wintering Spirit

The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, roving the surface of Mars for two and a half years, has recently begun an 8 month "wintering" over. Further from the sun than Earth, Mars takes about two terrestrial years to complete a revolution around the sun. As a result, seasons on Mars last about twice as long as on Earth. The Spirit rover, located in the Martian southern hemisphere, finds itself in a tough spot during the Martian winter. As the sun drops lower and lower in the sky, it becomes harder and harder for the solar panels on the rover to produce enough electricity for lengthy operations. At the height of the Martian winter, Spirit is able to perform science operations for about 1 hour each day. In preparation for the Martian winter, the MER team attempts to position Spirit on a north facing slope to maximize the amount of sunlight striking the solar panels. This time around that task proved difficult for a number of reasons. The most significant is that one of Spirit's 6 wheels has stopped functioning. Dragging a dead wheel and low on power, the rover then encountered soft terrain that proved impassable. The original wintering location had to be scrapped in favor of a spot that was easier to reach. Thankfully, Spirit made it to the new location and is parked there now. Spirit will remain in this location for the next 7 months until the sun climbs high enough in the sky to fully power the rover again. Seven months is a long time to sit in one place, but the long hiatus will provide an excellent opportunity to perform long duration studies of the Martian atmosphere and climate at Spirit's location. Already at 8 times it's expected lifetime on the Martian surface, Spirit continues to function despite inevitable deterioration. Here's hoping it survives the long, cold winter.

Non Sequitur

Many thanks to Wiley for bringing the plight of the natural sciences teacher to light back in 1996.

Griffith Observatory reopening

Observatory Reopens in Fall

By John M. Broder

LOS ANGELES, May 10 — The Griffith Observatory, the backdrop for dozens of movies, a favored make-out spot for generations of teenagers and, not to be overlooked, a substantial educational and scientific institution, will reopen this fall after a four-year foundation-to-dome renovation.

While many visitors take the winding drive through Griffith Park to the observatory chiefly for the panorama of the vast city from the promontory where it sits, the observatory also serves as a gateway to the cosmos for at least some of its two million annual visitors.

When it reopens, it will have one of the world's most advanced planetariums and dozens of new astronomy exhibits, as well as the 12-inch telescope and an instrument for tracking the sun that were installed when the observatory first opened in 1935.

The concrete, brass and copper exterior, an amalgam of Art Deco, Beaux-Arts, Greek and Egyptian themes, has been restored to the original 1930's design of Russell W. Porter, an architect and amateur astronomer.

Except for the Hollywood sign just to its west, the observatory is perhaps the city's most recognizable landmark, visible for miles.

Edwin C. Krupp, the scientific director of the observatory since 1974, said the Griffith was the most-visited public observatory in the world, designed to turn the tourists who wandered up to take in the view of the city into observers of the universe.

"It is a familiar icon of Los Angeles," Dr. Krupp said as he led a tour of the unfinished exhibit spaces this week. "It is, in fact, the hood ornament of Los Angeles."

The 4,100-acre Griffith Park, one of the largest urban parks in the nation, was a bequest of Col. Griffith J. Griffith, an eccentric early Los Angeles land buccaneer who was struck by a pang of public-spiritedness before his death in 1919. He financed the construction of the observatory and the nearby Greek Theater and left enough money to assure that admission to the observatory would always be free.

The observatory originally cost $400,000 to build and equip. The renovation will cost $93 million, including $67 million in public money. While the exterior looks basically the same as the original, nearly 40,000 square feet of exhibit and office space has been added by excavating under the front lawn and the west terrace.

The new exhibits include a highly detailed composite photograph of a slice of space that is 150 feet wide and 20 feet high. A million galaxies and a half-million stars are visible in the photograph.

The heart of the observatory remains the 300-seat planetarium, newly equipped with a $7 million Zeiss Mark IX Universarium, the world's most advanced star projector.
But the Griffith is probably better known for its role in films than for its educational mission. The observatory has appeared in scores of movies, including Arnold Schwarzenegger's original "Terminator" and Disney's "Rocketeer," as well as a 1995 episode of "Star Trek: Voyager." Just west of the observatory is a bust of James Dean, noting the building's co-starring role in the knife-fight scene in "Rebel Without a Cause."

