Planet Mars in Eisriesenhöhle, Austria
Vor ein paar Tagen hat das Österreichische Weltraum Forum eine Mars Simulation in der Eisriesenwelt im Tennengebirge durchgeführt und die Bilder dazu sind sensationell. Ich stehe ja sowieso auf Höhlen und sowas und jetzt latschen da auch noch Astronauten drin rum! Toll! Hier ein “Rückblick in 25 Bildern“, hier das Liveblog von der Simulation, ein paar mehr Bilder gibt’s auf Karst Worlds und spOnline hat ein Video dazu. Vom Bldgblog:
An ice cave in Austria was recently used as a test landscape for experimental spacesuits and instrumentation systems—including 3D cameras—that might someday be used by humans on Mars. The Dachstein ice cave was chosen, Stuff explains, “because ice caves would be a natural refuge for any microbes on Mars seeking steady temperatures and protection from damaging cosmic rays.”
James Cameron & Friends go Space Mining
Jeden Augenblick dürfte James Camerons neue Firma Planetary Resources offiziell Details zu ihren Plänen verkünden, Metalle und Rohstoffe von Near Earth Asteroids abzubauen. Die Pressekonferenz läuft wohl grade beginnt in knapp 40 Minuten, hier der Livestream, ich bin jetzt allerdings erstmal unterwegs.
Die besten Updates dürfte es auf The Verge geben (ohne die nervenden, nichtssagenden Null-Updates von Gizmodo oder io9). Außerdem hat Phil “Bad Astronomy” Plait ein schönes Posting für sein Discovery-Blog geschrieben: Private company does indeed plan to mine asteroids… and I think they can do it.
[update]
Planetary Resources will innerhalb von 24 Monaten ihr erstes Spaceteleskop namens “Arkyd” starten und damit in Frage kommende Asteroiden auskundschaften und eine Route für ihre Mining-Robots auszuarbeiten.
The ship that will launch is likely going to be the Arkyd 101, which operates in low-Earth orbit as a space telescope. The Arkyd 102, another telescope, has also been developed. The 100 series is designed as a personal telescope and a proof of concept for the company. After that, the 200 series will push forward into space, doing the first actual asteroid prospecting. The 300 series, which appears to be the ultimate goal, will then “swarm” into space to check the material composition, location, spin rate, and other information about the asteroids. A team of about two dozen engineers is currently working for the company.
The group hasn’t given specifics on the cost of the Arkyds, but it claims the launches will cost “tens of millions” rather than the usual “hundreds of millions.” It also appears to be getting significant backing from its investors. If the company succeeds in reaching asteroids and mining for water, it could set up an orbital depot to supply NASA with either liquid water or separated hydrogen and oxygen for fuel (an idea directly influenced by the science fiction novels cited several times so far.) The overall goal is to extend space flight capabilities, either for the private or public sector.
Asteroid mining company Planetary Resources to launch first ‘Arkyd’ spaceship within 24 months
Afronauts: Fake Photography-Documentation on Zambias 1964 Space-Program
Wired hat ein schönes Posting über Cristina De Middels Fotoprojekt Afronauts, in dem sie eine Fake-Doku über Sambias reales 1964er Weltraumprogramm fotografiert.
The forgotten Zambian space program was the brainchild of Edward Makuka Nkoloso, a science teacher who dared to dream big. Following independence for the central African nation in 1964, Makuka Nkoloso founded the National Academy of Science, Space Research and Philosophy, Zambia’s first (and completely unofficial) space academy.
As the self-appointed Director-General, Makuka Nkoloso announced in a 1964 op-ed, We’re Going to Mars! With a Spacegirl, Two Cats and a Missionary, that the academy would win the space race by putting a person on the moon by 1965. He even insisted that if the Zambian government and citizenry had not been distracted by independence celebrations, they’d be there already.
The Zambian government never seriously considered Nkoloso’s activities and let the program “die a natural death.” After the United Nations turned down Nkoloso’s funding request for $7 million, the program withered. Not surprising when you consider the training regime as described by Nkoloso: “I’m getting them acclimatised to space-travel by placing them in my space-capsule every day. It’s a 40-gallon oil drum in which they sit, and I then roll them down a hill.”
The Adventures of a Space-Zucchini
Don Petit, Astronaut und derzeit auf der ISS, hat damit begonnen, die Abenteuer von Astro-Z aufzuschreiben: Eine Zucchini, die er grade im Weltall aufzieht. Und zwar aus der Perspektive des Gemüses. Ganz große Unterhaltung und nebenbei lernt man tausend Details über Space-Gärtnerei.
