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Fact Sheet: Obama's New White House National Space Policy June 28, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : cooperation, National Space Policy, Obama, private sector , 1 comment so far

President Obama’s new Space Policy document for the White House has just been released!

“In a world where the benefits of space permeate almost every facet of our lives, irresponsible acts in space can have damaging consequences for all of us. As such, all nations have a responsibility to act to preserve the right of all future generations to use and explore space. The United States is committed to addressing the challenges of responsible behavior in space, and commits further to a pledge of cooperation…” – National Space Policy Fact Sheet

Here’s the PDF of the full 18-page policy, and a rundown below of the fact sheet‘s bullet points with my brief commentary:

“Key Elements of the Administration’s National Space Policy

“Benefit of all humanity” is similar to language in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

Key there is probably ‘mishaps’: disasters in space are obviously expensive, and so the risk getting out of control would be a roadblock to increased access to space (as the risk could become too great for anyone to want to undertake) and in turn, to future private industry (economic) growth.

“Actively promote” the purchase of U.S. commercial services internationally. A logical, if significant step.

Arms control “if” it is ”equitable, effectively verifiable” and enhances U.S. national security. That’s a big “If” :)

The 2025 date Obama mentioned in his April speech pops up again, presumably for an asteroid mission. “New destinations”.

Identifying threats/debris comes up repeatedly in this fact sheet; appears to be a tenet of Obama’s planned international cooperation.

This fact sheet from the White House covers the important points from the full policy document [PDF]—I’m going to have a look at that and see what I can wean from there :)

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #24 June 27, 2010

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

Shifting my Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundups to the beginning of the week, here’s all the latest GLXP goodness going back to June 16th:

SHIFTboston Contest: Design a Moon Capital! June 21, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : lunar land use planning, SHIFTboston Moon Capital Competition , 2comments

Boston-based urban design firm SHIFTboston is holding a competition: design a lunar capital!

Calling on urban designers, architects, artists, engineers, and anyone else that’s interested, SHIFTboston is challenging teams to combine vision and planning to come up with what a future lunar base/capital might look like, and how it might function.

“This competition is intended to collect and inspire… The goal is to attract greater public interest in future possibilities for human expansion into the solar system, and in elements of self-sustaining cities of the future – efficient cities – that no longer rely on fossil fuel.”- SHIFTboston competition page

The winning effort will recieve a $1,000 cash prize, present at a swanky panoramic gala in Boston, have their entry as part of a new virtual moon tourism world/game (!), and have their entry displayed as part of a MOON CAPITAL exhibit at none other than the Johnson Space Center. Wow.

This contest is awesome to see for me, personally—I have my Bachelor’s in Urban Planning (from Cal State University-Northridge), and the way I fell into moon colonization at all was through similar thinking, circa 2007: “We’re going to build on the Moon…what’s that going to look like? What are the challenges?”

Urban design’s what got me into planning, so this kind of visionary/practical melding is totally my cup of tea. (I finally have some proof  to backup that urban planning and moon colonization are related! ;) )

I’ve got a Bachelor’s in it, and the contest is open until early September, so if anyone’s forming a team…drop me a line! :) I’d love to participate.

Regardless, I’ll be watching this closely as the entries come along and their jury panel (which will include an Apollo astronaut) selects the winner.

For the full details on the competition categories and its requirements, check out this page.

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #23 June 16, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a comment
Fun, busy week around the Google Lunar X PRIZE! Some great rover pieces, in particular :) Here’s the scoop, including items from 8 different teams!:

And for even more GLXP news-bits awesomeness, be sure to sign up for the GLXP’s official newsletter! :)

Moon's Interior Has 100 Times More Water Than Previously Thought? June 14, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, water , add a comment

Space.com has reported that a new study has shown that the Moon’s interior may have 100 times more water than previously thought.

The study of volcanic glass beads found during Apollo suggests that the minimum level of hydroxl—a minor element found throughout the moon—is much higher than estimated when it was first detected in 2008.

“It is gratifying to see this proof of the hydroxyl contents in lunar apatite. The concentrations are very low and, accordingly, they have been until recently nearly impossible to detect. We can now finally begin to consider the implications – and the origin – of water in the interior of the moon.” – Washington University lunar scientist Bradley Jolliff, “Research Suggests Water Content Of Moon Interior Underestimated”, NASA

While this isn’t quite as epic as other recent discoveries of water on the Moon, it’s yet another drop in the bucket towards illustrating that the Moon is not the bone-dry place it was once thought to be—and another hint that we’ve just barely begun to understand what secrets (and benefits) the Moon may hold :)

Check out the Space.com article for more of the geologic details on hydroxl and the source of this water!

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #22 June 9, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : Google Lunar X Prize, Google Lunar X Prize Roundup , add a comment
Here’s your roundup of Google Lunar X PRIZE goodness from a week that saw private space history made:

SpaceX's First Falcon 9 Flight Successfully Reaches Orbit! June 4, 2010

Posted by Nick Azer in : private sector, SpaceX , 5comments

In a big step for the prospects of private space, SpaceX‘s first test launch of their Falcon 9 rocket was a success!

With a lot of customers already lined up to use the Falcon 9 (including NASA; Google Lunar X PRIZE team Astrobotic; and private space base builder Bigelow), getting one to orbit on the first try (versus the fourth try with the Falcon 1) helps quiet a lot of the questions underlying many of these customers’ efforts, particularly NASA’s shift towards relying on private space. A pretty historic milestone, the idea of increased access to space—and the Moon—just got a little bit more ‘when’, and not ‘if’.

Here’s a video of the launch, which includes the always neat on-board-rocket views:

Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #21 June 4, 2010

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

With private space making headlines, it’s time for Google Lunar X PRIZE Roundup #21! This round will cover May25th-June 1st, and I’ll have one up early next week for June 1st-June 8th.

All the GLXP goodness from the days of May: