MAIN ARTICLE: CNN cuts Science - Environmental & Tech team.
At a time when science reporting should be increasing, cable network cuts science reporters.
Poll Results: Fasinating Poll Results from the latest Americans In Space polls: "Should Obama adandon Mars for 2035?"
Star Trek: In the News - Want to watch Season 1 of Star Trek, the original series? Click subscribe now to get the lastest news. Scroll down to read the latest.
Yesterday's Interesting Comments: "KHAN!!!!!" - Crisis Corps Volunteer
A commenter had suggested send prisoners to Mars and I mentioned the USS Botany Bay.
Today's Poll: NASA: Focus on LEO 2 GEO space debris & satellite service vehicle. LEO Fuel Depot.
At a time in American history where science, and the reporting of science, would be at the forefront of National News Reporting.....
Global warming, soil erosion, toxins, flooding, droughts, specie die offs, deforestation, water shortages, air pollution, water pollution, ground pollution, smog, mercury posioning, ( catches breath) oh screw it, et cetera. You would think this is when we need MORE reporting on science.
These problems will be monitored with every increasing launches into space of American Space Assets. From cell phones to satellite TV and weather reporting. Everything is becoming space based.
What the billions spent on the Hubble proved is, having the ability to fly over to a space based telescope and repair it, repeatedly, means the difference between success or just another waste of billions of dollars on space.
"I’m baffled," said Keith Cowing, who runs NASAWatch.com
Columbia Journalism Review
Columbia Journalism Review
"CNN, the Cable News Network, announced yesterday that it will cut its entire science, technology, and environment news staff, including Miles O’Brien, its chief technology and environment correspondent, as well as six executive producers. Mediabistro’s TVNewser broke the story.
"We want to integrate environmental, science and technology reporting into the general editorial structure rather than have a stand alone unit," said CNN spokesperson Barbara Levin. "Now that the bulk of our environmental coverage is being offered through the Planet in Peril franchise, which is produced by the Anderson Cooper 360 program, there is no need for a separate unit."
A source at the network, who asked not to be named, said the move is a strategic and structural business decision to cut staff, unrelated to the current economic downturn. Financially, "CNN is doing very, very well," the source said, and none of the health and medical news staff has been cut. Yet the big question, of course, is whether or not the reorganization will decrease the overall amount of CNN’s science, technology, and environment coverage. CNN says no, but it’s hard to imagine that it won’t—Anderson Cooper or not, fewer people is fewer people."
The EcoMingler had a unique look at it We interrupt this Paris Hilton story...
I have been watching Miles O'Brian talk about space for 15 years. I am not the greatest fan of CNN but I did enjoy his work. MSM should be burying us in real news that really matters to both us and the planet.
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Over 3000 satellites have been launched into Earth orbit, over 1000 are currently working.
NASA tracks over 13,000 pieces of Space Debris.
A cascade failure of American Space Infrastructure is only a matter of time as the amount of space debris or "space junk" increases. Watch the movie "WALL-E" and look for the space junk circling the planet.
Space Junk represents a threat many Americans have absolutely no clue about. The United States of America could turn into the stone age relatively quickly as our space infrastructure progresses faster then our ability to do "hands on" repairs of those space assets.
Before America should think about Mars, they should think about a "gas n' go" space "car" for LEO to GEO transportation. If we want NASA and our space program to produce PRACTICIAL results lets invest in protection of the hundreds of billions of dollars of assest we have in space already AND the hundreds of billions of future American space assets for climate change and other pollution satellites that will need to be launched.
To operate a LEO to GEO space junk & satellite service vehicle, it will need a fuel & service station and a hotel. Bigelow Aerospace is launching modules for "hang time", the first manned module "Sundancer" is scheduled to go up in 2010. a firm can lease a whole or half of a module and use it for various space based business. A Space hotel will, more then likely, be one of the first operations.
NASA should be developing a garbage truck and gas station in Low Earth Orbit.
Mitigation:
"In order to mitigate the generation of additional space debris, a number of measures have been proposed: The passivation of spent upper stages by the release of residual fuels is aimed at decreasing the risk of on-orbit explosions that could generate thousands of additional debris objects.
