FYI,

"Space Gas Station Would Blast Huge Payloads to the Moon"
Popular Mechanics
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4224660.html?
series=35

: Boeing has unveiled a radical redesign of NASA's plan to return to
: the lunar surface: save weight (and money) by saving gas for an
: orbital fill-'er-up, then shoot 15 times more material to the moon.
: Can the space agency jive with private space to get the new
: propellant depot off the ground?

: The rocket equation has always had one frustrating yet inevitable
: consequence: For every pound of payload headed for, say, the lunar
: surface, NASA needs hundreds more pounds of hardware and propellant
: during low Earth orbit—and many times that on the launchpad. For
: example, NASA's planned Ares V vehicle (a modern-day replacement
: for the Saturn V that delivered our first visitors to the moon over
: 30 years ago) will weigh more than 3500 tons prior to launch from
: Cape Canaveral, Fla., but land just 18 tons of weight on the
: moon—only two tons of which aren't the lander itself.

: Because each post-shuttle era launch will cost billions of dollars,
: NASA is crunching the numbers on how to get more lunar payload
: "bang" for its transport vehicle "buck." Boeing proposed what might
: be the ultimate problem solver at the AIAA (American Institute of
: Aeronautics and Astronautics) Space 2007 conference here last week:
: a low Earth orbit gas station, or propellant depot, to refill the
: lunar-injection vehicle tanks, fill up NASA's new lander and
: deliver dramatically more efficient payloads to the surface of the
: moon.

: NASA's current mission plan calls for the Ares V to send the new
: lunar lander and its payload into Earth orbit. Once there, Ares V
: would not only have to dock with the Orion crew vehicle (launched
: separately on the Ares I rocket) but also restart and provide the
: initial burn to send the assembled system into a trajectory toward
: the moon.

: Boeing's alternative would combine the Orion rendezvous with a
: pitstop for gas, allowing the Ares V to lift off from Earth with a
: much larger payload—and an empty lander. Boeing says this would
: allow NASA to deliver about three times as much mass to the lunar
: surface, and over fifteen times as much payload. What's more,
: Ares V could then send the lander-Orion package all the way to
: lunar orbit with full tanks, rather than NASA's current plan to use
: extra propellant in slowing down before soft landing.

: Of course, there's no such thing as a free launch. In order for the
: propellant depot to become a reality, it has to reach orbit—and,
: more important, so does the gas.

: Boeing's plan is to build the depot in pieces like a stripped-down
: International Space Station, only in modules based on the upper
: stage of the Delta launch vehicle. Two depots would provide
: redundancy, each one with a total capacity of 175 tons of liquid
: oxygen/liquid hydrogen (25 tons for the lander, 125 for the rocket,
: with margins for boil-off and other contingencies). And while many
: of the necessary parts and operations (i.e., orbital cryogenic
: storage and transfer) still have to be developed and matured,
: they're plausible—and critical for a space-faring civilization
: anyway.

: How the propellant would reach such a pitstop in the sky is really
: the beauty of Boeing's concept. NASA has been seeking ways to
: involve both international partners and the commercial sector
: — Michael Griffin, the agency's administrator, told PM recently
: that such a "private/public synergy" was "crucial for the future"
: — but NASA has been reluctant to put any partner on the critical
: path. The good news? Anyone can make propellant, and anyone can
: deliver it. The orbital reservoir will allow for different
: quantities from tanker vehicles both small and large. The payload
: itself is cheap, so even low-reliability launchers could
: potentially be used.

: If one provider doesn't deliver, another can pick up the slack,
: whether it's based in the U.S. or overseas. It's an ideal means to
: provide a large market for a variety of launch providers, driving
: the competition necessary to reduce launch costs. And the lower the
: propellant costs get, the lower the cost of per-pound lunar payload
: delivery gets—space economics at its finest.

: Down the road, Boeing's gas station could provide even more
: benefits than an improved lunar payload. Communications companies
: could improve their satellite payloads to geostationary orbit and
: beyond. NASA might be able to combine the dual launches in its moon
: program, or make its lunar landing vehicle reusable, with another
: depot using propellants produced on the moon. Because most of the
: mass necessary to get to the moon is propellant (though Boeing
: would never say so), a space gas station might even eliminate the
: need for a heavy-lift launcher altogether, increasing the launch
: rate of smaller, cheaper vehicles, which in turn could cut costs
: for getting to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Will the next generation of space robots look like this?

"Tripedal Robot Swings Itself into Action"
New Scientist
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn12668-tripedal-robot-
swings-itself-into-action.html

: A three-legged robot with an unconventional and graceful walk has
: been developed by US researchers. Like humans, it exploits gravity
: to save energy with each step, but it also flips its entire body
: upside-down with each stride.

: The fearsome alien tripods in HG Well's book The War of The Worlds
: are described as moving like "a milking stool tilted and bowled
: violently along the ground".

: STriDER (Self-excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot) has a
: far more graceful, and acrobatic, gait (see video top right) that
: sees its body flip 180 degrees with each step. A second video
: (bottom right) explains more about the project and shows the
: initial prototype.

: To take a step forwards, the robot shifts its weight onto two of
: its legs, allowing itself to fall forwards away from the third leg.
: Its body then flips upside-down and the third leg swings up between
: the other two just in time to catch the ground and return STriDER
: to a stable tripod stance. To change direction, the robot simply
: switches its choice of swinging leg.

: Human-like walkAlthough STriDER's body shape is like nothing in
: nature, its gait is meant to closely mimic the way biological
: organisms walk. The aim is to minimise the complexity of
: controlling each limb, and to reduce overall energy use. The first
: prototype stands 1.8 metres tall, while the latest incarnation is
: slightly shorter, at 0.9 metres.

: "STriDER's gait is closer to that of a human walking than most
: bipedal humanoid robots you see today," explains Dennis Hong at
: Virginia Tech, US, who leads the project. "This is how we humans
: walk, we do not actively control our knees, we just let them
: swing."

: The robot is not designed to be a load carrier, Hong explains. "Its
: purpose is for deploying sensors to difficult-to-access areas," he
: told New Scientist. "Since STriDER is tall by nature, it is great
: for deploying cameras."

: Stable designThe most successful autonomous robots often resemble
: remote-control cars, he points out, and cannot see above obstacles.
: "I've never heard of a robot with a three-legged design before, but
: I can see the advantage," says Dave Barnes, who works on locomotion
: for planetary rovers at Aberystwyth University, UK. "It's like a
: biped with a walking stick."

: Although bipedal humans and robots can move quickly, they have to
: expend energy just to keep upright when they are not moving, he
: points out: "A tripod stance is very stable, you can just lock the
: joints."

Videos

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn12668-tripedal-robot-
swings-itself-into-action.html

http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn12668-tripedal-robot-
swings-itself-into-action.html

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Unfinished living space, ready for renovation and occupancy.  Remote
rural location, no deed restrictions, no MUD.  Must provide own
utilities.

"NASA Orbiter Finds Possible Cave Skylights on Mars"
NASA Press Release
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/sep/HQ_07206_Mars_Caves.html

: NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered entrances to seven
: possible caves on the slopes of a Martian volcano. The find is
: fueling interest in potential underground habitats and sparking
: searches for caverns elsewhere on the Red Planet.

: Very dark, nearly circular features ranging in diameter from about
: 328 to 820 feet puzzled researchers who found them in images taken
: by NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters. Using
: Mars Odyssey's infrared camera to check the daytime and nighttime
: temperatures of the circles, scientists concluded that they could
: be windows into underground spaces.

: Evidence that the holes may be openings to cavernous spaces comes
: from the temperature differences detected from infrared images
: taken in the afternoon and in the pre-dawn morning. From day to
: night, temperatures of the holes change only about one-third as
: much as the change in temperature of surrounding ground surface.

: "They are cooler than the surrounding surface in the day and warmer
: at night," said Glen Cushing of the U.S. Geological Survey's
: Astrogeology Team and of Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff,
: Ariz. "Their thermal behavior is not as steady as large caves on
: Earth that often maintain a fairly constant temperature, but it is
: consistent with these being deep holes in the ground."

: A report of the discovery of the possible cave skylights by Cushing
: and his co-authors was published online recently by the journal
: Geophysical Research Letters.

: "Whether these are just deep vertical shafts or openings into
: spacious caverns, they are entries to the subsurface of Mars," said
: co-author Tim Titus of the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff.
: "Somewhere on Mars, caves might provide a protected niche for past
: or current life, or shelter for humans in the future."

: The discovered holes, dubbed "Seven Sisters," are at some of the
: highest altitudes on the planet, on a volcano named Arsia Mons near
: Mars' tallest mountain.

: "These are at such extreme altitude, they are poor candidates
: either for use as human habitation or for having microbial life,"
: Cushing said. "Even if life has ever existed on Mars, it may not
: have migrated to this height."

: The new report proposes that the deep holes on Arsia Mons probably
: formed as underground stresses around the volcano caused spreading
: and faults that opened spaces beneath the surface. Some of the
: holes are in line with strings of bowl-shaped pits where surface
: material has apparently collapsed to fill the gap created by a
: linear fault.

: The observations have prompted researchers using Mars Odyssey and
: NASA's newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to examine the Seven
: Sisters. The goal is to find other openings to underground spaces
: at lower elevations that are more accessible to future missions to
: Mars.

: "The key to finding these was looking for temperature anomalies at
: night -- warm spots," said Phil Christensen of Arizona State
: University, Tempe, principal investigator for the Thermal Emission
: Imaging System on Mars Odyssey. That instrument produced both
: visible-light and infrared images researchers used for examining
: the possible caves.

: "No other instrument at Mars could give the thermal information
: crucial to this research," said the project scientist for Mars
: Odyssey, Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
: Pasadena, Calif. "This is a great example of the exciting
: discoveries Odyssey continues to make." Mars Odyssey reached Mars
: in 2001, years before any of the other spacecraft currently
: examining the planet. Its predecessor, Mars Global Surveyor, ended
: its mission last year.

: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages Mars Odyssey and Mars
: Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate,
: Washington. Arizona State University operates the Mars Odyssey's
: Thermal Emission Imaging System. For additional information about
: Mars Odyssey and the new findings, visit:

: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/odyssey

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA Plans Bigger Moon Base, Sporty Rovers for Future Missions"
SPACE.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070920/sc_space/nasaplansbiggermoonbas
esportyroversforfuturemissions;_ylt=ApH.hmHNl.tjdlmvyB2ILH8E1vAI

: The next astronauts to work on the moon will likely live in larger
: habitats and drive sporty new rovers capable of two-week treks,
: NASA officials said Thursday.

: Rather than assembling a lunar outpost over time from a multitude
: of small, separately launched modules, NASA is now hoping to land
: up to three large habitats on fewer flights to build a beachhead on
: the moon, the space agency said.

: Doug Cooke, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration
: systems, said that the space agency's revised lunar plan calls for
: the launching of larger habitats to the moon on unmanned cargo
: flights. That way, the first new lunar astronauts could begin to
: reap science rewards faster than if they had to haul smaller
: habitat sections and hardware to the moon on each flight, then
: combine them into a larger base to support long-duration
: expeditions.

: "We want to get scientific return. We want to get information that
: will help, potentially, space commerce and we want to get
: international participation early," Cooke told reporters in a
: teleconference. "All of these objectives we want to address as
: early in the flights as we possibly can by getting the outpost up
: and running quickly."

: Cooke and other NASA officials detailed the agency's revised lunar
: plan at the Space 2007 Conference of the American Institute of
: Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) in Long Beach, California. NASA
: aims to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 using its space
: shuttle successor -- the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and the
: Ares I booster -- as well as the Ares V heavy-lift rocket.

: "There is some great science to do on the moon," said Laurie
: Leshin, director of sciences and exploration NASA's Goddard Space
: Flight Center, adding that future astronauts will help better
: understand the moon's environment and interior.

: NASA has eyed the moon's Shackleton Crater near the lunar south
: pole as a possible moon base site because of its proximity to
: permanently lit and shadowed regions that could be key for solar
: power stations and the hunt for water ice. But Cooke said that
: Shackleton is not the only candidate for a moon base, especially
: since the revised plan calls for mobile habitat modules that could
: move between science targets or gather together in a sort of lunar
: spare parts depot.

: Data from NASA's unmanned Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, set to
: launch next year, and other international probes will help pin down
: future landing sites, Cooke added.

: Lunar hot rod

: Once astronauts return to the moon, NASA does not expect them to
: simply stand around their landing craft collecting nearby rocks.

: Astronaut Mike Gernhardt, NASA's lead for extravehicular physiology
: systems and performance projects, said the agency is now planning
: to send a pair of pressurized rovers that will allow spaceflyers to
: explore more of the lunar surface while retaining the relative
: comfort of a shirt-sleeve environment.

