tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34828747187532277012024-03-13T10:50:53.295-07:00SpacepirationsReaching for the stars, both figuratively and literally.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-21746111183913911362014-10-18T01:25:00.000-07:002016-05-24T13:11:49.449-07:00Is Microsoft the NASA of Software Companies?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft and NASA Frankenlogo</td></tr>
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Both Microsoft and NASA unquestionably have done great things and have arguably contributed to the United States and the world in significant ways. Both are often criticized for undelivered projects or for having too much inertia that reflects the "good old days" rather than being set up for the future. As someone who has had two feet in the software industry for almost two decades, at Microsoft for over two years and a space enthusiast for years, I've been wondering about this: Is Microsoft the NASA of software companies?<br />
<h3>
<a name='more'></a>Modest beginnings</h3>
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NASA was an underdog in the early days of the space age and space race. It was formed to counteract the Soviet Union space program, which changed the meaning of airspace and caught the US unprepared when it launched Sputnik in <a href="http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">1957</a>. Even after NASA was formed, USSR continued to lead in space. It launched the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first man in space</a> (who was also the first to orbit Earth), the <a href="http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1966-006A" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first man-made object to soft-land on the moon and take photos</a> and the <a href="http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/tereshkova.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first woman in space</a>. We all know how one chapter of this story ended, when the race to put humans on the moon (and retrieve them safely) ended in 1969 with <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apollo 11</a>.</div>
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Microsoft, too, had to claw its way up, competing in markets where (unlike today) it wasn't the obvious leader or first, such as productivity (remember WordPerfect, Lotus123, QuattroPro or Eudora?) or gaming, where Microsoft started from scratch long after Sony and Nintendo were in the game.</div>
<h3>
Amazing things that no one else does</h3>
Arguably, at least historically, both NASA and Microsoft have been the dominant players in their respective domains. NASA put people on the moon in 1969. NASA was responsible for the biggest rockets, the most innovative and complex machine ever created (the Space Shuttle), not to mention putting an SUV on Mars (Curiosity aka <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mars Science Laboratory</a>) and the list goes on, all of which contributed to Earth-bound advancements in electronics, medical treatment, etc. not to mention understanding Earth and the universe.<br />
Microsoft created Windows and Office, which while possibly don't inspire as much awe as space or landing on the moon, they run on most personal and work computers in the world, essentially forming the basis or tool-set for countless other innovations and technology advancements. Both NASA and Microsoft have research labs that contribute to future technologies and prove concepts that may have been science-fiction yesterday but could become science-fact tomorrow.<br />
The details of Microsoft buying companies or borrowing from other products and NASA contracting other companies are irrelevant here. The fact is that not only both have done amazing things, but others can't or at least couldn't do, due to funding or scale.<br />
<h3>
Black sheep</h3>
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With the territory of big audacious projects and amazing things no one else does, come those who didn't make it or came off the other side of a road full of good intentions as unfulfilled potential. When this happens, a lot of money is at least perceived as going down the drain. In addition, questioning the decision making processes that led to the specific projects surfaces, depending on the reasons for the demise - technical, financial, political, etc.<br />
Microsoft had Windows Vista, for example. Six years after its successful older sister, Windows XP, was released, Vista didn't quite make it in the real world, losing a lot of what originally were flagship features (<a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/12/bill_gates_reddit_ama/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WinFS</a>, anyone?), getting lukewarm reviews at best and poor customer adoption.<br />
NASA also spent time and resources on projects that got reset or cancelled (and <a href="http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/did-nasa-really-waste-20-billion-in-cancelled-human-space-flight-programs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">drew attention</a>), <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Constellation</a> being the latest and most known recently, cancelled (and partially resurrected as the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/#.VEG4MfldXNs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Space Launch System</a> aka SLS) after one test flight of <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2009/10/ares-i-x-test-flight.html" target="_blank">Ares-X</a>, with cost in the billions of dollars even for <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/28/nation/la-na-nasa-moon28-2010feb28" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">shutting it down</a>.</div>
<h3>
Politics</h3>
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For NASA, politics are a part of the course, possibly even a driving force. Congressional districts, lobbying, elections that come and go much faster than what it takes to start and finish a space project as well as having a new president at most every eight years all impact NASA as a federal agency. While space is not one of the hottest issues (it comes far lower after health, poverty, unemployment, etc.) it is a fertile ground for making a memorable impact (quick, who were presidents before and after J.F.K.?), and it's hard to make a lasting impact if all you do is to continue following your predecessor's plans...</div>
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Microsoft is not immune from politics either. As a dominant market-share holder it has been the target of politicians, forcing it to spend money and time on projects such as Windows without a media player for Europe or democratizing the default browser in Windows. Politics also comes in other, more subtle forms, such as forcing it to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23530337" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">change the name of SkyDrive to OneDrive</a> because a TV provider in the U.K. owns the word "Sky".</div>
<h3>
Becoming stale?</h3>
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With all the glory, NASA and Microsoft are increasingly considered stale, irrelevant, heavy and wasteful. Some say SLS will never fly and it's undeniably too expensive for the current budget, <a href="http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2014/08/sls-missions-solve-flight-rate-dilemma/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">flying only every several years</a>. There is a lot of hope hanging on private companies like SpaceX, counting on them to build the next round of human spaceflight vehicles to low-Earth-orbit faster than NASA would.<br />
Similarly, with the rise of Android and iOS, Windows is in decline. Microsoft's attempts at mobile have thus far <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2466224/windows-phone-isnt-dead-but-it-needs-a-new-reason-to-live.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">not captured a lot of market share</a> from iOS or Android (even though both Google and Apple did the same to Microsoft and Blackberry a few years earlier). Both NASA and Microsoft are often considered inefficient in terms of building the next iteration of systems - be it launch systems or operating systems. Both are big, structured entities, with seemingly unmodifiable structure of dispersed centers for NASA and similarly rigid business units for Microsoft.</div>
<h3>
So, is the answer a resounding yes?</h3>
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About a year or so ago, when I just started thinking about writing about this, the answer in my mind was an ambivalently proud but somewhat embarrassing yes. I thought of Microsoft as everything I wrote above - akin to a yesteryear wiz-kid riding a skateboard who can't quite muster the tricks kids a few years younger now do on their <a href="http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Hoverboard" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hoverboards</a>. But that was a very limited view. Microsoft is going through a series of big changes, including reorganizing groups and business units, layoffs (not necessarily a good thing, I know), combining development and testing, moving towards faster ship cycles and agile methodologies and flattening management levels. None of these are guarantors of success, but they show recognition that there is a problem (OK, multiple...) and that Microsoft is willing and able to realign according to future needs rather than past needs.</div>
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As someone who has been following space news but admittedly with zero visibility into NASA management, I can cautiously say I have not seen any such radical changes happening at NASA. Sure, small budgets are going towards <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">commercializing space access</a>, but it doesn't seem like the fundamental issues of a huge structure supporting and preserving jobs in congressional districts are being dealt with, maybe not yet, anyway. The reasons seem to be anchored in the politics that drives even an agency full of rocket scientists rather than those rocket scientists themselves or their management.</div>
<h3>
Renewal - looking forward</h3>
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Microsoft is renewing. Not bound by political vises, answering only to their financial constituents, aka shareholders. While the stock market generally responds well to change, sometimes painful change, congressional districts and their electives do not.<br />
However, renewal in my opinion is a key (but not guarantee) to success. What Microsoft knows it needs to do, even the way it should be built in order to succeed in 2014 and beyond, is very different than even 10 years ago - before Android, iOS, or the cloud as we know it today, just to name a few radical market changes.<br />
Will NASA go through radical changes in the next few years? Will centers be consolidated? Will the country leadership allow or direct NASA to renew and change? Will NASA get a bigger budget than a fraction of a cent on the dollar? I'm not equipped with neither inside information nor enough college degrees to answer those questions. At the end of the day, maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe private companies will pick up the pieces and be all that's necessary. But I doubt it. As the joke goes, to make a small fortune in the space industry you have to start with a big fortune, and until that changes (joke or no joke), there's a place for a space agency just like there is a place for Microsoft in the future of consumer electronics and computers.<br />
<h3>
Update - The Space Show</h3>
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<div>
On October 31 2014 I was honored to be on <a href="http://thespaceshow.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Space Show</a> with Dr. David Livingston and discuss this article. Comparing between the two entities was interesting and I got very interesting questions both from Dr. Livingston and from listeners. To see the show details and listen to it, click <a href="http://www.thespaceshow.com/show/31-oct-2014/broadcast-2347-special-edition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-15196011823630478612014-05-18T21:15:00.002-07:002014-05-18T21:18:34.849-07:00A lifetime ago. His.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RrAtPwvxLXI/U3mE-pam9KI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/GjOnEv_RYkA/s1600/Oded+name+on+tombstoneIMG_9412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RrAtPwvxLXI/U3mE-pam9KI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/GjOnEv_RYkA/s1600/Oded+name+on+tombstoneIMG_9412.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oded's name on his tombstone</td></tr>
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Twenty three years passed this month since my older brother, Oded, died of a gunshot of his own Beretta gun. A second accident (the first made a hole in a wall and nothing more) or not - the answers disappeared with his last breath which spawned only questions, should-have-beens and might-have-beens. A period of time that was a blur between graduating high-school, having a first girlfriend, starting college and numbness. It was a time of forming barriers and taking other barriers down, of missing a beat, catching a breath and being stumped by the simple question whether I have any brothers or sisters. The great wall of China was being built with not many people who had the key to the gates, and who suffered for it the most. And on that wall, unspoken truths and spray-painted "I am OK".
