ICY SCIENCE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE VOL 1 ISSUE 1

EXTTHAENTMLIAFEROSNSMOACRSIE? TY THE BIG SPACE BALLOON ASTROCAMPSUN DOGSICY SCIENCE PUBLICATION: WWW.ICYSCIENCE.COM: WINTER 2013/14

25 Editors Note6 How Quantum Mechanics Can Create Many Worlds Of Possiblility8 Will DrillingFind Extant Life On Mars?12 Aurora18 The Big Space Balloon32 Rovers And Space Ships Everywhere40 Astrocamp48 The Imaginary Number54 E=MC258 Sundogs: Fact or Fiction? ORION IMAGE: MIKE GREENHAM65 Astronomy For The Absolute ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

3CONTENTS   MAGAZINE                                   Beginner 70 Astronomy & Science Edution in India»»p.8 75 Women,Astronomy And UKWAIN Launch 85 Lets Talk Interview With Frase Cain»» p.17 »» p.12 98 ISSET 102 Reign of the Radio Leoinid meteor capture.»» p.32 ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

4 Contact: E: [email protected]: TWITTER: @DavesAstronomyDavid Bood W: www.icyscience.com OAS2013 COMP CODESpecial Thanks MORE SPECIAL THANKS Dan Lucus Nicole Willett (Mars Society) Danny Owen (ISSET) Mars Society Michael knowles Sophia Nsar Roy Alexander The Big Space Ballon Company Joolz Wright Adrian Jannetta Julian Onions Henna Khan Mary Spicer UKWIAN Fraser Cain (Unverse Today) Mike GreenhamICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

5WS ECLCI EOMNECTOEICY    ICY SCIENCE                                     Welcome to the new ICY SCIENCE twIbcoeiytrhceSooacpuideitenawdcnreoditrtidseunosaewcqdonunoloasneratndoet.tr.hlNyeorfrmmeeeadtmeiaraioagluamtzlienateysonline magazine. the magazine LNOewOsKletUtePr...i.ncFluredeesmskoynntohtleys Astronomyis packed with articles from theScience, Astronomy and Spaceworlds.The magazine will be out quar-terly with the first edition out inDecember 2013.NEXT EDITIONFEB 2014Merrry Xmas to All ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

6Decisions,Decisions, DecisionsHow Quantum Mechanics Can Create Many Worlds of PossibilityBy Dan LucasMany of us have grown up in a world entrenched in Science Fiction. We surround ourselveswith tales of aliens, artificial intelligence, and parallel universes.From a young age – and without even realising it – these ideas of alternate realities becomepart of our understanding of the world. Engrained into children’s tales like ‘The Chronicles ofNarnia’, where an alternate reality exists beyond a wardrobe; or exposure to cartoons such as‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’which depicts its villains as having travelled from a‘Dimension X’,complex scientific ideas are suggested and become integral to our knowledge of the Universe.Sliders Then we become adults, and these con- cepts begin to encapsulate our imagina-ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014 tion. Tales like Stephen Kings’ ‘The Dark Tower’ has its characters visiting differ- ent Earths by travelling through differ- ent doorways and shows like ‘Sliders’ saw its protagonists encounter many differ- ent incarnations of themselves that have been exposed to different experiences as they slid from Universe to Universe on their journey.

7This idea of alternate reality forms a key part of quantum mechanics. As I explained in myarticle ‘How a Simple Cat in a Box Can Alter How You View the Universe’, the outcome of anexperiment is determined by the observer. Until that outcome is observed, all possible out-comes occur simultaneously. Once an observation has been made, all other outcomes areno longer possible. It is at this point where the system is described as having collapsed. Itis this collapse into one outcome where quantum mechanics suggests an alternate realitycould exist.An idea known as the Many World’s would be played out in a different reality. In terms ofInterpretation of quantum mechan- quantum mechanics, this notion that every outcomeics suggests that not only are alter- occurs prevents the system from collapsing. Thenate realities possible, but they could observer still only observes one single outcome,actually be infinite in number. Every but an alternate reality is created for each potentialtime you’ve ever wondered what outcome not observed.would have happened if you hadmade a different decision – such as HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/which cereal to buy, or whether your MANY-WORLDS_INTERPRETATIONlife would be better had you taken adifferent job – all possible outcomes So what does this mean for us as individuals? Well not a great deal to be fair. We’ll never see these alter- nate realities, because then that would be our reality which creates a whole impossible paradox, and we’ll never be able to find just how different things could have been. But isn’t it nice to think that somewhere out there, you always made the right decision? ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

8Will Drilling FindExtant Life on Mars?    BY NICOLE WILLETT, THE MARS SOCIETY                                   I attended the online NASA/JPL Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) meeting that was heldon July 23, 2013. The meeting’s purpose was to discuss the Mars 2020 rover and many other Mars explo-ration issues. Many people wonder why NASA keeps sending rovers to Mars without stating that they willunequivocally search for extant life. The term extant means, still in existence. We know that MSL Curiosityhas the equipment to detect life and that Mars 2020 will have many of the same instruments. However, JackMustard, Brown University professor, who presented at the MEPAG meeting, stated,“To date, the evidencethat we have from observations of Mars and Martian samples is that we don’t have the clear indicationthat life is at such an abundance on the planet that we could go there with a simple experiment like Viking As we anxiously await the analysis from Curiosity’s second drill sample, which was taken on May 20, 2013, we can discuss the search for present life on MarsICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

