World Space Exploration..Past..Present & Future!

I'm very disappointed with the direction of the Us space program..i.e. NASA. Particulary NASA manned missions.

Big NASA Budget Cuts to Slash Mars Missions, Experts Say | NASA & Budget Woes | ExoMars Mission & Planetary Exploration | Space.com

I can honestly state that when I was growing up in the 60's I felt after Apollo 11 that the US would have men on Mars within 15 years.. of course that never happened. In stead the US manned missions were stagnated with Skylab and the Space Shuttle. Both series were successful but they did not father the exploration of space.

Popeye. Are you disappointed because other country/ies are progressing OR because the US "stop" exploring the space ? If no other country were progressing, would you be still disappointed ?

antiterror, I'm disappointed because the US has nearly stopped exploring space. I'm happy other countries are going ahead with space exploration. Perhaps there will be more cooperation between the US and other nations on this subject.

Originally Posted by bd popeye

I'm very disappointed with the direction of the Us space program..i.e. NASA. Particulary NASA manned missions.

Big NASA Budget Cuts to Slash Mars Missions, Experts Say | NASA & Budget Woes | ExoMars Mission & Planetary Exploration | Space.com

I can honestly state that when I was growing up in the 60's I felt after Apollo 11 that the US would have men on Mars within 15 years.. of course that never happened. In stead the US manned missions were stagnated with Skylab and the Space Shuttle. Both series were successful but they did not father the exploration of space.

I've heard it be said that the US's landing on the moon was an "aberration" of sorts: an achievement that was way beyond what was technologically feasible at the time. It is somewhat akin to the Vikings landing on North America: long boats vs the caravels of Columbus.

As such, I think we are now progressing at a more natural pace. Achieving markers such as Mars landings might be interesting for the press, but is of little value scientifically unless we are also able to *do something* there.

^^^ I agree somewhat but it was done with the technology available at that time in history.

A Delta IV-Heavy rocket lifts off from Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Friday, June 29, 2012. The rocket is carrying a classified satellite for the National Reconaissance Office.

Originally Posted by bd popeye

^^^ I agree somewhat but it was done with the technology available at that time in history.

Very True, and this is my Favourite Video r. epresenting that era. Its extremelty stirring and does something to you when one watches it. and the men sitting on top of all that have gotta be slightly mad I reckon.

AMAZING ROCKET LAUNCH - YouTube

I suppose it wasn't in slow motion. It just shows how heavy the thing is.

Team chews over Mars menu options

Team chews over Mars menu options - World - NZ Herald News


Through a labyrinth of hallways deep inside a 1950s-era building that has housed research that dates back to the origins of United States space travel, scientists in white coats are stirring, mixing, measuring, brushing and, most important, tasting the end result of their cooking.

Their mission: Build a menu for a planned journey to Mars in the 2030s.

The menu must sustain a group of six to eight astronauts, keep them healthy and happy and also offer a broad array of food. That's no simple feat considering it will likely take six months to get to the red planet, astronauts will have to stay there 18 months and then it will take another six months to return to Earth. Imagine having to shop for a family's three-year supply of groceries all at once and having enough meals planned in advance for that length of time.

"Mars is different just because it's so far away," said Maya Cooper, senior research scientist with Lockheed Martin, who is leading the efforts to build the menu. "We don't have the option to send a vehicle every six months and send more food as we do for the International Space Station."

Astronauts who travel to the space station have a wide variety of food available to them, some 100 or so different options, in fact. But it is all pre-prepared and freeze-dried with a shelf life of at least two years.

And while astronauts make up a panel that tastes the food and gives it a final okay on Earth before it blasts off, the lack of gravity means smell and taste is impaired. So the food is bland.

On Mars though, there is more gravity, allowing Nasa to consider significant changes to the present space menu. That's where Cooper's team comes in. Travel to Mars opens the possibility that astronauts can do things like chop vegetables and do a little cooking of their own. Even though pressure levels are different from Earth, scientists think it will be possible to boil water with a pressure cooker.

One option Cooper and her staff are considering is having the astronauts care for a "Martian greenhouse". They would have a variety of fruits and vegetables from carrots to bell peppers in a hydroponic solution, meaning they would be planted in mineral-laced water instead of soil. The astronauts would care for their garden and then use those ingredients, combined with others, such as nuts and spices brought from Earth, to prepare their meals.

