Category Archives: Space Exploration

Adam Stewart @hutchnewsadam

Astronaut Scott Kelly had to spend about a year aboard the Intenational Space Station for researchers to learn about the long-term effects of space flight on the human body.

About 10 teenagers learned some of those same lessons last week during the Cosmosphere's first-ever Space Rx camp.

Its so unique, and everybody in the industry is talking about the next big thing Mars, Mimi Meredith, vice president of development at the Cosmosphere said.

But sending astronauts to Mars, which at its closest is more than 100 times farther away than the moon, will require addressing the effects of long-term space flight on the human body. Meredith said that will require more than engineers and astronauts it will take nutritionists, physical therapists and all sorts of other medical professionals.

Tracey Tomme, Cosmosphere vice president for education, said the idea for Space Rx came around three years ago when someone told her about a non-space medical camp. Hutchinson Regional Medical Center and the Hutchinson Clinic both embraced the idea, she said. But the planned camp didnt see enough enrollees a year ago.

That changed this year, however. All of the campers signing up, coindentally, turned out to be girls.

In addition to trips to medical facilities to hear from doctors and other health care professionals, the group also got a cooking class at Apron Strings, focused on foods that would work well in weightlessness which includes avoiding foods that generate a lot of crumbs, Tomme said.

Camp counselor Savannah Kipfer, a University of Kansas aerospace engineering student, said she was surprised to learn how big the effects of prolonged spaceflight could be, including how much bone density could be lost.

Tomme credited Sandy Heisler and Kris Friesen for helping create the camp and find presenters, who included Jeremy Patterson, Dr. Ryan Amick, Dr. Michael Hagley, Mark Hall, Dr. Christopher Kain, Dr. Steve Marshall, Dr. Michael Schekall, Dan Jones, Denise Pounds, Katy Price and Kris Lehnhardt.

See the rest here:

Cosmosphere looks to future of space exploration with medical-focused camp - The Hutchinson News

Share

Share

Email

Print

In 1946, Lyman Spitzer, Jr., a young astrophysicist from Toledo, proposed putting telescopes in space. Fifty-seven years later, I watched as the Spitzer Space Telescope took off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and disappeared into the night sky.

I was part of the large team that built this great NASA observatory named in memory of the Toledo native. Designed to observe the universe in infrared light, Spitzer continues to make new discoveries, including the recent detection of a star with seven Earth-sized planets.

Today, University of Toledo researchers and students use Spitzer and NASAs other space telescopes by downloading the data and engaging in the exploration of the universe from the Ritter Planetarium and Observatory. My students and I study the birth of stars and planets cloaked in dark clouds of gas and dust.

Infrared light, which we cannot see with our own eyes, penetrates these clouds and allows us a view of star birth in action. The Earths atmosphere, however, glows with infrared light. By launching telescopes into space, we can observe the infrared sky unhindered by the atmospheres glow.

Working with an international team, we observe stars less than one million years old and in the process of growing considered infants in the lifespan of a star. Our goal is to understand how the clouds of gas collapse into stars and planets, as well as to better understand the birth of our own solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

To make sense of the universe, astronomers at UT use observations made with many different telescopes on Earth and in space. Each observation is a piece of a cosmic jigsaw puzzle.

My graduate students use the Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona to take the temperatures of infant stars. That opportunity is made possible by UTs 10-year partnership with Lowell Observatory. On our UT campus, a team of undergraduates observes stars orbited by disks of hot gas using Ritter Observatory in an effort to understand the origin of the disks. One student recently discovered a companion star orbiting one of those stars.

Sometimes, more than one telescope is used. A UT researcher worked with an international team to combine the light from four telescopes to create sharp pictures of the powerful wind from a star 100 times more massive than our sun.

An undergraduate on my team also compared data from two space telescopes made six years apart and discovered a burst of energy from a young star consuming a big gulp of gas.

In recognition of our robust efforts in research, UT was invited in 2016 to join the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, as one of 47 institutions, including Ohio State University and Yale University, tasked in the oversight of many of our nations telescopes. The students and researchers at UT are privileged to have such high-tech telescopes at our disposal. But you dont need to look at the stars to see how space exploration benefits our daily lives.

