Excercise in near-0g....

Hey all...

I just finished reading Space.Com's article (see link) about exercise. This will be a major issue as we "go where no man has gone before" so to speak. Sure, astronauts have the equivalence of osteoporosis by the time they return to earth now, and the study is geared toward reducing these effects on them, but what will this mean to the planet-dwellers like the present day you and me. My grandfather has lost height, not nearly as bad as grandma did, from age and bone degeneration. Perhaps their studies into exercise, diet, and medications should also be reviewed here on earth (not that we follow their recommendations down here at this time). Just think, the next great "Get In Shape Now" trend may be the NASA-routine. Have fun balancing your aerobic and resistance training!

Nasa Cooking Expedition....

Can you cook without gravity

This is a slightly amusing thought.... if you cook in space, does boiling water return to the pot?

The answer is: No... it just expand because of the low gravity -- it's measured on a scale so small you can almost call it zero. Apparently cooking requires: duct tape, foil, and plastic bags. If you read the article, you'll get a lot of laughs about the technical challenges of cooking in almost no gravity. Please, don't take for granted the fact that your spinning earth provides enough gravity and force to hold your food down the next time you through the trash out or boil the water.

We now join the show already in progress....

Before I write anything in this post, let me thank the few people who've read my works for doing so and apologize for the delay in returning to this blog.

Can humanity live in space?

Habitability & Enviromental Factors

This division in setup in 2 branches: Environment and Habitat. The link for them has very vague and sketchy information. Here is what I think they should be looking at:

• Radiation: how to deal with solar and cosmic radiation, how to treat it, and what 40-50 year exposure will do.


• Food supplies: Can it be grown in space, can it be considered safe, does it require the special conditions of terrestrial soil or can a hydroponics farm really work.


• SAD syndrome. This occurs on the extreme latitudes and causes massive depression from a lack of sunlight. If I send someone to Mars and the Alaskan twilight that is likely to be the best they get, will I need to send a chemist, a lab, and 10 tons of antidepressants?
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• Liquids and biological agents. Pure water is useless after a while. We all drink in bacteria and viruses that are both helpful and harmful to life, but when we move out of the terra-sphere we know, the biosphere we've always lived in, will we find liquids and biological agents that enable us to maintain life, or will we be forever shipping out new supplies and shipping back depleted ones because of the aformentioned factors?

I hesitate to consider more as I will likely hit a nerve with them or try to put too much onto their plate. After all, NASA is comprised of many divisions and hordes outside contracts as much as congress will allow in an effort to enable us to continue exploring as nature (or, if you agree with me, God) designed.

For more possibilities, see NASA and the ESA (European Space Agency) for what they are working on and what their visions are. Perhaps I will remember to review the civillian sector space race again next Saturday. Signing out for this week, I want you to keep your head in the sky and your feet on the ground, unless you're an astronaut.

Ugana,

Homo Exterra

A space race....

So I cheated... Homo Sapiens is the Genus and Species of the modern man. Exterra is a combination of 2 latin words ex (out of, from) and terra (earth, land, ground). When we move to space as a permanent habitat, we may have generations of people growing up in microgravity. A recent article suggested that bone loss from microgravity can become so severe for long trips that the astronaut may be unable to return home.

NASA has been studying bone loss to extend the active duty time of its astronauts as well as increase their level of comfort between extended trips (such as 6 months on the ISS). Here's their main concern as stated in the article:

Exposure to the microgravity environment of space causes astronauts to lose calcium from bones. This loss occurs because the absence of Earth's gravity disrupts the process of bone maintenance in its major function of supporting body weight.

Because of this, our first permanent settlement, not just an outpost, may be manned by generations of people who's bodies will be shaped much differently from our own or may just be too brittle to visit "Mother Earth" or Gaea, to borrow from Greek Mythology. Now, there are many stories where people have very dense or very light bone structure and can't handle a "normal" environment properly anymore. Do not be surprised if in the next generation, Homo Exterra are transmitting back to earth home sick letters looking for someway to experience their roots....

Living on a moon....

A harsh mistress

You may not think about it, because it's not common on good ol' terra firma but radiation is blasting out across the solar system every microsecond... some will strike the surface or atmosphere of a planet. This radiation is shielded from us by the very makeup of earth. However, out in space, it may be a completely different story.

Because of this, lunar habitats are going to require a slightly different construction plan than earth neighborhoods or the space station. You've all seen the drawings of huge domed cities on the surface of a planet or moon. This is only going to help the incoming radiation and the atmosphere. This does not help, however, our big concern: Is the surface of a lunar body harmfully radioactive to long-term habitation?

Since we don't have radiological studies of every potential habitat out in space, we have to start designing as if the answer is yes. We will need to create a bed of radiation absorbing materials that does not re-transmit or at the least redirects it away from the settlement. What might this structure look like? A layer of highly dense material, an ice layer, and a second layer of dense material? I myself do not know. What I do know is that even here on earth we are concerned about health hazards from the ground such as radon and carbon monoxide. Building for these settlements may catapult forward construction here on earth and protection from these dangers.

Until next time...

Artificial Gravity, Real Concerns

How to live with the weight of space

Once again I have come to you, my few random readers, to address concerns with future space life. We can't have dozens, hundreds, or the unlimited potential of humanity walking around using magnetic boots for their entire space life. So, for the real question:

How do we mimic gravity?

