Space exploration

Astronomy, Space exploration, colonization & commercial use our solar system

In line with comments of the need for a international effort in space
exploration for scientific or commercial reasons, this section has been expanded.
Also, since space is becoming a commercial topic, some companies will be
mentioned.

These are the classic space agencies that we have historically known to be
the movers and shakers of the space industry and research

• NASA, home page
• CNSA China
  National Space Administration and here is what
  
  Wikipedia has to say about CNSA. The Chinese language version of CNSA is
  much too slow to load–either your country or China has too many filters
  that slow down the loading of it! It’s predicted that China will become
  economically as powerful or more powerful then the US in the future, so it
  is definitely one to keep an eye on with international space efforts in
  science and commerce. A lot of space efforts take ten or more years.
• JAXA home
  page (Japans Aerospace eXploration Agency) and some
  
  Wikipedia information about JAXA
• 
  ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federal Space Agency) and
  ROSCOSMOS in Russian
• ESA
  (European Space Agency), ESA
  science and technology and
  
  Wikipedia information about ESA
• ISRO Indian Space
  Research Organization and some
  
  Wikipedia information about ISRO
• AEB Brazilian Space
  Agency Official site in Portuguese
  
  and a English description of AEB courtesy of Wikipedia
• But! this is not the end of the space agencies,
  
  Wikipedia provides a list of other groups interested in outer space and
  space exploration. Also we will probably see many private companies take
  up commercial interests that space offers in this new era of science and
  discovery.

Here is a select group of companies and organizations involved in space
exploration, colonization and commercialization, I imagine there is a telephone
book worth of these industries located all across the world!!!

• Alpha Engineering
  (Vacuum Chambers, Engineering & Design)–precision metallurgy possible
  with these chambers. On the moon, you get these for free, since , the
  Moon is situated in a vacuum of space.
• ATLAS Aerospace : company was set up at the end of 1999 to perform the commercial training of “cosmonaut-researchers” and “space tourists – participants of a space flight” and to accomplish commercial space missions on board the Russian “Soyuz” space vehicles, as well as on the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
• Odyssey Moon :
  has been formed to capitalize on commercial opportunities created by renewed
  interests in exploring the Moon. The Company is developing a
  commercial lunar robotic
  transportation service to meet the pent up and growing demand for low
  cost, frequent access to the Moon supporting science, exploration and
  commerce.
• Orbital : small
  space and rocket systems. Also,
  
  Orbital is an important member of the Lockheed Martin-led team that is
  developing the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV),
  NASA’s next-generation spacecraft to
  transport crews to and from the International Space Station, the Moon and
  Mars.
• SpaceX : aims to
  change this paradigm by developing a family of launch vehicles which will
  ultimately reduce the cost and increase the reliability of space access by a
  factor of ten. Coupled with the newly emerging market for private and
  commercial space transport, this new model will re-ignite humanity’s efforts
  to explore and develop Space.
• Virgin Galactic
  space tourism
• NSS or National Space
  Society : People living and working in thriving communities beyond the
  Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic
  betterment of humanity. Sample page from site on
  space based
  solar power.
• Space
  Services Inc.
  • is leading a team of established and entrepreneurial companies to
    investigate new commercial opportunities in space weather and remote
    telecommunications applications.
  • Celestis helps families honor the memory of loved ones through unique,
    post-cremation memorial spaceflights.
  • NOAA CONTRACT : possibly may use
    solar sail technology—a new type
    of spacecraft propulsion that has yet to be actually used in space—to
    complete this contract mission.
• Armadillo
  Aerospace: rocket powered vehicles
• Blue Origin:
  privately-funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.
  This company is famous for remaining tight lipped about it’s plans. This may
  be a business strategy that has been handy for search engines (whose
  exact algorithms used by the various engines are commercial secrets) and
  is now extended to the space industry.
• Bigelow
  Aerospace: dedicated to developing next-generation crewed space
  complexes to revolutionize space commerce and open up the final frontier to
  all of humanity. At Bigelow Aerospace, we’re building the future today!
• Space
  Law — via Wikipedia : required if companies are to operate in a
  commercial manner
• International
  Astronautical Federation (IAF) : founded in 1951 with a core mission to
  address the growing need for international cooperation in the areas of space
  activities and knowledge.
• 4Frontiers
  : strives to be at the forefront of these changes to capitalize on laws
  favorable to space commercialization. 4Frontiers enjoys the advantage of
  strategic relationships with several well known space attorneys.
• Additional list of commercial companies: Members of
  
  Commercial Spaceflight Federation via Wikipedia and
  
  membership list via the Commercial Spaceflight Federation website.
• This is simply listed as
  
  space agencies and includes private companies via Wikipedia.

