New Mining Resources

_Credit: PlanetaryResources

• Asteroid Mining
  • The idea of exploiting the natural resources of asteroids dates back over 100 years.
  • California Institute of Technology in Pasadena completed an in-depth study of the feasibility of asteroid mining
  • The study showed that, for the first time in history, this was now feasible using technology available in this decade
  • It is reasonable to assume we could identify, and bring an entire asteroid that is roughly 23 feet [7 meters] wide [~500 tons] into a high lunar orbit
• Asteroid composition classifications
  • D class asteroids: They are also known as Trojan asteroids of Jupiter and are dark and carbonaceous in composition.
  • C class asteroids: They are found in the Earth’s outer belt and are darker and more carbonaceous than the ones found in the S class.
  • S class asteroids: They are found in the Earth’s inner belt, closer to Mars and are composed of mostly stone and iron.
  • V class asteroids: They are a far-out group of asteroids that follow a path between the orbits of Jupiter and Uranus, and are made of igneous, eruptive materials.
• Why is mining asteroids feasible now?
  • The ability to discover and characterize enough sufficiently small near-Earth asteroids for mining.
  • An evolving ability to equip powerful enough solar electric propulsion systems to enable transportation of the captured asteroid.
  • A proposed human presence around the moon in the 2020s both enables exploration and exploitation of the returned near-Earth asteroid.
• * Enter Planetary Resources, Inc.*
  • A new company Planetary Resources, Inc. is now making plans to be able to mine asteroids
  • The company, has been in existence for about three years, announced itself to the general public now because they are starting to aggressively search for the world’s best engineers, to help design and build a fleet of asteroid-mining robots [not Bruce Willis]
  • This company’s investors include Google execs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, who are worth $16.7 billion and $6.2 billion
  • Their advisors include, filmmaker and adventurer James Cameron, former NASA astronaut Tom Jones and MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager
  • While it may be possible for this to happen, Planetary Resources is still years away from actually seizing an asteroid and staking a cosmic claim
  • Materials from such asteroids could be used for both the Earth and for planetary exploration, providing shielding galactic cosmic rays and propellant to transport a shielded
  • The initial focus will be developing Earth orbiting telescopes to scan for the best asteroids, and later, create extremely low-cost robotic spacecraft for surveying missions.
  • What we learn from such missions and a possible industry could someday help us deflect a much larger near-Earth object
• The Legal angle
• The legality of asteroid mining is in itself interesting
• The 1967 Outer Space Treaty says that “Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”
• Whether or not that applies to individuals or companies is one question
• Anything launched into space remains the private property of its owner
• However NASA and other entities ‘own’ and sell rocks and dirt from the moon
• Even the sea-floor could be mined
  • Canada-based mining firm Nautilus Minerals said Tuesday it had signed China’s Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group as the first customer of its pioneering Papua New Guinean seafloor mine.
  • Currently it is slated to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2013 Nautilus claims the project to be the world’s first commercial seafloor mine
  • This area has deposits of rocks containing high grades of copper, gold, zinc and silver, what is known as “seafloor massive sulphides” from hydrothermal vents
  • Robots would be controlled remotely to drill for those sulphide deposits 5,250ft [1,600 m] below sea level
  • Then another machine would pump the material to a support vessel at the surface, which would then be dewatered for transport
  • These robots are currently under construction and are based on those used in deepwater oil and gas, terrestrial mining and marine dredging industries
• Multimedia
  • YouTube VIDEO : Asteroid Mining Mission Revealed by Planetary Resources, Inc.
    | PlanetaryResources
  • YouTube Playlist : Planetary Resources, Inc. Press Conference, April 24, 2012 Press Event
  • IMAGE GALLERY: Asteroid Mining Gallery: Planetary Resources to Mine Space Rocks | Space.com
  • Planetary Resources Technology
• Further Reading / In the News
  • Space Law: Is Asteroid Mining Legal?
  • Planetary Resources Website
  • Planetary Resources: The Video | UniverseToday.com
  • Asteroid Miners Wanted to Tap Space Rock Riches | space.com
  • Planetary Resources Group Wants to Mine Asteroids | UniverseToday.com
  • Is Asteroid Mining Possible? Study Says Yes, for $2.6 Billion | space.com
  • Interesting Facts About Asteroids | UniverseToday.com
  • World’s first sea-floor mine signs first customer | phys.org

