Out of the Cradle

Web www.outofthecradle.net

Coming up on 50 years

No, Out of the Cradle is not that old. But on October the fourth, the Space Age will be. Thursday this coming week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik-1, the world’s first artificial satellite. Just a small silver ball with four long antennae and a pair of beeping radio transmitters, it blasted into space from the Kazakh steppes of the Soviet Union aboard an R-7 Semyorka ballistic missile. It could be seen gliding across the night sky from most of the surface of the Earth. Its appearance in the heavens marked one of those time-frozen moments when, while everyone gazed upward and wondered, the world changed.

Sputnik-1 heralded the beginning of a race in space that would culminate, less than twelve years later, with the landing of the first human beings on the Moon. But when it happened, its meaning was more pointed - and fearful. The Soviet Union had demonstrated, in a peaceful but unmistakable way, that it possessed a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to any point on the surface of the Earth. And you had only to look up at night, or tune in a ham radio, to know that it was true. The launch of Sputnik was the cold war’s Pearl Harbor. The Soviet demonstration of capability only became more pointed, four days later, with the successful test of a massively powerful hydrogen bomb.

There’s a new documentary film coming out called Sputnik Mania. It details the shock that began the space age with interviews and footage never seen before. OotC is getting a copy soon, and I’ll post a review.

In the meantime, have a think about where the last fifty years in space have taken us. As for the next fifty, one way or another, I suspect they will look a lot different.

Enabling Exploration: The Lunar Outpost and Beyond

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Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG)
Enabling Exploration: The Lunar Outpost and Beyond
Oct. 1-5, 2007
Houston, TX
Conference Details
Registration Online/pdf

Librarian’s Note: Being the complete dork that I am this is how I’m spending a week of accrued vacation. I have a feeling that the first couple of days are going to be a wee bit vegetative for me, and of course I’ve got to cruise the local bookstores looking for Moon books that I don’t yet have in the Library. Travelogue: ‘Getting my Moon on in Houston’

To the Moon: Education for A New Era of Lunar Exploration

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Wood, Charles et al.
MSM500: To the Moon - Education for A New Era of Lunar Exploration
Wheeling Jesuit University/Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies
On-Line Class starts 24 Sep 2007
Course Outline

Librarian’s Note: This on-line course offers two graduate level credits. This is geared towards educators, with the expectation that what is learned will be conveyed to the public, but is open to all with an interest. Image by George Tasroudis.

Class begins…

“Curious George: Rocket Ride & Other Adventures” (DVD)

PBS KIDSĀ® TV
“Curious George: Rocket Ride & Other Adventures”
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
2007

Best of the Moon 2007 - Youth High Frontier Fiction

The Lunar Library Lacks a Logo!

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Image by Clifford Geary from
‘The REAL BOOK about Space Travel’

Attention all readers!

Now that the Lunar Library is one year old, I’ve decided that it needs a logo for its first birthday present.

Since your friendly Lunar Librarian is sorely lacking in the Art arts (but appreciates them greatly), this is not a task I can easily or wisely undertake myself. I therefore call upon the space community at large to show me what you’ve got, and give me a logo that will eventually take the Lunar Library to the Moon! (I think this is what’s called a ‘bleg’)

In return I am willing to offer to the winner of the open competition the following duplicate copies from the Library:

“Moonrush” by Dennis Wingo (Apogee, 2004)
“The Once and Future Moon” by Paul Spudis (Smithsonian, 1996)
“Welcome to Moonbase” by Ben Bova (Random House, 1987)
“The Case for Going to the Moon” by Neil Ruzic (Putnam’s, 1965)
“You Will Go To the Moon” by Mae & Ira Freeman (Beginner Books Bookclub Ed., 1959)

This quintet represents some of the finest titles in the Lunar Library, and they’re for whomever comes up with the best logo that can be used on business cards and marketing materials.

Let’s say October 31st for the deadline. Submissions will be shared with Out of the Cradle readers for feedback. The winner would transfer all rights except for creator rights to the Lunar Library (i.e. you could still use it on your own website and portfolio materials, but couldn’t license or sell its use to anyone else. I could).

Caveats

All books are in fair condition or better. The first three are paperback, the last two are hardcover. Some wear and tear. Some markings from previous owners. Nothing major. I might throw in a poster or extra swag for a particularly pleasing result. No representations or warranties are express or implied in this solicitation. The Lunar Librarian indemnifies himself from all liability for any injury incurred or arising, physical or mental, as a result of this solicitation. If the Winning Logo is created using traditional media and rendered digitally for the competition, the original media will be submitted to the Lunar Library for future use. If there are any squawks about this solicitation being in violation of some statute or regulation then it will be terminated and all agreements shall be considered as rendered void (and I’d want my books back). Seriously, I’m just trying to have some fun with this. Hopefully everyone else will have fun as a result of this as well.

Submissions should be sent to my lunadyne address at gmail.com. I don’t want big honkin’ 10 meg files. It should be of a size where several of them in a blog post could be pulled up relatively quickly (by dial-up), but also look good on a business or post card.

Thanks in advance,and I look forward to the results.