9[had] and detect that [life is] there.” the Russian Federal Space agency.Mustard went on to explain that it It is a mission that includes anmakes more sense financially and orbiter and lander planned forscientifically to search for past life 2016 and a rover with a drill thatinstead of current life. He believes can reach two meters beneaththat we must continue studying the toxic surface, planned forthe past geology of the planet 2018. The 2018 mission objective mission. In a paper published inin order to better understand is to search for past or present the journal Astrobiology on Aprilwhether past life existed on Mars. life on Mars. During the MEPAG 5, 2013, Dr. Chris McKay, Dr. Carol.As indicated above the Mars 2020 meeting, the question was asked, Stoker, and other leading scien-rover will not search for extant “What if ExoMars finds life, and tists stated, “The search for evi-life. Some people do not under- how will that affect Mars 2020?” dence of life on Mars is the primarystand why we must wait seven The answer was given by Jim motivation for the exploration ofyears to launch a rover similar to Green, Director of NASA Planetary that planet. The results from pre-MSL with a sample return cache Science, who stated, “It would be vious missions and the Phoenixthat will sit on the planet for an a great problem to have.” This mission in particular, indicate thatunknown period of time with no also started a discussion about the ice-cemented ground in theplan as to how it will be returned whether this would be a “Sputnik north polar plains is likely to beto Earth. However, there are moment”and possibly encourage the most recently habitable placeother missions planned for Mars a new race for humans to Mars. that is currently known on Mars.”which may search for and possi- The goals of the Icebreaker Lifebly find current life on Mars. Two The Icebreaker Life mission could mission include:such missions are ExoMars and also be funded for a 2018 launchthe Icebreaker Life Mars mission. under the Discovery/New Frontier (1) Search for specific biomole-ExoMars is collaboration between program, a separate funding cules that would be conclusivethe European Space Agency and scheme like the 2016 Insight evidence of life. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

10(2) Perform a general search for to required elements to support including a drill that will reachorganic molecules in the ground life, energy sources, and possible a meter below the surface, anice. toxic elements. instrument called the Signs of Life Detector (SOLID), an Alpha(3) Determine the processes of (6) Compare the elemental com- Particle X-ray Spectrometer, a Wetground ice formation and the role position of the northern plains Chemistry Lab, and many otherof liquid water. with midlatitude sites.” [http:// instruments. This combination of online.lieber tpub.com/doi/ instruments may potentially alter(4) Understand the mechanical abs/10.1089/ast.2012.0878] how we view life in the universe.properties of the Martian polar Journal Astrobiology 4/5/2013 The SOLID instrument has theice-cemented soil. ability to detect compounds with This mission is very similar to the a biological origin such as whole(5) Assess the recent habitability Phoenix lander but will have more cells and complex organic mole-of the environment with respect advanced scientific equipment, cules. It has an advanced digital camera and what is known as a “lab on a chip” that can perform various chemistry tests usingICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

11equipment the size of microchips. The technological advancesbeing made are greatly improving the field of robotic explora-tion and experimentation in ways never thought possible in thepast. In the Journal Astrobiology a paper was published by McKay,Stoker and other leading scientists on April 5, 2013. The first linesof the abstract stated,“The search for evidence of life on Mars is theprimary motivation for the exploration of that planet. The resultsfrom previous missions and the Phoenix mission in particular,indicate that the ice-cemented ground in the north polar plainsis likely to be the most recently habitable place that is currentlyknown on Mars.” The Icebreaker Life mission will search for bio-markers in the same region near the north pole of Mars where thePhoenix Lander executed its mission in 2008. A biomarker is anymolecule that indicates the presence of life, such as an enzyme.These biological molecules carry organic biochemical information.The Icebreaker drill is capable of drilling one meter into the sub-surface of the Red Planet in order to search for biomarkers. Theice shavings retrieved from the drill would be analyzed for mol-ecules that are too complex to be present from a non-biologicalsource. It is important to drill below the surface in order to retrievesamples that have not been exposed to the radiation and perchlo-rates (salts) that exist on the surface of Mars. The radiation and per-chlorates could potentially destroy any biomarkers or biologicalmaterial present, hence the importance of a subsurface mission.[Images: NASA, ExoMars, Astriobio.net] ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

12 Image Credit: Anneliese Possberg,possi@possi. de (www. possi.de)ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

13AURORA    BY SOPHIA NASR                                    No one can deny the beauty of and Aurora Australis to “dawn ofaurorae, a stunning display of the south”. Now, let’s get to thecolorful lights dancing gracefully formation of aurorae. In additionabout the sky. Usually these beau- to emitting light which travelstiful sky lights can only be seen at at c = 3.00*10^8 m/s and takeshigh latitudes. But how do these about 8 minutes to reach Earth,beautiful aurorae form in the sky? the Sun also spits out plasmaWhy can they only be seen from during solar storms which travelsextreme northern or southern lat- at much slower speeds. Duringitudes? How are the various colors such storms, the Sun sends out aproduced? First, let’s get familiar-ized with the naming of aurorawith respect to the part of thehemisphere in which they occur.In the northern hemisphere,they are called Aurora Borealis,or northern lights. In the south- flow of highly charged particles,ern hemisphere, they are known sometimes directed at the Earth.as Aurora Australis, or southern These charged particles travel atlights. From Latin, Aurora Borealis speeds of up to 8 million km/htranslates to “dawn of the north”,ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