— NEWS BYTE —

Recovery from Strokes

• The low down
  • Currently the drugs administered for a stroke are to break up clots that caused the stroke, and need to be given within 4.5 hours after a stroke
  • Neuroscientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine were looking for alternatives
• Significance
  • Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BNNF, are powerful and long-studied nerve growth factor
  • BDNF is critical during the development of the nervous system and known to be involved in important brain functions including memory and learning.
  • A compound called LM22A–4, mimics this factor, is a small molecule that weighs less than one-seventieth that of BDNF
  • In a study the speed of recovery was improved rapidly, in fact those mice who had received the drug showed half as many stroked affected nerve cells as their counterparts without the drug
  • In fact the drug wasn’t even administered until a full three days after the strokes, showing that it does not limit a strokes damage but enhances recovery
  • These molecules stimulate the brain’s own stem cells to form new neurons
  • Stem-cell therapy is a somewhat invasive and expensive treatment for lost or damaged tissues, making a drug that could achieve the same results on the brain very promising and a welcome development
• Further Reading / In the News
  • Study points to potential treatment for stroke | medicalxpress.com
  • Stanford University Medical Center

The competitive nature of lefties

• The low down
  • Handedness, is partially genetic and partially environmental.
  • In the general population about 10% of people are left handed
  • A new mathematical model calculates that handedness might come from a need to balance cooperation and competition
  • The model also seems to work in the animal kingdom social species with limited combative interaction
  • There are other ideas about how the natural left handed brain processes things
  • The number of people who process language with both sides of the brain is 5% of right handed, and 14% of left handed people
  • Some link this increased amount of space dedicated to language to enhanced communication skills
• Percentages
  • Top hitter in the US major league – 58%
  • Baseball – 30%
  • American Presidents (* last 5, since 1981) – 2 Left; 2 Ambidextrous
  • American Presidents (* since 1929) – Left 35%; Ambidextrous 14%
  • American football quarterbacks – 6%
  • Top 120 male *golfers – 4%
  • Top 100 women *golfers – 0%
• Further Reading / In the News
  • Shedding light on southpaws: Sports data help confirm theory explaining left-handed minority in general population | phys.org
  • Lefties have element of surprise in sports arena: study | phys.org
  • A model balancing cooperation and competition can explain our right-handed world and the dominance of left-handed athletes | rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Talking to yourself isn’t crazy

• The low down
  • When trying to find something a new study shows that saying the name of the object out loud actually helps you find the object quicker
• Adding the auditory component can temporarily increase your visual system, helping to find something quicker
• Further Reading / In the News
  • Self-directed speech affects visual search performance | The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Liquid Solar cells

• Last time on SciByte
  • Solar Storms & Higgs Boson | SciByte 37 – Transparent Electrodes (March 13, 2012)
  • Habitable Planets & Plant Power | SciByte 32 – Solar panels you water? (February 7, 2012)
• The low down
  • Scientists at USC have developed a potential pathway to cheap, stable solar cells made from nanocrystals so small they can exist as a liquid ink and be painted or printed onto clear surfaces.
  • They are about four nanometers in size, you could fit more than 250,000,000,000 on the head of a pin
  • They can also float in a solution, meaning you could print them like you print a newspaper
• Further Reading / In the News
  • Researchers develop a path to liquid solar cells that can be printed onto surfaces | Phys.org

— THE NEWS IS CATCHING UP—

Nine Planet System

• Last time on SciByte
  • World Climate & Light Pollution | SciByte 42 – A busy planetary system (April 17, 2012)
• Nine Planet System
  • HD 10180 was first noted in 2010 and is about 130 light years away
  • Going back and studying old observations and using different statistical analysis techniques one astronomer found evidence that brought the number of planets in the system up to nine
• Further Reading / In the News
  • New look at HD 10180 shows it might have nine planets
  • World Climate & Light Pollution | SciByte 42 – A busy planetary system (April 17, 2012)

