Moon Illusion

In addition to the illusions involving the apparent backwards movement of mars and the humanoid face in Cydonia, there is another illusion in space a little closer to home: the moon illusion. The Moon illusion is a visual illusion in which the Moon appears larger near the horizon than it does while higher up in the sky. The moon seems larger in angular size when it is near the horizon than when it is high in the sky. Some people judge it to be as much as twice as large, but the average estimate is 50% to 75% larger.This optical illusion can also occur with the Sun and star constellations.

There are some simple ways to prove that the moon is not actually changing size including photographs of the moon at the horizon and higher up reveal that they are exactly the same size (if taken with the same camera settings).

Another way of demonstrating that the effect is an illusion is to hold a small coin at arm's length with one eye closed, positioning it next to the seemingly large moon. When the Moon is higher in the sky positioning the same coin near the moon will reveal no change in size.

The moon illusion occurs primarily through visual angle illusions. Click here for a more in depth discussion with multiple approaches to explaining this phenomenon.

Prep Time for Mars

The Mars Society is making sure that people are ready when the first human mission leaves for Mars. Two Mars simulation sites have been created, one on the Devon Island in the arctic and the other in the desert in Utah. Astronauts at these sites live and study the environment as if they were on Mars. Aside from monitoring the Martian day by adding 39minutes to their routine days, astronauts abide by the following rules:

• "They cannot leave the unit without donning a simulated space suit
• They cannot communicate directly with anyone outside of the unit without a built-in time delay in the communication - the distance between Earth and Mars makes direct conversation impossible
• They can only use the equipment, tools and food available to them inside the habitat."

While some of these measures may seem extreme, it appears that people are getting serious to make the actual push for sending humans to the Martian surface.

http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/2007/11/arctic-astronauts.html

Face on Mars

One of the more famous controversies surrounding Mars was spurred in 1976, when the viking orbiter radioed back images from mars. One particular image, from the Cydonia region, depicted a rock formation that strongly resembled a human-like face.

Many cited these images as proof of life on mars and that it was undoubtedly a sculpture carved by sentient (intelligent) Martians. There were (and there probably still are) many people that believe the face is real and NASA is just trying to cover the whole thing up.

However, advances in image capturing and resolution have yielded new images of the face that, in fact, look nothing like a face at all.

Furthermore, the interpretations of the original image can be explained by Pareidolia, a type of illusion or misperception involving a vague or obscure stimulus being perceived as something clear and distinct. Specifically,

“There is an universal tendency among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object, those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious.” --David Hume

(this is the same reason why people "see" Jesus in a tortilla)

With the new images, it seems pretty clear that the old images were simply an optical illusion fueled by Pareidolia. But, check it out and judge for yourself!

Cosmic Illusion: Mars to Move Backward

Optical illusions are characterized by visually perceived images that are deceptive or misleading.

Most people are familiar with optical illusions on earth, including the famous illusion of M.C. Escher's Ascending and Descending, and the Rubin Vase. Space, not to be left out, has a few illusions of its own. One in particular is the period of time where mars appears to reverse its orbit and move backwards. Astronomers attribute this illusion to retrograde motion, but it is none the less a fascinating phenomenon. The 'illusion' will be visible starting November 15, when mars will begin to loop back towards the west. this will continue until the end of January and from then on Mars will loop back to the east. So check it out!

Spaceland!

It isn't a new theme park, but rather an education and research campaign at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Spaceland is designed to emulate zero-gravity, moon-gravity, and Mars-gravity. The project has been opened up to the general public and NASA has expressed interest in helping create a sub-orbital program with them. The next Spaceland missions are in December 2007 and February 2008.

http://www.touristime.it/index.php?method=section&action=zoom&id=2667

NASA Considers Policy On Sex and Death During A Mission

In May of 2007 the Associated Press acquired some documentation which discussed several of the more taboo questions facing mission policy developers through a Freedom Of Information Act request. With the prospect of sending people on a 3 year round trip mission to Mars within the next 30 years NASA has begun to ponder these questions. Issues like how to deal with sex in mixed-sex crews on the 3 year trip to Mars and back are very difficult to talk about. Even more difficult is the topic of critical illness and life support. When do you pull the plug on someone who is not going to make it and is using up critical oxygen and endangering the rest of the crew/mission in other ways? What do you think? NASA is also looking into DNA screening for candidate astronauts however this is not currently allowed due to the protections against limiting potential career and employment opportunities. If you want to read more follow this link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/01/tech/main2749619.shtml

MARS Program Simulates Life on Mars, Here on Earth

Even though the space agencies of the World are far from sending humans to Mars, the MARS Program is already preparing for the journey. The Mars Analogue Research Station (MARS) simulates life on Mars here on Earth in order to "test out protocols and procedures that will be required for human operations on Mars, and to test equipment that may be carried and used by human mission to the Red Planet." Crews spend between two weeks and a month living in a habitat simulating the conditions on Mars. The crews have to use only the equipment and materials inside the habitat and while wearing space suits can only communicate with scientists through a channel that has a built-in time delay to simulate that of a mission to the far away Red Planet. The simulations are conducted in two locations. The first is on Devon Island in the Arctic Circle, which is the largest uninhabited island in the World. The second is the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. Scientists are currently working on expanding the experiments to two more locations, with one currently under construction in Iceland. These experiments will tell a lot about how humans will be able to sustain life on the Martian surface.

