playing golf on the moon (with David Bowie)

14 different agencies all going to the moon!

"Fourteen space agencies have agreed to co-ordinate future space exploration of the Moon and Mars. They have published a document that contains their common space goals, agreed after months of discussion. The document outlines the rationale for society to explore space and the current interest in returning to the Moon and exploring Mars. The document is non-binding, instead proposing a framework for the future co-ordination of space programmes."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6708661.stm

Better golfing suits

Good to read that NASA is working on lighter, more flexible astronaut suits. Should make golfing a lot easier: http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/ap_070323_nasa_spacesuit.html

Open source software for planning the lunar mission

Yet again, it looks like others are doing our homework for us:

"If an outhouse on the Moon ran out of toilet paper, an intrepid settler might have to waddle about 240,000 miles to get a fresh roll back on Earth.

To make sure that doesn't happen, scientists have developed a software tool that tracks and ensures a reliable stream of necessities from the Earth to the Moon.

Released this month, the computer model, called SpaceNet 1.3, will be critical, say the scientists, for establishing a human presence on the Moon by 2020, as laid out in the space vision by President George W. Bush in 2004."

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070323_lunar_traffic.html

Even better news is that this software looks like it's open source: http://spacelogistics.mit.edu/software_tour.htm

Grow your own space food

Good news. We don't need to pack tins for the journey. We can grow our own food on the way for eating on the moon:

"Welcome to Space Garden! http://www.spacegarden.net/

Start to discover the many uses of plants in space with Space Garden – the most realistic and educational growth system available today.

Space Garden’s unique growth chamber is a ground-based version of an actual vegetable growth system designed for the International Space Station.

Space Garden comes with all the materials needed to conduct biological, agricultural, and life science investigations just like the astronauts. Each kit includes an expandable growth chamber, seeds, watering syringe, growth medium, and educational activities to introduce the science of plants in space in a fun – and even edible – way!"

Win a trip into space

New Scientist magazine and Audi are running a competition to offer someone a trip into space:

To win this astonishing prize will take some imagination. We want to know what you think is the world's best patented invention, and why. You have up to 250 words to make your case. The judges will be looking for originality in both the choice of invention and the reasoning.

http://www.winatriptospace.co.uk/blogs/patent/index.html?DCMP=OTC-mc_ns

See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6310000/newsid_6319600/6319605.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm

Golf-Ball Sized Hail Damages Shuttle

"Maybe something a little prescient about this?" writes Rob Bevan when sending me this:

"The Shuttles March launch has been delayed to late April after golf-ball sized hail caused 7000 pits and divots in the foam that shields the fuel tank. NASA say it's the worst damage of its kind that they have ever seen, but hail is not a new problem for the agency. In 1982, a hailstorm damaged the sensitive heat shield tiles on the Columbia's wings. The damaged tiles then absorbed about 540 kilograms of rain. Once in space, the orbiter faced the Sun to allow the tiles to dry out."

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/28/1327211&from=rss

Golf is the people's game

An old article by Martin Kettle of The Guardian, but interesting nevertheless:

Golf is the people's game I've spent too long going along with the old lefty prejudices against golf. Now I realise it's the sport of the future.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/martin_kettle/2006/07/golf_not_football_is_the_peopl.html

For the sake of balance here's an opposing point of view at http://www.antigolf.org/english.html

More hazards than we expected

Meteoroids are smashing into the Moon a lot more often than anyone expected. That's the tentative conclusion of Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, after his team observed two Leonids hitting the Moon on Nov. 17, 2006. "We've now seen 11 and possibly 12 lunar impacts since we started monitoring the Moon one year ago," says Cooke. "That's about four times more hits than our computer models predicted.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/01dec_lunarleonid.htm

It appears that something the size of golf ball could cause quite a bit of damage. We're going to have to be careful out there:

"The flashes we saw were caused by Leonid meteoroids 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) in diameter," says Cooke. "They hit with energies between 0.3 and 0.6 Giga-Joules." In plain language, that's 150 to 300 pounds of TNT.

The moon goes metric

This obviously has implications for golfers, who as far as I know still tend to work in yards, feet and inches:

"NASA has decided to use metric units for all operations on the lunar surface when it returns to the Moon. The Vision for Space Exploration calls for returning astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and eventually setting up a manned lunar outpost. The decision is a victory not only for the metric system itself, which by this decision increases its land area in the solar system by 27%, but also for the spirit of international cooperation in exploring the Moon... Agreeing to use a single measurement system will make the human habitats and vehicles placed on the Moon by different space agencies more compatible with each other. That could come in handy if, say, one agency's moonbase needs emergency spare parts from another agency's base. No need to worry about trying to fit a 15 millimeter nut onto a 5/8 inch bolt."

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/08jan_metricmoon.htm

Astronaut love triangle

And this is why David and I are going to have to be VERY careful about taking anyone else with us on our golf trip. Traditionally, it takes three to go to the moon, but crushes and fallings-out will inevitably happen:

A US astronaut has been charged with trying to kidnap a woman she thought was a rival for the affection of a space shuttle pilot. Navy Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew to the international space station last July, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and other crimes. She drove from Texas to Florida to confront Colleen Shipman, disguised in a wig and trench coat.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6333975.stm