January 14
My gardener fusses with me several times a day. He checks that I have water, light, and with a hypodermic syringe, injects this tea concoction into the ziplock bag. It bathes my roots with a not so tasty drink however it does seem to contain the nutrients I need. I won’t complain; on expeditions into the frontier the food is often this way.January 15
My gardener fusses with my leaves. I am not sure if I like that. I now have four and I do not quite understand why he behaves this way. He sticks his nose up against them. Does he take me for some sort of a handkerchief? Apparently he takes pleasure in my earthy green smell. There is nothing like the smell of living green in this forest of engineered machinery. I see the resultant smile. Maybe this is one of my roles as a crewmember on this expedition.
Urban Stargazing
Oscar Ihermitte hat mit ein paar Verbündeten neue, solarbetriebene Sternen-Netze mit teleskopischen Schleudern zwischen Bäume und urbane Strukturen geschossen und dazu New School Sternbilder erfunden, um gegen Lichtverschmutzung zu protestieren. Toll!
The Urban Stargazing project focuses on bringing back the stars in the city sky by recreating existing constellations and adding new ones, narrating old and contemporary myths about London. Twelve groups of stars have been installed at different locations in the city, and can only be observed by the naked eye at night time. […]
Each constellation is a triangulated struture made out of clear ø 0.6mm nylon line, ø 0.2mm polyethylene braid, ø 0.75mm fibre optic and a solar powered LED. During the day, the battery is being recharged by the solar panel and the circuit switches ON the LED when it is dark enough to observe stars. In order to have the constellation in the air, the team uses a telescopic catapult to fix the structure on top of trees.
Urban Stargazing und Urban Stargazing team (via Macelodeon)
Sensations from Solar Particles on your Retina in Space
Ein frisch auf der Erde eingetroffener Astronaut, der die letzten paar Monate im Weltall verbracht hat, beantwortet grade ein paar Fragen auf Reddit. Die meisten Antworten kannte ich, das hier aber nicht:
I read that when you’re in space and close your eyes, you experience solar particles hitting your retinas as speckles of light. Was this the case, or was the experience different for you? – Yes I did experience that. Sometimes it was a flash and at other times it was a streak of light. I’m sure it happens all the time but I only noticed it as I was getting ready to fall asleep
Also: „Is there any astronaut food that tastes good? – Lasagna.“
Astronaut announces Angry Birds in Space from Space
Youtube Direktbirds, via Geekosystem
Don Pettit, Astronaut und derzeit auf der ISS (und er war auch derjenige, der mal über den Geruch des Weltalls geschrieben hat, das hatte ich vor Jahren mal verlinkt), macht ein Commercial für Angry Birds in Space. Ich will mir gar nicht vorstellen, wieviel Kohle Rovio mit dem Game gemacht haben, um das zu bezahlen.
Lego Space Shuttle in Space
Schön: Der rumänische Student Raul Oaida hat sein Lego-Space Shuttle mit einem Wetterballon in die Stratosphäre geschickt: „The launch took place from central Germany (easy flight clearance) and reached a max altitude of 35000m. A 1600g meteo balloon filled with helium was used alongside a GoPro Hero, Spot GPS and of course Lego Space Shuttle model 3367.“
Black Market for Moon Rocks
Motherboard hat ein superinteressantes Interview mit Joe Kloc, der lange an einem (Bezahl-)Artikel über den Schwarzmarkt für Mondgestein recherchiert hat. Die meisten Steine vom Mond auf dem Schwarzmarkt stammen von Probe 70017, die von Nixon damals aufgeteilt und an 135 Präsidenten anderer Staaten und an die Gouvernöre der USA-Staaten geschickt wurden.
What happened to “lunar sample 70017” after President Nixon delivered bits of it to countries around the world as a gesture of world peace?
After Nixon sent out the samples of the rock, many of them were lost, either because of instability in those countries at the time or because the rocks were put into storage, or because the building a rock was housed in was destroyed. The whereabouts of many of them haven’t been known since the 70s. And in recent years, a sort of black market of debatable size and value has developed around them.
How much do these rocks sell for?
No one seems to agree on this question but black market sellers have valued them at up to $5 million and even $15 million each.
What drew you to the story of the missing moon rocks?
Well, they seem to attract small-time crime. In every case, the people selling the rocks on the “black” market just sort of stumbled upon them. I like the comedy that ensues when average Joes fall into the world of almost-crime to sell these Cold War artifacts that may or may not be worth $5 million.
The Dark Side of the Moon Rock Black Market: An Interview with Joe Kloc
Space Cats!