The Mars Society – San Diego Chapter Making Waves in Education

The Mars Society San Diego Chapter is doing a good deed and providing its not for profit services at a $25 fee! Helloooo San Diego! TMS-SD has a ¼ scale model of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity and is providing them for your event or function. They will bring the radio controlled rover along with an experienced teacher/lecturer to give a short and informative presentation about the Mars rover missions and then will let little kiddies operate the scale model rover. The Mars Society – San Diego Chapter is all volunteer and they all have "day-jobs" so don’t worry about the $25 there tough guy. In addition to the already stellar deal you will get a free autographed copy of William K. Hartimann’s new book "A Traveler's Guide to Mars".

Summary of the meeting between Alan Stern and MEPAG representative


Following the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) meeting on July 10, 2007 at the 7th International Mars Conference, Jack Mustard (MEPAG Chair) relayed to Alan Stern (Associate Administrator for NASA-SMD) the outcomes of the MEPAG meeting and the response of the community to the recent developments of committing to a Mars Sample Return (MSR) in the coming decade and the development of a simple sample cache system to be placed on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).

The meeting highlighted the major issue and of cost-overruns that are now constraining the program. The budget is so tight in fact that Dr. Stern stated that his vision is to launch MSR by 2020 but in order to be able to afford this, the program would need to skip one launch opportunity next decade.
Stern did however, mention international participation from European Space Agency is expected in MSR and may provide a significant contribution.

Support from other, now prominent, space faring nations is becoming critical to the survival of America's space program.

The appeal of Mars

A manned mission to Mars is spoken with such certainty now that people know it is only a matter of time before for such a mission happens. The real question though is whether or not it is really feasible to go to Mars, and really why we would want to send a manned mission. This article talks about how the Apollo missions to the moon were quite an impressive feat politically, but ultimately they did not greatly improved scientific knowledge of the moon. So what would be the benefit of going to Mars. One suggestion is that since there is so much out in space that could very well destroy the Earth (such as an asteroid) and thus the human race, it is important the we go out and inhabit other planets to insure our species longevity.

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071109/87313813.html

NSS Launches Campaign to Save Human Mars Exploration

The National Space Society has started an emergency legislative campaign to stop a bill that is heading through Congress. If this bill passes, NASA could be barred from doing anything related to "Human Exploration of Mars." This bill is the same one that would increase NASA's overall budget, which is why it is incredibly controversial. NSS has set up a website where people can help by sending their emergency contributions. That website is www.nss.org/save_mars. The House of Representatives have already approved the bill and the Senate has refused to include the language barring NASA from human exploration of Mars. Because of the Senate's refusal, the bill is heading to the Congressional Conference Committee. Many people are counting on human Mars exploration for America's space future and there is a vast amount of support on both sides of the issue.

Prime Minister offers congratulations on successful launch of Mars Express

To further highlight America's leadership in the standing of the worlds other spacefaring nations may be slipping, I reference the launch of Mars Express.

The Mars Express was was Europe's first spacecraft sent to mars. Upon the launch of the Mars Express orbiter, Prime Minister Tony Blaire offered his congratulations:

"This mission to Mars is a historic opportunity for the UK, working with our European Partners, to demonstrate itself as a world leader in science, technology and innovation. Beagle 2 is an exciting project, which combines the best in UK science and industry, and a powerful example of the benefits of Government's continued investment and support in this area. Beagle 2 offers fascinating potential to learn more about the fundamental origins of life. I wish it good luck on a difficult and challenging mission."

Europeans are using Mars Express to prove and further establish itself as a powerful force in the areas of science, technology and innovation. The national attention and recognition are precisely the things that Griffin argued are needed for the American space program.

Space Exploration: A Measure of American Competitiveness - Speech by NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin

Griffin commemorates NASA's 50th anniversary. He celebrates current progress and highlights past achievements of the program. The program was spawned from competition with the Soviet Union, largely in part to overcome the national sentiment that the US was falling behind. There have been notable changes in the program since its inception, which include the US now working in collaboration with Russia, Europe, Japan, China, India and many other countries in space exploration. Competition is the cornerstone for many of the achievements in space exploration. However, Griffin expresses a fear of our nations leadership in the standing of the world's spacefaring nations is slipping. One major reason is the decline in support for space exploration of younger generations. Many people have lost interest and even question if the moan landing and Apollo program were anything more than a hoax. Griffin argues that space exploration "is the highest expression of human imagination" and that it is extremely troubling to see America losing its competitive edge in this field. Therefore, Griffin argues for the space community to keep in touch with the American people, and use terms the general public can understand. The space community needs to celebrate its accomplishments more vocally. These are the first steps that must be taken to keep society involved. It is crucial to do so because the space community can not survive on its own, it needs support from the American People to keep NASA at the forefront of space exploration.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=25944

Fashion for Mars

Star trek, with their many skin tight uniforms may not be far off from what the fashion will look like for space missions. While still ten years off from completion, new light-weight tight fitting spacesuits are being designed. They are based off the concept of the tight skin giraffes have on their legs that helps them to control blood pressure. Instead of relying on gas pressure like the large cumbersome spacesuits they have now, these new suits would use counter pressure, be more flexible, and easier to fix.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4220822.html