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Weekly Science Picks

Markus — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 00:12:55 +0000

It is with a heavy heart that I must say, this is my final set of Weekly Science Picks here on Australian Science. In fact, it’s to be the final set of Weekly Science Picks. Unfortunately, running a site like this one is a costly affair, and it’s been an honour to be a writer here over the past year and a half. Scientific progress will, of course, always carry on and I hope there will always be places to discuss new findings, implications, and effects of it on human culture and society.

So, proudly then, here are the final set of news stories which caught my eye this week. Make no mistake – there’s been some pretty cool news recently!

Firstly, and in my opinion most excitingly, is a medical breakthrough which could actually revolutionise surgery in the future. And anyone who knows me will know that I don’t use words like “revolutionise” lightly. Quite simply, the device is a small pen, developed by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES), which will be able to deposit stem cells and growth factors directly into injuries. This means that this pen could help injured tissue – bones, muscle, and even nerves – to regrow. Oh, and did I mention it works using 3D printing technology?

BioPen to rewrite orthopaedic implants surgery

The BioPen prototype was designed and built using the 3D printing equipment in the labs at the University of Wollongong and was this week handed over to clinical partners at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, led by Professor Peter Choong, who will work on optimising the cell material for use in clinical trials.

For a long time humans were considered unique in that we use tools where other animal species don’t. But since that old idea, more and more animals – from birds to octopodes – have been shown to use tools in their daily lives. The most recent addition to this collection of smart creatures is the crocodile which has been found to use lures while hunting. Perhaps this might help show that reptiles are smarter than we give them credit for!

Alligators and Crocodiles Use Tools to Hunt, in a First

Relatively less is known about crocodiles and alligators than many animals, because, as large predators, they are difficult to raise in the lab and study up close in the wild. Their cold-bloodedness also makes them slow. “They operate on a different time scale; they do things more slowly,” Burghardt said. “Sometimes we don’t have the patience to let them strut their stuff, as it were … so this kind of study is important.”

A huge plume of water has been spotted, gushing from the surface of Enceladus, Saturn’s tiny snowball moon. While the exact source of Enceladus’ warmth is still something of a mystery, this sighting means that its activity is quite clear – this water plume is reaching an altitude of around 201 km above the surface of the tiny world. That’s nearly ten times as high as Olympus Mons, the solar system’s largest mountain (which itself dwarfs Everest, the heighest mountain on Earth).

Hubble Space Telescope Sees Evidence of Water Vapor Venting off Jupiter Moon

“By far the simplest explanation for this water vapor is that it erupted from plumes on the surface of Europa,

Cite this article:
Hammonds M (2013-12-15 00:12:55). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-58/
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Weekly Science Picks

Markus — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 12:42:52 +0000

Well, it’s my turn to pick my favourite science news this week on Australian Science. And I must apologise for being slightly late with this. The reason is that I’ve only just got home to Tokyo after spending all week in Taipei for a conference on interstellar dust! As with any good conference, it’s been fun and fascinating but also rather tiring. If anyone’s curious to know more about what went on, the twitter hashtag #lcod2013 is where myself and others were giving internet commentary over the past week.

Also, between talks, twitter is where I heard most of this week’s worldwide science happenings. So here are a few of the things which caught my eye…

Firstly, Katie Mack (a long term inspiration to me) wrote an article for The Research Whisperer on the perils of the academic lifestyle and being a science nomad – and how that affects your personal life. Being still very recently relocated to Japan myself, this strikes something of a chord with me. It’s worth reading for anyone considering a science career themselves. while I personally rather enjoy the nomadic nature of this job, it’s certainly not for everyone. And I have yet to see how I feel about it a couple more years down the line…

Academic scattering

As for me, I confess I haven’t figured it out. I have two years left on my contract in Australia and no idea whatsoever which country I’ll end up in next. I’m applying broadly, and there’s no guarantee I’ll have a choice about location if I want to stay on the path toward becoming tenure-track faculty at a major research institution. When it’s not unusual for a single postdoc job to have 300 applicants, and faculty jobs are even more selective, getting even one offer is considered a huge win.

