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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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 Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 7:49 am Post subject: NASA's dopest idea this year - going to an asteroid |
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It's true - this is some exciting news. I really hope they follow through on this idea:
http://www.space.com/news/061116_asteroid_nasa.html
Basically the logic goes as follows: we've been to the Moon and there's not really much there to use. The next planet we should be going to is Mars (actually it should be Venus but the common opinion is that Mars should be next), but instead of the 3 days to the Moon, Mars takes six months. In the meantime then, why not send people to go land on a near-Earth asteroid?
It's actually easier than a Moon landing considering that with the minuscule gravity an asteroid has, landing and taking off again is nearly effortless and very easy to do. In addition asteroids have much better materials than the Moon does and bringing back samples might inspire some businesses to try mining operations for the first time ever. Lastly, I think they should set a telescope up while they're there because even the Hubble Space Telescope gets some interference from being so close to Earth, but an asteroid out in the middle of nowhere would be just perfect.
Everybody excited?
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NASA Studies Manned Asteroid Mission
NASA is appraising a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid�gauging the scientific merit of the endeavor while testing out spacecraft gear, as well as mastering techniques that could prove useful if a space rock ever took aim for our planet.
Space agency teams are looking into use of Constellation hardware for a human Near-Earth Object (NEO) mission�an effort underway at NASA�s Ames Research. Another study is delving into use of Constellation components to support an automated Mars sample return mission. That study is led by NASA�s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The Constellation Program encompasses NASA�s initial efforts to extend the human presence throughout the solar system.
Major pieces of the Constellation Program�such as the Orion crew vehicle�are meant to support transport of humans and cargo to the Moon and to the International Space Station, while future efforts would sustain missions to Mars and beyond.
Astronauts, engineers and scientists at NASA�s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas have been looking into the capabilities of the Orion vehicle for a mission to a near-Earth asteroid. |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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| With the 700-800 degree temps on Venus I think Mars SHOULD be next as soace suits that cab 1. tolerate such high temps 2. sheld the astronuats and cool them dont exist yet. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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| NAVFC wrote: |
| With the 700-800 degree temps on Venus I think Mars SHOULD be next as soace suits that cab 1. tolerate such high temps 2. sheld the astronuats and cool them dont exist yet. |
Forgot to mention that I think we should be exploring Venus 50 km above the surface as written in this pdf:
http://powerweb.grc.nasa.gov/pvsee/publications/venus/VenusColony_STAIF03.pdf |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:50 am Post subject: |
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Yep. Asteroid.
There's a board where space threads don't just fall off the edge of the Earth, it's true. Eight pages of arguing over whether surface images and other observations prove that Titan has lakes or not. That's my kind of board. |
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cwemory
Joined: 14 Jan 2006
Location: Gunpo, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:29 am Post subject: |
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The Guardian wrote about it as well, although admittedly from a Armageddon-like angle.
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Wanted: man to land on killer asteroid and gently nudge it from path to Earth
David Adam
Friday November 17, 2006
The Guardian
It is the stuff of nightmares and, until now, Hollywood thrillers. A huge asteroid is on a catastrophic collision course with Earth and mankind is poised to go the way of the dinosaurs.
To save the day, Nasa now plans to go where only Bruce Willis has gone before. The US space agency is drawing up plans to land an astronaut on an asteroid hurtling through space at more than 30,000 mph. It wants to know whether humans could master techniques needed to deflect such a doomsday object when it is eventually identified. The proposals are at an early stage, and a spacecraft needed just to send an astronaut that far into space exists only on the drawing board, but they are deadly serious. A smallish asteroid called Apophis has already been identified as a possible threat to Earth in 2036.
Chris McKay of the Nasa Johnson Space Centre in Houston told the website Space.com: "There's a lot of public resonance with the notion that Nasa ought to be doing something about killer asteroids ... to be able to send serious equipment to an asteroid.
"The public wants us to have mastered the problem of dealing with asteroids. So being able to have astronauts go out there and sort of poke one with a stick would be scientifically valuable as well as demonstrate human capabilities."
A 1bn tonne asteroid just 1km across striking the Earth at a 45 degree angle could generate the equivalent of a 50,000 megatonne thermonuclear explosion. Attempting to break it up with an atomic warhead might only generate thousands of smaller objects on a similar course, which could have time to reform. Scientists agree the best approach, given enough warning, would be to gently nudge the object into a safer orbit. |
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1950258,00.html |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:29 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
Yep. Asteroid.
