April 2006 Newsletter

Stockton Astronomical Society

Valley Skies

Valley Skies - May 2006 Issue

Editor's Corner...

Micke Grove Community Star Party...

All afternoon, heavy clouds were moving in from the west. We all assumed that the observing session was dead. Good thing we had planned the indoor activities.

Then about 6:45 pm, just fifteen minutes before the scheduled start time, the clouds fell apart and the sky opened up. Telescopes were quickly set up and, for ninety minutes, 400 visitors were treated to the wonders they came to see.

There's a lesson here...whatever the weather prospects, you can't assume that the star party is a non-starter till the starting time.

For some members who had planned to bring telescopes, one look at the gathering clouds was enough to convince them to stay home. Others made the trek from as far away as Oakdale and Riverbank, recognized the apparent futility, and went home.

Having driven all the way from Penryn, Bill Thomas decided to stick around to see what the Micke Grove Star Party was all about. So when the clouds parted just before start time, he and eight or nine others broke out their scopes and made a star party out of it after all.

In the words of Paul Neidhamer:

"We did it! If you were not there, you missed out. The annual public star party at Micke Grove was a great success. Although the evening sky was not perfect, it was good enough in the Stockton-Lodi area for our guests to see the heavens.

About 400 visitors showed up to talk to members of the Stockton Astronomical Society, and to look at the Moon, Orion, Saturn and more in the night sky. Star Lab, the inflatable planetarium, was a hit. Representatives of Meade Telescope and Orion Binoculars were also there with telescopes to demonstrate. Perhaps most impressively, Chuck Marble drove all the way from San Diego ..... and still managed to be at Micke Grove to give a high energy presentation."

The Exec. Committee would like to thank all of the members who helped bring it off, including all of you who made the drive in spite of the poor weather prospects. Special thanks go to Becky Greider for coordinating the event, including two trips to Modesto for milk bottles for luminarias, donated by Foster Farms; to Doug Christensen for the badges and signs and for helping set up in spite of a severe sinus infection; to Jim Schucknecht for donating saw horses for the signs; to Craig Moore, the Meade rep. who came from Santa Rosa with two telescopes (plus a third one as a drawing prize); to Jeremy Gartin from Gluskin's who ran one of the Meade scopes; to Neil Gluskin who, on short notice, arranged for Meade to be represented there; to Brian Cogdell from Orion in Cupertino, who brought a telescope to support the event; to John Sprenger and Andy Bernhardt who ran the Starlab; to Bryan Fechter, Jerry Hyatt and Chuck Marble & Patrick who ran the indoor programs.

Many thanks also to Marty Weybret for the Lodi News-Sentinel's support and publicity, and to the staff - especially Robin and Ray - of the Historical Museum for all of their facilitating work that made it all possible.

...Trevor Atkinson

BE A VISITING ASTRONOMER IN YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL

Get Free Training and Materials with Project ASTRO

Project ASTRO is looking for amateur or professional astronomers who would like to work with teachers and students in 3rd - 9th grade classrooms. This is a great opportunity to help kids learn science, sharing your love of astronomy with the most enthusiastic audience you can find (and sharpening your teaching or communication skills in the process.)

Through Project ASTRO, you will be paired in a one-on-one partnership with a Bay Area teacher at a school near you. Together, astronomer and teacher partners attend a free two-day summer training workshop where they learn effective hands-on astronomy activities and receive a copy of Project ASTRO's rich curriculum resource book, "The Universe at Your Fingertips", materials to lead hands-on activities, invitations to additional workshops, and access to the Project ASTRO lending library.

The project emphasizes ongoing partnerships, not just one-time class visits. During the school year, astronomers make at least four visits to their adopted classroom at mutually convenient times.

Vivian White, the new Project ASTRO coordinator at ASP, says "I just got an application from a teacher in Stockton and would love to get her together with a fun astronomer."

Applications and more information can be found by going to: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/project_astro.html

The Science Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center sponsors the Science@NASA web sites. The mission of Science@NASA is to help the public understand how exciting NASA research is and to help NASA scientists fulfill their outreach responsibilities.

Was Einstein Wrong about Space Travel?

March 22, 2006: Consider a pair of brothers, identical twins. One gets a job as an astronaut and rockets into deep space. The other stays on Earth. When the traveling twin returns home, he discovers he's younger than his brother.

This is Einstein's Twin Paradox, and although it sounds strange, it is absolutely true. The theory of relativity tells us that the faster you travel through space, the slower you travel through time. Rocketing to Alpha Centauri-warp 9, please-is a good way to stay young.

Or is it?

Some researchers are beginning to believe that space travel could have the opposite effect. It could make you prematurely old.

Albert Einstein's theory of Special Relativity says that time slows down for fast-moving space travelers, effectively keeping them young. Space radiation acting on telomeres could reverse the effect.

"The problem with Einstein's paradox is that it doesn't fold in biology-specifically, space radiation and the biology of aging," says Frank Cucinotta, NASA's chief scientist for radiation studies at the Johnson Space Center.