Planet in habitable zone

• Last time on SciByte
  • Habitable Planets & Plant Power | SciByte 32 (February 7, 2012) – Habitable planet?)
• The lowdown
  • Gliese 667Cc, found orbiting around a red dwarf star in the habitable zone
  • Planet found in the habitable zone of a star only 22 light years away combining data from three ground-based telescopes going back 10 years
  • Orbit a red dwarf every 28.15 day with a mass about 4.5 times that of Earth;
  • Receives 90% of light that Earth does, but mostly in the infrared making the overall energy absorbed from the sun about the same that is seen on Earth
• Further Reading / In the News
• New look at HD 10180 shows it might have nine planets + World Climate & Light Pollution | SciByte 42 – A busy planetary system (April 17, 2012)
• Social Media
  • Twitter Exoplanet App @ExoplanetApp
• Further Reading / In the News
  • New Study Shows How Trace Elements Affect Stars’ Habitable Zones
  • Newfound Alien Planet is Best Candidate Yet to Support Life, Scientists Say
  • New super-earth detected within the habitable zone of a nearby star
  • New super-Earth detected within the habitable zone of a nearby cool star
  • Potential ‘Goldilocks’ Planet Found
  • Super-Earth spotted in life-friendly zone
  • ScienceShot: Double-Star System Hosts Ancient World
  • New Planet Found: Could a Super-Earth plus Triple Stars Equal Life?
  • Cool sun could host habitable planet

— VIEWER FEEDBACK —

_{Credit: [Arizona State University]}

Spirals on Mars

• For making sure that we saw this, thanks to
• Jacob Roecker & other JupiterBroadcasting staff members
• The low down
• What started as research into nighttime infrared temperatures of the plates, came in interest in the terrain between the plates, leading to a Arizona State University graduate student noticing spiral patterns in the lava
• Here on Earth lava coils can be found on the Hawaiian islands(*seen in space.com article below) and near the Galapagos Rift on the Pacific Ocean floor
• When lava flows move past each other at different speeds, or directions, rubbery lava crust can peel away or coil up to create wrinkles in the crust that can then be twisted around
• In order to really make them out the images need to be zoomed and have their contrast tweaked a bit
• The largest Martian coil is however bigger than any seen on Earth; at 98 ft [30 m] when the ones on Earth are about a third of that
• Further Reading / In the News
• Researchers find new form of Mars lava flow | phys.org
• Ancient Mars Lava Spirals Reveal Volcanic Secrets of Red Planet | space.com

SPACECRAFT UPDATE

The Shuttle Shuffle Continues

_{YouTube channel : daujla2}

• Friday April 27, the space shuttle Enterprise was brought to New York City on top of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, after the Discovery was delivered to the Smithsonian
• Multimedia / Further Reading
• YouTube : Enterprise Space Shuttle Last Landing from Tarmac @ JFK
  
• YouTube : Discovery’s Journey Playlist | NASA
• Final Voyage of Space Shuttle Enterprise (Photos) | Space.com
• Enterprise Arrives at the Big Apple | universetoday.com
• Millions Mesmerized by Shuttle Enterprise over Freedom’s Beacon in New York | universetoday.com

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket

• SpaceX is preparing for a scheduled launch of May 7th headed to the International Space Station!
• Further Reading
• SpaceX

You may have seen

California Meteorite

_{CREDIT: Lisa Warren | Credit : P. Jenniskens (SETI Institute) and Eric James (NASA Ames)}

