Space station now has full power capability

Unrolling of Space Station solar wings.

Friday, March 20th  saw the commissioning of the International Space Station’s fourth pair of solar arrays. This completes the the solar power array installation.

The solar wings were delivered to the ISS by the Discovery shuttle and installed by its astronauts with the help of the Canadian designed Canadarm2 robotic arm.

The station’s arrays can now produce up to 120 kilowatts of electricity, nearly doubling the power available for scientific experiments - from 15kW to 30kW.

“It’s just really amazing,” commented Mike Fincke, the space station’s commander. He said there was “a shout of triumph” from astronauts aboard the linked station-shuttle complex once the two wings were fully extended.

The installation work took spacewalking astronautsRichard Arnold and Steve Swanson just over six hours to complete.

The entire ISS backbone is now 102 meters long, and the space station is nearly 80% complete.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7956332.stm

Spacewalking astronaut Richard Arnold helps connect the new solar arrays

The Space Frontier Foundation

Company Overview: The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization composed of space activists, scientists and engineers, media and political professionals, entrepreneurs, and citizens from all backgrounds and all nations. We are transforming space from a government-owned bureaucratic program into a dynamic and inclusive frontier open to people. We are determined to convert the image held by many young people that the future will be worse than the present, and we reject the idea that the world’s greatest moments are in its past.

Mission: Our central goal is the large-scale permanent settlement of space. We believe people have the “right stuff’ and that everyone will benefit from opening the space frontier. We believe that free markets and free enterprise will become an unstoppable force in the irreversible settlement of this new frontier, and that our world is on the verge of a truly historic breakthrough: cheap access to space.

Art on the Moon – Painting etched onto Japanese satellite, launching this week

Art on the Moon is a project designed to create deeper emotional connections between humanity and space - through art. The project seeks to extend our common understanding of and relationship with space beyond the cold scientific and militaristic conceptions that dominate popular thinking. AOM instead promotes the ‘humanization’ of space.

We received the following message from Velka Edge-Oluk, the artist who painted the painting featured in the UltraFuture multi-media “Art on the Moon” exhibit.

UltraFuture is proud to support the Art on the Moon project, and will continue to promote the humanization of space to grow momentum in Asia, across the globe, and… galactically.

To learn more about AOM, please contact info [at] ultrafutureworld.com or contact Velka Edge at velkaedge [at] firstartonthemoon.com

—————————————————–
UltraFuture Team Members and Friends,
I feel very grateful to be embarked on the Sprite Sat Mission, an exploration journey that will help decipher the mysterious Sprite Phenomena and help give hope for the future of humanity.

“Uni-Essence and the Music of the Spheres” painting for Art on the Moon Concept is the one featured on Sprite Sat, the first Outer Space Exhibit created and supported by JAXA and TOHOKU UNIVERSITY.

Sprite Satellite launch is being streamed live. The Press conference is included as a link on the website, as well:

http://www.astro.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/SpaceArt/e/

http://www.astro.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/SPRITE-SAT/spaceart_e.html

I am glad to support our UltraFuture team vision and would like to thank you all for your continuous inspiring support.

This would not be possible without all of you!

Thank You!

Velka

Background
Tohoku University, Japan, has developed a small satellite, named SPRITE-SAT, with the scheduled launch on January 21st, 2009.

The primary mission of the satellite is a scientific study of lightening phenomena above the cloud layers, in addition, using this opportunity, university is also organizing the first art exhibition in outer space!

To take part in this exhibition, monochrome digital drawings were submitted from artists in the world. These art pieces were miniaturized and fabricated on a silicon wafer using photolithography and dry-etching technology.

The photolithography and etching process was done on a standard silicon wafer, so that each art piece has a 2.5 by 2.5 millimeters (minimum dot size is 5 micron).

The art pieces will be exhibited in orbit attached on the top of an antenna boom on the top of the satellite.

The artwork will also be exhibited on dedicated web pages.

WORLD PREMIERE: PAINTING from the ART ON THE MOON project

UltraFuture, Velka Edge, branding visionary Matthew Asinari present “The Humanization of Space: Art on the Moon”, December 13th, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park

HONG KONG – November 18, 2008

Back in the 80’s and 90’s, there were rumours that Coca Cola or Pepsi were looking at projecting their logo onto the surface of the moon. While this would have undoubtedly been the most talked about advertisement in history, the general consensus at the time was that the moon was a ’shared’ space, and that it was not right to pollute it with something so crass and commercial as an advertisement.

