Onward to Mars

Leave it to NASA, Buzz Aldrin, and NASA TV to remind me of my childhood dreams and my long suppressed desire to be involved with the space program. I just spent a few hours watching an Apollo XI lecture on NASA TV featuring a keynote address by Buzz Aldrin, and was inspired to post my ideas on getting to Mars. I've never told anyone this, but it was a secret objective of mine to become an astronaut when I applied for the Air Force Academy in high school (one of only two colleges I actually applied for in my senior year), and then later applied for and joined the Air Force R.O.T.C. at Michigan State University when I didn't get accepted into the A.F.A..

I wanted to be an astronaut so badly for so long that it was physically painful when I flunked out of M.S.U. after my second semester. (I didn't do well there because I was profoundly damaged by the loss of a close cousin and another close family member developing new medical issues.) I was depressed for two very good reasons, and felt the death of two dreams: being a fighter pilot and an astronaut. Nonetheless, I never passed up an opportunity to watch a shuttle launch, and I can still sit and stare at the NASA TV channel for hours.

Now, I have no illusions that I'll ever get to be an astronaut, but that doesn't mean I can't contribute in a meaningful way to the space program. Hundreds or thousands of Americans do on a daily basis. The problem I face is lack of access for submitting my ideas. So, I'm hoping that this post will some how, some way, make its way on to the monitor of someone that might find them useful in our push to Mars.

Mr. Aldrin stated that there was a 66 year interval between the Wright brothers' first flight and Apollo XI landing on the Moon, and that there should be the same interval between Apollo XI and a manned flight to Mars. He also stated that NASA had spent about 10% of its budget during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs investing in new technology for the future, and that since then, the budget had been primarily directed towards running the current programs instead of developing new technology. I can't confirm or deny those statistics or statements, but I definitely think NASA and the United States as a whole should pull together, and develop a detailed oriented plan for getting to Mars. I also think that this effort should start with us, the United States, but evolve to include all nations interested in exploring Mars, and eventual colonization of that world.

While I don't have a complete, detailed set of steps to get there, here are my ideas for getting us to Mars and establishing a colony there:

Establish a Planet-wide Communications and Positioning Network
One of the more significant problems we currently have on Mars is communicating with the rovers and landers we currently have on the surface. To some extent, this problem has been lessened with the orbiters relaying signals to and from them ground-side robots when Mars' rotation would otherwise eliminate communications. However, any manned exploration of the planet will need to be able to maintain communications with Earth at all times, signal travel time notwithstanding.

To that end, and to enable any two planet bound explorers (human or robotic) to locate and communicate with each other, a network of communications and positioning satellites need to be placed in Mars orbit. Given the expense of launching a single satellite into Earth orbit, I would propose that a swarm/flock of micro- or nano- satellites be launched to fulfill this role. I would also propose that each of these satellites utilize ion drives similar to that used on the Deep Space I and Dawn probes some years ago. Given the small size of micro and nano satellites, I believe that an ion drive would be a much more efficient propulsion system and would be able to keep the satellites in orbit for a much longer period of time than conventional propellants.

The swarm should be developed to automatically accept new members, and be able to rebalance itself should one or more members be lost due to malfunction, space debris, or collision with other man-made or heavenly objects. This will require a certain amount of self sufficient artificial intelligence to be built into each satellite so that loss of any single node will not cripple the entire swarm.

The swarm would be primarily for Mars-local communications and positioning, and they would use two or more larger, more conventional satellites for relaying data to and from Earth. These larger satellites don't necessarily have to be the size of Earth orbiting communications satellites, but they would need to be able to store a large amount of in-transit data for retransmission in the event of communications failure (due to solar flares or other sources of interference), and should provide multiple channel, high bandwidth communications to and from Mars. These larger satellites would relay any and all communications to and from Mars probes, manned explorations, and the early days of any colonization. Similar satellites would need to be placed in Earth orbit for the same relaying purposes.

Automated Mining, Refining, and Fabrication Robots
One of the biggest problems Mars explorers and colonizers will face will be developing their habitat and processing resources into usable materials, whether for fuel or building materials. While the concept of terraforming Mars as a long term goal is at once appealing and terrifying. In the short term, 25-100 years (yeah, that's a long time in human years, but not even the blink of an eye geologically speaking), humans would need to build an outpost in which to dwell.

While we are technologically capable of building, sending, and assembling such a structure to Mars from Earth, it would be far less expensive I believe to design, build, and send robots capable of mining, refining, processing, and utilizing Mars native materials for this purpose.