14(about 5 million mi/h), or about 2.22*10^6 m/s, much I have yet to observe aurorae in person, butslower than light speed c. It takes about 40 hours for the this is definitely on my list of things I muststorm to reach the Earth. When these charged particles do at least once in my life! The next time youpenetrate the Earth’s ionosphere and collide with atoms get to see aurorae, keep in mind that you arein the atmosphere, the atoms become “excited”and reach observing a beautiful physics phenomenonhigher energy levels. Excited atoms will then “de-excite” unfolding before your eyes. Now that is whatand go down to lower energy levels, during which photons I call awesome!are released and produce aurorae in the sky. The Earth’smagnetic field plays a role in this phenomenon as well—it Top Image: Wikipediais responsible for aurorae being visible only from extreme Further Reading:northern and southern latitudes. The Earth’s magneto- http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northern-sphere helps shield the Earth from the solar storm, but only lights.htmlsucceeds in shielding mid-latitude to equatorial regions http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/cli-of the Earth. The flow of charged particles then follows mate-weather/atmospheric/question471.htmthe magnetic field lines and is directed towards the poles, 5-minute video: http://www.universetoday.where the majority of aurorae are produced. Aurorae do com/87436/video-how-does-the-aurora-bore-sometimes reach lower latitudes as well, usually when the alis-form/sunspot count is high during solar maximum. The colorsproduced depend on the kind of atom the charged parti-cles come in contact with. Striking oxygen atoms producesgreen and red aurorae, while colliding with nitrogen atomscreates blue and purple/violet aurorae. The most commoncolor formed is green, while the rarest are red and blue.Aurorae form at altitudes ranging from 80 to 640 kilome-ters (50 to 400 miles) above the Earth’s surface.ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

15 IC 1101 Let’s talk about size (astronomically speaking). Our galaxy is 100,000 light-years across. That’s pretty big, but it’s not the biggest galaxy in our astronomical “neighborhood”. The Local Group (our“neighborhood”) is comprised of 54 galaxies (dwarf galaxies included) that are gravitationally bound to each other. The biggest in the group Andromeda, 2.5 million light-years away from us, visible to the naked eye as a fuzz patch (in dark skies) in the constellation Andromeda, and some 220,000 light-years across. Okay, our Milky Way still holds its own as the second largest galaxy inour Local Group. Our Local Group is a whopping 10 MILLION light-years across! That is huge, Now, let’s turnour attention to the largest known galaxy in the universe. Way out in the distance, 1.07 billion light-years awayin the constellation Virgo, in the large galaxy cluster Abell 2029, lies an enormous galaxy: IC 1101. This gargan-tuan elliptical is over half the diameter of our entire Local Group of 54 galaxies—nearly 6 MILLION light-yearsacross! But wait, there’s more! The Milky Way contains roughly 200 billion stars. IC 1101, by contrast, containsan estimated 100 TRILLION. Absolutely MIND-BLOWING!!! but it makes sense considering it’s a group of 54 gal-axies. Just to give an idea of the types of galaxies out there, there are three major classifications: dwarf galax-ies, spiral galaxies, and giant elliptical galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are small, like the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies,the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These can be as small as 200 light-years across and are not much largerthan star clusters. Spiral galaxies, like our Milky Way and Andromeda, are the most common types of galaxies. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

16They have spiral arms, with blue regions representing active star formation, and yellowish regions popu-lated with old stars where star formation has ceased. Giant elliptical galaxies are the largest, spherical tonearly flat in shape, and are yellowish in hue because they are populated with old stars where star forma-tion has nearly ceased. These are usually a result of mergers and collisions between galaxies. IC 1101 is agiant elliptical. Now let’s get to the how—how IC 1101 became so large, that is. The size of IC 1101 is theresult of numerous collisions and mergers between other much smaller galaxies, galaxies about the sizeof our very own Milky Way, and our familiar galactic neighbor Andromeda. Over time, it grew bigger andbigger as it continued to merge with neighboring galaxies. Now, as we see it, it is nearly a monstrous 6million light-years across! Keep in mind that at 1.07 billion light years distant, we are looking at IC 1101 asit looked just over a billion years ago. Who’s to say what its size is today, or what its state is, for that matter!If it hasn’t continued colliding and merging with other galaxies, its stars will fade, as there is very little starformation occurring. If it has, then it’ll be even larger!Speaking of mergers and collisions, aren’t Andromeda and our very own Milky Way destined for the samefate some 3.5 billion years from now, merging into one elliptical galaxy?? Food for thought.~Sophia NasrFurther reading and information on IC 1101:http://astounde.com/the-largest-galaxy-in-the-universe-ic-1101/http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/ic-1101-the-largest-galaxy-ever-found/http://amandabauer.blogspot.ca/2009/02/biggest-galaxy-in-universe.htmlhttp://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/07/14/munchkin-milky-way-meets-mega-monster-galaxy-ic-1101/5 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE8yHySiJ4A“All Science, All the Time”: https://www.facebook.com/AllScienceAllTheTimeICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