Von Youtube: „Brant Widgeon is an Astronomical Image Enhancement Engineer. Many people are surprised to hear everything that goes into making the beautiful celestial images that have brought us so much awe and wonder. One of the most technically difficult parts of Brant’s job however is dealing with space cats.“
Sushi in Space
Vimeo Direktsushi, via Nerdalicious
Nette Viral-Idee für ‘ne Sushi-Restaurantkette: Die haben Sushi auf ‘nen Teller getackert und mit einem Wetterballon in die obere Atmosphäre geschickt.
Scale Model of the Solar System in a Book
Mishka Henner hat ein proportionales Model unseres Sonnensystems in 12 Bücher gedruckt. Die Sonne ist auf den Seiten 1 und 2, die Erde auf Seite 155. Pluto ist ein Pixel in Band 12 auf Seite 503. Toll!
A scale model of our solar system in twelve 500 page volumes printed-on-demand. On page 1 the Sun, on page 6,000 Pluto. The width of each page equals one million kilometres. This film takes us through the first volume where we encounter the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the Asteroid Belt.
Astronomical (via Neatorama)
Meteorite-flavored Space-Wine
Ian Hutchinson ist Weingutbesitzer aus Chile und hat einen Meteoriten in ein Weinfass geschmissen, das Gebräu 12 Monate fermentieren lassen und verkauft jetzt in seinem Observatorium, dem Centro Astrononomica Tagua Tagua, 1200 Flaschen Space-Wine mit Meteoriten-Geschmack.
The meteorite in question, Hutchinson claims, is roughly three inches in diameter, 4.5 billion years old, and likely hails from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It crashed in Chile’s Atacama Desert some 6,000 year ago. Technically the meteorite belongs to “an American collector,” who didn’t seem to mind having his priceless piece of space rock marinate in a wooden barrel of red wine for 12 months.
That’s how long it took to complete something called “malolactic fermentation”: it’s a process that takes place after the primary fermentation. The first stage of the wine-making process — after harvesting the grapes, that is, which in this case come from Hutchinson’s Tremonte Vineyard southwest of Santiago — converts grape sugar into alcohol via yeast. This takes around 25 days.
The next stage, malolactic fermentation, is achieved by lactic acid bacteria, notably Oenococcus oeni. There are others, of course, but the Aroma Dictionary informs me that this bacteria in particular “typically processes substances that have pleasant and wine sympathetic aromas and flavors.” And those flavors are imparted to the wine as it ages in a wooden barrel.
Forget Space Beer, order Meteorite Wine instead, Worlds forst Meteorite-aged Wine launched (via The Awl)
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Beer in Space-Tourism ready for Liftoff
Space-Bier
Beer for Space-Tourists
Testing Space-Beer in Zero-G
Victorian Astronomy Drawings
Die New York Public Library hat ein paar Space-Zeichnungen aus dem 19. Jahrhundert digitalisiert und online gestellt. Die Bilder stammen von Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, der aus Frankreich nach Amerika geflohen war, nachdem sich Napoleon III. zum Kaiser der Franzosen ausrufen lies. In den USA landete er schließlich am Harvard College Observatory, für das er hunderte Zeichnungen anfertigte.
For the next few years Trouvelot made hundred of sketches of what he saw through the observatory’s 15-inch refractor telescope. In 1875 he published a discovery of his own: veiled spots, grey patches that look like shadows on the surface of the sun. He then moved on to other observatories, including the Washington Observatory and the University of Virginia’s.
In 1881, he selected 15 out of his thousands of astronomy drawings to be published in a book using then-cutting edge chromolithography technology, a color printing process that made color illustrations cheap and plentiful. It’s those chromolithographs that the New York Public Library has digitized.
Victorian astronomy drawings (plus gypsy moths), hier die Scans bei der NYPL.
Doku-Trailer: Man on a Mission – Lord Britishs Road to the Stars
Youtube Direktbritish, via /Film
Hier der Trailer zu „Road to the Stars“, einer Doku über Richard „Lord British“ Garriotts Ausflug ins All. Der Mann hat Ultima programmiert und wäre fast der erste Tourist im All geworden, wenn ihm die scheiß Dotcom-Bubble dazwischen gekommen wäre. Der Film hatte bereits 2010 auf dem SXSW-Festival Premiere, läuft aber erst jetzt in den USA an und wird bei uns wahrscheinlich bis auf ein paar Festivalscreenings nie zu sehen sein. Aber es gibt ja andere Möglichkeiten.
Firmly ensconced in the geeky pantheon of computer legends since high school, Richard Garriott can afford to pursue his dreams – even the wildly improbable ones. For instance, following in his astronaut father’s footsteps. NASA won’t take you because of bad eyes? No problem! Pioneer your own private space industry and buy a $30 million seat on a Russian Soyuz. Richly funny and invigorating, Man on a Mission tags along with Richard on his years-long quest to be the second Garriott into space. And maybe come back.
