The Next Great Space Race?

The United States

Hearing about space from me is, at this point, probably less than shocking. This week though, I am going to be telling all of you about the plans that the United States has for its space program in the next decade or so. I will also be telling you all about Russia's plans, though they seem a little more fantastical and perhaps less realistic.

            While the budget for their project has not been approved yet (thanks Congress), the 2014 budget that President Obama released included a bizarre plan by NASA. It would seem that NASA wants to "shrink-wrap" an asteroid and drag it back to the vicinity of Earth for study.

Begin watching around 2:20 for the "Shrink-wrap mission"

            As you know, NASA's original plan was to send astronauts into deep space and have them anchor onto an asteroid and study it there. Apparently (and understandably), there are a lot of things standing in the way of this being a plausible option. Some of these hindrances include the fact that we don't have rockets powerful enough, NASA's budget could not handle the expenses, and that we have no way to protect or preserve astronauts in deep space. Read more about that plan - here.

            Due to the above factors, scientists have come up with an alterative method, one that would involve using the telescopes that orbit Earth to identify a relatively small asteroid (somewhere in the vicinity of 500 tons). Once an asteroid that met the criteria was found, NASA would send a ship with an inflatable cone on the front to the asteroid. The cone would inflate, engulf the asteroid, and then deflate around it. After capturing the asteroid, the ship would drag it back to Earth's system and put it in orbit around the moon. The estimated costs of this mission are around $2.6 billion. It is expected that the plan will be opposed in Congress, as many members would like to see NASA's focus elsewhere.

Photo from NPR

            Bringing space to us! This is a very cool prospect, but it brings to mind the book "Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I read this book back in maybe middle school or junior high, but it is an interesting concept. In this series, the moon was hit by an asteroid and forced closer to Earth, which messes up everything! Now, I don't mean to be negative, but I am worried about some seemingly small miscalculation that could send this asteroid Earth's way instead of being safely placed in the moon's orbit. I also wonder if something of this size could actually affect us. The asteroid is supposed to be around 500 tons, and the moon is supposed to be approximately 81 billion tons (explanation of number - here), so it is unlikely.

Russia

            According to Popular Science, Russia (or at least President Vladimir Putin) wants to funnel more than $50 billion into their space program within the next several years. This announcement came on the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's launch into space! The plan seems to be to modernize the Russian space system - a new launch point in the next two years, a manned launch in the next five years, a permanent moon base at some point, and wait for it... "the ability to take out threats from other countries through space." Hold the phones! I am fairly certain that there are laws against that kind of thing (read the UN treaty - here). And not only that, it is a terrifying prospect. Can you imagine if space became militarized?!? It brings to mind Starship troopers, Ender's Game, and..oh, I don't know... maybe the end of the world? Maybe space will be the final frontier - emphasis on final. Excuse my Star Trek joke, and to be honest the plans are very vague. Therefore,  I am not that worried about it now. But it is something to be watched.

NASA Budget article - here

Cool slideshow of the plan - here

Russia's (not yet well defined plans) - here 

Oxygen - Element of the Week from 4/9 - 4/19

  

           Finally! I am bring you element number 8 - Oxygen! This element actually has a rather complex history. Multiple people had produced oxygen prior to its "discovery," but it is Joseph Priestly, an English chemist who immigrated to the United States in the 1700s, who receives the credit. Both Priestly and Carl Wilhelm Scheele produced oxygen from mercuric oxide, which is a molecule comprised of one mercury atom and one oxygen atom. Priestly called his "dephlogisticated air" and Scheele called his "fire air."

            The name "oxygen" comes from the greek words "oxys" and "genes," which together mean "acid forming." Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist, gave it this name because he believed that it was a necessary element for the formation of acids.

            Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, and the Earth's atmosphere is comprised of 21% oxygen. Oxygen is a component of hundreds of organic compounds, and nearly all living things (that we know of) require oxygen for life. Combustion is also a process that generally needs oxygen. Humans, for example, are made of 2/3 oxygen!

