Moon Now Available in Google Earth! July 26, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Moon, selenography , add a comment
As of the Apollo anniversary, the Moon is now available in Google Earth 5.0! Great news for any apsiring selenographer :)
Google has put some great above-and-beyond features into their lunar globe—not only markers and photos from historical sites, but you can find and view Japan’s Kaguya orbiter HD videos of lunar landmarks from within the program! Really neat to have that integrated into the program, and have the reference of the globe right there as the video plays.
You can click placenames, too, and get a little info about where, say, Mare Moscoviense’s name came from (“Sea of Muscovy”).
Google has a significant stake in moon colonization— they are the sponsors of the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, which has been a huge driving factor in spurring a plethora of commercial efforts to the Moon. With the X PRIZE likely to be won around 2011, we could see a lot more lunar goodies from Google (both in and out of Google Earth) over the next few years…
To view the lunar globe in Google Earth 5.0, go to the “View” menu, and under the “Explore” submenu is a Moon suboption. There’s also Mars (!) and the night sky (constellations). So, put on some Sinatra and fly yourself to the Moon…
A Review of "Moon", Part 2: Lunar Ethics July 21, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : ethics, Lunar conservation, space conflict, space law , add a comment
This is Part 2 of 2 of my review of Duncan Jones‘ film “Moon“, starring Sam Rockwell. Part 1 looks at the film, while Part 2 discusses the lunar colonial topics that the film brings up.
While a great piece of sci-fi for anyone, this film also does a tremendous job bringing up lunar colonial topics, and serves as something of a warning about the way things could play out.
Before getting into the details, I first gotta give props to the intro: the film starts out with a mini-commercial by Lunar Industries, the main character (miner Sam Bell)’s employer. It describes fusion power, and how at the time of the film power concerns are a ‘thing of the past’ due to the efforts of miners (like Sam) collecting helium-3 on the Moon. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a detailed and up-front look at fusion power within the film; I would have been happy with a passing comment, but this not only sets the film up well, it also augments public media and knowledge on the subject significantly (a mini Convenient Truth :) ).
The really significant discussion brought up by the film, though, is on lunar ethics.
With such a lucrative and important operation, our main character (without delving into spoilers too deeply here) ends up being abused as a worker to a level bordering slavery. His employer is shown as being unscruplously concerned with the bottom line, at a severe expense to Sam Bell’s existence.
While the form of abuse has a high-concept sci-fi bend to it, the attitude of his employer is something that will be very real. Not immediately, perhaps; the initial companies and governments embarking on colonization over the next 10-15 years will be at least in the spotlight enough to enforce noble behavior, if not intrinsically noble of heart and intention.
The bottom line is that moon operations will be costly, if lucrative, ones. Every frontier in man’s history has had its share of unscruplous actions, especially post-industrialization. The moon, in particular, is both distant and apparently desolate. Therefore, as moon colonization becomes more commonplace over the 2020′s and 30′s, companies may start to think they could get away with dumping waste; sub-par tourist safety; bad labor policies; sabotage; and any other assortment of ills, with little or no concern for the health of future colonists or socio-political ramifications.
The most lasting impact of this film may end up being its prescience: a watchdog film that can be utilized in the future by the public, as something to point to for prevention of deeds such as Lunar Industries’ in the film. The themes can be applied to corporate behavior and past eras in general, but our era is the lunar colonial one, and this film is going to be an extremely valuable entry of pop culture to wield in the future as lunar law,governance, and other socio-political aspects begin to take shape.
Unscrupulous behavior can be prevented with measures in place, and “Moon” will be useful in illuminating the challenge and its importance. And what better film is there than a useful one? I couldn’t be more glad to see that this film (and to a lesser extent, WALL-E) is bringing up these subjects before they become out-of-control problems, and before great injustices to the future of the Moon are done :)
Moon Colonization: An American Historical Perspective July 20, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : American History, Apollo, Frontiers, Obama , 3comments
On this, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the map above demonstrates not only where America stood in 1803; in a sense, it is where America stands now.
The Apollo 11 mission is often compared to Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. They are indeed, similar: bold scientific missions of exploration, with eventual political and economic goals in mind, mandated by a President with a dreamer’s eye and performed by a squad of mostly military hands (with important civilian assists). Incredibly dangerous, incredibly unlikely, and completed incredibly well.
Lewis and Clark’s expedition was followed, eventually, by a wave of frontier colonization that has resulted in the Union’s most populous state and also the metropolis I currently reside in (Portland, Oregon). It was the spark for generations of expansion that took America places it could hardly have even imagined.
“You’re familiar with the phrase ‘man’s reach exceeds his grasp’? It’s a lie: man’s grasp exceeds his nerve.” -David Bowie as Nikola Tesla in “The Prestige“
“Man’s reach exceeds his imagination!”- Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier, later on in “The Prestige“
Those same quotes could be applied to America, today. 40 years after Apollo 11′s own journey of discovery, America is on the verge of repeating its history: we stand at the cusp, along with other nations, of a new colonial era, the true wave of integration to follow that initial step the explorers took.
America’s government, and perhaps more importantly its companies, now have Moon settlement (and mining) within their grasp. The potential that Kennedy’s mandate—and Jefferson’s before him—spoke of now has the technology in place to be readily met, the same way that the railroads led to the true opening of the West.
