Space and Struggle to Become Responsible

Vice President Pence Unveils U.S. Space Force Plans (C-SPAN) (9 August 2018). Video Source: Youtube.

The news is full of space headlines. On 9 August, the American Vice President Mike Pence announced that the United States will build a sixth branch of its armed forces, a "space force" to "prepare for the next battlefield." The full statement is here.

No Relief from the Heavens

From Sichuan, China: Share the Night With You. Image Source (12 August 2015) © Xiaoshan Huang via TWAN. Reproduced non-commercially under Fair Use.

Bombings in Lahore, Pakistan and Brussels were intended to disrupt Easter. Terror cells responsible for the Belgian bombings planned to kill Easter worshippers in churches in the UK and across Europe. There is an unconfirmed rumour on the Internet that ISIS crucified a Catholic priest, Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, on Good Friday in Yemen. In response to news like this, I always used to take personal comfort in astronomy and beautiful photos like the ones from The World at Night at the top and bottom of this post, because astronomy gives the biggest, most objective perspective on these questions. Unfortunately, astronomy is a secular study of the universe which drags us back into religious map of the human mind.

Anniversaries: Venera 3 Landing on Venus

Venera 3 did not gather information due to a malfunction, but it still made history when it crashed into the planet's surface on this day in 1966. Image Source: NASA.

Today is the 50th anniversary of Venera 3's crash landing on Venus on 1 March 1966. Venera 3 was the first human-made object to make an impact on another planet's surface. The site Russian Space Web gives a great chronology and details of the development of Russian rockets and space programmes from their earliest days.

Location of the Soviet Venus landers (1961-1984). Image Source: Wiki.

See my earlier post on Russian space art, here. The 2004 BBC television series, Voyage to the Planets, depicted what a manned mission to Venus would look like (previously mentioned in this post). On 17 November 2015, Ars Technica reported that the Russians and Americans are going to cooperate to explore Venus with landers in the 2020s:

After more than a year on ice due to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, NASA and Russia’s Space Research Institute has resumed discussions about a joint exploration mission to Venus, which could include a lander. NASA hasn’t flown a mission dedicated to Venus since its Magellan probe, from 1990 to 1994, which mapped 98 percent of the planet at a resolution of 100 meters or better.

So far NASA has only committed to talking with Russia about its Venera-D mission, which could launch in the 2020s. The space agency has agreed to perform a year-long feasibility study and several meetings during the next year. After that time NASA and Russia’s Space Research Institute, or IKI, will decide whether to continue its partnership, according to a report in Spaceflight Now.

For more information on the planned Venera-D mission, see here, here, here, here and here.

Planet Walkers

Press imagery for the BBC series, Voyage to the Planets (2004). Image Source: BBC.

For today, here are two fictional Youtube videos on what it would be like for astronauts to walk on the surfaces of Venus and Pluto. The clips are modified, taken from the 2004 BBC TV series, Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets. This award-winning, fake-umentary series speculated on what a manned exploration of the solar system would be like:

Five astronauts pilot the nuclear thermal rocket powered Pegasus spacecraft on a tour of the solar system. Their mission is a collaboration of the NASA, CSA, ESA and РКА space agencies and takes the crew to Venus, Mars, a close flyby of the Sun, Jupiter’s moon[s] Io and Europa, Saturn, Pluto, and the fictional Comet Yano-Moore. Most of the planetary destinations the crew reaches are followed by a manned landing there. Prior to the mission large tanks of hydrogen were deposited in stable orbits around the planets to allow the crew to refuel to have sufficient delta-v for the multi-year mission.

The crew encounter many hardships and disappointments along the way. A Venus EVA that almost ends in disaster when the lander Orpheus encounters launch delays, the near-loss of the shield during the aerobrake in Jupiter's upper atmosphere and the loss of samples from Jupiter's moon Io all test the crew's resolve. The most devastating blow comes when the ship's medical officer dies of solar radiation-induced lymphoma in Saturn orbit, forcing the crew to decide whether to continue the mission to Pluto, or abort and return to Earth. In the original British release, the crew decides to press on to Pluto, making history. The American version, broadcast on The Science Channel, was trimmed for length, the crew deciding to turn back at this stage rather than continue. The programme is narrated by David Suchet.

I don't know how long the links will last, but the series is up in parts on Youtube and another link is on Vimeo:

• Youtube, Part 1
• Youtube, Part 2
• Vimeo

Voyage to the Planets still (2004). Image Source: BBC via The Space Review.

Voyage to the Planets (2004) concept art by Daren Horley. Image Source: The Rogue Verbumancer.

The Youtuber who posted the Venusian clip argues:

Theoretically , we can build VENUS SPACE SUIT. "Chief Navy Diver Daniel Jackson (US Navy) holds the depth record using an ADS. On August 1, 2006 he was submerged at 2,000 feet (610 m) deep off the coast of La Jolla, California." Venusian pressure is an equivalent to a 1-km-deep water ocean. Pressure isn't even the biggest problem , the biggest problem is temperature and acid in atmosphere. But if we landed on the highest mountain Maxwell Montes, conditions would be much more better: pressure - equivalent to a approx. 325 m(!) in ocean , temp. 650 F (+343 C). We can create suits made of titanium [melting point is more than 1,650 °C or 3,000 °F] and use basalt-based fiber technology with a thermal range of -260 C to +982 C (1800 F) and melt point of 1450 C . The biggest problem is to create corrosion resistant coating and effective cooling system. 

Atmospheric diving suit (2006), a potential precursor for a Venusian spacesuit. Image Source: U.S. Navy photo / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Chelsea Kennedy via Wiki.

