Monthly Archives: March 2014

It's not every day that a dog helps save astronauts in space, but that's exactly what happens in author Jeffrey Bennett's latest tale of a pooch named Max and his trip to the International Space Station. And there's a twist: The science-themed children's book is actually in space today in the cosmic library aboard the real-life space station.

Bennett's "Max Goes to the Space Station" (Big Kids Science, 2013) launched into space earlier this year on a commercial cargo ship alongside other vital supplies for astronauts on the space station. That set the stage for "Story Time From Space," an educational outreach project in which astronauts will read "Max Goes to the Space Station" and Bennett's other works in space to encourage children on Earth to learn about space and science. One of the books, "Max Goes to the Moon," has flown in space before and was read in orbit by NASA astronaut Alvin Drew, one of the creators of Story Time From Space.

Space.com recently caught up with Bennett who received the 2013 American Institute of Physics Science Communications Award in January for "Max Goes to the Moon" to discuss the launch of "Max Goes to the Space Station" and his other books (which sent Max to the moon, Mars and Jupiter). Another of Bennett's books, "The Wizard Who Saved the World," also hitched a ride to the station with the launch. Here's what Bennett revealed on the origin of Max the Dog, the pooch's trips into space and what it means for kids:

Space.com: "Max Goes to the Space Station" is the latest in a series of books that send Max on a space adventure. What led you to use a dog to share space exploration with kids?

Jeffrey Bennett:I wanted to write science books that would appeal not only to kids who were already into science, but also to kids who might not otherwise pick up a science book. Since kids love dogs, sending a dog on the adventures seemed like a natural way to create stories that would hold kids' attention so that I could teach them some science at the same time. [Animals in Space: 10 Cosmic Tales]

Space.com: Did you ever think the books would eventually be launched into space? Or be read from space?

Bennett: When I first starting writing, I had all sorts of delusions of grandeur about how much my books would sell and so on, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that they'd really go into space. Indeed, when Patricia Tribe (an educator who came up with the Story Time From Space idea along with astronaut Alvin Drew) first called me and told me they'd selected my books, I thought it had to be a prank phone call.

Space.com: Is Max based on a real dog? Are you a dog owner now? Any other pets?

Bennett: Yes, Max is real. My wife and I got the original Max as a puppy, and it was completely her doing; at the time, I had no interest in having a dog. But Max won me over quickly, and the inspiration for "Max Goes to the Moon" actually came to me one day while I was out walking with Max and my infant son and looked up at the moon in the morning sky. Max lived to be 9 1/2 (there's a page honoring him at the end of "Max Goes to Mars"), and he served as the model for Alan Okamotos artwork in "Max Goes to the Moon" and "Max Goes to Mars."

We then got another Rottweiler, Cosmo, who was painted as Max in "Max Goes to Jupiter" by artist Michael Carroll; readers will notice that he is introduced in the story as the grandson of the original Max. Because "Max Goes to the Space Station" is a prequel to "Max Goes to the Moon," Carroll worked mainly from photos of the original Max, but also paid some attention to Cosmo, since the two dogs look very similar. [Pioneering Animals in Space: A Photo Gallery]

See original here:
Space Story Time: Kids' Book Author Jeffrey Bennett Talks Max the Dog in Orbit

By MARCIA DUNN/AP Aerospace Writer/February 26, 2014

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) NASA could have prevented last summers near-drowning of a spacewalking astronaut at the International Space Station, an investigation panel concluded Wednesday.

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitanos helmet filled with water July 16 during his second spacewalk in a week. He barely made it back inside alive.

But according to the panels report, his helmet also had leaked at the end of his first spacewalk a week earlier. The panel said the space station team misdiagnosed the first failure and should have delayed the second spacewalk until the problem was understood.

This event was not properly investigated, said Chris Hansen, NASAs chief space station engineer and chairman of the investigation board created by the space agency after the close call.

There was a lack of understanding in the severity of the event, Hansen said during a news conference.

Space station officials even the astronauts themselves presumed the leak was from a water drink bag in the suit when, in fact, that was not the culprit, he noted.

Investigators said Parmitanos calm demeanor during the incident quite possibly saved his life. It was fortunate he was relatively close to the space station entrance when the helmet flooded, Hansen noted.

Now 37, Parmitano is a former test pilot and an officer in the Italian Air Force who was making his first space mission. He returned to Earth in November.

The precise cause of the water leakage is still under review.

Continue reading here:
NASA could have prevented spacewalker's close call - Boston.com

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

To say space research is a waste of money is wrong. For every US$1 put into US space agency, its citizens get US$10 as payback; in Japan and the European Union that amount is more than US$3.

The growing private space industry is built around these government space programs and would not exist without them. The UKs annual US$500m contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) has catalysed the formation of the fastest growing industry. Its private space industry contributes US$15.2 billion a year to the economy. Similarly, Japans US$2.3 billion into the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has enabled its private space industry to contribute US$31 billion.

Not only do space agencies pay for themselves directly, they create jobs and are boosting the global economy by US$300 billion annually through private industry.

The thousands of inventions and innovations spun out from space research have become an integral part of our daily life: weather forecasting, satellite television and communications, disaster relief, traffic management, agricultural and water management, and global positioning system (GPS), are but just a few.

As space research required bigger and bigger investment, the nature of international research changed. The space race became a space collaboration, which is symbolised by the International Space Station.

If nothing else, as Pete Worden, Centre Director of NASA Ames, told me, Space is cool. It inspires the new generation of kids.

The Apollo missions inspired a generation. The number of US graduates in the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM subjects), from high-school through to PhD, has doubled. The relative growth rate since then has dropped drastically, even though the total number has gone up. Doubling a populations scientific literacy when it is living in a world so dependent on science and technology was a good move, and it slung the US into the dominant position it has stood in for the past five decades.

While they still inspire, some would say todays space agencies lack direction. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, said, Instead of pioneering new worlds like those explorers of the past, we have left our sailors in the harbour for half a century to see the health effects from doing so.

The average annual expenditure of NASA during the Apollo Era was US$23 billion in todays money. NASAs average spend in the last decade was US$17 billion. Even with similar budgets, the progress made in the last decade is simply not comparable to what was achieved in the 1960s.

More:
Space Research Pays for Itself, but Inspires Fewer People (Op-Ed)