Ken

“NASA Maps The Moon With Google”

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Staff Writers
“NASA Maps The Moon With Google”
MoonDaily.com
20 Sep 2007
On-Line Text
Google Moon

“To the Moon and Beyond”

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Dingell, Charles, William A. Johns & Julie Kramer White
“To the Moon and Beyond”
Scientific American
Oct 2007
On-line Text

Librarian’s Note: This article is an overview of the Constellation program to carry NASAnauts to the Moon and back by 2020. NASA is taking astronaut applications now!

“Space Based Solar Power Fuels Vision of Global Energy Security”

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David, Leonard
“Space Based Solar Power Fuels Vision of Global Energy Security”
Space.com
19 Sep 2007
On-line Text

Librarian’s Note: Exactly! Most of the energy we consume on this planet is second or third-hand solar power anyway - why not just tap the source and cut out the polluting middlemen? Coal is carbon fixed in plants by ancient sunlight-driven photosynthesis. Oil is dead dinosaurs et al, more sunlight-driven stuff. Even hydroelectric is driven by the rains powered by the Sun. Wind is the displacement of differently heated air masses, again sun-driven. Only nuclear and geothermal are non-Sun-related. Let’s stop fighting over the last of the dead dinosaur goo and direct our energies and efforts into creating the kind of infrastructure that can benefit the whole world. Thank you DoD for at least taking the lead on this to highlight its importance for the security of the U.S. of A.

Launch Magazine Vol. 2 No. 5

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Launch Magazine Vol. 2 No. 5
MM Publishing
Sep/Oct 2007
Publisher’s Web Site

Librarian’s Note: The cover story, ‘Moon Voyagers’ is on the really good documentary “In the Shadow of the Moon”, which opens this Friday at theatres nationwide. I’ve seen most all of the Apollo documentaries, and this one is truly unique in what the documentarian has captured. Well worth a view. Launch provides a nice preview of the film. Also, there’s a great story on Bigelow modules, and a preview of the year 2057 by Ben Bova. Go get your copy now at local national bookstores. (Better yet, save the trouble and subscribe)

A manifestly manipulable Moon manuscript

“The Moon Observer’s Guide” by Peter Grego

Published in 2004 by Firefly Books, it weighs in at 186 pages.

Of all the Observing Guides in the Lunar Library, this one is the one most easily slipped into a pocket and carried out to the telescope. While covering a lot more than what is visible on any particular night, it is the way the book covers the advancing Sun that provides its utility.

The first chapter provides an overiew of the different ‘geo’-logical processes,such as scarps and rilles, and how they shape what one sees when observing the Moon. The second chapter visits the Moon in space, its orbit around the Earth, and some of the effects for those of us here on Earth. The third chapter covers the many different types of equipment that can be used to stare at the Moon in a much more intimate way than the usual glance skyward. Binoculars are a good way to get started, though it helps to have a holder to keep them steady. Moving on to telescopes, well, you’ve got refractors and reflectors and Cassegrains and Maksutovs and you know what? If you are really interested in using a telescope then you need to hook up with your local astronomy group and get some good information. Be careful how you spend your money, because a crappy scope can be very discouraging, and you are going to be spending a fair amount for a decent one.

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Then we get to the Moonwatching. The Moon is sliced into 16 longitudinal sections, and we start at two days after the New Moon, when the first little bit of the surface is visible. A large number of craters are identified, but not so many as to be too busy. The drawing is very nicely rendered by John Murray of Philip’s. It’s available in a larger format as part of Firefly’s MoonWatch pack (which also includes a copy of this book).

A small graphic at the beginning of each new day highlights which particular slice is being shown. So that the image is not to small it is chopped in the middle and shown on facing pages. An easy tendency in observing guides is to recite a litany of features that have become visible from the prior night, and it is difficult not to do so. The most significant disadvantage is when there is a lot of detail for any particular day, and one finds oneself paging back frequently to the image to get a sense of what the author is describing. Still, each section is short enough that it can be quickly read before heading into the darkness.

The author adds a lot of ‘geo’-graphical details in the descriptions, but not in the mellifluous way that Charles Woods achieves in “The Modern Moon”. After the face has been described, the author describes some techniques for recording one’s observations and how the different techniques capture certain features better. He cautions that practice is key, and to not be easily discouraged if one is fumble-thumbed and a poor artist (like me). In a larger context eclipses and occultations are discussed, and then the author visits the space age Moon. The Resource section is really nice.

Overall there are lots of nice photos and drawings of the Moon throughout the book that support the text. As noted, it is a handy size to drop into a coat pocket to take to the telescope, though the maps are presented with Lunar north up (which is often the case these days).

One thing the author does bring up that does bear repeating is to never, ever look at the Sun through a telescope, nor even the little alignment sight on the side. Mr. Grego suffered some optical damage in a moment of carelessness. Do not ever allow anyone to look through a telescope or binoculars at the Sun. Only ever do so in the presence of a veteran, typically associated with a local astronomy club, and who has a set of professional Sun filters. Because it is pretty cool to look at a set of sunspots real-time. Nevertheless, this is one of those situations where our tools can be very dangerous when used carelessly.

Thorough, aimed at the beginner, and a nice introduction to Moon observing, I’ll give this one a waxing three-quarter Moon.

Visit the Selenography section of the Lunar Library.

“50 Years in Space”

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NewScientistSpace Special Report
“50 Years in Space”
NewScientist
09 Sep 2007
On-line Text

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