“GaiaSelene: Saving the Earth by Colonizing the Moon”
Charles Proser
2004-2006
Publisher’s Web Site
The Space Review review
The Space Show interview I
The Space Show interview II
Librarian’s Note: I’ve just received a more recent cut from the director to be used for screenings of the documentary at the 2007 ISDC as part of the Moon track programming. It contains footage not in the original in the Lunar Library (which is the first copy sold of the movie).
READ MORE…
Hogan, Frank
“Destiny”
Lulu Inc.
2007
ISBN: 1-847-53141-4
Publisher’s Web Site
Hogan, Frank
“Apollo 21″, 2nd. Ed.
Lulu Press
2007
ISBN: 1-411-67852-4
Publisher’s Web Site
Out of the Cradle Review
Interview with Daniel Winterhalter
“Dust-Busting Lunar Style”
Astrobiology Magazine
03/27/2007
On-Line Text
I’m a little late to the punch here, but the Space Access ‘07 conference is well under way, and it’s worth checking out the sterling job being done by the guys live blogging it:
Here’s the agenda for Saturday:
Saturday March 24th
9 am Bill Boland, Teachers In Space
9:20 Sam Dinkin, SpaceShot
9:40 Masten Space
10:20 break
11 am Ken Davidian, “NASA ESMD’s Approach to NewSpace”
11:40 Jeff Greason, XCOR Aerospace
12:30 break for lunch
2 pm Leik Myrabo, Lightcraft Progress
2:40 Panel, The New Space Investment Climate - Esther Dyson,
Stephen Fleming, Joe Pistritto
3:30 break
4 pm Panel, How Are We Doing? - Jeff Foust, Jon Goff, Rand Simberg,
Henry Vanderbilt
4:45 Rick Tumlinson, Space Frontier Foundation
5 pm Paul Breed, Unreasonable Rocket
5:15 Dave Ketchledge, The Next Shuttle
5:30 Alex Bruccoleri
late - Hospitality closes - see you next time!
Espace Magazine - le Magazine de l’Exploration Spatiale
Spécial Apollo
No 28 - Spécial Portfolio
Publisher’s Web Site
Librarian’s Note: Another beautiful issue. 98 pages of luscious photos, well-presented pedagogical material, diagrams, charts, schemas, tables and more. I’ve got to make sure to get my renewal in soon.
Best of the Moon 2007 - Apollo
Elon has posted the following statement to the SpaceX website following today’s launch:
The second test launch of Falcon 1 took place today at 6:10 pm California time. The launch was not perfect, but certainly pretty good. Given that the primary objectives were demonstrating responsive launch and gathering test data in advance of our first operational satellite launch later this year, the outcome was great. Operationally responsive (ie fast) launch has become an increasingly important national security objective, so demonstrating rapid loading of propellants and launch in less than an hour, as well as a rapid recycle following the first engine ignition are major accomplishments.
We retired almost all of the significant development risk items, in particular:
- 1st stage ascent past max dynamic pressure
- avionics operation in vacuum and under radiation
- stage separation
- 2nd stage ignition
- fairing separation
- 2nd stage nozzle/chamber at steady state temp in vacuum
Falcon flew far beyond the “edge” of space, typically thought of as around 60 miles. Our altitude was approximately 200 miles, which is just 50 miles below the International Space Station. The second stage didn’t achieve full orbital velocity, due to a roll excitation late in the burn, but that should be a comparatively easy fix once we examine the flight data. Since it is impossible to ground test the second stage under the same conditions it would see in spaceflight, this anomaly was also something that would have been very hard to determine without a test launch.
All in all, this test has flight proven 95+ percent of the Falcon 1 systems, which bodes really well for our upcoming flights of Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, which uses similar hardware. We do not expect any significant delay in the upcoming flights at this point. The Dept of Defense satellite launch is currently scheduled for late Summer and the Malaysian satellite for the Fall.
I’d like to thank DARPA and the Air Force for buying the two test flights and helping us work through a number of challenges over the past year. I’d also like to express my appreciation for the efforts of the Kwajalein Army Range (Reagan Test Site) and we look forward to many more launches in the future.
Finally, thank you to everyone at SpaceX for working so hard to make this a great test. This is a big leap forward for commercial spaceflight!
–Elon–
Additionally, videos of the launch are now available at the SpaceX website’s video gallery.
Congratulations to the SpaceX crew! I hope that the disappointment that this was not a perfect test launch is tempered by the fact that it was in any case a damn good test launch. They will learn from the roll control issue, and go on to great success in their future flights. It’s not possible to overstate the fact that they’ve built a whole new rocket from the ground up, entirely with private money, and on a budget that wouldn’t buy a paper study elsewhere. In the light of that, their success to date is nothing short of spectacular.
Well done, guys! Can’t wait to see the next one fly. Can’t wait for Falcon 9/Dragon. Keep up the good work!
 Well, chances are you’ve heard by now that yesterday’s launch attempt of the Falcon-I Demoflight-2 was aborted with just minutes left in the count. Here’s the news, direct from Elon, about what happened yesterday:
The abort that occurred a few minutes before T-0 was triggered by our ground control software. It commanded a switchover of range telemetry from landline to radio, which took place correctly, however, because of the hardware involved, this transition takes a few hundred milliseconds. Before it had time to complete, our system verification software examined state and aborted.
Our simulations done beforehand all passed, because the simulator did not account for a hardware driven delay in the transition. We considered putting the vehicle into a safe state yesterday and updating the ground control software to make the very minor fix needed, but the safer course of action was to stand down.
