CAJ - meet some of the asteroids

Hi,

Since this is one of my last blog posts, it will be dedicated to the leading actors of my CAJ – the asteroids themselves.

Gaspra

is located in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. From its irregular shape and its big craters it is suggested that Gaspra is between 300 and 500 million years old. Given the fact that the Universe is at least 13 to 16 billion years old, it is a rather young asteroid. Gaspra is about 17 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. Every seven hours it revolves around itself completely.

Eros

is with about 33 kilometres one of the largest asteroids that is drifting dangerously close to Earth. It is an S-type asteroid which means that it contains nickel, iron and magnesium. Here is the blog post that informs you about the classification of asteroids. Eros, which was named after the Greek god of love and desire orbits the Sun.

Wild 2

is in fact a comet but has an asteroid-like composition. In 2006 the NASA stardust mission came back to Earth and brought samples of Wild 2 with them. This was the time scientists managed to bring a specimen of an asteroid back to Earth. Grains of Wild 2 were collected and the material was analysed. Because of its ejection of dust and gas, it is believed that Wild 2 is the second most active planetary surface in our solar system. The most active is the Sun.

Ceres

is with a diameter of about 950 kilometres (about the size of Texas) a very big asteroid and a dwarf planet at the same time. Moreover, it is the closest dwarf planet to Earth. Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and makes up nearly one third of its mass. In 2013 scientists could prove that there is water on Ceres which may erupt from its surface. Here you can read the full story.

Next year a specimen of this asteroid will arrive on Earth which should prove if there is also an ocean. Scientists think that this dwarf planet could contain more fresh water than Earth does. Isn’t this amazing? Because of its closeness and its mineral resources, Eros could be a suitable asteroid in terms of mining. 

CAJ - Elon Musk

When I first read about Elon Musk, I decided that he deserves his very own blog post. I am not sure whether you have heard about him but Elon is the founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, Solar City and, the company I am currently most interested in, SpaceX. In my previous blog posts I have already started introducing SpaceX’s philosophy and its aims. If you would like to read the post again click here.

This post is dedicated to the mastermind behind these companies which all have something in common. They were controversially discussed when public was first informed about the projects. Tesla Motors, for example, was founded to produce electric cars. German companies such as Daimler and Robert Bosch criticised Musk because his supercharging network does not work with models from other manufacturers. SolarCity provides customers with solar energy and is, despite criticism, now America’s largest solar power provider. SpaceX, finally, was founded in order to extend human life to other planets and to take the first humans to Mars. Musk stated in a recent interview that he will reach this goal by 2026. This would mean that in less than 15 years people would be able to do something which was long considered impossible.

So, who is this man whose major goal is to make life multi-planetary in order to protect people from extinction? Musk did neither study aeronautic nor has ever been in space. He is an autodidact which means that he taught himself what he needed to know. Musk was born in South Africa and has been interested in the Universe ever since. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and was 28 years old when he founded the e-mail payment company PayPal. Only three years later PayPal was so successful that Ebay bought it and Musk received $ 160,000,000. Instead of buying a helicopter and a house in the Caribbean, he invested the money in new companies such as SolarCity or SpaceX.

There are some great interviews with him but this is the one I like most: http://www.ted.com/talks/elon_musk_the_mind_behind_tesla_spacex_solarcity. The way Musk talks about his projects and how he behaves on stage reminds me of Mark Zuckerberg. They both do not look like billionaires, although they are. Elon Musk is a very inspiring person and could be the role model for many young people who dream of inventing something. I was surprised that someone like Elon Musk is not very present in Austrian newspapers or TV programmes. However, there was an article about him in the “Standard”. I hope that people read it and got to know this fascinating personality. 

CAJ - Is it legal?

    When I discussed my CAJ with some of my flatmates, a very interesting question came up. I told them about asteroid mining and how companies such as Planetary Resources or SpaceX are trying to actually achieve their goal when someone interrupted me “But is it legal to do that? I mean, do they buy asteroids beforehand and then send their rockets there to mine for mineral resources?”. This reminded me of the question Hendrik asked me in class. “Who should own asteroids – are there any laws?”. I honestly had no idea but I have to admit that the question was reasonable, so I started looking this issue up.

    

    There is a United Nations Outer Space Treaty that prohibits ownership of celestial bodies by nations. However, there is no specific regulation for companies or individuals. Here is the link to it: http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/space1.html

    Theoretically, every country has the right to withdraw from this treaty. If the United States pulled out, the problem would be solved and Planetary Resources would be officially allowed to mine for minerals.

    

    In June 2012 several experts met at a Space Resources Roundtable to discuss the legal issue behind off-Earth resources. The discussion revealed that the opinion of legal experts is deeply divided on this issue. According to Leslie Gertsch, director of the Rock Mechanics & Explosives Research Centre at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, "the form that space law will finally take will depend on who has the guts and funds to start the process, what case it’s started with, […] and how the lawyers chose to argue their respective points during its course".

    

    One of the most interesting questions to me is what one of the companies has to say about owning asteroids.

    Unsurprisingly, the founders of Planetary Resources are convinced that space mining is legal. Co-founder Eric Anderson told Discovery News in an interview "We as a U.S. company certainly have the right to go on asteroid and make use of its resources. It is a stated goal of the U.S. government to enable and promote commercial activities and economic activity in space.”

