Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The Vision for Space Exploration February 2004

Going to the Moon, Mars, or even the stars, may well be just something for those that dream while looking up at the heavens above on a story night, but dream we do.  This is not a new idea, just one that is a lot closer to being possible.
While working at NASA Ames Research Center for 20 years, I saw support for such ideas come and go.  Even so, you could find groups interested in  going to the Moon or Mars even if there were no posters on the walls.
Now and then it would be politically correct to dream out loud.  In 2004 the posters went up, all hands meetings were held, and plush publications were handed out.
I am still sorting through stacks of papers from my time at Ames, and trying to prove I am not a horder. Tomorrow is paper, plastic recycle day and sat down to shred old emails.   Picked up a folder with the following NASA publication. NP- 2004-01-334
- LRK -
-------------------------------------------------
The Vision for Space Exploration - NASA
www.nasa.gov/pdf/55583main_vision_space_exploration.pdf
by E Cernan
Space Administration. The Vision for Space. Exploration. February 2004 ... new approach to space exploration using a “building block” strategy to
-------------------------------------------------.
Nice pictures, charts, time lines, the whole big picture,  and look we are planning to go back to the Moon with humans. Many smiling faces at Ames because the underground lunatics could now speak openly. Of course there were those that feared their program.would have cutbacks in funding.
- LRK -
--------------------------------------------------
President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program
history.nasa.gov/Bush%20SEP.htm
Jan 14, 2004 - January 2004 · December 2003 ... February 2003 ... President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program Remarks by the .
http://history.nasa.gov/Bush%20SEP.htm
--------------------------------------------------
Do read the above speech and dream for a moment because we woke up to the reality that funding another Apollo type mission wasn't that easy to support.  A different political wind was blowing.
- LRK -
Made the front page of the Ames Astrogram.
---------------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/pdf/80095main_01_04Astrogram.pdf
During an historic announcement delivered Jan.14, 2004 from NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., President George W. Bush unveiled a sweeping new vision for the nation’s space exploration program and outlined the key roles NASA
Bush, whose remarks were broadcast live on NASA television, was joined by NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe as he committed the nation to a longterm human and robotic program to explore space, starting with the moon and later Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
----------------------------------------------------
Well the words sounded good.  Is it true?
"This cause of exploration and discovery is not an option we choose;  It is a desire written in the human heart." - President Bush
Okay I guess I will put these back in the expandable folder.  Maybe find some other papers to stuff in it as I dream on.  Still trying to fill up the recycle bin with shreded paper.
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
WordPress: http://lrkellogg.wordpress.com/
==============================================================
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
==============================================================
Posted by at
Labels:

Monday, May 19, 2014

Life in space is impossible.

The space review blog has an interesting piece about living in space or really, living in space, really?
Follow your imagination,  but what do you need to stimulate that imagination?  As a kid I had the Saturday matinee and Buck Rogers.  Boxes made my flight simulator. 
Today our 7 year old granddaughter just tells me to ask my smartphone when I don't know the answer to her questions.   She isn't interested in going to space when she can build a cave with blankets and chairs right here on Earth. She doesn't need to wear a spacesuit that wears her fingertips raw.
Will we fix a dying planet or just abandon it?  What do I do with the book case of science fiction? How about my books on artificial life or robots that talk and smile?  Do I need them to live in space or do I just have fun here on Earth.  Well not to worry, at 76 years I think any fun I have will probably be done from my couch.:-)
What about the 7 year old granddaughter?
Does she have to go to the Moon, Mars, or Beyond to flex her imagination?
Or does she just continue to paint her pictures of SpongeBob?
- LRK -
--------------------------------------------
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2516/1
Life in space is impossible
The tag line for the new Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar premiering in November could have been written by a space settlement enthusiast: “Mankind was born on Earth, it was never meant to die here.” Based upon the newly released trailer, however, it appears as if humanity’s salvation is not asteroid mining or Mars settlement, but sending a spaceship to another solar system (because “nothing in our solar system can save us”). Quite possibly the answer is “aliens.”
--------------------------------------------
Interstellar -- Trailer -- Official Warner Bros.: http://youtu.be/zSWdZVtXT7E

When you look at the space review article be thinking about where you would like to see the future develope.  Your ideas appreciated.
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -
============================================
Posted by at

ISEE/ICE reboot effort

If a spacecraft that was launched long ago comes back near to Earth after a long journey in space, can you wake it up and tell it to get back to work sensing the Earth's magnetic field?  Who would fund such a project? Read on.
- LRK -

The ISEE-3 Reboot Project intends to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft, command it to fire its engines and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission - a mission it began in 1978.
ISEE-3 Reboot Project by Space College, Skycorp, and SpaceRef

--------------------------------------------
image
ISEE-3 Reboot Project Status
and Schedule for First Cont...
Technical Progress The Learning
Curve
...
--------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------
Recently in About Category

By Keith Cowing on March 14, 2014 11:01 AM
Space College Foundation, Inc. (Space College) is a Virginia-based nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide access to educational resources, career opportunities, and hands-on involvement in space exploration. While our main focus is on learning after high school, we strive to support learning about space exploration for students of all ages. More information on Space College can be found here.

Space College is wherever you are....
--------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------
http://spacecollege.org/
ISEE-3 Away Team Is at Arecibo
...
--------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------
The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft was originally known as International Sun/Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) satellite, launched August 12, 1978. It was part of the ISEE (International Sun-Earth Explorer) international cooperative program between NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. The program used three spacecraft, a mother/daughter pair (ISEE-1 and ISEE-2) and a heliocentric orbit spacecraft (ISEE-3, later renamed ICE).

ISEE-3 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a halo orbit at one of Earth-Sun Lagrangian points (L1). It was later (as ICE) sent to visit Comet Giacobini-Zinner and became the first spacecraft to do so by flying through acomet's tail passing the nucleus at a distance of approximately 7800 km.[1] ICE was not equipped with cameras.
ISEE3-ICE.jpg
...
ICE's current trajectory will bring it close to Earth in August 2014.[4] On February 4, 2014, the Goddard Space Flight Center announced that the Deep Space Network equipment necessary to transmit signals to the spacecraft had been decommissioned in 1999, and that replacing it was not economically feasible.[6] But an 18-meter satellite dish at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory does still have the right hardware, and NASA gave them approval to try to achieve contact. If they can get it to change its orbit by late May or early June, it could use the Moon's gravity to get back into a halo orbit from which it could once again perform its original mission. This is the only realistic chance to do that.[7]

In April 2014 the ISEE-3 Reboot Project was announced. According to their website "Our plan is simple: we intend to contact the ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer) spacecraft, command it to fire its engine and enter an orbit near Earth, and then resume its original mission - a mission it began in 1978. ISEE-3 was rechristened as the International Comet Explorer (ICE). If we are successful it may also still be able to chase yet another comet. Working in collaboration with NASA we have assembled a team of engineers, programmers, and scientists - and have a large radio telescope fully capable of contacting ISEE-3. If we are successful we intend to facilitate the sharing and interpretation of all of the new data ISEE-3 sends back via crowd sourcing."[8]

On May 15 2014 the crowd-funding goal of US$ 125 000 for the reboot project was reached.
...
--------------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

============================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

============================================
Posted by at
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)