While the astronaut twin is hurtling through space, Cucinotta explains, his chromosomes are exposed to penetrating cosmic rays. This can damage his telomeres-little molecular "caps" on the ends of his DNA. Here on Earth, the loss of telomeres has been linked to aging.

So far, the risk hasn't been a major concern: The effect on shuttle and space station astronauts, if any, would be very small. These astronauts orbit inside of Earth's protective magnetic field, which deflects most cosmic rays.

But by 2018, NASA plans to send humans outside of that protective bubble to return to the moon and eventually travel to Mars. Astronauts on those missions could be exposed to cosmic rays for weeks or months at a time. Naturally, NASA is keen to find out whether or not the danger of "radiation aging" really exists, and if so, how to handle it.

Science is only now beginning to look at the question. "The reality is, we have very little information about [the link between] radiation and telomere loss," says Jerry Shay, a cell biologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. With support from NASA, Shay and others are studying the problem. What they learn about aging could benefit everyone, on Earth and in space.

A Lit Fuse

Like the fuse of a time bomb, telomeres are long strands of repeating DNA that shorten each time a cell divides. When the telomeres become too short, the cell's time is up: It can no longer divide, a state of affairs known as "replicative senescence."

Telomeres (white) cap the ends of human chromosomes (gray).
Image credit: U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program.

Without this built-in fuse, human cells would be able to continue growing and dividing indefinitely. In fact, scientists believe that cells evolved telomeres as a way of preventing the out-of-control cell growth of cancerous tumors. Because of telomeres, most human cells can only divide 50 to 100 times before the time bomb goes off.

One current theory of aging holds that, as the cells of a person's body start to hit this telomere-imposed limit, the lack of fresh, new cells causes the typical signs of aging: wrinkled skin, failing organs, weaker immune system, etc.

Whether or not telomere loss actually causes aging remains a matter of debate, Shay notes. The fact that shortened telomeres go hand in hand with aging is well documented. People with shorter telomeres, for example, are known to not live as long on average as people with longer telomeres. But mere correlation doesn't prove whether telomeres are in fact the cause.

"It's hard to prove cause and effect in these things. But I think there's a sufficient number of these correlative studies from a variety of different investigators that one has to start believing that short telomeres are a marker of aging," Shay says.

Recent research, performed by Frank Cucinotta and colleagues, showed that iron-nuclei radiation (a chief component of cosmic rays) does indeed damage the telomeres of human cells.

Human chromosomes revealed by RxFISH. Image credit: NASA/JSC.

To prove this, they exposed laboratory dishes containing a kind of human blood cell called lymphocytes to beams of both iron nuclei and gamma rays. Until recently, such a thorough analysis of telomere damage would have been prohibitively time consuming. But a new cell-staining technique called RxFISH (Rainbow cross-species Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) allowed Cucinotta and his colleagues to look at many telomeres simultaneously.

"We had this surprising result that iron particles are much more damaging to telomeres than gamma rays," Cucinotta says. He suggests that this difference might be due to the wider path of damage caused by iron nuclei. Telomere strands wrap into elongated loops, like little knots on the ends of chromosomes. Gamma rays can only strike one side of these loops or the other, but iron nuclei can affect both sides at the same time, inflicting lasting damage on the telomere-possibly causing its complete deletion. This explanation is still speculative, however.

The task now is to quantify the risk telomere damage might pose to astronauts, so that mission managers and the astronauts themselves can make informed decisions about the risks they face. In all likelihood, the effects will be modest, Shay says.

"We're talking about subtle things. These people are probably not going to wind up in wheelchairs or something like that from being in space," Shay says.

Iron nuclei are especially damaging to telomeres.

For example, astronauts who have had the greatest exposure to space radiation, such as the Apollo astronauts who traveled to the Moon, tend to get cataracts about 7 years earlier than other astronauts, on average. Cataracts are a common symptom of aging.

Of greater concern is possible aging of the brain and spinal cord. Experiments with rats have shown that brain tissue is vulnerable to "aging" by iron-nuclei radiation--this according to research by Jim Joseph of Tufts University and Bernie Rabin at the University of Maryland.

"It is looking more and more likely that this could be a problem for long-term space travel," Cucinotta says.

However, if scientists can tease apart the exact ways that iron-particle radiation affects telomeres, they may be able find a way to avoid or correct it. The solution could be as simple as a pill containing DNA-repair molecules. "There are many ways that we can intervene," Shay says.

One way or another, NASA plans to keep their astronauts feeling young.

Editor's note: This story should not be construed to mean that Einstein's theory of Special Relativity is wrong. It is correct. The Twin Paradox was concocted in Einstein's day to illustrate time dilation only. It was never intended to treat all aspects of space travel. The newly discovered effect of space radiation on telomeres is the "paradox on the paradox," says Frank Cucinotta.

Who Wants to be a Daredevil?

By Patrick L. Barry and Dr. Tony Phillips

When exploring space, NASA naturally wants to use all the newest and coolest technologies-artificial intelligence, solar sails, onboard supercomputers, exotic materials.