Consider the GPS in your smart phone. It is the product of 400 years of discovery, from Newtons laws to Einsteins relativity and quantum physics.

Space exploration also places our world into a vast cosmic context. Back at Ritter, I am preparing for the next big space telescope the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be launched in 2018. I cant predict what we will find with this new telescope, but I can predict, confidently, that the universe will continue to astonish us.

Tom Megeath is a professor of physics and astronomy at UT and a member of the executive committee for NASAs Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group. He invites everyone to come to Ritter Planetarium on UTs Main Campus Friday nights to join in exploration.

Read more:

Toledo's deep space exploration - Toledo Blade

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | April 28, 2017 04:00pm ET

Credit: NASA

Kennedy's speech, which came just six weeks after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to reach outer space, had a huge impact on NASA and space exploration. It jump-started the agency's Apollo program, a full-bore race to the moon that succeeded on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong's boot crunched down into the gray lunar dirt.

Kennedy, of course, isn't the only leader who had a vision for the nation's space program. Since NASA's founding in 1958, every president from Eisenhower to Obama has left his mark. Take a look at how each U.S. commander-in-chief helped shape and steer American activities in space.

Editor's note: This slideshow was updated on April 28, 2017.

Credit: NASA

However, Eisenhower didn't get too swept up the short-term goals of the space race. He valued the measured development of unmanned, scientific missions that could have big commercial or military payoffs down the road.

For example, even before Sputnik, Eisenhower had authorized a ballistic missile and scientific satellite program to be developed as part of the International Geophysical Year project of 1957-58. The United States' first successful satellite, Explorer I, blasted off Jan. 31, 1958. By 1960, the nation had launched and retrieved film from a spy satellite called Discoverer 14.

Credit: NASA

The Soviets had launched Sputnik I in 1957, and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person in space on April 12, 1961, just six weeks before the speech. On top of those space race defeats, the U.S. plan to topple the Soviet-backed regime of Cuban leader Fidel Castro the so-called Bay of Pigs invasion had failed miserably in April 1961.

Kennedy and his advisers figured they needed a way to beat the Soviets, to re-establish American prestige and demonstrate the country's international leadership. So they came up with an ambitious plan to land an astronaut on the moon by the end of the 1960s, which Kennedy laid out in his speech.

The Apollo program roared to life as a result, and NASA embarked on a crash mission to put a man on the moon. The agency succeeded, of course, in 1969. By the end of Apollo in 1972, the United States had spent about $25 billion on the program well over $100 billion in today's dollars.

Credit: NASA

As Senate majority leader in the late 1950s, he had helped raise the alarm regarding Sputnik, stressing that the satellite launch had intiated a race for "control of space." Later, Kennedy put Johnson, his vice president, in personal charge of the nation's space program. When Johnson became commander-in-chief after Kennedy's assassination, he continued to support the goals of the Apollo program.

However, the high costs of Johnson's Great Society programs and the Vietnam War forced the president to cut NASA's budget. To avoid ceding control of space to the Soviets (as some historians have argued), his administration proposed a treaty that would outlaw nuclear weapons in space and bar national sovereignty over celestial objects.

The result was 1967's Outer Space Treaty (OST), which forms the basis of international space law to this day. The OST has been ratified by all of the major space-faring nations, including Russia and its forerunner, the Soviet Union.

Credit: NASA.

By the late 1960s, NASA managers had begun drawing up ambitious plans to set up a manned moon base by 1980 and to send astronauts to Mars by 1983. Nixon nixed these ideas, however. In 1972, he approved the development of the space shuttle, which would be NASA's workhorse space vehicle for three decades, starting in 1981.

Also in 1972, Nixon signed off on a five-year cooperative program between NASA and the Soviet space agency. This deal resulted in 1975's Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a joint space mission between the two superpowers.

Credit: NASA

Ford also signed off on the creation of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 1976. The OSTP advises the president about how science and technology may affect domestic and international affairs.

Credit: NASA

While Carter wanted to restrict the use of space weapons, he signed a 1978 directive that stressed the importance of space systems to national survival, as well as the administration's willingness to keep developing an antisatellite capability.

The 1978 document helped establish a key plank of American space policy: the right of self-defense in space. And it helped the United States military view space as an arena in which wars could be fought, not just a place to put hardware that could coordinate and enhance actions on the ground.

