MAY / JUNE 2008 THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY ISSUE 3 VOLUME 47 SPACE TIMES • May/June 2008 1 AAS OFFICERS PRESIDENT Frank A. Slazer, SBD Consulting EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT MAY / JUNE 2008 Lyn D. Wigbels, RWI International Consulting Services VICE PRESIDENT–TECHNICAL Srinivas R. Vadali, Texas A&M University ISSUE 3–VOLUME 47 VICE PRESIDENT–PROGRAMS Mary L. Snitch, Lockheed Martin VICE PRESIDENT–PUBLICATIONS David B. Spencer, Penn State University VICE PRESIDENT–MEMBERSHIP J. Walter Faulconer, Applied Physics Laboratory VICE PRESIDENT–EDUCATION THE MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY Kirk W. Kittell, SAIC VICE PRESIDENT–FINANCE Carol S. Lane, Ball Aerospace PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 3 VICE PRESIDENT–INTERNATIONAL Clayton Mowry, Arianespace, Inc. VICE PRESIDENT–PUBLIC POLICY FEATURES William B. Adkins, Adkins Strategies, LLC Recycling and Environmentally Friendly Living on VICE PRESIDENT–STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH the International Space Station 4 Mary Lynne Dittmar, Dittmar Associates The International Space Station has been continuously occupied LEGAL COUNSEL by humans for over seven years. Living on the space station Franceska O. Schroeder, Fish & Richardson P.C. mirrors efforts at sustainable living on Earth. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR by Ron Ticker James R. Kirkpatrick, AAS AAS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Multiple-Spacecraft Missions in NASA’s Heliophysics Division 9 Lessons learned from three recent multiple-spacecraft missions TERM EXPIRES 2008 are relevant both to future space science mission concepts and Peter M. Bainum, Howard University David A. Cicci, Auburn University basic systems engineering practices. Lynn F.H. Cline by Mary Chiu, Dan Ossing, and Margaret Simon Nancy S.A. Colleton, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Mark K. Craig, SAIC AAS NEWS Roger D. Launius, Smithsonian Institution Jonathan T. Malay, Lockheed Martin News for AAS Members 15 Kathy J. Nado, L-3 Communications Richard M. Obermann, House Committee on Science & Technology CALL FOR SPACE PROFESSIONALS TERM EXPIRES 2009 Space Odyssey Institute 16 Marc S. Allen Steven Brody, International Space University Barcelona, Spain Ashok R. Deshmukh, Technica, Inc. Graham Gibbs, Canadian Space Agency Steven D. Harrison, BAE Systems AAS CORPORATE MEMBER PROFILE Sue E. Hegg, The Boeing Company International Space University 17 Arthur F. Obenschain Ian Pryke, CAPR, George Mason University Ronald J. Proulx, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Trevor C. Sorensen, University of Hawaii CALL FOR PAPERS TERM EXPIRES 2010 19th AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting 18 Linda Billings, SETI Institute Hilton Savannah Desoto, Savannah, Georgia Ronald J. Birk, Northrop Grumman Rebecca L. Griffin, Griffin Aerospace Hal E. Hagemeier, National Security Space Office UPCOMING EVENTS 21 Dennis Lowrey, General Dynamics Molly Kenna Macauley, Resources for the Future Erin Neal, ATK Lesa B. Roe NOTES ON NEW BOOKS Rosanna Sattler, Posternak Blankstein & Lund LLP Titan Unveiled: Saturn’s Mysterious Moon Explored 22 Robert H. Schingler, Jr. Reviewed by Mark Williamson Woodrow Whitlow, Jr. SPACE TIMES EDITORIAL STAFF How Apollo Flew to the Moon and EDITOR, Jeffrey P. Elbel Exploring the Moon - the Apollo Expeditions 23 PHOTO & GRAPHICS EDITOR, Dustin Doud Reviewed by James M. Busby PRODUCTION MANAGER, Diane L. Thompson BUSINESS MANAGER, James R. Kirkpatrick ON THE COVER SPACE TIMES is published bimonthly by the American Astronautical Society, a professional non-profit society. SPACE FRONT: A view from the surface of Mars as seen by the Surface Stereo Imager aboard the TIMES is free to members of the AAS. Individual subscriptions may be ordered from the AAS Business Office. © Copyright 2008 Phoenix Mars Lander. The Phoenix landed on Mars on May 25, 2008, and will study the history by the American Astronautical Society, Inc. Printed in the United of water and habitability potential in the Martian arctic’s ice-rich soil. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ States of America. ISSN 1933-2793. University of Arizona/Texas A&M) PERIODICALS BACK: Mars’ larger moon, Phobos, as seen by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment SPACE TIMES, magazine of the AAS, bimonthly, volume 47, (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The largest crater in the lower 2008—$80 domestic, $95 foreign The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, quarterly, volume 56, right, Stickney Crater, is 5.6 miles across. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona) 2008—$170 domestic, $190 foreign To order these publications, contact the AAS Business Office. 