Moving on to life of a different kind, a brand new species has been discovered in the waters off the coast of California. And anyone who’s been reading my articles awhile will know how exciting I find the discovery of new species! This time around, it’s a somewhat scary looking new species of crustacean. Don’t worry though. It only eats copepods.

New Alien-like Crustacean Species Identified in California Waters

The frail crustacean, which is only a few millimeters in length, was discovered by scientists from the University of Seville in Spain and the Museum of Natural History in Canada, who had published a taxonomic description of the new species in the journal Zootaxa.

Meanwhile in space… When people talk of space stations and lasers, a lot of us will immediately think of Star Wars. Or whatever other sci fi we might prefer. However, up in orbit around Earth, our own space station is preparing to use lasers for a rather less destructive purpose – to transmit video back to use down here on the ground.

Pew! Pew! Laser On The Space Station Will Beam Video To Earth

“Optical communications (also referred to as ‘lasercomm’) is an emerging technology wherein data is modulated onto laser beams, which offers the promise of much higher data rates than what is achievable with radio-frequency (RF) transmissions.

Cite this article:
Hammonds M (2013-11-24 12:42:52). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-55/
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Weekly Science Picks

Sharon — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 07:47:24 +0000

It’s Sunday again. Time for some science-y goodness from around the globe!!

Mouse eats scorpion, feels no pain.

The discovery that a type of mouse feels no pain from scorpion venom has revealed a new strategy for developing pain-killing drugs.

Hubble to get boost from gravitational lensing

Astronomers are attempting to boost the imaging prowess of the Hubble Space Telescope by taking advantage of naturally occurring zoom lenses in space.

More animals discovered in the Amazon – including a purring monkey!

At least 441 new species of animals and plants have been discovered over a four year period in the vast, underexplored rainforest of the Amazon, including a monkey that purrs like a cat.

Microbiologists and Astrobiologists work with kids to discover new microbes!

Extremophiles are microbes that have adapted to extreme environments, such as Utah’s Great Salt Lake. But new microorganisms can be found in everyday places, and scientists are showing school kids how to discover and name their own new species.

Ozone hole smaller than average this year

The ozone hole that forms each year in the stratosphere over Antarctica was slightly smaller in 2013 than average in recent decades, according to NASA satellite data.

ESA volunteers slacking off for science

ESA’s volunteers recently finished their third and last session lying in bed in the interest of spaceflight and science. They can return to their normal lives after spending their last 21 days in bed with their feet up – once their bodies have recuperated from the experience.

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Weekly Science Picks

Kelly Burnes — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 09:13:10 +0000

Close-up view
Giant ants (Paraponera Clavata), appearing at the exhibition “Mille milliards de fourmis” at the Palais de la Decouverte in Paris. (Copyright: Getty Images)

Welcome to this edition of Weekly Science Picks!

Here’s a great little story to get us started about how one scientist found out about his Nobel Prize win this past week. He doesn’t carry a mobile.

Prof Peter Higgs did not know he had won Nobel Prize by BBC News

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Prof Peter Higgs has revealed he did not know he had won the award until a woman congratulated him in the street.

It’s now the 11th day of the US Government Shutdown. This past week I attempted to go to the Census Bureau website for research on population demographics near a development project I’m working on. No dice. This next story shows the impact that government funding has on science. The implications could be huge.

Fears for science amid US shutdown by David Shukman

Imran Khan, chief executive of the British Science Association, said: “The biggest lesson we should take from this week’s Nobel Prizes is that science doesn’t belong to one nation; it’s an international and collaborative human enterprise.

One could spend hours, even days pondering the origins of our solar system. Some devote their life’s work to it. Check out this story about comets and presolar grains.

