February 2009 Archives

In your opinion, when do you think humans will step on Mars?
-- Brad (Team Mercury)

MAGNUS: I do not know, but it will be many years yet. We are going to first go back to the moon and establish an outpost and develop the technology and operational procedures that we will use on Mars. The moon is only three days away, and if they need help or need to return to Earth while we are developing the technology, it is possible. Once we send people to Mars, they will be on their own. So we have to really understand what we are doing and how we will do it. In the meantime, we are learning more about Mars and answering questions such as -- what natural resources on the planet can we use, where exactly should we establish a base, what kind of soil, weather and environment do we have to design equipment and shelters to survive in? Going to Mars is something that you will be doing. I anticipate that it will happen in my lifetime, but probably after I am done with my career in the astronaut office.

Why did they name the space shuttle Apollo (the Greek name for the sun god) when the mission was to go to the moon?
-- Max (Team Opportunity)

MAGNUS: The space shuttle has never gone to the moon. The Apollo vehicles did and they were more like capsules than like an airplane shape. I do not know why they named it Apollo though...Our next vehicle that is going to the moon will be similar in shape to the Apollo vehicles.

Blog Editor's Note: Dr. Magnus recently spoke (through the magic of technology) to some Girl Scouts from her home town. Video is available. Check it out.

Blog Editor's Note: We almost missed this:

Flight Engineer Sandy Magnus became the first person to light flames on the station Saturday, as she began work with the Smoke Point in Co-flow Experiment, or SPICE, which determines the point at which gas-jet flames begin to emit soot in microgravity.

See the full story here.

Where have you been in space?
-- Jacob (Team Spirit)

MAGNUS: On my first mission I visited the International Space Station for 11 days. By the time my second mission ends, I will have been here for about four months. It is bigger than it was when I was here six years ago because we have been building it with every shuttle flight. The shuttle that is picking me up in February is bringing the very last piece, so I will see it as I fly away in its final form. That is very exciting. We are working on a program that will take us back to the moon and I expect that will happen some time in the 2020 time frame. Perhaps I will have a chance to go, who knows. Your generation will be spending lots of time there though!

Blog Editor's Notes...

Some of you have asked about the dangers of space debris. Check this out:

In an unprecedented collision in space, two huge satellites slammed into each other nearly 500 miles above Siberia, creating a debris field that likely will pose a danger to other man-made objects.

Read the full story here.

Also, Dr. Magnus is starting to prepare for her return to Earth:

Flight Engineer Sandy Magnus pre-packed items to be sent back to Earth aboard space shuttle Discovery during the STS-119 mission. Liftoff for STS-119 is currently scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 22.

Here is a link to the full story.

Can you see any planets from the ISS?
- Cailyn (Team Apollo)

MAGNUS: You can see the same things that you can see from Earth but the big difference is that the atmosphere is not interfering. The ISS usually has an orbit that is somewhere between 200-250 miles above the surface of the Earth, so in terms of astronomical distances we are not much closer to the planets than you are in your backyard. Most of the windows on ISS point toward the Earth, so it is not often that we can look into the areas away into space. It is beautiful, though, to see the moon rise from behind the Earth!

How long does it take to get to the moon?
-- Mason (Team Atlantis)

MAGNUS: The trajectories and methods that we used during the Apollo program established a three day journey to the moon. We will use similar methods when we return.

McKensey has a question about games...

Do you play any games in space, like checkers, chess, sudoku and go-fish? 

MAGNUS: No I do not but some of my fellow Astronauts play chess and some bring video games with them. I also have seen a few crossword puzzle books floating around...

Blog Editor's Note: This is the latest dispatch recieved from Dr. Magnus.

MAGNUS: Well, I know I am behind on these entries and I am sorry... We got busy, I got distracted, I had writer's block--all of the above are in part the reason why. But after thinking about it I decided to return to the subject of our planet mainly because I am spending a lot of time taking photos of it (and I have never been that much interested in photography!).

I have not yet become tired of gazing out the window and watching the world go by and looking for interesting things to capture as memories. Unfortunately, during the week, we are busy and who knows what I miss, but I try to catch up on the weekends. You cannot be everywhere, though.....

I have been taking photos with different lenses ranging from a 17-35 mm to a 180 mm, 400 mm and effectively an 800 mm (the 400 mm with a doubler). I am clearly only a beginner but still have managed to get some interesting shots; at least I enjoy them. I want to share some of the views with you and hopefully you can enjoy the beauty of our planet as well.

Having seen so many of the interesting features that exist on our planet, I am motivated to go and learn a bit more about them! As far as identification of the photos themselves, cataloging is going on as fast as the Earth science people at NASA can get to it. NASA has hundreds of thousands of these kinds of pictures in their files. This is both a good thing and a bad thing! Great because you can go and browse and find beautiful images of all over our planet, taken by astronauts for the last 40 years, and bad because it seems overwhelming to go and find them. It is worth the effort.

This comes from Chloe and Justin:
 
Can you take your pets into space? If so, what equipment do they need?

MAGNUS: No, we cannot yet take pets into space. We have taken various types of small animals and bugs though, to find out more about how organisms react. We have taken ants, fish, caterpillars, spiders, mice and bees (I think). They have to be in self-contained habitats, which means that food and water delivery systems have to be built in. I am not sure when pets will be allowed to go into space.