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Saturday’s CSExtra offers a fresh look at developments on the space frontier. NASA’s eagle-eyed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots a very recent northern hemisphere crater that exposes subsurface ice, more evidence of a watery past. NASA joins with other experts on the effects of isolation on humans to help Chile with a so far no–expense-spared effort to rescue 33 trapped miners. Europe and Japan look at upgrading their cargo carriers to carry astronauts. NASA’s wake up music tradition. Mt Wilson, one year after a siege of California wild fires.
1. From Space.com: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures an image of a crater in the planet’s northern hemisphere that exposes a cache of underground water ice. The 20 foot wide crater formed between April 2004 and January.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/scienceastronomy/nasa-spacecraft-finds-young-mars-crater-100827.html
2. From the New York Times: Chile consults NASA about the challenges of isolation in a spare no expense bid to rescue 33 miners trapped since Aug. 5 in a cavern a half mile underground. An update on previous stories.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/world/americas/27chile.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=NASA&st=cse
A. From the New Scientist: Experts who’ve studied the effects of isolation on space station astronauts and scientists in the Antarctic offer advice on what the trapped miners could be facing. The third quarter of these long isolation experiences tends to present the most challenge, declining communication and interpersonal problems. However, other experts believe this obstacle can be overcome with supportive communication from the ground, and a commitment to expressing the truth. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19375-how-astronauts-experience-could-help-trapped-miners.html
3. From Spaceflightnow.com: The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency look to upgrade their International Space Station cargo carriers, the ATV and HTV, into transportation systems for humans. They are looking at achieving the objective by 2020.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1008/27cargoreturn/
A. From the Coalition for Space Exploration: In Denmark, engineers prepare to launch the suborbital Hybrid Exo-Atmospheric Transporter -1X on Tuesday. Eventually, they hope the suborbital rocket will carry humans. A test launch from a sea going launch platform will carry a simulated passenger. The launch window extends through Sept. 17.
http://www.exploredeepspace.com/blog/denmark-private-rocket-readied-for-suborbital-test-shot
4. From Scientific American: NASA hosts a contest to identify songs that will serve as all important wake up music during the final scheduled shuttle missions in November and late February. A former shuttle commander and others discuss the significance of the gesture in which family and friends of each astronaut make the music selections. “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong is a traditional favorite among the spaceflight elite.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nasa-shuttle-music
5. From Sky and Telescope Magazine: A look back at how the famous Mount Wilson observatory in California fared as devastating wildfires raged across Los Angeles County one year ago.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/101589553.html
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