First Evidence Found of a Comet Strike on Earth by Andrew Fazekas

“Because there is no sign of an impact crater, it has been a mystery as to what kind of celestial event actually could have caused this debris field, but a small, black stone found lying in the middle of the glass area caught our attention,” said study co-author David Block, an astronomer at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Balancing the needs of economic development with conservation principles is not easy. Governments do have hard choices to make. Sustainable management of resources, both natural and economic, is not a choice; it should be a top policy priority.

In Indonesia, Environmentalists See a Disaster in the Making by Sara Schonhar

Now conservationists say the rapid clearing of virgin forest is paving the way for environmental catastrophe, turning critically endangered orangutans, tigers and elephants into refugees, and triggering landslides and flash floods.

These next two links speak for themselves. You know that line, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. The power of communication, through both photos and words, assists scientists in developing and proving theories and solving problems of the modern world. Enjoy your weekend. Maybe grab a camera, or your smartphone, and capture some scientific snapshots of your own.

Awesome Photos of NASA Equipment Tests by Vincze Miklos

The best science and technology pictures of the week by BBC Future

Cite this article:
Burnes K (2013-10-13 09:13:10). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-50/
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Weekly Science Picks

Markus — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 08:06:07 +0000

Hello everyone. I hope you’ve all had a good week! It’s a balmy Autumn evening here in the UK where I sit as I write this – and I must say, this week’s science picks include something quite historic…

Anyone with half an eye on the science news recently should know by now that it’s been officially confirmed that NASA’s Voyager 1 probe is has now been confirmed as being in interstellar space. It is no longer within the Sun’s heliosphere and no longer feels the solar wind. To Voyager, the Sun is now simply another star in the sky. Though as Phil Plait points out, being in interstellar space is not technically the same thing as leaving the solar system.

Voyager 1 Reaches Interstellar Space. But Has It Left the Solar System? Wellllll…

However, there’s more to our solar system’s far-flung suburbs than errant electrons and protons. Even out there, over 120 times farther from the Sun than the Earth’s orbit, there are more substantive objects: huge, frozen chunks of ice that are essentially giant comets… It’s like walking outside the front door of your house and saying you’ve left your property. While you’ve left your house, there’s still the yard all around you. You have a ways to go yet.

Citizen Science has been around for a while now, as a fun and interesting way of getting internet users to casually help scientists analyse vast amounts of data. So the latest idea is to use online gaming and social media platforms like Facebook to bolster the effort…

How Facebook and gaming could help scientists battle disease

One example, a smartphone game set for release later this year, is currently called “GeneGame”. Players of the game, developed by Cancer Research UK, will be contributing to the identification of cancer-causing genetic faults from tumour samples. In a crucial difference to the Galaxy Zoo experiment, the scientific research will be a indirect consequence of the gameplay, rather than the explicit focus of the gameplay.

From a long departed craft, to one of the most recent, NASA’s LADEE vehicle is currently en route to the Moon, to study its tenuous atmosphere (and the word “Atmosphere” is used rather loosely here, believe me). But as the probe was launched, there was an unfortunate amphibian casualty. You see, the launch pads at NASA’s Wallops facility are built in rather swampy areas…

Frank the Frog Sacrificed Himself for LADEE Launch

From NASA: “A still camera on a sound trigger captured this intriguing photo of an airborne frog as NASA’s LADEE spacecraft lifts off from Pad 0B at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The photo team confirms the frog is real and was captured in a single frame by one of the remote cameras used to photograph the launch. The condition of the frog, however, is uncertain.

Cite this article:
Hammonds M (2013-09-15 08:06:07). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-46/
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Weekly Science Picks

Sharon — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:03:48 +0000

It’s that time of the week again. Time for some science-y goodness from around the globe!!

NASA Spitzer Telescope celebrates 10 years in space!

