MoonJournal

Formula 1 Racing star Rubens Barrichello has $200,000 less in his bank account today. He’s handed over the bounty to Sir Richard Branson, who will respond in kind by launching Barrichello into space.

Barrichello becomes the latest space enthusiast to book a spot on Virgin Galactic. The racing star and about 300 others will officially become astronauts once Branson’s Virgin Galactic is up and running.

“For me it is such a pleasure to be here and involved in Virgin Galactic because since I was a kid, it’s a very, very clear feeling that I have always wanted to go to space,” said Barrichello. “I became a racing driver, which involves getting a fast car, but I want to see up there how fast it goes.”

The Brazilian-born Barrichello currently finds himself in second place in the Formula 1 standings with 19 points, 12 behind leader Jenson Button.

admin Moon rubens barrichello, space tourism, virgin galactic

Brace yourselves. Economists from the future are now warning us that a lunar housing bubble is on the horizon.

Exactly how are we aware of this? It’s all thanks to Skip DeKades, who has mastered the art and science of time travel well enough to report future news to the unwashed masses of the planet lucky enough to have discovered his blog, Future Update.

“Experts warn that falling housing prices could take a major bite out of economic growth on the Moon, shrinking the job market just as refugees from the soon-to-be-destroyed Earth arrive,” writes DeKades.

However, DeKades traveled so quickly into the future that he has apparently lost track of the present.

“The scarce supply of land available for development on the Moon has so far kept real estate prices out of reach for all but the wealthiest buyers, making the planetoid the equivalent of Beverly Hills,” he writes.

Well, sure, it’s going to be expensive in 2029. But here in 2009, you can buy a whole acre on the moon for less than 20 bucks. Clearly, DeKades was so touched by the legions of lunar owners living two decades into the future that he forgot to talk to the wealthy speculators who were smart enough to drop two Hamiltons on an acre in the Ocean of Storms back in ought-nine.

If nothing else, we now know that 2028 will be a wonderful time to sell.

Godspeed, Skip. Travel safely, and don’t get caught up in that whole space-time continuum. Traffic there sucks.

admin Moon moon property, satire

According to officials at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), scientists are moving forward with the planning of Chandrayaan-2, the country’s next moon voyage.

The planned mission follows the aptly named Chandrayaan-1, which completed six months in orbit last week and is still going strong.

“(Chandrayaan-2) will be launched by 2001 end or during the beginning of 2012,” said T.K. Alex, the director of the ISRO satellite center.

The agency also remains bullish on future manned lunar missions, which they hope to launch within the next seven years.

admin Moon chandrayaan-1, chandrayaan-2, india, lunar exploration

The good folks at Space.com have run a great feature on Odyssey Moon, one of the 17 teams competing for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize. Odyssey Moon was the first team to toss its hat into the ring, and has plans to deliver — among other things — both cremated human remains and the first flower to the moon.

Clearly, these people are trying to build some sort of lunar cemetery or mausoleum. To each his own, I suppose.

Anyway, founder and CEO Robert Richards and his global team has partnered with MDA, a Canadian firm, in an effort to launch their “Moon One” (M-1) Lunar Lander in July 2011. Odyssey hopes Moon One is only the first in a series of low-cost robotic missions to the moon.

“Odyssey Moon is about an ongoing commitment to lunar enterprise,” said Richards. “We believe there is a long-term business opportunity.”

For what it’s worth, Richards and his organization have nothing to do with our very own Lunar Odyssey.

admin Moon google lunar x prize, lunar odyssey, odyssey moon

Brice Harris has resigned as the space tourism program director of the Andrews Institute after investigators concluded he violated Florida ethics laws by using an official position to gain another job.

Harris was hired last December at an annual salary of $150,000 to oversee the institute’s Project Odyssey, a program to prepare aspiring space tourists for the physical demands of space travel. He joined Andrews after a stint at the Florida Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development (OTTED), where he earned about half that much.

And that’s where it gets messy. As it turns out, OTTED is the agency that negotiated with the Andrews Institute to launch Project Odyssey. Harris left OTTED in August 2008 to run the Andrews program. At right around the same time, OTTED issued a $250,000 grant to the institute, and a second grant of $250,000 came in from Space Florida, a public/private industry recruiting wing of the state.

Florida inspector general Melinda Miguel concluded in an investigative report that Harris was heavily involved in creating the Project Odyssey program at Andrews and determining the director’s salary. According to Florida state law, state employees are prohibited from taking a job with a company if they were significantly involved in recruiting or negotiating a contract with the company.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who initially called for the investigation in January, said he would not file an ethics complaint against Harris.

admin Moon andrews institute, brice harris, project odyssey, space tourism

Future lunar astronauts may face a sticky situation when it comes to moon dust. Australian physicist Brian O’Brien (thanks for that easy-to-remember name, Mom and Dad O’Brien) believes he has found a link between the stickiness of lunar dust and the angle of the sun at the time of each moonwalk.

O’Brien suggests that future lunar visitors may find the dust to be more adhesive in the middle half of the day than in the early morning. The reason is that the electrostatic adhesive forces of dust decrease and sunlight decreases.

