DailyDirt: Going To Space
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Manned space exploration is a lofty goal that requires quite a bit of groundwork before people crawl into a metal cage strapped to a rocket. Only about a dozen countries have successfully launched objects into orbit, and the list of nations that can send people into space is much shorter (with the retirement of the space shuttles, the US arguably is not on the list anymore). But rocket technologies are only getting better and less expensive, and there are more and more plans (both governmental and commercial) for humans to explore space.
- Mars One is now looking for people willing to become astronauts, train for 8 years, and go on a ONE-WAY trip to Mars (and also be part of this globally-televised mission). The first team to go will be democratically elected from six teams of four astronauts, and the launch is scheduled for September 2022. [url]
- Iran is planning to launch a monkey into space sometime in February 2013. Iran has a goal of sending a human into space by 2020 and putting someone on the moon by 2025. (And Iran has already sent a rat, two turtles and a worm into space.) [url]
- MRI scans of astronauts who spent over a month in space show that long term exposure to microgravity can damage eyeballs and parts of the brain. The problems are similar to having intracranial hypertension — where the brain experiences pressures that press it against the skull and eye sockets. [url]
- A simulated 520-day mission to Mars found that astronauts may need to keep Earth-like schedules or else they’ll have trouble sleeping and possibly acquire some mood disorders. This ground-based study will affect plans for manned Mars missions, and it could also have implications for people who live with disrupted sleep and prolonged exposure to artificial lighting. [url]
If you’d like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.
Filed Under: astronauts, iran, manned missions, mars, mars one, orbit, space exploration
Comments on “DailyDirt: Going To Space”
where do commercial space companies fit...
into the US’s “loss” of astronaut-worthy launch vehicles? The US govt has partially subsidized some of the private aerospace industry….
Re: where do commercial space companies fit...
Yes. And by the way, outsourcing and budget cutbacks to NASA under the Bush Administration likely made these engineers valuable in other countries.
Remember, vehicle launches happened in Houston, “Huston, we have a problem”… Seems Old Bush’s Buddies didn’t too much care for rocket science, they preferred to build pipelines instead.
Re: Re: where do commercial space companies fit...
Launches happened in Florida. Astronaut training happened in Alabama. Mission control was based in Texas.
Re: Re: Re: where do commercial space companies fit...
US manned flight Launches happened in Florida
Iran is sending Charles Carreon into space? Cool!
For a second their I read “worm” as “woman” and thought “Wow that’s the most sexist thing I’ve ever heard”
A one-way trip to Mars doesn’t sound altogether unattractive right now, but no way in hell am I participating in a damn reality show.
1) Mars One is now looking for people willing to become astronauts, train for 8 years, and go on a ONE-WAY trip to Mars
2) MRI scans of astronauts who spent over a month in space show that long term exposure to microgravity can damage eyeballs and parts of the brain
– Could be a tough sale