Star Date 12 09 2019

Science Officer Russ Frizzell reporting:

Star Trek: Inspiring Culture and Technology 111

SmithsonianX: POPX5.1

EdX.org

Unit 2, Starlog Entry 1

 As we explore the frontier of space, how can we approach the peoples and environments that we encounter? Can we reconcile our instinct to explore with an awareness of our impact on space, planets, and potentially, other species?

As the year 2019 comes to a close, the people of Earth are setting the stage for our next “giant leap.” NASA and the China National Space Administration CNSA are racing to be first to establish permanent inhabited bases on the Moon. NASA and SpaceX also have direct ambitions for colonization of MARS. It is not expected that living critters will greet them at either venue. But, there certainly could be unexpected life forms clinging to these diverse habitats. 

Scientists are scrambling to preserve samples of the dust on the surface of Mars before the flood of colonists contaminate it forever. The Mars 2020 rover is set to launch from Cape Canaveral in July of 2020 and it will carry test tubes designed to preserve these samples from contamination by future microbes brought from Earth. NASA does not even know if the sample containers will ever be returned to Earth because sample return missions are so difficult and expensive. They only know this may be the last chance to preserve soil samples on Mars and they are giving it their best shot. CNSA and ESA the European Space Agency both have their own Mars rover missions set to launch in 2020 as  well!

Our exploration of the solar system is under way. We have no Idea how the events will unfold but the adventurers of the human species are going after it right now. Freeman Dyson says there are all different sorts of possible life forms hiding in the solar system. We have not found any because our reconnaissance is just beginning and our technology is under development. If we find no other life then space will be considered free for the taking. If alien life is discovered, then who knows what will happen?

A continuing dialog is surely needed but who will be involved? The commercial space sector is not guided by the same drivers as national space agencies. There are laws and policies which can not be enforced off Earth. What made lawmakers think they can dictate to the future anyway? Asteroid mining alone can produce more wealth than even the science fiction dreamers have ever dreamed. The future of space exploration is so exciting already that all we can do is thank the creators of Star Trek from the bottom of our hearts for helping prepare us for the future that is to come.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_2020

Planetary Society Interview with Freeman Dyson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ20eU83wWs&feature=emb_logo 

Nasa.gov

https://www.esa.int/Newsroom/ESA_s_Mars_rover_has_a_name_Rosalind_Franklin

https://spacenews.com/chinas-first-mars-spacecraft-undergoing-integration-for-2020-launch/

https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:SmithsonianX+POPX5.1+3T2019/courseware/bff8f169645a49d4b0d0fe52f4c6ff81/13e449894cae47a0a0cbd8918a26a34e/?child=first

Stardate 12/11/2019

Margaret asks, “What new technologies are making us more self-sufficient?” Why is it necessary to be self-sufficient in these areas? How will this help us progress as humans and as explorers?

There is a very good reason for thinking rocket technology makes us more self sufficient. Even though conserving the natural environment is vitally important to us on Earth, it cannot be our only endeavor. We can protect the diverse species until our eyes pop out, but eventually an asteroid is going to come and wipe it all out. 

If we develop rocket technology now we will be positioned to defend the Earth from unexpected asteroid strikes. If we survive that long then an alien race from elsewhere can arrive and devour us and take over our civilization. Really really good spacecraft technology will be able to protect us when that eventuality actually happens. 

If we survive all that then our Sun is going to run out of nuclear fuel and puff up into a red giant and destroy the Earth. Then it will blow off its outer layers and scorch the remaining cinder to a crisp. This will be some billions of years in the future but we will want to have our technological solutions set in place before the end. And this is only one of the reasons we need to develop rocket technology right now.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRElMg-ekg2YH4mwRXtMoSk83J9px2vF9VIn0uMjNCGcA2CT3zQa5o9-14UkErJZCCFKZUnF3_WXKxp/pub

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQK9FDIMcbYhcJ3ezJaVTIBonMeAJyvqaV5nwnuHG3xkc7jArZjh7tcpLAAeu2I72OvUaWClK0HtTqX/pub

dimension analysis, scientific notation, and fun facts.