The top priority is to ensure that the astronauts get the proper amount of nutrients, calories and minerals to maintain their physical health and performance for the life of the mission, Cooper said.

The menu must also maintain the psychological health of the astronauts, Cooper explained, noting studies have shown that eating certain foods improves people's mood and give them satisfaction. That "link to home" will be key to astronauts on the Mars mission, and there are currently two academic studies looking further into the connection between mood and food. Lacking certain vitamins or minerals can also harm the brain, she said.

Already, Cooper's team of three has come up with about 100 recipes, all vegetarian because the astronauts will not have dairy or meat products available. It isn't possible to preserve those products long enough to take to Mars and bringing a cow on the mission is not an option, Cooper jokes.

To ensure the vegetarian diet packs the right amount of protein, the researchers are designing a variety of dishes that include tofu and nuts, including a Thai pizza that has no cheese but is covered with carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, scallions, peanuts and a homemade sauce that has a spicy kick.

To keep this menu going, and get the most out of any research about food sustainability on Mars, Cooper says it's possible Nasa will choose to have one astronaut solely dedicated to preparing the food.

Cooper is also building an alternative pre-packaged menu, similar to how things are done for crews that do six-month stints on the International Space Station. For this option, though, the food will need to have a five-year shelf life compared with the two years available now.

The ideal, though, would be to combine the two options.

"So they would have some fresh crop and some food that we would send from Earth," Cooper said.

- AP

Only vegetarian food..... Yuk

Originally Posted by solarz

I've heard it be said that the US's landing on the moon was an "aberration" of sorts: an achievement that was way beyond what was technologically feasible at the time. It is somewhat akin to the Vikings landing on North America: long boats vs the caravels of Columbus.

As such, I think we are now progressing at a more natural pace. Achieving markers such as Mars landings might be interesting for the press, but is of little value scientifically unless we are also able to *do something* there.

It might have been a tough feat but obviously they feel confident enough to return 5 or 6 times after Apollo 11.
Whether the cost justifies at that time is another matter.

Originally Posted by bladerunner

including a Thai pizza that has no cheese but is covered with carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, scallions, peanuts and a homemade sauce that has a spicy kick.

OMG.


Maybe they can have vegetarian 'meat' made from bean products. They are popular with Asian vegetarians.

Originally Posted by no_name

OMG.


Maybe they can have vegetarian 'meat' made from bean products. They are popular with Asian vegetarians.

Whats to stop them taking a can of Watties Spaghetti and meatballs. According to the useby date, its got a shelf life of 3yrs. Come to think of it I think some of the tinned food Scott took with to the Antartic at the beginng of the 20th century is supposedly edible

Meanwhle from the China Daily
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2...t_15605506.htm

TOKYO - An unmanned cargo carrier to supply goods to the International Space Station (ISS), "the Konotori 3", was successfully launched into orbit by an H2B rocket in southwest Japan on Saturday.

The rocket blasted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan at 11:06 am local time, the public broadcaster NHK reported.

The cargo carrier separated from the rocket at an altitude of about 288 kilometers about 15 minutes later.

The transporter is carrying 4.6 tons of cargo, including food, experiment hardware, and micro-satellites developed by Japanese universities and companies, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The event marked the third launch of the spacecraft by the Japanese space agency.

The cargo carrier will be docked to the ISS by a robotic arm used by the space station crew.

http://www.space.com/16621-skylon-sp...ft-rocket.html

ARNBOROUGH, England —" Astrium Space Transportation and OHB AG will lead two consortia to perform a design of a new heavy-lift launch vehicle for the European Space Agency (ESA) following a bidding competition that included a surprise third bidder in Reaction Engines Ltd. of Britain, ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain said here July 10.

The British bidder, a company that for more than a decade has been designing a space plane called Skylon using a radical new engine design for atmospheric and orbital flight, was not selected for what ESA calls its New European Launch Service."

http://www.space.com/16505-euclid-sp...er-energy.html

"When the European Space Agency's Euclid spacecraft launches in 2019, it will kick off an ambitious mission to map more than 70 million galaxies with a single goal: shining a light on the invisible dark matter and dark energy binding the universe together.