Credit: NASA

Consistent with his belief in the power of the free market, Reagan wanted to increase and streamline private-sector involvement in space. He issued a policy statement to that effect in 1982. And two years later, his administration set up the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which to this day regulates commercial launch and re-entry operations.

Reagan also believed strongly in ramping up the nation's space-defense capabilities. In 1983, he proposed the ambitious Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which would have used a network of missiles and lasers in space and on the ground to protect the United States against nuclear ballistic missile attacks.

Many observers at the time viewed SDI as unrealistic, famously branding the program "Star Wars" to emphasize its supposed sci-fi nature. SDI was never fully developed or deployed, though pieces of it have helped pave the way for some current missile-defense technology and strategies.

Credit: NASA

Bush had big dreams for the American space program. On July 20, 1989 the 20th anniversary of the first manned moon landing he announced a bold plan called the Space Exploration Initiative. SEI called for the construction of a space station called Freedom, an eventual permanent presence on the moon and, by 2019, a manned mission to Mars.

These ambitious goals were estimated to cost at least $500 billion over the ensuing 20 to 30 years. Many in Congress balked at the high price tag, and the initiative was never implemented.

Credit: NASA

According to the policy, the United States' chief space goals going forward were to "enhance knowledge of the Earth, the solar system and the universe through human and robotic exploration" and to "strengthen and maintain the national security of the United States."

This latter sentiment was consistent with other space policy statements from previous administrations. However, some scholars argue that the 1996 document opened the door to the development of space weapons by the United States, though the policy states that any potential "control" actions would be "consistent with treaty obligations."

Credit: NASA

Bush also dramatically shaped NASA's direction and future, laying out a new Vision for Space Exploration in 2004. The Vision was a bold plan, calling for a manned return to the moon by 2020 to help prepare for future human trips to Mars and beyond. It also instructed NASA to complete the International Space Station and retire the space shuttle fleet by 2010.

To help achieve these goals, NASA embarked upon the Constellation program, which sought to develop a new crewed spacecraft called Orion, a lunar lander named Altair and two new rockets: the Ares I for manned missions and the Ares V for cargo. But it was not to be; Bush's successor, President Barack Obama, axed Constellation in 2010.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

A year later, Obama announced his administration's space policy, which represented a radical departure from the path NASA had been on. The new policy canceled George W. Bush's Constellation program, which the Augustine Commission had found to be significantly behind schedule and over budget. (Obama did support continued development of the Orion spacecraft for use as a possible escape vehicle at the space station, however.)

In place of Constellation, Obama's policy directed NASA to focus on getting humans to an asteroid by 2025 and then on to Mars by the mid-2030s. This entails, in part, developing a new heavy-lift rocket, with design completion desired by 2015.

The new policy also seeks to jump-start commercial spaceflight capabilitites. Obama's plan relies on Russian Soyuz vehicles to ferry NASA astronauts to the space station in the short term after the space shuttles retire in 2011.

But over the long haul, Obama wants this burden shouldered by private American spaceships that have yet to be built. So Obama promised NASA an extra $6 billion over five years, which the agency would use to help companies develop these new craft.

Credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA

In March 2017, Trump and White House officials rolled out a 2018 "skinny budget" request that proposed a $19.1 billion budget for NASA, a slight decrease of 0.8 percent over 2017 funding levels. The budget request does call for the cancellation of NASA's Obama-era Asteroid Redirect Mission, as well as ending four Earth science missions, including the Deep Space Climate Observatory already in orbit. NASA's Education Office would be eliminated under that plan.

The White House is proposing an increase in spending on planetary science, $1.9 billion (up from $1.63 billion) to support NASA's 2020 Mars rover and Europa Clipper mission, but did not include funding in its proposal for a Europa landing mission.

More details on Trump's space policy plan are expected to accompany the White House's full 2018 budget request in May 2017.

In the meantime: See what the first 100 days of Trump's administration have meant for space exploration.

1 of 14

2 of 14

3 of 14

4 of 14

5 of 14

6 of 14

7 of 14

8 of 14

9 of 14

10 of 14

11 of 14

12 of 14

13 of 14

14 of 14

Michael was a science writer for the Idaho National Laboratory and has been an intern at Wired.com, The Salinas Californian newspaper, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He has also worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Mike on Google+.