Fairly, at the end of the day, I was. After all, I did finish high-school, got my Electrical Engineering degree, built a family of my own and carried on a normal life altered from how it would be if that day in May 1991 didn't end like it did. A lifetime ago. <i>His </i>lifetime ago.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>My brother is now gone for a longer time than he lived. Truly a lifetime ago. Time is but a continuous stretch - day by day, hour by hour, second by second - which continue to pass regardless of occurring events. This meaningless death (not that meaning would help much, but I will not lie, it would a little) was like a fork in the road, a conflict between two universes, one which has Oded in it and the other that doesn't, and I happened to be in the one that doesn't, at random. In one, things are different but similar, with alterations I cannot even think about and some striking similarities that I wouldn't imagine possible either. We face a lot of forks in the road, some subtle and easy and some difficult, yet others involuntary. Accepting reality is what collapses the chatter of the multiverse to the one we're present in.<br />
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Like ticks on a ruler, milestones are etched on the infinite scale of time, but unlike those of a ruler, they are more personal, or mean something only to a group of people. As time goes, the scale is zoomed out and the days become months, years and decades. A year passed, two, five, ten, twenty. There's a marker on each waking second, but milestones are pricklier, put importance and gravity on a scale that gets otherwise a much more limited dynamic range, gives perspective, gray hair, wisdom.<br />
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I don't want your pity, feeling sorry for me or understanding. Understanding would actually be the worst, as if you truly understand it means you have lost your brother, sister, parent or someone else that is absolutely irreplaceable. I don't wish that on anyone. You've read all the way here, and I hope that you have one less thought of anger or hate towards others and one more thought of appreciation and thankfulness for what you do have.<br />
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A lifetime ago Oded's lifetime ran out at the speed of a bullet. Not my lifetime ago, <i>his</i>.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-32682085940600768732013-08-03T20:02:00.000-07:002013-08-03T20:03:22.360-07:00SpaceX Glitches - Countering Over-Engineering<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jy-1xJjm8_4/UdrJUGOcC7I/AAAAAAAAAsg/FWz9A2wO7eU/s1600/IMG_1874+Over-engineering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jy-1xJjm8_4/UdrJUGOcC7I/AAAAAAAAAsg/FWz9A2wO7eU/s320/IMG_1874+Over-engineering.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over-engineering? (Portland, OR)</td></tr>
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SpaceX is arguably the most successful private/commercial/new space company to date. After being the third <strike>country</strike> entity to develop the technology and hardware that can bring cargo to the International Space Station and back, it's taking strides towards bringing people to the coveted destination in the sky, working on a version <strike>1.1</strike>2.0 of the Falcon 9 rocket and also on a reusable rocket, the Grasshopper.<br />
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With all the success SpaceX is having, we should not forget the problems and misses of recent launches, for example an shut-down in-flight and problems with thrusters required to get the Dragon to the ISS when in orbit.<br />
From the <a href="http://www.spacex.com/updates.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SpaceX Updates page</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After Dragon achieved orbit, the spacecraft experienced an issue with a propellant valve. One thruster pod is running. We are trying to bring up the remaining three. </blockquote>
One may look at these issues and be concerned about SpaceX design, manufacturing quality, engineering, redundancy and what not. I am actually encouraged by these glitches.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
From where I am sitting as a software industry professional of 17 years it looks like SpaceX is taking a page out of the software industry, where over-engineering is the silent killer of projects, causing them to be late, costly, and even dead on a much late arrival. Obviously if these problems would deteriorate missions into catastrophes we wouldn't be praising SpaceX, but at the same time I would actually be also worried if SpaceX didn't have any problem whatsoever. The space (no pun intended) between failure and over-engineering is the sweet spot that allows companies and projects to be successful by moving as fast as possible with positive results and subsequently keeping cost down.<br />
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As a young engineer I confess I wanted to create the perfect design for everything I did, build it with no compromises and call it done when there were no bugs left. Many gray hairs later and time in the real world there's a phrase I repeat every time an existing component, application or software architecture is compared to a suggested one - "Unwritten applications are perfect". There are no compromises, no bugs, no problems in a product that lives as a PowerPoint presentation, Word document or the back of a napkin.<br />
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As a product moves through the digestive tract that leads from people's minds to a product, it reaches a right of passage, a decision point if you will - continue to tinker until it is "perfect", which is asymptotically never, or make it good-enough, willing to iterate after it ships, realizing this version is not the last. As a perfectionist in rehab it is important to remember that. A French proverb captures it well - "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien." (relevant also to this post on which I've been working on and off for a couple of months...)<br />
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Consciously making the choice in advance to not release an imaginary product but instead a real one means it will have problems, but when these happen, no one is surprised and the system as a whole is robust enough to counteract and built with change in mind - from cameras that have a firmware that can be upgraded to software components that validate their input, all the way to airplanes being able to land with no engines or a Falcon 9 rocket that can operate with only eight operational engines.<br />
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Let's face it - sh*t happens, so assuming it doesn't or worse - assuming one can work on a system until it is perfect, both carry great risk to actually completing a mission or releasing a viable product.<br />
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In the next few years I bet SpaceX will show us that it can continue and iterate on its success, yield better and better products and show us that over-engineering should not be found not only in software but also as part of rocket-science.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-51152207952960549132013-04-21T22:17:00.000-07:002013-04-21T22:19:15.011-07:00Past and Future of Spaceflight at the Museum of Flight<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6U3CTzPh6XM/UXTA9-powDI/AAAAAAAAAro/edK4njkh1PY/s1600/2013+Yuri's+Night+++SpaceUp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6U3CTzPh6XM/UXTA9-powDI/AAAAAAAAAro/edK4njkh1PY/s1600/2013+Yuri's+Night+++SpaceUp.png" /></a></div>
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Last weekend was a celebration of space at the <a href="http://www.museumofflight.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Museum of Flight</a> in Seattle. A <a href="http://www.yurisnight.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yuri's Night</a> party and <a href="http://www.museumofflight.org/event/2013/apr/13/space-seattle-commerical-space-symposium-weekend" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SpaceUp Seattle</a> provided for both a celebration of the beginning of manned spaceflight 52 years ago and some contemplation about the future through part what's being done today, part what could be done.<br />
<a name='more'></a>April 12, 2013 was the fifty second anniversary of the first human in space, <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2011/04/yuri-gagarin-legend-in-1961-dead-in.html" target="_blank">Yuri Gagarin</a>. Then, the space race not yet fully in motion, a cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, now a celebrated event that gets us an inch closer every year to be a truly unified planet, if only for a little while, rather than the savage territorial animals that still live inside us.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-87Q018zbeQA/UXS-Y1nCg3I/AAAAAAAAArY/XoNm249QQY4/s1600/2013+04+12+Landed+the+Shuttle+DSCF4567_20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-87Q018zbeQA/UXS-Y1nCg3I/AAAAAAAAArY/XoNm249QQY4/s320/2013+04+12+Landed+the+Shuttle+DSCF4567_20.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Landed the space shuttle. Welcome home, virtual astronauts.</td></tr>
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This was the first Yuri's Night party at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The setting was promising - the<a href="http://www.museumofflight.org/locations/space-gallery" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Charles Simonyi Space Gallery</a>, where the Space Shuttle trainer resides as well as quite a few space artifacts. After a few speeches by the Russian Consul General in Seattle Andrey Yushmanov and Chris Lewicki of <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Planetary Resources</a>, a live jazz band provided the musical background to a party that suffered the most from a lack of people. A few conference-like stands including the <a href="http://www.nss.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Space Society</a> and <a href="http://chasingatlantis.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chasing Atlantis</a>, a cool project to make a documentary about re-finding inspiration from space, were also present. The Space Gallery is a huge place for the several dozens who showed up, and compared to <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/04/yuris-night-and-my-first-race.html" target="_blank">the party I went to three years ago</a>, it felt more like a visit to the museum than a party. I hope that next year the elusive critical-mass of people would bring this party to life. Still, I got a date-night with my wife, met a Klingon with his Starfleet officer companion and landed the space shuttle safely twice, so no complaints here...<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UaUYAW-UwLg/UXTGLXjearI/AAAAAAAAAr4/_J6OoFmBILw/s1600/2013+04+13+SpaceUp+Seattle+Nat+Seymour+204_mof_13apr13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UaUYAW-UwLg/UXTGLXjearI/AAAAAAAAAr4/_J6OoFmBILw/s640/2013+04+13+SpaceUp+Seattle+Nat+Seymour+204_mof_13apr13.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SpaceUp Seattle - Setting up discussion topics the unconference way. (Photo: <a href="http://begoodimages.smugmug.com/MoF/SpaceUP-13APR13/28909580_FmHNtZ/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nat Seymour</a>)</td></tr>
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The day after, I got to experience several new concepts at SpaceUp Seattle. It was my first <a href="http://spaceup.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SpaceUp</a>, first unconference and first time presenting in the <a href="http://igniteshow.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ignite</a> format. SpaceUp, as an unconference, does not have a predetermined schedule. Instead, the attendees first suggest topics for discussion and everyone participates in shaping the day's schedule. Round tables provide an environment conducive of interaction and networking, and I indeed met very interesting people who I hope to collaborate with in the future.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQCpFfgmU7s/UXS-Y3Go5wI/AAAAAAAAArk/5TSGVg75a2o/s1600/2013+04+13+Garrett+Reisman+DSCF4583_pc50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kQCpFfgmU7s/UXS-Y3Go5wI/AAAAAAAAArk/5TSGVg75a2o/s320/2013+04+13+Garrett+Reisman+DSCF4583_pc50.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garrett Reisman - Falcon 2.0</td></tr>
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Over the course of the day <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikawagner" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Erika Wagner</a>, Business Development Manager at Blue Origin, presented recent progress of Jeff Bezos's alter-ego company. <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/garrett-reisman/30/ab7/158" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Garrett Reisman</a>, former NASA astronaut turned Program Manager at SpaceX, talked about Falcon 1.1, which (in his own words) is in fact more like a Falcon 2.0, with its 30% longer tanks, 50% higher thrust, 3-string avionics compared to single-string in the Falcon 1.0 and different engine arrangement (eight in a circle rather than the square configuration of Falcon 1.0). To top that, the Falcon production line has been completely redone to scale-up from 4 rockets a year to 20.<br />
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For the rest of the day we talked about commercial space, asteroids and other space topics. The good parts about this format is that it flattens the hierarchy of presenter and audience and promotes new ideas and interesting discussions. However, the unknown nature of the topics and people bears a risk as much as it is a benefit.<br />
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The last session of the day was set aside for a series of Ignite talks - 5-minute presentations with 20 slides each that advance automatically every 15 seconds - no time to hesitate, pause or go on a tangent. It was a good exercise in conciseness and sticking to the point. Topics varied from space missions to how to buy a telescope. I presented <a href="http://www.astronauts4hire.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Astronauts4Hire</a>, and I hope that after a whole day of talking mostly about missions and hardware, talking about the often-neglected topic of the human workforce aspect of commercial spaceflight was interesting for the attendees.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sr0VIocp9gQ/UXTCQPmIdeI/AAAAAAAAArw/D00zB7l-3kM/s1600/2013+04+13+SpaceUp+Jeff+Slostad+8646989507_ea5aec3597_h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="344" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sr0VIocp9gQ/UXTCQPmIdeI/AAAAAAAAArw/D00zB7l-3kM/s640/2013+04+13+SpaceUp+Jeff+Slostad+8646989507_ea5aec3597_h.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Round tables at SpaceUp prompted lively discussions. (Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/slostad/sets/72157633242441216/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jeff Slostad</a>)</td></tr>
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Overall it was an interesting event but admittedly one that will probably not result with any course adjustment or new projects advancing spaceflight. Yet the networking, continued discussion and the opportunity to present Astronauts4Hire was definitely positive and worth it. Together with Yuri's Night, this was a very spacey weekend this spring of 2013.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0Museum of Flight, 9404 East Marginal Way South, Seattle, WA 98108, USA47.518032299999987 -122.2975015000000147.512670299999989 -122.30758650000001 47.523394299999985 -122.2874165tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-26591213234814233602012-12-21T15:45:00.000-08:002012-12-21T15:45:19.274-08:00I've Seen Moon-Walkers, and They're OldI've seen moon-walkers face to face. I shook hands and exchanged words with Buzz Aldrin, Gene Kranz and watched many others as they got a standing ovation at the <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/10/wings-of-heroes-gala-space-reunion-at.html" target="_blank">Museum of Flight gala</a> in September. The youngest moon walker, Charles Duke, is 77 years old. All of their space-expansion glory dates back to 1969 - 1972. When I saw these amazing people a realization that accompanied my inspiration was that they were old. Not only that, they are also the only ones that did this. Unlike other positive beginnings, this one seems more like a blip on our terrestrial bound existence rather than a the sign of things to come. Am I simply impatient?<br />
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<a name='more'></a>This year we lost a moon walker, the very first who walked on the moon. The one whose <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/multimedia/road2apollo-23.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first footprint</a> is etched in our collective moon memory and still adorns the dusty Sea of Tranquility, Neil Armstrong. Regretfully, I did not get the chance to meet him, but I did get the chance to see, shake hands and exchange words with some of the people who walked on the moon or made it possible. I hold the utmost respect to them. It should be very clear I admire their courage, abilities, and sacrifices to the highest extent. Sadly, however, they are relics of something great that in the 40 years since the last man left the moon, did not really continue or grow. Now, when the moon walkers are facing extinction, we risk severing the little chance of continuity that we have.<br />
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I don't remember where I was when the first landing on the moon happened in 1969. I also don't remember where I was when the last one took place or when the last man on the moon took off, leaving behind rovers and landing gear. Why? Because I was born after it all happened. I am a child of the Space Shuttle era, an era that didn't have any boot with a human foot occupying it touching the moon or any other space object that's not man-made.<br />
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I know there are many advancements and exciting space programs going on. Curiosity's amazing <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/08/cheering-human-curiosity-on-mars.html" target="_blank">Mars landing</a>, more test flights for SpaceShipTwo (not powered yet), more ISS science, SpaceX demonstrating they can repeatedly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V-zG5QvlBaw#!" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">supply the ISS</a> like only nations have been capable of in the past or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Felix Baumgartner's record jump</a>, just to name a few. Without taking away from any of these advancements compared to where we were a year ago, would we be so excited about a ship that goes from Spain to Italy after ships sailed from Spain to <strike>India</strike> America? Or would we celebrate an Olympian that ran 100m in 10 seconds once the world record was 9.9?<br />
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I also realize spaceflight, especially human spaceflight, is hard. It's effectively playing with the irony of a gravity well that's almost too strong to overcome, compounded by human factors such as radiation and micro-gravity that we (and by we I mean very healthy men and women in their prime) can withstand for less than a year, at least as far as we know. Human space exploration/settlement/colonization (take your pick) is effectively a perpetual stretch goal for mankind that, when not met, like other stretch goals, still doesn't make us label ourselves as low-performers in the virtual human-race review that we put ourselves through perpetually.<br />
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As 2012 draws to an end, the 50th anniversary to <a href="http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kennedy's moon speech</a>, 40th anniversary to the last moon landing with <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo17.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apollo-17</a>, the year of stripping the space shuttles for parts and turning what's left into museum exhibits, the year when we became completely reliant on the Soyuz for manned spaceflight to orbit, and the last year of my 30s, I can't help but feel disappointed for these nice old people who didn't (yet?) get to see the fruit of their labor get completely fulfilled in the form of continuation of their moon-work.<br />
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I wish us all a great 2013. A year of successes in space and beyond, a year that will make Neil Armstrong smile on us from above, a year of continued push forward, a year of obtaining stretch goals. Oh, and a big party for my 40th birthday, of course!<br />
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I will leave you with the responses of Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan to Congressman Neugenbauer when asked about the importance of manned spaceflight. My favorite quote (Cernan): "Louis and Clark didn't send an empty canoe up the river"...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0uJjtoWRDlk" width="640"></iframe>Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-18080261106044074152012-12-01T20:37:00.001-08:002012-12-01T20:42:46.880-08:00Aircraft Water Egress Course, an Anti-Complacency Pill<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A9gawGHe6jk/ULrVELZTUYI/AAAAAAAAAp4/2qNhp5y6fJk/s1600/DSC_0165_pc1000_ProAviation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A9gawGHe6jk/ULrVELZTUYI/AAAAAAAAAp4/2qNhp5y6fJk/s320/DSC_0165_pc1000_ProAviation.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to go underwater.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Credit: Guillaume Fortin</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Complacency...</span></b> When one thinks about aircraft crash landing, be it an airplane, a helicopter or maybe a suborbital spacecraft, that's not the word that usually comes to mind. On November 19 I drove up from my home in Issaquah WA to Langley BC in order to learn why it is enemy number one when the craft or pilot fail and how to escape a drowning airplane the right way (i.e. alive).<br />
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<a name='more'></a>It doesn't happen a lot. Many of us will go through life without an aircraft crash-landing. Most of us will also never win the lottery. However, some people<i> do win the lottery</i>, an event that statistically is far less likely to happen than a crash landing...<br />
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As part of my Suborbital astronaut training, after going through <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/04/nauseating-education-or-educational.html" target="_blank">situational orientation</a>, <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/06/my-nastar-experience-ground-training.html" target="_blank">hypoxia and high-G</a> training in March, I went to <a href="http://proaviation.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ProAviation</a> in Canada and took their aircraft ditching, sea survival and underwater egress training course. I was a part of a group of 14 men and women whose work involves flying over water in helicopters and seaplanes.