    

    Another person who is in favor that private companies should have the right to mine on asteroids is Art Dula. He is a space law professor at the University of Houston. Dula states that the outer space treaty permits the ‘use’ of outer space by nongovernmental organizations. However, it does not permit commercial or business use. Moreover, he is convinced that the project cannot be realized at the moment and that people should not worry too much about it. “It costs so much just to get up there. You have to get a gang of billionaires together to even talk about this stuff."

CAJ - discussion

I have discussed my CAJ top (asteroid mining) with my flat mates. The discussion was interesting and really informative. There were some aspects I have not thought of before:

• The question “Can asteroids collide with each other?” came up. I was not quite sure but would have said so. In order to clear it up, we googled it and found out that asteroids can collide. We then imagined the consequence of a collision between two asteroids when one had a “fuel station” on it. We discussed what would happen to them. Would the fuel explode? Would the shock wave be big enough to harm or destroy life on Earth?

• David said: Sometimes asteroids leave orbit. It could happen that they burn up in the atmosphere or, in the worst case, crash into Earth (that already happened). We looked that up on the NASA website and found out that he is right. About once a year, an asteroid, in the size of a car, hits Earth’s atmosphere and creates a fireball. What would happen if there was a fuel depot on this specific asteroid?

• When Hendrik asked me “Who should own asteroids?”, I honestly had no idea what to answer. Meanwhile I have found out that there is a United Nations treaty that prohibits ownership of celestial bodies by nations. However, there is no specific regulation for companies or individuals. I asked my friends the same question and they came up with answers ranging from “no one should own them” to “the company that first manages to mine them” to “everyone should be allowed to buy asteroids and do with them whatever they want”.

• Unsurprisingly, the biggest question was “Why would you mine on asteroids and not use the money for more ‘sensible purposes’?” I tried to explain them the advantages of asteroid mining (that the mined materials could be used for various purposes such as spaceship fuel or in medicine (platinum is needed for implants or pacemakers)) but I think I could not convince them. “Wouldn’t it be cleverer to invest in sustainable development and the conservation of resources rather than thinking about mining for mineral resources somewhere in the universe?”, one person asked.

CAJ - News

Hi,

There happened something quite interesting regarding my CAJ topic. Chris Lewicky, the Chief Engineer of Planetary Resources announced at the annual FiRe (the Future in Review Conference) in Utah that they decided to reduce their efforts in terms of mining for metals on asteroids and shifted their focus towards mining water. At the conference he explained different ways of how the company could mine for hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in order to produce space fuel out of these components. Lewicky also announced that the number of suitable NEAs is growing rapidly. Three new near-Earth asteroids are discovered every day.

In an interview, co-founder Eric Anderson made clear that he did not give up his idea but that mining for water is the company's main goal now. The reason behind the decision to scale back the space-mining mission is attributed to insurmountable technical hurdles and great costs. Although the company has some very wealthy donators and is not dependent on financial aid from governments or other organizations, the project is not financially worthwhile.

The advantage of mining water is that it could be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen and used as propellants. If it would be possible to construct "gas stations" on asteroids, satellites, which would normally burn up when they run out of fuel and get back to Earth, could be used more often. Mr. Anderson admitted that it is "more sexy to talk about [...] bringing something back to Earth" but that this goal is more difficult and cannot be realized by now. Moreover, it is important that there are already gas stations or other fuel depots on asteroids because the machines which could mine for minerals also need fuel. Eric Anderson does already have a tight schedule for his new project. Test launches should start by the end of this year and the first telescopes should be send to asteroids in 2016.

Here is the BBC World Service Podcast about the FiRe and Lewicky's talk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z6f5n

How instant photographs work

When taking a photograph with an instant camera, the actual picture can be hold in hands a few minutes later. What may seem like magic is in fact the result of a chemical reaction. The process begins with the plastic film base that is coated with silver particles. These particles are light-sensitive. Black and white films have one layer of silver, whereas color films have three layers which are sensitive to different colors. The top layer is sensitive to blue light, the layer in the middle is sensitive to green and the third layer is sensitive to red light. When a film is exposed, the light-sensitive particles react to the different colors and form metallic silver. In order to get a picture, the film needs to be developed. Instant cameras are similar to a photo laboratory because they contain all chemicals which are necessary for the developing process. There is a developer layer attached to each color layer. The reagent, a mix of light blockers, neutralizers and other elements starts the chemical chain reaction and activates the developer on each layer. The reagent is collected in a blob at the white bottom of the film sheet. After having taken the picture, the camera rollers push the chemicals from the blob in the middle of the film sheet and roll it up to the end of the frame. The reagent chemicals then move through the layers and, after a chemical reaction, appear as colors. When watching an instant image develop, this chemical reaction can be seen.

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Zombie Abstract

Zombies are revived humans that live on the flesh of other people. This scientific paper examines what would happen if these undead creatures, which represent an infectious disease in this context, attacked our planet. This is achieved by enhancing the basic model for infections (SIR). There are different ways of getting rid of the illness. First of all, there is the basic model (SZR) which explains how the transmission of the infection works. Secondly, the model with latent infection (SIZR) extends the basic model by assuming that there is a period of time between the point when a person gets infected and when the outbreak of the disease happens. Thirdly, the quarantine model includes the possibility of separating some infected people from the rest of the population to hinder them from infecting others. The model with treatment supposes that it is possible to find a cure against the infection. Finally, the impulsive eradication model assumes that it is possible to control the disease by attacking it strategically. Calculations reveal that all models would have more or less success stemming the spread of the disease but only the impulsive eradication model would be able to defeat the cause of the infection effectively enough so that people would not be completely eradicated.