Go here to read the rest:

Presidential Visions for Space Exploration: From Ike to Trump

Ever since we first looked up at the stars, weve been trying to find ways to get there. We managed to make it to the moon in the 1960s and have an established presence in orbit for the better part of the last 30 years. Weve watched the technologies change and advance and followed along every step of the way. Now, as we get closer to our goal of reaching the Red Planet, current trends in technology and engineering are transforming our old ideas about space exploration.

[Image Source: NASA]

How is space exploration changing and how could it impact our first steps into the universe? Lets have a look.

Anyone can take a telescope and point it at the sky, but it takes a skilled hand and a sharp mind to find something in all that black. Traditionally, telescopes relied on mirrors and the principles of light refraction. New technologies, however, are shaking that up, enabling astronomers to see further and more clearly than ever before.

Modern telescopes rely on spectrography, enabling bundles of squeezed light to be transmitted to the computers and analyzed.

These new advanced technologies have enabled us to make some of the most amazing discoveries of our time, like the Trappist 1 system a seven-planet system that is potentially habitable just 39 light years away from our own little blue dot. Theres no way wed have been able to see that amazing new system relying on the just light we could capture with our simple telescopes.

3D printing isnt just for toys and trinkets anymore. Here on earth, its been used for everything from creating custom replacement parts to building prosthetic limbs for amputees. It could change the way new tools and replacement parts for satellites are created. It may even have implications for the International Space Station.

In 2014, the ISS used a 3D printer to build a ratcheting wrench. According to NASA, it took less than a week to design the ratchet, have the design approved by the engineers and build the ratchet itself the last part took only four hours.

This technology could potentially change the way rockets and supply runs like SpaceXs Dragon shuttle are packed. Instead of sending up bulky replacement parts that take up space, may or may not be needed and add additional weight to the rocket, NASA or SpaceX can send up the components needed for a 3D printer.

Any tools or replacement parts that are needed, even if its something that breaks unexpectedly, can be designed and printed in a matter of hours.

Since the cost of launching these rockets is directly tied to the weight of the cargo, finding ways to reduce that weight makes it easier to reduce costs and keep the rockets flying.

Big data is a buzzword in nearly every industry, and space exploration is no exception. There is so much data coming in from multiple sources every single day that it would take a human being lifetimes to process all of it. Thats where computer processing and analysis comes in.

Computers can sort through the data in a fraction of the time that it would take a human being, finding patterns and important data points wed likely miss. Astronomers are still trying to process data that reaches as far back as the Big Bang, the beginning of the universe, and computers are the only way to do that.

NASA is already using big data to sort through the information that its been gathering from the Curiosity rover currently stationed on Mars. In the not too distant future, one of the space agencys radio telescopes is expected to bring in more than 700 terabytes of data every single second that its online. By comparison, one terabyte will hold 20 Blu-ray quality movies or 250,000 high-resolution pictures.

While we dont have enough data to start making any sort of predictions, in time, the use of big data, when paired with predictive algorithms, could allow us to make predictions about celestial events.

Technology has always shaped the world we live in. From the invention of the wheel to the fabrication of the first internal combustion engine, weve always strived to make the world adapt to us and reach beyond our world.

The advances weve made in the 50 years since we first walked on the moon might seem small were still using rockets to get us off the planet, after all but every step weve taken for space exploration will make it easier once we start leaving our planet behind and heading out into the universe.

Whenever we feel alone, we look up and out into the universe and wonder if were the only ones out there. It wont be long before we can walk there ourselves and become the space-faring species that weve dreamed of for so long.

Sources: BusinessInsider, Phys, NASA

Read more here:

Here's How Current Trends Are Changing Space Exploration as We Know It - Interesting Engineering

By Larry Williams II Times Record lwilliams@swtimes.com

Robots. Artificial hearts. 3D printing of human tissue.

It may sound like science fiction, but as Dr. J.D. Polk, chief medical officer at NASA, pointed out at his keynote lecture, Journey of Exploration, during the 32nd Annual Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association convention Saturday, these are all science fact thanks to space exploration.

Youd be surprised how much exploration has to do with medicine, said Polk to a packed lecture hall at the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM), 7000 Chad Colley Blvd. Right now, NASA is the busiest its ever been.