Named for the ancient Greek mathematician, Euclid will peer into space in the visible and near- infrared spectrum in search of signs of dark matter and its counterpart, dark energy. Both are challenging because they cannot be measured directly. Instead, astronomers measure the phenomena by their gravitational influence on visible matter, such as stars and galaxies. "

Russian space agency considers Jupiter mission

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_07_22/Ru...piter-mission/

The European Space Agency (ESA) is starting preparations for a mission to Jupiter. The Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) project, approved for implementation in 2022, is to explore the giant planet and its icy satellites: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Russian scientists are considering the possibility of participating in the mission, but the implementation of these plans depends on the previous planetary program.

Lee Fletcher from JUICE’s Oxford University scientific group presented the objectives of the Jupiter exploration, utilizing the European JUICE spacecraft, at the Scientific Assembly of the International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in Mysore, India. The ESA’s JUICE mission – a reduced version of the more ambitious EJSM project – was chosen as the L-class mission (L meaning “large”) within the framework of the Cosmic Vision program.

The Europeans are not facing an easy task. Initially, the EJSM project included two satellites: the ESA’s JGO was meant for exploring Jupiter and Ganymede, while NASA’s JEO is intended for exploring Jupiter and Europa. The Japanese were also going to participate in the mission with their equipment for studying Jupiter’s magnetosphere. At the same time, there was a possibility of a detailed study of both the planet’s satellites and Jupiter itself.

Since 2005, spacecraft only occasionally visited the largest planet of the Solar system on their way to other destinations: Cassini was headed for Saturn, while New Horizons for Pluto. It was just recently that the American Juno spacecraft aimed at studying the atmosphere of the planet was sent to Jupiter. Thus, JUICE is designed to close the gap in exploration of the major planets.

The difficulty lies in the fact that one spacecraft is to examine Jupiter and its three satellites: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. According to the present ballistic scheme of the expedition, the exploration of Jupiter, including its high latitudes, should take 26 months, and after that the spacecraft should change orbit and explore the satellites.

The task of searching for traces of potential life or substances supporting it on the satellites was widely discussed. Yet Jupiter itself is nonetheless interesting, as it represents a natural space laboratory for studying fluid dynamics. In this case, while Juno will study the deeper layers of the atmosphere, JUICE will focus on the upper layers, both vertical (energy transmission, convection, and cloud formation study) and horizontal (processes on different latitudes, polar regions, and their connection with the magnetosphere and the polar lights). Another question for studying is variations of the atmosphere. Devices working in the wide range of electro-magnetic radiation (from ultra-violet to radio range) and possessing a wide spatial and temporal resolution are needed for the implementation of these tasks.

Russia is interested in the JUICE project to some extent, and two years ago, when the EJSM project was under development, Russian scientists suggested joining the program with their spacecraft aimed at landing on Europa. At the same time, the Russian mission was mainly interested in the NASA spacecraft aimed at Europa’s preliminary exploration. In its present condition, JUICE does not include the spacecraft’s long stay near Europa. That is why Russia has to review the plan of the mission: it should either send a spacecraft to conduct research on the spot, or to send a mission to Ganymede, which is considered to be less promising from the point of view of finding traces of life or conditions for its existence there.

However, it should be understood that sending a lander to the Jupiter system is an extremely difficult project, and not much time remains for its implementation. The next launch as part of the Russian planetary program is scheduled for 2014. It is the joint Russian-Indian Luna-Resource project, which also includes the Russian lander. Then, as it has recently been voiced by the Russian Space Agency, there are plans for some ten scientific missions up to 2018. Among them is a further study of the Moon.

The question is whether or not it is compatible with a flight to Jupiter. On the one hand, the international agencies’ practice shows that along with the smaller-scale missions, larger “flagship” projects are constantly being developed. The Jupiter mission could become such a large-scale project for Russia. On the other hand, perhaps, it would be more prudent for Russia to choose a gradual recovery of the space industry accompanied by more frequent, but less complex launches, and consistent development of various systems.

Originally Posted by bladerunner

Whats to stop them taking a can of Watties Spaghetti and meatballs. According to the useby date, its got a shelf life of 3yrs. Come to think of it I think some of the tinned food Scott took with to the Antartic at the beginng of the 20th century is supposedly edible

I think they will be pretty messy to eat in zero g.

Originally Posted by no_name

OMG.


Maybe they can have vegetarian 'meat' made from bean products. They are popular with Asian vegetarians.

Ironic part is that they taste just like dried tofu, not real meat.

Don't bean based products produce gas??? I think astronauts might want to avoid such a diet.

Lolz didn't thought of that.