DailyDirt: Commercial Astronauts

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Canadian "rockstar" astronaut Chris Hadfield, who just returned from the International Space Station, says he's retiring. (Yep, he's the guy who performed David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in zero-g while orbiting the Earth.) While he may be retiring from the Canadian Space Agency, he may not be done with spaceflight just yet, as he sees commercial spaceflight as a real possibility. In the past decade, several private commercial spaceflight ventures have been seriously developing and testing their own spacecraft, and eventually "commercial astronauts" will be needed to help run commercial space missions and space tourism flights. Here's some of the latest news in commercial spaceflight.

• Astronauts for Hire (A4H), a non-profit organization, has selected its fourth group of commercial astronaut candidates. The six new recruits, who are professionals in various fields of science, engineering, medicine, and aviation, will be trained to become research and operations specialists for future commercial spaceflight missions. [url]
• The X Prize Foundation is currently offering a total of $30 million in prize money to the first two teams to land a robot on the moon by the end of 2015. Aiming to spur commercial spaceflight innovation, the non-profit foundation also previously awarded the Ansari X Prize in 2004 to Scaled Composites for its SpaceShipOne, which Virgin Galactic has now developed into the suborbital commercial spacecraft SpaceShipTwo.[url]
• There are at least ten private spaceships in development right now. Here are the ten most promising ones: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, XCOR's Lynx Space Plane (check out Dutch startup SXC which might give Virgin Galactic a run for its money), Armadillo Aerospace's Vertical Lander, Bigelow Aerospace's Private Space Labs, Stratolaunch's Air-Launched Rocket, the Liberty Rocket and Capsule, Blue Origin's Secret Spaceship, the Dream Chaser Space Plane, Boeing's CST-100 Capsule, and SpaceX's Manned Space Dragon.[url]
• Virgin Galactic is preparing to test its SpaceShipTwo and hopefully launch its first commercial spaceflight in 2014. At least 600 customers worldwide have already reserved tickets, which cost upwards of $200,000. Apparently, tickets recently went up to $250,000 and will remain at that price until the first 1,000 passengers have travelled into space.[url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: a4h, astronauts, chris hadfield, iss, manned space exploration, x prize
Companies: armadillo aerospace, bigelow aerospace, boeing, nasa, spacex, stratolaunch, virgin galactic, xcor

DailyDirt: Making It To Mars

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

A manned spaceship to Mars sounded like a logical next step in the 1970s after the first astronauts walked on the moon. But it's been a while since then, and we've sent a few robotic missions to the red planet recently to check out the place a bit more to see if it's really worth visiting. Maybe there isn't anything living on Mars now, but it certainly looks like there could have been conditions favorable for life there in the past. For space exploration fans, here are some interesting links on going to Mars, pointing out some of the challenges and technological advances that will help us get there (someday).

• There are a lot of stumbling blocks to getting to Mars -- such as choosing a rocket propulsion system, designing a human-friendly landing vehicle for the Martian surface, and various other problems related to bringing along everything people need to survive while still having enough fuel to do it. None of these problems sound impossible to engineer solutions for, but it'll be expensive. [url]
• NASA is working with 3D printers to create almost anything an astronaut would need while in space, without having to manufacture it before the long journey to Mars. One of the items that could be printed: pizza. (Yum. printed cheese.) [url]
• Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) has been collecting data on radiation levels that future astronauts might face on their journey to Mars -- and the exposure levels are nothing to sneeze at. NASA has defined some limits for its astronauts, and a trip to Mars could easily exceed those limits. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: 3d printers, astronauts, curiosity, manned missions, mars, radiation, space, space exploration
Companies: nasa

If You Thought Copyright Was A Mess On Earth, What Does It Look Like In Space?

from the copyright-trolls.....-in.....-spaaaaaaaaaaaaace dept

Assuming you haven't been under a rock, there's a decent chance that you've seen astronaut Chris Hadfield's rendition of David Bowie's Space Oddity (with the lyrics conveniently changed to skip the whole dying in space part). The video was released just before Hadfield returned to earth, and completely fit with Hadfield's time on the International Space Station, where he became the world's first serious social media expert from space -- tweeting, Tumbling and YouTubing up a storm. But... filming a cover song and releasing it via YouTube from space had some people wondering: can you untangle the copyright issues here? Thankfully, Glenn Fleishman dug in over at the Economist (which, lamely, still refuses to name their writers, but now provides the "initials" of bloggers, so you can parse out who's who), and explained what a fine mess it is.