To start, we would need to build a robot whose sole purpose was to unfold and manage a fairly large array of solar panels, and perhaps wind turbines to generate electricity for all other robots at the construction site. This power supplier would need to be able to keep the solar cells clean, and position them at the optimum angle to collect sunlight from dawn to dusk. I imagine such a robot as being a multi-legged beast to using some of the recent advances in flexible cheap solar cell technology. It would utilize simple legs in order to compensate for uneven terrain at the initial landing location. Separate or integrated wind turbines could be added to this power supplier to give an all weather, day or night power generation capability.

A mining robot would take care of clearing the outpost zone of loose rock and soil, and be capable of at least minimal landscaping activities such as leveling the soil and excavating larger rocks and digging small to medium pits for resource storage. The mining robot(s) primary purpose would be to gather raw material for the refining robot to break down into relatively pure constituent components: iron, nickel, gases and liquids.

The refining robot would probably be the single largest consumer of the electricity provided by the power supplier as it would electrically smelt materials provided by the mining robot(s) much as many refineries do here on Earth. Prior to applying its more destructive tools to any materials, it should first perform the scientifically accepted instruments for detecting life as we know it to the materials, and set any matching specimen aside for human examination. All other materials should be divided into categories depending on their composition: metals should be separated prior to smelting as much as possible, and further separated during the smelting process to enhance purity. Any gases released during the smelting process should be captured and distilled into their respective liquids, especially hydrogen and water. Storage of liquids and gases will probably pose the greatest challenge as leak-proof containers sent from Earth will initially be required. I'm uncertain whether it will be technically feasible to produce air-tight storage containers through automation on Mars without human assistance, however it is possible that this task might be resolvable prior to a manned mission to Mars within the targeted time frame. It should also be noted that in all likelihood, any smelted metals on Mars will likely contain some amount of carbon due to the high presence of carbon in the Martian atmosphere. This means that iron refining would likely produce at least a small percentage of low grade steel or carbon infused iron.

Once the smelting robot has done its job, metals would need to be cooled and preferably stored in pellet form in the storage pits dug by the mining robot(s). Each pit would be designated for a different metal, and that information would be stored redundantly in the mining, refining, and resource management robots. The resource management robots would be responsible for placing resources in the storage pits as well as retrieving them from those locations as well. Upon request they would be responsible for providing the desired resources to the smelter for a second round of smelting to produce targeted metals, such as alloy production.

The smelting robot would also produce sheets of metals of a desired width, length, and thickness for use by one or more production robots, which would cut, bend, shape, and weld the materials to produce the desired equipment, structure, and/or habitat. It would need the ability to check for leaks, vacuum the air out of containers and structures, and place them at a designated location. It will need to be able to fabricate parts large and small, and to be able to fill containers or structures with gases or liquids (for instance for storage of water, hydrogen, oxygen, etc.).

The fabricator will need to be able to produce both simple and complex mechanical parts, and be able to reclaim any waste materials for recycling through the smelter. For instance, the fabricator will need to be able to build the individual components for a valve, be able to assemble the valve, and place it into a larger part such as a pneumatic press. Similarly, it would need to be able to roll metal into a cylinder, seal the ends, place a valve on it, and pump out the trapped gas in order to make a proper storage tank for gases such as oxygen or hydrogen.

The final stage of fabrication should include laser etching a bar code or other machine readable code onto the produced item so that it can be properly identified by both machines and humans.

Summary
These are just a few ideas and generalities that I think would be useful in the exploration and eventual colonization of Mars, or any other world. Accurate navigation and world wide communication on any world will require satellites to perform these functions. In order to properly position robots in close proximity for establishing a foothold for humans will require precision navigation and communication both before and after planet-fall. An automated mining, refining, and production compound can provide not only the basic building materials and substances that human explorers might need, but reduce the overall cost of such a mission by readying those resources prior to the arrival of the explorers. Subsequent colonization efforts can then further utilize those resources to establish a long term human presence on the surface of another world.

These are just my thoughts but if they can be useful to NASA in the exploration of our solar system then I'd be proud to discuss them at length. Otherwise, please disregard them or use them for inspiration for your own ideas. Either way, I'd be interested to hear from anyone reading this.

Staying Positive

We all know how tough life can be, and that sometimes it's really un-fucking-fair, but from now on, I'm going to try to stay positive instead of letting myself get dragged into the negativeness and pragmatism that I normally live in. As such, I deleted the "Wow... I'm Impressed" entry from this blog, and will try not to let another negative post make it here.

Obviously, at some point, something major and negative will happen, but I'm going to do my best to see the bright side of it, if there is one. If I can't, then if I decide to post about it at all, I'll just stick to the facts and try to leave my emotions out of the picture.

