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Into the Anthropocosmos
Author: Ariel Ekblaw
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2021-10-19
Total Pages: 142
ISBN-13: 0262046377
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A lavishly illustrated catalog of space technology of the future: lab-tested devices, experiments, and habitats for the age of participatory space exploration. As Earthlings, we stand on the brink of a new age: the Anthropocosmos—an era of space exploration in which we can expand humanity’s horizons beyond our planet’s bounds. And in this new era, we have twin responsibilities, to Earth and to space; we should neither abandon our own planet to environmental degradation nor litter the galaxy with space junk. This fascinating and generously illustrated volume—designed by MIT Media Lab researcher Sands Fish—presents space technology for this new age: prototypes, artifacts, experiments, and habitats for an era of participatory space exploration. These projects, developed as part of MIT’s Space Exploration Initiative, range from nanoscale imaging of microbes to responsive, sensor-mediated living environments. They show the usefulness of a seahorse tail for humans in microgravity, document the promise of shape-memory alloys for CubeSat in-orbit maneuvering, and introduce TESSERAE (Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments), self-assembling space architecture. Some are ongoing, real-world systems: an art payload sent to the International Space Station via Space X CRS-20, for example, and a crowdsourced interplanetary cookbook. More than forty large-format, coffee table book–quality, full-color photographs make our future in space seem palpable. Short explanatory texts by Ariel Ekblaw, astronaut Cady Coleman, and others accompany the images.
Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2018-10-17
Total Pages: 139
ISBN-13: 0309478650
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Protecting Earth's environment and other solar system bodies from harmful contamination has been an important principle throughout the history of space exploration. For decades, the scientific, political, and economic conditions of space exploration converged in ways that contributed to effective development and implementation of planetary protection policies at national and international levels. However, the future of space exploration faces serious challenges to the development and implementation of planetary protection policy. The most disruptive changes are associated with (1) sample return from, and human missions to, Mars; and (2) missions to those bodies in the outer solar system possessing water oceans beneath their icy surfaces. Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes addresses the implications of changes in the complexion of solar system exploration as they apply to the process of developing planetary protection policy. Specifically, this report examines the history of planetary protection policy, assesses the current policy development process, and recommends actions to improve the policy development process in the future.
The Design and Engineering of Curiosity
Author: Emily Lakdawalla
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2018-03-27
Total Pages: 394
ISBN-13: 331968146X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book describes the most complex machine ever sent to another planet: Curiosity. It is a one-ton robot with two brains, seventeen cameras, six wheels, nuclear power, and a laser beam on its head. No one human understands how all of its systems and instruments work. This essential reference to the Curiosity mission explains the engineering behind every system on the rover, from its rocket-powered jetpack to its radioisotope thermoelectric generator to its fiendishly complex sample handling system. Its lavishly illustrated text explains how all the instruments work -- its cameras, spectrometers, sample-cooking oven, and weather station -- and describes the instruments' abilities and limitations. It tells you how the systems have functioned on Mars, and how scientists and engineers have worked around problems developed on a faraway planet: holey wheels and broken focus lasers. And it explains the grueling mission operations schedule that keeps the rover working day in and day out.
The Goals, Rationales, and Definition of Planetary Protection
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2017-09-19
Total Pages: 35
ISBN-13: 0309461626
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Solar system exploration is in an extraordinary state of expansion. Scientific capabilities to search for evidence of extant or relic life outside Earthâ€"among the principal goals of solar system explorationâ€"are advancing rapidly. In this time of rapid transition in exploring solar system bodies, the importance of reexamining planetary protection policies, including the need for clarity in how NASA establishes such policies, has become more urgent. Overall, this study seeks to review the current state of planetary protection policy development, assess the responsiveness of the policy development process to contemporary and anticipated needs, and recommend actions that might assure the effectiveness of NASA's future coordination and execution of planetary protection. This interim report focuses on the goals of and rationales for planetary protection policies and suggests a working definition of planetary protection consistent with those goals. It does not address future commercial planetary missions, human missions to planetary bodies, or roles and responsibilities for implementing policies, but these issues will be addressed in the final report.
Assessment of the Report of NASA's Planetary Protection Independent Review Board
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2020-11-19
Total Pages: 89
ISBN-13: 0309676495
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The goal of planetary protection is to control, to the degree possible, the biological cross-contamination of planetary bodies. Guidelines developed by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) are used by all spacefaring nations to guide their preparations for encounters with solar system bodies. NASA's Science Mission Directorate has convened the Planetary Protection Independent Review Board (PPIRB) to consider updating the COSPAR guidelines given the growing interest from commercial and private groups in exploration and utilization of Mars and other bodies in space. At the request of NASA, this publication reviews the findings of the PPIRB and comments on their consistency with the recommendations of the recent National Academies report Review and Assessment of the Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes.