The punchline here is that it doesn't really matter, because after a bunch of back and forth negotiations, they got all the permissions they needed directly from David Bowie. But, assuming others start going up into space (yay, private space tourism), this issue is going to be raised sooner or later. Glenn points out that it's kind of messy, because different countries have very different compulsory licensing laws for cover songs, and there are no compulsories for sync licenses, which are needed to put the song to a video. There was also the issue of the International Space Station having different sections "owned" by different countries, and the official agreement says that it matters where creation happens -- so if the video had been done in all different parts of the space station, it potentially could have been a mess (though, it looks like it was all filmed in parts owned by NASA).

While there's no issue with this specific case, Glenn alerts us to a paper from a few years ago that lays out how copyright in space is about to get complicated:

The copyright issue may seem trivial, but the emergence of privately funded rocket launches, space tourism and space exploration hold the potential for more substantive disputes. If an astronaut were to travel to the Moon, an asteroid or Mars on a privately funded spacecraft, the situation would become knottier still, because the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967 applies to countries, not companies or private individuals. J.A.L. Sterling, a London-based expert on international copyright law, anticipated all this in a 2008 paper, "Space Copyright Law: the new dimension", in which he lists dozens more potentially problematic scenarios that could arise, some seemingly risible at first. He asks what would have happened if, on a moon landing broadcast live by NASA across the world, two astronauts were overcome by emotion and burst into song—one covered by copyright. NASA might still be engaged in litigation 40 years later. More prosaically and immediately plausibly, Sterling considers space travellers who put copyrighted material from Earth on a server reachable from space, or engage in rights-violating "public performances" for crewmates. If the first person to walk on Mars decides to launch into "A Whole New World", the rights will need to have been cleared with Disney first.

Yeah, remember Rob Reid's funny sci-fi novel about copyright in space? Perhaps, like many sci-fi books, it will eventually turn out to be an accurate prediction of the future.

Filed Under: astronauts, chris hadfield, copyright, david bowie, internation, jurisdiction, space

DailyDirt: Going Up Into Space Soon

Traveling to the edge of space isn't easy. Sure, we can send up small things like a digital camera with a few helium-filled weather balloons, but a whole person is quite a bit more difficult (especially if the person wants to return to Earth safely). Fortunately, there are a few companies that are working on space tourism, and space tourists could help fund the development of a growing number of commercial space services. Here are just a few links related to putting people in space.

• Virgin Galactic is gearing up for its space tourism service, planning to launch routine flights to the edge of space in 2014. Sir Richard Branson once turned down an offer from Mikhail Gorbachev to fly into space for $50 million, but now Branson has made a similar offer to anyone with $200,000 to spare. [url]
• How much do we value an astronaut's life? Life insurance for an Apollo 11 astronaut comes in the form of an autographed postcard, worth about $30,000. [url]
• China is planning to send three people to its orbiting space station in a few months. So far, only the US and Russia have independently sent people to orbiting space stations. China would become just the third country to do so. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: astronauts, china, space, space station, space tourism
Companies: virgin galactic

DailyDirt: Going To Mars

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Space travel is inherently risky, so it shouldn't be too surprising that spacecraft missions to Mars haven't all been successful. Sending people inside metal cans aimed at Mars isn't an easy task -- especially if those people want to return to Earth alive. But as more and more space programs target Mars as a destination, it looks increasingly likely that humans will make it there someday. Here are just a few milestones on the road to Mars.