We have in the past heard of things terms as "artificial gravity". What do we know about gravity that makes us believe we can fake it. The answer is surprisingly simple: It is a force. We can spin a massive object and it will draw to the outer edges all of the force because of momentum.

Our biggest problem to date is that we do not have a massive enough object in rotation with people actually inhabiting it. This brings up our second major issue: Cosmic radiation. If you are being spun to the outside of the object, you are closest to the source of harmful radiation. The earth uses a multi-layer radiation defense system that we would have to mimic as well. This includes: a magnetic field, an atmosphere, a water barrier (clouds for example), and an ionosphere. Out in space, we also have to include thermal insulation (which is provided by the heat retaining quality of the oceans here on terra firma).

So, how will you prepare for this? What feats of science will be required to make new worlds go around our own?

Next time: Living on a moon...

Pressurizing Life

Life without the bends...

"The bends" are a serious issue for deep-sea divers. What will the gases in our bodies do with prolonged exposure to various pressures from Jupiterian flying settlements or lunar colonies? We have an idea with some environments (the earth, our own shuttles, and the ISS). But what gases may be toxic in these extra-terrestrial environments?

Nitrogen under pressure builds up in the diver's body, so the diver uses a mix with less nitrogen in it. Are we going to find that pressure differentials in new environments is causing the same issue with oxygen, hydrogen, or some other gas we commonly breath on earth?

Unfortunately, I do not have the answers. Perhaps someone will soon.

Interstellar Habitat modules

Living in Space: How to create a stellar colony

Everyone has seen the artistic impressions of space housing and lunar buildings, but where does the technology for these colonial habitat stand today? To find out, I did a simple search at one of my favorite websites SPACE.com and found these four stories.

Prototype Mars Base to Rise on Arctic Island. Dated in 1999, this describes the technology being tested in the artic for developing lightweight structures for deployment in the cold environment of Mars. The structure was to be dubbed "Mars Arctic Research Station" so I may find and post more information here for you later on that project. It should include the following based on the notes: garage, greenhouse, dwelling area, laboratory, and workshop for a crew compliment of 4-6 "martians" and be situated (unless this had been changed) on Devon Island. One thing I did not see covered in the article was the fine particulate dust said to exist everywhere in the martian atmosphere. Other issues they may be addressing in the future, although not listed, is ground level radiation, insulation repairs (the average temperature and its extremes are lower than here on earth), and disaster recover in case of habitat breech. In all, I would say this is a good first start on planet side or asteroid side interstellar colonization habitat modules. Related links:

• Mars Society: Artic Station
• Haughton-Mars Project
• Prototype Mars Base to Rise on Arctic Island

Private Sector, Low-Cost Lunar Plan Unveiled, dated 2005, discusses very briefly a proposal for a south-pole habitat on the moon. It is in very general terms and mentions the companies involved as: SpaceDev of Poway, CA; Lunar Enterprise Corporation; and Space Age Publishing Company (Parent of LEC). Related links:

• The Hawaii Moon Declaration
• Space Age Publishing Company
• Lunar Enterprise Corporation
• SpaceDev
• Private Sector, Low-Cost Lunar Plan Unveiled

Progress Made on Inflatable Private Space Module, dated 2005, describes a habit module for interstellar colonization (or at least a LEO colony) that can be inflated to "roughly 45 feet (13.7 meters) long and 22 feet (6.7 meters) in diameter". It is supposed to be launched this year (the story reports the 1st quarter, so it should already have been launched). It is backed by a major name in the Anasari X prize -- Robert Bigelow (owner of Budget Suites of America). Related links:

• Bigelow Aerospace
• America's Space Prize: Reaching Higher Than Sub-Orbit
• Inflatable space module cleared for liftoff

Designing Our Future in Space, dated 2000, discussed the people, technology, and process involved with space-based architecture from rockets to ISS focusing primarily on the differences to the design requirement and the training of future Space Architects. Ideas from this new generation of architects are definitely pointing in the direction of off-world, intersteller colonization. Related links:

• USC's Space Exploration Architectures Concepts Synthesis Studio
• Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA)
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Space Architect.org

These are examples of the technology under development for our future in space, interstellar colonization, and planetary exploration. There are thousands more available around the internet and I encourage you to explore and comment on them.

Interstellar shielding

Okay... time to go trekkie? No... This is real science

Shields Up! New Radiation Protection for Spacecraft and Astronauts on SPACE.com describes shielding based on electrostatic charges and arranging the "cryogenic" fluids in such a way that they capture interstellar radiation. Other articles discuss cold-plasma, the art and science of plasma torpedos and shielding.

Why post this here? Simple enough. You can not expect a large long-term crew or colony to exist in space if they are constantly bombarded with micro-particles and radiation. The earth has a natural series of protective devices (some of which, may or may not be in the process of being destroyed depending on who you talk to) that eliminate most of this threat. This natural shielding, unfortunately is not imparted to space-craft and station components, of which, the most sensitive is the contained life - you, me, and anything else shot into space that has the opportunity to learn, grow, and procreate.

Let me ask you, who is responsible for deploying your shield or your children's when we finally decide to vaction on the moon or take a tour of Mars up close and personal? If the technology is not developed, tested, and used now, what harm can befall those brave pioneers of our first permanent, non-research settlement I expect the ESA, JAXA, and/or NASA to attempt to setup on the moon by the end of the decade? This is not a time to take colonization lightly, each day, each test, each aerospace corporation whether or not owned by a government entity brings us closer to Asimovian visions of space life.