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After passing the border the night before to the country that reminded me of the TV series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112167/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sliders</a>, where a group of people pass between alternate universes very similar to our own but with subtle differences. After passing the border I was in a place very similar to the United States of America, albeit with some small differences - the cable company name was different, temperatures were measured in Celsius and speed was measured in kilometers per hour.
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The first half-day was spent with our instructor John Heiler in the classroom, going through several accident scenarios, what to do in order to be better prepared for accidents, what leads to accidents and how to improve one's chances of survival if a crash-landing happens in water or terrain. Complacency, the belief and over-confidence that nothing bad could happen, was a recurring theme and a leading factor in many cases where surviving the crash itself ended up as a tragedy.
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Complacency is not alone causing loss of life. Alongside it has its sidekick, panic. Together, one before a crash landing and the other after, these dubious characters lead to mistakes, trivial in safe situations, cardinal and tragic when air-supply, body temperature and ultimately survival are at stake.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vxORIc-8n14/ULrWXJoNnWI/AAAAAAAAAqA/oSvhjLpnA7M/s1600/DSC_0040_p1000_ProAviation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vxORIc-8n14/ULrWXJoNnWI/AAAAAAAAAqA/oSvhjLpnA7M/s640/DSC_0040_p1000_ProAviation.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swimming in groups, one of the pool exercises. Credit: Guillaume Fortin</td></tr>
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The second half of the day was at the pool. Fully clothed, we jumped in the pool and went through several exercises pertaining to sea survival such as wearing and manually inflating life vests in the water and using a life raft. The bulk of the pool exercises were practicing what we learned in class about ditching a sinking aircraft in water.
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ProAviation has a simulator for practicing leaving a sinking, upside down aircraft. Two people, strapped in with seat-belts, are turned upside down and have to get out in various simulated situations, from simple no-doors with daylight to blind-folded or with their door not opening, with the goal of not only getting out but grabbing the life jacket in the process. After the first time, when I mistakenly pushed myself downward out of the simulated craft, I nailed it, eyes folded or door jammed, and gained confidence in my ability to internalize what needs to be done in such a case and being more ready for it. Duration of the exercises didn't pose a threat to holding my breath, as each one took about 12-15 seconds and (at least at rest) I can hold my breath for about 110 seconds.
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Here is a video of two of my practice turns -<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HFsDaKwEhnI?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Granted, complacency would prompt me to decide I don't need to pay attention to aircraft safety because I went through the course. Many do it - go on a plane and do everything else except for listening to the safety instructions after boarding the aircraft; at best, we giggle when the flight attendants put the life-jacket inflation tubes in their mouth. After going through this course I know the opposite is the case. If panic would be at least in part mitigated by this course in an emergency I hope never comes, one of the important parts in any flight or situation on Earth or in space would be to be prepared and, regardless of the odds, know and mentally go through the way out when light is available, the aircraft is right-side up and oxygen is aplenty rather than try and figure it out when these comforts we take for granted might be missing.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0Langley, BC, Canada49.0743308 -122.559321848.9079033 -122.8751788 49.240758299999996 -122.24346480000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-80005209375032603032012-10-21T21:55:00.000-07:002012-10-21T22:02:43.851-07:00Wings of Heroes Gala - Space Reunion at the Museum of Flight<a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/10/wings-of-heroes-gala-space-reunion-at.html"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QnuI4dufM2w/UITKMULJk1I/AAAAAAAAAo8/BXdAXPqMFm4/s1600/Wings+of+Heroes+Ticket+Logo.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em;" /></a>When I moved to Seattle now almost two years ago with my family to try my luck at Jeff Bezos's bigger of his two companies (<i>not</i> Blue Origin), little did I know that one of the opportunities that to open up would be to share a tent (one fit for tuxedos and evening dresses) and dinner with five decades of space icons flown-in from across the United States and beyond to a museum less than twenty miles from my home. All that and more took place at the the Wings of Heroes Gala on September 22 2012 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.<br />
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The Museum of Flight conducts a gala fundraiser every year with different themes that span the gamut of flight and space. This year is a unique combination of the 50th anniversary for J. F. Kennedy setting the stage for a lunatic space race won with one giant leap for mankind on the moon and the (some say premature) retirement of the Space Shuttle. The museum also built a new wing and bid (albeit unsuccessfully) for a space shuttle. The Museum of Flight, a non-profit organization, benefits from being in close geographical proximity to companies and rich people involved or interested in space and flight, from Boeing to Charles Simonyi, veteran Microsoft pioneer and the first space tourist to go twice to the International Space Station.<br />
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The event started at the new wing of the museum, originally slated for a Space Shuttle but settling for the space shuttle trainer last used in preparation for STS-135. Also in the new wing - the Soyuz-14 capsule (on which Charles Simonyi flew in 2009), a 1:2 Hubble model and a glimpse into the new and future players in the launching and space vehicle transportation business like SpaceX, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin, with the currently planned NASA Space Launch System also thrown in for good measure. I also had my picture taken at a new photo-op spot of a shuttle taking off. Jeff Bezos himself was there as an honoree with a few other Blue Origin employees, representing the private space companies (I would actually prefer seeing Elon Musk there, as SpaceX is the only company which proved its ability to match nations in space hardware and launch operations, but I settled for the bald guy with the roaring laughter).<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cA5GZMRO6IE/UITLRCp8LrI/AAAAAAAAApE/YM-cyJpEcYA/s1600/2012+09+22+Museum+of+Flight+Gala+Table+IMG_1125_1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cA5GZMRO6IE/UITLRCp8LrI/AAAAAAAAApE/YM-cyJpEcYA/s320/2012+09+22+Museum+of+Flight+Gala+Table+IMG_1125_1000.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the table - recognize me with a tux?</td></tr>
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A bagpipe band led all of us tuxedo and evening gown wearers into the event tent. Each of the 100 or so tables had a hand-blown glass sphere lit up from below which symbolized Earth, except for the tables of the two moon-walkers that were present, Buzz Aldrin and Gene Cernan (those were white like the moon) and a red one for Mars. I sat in a table with a veteran Boeing software engineer, a pilot and a CEO among others, next to several tables sponsored by airlines, and over the course of the evening roamed around to shake some hands, exchange words with space icons and get a better viewpoint of the stage.<br />
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The schedule of the event ran longer than planned, not unlike a lot of space programs (both private and governmental). The program alternated between one of 5 courses symbolizing the decades of manned spaceflight, a short video talking about the different programs - X-15, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle and beyond, followed by the astronauts, cosmonauts and other people pivotal in the history of human spaceflight, pertaining to the program which was just presented. Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Gene Cernan (last moon-walker), Gene Kranz (legendary NASA mission controller including Apollo 13), Bill Anders (Apollo 8, took the humbling Earth-rise picture), all the way to Brian Binnie (pilot of SpaceShipOne and soon SpaceShipTwo), all in the same tent, announced and coming on the stage one by one. Also attended - Mark and Rick, Neil Armstrong's sons, who gave us a glimpse to the icon as a father, the widow of Roger Chaffee who died in the Apollo-1 fire, the two Apollo-Soyuz cosmonauts Valery Kubasov and Alexey Leonov, and Space tourism trail blazers Charles Simonyi and Anousheh Ansari. Standing ovation after standing ovation.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_m_cRXO0Kw/UITMwzqfdII/AAAAAAAAApU/2nOA7rihcRM/s1600/WingsOfHeros2012Corky+Trewin+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_m_cRXO0Kw/UITMwzqfdII/AAAAAAAAApU/2nOA7rihcRM/s640/WingsOfHeros2012Corky+Trewin+Photo.jpg" width="620" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How many space trail-blazers can you fit in one tent? (photo: Corky Trewin, Museum of Flight)</td></tr>
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There is no doubt in my mind this was a once in a lifetime event. A group of so many who trail-blazed human spaceflight, a list so big and spanning all of the history of human spaceflight, is an extreme rarity. In a few years this will not be repeatable with all the money and good will in the world, as painful as Neil Armstrong's passing reminds us that even they succumb to time like the rest of us. All else, while enjoyable and contributing, was secondary to the fact that us attendees got closer to space that evening. We all shook hands and got to talk with legends. We also did our small part, contributing to a wonderful museum that plays a part in inspiring and educating what could become the next generation of astronauts, scientists and engineers.<br />
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You can see more pictures from the event taken by photographer Long Bach Nguyen <a href="http://www.pbase.com/longbachnguyen/hero" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0Museum of Flight, Seattle WA47.5187723 -122.296480947.508048800000005 -122.3162219 47.5294958 -122.27673990000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-29978209385388528532012-08-22T23:46:00.000-07:002012-08-22T23:46:36.571-07:00Cheering Human Curiosity on Mars<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6XxLrGmDyM/UDXPzhmIOeI/AAAAAAAAAoc/45gWWN0ntEA/s1600/DSC_5185_p25+Curiosity+Museum+of+Flight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B6XxLrGmDyM/UDXPzhmIOeI/AAAAAAAAAoc/45gWWN0ntEA/s200/DSC_5185_p25+Curiosity+Museum+of+Flight.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Human curiosity is now on Mars. While no human is in the flesh on the red planet, a car-sized 6-wheeled rover of human creation landed on Mars on August 5th. The humans who sent it there knew it landed at 10:31pm Pacific time, which was about 14 minutes after it actually did. I was one of the about 600 people who came that evening to the <a href="http://www.museumofflight.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Museum of Flight</a> in Boeing Field, Seattle WA, to congregate with fellow space enthusiasts, hear about the landing challenges from people who made it possible and share the excitement and anticipation of the unfolding crazy-complex landing full of firsts.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The Museum of Flight is a great place to visit for kids aged 3 to 103 unless you are plane-averse. It is chock-full of planes including icons such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blackbird</a> and one of the 20 (<a href="http://www.daftlogic.com/information-locations-of-concorde-planes.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">19 in existence</a>) Concorde supersonic passenger jets ever built. It even has a spot for a space shuttle that it will not get (the 3.5 shuttles are going <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/shuttle_station/features/shuttle_map.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>). On the evening of August 5 2012 it was the gathering spot for the Pacific Northwest around what was going to be either an amazing accomplishment of human engineering ingenuity and a scientific tool to get us closer to realizing whether there could be / was life on Mars, or the biggest and most expensive hunk of metal ever to rest on the surface of another planet that was elaborately sent there by mankind. Either way, the <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/details.cfm?id=5918#8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mars Science Laboratory</a>, also known as Curiosity, was to end its 9-month journey from Earth to Mars one way or another.<br />
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When I got to the museum a little after 7:30pm (3 hours before the landing), the <a href="http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/allen.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William M. Allen</a> theater at the museum was almost packed. I found a spot close to the back, next to Erika, a financial analyst at Boeing and her husband. We listened to an impressive line of people from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (<a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JPL</a>, who made the rover), <a href="http://www.aerojet.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aerojet</a> (who made rocket motors for the landing) and <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Planetary Resources</a> (of which Chris Voorhees, VP of Spacecraft Development, was a pivotal member of the MSL project) talk about the hardware, software and innovation. Over a decade of design, planning, building, launching and anticipation led to these last few hours and even more so to these last 7 minutes. The crowd at the museum continued to grow and spilled over to other rooms where they could watch what was happening at the theater on screens. At different points in time the distance of MSL to Mars was announced, and the contagious excitement in the room grew with every number - 20,000 miles, 18,000, and so on. 20,000 miles is a big distance, but relative to the entire voyage of about 354 million miles it is comparable to the last 29 feet in a 100 mile drive.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A_-7Ws07U44/UDXMa9kAi9I/AAAAAAAAAoM/tEemwM4wAVw/s1600/2012-08-05+22.03.38_p25+NASA+peanuts+MSL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A_-7Ws07U44/UDXMa9kAi9I/AAAAAAAAAoM/tEemwM4wAVw/s200/2012-08-05+22.03.38_p25+NASA+peanuts+MSL.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official NASA peanuts</td></tr>
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About 7 minutes before MSL started flirting with the thin Mars atmosphere (or 21 minutes before we could know about it through its transmissions) the audience was given peanuts. No, there was no waiver to sign at the door and I didn't see anyone rush out due to being allergic (reverse correlation between space enthusiasm and peanut allergies? someone needs to look into that...). Eating peanuts is a NASA (and JPL specifically) superstition - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory#Peanuts_tradition" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the story goes that after a few failures in the 1960s missions accompanied by peanut consumption started becoming successful</a>. I ate the peanuts and so did everyone around me. Hey, I did my share for the success of this mission, plus I also like peanuts.<br />
