Mars, The First Frontier?!

August 31, 2013 / esfein / 1 Comment

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/artists-concept-of-life-on-mars-long-mark-stevenson.html

In science news lately there has been quite a bustle about life on Mars. Not now, or rather, not about there being life on Mars right now, but about the likelihood of life on Earth originating from Mars. That’s right, our red brother could be responsible for the habitability of our mother Earth.

According to biochemist Steven Benner of the Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in Florida, life came from a meteorite that originated from Mars. In essence, Mars has been deemed our creator. Let’s be serious for a second though, this is quite a discovery. Benner says that Earth was originally completely covered in water and that there was no room for life because of the corrosive effect water has on RNA. Why RNA you say? Without RNA there is no DNA and thus no life. So this meteorite, whether sent intentionally or sent due to a cataclysm on Mars, carried some RNA that helped spawn life on Earth. A little far-fetched, yet not all too unrealistic. To skeptics and critics Benner simply says:

NASA’s New Squad: A New Era of Space Travel

August 27, 2013 / esfein / 1 Comment

NASA recently announced the selection of a new squadron of space cadets. They’re expected to be the first “class” trained for missions to deeper space. Namely this batch is likely going to be responsible for a new era in space travel.

The space cadet candidates were chosen from a starting pool of 6,372. Only about ten dozen applicants received the call backs of their lifetime. After extensive medical tests and interviews, the folks over at NASA selected their 8 diamonds in the rough. The members of this celestial octet will be members of a small (yet ever increasing) lineage of human beings who have seen the world from outside.

Related Post: NASA’s Planned Mission to an Asteroid

The 8 Balls

In accordance with NASA tradition, the last class of astronauts is responsible for the naming of the new class. So when NASA’s 20th group of celestial explorers (aka The Chumps) were given the opportunity they decided upon a much more meaningful name. The 8-balls, named for their importance in winning a game of pool, have a lot of hard work ahead of them.

Their two years of “basic training” consists of vigorous activities- which us groundlings can only begin to imagine. The details so far seem vague. Bob Behnken, chief of the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center has some input on how the training will go:

The astronaut candidates, or “ascans,” will be instructed on the technical aspects of living and working aboard the space station. They’ll also tour NASA’s facilities across the country, “so that the class as a whole will have a good understanding of all the things that go into making NASA as successful as it is,” Behnken said.

First, though, they will be given flight training at the nearby Ellington Field in Houston and, for some, at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., as well.

“They will also have T-38 [supersonic jet] training, where those who already have an aviation background will hone their skills in the T-38 and those who do not will have the opportunity to get that aviation background under their belt before they start supporting crews who are on orbit,” Behnken said.

Whether or not you consider the gender polarization of this class, it is definitely clear that these new space cadets will be shuttling in the future of extra-worldly travel. Part of their basic training consists of living aboard the space station. That’s right. That’s just the training.

These Space Travelers are expected to travel further out than any other astronaut from the U.S. Eventually, they may even be among the first to travel to a near-earth asteroid and perhaps even Mars!

Related Post: Sign Me Up For Mars!

Only the future can be sure of what is in store for these folks. Their story is going to be that of awe and wonder.

Sources and Additional Reading

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1308/20ascanintro/#.UhYkw3fgexM

http://collectspace.com/news/news-082013a.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Astronaut_Group_21

Sign Me Up For Mars!

May 17, 2013 / esfein / 4 Comments

nyulocal.com

Greetings Wondergressivers! Are you tired of blue skies, green grass, and sunny days? Do you wish to explore the Final Frontier? Maybe red is a much more desired color for you? Or maybe you have simply conquered Mt. Everest and want to aspire to higher, more challenging heights; three times higher to be exact! Well, for all you daredevils, adventure seekers, space cowboys, and solo yolo’s, you are now able to apply to colonize that big, red, desert brother of ours, Mars.

All it takes is an application and a short video sent to Mars One and you will become one of already 78,000 (and counting) applicants from which 4 will be chosen to pioneer the first colony on Mars! Oh, and of course a $38 fee which is charged to all American applicants; other countries are stuck more or less depending on their wealth. We may not even need that warp drive to be completely developed before we start colonizing other planets! Isn’t it all oh so exciting?

The voyage is set to take place in 2023 and will cost roughly 6 billion dollars. Anyone with zero technical skill that is over the age of 18, with no specific qualifications, can apply and be chosen for the voyage. But how will all of this be payed for? Well, it seems it will all be one big to do on television once a select group of “candidates” are chosen by 2015. These 20-40 people will then be trained for 7 years and whittled down to roughly 4 through a series of television events and audience votes.

As exciting as it all sounds, it is a little disappointing that we have to rely on a televised popularity contest as a selection process for our Mars colony. It is inspiring, however, to hear that there is such a widespread reception of the idea of colonizing Mars, and that we already have over 78,000 applicants to do so! More-so that the group of 78,000 applicants is a very diverse group from all around the world!

