Really Rocket Science

The big astronomy news today, of course, is the award of the Nobel Prize in Physics to American physicists John C. Mather and George F. Smoot "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation"  — or, more popularly, "cosmic ripples."

 "Cosmologists have praised the discovery by Americans John Mather and George Smoot of "cosmic ripples" as the greatest discovery of all time," according to SABC News.

The Boston Globe has more on this "inspiring example of scientific investigation and progress": 

In 1989, the Big Bang theory was backed up by striking corroborative evidence. NASA’s COBE satellite (for Cosmic Background Explorer) measured background radiation and helped scientists calculate tiny temperature variations that theories had predicted a big bang would produce.

These measurements “marked the inception of cosmology as a precise science," not just a theoretical one, Nobel Prize officials said in a statement announcing that this year’s physics prize goes to NASA scientist John C. Mather, who oversaw the COBE work, and to University of California/Berkeley physicist George F. Smoot, who worked on the temperature measurements….

Even more than honoring scientists, the Nobel Prize awards science itself: the work of forming and testing hypotheses that leads to abandoning old ideas and settling on new conclusions and, inevitably, new questions. It is often a team effort, the work of more than 1,000 people supported the COBE satellite. It is work that relies on the seemingly outrageous ideas of insightful individuals who frequently outrage establishment thinking and sometimes tear it down and rebuild it.

(The Globe also has a good story on Smoot’s days as a prankster at MIT.) 

Be sure to check out NASA’s COBE satellite page for details on the satellite and its three instruments, which each yielded a major discovery in cosmology — but which also raised a number of questions that the European Space Agency hopes to answer with the 2008 launch of its Planck satellite.

We recently heard about a new venture between Brooksfilms Ltd. and MGM Studios to produce and distribute a new animated TV series based on the 1987 Mel Brooks feature film "Spaceballs." The G4 cable network and Berliner Film Companie are also in on the development and production.

The show is set to debut on G4 in the fall of 2007. Owned by Comcast, the G4 channel is distributed to nearly 60 million households in the U.S. via satellite and cable systems. G4 has exclusive U.S. distribution rights.

We’re all familiar with standard weather reports: rain in the western U.S., Ohio Valley, a nice high-pressure system over the southeast, with plasmaspheric hiss at higher altitudes.

Wait — plasmaspheric hiss? Space.com explains:

Plasmaspheric hiss consists of extremely low frequency radio waves with frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to several kHz. These waves scatter energetic electrons and divert some of them into the Earthís upper atmosphere, thereby creating the gap in the Van Allen radiation belts.

Fluxes of high-energy, or relativisitic, electrons which occur during space weather events such as coronal mass ejections and sunspot activity, are a risk to humans in space and damage spacecraft. Fluxes in the outer Van Allen radiation belt are particularly erratic and even the gap can be filled with killer electrons during intense solar weather events, such as the Halloween Storm in 2003, Meredith said.

A better understanding of solar weather and the source of plasmaspheric hiss will help scientists improve their forecasts of space conditions and make space travel safer for humans, he said.

"Understanding the source of hiss will help scientists produce the next generation of radiation belt models that will eventually be used for predictive purposes," Meredith told SPACE.com. "This will help humans in space plan their activities to avoid unnecessary exposure to extreme levels of radiation."

For those who are really rocket scientists, understanding the weather in space is critical to maintaining full satellite functionality on a day to day basis.

So where does one get a forecast of the day’s space weather?

Why, from NOAA, of course. 

This site gives a good overview of what a daily space weather forecast looks like, with predictions of solar X-ray flux and links to auroral activity estimates and information on solar protons. A similar page provides predictions of solar wind speeds at earth; a complete list of NOAA’s space weather and data products can be found here.

And here’s a tidbit: Unlike the old joke about wind chill factor, solar wind effects you whether you believe in it or not. And it can make itself known in some amazing ways.

The U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research thinks it’s possible, and a company in California wants to prove it: a large electromagnetic ring will be able to launch small satellites into space. Discovery Channel Canada gives us the scoop:

A large circular metal track could accelerate objects to supersonic speed using electromagnets and spit them out into space, says a report from the U.S. air force’s Office of Scientific research.

Tagged as the Launch Ring by its inventing company, Launch Point Technologies, the track would be several kilometers in diameter. Similar to trains that hover on electromagnetic tracks, a sled would hover over the ring and be propelled forward using powerful magnets.