: "They're basically habitats on wheels," Gernhardt said, adding that
: the new vehicles would be about the same size as the unpressurized
: rovers driven by astronauts during NASA's Apollo moon landings. "If
: you can picture this thing, it's kind of a combination between a
: spacesuit and a sports car."

: Both rovers would be deployed together, each with a crew of two
: astronauts. If one rover failed, all four spaceflyers could pile
: into the remaining vehicle to return to their lunar base, Gernhardt
: said. Current plans call for a 5,000-pound (2,267-kilogram)
: pressurized vehicle with seats that fold into beds for longer
: trips.

: The two-person rovers would be equipped to handle three-day,
: seven-day and two-week excursions on the moon with exterior-mounted
: spacesuits that could be donned by climbing through a shared
: hatchway, Gernhardt said. It could take just 10 minutes to step
: into the spacesuits and onto the lunar surface, he added.

: Short jaunts could cover about 25 miles (40 kilometers) with the
: two-week trips roving across 596 miles (960 kilometers) across the
: lunar surface, he added.

: As to how much the rovers may cost, Gernhardt could only offer an
: estimate.

: "I will only say that it will be more than a Ferrari," he said.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Google Sponsors Lunar X PRIZE to Create a Space Race for a New
Generation"
X PRIZE Foundation Press Release
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/070913/0301400.html

: The X PRIZE Foundation and Google Inc. today announced the Google
: Lunar X PRIZE, a robotic race to the Moon to win a remarkable
: $30 million prize purse. Private companies from around the world
: will compete to land a privately funded robotic rover on the Moon
: that is capable of completing several mission objectives, including
: roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending
: video, images and data back to the Earth.

: The Google Lunar X PRIZE is an unprecedented international
: competition that will challenge and inspire engineers and
: entrepreneurs from around the world to develop low-cost methods of
: robotic space exploration. The X PRIZE Foundation, best known for
: the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private suborbital spaceflight,
: is an educational nonprofit prize organization whose goal is to
: bring about radical breakthroughs to solve some of the greatest
: challenges facing the world today.

: "The Google Lunar X PRIZE calls on entrepreneurs, engineers and
: visionaries from around the world to return us to the lunar surface
: and explore this environment for the benefit of all humanity," said
: Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation.
: "We are confident that teams from around the world will help
: develop new robotic and virtual presence technology, which will
: dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration."

: "Having Google fund the purse and title the competition punctuates
: our desire for breakthrough approaches and global participation,"
: continued Diamandis. "By working with the Google team, we look
: forward to bringing this historic private space race into every
: home and classroom. We hope to ignite the imagination of children
: around the world."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Space Hotel Sees 2012 Opening"
Stuff.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4161458a34.html

: Galactic Suite, the first hotel planned in space, expects to open
: for business in 2012 and would allow guests to travel around the
: world in 80 minutes.

: Its Barcelona-based architects say the space hotel will be the most
: expensive in the galaxy, costing $US4 million for a three-day stay.

: During that time guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and
: use Velcro suits to crawl around their pod rooms by sticking
: themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

: Company director Xavier Claramunt says the three-bedroom boutique
: hotel's joined up pod structure, which makes it look like a model
: of molecules, was dictated by the fact that each pod room had to
: fit inside a rocket to be taken into space.

: "It's the bathrooms in zero gravity that are the biggest
: challenge," says Claramunt. "How to accommodate the more intimate
: activities of the guests is not easy."

: But they may have solved the issue of how to take a shower in
: weightlessness - the guests will enter a spa room in which bubbles
: of water will float around.

: When guests are not admiring the view from their portholes they
: will take part in scientific experiments on space travel.

: Galactic Suite began as a hobby for former aerospace engineer
: Claramunt, until a space enthusiast decided to make the science
: fiction fantasy a reality by fronting most of the $US3 billion
: needed to build the hotel.

: An American company intent on colonizing Mars, which sees Galaxy
: Suite as a first step, has since come on board, and private
: investors from Japan, the United States and the United Arab
: Emirates are in talks.

: PLENTY RICH ENOUGH

: If Claramunt is secretive about the identity of his generous
: backer, he is more forthcoming about the custom he can expect.

: "We have calculated that there are 40,000 people in the world who
: could afford to stay at the hotel. Whether they will want to spend
: money on going into space, we just don't know."

: Four million dollars might be a lot to spend on a holiday, but
: those in the nascent space tourism industry say hoteliers have been
: slow on the uptake because no one thought the cost of space travel
: would come down as quickly as it has.

: Galactic Suite said the price included not only three nights in
: space. Guests also get eight weeks of intensive training at a James
: Bond-style space camp on a tropical island.

: "There is fear associated with going into space," said Claramunt.
: "That's why the shuttle rocket will remain fixed to the space hotel
: for the duration of the guests' stay, so they know they can get
: home again."

: In an era of concern over climate change, Galaxy Suite have no
: plans so far to offset the pollution implications of sending a
: rocket to carry just six guests at a time into space.

: "But," says Claramunt, "I'm hopeful that the impact of seeing the
: earth from a distance will stimulate the guests' urge to value and
: protect our planet."

website
http://www.galacticsuite.com

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA-Langley Tests Planetary Habitats"
Associated Press
http://www.wvec.com/news/local/stories/wvec_local_080607_nasa_langley_
mars.8d60189.html

: If astronauts ever spend some time on the moon, they could be
: sheltered in surface structures being tested at NASA's Langley
: Research Center.

: The idea isn't too far from camping.

: An early model of the inflatable planetary surface habitat is
: 20 feet high, 12 feet wide and covered in nylon webbing. It sits on
: legs. Later models could be used someday as living quarters,
: storage units and air locks for astronauts stationed on the moon.

: "We've been to the moon, we've walked on the moon, but we've never
: stayed on the moon," said Karen Whitley, Langley's project lead for
: the lunar habitat.

: As early as 2020, NASA plans to house crews of up to four astronauts
: in the first lunar outpost before establishing a colony to use as a
: launching point for eventual missions to Mars.

: "It's like camping," Whitley said. "When you go camping, you have
: so much stuff to take . . . and you have to pack it all in limited
: space."

: Langley is evaluating a model from Delaware's ILC Dover LP, which
: has manufactured spacesuits for NASA. It has a $3 million grant
: from NASA for developing habitats. The capsule is made of layered
: nylon and designed to provide four people with 1,872 cubic feet of
: living and storage space.

: NASA plans larger structures that will protect astronauts from
: solar radiation, bombarding micrometeoroids and lunar temperatures.
: Inflatable structures could serve as building blocks for a lunar
: base camp.

: Project manager Judith Watson describes the habitat capsule as
: a "pop-up camper" to provide extra space for the NASA crew. Once
: other structures are erected on the lunar surface, the habitats
: could, for example, be turned into high-tech coat closets for
: storing spacesuits.

: Later this year, engineers will investigate how multiple layers of
: space-age fabrics might withstand lunar temperatures ranging from
: minus 387 degrees Fahrenheit to 253 degrees, and how to keep moon
: dust out.

: Dave Cadogen, ILC Dover's director of research and technology, said
: inflatable habitats present issues similar to spacesuits, with
: inner and outer layers aimed at protecting astronauts and
: connecting pieces.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Ideas for transportable space habitats.

"Flat-pack Villages Offer Chance to Pick up an Affordable Home"
London Times
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article2
072484.ece

: Nine "Ikea" villages could be built in Britain within a year, in
: the strongest sign yet that the future is flat-packed.

: Plans are under way for more than 1,000 Swedish-style kit homes
: across the country, to cater for the increasing numbers of
: first-time buyers for whom most homes are now well beyond budget.

: Promoters believe that the BoKlok concept, a joint venture between
: Ikea and Skanska that began in the mid1990s, could present the key
: to affordable, sustainable housing. The Prime Minister put the
: housing crisis at the top of the political agenda this week,
: pledging to build three million affordable homes by 2020.

: Thanks to the Scandinavian design, which includes features that
: save energy and costs, the BoKlok concept offers a rare opportunity
: for buyers – a property with a five-figure price tag. Apartments
: begin at £90,000, and three-bedroom family properties are for sale
: at less than £150,000.

: Oversubscription, say developers, is inevitable. "People are
: desperate," Alan Prole, managing director of Live Smart, the
: British partner of BoKlok, said.

: More than 800 people have registered serious interest in the
: properties which will be assembled in Gateshead later this year.

: Within weeks of being shipped from a factory in Milton Keynes, the
: brown-field site in Gateshead will feature L-shaped blocks,
: containing six one or two-bedroom apartments with communal car
: parks and private balconies. New owners even receive a furniture
: voucher for Ikea stores.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"One Giant Leap for Space Fashion: MIT Team Designs Sleek, Skintight
Spacesuit"
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/biosuit-0716.html

: In the 40 years that humans have been traveling into space, the
: suits they wear have changed very little. The bulky,
: gas-pressurized outfits give astronauts a bubble of protection, but
: their significant mass and the pressure itself severely limit
: mobility.

: Dava Newman, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics and
: engineering systems at MIT, wants to change that.

: Newman is working on a sleek, advanced suit designed to allow
: superior mobility when humans eventually reach Mars or return to
: the moon. Her spandex and nylon BioSuit is not your grandfather's
: spacesuit--think more Spiderman, less John Glenn.

: Traditional bulky spacesuits "do not afford the mobility and
: locomotion capability that astronauts need for partial gravity
: exploration missions. We really must design for greater mobility
: and enhanced human and robotic capability," Newman says.

: Newman, her colleague Jeff Hoffman, her students and a local design
: firm, Trotti and Associates, have been working on the project for
: about seven years. Their prototypes are not yet ready for space
: travel, but demonstrate what they're trying to achieve--a
: lightweight, skintight suit that will allow astronauts to become
: truly mobile lunar and Mars explorers.

: Newman anticipates that the BioSuit could be ready by the time
: humans are ready to launch an expedition to Mars, possibly in about
: 10 years. Current spacesuits could not handle the challenges of
: such an exploratory mission, Newman says.

: A New Approach

: Newman's prototype suit is a revolutionary departure from the
: traditional model. Instead of using gas pressurization, which
: exerts a force on the astronaut's body to protect it from the
: vacuum of space, the suit relies on mechanical counter-pressure,
: which involves wrapping tight layers of material around the body.
: The trick is to make a suit that is skintight but stretches with
: the body, allowing freedom of movement.

: Over the past 40 years, spacesuits have gotten progressively
: heavier, and they now weigh in at about 300 pounds. That bulk
: -- much of which is due to multiple layers and the life support
: system coupled with the gas-pressurization -- severely constrains
: astronauts' movements. About 70 to 80 percent of the energy they
: exert while wearing the suit goes towards simply working against
: the suit to bend it.

: "You can't do much bending of the arms or legs in that type of
: suit," Newman says.

: When an astronaut is in a micro-gravity environment (for example,
: doing a spacewalk outside the International Space Station), working
: in such a massive suit is manageable, but, as Newman says, "It's a
: whole different ballgame when we go to the moon or Mars, and we
: have to go back to walking and running, or loping."

: Another advantage to her BioSuit is safety: if a traditional
: spacesuit is punctured by a tiny meteorite or other object, the
: astronaut must return to the space station or home base
: immediately, before life-threatening decompression occurs. With the
: BioSuit, a small, isolated puncture can be wrapped much like a
: bandage, and the rest of the suit will be unaffected.

: Newman says the finished BioSuit may be a hybrid that incorporates
: some elements of the traditional suits, including a gas-pressured
: torso section and helmet. An oxygen tank can be attached to the
: back.

: The MIT researchers are focusing on the legs and arms, which are
: challenging parts to design. In the Man-Vehicle Lab at MIT,
: students test various wrapping techniques, based on 3D models
: they've created of the human in motion and how the skin stretches
: during locomotion, bending, climbing or driving a rover.

: Key to their design is the pattern of lines on the suit, which
: correspond to lines of non-extension (lines on the skin that don't
: extend when you move your leg). Those lines provide a stiff
: "skeleton" of structural support, while providing maximal mobility.

: To be worn in space, the BioSuit must deliver close to one-third
: the pressure exerted by Earth's atmosphere, or about
: 30 kPa (kilopascals). The current prototype suit exerts about
: 20 KPa consistently, and the researchers have gotten new models up
: to 25 to 30 KPa.

: Staying in Shape

: The suits could also help astronauts stay fit during the six-month
: journey to Mars. Studies have shown that astronauts lose up to
: 40 percent of their muscle strength in space, but the new outfits
: could be designed to offer varying resistance levels, allowing the
: astronauts to exercise against the suits during a long flight to
: Mars.

: Although getting the suits into space is the ultimate goal, Newman
: is also focusing on Earth-bound applications in the short term,
: such as athletic training or helping people walk.

: The new BioSuit builds on ideas developed in the 1960s and 1970s by
: Paul Webb, who first came up with the concept for a "space activity
: suit," and Saul Iberall, who postulated the lines of non-extension.
: However, neither the technology nor the materials were available
: then.