• The Inspiration Mars Foundation is planning a roundtrip manned mission to Mars (non-stop, so no landing) that would last about 501 days, launching in 2018. A press conference to announce the details will be held on Feb 27th. [url]
• When the Phobos-Grunt mission failed to reach Mars orbit, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested some severe punishments (but no death penalty!) for whoever was to blame. The mission had planned to return soil samples from Phobos (one of Mars' moons), but the spacecraft never left Earth orbit due to a computer programming error. [url]
• Valery V. Polyakov spent 438 continuous days in space aboard Mir and returned to Earth in 1995. That is the longest anyone has stayed in space in a single trip (others have been in space for more time, but over multiple trips), and it demonstrates that it's possible to survive in microgravity for the approximate amount of time it might take to go to Mars. [url]
• Elon Musk has a vision of a public-private joint venture to establish a human colony on Mars. Musk is obviously promoting the SpaceX brand with this kind of public statement, but he also says that a viable Mars mission would need about $36 billion to get off the ground. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: astronauts, elon musk, mars, mir, phobos, space, space exploration, spacecraft, valery polyakov
Companies: inspiration mars foundation, spacex

DailyDirt: Ready For A Trip To Space Yet?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The opportunities to hitch a ride to space are growing by leaps and bounds now. Just a few years ago, you needed to be a multi-millionaire with the right stuff to buy your way on a rocketship to space. Now, you just need to be some kind of marketing phenomenon that can help with a marketing campaign (or have a few hundred thousand bucks to spare). Here are some examples of some ordinary folks who will be going up in space (suborbital) in the near future.

• In case you missed it, an Axe marketing campaign during the Super Bowl is looking for people willing to sign away their publicity rights for a chance to ride on a sub-orbital spaceplane. The marketing is aimed at men, but women can apply, too. Ultimately, who ever wins this competition will have to pass all of the physical training and tests before going. [url]
• Coco Brown, an American porn actress, is spending $100,000 to get on a SpaceXC commercial flight. She'll be the first porn star in space, if she completes the training, and expects to go up in 2014. [url]
• Ashton Kutcher has been promised the 500th seat on Virgin Galactic's spaceplane service. Virgin tickets usually cost about $200,000 -- so if you want to buy the 501st seat next to Ashton.... [url]
• Becoming a female taikonaut has two additional requirements that men don't have: being a wife and mother. Chinese astronauts have a pretty long list of disqualifiers, including: bad breath, cavities, a thick regional accent, scars, snoring, etc, etc. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: ashton kutcher, astronauts, coco brown, space, taikonaut
Companies: axe, spacexc, virgin galactic

DailyDirt: Going To Space

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Manned space exploration is a lofty goal that requires quite a bit of groundwork before people crawl into a metal cage strapped to a rocket. Only about a dozen countries have successfully launched objects into orbit, and the list of nations that can send people into space is much shorter (with the retirement of the space shuttles, the US arguably is not on the list anymore). But rocket technologies are only getting better and less expensive, and there are more and more plans (both governmental and commercial) for humans to explore space.

• Mars One is now looking for people willing to become astronauts, train for 8 years, and go on a ONE-WAY trip to Mars (and also be part of this globally-televised mission). The first team to go will be democratically elected from six teams of four astronauts, and the launch is scheduled for September 2022. [url]
• Iran is planning to launch a monkey into space sometime in February 2013. Iran has a goal of sending a human into space by 2020 and putting someone on the moon by 2025. (And Iran has already sent a rat, two turtles and a worm into space.) [url]
• MRI scans of astronauts who spent over a month in space show that long term exposure to microgravity can damage eyeballs and parts of the brain. The problems are similar to having intracranial hypertension -- where the brain experiences pressures that press it against the skull and eye sockets. [url]
• A simulated 520-day mission to Mars found that astronauts may need to keep Earth-like schedules or else they'll have trouble sleeping and possibly acquire some mood disorders. This ground-based study will affect plans for manned Mars missions, and it could also have implications for people who live with disrupted sleep and prolonged exposure to artificial lighting. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: astronauts, iran, manned missions, mars, mars one, orbit, space exploration

