PANELISTS
Dan Rasky – Director, Space Portal, NASA Ames
John Hogan – Environmental Scientist, NASA Ames
Yvonne Cagle – Suboribtal Science and Advanced Life Support, NASA Ames
Dan Rasky
Director, Space Portal at NASA Ames
“With the new administration we have in place….I really believe that we’re looking at a new era for NASA where commercial space will play a significant role, a much greater role than it has in the past.”
Misuzu Onuki (center, standing) listens in on a student brainstorming session during a space tourism and culture lecture at ISU SSP 09. On the left is South Korean astronaut Yi So-Yeon, who is an ISU student this summer.
Space Tourism Society vice president Sam Coniglio and Japanese space consultant Misuzu Onuki kindly invited me to sit in on an ISU session they conducted on space commerce and society at NASA Ames. It was a fun and fascinating session to watch, particularly as an ISU alumnus.
Sam and Misuzu spent about an hour reviewing the present and future of space tourism and commercialization. As we move out into space, they said, humans will being to develop new cultures. They then broke the class up into eight groups of five or six students each and gave them the following scenario: The year is 2025, and there is a large space habitat orbiting the Earth. What would they build on it that could be profitable and reflect space culture?
SENS Foundation co-founder Aubrey de Grey described his work on extending the human lifespan to Singularity University students during a lunchtime talk at NASA Ames on Thursday. Although this is a bit off topic for a space blog, the subject is fascinating.
The SENS Foundation is a U.S.-based non-profit that conducts research on human longevity. Roughly 100,000 people die each day of age-related diseases. SENS focuses on regenerative medical therapies that will slow down biological aging to the point where people never reach the pathology stage.
De Grey, author of the book “Ending Aging,” said there are two mainstream approaches to dealing with the problem, both of which are inadequate. One is Geriatrics, in which doctors look at what’s going wrong with the body and attempt to treat it. This involves dealing with the problem after all the symptoms have appeared.
The second approach is Gerontology, which focuses on dealing with the damage done to the body by metabolism. De Grey said that the major problem with this approach is that we know so little about metabolism that it’s extremely difficult to be effective in this field.
Foam damage on STS-127 tank. Credit: NASA TV
Strips of foam peeled away from Endeavour’s fuel tank
CBS News
Post-launch photography of the shuttle Endeavour’s external tank shows multiple areas of bare metal where thin strips of foam insulation peeled away during the climb to space, the result of an as-yet-unknown mechanism. In at least two “events,” debris hit Endeavour’s heat shield tiles during the early stages of flight when the shuttle is most vulnerable to damage. But mission managers said Thursday there is no evidence of any serious problems that would prevent a safe re-entry.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions’ lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon’s surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules’ locations evident.
On 20 July, ESA will sign a contract with Thales Alenia Space Italy for the development of the European Experimental Reentry Testbed (Expert).
Set for launch in 2010, Expert will provide aerothermodynamic tool validation on the basis of actual flight data for a number of physical phenomena encountered by space transportation vehicles during their reentry phase in Earth’s atmosphere. It will also improve European competence in atmospheric reentry and associated technologies.
Jeff Foust discusses the growing Asian space race among China, India, Japan and South Korea.
From George Tahu (via Facebook): LRO takes first images of Apollo landing sites: https://www.nasa.gov/lro. Press conference at 2pm EDT: https://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio
Former Boeing engineer convicted of spying for China
CNN
Dongfan “Greg” Chung, 73, was accused of stealing restricted technology and Boeing trade secrets, including information related to the space shuttle program and the Delta IV rocket.
FISHER SPACE PEN PRESS RELEASE
As we celebrate the historic moon landing of Apollo 11 on July 20, Fisher Space Pen Co. is making available 1,000 limited edition AG7-40LE Space Pens. The pen is designed as a replica of the historic anti-gravity model pen that was invented by company founder, Paul C. Fisher, in 1966 and flew aboard the Apollo missions.
XCOR's Lynx suborbital vehicle
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Next Giant Leap
Private space pioneers: We’re inheritors of Apollo legacy
CNN
“Flight to space is an entire series of pinnacle life experiences,” said [Richard] Garriott, a 48-year-old board member of Space Adventures, the company that arranged his 12-day trip last year. “The view of the Earth is life changing.”
Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo with Burt Rutan and Richard Branson
EAA PRESS RELEASE
When Virgin Galactic Mothership “Eve” (formerly known as WhiteKnightTwo) arrives and executes several low passes on July 27 to kick off the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009 weeklong series of showcase flights and air shows, she’ll be performing the first of four scheduled flight demonstrations. The Monday arrival will be Virgin Mothership (VMS) Eve’s first appearance before a general-public audience.
