Stuff we think will be

I've been mulling over the various things about space that most of us might think of if we thought about what spaceflight in the future would involve. Gravity on board a spaceship, for instance, is a big one. Because it is costly and difficult to film in zero gravity, there are very few movies that do (Apollo 13 is one, but when it comes to Sci-Fi, everyone assumes that in the future we will have figured out artificial gravity).
What is interesting, of course, is that artificial gravity is, I would guess, rather low on our list of technologies to work on. I am sure we will be exploring space and doing all manner of amazing things before we try to create gravity. Achieving gravity in space would be a great benefit to astronauts, but it might be easier to fix the problems that zero G presents in ways other than simulating gravity.
But the assumption that in the future there will be artificial gravity exists because filmmakers can't film without it. This article is about a Robert Heinlein story, the movie based on it, and how it influenced future Sci-Fi writers and film makers. We saw this kind of thing happen with the whole Martian canal idea and the long belief that there was life on Mars. The idea may come from anywhere, but once it becomes a norm in science fiction, it shapes how we look at spaceflight and the future.

Mars Needs You: Space Tourist Spreads the Word

Mars Needs You: Space Tourist Spreads the Word

Check Check Check ah check it out!

the top ten

I found a page of the top 10 Mars photos ever. They are pretty cool, beginning way back when with Schiaparelli and continuing into more advanced imagery. The photos are chosen on a variety of factors, with historical significance holding a lot of weight in the ranking. The term "photo" is also used loosely, and some of the photos on the list are digital fabrications of real surface features of Mars. My favorite photo is number 8.

Tom and Jerry go to Mars

Back when this animated series began, Tom and Jerry were just ordinary housepets with nothing better to do than chase each other up and down the stairs every day. But now, they're going to Mars--on accident, of course, because they stowed away in a spaceship going to Mars. The whole adventure is viewable on DVD.

Europe to Conduct 500-Day Mock Mission to Mars

The European Space Agency (ESA) and a group Russian researchers are set to lock a crew of six people in metal tubes for a simulated trip to Mars. The "mission" will be known as Mars500, and will take place in an isolation facility in Russia. It will enable organizers to study the difficulties presented by a lengthy spaceflight such as the one to Mars. The volunteer participants will attempt to re-create all elements of an actual mission, including launch, an outboard journey, a research trip to the planet’s surface, and the return trip—all of which will take 500 days. Locked inside the research station, the crew will have to deal with real limitations such as a carefully portioned food supply, 20-minute delays in communication, and simulated emergencies. In addition, there is the further possibility of real medical emergencies arising.

http://www.marsnews.com (04/03/07)

Martian Calendar

Here's a calendar based on the Martian year. Now you can celebrate all your favorite holidays on Martian time! And notice that they're not just marketing it as "a nerdy thing to decorate your office with," but as "a tool for future colonists." I hadn't thought about this. When I go to Mars, I will definitely need to bring my Martian calendar so I know what day it is. It's numbered beginning with the beginning of serious Mars exploration by humans and going on from there. The days are named for planets, and the months are named for Greek deities. And of course all the seasons will be different, so we'll need to notify the groundhogs.

"Martian" Language

Apparently in China, people use the term "Martian Language" to refer to the internet language used to express ideas through pictures or phonetic abbreviation ( ::>_<:: would be someone crying, for example). In Taiwan, they had questions about Martian Language on a college entrance exam. On the exam, students were given terms in Martian Language to translate, such as the one above, and other phrases like "3Q Orz". ("3Q" is thank you, and "Orz" represents a person bowing down in thanks). The language is called "Martian" because it uses characters from an English keyboard, which seem completely alien compared to their Chinese characters. Anyway, many students were able to answer correctly on the test, but it made a lot of people mad that it was on the test in the first place. So now, Martian Language is banned from the test.

Thirsty?

Oh and for those of you who want something to wash down the cookies, here is a Mars-inspired drink, called A Little Green Man from Mars.

Mmm, cookies

So here is a recipe for Mars cookies, supposedly brought over on an asteroid a million years ago. Now, despite the dubious authenticity of this claim, I'm still hungry, and cookies sound good. Especially with all these crazy papers coming up. Maybe I will take a break and make some red cookies in the traditional ancient Martian way--with sugar, flour, and a 350 degree oven.

The Martian Virus

"Just what kind of harm a Martian virus could cause to Earth is unknown, but if history has any lessons to teach, there could be cause for concern." This is the type of question physical sciences professor Andre Meyers grapples with in his novel, "Mayan Mars." This is just a review of the novel but it got me thinking about the dangers we could be facing when discussing research on Mars. Are we immune to Martian biology? Is there some virus on the planet that has kept it from evolving like Earth? Just thought this was an interesting read.

Is space good for us?

After reading this article about sci-fi and the views different shows/books/stories take on what living in space will be like, I was reminded of Bernie's brief lecture in class on life in space. The problem is this: say that a civilization like ours, a civilization that advances to the point where it is technologically possible to send colonies to far distant planets, does so. Say we send out a hundred colonies (which, over time and assuming there would be many volunteers, is not that many). And say that we have a 98% failure rate and only two colonies of those hundred make it to their destinations and settle their planets. It takes them a hundred years, or more, to do this. Eventually, however, they overcome all the hazards of establishing themselves on a new planet, and they advance, and eventually they do the same thing and send out ships. The same 98% failure rate goes for them, and for the colonies they send out who eventually send colonies of their own, etc. And this is assuming we're the only ones doing this--what if there was another, alien civilization who did the same thing?
In any case, the point is that, given the laws of exponents, if this was done then in 10,000 years or a little more the galaxy would be saturated with intelligent civilizations. But this is not the case. Thus, either we are the first in the galaxy to come to this point, or, there have been other civilizations who have come as far as we have and, for whatever reason, failed to go into space. This could be because, like we are currently doing, they destroyed their planet/themselves and eventually died off catastrophically. Or it could be because they simply decided that going into space was not to their benefit-- as some people on earth are indeed thinking, as evidenced by sci-fi shows like Cowboy Bepop and Firefly. Will our society, as a whole, reach a point where space exploration is no longer a factor in our vision for the future?
I suppose this is possible, but I'd point out that even if these TV shows have a pessimistic view of life in space, they are still assuming that in the future life for people will be in space.
Also, the article points out that very rarely does science fiction predict the future--as much as it has informed how we think about where humanity will go, sci-fi writers are generally trying to comment on the present day, not argue for what they think human destiny is. This is perhaps why it is somewhat of a moot point that sci-fi is, after all (by its very name) Fake Science. Shows that try to stick to real physics (like Firefly, wherein there is never any sound in space, as opposed to Star Trek where the photon torpedoes always fire with a futuristic laser-gun bling noise) are to be admired, but a sci-fi author, concerned more with getting her point across than with being accurate, will always pick and choose the facts and fiction that work best for her story's agenda. Therefore, it is in fact not a very good idea to try and form an idea of what the future will really be like, or about people's view of it, by looking at science fiction.

Interesting

I found this article that is promoting riding the current public trend to send humans to Mars by increasing funding to a department of NASA (HEDS) that could be able to turn the robotic program into a springboard for human exploration by finding landing sites and beginning to prepare the way.