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A few minutes later, Curiosity appeared as a computer rendering on the large screen in a simulation that was being fed by data relayed back from almost 14 light-minutes away (about 250 million kilometers or 150 million miles away). For us on Earth, it was the beginning of what has become to be known the "7 minutes of terror". All the while, for Curiosity, the 7 minutes of terror actually ended 7 minutes ago and there was nothing anyone on Earth could do to help in case something was to go wrong. You can watch the captivating NASA video below...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ki_Af_o9Q9s?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br />
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As we sat there, each of the many complicated, risky, autonomous steps to land Curiosity safely on the surface of Mars, a process that was about to be tested as a whole for the first time, was unfolding. Hitting the atmosphere at the right spot, slowing down, dropping the heat shield, opening the supersonic parachute, slowing down more, ditching the parachute, starting the rocket engines of the sky-crane, going sideways to avoid hitting the parachute, lowering the rover on wires to avoid raising too much dust, touch-down, sending the sky-crane away to avoid slamming onto the rover, confirming landing position, and finally getting the first pictures from the surface. Each of these milestones in close succession of each other were accompanied by clapping and cheering, with a standing ovation of great relief and joy when the landing sequence was complete. It took a few seconds to sink in, and I mean this with the utmost respect for NASA engineers and every contractor and country who contributed to this mission - this <i>actually </i>worked...<br />
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Immediately after the landing people started pouring out. A few dozen people hung around for a while longer. For me it was an <i>opportunity</i> to absorb some of the <i>spirit</i> and excitement in the room, others were waiting for the joyous press conference which followed (I ended up listening to most of it on my iPhone while driving home, streaming NASA TV).<br />
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Here's a video of the final moments of the landing I took with my camera. It conveys but a small fraction of the buzz in the room...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OA3f3GNNcDA" width="640"></iframe><br />
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Now, with the best proxy of human curiosity to date on Mars, as appropriate for this day and age, you can follow Curiosity on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MarsCuriosity@</a>), <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MarsCuriosity" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or on the <a href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mission website</a>. Did Mars once harbor life? Does it now? Will it be able to in the future? These are all questions that robots may be the ones to answer or at least get closer to answering until launch is cheaper and humans are more resilient to the rigors of deep space.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0The Museum of Flight, Seattle WA47.5184046 -122.295812947.5076811 -122.3155539 47.529128099999994 -122.2760719tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-5541371321329029802012-07-30T22:16:00.000-07:002012-07-31T12:17:03.581-07:00Launching West - Israeli Space<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_w1dP43J6SU/UBWEIq_NiDI/AAAAAAAAAnY/BAGV_eoocDI/s1600/2012-07-26+20.17.54_p25+Prof+Ehud+Bechar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_w1dP43J6SU/UBWEIq_NiDI/AAAAAAAAAnY/BAGV_eoocDI/s320/2012-07-26+20.17.54_p25+Prof+Ehud+Bechar.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prof. Ehud Behar (left) and me after his talk, 26 July 2012</td></tr>
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The Washington Israel Business Council (<a href="http://www.wa-israel.biz/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WIBC</a>) and American Technion Society (<a href="http://www.ats.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ATS</a>) organized an evening on July 26 consisting of a light dinner and presentation by Prof. Ehud Behar, Director of the Asher Space Research Institute (<a href="http://asri.technion.ac.il/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ASRI</a>) at the <a href="http://www.technion.ac.il/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Technion</a> university in Haifa, Israel. The event took place at the closest place to space in Seattle, the Columbia tower, on the seventy-fourth floor. Prof. Behar talked about space research in Israel in the past and present.<br />
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This was Prof. Behar's last appearance in a two-week tour of the US. He is an eloquent speaker posessing the landmark Israeli accent that I share as well. Fluent in English, he kept his audience of about seventy engaged, weaving trade humor into his talk.<br /><br/>
<a name='more'></a>For example, Israel launches its satellites west, contrary to any other of the few launching nations. Why is that? As Prof. Behar stated, some say it is for the same reason we write from right to left instead of like most others... Joking aside, the special geo-political environment Israel is in effectively dictates launching west, which is akin to swimming up-stream in a river or running against the wind. Instead of getting a 'push' from Earth rotation, the rocket has to fight against it in order to reach the velocity around Earth necessary to maintain orbit rather than fall back down.<br />
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In his talk Prof. Behar talked about <a href="http://asri.technion.ac.il/samson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SAMSON</a>, a project to be launched in 2015, where a cluster of satellites will follow a designated leader and work in cooperation, a setup useful for creation of a distributed space telescope, for example. He also discussed a space telescope project which will be launched in a folded state in order to fit the Israeli <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shavit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shavit</a> launcher and then unfold in orbit (the NASA James Webb Space Telescope (<a href="http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JWST</a>) will also use this technique to spread its solar wings and mirror when it gets to L2, the always-in-the-dark <a href="http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMM17XJD1E_index_0.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lagrange point</a>).<br />
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During the Q&A session that followed, Prof. Behar answered questions varying from space mining, where he is a proponent of robotics and believes it is more likely such missions will be carried by robots than by humans, to the public use of space, where data accumulated from instruments like Hubble is publicly available to anyone for conducting their own analysis and drawing their own conclusions. Furthermore, organizations and universities may get a lease on space assets and even get grants for doing so in order to benefit humanity as a whole and not just the launching or owning nation of space assets like the Hubble space telescope or its more instrument-laden bigger brother that will be launched , JWST (scheduled to launch in October 2018 at the time of writing this).<br />
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Another topic that came up was education. When asked about the state of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education in Israel Prof. Behar said Israel is not much different than other first world countries. Less students get STEM degrees and become the next generation of scientists and technologists. It reminded me how at both my previous job at Amazon and current one at Microsoft, there are many more foreigners (myself included) than one would expect considering a <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">8.2% unemployment rate</a> - at Amazon, US-born employees on the engineering side are a small minority, and the company relocates engineers from all over the world, including Israel and Australia. To help change that, the Technion established the <a href="http://www.noar.technion.ac.il/newsite/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227&Itemid=196/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SciTech</a> program aimed at engaging 11th and 12th grade high-school students to participate in research for three or four weeks during summer vacation at one of the research facilities the Technion has to offer.<br />
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When asked about spin-offs from Technion space research, Prof. Behar responded with an anecdote. He talked about how Roentgen didn't anticipate the uses of the mysterious X-rays he discovered, and how not knowing what will come out of a research is one of the elements that describe it, citing that there is no such thing as applied research. You research what you don't understand and at that point you can't apply it. Once you understand it you can apply it but then it's not interesting to research anymore...<br /><br/>
Lastly, the topic of the first Israeli university satellite was brought up. My friend Roei Ganzarski was the head of PR for this mission and traveled with a delegation to Russia to see the launch. It was 1995, shortly after the fall of the iron curtain, and was the first launch of a satellite on a converted Russian ballistic missile. The launch was the result of a connection made between Russian scientists at the Technion in Israel and in the USSR which was opening up and working on rebranding itself. That first launch failed, regretfully, due to a failure of the fifth stage of the rocket, which was meant to take the payload to orbit, and the satellite was lost in the crash. A rebuilt satellite was launched later on successfully. You can read more about it on the ASRI website <a href="http://asri.technion.ac.il/techsat/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br/><br/>
I enjoyed this evening very much. Getting a glimpse of Israeli space research was enjoyable and enlightening as was the connection between the city I grew up in, the university I attended and where I currently live and work.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com1Columbia tower, Seattle47.6048168 -122.33056847.6041478 -122.331802 47.605485800000004 -122.329334tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-13515459387378156472012-06-17T23:59:00.000-07:002012-06-18T00:01:07.159-07:00Space Shuttle, Mercury and Paper AirplanesToday is Father's Day, at least in the United States. It's a day of appreciating one's father, and in our family it is one of two days every year when I get to have breakfast in bed. It is a day of reflection about my relationship with my kids and as pertaining to this blog, pondering whether my interest in space rubs off on them.<br />
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In 2010 we bought our kids a special calendar, where every day can be folded and/or cut into a different paper airplane. They were nine years old and it seemed like something they would take on and enjoy. They did (for a short time, at least) and then the calendar got "stuck" in some date fairly close to the beginning of the year.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>A few months ago my kids dug up the calendar and found a date that they thought would appeal to me, April 26. They brought the square piece of paper to me knowing I would get a kick out of it. I has a rather fat hugely inaccurate drawing of a space shuttle and a designation of Mercury, supposedly the type of paper airplane that would be the result of cutting and folding.<br />
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I got curious whether the choice of the calendar makers was intentional or not, so I looked at April 26 as a space date and April as a space month in regards to <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/program-toc.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Project Mercury</a> and the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Space Shuttle</a>. Project Mercury had two unmanned tests on April 25 and April 28 1961 (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/MA-3.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MA-3</a> and <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/LJ-5B.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LJ-5B</a> respectively), no real significance there. However, April was a pretty prolific month for the space shuttle. In addition to the inaugural <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbiterscol.html" target="_blank">Columbia</a> flight on April 12 1981 (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">STS-1</a>, 20 years after <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2011/04/yuri-gagarin-legend-in-1961-dead-in.html" target="_blank">Yuri Gagarin</a> became the first man in space and first man to orbit the Earth), 14 other space shuttle missions launched in April (15 total), second only to November, when 16 times space shuttles have cleared the tower in a blazing fiery roar. All other months have seen only up to 12 launches, some as low as 8. There were a few launches within days of April 26, with only one hitting the exact date - <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-55.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">STS-55</a> in 1993, when Columbia hosted 7 astronauts for almost 10 days, achieving such feats as the first intravenous line in space and a total of 88 experiments ranging from materials and life sciences to Earth observations and robotics. <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbitersdis.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discovery</a> was in space on April 26 1990 (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-31.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">STS-31</a>), Columbia was in space on that date in 1998 for a second time (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-90.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">STS-90</a>) and <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbitersend.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Endeavour</a> in 2001 (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-100.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">STS-100</a>).<br />
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I can't be sure that the choice of April 26 2010 as the date for a space-shuttle-inspired paper airplane was intentional. I definitely enjoyed my kids bringing this small slice of space enthusiasm to me. Here it is, so you can print it, cut it and build your own. Better yet, do it with your father or children. Happy Father's Day!<br />
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<br />Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0Issaquah, WA, USA47.5301011 -122.032619147.487216100000005 -122.1115831 47.5729861 -121.9536551tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-78200638459627358352012-06-10T10:35:00.000-07:002012-06-10T16:13:00.066-07:00My NASTAR Experience - Ground Training for Space Launch<a href="http://www.nastarcenter.com/" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4b4iIJbJCHU/T9TI6sH0qqI/AAAAAAAAAkk/9aKyCoM52cY/s1600/NASTAR+Patch+200x200.png" /></a>One week in March I got to live a bit of my space aspiration. No, I didn't go to space (I continued to ride spaceship Earth). What I did was to go through two segments of commercial astronaut training. After <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/04/nauseating-education-or-educational.html" target="_blank">AGSOL</a> near Boston it was time for <a href="http://www.nastarcenter.com/" target="_blank">NASTAR</a> near Philadelphia. Over three days I went up to a simulated 25,000ft altitude in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypobaric_chamber" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hypobaric chamber</a> and went on simulated flights that exposed me to real 3.5Gz, 6Gx and most exciting of all, a virtual ride on SpaceShipTwo.<br />
