Canadian program seeks to grow food in space

Posted on July 18th, 2008 in space by admin

MONTREAL - It takes three days to travel to the moon and six months to get to Mars. But the real challenge is not getting there, it’s what to eat.

“Space agriculture is what’s required for long-term space exploration,” Mike Dixon, director of the controlled environment systems research facility at the University of Guelph, said Tuesday during a space conference in Montreal. “We can’t afford to keep shipping water, oxygen and Kraft dinner to the moon indefinitely.”

Research being conducted at a state-of-the-art facility in Guelph, Ont., has Canada leading the world in space agriculture.

“We want to grow the first plant on the moon. That’s a Canadian space first that we can actually aspire to,” Dixon said in an interview. “Let’s face it, the next worse place after a snowbank in Canada to do controlled-environment plant production has got to be the moon.”Growing food in space would allow crews to embark on longer expeditions to the moon or even the Red Planet. The plants would be grown in a greenhouse that would provide food, potable water and oxygen as well as recycle carbon dioxide and waste.

The model is a five-foot-square sealed chamber made of stainless steel, Teflon and glass. A set of gloves built into the greenhouse would allow the crew to plant seeds and harvest plants without risking contamination.

The size of the prototype is relatively small - it would take over 10 of them just to feed one astronaut for a day.

To produce a higher yield and grow plants with less water, light, oxygen and atmospheric pressure, researchers are breeding and genetically modifying plants.

“The reality is that we are taking these plants to such a strange ecosystem, where we require them to be the life support engines of our exploration activities,” Dixon said. “So it behooves us to equip those plants with the best genetic tools that they can have to be sustainable and reliable.”

There are about 40 crops on the menu for space, but the focus is on food staples like soybeans, wheat and rice.

“Oh yeah, if you’re going to Mars, you’re a vegetarian,” Dixon said. “After the bacon that you carry in your back pocket is gone, it’s all over. And you can’t carry enough bacon to last 18 months.”

About 65 faculty, staff and students work at the research facility at the University of Guelph, which cost $8.75 million to build in 2001 and another $4 million to run annually.

Funding for the public-private project comes from several sources, including the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology.

In response to criticism that the money could be better spent, Dixon said: “The socio-economic spinoffs are enormous. This is the next Canadarm,” he said, referring to the Canadian-made mechanical arm used at the space station.

The technology could also be applied to improve agriculture and environmental management here on Earth, Dixon said.

“When you go to the moon or Mars, you can’t throw anything away - there is no such thing as garbage. The words garbage and waste will not be in the dictionary when we’re off this planet.

“All of the recycling technologies that we must have on the moon are so eminently useful here on Earth to help us sustain our own ecosystem and survival.”

The space conference, the 37th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research, has nearly 2,000 participants from 61 countries and runs until Sunday.

Next generation NASA space telescope uses nano mirrors

Posted on July 11th, 2008 in NASA, space by admin

A silicon device with thousands of slats of tiny mirrors lined up to resemble a jalousie window could speed the efficiency of NASA’s next generation space telescope, the Constellation-X Observatory, according to a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge.

The scientists created what they call the Critical Angle Transmission grating, a device that uses nano mirrors to diffract X-ray and extreme ultraviolet range beams without the energy absorption that typically occurs with X-ray diffraction gratings, said Ralf Heilmann, associate director of MIT’s Space Nanotechnology Laboratory at the Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Space Research.

Scientists use diffraction gratings in space telescopes such as NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory as a tool to aid their search for clues to the formation of the universe. It is work that must be conducted in space because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs X-ray energy. Diffraction gratings, which are a common physical science tool, disperse X-ray wavelengths in much the same way a prism refracts visible light.

The MIT grating was invented during research and development for NASA’s Constellation-X program, a proposed mission to fly several X-ray telescopes working in unison. These telescopes will investigate black holes, galaxy formation, the recycling of matter and energy, and dark matter and dark energy.

Based on more than two decades of work that included optics for Chandra, MIT scientists set out to create a device that would disperse X-ray wavelengths without absorbing the wavelengths’ energy. The scientists found that tightly spaced silicon mirrors reflect wavelengths rather than absorbing them, allowing the wavelengths to be redirected at angles that allow a broader view of their spectra, said Mark Schattenburg, director of the Space Nanotechnology Laboratory.

