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Widespread Reports: No Funding for NASA Return to Moon; $6 Billion for Private Space January 27, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Constellation, NASA, Obama, private sector , 1 comment so far

Ahead of Obama’s 2011 budget proposal in February (which officials have said will be where he reveals his direction for NASA), widespread reports have surfaced confirming that there will not be funding for NASA’s plans to return to the moon, effectively ending any attempt by NASA to establish a lunar base without international or private cooperation.

At the same time, there’s word that Obama has authorized that NASA’s budget actually be increased over the next few years, namely with a $6 billion project to spur the development of commercial rockets (e.g., SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 and Lockheed/Boeing‘s Atlas V and  Delta IV):

“We do believe it is time for American companies to come into this program. The investment in that will be $6 billion over five years. This is serious, serious investment that we believe will reduce that gap [in human spaceflight] from what it would have been with the program of record between shuttle retirement and the Ares I and Orion [capsule] coming on line.”- An unspecified administration official; “Obama officials: NASA to get $6 billion for commercial rockets“, Orlando Sentinel

This was foreshadowed back in Obama’s 2008 campaign space plan—where he planned to “amplify NASA’s reach” with the private sector.

With the Ares 1 rocket facing cancellation and Constellation seeing severe delays as a result of that, private space may have managed to land a man on the Moon long before NASA got there, even with full budgeting. So I see this as acknowledgement of that inevitability–and of the economic benefit of taking all those billions and directing them back into the economy (via private space), while effectively accomplishing the same thing.

Orbiting Atlas #6: Oceanus Procellarum—The Ocean of Storms January 25, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, Orbiting Atlas , add a comment

Orbiting Atlas is a weekly series here  at Luna C/I looking at notable points inselenography—the geography of the Moon. Come by every Monday for an exploration of a different locale, and its potential regional significance :)

For this edition of the Orbiting Atlas, we set sail off to…

Oceanus Procellarum (The Ocean of Storms)

The destination of Apollo 12 (as pictured above), the massive Oceanus Procellarum is perhaps the largest single region on the Moon (and by far the largest non-highland region)—hence the “Ocean” label.  About 1,300+ miles from north to south and ranging from 450-600 miles wide, it’s approximately the size of Mongolia.

Being essentially a giant Mare, the mostly-flat Oceanus serves as the lunar great plains. While generally featureless, there are a few points of special interest along the eastern edge—namely, the unusually-bright crater Aristarchus, and the longest groove on the Moon, Vallis Schröteri (the intended destination of Apollo 18 before cancellation).

Aristarchus is potentially an interesting target for geologic study and/or resources, as its brightness is due to its youth and relative lack of weathering from the solar wind.

In the long run, the vast size and flatness of the Ocean of Storms could lend to both convenient helium-3 harvesting (lots of elbow-room, few obstacles, and plenty to go around?) and long-range transportation and exploration tests, perhaps providing a comparable environment to large sections of Mars.

The Apollo 12 mission provides an interesting anecdote about the weather: while taking off from Earth en route to the ‘Ocean of Storms’, their rocket was, of course, hit by lightning. :)

Check out an HD video of the Oceanus’ northwestern side taken by the Japanese orbiter Kaguya:

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #8 January 23, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a comment

As Obama’s State of the Union address and February loom with NASA’s future hanging in the balance, the Google Lunar X PRIZE rolls along. This week’s tidbits from across GLXP-dom:

I also got my cardinal red “Fundamentals of the Google Lunar X PRIZE” t-shirt in the mail this week, which I wore proudly to an event at OMSI with lunar historian Andrew Chaikin :D

Sister Blog to Luna C/I Launched: Astronauts on 'Roids! January 20, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Astronauts on Roids, NASA, Obama , 1 comment so far

I’ve now launched an additional space blog: Astronauts on ‘Roids!

With NASA and President Obama reportedly looking very seriously at making a manned asteroid mission NASA’s new mandate, I’ve launched a new blog at http://www.asteroidmission.com to cover all the developments :) It’ll run concurrently with Luna C/I, as even if NASA doesn’t itself build a moon base after all, there’s all kinds of other nations and private efforts going full steam ahead.