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NASTAR is a place that trains many types of people, from fighter jet pilots to aspiring astronauts and space tourists. Over the past five years, after being spun-off of a manufacturing facility for centrifuges, altitude chambers and simulators, it formed several training programs around suborbital flight. The one I went through with seven other men and women was Suborbital Scientist Training, meant for people who will not only go to space as tourists, but will actually need to function in the few minutes of weightlessness rather than just admire the view. My plan B is to win the lottery...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Gear</h4>
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In contrast to AGSOL's no-fanfare frugal academic lab-in-a-basement, NASTAR's simulation equipment is matched with presentation. The classroom and binders are tasteful and provide a good learning experience, and the flight suit everyone got, bearing the NASTAR patch and the US flag (which I replaced with the Israeli one) had a cool geeky factor that added a level of reality to everything we did. I also proudly wore the <a href="http://www.astronauts4hire.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Astronauts4Hire</a> patch.</div>
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Lastly, I had my <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2009/12/dream-catcher.html" target="_blank">Garmin watch</a> to measure my heart rate during the centrifuge flights and I brought something I borrowed from my kids to use during the final one, but more on that later...</div>
<h4>
Day 1 - High Altitude</h4>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J92kyFrKSWI/T9TSYvavbLI/AAAAAAAAAlA/ttYJo8zKqyc/s1600/2012+03+14+NASTAR+Altitude+Physiology+Training17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J92kyFrKSWI/T9TSYvavbLI/AAAAAAAAAlA/ttYJo8zKqyc/s320/2012+03+14+NASTAR+Altitude+Physiology+Training17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the altitude chamber (credit: NASTAR)</td></tr>
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The first day at NASTAR can best be described as stationary. Like all good things, centrifuges come to those who wait and go through high altitude training first. After half a day of class time, learning about the physiological effects of high altitude on the human body, we got fitted with masks and went into the hypobaric chamber (aka <a href="http://www.nastarcenter.com/wp-content/media/product/pdf/all_brochures/ALTITUDECHAMBER.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">altitude chamber</a>). No, it was nothing like the one Michael Jackson allegedly used. It looks like a big container with room for up to twenty people and can run multiple low-pressure related profiles, from gradual ascent and descent to rapid decompression.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3R1goaJcnwU/T9TPVwQX4qI/AAAAAAAAAkw/_muhBPdwsZk/s1600/2012+03+14+NASTAR+DSC_9826_pc_1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3R1goaJcnwU/T9TPVwQX4qI/AAAAAAAAAkw/_muhBPdwsZk/s200/2012+03+14+NASTAR+DSC_9826_pc_1200.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting to get virtually high</td></tr>
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For thirty minutes we breathed pure oxygen and went up (or rather sat in the room while air was being sucked out) to 8,000 and then 25,000ft, when we were instructed to remove our masks and solve a simple worksheet. People have different manifestations of hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, such as tingling, nausea, apprehension and fatigue to name a few. While different from person to person, the symptoms usually remain the same from one exposure to the next. In the lottery of hypoxia I raffled euphoria. In what just felt as a pretty sudden onset of enjoyment and happiness, I felt on cloud nine (well, it <i>was</i> simulated high altitude...). As fun as it may sound, it is very important to realize one's symptoms. In case of needing to function in a sudden low-oxygen environment, knowing what to expect is a big step towards functioning and ultimately saving lives. My unexplained happiness of driving up mountains with my family suddenly made sense...<br />
<h4>
The Centrifuge</h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bf0b-09hhaA/T9TU86hE_PI/AAAAAAAAAlM/3adHyUGZoAQ/s1600/2012+03+16+NASTAR+DSC_0077_p_1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bf0b-09hhaA/T9TU86hE_PI/AAAAAAAAAlM/3adHyUGZoAQ/s320/2012+03+16+NASTAR+DSC_0077_p_1800.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The NASTAR centrifuge with people for scale.<br />
You sit in the capsule on the right.</td></tr>
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Ahhh... The <a href="http://www.nastarcenter.com/wp-content/media/product/pdf/all_brochures/PHOENIX.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">centrifuge</a>... This magical device I didn't want to get out of, bolted to lots of concrete, can turn quickly and induce all kinds of fun... or in more technical terms, the NASTAR STS-400 Phoenix sustained-G centrifuge is one of about 18 in the world that simulate a plethora of flight situations and forces. It can operate in an open loop (i.e. the subject sits in chair and gets exposed to a flight profile without controlling it) or closed loop (the subject becomes an operator of a simulated aircraft and can even fight someone else across the globe in another centrifuge. Take that force feedback PlayStation3 controllers...). In short, when sitting in the centrifuge one doesn't really go anywhere (except for in circles), but the G-forces are practically the same ones that would otherwise be induced in a jet fighter plane or spaceflight, depending on the programmed profile. Alas, one thing even the mighty centrifuge cannot simulate is zero-gravity. For that, you have to go to space or at least go on a parabolic flight.</div>
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<h4>
Day 2 - Hello, Gs</h4>
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The second day at NASTAR was a preparation day to the final day, a day to learn techniques to handle sustained G forces one doesn't experience on Earth (not even on roller coasters) so that we don't miss any of the fun by losing consciousness (<a href="http://aeromedical.org/Articles/g-loc.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">G-LOC</a>) when we fly a full suborbital flight profile. The purpose of the 2 "flights" on day 2 was to train us with techniques to counteract +Gz (downward) and +Gx (front to back) forces and identify signs that would lead to loss of consciousness. As someone who usually lives in about 1G the sensations were great and I'm happy to report the countermeasures work fine. For the +3.7Gz profile, knowing that after partial loss of vision usually comes G-LOC and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMjjGgRLG8k" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"the chicken dance"</a> gives you the necessary motivation to do what you're told to avoid it. The +6Gx profile does not make you faint, however it makes you heavy. For 20 seconds I weighed over 1,000 lbs (almost half a metric ton!), but then I shed the extra 900 lbs at the same speed I gained them. Fastest diet ever. Doing air push-ups (moving the arms like during push-ups) feels like holding some pretty heavy dumb-bells.</div>
<h4>
Day 3 - One Giant Leap...</h4>
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On day 3 we went through an exercise in performing an experiment while simulated passengers make us want to throw them out the air-lock (lucky for them there is none in currently built suborbital spacecraft), an important simulation that may take place in reality in a few years, when paying customers may ride with people performing micro-gravity experiments.</div>
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The most anticipated on that day was the simulated SpaceShipTwo flight profile. It is the closest thing possible to the real thing and combines audio, video and of course G forces. At the "zero gravity" part, when the "rocket engine" turned off, I pulled out what I borrowed from my kids - a Lego astronaut. While holding it in my hands I said something I prepared the night before. Corny, maybe, but it embodied my feelings and sense of accomplishment. Yes, I paraphrased some other guy 43 years ago, and yes, I actually didn't leave Earth gravity or even sea-level, but the sensation was real. The G forces were real. The feeling was real.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RIueZpQOZ7w?rel=0" width="640"></iframe>
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<h4>
Epilogue</h4>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5vFGeSJ9ZYo/T9TXr3xnRyI/AAAAAAAAAlY/XRpkOj9kt4c/s1600/2012+03+14+NASTAR+DSC_9778_p_1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5vFGeSJ9ZYo/T9TXr3xnRyI/AAAAAAAAAlY/XRpkOj9kt4c/s320/2012+03+14+NASTAR+DSC_9778_p_1800.jpg" width="320" /></a>Nicely tying the two very different experiences that spring week in March on the east coast was a picture of Ashton Graybiel that hangs at NASTAR, alongside others under the heading "Giants of the SD World" (SD = Situational Disorientation). It was interesting to see past tied with future. Sure, we didn't land on Mars in the 1980s like Von Braun pushed for, but space, in its own peculiar way, is getting closer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgwKwhJSX8o/T9TRDCkK-GI/AAAAAAAAAk4/1uEBRadww0g/s1600/2012+03+16+NASTAR+DSC_0088_c_1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgwKwhJSX8o/T9TRDCkK-GI/AAAAAAAAAk4/1uEBRadww0g/s200/2012+03+16+NASTAR+DSC_0088_c_1800.jpg" width="147" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After graduation.<br />
Note the NASTAR wings and Israeli flag</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This was an amazing week. For this week I was an astronaut in training. I experienced physiological phenomena I haven't experienced before, at least not in this magnitude and focus. I inched towards my space aspirations. I was with other people, who even though come from very different backgrounds compared to the people I work with every day, felt closer to me based on their common interest in space. For a brief week I got a tiny glimpse of going to space, and with it an affirmation of my spacepirations...</div>Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0125 James Way, Southampton, PA 18966, USA40.1647594 -75.05419640.1632424 -75.0566635 40.1662764 -75.05172850000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-60361685518786307632012-04-08T21:48:00.000-07:002012-04-09T09:25:31.032-07:00Nauseating Education - or - Educational Nausea<a href="http://www.graybiel.brandeis.edu/" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span id="goog_68616296"></span><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p3Bz7-WZwYU/T4HGTBvV_5I/AAAAAAAAAjI/A0DrRlhfAaY/s1600/AGSOL+Patch+200x200.png" /><span id="goog_68616297"></span></a><span id="goog_68616287"></span><span id="goog_68616288"></span>The place - <a href="http://www.graybiel.brandeis.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AGSOL</a> - Ashton Graybiel Situational Orientation Lab, at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. A group of adults in a basement have been creating rides for decades. What kind of rides? Think amusement park rides without color or sugar coating. Without sun-light or food stands. In this twilight zone several experts research ways to measure, adapt-to and maybe some day avoid this set of phenomena named motion sickness and spatial disorientation.<br />
<br />
The time - Monday, March 12th 2012 at 9:30am. Paul McCall, a fellow <a href="http://www.astronauts4hire.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Astronauts4Hire</a> member and I were the second and third people to go through a new 1.5-day protocol designed to give a person wishing to become a commercial astronaut awareness through exposure to motion sickness, spatial illusions and disorientation. The experience can be described as nauseating education, or more aptly, educational nausea.
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<br />
<a name='more'></a>To remove any doubt, I should say right now I am writing these words with great appreciation acknowledging the necessity of this training. This was a revealing experience that would benefit anyone who intends to find himself or herself in a cockpit of a plane, flying on micro-gravity flights or on a spacecraft, and even for other parts of the population, for example those who go on road-trips and tend to get car-sick, those who feel uncomfortable on airplanes and those who go on boats or ships. Obviously, not everyone goes on vacation to a place they will purposefully get dizzy and motion-sick. However, the resulting knowledge of oneself sensitivity, adaptation and decay are useful for anyone except the few lucky bastards who are not susceptible to motion sickness.
<br />
<br />
<b>Day One - Stationary Education and Motion Sickness</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OsY_HFTuGag/T4HHQglBgCI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/KchonMw4PL0/s1600/DSC_9540_p25+AGSOL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OsY_HFTuGag/T4HHQglBgCI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/KchonMw4PL0/s320/DSC_9540_p25+AGSOL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Multi-Axis Tilt Device. What's Up? Not so sure...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We started our training with stationary education, going over the <a href="http://www.unmc.edu/physiology/Mann/mann9.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">vestibular system</a> and the theory behind what we were about to go through. After that it was time for action and motion. First we were each strapped to the <a href="http://www.graybiel.brandeis.edu/facilities/facilities.html#MAT" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Multi-Axis Tilt Device</a>, which turned us while blind-folded, to show how easy it is to fool the trivial sense of 'up'. It also provided indication to our susceptibility to motion sickness and our individual symptoms that are the onset of motion sickness. In my case, I could feel my stomach, became a little pale and started getting warm and sweating before full onset of nausea after several rounds of two-axis rotation while blind for a few seconds, then stopping and pointing where I thought or felt that up was. Interestingly, in my case symptoms kept piling up even after the motion (or provocation) was removed.
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<br />
We then had lunch (which is good to have when you're feeling nauseated - yes, I didn't know that either...), and went into the <a href="http://www.graybiel.brandeis.edu/facilities/facilities.html#Optokinetic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Optokinetic Drum</a>, also known as the Vection Chamber. It is a small round chamber with striped walls that can turn, a floor that can turn and also a bar to hold that can turn as well, all of which are independently controlled from the outside. The simplest illusion it provides is that of motion while stationary (vection), similar to the one of sitting in a stationary train with the train next to it moving. In this case the illusion lasts longer and can be influenced by speed of the floor, walls and holding bar. There are other illusions that some people see such as lengthening of the legs. Even when the operator describes exactly what's moving and what's not the illusion persists and the rationale has a very hard time taking over perception known to be incorrect.
