Budget Cuts Killed the Radio Star

I belong to the BlogCatalog community, where I am the lucky recipient of continual invitations to other science blogs, and occasional comments or questions in my "ShoutBox". A fellow BC blogger recently lobbed this delightful grenade:


Great questions, Mike! Wow... bright, handsome, and politically correct to boot! Thank you for implying that women might make it to Mars, just as the Russians announce that they've set their watches back a century.

Didn't our mothers fight this battle already? I distinctly remember the smell of burnt brassiere in the morning. Of course, that was back in the 20th century when people actually cared about space exploration. Boo, hiss.

Do you think it's possible for people endure 6 months of weightlessness?
Yes, I do believe we will reach that point. Research and resulting counter-measures made it possible for routine long-duration stays in space, with far less ramifications to bodily health. A Mars voyage, however, might take nearly two years -- that's a long time in micro-gravity! Varied medical simulations are continually exploring how to ensure minimal impact on the immune system, sleep patterns, heart health, bone density and muscle fitness.

Other behavioral and procedural sims, such as the Mars500, are exploring the unique psychological stresses that might be factors on a long, isolated space flight. Still other teams in multiple nations are examining nutritional requirements, and which exercise equipment might be most effective.

The remaining major question mark is radiation in space. How will a human body react to un-blocked cosmic rays and solar flares? This remains to be seen, and the research on this, unsurprisingly, moves at a slower clip than other biological or psychological simulations.


Are we even there yet technologically to attempt such a voyage?
In some ways, yes. In some ways, no. So, no.

We have the knowledge to build a craft to withstand the journey, and we have the materials, if money was no object. Chemical rocket or plasma rocket? Shape and design of the craft? Hotly debated. Any ship aimed toward Mars would have to be gigantic, in order to carry the necessary fuel, crew, food, water, breathable air, medical equipment, space suits, tools, and of course a lander.

If you had asked me any of these question back in 1977 when Star Wars came out, I'd have chirped happily: sure, Mars will be a reality in no time! I'll be married to Han Solo by then and we'll be neighbors under a big glass dome! Give me a break, I was 8 years old. But even just five years ago, my response would have been far more inspirited.

Today... well, it's become clear that we're all at the mercy of a dispassionate public, and struggling to find the money.

Why don't they send people to the moon first to see if they can bring them back in one piece and then go for Mars?
I am also squarely on the Moon First team. While the processes of getting hardware and warm bodies to the lunar surface are complex and not what I would casually call a "piece of cake" -– I do think it makes sense to work out the kinks close to home before we risk the sheer distance to the red planet. Common sense, right? But I am in a shrinking minority.

NASA's leaders say that Mars is the main goal… but have yet to outline a clear path, and I am not sure why the "elephant in the room" is not a larger factor in the current discussions about Mars –- i.e. the obvious reality that we could not possibly launch a ship directly from Earth to Mars. The gravity of our planet is too strong, and a ship of the necessary life-sustaining size would make take-off impossible with our current rocket technology.

FICTION.

I think this is the part that comes as a genuine shock to many people who believe this has all been sorted out, and we're such a clever little heap of hairless apes that we can launch whatever we please so long as it's a sunny day in Florida. One of my relatives recently asked me how close we are to "warp drive"?

One solution is to assemble a ship in the micro-gravity of Low Earth Orbit, or the one-sixth gravity environment of our lunar satellite. Y'think?

Nerd Merit Badges

Well, this is not even close to being space-related, except that there are thousands of NASA workers who could stack up Nerd Merit Badges like flakes in a snow storm. So, I thought it was worth a post!

These funny velco-backed morsels of colorful embroidery include Spelling, Open Source, Full Stack and Boinged pats-on-the-back. Family Tech Support? Got it covered. One I will never earn, however, is the Empty Inbox!


At first glance, I could boast a handful of these... and send them suggestions. For instance, where are the "I can recite every episode of Star Trek TOS in order" badges? Or the "Browncoats Forever" and the "Paged Constantly at 3am" badges?

Other Possibilities:

• Quick-Draw Binary Translator
• I Can Count In Hexadecimal
• Monty Python Movie Sing-a-Long Champ
• My Pet Fish is Named "Wysiwyg"
• Schrödinger's LOLCat – reductio ad absurdum
• We Celebrate Pi Day on March 14

We also need a big one for those of us who watch movies about computer hackers and continually shout "That's totally impossible!" at the screen with great dramatic aplomb, and even greater indignation.