Polk was referring to the planning and preparation occurring at NASA for the first manned mission to Mars. He said the United States space agency is busier now than they were during the Apollo missions of the 1960s.

The amount of technology invented (for the Apollo program) is huge, said Polk. Right now, we all think that hydrogen fuel cells for cars is a new invention. Hydrogen fuels cells are how the lunar module landed on the moon. The biggest hassle was power, at that time. We didnt have solar panels.

Along with power, the space program also needed to reduce a computer the size of a room to fit on the lunar module, which was 23 feet tall by 31 feet wide and deep. The circuit board was born, which is now present in everything from a cell phone to childs toy.

An iPhone has more computing power than the lunar module, added Polk.

He noted that the amount of technology needed to be invented for the Mars mission will far outstrip the lunar missions. On the moon, astronauts stayed for a handful of days.

A one-way trip to Mars will take approximately six months.

Mars and Earth dont stay lined up constantly, said Polk. You have to wait until the two of them are lined up before you launch. And then, because they dont stay together, youre staying on the surface of Mars for 18 months, and then its another six months back.

Polk, as chief health and medical officer, is responsible for writing up the human factors for all of the vehicles being developed for the Mars mission. Such considerations as time spent in a zero-gravity atmosphere, both on the vehicles and on the planet, and how that affects human health come into play.

Outside of the future Mars mission, Dr. Polk showed the trickle-down effect of space exploration technology into medicine. The same impeller design used by the space shuttles fuel pumps was used by a cardiothoracic surgeon in Texas on a miniature scale to keep end-stage heart failure patients alive.

A lot of things came from the space shuttle, said Polk. The space shuttle windows, because they get hit with micro-meteoroids, they get scratched constantly by small bits. If you can imagine something the size of a grain of sand hitting that glass at 17,500 miles per hour, its going to leave a mark.

Because of that, we now have scratch guard lenses for eyeglasses.

NASA has two robots who have inspired prosthetics for the physically disabled: Robonaut and Valkyrie. Because of them, Polk showed slides of current hardware for amputees that perfectly mimics human movement.

But perhaps the most astonishing technology previewed was 3D printers that produce skin grafts for burn victims. Polk said that a sample of a patients cells would be taken as the raw material for the printer, thus eliminating the chances of rejection of the new graft by the patients body.

This isnt just something thats five, ten years down the road, said Polk. This is happening now.

See the rest here:

Space-driven technology aids medicine, NASA doc says at Fort Smith convention - Times Record

Share

Share

Email

Print

In 1946, Lyman Spitzer, Jr., a young astrophysicist from Toledo, proposed putting telescopes in space. Fifty-seven years later, I watched as the Spitzer Space Telescope took off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and disappeared into the night sky.

I was part of the large team that built this great NASA observatory named in memory of the Toledo native. Designed to observe the universe in infrared light, Spitzer continues to make new discoveries, including the recent detection of a star with seven Earth-sized planets.

Today, University of Toledo researchers and students use Spitzer and NASAs other space telescopes by downloading the data and engaging in the exploration of the universe from the Ritter Planetarium and Observatory. My students and I study the birth of stars and planets cloaked in dark clouds of gas and dust.

Infrared light, which we cannot see with our own eyes, penetrates these clouds and allows us a view of star birth in action. The Earths atmosphere, however, glows with infrared light. By launching telescopes into space, we can observe the infrared sky unhindered by the atmospheres glow.

Working with an international team, we observe stars less than one million years old and in the process of growing considered infants in the lifespan of a star. Our goal is to understand how the clouds of gas collapse into stars and planets, as well as to better understand the birth of our own solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

To make sense of the universe, astronomers at UT use observations made with many different telescopes on Earth and in space. Each observation is a piece of a cosmic jigsaw puzzle.

My graduate students use the Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona to take the temperatures of infant stars. That opportunity is made possible by UTs 10-year partnership with Lowell Observatory. On our UT campus, a team of undergraduates observes stars orbited by disks of hot gas using Ritter Observatory in an effort to understand the origin of the disks. One student recently discovered a companion star orbiting one of those stars.