Monty Python comedy group has helped fill the world with laughter, and for that I am grateful. But there was also a moment of artistic magnificence when they gave the world an inroad to knowledge. In the middle of the the movie, “The Meaning of Life” Eric Idle performs the Galaxy Song. Copied from montypython.net

(spoken)
Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
And things seem hard or tough,
And people are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
(sung)
And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough,

Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving
And revolving at 900 miles an hour.
It's orbiting at 19 miles a second, so it's reckoned,
The sun that is the source of all our power.
Now the sun, and you and me, and all the stars that we can see,
Are moving at a million miles a day,
In the outer spiral arm, at 40,000 miles an hour,
Of a galaxy we call the Milky Way.

Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars;
It's a hundred thousand light-years side to side;
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light-years thick,
But out by us it's just three thousand light-years wide.
We're thirty thousand light-years from Galactic Central Point,
We go 'round every two hundred million years;
And our galaxy itself is one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

(waltz)

Our universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!

Isaac Asimov once wrote that he loved big numbers. Many people I meet today say that they do not like math, but let’s not let that dissuade us. There is a great challenge we are faced with here. Check these numbers and see if they are correct. Then convert them to standard international units using scientific notation. Then watch the youtube video of the Galaxy Song with deeper appreciation.

Earth rotation: 900 miles an hour, is this figure correct? Well Earth’s radius is 3960 miles. The circumference of a circle is 2 x π x radius, and each rotation takes 24 hours.

2 r=24881 miles/24 hours=1037 mi/hr

Well that’s about right near the equator. As you proceed North or South from the equator the radius of the path you travel on your daily rotation gets smaller so at some latitude on Earth you are revolving at 900 miles an hour. Try to determine what that latitude is for extra credit. The number gets smaller as you near the pole until when you get there you are just spinning slowly around and not traveling with each daily rotation. Now let us convert 900 miles an hour to standard international (SI) units:

9x10^2 mi/hr x 1.609x10^3 mi/hr x 3600 s =

4.02x10^2 m/s

With paper and pencil (and calculator) in hand check all their numbers and convert them to SI units. Stephen Hawking did, you can do it too. I noticed he corrected five of Eric Idle’s numbers and he missed one incorrect number. Both versions of the Galaxy Song are available for your enjoyment on youtube. Using scientific notation we should have:

9.0x10^2 mi/hr = 4.02x10^2 m/s

Now check the rest:

19 miles a second____________________________ m/s

A million miles a day__________________________ m/s

40,000 miles an hour__________________________ m/s

One hundred billion stars________________ pure number

One hundred thousand light years_____________ meters

Six thousand light years_____________________ meters

Three thousand light years___________________ meters

Thirty thousand light years___________________ meters

Two hundred million years__________________ seconds

Millions of billions = 106109= ___________ pure number

Twelve million miles a minute____________________ m/s

I sing this song to myself often using Stephen’s numbers. Except I say ten million miles a day for the Sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see. We are orbiting around the Milky Way galaxy this fast due to the gravitational attraction from the supermassive black hole in the constellation Sagittarius. Orbital velocity can be figured in meters per second with the simple formula:

v(orb)=sqrt(GM/R)

G is Newton’s constant G=6.674x10^-11 m^3/(kg s^2)

M is the mass of one hundred billion stars

M=2x10^30 kg x 10^11

R is the distance to the center we are orbiting, 30,000 light years. R=3x10^4 LY x 9.46x10^15 m/LY=__________meters.

This velocity can be rounded off to 200,000 meters per second. It agrees with Stephen’s number, 400.000 miles an hour, to one significant figure. So go through and check all these numbers and see if they are correct. Wikipedia is a helpful reference for this type of exercise where possible errors are of little impact. What we really want is to get a mastery of using scientific notation and dimensional analysis, so that we can be confident of the facts we are using and communicating with others. Besides, Stephen and Monty Python have created a masterpiece and everyone should go to youtube and see it.