moonbase - BLOGS - Blacksciencefictionsociety2024-03-28T14:24:07Zhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/moonbaseAiming the Archer...https://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/aiming-the-archer2021-02-05T00:48:48.000Z2021-02-05T00:48:48.000ZReginald L. Goodwinhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/members/ReginaldLGoodwin<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8520807892,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8520807892,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="662" alt="8520807892?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p><p style="text-align:center;"><span style="font-size:8pt;">The 18 members of NASA's Artemis Team, from top left to bottom right: Joe Acaba, Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Victor Glover, Woody Hoburg, Jonny Kim, Christina Koch, Kjell Lindgren, Nicole Mann, Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, Jasmin Moghbeli, Kate Rubins, Frank Rubio, Scott Tingle, Jessica Watkins and Stephanie Wilson. (Image credit: NASA via collectSPACE.com)</span></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Topics: Diversity in Science, Moonbase, NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Artemis, in Greek religion, the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation, and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans with Diana. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. Source: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Artemis-Greek-goddess" target="_blank">Britannica</a></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>The Biden administration's crucial first 100 days in office now includes a big <a href="https://physicsandnano.com/2021/02/04/aiming-the-archer/" target="_blank">human spaceflight pledge</a>.</em></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday (Feb. 4) that President Joe Biden will carry on the <a href="https://www.space.com/artemis-program.html"><u>Artemis program</u></a> to land humans on the moon in the coming years. Artemis began under Biden's predecessor, then-President Donald Trump. </em></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>"Through the Artemis program, the United States government will work with industry and international partners to send astronauts to the surface of the moon — another man and a woman to the moon," Psaki told reporters in a White House press briefing Thursday.</em></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>"Certainly, we support this effort and endeavor," she added.</em></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><em>Psaki's comments, which were in answer to a reporter's question, did not mention <a href="https://www.space.com/biden-nasa-artemis-moon-2024-landing-deadline-timeline">NASA's 2024 target for the first crewed Artemis moon landing</a>, a deadline set by the Trump administration. Last year, a bipartisan effort in the U.S. House of Representatives sought <a href="https://www.space.com/house-bill-nasa-moon-landing-2028.html">to push that landing mission to 2028</a> instead, in line with NASA's previous goals.</em></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><a href="https://www.space.com/biden-administration-commits-to-artemis-moon-landings" target="_blank">US still committed to landing Artemis astronauts on the moon</a>, White House says, Elizabeth Howell, Space.com</span></span></p><p></p></div>One Small Step...https://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/one-small-step-12020-10-22T14:58:17.000Z2020-10-22T14:58:17.000ZReginald L. Goodwinhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/members/ReginaldLGoodwin<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8062709676,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8062709676,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="594" alt="8062709676?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Topics: Moonbase, NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight, Star Trek</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Cultural references: Neil Armstrong's quote: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," and the title of a Star Trek Voyager episode, <a href="https://www.startrek.com/database_article/one-small-step" target="_blank">season 6, episode 8</a>.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">On August 4, 1972, the sun unleashed an incandescent whip of energy from its surface and flung it toward the planets. It was accompanied by a seething cloud of plasma called a <a href="https://physicsandnano.com/2020/10/22/one-small-step/" target="_blank">coronal mass ejection</a>, which traversed the nearly 150 million kilometers between sun and Earth in just more than half a day—still the fastest-known arrival time for such outbursts—to briefly bathe our planet in a cosmic fire.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Earth’s shielding magnetosphere crumpled and shrunk by two thirds, sending powerful geomagnetic currents rippling through the planet. Dazzling displays of “northern lights” stretched down to Spain, and overloaded power lines strained as far south as Texas. Off the southern coast of Haiphong, North Vietnam, the seas churned as the celestial disturbance prematurely detonated some two dozen U.S. Navy sea mines. The geomagnetic storm is one of the most violent solar events in recorded history, certainly the most violent of the space age.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The astronauts of Apollo 16 had been home about three months from their lunar foray, and those of Apollo 17 were still preparing for their December launch. The fact that the solar outburst happened between the penultimate and final crewed moon missions was simply a matter of chance. If the members of either crew had been in space during the solar storm, especially if they had been traversing the portion of the “cislunar” region between Earth and the moon that lies outside the magnetosphere, they would have been exposed to a potentially deadly dose of radiation.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">We got lucky in 1972. And in terms of space-based hazards, that luck has largely held throughout humanity’s off-world excursions. To date, the only humans to actually die in space were the three cosmonauts of Soyuz 11, who asphyxiated because of faulty hardware as their spacecraft began its descent to Earth. Yet despite what most estimates would seem to consider a near-sterling safety record, today the prospect of venturing back beyond low-Earth orbit somehow seems more daunting—more dangerous—than it did when the Apollo program ended. Equipped with more knowledge than ever about the environs beyond our home, we now seem more reluctant to leave it. Maybe we know too much.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-a-moon-base-be-safe-for-astronauts/" target="_blank">Can a Moon Base be Safe for Astronauts?</a> Rebecca Boyle, Scientific American</span></span></p><p></p></div>4G on the Moon...https://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blogs/4g-on-the-moon2020-10-20T10:00:00.000Z2020-10-20T10:00:00.000ZReginald L. Goodwinhttps://blacksciencefictionsociety.com/members/ReginaldLGoodwin<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8052958458,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8052958458,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="593" alt="8052958458?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p><p></p><p><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Topics: Cellular Service, Moonbase, NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight</span></span></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">Telecom equipment supplier Nokia will use a <a href="https://physicsandnano.com/2020/10/30/4g-on-the-moon/" target="_blank">$14.1 million</a> grant to build <a href="https://twitter.com/BellLabs/status/1316780503358492674?s=20">the moon's first wireless network</a> as part of NASA's plans to establish a human presence there.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">NASA is investing the money in Nokia-owned American research company Bell Labs, which will build the 4G-LTE network, it said on Wednesday, October 14.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The improved <a href="https://twitter.com/BellLabs/status/1316780505203965959?s=20">data transmission</a> will help astronauts control lunar rovers, navigate lunar geography in real-time, and stream videos.</span></span></em></p><p> </p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;">The mission ultimately will help show whether it's possible to have "human habitation on the moon," <a href="https://twitter.com/BellLabs/status/1316780509599543296?s=20">Bell Labs said</a>.</span></span></em></p><p><em><span class="font-size-3"><span style="font-family:georgia, palatino;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-nokia-4g-network-moon-2020-10" target="_blank">NASA gave Nokia $14.1 million to build a 4G network on the moon</a>, Grace Dean, Business Insider</span></span></em></p><p></p></div>