Sometimes, more than one telescope is used. A UT researcher worked with an international team to combine the light from four telescopes to create sharp pictures of the powerful wind from a star 100 times more massive than our sun.

An undergraduate on my team also compared data from two space telescopes made six years apart and discovered a burst of energy from a young star consuming a big gulp of gas.

In recognition of our robust efforts in research, UT was invited in 2016 to join the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, or AURA, as one of 47 institutions, including Ohio State University and Yale University, tasked in the oversight of many of our nations telescopes. The students and researchers at UT are privileged to have such high-tech telescopes at our disposal. But you dont need to look at the stars to see how space exploration benefits our daily lives.

Consider the GPS in your smart phone. It is the product of 400 years of discovery, from Newtons laws to Einsteins relativity and quantum physics.

Space exploration also places our world into a vast cosmic context. Back at Ritter, I am preparing for the next big space telescope the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be launched in 2018. I cant predict what we will find with this new telescope, but I can predict, confidently, that the universe will continue to astonish us.

Tom Megeath is a professor of physics and astronomy at UT and a member of the executive committee for NASAs Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group. He invites everyone to come to Ritter Planetarium on UTs Main Campus Friday nights to join in exploration.

Here is the original post:

Toledo's deep space exploration - The Blade - Toledo Blade

Neil deGrasse Tyson regularly critiques the scientific accuracy of movies on Twitter, but hes putting his money where his mouth is with a scientifically-minded space exploration video game called Space Odysseywell,your money, technically, since its on Kickstarter. Im sure Tyson would appreciate the clarification.

Of course, hes a busy guyand not exactly a game developerso a team has been assembled to assist him with the project, which will feature Tyson as a holographic guide in-game. The games Kickstarter page says, The Space Odyssey team is composed of creators of comic books such as Wolverine, conceptual illustrators for games such as God of War and Final Fantasy & of course, world-renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and his StarTalk All-Stars.

The gameplay sounds a lot likeNo Mans Sky, in that it will involve exploration, colonization, mining, and discovering alien species. Much of it will necessarily involve futurismbased on Concepts of Nanotechnology, Optogenetics, Singularity, Magnetic Transportation, Dark Matter, Compressed Time, Hydrogen Power, Solar Sails, Ramjet Fusion and more, since we dont exactly have the technology to be out exploring among the stars just yet.

However, the game mechanics will be driven by science, and the planetsyou explore willdemonstrate whatdifferent planets might really be likeincluding Proxima B, a real exoplanet recently discovered relatively close toour solar system. Theres tons more to the game, both in single-player and online, like creating your own planet complete with unique chemistry and guiding it through natural disasters and dangers from other objects in space.

It seems like a hugely ambitious project, which is probably why its relatively low $314,159 Kickstarter goal is aimed at funding a community input aspect rather than being the games main funding source. Were excited to see how it all turns out, and our only regret is that we probably wont live long enough to actually visit planets outside our solar system and report all the gamesinaccuracies back to Tyson on Twitter.

(via Business Insider, image: Kickstarter)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.

Excerpt from:

Neil deGrasse Tyson Is Working on a Scientifically-Minded Space Exploration Game - The Mary Sue

Fifty years ago Star Trek beamed into television sets for the first time, igniting an international passion for an imagined future that has played out in movies, books and conventions ever since. Today devoted fans speak the Klingon language and the residents of Riverside, Iowa, claim dibs on the future birthplace of Capt. James Tiberius Kirkand many scientists trace their spacefaring curiosities back to this fantasy. The shows impact on the breadth of scientific imagination has proved as fathomless as space itself. Director Craig Thompson takes on the challenge of exploring Star Treks vast web of influence in the upcoming documentary The Truth Is in the Stars. Thompson discussed Star Treks influence on culture and scientific advancement in a live Webcast Wednesday night. He was joined by three other panelists from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario. Perimeter director Neil Turok, Perimeter researcher Avery Broderick and rocket scientist Natalie Panek expounded on the lasting impact Star Trek has made on them and on society.

Watch the video to hear what insights this collaboration of scientific and artistic minds has on an iconic fiction fixture that continues to inspire science. The discussion is part of Perimeters public lecture series presented by BMO Financial.