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<br />
To better explain the disorienting inversion illusion that may happen in micro-gravity flights or space we wore prism goggles and walked down a corridor. After the first two devices this was even more disorienting. Instinctive stabilization corrections, normally trivial and without error, became difficult as my eyes were providing data that was contrary to the vestibular system. Touching the wall at the lab while walking next to it helped.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--E5uPJ9sh7Q/T4HK-NNuHXI/AAAAAAAAAjc/JvQzdU4BH6Q/s1600/DSC_9577_pc33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--E5uPJ9sh7Q/T4HK-NNuHXI/AAAAAAAAAjc/JvQzdU4BH6Q/s320/DSC_9577_pc33.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing "straight" in the rotating room (10rpm)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last device we went on was the <a href="http://www.graybiel.brandeis.edu/facilities/facilities.html#SRR" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">rotating room</a>. It is a 22-foot diameter round room where we were together with researchers, both to see some demonstrations and to experience illusions and Coriolis Cross Coupling effects. The room rotated at 10 rpm (a full turn every 6 seconds). At that relatively low speed, the combined force vector is about 18 degrees from the normal vertical. Any head movement induces the feeling of the room shaking like a boat at high seas. A head pitch movement (looking down) causes a feeling of the room turning vertically and is very provocative (aka nauseating). While the room was turning, we did several exercises that demonstrate Coriolis forces and body adaptation. For example, the simple task of reaching with one's finger and pressing a button initially results with an error of about three inches, but the error is counteracted very quickly and implicitly, as by the second reach the movement is flawless. Walking is a different story as it requires adaptation of the vestibular system, a much harder feat to accomplish. Instinctive stabilization corrections which would normally work fine are a disaster in the environment of the rotating room. Even walking up a small ramp while my back was against the wall was very hard and provocative.<br />
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The day concluded with another go at the Multi-Axis Tilt Device, this time a different exercise - pitch backward slowly until I said I reached a horizontal position. Then continue until upside down. Then back, going through vertical and horizontal positions. Or at least I thought I knew when I was in these positions. Even though gravity was there to help me and movement was slow and single-directional, without visuals errors were big. My body and its sensors were fooled once eyesight was not there to help.<br />
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<b>Day Two - Residual Effects and Demonstrations</b><br />
The next day I felt as if I had a stomach flu in the morning. It felt as if when I got up or sat down my head sensation lagged after the actual motion. The reaction of the experienced researchers at the lab was of familiarity - "Classic Symptoms". The short half-day was spent getting a demonstration how standing with one foot behind the other (less stable than normal standing position), even a very light touch of a surface with one finger provides more sensory data to the brain, which helps with the stabilization fine-tuning signals the brain sends to the leg and body muscles. In unfamiliar situations such as micro-gravity or hyper-gravity this kind of technique helps deal with illusions and instability. Paul also did a test to identify his decay factor. I did not go through that test as I was still sensitized from the previous day, which would have skewed the results and not help my situation.<br />
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<b>Practical Tips for Every-Day Life</b><br />
It doesn't matter whether you are planning a career behind a desk, an airplane yoke or a spacesuit visor. These are useful and you too may have some a-ha moments reading these...<br />
<ol>
<li>It's the transition, stupid! What provokes nausea is transitions between states. If the airplane, car, bus or roller-coaster would go at a constant speed in a straight line without potholes, bumps or air-currents you would never get motion-sick. Continuous turning means continuous transition.</li>
<li>Be careful of head pitch-movements. Tilting your head up or down while there's a transition in forces on you (during flight, riding a car, etc.) is the most provocative and nauseating thing you can do (Cross Coriolis Coupling Stimulation). Unless you are not susceptible, you'll get sick quick.</li>
<li>If you did tilt your head, no worries. Avoid making more movements and help your brain recuperate by supplying all the situational data you can - look outside if you can and stabilize yourself. Closing your eyes and moving your head between your hands while the car is driving on a hilly road is not a good idea.</li>
<li>Eat and drink well. Being well-nourished helps coping with nauseating situations. Being hypoglycemic and dehydrated doesn't help.</li>
<li>Feeling nauseated? Eat and drink. Eating and drinking when nauseated helps feeling better faster. Waiting for the nausea to go away first will just make it last longer.</li>
<li>Driving a car (or piloting a plane) will make you less motion-sick than riding it. Riding it looking outside will make you less sick than reading a book while riding it. The less situational sensory consistent data feeding the brain, the more you'll get sick.</li>
</ol>Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-54150024470075411902012-03-04T11:23:00.002-08:002012-03-04T11:24:15.176-08:00Playing with the Solar SystemOne of the more engaging games for the iPhone is <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scribblenauts-remix/id444844790?mt=8" target="_blank">Scribblenauts Remix</a>. What makes it interesting compared to the plethora of games for the platform (Angry Birds, anyone?) is that in order to solve each level one must ask for objects to be put in the game, which will help solve the presented problem. The variety of options is huge. You can ask for nearly anything - materials, buildings, animals, other people, clothes and even wings. Items can be held by your scribblenaut, vehicles can be used to move around and animals can be mounted or engaged in combat.<br />
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A cool part that's actually outside of the actual game play is the start screen, where you can add anything you want to try things out. I decided to try and add a space shuttle. It magically appeared on the screen, hurray! I had my scribblenaut character climb on board. It operates more like a Star-Trek shuttle and doesn't need rockets to move around even at ground level - how convenient is that... I then added our sun (easily hanging it in the sky) and the nine planets (we still love you, Pluto!).<br />
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The result is below, I hope you get a chuckle and try the game as well. The possibilities are very close to endless...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scribblenauts-remix/id444844790?mt=8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RnZUmlMqS6U/T1O-dyBJ0rI/AAAAAAAAAho/r89zTZ3Lf7A/s1600/ScribblenautsRemixSolarSystem.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Space Shuttle and Solar System - the Scribblenaut Remix version</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-74685758618543034052012-02-20T21:16:00.000-08:002012-02-20T21:16:28.583-08:00John Glenn 50th Anniversary Angry Mob<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1upqkUbh0Zw/T0MmjHgdqHI/AAAAAAAAAg4/yLx1HgEbw8g/s1600/2012+02+20+John+Glenn+Angry+Mob.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" /></div>
Don't tell me you're not pissed. I mean, WT*? 50 years ago John Glenn went to space and I can't do it yet? Oh, wait. No one can do it from US soil at the moment, there's progress for you, damn right!<br />
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Really? What happened to all the dreams of being able to exercise my right to throwing my shoe at the TV at 0 gravity? What happened to all the O'Neil Colonies and sh*t? Yes, I watch PBS, I'm not stupid!<br />
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But tell me one, thing, really. Where did all the money go? They are hiding gold bars on the International Space Stashion. And that's not a typo. Why else would they build this pile of cans that look like a cheap knock-off Lego set that can't go anywhere or create gravity or purify everyone's pee? You know what, even if they PAID me I wouldn't go. They don't ever BBQ there. To light a rocket under you is fine, but have some good steak, that's too much. 100 billion dollars and no patio. I want some answers, darn-it!<br />
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I mean, geez, where's Spock? WHERE'S SPOCK?!?<br />
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Anyway, did you all see Apollo 18 and that Transformers movie? One of them is lying, they can't both be telling the truth. And they both cover up what really happened. But I can't tell you because I'd have to kill you. That's right. Newsflash - the aliens are here. Just look at my mother in law.<br />
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And what about all those internet billionaires making rockets? Don't they have better stuff to do with their money, like hire lawyers or buy some bling or solve some real space problem other than whose (rocket) is bigger? I mean, do something useful like develop cars that run on compost or something...<br />
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At any rate, if you see Buzz tell him both me and my kid are pissed at him too. For $39.99 it should have been real laser.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-76381193903292448542012-01-18T21:53:00.000-08:002012-01-18T21:53:37.808-08:00Amazon Leadership Principles for Space - Customer ObsessionIn the first post about the <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/01/amazon-leadership-principles-for-space.html" target="_blank">Amazon Leadership Principles for space</a> I listed the principles and stated their importance in the life of an Amazonian. In this post we'll look at Customer Obsession.<br />
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<b>1. Customer Obsession</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.</blockquote>
<div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>There are several kinds of customers of the space industry, from governments to companies who rely on yet other companies for parts. The ultimate customers, at least for human spaceflight, are the people riding spacecrafts. These customers so far have been tough men and women who were riding experimental spacecraft and were willing to take the rigor and risk of doing so. Since 2001, people with somewhat less "right stuff" (but a lot of money) also flew on the Soyuz as space tourists (the first being <a href="http://www.space.com/11492-space-tourism-pioneer-dennis-tito.html" target="_blank">Dennis Tito</a>), and in a few years (about 2 years away <a href="http://scaled.com/projects/tierone/spaceshipone_flies_again_within_14_days_-_wins_10m_x_prize" target="_blank">since 2004</a>) many more with even less right stuff (and somewhat less money) will also be able to go, albeit on shorter suborbital flights, at least initially (<a href="http://www.virgingalactic.com/" target="_blank">Virgin Galactic</a>, we're all waiting for your powered test flights!).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Unlike with Amazon products and services, which are pretty safe to use, that is not the case with manned spacecraft (getting the wrong product shipped or a Kindle malfunction can be annoying but won't kill you). Customer Obsession when your customer is an astronaut, space tourist or researcher revolves first and foremost around safety, the simple yet costly concept of not hurting (or killing) your customer. Humans, as much as they are comfortable in Earth gravity and atmosphere, need special considerations when sent to space, from adjusting a rocket flight profile to avoid tearing the rider apart during launch due to excessive G forces to taking oxygen on the ride to heat shielding to avoid cooking the human passenger; and of course also tools and controls for the capsule, shuttle or space station.</div>
<div>
<br />
So how did the space industry so far do here? I'd say pretty good, for a test flight program. Cost is prohibitive, no mass production or any meaningful percentage of customer adoption, and for the most part, it is not much fun (if you remove the fact that you're going to frickin' space, obviously).<br />
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Why do I call it a test flight program? For a crude comparison, let's look at the Boeing 787, in many ways the first really new airplane in decades (read about it on the <a href="http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787family/index.html" target="_blank">Boeing website</a>). That's important as it is not yet a massively produced airplane and it uses technologies and materials not used in that scale in the past, similarly to new spacecraft. The first plane, pre-ordered by <a href="http://www.ana.co.jp/eng/aboutana/corporate/info/index_sm.html" target="_blank">All Nippon Airways</a>, went through <a href="http://787flighttest.com/" target="_blank">518 test flights</a> amounting to over 1,300 hours of flight. Compare that to the space shuttle, whose first integrated test flight had astronauts in it. The most flown shuttle, Atlantis, flew 33 times, each firing the shuttle engines for 8:30 minutes, i.e. less than 5 hours total of engine flight. The accident rate of the space shuttle was 2 in 135 flights, a statistical reliability of 98.52%. Such a reliability record would have taken down the first 787 a long time ago.<br />
<br />
Space is about to become the location of airlines such as Virgin Galactic. How many test flights will they have before a true paying customer goes on one? How much Customer Obsession will the new spaceliners and spacecraft makers exhibit?</div>Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-15720105038278034852012-01-10T21:23:00.000-08:002012-01-18T21:55:29.251-08:00Amazon Leadership Principles... for Space<img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-on0rOmyl18Y/Tw0b1N-ywdI/AAAAAAAAAgk/jy5Mv3Ihxmc/s1600/Amazon-Helmet.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" />For the past year I have been working for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, a company that needs little introduction (at least in the United States), whose charismatic founder and CEO, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos" target="_blank">Jeff Bezos</a>, also has a less known space company, <a href="http://www.blueorigin.com/" target="_blank">Blue Origin</a>. Embedded in the company DNA, Amazon Leadership Principles are more than company values. They are a language, the terminology used to describe and understand accomplishments and failures in the company, the filter through which the performance of employees is reviewed by their managers and peers every year and throughout the year. These are the ten commandments (Amazon had to do better, so there are fourteen...), embodying the rise and fall of operating at Amazon.
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<a name='more'></a>The Leadership Principles, as copied from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Values-Careers-Homepage/b?ie=UTF8&node=239365011" target="_blank">here</a> are:<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2012/01/amazon-leadership-principles-for-space_18.html" target="_blank">Customer Obsession</a></li>
<li>Ownership</li>
<li>Invent and Simplify</li>
<li>Are Right, A Lot</li>
<li>Hire and Develop the Best</li>
<li>Insist on the Highest Standards</li>
<li>Think Big</li>
<li>Bias for Action</li>
<li>Frugality</li>
<li>Vocally Self Critical</li>
<li>Earn Trust of Others</li>
<li>Dive Deep</li>
<li>Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit</li>
<li>Deliver Results</li>
</ol>
An important aspect of these principles is that they work well together, like a well oiled 14-cylinder engine. A big deficiency in some of them will lead to worsening of the end result and over tasking the others. Be too vocally self critical and you may lose your bias for action for lack of confidence. Trying to earn trust of others by accepting every task and you'll find yourself not delivering good results and not being able to insist on the highest standards due to over tasking yourself, and so on.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
To connect between my day-job and my space aspirations, I've decided to inspect the space industry wearing the Amazon Leadership Principles glasses and trying to make suggestions from the point of view of a development manager at Amazon. In an upcoming series of posts I will look at each of the leadership principles and at the space industry from that context.<br />
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I hope you will join me on this journey and participate by commenting and adding examples related to each of the principles as you see them or have experienced them in the space industry, as space enthusiasts or space employees.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-38320319215261786082011-10-29T11:04:00.000-07:002011-11-26T09:58:48.990-08:00USA Today Special Issue Ads - a Glimpse of the Future<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zYEhGLroL6M/TtEoBSGIlDI/AAAAAAAAAgY/Kgfz8CozxUw/s1600/DSC_6347+USA+Today+End+of+an+Era.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zYEhGLroL6M/TtEoBSGIlDI/AAAAAAAAAgY/Kgfz8CozxUw/s200/DSC_6347+USA+Today+End+of+an+Era.jpg" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holding an "end of an era".<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: Yanir Govrin</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In July, USA Today published a special edition called <a href="http://onlinestore.usatoday.com/nasa-special-edition-p16006.aspx">"End of an Era"</a> commemorating and summarizing the space shuttle era. On the cover, Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129, seconds after lift-off. Inside, a plethora of articles about everything shuttle - the missions, the tragedies and the people. What really caught my eye were the ads in-between.
