Been too busy to report more from the astronaut convention since yesterday. And
now when the "formal" sessions are over, I'm so full of facts and impressions
that things become hard to summarise. The astronauts are now having misc other
engagements - dinners, visits (to eg a numer of schools, they'll also visit the
Riksdag, Sweden's parliament) - and later there'll be sessions at the Linnaeus
University in southern Sweden (if you're around, go!). This Space Stuff isn't
over for me yet. The Stockholm Culture House has a Space Day tomorrow and I'll
attend a presentation by the Swedish Space Corporation. The program is here:
https://www.ase2015.se/2015/06/07/why-are-you-inspired-by-space/
Going through my extensive file of notes, I'll just point out some highligts
and a selection of interesting points:
* One of the moderators said this was the biggest gathering of astronauts and
cosmonauts EVER, with at least 150 of them present (Another attendee said 200
to me; their Association of Space Explorers have near 400 members). The
sessions tended to be packed. Swedish TV was there and others filmed. (Sesssion
will probably be available somewhere on the Royal Technical Institute's
homepages.)
* Professor Anders Ynnerman's demonstration of his real-time universe
visualisation system was - as already noted - really spectacular. Already on a
flat 2D screen. To see it in their planetarium with 3D glasses would probably
make your brain explode!
* Astronaut Chris Hadfield's inspirational speech truly made many "Inspired by
space", as the theme for this convention was. (However, for me as an old
science fiction fan, I've been full of this kind of inspiration for decades.
I've never had any understanding for those who claim space exploration to be
just a waste of money and unnecessary toys for boys.)
* The problem with muscle and bone degradation under 0G is almost solved. A new
training machine on the ISS, which gives more resistance during the regular
work-outs, have together with new diets and medicines worked wonders. However,
new problems now studied is that 0G increases salt levels in the body and that
many astronauts experience visual degradation. The absolutely biggest problem
for future Mars expeditions is, astronaut and phycisian Tom Marshburn said, the
Cosmic radiation (ISS is shielded from that orbiting within Earth's magnetic
field).
* I was struck by that the Americans and Russians seemed to get along very
well. They all spoke well of each other, appeared on stage together etc.
Nothing about the present politically strained situation. But after all,
astronauts have always had a tradition of speaking of peace,international
cooperation and so on.
* An interesting Swedish Project is making high-temperature integrated
Circuits, which works in temps above 500 degrees Celsius. Venus probes, here
they come! (My friend Carl-Mikael Z works in that project.)
* The Italian astronaut Lucia Paramitano talked about the drama when he during
a spacewalk (a so called EVA) found lots of water leaking into his helmet. It
wouldn't go away and it was very dangeerous - he could theoretically *drown*
inside his space suit.
* Bruce McCandless was there and talked at length about how he helped develop
and then in 1984 tested NASA's Manned Manned Maneuvering Unit, which resulted
in one of the most famous pictures from our exploration of space (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Maneuvering_Unit#/media/File:Astronaut-EVA.jpg
).
* The Grand Old Man of Swedish space exploration, Sven Grahn, who was there to
talke about a student micri-satellite project at the Royal Technical Institute,
also mentioned how he as a 14 year old attended the 1960 astronautical congress
in Stockholm, which was held in the very same hall (see
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/2192734 ) attended by eg Wernher von
Braun. However, he didnt mention the 1985 convention in Stockholm - which I
attended (see
http://www.worldcat.org/title/iaf-85-36th-congress-of-the-international-astronautical-federation-stockholm-sweden-october-7-12-1985-peaceful-space-and-global-problems-of-mankind-preprint/oclc/14065896
). I was active in the Swedish Space Movement club, which a few years later
dissolved after one of the founders became even more freaking mad than he was
before.
* Not much was said about Projects like Virgin Galactic. Maybe the astronauts
think that going ballistic (100 km) is amateur stuff. The strange Mars One
Project (going to Burrough's Barsoom one way only) wasn't mentioned either. But
Mars itself was discussed many times and my impression is that while no one of
the space organisations have set a date, everyone expect a landing in the
2030's. Going back to the moon, for training and gaining experience, could be
expected in the 2020's. The Chinese may very well do it.
* A lot of the experiments done on the ISS were mentioned, and many of them
also have useful applications on Earth. A few examples: 0G studies advances
treatment of and medicines for brittle bones among the elderly, capillary flow
exxperiments have lead to a chip for detecting AIDS viruses, combustion studies
may lead to more efficient fuel use in ordinary cars, Earth observations help
getting a grip of the urbanisation wave, space robotics and remote control arms
helps develop precision surgery, protein crystallisation gives several new
drugs, cryonics help developing better food preservation, and so on, etc, und
so weiter.
* I liked the cosmology speech by Dr Katherine Freese. Did you know that the
*universe is flat*. New experiments have also shown some indications (vague
ones this far, though) of what the 69% of the Dark Matter of the universe is.
The best candidates are WIMPs (Weak Interaction Massive Paarticles) or
something called axions. Within ten years we will have cracked it, she said.
(Cosmology is one of the many odd subjects I have taken university courses in.)
* Alexey Leonov was present, he who in 1965 did the first spacewalk, for which
we now celebrate the 50th anniversary - a whole session of the conference
covered EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activities) . Someone called astronauts the
knights of today - "they put on heavy armor and fight a hostile enviuronment" -
and if so, Leonov is certainly King Arthur. He had the honour of closing the
last session. He showed a film from the times of the Soviet space program of
the 1960's and talked about his friend Jurij Gagarin. He had problems with his
own spacewalk, since his spacesuit expanded in vacuum and he found it difficult
to squeeze through the small hole to get back inside. He said that the space
suits at that time were more or less experimental. They patched something
together and crossed their fingers. He also talked about the dangers of Earth
being hit by an asteroid, which we should get our politicians and the UN much
more interested in. It's a grave danger and we're trampling water there, he
said. Leonoc received long rounds of applause.
Much more happened and was said, but that was a few highlights from a couple of
very intense and fascinating days. Space IS the place! It gives us new
knowledge. It will in the longer run give us new natural resources and energy
(eg solar cells in orbit, He3 on the Moon). It gives us spin-offs with many
earthside applications. It gives us new mental horizons and most of all, it is
simply very, very cool. *
--Ahrvid
* About 3 degrees above Absolute Zero.
Ps. For those who read Swedish, here's what Dagens Nyheter's Clas Svahn has
written: http://blogg.dn.se/markligheter/ (There are probably many, many more
articles, but I haven't had time to check.)
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