Ten years ago the Spitzer Space Telescope was launched about a Delta II rocket from Canaveral, Florida. Spitzer is an infrared telescope and is the fourth of the NASA’s four Great Observatories in space, Hubble, Chandra, Compton and Spitzer.

Precision atomic clock sets new record

The most precise clocks in the world have been built in the US. Two clocks made from ytterbium (serioulsy I’ve not heard of this element before!) and could be used for technological advancements beyond timekeeping, such as navigation systems, magnetic fields and temperature. Apparently the clocks’ ticking rate varies less than two parts in one quintillion, or 10 times better than any other atomic clock. Sounds great! But does it stop me being late for work?

NASA prepares for LADEE launch

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky. LADEE will help us better understand the moon, and other objects including asteroids and other planetary moons.

Want to boost your testosterone level? Try chopping wood…

A new study by the Institute of Social, Behavioural and Economic Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara has found that chopping wood to clear land and feed the family produces more testosterone in men than competitive activities like sport.

Plankton may spread oyster herpes virus

Plankton may be spreading a herpes-like virus that has been devastating Pacific oyster farms in countries ranging from France, UK, Spain and the US.

Bacteria can cause pain on their own

Bacteria can directly trigger the nerves that sense pain, suggesting that the body’s own immune reaction is not always to blame for the extra tenderness of an infected wound.

Map tracks path of dust plume from Russian Chelyabinsk meteor

Watch this video that shows the dust path left behind the 11,000-metric-ton meteor as it ripped through Earth’s atmosphere on February 15, 2013.

Cite this article:
Harnett S (2013-08-25 00:03:48). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-43/
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Space Open Day at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

itgrrl — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:35:38 +0000

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC), located on the rural outskirts of Canberra at Tidbinbilla, is one of only three NASA deep space tracking stations spread around the globe. On Sunday 18th August, as part of National Science Week they held their biennial ‘Space Open Day‘, affording a rare opportunity for visitors to tour areas of the facility that are normally off-limits to the public. My partner and I have recently joined the ranks of volunteers at CDSCC, and Space Open Day was to be our first outing in that role, along with a small team of new and long-time volunteers.

Our hour-long trek to the facility started bright and early (for a Sunday) in order to catch the volunteer briefing before the gates opened at 9am. Briefing done, it was time to head ‘front of house’ to greet the incoming visitors and attend to our rostered duties. Throughout the day, visitors were able to hop on a bus tour of the entire complex, join a guided walking tour of “the big dish” (DSS-43), and complete a self-guided walk to the dish for fantastic photo opportunities. In addition, the Visitor Centre displays, video presentations, and hands-on computer terminals were available as normal.

A CDSCC staff member explains the technology & history behind DSS-43 to a tour group on Space Open Day

Special talks were conducted throughout the day, with Education & Outreach Manager Glen Nagle first talking about CDSCC’s crucial role in the recent launch and landing of the Mars Science Laboratory, ‘Curiosity’, on Mars. CSIRO held a ‘Tweetup’ for the launch of Curiosity in November 2011, and a followup public event for the audacious landing in August the following year. (While guests were enthralled watching the Curiosity mission unfold, CDSCC staff were hard at work receiving telemetry and tracking data direct from the spacecraft and relaying it to Mission Control at NASA’s JPL in Pasadena, California.) Later in the day, Mike Dinn gave a talk on the Apollo missions. Mike was a technician at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station during the Apollo era, and it was a real treat for centre visitors to be able to hear about that iconic period of spaceflight from someone who actually worked on the missions.

Bus tours of the complex ran every 20 minutes for the entire day. Despite having a fleet of three buses on rotation, there was a queue for the tours all day—attendance for the day was just under 3,000 visitors, by far the largest turnout for any event at the complex. Operational staff from the centre volunteered their time to act as tour guides, providing behind-the-scenes insights into the ongoing and historical operations of the complex. The guided walking tours of the 70m dish, DSS-43, were also incredibly popular, with people happily queueing for over half an hour to hear about the engineering, technology, and history of the large dish and the whole complex. Again, current and former CDSCC staff were on hand to provide a wealth of technical information.