"We've been in so many movies we ought to have a star on Hollywood Boulevard," Dr. Krupp said.

Before the observatory shut down in early 2002 for the renovation, Dr. Krupp recalled, he asked visitors what they would miss most about the place. The view, they answered.

Magnificent Desolation

We saw the IMAX 3-D film Magnificent Desolation this past weekend at the California ScienCenter. The film is a Tom Hanks project and is part of his extended quest to keep space exploration and the Apollo legacy in the public consciousness. The name of the film refers to Buzz Aldrin's description of the surface of the moon at the Sea of Tranquility during the Apollo 11 lunar landing. About 40 minutes long, the film offers spectacular recreations of Apollo moon walks that try to make you feel like you are there. The film also goes into some of the history of the Apollo program. The 3-D effects were truly exceptional. I haven't seen a 3-D feature in years and I did not realize the technology had made such a great leap forward. The days of disorienting red and blue crossed frames have been replaced with true color and the results are eye popping. The images leap from the screen and produce an immediate "reach out and touch it" compulsion from your brain.

In addition to detailing some of the serious aspects of space travel to the moon, including a hypothetical recreation of how a moon walk emergency might have played out, the film also reaches out to children in an attempt to inspire. The film begins with an amusing segment of children being asked questions about America's lunar exploration program. Few of them know the name of the first man to walk on the moon. I wouldn't expect most young children to know that, but it shows that our collective memory of Apollo has faded considerably. The segment ends with a bright eyed 7 year old girl proclaiming that she intends to walk on the moon someday. I certainly hope she gets the chance.

Magnificent Desolation ends with a very moving tribute to the astronauts of the Apollo program and Tom Hanks musing that perhaps the next person to walk on the moon is watching the film right now. The theater we were in was probably only 1/3 full, but the important part was that there were many children, and even more importantly, there were parents who were willing to bring their children to see the film.

I highly recommend catching Magnificent Desolation on an IMAX screen, but I imagine it will be just as much fun if they release it on DVD.

stunning

The photo here was taken on March 16 by the imaging camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft, presently in orbit around Saturn. Even though the spacecraft is 1.3 million miles from the planet, giant Saturn still fills the view. Before I point out particulars, this image has to first be appreciated for the staggering beauty it captures. The coloring shown here is approximately what the human eye would see. The almost imperceptible changes in color across Saturn reveal the complicated chemistry at work in the clouds. The famous rings of Saturn are seen edge-on, cutting through the middle portion of the image. Intricate shadows of the rings are cast across the northern hemisphere. Notice that the sunlit portion of Saturn is at an angle to our view in the image. Like the Earth, Saturn has a rotational tilt that produces seasons. In this image we can see that Saturn's northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun. The tilt allows the rings to shadow the northern hemisphere and may produce the noticeable "bluing" of the clouds in the northern hemisphere. Think of it as a cold "wintering" effect. The hairline detail of the ring shadows easily shows us how complicated yet finely tuned the rings are. Countless particles ranging in size from that of smoke to a small car have a particular place in this ring system. Finally, the very intriguing moon Enceladus can be seen skirting the ring plane on the right of the image. Cassini has found that Enceladus has an abundance of water that is actively involved in surface processes there. This makes Enceladus an important target in our understanding of the role water plays in the origin of life. Click on the image, and enjoy.

space station golf

We learned this week that NASA and the Russian Space Agency may allow a Russian cosmonaut on the International Space Station to hit a golf ball from the station. The idea originates with a Canadian golf club manufacturer that is clearly looking for some out of this world product placement. The company paid the Russian Space Agency for the stunt and the necessary equipment has already been brought to the station. The RSA has already approved the activity from a safety standpoint and NASA is currently performing an independent safety review. Of course, hitting a golf ball in space has precedent. Alan Shepard famously hit a golf ball on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 (picture). The Canadian company wishes to commemorate that lunar swing with the space station one this summer. I imagine they are more interested in the advertising though. Consider some pros and cons.

• Any money flowing into space endeavors is good. Budget problems in the United States and Russia have forced funding for some space activities into corporate hands (significant space shuttle servicing is now performed by a private aerospace company). Corporate funding could someday form a significant percentage of overall space exploration spending.

• The stunt is a very visible physics demonstration that the public can make sense of from their own experience. Such demonstrations are a vital component of turning the general public (especially children) on to science.

