘s HD video camera has been posted, and it’s a spectacular one:

That’s the Moon from only 11km in the air. Pretty spiffy.

JAXA has a whole boatload of videos (and even their own custom channel  logo) over at their Youtube channel. More lunar HD goodness than you can shake a stick at! (At least, until the Google Lunar X PRIZE‘s Mooncasts start rolling in) :)