Bas Lansdorp, co-founder and chief executive officer of Mars One, says:

Mars One is a mission representing all humanity, and its true spirit will be justified only if people from the entire world are represented

The trip itself will take about seven months once the 4 are chosen but before that rovers will be sent to survey possible settlement areas and build the infrastructure of the colony for the candidates chosen. I just hope the Mars spiders don’t get these poor souls. For more on “the plan” click on over to this link to watch the Mars One video!

Research:

Mars One

Mars Facts

Space.com – Want to live on Mars?

Bas Lansdorp

Reality TV show to follow Settlers

Colonizing Mars Q and A

Wiki Olympus Mons

Wondergressive – Let’s Capture US an Asteroid

Wondergressive – Faster than light travel

Wondergressive – Mars Seasonal spiders

Wondergressive – TVs Brains and Zombies oh My!

Let’s Capture US an Asteroid!

April 18, 2013 / esfein / Leave a comment

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/04/130410-asteroid-recovery-nasa-space-budget-science/

What would interstellar warfare be without the original ideas that brought us there? Like, for instance, humans developing new space technologies and exploring space in the first place. Lucky for us, we have a great amount of our budget invested in NASA, a hefty proposed 17.7 billion dollars to be exact, which, surprisingly, is still 50 million less than in 2012. Looks like NASA’s planned mission to an asteroid was not just a pipe dream!

The most interesting part of the budget would be the proposed spending associated with NASA and asteroids. The description in the budget for NASA states that:

The Budget includes $78 million for NASA to develop needed technologies and study alternative approaches for a robotic mission to rendezvous with a small asteroid—one that would be harmless to Earth—and move it to a stable location outside the Moon’s orbit.

http://savetheasteroids.spreadshirt.com/

That is to say we will send men to space to commandeer an asteroid and bring it home! As if the asteroid had any say in the matter anyway, I foresee a cult uprising like no other before! That is all chump change compared to what NASA is really planning to do with this excavating of asteroids. Sometime in 2014, there is a planned launch of Orion, which will bring us one step closer to herding asteroids and ultimately reaching Mars in 2030!

Dan Dumbacher, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Division (what a title!) says:

It’s a key element of our overall plan to get humans beyond Earth’s orbit as quickly as we can

With that test flight accomplished, the scientists and engineers can analyze Orion’s design and maneuverability, capability of Orion housing humans, and heat shields designed for Orion’s reentry, all of which will hopefully bring us all closer to sun bathing on our red brother’s atmosphere. That, or using it as a space station for our intergalactic space battles!

For a full low down on the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2014, visit that link and check out whether or not you agree with the budget and the changes it will bring. One definite that it prescribes is an eventual decline in our debt, but at what cost?

Further Reading:

Wondergressive – NASA’s Planned Mission to Asteroid

NASA’s Proposed Budget

President’s Budget for fiscal year 2014

NASA website

Wondergressive – Interstellar Warfare

Mars’ Atmosphere

NASA’s Planned Mission to an Asteroid

January 7, 2013 / esfein / 2 Comments

mashable.com

NASA has done it again. Or will do. Maybe.

To their credit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sports a hefty 54 year resume of boring old activities such as: landing on the moon (or not?), dramatically influencing technology, launching numerous manned and unmanned masses of flame propelled metal into space, and consistently planning missions that only psychedelic drug users and post doctoral rocket scientists could dream up. This time it appears that NASA has just about outdone themselves ( ( (IN SPACE) ) ).

THE MISSION:

Using a cleverly named “Space Exploration Vehicle“, astronauts will dock with a near earth asteroid. Once attached, (then called) astroidnauts will conduct a variety of experiments. Seth Borenstein from the Huffington Post writes:

NASA is thinking about jetpacks, tethers, bungees, nets and spiderwebs to allow explorers to float just above the surface of it while attached to a smaller mini-spaceship.

JET PACKS! Sign me up. Borenstein goes on to say:

It would take half a year to reach an asteroid, based on current possible targets. The deep space propulsion system to fly such a distance isn’t perfected yet. Football-field-sized solar panels would help, meaning the entire mothership complex would be fairly large. It would have to protect the space travelers from killer solar and cosmic ray bursts. And, they would need a crew capsule, maybe two, for traveling between the asteroid complex and Earth.

That’s right science! Start the inventing NOW!

There is even speculation on plans to tow an asteroid into orbit between Earth and the Moon. They’re probably wrong as even NASA failed to comment on such claims but speculation leads to inquiry and inquiry leads to paper work and paper work, as many of you know very well, leads to bypasses and bypasses have to be built.

WHY, IN THE WOR.. er.. SOLAR SYSTEM, IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Studying the asteroid is likely to lead to a greater understanding of the creation of our solar system. Many asteroids are considered to be the last remains of debris from the birth of our dear mother Solaris. Questions such as “Why?” might even be answered.