Report Series: Committee on Planetary Protection
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2020-12-29
Total Pages: 63
ISBN-13: 0309162009
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Under U.S. policy and international treaty, the goals of planetary protection are to avoid both adverse changes in Earth’s environment caused by introducing extraterrestrial matter and harmful contamination of solar system bodies in order to protect their biological integrity for scientific study. The United States has long cooperated with other countries and relevant scientific communities through the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) of the International Council for Science in developing planetary protection guidance for different categories of space missions. In the past, achieving planetary protection objectives through science-based, international-consensus guidelines proved relatively straightforward because a small number of spacefaring nations explored the solar system, predominantly through government-led and scientifically focused robotic missions. However, interest in, and the capabilities to undertake, exploration and uses of outer space are evolving and expanding. More countries are engaging in space activities. Private-sector involvement is increasing. Planning is under way for human as well as robotic missions. As recent advisory reports have highlighted, the changes in the nature of space activities create unprecedented challenges for planetary protection. This publication responds to NASA’s request for “a short report on the impact of human activities on lunar polar volatiles (e.g., water, carbon dioxide, and methane) and the scientific value of protecting the surface and subsurface regions of the Earth’s Moon from organic and biological contamination.†It provides an overview of the current scientific understanding, value, and potential threat of organic and biological contamination of permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), lunar research relevant to understanding prebiotic evolution and the origin of life, and the likelihood that spacecraft landing on the lunar surface will transfer volatiles to polar cold traps. It also assesses how much and which regions of the Moon’s surface and subsurface warrant protection from organic and biological contamination because of their scientific value.
Astronomy for Kids
Author: Bruce Betts
Publisher: Rockridge Press
Published: 2021-10-19
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781638788218
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Ignite their passion for exploring the night sky―the astronomer's guidebook for kids ages 7 to 13 “No matter how many times you’ve orbited the Sun, Astronomy for Kids is really for kids of all ages. Dr. Betts shows you how to become an astronomer―an observer of the stars. With this book, you can know the cosmos and your place within it. Read on, walk out, and look up!”―Bill Nye, science educator, author, and CEO of The Planetary Society One of the coolest things about outer space is that anyone can explore it. All you have to do is go outside and look up! Using plain sight, binoculars, or a small telescope, Astronomy for Kids shows stargazers how easy it is to explore space, just by stepping outside. With this book as their guide to the northern hemisphere, kids will learn to find and name amazing objects in the night sky. Fully illustrated with fun facts throughout, kids can point out sights to friends and family, saying things like, “that’s Jupiter,” and, “those stars are the constellation Cygnus the Swan,” and maybe even, “that group of stars doesn’t have a name but I think it looks like my dog getting belly rubs.” From the Milky Way Galaxy to Mars to the Moon’s craters and mountains―Astronomy for Kids helps young astronomers discover important parts of our solar system, with: 30 sights for the naked eye (yes, 30!) objects to see without any equipment, including Orion’s Belt, the Big Dipper, Mars, and even the International Space Station. 25 sights magnified with binoculars or a basic telescope to make objects in the sky easier to find and explore. Plus, buying tips and usage tricks to get the most out of astronomy equipment. Clear illustrations that show kids where to look and what they can expect to see. Like all big things, outer space is something you have to see to believe. Astronomy for Kids teaches kids that planets, shooting stars, constellations, and meteor showers are not only in books―but right above them.
Pale Blue Dot
Author: Carl Sagan
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2011-07-06
Total Pages: 386
ISBN-13: 0307801012
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →“Fascinating . . . memorable . . . revealing . . . perhaps the best of Carl Sagan’s books.”—The Washington Post Book World (front page review) In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time. Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot, Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race. “Takes readers far beyond Cosmos . . . Sagan sees humanity’s future in the stars.”—Chicago Tribune
Planetary Adventures
Author: Louis Friedman
Publisher:
Published: 2020-04-06
Total Pages: 184
ISBN-13: 9781645849360
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →As the Cold War was ending and the Soviet Union collapsed, Louis Friedman traveled to Russia more than 50 times. Between 1984 and 2005, he worked to advance international space cooperation to explore Mars and other worlds in our solar system. In this book, he recounts his personal stories from those adventures in Russia. Among them are observing a Submarine Launched Ballistic Mission on a Russian Navy ship in the Barents Sea, and testing Mars Rover prototypes on volcanic mountains in Kamchatka. He chronicles the times he travelled to the secret Soviet nuclear laboratory in Chelyabinsk-70 with Edward Teller, the inventor of the hydrogen bomb and he flew in hot air balloons on a Soviet airfield in Lithuania. These adventures were undertaken to advance the idea of the United States and Russia leading a world effort to explore Mars together. Included is a Chapter and Appendices on the politics, history and challenges of international cooperation for human exploration of Mars. __________________________________________________________________________________________________ TESTIMONIALS "Individuals matter in shaping the course of events in outer space. Lou Friedman was such an individual. This lively book traces the unique and valuable role Friedman played in bridging the U.S. and Soviet then Russian space programs over a transitional two-decade period as the Cold War came to its end." -Dr. John Logsdon, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University "This is an important and exciting book. The role that possible joint Mars exploration played in ending the Cold War is a critical, and largely unknown story. Lou Friedman was central to this endeavor. His stories are both revealing and entertaining" -General (Ret.) Dr. Simon P. Worden, Former Director of NASA Ames Research Center. "This book recounts many innovative and exciting private contributions to planetary exploration and international cooperation. I remember Lou Friedman's early adventures in Russia pursuing human and robots and American and Russians exploring Mars Together. His interesting stories are prescient and prove the value of citizen supported science." -Lori Gaver, CEO of Earthrise Alliance and former Deputy Administrator of NASA