: "Dr. Webb had a great idea, before its time. We're building on that
: work to try to make it feasible," says Newman.

: The project was initially funded by the NASA Institute for Advanced
: Concepts.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Bigelow's Second Orbital Module Launches Into Space"
Space.com
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070628_genesis2_update.html

: A privately-built space station prototype successfully launched
: into orbit Thursday from a Russian missile base, kicking off the
: second test flight for the U.S. firm Bigelow Aerospace.

: Genesis 2, an inflatable module laden with cameras, personal items
: and a Space Bingo game, rocketed spaceward atop a Dnepr booster
: from a silo at Yasny Launch Base, an active Russian strategic
: missile base in the country's Orenburg region. Liftoff occurred at
: 11:02 a.m. EDT (1502 GMT) though it was near evening at the Russian
: launch site.

: Genesis 2 is a near-twin of Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 1 module,
: which launched in July 2006 and remains operational today, but
: carries a series of enhancements and additional cargo, the Las
: Vegas, Nevada-based spaceflight firm has said. Both spacecraft are
: prototypes for future commercial orbital complexes that Bigelow
: Aerospace, and its founder and president Robert Bigelow, hope to
: offer for use by private firms and national space agencies.

: Familiar look, new spacecraft

: The Genesis 2 module sports a similar look as its Genesis 1
: predecessor, but carries a suite of new sensors and avionics to
: monitor and control the spacecraft in orbit. The sensors will watch
: over internal pressure, temperature, vehicle attitude control and
: radiation levels, Bigelow Aerospace officials said.

: Once in space, the 15-foot (4.4-meter) module is designed to deploy
: eight solar arrays and expand from its launch width of 6.2 feet
: (1.9 meters) to a flight diameter of eight feet (2.54 meters).
: Genesis 2 carries 22 cameras - more than the 13 imagers aboard
: Genesis 1 - to record scenes within the spacecraft's 406-cubic foot
: (11.5-cubic meter) volume.

: Unlike its predecessor, Genesis 2 also sports a multi-tank system
: to inflate the module with compressed air. That improvement, the
: firm has said, adds vital redundancy in the inflation process and
: allows better control of the craft's gas supplies.

: If all goes well, Genesis 2 is expected to have a long orbital life
: akin to that of Genesis 1, which continues to operate nearly a full
: year after its July 12, 2006 launch. Bigelow Aerospace officials
: said the older module may even continue to function through the
: next eight to 13 years.

All aboard Genesis 2

: Genesis 2 is the first Bigelow Aerospace module to carry a clutch
: of personal items under the firm's "Fly Your Stuff" campaign, which
: allowed paying customers to load photographs and other possessions
: to ride into orbit and be captured by onboard cameras.

: Also tucked aboard Genesis 2 are a Space Bingo game and Biobox
: filled with ant farms, scorpions and Madagascar hissing
: cockroaches.

: The Space Bingo game is chiefly aimed at entertainment, with no
: actual wagering involved, and is slated to begin operations a few
: months after launch. Bigelow Aerospace officials said the so-called
: Bingo Box will use fans and levers to autonomously mix and select
: bingo balls during games presented on the firm's website:
: www.bigelowaerospace.com .

: Genesis 2's Biobox, meanwhile, is a three-chamber pressurized
: vessel with compartments for biological specimens to be observed by
: onboard cameras.

: In addition to the hissing cockroaches, the same type that flew
: aboard Genesis 1, the Biobox's chambers contain a group of South
: African flat rock scorpions, one of which was named Antares by a
: fifth grade class in Pennsylvania. A farm of California red
: harvester ants rounds out Genesis 2's biological payload, the
: camera views of which are expected to be available on the Bigelow
: Aerospace website during the mission.

: Step towards larger modules

: The Genesis 2 and 1 modules are one-third scale versions of Bigelow
: Aerospace's planned manned orbital vehicles that are expected to
: begin flying as early as 2010.

: Next year, the firm plans to launch Galaxy - another pathfinder
: module that builds on the Genesis vehicles - before flying its
: first crew-rated spacecraft Sundancer in 2010. Galaxy is slated to
: have 45 percent more habitable space than the Genesis craft, with a
: pressurized volume of about 589 cubic feet (16.7 cubic meters).

: The three-person, 6,356-cubic foot (180-cubic meter) volume
: Sundancer is expected to be bolstered by the addition of a
: connecting node and propulsion bus in 2011 to lay the foundation to
: support Bigelow Aerospace's planned BA 330 module. The larger
: BA 330 is expected to include an 11,653-cubic foot
: (330-cubic meter) habitable volume, when fully inflated, and is
: slated to dock with Sundancer and its node-propulsion bus by 2012.

: In pre-liftoff action Thursday, due to the rain at the launch area,
: a baseball game that included Robert Bigelow was played inside the
: large satellite integration and test building on the base. "Just
: another example of Bigelow Aerospace innovation...we don't let
: anything stop us," Gold said.

: "With Genesis 1 we put one foot ahead of us. With Genesis 2 we put
: another foot ahead of us which means that we're walking," said
: Gold. "I look forward to running and what that's going to be like
: at Bigelow Aerospace."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT -- SPACE ARCHITECTURE

: The AeroSpace Architecture Subcommittee of the American Institute of
: Aeronautics and Astronautics has organized a technical session at

: The International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2007 July 9-12
: Westin Hotel
: 909 North Michigan Avenue
: Chicago, Illinois, USA

: Session ICES43, Monday, July 9, 1:30 - 5:45 PM

: 1:30 PM   "The Lunar Lander 'HabiTank' Concept"
:            Kriss J. Kennedy

:   2:00 PM   "MarsCruiserOne"
:             Andreas Vogler, Arturo Vittori, Stephen Ransom,
:             Loris Granziera

:   2:30 PM   "Floral Polyhedra as Models for Inflatable Envelopes
:             Suitable for Moon or Mars Habitats"
:             James D. Lowe

:   3:00 PM   "Lunar Concrete Radiation Shielding Production for
:             Primary Lunar Base"
:             Naoko Hatanaka, Maria Antonietta Perino

:   3:30 PM   Break

:   3:45 PM   "Trigon Surface Operation Scenarios"
:             A. Scott Howe

:   4:15 PM   "A Mini Module for Remote Science Research in Cold
:             Regions"
:             Hugh Broughton

:   4:45 PM   "Natural and Environmentally Responsive Building
:             Envelopes"
:             Mark B. Luther, Sergio Altomonte

:   5:15 PM   "Infra-Free (IF) Design Framework -- Initial Scenarios
:             for the Future Development of (IF) Technology"
:             Serkan Anilir, Shuichi Matsumura, Robert Schmidt III

: Conference Registration:

: Register by June 22 to save $100.

: If you wish to register, please go to http://www.sae.org/events/ice/
: and follow the link for Register Now near the top of the page, or
: Register farther down (under Registration & Resources).

: Hotel Reservations:

: The conference hotel is:

: Westin Hotel
: 909 North Michigan Avenue
: Chicago, Illinois 60611
: United States

: Phone:  +1-312-943-7200
: Fax:    +1-312-397-5580

: http://www.sae.org/events/ice/ then _Hotel_&_Travel_Information_

: There are several other hotels within walking distance.

: For more information, please visit:

: 37th ICES: http://www.sae.org/events/ice

: SpaceArchitect: http://www.spacearchitect.org

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA, 13 Space Agencies Release Exploration Strategy Framework"
NASA Press Release
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/may/HQ_07126_Exploration_Framewor
k.html

: NASA and 13 space agencies from around the world are releasing the
: latest product of their Global Exploration Strategy discussions.
: The document, "The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for
: Coordination," reflects a shared vision of space exploration
: focused on solar system destinations where humans may someday live
: and work.

: The framework document allows for the establishment of a voluntary,
: non-binding mechanism by which space agencies can exchange
: information on their respective space exploration plans. This
: coordination mechanism will play a key role in helping to identify
: gaps, overlaps and synergies in the space exploration plans of
: participating agencies.

: The framework document is an important step in an evolving process
: toward a comprehensive global approach to space exploration.
: Although the document is non-binding, its contents are consistent
: with ongoing bilateral and multilateral discussions that NASA
: intends to lead to cooperative agreements for specific projects. In
: addition to NASA, representatives from agencies in Australia,
: Canada, China, the European Space Agency, France, Germany, Great
: Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and
: Ukraine participated in the Global Exploration Strategy
: discussions. Many participants are meeting this week in Spineto,
: Italy, to discuss the development of the coordination mechanism and
: other issues.

: The framework document is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/178109main_ges_framework.pdf

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Sci-Fi Mecca: It's Where Fantasy Meets Architecture"
Wired
http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/multimedia/2007/05/scifi_a
rchitecture

: There's something reminiscent of an alien landscape in the towering
: silver whorls of architect Frank Gehry's Experience Music Project
: in Seattle. And, really, who doesn't see spaceships when looking at
: I.M. Pei's Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland?

: What could have inspired such famous architects to build structures
: that look like they belong in a Darren Aronofsky flick? According
: to architecture futurist Geoff Manaugh, creator of Bldgblog,
: there's a not-so-hidden influence on contemporary architects that's
: widely acknowledged but rarely discussed: the speculative
: architectures in fantasy and science fiction movies.

: That's why Manaugh organized an event at the Art Center College of
: Design in Pasadena, California, where conceptual designers who make
: fantasy cities for movies like Star Wars, The Matrix and Minority
: Report addressed architecture and design students who will be
: making the real-life cities of tomorrow.

-------

"Sci-Fi Mecca"
BldgBlog
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/sci-fi-mecca.html

So it looks like Wired liked our science fiction and film panel, held
last week.

The four panelists, Wired writes, showed "art that's rarely seen
outside the film studio: pictures of otherworldy and futuristic
cities that special effects crews and CGI geeks use as blueprints to
build the backdrops for outer-space fights, alien worlds and castles
fit for dragons."

----------

"Silver Lake Film Festival
- May 8–9, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif."
Achitect Magazine
http://www.architectmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?
sectionID=1006&articleID=492853

: AS PART OF THE ANNUAL Silver Lake Film Festival being held this
: month in Los Angeles, architects and filmmakers are invited to
: revel in the influences they've shared since the invention of the
: motion picture a century and a half ago. Blogger Geoff Manaugh of
: BLDGBLOG and Jenna Didier of the L.A. gallery Materials and
: Applications are curating the special two-day event, taking place
: May 8–9 inside a former wind tunnel at Art Center College of Design
: in Pasadena, Calif.

: Day one will feature the symposium "Science Fiction and the City"
: and will consider the connections between radical architecture and
: cinema. Speakers will include set designers Ryan Church, James
: Clyne, Mark Goerner, and Ben Procter, whose credits collectively
: include Star Wars I and III, The Terminal, The Matrix, and Minority
: Report.

: Day two will include screenings of up to 10 excerpts or short
: films, some made by architects, ranging from fly-through animations
: to experimental art films and documentaries. According to the call
: for submissions, "The obvious caveat is that the film has to be
: about architecture, landscape, or the built environment."

: Manaugh hopes, as many do, that architects will be inspired to
: exploit the representational and imaginative tools that film
: offers, as Archigram and Superstudio did in the 1960s. After all,
: movers and shakers in architecture and film have long seen eye to
: eye. Both engage, in some sense, in a plastic art that is
: collaboratively crafted; both produce lasting cultural artifacts;
: and both have had profound effects on the public.

: In fact, German-American architect-turned-film critic Siegfried
: Kracauer once wrote, in Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical
: Reality, "It must always be kept in mind that even the most
: creative filmmaker is much less independent of nature in the raw
: than the painter or poet; that his creativity manifests itself in
: letting nature in and penetrating it." The same can be said of the
: architect, and the festival's producers believe there is more to be
: discovered in the connection between film and architecture.

: "Even if you look at comic books, horror stories, novels, and
: sci-fi films, you'll find some very interesting spaces. There
: aren't as many inhibitions in these other fields," Manaugh
: says. "But interesting architectural ideas are all around us."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

Absidea (Asylum for Absurd Ideas)
http://absidea.free.fr/wordpress

about absidea
http://absidea.free.fr/wordpress/index.php/about-absidea

: Absidea is a free online repository for absurd ideas.

: Its genesis is related to the 2004 PatentPool initiative by a group
: of european industrials. Initially, the objective was to promote
: exchange between R&D teams across the member companies. They set up
: a private cross-corporation intranet forum where R&D engineers
: could write down their ideas and comment on (or improve over) other
: colleagues' ideas. A key guideline was to avoid any kind of
: self-inflicted sensorship, and use the PatentPool as a vital outlet
: for creativity bursts. As board director Soren Kierkestrup puts
: it: `Better out than in'.

: The collaborative crafting of creative material boosted the R&D
: outcome, and the number of patent applications skyrocketed, making
: the PatentPool an all-time corporate award-winning project.