Yesterday afternoon and evening (Kwaj time), our launch team updated the software to address the timing issue and verified that there were no similar problems elsewhere. We ran the software through several simulated countdowns and then once again with the rocket and range in the loop.
All systems are now go for launch with T-0 at 4pm California time today (Tues).
–Elon–
As he says, the launch has been reset for today, and as I type this is about one and a half hours out. You can watch it live from T-60 minutes at SpaceX’s webcast site, and I’ll be live blogging from here as well.
T-0 is set for 2300 GMT. Can you believe it? I’m stuck at work. Here’s a launch preview story from Space.com. Elon’s brother Kimbal is blogging at Kwaj Rockets, and the launch is being webcast at the SpaceX Website.
All the best to the SpaceX guys. I know that an enormous amount of effort has gone into making sure this one flies right.
Shiga, David
“Magnetic ‘elephant trunk’ sucks up lunar soil”
NewScientist Space
03/16/2007
On-Line Text
Librarian’s Note: Brilliant! Lawrence Taylor of UTenn has been doing some great work with regolith. Hopefully he doesn’t solve all of the problems so there’ll still be challenges for the next generation.
P.S. I hate the term “clouds of the powdery dust”. You need an atmosphere, like Earth or Mars, for clouds as far as I’m concerned. We need a better term.
Belbruno, Ed
“Fly Me to the Moon: An Insider’s Guide to the New Science of Space Travel”
Princeton University Press
2007
ISBN: 0-691-12822-7
Publisher’s Web Site
Chapter 1
Librarian’s Note: I got to meet Ed at a New York Space Society shindig held at Mars 2112 back in 2000, and that’s where I first learned about this new way of looking at orbital mechanics.
Best of the Moon 2007 - High Frontier Navigation
Foing, Bernard
SMART-1’s bridge to the future exploration of the Moon
European Space Agency
03/09/2007
On-line Text
SMART-1 Portal
Librarian’s Note: Dr. Foing is the PI for the SMART-1 project. He’s also one of the guys that made the Space Generation Forum happen back at UNISPACE III in 1999, and is a member of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG).
Morrow, Cherilynn
“‘Standstill’ My Beating Heart: A Lunar Love Affair”
Space.com: SETI
03/08/2007
On-line Text
Librarian’s Note: This is a Lunar love story in 3 acts. The standstill season she’s talking about is part of the Saros cycle, where the Moon returns to the same spot in the sky every 18.6 years (which she doesn’t actually name in the article). This fact is what makes eclipses predictable. And while she notes that the nodes are precessing, the Moon’s position is further complicated by the fact that, IIRC, the line of apsides is also precessing, but in the opposite direction of the precession of the nodes. All told there are somewhere in excess of 150 discrete perturbations on the Moon’s position in its orbit. It’s talked about in one of the really old astronautics books over in the High Frontier: Navigation section, I think “the physical principles of Astronautics” by Berman.
Launch Magazine
Mm Publishing
Mar/Apr 2007
Publishers’s Website
Librarian’s Note: This issue features the construction of the Semroc Saturn 1B model rocket, and features a lengthy interview with Walt Cunningham, who flew on the Apollo 7 mission that tested out the command module. That capsule is on display at the Frontiers of Flight museum here in Dallas, which will be one of the tours offered for the ISDC.
Natural progression and “lessons learned” are leading the way in the second stage of Bigelow Aerospace’s orbital habitat development. An update at their website chronicles the process.
A very interesting read.
Young, Kelly
“Lint rollers may collect dangerous Moon dust”
NewScientistSpace
03/06/2007
On-line Text
From Elon:
The launch window is now March 19th to 22nd (California time). During extended ground testing in late February, one of our second stage thrust vector control boards indicated a problem. Although our analysis showed substantial margin for flight, we decided nonetheless to increase the robustness of certain of the components and run a delta qualification.
The upgraded boards will be installed this week. If all goes well, Falcon 1 will do a static fire next week and then launch in the week of the 19th.
–Elon–
Krauthammer, Charles
“Music Of the Spheres: Why a Moon Mission Is Worth the Money”
Washingtonpost.com
03/02/2007
Page A13
On-Line Text
Okay, normally I wouldn’t do this but it is too dang cool not to…
Top Gear is a British television program that features cars set up for exotic crashes and explosions.
This video clip on YouTube shows a Reliant Robin decked out as a space shuttle and actually “launched.”
You just have to watch to see the results.
Noland, David
“Mission Moon: How We’ll Go Back - and Stay This Time!”
Popular Mechanics
March 2007
On-Line Text
Henarejos, Philippe et al.
“Tout savoir sur la Lune”
Ciel et Espace
03/2007
Publisher’s Web Site
“Reclaiming the Moon: The First Steps”
adAstra: The Magazine of the National Space Society
Vol. 19, Issue 1
Spring 2007
Articles of Interest:
1) Reclaiming the Moon: The First Step - Richard Godwin
2) Moon Base: The Next Step in the Exploration of the Solar System - Jeff Foust
3) Lunar Observatories: Grand Plans vs. Clear Problems - Jeanna Bryner
4) Building Our Future - Andrew Chaikin
Librarian’s Note: This magazine is exclusive to members of the National Space Society (NSS), or if you’re clever and lucky enough to find an outreach event where they’re being distributed. NSS is a general space interest and citizen space organization, with a goal of humans living and working off-Earth (or at least that’s my take on it).
Join NSS (and your local chapter)
NB: Articles by members are available via Space.com at adAstra Online
Full Disclosure: Your friendly Lunar Librarian is currently serving as vice-president of the North Texas chapter of NSS.
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