There's a board where space threads don't just fall off the edge of the Earth, it's true. Eight pages of arguing over whether surface images and other observations prove that Titan has lakes or not. That's my kind of board. |
I have a freind that is an astrophysicist... at least in name... and even she don't give a rat's butt about the lakes/no lakes issue on Titan.  I mean, what's it going to teach us in the short term?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for scientific inquiry and believe we learn useful things from such exploration, but in a world about to go haywire it's a matter of priorities: why don't we devote more of our scientific resources to solving the energy/greenhouse issues that are about to send us into a potential tailspin the likes of which may make the Dark Ages seem like a respite?
I am very interested in plate tectonics and getting to where we can predict earthquakes and other Earth phenomena. It has very practical applications regarding building codes and choosing locations in the first place.... etc.... |
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dogshed
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:37 am Post subject: |
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| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
Yep. Asteroid.
There's a board where space threads don't just fall off the edge of the Earth, it's true. Eight pages of arguing over whether surface images and other observations prove that Titan has lakes or not. That's my kind of board. |
I have a freind that is an astrophysicist... at least in name... and even she don't give a rat's butt about the lakes/no lakes issue on Titan. I mean, what's it going to teach us in the short term?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for scientific inquiry and believe we learn useful things from such exploration, but in a world about to go haywire it's a matter of priorities: why don't we devote more of our scientific resources to solving the energy/greenhouse issues that are about to send us into a potential tailspin the likes of which may make the Dark Ages seem like a respite?
I am very interested in plate tectonics and getting to where we can predict earthquakes and other Earth phenomena. It has very practical applications regarding building codes and choosing locations in the first place.... etc.... |
Being able to predict earthquakes won't mean much if we get hit by an asteroid. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:17 am Post subject: |
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| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
Yep. Asteroid.
There's a board where space threads don't just fall off the edge of the Earth, it's true. Eight pages of arguing over whether surface images and other observations prove that Titan has lakes or not. That's my kind of board. |
I have a freind that is an astrophysicist... at least in name... and even she don't give a rat's butt about the lakes/no lakes issue on Titan. I mean, what's it going to teach us in the short term?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for scientific inquiry and believe we learn useful things from such exploration, but in a world about to go haywire it's a matter of priorities: why don't we devote more of our scientific resources to solving the energy/greenhouse issues that are about to send us into a potential tailspin the likes of which may make the Dark Ages seem like a respite?
I am very interested in plate tectonics and getting to where we can predict earthquakes and other Earth phenomena. It has very practical applications regarding building codes and choosing locations in the first place.... etc.... |
It's true that science in other areas is just as important, but space science also helps us understand quite a bit about our own planet for the fact that we are able to see what happens with other worlds when the solar energy, gravity and whatnot are changed. Venus is an especially important example because of its runaway greenhouse effect. Even refining techniques to be able to detect clouds from far away on other planets often helps out over here, for example in being able to predict where the heaviest rains are going to fall - with that poor countries can concentrate their mosquito-fighting budget where they are most likely to breed and thus reduce the malaria rate where before they would just be spraying willy-nilly and hoping for the best. This is the part of space science that space agencies really need to work harder to show to people.
NASA doesn't cost all that much either, only $16 billion or so a year, or what, 5% of an Iraq War? 
The lakes thread is mostly because of a troll on the other board, a guy that doesn't believe that you can tell if there are lakes on a planet without actually sending people there to find out for themselves. Titan isn't just cold but actually deadly toxic though, so I doubt people will be going there any time soon. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:31 am Post subject: |
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| dogshed wrote: |
| Being able to predict earthquakes won't mean much if we get hit by an asteroid. |
I didn't notice anything in this thread about locating NEAs. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:34 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
Yep. Asteroid.
There's a board where space threads don't just fall off the edge of the Earth, it's true. Eight pages of arguing over whether surface images and other observations prove that Titan has lakes or not. That's my kind of board. |
I have a freind that is an astrophysicist... at least in name... and even she don't give a rat's butt about the lakes/no lakes issue on Titan. I mean, what's it going to teach us in the short term?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for scientific inquiry and believe we learn useful things from such exploration, but in a world about to go haywire it's a matter of priorities: why don't we devote more of our scientific resources to solving the energy/greenhouse issues that are about to send us into a potential tailspin the likes of which may make the Dark Ages seem like a respite?