• Last time on SciByte
  • Meteorites & Lasers | SciByte 38(March 20, 2012) – The sky, well a meteorite, fell in Norway right into a cabin
• The low down
  • Sunday April 22 over California a large fireball was seen along with a sonic boom characteristic of large meteors entering the Earth atmosphere
  • Scientists have confirmed that this meteor was between 4 to 5 billion years old and probably about the size of a minivan, about 154,300 pounds [69,989 kg]
  • Meteorites don’t actually ‘burn-up’ the friction against the air during re-entry actually causes it to vaporize
  • The sonic boom heard from this meteor was because it entered the atmosphere faster than the speed of sound, between 22,000 mph and 44,000 mph [35,000kph – 70,000kph]
• Significance
  • The meteors reentry was seen from Sacramento, Calif., to Las Vegas and parts of northern Nevada.
  • The first pieces, discovered by Robert Ward, were neat where gold was first discovered in California in 1848
  • Ward has been hunting and collecting meteorites for more than 20 years and has found meteorites in every continent but Antarctica
  • Those two pieces were probably part of the same meteorite that broke apart on impact, each weighs about 10 grams, about the same as two nickels
  • Most nighttime meteors that you see are around the size of grain of sand or a tiny stone, and only last a few seconds
  • An meteor event of this size typically happens around the world once a year, and then most occur over ocean or uninhabited places
  • Although this event occurred just after the peak of the annual mid-April Lyrid meteor shower it is unlikely that it was a Lyrid meteor, although without more information about its trajectory it won’t be known for sure
• Of Note
  • “NASA and the SETI Institute are asking the public to submit any amateur photos or video footage of the meteor that illuminated the sky over the Sierra Nevada mountains and created sonic booms that were heard over a wide area at 7:51 a.m. PDT Sunday, April 22, 2012.”
  • Also any security footage should be checked to see if the fireball was visible, which could also be used in pinpointing the area for fragments
• Further Reading / In the News
  • Meteorites found in Calif. along path of fireball | phys.org
  • Rare Daytime Fireball Created by Minivan-Size Space Rock | space.com
  • Meteorite Hunters Find Fragments from the Recent ‘Daytime Fireball’ in California | universetoday.com

SCIENCE CALENDER

Looking back

• May 08 1790 : 222 years ago : Metric System : Acting on a motion by a bishop, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand (1754–1838), the French National Assembly decided to create a simple, stable, decimal system of measurement units. The earliest metre unit chosen was the length of a pendulum with a half-period of a second. On 30 Mar 1791, after a proposal by the Académie des sciences (Borda, Lagrange, Laplace, Monge and Condorcet), the Assembly revised the definition of the metre to be 1/10 000 000 of the distance between the north pole and the equator. On 7 Apr 1795, the Convention decreed that the new “Republican Measures” were to be henceforth legal measures in France. The metric system adopted prefixes: greek for multiples and latin for decimal fractions.
• May 06 1937 : 75 years ago : Hindenburg : At 7:25 pm, the dirigible The Hindenburg burned while landing at the naval air station at Lakehurst, N.J. On board were 6l crew and 36 passengers. The landing approach seemed normal, when suddenly a tongue of flame appeared near the stern. Fire spread rapidly through the 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen that filled the balloon. Within a few seconds the Zeppelin exploded in a huge ball of fire. The ship fell tail first with flames shooting out the nose. It crashed into the ground 32 seconds after the flame was first spotted; 36 people died. Captain Ernst Lehmann survived the crash but died the next day. He muttered “I can’t understand it,” The cause remains the subject of debate even today.

Looking up this week

• Solar Activity

• Another CME will pass by the Curiosity rover around May 4th, Curiosity is actually equipped with instruments to sense and study solar storms

• Keep an eye out for …
  
  

• Thursday, May 3rd : Saturn and Spica are to the lower of the moon, Saturn being the farther from the Moon and to the left

• Friday, May 4th : The Moon will now sit below both Saturn and Spica

• Saturday, May 5th : The moon will be near the horizon below and to the left

• Saturday, May 5th is Full Moon, called a ‘super moon’ because it is the one full moon of the year when the Moon is in its closest part of its orbit, appearing 14% larger and 30% brigher

• Later this month there will be an Annular (ring) eclipse for the Western Americas, and a Partial eclipse for the rest.

• The southern hemisphere should, Keep an eye out for …

• Just remember to vertically flip all the things for the Northern hemisphere

• Saturn and Spica will sitting above the Moon

• Further Reading and Resources

• More on what’s in the sky this week

• Sky&Telescope

• SpaceWeather.com

• StarDate.org

• For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au

• Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org

• Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz

• AstronomyNow

• HeavensAbove