The reason this is coming about is that my mother this week stated that I was being too negative that I don't ever think positively. She said that after I told her that I was going to file for financial aide at Oakland University just in case the scholarship through the Detroit Workforce Development Department fell through. I looked at it as covering my bases to make sure that I could go to school this Fall, she looked at it as me expecting to not get the scholarship.

We didn't get into a real discussion on the issue, but obviously our perceptions were different. As a result, it's been on my mind all week, and I've put some thought in to it. Normally, I do try to prepare myself for the worst possible outcomes because it's been rare that anything in my life has ever gone according to plan, and even rarer for the best possible outcome to occur. So I've become pragmatic; I've tried to make sure that in the event of the worst possible outcome, that things will still be ok. Maybe I'm not being as positive as I could be, but repeated disappointments throughout my life have left me in a position where I don't want any more of them, and I stopped getting my hopes up.

This has got to change. So, I'm going to try to be positive once again. I'm going to try to get my hopes (and faith) up again, and rely on my God, skills and abilities, family and friends, and all other things to make things right.

So in that spirit, have a great day!

Officially a Student [Again]

Although I've known for about a week, thanks to the marvels of the web, I received my official acceptance letter from Oakland University today! What that means is that I can now take classes there in an attempt to get a degree in Cinema Studies; coincidentally a program they just set up.

I'm looking forward to going and getting down to business, but I'll admit that I'm scared of thw whispers that I'm sure to hear behind my back. Why will there be whispers? Simple: I'm twice as old as most of my fellow students. Being 37 isn't a handicap, and I really don't care what the other students might say, but I don't want to go through any emotional shit because of my age.

If I fuck up, I'm fine with them talking about me behind my back, but I don't need any age shit.

Any way, I think I'm finally ready to commit myself to school and getting it completed, degree and all. We'll see what the job field looks like in a couple of years when I start calling myself a screenwriter with a bachelor's degree.

MGS4

You know, it's been about a year since I first completed Metal Gear Solid 4, but I just stumbled on some screen shots that brought a smile to my face... That game is just too awesome, and I think I have to go back through it again soon. (For about the 8th time.)

In this brief series of photos, you can see that I spent the time to knock out a fairly large group of guards with stun grenades and tranquillizer darts. I wanted to see how many I could render unconscious at one time, and it's apparently more than a couple...
Perhaps my only gripe with the AI was that it didn't wise up, and realize that I was there taking people out. Sure, the AI troops would wake each other up and remain cautious for a bit, but that never led them to look beneath the APC, and seldom did they look between the equipment pallets... Still, doing things like this allowed me to get away from killing everything that moved and somethings that didn't.

This of course makes me curious about the upcoming Metal Gear Solid titles: Peace Walker and whatever the heck the name of the other one was... It's being said that Peace Walker on the PSP will have Kojima's full attention in addition to having the MGS4 staff working on it, so I have no doubt that it will be an excellent game, but I really wonder how far they can push the PSP...

In all honesty, I really don't expect much out of the other title since it will be constrained to the limitations of the Xbox 360. Now, I'm not trying to throw hate at the 360... I own one, and I'm currently loving the hell out of Ghostbusters because Maxx, Tom, and Omar also own 360s and are playing it on that platform. Not to mention I love the hell out of Left 4 Dead, but the fact is the PlayStation 3 owns my heart. Not just for MGS4, but for Resistance 2, KillZone 2, LittleBigPlanet, and a fair number of other games I own for it. MGS4 made it clear to me that the PS3 is the superior platform, and frankly I haven't seen anything on the 360 that even comes close.
That said, this other title is going to be primarily action, rather than a lot of stealth, so I suspect that a lot of the game will be on the lines of a first or third person shooter, needing little subtlety or finesse as compared to other Metal Gear games. While I can handle that, and I'm not a purist, I would really much rather have the traditional stealth elements in the MGS series rather than have just another shooter. I have excellent shooters already, I don't necessarily need a MGS themed one. *COUGH*Metal Gear Online*COUGH*

Paperwork Sucks

For the last few weeks I've been trying hard to get the paperwork together for a scholarship to go back to school this Fall. Now twice this week I've travelled by bus and foot to turn in this paperwork and failed to get it accepted and off my hands.

The first time was because I arrived too late in the day to see a career planner which is a mandatory step in the application process. Today's failure was because federal guidelines meant that the faxed copy of some of my paperwork was unacceptable.

I'm already jumping through hoops to try to make this happen, do they really need to be on fire too?

beefcake! beefcake!

ok, I have no need to shout that and I don't really have anything to say, but I wanted to post something so there.