I am very interested in plate tectonics and getting to where we can predict earthquakes and other Earth phenomena. It has very practical applications regarding building codes and choosing locations in the first place.... etc.... |
It's true that science in other areas is just as important, but space science also helps us understand quite a bit about our own planet for the fact that we are able to see what happens with other worlds when the solar energy, gravity and whatnot are changed. Venus is an especially important example because of its runaway greenhouse effect. Even refining techniques to be able to detect clouds from far away on other planets often helps out over here, for example in being able to predict where the heaviest rains are going to fall - with that poor countries can concentrate their mosquito-fighting budget where they are most likely to breed and thus reduce the malaria rate where before they would just be spraying willy-nilly and hoping for the best. This is the part of space science that space agencies really need to work harder to show to people.
NASA doesn't cost all that much either, only $16 billion or so a year, or what, 5% of an Iraq War?
The lakes thread is mostly because of a troll on the other board, a guy that doesn't believe that you can tell if there are lakes on a planet without actually sending people there to find out for themselves. Titan isn't just cold but actually deadly toxic though, so I doubt people will be going there any time soon. |
As I said, I don't doubt the long-term use, but that sort of research rarely pays off in the time frames we have available if peak oil and global warming issues are as present as I believe they are. It's the 20/80 thing. What do our priorities need to be in the short-term may be a different question than what they need to be over the long term. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:18 am Post subject: |
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| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
| EFLtrainer wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
Yep. Asteroid.
There's a board where space threads don't just fall off the edge of the Earth, it's true. Eight pages of arguing over whether surface images and other observations prove that Titan has lakes or not. That's my kind of board. |
I have a freind that is an astrophysicist... at least in name... and even she don't give a rat's butt about the lakes/no lakes issue on Titan. I mean, what's it going to teach us in the short term?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for scientific inquiry and believe we learn useful things from such exploration, but in a world about to go haywire it's a matter of priorities: why don't we devote more of our scientific resources to solving the energy/greenhouse issues that are about to send us into a potential tailspin the likes of which may make the Dark Ages seem like a respite?
I am very interested in plate tectonics and getting to where we can predict earthquakes and other Earth phenomena. It has very practical applications regarding building codes and choosing locations in the first place.... etc.... |
It's true that science in other areas is just as important, but space science also helps us understand quite a bit about our own planet for the fact that we are able to see what happens with other worlds when the solar energy, gravity and whatnot are changed. Venus is an especially important example because of its runaway greenhouse effect. Even refining techniques to be able to detect clouds from far away on other planets often helps out over here, for example in being able to predict where the heaviest rains are going to fall - with that poor countries can concentrate their mosquito-fighting budget where they are most likely to breed and thus reduce the malaria rate where before they would just be spraying willy-nilly and hoping for the best. This is the part of space science that space agencies really need to work harder to show to people.
NASA doesn't cost all that much either, only $16 billion or so a year, or what, 5% of an Iraq War?
The lakes thread is mostly because of a troll on the other board, a guy that doesn't believe that you can tell if there are lakes on a planet without actually sending people there to find out for themselves. Titan isn't just cold but actually deadly toxic though, so I doubt people will be going there any time soon. |
As I said, I don't doubt the long-term use, but that sort of research rarely pays off in the time frames we have available if peak oil and global warming issues are as present as I believe they are. It's the 20/80 thing. What do our priorities need to be in the short-term may be a different question than what they need to be over the long term. |
The thing is though, space development doesn't get much funding at all compared to funding for other programs. Even something as drastic as cutting NASA in half would only save a paltry $8 billion a year and would cripple the space program. While its true that benefits from space research come in in the long term, that means that we're now benefiting from research done in the 80s and 90s and that any cuts done now to save money in the near future would only create a gap in new technology that can be used by the average person a decade or two down the road.
I think Al Gore should be put in a position of real authority on the issue you're talking about though - his company (companies?) focus on making green technology turn a profit. One thing that just baffles me if we're talking about environmental footprints and trying to keep down consumption is why we don't just use a whole host of simple measures like the lever you have on the toilet in a Japanese washroom, since the 80s or so I believe. They all have them, not just the fancy ones - you turn the lever one way and it makes a full flush, but when you turn it the other way it only cycles water until you let go of the lever, so that's what you use when you urinate. In addition to that the new water comes in out a faucet in the top and the top of the toilet is a sink, because the new water coming in is perfectly clean of course, and that's where you wash your hands. |
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