: However, the database soon became cluttered with a whole lot of
: ideas that had not found their way to an industrial application
: within the member companies. The PatentPool board boldly decided to
: salvage this invaluable corpus by freely sharing it with the rest
: of the world. A team of volunteers, mostly engineers participating
: in the PatentPool as their day jobs, put together absidea.

: Ideas in absidea are yours to read, to comment, to improve. They
: come with an OpenIdeas Licence (OIL).

: When an idea has been improved to the point it might become viable,
: anybody can freely take it and build upon it. It can be a team of
: volunteers launching a nonprofit OpenIdeas project on IdeaForge.net,
: or it can be a private firm patenting whatever improvements they
: can come up with, and exploiting the result for profit.

: Read on, and wonder.

Space
http://absidea.free.fr/wordpress/index.php/category/space

Architecture
http://absidea.free.fr/wordpress/index.php/category/architecture

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: CALL FOR CHAPTERS
: Submission Deadline: May 31, 2007

: Designing the user experience of future peripatetic users: new HCI
: design challenges in Space

: Introduction

: Travelling to the depths of Space is no longer a privilege of
: astronauts and scientists. Space Agencies are starting to allow
: those who have the means to afford it, provided that they fulfil a
: minimum set of physiological requirements to join the ventures into
: outer space. At the same time, companies are developing spacecrafts
: for civilian use and plan huge space stations capable of
: accommodating thousand of settlers. However, micro-gravity or
: reduced and enhanced gravity environments strongly influence the
: way users interact with technology. In other words, what works on
: earth does not necessarily perform in Space. As the age of space
: habitation dawns, we must work to find ways to transfer our
: technological advances on Earth to Outer Space

: The Overall objective of the Book

: This book aims to present significant projects carried out in
: academia, space agencies and in industry regarding the quality of
: the user experience with interactive systems in Space. The idea is
: to promote awareness of interdisciplinary work concerning methods
: and tools for HCI in Space in order to be ready for the future life
: beyond the terrestrial atmosphere and to share knowledge to develop
: innovative interactive systems on Earth.

: A crucial problem when designing HCI for Space systems refers to
: the validity of data gathering and the realism of user scenarios.
: Ethnographic on-site studies and evaluation methods show that some
: problems concerning the user behaviour and environment are only
: identified when capturing the rich texture of activity being
: performed in the field.

: The Target Audience

: Educators, and Researchers in HCI, managers of HCI projects working
: in Space and mobile industry (telecom companies, device
: manufacturers, service providers, game designers, etc.); industrial
: designers; new media trends sociologists; new media journalists;
: human factors practitioners; interface evaluators, information
: architects, designers and testers. The book is intended to provide
: valuable material to be used for research and teaching purposes
: (in any curricula including communication and information systems
: in its set of disciplines). This book is also intended to be useful
: for designers and engineers that need concrete materials to
: understand the user experiences in social practices and to evaluate
: the applications used and combined.

: RECCOMENDED TOPICS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, THE FOLLOWING:

: - Technological, cultural, political, philosophical, psychological
: and economic dimensions of pervasive and interactive communication
: systems in Space;

: - Situational awareness: systems that enable people to react to
: impending lethal events ( e.g., solar flares detected during an
: interplanetary travel or extraterrestrial human exploration).

: - New challenges in pervasive communication systems in Space: new
: users and uses, interoperability amongst interfaces, tangible
: computing, intelligent environments, context awareness, etc;

: - Innovative research approaches for the creation of operationally
: relevant and realistic future scenarios;

: - Taxonomy of radically new applications;

: - Art expressions (e.g. locative art) in space and patterns for
: smart & malleable digital content;

: - Advanced interaction models (immersive & intelligent
: environments, humanising interfaces, haptics, etc);

: - Transferring interaction patterns between usage areas
: (e.g. games, Space industry, medical, etc);

: - Advanced evaluation techniques for pervasive systems in Space.

: - Participatory Design and other user-centered approaches focused
: on users' cultural, social, behavioural and ergonomic backgrounds.

: - Challenges of analyzing and designing to support sociability in
: the Space;

: - Emerging nomadic societies, communities and related
: socio-cultural trends;

: - Assessment of the Perceived Quality of Experience through
: ethnographies, or other experimental evaluation techniques.

: - Novel methodologies for services design.

: Book edited by
: Dr. Anxo Cereijo Roibás, University of Brighton;
: Loredana Bessone, ESA

: Scientific Board

: Dr. Patricia.M.Jones, NASA
: Prof. Ignacio Aedo, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
: Dr. Jeffrey W. McCandless, NASA Ames Research Center
: Didier Chincholle, Usability & Interaction Lab - Ericsson Research

: SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

: Full chapters are expected to be submitted by May 31, 2007. All
: submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis.
: The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group Inc.,
: www.idea-group.com, publisher of the Idea Group Publishing,
: Information Science Publishing, IRM Press, CyberTech Publishing and
: Idea Group reference imprints.

: Inquiries and submissions can be forwarded electronically (World
: document) to: a.c.roibas@...

Mark Reiff

From Paul van Susante,

: I would like to call your attention to the following:

: STAIF 2008: Call for papers open now: deadline for initial
: abstracs: June 15th

: This conference has lots of opportunities to present your most
: recent lunar (or other space) work. Please consider submitting an
: abstract soon. The following conferences are combined in STAIF 2008:

: 12th Conference on Thermophysics Applications in Microgravity
: (A-Conference)
: 1st Symposium on Space Resource Utilization (B-Conference)
: 25th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion
: 6th Conference on Human/Robotic Technology and the Vision for Space
: Exploration (D-Conference)
: 6th Conference on Space Colonization (E-Conference) AVAILABLE
: April 27th
: 5th Symposium on New Frontiers and Future Concepts (F-Conference)

: http://www.unm.edu/~isnps/callforpapers/call.html

: Government, aerospace industry and universities are invited to
: exhibit and present papers at this conference. Questions can be
: directed to UNM-ISNPS by: isnps@..., phone: (505) 277-0446,
: fax: (505) 277-2814, or by consulting the ISNPS home page at:
: http://www.unm.edu/~isnps. The Forum Technical & Publication Chair
: is Regents' Professor Mohamed S. El-Genk, Director of the Institute
: for Space and Nuclear Power Studies at the University of New Mexico.

: I hope to see you all there:

: Sincerely

: Paul van Susante,
: Chair of Session E04. Space Bases on the Moon (see below)

: E04. Space Bases on the Moon: How and Why?
: Chair: Paul van Susante, Colorado School of Mines, Golden CO,
: 720-272-8892, paulvans@...

: Co-Chair: Rob Mueller, NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL, 321-867-2557,
: rob.mueller@...

: A "Space Base" will be defined as a permanent facility on the Moon's
: surface, that includes habitable elements in which humans can live
: for extended periods without re-supply. The definition here also
: includes first stage outposts extending all the way to a lunar
: colony and how to develop from one to the other. Priority will be
: given to papers exhibiting original concepts, innovative solutions
: to known environmental risk factors, lunar operations and depth of
: analysis of technologies and functionalities.

: Abstract and paper submissions should contain enough detail for the
: program committee to evaluate the technical content of the final
: presentation and paper

------------------------------------

: Paul van Susante
: PhD candidate, Division of Engineering
: Colorado School of Mines
: 1610 Illinois Street
: Golden, CO 80401
: tel. +1-(303)-384-2040
: Cell. +1-(720)-272-8892
: e-mail : paulvans@...

Mark Reiff

Many visionaries have designed and are still designing Moon bases and
space stations around Earth, but, as is usual in many such
presentations, ignore the basics of physics, engineering and specific
conditions, often in ignorance, or with a wishful "no problem"
attitude. Since the Apollo moon landings, we know quite a bit more
about the conditions of the Moon's surface, but the artist-designers
do not take these into account and are still in the science fiction
phase, or rather, fiction only.

As the engineer in electrics, mechanics and energy conversion systems
that I am, I make in this e-book a more realistic analysis of what is
possible and develop a program that can lead to establish the first
bases and settlements on the Moon, showing designs of such structures
and transport systems, with all the functions needed to live there
and as can be done with today's technology.

This is neither Science yet, nor is it Science Fiction. This is
Science Vision instead, the vision of what is, or may be possible
within known laws of physics and today's technology, but is yet to be
done. You can download the first chapter FOR FREE here:

http://www.draaisma.net/space-tourism/moon_base_landing.php

FYI,

"Virtual-Space Gurus Build Final Frontier
- NASA collaborates with rocket enthusiasts on real-world
applications"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17841125

: Yes, the synthetic world known as Second Life has things that are
: not of this world, including floating launch pads, mini-planets,
: space shuttles and an international space station. More is on the
: way: environments that look and feel like the moon, for instance,
: or simulated lava tubes that could help researchers build real-life
: bases on the moon or Mars.

: The colonization of virtual outer space hints at the shape of
: things to come, for NASA as well as less traditional players on the
: final frontier. And along the way, the virtual-world pioneers are
: encountering some of the same technical and bureaucratic challenges
: they deal with in the real world.

: Science fiction is a huge draw in Second Life — an online
: environment where more than 5 million user-controlled characters,
: or "avatars," can interact with each other. There are virtual
: enclaves for fans of "Star Trek," "Battlestar Galactica,"
: "Serenity" and other outer-space realms from films and TV shows.
: But what we're talking about here is a different level of virtual
: space, drawing upon real spacecraft and real-life organizations.

: You can stroll (or fly) through the International Spaceflight
: Museum, where 52 virtual rockets from 12 countries are on display
: — including a mammoth Saturn 5, a fully loaded space shuttle and
: the SpaceShipOne rocket plane.

: "I call it an art project that got out of hand," said the museum's
: founder, Katherine Prawl (who is known in Second Life as Kat
: Lemieux). She said the museum will soon unveil a virtual space
: shuttle with moving parts and a cockpit that avatars can sit in,
: crafted by rocket builder Jimbo Perhaps.

: "It's too big to fly in Second Life, but it's just beautiful," she
: told MSNBC.com.

: From the museum's grounds, you can fly (or teleport) straight up to
: what passes for low Earth orbit, where a shuttle can be seen
: closing in to dock with the space station. From there, you can
: teleport to floating displays of the planets — a solar system
: lineup that still includes Pluto. In virtual miles, the Pluto
: display isn't nearly as far from Earth's surface as the real thing
: (3 billion miles), but it's still quite a fall if you jump off the
: edge.

: If you know the right people, you can launch your own model
: rockets, or ride skyward on the tip of a ballistic missile. "What's
: really fun is when you can go out and build your own rocket," said
: Robin Snelson (a.k.a. Rocket Sellers), who gave a presentation on
: Second Life rocketry at last week's Space Access '07 conference.

: Serious benefit

: Snelson and other space activists have set up virtual shop on (and
: above) Space CoLab Island, adjacent to the International
: Spaceflight Museum. The island, which serves as Second Life's nexus
: for NASA and allied space groups, boasts a high-tech headquarters
: building, a mountaintop meeting room and amphitheater, and three
: levels of "skypods" floating directly above the mountain.

: "Space CoLab Island is the community hub, if you will, for these
: efforts. It's where professional networkng and knowledge sharing
: happens," said MoonFront's Andrew Hoppin (a.k.a. Drew Frobozz), who
: is working with NASA's Ames Research Center to develop partnerships
: in the online and offline entrepreneurial worlds. A real-life CoLab
: center, corresponding to the Second Life presence, is under
: development in San Francisco.

: NASA is serious about using Second Life as a frontier for
: collaboration and technology, said Jessy Cowan-Sharp (a.k.a.
: DragonFire Kelly) of Ames Research Center. "If you look at the
: functionality of Second Life, it's really just a set of tools that
: you can do whatever you want with," she told MSNBC.com. "There's so
: much more going on with Second Life than games."

: Test bed for exploration

: Cowan-Sharp sees Second Life as a natural test bed for building
: scientifically accurate representations of other worlds, based on
: data flowing in from interplanetary probes. "Imagine your online
: 'avatar' standing beside a rover as it makes its way across the
: Martian surface — in real time," she wrote in a briefing document.

: Collaboration between Second Lifers could add another dimension to
: the test bed.

: "Our avatars could be sitting next to each other in Second Life,
: and real-time data could be flowing in from a rover on Mars, and I
: could say, 'What if we combine that data with the data we brought
: in yesterday?'" she said.

: Another scenario might call for a crew of avatars could test the
: virtual representation of a communications system on a virtual
: moon, to figure out which combination of radio or laser relays
: would be most efficient.

: Alien and earthly experiments

: Some experiments are already under way on CoLab's island complex:
: The Oregon L5 Society is spearheading the construction of a lava
: tube habitat, suitable for the moon or Mars, while another project
: is focusing on Martian habitat-building and terraforming.

: Even as they replicate alien worlds, NASA and space-savvy Second
: Lifers are replicating earthly interactions as well. "Our first few
: months in Second Life have really been about building community,
: almost above content," Cowan-Sharp explained.

