Apr 2007
Apr 2007
Space
stories
have been appearing thick and fast in the news this month. First up,
there are the reports that a potentially Earth-like planet has been
found circling a red dwarf star. The
star, officially Gliese 581, was identified at the European
Southern Observatory (ESO) facility at La Silla in the Atacama Desert
(their 3.2 metre scope is on the left) . It's in the
constellation Libra if you're interested in its horoscope. The
conditions on the planet seem right: not too close or far from the
parent star, possibility of liquid water and a planet that has twice
our gravity. Best of all, it's only 20 light-years away, which should
bring it within the range of telescope technology some time around
2020. Of course, the planet might not be quite what it seems, or
there might be intense radiation on it that makes life impossible
there. Astronomers are going to be arguing over this one until they
get the results. Then they'll really start arguing over
potential signs of alien life.
India
launched their own PSLV rocket – without strap-on boosters for the
first time – shown here on the right courtesy of ISRO. It carried
AGILE, an
Italian gamma ray and X-ray telescope, into an orbit 550km
above the equator. China had launched its 54th
consecutive successful rocket on the 12th April; an
oceanographic monitoring satellite called Haiyang 1B. China
has another half dozen launches up their sleeve for this year,
including their lunar orbiter. They want to launch more people into
space so the reliability of their craft has become extremely
important.
Stephen Hawking went into space, of course. Made famous by a physics text that was actually readable (called A Brief History of Time), he is almost completely disabled by ALS. He still managed to get a freebie flight on a zero-g aircraft ride though. He said, through his now famous console, that he has always wanted to go into space, and wonders if Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceline will be able to help in the future. Who can blame him for trying?
Even Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh are saying "Hi" to NASA. They will visit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on May 8th, during the Queens visit to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown. This was the first permanent English settlement in the colonies (the previous 17 had failed), and was named after the king of the time, James I. The ploy seemed to work, even though 80% of the colonists and their replacements died. Finally they started growing tobacco, and history saw fit to record the tale of Pocahontas and so forth.
“NASA is honored to be one of the U.S. organizations hosting a visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,” said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. “The United States and the United Kingdom have a strong partnership in space, from British-born mission astronauts who serve in NASA’s astronaut corps to the numerous joint scientific and research efforts under way.”
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Your ISS
Menu For Tonight,
Desert
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Dr. Charles Simonyi understands the lure of space best of all though, because he was the fifth tourist astronaut, and has only just come back down again. Some of the details on the meals taken up were released, and while we may find it an interesting insight into the life of an astronaut, the recipients feel even better about the arrival of good food! It also happens that he's a good friend of Martha Stewart of TV cooking fame, and the French Space Agency were particularly keen on the idea of having "Special Event Meals" at exceptional assignments. Besides, you pay 20 megabucks for a ticket, you want good food, right? |
Anousheh
Ansari has been in the news again, demonstrating how to
wash one's hair in space and generally maintain one's appearance. It
was rumoured on some Shuttle flights that having a woman around
changed the behaviour of the male crew, who allegedly spruced
themselves up more thoroughly rather than lounging around and
smelling like the north end of a southbound vulture. Anyway, she has
also been mentioning that she'd like a ride on Virgin Galactic.
As an aside, the X-Prize foundation she supported to spur the
development of these first private spacecraft has now moved on to
more earthly goals. The next X-Prize is for a 100 mpg-equivalent car
suitable for general use and mass manufacturing, and like the space
version is likely to have a purse of around US$10 million.
Bill Gates has also taken an interest in spaceflight. Perhaps too many people want to talk to him about the number of times Microsoft Windows(R) keeps crashing? As usual, there's a little mystery as to what's going on. Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin broke the news live from the space station, but the organisers Space Adventures knew nothing. Bill Gates himself has also recently visited the Star City cosmonaut training centre in Russia. If he does go, I must remember not to say unkind things, such as offering to pay extra if they make it a one-way ticket...
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"I think it is written into our DNA to explore. Space exploration is so important to humanity, that to have been able to participate in it, even in a very small way, was such a privilege." - Dr. Charles Simonyi (recent private astronaut)