According to the company, a satellite protected by an eggshell-like capsule could sit atop the sled and slowly accelerate over a matter of hours to a supersonic 10 km/sec. Then a small explosion could detach the capsule from the sled and it would hurtle into a side tunnel.

From there, it would shoot up a ramp and through the atmosphere into outer space. Traveling at a 23 times the speed of sound, the capsule would experience forces 2,000 times that of normal gravity on Earth.

A rocket strapped on the capsule would correct the trajectory so that it correctly aligned itself in orbit.

The Goleta California company has received funding to begin a two-year study within several weeks. Boosters of the ring hope to one day use it for thousands of launches a year, at a fraction of today’s cost of putting things in space.

Humans could never withstand the forces exerted during the ring’s launch process. Under existing technological limitations, it could only be used to propel supplies to be used by humans on a long-term mission in outer space, or to put satellites into orbit.

The Air Force also suggests it could be used for military purposes, quickly launching weapons around the world.

For more details, try NewScientist.com.

Let’s face it: military juntas make businessmen nervous.

Last week’s military coup in Thailand has destabilized the business climate — if only briefly — with many business leaders holding off on planned deals as they assess the situation in Bangkok.

One big example of the law of unintended consequences: GE Capital put its deal with Bank of Ayudhya on hold until the situation clarifies itself.

But what impact has the coup had on satcom in Thailand?

For Shin Satellite Plc, the greatest problem in recent weeks is not change in power in the governement but a sudden loss of power on their Thaicom 3 satellite:

Shin Satellite Plc yesterday immediately de-orbited its glitch-ridden Thaicom 3 broadcasting satellite, following its power loss, which affects its plan to tap the Middle East market.

However, the company’s executive chairman Dumrong Kasemset denied that the de-orbit would affect the company’s projected revenue this year as it has yet to include Thaicom 3 income’s from the Middle East into the calculation.

He added during the teleconference with the presses that the company is also evaluating the deeper financial impact of the de-orbit incidence. He said ShinSat de-orbited Thaicom 3 at approximately 01.37 am, due to the power loss to such extent that it could not provide further service.

t de-orbited Thaicom 3 by moving it beyond its existing orbital slot of 50.5 Degrees East.

Thaicom 3 has had its share of problems, as has Thaicom’s owner, Shincorp. Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce recentely completed its investigations of the sale of Shin Corp to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

One thing’s for certain — businessmen, and those of us hoping for a Christmas trip to Phuket, will welcome a return to normalcy.

According to Lloyd’s List (subscription required), Inmarsat is focusing on hand-held satellite communications devices for maritime service:

LEADING satellite communications provider Inmarsat is gearing up for a major entry into the hand-held market after signing off the deal with voice service provider ACeS International.

“This was the final piece in the jigsaw for our services, and we are now ready to make big strides in the mobile voice sector,” said Robert Johnson, director of maritime services for Inmarsat.

The deal will give Inmarsat the means to compete with Iridium, its principal rival in the commodity voice segment.

The London-listed company bought the intellectual property rights of ACeS International last month and expects initial annualised revenues from the collaboration to be in the region of $3m-$5m from capital expenditures of approximately $40-$50m over two years for ground infrastructure and development on the ACeS R190 phone. 

The ACeS press release on the partnership can be found here. The InMarsat/ACeS system relies upon low-bandwidth communications using geosynchronous satellites in the L-band, which is a global allocation. Thus, you can operate in the same frequency anywhere in the world.

Iridium tried (and failed in) the hand-held satcom market in the 1990s, as The Wall Street Journal recently reminded us:

"They were targeting people in deserts and on ships in the middle of oceans, and one of my life lessons is that you can’t get a good business serving the fringe," said George Calhoun, a telecom entrepreneur and professor of technology management at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. "I remember thinking at the time that this was a trial balloon and that they weren’t serious."

Well, the creditors to Iridium remain serious; now they’re going after parent company Motorola to recoup their losses.

So who, exactly, needs handheld satcom equipment? The big boats with lots of people (cruise ships, naval vessels) have big dishes for TV — and they can spend the money required for marine-stabilized antennas.

The Inmarsat maritime service is useful, we suppose, if you want to blog while floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Or if you’re rowing a boat to the Canary Islands. But the question remains — is there a mass market for handheld sat phones?

What do you think?