: That sometimes means dealing with thorny issues from real life,
: NASA-style. For example, at a CoLab meeting this week, Drew (that
: is, Hoppin) and DragonFire (Cowan-Sharp) agonized along with other
: avatars over whether space entrepreneurs could have their corporate
: logos displayed on CoLab virtual property. The verdict? Not until
: NASA figures out "how to jump through the legal hoops," Drew typed.

: Some wondered whether the situation called for a "CoLab Research
: Park," analogous to the commercial NASA Research Park that's
: adjacent to Ames in Mountain View, Calif. "Interesting," Dragonfire
: typed.

: When worlds collide

: There'll be more collisions between the real and virtual worlds in
: the weeks and months ahead: On April 12, Second Lifers have planned
: 24 hours' worth of activities for Yuri's Night, a worldwide
: celebration of human spaceflight. And during May's annual
: International Space Development Conference, Pete Worden, director
: of NASA's Ames Research Center, is due to deliver an address in
: Second Life.

: In addition to CoLab, other real-world organizations are building
: outer-space views into their own virtual-world facilities. The
: Second Life analog to San Francisco's Exploratorium, known as
: the 'Splo, has displays relating to eclipses and other scientific
: topics. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is
: focusing on climate and sea simulations. And the Second Life
: Observatory, modeled after the University of Denver's Mount Evans
: Meyers-Womble Observatory, offers views of real astronomical
: targets through a virtual telescope.

: One "next step" under consideration is using virtual-world
: observatories as an interface for controlling real-world
: telescopes, and passing the resulting imagery back to the virtual
: stargazer in real time.

: Future space in Second Life

: Further down the line, virtual worlds could help motivate kids to
: stick with math and science for the long haul, said Daniel Laughlin
: (a.k.a. Greyark Hightower), an education researcher at NASA's
: Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland,
: Baltimore County.

: For example, seventh-graders might play a hybrid video game that
: involves creating a virtual moon base. "By the time they're in
: college, they're using the moon base they built as their launch
: point for building a very large telescope array on Europa to look
: for extrasolar planets," he told MSNBC.com.

: Laughlin himself has been working on a NASA-based educational game
: focusing on the agency's vision for going back to the moon and on
: to Mars.

: Could Second Life give residents the sense of riding a spaceship
: into orbit? Not yet: For now, virtual rockets that are blasted with
: enough force to go into orbit simply disappear once they reach a
: certain height, then end up being returned to the "lost and found"
: in Second Life. But Laughlin said there's no ironclad reason why
: space couldn't be simulated.

: "You could certainly create an area that forces the lighting to
: nighttime and populate it with stars," he mused. "The tools for the
: physics of Second Life are fairly sophisticated, if you could do
: the programming that can make it do everything that you wanted to
: simulate. ... You would have to do the coding to adjust the
: gravity."

: Cowan-Sharp, meanwhile, would like to find ways to standardize the
: tools used to transform real-life data sets into virtual
: environments — so that a virtual Mars created for Second Life could
: be easily morphed into custom-made simulations for NASA, or perhaps
: upgraded for a Third, Fourth or Fifth Life.

: "It's clear that there's nothing out there that's even close to
: what Second Life is capable of ... yet," Cowan-Sharp said. "But you
: can only imagine what the capabilities will be in 10 years."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA Tests Inflatable Lunar Shelters"
SPACE.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070328/sc_space/nasatestsinflatablelun
arshelters

: NASA is preparing to test an inflatable structure that might one
: day be used to establish an outpost on the Moon.

: Created by NASA contractor ILC Dover LP, the pumped-up structure
: sits poised for tests at the agency's Langley Research Center in
: Virginia.

: "Right now it is a concept demonstrator," said Inflatable
: Structures Project Leader Karen Whitley. "We use it for publicity
: and tours and exhibits for senior staff. We've had several
: congressmen come here to see it."

: The inflatable structure is made of multilayer fabric and looks
: like an ungainly white robot with legs. The main unit is 12 feet in
: diameter and 18 feet tall. It has a volume of about 1,600 cubic
: feet and is connected to an airlock, also inflatable. The two
: spaces are essentially pressurized cylinders, connected by an
: airtight door.

: Judith Watson, the Structure Material Mechanism project lead at
: Langley, said her team is drawing plans to conduct structural tests
: on the prototype in the coming months.

: "We also want to look at logistics: how well this is actually going
: to package up, how much mass it actually has, how do you arrange
: the internal parts [to create] sleeping quarters, walls and
: floors," Watson told SPACE.com. "Those are some of the issues we're
: going to be tackling in the next year or two."

: Inflatable structures are just one of the construction types NASA
: is considering for an outpost on the Moon.

: "There are quite a few different options that they're looking at,"
: Watson said. "They're not restricting themselves to expandable
: structures."

: Whitley says the biggest advantage of expandable structures is they
: can be compressed into a small volume for launch.

: NASA envisions a lunar outpost as being a testing ground in
: preparation for a longer journey to Mars.

: "The idea behind us having an outpost on the Moon is to give us a
: chance to practice and learn before we go to Mars," Watson said.
: "The Moon is a lot closer...We have the ability to try out the
: technology in a safer environment before we send people on a three
: plus years mission to Mars, where they have no backup."

: NASA says testing of inflatable habitats on the Moon could begin in
: 2020. As currently envisioned, a lunar outpost would begin with
: four-person crews making several seven-day visits to the Moon until
: their power supplies, rovers and living quarters are operational.

: The mission would then be extended to two weeks, then two months
: and ultimately to 180 days.

: In a related development, NASA will team up with the National
: Science Foundation to begin field testing of a similar inflatable
: structure in Antarctica either later this year or early next year.

: NASA faces competition for setting up a lunar outpost from at least
: one private company. Austin's Stone Aerospace, Inc, in Texas
: recently announced plans tocreate a lunar mining station to
: prospect for frozen water and other resources by 2015.

: Another company, Bigelow Aerospace, plans to launch free-floating
: modules to create an orbital habitat that could support visiting
: crews of up to three people by the end of the decade.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA Tests Inflatable Lunar Shelters"
SPACE.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070328/sc_space/nasatestsinflatablelun
arshelters

: NASA is preparing to test an inflatable structure that might one
: day be used to establish an outpost on the Moon.

: Created by NASA contractor ILC Dover LP, the pumped-up structure
: sits poised for tests at the agency's Langley Research Center in
: Virginia.

: "Right now it is a concept demonstrator," said Inflatable
: Structures Project Leader Karen Whitley. "We use it for publicity
: and tours and exhibits for senior staff. We've had several
: congressmen come here to see it."

: The inflatable structure is made of multilayer fabric and looks
: like an ungainly white robot with legs. The main unit is 12 feet in
: diameter and 18 feet tall. It has a volume of about 1,600 cubic
: feet and is connected to an airlock, also inflatable. The two
: spaces are essentially pressurized cylinders, connected by an
: airtight door.

: Judith Watson, the Structure Material Mechanism project lead at
: Langley, said her team is drawing plans to conduct structural tests
: on the prototype in the coming months.

: "We also want to look at logistics: how well this is actually going
: to package up, how much mass it actually has, how do you arrange
: the internal parts [to create] sleeping quarters, walls and
: floors," Watson told SPACE.com. "Those are some of the issues we're
: going to be tackling in the next year or two."

: Inflatable structures are just one of the construction types NASA
: is considering for an outpost on the Moon.

: "There are quite a few different options that they're looking at,"
: Watson said. "They're not restricting themselves to expandable
: structures."

: Whitley says the biggest advantage of expandable structures is they
: can be compressed into a small volume for launch.

: NASA envisions a lunar outpost as being a testing ground in
: preparation for a longer journey to Mars.

: "The idea behind us having an outpost on the Moon is to give us a
: chance to practice and learn before we go to Mars," Watson said.
: "The Moon is a lot closer...We have the ability to try out the
: technology in a safer environment before we send people on a three
: plus years mission to Mars, where they have no backup."

: NASA says testing of inflatable habitats on the Moon could begin in
: 2020. As currently envisioned, a lunar outpost would begin with
: four-person crews making several seven-day visits to the Moon until
: their power supplies, rovers and living quarters are operational.

: The mission would then be extended to two weeks, then two months
: and ultimately to 180 days.

: In a related development, NASA will team up with the National
: Science Foundation to begin field testing of a similar inflatable
: structure in Antarctica either later this year or early next year.

: NASA faces competition for setting up a lunar outpost from at least
: one private company. Austin's Stone Aerospace, Inc, in Texas
: recently announced plans tocreate a lunar mining station to
: prospect for frozen water and other resources by 2015.

: Another company, Bigelow Aerospace, plans to launch free-floating
: modules to create an orbital habitat that could support visiting
: crews of up to three people by the end of the decade.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Wanted: Home-builders for the Moon - NASA's post-2020 plan involves
the usual (and unusual) space suspects"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16871258

: Imagine a world where microwave-beaming rovers cook dust into
: concrete landing pads ... where your living quarters are dropped
: onto the land from above, then inflated like an inner tube ...
: where the grit is so abrasive that even the robots have to wear
: protective coveralls.

: It may sound like science fiction, but these are actually some of
: the ideas being floated as part of NASA's plan to build a permanent
: moon base starting in 2010. To follow through on those sky-high
: ideas, the space agency is turning to some down-to-earth experts,
: ranging from polar researchers to miners and earth-movers.

: "We will be looking outside the agency quite a bit as well as
: inside the agency," said Larry Toups, habitation systems lead for
: NASA's Constellation Program Office. "We have a lot of folks here
: who are very innovative and understand the space environment quite
: a bit, but you do have a lot of expertise outside NASA as well, and
: we intend to involve those folks."

: Those folks include the twin giants of America's space industry,
: The Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin. But some less conventional
: players are involved as well:

: - Illinois-based Caterpillar and allied companies have been
: advising NASA on the dynamics of dirt and the challenges of moving
: heavy equipment over the lunar surface.

: - Canada-based Norcat and Electric Vehicle Controllers are working
: together to develop a drill suitable for mining on the moon. Norcat
: is traditionally better-known for its industrial safety training
: programs, but this June the company is sponsoring a planetary
: mining conference, with the moon in its sights.

: - Delaware-based ILC Dover, which manufactures components for
: NASA's spacewalk suits as well as the airbags used by NASA's Mars
: rovers, is branching out to develop inflatable prototypes for lunar
: habitats. Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace may offer its own
: inflatable modules for future moon outposts.

: - The National Science Foundation is working with NASA and ILC
: Dover to build and deploy an inflatable test habitat in Antarctica
: later this year.

: NASA announced the broad outlines of its plan for an eventual lunar
: outpost less than two months ago. The general idea is to set up
: shop on the rim of a crater near one of the moon's poles. Such
: areas would be in sunlight, with a line-of-sight link to Earth all
: year round. The first crews would stay for just a week at a time,
: but by 2025, six-month tours of duty would be the norm.

: The polar outpost would serve as NASA's base for lunar research and
: a test bed for Mars exploration. Some have even grander plans,
: envisioning the moon as an eventual platform for luxury hotels,
: astronomical observatories and helium-3 mining operations. The idea
: of a permanent platform is what distinguishes the future effort
: from NASA's previous moon program, said Dallas Bienhoff, manager
: for in-space and surface systems at Boeing Space Exploration.

: "Just getting there and getting home was a big deal for Apollo," he
: told MSNBC.com. "We know we can do that, even though we haven't
: done it in 30-plus years. What we want to do is prepare the
: beachhead for people other than NASA. Basically, the intent is to
: lay down the foundation for a permanent presence on the moon by
: whoever wants to be there."

: NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries cautioned that, for now, the space
: agency is focusing on the spacecraft required for moon trips rather
: than on lunar habitats. "Those don't do you a whole lot of good if
: you don't have a way to get to the moon," he told MSNBC.com.
: Nevertheless, NASA and its corporate partners are already building
: prototypes to test some of the more unorthodox ideas — like those
: inflatable habitats, for example.

: `Honey, I Shrunk the Space Station'

: Why inflatable habitats? Bienhoff explained that the metal-hulled
: modules used on the international space station couldn't make it to
: the moon because they're too heavy.

: The typical space station module weighs 30,000 pounds — but NASA's
: moonships, as currently planned, would have a maximum payload
: capacity of only 13,000 pounds.

: Inflatable modules could get around that limitation. Dave Cadogan,
: research director at ILC Dover, said the modules would be
: compressed to fit a smaller space on NASA's smaller spaceships,
: dropped off on the moon, and only then filled with air, equipment
: and all the comforts of a lunar home.

: Bigelow Aerospace already has lofted one inflatable test module
: into orbit and is gearing up to launch another one in April. Last
: year the company's billionaire founder, Robert Bigelow, told
: reporters that "we definitely have lunar architecture in mind."