• A stunt like this does nothing to help the public perception that the International Space Station is an orbiting tin can that eats up taxpayer dollars and returns no science of value to the public.

• Corporate money for space activities quickly leads to the exploitation of said activities for product advertisement.

The Russian Space Agency has already allowed a Pizza Hut logo on one of their rockets. Logos are generally harmless, but when corporate money dictates that an astronaut spend precious time in orbit hitting a golf ball, it conflicts with why the government asks taxpayers to fund space exploration in the first place. The public wants to know that their taxes are funding research in space that could potentially change their lives for the better. If the government is going to claim it is using our tax dollars to explore space for the betterment of mankind, then it cannot allow distractions, even if those distractions contribute to the bottom line. All that aside, I think the ultimate problem with this stunt is safety. The government does not allow American soldiers to promote soft drinks in the middle of combat. The circumstances are different, but space is an extremely dangerous place and hitting a golf ball is an unnecessary safety risk. I would rather see corporate funding additions to the space program disappear than see astronauts put in harm's way for a 5 second piece of promotional video on the nightly news.

So, I think you can see where I stand on this topic. As long as our space exploration activities are under the umbrella of government funding, corporate publicity stunts that involve serious risk should not be permitted. Go ahead and float a can of Coke through the crew cabin in zero g, but don't have an astronaut on the exterior of the space station swinging a golf club that could potentially damage the station itself and jeopardize the lives of the crew.

man in space

Today marks 45 years since the Soviet Union put the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Many people younger than about 50 may not realize that the Soviets were the leaders in space firsts starting in the late 50's. Among their successes were the first satellite to orbit the Earth (1957), the first man in space (1961), the first woman in space (1963), and the first controlled landing of a spacecraft on the moon (1966). American counterparts to these achievements usually followed shortly after the Soviet accomplishments, establishing another front in the Cold War. The "victories" of the Soviet Union in space milestones played a major part in President Kennedy announcing plans in 1961 to put an American on the moon before 1970. We did so, and remain the only nation to put men on the moon. You can thank your enemy for making you stronger. The achievements that the American space program enjoys today are a direct result of our early response to Soviet successes in space.

back to the moon

After 34 years, the United States finally has plans to return to the moon. I was not alive the last time a man walked on the moon, but I certainly hope to be the next time. The Bush administration announced a real paradigm shift in our country's space exploration goals a few years back. Robotic exploration of the solar system was to be scaled back in favor of manned missions to the moon and eventually, Mars. My field of study in graduate school, magnetospheric physics, was directly affected by this decision. As I was finishing my studies, funding for certain programs in magnetospheric physics began to dry up in favor of moon and Mars initiatives. While I am bothered by this because it could damage important research efforts into how the universe works, I also believe it is imperative that we push our manned explorations of space beyond near-Earth activities.

Our return to the moon will leverage off the Apollo and space shuttle programs, drawing on some of the best design elements of those two systems. The Crew Exploration Vehicle, or CEV, looks a lot like the Apollo spacecraft that carried men to the moon over 30 years ago. The command module is cone shaped, the service module is cylindrical, the lunar module is spidery (see picture). It's not Star Trek, but the Apollo spacecraft design was forged under immense time and political pressures that resulted in an incredibly robust and reliable spacecraft. It just makes sense to build off that heritage, especially while some of the engineers who made it happen are still alive. One major difference between the Apollo spacecraft and the CEV is size. The Apollo spacecraft could support 3 men for about a week, with the lunar module supporting 2 men for the lunar landing (usually no more than 2 days). The CEV will be much larger, supporting a crew of 4 for upwards of 2 weeks with a lunar module capable of carrying the entire crew to the lunar surface and housing them for up to a week on the surface.

As for shuttle design elements, the CEV will be launched using solid rocket boosters much like those used to launch the space shuttle. In addition, the CEV will be launched in two stages. One launch will put the lunar module and a "departure" rocket stage into Earth orbit. The second launch will carry the astronauts in the command and service module. The astronauts would then dock with the lunar module and the departure rocket already in Earth orbit. The departure stage provides the propulsion that sends the spacecraft off to the moon. The two-phase launch eliminates the need for a single immense launch rocket like the Saturn V, the Apollo launch vehicle.

