Gazing into outer space from our Four Corners

Gazing into outer space from our Four Corners

Jan. 24, 2001

Four Corners, One Sky
Monte Y. Pescador

Every new year starts off with a look back at the previous year, and NASA had a great year.

In a recent release from the labs on Earth, scientists can now recreate the same, more perfect crystal growth discovered in weightless space using two common components of crystal growth for commercial use, germanium and silicon. As this is shifted to industry use, expect to see even better radios, computers, and even flat-panel displays. Research will continue on other crystal growth materials on board the space station.

The United States has broken the Mars curse by settling the probe Odyssey into orbit. The average loss of world spacecraft to Mars was 3 lost for every 4 sent. Odyssey is the third United States craft since the success of the 1996 Pathfinder mission to be sent to Mars and the only one of three to succeed.

Have you heard about how wine makers and coffee bean growers use NASA technology to improve their crops and identify the good fruit sections from the bad sections? Take a look around one of the grocery stores in the coffee section. You might be surprised what you’ll find on a couple of new labels.

FROM NASA TO THE FOUR CORNERS

Attention all students with an engineering mind and adventurous heart! The 9th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race is coming and you must be registered by February 1.

Awards are given to not only the fastest vehicle, but also the team that has the best design. Last year 20 states and Puerto Rice attended the race at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

For more information, contact Bradford at (256) 544-5920 or e-mail: durlean.Bradford@msfc.nasa.gov.

The Mars project has posed several hypothetical problems to NASA scientists and engineers, one of which is how to keep astronauts alive and healthy on such a long voyage.

Nanobots, microscopic robots, designed to travel through the blood and stop or destroy cancer cells, present one possibility. After long periods in space, the radiation that comes through the craft will start affecting the crew aboard. Nanobots programmed to find and destroy cancer cells are not fantasy. The parts to the idea exist and a team is hard at work finding a way to make them all work together.

Speaking of medical technology, remember the show with the bionic man, woman, and even dog? After a lot of research and work, the first implanted artificial retina replacement is ready to test. The ceramic replacement replaces a patient’s bad nerve endings with a mesh that sends electrical signals back through the nerve. Doctors hope that, like similar tests on nerves, the brain will slowly learn to reinterpret the signals into a picture just as a baby learns to see the world for the first time.

JUST LOOK UP

While there are not any naked-eye events in the sky the month of February, take a look out there. Aside from Jupiter and Saturn, which will remain in our sky for the month of February to the west, the cold, clear nights allow us to get a good look at the constellations. The best view will be on the 12th during the new moon.

Here’s a beautiful look at the International Space Station. It will pass directly overhead on February 1 beginning at 6:42 PM until 6:52 PM. Watch it moving from the southwest to the northeast. The crew continues to make discoveries in medicine, biology, chemistry, and physics. You can even talk to them on ham radio now thanks to a new antenna. See the website http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov to keep track of the orbiting lab.

Go outside and salute the space station on the 20th. It’ll be a bright streak across the sky starting at 5:54 from the northwest to the southeast just as the sun is setting, and a fine way to celebrate John Glenn’s first orbit back in 1962.

Local resident Monte Y. Pescador has been chosen for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s 2002 Solar System Ambassador program, to educate the public about the space program and the science and technology it contributes to other aspects of life.

When Pescador moved here from the Pacific Northwest eight years ago, he was amazed by the clarity of the night sky. A NASA buff for as long as he can remember, he is now a full-time student at Fort Lewis. "I fully intend to make my best effort to join the space program," he says.