: ILC Dover, meanwhile, has built one inflatable prototype for NASA's
: Langley Research Center, and it's in the midst of designing another
: for the NASA-NSF test in Antarctica. NASA's Toups said the new
: prototype would be shipped in compressed form to the South Pole
: this fall and inflated to full size for use by polar researchers
: — as, say, a dive shack or a meeting place.

: "We'll have monitors and sensors built into it so we'll be able to
: track how it does with sustained use," he said.

: Antarctica and other extreme environments on Earth — such as the
: Canadian Arctic, the Arizona desert and the underwater Aquarius
: habitat — are becoming key proving grounds as NASA and its partners
: develop their exploration technologies.

: "What I see the Antarctic experience doing is actually being an
: analog for what we might do on the moon, and then once we get to
: the moon, keep in mind that we'll be using that as an analog for
: the operations that might be required for Mars," Toups said.

: More alien than Antarctica

: But there are some lunar challenges that go far beyond what
: Antarctic researchers have to deal with.

: For example, radiation exposure poses much more of a risk on the
: moon than it is beneath Earth's warm blanket of atmosphere.
: Habitats on the moon might have to be covered by heaped-up lunar
: soil, also known as regolith. Other shielding materials could
: include tanks of water, or strategically placed hardware, or extra
: layers of reinforced polyethylene.

: Then there's the dust: During the Apollo missions, abrasive
: moondust worked its way into every nook and cranny — even the
: joints on the astronauts' spacesuits. "After three days on the
: lunar surface, they had work through the metallic protection on
: their gloves, because of the abrasion," Bienhoff said.

: If too much dust gets inside the lunar habitat, it could pose the
: kinds of health problems suffered by miners and asbestos workers in
: the past. To keep the dust down, astronauts  might have to wear
: disposable coveralls during surface operations, Cadogan said — and
: lunar robots might need coveralls as well to protect their
: mechanical joints and bearings.

: Living off the dirt

: Moon dirt isn't all bad, however. If you know how to treat it
: right, it can serve as a building material as well as a source for
: vital supplies — and that's where companies such as Caterpillar
: enter the picture.

: "When you're moving large pieces of equipment, using whatever types
: of devices you are using, how is the soil going to react?" NASA's
: Humphries said. "How is it going to compact underneath the wheels?
: Could it potentially get in the way and ball things up? What is its
: usefulness in terms of being bulldozed around to help make barriers
: to radiation, or even to flatten out the surface for ease of
: maneuvering things in an outpost-type area? They're looking at a
: lot of different things in that regard — in particular in the area
: of robotics, because they're anticipating that robotics will be a
: key component there."

: Construction and mining companies have been advising the more
: traditional aerospace companies on all those issues, said Larry
: Clark, senior manager for Lockheed Martin's spacecraft technology
: development laboratory. It turns out that a heavy-duty Caterpillar
: tractor probably wouldn't be suitable for the moon, he said.

: "We can't afford to launch a large vehicle like that, so we've got
: to make things smaller and lightweight, but just as efficient
: mechanically," he told MSNBC.com.

: Pint-size robo-tractors could be used to build up protective berms
: around lunar facilities, or dig up loads of moon soil for
: industrial-scale extraction of water and oxygen. Researchers have
: already started to map areas where frozen water may lurk — perhaps
: in the depths of permanently shadowed craters near the poles. And
: if the water is broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, that could
: provide rocket propellants as well as air for breathing.

: In addition to potential traces of frozen water, lunar soil
: contains oxygen-rich minerals.

: "It doesn't take a lot of soil to make the oxygen we need," Clark
: said. The way he figures it, processing the top 2 inches
: (5 centimeters) of soil from an area half the size of a basketball
: court could yield enough oxygen to keep four astronauts alive for
: 75 days.

: Moon dirt in the microwave

: Another neat trick involves cooking the lunar soil right on the
: surface to turn it into a concrete-hard crust. "You take a
: microwave and heat the soil up, and it actually fuses into a
: solid," said John Stevens, Lockheed Martin's director of business
: development for human spaceflight.

: Larry Taylor, a University of Tennessee planetary scientist, has
: proposed building "lunar lawnmowers" that could go back and forth
: to create hardened launch pads, roads and even radio telescope
: dishes.

: Over the long haul, such technologies could turn the moon into much
: more than a way station on the road to Mars, said Bob Davis,
: director of business development for space exploration at Northrop
: Grumman.

: "We're learning what the moon has to offer as not just an outpost,
: but as a location where we might derive economic benefit," he told
: MSNBC.com. "Who knows?"

Mark Reiff

From Marco Bernasconi,

: Dear colleagues and friends,

: Greetings, and...

: BEST WISHES FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2007!

: And what about the 2006? Another spawn of the XX century that
: managed to swap over into the next millennium? May be some among
: you have an appropriate assessment.

: Within the limited space field, Bigelow Aerospace flight of the
: Genesis module clearly defined the highlight of the past year. I
: don't think we have really gauged the meaning of this event, for
: the "gossamer" community. While some HEDES (HEavy-Duty Expandable
: Structures) efforts occurred in the US during the 1990s (LLNL NASA
: lunar module, Transhab), on the hardware side, they remained
: limited to punctual technology developments. However modest it
: might have been, the Genesis 1 prototype did include all elements
: needed to take it through launch and installation sequence, into
: an operational phase in orbit. And all this, as guys who have
: tried to take something to a real demonstration phase well know,
: does _not_ represent a minor success, but truly a major one!

: ~~~

: I have previously mentioned the generalized "sovietization" as one
: major negative trend. To my surprise, I have seen the term used by
: a number of independent sources, in the proper context. Hardly
: encouraging, I'd call it.

: ~~~

: And one man who, for many years acted with spirit and honesty
: against such trends, passed away last year. Milton Friedman had
: influenced many people, well beyond the borders of his country;
: and I can count myself, in a very small way, among those numbers.
: I first came across his columns in Newsweek from the mid-1970s
: onwards (yes, I did subscribe to Newsweek for a number of years!);
: later, I read his "Free to Choose." While I was never excessively
: admirative in the science of economics, I think his articles did
: maintain in me a sort of cognitive dissonance that dynamically
: kept me from sliding into buying in the system. Later, I learned
: of other, even more open concepts, but Friedman did deserve all
: the hommages that came forward at the end of 2006.

: ~~~

: Within my much smaller world, I have to admit that 2006
: represented a somewhat transitional period. MCB Consultants has
: continued work on the Ultralight Structures (ULS) activity and on
: the contract on "Polymerization of Composites in Space", both led
: by Astrium ST (previously, EADS Space Transportation -- Bordeaux).
: We also established contacts with a number of "young" companies
: and project teams, leading to plans for collaborations (currently
: at different stages of maturity) that could make for interesting
: future plays.

: ~~~

: On the other hand, if a year ago I had lamented the scarcity of
: our publications, this changed with 2006. Of course, external
: facts like holding the LVII International Astronautical Congress
: at Valencia (Spain) and the recurring of the ESA European Workshop
: on Inflatable Space Structures -- the third issue held at ESTEC,
: Noordwijk -- provided the appropriate strong stimuli. So, here
: come the lists:

: Full Papers

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Going Elsewhere – Adapting Structures
: for Use in Space through Rigidizing Materials. Paper TT01-100
: presented at the "Adaptables2006" --  International Conference on
: Adaptable Building Structures, Eindhoven (The Netherlands),
: July 3-5.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Meindert Versteeg, & Roland Zenger (2006).
: Auxiliary Internal Structures (AUXIS) for an Expandable Habitat:
: Configuration Aspects & Hierarchical Structuring. Paper
: IAC-06-C2.7.03 presented at the LVII International Astronautical
: Congress, Valencia (Spain), October 2-6.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Meindert Versteeg, & Roland Zenger (2006). A
: Multi-Purpose Astronaut Shower for Long-Duration Microgravity
: Missions. Paper IAC-06-B4.4.05 to be presented at the LVII
: International Astronautical Congress, Valencia (Spain),
: October 2-6.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Roland Zenger, & Meindert Versteeg (2006).
: Crew Health Support on Long-Duration Missions in Microgravity:
: Some Considerations. Paper IAC-06-C2.7.03 to be presented at the
: LVII International Astronautical Congress, Valencia (Spain),
: October 2-6.

: Public Presentations:

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Astronautics as an Ethical Imperative.
: Presentation at the OLATS "Expanding the Space: Enlarging the
: Frontiers of the Earth" Conference,  Valencia (Spain), October 3-6.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Material Aspects for Gossamer
: Structures: Thin-Film Options. Presentation PPH-06-057 at the 3rd
: European Workshop on Inflatable Space Structures, ESTEC (The
: Netherlands), October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). A Further Look at Rigidization
: Technologies: Thermal-Regime Considerations. Presentation
: PPH-06-058 at the 3rd European Workshop on Inflatable Space
: Structures, ESTEC (The Netherlands), October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). A Planar Support Frame for Flight
: Experiment Purposes. Presentation PPH-06-059 at the 3rd European
: Workshop on Inflatable Space Structures, ESTEC (The Netherlands),
: October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi, Meindert Versteeg, & Roland Zenger (2006).
: Auxiliary Internal Structures (AUXIS) for an Expandable Habitat.
: Presentation PPH-06-062 at the 3rd European Workshop on Inflatable
: Space Structures, ESTEC (The Netherlands), October 10-12.

: Marco C Bernasconi (2006). Folding Patterns for Gossamers'
: Building Blocks -- A Primer. Presentation PPH-06-064 at the 3rd
: European Workshop on Inflatable Space Structures, ESTEC (The
: Netherlands), October 10-12.

: ~~~

: For 2007, I've got involved in soliciting papers from other
: people. Currently, I'm working at organizing two sessions for the
: ECCOMAS "Structural Membranes 2007 Conference": one on "Inflatable
: Shelters & Habitats" and a second one (together with Dr Defoort)
: on "Rigidifiable Materials for Deployable Membranes." More
: information comes from the conference site at:
: http://congress.cimne.upc.es/membranes07/frontal/default.asp

: or by writing to one of the e-mail addresses indicated at the end
: of this message.

: Before, I had tried my hand at helping the convocation of the 2nd
: IAA/ ESA Space and Society Conference: "Space Options for the 21st
: Century" that will be held at ESTEC, Noordwijk (The Netherlands)
: between February 27 - March 1. More information through:
: http://conferences.esa.int/

: or directly at:
: http://www.congrex.nl/06a12

: ~~~

: Again, my heartfelt thanks to all those among you with whom I had
: the privilege and the pleasure to talk and work with during the
: last months and, as always, my sincerest wishes for a better,
: freer, and astronautical future!!

: Marco C Bernasconi (Dr Sc Techn)
: Member IAA, IEEE & SSIT, BIS; Senior Member, AIAA.
: Email: speculum@...
: mcb@...
: marco.c.bernasconi@...

Mark Reiff

FYI,

This has obvious implications to space architecture, that will
necessarily rely heavily on robotic construction.

"Robo-builder Threatens the Brickie"
London Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2546574,00.html

: Engineers are racing to unveil the world's first robot capable of
: building a house at the touch of a button.

: The first prototype — a watertight shell of a two-storey house
: built in 24 hours without a single builder on site — will be
: erected in California before April.

: A rival design, being pioneered in the East Midlands, with £1.2m of
: government funding, will include sunken baths, fireplaces and
: cornices. There are even plans for robots to supplant painters and
: decorators by spraying colourful frescoes at an affordable price.

: By building almost an entire house from just two materials
: — concrete and gypsum — the robots will eliminate the need for
: dozens of traditional components, including floorboards, wooden
: window frames and possibly even wallpaper. It may eventually be
: possible to use specially treated gypsum instead of glass window
: panes.

: Engineers on both projects say the robots will not only cut costs
: and avoid human delays but liberate the normal family homes from
: the conventional designs of pitched roofs, right-angled walls and
: rectangular windows.

: "The architectural options will explode," predicted Dr Behrokh
: Khoshnevis at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles,
: who will soon unleash his $1.5m (£940,000) robot. "We will be able
: to build curves and domes as easily as straight walls.

: "Your shoes, clothes and car are already made automatically, but
: your house is built by hand and it doesn't make sense."

: At Loughborough University's School of Mechanical and Manufacturing
: Engineering, the technology is being backed by a £1.2m grant from
: the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

: It involves computer-controlled robotic nozzles which pipe quick-
: drying liquid gypsum and concrete to form walls, floors and roofs.

: Inspired by the inkjet printer, the technology goes far beyond the
: techniques already used for prefabricated homes. "This will remove
: all the limitations of traditional building," said Hugh Whitehead
: of the architecture firm Foster & Partners, which designed
: the "Gherkin" skyscraper in London and is producing designs for the
: Loughborough team. "Anything you can dream you can build."

: The robots are rigged to a metal frame, enabling them to shuttle in
: three dimensions and assemble the structure of the house layer by
: layer. The sole foreman on site operates a computer programmed with
: the designer's plans.