To see how this potential manned asteroid mission came about, keep an eye on ‘Roids as I’ll be detailing the story as Obama’s State of the Union address (January 27th) and 2010 budget (early February) approach, with NASA’s future direction to be set by one of the two :) And stay tuned here as the Google Lunar X PRIZE and other private and international efforts heat up to full swing…

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #7 January 17, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a comment

As we start to get used to writing that funny “/10″ at the end of dates, it’s time for another week’s dose of Google Lunar X PRIZE goodness:

Andrew Chaikin Lecture at OMSI in Portland, Friday January 22nd! January 14, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Andrew Chaikin, OMSI, Picture of the Week , 1 comment so far

Preeminent lunar historian, lecturer. and expert Andrew Chaikin (author of A Man on the Moon and the current occupier of my coffee table, Voices from the Moon) is going to be making an appearance to discuss the LCROSS results—and give a guided tour of the Moon–here at OMSI in my native Portland, OR on Friday, January 22nd at 7pm! The event is free with a $2 suggested donation.

I’ll be there in person to check it out, and if you have the money, there’s a spiffy $250 Space Gala fundraiser the next day (being 26 and scraping by in typical PDX fashion, no gala for me this time ;) )

This all leads up an OMSI’s new, extensive future-of-space exhibit: “SPACE: A Journey to Our Future“. You’ll be able to tour a replica of a future lunar camp (!), build an Ares rocket, inspect actual rocks from Mars and lunar meteorites, and more… I’m pumped about the lunar base bunk beds! :) The exhibit runs January 30th-May 31st, 2010.

Orbiting Atlas #5: Baco January 11, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Baco, bacon, Orbiting Atlas , add a comment

Orbiting Atlas is a weekly series here  at Luna C/I looking at notable points inselenography—the geography of the Moon. Come by every Monday for an exploration of a different locale, and its potential regional significance :)

Today, the Orbiting Atlas takes a whimsical turn to…

Baco

Located in the lunar highlands, about 380 miles southeast of the famous Tycho crater, the usually plain crater has taken on a new flavor of interest this past week…

The story begins with the new German Google Lunar X PRIZE team, Part Time Scientists, noting during a presentation that everything is better with bacon…including moon colonization. This slice of genius inspired a lot of folks on Twitter, cooking up the idea of a ‘Bacon X PRIZE’. The official Lunar X PRIZE blog, The Launch Pad, promptly posted a poll to name this tasty concept.

Despite the given name being “Baco”, it is named after British philosopher Roger Bacon. My research hasn’t turned up why, exactly, it wasn’t just simply named “Bacon” (if you know, feel free to comment below).

Now, for the conspiracy theorists and Jayson Stark loyalists out there: A search for ‘Part Time Scientists bacon’ brought up almost entirely results on, of course, Roger Bacon himself. Add to the pan that the man who named the crater, astronomer Johann Heinrich von Mädler, is himself—just like the Part Time Scientists team—German, and you begin to wonder…

Is German bacon destined for the Moon? And if so, will fate bring it to the very crater which (kind of) bears its name? :)

If I have any influence over it, I’ll make sure that someday, even if it’s 40 years down the road, bacon ends up in this crater, one way or another…because a little comedy in space goes a long way, right? :)


Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #6 January 9, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , 6comments

The lunar decade has begun! Starting it off with a bang: two weeks of roundup for the holiday. The first of what will be many in the last year to register a team for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Here’s the news as an era gets underway…

Orbiting Atlas #4: Mare Tranquillitatis (The Sea of Tranquility) January 4, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, hoax theories, Orbiting Atlas , 1 comment so far

Orbiting Atlas is a weekly series here  at Luna C/I looking at notable points inselenography—the geography of the Moon. Come by every Monday for an exploration of a different locale, and its potential regional signifigance :)

Today, we take a look at the finer details of the most historic location on the Moon:

Mare Tranquillitatis— The Sea of Tranquility

Located in the central-southeast of the near side of the Moon (see above), the flat Mare is, of course, the landing site of Apollo 11 (in the southwest corner; see below); but beyond that, the Mare has developed even more significance.

The tiny Apollo 11 landing site is only a small mark on the ~170,000-square-mile expanse, which is about the size of Iraq or the U.S. state of California. This helps cut off a potential conundrum: as it turns out, Mare Tranquillitatis could be one of the richest areas in all-important helium-3 on the Moon. But, considering that size, there should be plenty of room for both regolith harvesting efforts and any historical conservation. (And, by the way: the site has recently been photographed in high definition, so unless the images and orbiter that took them are also a hoax, Apollo was not a hoax :) ).

A leading Google Lunar X PRIZE team, Astrobotic, plans to explore the landing site in May 2011 with their rover.

The Mare, selenographically, has some interesting features—notably, Rupes/Dorsa (cliffs/ridges) and Rimae (fissures), but otherwise is a giant, flat plain…covered with valuable resources. Get those grazing herds of helium-3 harvesters ready! :)

Below is an HDTV video by Japan’s Kaguya orbiter, showing the Mare and the area of the Apollo 11 landing site: