Futurist Foresight
NASAs plans for 3D printed space pizza.
NASA is funding a 3D food printer, and it’ll start with pizza
NASA is funding research into 3D-printed food. Mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor received a $125,000 grant from the agency to build a prototype 3D printer with the aim of automating food creation. It’s hoped the system could provide astronauts food during long-distance space travel, but its creator has the loftier aim of solving the increasing food shortages around the world by cutting down on waste. The software for the printer will be open-source, while the hardware is based on the open-source RepRap Mendel 3D printer.
(via nasdaq)
A spectacular moonrise as captured by the European Space Agency (ESA) craft, Rosetta.
A graphic look at rover distances traveled on extra-earth objects.
NINE-YEAR-OLD MARS ROVER PASSES 40-YEAR-OLD RECORD
While Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt visited Earth’s Moon for three days in December 1972, they drove their mission’s Lunar Roving Vehicle 19.3 nautical miles (22.21 statute miles or 35.74 kilometers). That was the farthest total distance for any NASA vehicle driving on a world other than Earth until yesterday.
The team operating NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity received confirmation in a transmission from Mars today that the rover drove 263 feet (80 meters) on Thursday, bringing Opportunity’s total odometry since landing on Mars in January 2004 to 22.22 statute miles (35.76 kilometers).
Cernan discussed this prospect a few days ago with Opportunity team member Jim Rice of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Apollo 17 astronaut said, “The record we established with a roving vehicle was made to be broken, and I’m excited and proud to be able to pass the torch to Opportunity.”
The international record for driving distance on another world is still held by the Soviet Union’s remote-controlled Lunokhod 2 rover, which traveled 23 miles (37 kilometers) on the surface of Earth’s Moon in 1973.
Opportunity began a multi-week trek this week from an area where it has been working since mid-2011, the “Cape York” segment of the rim of Endeavor Crater, to an area about 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) away, “Solander Point.”
The problem of space junk or space debris is increasing. And with out greater dependence on satellites is a grave problem.
There’s a lot of debris floating around in space, and researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab are using supercomputers, optical sensors and other technology to track even small objects that could damage important satellites.
John Henderson, a space scientist at LLNL, explains:
“Everybody uses GPS to get from here to there. We have satellite television, we have weather reports, farmers use satellite data for monitoring crops. If you have a piece of satellite debris whacking into a satellite, in the worst case you now lose that capability. In February of 2009, that actually happened where there was an Iridium communications satellite that collided with a dead Russian Kosmos satellite and so that basically took out a $100 million dollar satellite.
There’s somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000 pieces of debris that we would like to be tracking. And so the supercomputing capabilities that we have here at Livermore are one way to keep track of that.”
Commander Chris Hadfield performing aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Simply superb!
Another look at life in space. This time how a candle burns aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
A comparison between the combustion of a candle on Earth (left) and in a microgravity environment, such as that found on the ISS.
(via abcstarstuff)
The various physiological effects of space travel.
Space travel - not such an easy journey
Living and working in zero gravity affects all parts of your body, including muscular, skeletal and vestibular systems.A stomach-churning experience
One of the most common effects of microgravity is space motion sickness, caused when the brain and inner ear receive mixed signals. Between 40 to 50% of astronauts experience this.On Earth, we can tell which way is up and which way is down because gravity tells us so. Sensors in the inner ear feel this gravitational pull and send information to the brain about our body’s orientation.
In space there is no gravitational force telling the inner ear which way is ‘up’ and ‘down’. So while our eyes can certainly see a ceiling and floor in the spacecraft, our brains cannot register this. This causes nausea and dizziness. Fortunately, symptoms subside within the first few days of travel and common motion sickness medicine is just as effective in space.
Exercise, exercise, exercise
In zero gravity, muscles do not have to do as much to move around. If astronauts don’t work hard to counter this, they will face severe muscle loss. It’s exactly the same as lying in bed for months on end - if you tried to get up and move around afterwards, you’d find that your legs were very weak. The same applies to bones. Bones demineralise, losing calcium and strength in space. In effect, osteoporosis sets in.To reduce muscle and bone loss, astronauts have to exercise for two or more hours every day. Odd looking contraptions have been designed to make exercising in zero gravity effective.
Under the ray gun
The Earth’s magnetic field protects us from harmful radiation. We are still exposed to small amounts, for example when we go for medical x-rays. However, astronauts are exposed to 10 times as much radiation - and that’s just in low Earth orbit.In deep space, astronauts can be exposed to even higher doses. During solar storms, a single dose of radiation could be equivalent to several hundred chest x-rays. Therefore it’s essential that all spacecrafts have designated storm shelters because large amounts of radiation can cause severe damage by altering DNA in the genes.
Image: Aki Hoshide on a spacewalk. NASA.
(via niceskynewworld)
Photos of Saturdays EVA to repair the coolant leak onboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Photos from Saturday’s emergency spacewalk on the ISS
The spacewalk outside the International Space Station was captured on film by the tweeting, Facebooking, social media maven and space station commander Chris Hadfield. “Amazing day,” he said. “EVA went off without a hitch. Great crew, phenomenal ground support and a supportive audience. Who could ask for anything more?”
Image credits: NASA/CSA/Chris Hadfield
(via abcstarstuff)
Our daily Shuttle magnificence!
Shuttle Moon
As a gorgeous full Moon rose above the eastern horizon on February 7 2001, the Space Shuttle Atlantis streaked skyward towards an orbital rendezvous with the International Space Station. Watching from Orlando, Florida, about 60 miles west of the Kennedy Space Center launch site, photographer Tony DeVito captured this digital image, one of a series of pictures of the shuttle’s fiery climb. While foreground street lights flickered on and a clear evening sky grew dark, the shuttle’s path just grazed the bright lunar disk. On this mission, STS-98, Atlantis carried the U.S. Destiny laboratory module to be added to the expanding orbital outpost.
Image credit: Anthony DeVito
(via abcstarstuff)