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18 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON    SPACE BALLOON                                      space sciences, providing a low cost platform for companies & the space industry to carry out research & development at the edge of space. The aim is for Big Space The Big Space feet, into the Earths Stratosphere. Balloon to act as platform toBalloon - The Mission test out new technologies in the The balloon’s envelope will space environment, such as the The Big Space Balloon is a be up to a 100 metres in diame- printed Solar-cells on the balloonproject which aims to launch ter. Potentially using a super pres- envelope.the Worlds biggest crowd based sure balloon envelope design,high altitude research balloon, which can enable a sustained These could pave the way fordesigned to fly to the edge of period of flight of several days a new way of powering futurespace and explore the highest over thousands of miles. The Big spacecraft or space stations,regions of the earth’s atmosphere Space Balloon will carry a sci- produced and deployed at rela-to an altitude of up to 130,000 entific capsule to undertake a tively low cost compared to tra- range of experiments regarding ditional space based solar cell units, which are both expensiveICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

19to manufacture and require The hope is that the Big Space The intention is to pressurisehighly engineered deployment Balloons science capsule could be the top section of the sciencemechanisms. re-used in further missions, many capsule to an inhabitable envi-There’s also the possibility of of Nasa’s and ESA’s scientific pay- ronment to see how these mate-using the technology developed loads go on to make multiple rials perform in the space environ-in interplanetary balloon mis- flights, and some of technology ment, technology used in build-sions. At an altitude of around developed for this project could ing the science capsule, could120,000 feet plus, the Atmosphere be used in other space missions. be scaled up to build a mannedis very similar in density to that at Although the Big space space vehicle in the future.ground level on Mars, one of the Balloon is an un-manned project,instruments the science capsule the science capsule aims to be Be part of something bigmay carry could be to detect a fairly large structure, approx 2micro organisms in the earths metres in diameter by 2 metres The Big Space Balloon has theupper atmosphere, technology high, so could demonstrate the potential to be the Worlds biggestthat could be then transferable potential of this technology for scientific outreach program.to a future Mars or Venus mission possible manned space flight The project is aiming to vehicles. have a large element of public ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

20 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON    SPACE BALLOON                                     engagement and the project if all goes well, the project is still cells printed onto the fabric, orwill offer people the chance to in its early stages so the main flexible photovoltaic strips com-see them selves at the edge of focus at the moment is on the bined with the polythene strips,space with the “Face in Space fund raising and increasing public a UK company Eight19 are cur-Competition”. awareness of the project which rently developing these type of The free to enter competition in-turn will lead to a main sponsor. solar cells.offers up to 10,000 members of Stratospheric Balloon Technology Plastic (polymer) solar cells arethe public the chance to have a Most large stratospheric bal- much cheaper to produce thanmini-image of themselves printed loons are made from a light- conventional silicon solar cellsonto the science capsule, to be weight polythene usually around and have the potential to be pro-photographed at the edge of 20-30 microns thick, NASA and the duced in large quantities.space with the latest in high-def- Japanese have experimented with Experts from the Universityinition cameras. composite polythene’s which can of Sheffield’s Department of We have already started to be as thin as 5 microns. The Big Physics and Astronomy and thereceive 100’s of entrants from Space Balloon is aiming to use a University of Cambridge havearound the world. polythene based fabric of around created a method of spray-coat- The balloon could be launched 30 microns thick, this will either ing a photovoltaic active layer byin the summer / autumn of 2015 have flexible solar photovoltaic an air based process – similar toICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

21spraying regular paint from a can http://www.shef.ac.uk/news/nr/solar-photo-– to develop a cheaper technique voltaic-pv-spray-painting-lidzey-1.251912which can be mass produced.Professor David Lidzey fromthe University of Sheffield said“Spray coating is currently used to metres of lifting gas ( Helium or cubic metre at sea level, air weighsapply paint to cars and in graphic Hydrogen ) as the balloon climbs 1.2kg, so the difference betweenprinting. We have shown that it and the air thins, the atmospheric the two gases gives helium 1kgcan also be used to make solar also pressure drops, once you get of lift at sea level ( 1.2 – 0.1786 =cells using specially designed to around 30km the atmospheric 1.022kg ) per cubic metre.plastic semiconductors. Maybe in pressure is about 100th com- Helium is used most becausethe future surfaces on buildings pared to the air pressure at sea it is inert and therefore very safe,and even car roofs will routinely level, so it effectively equals that but it can also be relatively expen-generate electricity with these of the Helium or Hydrogen in the sive compared to Hydrogen. Thematerials”. balloon and you loose the buoy- current crude price of Helium is( see web site ) ancy effect and stop climbing. around $75 per 1000 cubic feet.http://www.shef.ac.uk/news/ The Buoyancy force is from The gas we finally use willnr/solar-photovoltaic-pv-spray- using a lighter than air gas, such depend on the launch site andpainting-lidzey-1.251912 as Helium or Hydrogen, which the type of gas available theirThis has the potential to will both have low molecular masses. and the associated costs, theirturn the balloon envelope into Helium weighs 0.1786 kg per may be higher launch safety costsa giant power generating unitwhich could produce up to 180Kwof electricity.The Big Space Balloon willstart with approx. 4000 cubic ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

22 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON     SPACE BALLOON                                     and insurance premiums in usingHydrogen compared with Helium,making the cost of Hydrogen notworth the potential risk. It is possible to climb higher envelope will be designed to have We are not looking to breakthan this by heating the gas inballoon by making use of solar a volume of around 400,000 cubic any altitude records with the Bigradiation ( sunlight) causing thegas to expand further, but this metres when fully inflated at our Space Balloon as the main aimthen requires a bigger balloonenvelope for the gas to expand target altitude of approx. of 30km is to try out new technologies,into, the balloon material needsto be thinner to reduce its weight, (120-130,000 feet ) such as the solar balloon skin, butwhich in-turn increases the risk ofthe balloon fabric ripping. the higher the better in terms of The Big Space BalloonsICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