DailyDirt: Space Food For Thought

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

With more manned space missions planned (both governmental and commercial), the menus for astronauts could be expanding -- especially for passengers of Virgin Galactic flights who might expect more than a bag of peanuts for their tickets. Here are just a few items that have already made it onto space menus.

• Somewhat unexpected foods have been eaten in space -- such as sushi, smuggled communion wafers, and a secretly-stashed corned beef sandwich. Emeril Lagasse and Rachel Ray have also prepared a few recipes for space meals. [url]
• About 9 months prior to a mission, NASA astronauts start picking out what they'll eat while they're up in space. Tang wasn't designed for any space program, but its powdered formula is a convenient way to store flavored beverages for spaceflights. NASA-approved beverages include coffee, tea, apple cider, orange juice and lemonade. [url]
• NASA has published several fact sheets on what astronauts eat in space. Random factoid: SkyLab was apparently the only spacecraft that offered both a freezer and fridge for food storage. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: astronauts, emeril, food, meals, rachel ray, skylab, space, tang
Companies: nasa

DailyDirt: Life, Life Everywhere

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Evidence of life hasn't been found outside of our planet (yet?), but life seems to be getting into nearly every nook and cranny of our dear Earth. Places that seem too cold or hot or dark have been shown to harbor life forms that survive in unusual ways, eating substances that aren't normally considered food. Here are just a few examples of these extremophiles that suggest life might exist on other worlds, even if the conditions don't seem ideal.

• Astronauts have actually discovered a new species of life... while training in an underground cave. The astronauts were taking a week-long ESA CAVES underground training course to prepare for duties on the international space station and to acclimate to working under extreme conditions, and they found a new kind of crustacean. [url]
• An ecosystem exists in the deepest layer of the Earth's ocean crust, in the gabbroic layer, living off hydrocarbons such as methane and benzene. This discovery could mean there may be life even deeper, possibly in the Earth's mantle. [url]
• Microbes isolated beneath 65 feet of Antarctic ice might define a new limit for life to survive. These little organisms live in Lake Vida without much sunlight, without oxygen, at -13°C, in acidic salt water. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: astronauts, biology, ecosystem, extremophiles, lake vida, life, microbes
Companies: esa

DailyDirt: Fly Me To The Moon...

Apollo 17 launched in December 1972, and it was the last time a human being went to the moon -- or even traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Since then, there have been several plans to return to the moon (or to skip it and go straight to Mars). Plenty of other countries (and even corporations) are now looking to land spacecraft on the moon again, and here are just a few of these competitors in the post-Apollo space race.

• Speculation on China's rocket technology suggests the country's Long March 9 rocket will be more than capable for sending astronauts to the moon, Mars, and perhaps other distant destinations within our solar system. The Long March 9 is expected to be in service around 2020-2025. [url]
• Google's Lunar X Prize is closed to new participants, but there are about 25 teams still competing for rewards totaling $30 million -- for these privately funded teams to send robots to the moon. The deadline for these teams is the end of 2015. Hopefully at least one team will succeed in its mission, and we'll have mini moon bases sending back all kinds of data before the end of the decade. [url]
• The Soyuz spacecraft has been a workhorse for decades, but Russia has recently announced plans for its next generation spaceship design that could be used for manned missions to the moon (or possibly Mars). Test flights are scheduled to begin in 2017, and this Prospective Piloted Transport System (PPTS) could also service the International Space Station (creating another backup solution to supply the ISS). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: apollo, astronauts, long march 9, lunar x prize, ppts, rockets, soyuz, space, spacecraft
Companies: google, nasa