This site ( http://www.nasa.gov  ) NASA home page; as of Wednesday, 03 September 2008, contained some really interesting stuff about how space exploration impacts your daily life. This wonderful part of the NASA’s-web-site is now situated at http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/nasacity/index2.htm and features two grassy Island like features drifting in outer space–you click on them to find out more!!!I particularly liked the picture of a plant in the living room. A former NASA engineer developed a biological filtering system that pretty much to you and me looks just like a plant in a pot. There is lots of other cool stuff also about how space exploration impacts on your daily life including tooth paste, guitars and so on. It is well worth a look at. I have often had people say to me “what is the use of space exploration?” I am glad that NASA has provided answers about this question in such a clear manner.

favorite links about astronomy

we don’t understand 96% of our universe, from Wiki. This may also be of interest: “Patricia Burchat sheds light on dark matter“

• Vote for your
  
  favorite planet here

Explaining how Mercury time travels into the future (resulting in Mercury being younger then Earth): Cosmos – Speed of Light

• Our galaxy and solar system

• Space Reference
• Portal to
  the Universe
• Spaceflight
• Space
  Fellowship (UK based space news)
• Universe Today
• The Earth
• Nine Planets of our solar system.
• Buzz Aldrin web
  site.
• Found on Mars Space
  News site
• Planetary Society
  Website Blog-site
• Space and Astronautics news
• Cosmic Log
  msnbc
• Hubble
  telescope news
• Cassini-Huygens probes investigating
  Saturn and it’s moon Titan
  (by landing a probe on it’s surface)
• The LRO: Lunar
  Reconnaissance Orbiter takes a look at our Moon
• NASA website for
  Messenger: a probe to check out
  Mercury
• Messenger Website
• Integral
  Probe Website
• On the other side of the solar system,
  New
  Horizons is going to take a look at Pluto in 2015. See
  NASA and
  New Horizons
  websites for more information.
• NASA | IBEX: (Interstellar
  Boundary Explorer (video intro)) A Global Imager Of the very edge of Our
  Solar System looks at all of the boundary of the Hemisphere (instead of
  voyager 1 and voyager 2 only measuring 2 points).
  This is
  how IBEX works and
  here we
  are shown how our solar system drifts in and out of our galaxy disk
  resulting in differing exposures to radiation. This radiation and small
  particles of matter or gas from our sun, galaxy and even form outside our
  galaxy can
  be dangerous for our planet–if it were not for the protection our sun gives
  us. We are apparently going through some interstellar gas that is causing a
  ribbon like structure on our Heliosphere pictures.
  • Sentinels of the Heliosphere – NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Video
    • Earth  has a magnetosphere that protect it from the suns
      more energetic particles (and particles coming from outside our solar
      system). Without the magnetosphere protection life on earth might not exist.
      Not all planets in our solar system have a protective
      
      magnetosphere, these include Mars and Venus.
    • Termination Shock: The area where the suns solar winds slows down enough
      to be affected interstellar particles
    • Heliopause: suns influence meets the interstellar medium
    • Bow shock: the wake of the flowing interstellar particles as they move
      around the bubble of energy and particles emanating from our sun.
    • NASA talks for 42 minutes to a panel of experts about the new discoveries made by IBEX including a large structure of high radiation that hits our solar systems Heliospehere.
    • 
      NASA home page on IBEX
    • 
      News Release – heic9911: The Heliosphere is Tilted – implications for the
      ‘Galactic weather forecast’?  space and telescope article.
    • Our galaxy is not an active galaxy
    • 
      The most energetic cosmic rays arrive from outside our galaxy
    • Out-of-This-World Hypothesis: Cosmic Forces Control Life on Earth: the earth up and down cycle takes 64 million years:
      • Normally, our galaxy’s magnetic field shields our solar system from this “galactic wind.” But every 64 million years, the solar system’s cyclical travels take it above the galactic plane.
      • “When we emerge out of the disk, we have less protection, so we become exposed to many more cosmic rays,” Melott [said]
  • Space weather due to Interstellar ISM, LISM
  • Why Heliophysics research is important to us here on earth.
• Antimatter Drive and even Nuclear Fusion Drive sound like good methods to go long distances in space

Here is some examples of Star Ship Drives and their performances from a site dedicated to antimatter drives and a notable person in antimatter drives is Dr. Gerald A. Smithwho may have taken up the challenge to develop a privatized antimatter drive system!

