A traveling exhibition of photographs and X-ray images will put spacesuits in all their complexity on display. Most of the National Air and Space Museum’s collection of about 300 spacesuits are stashed in a Smithsonian storage building , laid out five high on steel racks in a climate-controlled room. Each is protected by a sheet of muslin, giving the room the eerie feel of a morgue or the final resting place of members of an odd space cult. There are Mercury suits like the one worn by Scott Carpenter, the fourth American in space, its iconic reflective coating coming off in spots. There’s the Apollo 11 suit worn by Neil A. Armstrong, looking about as pristine as when he made his first small step on the moon in 1969, thanks to a cleaning job by NASA that, in retrospect, was ill advised because it damaged the materials the suit was made of. Nearby lies Harrison H. Schmitt’s Apollo 17 outfit, still heavily coated in lunar grit.
Russia Wants Nuclear-Powered Spaceships and Space Debris Shields
Russia has begun some ambitious space projects, including a new system to protect spacecraft from space junk and a nuclear-powered engine for future spaceships, according to Russian news reports.
The space debris protection system is designed to safeguard future outposts on the moon and Mars, officials at Russia’s Central Research Institute of Machine Building said, the Russian Ria Novosti newspaper has reported.
Russia Is Building Floating Nuclear Reactors Near the North Pole Gizmodo
Here you can see the first of the eight floating nuclear power plants—a ship-platform hybrid that will be finished in 2012. It will be deployed deep into the Arctic circle.
And what do they want them for, so far from the mainland? Because they want to expand their territory one million square kilometers. That’s 386,102 square miles of extra territory in the Arctic, all the way to the North Pole.
Driving Sustainability: How NASA’s Mars rovers could improve your next electric car AutoblogGreen
How far would you go for a better electric car? The ends of the earth? The moon? Ari Jónsson’s answer is further than either of these places. He can help find a better electric car on Mars.
Jónsson’s, of Reykjavík University, spoke at the 2010 Driving Sustainability conference in Reykjavík, Iceland last weekend on the topic “Ultimate Sustainability.” In this case, ultimate isn’t an understatement. Jónsson helped NASA develop the electric rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, that were sent to the Red Planet in 2003 and performed way beyond anyone’s expectations since arriving in the harsh, harsh environment. Think Nissan is being careful with the cold weather package for the Leaf? Try getting a battery ready for temperatures that can drop to -50 or -80 C at night. Then try powering these batteries from the sun in a place that gets less solar energy (Mars is further from the sun than the Earth) and where the sky is often covered by dust storms – and that dust can come to rest on the solar panels. In short, try building an electric vehicle (EV) for the worst possible scenario and make is 100 percent sustainable. It’s not easy, but the lessons learned have Earthbound applications.
Mars rover technology could improve solar power efficiency on Earth Telegraph
Solar panels could be kept free from dust and grime which hampers energy output using a self-cleaning system developed for NASA’s Mars rover robots.
The devices scouring the red planet have sensors which detect dust build-ups and zap the surface of their solar panels with an electrical charge to keep them shiny. Dr Malay Mazumder, who helped create the technology for NASA, said it could help boost efficiency of large solar power plants, many of which are situated in arid and dusty desert locations.
Mars technology creates self-dusting solar panels
Self-cleaning technology developed for lunar and Mars missions could be used to keep terrestrial solar panels dust free
Dust deposits can reduce the efficiency of electricity generating solar panels by as much as 80%.
The self cleaning technology can repel dust when sensors detect concentrations on the panel’s surface have reached a critical level.
The research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Large scale solar installations are usually in sunny, dry desert areas where winds can deposit layers of dust over the solar panels.
Solar panels in the Mojave desert cover many kilometres. In one month, dust fall can reach as much as 17kg per square kilometre.
The dust reduces the amount of light that enters the panels and so the electricity they can generate.
Space agencies tackle waning plutonium stockpiles Spaceflight Now
While NASA is counting on an act of Congress or a renegotiated deal with Russia to acquire plutonium for its next robotic deep space missions, the European Space Agency is considering alternative nuclear fuels to power its own probes traveling into the sun-starved outer solar system. NASA’s dwindling supply of plutonium-238 nuclear fuel will not be sufficient to power an orbiter to visit Jupiter’s moon Europa, NASA’s contribution to a planned $4.5 billion joint flagship mission between the U.S. space agency and Europe. That’s unless the U.S. Department of Energy, which supplies nuclear fuel for NASA missions, receives funding to restart domestic production of plutonium or successfully resolves a contract dispute with the Russian government, said Jim Adams, the deputy director of NASA’s planetary science division.