“We’re getting five times more throughput than with Chandra,” Schattenburg said. “For every 10 X-rays through Chandra’s telescope, only one to two gets detected. At least five times more get through the nano mirrors so we’re boosting the percentage of efficiency.”

The silicon slats are as thin as 35 nanometers - the size of some of the smallest computer chip transistors and wires under commercial development. The thousands of long, thin slats are spaced about 150 nanometers apart at a shallow angle that allows the X-rays to skip from the smooth sidewalls of the slats through the spaces between the slats.

Heilmann said the new technology could be used in a wide array of instruments, from those involved in plasma physics to the life and environmental sciences. The principles of diffraction and efficient reflection below a critical angle apply to neutrons and whole atoms as well, he said.

Portugal Teams with Nissan to Pioneer Mass Adoption of Electric Cars

Posted on July 11th, 2008 in Electric Cars, fuel by admin

Automakers Nissan and Renault have partnered with Portugal’s government to create a national network of charging stations. Nissan has aggressively pursued deals with cities and governments on electric vehicles, as soaring gas prices and worries about global warming make the green technology more appealing. Portugal is a global leader in promoting renewable energy, including wind and solar power.Nissan and Renault have previously announced deals with Project Better Place, based in Palo Alto, Calif., which promotes electric vehicles, to mass market electric vehicles in Israel and Denmark in 2011.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of the French and Japanese automakers, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said they would work together to raise awareness about the vehicles and try to make them easier to fuel.

While other car manufacturers concentrate on fuel cells and hybrids, Nissan is going all out on electric vehicles, promising to sell them globally in 2012, with the first models arriving in Japan and the U.S. in 2010.

“We are feeling more strongly than ever that we must speed up our development of electric vehicles,” said Nissan Senior Vice President Minoru Shinohara. Nissan is in talks with parking lot and railway companies to set up recharging stations, he told The Associated Press.

The lack of charging stations has made electric cars impractical in the broader market. Skeptics say electric vehicles will stay niche for some time. Combined with high costs and other technological hurdles, electric vehicles for the broader public are still experimental.

Proponents say tax breaks, preferential highways lanes and other incentives would boost the appeal.

Shinohara said Japanese urbanites drive about 12 miles a day _ so the limited range of electric vehicles isn’t a problem for daily grocery shopping and other errands.

Fuji Heavy Industries, which makes Subaru cars, and Mitsubishi plan to offer electric vehicles in Japan next year. Mitsubishi’s electric vehicle travels 99 miles on a single charge, while Subaru’s goes 50 miles.
Mitsubishi plans to sell its electric vehicle in Europe in 2010, while tests are planned for the U.S. for 2009. Subaru has not decided on overseas sales plans for its electric vehicle.

Masahiko Otsuka, president of Automotive Energy Supply Corp., a joint venture between Nissan and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. said Nissan has a history dating back to 1992 of testing lithium-ion batteries for cars. Lithium-ion batteries are now more common in laptops and other gadgets but can pack more power than the kind of batteries in the gas-electric hybrids made by Toyota.

U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. is developing an electric vehicle called the Chevrolet Volt, which it hopes to launch in 2010. Ford Motor Co. has a demonstration fleet of 20 plug-ins.

US announces new prize for fuel-efficient planes

Posted on July 11th, 2008 in fuel by admin

Washington - The US plans to offer monetary incentives to the developers of a viable substitute for jet fuel, which could bring down surging petrol costs in the aviation industry, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced Thursday. An amount was not given, but the competition, in conjunction with the X Prize Foundation, would be similar to a 10-million-dollar 2004 award given to the first private company to launch a manned spacecraft. “The race to refuel American aviation is on, and our hope is that the X Prize will jump-start investment and spur innovation,” Peters said at an aviation and energy summit in Washington. Rising fuel prices have forced US airlines to make significant cutbacks in their services in recent months, including charges for checked baggage and in-flight meals. US Airways late Wednesday announced it was removing video screens from all domestic aircraft, because the 500 pounds in saved weight per flight would reduce fuel costs by 10 million dollars per year. A group of 12 US airlines launched a publicity campaign Wednesday, deflecting blame for higher ticket prices and pressing for legislative action on energy costs, in an open letter to customers. Peters said the new competition could change the face of the aviation industry. “A breakthrough in alternative jet fuels is a potential game- changer that could bring lower airline fuel costs, greater US energy independence and cleaner air,” she said.