6352 Rolling Mill Place, Suite 102 REPRINTS Springfield, VA 22152-2354 USA Reprints are available for all articles in SPACE TIMES and all pa- Tel: 703-866-0020 Fax: 703-866-3526 pers published in The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences. [email protected] www.astronautical.org 2 SPACE TIMES • May/June 2008 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The Need for Continuity in Exploration As anyone who has ever reflected on some of our nations’ great achievements, such as the interstate highway system, the defeat of the Soviet bloc without a nuclear conflagration and yes, the landing on the Moon within a decade of the announcement of the goal, what America can accomplish when it sets a course and perseveres is truly remarkable. Given what we know about politics, what is all the more amazing is that all of these efforts required dedication to a project beyond the relatively short lifespan of the Presidential Administrations that started them, sometimes over many Administrations and multiple changes in the political party in office. American society will soon face a similar challenge. The Vision for Space Exploration, developed after the Columbia tragedy brought us to reexamine why we send humans into space, and announced as a national objective by a President who is now one of the least popular in US history, will soon be in the hands of a new Administration (whether Republican or Democrat) and a Congress which will almost certainly be firmly controlled by the party that was in opposition to the President (although not to space exploration) when the exploration vision was first announced. Already, a number of credible space stakeholders are calling for significant changes to the current exploration program, those opposed to human exploration as too costly or dangerous and the program’s technical progress is being assailed - sometimes by those with questionable technical bona fides who gain disproportionate attention through the blogosphere. In a democracy, a new election brings new leadership that naturally seeks to improve upon its predecessors and put its own imprint on the federal government’s activities. It is only to be expected that some changes will be made to the current NASA program and that some revisions, improvements, or just new priorities will be made, no matter how well executed the current NASA plan may be. One such example happened during President Clinton’s first term when the ISS program was redesigned to include Russia as a major contributor. The wisdom and success of this approach has been amply demonstrated as Soyuz and Progress have been an invaluable part of the ISS infrastructure. Yet while the program was revised in major ways and some design changes were involved, the ISS objectives and the commitments to the international partners were largely maintained and the technical elements were largely unchanged. For the sake of our future progress as a spacefaring society, I urge space stakeholders to seek to restrain the impulse to radically revise the execution of NASA’s Constellation program or risk killing it and further delaying human exploration and exploitation of the solar system. Squabbling over whether the Moon or Mars should be our first target misses the point especially since so much work needs to be done just to create a new capability to put Americans into space and enable the retirement of the Space Shuttle while supporting the International Space Station. This retirement will free up the resources within NASA’s budget to enable the Constellation program to proceed. Other changes may also be needed. While I recognize there are legitimate complaints that insufficient resources are being devoted to important areas such as climate change research, ISS utilization, space science, and indeed, the Constellation Program itself, the reality is that the Democratic-controlled Congress has been trying to increase NASA’s budget beyond what the Bush Administration has been willing to accept. After the election, the new leadership of the Administration and Congress can always enact increases in NASA’s funding. These could go a long way to meet the desires for additional resources in non-exploration related areas while keeping the Constellation program, broadly defined, on track. Centuries from now, when tourists visit Tranquility Base on the surface of the Moon, they may wonder what role Richard Nixon played in the Apollo program to deserve having his name on the plaque proclaiming “We came in Peace for all Mankind.” Nixon had been in office just seven months and his biggest role may have been to NOT to try to upend a program making progress towards a difficult goal first articulated by a political rival who had defeated him. Perhaps, in fact, that is reason enough. Editor’s Note: AAS welcomes different opinions and encourages members who wish to use SPACE TIMES as a means to facilitate a lively and informed debate. Although not all submissions can be published, our objective is to encourage enlightened discourse in order to truly Advance All Space. AAS – Advancing All Space Frank A. Slazer [email protected] SPACE TIMES • May/June 2008 3 Recycling and Environmentally Friendly Living on the International Space Station by Ron Ticker The International Space Station is a rehydration, and hygiene water. Crew exchangers. Reclaimed water is currently self-contained remote habitat relying member activities like perspiration and processed into potable water by a Russian extensively on renewable and reusable respiration create moisture in the cabin air. multistage filtration catalytic purification sources for vehicle and human sustenance Through control of atmospheric system.