MAIN ARTICLE: Giant Moon Blanket Could Protect Astronauts.
Page 2: NASA Soldiers On
Poll Results: Yesterday's poll had an average turnout on the go it alone issue.
Star Trek: In the News. The Huffington Post had a few words to say about Star Trek today.
Yesterday's Comments: "Ignore this comment I flunked Evelyn Wood's speed reading course" - Bill White
Today's Poll: Living on the Moon: bring blankets or use regolith.
HAVE BLANKET - WILL TRAVEL:
Personally I am more in favor of piling a few feet of lunar regolith over the habitat. I believe we should be learning to utlize local resources as soon and frequently as possible. Lunar dirt is free and you do not have to ship it to the moon at $20,000 per kilo. (see image in the tip jar)
Giant Moon Blanket Could Protect Astronauts
"Solar flares and powerful cosmic rays can shred DNA and increase cancer risks for future astronauts who might make long-term stays on future moon missions.
As NASA considers this issue in its plans for a return the moon by 2020, a team of college students has proposed a solution: giant blankets.
Engineering students at North Carolina State University (NCSU) designed a "lunar texshield," a layered blanket made of lightweight polymer material. The outer surface of the shield is a flexible array of solar cells that generate electricity. Underneath, a layer of radiation shielding deflects or absorbs incoming particles, to better protect astronauts in lunar outposts.
The students entered their design in a NASA-sponsored aerospace engineering competition for college students that will begin in June."
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NCSU engineering student, Michael Sieber, said in a statement:
"We had many factors to consider in developing this outpost cover – not just being able to protect against radiation. The product needed to be as lightweight as possible to feasibly fit on the transportation module, and have the ability to be easily erected by a minimum number of astronauts for immediate use once landing on the moon."
BUILDING A HOME ON THE MOON:
NASA has already been exploring different habitats for location on Luna. They conducted a recent test, in Antarctica, at the McMurdo Complex.
Inflatable Habitat Blog
"When NASA astronauts explore the moon starting in 2020, they’ll stay for about a week to start out and then gradually lengthen their visits as an outpost takes shape. At first, they’ll take everything they need in their lunar landers, but longer stays will require more support than one lander can deliver"
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SUGGESTED READING:
More about this habitat (PDF 2 pages)
PAGE 2:
A great conversation on NASA was started today with a piece by DarkSyde:
NASA Soldiers On
"The Obama administration ended months of speculation late last week and named Charles Bolden and Lori Garver as the new heads of planet earth's premier space exploration agency:
Nineteen years after helping launch the Hubble Space Telescope, Charles F. Bolden Jr. has been nominated by President Obama to serve as NASA's next administrator. Bolden, a former combat pilot and Marine Corps major general, is also a veteran space shuttle commander. Lori Garver, a former NASA associate administrator for policy and plans and a space policy adviser to the Obama campaign, will serve as Bolden's deputy.
Both nominees will have to be confirmed by the Senate. The thought of two brilliant scientist/explorers being subjected to the arbitrary whims of politicians, most of whom can't tell the difference between a quadratic and differential equation, is somewhat annoying. Or downright laughable considering that some of the clownish buffoons on one side of the aisle proudly scoff at the rock-solid scientific consensus behind biology, geology, and cosmology."
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POLL RESULTS:
I was surprised to see an article on Star Trek over at the Huffington post today by Ken Levine:
Star Trek
"What's more implausible, time travel or a summer blockbuster that doesn't disappoint? Star Trek kicked ass -- on both accounts. Okay, some of the rocking in the theater might have been from the 4.7 earthquake but the effects were good too.
J.J. Abrams, who understands that the key to a good action flick is the story and not how many explosions you can set off in two hours, does a nifty job in re-energizing the musty Star Trek franchise. Seeing the Enterprise crew when they were young and brash and could fit into their velour uniforms was inspired. Star Trek meets the Muppet Babies.
Newcomer Chris Pine was terrific as the young Captain Kirk. I'm sure in forty years he'll make an excellent Denny Crane too. Zachary Quinto did young Mr. Spock proud. There must be some Vulcan in his family somewhere because he brought a real believability to the role. Winona Ryder played his mother, always shrouded in a hood and robe -- all the better to lift props when no one was looking."
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YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"This...
Meanwhile, recent discoveries show that microorganisms are much hardier than we thought, meaning that even planets that are not terribly Earth-like might still be suited to biology.
This in a nutshell is the problem with the search for 'life' elsewhere: the parochialism of belief that limits some to assuming other life forms will be akin to our own.
The amazing thing about life on Earth, of course, is that despite some pretty severe conditions over the past few billion years it has thrived in one form or another. There is no reason that same resiliency wouldn't manifest elsewhere, whether on a totally 'uninhabitable' planet or even in the environs of an astral body traveling between solar systems or even galaxies. And there's no reason why life in other than 'Earth-like' conditions might not form according to their own unique circumstances -- perhaps not being carbon-based at all, and possibly so different that we would be unable to recognize such as another life form.
It is interesting in this regard to consider that even our five senses -- around which human society is constructed -- rely solely on varying and limited degrees of perception about our surroundings, based on the evolution of adaptations to those surroundings. But another life form might perceive the electromagnetic waves which we call 'sound' and 'color' in entirely different ways, or be attuned to entirely different parts of the spectrum according to the conditions in which it arose, evolved and adapted.
So at least let's call it the 'search for life like us', and recognize that life in total might come in many other forms to which we would be totally oblivious.
p.s. If science is ever to truly decipher life, it will eventually have to define and account for consciousness." - two roads
"NPR had an interesting SETI discussion on Science Friday the other day. I can't recall the guest's name but he made the point that there are probably a trillion planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone. He said that, obviously, there's either life elsewhere or there isn't. But either way, it's profound. In other words, if there's absolutely no life on any of those trillion or so planets... and just here on earth... WTF? That would be very strange indeed - perhaps stranger than finding an ET." - Snud
"The WOW signal. Hydrogen Line signal of 1977, We've listened ever since, and it has not repeated itself.
The hydrogen line (1420.40575 MHz) is the precession frequency of neutral hydrogen atoms, the most abundant substance in space. It happens to fall in the quietest part of the radio spectrum, what's known as the Microwave Window.
Why is the hydrogen line protected spectrum? It's a great frequency for observing the structure of the universe, and some of the best and most detailed Milky Way radio maps have been made on the hydrogen line. It is probably the world's most popular radio astronomy frequency, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has the good sense to protect it.
setileague.org
NPR needs to do some catching up. Radios have been around for nearly a century." - Roger Fox
TODAY'S POLL:
Read other NASA and Space diaries on DKOS.