Unlike your regular USA Today which contains ads for anything, from anti-acne lotions to once-in-a-lifetime-opportunities to get previously forgotten gold coins, this issue is chock-full of space related ads.<br />
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Browsing through the magazine I found myself leaving behind our economical woes and the pause in U.S. human spaceflight and drifting into a future where there are too many spacecraft to count, where spaceflight is a frequent activity and where being a space tourist or researcher is as normal as being an engineer at a technology company.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
There are many ads for universities, taking different approaches to show their importance or involvement in space. Some have made instruments for various missions, others have astronaut alumni. All are still excited about space and will continue to teach new generations of space engineers, scientists and enthusiasts.<br />
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Many space-industry companies are represented in the ads, companies that the layperson would never know about such as <a href="http://www.comsol.com/">Comsol</a> - makers of multiphysics simulation software, <a href="http://www.visionresearch.com/">Vision Research</a> - makers of high speed cameras used in both space missions and sports and <a href="http://www.vacco.com/">Vacco</a> who make propulsion components. There is an entire pyramid of space industry that's largely invisible and out of sight when space is discussed on general media, where NASA (in the U.S. at least) is still seen as holding the on/off master switch of spaceflight.<br />
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The cover title, "End of an era" theme reverberates throughout the magazine. An article by Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan (three of the moon walkers) concludes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Kennedy launched America on that new ocean. For 50 years we explored the waters to become the leader in space exploration. Today, under the announced objectives, the voyage is over. John F. Kennedy would have been sorely disappointed.</blockquote>
While some articles discuss the future through topics such as space tourism, these almost seem like a fig leaf covering the self-shame of lack or end of "true" spaceflight to orbit and beyond. For me it is the ads which provide the real balance to the writers agenda and a glimpse of the future in this publication, a positive reminder for those of us outside of the space industry that it is not going anywhere. The road may look different and has some rocks added to it but there are plenty of Gs to be felt, by robots as well as people.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-19087213229149928792011-10-02T12:23:00.000-07:002011-11-26T10:03:29.750-08:00Honey, Don't Forget the Replicator!A little over a year ago I went camping with my family near Grand Lake, Colorado. We had everything we needed - tent, stove, air inflatable mattresses and rechargeable pump (we left the flat-screen TV at home, what more can you ask for?). On the second day we had a problem we didn't anticipate - the beautiful Colorado summer weather turned its face - a swift but fierce hail storm broke one of the fiberglass poles of our tent, more precisely the metal joint that puts them together. We found a repair kit in the nearest town, but needed pliers to get the broken piece off and put the new one from the repair kit on. Being on a paid-for campground (OK, I admit, we even had power and running water, not exactly the wilderness...) we conveniently borrowed one from a friendly neighbor. A short time later the tent was as good as new apart from <a href="http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/diner/diner16.html">Duct-tape</a> (look at the bottom of the page for another example of my Duct-tape mastery) replacing what was once a clear triangular skylight, heavily perforated by the hail storm.<br />
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What if instead of a campground I were somewhere in deep space and instead of Amnon Govrin my name was <a href="http://www.startrek.com/database_article/picard-jean-luc">Jean-Luc Piccard</a>? Then I'd be on the Starship Enterprise, of course, where a replicator could in seconds create nearly anything, from a cup of tea (cup included) or, in my case, pliers.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>But I digress. Back to 2011. In 2011 and the past few decades we've been circling the Earth, not dissimilar from my camping trip, where we're always at a realistic driving distance from the comforts of a Walmart, Costco or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_(spacecraft)">Progress</a>. In low-Earth-orbit astronauts are always at a short distance away for sending supplies (even if some of those fall into the sea like the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition28/p44_launch.html">last launch on August 24</a>). Of course, space agencies are also better prepared for missions and plan for contingencies more than the average camping family (to be fair, space missions cost a tad more, too). Deep-space missions will be a whole different endeavor. The inevitable next giant leap in human space exploration will be Mars, and that's only a nearby planet, not a different solar system, not even at the outer rim of ours.<br />
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In the year 2011 we don't have the Star Trek replicator, which can reconstruct items at their molecular level. We do have several devices that achieve similar feats, namely rearranging small generic particles into something else. You'd be surprised how much closer we are to such a magical device than some 24 years ago, when Piccard assertively announced "Tea, Earl-Grey, Hot!" for the first time.<br />
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A <a href="http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=923&source=hp&q=star%20trek%20replicator&pbx=1&oq=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=9441c9e3bb40875d&pf=p&pdl=500">Google search for "Star Trek Replicator"</a> will reveal quite a few articles on the subject, related developments and products. The <a href="http://www.zcorp.com/">ZCorp</a> <a href="http://zcorp.com/en/Products/3D-Printers/spage.aspx">ZPrinter</a> (one of the commercialized applications) is essentially an ink-jet printer, with paper replaced by special powder and ink augmented by a binding agent. It can print, layer by layer, tools and machines that work right out of the box (sorry, no tea at this point). The idea isn't entirely new, but what's fascinating about the ZPrinter is the ability to create usable working strong-enough tools such as the wrench in the following video. Most impressive to me is the fact the wrench not only works on the mechanical level but can actually strengthen a real nut on a real bolt.<br />
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ZCorp 3D printers weigh 165-345 kg (365-750 lbs) sans powder, hardly worth hauling up to space just for a wrench. They also rely on gravity to print. But the development of the materials and layering architecture is a big step forward towards a device that may be useful one day to take on a trip to Mars and beyond with a library of files describing tools and spare parts instead of taking those tools and spare parts, especially if the material can be extracted on the destination.<br />
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3D printing is also applicable to other materials and industries. For example, you can print using <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Px6RSL9Ac">stainless steel and copper</a> if you also have a 2000 degree Fahrenheit oven (or can afford packing one for a space mission). Or, if you forget your flute at home, just <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlq5R84TlVw">print one</a>.<br />
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So next time you go on a long trip, perhaps to the mountains, desert or Mars, you may hear your spouse yelling from across the house "Honey, don't forget the replicator!"Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-49285567486421344662011-07-07T23:52:00.000-07:002011-07-07T23:52:01.217-07:00Last Shuttle Launch, Second Last for AtlantisIt's epic, it's heart wrenching, it's an end of an era,<i> enter other cliché here: __________________________.</i><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBAA9IggegE/Thajgt-67JI/AAAAAAAAAfU/LwABQasdsjE/s1600/STS-135_patch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBAA9IggegE/Thajgt-67JI/AAAAAAAAAfU/LwABQasdsjE/s200/STS-135_patch.png" width="166" /></a>It is, after all, the last flight of space shuttle Atlantis and the last flight of any space shuttle. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Ever</i>. If you're reading this over the weekend chances are you missed it, but that's OK because thanks to modern technology accelerated by the space program (<a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2009/10/nobel-prize-in-physics-2009-hubble-nods.html">CCD</a> cameras and computers) you will be able to watch it easily on YouTube or NASA TV. Missing it means you don't really care that much about the U.S. government space program, possibly because you don't care for space in general. It is, after all, the <i>final</i> frontier and you (or the United States or the world) have a lot to get through before that becomes a priority. Alternatively you may be very busy helping usher the Commercial-Space era once the Space-Shuttle era comes to an end on July 8 (a much better proposition than the Soyuz era or the Russian-Space-Capitalism era or Who's-Laughing-Now-And-Who's-Paying-56-Million-Dollars-Per-Seat era).<br />
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Either way, unless you've been closely following manned spaceflight events in the recent couple of years, you might have missed the little tidbit that this is actually the second last flight of Atlantis. In May 2010, STS-132 was the final planned flight for Atlantis and it was supposed to be prepped for launch only as a rescue vehicle for STS-134.<br />
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Like a mother refusing to accept her son is moving out for good, asking for one more hug and kiss, NASA turned STS-335 (3xx denoting potential rescue missions) into STS-135, with the potential rescue of this mission being multiple Soyuz rockets (which as of the impending launch of Atlantis will be the only game in town for hauling humans to the International Space Station for at least a few years).<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2UuEqGhWLG8/ThaivLaL7NI/AAAAAAAAAfM/Kj-FJb_QWkk/s1600/Last+3+Flights_33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2UuEqGhWLG8/ThaivLaL7NI/AAAAAAAAAfM/Kj-FJb_QWkk/s320/Last+3+Flights_33.jpg" width="137" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_QMgXHF_w8/Thaive4yIpI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/zSbNpGaTRAA/s1600/STS-132+Reporter%2527s+Space+Flight+Notebook_33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k_QMgXHF_w8/Thaive4yIpI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/zSbNpGaTRAA/s320/STS-132+Reporter%2527s+Space+Flight+Notebook_33.jpg" width="131" /></a>As an attendee of the <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/05/nasa-tweetup-and-atlantis-launch.html">NASA Tweetup for STS-132</a> I received a Reporter's Space Flight Notepad, courtesy of Boeing. It is a great tool for reporters who generally don't have time to look up information about the vehicle, rockets, thrust, payload or how to spell names of people. The last printed page of that notebook lists the final flights of the three remaining space shuttles, with STS-133 and STS-134 both planned for 2010.<br />
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Still being rocket science (as the corny expression goes), the year after the first last flight of Atlantis unfolded quite differently, with an <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2011/01/violinist-and-basketball-astronaut-and.html">astronaut falling off his bicycle</a> and cracks that necessitated a roll-back into the VAB of Discovery. Both STS-133 and STS-134 ended up flying in 2011 with Atlantis leaping its younger and older sisters and closing this era. Atlantis will also be making the shortest route of all three to its final resting place at Kennedy Space Center.<br />
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And so, in about two weeks, the space shuttle era will end about 30 years after it started with STS-1, Columbia, <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/01/john-young-super-astronaut.html">John Young</a> and <a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/crippen-rl.html">Bob Crippen</a>.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-39384594107012422572011-06-26T00:51:00.004-07:002011-06-26T00:59:12.800-07:00Reflections on my Birthday, TIME for Kids and Space<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qOEKmwKdbVo/TgbdEqrMHhI/AAAAAAAAAfI/0hKHIWdY8GY/s1600/DSC_1080_2011_Amnon_Birthday_Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qOEKmwKdbVo/TgbdEqrMHhI/AAAAAAAAAfI/0hKHIWdY8GY/s320/DSC_1080_2011_Amnon_Birthday_Cake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My birthday cake (taken by my son Yotam)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It's my birthday today. Nothing round or big, just a solid 38. Waking up on ones' birthday means growing up one day like any other, but becoming one year older has significance far more than that one extra day. The kid in me has a hard time relating to the chum in the mirror with white hairs popping everywhere on his head and face, almost expecting to still see a younger self.<br />
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Space is serious business. Many challenges, many triumphs, also tragedies. For me and kids of all ages it's a source of inspiration, even a way to keep the child in me alive. Watching the <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/05/nasa-tweetup-and-atlantis-launch.html">shuttle launch last year</a> left me, if only for a short time with the uninhibited worry-free joy of a young child getting a balloon. Yes, it takes a lot more to induce this feeling when you've matured beyond balloons and lollipops, but that feeling is still there, waiting to be cultivated and nurtured. TIME for Kids, a TIME magazine for the younger crowd, helps inspiring the next generation.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OUwnigj82uc/TgbZN6C90xI/AAAAAAAAAfA/KMzcwz7cm_o/s1600/2011+04+29+Time+Kids+Cover_25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OUwnigj82uc/TgbZN6C90xI/AAAAAAAAAfA/KMzcwz7cm_o/s200/2011+04+29+Time+Kids+Cover_25.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TIME for Kids April front page</td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids">TIME for Kids</a> is a publication my older kids got at school this year here in Washington state. It talks about serious subjects at a level kids can relate to and even adults can learn from.<br />
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In the <a href="http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/ns/0,28393,110429,00.html">April issue</a> the front page and centerfold were dedicated to the space shuttle program. I wasn't born into the era of reusable spacecraft and leaving all the reasons (politics, economy, etc.) aside I took almost for granted that it would never end. After all, when the first airplane, car, horse carriage or wheel were made the eras of flying, driving and riding started and never ended with the exception of being superseded by a better/faster technology (not the case this time). TIME for Kids mentions the last flight of Discovery and Endeavor as well as shows a timeline of the major events in the space shuttle history on two easy to understand pages. It includes a picture of the last Endeavour's mission crew including Captain Mark Kelly (who a few days ago <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/captain-mark-kelly/retirement-from-united-states-navy-and-nasa/182520748469858">announced his retirement from NASA</a>).<br />
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At the bottom of the page there's a link to <a href="http://www.timeforkids.com/shuttle">timeforkids.com/shuttle</a> which contains a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlG7W0gkjjE">15 minute video</a> produced by NASA about the space shuttle.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSIlvzpNnzU/TgbZkStMPBI/AAAAAAAAAfE/O8_SGuI8R_E/s1600/Shuttle+Centerfold.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="419" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HSIlvzpNnzU/TgbZkStMPBI/AAAAAAAAAfE/O8_SGuI8R_E/s640/Shuttle+Centerfold.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TIME for Kids Shuttle Send-Off centerfold, April 29 2011</td></tr>
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TIME for Kids did a good job with this issue by explaining some key accomplishments of the program and the meaning of the shuttle retirement as far as getting a ride from the Russians. They conclude with an optimistic note about breaking off of Earth orbit to the moon and Mars, which I think will end up being carried out by someone other than a government of a country.<br />