Continue reading here:

Star Trek Legacy Lives On in Space Exploration [Video] - Scientific American

Some of the earliest popular video games were not just for fun, but were educational tools, too. After all, what child of the '80s doesn't know what dysentery is, thanks to a trail in the Pacific northwest? Now, world-reknowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is hoping to bring that concept back, with an engaging space exploration game that includes real science as the basis for its worlds and missions. Neil deGrasse Tyson Presents: Space Odyssey officially launched as a Kickstarter project at the E3 video game convention, where Tyson served as a panelist about world-building in media.

Im delighted to bring the wonders of space to everyone, and one of the most potent ways to accomplish this is through the visual and immersive power of gaming, said Tyson in a press release. Im excited to be part of the creative team bringing this educational game to life that is based on real science and driven by real physics. Space Odyssey embodies a shared vision of creators, storytellers and science lovers who want to get people of all ages into space and exploration in ways that encourage curiosity and imagination.

The game launched on Kickstarter this week with packages ranging from $29 to $10,000 that all offer the actual game with an estimated delivery of the end of 2018, plus perks like in-game items being named after you, special concept art and signed items, and more. The goal is around $314,000, and they have 43 days to reach that at press time.

As for the actual gameplay, the project is an ambitious one, hoping to send gamers across the galaxy, with the first stop being Proxima b, about 4.2 light years from Earth. There, you'll be able to customize your own ship, complete physics-based missions and challenges, and create personalized challenges. You'll be able to colonize and truly world-build, as you seek to bring these virtual worlds to life, with robots you can design and task out, and options for both single-player and multiplayer challenges and competitions. The goal is to put the galaxy in your hands, with not just exploring, but cultivating new worlds and life.

Tyson will be there as the voice of your digital assistant (and a helpful holographic projection), providing science facts and helpful hints along your journey. An all-star group of scientists including Bill Nye, Janna Levin, Charles Liu, Carolyn Porco, Loretta Falcone, Astronaut Mike Massimino, and more will contribute to the game and its database, and writers like Peter Beagle, Larry Niven, and head writer Len Wein (you may have heard of a couple characters he co-created like Wolverine, Swamp Thing, and several other X-Men characters) will bring the story to life.

Big Red Button Entertainment, known primarily for VR projects, is working on the game, and yes, that means some missions will be VR enabled. Section Studios is working on the visuals for the game, while Starbreeze works on the structure of the game itself. They're really creating multiple games in one, with spacecraft piloting, "Metroidvania" style planet-based missions, VR missions, and all the customization, as well.

The plan is to expand not just the game itself, but also move into other media, like books, comic books, and cartoons. But first, they need to meet the Kickstarter goal and make the game itself.

Check out the concept art for Space Odyssey below, and head to Kickstarter to join in the fun.

Read the original:

Neil deGrasse Tyson launches Kickstarter for space exploration video game - Blastr

Smart technology deployed by Milton Keynes-based Open University is set to prove out of this world for STEM students.

The OU Faculty of STEM is introducing remotely-controlled robotic telescopes to bring astronomy and space science research capability from the cosmos direct into students homes wherever they are in the world.

The inauguration of remotely-controlled and professional robotic telescopes, COAST and PIRATE, can be operated from students laptops, PCs, and smartphones.

The telescopes, based at the Observatorio del Teide on the island of Tenerife, are part of a 5.4 million initiative to develop the OpenSTEM Labs. Fifty per cent funded by HEFCE, the OpenSTEM Labs offer an Internet of Laboratory Things, accessible to distance learning students 24/7.

For almost half a century, the OU has been developing the latest digital technology to enhance the learning experience of students.

Senior lecturer at the School of Physical Sciences, Dr Ulrich Kolb, said: The marvels of the Universe have always sparked imagination and our fascination with studying them has really pushed the boundaries of what we can achieve through technological innovation.

Why shouldnt students at the OU be able to experience the same capabilities and technologies from the comfort of their home as researchers do from their workplaces?

We are offering our students the opportunity to access these fantastic astronomical facilities at one of the best observing sites in the Northern Hemisphere.

Free tickets are available for the inauguration of the telescopes on Thursday July 6 at The Open University in Walton Hall, Milton Keynes via the OU Eventbrite webpage.

Picture credit: Elena Mora (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias)

Read more:

Students use smart technology for space exploration - Business Weekly