Adding to the excitement for the young geeks-in-training visiting CDSCC on the day were special appearances by a number of representatives from the Galactic Empire, who assured us that they were on a “routine inspection tour” of the facility. I do believe that they consider the Communication Complex to be an Empire outpost under their control—and I wasn’t about to be the one to risk contradicting them! In all seriousness though, the members of the 501st Legion who attended were fantastic, and continued the long tradition of science fiction helping to inspire the next generation of real-world scientists and engineers.

Darth Nihilus, Imperial officers & Stormtrooper from the 501st Legion NSW/ACT Garrison survey their ‘outpost’

Glen Nagle and his small team (Korinne McDonnell and Leanne George) run the CDSCC Visitor Centre—which is open 364 days of the year—as well as all of the Education and Outreach programmes on a modest budget. That they were able to promote and smoothly stage an event that proved to be wildly popular with the public is a testament to their passion and dedication to the mission of CDSCC and to science communication and outreach in general.

For myself and the other volunteers, the day was quite tiring but immensely enjoyable. How often do you get a chance to take people on tours of a deep space tracking station, and spend time chatting to members of the public about robotic and human spaceflight, physics and astrophysics, cosmology, and radio astronomy? I’m sure that there are some people for whom that sounds like a painful day, but for myself and the other volunteers it was pretty close to Nerdvana.

Explore further
You can follow the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex on Twitter: @CanberraDSN

Full disclosure: Jessica is a volunteer at the CDSCC

Cite this article:
Smith J (2013-08-23 00:35:38). Space Open Day at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/space/space-open-day-at-the-canberra-deep-space-communication-complex/
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DARPA’s ATLAS Humanoid Robots

Editorial Board — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:04:04 +0000

NASA is exploring peaceful civilian space applications for ATLAS-related technologies. Atlas is a new humanoid robot 6 foot, 2 inches tall weighing 330 pounds. Atlas is initially being designed to provide humanitarian assistance in disaster response/crisis situations.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (Valkyrie) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory(RoboSimian) teams are participating in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) focused on developing innovative software to control the robot’s functions. Last month, DARPA awarded funds and an Atlas robot to 7 teams who competed in a software challenge leading up to the first leg of the Robotics Challenge, which kicks off in December 2013.

According to the project website, the goal of the DARPA Robotics Challenge is to create robotic systems that can work “in tandem with their human counterparts, in order to reduce casualties, avoid further destruction, and save lives.”

Atlas can travel through rough terrain outdoors and climb using its hands and feet. The robot features two fully working hands with four fingers, including opposable thumbs, 28 hydraulically actuated joints, a “head” with LIDAR and stereo sensors, automatic crash protection, and an on-board, real-time control computer. In a demonstration video, Atlas easily avoided obstacles, maintaining a steady gait despite unexpected changes to the terrain, and even maintained its balance when struck by a large object.

“Articulated, sensate hands will enable Atlas to use tools designed for human use,” Boston Dynamics says. “Atlas includes 28 hydraulically actuated degrees of freedom, two hands, arms, legs, feet, and a torso.”
Its head includes stereo cameras and a laser range finder. It’s currently tethered to an off-board, electric power supply which limits its range for the moment.

Specifications:
– Six feet, two inches tall (1.88m)
– 330 pounds (150kg)
– On-board real-time control computer
– On-board hydraulic pump and thermal management
– Tethered for networking & 480-V three-phase power at 15 kW
– Two arms, two legs, a torso and a head
– 28 hydraulically actuated joints
– Carnegie Robotics sensor head with LIDAR and stereo sensors
– Two sets of hands, one provided by iRobot and one by Sandia National Labs

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies for use by the military.