Apollo 11, 40 Years Later

This morning after finally dragging my ass out of bed, I ate breakfast while listening to the news. After getting tired of listening to still more Michael Jackson coverage, I switched to the NASA channel. Yes, they have a cable channel.

I hadn't yet given it any thought but was rather pleased to see some 60s footage of the Apollo program. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was obsessed like many with the space program, and it's still one of my primary interests. I never got to see these films when I was younger, so I find them fascinating.

All of a sudden it dawned on me that the Apollo 11 anniversary was just a few days away. Not just any anniversary, but the 40th! Holy shit!

While I'm not disappointed with the last 30 years NASA spent working on and with the shuttle, I am glad that they are once again looking towards manned exploration of the moons and plants of our solar system. In fact I'd say I'm one of the few people to say that the long break was probably the best things they could've done.

The reason is simple: we as a civilization, and NASA in particular, have advanced significantly in technology since the last moon landing. It is now possible to build better, safer space craft today than it was decades ago, and those craft will be significantly more advanced for less money (relatively speaking). A trip to Mars would have been significantly more dangerous in the 70s or 80s than it will be in 2020.

I just want to send my thanks and love out to NASA, it's employees, and the Apollo 11 crew for inspiring me and countless others.

Mounting Confusion

Last year, for various reasons, I moved back to my home town of Detroit, Michigan, from the Los Angeles area. One of the key reasons being that I wanted to be here with my family as and after I went through my divorce.

For the most part, I've enjoyed being back though I miss my Cally friends, and do little other than sit in my house. I'm now in the process of getting enrolled at Oakland University, but I'm really beginning to feel like I don't belong here either.

Almost from the moment I got here, I've run into one problem or another, and I'm currently jobless, broke, and without any prospects. On the other hand, thank God, I don't have a car payment, and I don't have to worry about my next meal or the roof over my head.

Still, I'm beginning to think that it's time for me to move on. I'm not going back to L.A., but I don't know where else I could go. I haven't yet committed myself to leaving, but I'm finding it hard to want to stay.

I Need Change

Today is my 37th birthday.
In my life I have gone many places, done many things, but ultimately, I have accomplished very little. I have been to and through most of the 48 continental states in the U.S., went to Japan when I was in high school, been married for 8 years, and I have a nearly 3 year old son. But as far as accomplishments are concerned, I can only say that I graduated from high school, 19 years ago.
I need a change. I need a career, not a job. I need to find the love of my life, not just a woman that will love me for a while. I need to be successful.

Great Idea!

In my lifetime of making critical tactical errors with my life, I have occasionally managed to do the right thing at the right time. Years ago, I managed to graduate from high school on time despite failing economics in the first semester. I managed to get hired at Be Incorporated just as my life at Scantron was really beginning to fall apart. And through it all, I've managed to acquire some kick ass, if admittedly strange, friends; some of which are closer to me than most of my blood relatives.

However, I have managed to screw myself over with some pretty horrible jobs. I'm not going to name names or go into any details, but in all honesty, I've hated my last three jobs though the last one started out pretty well.

To bring you slightly up to speed, I decided at the end of last year while working on a project for my now former employer, that I was going to quit. The project's requirements kept shifting as I was doing the development work, and it seemed like every time I completed a section of it, the client would change their minds on what they wanted. Needless to say I got pissed off because there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it. I needed the money, I did the job. Months later when they wanted things changed significantly again, I refused, but only because technically I was no longer an employee of the company I had worked for: I was now doing work as needed as an independent contractor. That's not to say I had a contract, but I wasn't on the books as an employee any more.

This working arrangement was my boss's idea since he wasn't getting paid regularly by his clients any more, and he couldn't afford to keep me around as a full time employee. Or so he said. So I agreed to the new terms, but warned him that I was going to have to look for other employment to meet my needs. I dropped from making $653 per week down to maybe $100 if I was lucky, and I was almost never paid on time.

This kept pissing me off, more and more, and even though I had decided to quit my job already, I didn't because I needed what little money was coming in.

Two weeks ago it all came to a head. I couldn't take the bullshit I was being handed any more (yes, lots of details have been left out), and I quit last week.

So, now I officially have no job, no income, and no money. I have bills coming due, and frankly I don't know what the hell to do. I'm really hoping and praying for a miracle while I sit here and apply for jobs. God, if you're listening, I need your flood of blessings that Joel Osteen raved about!

I've applied to some good jobs, ones that I believe I can get, but I have this underlying fear that I could be out of work for months again... It was another great idea of mine to quit my job in the middle of a recession, in the state with the highest unemployment rate in the country!