            Some of the uses of oxygen are: as rocket fuel, a protective layer for the earth, in the process of smelting iron into steel, and many more. To make rocket fuel, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are combined. The Ozone layer, which is made of O₃, is a thin layer of gas that protects the Earth from the ultraviolet radiation of the sun. When smelting iron, oxygen is injected into the molten iron ore, which helps remove impurities. Be it sulfur or carbon that is in excess. 

LHSD - Little hagfish slime dress?

Hey everyone! I apologize for the lack of posts in the past few weeks. I have been sick, and no one is quite sure with what. I think that I am bringing you a pretty interesting post today though. One that shows how fashion and a "living fossil" are related.

From: http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/labs/biomaterials/slime.html

            There is a marine animal, which look like an eel, which is called the hagfish. It is a marine scavenger that loves dead whale. The hagfish is the only living animal that has a skull, but no vertebral column. It is a jawless animal, and a "living fossil" because the hagfish of today look nearly identical to the hagfish of 300 million years ago.

            One interesting thing that the hagfish does is that it secretes a mucus-y slime from its over 100 secretion glands. It does this if a predator has threatened it. The hagfish will produce massive amounts of slime and then tie itself in a simple knot, which effectively frees it from both the predator and the slime.

From the Vancouver aquarium 

            But enough about the hagfish and on to the news! Researchers are looking into creating fabrics out of natural resources because nylon, spandex, and several other fabrics come from oil, which is non-renewable. BBC news reported on a research group that believes that they can produce thread and eventually fabric from the slime of the hagfish. The threads within the hagfish's slime are super strong (they believe it could make fabrics that are as strong as nylon or plastics). Researchers believe that the hagfish has hundreds of kilometers of thread within each one.

From BBC article

            While hagfish produce large amounts of slime, researchers are looking more at how to replicate the threads instead of harvest it from the hagfish. Researchers have been able to replicate spider silk, but it takes some rather wonky processes due to the relatively large size of each thread. It is believed that the smaller threads within the hagfish slime would make it substantially easier to replicate.

            I sit here typing in a pair of bright yellow tights, and it kind of grosses me out to think of clothes made from spider silk or hagfish slime. In my mind, I imagine my legs wrapped in webs or covered in slime. It's not the most appealing of thoughts. I think that this use of oil is rarely thought about. I know that I don't generally think about my tights or my running leggings coming from oil. And as worried as our society is about the future lack of oil and the price of oil, it would be good to eliminate the use of petroleum in our clothing, and instead use renewable, natural options. Next year at Paris fashion week - Hagfish dresses? 

Discovery News article - here

Iridium- Element of the Week from 3/16 - 4/9

  

             Iridium is element number 77.  It is a hard, sliverish transition metal, which is related to platinum. Iridium is the second densest metal and the most corrosive resistant.

            The name of the element comes from the Latin word "iris," which means rainbow and who was the goddess of the rainbow. The name is appropriate because iridium salts are known for their bright colors.

            The British chemist Smithson Tennant discovered iridium and osmium at the same time in 1803. These elements were found in the leftover residue of dissolving platinum ore in an acid solution. Currently, platinum ores are still used to get iridium, and it can be found as a bi-product of mining nickel.

            Interestingly, there is a thin layer of iridium that spans across the entire world. Scientists believe that this is proof of a large meteor must have hit the Earth during (or at the end of, I guess) the Cretaceous period. Meteors and asteroids contain a higher amount of iridium than the crust of Earth.

            One of the largest uses of iridium is as an alloy with platinum. An alloy of 90% platinum and 10% iridium is actually the composition of the International Prototype Metre and kilogram mass. It is also used to make crucibles and other things that must undergo extreme temperatures.

            Iridium is used in particle physics for the production of antimatter, antiprotons in particular. Some other of the uses for iridium are less impressive. Iridium alloys are used in the tips of fountain pens, and an iridium pigment is used to paint porcelain an intense black color.