The space shuttle era is over. With the loss of two crews and two orbiters, the American public has lost confidence in shuttle safety. It's a shame, because despite being the most complex transportation system ever devised, the shuttles performed and still maintain a respectable safety record. They've simply been overextended. The shuttle program is currently slated for retirement in 2010, at which time CEV activities will ramp up for a lunar landing in 2018. For me, it can't come soon enough. While it won't be the first time we land on the moon, it will be the first time I get to watch it happen live, with all the uncertainty that entails. I also look forward to the first female steps on the moon.

It saddens me that in all likelihood only a few of the men who visited the moon between 1968 and 1972 will be alive when the next lunar landing occurs. They are all in their 70's these days, and in another 12 years we can expect to lose many of them. I think it's important that we strive to make that 2018 target in the hopes that a few of these men will be around to usher us into the next era of moon exploration. The continuity will soften the disappointing fact that we retreated from the moon in 1972 and almost forgot how to go back in the 30 years since. The moon is waiting, it's time to get to work.

New Horizons

On January 19 NASA launched the New Horizons spacecraft on a 9 year journey to Pluto. Why would I write about that now? Well, on April 6 New Horizons will cross the orbit of Mars having left Earth only 78 days before. In other words, this spacecraft is moving fast. At launch, NH was whipped up to a speed of ~25,000 mph. At that speed, the spacecraft reached the orbit of the moon in just under 9 hours. To put that in perspective, the Apollo missions to the moon required 3 days to cross the distance between the Earth and moon. A typical spacecraft mission to Mars requires about 6 months cruise time. So, reaching the orbit of Mars in 78 days is quite an accomplishment. NH will reach Jupiter in February 2007 and use a gravity assist to boost speed even further for the remainder of the cruise to Pluto and beyond.

New Horizons is exciting to me because it is our first reconnaissance of Pluto, we really have no idea what it looks like. That kind of visual mystery fascinates me and takes me back to the summer of 1989 when I saw the first images of Neptune returned from Voyager 2. In that case we basically knew what Neptune looked like, but the details were the best part. Neptune had enormous storms and varieties of colors, and we were expecting it to be dormant for the most part. I imagine Pluto will offer plenty of surprises as well. New Horizons executes the Pluto flyby in July 2015. I will have just turned 40 and will hopefully have a few kids to share the excitement with.

space tourism

So, CNN ran an article this week about space tourism, a reality that is getting more and more attention as the months go by. Several private companies are now in the hunt to launch a commercially viable spacecraft capable of carrying up to 6 or so passengers on a suborbital flight. The expected cost of such a ticket is expected to top nearly a quarter million dollars, making such flights the playground of the rich and famous for now. One of the contending companies, Virgin Galactic, would appear to be the front runner right now. Virgin Galactic was formed around, and purchased the design rights to, SpaceShipOne, which successfully completed two test flights within a 14 day period in 2004 to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize. The X Prize was designed to spur private investment in space tourism, and thankfully it worked. I had the good fortune to attend two of the test flights in the Mojave Desert in June and September 2004. Despite ripping winds, bitter pre-dawn cold, and sweltering noontime heat, I wouldn't have missed it. It was a unique experience, and if those launches end up being the first steps toward putting everyday people in space, I'm thrilled to say I was there. The picture shows SpaceShipOne after the second successful launch, with pilot Mike Melvill riding on top. It doesn't look like much, but she screamed to the top of the atmosphere in about 90 seconds after being piggybacked on a more conventional aircraft up to 40,000 ft. Virgin Galactic is working on a similar craft for commercial use that will carry several more passengers. Some of the other companies presently have plans to begin testing their systems within the next year. So, space tourism is coming.

As for me, would I go? At the age of 30, I know that an affordable ticket to space will likely come late in life for me. I hope it happens before I am 60. Barring any health concerns and family objections, I will go. There are certain life experiences you feel destined to have, and for me this is one of them.

a start

My intent here is to write about newsworthy events in science and astronomy in particular. I believe that should be at least as interesting as what I had for lunch today, but maybe I'm missing the point of this whole blog thing. Anyway, my main motivation is just to bring some of the interesting science and astronomy I encounter every day to the attention of friends and family, because some of this stuff is just damn cool. So, here goes...