Honorable mention (a line of similar stickers perhaps?) for anyone who knew exactly what I meant when I said "TOS" above, anyone who reads XKCD and gets it more than 85% of the time, anyone who ever drove more than 1000 miles for a shot at watching a Shuttle Launch, and my personal favorite – anyone who used to carry a Microsoft Start-up Disk in her purse and used it more often than her lipstick.

Guess who that last one was.

Of course, shops like Zazzle and Thinkgeek are way, way ahead of me.

The Dream Rocket

Support The Dream Rocket! This very exciting project at the US Space & Rocket Center will be many years in the making, with it's grand finale in the summer of 2011.

"The Dream Rocket aims to connect art and education through a global initiative. The Wrapping of the Saturn V Rocket will recognize the power of global collaboration, and in turn, The Dream Rocket hopes to inspire individuals all over the world to recognize their power to pursue their dreams."

And yes, you read that right. They will be WRAPPING the entire 37-story Saturn V rocket in Huntsville, Alabama -- on the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech where he challenged the nation to pull together for the successful project of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth."

The wrapping will consist of over 8000 panels representing dreams for our future and visionaries of our past. Schools, churches, professional organizations, non-profit groups and individuals all over the Earth are participating in its creation! In the first six months, nearly 40 US states and a dozen countries have submitted Dream Theme panels depicting space, health, fighting hunger & poverty, peace, community, science, technology imagination, recycling, conservation and other related ideas.


"What is my dream for a better tomorrow?"

If you would like to participate in creating Dream Rocket panels, you can purchase space in varying sizes, and recruit others to help you develop a dream theme to express! If you are the less artistic type, but have money to burn... you can become a sponsor instead. There are many students and scholastic groups who may not be able to afford the submission fee, and Dream Rocket workers are doing their best to match up donations with willing artists!

You can also make a simple individual contribution, and also keep up with Dream Rocket events through their Facebook fan page, Twitter feed or Flickr Photo collection. I got lost on the Dream Rocket Flickr site for ages, looking at the all the amazing submissions already lined up for panel wrappings!


"This rocket was designed and built as a collaboration half- a-million people and allowed our human species to venture beyond our world to stand on another -- surely one of the biggest dreams of all time. Enabling the dreams of young people to touch this mighty rocket sends a powerful message."
- Sponsor Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director of NY Hayden Planetarium

The Latest Buzz

Our man Aldrin has already danced with the moon, why not the stars??

While enjoying the stair-master at the gym this morning (the closest I will probably ever get to dancing), I saw on HLN that Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, first PhD in space and second man on the moon in 1969, will be a participant on season 10 of Dancing With The Stars.

Rushed out to vote, then rushed home to Google, and found many mentions across the web of the new dancing line-up. Two articles mentioned that Buzz will be the oldest contestant ever on the series at age 80. I see no reason why this should be a problem – he's still spryer than chaps half his age, and astronauts are notorious for staying healthy and active.


I've heard casual chit-chat about this show before, but have never seen an episode -- not precisely my cup of Darjeeling. However, I might impose on a relative to TiVo this for me as long as Buzz competes! Other contestants on the list are… Shannen Doherty? Really? Some producer is still willing to employ her? That might be harder to stomach. Also: Pam Anderson, skater Evan Lysacek, NFLer Ochocinco... and then a pack of collagen-injected hollywoodies I didn't recognize.

There always appear to be strong opinions about whether our space heroes should be "stars" in the glitzy, over-developed American sense of the word. Astronauts themselves have an internal cultural habit of looking down their noses at the idea, and stop just short of shunning those who court obvious upsides to fame. I’ve never understood this mentality.

While it’s clear to everyone by now that Neil Armstrong prefers to sit at home watching television while Buzz Aldrin likes to be ON it, I’ve always felt this should be left up to the preferences and natural personality of the space-faring crews once their jobs are done.

Buzz with wife Lois

If there were more astronauts on TV, I sure wouldn't have canceled my cable package years ago out of boredom and disgust. Why glorify actors? Last I checked, they weren’t racking up college degrees, spending years in grueling training, or risking their very lives for the advancement of human knowledge. They merely stand in front of cameras to play pretend for a living, and yet they are far more recognizable when walking down the street than anyone on a current Shuttle crew.

It shouldn’t be that way. It should be precisely the opposite. So here’s to you, Buzz… for being brave enough to dance before the nation. It’s a great opportunity for parents everywhere to tell their children who you are, what you accomplished, and what our space program could still do if it had the support it deserves! Shine that limelight, I say. Get the kids interested again. It maybe the only way we get anywhere now.

Quick mention: William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both turn 80 in time for the 2011 season. Can they play next? =)