“It follows that on future lunar expeditions, powerful electrostatic adhesion of lunar dust during the middle half of each lunar day could cause greater dust problems than experienced by Apollo astronauts,” said O’Brien.

Apollo missions took place in the early morning hours, just after astronauts finished their coffee and Tang.

O’Brien also found during his self-funded research project that rocket exhaust from the Eagle lunar module made a mess of man-made equipment. There was a significant amount of contamination of deployed hardware by lunar material disturbed during the launch — so much so that the accumulated debris led to the overheating and early failure of Apollo 11’s Passive Seismic Experiment, the first major scientific experiment put on the moon by man.

admin Moon Apollo 11, Brian O'Brien, lunar dust, lunar exploration

It’s not looking great for federally funded space travel in the next decade, according to a report by an independent safety panel.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, a group of nine engineers and safety experts who review NASA programs that have the “most significant potential” to affect the safety of astronauts, contractors and other agency personnel, threw out the idea of extending the space shuttle era (scheduled for retirement in 2010) but expressed little hope of accelerating its replacement before 2015.

The news follows a report released last week by the Congressional Budget Office that estimated NASA needs either more time or money to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 via its planned Constellation program.

“Continuing to fly the Shuttle not only would increase the risk to crews, but also could jeopardize the future U.S. exploration program by squeezing available resources (and, in the worst case, support) for the Constellation program,” reported the panel.

The panel also expressed serious concerns about the risks involved in keeping the shuttle program alive.

“Relatively high levels of inherent risk reside in the Shuttle design, and these risks rise as more flights are attempted,” wrote the panel.

Panel members also suggested that because NASA hasn’t built a system to land astronauts on the moon in several years, simply throwing more money towards the Constellation project won’t necessarily help because too many key staffers remain working on shuttle-related projects.

That said, the panel agrees that money remains an issue.

“If NASA’s funding was maintained at $19.1 billion annually and the agency realized cost growth in its programs consistent with the average for 72 of its past programs, its planned schedules for spaceflight programs would be delayed,” said the panel. “In particular, the initial operating capability for Ares 1 and Orion would be pushed to late 2016, the return of humans to the moon would slip to 2023, and 15 of 79 science missions would be delayed beyond 2025.”

admin Moon Constellation, nasa

There’s getting away from it all, and there’s really getting away from it all.

The people at Lunar International, “Earth’s Leader in Lunar Real Estate,” are giving away 10 acres of moon property each month in their Great Lunar Odyssey Sweepstakes. Winning property spreads will be located in the breathtaking Bay of Rainbows, a magnificent region located in the northwestern quadrant of the moon. And no, there are no real bays on the moon. You’ll need to bring your own water.

Each winning property package includes a registered and personalized deed certificate to 10 acres of lunar real estate, detailed historical information about the beautiful Bay of Rainbows, a satellite photograph of the property along with geographic coordinates so winners can find their lunar property through a telescope, and free lifetime membership in the Society for Lunar Exploration and Development (SLED), the world’s leading citizen advocacy group concerned with the future of the moon and privatized ownership and development of lunar real estate.

In addition, five second-prize winners will receive a complete ownership package for one acre of property in the Sea of Serenity, a large lunar region in the northeastern quadrant of the moon. Five third-prize winners will receive one acre of property in the Sea of Cold, the moon’s northernmost sea overlooking the spectacular Crater Plato.

Lunar International is quick to point out that winners are responsible for any and all transportation to and from their new lunar property. But once you iron out those details, you’ll have the peace and quiet you’ve been dreaming about.

admin Moon, Newsroom bay of rainbows, contest, moon property

NASA announced this week that it won’t name a room in the international space station after television Stephen Colbert, whose rabid fan base stuffed the virtual ballot box with votes for their favorite son.

The election wasn’t close. Colbert defeated the second-place finisher, Serenity, by more than 40,000 votes. That’s a margin that even Norm Coleman won’t debate.

The room formerly dubbed the totally uninspiring Node 3 will now be named Tranquility, which finished eighth in the poll. The name alludes to the Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed on the moon some 40 years ago.

All is not lost for Colbert, however. He will have a treadmill named after him. Whoop dee doo.

For what it’s worth, NASA did not decide against the Colbert moniker because of any animosity towards the comedian. The agency simply announced it does not typically name space-station hardware after living people.

admin Moon Apollo 11, nasa, Sea of Tranquility, space station, stephen colbert

In what is clearly proof that they hate children, scientists in the United States have announced plans to grow brussels sprouts on the Moon to see if future colonies can produce their own food up there.

To which every six-year-old in the country replied, “Why bother if all you can grow is brussels sprouts?”

Paragon, an Arizona company that has partnered with NASA on previous experiments, describes its 18-inch-tall greenhouse as something of “a lunar oasis,” although we know of few oases with brussels sprouts on the menu. We’re more partial to things like bacon, steak and ice cream.

The tiny greenhouse is slated to make its way into space thanks to Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant in the Google Lunar X Prize. No date has been set to impregnate outer space with brussels sprouts, but it’s unlikely to happen anytime before 2012. So we crusaders for private ownership of land on the moon have at least three years to plan and build that lunar chocolate factory we’ve been dreaming about.

admin Moon food, science