It’s pretty important to know your neighbors. I’ve had some crazy ones. You know the type, the ones that sound like they’re speaking some form of goat language and have a garage, driveway, and lawn filled with “started-project-debris.” Well The earth’s neighbors are sort of like this too. There hard to follow, hard to find, could and have totally wreaked havoc upon all of earth’s systems, and we don’t know about a lot of them. Dr. David Rabinowitz, of Yale University says that up to 1000 of these neighbors are about a kilometer or larger in diameter. Kinda Scary.

Oh and then there’s all the technology that is inspired by NASA. With every new mission comes a wave of new gizmos and gadgets to make it possible. This feeds our global economy as companies around the world compete for NASA bids.

This mission is considered by some to be a major leg on the space road to mars and in general the preservation of the human race. Humans as a race have a lot of work cut out in order to survive the ever looming explosion of the Sun. Admittedly it is a bit far off. We’ve got around 5 billion years to come to terms with the death of everything we’ve come to love. On the happy side it is likely that the asteroid visit will aid in cultivating further deep space (9) exploration.

NASA plans for this mission to go down in 2025.

Sources:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=101501161

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/23/nasa-mission-astronaut-asteroid_n_907820.html?ir=Green

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/science/nasa-to-turn-asteroid-into-space-station/article4234902.ece

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/neat.html

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/index.html

http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_landing_hoax.phtml

Martian Spiders: Seasonal Life on Mars

January 6, 2013 / esfein / 1 Comment

http://www.npr.org/

Since 1998, scientists have speculated on what thousands of mysterious, black, spidery shapes covering Mars might be. In 2010, scientists were able to capture more detailed images from only 200 miles away and we have discovered that the strange Martian sand growths are none other than: a persistent mystery.

The black specs dot huge regions of the Martian expanse. They are sighted almost exclusively on the sunny side of ridges in the Martian deserts. The strangest part of this mystery is that the black growths appear every Martian spring, popping out of the sand from seemingly nowhere, and then disappear when Winter comes. 70% of the time they reappear in the same exact spot as the year before. They even seem to expand as the sun heats up the surface.

So, what the heck is growing all over the red planet and can we stuff our faces with it? We still have no idea. Some theories suggest that the sun is heating up an underground layer of CO2, which expands and bursts into the air like geysers on Earth, carrying basaltic sand and rocks in its wake. Other theories suggest that they may be photosynthetic microorganisms, sunbathing and warming themselves in the light of the Martian sun.

My guess is that they are Martian bears, foraging in spring and hibernating in winter. Cute, cuddly, deadly Martian bears.

Only time will tell. Time, and sweet, sweet technology.

2800 Year Old Lake Life Survives in Complete Isolation

December 12, 2012 / esfein / 1 Comment

http://www.mediadump.com

Scientists have discovered thriving bacteria living in Lake Vida in East Antarctica, a lake that is seven times as salty as the sea, pitch black, and 13 degrees below freezing. Most interestingly, it has been buried for over 2800 years under 20 meters of ice.

The scientists believe that the bacteria, shut off from sunlight for 1000’s of years, evolved to be able to survive by metabolising hydrogen and oxides of nitrogen that Vida’s salty, oxygen-free water has been found to contain.

The team hopes this will reveal information about potential life living under and within ice on other planets and moons.

Peter Doran of the University of Illinois, Chicago explains that:

Lake Vida is a model of what happens when you try to freeze a lake solid, and this is the same fate that any lakes on Mars would have gone through as the planet turned colder from a watery past. Any Martian water bodies that did form would have gone through this Vida stage before freezing solid, entombing the evidence of the past ecosystem.

The team’s next expedition, which started on November 25th, will be drilling into Lake Ellsworth, also situated in Antarctica. It is 3 km deep. If they do find living bacteria in Ellsworth too, I think it’s safe to begin preparing for the Martian greeting ceremony.

Life is everywhere!

Sources:

New Scientist: Lake life survives in total isolation for 3000 years

Lake Ellsworth Antarctica

https://wondergressive.com/2012/08/17/life-its-all-over-the-place/

Dogs Can Predict Earthquakes by Hearing Them

September 25, 2012 / esfein / 2 Comments

Dogs and other animals have long been used as a reliable way to predict the occurrences of earthquakes. Dogs, insects, snakes, and other species display strange behavior and anxiety days before earthquakes happen. Dogs have even successfully warned rescue teams in the event of an impending avalanche, saving lives numerous times. In China and Japan, it isn’t just speculation, animals are considered an integral part of their earthquake warning system.

A canine’s ability to seemingly see into the future have lead many people to believe that they contain some form of ESP, or are possibly the evolutionary descendants of psychics from Mars. For the first time, researchers like Stanley Coren believe they have found the source of dogs’ power; their ears.

Through a series of tests with dogs with different types of ears and ages, it seems very likely that dogs are able to hear the high frequency movements of rock deep underground that precede minor and major earthquakes.

Listen to your pets people. They may not be psychic, or from Mars, but they don’t destroy their hearing with Slayer concerts either.