SPACE

[axel000]

Their eyeballs were picking up cosmic rays.

That even happens in LEO, on the ISS and Shuttle.

[Dio]

LEO is still inside the magnetopause, though, so the flux is somewhat lower.

That said (and I don't know much about it) isn't radiation a massive problem for a manned mars mission?

Could be. There's several weeks travel involved and solar radiation storms could be an issue.

Radiation could be a problem for a space elevator too - while a rocket goes through the Van Allen belts in a few minutes, a space elevator would be in them for an hour plus (1000 miles an hour is still a day and a half to geosync...)

[Darkflame]

Is there like a "radioation level map" anywhere, because I do get a bit confused where these hotspots are supposed to be.

[Dio]

Van Allen Belts is a good place to start.

[axel000]

Here's a nice article revealing some of the research that is going to be proceeding in the almost complete ISS.

Salmonella is a good bacteria to prove that our system is stable and reliable," Royston said. "We've shown it's extremely reliable, it meets all requirements and opens the door to move other vaccine candidates through this pipeline."

A medical breakthrough such as the discovery of a salmonella vaccine could generate enthusiasm in the community of scientists who previously faced limited space access while the shuttle transported massive parts for space station construction. With the $100 billion space station nearly complete and its designation as a National Laboratory, new opportunities have emerged.

"Before, we had no destination. The shuttle was doing its best to do simple research," Royston said. "Now all of the sudden with the space station completion ... we have open-door access to what is probably mankind's greatest achievement."

NASA has made about half of its space station research space available to commercial enterprise through the National Laboratory, which will go a long way with reluctant investors, Royston said. Once the shuttle is retired, Spacehab can fly experiments to the space station on the Russian-built Soyuz and Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle. Soyuz can return small samples, while other samples will produce data that can be recorded and retrieved without returning the samples, he said.

"If the market is there then the capability is there to do it. That's what we're trying to show on this first one," he said. "We see it as a tool to get better data faster."

In May, Spacehab established a subsidiary, BioSpace Technolgies Inc., for its biotechnology research — both space-based and on the ground. The company, headed by Royston for now, hired as its chief science officer Jeanne Becker, vice president and associate director of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in Houston.

Spacehab's efforts have drawn support from the state of Florida, which has lured major biotechnology companies to a 23-county high-tech corridor stretching from coast to coast in North and Central Florida, and includes Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The state's space arm, Space Florida, has committed $90,000 to the salmonella project, and Steve Kohler, president of Space Florida, plans to ask his board to approve $210,000 more.

"This is exposing an opportunity to connect space-related research and a customer group that might not otherwise be thinking about it, like biotech and pharmaceutical companies," Kohler said. "We can connect these kinds of opportunities to the international space station."

The partnership brings more than just money. As part of the agreement, Spacehab research can be conducted at Florida's Space Life Sciences Laboratory, a $30 million facility at Cape Canaveral. The lab can provide ground control and data transmission for on-orbit experiments and pre- and post-flight integration, Kohler said.

Royston said the partnership opens access to Florida's research institutes, large pharmaceutical companies and universities.

"The value of the partnership is immeasurable for what it brings," Royston said.

I have high hopes for what is going to come from this endeavor. Give it a couple of decades.

[disciple]

Why are experiments in space so important for medical and other types of research? Obviously gravity has a massive impact on how things grow, does zero-gravity growth produce loads of unusual mutations or something?

[Bog]

Why are experiments in space so important for medical and other types of research? Obviously gravity has a massive impact on how things grow, does zero-gravity growth produce loads of unusual mutations or something?

Microgravity and freefall have really wierd effects on the human body. Reduced gravity will presumably have similar. There's calcium loss from bones, muscle atrophy from lack of exercise (pay attention to yourself one day when you're just sitting up in your seat. Feel how many muscles fire how often to keep you from toppling over - everything's at work, just keeping you upright - your legs, your stomach, your back, your arms - it's astonishing). The body is lazy. If you don't demand from it, it loses the ability to deliver. It's in a constant "survival mode" where it's just worried about getting O2 to the brain and everything else can go hang.

Knowing how to counter that, and what to watch out for, will be critical for prolonged time outside The Well.

[Kronos]

did you know the computers twice completely failed so was landed 'by eye'

Source for this? AFAIK the Eagle suffered computer issues, but they were down to Aldrin leaving the rendezvous radar on in case they had to abort, so the computer had slightly too much to calculate during the descent. They simply didn't make certain queries of the computer - the lander was not set up to be flown entirely by hand during descent.

It's the 1hr program about the Apollo mission with interviews with the two astronaughts on the lander. They (NASA technician of the time) that the computer used for the landing (radar I think) overloaded twice after a reset the first time due to input information overload to the computer so they landed it 'by eye' IIRC.

Worth a punt on a torrent

@Zoot - I didn't say it was bad it's just that as a kid you think hang on we went to the moon and then that was it, if you appreciate just how maverick it was at the time and that level of risk is unnacceptable in the politically correct 21st century helps you understand why some of the 'cheaper' plans to get to Mars were not green lighted. I think NASA knows they can't afford any casualties in this mission as it would be a PR dissaster for the budget and popularity of the space program I guess.

Don't get me wrong if it was up to me I would be greenlighting nuclear powered galactica sized ships and spending the rest of the budget getting Bio-Domes working to put in there (bit like Silent Running). Shove a few hundred people on it out towards the centre of the galaxy and make sure I'm in the group

[benedictw]

Why are experiments in space so important for medical and other types of research? Obviously gravity has a massive impact on how things grow, does zero-gravity growth produce loads of unusual mutations or something?

Its easier for unusual shaped crystals to form in freefall I think. Theres more than a few alloys that can't be formed on earth because they settle out (think something like Lead-Aluminum or Uranium-Aluminium, that sort of thing.

[axel000]

HUGE NEWS FROM MARS !!!!!


Minerals needed for life found on Mars

"We basically have found what appears to be the requirements for nutrients to support life," said Phoenix's wet chemistry lab lead, Sam Kounaves of Tufts University. "This is the type of soil you'd probably have in your backyard. You might be able to grow asparagus pretty well, but probably not strawberries."

Asparagus, which thrives in alkaline soil, would like the Martian dirt, which Phoenix measured to have a very alkaline pH of between eight to nine. Strawberries, meanwhile, like acidic soil, he said.

The finding comes a week after the lander discovered water ice in the same dirt.

NASA Pan & Zoom closeup of soil sample

[axel000]

Come to think of it, this news seems to confirm that the original Viking lander soil tests were actually correct and not flawed as originally conjectured.

[Firefox]

The chances of asparagus growing on Mars are a million to one, he said...

[benedictw]

I have a sudden urge to create a Asparagus vs Strawberries shooter.

[Chuffmeister]

I have a sudden urge to create a Asparagus vs Strawberries shooter.

Asparagons Vs Strawberoids

[Sir_LANs-a-lot]

I have a sudden urge to create a Asparagus vs Strawberries shooter.

Asparagons Vs Strawberoids

Sounds Tango Fandango baby.