Astronomy Fact of the Week: The Beginning of Human Spaceflight.

     This past week was dominated by space history. It was 50 years ago last Tuesday that Yuri Gagarin became the first man to reach Earth orbit. 30 years ago on that same day, Columbia became the first Space Shuttle to leave the atmosphere, and 41 years ago on Thursday, a oxygen tank failure nearly left Apollo 13 lost to the stars. While these three events were powerful, each had its own ramifications. Gagarin died young in a jet crash, Columbia became one of the tragedies of the United States space program, and, though it made it back safely, Apollo 13 called to question some of the equipment and techniques of the day.
     Space is dangerous, and not just on a large sense, but even very locally. When humans first escape out to the stars, they do not need to worry about supernovae or black holes just yet. There are much more immediate concerns, such as cosmic radiation, solar flares, and micrometeorite impacts. The smallest overlooked variable may be the downfall of countless years of research and development. So why would humans want to go to space? Where is the reward for all of the risk and work? For each individual this may be different, but perhaps as Carl Sagan said, “Exploration is in our nature; we began as wanderers and we are wanderers still.”
     Space holds a vast array of discoveries, wonders, and resources, and while Earth has these as well, some day it will run out. If the human species is around at that time, it will be of utmost necessity that we strike out for the cosmos. Why wait for the fateful day when the Earth can no longer provide? Our planet is beautiful, and would it not be better to preserve its beauty than to rob it of everything before moving on?
     Along with crucial elements for our survival, space may hold something else, life. It is highly unlikely that we are alone in the universe, and the benefit that could come from a sharing of knowledge between two different forms of life that have two entirely different histories could be astounding. That knowledge may be just what is needed for humans to make it to the end of everything, to those last moments of the universe.
May the stars shine brightly in your skies.

Sizing Up The Universe

     One element of space exploration that still amazes me is the relative positions of all of the stars. From here on Earth it is relatively hard to determine the depth of space, but through a bit of simulation magic, we can see that it is hardly a sheet with holes poked in it as the Greeks once thought.

Part I in which it was a cloudy night and I couldn't do much.

Part II in which I went to my computer and made magic happen.

May the stars shine brightly in your skies.

Just A Few Awesome Minutes of Your Time

So I found this video while surfing the web today, unfortunately it is not a youtube video so you will have to follow this link. It is fully worth your time.

May the stars shine brightly in your skies!

Rocket Wednesday: Rockets Of The (Close) Future

     This week has proven very timely for rocket Wednesday with the announcement of the new rocket from Space X. While the era of Saturn Vs and N1s was awesome and produced some of the most powerful machinery ever conceived, these day the race to space is being dominated by companies rather than governments.
     Of particular interest is the company Space X, so far in their history they have successfully tested several rockets including the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 which may go into use fairly soon. they have also developed capsules that can carry human beings. Still up until recently the heavy lifting class of rockets was untouched by corporate entities.
      That is until now, meet the Falcon Heavy

tip of the hat to Bad Astronomy

     The Falcon Heavy is a revolutionary rocket that significantly out-classes every modern rocket. It is capable of lifting 53 metric tons (or half of a blue whale according to wolfram alpha) and is remarkably cheaper than any other option. With the Falcon Heavy you can put objects up at a price of only $1000/pound which is, for comparison, 1/10th of the price for lift on the Space Shuttle.
     It is a chemical based rocket that functions a bit like the space shuttle during launch. It will launch with the full body and will then eject the two side pods at a certain altitude leaving only the central rocket to keep going. An animation can be seen at their site (along with videos of some of their other launches).
     Rockets like the Falcon Heavy will serve an important role as the key beginning rockets for the next generation of private space ventures.
     May the stars shine brightly in your skies!