There has been much talk lately about the commercialization of space. Many private enterprises are now competing to create and participate in an emerging ‘privatized’ space industry. Virgin Galactic, Space We have already had a number of space tourists and more will certainly come. Imagining a time when the moon or even Mars has a permanent human settlement is not far fetched.

Outside of popular science fiction, space as we know it is widely described and understood as rather, well, scientific. It is a place and a subject to be studied with objectivity and logic. Artist Velka Edge and luxury branding visionary Matthew Asinari are working on a project to partner with Google Lunar X-Prize contender Odyssey Moon and UltraFuture to engage the global imagination and create a genuine human connection with space.

Artist Velka Edge’s unique painting, entitled “Uni Essence and the Music of Spheres”, symbolizes humanities role and timeless essence in the universe. By rendering the painting on a light weight and pliable synthetic silk, the image can be transported as a minimal addition to the payload of a future lunar lander, projected to carry the artwork to the surface of the moon sometime around 2020.

The painting will be exhibited at the UltraFuture Conference held this December 13th at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. Art on the Moon is a concept that utilizes art as a language to bridge the gap in the understanding of space science and to create relevant emotional bonds between humankind, the Earth, and the moon.  Art on the Moon will donate the original painting to be displayed permanently on Earth.

###

UltraFuture Events are communications platforms where innovators, entrepreneurs, visionaries and thought-leaders come together to share new ideas and develop collaborations for the betterment of mankind.  This year’s conferences will focus on the Future of the Built Environment and the Future of Lifestyle and Communications.

The UltraFuture Conference 2008 will be held on December 13 in the “Golden Egg” Auditorium at the Hong Kong Science & Technology Park.  Exhibits will include the stylish audio speakers of Bowers & Wilkins, inspiring Cybertectural models from James Law Cybertecture International, and a replica of the Painting from the Art on the Moon project.

To learn more about Art on the Moon or the UltraFuture ThinkTank, please contact info@ultrafutureworld.com or visit http://ultrafutureworld.com

# # #

UltraFuture is a global thinktank and brain trust. Collaborating with visionary thinkers and doers to create and facilitate world-changing events, media and projects on the leading-edge of technology and culture. UltraFuture is headquartered in Hong Kong. With advisors and associates based in Tokyo, San Francisco, Shanghai, London, New York, Buenos Aires and the Middle East, UltraFuture offers a unique global platform for communication and collaboration.

New NASA Capsule Orion Resembles Apollo

NASA rolled out its next-generation space capsule here Wednesday, revealing a bulbous module that is scheduled to carry humans back to the moon in 2020 and eventually onward to Mars. Unlike the space-plane shape of the shuttles, the new Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle looks strikingly similar to the old Apollo space capsule from 1969.

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Space Weddings: The Final Frontier

Space Adventures President and CEO Eric Anderson struck a deal with the Russians to carry space tourists aloft. But now, Anderson wants his company to have its own spacecraft, one able to carry two customers at a time.

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Ashes to ashes, dust to moondust…

Celestis a US based company, that helps families honor their loved ones by launching cremains, or cremated human remains, into space. The company purchases positions as a secondary payload on various rockets, and launch samples of many peoples cremains on one launch.  Their original launch, on April 21st, 1997, included Rocket Scientist Beauford Franklin, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and 60’s psychedelic icon Timothy Leary.

Having already sent the ashes of 100 people into orbit,  Celestis is extending their services to offer lunar placement.  The next Lunar trip is scheduled for sometime in 2010. A geologist who picked the site for the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing, Mareat West, is the first person to be laid to rest in this way with 2 grams of her remains to be placed on the moon.

Celestis is a subsidiary of Space Services Incorporated., co-founded by Charles M. Schafer, a pioneer in the commercialization of space.

Celestis’ newest distributor is Power Pacific Asset Limited of Hong Kong, which is authorized to market Celestis’ Memorial Spaceflight Services through its subsidiary in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei.

A Brief History of Solar Sails

Solar sail - A gossamer material that, when unfurled in the vacuum of space, feels the pressure of sunlight and propelled by said pressure may carry a ship among the stars.

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NASA extends ’successful’ Phoenix lander mission

NASA scientists said Thursday the agency was extending the Mars mission of its Phoenix lander until the end of September, describing its progress so far as “very successful.”

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NASA Astronaut Mark Lee Floats untethered in space. Earth in the background.

An incredible photograph taken from NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-64 mission in September 1994. NASA Astronaut Mark C. Lee is floating 130 nautical miles (149.6 miles or 240.8 kilometers) above the  Earth. Click read more  to see the full picture. What a view!

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