Forty Days and Forty Nights: The Rule of Three

Christ in the Wilderness (1872) by Ivan Kramskoy (1837-1887). Image Source: Wiki.

For Christians, this is the season of Lent, a period of contemplation on sin, repentance and atonement, which lasts for 40 days. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the number 40 appears repeatedly, often as a measurement of time. How and why do forty days and forty nights unite these three faiths? Wiki also records the number's occult astrological dimension:

The planet Venus forms a pentagram in the night sky every eight years with it returning to its original point every 40 years with a 40 day regression (some scholars believe that this ancient information was the basis for the number 40 becoming sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims).

Many occult websites claim that Venus traces a pentagram path through the heavens as viewed from Earth.
Scientific astronomical sites do not appear to discuss this phenomenon. Video Source: Youtube.

In religious texts, the number 40 simply came to mean 'a lot.' But the number is a third multiple of the 'Rule of Three,' which makes it fundamental to the structure of creative expression, philosophy, statistics, computing, investing, diving, military strategy, and aeronautics. When you see any number repeated in many sacred texts across thousands of years, it is worth asking if some innate knowledge is passed on in the mythological cryptics. Even a secular outlook can decode the idea of religious fasting periods. The basic notion is that sensory deprivation quiets clamour and distractions. Hunger makes you think about the eternal! Stop feeding the senses, and let them redirect toward the big picture. Finally, one focuses to hear and see the truth in things. And there sits the number 40, in plain sight, at the end of Lent. What does it mean?

Look Skyward: Venus Transits the Sun

The 2004 Venus transit. The transits come in pairs. 2012's transit mirrors 2004's transit. Image Source: The Cosmos News.

Today, Venus crosses in front of the sun from Earth's vantage point. The transit of Venus (beginning at 22:09 UTC on the 5th of June and ending at 04:49 UTC on the 6th of June) is similar to an eclipse of the sun by the moon, except that Venus, being further away, appears to be much smaller. This is one of the rarest of predictable events in the heavens. The Cosmos News:

"[W]hen we talk about a transit of Venus, we are talking about a very rare astronomical event indeed (only 81 will occur between 2000 B.C. and 4000 A.D.). This rarity is due to Venus’ nearly circular orbit and its inclination. When the calculations are performed, Venus transits usually come in pairs (like Mercury), but the interval between the second transit of the pair and the next one is generally 122 years."

Space.com: "During a 243 year period only 4 sightings of the transit may be observed before the cycle begins again." This will be the last solar transit of Venus in our lifetimes. The 2012 event makes the second of a pair, with pairs occurring eight years apart; the previous transit occurred in 2004.  Before 2004, the last transit occurred in 1882. The next pair of Venus transits will take place in 2117 and 2125. The rarity depends on an alignment of the planets' orbits, which you can see explained in the infographic below the jump (source here). To see your local viewing time, go here.

Image Source: Wiki.

Photo of the Day: Saturn and Friends

Image Source: NASA.

This is: Saturn and two of its moons, Titan (foreground) and Prometheus (dot in the background, just above one of the rings). Hat tip: Lee Hamilton. Titan, incidentally, is larger than the planet, Mercury; it is the largest of Saturn's 62 moons.

From Russia with Love: Life on Venus

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968; watch it here, or see below). Image Source: Horror News.

A report at i09 observes that one Russian scientist is publishing claims that the Russians found life on Venus back in the '80s.  I think a lot of people found life on Venus back in the '80s, but OK, OK.

Historical First: Solar Sail Deployed in Orbit for the First Time

JAXA’s IKAROS spacecraft, the first-ever solar sail deployed in orbit, shown en route towards Venus (June 2010).  Image credit: JAXA.

The Space Review is reporting that the Japanese Space Agency JAXA recently made history with a huge milestone reached in the science of spacecraft propulsion.  On May 21, JAXA launched its IKAROS craft, which moves by sailing on solar winds, toward Venus.  The craft was launched with the Venus Climate Orbiter, AKATSUKI (which means 'dawn' or 'daybreak'). JAXA: "This is the world's first solar powered sail craft employing both photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise."  JAXA's homepage for IKAROS ((Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is here and the info leaflet is here.

Times Outside History 2: The Holocene Extinction - the Big Picture

The Geological Time Spiral.

Why are the transitions from one geological time era to another marked by mass extinctions?  The explanations all involve climate change and associated survivable conditions for some species.  But somehow there is an additional sense that as time turns over, for certain species, 'time is up.'  At present we are living in the Cenozoic Era, which means 'new life era.'  This is the time when the continents moved to their current positions, after the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Cenozoic Era is sub-divided as well - we are in its second, Quaternary Period.  And in that period, we are in the Holocene Epoch, which means 'entirely recent epoch.' 

The movement of the continents away from each other has changed the oceans and the earth's climate.  Wiki: "There are two types of global earth climates: Icehouse and Greenhouse. Icehouse is characterized by frequent continental glaciations and severe desert environments. We are now in the icehouse phase, moving towards Greenhouse. Greenhouse is characterized by warm climates. Both reflect the supercontinent cycle."  Technically, we are in an Ice Age right now, called the Quaternary Glaciation.  But the Holocene Epoch is considered a warm geological time within that Ice Age, or what's known as an interglacial period.  Ice ages run on 100,000 year cycles (just like everything else it seems).  In addition to plate tectonics, the earth's climate is affected by associated rises in atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (we're not helping that natural shift), wobbles in our planet's orbit, and shifts in the earth's magnetic poles.

So with all this going on, it's not surprising that the primary geological event of our Holocene Epoch is the Holocene Extinction.