: The researchers in Los Angeles claim their robot will be able to
: build the shell of a house in 24 hours. "Compared to a conventional
: house, the speed of construction will be increased 200-fold and the
: building costs will be reduced to a fifth of what they are today,"
: said Khoshnevis.

: The rival British system is likely to take at least a week but will
: include more sophisticated design features, with the computer's
: nozzle weaving in ducts for water pipes, electrical wiring and
: ventilation within the panels of gypsum or concrete.

: Jala El-Ali, structural designer at Buro Happold — the firm that
: helped design Arsenal's new football stadium, which is shaped like
: a flying saucer — said future homes could carry features borrowed
: from ant hills, honeycombs or sea shells.

: Dr Rupert Soar, in charge of the project at Loughborough, has
: travelled to Namibia to seek inspiration from termites, which
: construct giant mounds by regurgitating earth in intricate designs.

: "If you ask a bricklayer to lay bricks in anything other than a
: straight line, you'll run into problems," said Soar. "But if you
: ask the robot to make a squiggly line it really doesn't care."

: While the Americans' first robot-built home is predicting a
: completion date of April, the Loughborough prototype is unlikely to
: be built for at least five years.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"NASA Says It will Set up Polar Moon Camp"
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061205/ap_on_sc/nasa_moon_4

: NASA may be going to the same old moon with a ship that looks a
: lot like a 1960s Apollo capsule, but the space agency said Monday
: that it's going to do something dramatically different this time:
: Stay there.

: Unveiling the agency's bold plan for a return to the moon, NASA
: said it will establish an international base camp on one of the
: moon's poles, permanently staffing it by 2024, four years after
: astronauts land there.

: It is a sweeping departure from the Apollo moon missions of the
: 1960s and represents a new phase of space exploration after space
: shuttles are retired in 2010.

: NASA chose a "lunar outpost" over the short expeditions of the
: '60s. Apollo flights were all around the middle area of the moon,
: but NASA decided to go to the moon's poles because they are best
: for longer-term settlements. And this time NASA is welcoming other
: nations on its journey.

: The more likely of the two lunar destinations is the moon's south
: pole because it's sunlit for three-quarters of the time. That
: offers a better locale for solar power, plus the site has possible
: resources to mine nearby, said associate deputy administrator Doug
: Cooke.

: To get to the moon, NASA will use two vehicles — the Orion
: exploration vehicle and an attached all-purpose lunar lander that
: could touch down anywhere and be the beginnings a base camp, said
: exploration chief Scott Horowitz.

: He likens the lander to a pickup truck.

: "You can put whatever you want in the back. You can take it to
: wherever you want. So you can deliver cargo, crew, do it
: robotically, do it with humans on board. These are the types of
: things we're looking for in this system," Horowitz said at a news
: conference in Houston.

: The estimated time frame for NASA's lunar plans are:

: 2009 — a first test of one of the lunar spaceships.

: 2014 — the first manned test flight of the Orion crew exploration
: vehicle, but no moon landing.

: 2020 — the first flight of the four-astronaut crew to the moon.

: For four years, the lunar base won't be built up enough for long
: visits, so astronauts will only spend a week at a time. But after
: that, NASA envisions people living on the moon for six-month
: stints.

: NASA also hopes that hydrogen, oxygen and other moon resources can
: be used as supplies for the lunar outpost. Eventually, getting
: oxygen there may be simple enough that it could be turned over to
: a commercial supplier, Horowitz said.

: NASA's vision for the moon is more than just American astronauts
: — it includes space travelers from other countries and even
: commercial interests, if possible.

: The key decision for NASA in its planning was whether to have a
: permanent settlement, and that drove other decisions, Dale said.
: Going with a permanent base was an outcome of NASA asking itself
: and more than 1,000 experts from 14 nations the questions: "Why
: are we returning to the moon and what we plan to do when we get
: there?"

: Two key themes, according to NASA, were to prepare for future
: exploration, with Mars the next stop, and expansion of human
: civilization. Both NASA's science and engineering communities
: agreed on a permanent outpost, an agreement rare for two
: conflicting sides of the agency, Horowitz said.

: The lunar plan calls for a commitment of money over the next three
: presidential terms, raising questions about future funding.

: His concern is based on cost and technology, McCurdy said. NASA
: doesn't plan to get additional money for its lunar program and
: will simply use money that had gone to the space shuttle program;
: much of the technology is based on expensive Apollo hardware, he
: said. So NASA has vowed to be creative with spending and
: technology, he said.

: "The tooth fairy is not going to drop $500 to $800 billion on
: NASA," McCurdy said. "Being creative on the moon can sometimes get
: you confined to the moon."

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: CALL FOR PAPERS -- SPACE ARCHITECTURE

: The AeroSpace Architecture Subcommittee of the American Institute
: of Aeronautics and Astronautics is organizing two technical
: sessions at

: The International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES)
: 2007 July 9-12
: The Westin Hotel, Michigan Avenue
: Chicago, Illinois, USA

: Session ICES 43 - Aerospace Architecture papers
: Session ICES 44 - Aerospace Architecture panel discussion

: Important dates:

: Abstract deadline:          2006 November 10   (300 words)
: Full manuscript deadline:   2007 March 5       (for peer review)
: Final manuscript deadline:  2007 May 11        (revised edition)
: Conference:                 2007 July 9-12     (presentation)

: Authors who wish to contribute a paper must submit a 300-word
: abstract by November 10, 2006.  Abstracts must be submitted online
: through the SAE website -- follow the instructions and the
: "online" link at http://www.sae.org/events/ice/cfp.htm

: For Aerospace Architecture papers, please also e-mail a copy of the
: abstract to the ICES 43 session organizer, Ted Hall
: <twh@...>

: Papers for Aerospace Architecture (ICES 43) should present theory,
: technical developments, and progress in the architectural design of
: space-related facilities, habitats, and vehicles -- to promote the
: health, comfort, and productivity of people living and working in
: space and people who put people into space.

: We especially invite prospective authors who missed the deadline
: for the Space Architecture Symposium at AIAA Space 2006 to submit
: their papers to the Aerospace Architecture session at ICES.

: All papers must pass peer review before being accepted for
: publication and presentation.  The ICES enforces a strict "no
: paper, no podium" policy.  Full drafts for peer review are due on
: March 5.  Authors should consider this date in planning the scope
: of their paper -- especially for work in progress.  Results must
: be documented (and if necessary, cleared for release) for peer
: review by March 5.

: Papers must conform to the SAE template, available for download
: from http://volunteers.sae.org/authors/present.htm  We encourage
: authors to download the template and use it at the outset of their
: writing to avoid significant reformatting later.

: Authors of accepted papers are expected to register for the
: conference, attend the session, and present their work in person.

: For more information, please visit:

: 37th ICES:
: http://www.sae.org/events/ice

: SpaceArchitect:
: http://www.spacearchitect.org

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"New Architecture Inspired By Living Cells"
LiveScience.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060811/sc_space/newarchitectureinspir
edbylivingcells

: The building, designed to resemble a cell from the outside,
: includes forms inspired by molecular biology on the inside. It
: will be home to the Institute for Nanobiomedical Technology and
: Membrane Biology in Chengdu, China.

: The design comes from a collaboration of individuals from
: different disciplines initiated by Sloan Kulper, a former
: Massachusetts Institute of Technology architectural student who
: once took a biology class.

: The instructor for that class, Shuguang Zhang, associate director
: of the Center for Biomedical Engineering at MIT, frequently
: discussed similarities between architecture and structures in
: biology.

: "Nature has produced abundant magnificent, intricate and fine
: molecular and cellular structures through billions of years of
: molecular selection and evolution," Zhang said.

: It was such discussions that sparked Kulper's interest in the
: shape of the smallest structural unit of living things.

: "When I took Shuguang's course, I was thrilled to learn that
: structural biologists had developed such an amazing language for
: describing new and complex forms," Kulper said. "Also, structural
: biology is basically concerned with the sort of geometries that
: architects and designers often work with, though on a completely
: different scale."

: About a year a later, when Kulper was offered an opportunity to
: serve as a founding advisor of a new biological research facility
: in China, he teamed up with Zhang and another MIT graduate, Audrey
: Roy, currently a software engineer at Sharpcast, Inc. to develop
: the concepts for a building with a biology theme.

: The pioneering design for the cell-shaped building was inspired
: by "elegantly folded protein structures and their simple and
: beautiful structural motifs," According to Zhang.

: The three worked with a group of Chinese architects to develop
: sketches and models while simultaneously studying cellular
: structures that had formal similarities to the spaces being
: designed, Kulper said. "We worked with images of proteins,
: membranes and organelles alongside photos and textbook images of
: glazing systems and cantilevers."

: The $12 million, six-story-tall building will sport bay windows
: all around the surface of the building similar to proteins in a
: cell membrane, which stick out of the surface like little
: potatoes.

: The institute will also have a crystal-shaped lecture hall with a
: crystal diffraction pattern on the ceiling. Biologists crystallize
: proteins and pass X-rays through them to observe the scattering
: patterns in order to study the shape of a protein.

: "The building is very interesting. I have always wondered what it
: would be like working within the cell," Institute Professor
: Phillip Sharp said after viewing the renderings of the building.

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Spacecraft Successfully Inflates in Orbit"
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060713/ap_on_sc/private_space_station

: An experimental spacecraft bankrolled by real estate magnate
: Robert Bigelow successfully inflated in orbit Wednesday, testing a
: technology that could be used to fulfill his dream of building a
: commercial space station.

: In a brief statement posted on his Web site, Bigelow said the
: Genesis I satellite "successfully expanded" several hours after
: liftoff. No other details were provided.

: Genesis I flew aboard a converted Cold War ballistic missile from
: Russia's southern Ural Mountains at 6:53 p.m. Moscow time. It was
: boosted about 320 miles above Earth minutes after launch,
: according to the Russian Strategic Missile Forces.

: The launch was a first for the startup Bigelow Aerospace, founded
: by Bigelow, who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain.
: Bigelow is among several entrepreneurs attempting to break into
: the fledgling manned commercial spaceflight business.

: Mission controllers established communication with Genesis I about
: seven hours after launch. Early indications showed its GPS
: tracking system was working and that it had deployed its solar
: panels.

: Bigelow hopes to use inflation technology to build an expandable
: orbital outpost made up of several Genesis-like modules strung
: together like sausage links that could serve as a space hotel,
: science lab or even a sports arena.

: "We're ecstatic. We're just elated," Bigelow said in a telephone
: interview from Las Vegas. "We have a sense of being on a great
: adventure."

: The goal of the maiden Genesis mission will focus on the inflation
: process — a key element to determining the feasibility of
: constructing an expandable space habitat. Future Bigelow missions
: will test docking among spacecraft.

: Bigelow has committed $500 million toward building a commercial
: space station by 2015. So far, $75 million has been spent on the
: project.

: Unlike the rigid aluminum international space station, Genesis I
: consists of a flexible outer shell and is layered with tough
: material such as Kevlar, which is found in bulletproof police
: vests, to withstand flying space debris.

: The 2,800-pound Genesis I measured 14 feet long and 4 feet wide at
: launch and was to inflate to twice that width in orbit. It carried
: photos of Bigelow employees and insects that scientists hope to
: study to determine how well they survive the flight.

: Equipped with a dozen cameras to be aimed at the Earth, the
: spacecraft will circle the planet for at least five years while
: scientists study its durability.

: Bigelow Aerospace plans to launch several prototypes this decade.
: Future missions will test docking among spacecraft, but the maiden
: Genesis flight will primarily focus on the inflation process.

: This fall, the company hopes to launch Genesis II. Over the next
: several years, the company plans to test larger prototype
: spacecraft, including a full-scale mock-up slated to launch in
: 2012.

----------

"Bigelow Orbital Module Launched into Space"
SPACE.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20060712/sc_space/exclusivebigeloworbit
almodulelaunchedintospace

: Thanks to a boost today from a Russian and Ukrainian rocket-for-
: hire company, a U.S. private space firm has sent a novel
: expandable module toward Earth orbit - and a step forward in
: providing commercial space habitats.

: Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas, Nevada is flying prototype
: hardware that the firm anticipates will advance habitable
: structures in space to carry out research and manufacturing, among
: other tasks.

: "That's one small step for Bigelow...one giant leap for
: entrepreneurial space," reported Mike Gold, corporate counsel for
: Bigelow Aerospace in Washington, D.C. - on hand for the Dnepr
: liftoff. "We've had a successful launch. Of course this is just
: the first step in what's going to be a long mission. We're eager
: to get more information in regards to the progress of the
: mission," he said.

: Bankrolling the expandable space module concept - now roughly a
: $75 million investment -- is businessman, Robert Bigelow, owner of
: the Budget Suites of America Hotel Chain among other enterprises,
: and head of Bigelow Aerospace.