Propulsion Type	Specific Impulse [sec]	Thrust-to-Weight Ratio
Chemical Bipropellant	200 – 410	.1 – 10
Electromagnetic	1200 – 5000	10-4 – 10-3
Nuclear Fission	500 – 3000	.01 – 10
Nuclear Fusion	10+4 – 10+5	10-5 – 10-2
Antimatter Annihilation	10+3 – 10+6	10-3 – 1

• Antimatter Drives for the really long range journeys
  • Alpha Cent auri in 40 years–via antimatter drive. Fusion and antimatter are the only candidates for trans-Oort Cloud missions. It’s possible that a engine uses a mixture of Antimatter and fusion to drive it.
  • Most self-respecting starships in science fiction stories use antimatter as fuel for a good reason (MARS MISSION)
  • Future Spaceship to have drastic speed with Antimatter]
  • Reaching for the Stars – Antimatter Explored
  • When Isaac met Albert (Antimatter may propel future spacecraft to Mars)
  • A team of scientists is currently working with NASA to develop a new form of space propulsion technology based on positrons. This revolutionary antimatter engine will require only a few milligrams of positrons to send a spaceship to Mars.
  • Antimatter’s Advantages (and the Catch)—Antimatter may also be used as a weapon: Air Force Pursuing Antimatter Weapons , but I suppose such uses are not unexpected given Nuclear Fissions history in atomic bombs!!! While Nuclear Fusion energy is so far seemingly not able to be used for weapons (especially if it uses Helium 3) and thus would seemingly have major advantages for a peaceful world, (the author must admit that the possibility of using fusion energy directly for weapons has not been fully investigated).
  • Positronics Research LLC is an intellectual property research and development company in the emerging field of antimatter production, confinement and utilization. Dr. Gerald A. Smith founded the Company in 2001 and is responsible for the development of the company’s core technology.
  • Scientists examine using antimatter and fusion to propel future spacecraft
  • Physicists Strive To Create Atoms Of Antihydrogen From Antimatter
  • Antimatter-Rocket Plan Fuels Hope for “Star Trek” Tech (national geographic)
  • Avatar Reference and Yes, the movie may have some truth to it (video documentary on the reality of the Avatar subject and the star ship that might make such a journey)!
• Characteristics (basic data) on planets from NASA [accessed 2010]

	PLUTO’S PLIGHT –I would like to thank Laurel in part for inspiring me to look into this interesting topic. We will know more about Pluto in 2015 I hope. For those of you who don’t know, Pluto was demoted to a Dwarf Planet in 2006.
	I like to think Pluto the dog is Pluto’s symbol ( ), but the astronomers seem to frown on this saying it’s a Disney character and Pluto’s symbol is in fact the Greek god of the underworld. To me, demoting Pluto to a dwarf planet is sort of forcing poor Pluto to live outside in the dog house in the back yard–those mean people!
	This is the official Greek god of the underworld that word Pluto refers to. Walt Disney had named Mickey’s famed cohort (Pluto the dog) for the planet shortly after amateur astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered it in 1930.

• Mike Brown, Caltech
• neil
  degrasse tyson home page &
  Hayden
  Planetarium.
  • Tyson: American astrophysicist and, since 1996, the Frederick P. Rose
    Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History
    in Manhattan. A charismatic television personality, he has, since 2006,
    hosted PBS’s educational television show NOVA scienceNOW. He has been a
    frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Jeopardy!. [Tyson
    from wiki accessed 2010]
  • He seems to be getting some flack from being seemingly part of the demotion of Pluto–but such a decision was in fact made by a vote which he supported but did not expect the outcry because of it.
• Sky and telescope
• New scientist space
• NASA, a
  planetary guide/simulator
• NASA, the news on international space station that has been built up there (this link was previously lost in 2006-2007).
• space science telescope institute
• news on space
• Space
• National Geographic
• KBO’s – Knuiper Belt Objects.
• Galaxy and Synchatron radiation.