But "new" also means unproven and risky, and that could be a problem. Remember HAL in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey"? The rebellious computer clearly needed some pre-flight testing.

Testing advanced technologies in space is the mission of the New Millennium Program (NMP), created by NASA's Science Mission Directorate in 1995 and run by JPL. Like the daredevil test pilots of the 1950s who would fly the latest jet technology, NMP flies new technologies in space to see if they're ready for prime time. That way, future missions can use the technologies with much less risk.

Example: In 1999, the program's Deep Space 1 probe tested a system called "AutoNav," short for Autonomous Navigation. AutoNav used artificial intelligence to steer the spacecraft without human intervention. It worked so well that elements of AutoNav were installed on a real mission, Deep Impact, which famously blasted a crater in Comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005. Without AutoNav, the projectile would have completely missed the comet.

Some NMP technologies "allow us to do things that we literally could not do before," says Jack Stocky, Chief Technologist for NMP. Dozens of innovative technologies tested by NMP will lead to satellites and space probes that are smaller, lighter, more capable and even cheaper than those of today.

Another example: An NMP test mission called Space Technology 9, which is still in the planning phase, may test-fly a solar sail. Solar sails use the slight pressure of sunlight itself, instead of heavy fuels, to propel a spacecraft. Two proposed NASA missions would be possible only with dependable solar sails-L1 Diamond and Solar Polar Imager-both of which would use solar sails to fly spacecraft that would study the Sun.

"The technologies that we validate have future missions that need them," Stocky says. "We try to target [missions] that are about 15 to 20 years out."

A menagerie of other cool NMP technologies include ion thrusters, hyperspectral imagers, and miniaturized electronics for spacecraft navigation and control. NMP focuses on technologies that have been proven in the laboratory but must be tested in the extreme cold, vacuum, and high radiation environment of space, which can't be fully recreated in the lab.

New NMP missions fly every year and one-half to two years, taking tomorrow's space technology for a daredevil test drive.

This article was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Good Month to Watch the ISS

There are several good opportunities coming up to watch the International Space Station pass over the Stockton area.

Some of you are familiar with the Heavens Above Web site: www.heavens-above.com but probably forget to check it regularly. Chris Peat does a phenomenal job of maintaining a public resource for keeping tabs on what's overhead, astronomical or man-made.

You are required to register, but use of the site is free. Once you have set your location, all data for satellite appearances are specific to your location.

Click on ISS for times, altitude and brightness for the Space Station from your location. Click on a specific date to see a sky chart showing the track for that appearance. Here's the data and chart for May 5 at Sky Tours:

Starts: 9:41:25 pm 10° high in NNW
Max Alt: 9:43:56 pm 26° high in NNE, mag. 0.7
Ends: 9:44:03 pm 26° high in NE

The brightest appearances are when the Space Station passes high overhead.

Check out:
May 8 (mag.-1.0)
May 10 (mag. -0.7)

Browse and enjoy!

In Search of Water, NASA Spacecraft to Hit the Moon

April 10, 2006: NASA today announced that a small spacecraft, to be developed by a team at NASA Ames, has been selected to travel to the moon to look for precious water ice at the lunar south pole.

LCROSS approaches the moon...

The name of the mission is LCROSS, short for Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite. LCROSS is a secondary payload: It will hitch a ride to the moon onboard the same rocket as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) satellite due to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in October 2008.

"The LCROSS mission gives the agency an excellent opportunity to answer the question about water ice on the moon," says Daniel Andrews of NASA Ames, whose team proposed LCROSS. "We think we have assembled a very creative, highly innovative mission."

LCROSS will hunt for water by hitting the moon--twice--throwing up plumes that may contain signs of H2O. It works like this:

...and hits. Pictured is the first of two impacts delivered by the split craft.

After launch, the LCROSS spacecraft will arrive in the moon's vicinity independent of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. On the way to the moon, the LCROSS spacecraft's two main parts, the Shepherding Spacecraft (S-S/C) and the Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS), will remain coupled. As the pair approach the moon's south pole, the upper stage will separate, and then hit a crater in the south pole area. A plume from the upper stage crash will develop as the Shepherding Spacecraft heads in toward the moon. The Shepherding Spacecraft will fly through the plume using its instruments to analyze the cloud for signs of water and other compounds. Additional space and Earth-based instruments also will study the 2.2-million-pound (1000-metric-ton) plume.

"This type of payload is not new to NASA," says Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Scott Horowitz, who made the selection. "We are taking advantage of the payload capability of the launch vehicle to conduct additional high risk/high payoff science to meet Vision for Space Exploration goals."

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS are the first of many robotic missions NASA will conduct between 2008 and 2016 to study, map, and learn about the lunar surface to prepare for the return of astronauts to the moon. These early missions will help determine lunar landing sites and whether resources, such as oxygen, hydrogen, and metals, are available for use in NASA's long-term lunar exploration objectives.

Learn more about Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS at the Vision for Space Exploration: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/main/index.html