: There is the potential, Gold pointed out, for Genesis-1 to remain
: in orbit for years with the company's space engineers hoping to
: learn how the module's systems withstand the harsh space
: environment - including exposure to natural and human-made space
: debris, as well as radiation. Extensive testing of the expandable
: module that's fashioned out of advanced soft-goods material has
: been done both in the United States and in the Ukraine, he said.

: "We believe that the expandable Bigelow Aerospace system will not
: only offer protection equal to traditional habitat designs, but
: will actually exceed those," Gold said.

: "Our motto at Bigelow Aerospace is 'fly early and often'.
: Regardless of the results of Genesis-1, we will launch a follow-up
: mission rapidly," Gold said. "As a matter of fact, work on
: Genesis-2 was already underway last year, and is proceeding in
: earnest as we speak."

: No mission is ever perfect, Gold added, and Genesis-2 -- similar
: in construction and purpose to its predecessor -- will help the
: firm fill any gaps left by Genesis-1 in terms of vehicle
: performance and capability.

: "Ultimately, we expect to have anywhere from six to ten sub-scale
: demonstrator flights, which will help establish both the
: technology and the business-case necessary for the deployment of a
: full-scale, private sector expandable habitat," Gold explained.

: In regard to timing, Bigelow Aerospace could probably launch a
: mission roughly twice a year, Gold advised. "Of course, the launch
: date of Genesis-2 will be influenced by the performance of
: Genesis-1, but, I would expect to see our second mission at some
: point in late 2006 or early 2007."

: Gold said that a successor to the Genesis-class hardware is tagged
: Galaxy. A full-scale expandable module is called the BA-330, a
: designation noting the 330 cubic meters of usable volume that each
: individual habitat would provide.

: The step-by-step increase in size, Gold said, not only will
: establish the technology but also help build the business case for
: the Earth orbiting modules. "You don't want to shift from first to
: fourth gear," he said, the idea being to build familiarity and
: confidence in experimentation, applications, and space commerce.

: "From a technical perspective, we will be establishing the
: conceptual foundation that all future expandable systems will be
: built upon," Gold said. "You see a lot of Power Point slides and
: pretty pictures of inflatable habitats in the literature, but, the
: fact of the matter is...an expandable system has never been tested
: in an actual orbital environment. No real data currently exists,
: and hopefully, the Genesis-1 mission can help change this
: situation dramatically," he added.

: In a statement from Robert Bigelow on the firm's website: "A free
: system called capitalism works very well on Earth, and there is
: nothing about microgravity that changes this. We need to encourage
: creativity, imagination, and innovation, in order to bring the
: benefits of space development to fruition, not just for the
: privileged few, but for all of humanity."

: "Frankly, one of the most difficult aspects of conducting a
: mission like this is surviving all of the red-tape involved in
: export control," Gold explained. "Launching the spacecraft in many
: ways is the easy part, since, by the time you reach that moment,
: all of the regulatory concerns have been successfully addressed."

----------

"Russians Launch Inflatable Spacecraft
- Genesis 1 could pave the way for space hotels by 2015"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13828908/from/ET

: A Russian military base has launched the first prototype for what
: could eventually become a private-sector space station built up
: from inflatable modules, the company funding the project said
: Wednesday.

: The Genesis 1 inflatable spacecraft, developed by Las Vegas-based
: Bigelow Aerospace, could take a significant step toward an era of
: privately funded hotels, labs and even sports complexes in space.

: The launch represents the culmination of years of work by Bigelow
: and his team, using a concept that was first suggested by NASA for
: the international space station or Mars-bound spacecraft. NASA
: scrapped the idea in 2001, but Bigelow licensed the concept for
: commercial use.

: The basic concept calls for launching soft-sided spacecraft that
: could be inflated once they're in orbit. The walls are made from
: multiple layers of graphite-fiber composite materials, tough
: enough to stand up to micrometeoroids and orbital debris. Such
: modules would be cheaper to send into space, and allow for larger
: pressurized volumes once they were inflated.

: Bigelow's time line calls for testing larger and larger
: prototypes, with roughly two launches per year, leading up to the
: launch of full-scale Nautilus-class modules each enclosing about
: 11,650 cubic feet (330 cubic meters), or roughly the volume of a
: three-bedroom home.

: In comparison, the international space station has cost on the
: order of $100 billion so far, and encloses about 15,000 cubic feet
: (425 cubic meters) of habitable space.

: Under the current plan, the first full-scale Nautilus module would
: be launched in 2012, and a commercial complex could be available
: for use by 2015.

: Bigelow has already floated ideas for using the test modules as
: commercial opportunities: The Genesis 2 launch, which could take
: place in the September-October time frame, could fly photos and
: mementos into space for less than $300 each. As part of the deal,
: pictures of the items floating in zero-G — as well as views from
: outside — would be beamed back down to Earth. Bigelow Aerospace's
: Web site suggests that a space-based bingo game has been under
: consideration, as well as space art and orbital billboard messages.

: Eventually, space tourism ventures could offer budget
: accommodations in a Nautilus hotel complex, for far less than the
: current $20 million going rate for trips to the international
: space station. One company, Toronto-based IPX Entertainment, has
: said the inflatable module could be used as a venue for zero-G
: athletics.

: NBC News space analyst James Oberg said the key shortcoming for
: Bigelow's plan has always been the question of how to provide
: affordable access to any private facility built in orbit.

: "But two recent trends — the NASA support for commercial space
: transportation to support the future of the existing space
: station, and the French-Russian construction of a Soyuz spacecraft
: launch capability from the equatorial space base at Kourou in
: French Guiana — promise a potential solution to this shortcoming
: in the next six to eight years," Oberg said in an e-mail.

: In the short term, Bigelow is going with low-cost Russian
: launches - and in the longer term, he's planning to use SpaceX's
: Falcon 9 rocket. A 2008 flight is already listed on SpaceX's
: launch manifest. Bigelow is also trying to kick-start the orbital
: options by sponsoring a $50 million America's Space Prize for
: private-sector orbital spaceships.

: Business consultant Jeffrey Manber, former president of the
: Mircorp space venture, said a successful Genesis 1 launch would be
: a "wonderful step forward" in space commercialization. But he
: still had doubts about Bigelow's ability to secure affordable,
: reliable transportation to orbital space modules.

: Under Manber, Mircorp made a deal with the Russians in 2001 for
: the creation of a standalone space station called Mini Station 1.
: The venture never got off the ground — due to the technical
: challenges as well as lack of funds and active opposition from
: NASA. Manber said that NASA now seems much more supportive of
: private space ventures, but that Bigelow still faced the "huge
: challenge" of getting humans safely into orbit.

: "In principle, Bigelow has made enormous strides and needs to be
: complimented. I love people like him," Manber told MSNBC.com.
: "We're all trying to do it, yet the technological hurdles remain
: the chief problem. ... How do you get your customers, your hotel
: visitors, into space on a reliable basis?"

Mark Reiff

FYI,

: The AeroSpace Architecture Subcommittee of the American Institute
: of Aeronautics and Astronautics welcomes your attendance at the

: 2ND INTERNATIONAL SPACE ARCHITECTURE SYMPOSIUM

: San Jose Hilton Hotel
: San Jose, California, USA
: 19-22 September 2006

: Poster (JPG)
: http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/2ISAS_Poster.jpg

: Poster (PDF)
: http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/2ISAS_Poster.pdf

: The International Space Architecture Symposium is the world's
: leading space architecture forum at which architects, industrial
: designers, artists, engineers, students and others involved in the
: space architecture field gather to exchange ideas, present papers
: and discuss how to design for human life in space.

: The 2nd International Space Architecture Symposium in San Jose,
: 19-21 September 2006, will include 31 papers on a wide range of
: space architecture topics.  In addition, on 22 September 2006 we
: will hold a workshop on "The Practice of Architecture in the
: Aerospace Engineering Environment."

: The Symposium is part of SPACE-2006, a major international space
: conference organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and
: Astronautics (AIAA).

: SAMPLES OF PAPER TOPICS

: Art in Space
: Human Perception
: Structures in Space
: Weightlessness Countermeasures
: Artificial Gravity
: Space Settlements
: Environmental Control
: Space Aesthetics
: Advanced Habitability
: Lunar Outposts
: Halley VI Antarctic Station
: Spaceport Master Planning
: Space Mission Simulators
: Astronomical Observatories
: The "Trigon" System
: "Habot" Lunar Rovers
: "Mobitat"
: Mars Bases
: Module Viewports
: Space Human Factors

: For more information, please visit:

: AIAA Space 2006:
: http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=230&lumeetingid=1393

: SpaceArchitect:
: http://www.spacearchitect.org

: Ted Hall <twh@...>

Mark Reiff

FYI,

"Russians Delay Test Launch for Space Hotel
- Launch of Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable module now set for July"
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13171475/

: The much-anticipated first orbital test of technology that could
: lead to a "space hotel" will be delayed, Bigelow Aerospace
: announced Tuesday. The blastoff, widely believed to have been
: planned for June 16, will now not take place before early July.

: "We have just been informed that there will be a three- to four-
: week delay of our first launch," Chris Reed, publicist for the Las
: Vegas-based company, said in an e-mail advisory. "We are told that
: if there are no other delays, our new launch time frame will be
: between July 4th and July 14th."

: The Genesis 1 payload will be a one-third-scale model of an
: inflatable habitation module that could form the backbone of an
: orbital facility for space tourists and commercial space
: researchers sometime in the next decade.

: The test flight is expected to subject the flexible exterior wall
: material to space conditions for an extended period of time, while
: interior instrumentation will monitor pressure and temperature. In
: theory, a flexible wall should be even more resistant than a metal
: wall to penetration by micrometeorites and space debris.

: The launch vehicle, a commercialized version of the SS-18 called
: the Dnepr, has already made several successful satellite launches
: from the Russian main spaceport at Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
: Commercialized by the Kosmotras Corp., it can carry up to 3 tons
: of cargo into orbit.

: Genesis 1 will be only the first of a long series of commercial
: satellite launches that it is hoped will be made from Dombarovsky,
: a missile base just east of Orsk in the southwest corner of
: Siberia.

: According to Reed, the reasons for the Genesis 1 delay are "due to
: special preparations that the launch provider is continuing to
: make for our flight." Bigelow Aerospace only last week unveiled
: new pages on its Web site dealing with hitherto-undisclosed
: features of the payload, involving views that will be transmitted
: to Earth.

: "This flight contains our Genesis 1 spacecraft with a total of
: 13 cameras inside and outside the spacecraft," Reed explained.
: External cameras will show scenes of Earth. The interior cameras
: will show floating personal items placed aboard the spacecraft by
: the firm's employees.

Mark Reiff

From Paul van Susante,

: Dear Space Architect,

: I would like to call your attention to the following:

: STAIF 2007: deadline for abstract submissions extended until June
: 16, 2006

: This conference has lots of opportunities to present your most
: recent lunar (or other space) work. Please consider submitting an
: abstract soon. The following conferences are combined in STAIF
: 2007:

: 24th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion
: 11th Conference on Thermophysics Applications in Microgravity
: 5th Conference on Human/Robotic Technology and the National Vision
: for Space Exploration
: 5th Conference on Space Colonization
: 4th Symposium on New Frontiers and Future Concepts

: http://www.unm.edu/~isnps/staif/2007/index.html

: Government, aerospace industry and universities are invited to
: exhibit and present papers at this conference. Questions can be
: directed to UNM-ISNPS by: isnps@..., phone: (505) 277-0446,
: fax: (505) 277-2814, or by consulting the ISNPS home page at:
: http://www.unm.edu/~isnps. The Forum Technical & Publication Chair
: is Regents' Professor Mohamed S. El-Genk, Director of the
: Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies at the University of
: New Mexico.

: I hope to see you all there:

: Sincerely
: Paul van Susante,
: Co-Chair of Session E04. Space Bases on the Moon (see below)

: E04. Space Bases on the Moon

: Chair: Klaus Heiss, High Frontier, Washington DC, 703-535-8774,
: klaus.heiss@...
: Co-Chair: Paul van Susante, Colorado School of Mines, Golden CO,
: 720-272-8892, paulvans@...

: For the purpose of this technical session, a "Space Base" will be
: defined as a permanent facility on the Moon's surface, that
: includes habitable elements and in which humans can live and work
: for extended periods without re-supply, in pursuit of a variety of
: man-tended scientific, technology and applications opportunities
: (a "Condominium").It will also include development strategies to
: grow from one stage to another, e.g. `outpost' stage to `lunar
: base' stage to `settlement'. Priority will be given to papers
: exhibiting original concepts, innovative solutions to known
: environmental risk factors, and depth of analysis of technologies
: and functionalities. Submissions should contain enough detail for
: the program committee to evaluate the technical content of the
: final presentation and paper.

: Paul van Susante
: PhD candidate, Division of Engineering
: Colorado School of Mines
: 1610 Illinois Street
: Golden, CO 80401
: tel. +1-(303)-384-2040
: Cell. +1-(720)-272-8892
: e-mail : paulvans@...

Mark Reiff