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At the end of my birthday (which actually ended over ten hours ago in my birth-timezone) I hope that my kids and their generation will accomplish even greater things than what the generation before me accomplished with the space shuttle - building the first reusable spacecraft. I hope my kids generation will build on this feat of technology and create even more amazing vehicles. I hope that the distance traveled with these future vehicles will be more than the comparable of driving around the block thousands of times. Ad Astra!Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com1Issaquah, WA, USA47.5301011 -122.0326191000000347.495194600000005 -122.09029110000003 47.5650076 -121.97494710000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-28085296033017616802011-05-08T13:12:00.002-07:002011-10-02T12:25:17.240-07:00Exodus Story Telling - Egypt and Earth Gravity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mBKLA6RgiLM/TcbtnM--SxI/AAAAAAAAAe8/solU6w9n0Js/s1600/MatzoMoon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mBKLA6RgiLM/TcbtnM--SxI/AAAAAAAAAe8/solU6w9n0Js/s200/MatzoMoon.png" width="149" /></a></div>Story telling is an art. Captivating an audience by telling a story pivots on how the story is told no less than the story being told. <a href="http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm">Passover Seder</a> ("Seder" means order in Hebrew) is a very effective way of perpetuating the story about exodus, going out of a known situation into the unknown called freedom. The paradigm is so effective, in fact, that its structure was borrowed to commemorate another story about another pseudo-exodus - getting free of Earth gravity for the first time and traveling to the unknown of space.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The passover story has all the right ingredients for an epic. It's about moving for an opportunity and staying for too long. It's a story about hosts who become anxious that their once guests would become enemies. It's a story about enslavement and freedom, about entitlement and righteousness. It's a story about returning to the land of Israel after a long exile. Coming from the bible, it's a story about god and keeping promisses.<br />
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Why do stories get told? The simple answer is so that it is not forgotten. In case of Passover, beyond the emphasis of god (after all, it is a religious ceremony) the Seder script makes a point of every person seeing oneself as if he or she went out of Egypt. The Hagada ("Telling" in Hebrew, the script of the Seder) goes on to explain that if our forefathers hadn't escaped the Egyptian enslavement instead of going through the Seder one would still be in Egypt as a slave.<br />
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Telling of the story is laid out as a unique script of events that involves all the senses through dialogs, narratives, songs, symbolic food, wine and games for the kids. By the time a Jewish kid is eighteen, he or she most likely remembers the story by heart, can sing the songs and knows what to eat and when. Then come eight days of digestive system blocking Matzo, but what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.<br />
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Why do we need to remember Apollo 11? The first time mankind left Earth gravity and stepped on another celestial body is one of the biggest technological achievements (and also perception altering) of mankind in documented times. Equipped by the most advanced technology of the time (which most electronic devices today put to shame), three men blasted off from Earth on the top of the biggest rocket mankind has ever built, two of which set foot on our nearby neighbor, the moon.<br />
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In 1989, twenty years after the first moon landing, a new type of Seder was created to pass that story and make sure it is not forgotten. <a href="http://www.evoloterra.com/">Evoloterra</a> tells that story using many of the same tools as the Passover Hagada - symbolic food, wine, ceremonial actions and narrative. For example, close to the beginning of the ceremony the participants eat seeds after the leader says:<br />
<blockquote>The seed is the domain of the DNA and a symbol of life's potential.<br />
As we eat the seed let us reflect on the significance of the emergence of DNA and its importance to life as it evolved on Earth.</blockquote>Evoloterra starts the story with the big bang and goes through key developments that led to mankind landing on the moon, from the moon itself providing the power to pull organisms from the sea through tides all the way to launch of Sputnik and the space race.<br />
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To reconstruct the excitement of the moments before and after the moon landing, four participants get the roles of Narrator, CAPCOM, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. These four relive the moments leading to the landing and after it, including communications during descent to the moon surface and the most famous moon-landing quote -<br />
<blockquote>That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.</blockquote><br />
Evoloterra is an interesting social experiment in remembering a historic event. Just like the Passover Seder describing Exodus from Egypt, Evoloterra describes the first time mankind stepped on a rock in the sky that wasn't Earth, including the background story leading to the important event. Will it stick like the Passover Seder? I'm not sure about that, but I also don't know how the story of the biblical Exodus was being told less than fifty years after it happened. When I first heard about it last year it was a bit too late, but I'm curious to try it this year and see how my family of three boys and a non-space-enthusiast wife would react to the words and ceremony.<br />
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You can hear more about Evoloterra on The Space Show 1396 from July 20, 2010 available <a href="http://thespaceshow.com/detail.asp?q=1396">here</a> or read about it on the Evoloterra website: <a href="http://www.evoloterra.com/">http://www.evoloterra.com</a>.<br />
The script of the ceremony itself is available at <a href="http://www.evoloterra.com/pdf/Evoloterra_2010-07-20_A.pdf">http://www.evoloterra.com/pdf/Evoloterra_2010-07-20_A.pdf</a>.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-69967972159228648682011-04-10T08:27:00.003-07:002011-04-13T11:54:29.332-07:00Yuri Gagarin - Legend in 1961, Dead in 1968Everyone interested in space knows how <a href="http://www.kosmonaut.se/gagarin/index.html" rel="nofollow">Yuri Gagarin</a> became an instant legend by being the first human being to go to space and orbit the Earth.<br />
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Here is an interesting documentary that looks at his epic flight fifty years ago on the <a href="http://www.russianspaceweb.com/vostok1.html" rel="nofollow">Vostok-1</a> rocket side-by-side with his last flight on a training jet.<br />
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The first man to fly to space, jettison from his ball-shaped capsule and parachute down, ended his life in a training flight with an instructor before flight recorders were put in planes, leaving his death a mystery to this day.<br />
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Thanks, <a href="http://twitter.com/negativereturn" rel="nofollow">@negativereturn</a>, for sharing the link!Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-32014883337309373412011-04-03T20:45:00.004-07:002011-04-10T08:31:24.110-07:00A Three-Way Space DecadeIn a few days the fiftieth anniversary of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html">Yuri Gagarin</a>'s historic orbital flight around Earth will take place. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://yurisnight.net/">Yuri's Night</a>, as it has been called for a decade now will entail hundreds of parties and events around the world to commemorate that event and the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/index.html">first space shuttle flight</a> twenty years later. Space enthusiasts will collectively remember and celebrate. In fact, this decade will be full of golden anniversaries. However, in some ways, it will also look like a remake of an old movie, the one about rockets and capsules. Most interestingly, perhaps, this decade will be about beginnings and new steps towards space accessibility and use through suborbital and possibly orbital flights.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>The 1960s were a special decade for many reasons, one of which was space. John F. Kennedy hasn't made his famous "We choose to go to the moon" <a rel="nofollow" href="http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm">speech</a> yet (that would come almost a year and a half later in September 1962) but the space race was already on. Times were simpler in some ways, as there were only two participants in the space race, USA and USSR. The rest of the world watched as the epic match took place, bigger even than the two countries involved, starting with the first man in orbit (or even before, with <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/10/sputnik-launch-of-space.html">Sputnik</a>) and ending with the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html">first <span id="goog_225025164"></span>man on the moon</a><span id="goog_225025165"></span>.<br />
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As we start celebrating all the events leading to that "one giant leap" in 1969, it seems like we have a need to celebrate partly as a pat on the back, as if we're saying "that's what we are capable of" and "we could do it again if we wanted to". But reality kicks in, and a look at the current US and Russia space programs leaves a lot to be desired. After thirty years of space shuttle flights the US defaulted to a remake of a rocket with a capsule on top. Like every good remake, it would be better than the original, however for several reasons that remake won't even see the light of day, at least not on the NASA side. On the former Soviet side, the Russians still fly pretty much the same Soyuz they did back then. So much for colonies on Mars. At least we have <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.spacex.com/">SpaceX </a>and its Falcon 9 rocket which in some ways breaks the rules of traditional government space programs and is showing us how it should be done, even if we're still not going anywhere but low Earth orbit at this point. Space is also no longer today the playground of only two players like it used to be.<br />
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The most interesting part of this three-way decade will be the new private space flights. <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.virgingalactic.com/">Virgin Galactic</a> and <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/02/next-generation-suborbital-researchers_24.html">others to follow</a> will start taking people to space (not to orbit and much lower altitude than where the shuttle goes or the international space station hangs out but still beyond 100km altitude). For the first time people will get to space not on a government ordained vehicle and most of those who will get to space this decade will not be trained by or funded by any government. Initially people that can put aside the cost of a house for a joy-ride will go but also scientists and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.astronauts4hire.org/">commercial astronauts</a>, ones that will not be representing a specific country. While NASA will have to restructure for the new era one way or another, private companies will continue to develop space hardware and add more ways for people to get to space. Being more accessible, manned spaceflight and research will lead to new discoveries and we may see the first private orbital flights and tourism as well.<br />
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In ten years we we will know which of the three parts of this decade will have been more prevalent - the celebrations of past achievements, remaking of old ideas or new, more privatized space access. Hopefully we will have learned from the first, made a better second and used the first two to lay strong foundations for a prosperous third.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-79350610172120384402011-03-01T19:35:00.003-08:002011-03-04T18:05:56.664-08:00Discovery Final Launch Poll Results<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y7UhqqxBYlk/TXCMOS3o0aI/AAAAAAAAAe0/gSWeATgxofA/s1600/discovery-launch-sts-133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Y7UhqqxBYlk/TXCMOS3o0aI/AAAAAAAAAe0/gSWeATgxofA/s200/discovery-launch-sts-133.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discovery, STS-133.<br />
Credit: NASA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Back in September, a little over a month before Space Shuttle Discovery was supposed to originally launch for the last time I published <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/09/next-space-shuttle-launch-informal-poll.html">an informal, low-tech poll</a> whose purpose was to get a feel for awareness and interest levels of people who are not space enthusiasts themselves but rather friends or family of ones.<br />
<br />
<b>Questions</b><br />
<br />
I purposefully asked pretty rudimentary questions:<br />
<ol><li>Which Space Shuttle is getting ready for launch?</li>
<li>When is the next launch?</li>
<li>How many Space Shuttle launches remain after this one?</li>
<li>What mission number is it going to be?</li>
</ol><b></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Right Answers</b><br />
<br />
For the sake of this poll, since it was made public before the numerous delays and second last-visit to the Vehicle Assembly Building, I considered the following answers as correct:<br />
<ol><li>Discovery</li>
<li>November 1 2010</li>
<li>1 or 2 (STS-135 was brewing at the time)</li>
<li>STS-133 or 133</li>
</ol><div><b>Results</b><br />
<br />
I got <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/09/next-space-shuttle-launch-informal-poll.html#comments">answers</a> from 18 people. Below is the aggregation of these.</div><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="4" frame="box" style="margin-left: 50px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr> <th>Question</th> <th width="80px">Right</th> <th width="80px">Wrong</th> <th width="80px">Don't Know</th> </tr>
<tr> <td style="text-align: left;">1. Shuttle Name</td> <td>8</td><td>3</td> <td>7</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="text-align: left;">2. Launch Date</td> <td>3</td><td>5</td><td>10</td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="text-align: left;">3. Remaining Launches</td> <td>8</td> <td>6</td> <td>4</td></tr>
<tr> <td style="text-align: left;">4. Mission Number</td> <td>2</td> <td>1</td> <td>15</td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br />
What can we learn from this poll? Statistically, not much. I knew that going in. As a crude gauge, however, it is interesting to observe that most people, even friends and family of space enthusiasts, aren't engaged with the here and now of manned spaceflight.<br />
<br />
There are currently only two remaining planned human orbital launches from US soil. After a gap of several years to possibly a decade, more manned launches from Kennedy Space Center will likely happen, to orbit and eventually beyond. However, those future launches will likely be using a rocket with a capsule on top. Great as these may be, shuttle launches are amazing to watch, hear and <i>feel</i>. If you have the opportunity, go see Endeavor or Atlantis this year. <b>I guarantee it is an experience you won't ever forget.</b><br />
<br />
Thanks everyone who participated.Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3482874718753227701.post-54848806109895546852011-02-24T20:04:00.001-08:002011-02-24T20:07:32.052-08:00Discovery - Final Voyage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bfZwnRYWCrA/TWcjthedI8I/AAAAAAAAAeU/fgx-RiFsdK8/s1600/600px-STS-133_patch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bfZwnRYWCrA/TWcjthedI8I/AAAAAAAAAeU/fgx-RiFsdK8/s200/600px-STS-133_patch.png" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/10/space-shuttle-columbia-challenger.html">Space Shuttle Discovery</a> made its final ascent to space earlier today.<br />
<br />
As I watched it on the screen at home the experience and emotions of <a href="http://www.spacepirations.com/2010/05/nasa-tweetup-and-atlantis-launch.html">watching its young sister Atlantis about nine months ago</a> resurfaced. This time, though, I had my family around me watching, as luck stroke and snow fell over the hills of <a href="http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=16726+SE+45th+St,+Issaquah,+King,+Washington+98027&ll=47.56671,-122.117758&spn=0.011496,0.01929&t=h&z=16">Issaquah WA</a> the night before, making working from home a more productive endeavor than taking on slippery roads.<br />
<br />
For a few minutes today's launch was touch and go. Not because of cracks, leaks or anything structural but because of a computer glitch. A few seconds before the scrub, the countdown started again.<br />
<br />
In case you missed it and even if you didn't, here is Discovery's last time lighting the Florida skies.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The launch:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jZAnlV5IRhE" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
Discovery history:<br />
<br />
<script src="http://cdn-akm.vmixcore.com/vmixcore/js?auto_play=0&cc_default_off=1&player_name=uvp&width=640&height=415&player_id=1aa0b90d7d31305a75d7fa03bc403f5a&t=c187195494a18be47e58438b4c0e7e24" type="text/javascript">
</script><br />
<br />
Robonaut, a new permanent robotic dweller of the ISS:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2tnlIGE1PvU" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe>Amnon I. Govrinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992092543031860218noreply@blogger.com016726 SE 45th St, Issaquah, WA 98027, USA47.5658268 -122.117169147.562207300000004 -122.1244646 47.5694463 -122.1098736