Taking satellites out of orbit operational life would also be an effective mitigation measure. This could be facilitated with a "terminator tether," an electrodynamic tether that is rolled out, and slows down the spacecraft.[6] In cases when a direct (and controlled) de-orbit would require too much fuel the satellite can also be brought atmospheric drag would cause it to de-orbit after some years. Such a maneuver was successfully performed with the French Spot-1 satellite bringing its time to atmospheric reentry down from ~200 years to ~16 years.
In orbital altitudes where it would not be economically feasible to de-orbit a satellite, like in the geostationary ring they are brought to a graveyard orbit where no operational satellites are present.
Proposals have been made for ways to "sweep" space debris back into Earth's atmosphere, including automated tugs, laser brooms to vaporize or nudge particles into rapidly-decaying orbits, or huge aerogel blobs to absorb impacting junk and eventually fall out of orbit with them trapped inside. However, currently most effort is being devoted to prevention of collisions by keeping track of larger debris, and prevention of more debris"
America has two choices, we can send robots or actively work on space development with a "gas and go" LEO to GEO space economy. We can expand past GEO once we have settled GEO. And then? The langrange points.
POLL RESULTS:
Rather surprising results, recent polls have suggested that Lunar options were prefered. Increase Mars funding and work towards a 2020 landing (28%) lead with 14% favoring a moon base coming in second.
In only 12 years we would need a real push for NASA, not doable in my opinion.
19% No Opinion but I support increased funding for space
1% No Opinion and I do not support increased funding for space.
That is the lowest no funding ever seen on polls so far.
STAR TREK NEWS:
If you are a fan of Netflix they have added Star Trek Season 1 of the original series. Net Flix
YESTERDAY'S INTERESTING COMMENTS:
A tip of the hat to Casual Wednesday for his image of the x wing and quote.
ankey wrote:
"The way I see it about 4 years ago when I was in high school, I went to a "geeky" space camp put on by NASA JSC where I got to see the latest and greatest projects they were working on to get us to Mars. This past summer, I asked several project managers for updates on their projects and despite all this time, very little progress had been made on any of them.
Now I am all for space exploration, etc. In fact, I am currently part of a university team that is helping NASA build a satellite that will go up into space in the last launch of the shuttle program. But with so much money spent already on this and not very much to show for it, I don't think Mars in 2035 is feasible and the money would be better spent on other NASA projects. I do think also that commercialization is the way to go in order to get more progress on spaceflight capabilities."
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PAGES FROM THE PAST: "Will Obama let NASA get "bogged down" with a Moon Base"
A great comment by dark energy:
"Summarizing ...
The following are those activities for which human presence in orbit would seem to be a necessary element:
1) Tourism (which almost by definition requires human presence)
2) Sports (which by most definitions requires human presence)
3) Art by humans in orbit
4) Also in the same category would be any research on humans in vivo in situ.
Activities for which human presence in orbit is more debatable are:
5) Construction for solar solar power -- are there other candidate construction purposes?
6) Production/assembly -- for which purposes?
7) Research for on-site geology
Additions?
Private v public funding: Before returning to discussion of technical/economic feasibility, are we agreed that private/public funding for the above should be as follows:
(1) Tourism and (2) sports should be privately funded with government involvement limited to regulation and, perhaps, some minor promotional support?
(3) "Art in space" should be treated as public funding for art in general?
(4) Space solar power should be privately funded with, possibly, tax incentives as for other energy projects and support for long-term research efforts?
(5) Construction and (6) production/assembly [discussion re funding postponed until specific project purposes have been identified]
(7) On-site geology -- private/public depending on whether the geology is for applications/long-term research?
I'll see what I can find in terms some sort of peer review study, although I am not optimistic, for me or you - to date, the underlying assumption, that is cheap, reliable access to space, has never happened, and thus there are a number of underlying assumption that are necassary, some of which may not be legit. As I said, I'll see what I can find.
Great.
Are you indicating it is less hazardous for humans?
Its level of hazardous exists is different - not necessarily less, not necessarily more - just different. The results of failure are more extreme, but thats not the same thing as being more or less hazardous.
We can perhaps explore this later re space debris, radiation, etc."
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TODAY'S POLL:
Is Space junk a "NEAR" enough space issue that NASA should consider?
the space junk issue will be posed against six alternative choices.
LEO 2 GEO space junk & satellite service vehicle. LEO Fuel Depot.
Moon Landings
Moon Research Station.
Mars Landing
Mars Research Station.
No Opinion but I do support increased funding for space.
No Opinion and I do not support increased space spending.