Boston Dynamics is an engineering and robotics design company best known for the development of the humanoid robot ATLAS and BigDog, a quadruped robot, both designed for the U.S. military with funding from DARPA. The company was spunoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The DRC groups are not starting from scratch: thanks to the physical modeling of the DRC Simulator, the software algorithms successfully employed by teams in the previously held Virtual Robotics Competition (VRC) should transfer relatively easily to the ATLAS hardware, according to DARPA officials. The teams will be presented with tasks for ATLAS, such as driving a utility vehicle, walking over uneven terrain, clearing debris, breaking through a wall, closing a valve, and connecting a fire hose.

Ultimately, despite its advanced nature, ATLAS is essentially a physical shell awaiting its software brains that, along with the actions of a human operator, will guide the suite of sensors, actuators, joints and limbs through a series of tasks.

In order to accomplish this, the winning teams will receive funding from DARPA and ongoing technical support from Boston Dynamics, the developer of ATLAS.

Dr. GIll Pratt, Program Manager for the challenge, said DARPA is investing in an open-source simulation package to advance the state of the art in robotic simulation. “In particular, we want to have these tools outlast the program and be the foundation for catalyzing the field of robotics, particularly helping to make the design of robots move from an art to a science,” he said. DARPA is also funding the Open Source Robotics Foundation to further develop a preexisting simulator that will use cloud computing for quick and easy scalability.

Credit: +DARPA/Boston Dynamics, IEEE Spectrum

Source.

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Pluto’s new moons named: Spock still homeless

Kevin Orrman-Rossiter — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:09:08 +0000

This image, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows five moons orbiting Pluto, the distant, icy dwarf planet (ESA/Hubble/AFP/Showalter)

The dwarf planet, Pluto, can still generate plenty of public interest – if the naming of its two recently discovered moons is anything to go by. After their discovery, the leader of the research team, Mark Showalter, called for a public vote to suggest names for the two objects. The on-line contest, aptly named ‘Pluto Rocks!‘, concluded with Vulcan as the outright favorite, after a William Shatner led push by Star Trek fans. The names Cerberus and Styx ranking second and third respectively. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has announced that the names Kerberos and Styx have officially been recognised for these fourth and fifth moons of Pluto. A decision that is probably correct, even if it proves not to be the most popular.

The moons of Pluto

The new moons were discovered in 2011 and 2012, during observations of the Pluto system made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Their discovery increasing the number of known Pluto moons to five. Kerberos lies between the orbits of Nix and Hydra, two bigger moons discovered by Hubble in 2005, and Styx lies between Charon, the innermost and biggest moon, and Nix. Both have circular orbits assumed to be in the plane of the other satellites in the system. Kerberos has an estimated diameter of 13 to 34 kilometres, and Styx is thought to be irregular in shape and is 10 to 25 kilometres across.

Artist illustration of Pluto (centre) from one of its small moons. The largest moon Charon is on the right. Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)

The recent discoveries of the two small moons orbiting Pluto raise interesting new questions about how the dwarf planet formed. We now know that a total of four outer moons circle around a central “double-planet” comprising Pluto and its large, nearby moon Charon.

No home for Spock

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the arbiter of the naming process of celestial bodies, and is advised and supported by astronomers active in different fields. On discovery, astronomical objects receive unambiguous and official catalogue designations. When common names are assigned, the IAU rules ensure that the names work across different languages and cultures in order to support collaborative worldwide research and avoid confusion.

To be consistent with the names of the other Pluto satellites, the names had to be picked from classical European mythology, in particular with reference to the underworld — the realm where the souls of the deceased go in the afterlife. Showalter submitted Vulcan and Cerberus to the IAU where the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) and the Committee on Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN) discussed the names for approval.

After a final deliberation, the IAU Working Group and Committee agreed to change Cerberus to Kerberos — the Greek spelling of the word, to avoid confusion with an asteroid called 1865 Cerberus. According to mythology, Cerberus was a many-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld. In keeping with the underworld theme the third most popular name was chosen — Styx, the name of the goddess who ruled over the underworld river, also called the Styx.

