Bill Nye The Science Guy

I recently read an article over space exploration and the contribution of Bill Nye the Science Guy.  Bill was at a National Science Teacher Association and talked about how educating the youth on space exploration is expanding their minds to the research of space.  I just wanted to talk about how Bill Nye could have a big impact on Space exploration.  First off, if children see him advertising space exploration, more kids will jump on the space trend.  Just how Bill always says, SCIENCE IS WAY COOL!  Children love his shows because he brings fun activities into his learning.  Second, he is a brilliant man.  He obviously knows what he is talking about or he wouldn’t have such a big show.  Teachers all around the world play his movies in their classrooms.  Celebrity input on space exploration could help bring people together and think more in depth on space exploration.  Another way we could use Bill Nye on expanding space exploration is using him for advertising.  Commercials, posters, billboards, flyers, and many other things are a few of the things he could help us with.  Imagine if you saw a commercial with Bill Nye explaining how we ARE going back into space, people would be interested more and want to learn when exactly we are planning on doing this.  His advertising of space exploration could also lead kids to career paths down the science field or even space related careers.  There are a lot of possibilities for space exploration with the assistance of Bill Nye but he can only do so much.  The rest is up to the young minds of our future generations.  All in all, we need the guidance of mentors like Bill Nye to help the youth gain more knowledge on the concerns of space exploration and the imaginably impossible knowledge of the depths of space.                 

Privately Owned Spacecraft: The Dragon

In an informational article I read I realized the true potential of space exploration.  People all around the world have been building their own privately owned spacecraft’s to orbit into space.  One of these in particular made me really interested, the Dragon.  It is a rocket created by a space program known as SpaceX, a space transportation company based in California.  This spacecraft was the first vehicle ever placed into orbit and recovered by a privately owned company.  That amazes me how people out there in the world have been putting their own time and money into space exploration.  This opens so many more possibilities for space travel.  Also, the first operational space mission the Dragon will have is hauling cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.  This vehicle can also hold up to seven passengers or a mixture of cargo.  The Dragons heat shield will be able to withstand flight to the moon and Mars, which means we could fly this spacecraft to these planets.  I was just amazed on reading all of this information and how privately owned space programs are already sending vehicles up into space.  If the Dragons heat shield can withstand planets like the moon and mars maybe we could travel to other planets that we have yet to examine.  If so, we could learn so much more about our galaxy and maybe even reach out further past our own galaxy.  I think if we join programs like SpaceX and NASA we could cut out a lot of costs, have more knowledge on our relations with space, and learn more about this world together.  Millions of minds together outsmart hundreds of minds, plain and simple.  As a country we need to seek out greater minds and take advice from all sides of things.  There could be something one group thinks and the other group thinks in the complete opposite.  So we need to take information from all different angles and if we do that we will succeed further out into the pits of space.  All in all, this article helped me realize what man can truly do without NASA and how there are so many privately owned space programs out there.     

The SLS Vehicle

I recently read an article  over the recent advancement in the building of a new ship by NASA to fly into the depths of space.  (Hyperlink above) This vehicle is not supposed to be ready to orbit earth until 2016.  This new SLS vehicle has selected a design containing solid-fueled, side-mounted boosters that might be substituted with liquid-fueled engines.  Having all these new designs will allow us to travel further out into space.  President Obama signed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, which will allow NASA to start working out the ideas and basis of the SLS.  This spacecraft has been commented on looking a lot like the Ares 5, but the SLS could not be completed on the current budget schedule.  With these new ideas from all these different people around the world, eventually NASA will be able to build a vehicle to go into the oblivion of space.  Saying that, I don’t believe this will be one of the few ships they build; but the many.  Supporting this plan for the SLS is all we can hope for because there is a lot of money that has to be funded to build this ship.  Lawmakers said the plan would cost an estimated $1.8 billion dollars in 2011.  Right now, we are on the right track to be back into space by 2016.  As long as the president gives us his moral support and allows us to continue funding space exploration.  There are a lot of things out there that mankind still needs to explore and space is one of the main ones.  We can learn so much more about our world if we explore other stars, planets, or even galaxies.  The SLS is just a start to something bigger and eventually better then what we have done in the past.  Within time we will be much more knowledgeable about space with the help of the SLS vehicle.       

NASA Cooperation Together

Today I learned about the 62^nd International Astronautical Congress(IAC) and how they had a gathering of all the different nations to talk about space exploration.  Indian, European, Japanese, and Russian space chiefs met from around the nation in Africa.  However, the Chinese leader did not show up.  From the link above the chief of NASA Charles Bolden stated, “International cooperation is important not just because of finances but because in this day and age you can no longer afford to leave ideas on the table.  We don’t have the corner on the market on everything technological.  I can go to any of my partners and we could pick a topic and they will dwarf me in their knowledge of it, and so we need to be able to take the best from all of us in trying to go forward in exploration.”  I agree with Charles Bolden in several ways.  Firstly, the expense of space exploration is tremendous.  Therefore, using all the money from all of the different nations would give us a huge jump in building ideas fast.  It costs billions of dollars to send people into space but with the help of others all around the world we can do something we never thought possible.  Second, you cannot leave knowledgeable ideas on the table.  There are so many good thinkers on space exploration out there and putting them all together in one room would send us farther into space.  Not just the ideas of these people would be different but also their technicians who build the crafts could bring a lot to the table too.  We could eventually build something far greater than what those have built in the past.  NASA is building the SLS craft which alone is better than the last ones and can travel farther into the depths of space.  Now bring the ideas of different countries and they can build on our ideas.  All in all, I hope in the near future on space exploration we join as a nation and do this journey together.  There is a lot to learn and analyze out in the complexities of space and together we can accomplish anything.