Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the Soviet satellite that shocked America into a cold war battle for space supremacy. Already, the news media are examining the anniversary from all angles. I typed "sputnik" into A Google News' search engine and retrieved 327 articles and blog posts. Expect to read even more about Sputnik 1 (pictured) and the golden anniversary this weekend.

Several of the articles I skimmed look back at the Sputnik launch on Oct. 4, 1957, as a pivotal moment in U.S. history, perhaps as defining a moment for the space race as Pearl Harbor was for U.S. involvement in World War II.

The fact that the Soviets beat us into space was a blow to our collective ego. But it -- as Pearl Harbor 16 years earlier -- was a clarion call for us to get our act together and rally around the cause of beating our cold war adversaries to the moon. It was, as The New York Times puts it, a time When Science Suddenly Mattered, in Space and in Class. Times reporter Cornelia Dean writes:

For many, Sputnik was proof that American education, particularly in science, had fallen behind. Scientists and engineers warned Congress that the cold war was being fought with slide rules, not rifles. In response Congress passed the National Defense Education Act in 1958, providing, among other things, college scholarships and other help for aspiring scientists, engineers and mathematicians. Meanwhile, some of the nation’s eminent scientists were collaborating on new ways to teach high school physics, biology and chemistry.

These days, the cold war is ancient history, the U.S. is not investing in science and technology as it should, and the head of NASA thinks China will be on the moon before we ever return. But if the 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1 teaches us anything, it is that, given the right cause, vision and national leadership, we can pull together and achieve something great.

Continue reading "On Sputnik, the space race, 'when science suddenly mattered' and whether it ever will again" »

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UMR graduate Sandra Magnus -- one of three alumni who have trekked to space as NASA astronauts -- encouraged kids in Collinsville, Ill., to aim for the stars during a recent visit to the Collinsville Public Library. Magnus -- shown here in a 2002 photo from UMR Magazine -- also visited the public libraries in nearby Alton and O'Fallon, Ill., to deliver a similar message.

The Granite City (Ill.) Press Record covered Magnus' visit, in which she described her october 2002 space shuttle flight to the International Space Station and her 11 days in orbit.

She also presented a video about her trip there and then answered questions from children and parents in the audience, such as "What made you decide to become an astronaut?", "What do you do for fun?" and "Where's the bathroom on the spaceship?"

Asked what it was like to be in zero gravity, she said it was hard to describe, but compared it to scuba diving or laying on a lake in an inner-tube.

"It's a very relaxing feeling," she said.

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The U.S. is planning to go back to the mooon in Apollo-style rockets. Of course, conspiracy theorists will tell you we've never been to the moon to begin with. Incidentally, UMR has graduated a lot of rocket scientists and astronauts who are experts in faking complicated stuff. We're hoping that a UMR grad plays an important role in faking one of the new moon missions. And, for all we know, a future UMR grad might even be among the first men and women to not really stand on the surface of Mars.

Posted by Lance Feyh at 08:58 AM | Permalink | add to del.icio.us| Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pluto has been demoted. Our solar system has been reduced to eight planets, now that Pluto has been reclassified as a "dwarf planet." Meeting in Prague this week, the International Astronomical Union set new standards for what it takes to be a planet and Pluto didn't make the cut.

Although you can't see Pluto, you can check out the moon and other celestial bodies at the UMR Observatory, which opens its doors to the public for Visitors' Nights every spring and fall. It's free! Upcoming dates are:

8:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1
7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29
7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1

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In a paper appearing Thursday in the journal Nature, MIT scientists are reporting evidence that suggests planets might be forming in the swirling disk of debris created from a violent supernova explosion. "The discovery is surprising because the dusty disk orbiting the pulsar, or dead star, resembles the cloud of dust from which Earth emerged," writes Alicia Chang of the Associated Press. "Scientists say the latest finding should shed light on how planetary systems form."

Here's the thing, with all due respect to the MIT scientists: UMR's Dr. Oliver Manuel has been saying this forever, or at least since the 1970s. That's when he started telling anyone who would listen -- and many have ignored him -- that the entire solar system was created in a supernova explosion. Now, perhaps, conventional science is catching up with Manuel's unconventional ideas.

In countless papers and at science conferences around the world, Manuel has argued his supernova theory (he has also suggested that the sun is largely made of iron left over from the supernova and is not a giant ball of hydrogen), but scientists have preferred to accept a more friendly theory, which went something like this: Everyone knows the solar system was created slowly in a big but gentle cloud of ambiguous interstellar dust.

Maybe they were wrong? Maybe Manuel is about to finally get his due? More and more it looks like our solar system did, indeed, grow up fast in a rough neighborhood. Of the latest evidence proposed by the MIT scientists, Charles Beichman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says, "This is more Chernobyl than Malibu." Well, fine. But Manuel could have told you that a long time ago.

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Science Dude reports that NASA is expected to telecast the announcement of the final configuration for the International Space Station. You can watch the announcement live on NASA TV at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (noon Rolla Standard Time).

By the way, three UMR grads are NASA astronauts: our very own Colonel Tom -- Tom Akers (Math'73, MS Math'75) -- and Janet Kavandi (MS Chem'82) and Sandra Magnus (Phys'86, MS EE'90).

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