The IAU decided against the name Vulcan for a number of reasons: Vulcan had already been used for a hypothetical planet between Mercury and the Sun (although this planet was found not to exist), the term “vulcanoid

Cite this article:
Orrman-Rossiter K (2013-07-05 00:09:08). Pluto's new moons named: Spock still homeless. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/space/plutos-new-moons-named-spock-still-homeless/
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Could The Next Australian In Space Be A Paying Tourist?

Elizabeth Howell — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 00:32:31 +0000

Australian Andy Thomas during a spacewalk on mission STS-102 in 2001. Credit: NASA

A flurry of press articles went out this week after NASA announced its eight new astronaut candidates. The agency touted these people, who range from doctors to fighter pilots, as a generation of astronauts that will at last be trained for missions beyond Earth’s orbit.

The agency is eyeing the moon, and Mars, as eventual destinations for astronauts in the coming decades. The long-term plan for NASA keeps shifting every few years, but right now it is embracing a sort of “flexible destination” approach that is intended to bring humans further into space.

Australia, of course, does not have an astronaut program of its own. But it does have Andy Thomas, an Adelaide-born mechanical engineer who flew four times in space, most recently on STS-114 Discovery in 2005. When asked by NASA about his aspirations as a kid in a country without an astronaut program, he expressed optimism about the situation:

Andy Thomas aboard Discovery on STS-114. Credit: NASA

“I think for a young kid growing up in Australia at that time, the prospects of becoming an astronaut were remote, to say the least,” he said in a 2005 interview with NASA.

“But I’ve always believed that the pathway to many interesting experiences can be opened if you have the right kind of education, and certainly that’s true in my case. I think education, in fact, can open doors that you can’t even imagine and that would forever remain closed if you did not seek good education. And that’s been true in my case.”

While he ended up working in the United States and becoming a citizen there, it is worth noting that Thomas is a product of Australian education: he received two mechanical engineering degrees (including his Ph.D.) at the University of Adelaide.

Paul Desmond Scully-Power (right) with fellow STS-41 astronaut Marc Garneau, a Canadian. Credit: NASA

Another Australian graduate was Paul Desmond Scully-Power, who flew into space aboard STS-41G Challenger. A graduate of the University of Sydney, he also began the first oceanographic group for the Royal Australian Navy.

Upon realizing that it’s been eight years since an Australian has been in space, and that few of the country have made it there, it might be natural for some to worry about whether one will make it again there soon.

There are initiatives within the country, however, to continue promoting educational opportunities that could one day set up students for that career path. One prominent example is Young Astronauts Space Schools Australia, a network focusing on both space and science education. Even if the path does not lead to space, there are opportunities in the country to perform astronomy and other forms of space science.

WhiteKnightTwo, the carrier craft aiming to eventually bring Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo into space. Credit: D. Miller/Wikimedia Commons

But with no Australian professional astronauts currently bound for space, it’s quite possible the next person from the country to make it into orbit will be one paying for a ticket aboard a private spaceship. Virgin Galactic is expected to fly its first flights in 2014, and XCOR is projecting flights in the next couple of years as well.

Hundreds of people have expressed a willingness to climb on board these flights, and there are at least eight companies in Australia willing to help you buy that ticket.

Perhaps the next Australian in space will be a “tourist”. This could be a business person who has spent their lifetime building up products in the country. Or perhaps they are simply an ordinary person who stashed away thousands of dollars in savings for what was an impossible dream a few years ago, but seems closer than ever today.

Cite this article:
Howell E (2013-06-21 00:32:31). Could The Next Australian In Space Be A Paying Tourist?. Australian Science. Retrieved: Apr 29, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/space/could-the-next-australian-in-space-be-a-paying-tourist/
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