Nuclear-Challenged U.S. Turns to Europe to Meet NASA’s Plutonium needs DailyTech
Europe, a leader in nuclear power, has announced that it intends to lend its American counterparts a hand by making Pu-238 for NASA. David Southwood, ESA’s director of science and robotic exploration, in an interview with Spaceflight Now, states, “Our target is to have an independent capability, which may help our American friends.” Since the Pioneer and Voyager missions of the 1970s, NASA has been using the radioactive plutonium-238 (or Pu-238) isotope to power its deep space missions. The radioactive source has a very long half-life of 87.7 years. Over that period it slowly decays, releasing a steady stream of thermal energy in the process. That thermal energy is harvested by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) in the probes to make power. Unfortunately, NASA’s plutonium stockpile has almost been exhausted, even as agency prepares its new Mars Space Laboratory which will require the isotope for power. There’s really no alternative currently for NASA, as the operational range of many of its missions place it well outside the spatial volume where the sun’s rays are strong enough to provide a decent level of solar power.
Drill design could have future on Mars University of Alberta
A team of University of Alberta engineering students has proven themselves other-worldly with their winning design for a machine meant to work on Mars. After sweeping the U of A’s mechanical engineering student design awards, the four-member team took the National Design Excellence title last week with a robotic drill for taking core samples of the red planet.
“Winning the nationals in Victoria was our goal from the start,” said team member Nicolas Olmedo. “We asked our instructors for a very tough design assignment, and we got it.”
Michael Lipsett, a U of A mechanical engineering professor and team advisor, says a Mars core sampler has every challenge imaginable. “The planet has very harsh conditions, and the design has to be light, low-power, and robust, because it’s a long way away for a service call if something goes wrong.”
Broadcast 1352 (Special Edition) – Guest: Dr. Robert Zubrin The Space Show
Topics: Human spaceflight, US space policy, Mars. Dr. Robert Zubrin was our guest for this non-stop two hour program to discuss the proposed changes in US space policy and why having a destination is so important for our national space program. For more information, visit The Mars Society website at www.marssociety.org. Note the coming Mars Society Conference which Dr. Zubrin told us about, scheduled for Dayton, Ohio from August 5-8, 2010. Dr. Zubrin started our discussion saying that we could go to Mars in about ten years as technology was not the issue. I then asked why even have a human spaceflight program and why Mars. Bob provided us with a comprehensive response and discussion to both of these questions. In fact, this nearly two hour discussion was action packed, covered lots of aspects of space policy, was very comprehensive, and while he was critical of administration policy, he also offered solutions to the problems he described. During our discussion, Dr. Zubrin had much to say about the Augustine Commission findings, Science Advisor John Holdren, the budget expenses earmarked for the ISS when the US will not be visiting the ISS except using the Soyuz, and more. Listeners asked him about nuclear rockets, specifically Vasimr. Dr. Zubrin who has his doctorate in nuclear engineering, had much to say about nuclear rocket propulsion including Vasimr and nuclear thermal which is quite different. Listen to what he had to say about these different types of propulsion and why one is doable and one is extremely hard and costly since it requires so much added power, the latter being VASIMIR. Dr. Zubrin dissected the administration plan, especially the part about heavy lift. Listeners suggested that the research called for in the administration plan for heavy lift was about getting affordable heavy lift. Listen carefully to what Dr. Zubrin had to say about this and the entire research program suggested in the administration plan. Bob went to great lengths to talk about why policy needs a destination and time line, be it the Moon, a NEO, or Mars. He offered us many insights about programs without destination goals and timelines. Do you agree with him? Other listeners asked him many questions about Mars Direct including a potential test flight program, tethers, artificial gravity, and needed milestones. He was asked about a Mars fly by mission or landing on Phobos, he talked about orbital propellant depots, the differences in radiation for an ISS crew as compared to a Mars Direct crew. Toward the end of the program, Bob explained the old but important political doctrine of Thomas Malthus known as Malthusianism and why this is the opposite of what space development is all about. Listen to what Dr. Zubrin had to say about this and its influence in the current administration. At the end of the program, I asked him for his thoughts on the use of commercial launch providers and he said he was supportive of that as long as they can meet the requirements and do it. He indirectly referenced the GAP in this discussion but again said a program without destinations and time frames is a flawed or no program at all.