The time is now; the lunar colonial era is our era, and our generation. In my mind, there’s no time to waste—the Louisiana Purchase had significant foresight, and perhaps there are decisions that could be made now, that could have similar impact on America’s role in developing this new frontier (a resource-rich swath of land being added to humanity that is nearly the size of Asia).
America was a leader in reaching the Moon, and now we can lead in developing the Moon. Mankind’s past colonial eras have done many wrongs, particularly America’s; so perhaps this is a time for us to correct our past, to take steps to lead by example in ensuring a smooth and peaceful rollout of humanity onto the Moon (mutually beneficial to everyone).
The moon is there for us; our grasp exceeds our imagination, today. Let’s see what we can do.
A Review of "Moon", Part 1: The Film July 20, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : MoonPop , add a comment
This is Part 1 of 2 of my review of Duncan Jones‘ film “Moon“, starring Sam Rockwell. Part 1 looks at the film, while Part 2 discusses the lunar colonial topics that the film brings up.
I recently was able to catch in a local Portland theater Duncan Jones’ directoral debut, “Moon”, a sci-fi film about an isolated helium-3 miner on the far side of the moon who begins to encounter some unusual problems near the end of his three-year contract.
Being both a blogger on moon colonization and someone that was initially a screenwriting major in college (and a film buff to this day), this movie from the getgo is uniquely aligned with my interests.
The film has garnered wide critical acclaim (90% on Rotten Tomatoes), and for good reason. A rock-solid and refined piece of existential cinema, it manages to be thoughtful while still accessible. A very human film, it rides a great performance (or two) from Sam Rockwell to creating a very human connection to some fairly unusual characters.
Made incredibly with a $5 million budget, the movie dazzles—utilizing techniques such as miniatures (a la The Lord of the Rings) to create a convincing and intruiging landscape. In particular, the shots of the giant helium harvesters and their raining spew of expunged regolith (soil) struck me as impressive for any film, nevermind one with such a limited budget.
A great film for any movie lover, and pure goodness for a sci-fi or moon geek like myself. An emotional film with a deeply human touch, it’s a story that should resonate with virtually any viewer.
The film brings up a lot of interesting topics and questions regarding moon colonization, and in particular the ethics that could be involved. Check back here on Tuesday the 21st for Part 2 of my review, where I take a look at these ideas and the other fine lunar-colonial details of the film…
SpaceX's Falcon 1 Delivers RazakSAT Satellite To Orbit; First Commercial Launch July 18, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : private sector, SpaceX , add a comment
Leading private space company SpaceX has successfully delivered a Malaysian satellite into orbit, it’s first ever commercial launch (and second successful Falcon 1 launch into orbit).
This came along fairly quietly, but will probably prove historic—SpaceX has a huge bulk of significant future private space launches (including many of the leading Google Lunar X PRIZE efforts) lined up, and so SpaceX’s commercial launches could be deeply engraved into moon colonization history as it unfolds (much like Union Pacific’s transcontinental railroad was a integral part of the development of the American West).
Check out the neat rocket-POV video of the launch below, as well as the numerous HD pictures of the launch SpaceX has up:
It's Official: Charles Bolden and Lori Garver Confirmed by Senate for NASA July 16, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : African-American History, Charles Bolden, NASA , add a comment
It’s now official: Charles Bolden and Lori Garver have been confirmed as Administrator and Deputy Administrator of NASA, as of yesterday.
Check out NASA Watch for a nice wrapup of the coverage, and also you can take a look back at my coverage of the long and interesting search for a nominee.
A Look at The 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge July 10, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Astrobotic, Regolith Excavation Challenge , add a comment
Coming up this October 17-18th is the 2009 Regolith Excavation Challenge, a competition where teams build rovers to process as much simulated lunar soil as they can in a timeframe.
The moon’s regolith is central to all things lunar—it’s both the biggest obstacle to sustained living there, and also the reason for going there at all. It also shields from radiation, proving a handy resource for both helium-3 and for actual base composition.
Thus, systems for processing it are central to moon colonization, and this $750,000 prize is designed to spur ideas and designs for improved methods. The processing can be seen on a spectacular scale in the top-notch sci-fi film ‘Moon“, currently in theaters (with some of the film’s best shots being the huge spew of excess regolith the harvesters continually expunge).
The Regolith Excavation competition has been held in previous years; check below for a neat video from 2008′s Team Waldbaum (with plenty others on Youtube):
This year, a heavy hitter is in on the competition: leading Google Lunar X PRIZE competitor Astrobotic. It’ll be interesting to see who else joins the fray, so keep an eye here for updates…
NASA's First LRO Images Released! July 5, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter, Mare Nubium , add a commentThe first images from NASA’s recently-launched Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter were released last week:
They show two cratered locations near Mare Nubium (the “sea of clouds”), in the southwest of the near side of the Moon.
Check out NASA’s article on the images for the full skinny on the location and other goodness :)
"Moon" Opening in Many More Cities Today! July 3, 2009
Posted by Nick Azer in : MoonPop , add a comment“Moon“, the film starring Sam Rockwell as a helium-3 miner, opens today in many more cities than it had previously.
Now that I’m all moved in to my new place and my life is back to a degree (hence it being unusually quiet here for a week or so), I can get out to catch it, and I’ll have a full analysis back shortly :)
The film is sitting pretty on an 88% (!) rating at Rotten Tomatoes so far, so it’s garnered outstanding critical acclaim.
Click here to see if it’s out in a city near you (it’s kind of an odd, semi-limited release schedule), and keep an eye here for my complete MoonPop feature on it :)