23testing out this technology and or 27 kilometres per hour. pressure and super pressure.carrying out scientific experi- The volume of the Balloon and Zero pressure balloons arements in a space environment. the amount of lifting gas in rela- the most common type of large Ascent time is usually around tion to the weight of the vehicle, stratospheric balloon, they are3 hours, initial ascent speed can determines the maximum alti- designed to release their liftingbe around 3 metres per second tude you can achieve, i.e a lighter gas once they have achievedthis then reduces as the atmo- balloon fabric and science capsule there maximum inflation size andsphere thins and the buoyancy will mean the Big Space Balloon the lifting gas begins expandingbecomes proportionally less, could go higher, although as further in the sunlight, to avoidfor each 5.5 km you ascend, the stated earlier this isn’t a priority the balloon envelope bursting oratmospheric pressure halves so at the moment. ripping.when you reach an altitude of5,500 metres, the air pressure is The heating of balloon by By adjusting the total weightonly about one half of what it solar radiation from the Sun and of the balloon and payload in rela-was at sea level, half of the Earth’s the atmospheric temperature and tion to the balloon envelope sizeatmosphere is already below you, moisture in the air can also effect and amount of lifting gas, you canat 11,000 meters air pressure is the altitude reached. determine the approx altitudeonly about one quarter of that at you wish to achieve.sea level and at an altitude of 30 The balloon will then contractkm you have risen above 99% of in the night-time when the lifting The balloons payloads ofthe Earth’s atmosphere. gas cools, resulting in a loss of alti- Zero pressure types are designed tude. This loss in Altitude will vary to release ballast (usually sand) The speed of most strato- according to the type of balloon during the night time cycle, thisspheric balloons will be deter- design we finally use. allows the balloon to climb againmined by wind speed which at an due to having reduced its weight.altitude of 30km is approximately Main types of large strato-15knots ( 7.5 metres per second) spheric balloons When the balloon gets heated by the sun again during There are two main types of the daytime cycle, more lifting large stratospheric balloons, zero ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

24 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON    SPACE BALLOON                                     gas is released to avoid bursting ground by the deflated balloon loose some altitude during thethe balloon envelope, after 2 or 3 envelope and hopefully allows night-time cycle when the liftingday-night cycles the balloon will you to more accurately determine gas cools, but will climb againhave released all of its ballast and the landing site. once heated by the sun duringwill have lost a certain amount of the daylight cycle.lifting gas, so will begin to loose The super pressure balloonsits useful altitude, ( certain scien- are designed to stay afloat for I’m keen to use the super pres-tific missions are based on being much longer than zero pressure sure design as it offers the poten-at defined altitudes ). balloons, potentially up to several tial of a much longer flight time, weeks giving you much more possibly allowing the balloon A panel is then cut open in flight time per balloon launch. to fly for several weeks, but ifthe balloon fabric, usually done this proves to be to difficult, weby electrically heating an-embed- Super pressure balloons work may use the zero pressure typeded wire, to release enough gas by being designed to with-stand balloon.to descend the balloon, at around the additional pressure created The main technical challenge5,000 feet the capsule is released from being heated by solar radia- with super pressure designs arefrom the balloon to descend using tion, avoiding the need to release that the balloon envelope needsa separate parachute, this avoids any lifting gas and carry an ballast, to be strong enough to withstandthe payload being dragged on the the super pressure balloon doesICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

25the extra pressure of sunlight The Science Capsule This allows fairly complex andheating, but light-weight enough bespoke structures to be manu-to give you a good altitude, there The total payload including factured straight from the com-is no final design for super pres- the science capsule is approxi- puter, avoiding wastage of rawsure balloons as the research is mately 1 metric tonne, (1000kg) materials and additional fabrica-on-going as material technolo- this is made up of around 500kg tion jigs or molds.gies develop. for the science capsule itself with the other 500kg for scientific The German company Voxljet The weight of the balloon equipment. have developed a 3D printermaterial is also a factor which I’ve capable of producing objects upestimated to be around 1000kg The material for the science to 2 metres in diameter using afor the Big Space Balloon. capsule is yet to be finalized, but Nylon based powder printer. I’m very interested in using the The balloon will have a surface manufacturing process known These machines work byarea of approximately 32,000 as Additive Layer Manufacturing adding a thin layer of powder tometres square, each square metre (ALM) or 3D Printing. a platform which is at the top ofof balloon material will need to container box, a laser then fusesbe no more than 32g in weight, ( Single products can be created the powder together to form aa £1.00 weighs 7.5g ). from a fine powder of metal (such thin section of the object you as titanium, stainless steel or alu- minium), nylon or carbon rein- wish to print. forced plastics. The platform is then lowered ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

26 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON    SPACE BALLOON                                      University Laser Sintered Aircraft) plane is an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) whose entire structure has been printed, including wings, integral control surfaces and access hatches. It was printed ona fraction of a milometer into the At the end of the process the an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laserbox, another thin layer of powder box is full of both Nylon powder sintering machine, which fab-is then spread across the plat- & your printed object, so excess ricates plastic or metal objects,form, the laser then fuses this new powder is then vacuumed off to building up the item layer bypowder to the existing section to reveal the object, this powder layer.form a new section on top, to start can then be re-used for new 3dbuilding up the object. objects. Scientific Research This process is repeated mul- • This method of 3D print- The project can hopefully betiple times until you have created ing was used by a team at used for a range of space relatedyour 3D object & / or the platform Southampton University to build / upper atmosphere research, buthas reached the bottom of the the worlds biggest 3D printed as yet I’m not able to detail thesecontainer box. glider. The SULSA (Southampton as its yet to be decided. But these could includeICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

27research involving the Earths phenomena like the Auroraatmosphere, such as investing Borealis that can occasionallylevels of pollution in the strato- destroy our mode satellites, tele-sphere and how these effect communication systems or evenglobal warming. may preventing us to make a simple phone call? Testing out earth observationtechnology such as high defini- Their is no way of steeringtion imaging devices for later use stratospheric Balloons, so it will be carried with the wind. range of balloon related scientificin orbital space craft. At the altitudes were aiming towards the thin air at these levels missions ). means that the winds have very The use of Lasers in space, to little force, but balloons can be carried for several thousand miles. Prof Robertus Erdelyi issee if these could be used to track The winds are easterly during the summer and westerly during Head of the Solar Physics and the winter. Depending on whereand possibly remove small space we launch, time of year and how Space Plasma Research Centredebris by reducing its orbital at Sheffield University and is cur-velocity and causing it fall to earth rently developing instruments tofaster. detect Plasma emissions from the The detection of micro orga- Sun, which we aim to include innizations high in the earths atmo- the Big Space Balloons sciencesphere to see how far up life , such capsule.as Bacteria’s, can survive. The atmosphere of the planets At 30km the Earths atmo- in the Solar System strongly inter-sphere is very similar in density act with huge magnetised plasmato that at ground level on Mars, flows originating from the Sun,so equipment for detecting life on and often associated with massiveMars could be tested by the Big solar plasma eruptions and mag-Space Balloon. netised solar tornadoes, causing ( Please see our website for aICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

28 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON    SPACE BALLOON                                     long the balloon stays afloat will determine where the balloon lands, hopefully it’ll be over land!. But it could in theory circumnavigate the globe which would be rather cool. The recent BRRISON project was a NASA mission that sent a balloon carrying a telescope and instru-ments high above Earth to study Comet ISON. The Balloon Rapid Response for ISON (BRRISON) – carried a 0.8 m telescope and optical and infraredsensors to study the comet from above nearly all of Earth’s atmosphere. Launch Sites We are currently looking into various launch sites, the best at the moment would be to use the Esrangespace centre, in Kiruna, Sweden, as they are equipped for large stratospheric balloon launches and are rel-atively close compared to established launch sites in the US and Antarctica, although it would be nice tolaunch from the UK if possible, but it can get very busy above us and there’s a higher risk of the balloondrifting and descending over populated areas.ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

29 Rich Curtis – Project Director The Big Space Balloon is an idea I’ve been working on for a couple of years, I’m part of the generationthat grew up during the Apollo missions with the mighty Saturn V rockets, Skylab, Soyuz and then theSpace Shuttle, so I’ve had a life long interest in space and space technology. My background is in construction design for the housing market so I’m used to working on large build-ing sized projects, I’ve combined these interests in the Big Space Balloon project. My reason for choosing a balloon are several really; a big stratospheric balloon allows you to lift a rea-sonably substantial payload of up to several tonnes into a space environment. • Balloons also allow you to put relatively large payloads into a space environment at a lower costscompared to a rocket, which can easily run into 100’s of £millions per launch. • Balloon payloads as 3D printing, to build a substantial be involved in the projectcan also be launched many vehicle and to send it on its way to the directly through the manu-times allowing modifica- edge of space and see the images of facture of the balloon enve-tions, improvements and the Big Space Balloon flying above the lope and the science capsuleupgrades to the on-board earths atmosphere, against the black- or the through supplyingequipment with each ness of space. scientific equipment, againlaunch. this is in the early stages and The biggest challenge will be the theirs a lot to do. It would also be very fabrication of the balloon envelopeexciting to use some of the due to its size, I’m in the process oflatest technologies such building partnerships with organisa- tions and companies who could either ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

30 THE BIG SPACE BALLOON    SPACE BALLOON                                      Our team includes: John Ackroyd - Designer & Consultant Engineer, who has worked on a range of balloon based projectsincluding Balloon projects; the first being the “Endeavor” round the world project for Julian Nott, design-ing the pressurized crew capsule which was molded in Kevlar East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, as well asthe pressurised capsules for Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand’s high altitude crossings of the Atlanticand Pacific, and their round the world attempts; as well as Per’s high altitude capsule in which he reached65,000 feet in Texas. Other projects include the extraordinary Earthwinds R.T.W. balloon, working in the USA for severalyears and more recently the mega balloon (worlds largest inflatable) used at the opening ceremony ofthe 2010 commonwealth games. Andy Elson - Balloonist and Engineer, Andy has been involved in a huge range of balloon projectsincluding several record breaking balloon attempts including piloting the world’s first hot air balloon flightover Mt Everest 1991, working as both designer and co-pilot with Colin Prescot on the Brietling Orbiter IIballoon flight from Switzerland to Burma in 1998. He was also involved with the QinetiQ1 balloon as both pilot and balloon fabricator, Andy still has themain equipment in storage, used in the fabrication of the huge balloon envelope made for their attemptICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

31on the manned high altitude balloon record in 2003. Dr. Andras Sobester - Andras is a member of the Computational Engineering and Design research groupwithin the School of Engineering Sciences at the University of Southampton. Undertaking research in arange of areas including Design optimization Aircraft design, High altitude flight. Andras is involved with the ASTRA (Atmospheric Science Through Robotic Aircraft initiative), ExploringEarth’s atmosphere using high altitude unmanned instrument platforms. I’ve also spoken with the director at Cameron balloons, Alan Noble, who along with their partnercompany Linstrand balloons, both have the manufacturing know-how to fabricate a balloon on this scale. The project is still in the preliminary stage, so the prime focus at the moment will be on fundraising,the estimated cost of project is between £1,500,000 to £2,000,000 pounds. The exact funding is not finalized at the moment as it depends on the finalmaterial costs and whether we fund any scientific equipment or whether this isprovided by partners, but I am currently looking into a range of options & amdetermined to make this happen. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

32 ROVERS AND SPACESHIPS EVERY WHERE!    BY: NICOLE WILLETT, CHUCK MCMURRAY AND THE MARS SOCIETY         Rover and Engineering Design Competitions from The Mars Society- 5th grade thru UndergraduateThe Mars Society is host to three (3) design chal-lenges. They range in age from middle school thrucollege level. The middle and high school level chal-lenge was launched at the 16th Annual Mars SocietyConvention this past August. It is called the YouthRover Challenge. One of the undergraduate chal-lenges is called the University Rover Challenge andit has had several very successful seasons so far. Thefinal challenge was also launched at the conventionin August. It is an international student design com-petition. The Youth Rover Challenge (YRC) is a multi-tier robotics education development program that ishosted, sponsored and operated by The Mars Society.ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

33The program commenced on August 6th, 2013 to commemorate the one yearanniversary of the landing of NASA’s Curiosity Rover. YRC is a STEM related edu-cational effort that is designed for schools and organizations with students ormembers in grades 5-12 to have the chance to build and compete at a globallevel with a LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 based robotic rover and competitionarena intended to simulate the surface of Mars. The sandbox where the roboticrover operates is intended to be replicated so participants can operate the com-petition locally at your school, home or club. The Rover built for the competi-tion is pre-designed to accomplish specific experiments (tasks) similar to whatMars Rovers accomplish today on the surface of Mars and other harsh environ-ments on remote places on Earth. The competition is operated on-site at yourself-built sandbox and the final operation of the field tasks are then videotapedand sent to each teams personalized YRC site for submission. Teams that havesubmitted videos that show the final operation of the rover completing the tasksunder a time limit are then ranked against other teams. The YRC is designedto prepare students for the University Rover Challenge that has operated suc-cessfully for the last 7 years directed by The Mars Society. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

34     R O V E R S A N D S PAC E S H I P S E V E R Y W H E R E !  The University Rover Challenge (URC) is the world’s premierrobotics competition for college students. The URC has officiallykicked off its 2014 competition. This competition challengesstudents to design and build the next generation of Mars roverswhich will one day work alongside astronauts on the Red Planet.Teams spend the academic year designing, building and testingtheir robotic creations. They will compete at the Mars DesertResearch Station (MDRS) in the remote, barren desert of south-ern Utah in late May, 2014. The challenge features multiple tasks,including an Equipment Servicing Task that incorporates inflat-able structures, and a more aggressive incarnation of the popularTerrain Traversing Task.URC is unique in the challenges that it presents to students.Interdisciplinary teams will tackle robotics, engineering and fieldscience domains, while gaining real-world systems engineeringand project management experience. University teams inter-ested in participating can view the URC2014 rules online. Theofficial registration process will open in early November; however ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

35teams are encouraged to begin their work now. The Mars Society recently announced the launch of aninternational engineering competition for student teams to propose design concepts for the architec-ture of the Inspiration Mars mission. The contest is open to university engineering student teams fromanywhere in the world. Inspiration Mars Executive Director Dennis Tito and Program Manager TaberMacCallum were present for the announcement.“Inspiration Mars is looking for the most creative ideasfrom engineers all over the world,”said Tito.“Furthermore, we want to engage the explorers of tomorrowwith a real and exciting mission, and demonstrate what a powerful force space exploration can be ininspiring young people to develop their talent. This contest will accomplish both of those objectives.”The requirement is to design a two-person Mars flyby mission for 2018 as cheaply, safely and simply aspossible. All other design variables are open.Alumni, professors and other university staff may participate as well, but the teams must be predominantlycomposed of and led by students. All competition presentations must be completed exclusively by stu-dents. Teams will be required to submit their design reports in writing by March 15, 2014. From there, adown-select will occur with the top 10 finalist teams invited to present and defend their designs before apanel of six judges chosen (two each) by the Mars Society, Inspiration Mars and NASA. The presentationswill take place during a public event at NASA Ames Research Center in April 2014.Designs will be evaluated using a scoring system, allocating a maximum of 30 points for cost, 30 pointsfor technical quality of the design, 20 points for operational simplicity and 20 points for schedule with amaximum total of 100 points. The first place team will receive a prize of $10,000, an all-expenses paid tripto the 2014 International Mars Society Convention and a trophy to be presented by Dennis Tito at thatevent. Prizes of $5,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 will also be awarded for second through fifth place.All designs submitted will be published, and Inspiration Mars will be given non-exclusive rights to makeuse of any ideas contained therein. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

36ALL IMAGES MARS SOCIETY    ROVERS AND SPACESHIPS EVERYWHERE!                     Commenting on the contest, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin said,“The Mars Society is delighted to lead this effort. This contest will provide an opportunity for legions of young engineers to directly con- tribute their talent to this breakthrough project to open the space frontier.”ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

37MARS ARCTIC 365The Mars Society’s one-year Mars surface simulation mission innorthern Canada ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

38NGC6960 BY MIKE GREENHAMICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

39ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

40Astrocamp: A personal reflection BY Joolz Wright I have never been to any other star party so I don’t profess to be an expert on what ingredients make up a suc- cessful one...all I know is, like anything else in life..you always remember your first. The Astrocamp in the Brecon Beacons was my first in September 2012. Armed with an antiquated reflector telescope, I spent my first weekend in a tent since I left the Girl Guides and dragged my young son along too! I didn’t know anyone, apart from con- vincing a good friend and her son...and a handful of astronomers I had met through Twitter. I never regretted it. This September was my third visit to the Astrocamp and I can honestly say it just gets better every time. Arrival on the first day is always a very busy one. Any fraught journeys there are soon forgotten when you see the familiar faces from previous camp and arrivals throughout the day are peppered with friends: old and new... It certainly breaks the ice when my son announces to freshly met astronomers the outburst of my road rage... word for word. Well, it is very stressful towing a caravan for over 3 hours! I always think one of the successes of the Astrocamp is that due to a very active and friendly social networking presence no one ever really feels like a stranger (even when you want the ground to swallow you up!) This September camp saw the return of the BBC Sky at Night team and things soon got underway with Chris Lintott judging an astronomy themed cake competition. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

41 The bringing of cakes by various camp attendees has very quickly become a bit of a tradition and this year my daughter had made and decorated a fabulous shuttle cake. I was a very proud mum when her cake was announced the winner, and even featured on the Sky at Night programme! My girl was actually my saviour after my attempt at decorating it with the Awesome Astronomy Animated characters (also the camp organisers) melted! No one wants to see a cake looking like the result of a drunken brawl...do they? The campsite is set up in a way which leaves a central area for observing. This is“the common”and is a place where many set up their scopes with a view to sharingcelestial delights at the eyepiece. There are also dedicated astro-imaging areas for those who need less interrup-tion to really take advantage of the inky black skies. Some set up scopes next to their tents or vans, it really is agreat mix and at Astrocamp there are no hard and fast rules except for the usual star camp etiquette.I had decided to set up my 127 Skywatcher Mak (on an EQ GoTo mount) by my van on the first night, a majorupgrade from my telescope at the first Astrocamp! I had a great Polar Alignment tutorial from another astroearlier on in the evening, so I was convinced it was all going to go well! How wrong I was! By the time it wasdark enough to Polar Align my telescope decided to stop slewing. I put it down to a battery failure and decidedto concentrate on my DSLR. Again, another astro patiently taught me how to focus, using the zoom facilityon live view and I spent most of the evening capturing some wide field shots of the Milky Way! Another first! ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

42A fabulous night was had with many objects and a fabulous comprehensive guide from one of theclearly visible with the naked eye such as camp organisers, Damien Phillips/ @dephelis (you maythe Double Custer and M31 recognise him from my cake!!). Although the wonderful clear skies meant the sun washed out the accompanyingThere is always so much going on at screen presentation, all was not lost, as Damien gave smallAstrocamp during the day too. groups hands on tutorials throughout the event duration. These particularly included how to image using a webcamThe days were filled with some amazing followed by the processing methods and recommendedviews of the sun using the array of solar stacking software. It was a very welcome activity for manyscopes and filtered scopes/ binoculars beginners and those wanting to try new techniques. Noon the common. We were even treated Astrocamp would be complete without the unmissableon day two, to the most spectacular sun Astro Pub-quiz! This September was no exception. Withhalo! An imaging workshop was also held the most amazing telescope prizes you would be bonkerson the common with some great adviceICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

43 not to enter! Even the BBC Sky at Night team entered...and no guesses as to where they came on the leader board! They walked away with the most coveted of prizes...a free down- load to the wonderful Awesome Astronomy podcast! Really must swot harder for the next one... Another highlight of the weekend was Jenifer Millard’s fascinating talk on exo-planets with some amazing facts and great audienceparticipation, including a demonstration of the evo-lution of the known Universe using a“clothes line”and pegged images! A great Q and A session sawthe youngest preschool camp attendee offering...”Ihave a question...what’s this?”...Followed by a crack-ing shadow puppet onto the projection screen! Itreally was an informative and fun packed after-noon for all ages!Before you knew it, it was dusk once more andit really is a truly magical place on the common. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

44Everyone had set up their scopes and once Polaris had been clocked, the first sighting of any celestial light wouldbe greeted with the comforting sound of slewing scopes and voices calling out new targets.How could you not be mesmerised by that view... The second evening brought some very unwelcome cloud cover and rain...just to show that there isn’t always a clear sky at Astrocamp, although it has a pretty good track record! This was used as an excuse to catch up with other astro-pals as there was no“scope driving”to be done! Tweeting absent friends and red torch portraits were the frivolities of the evening, with the Sky at Night team asking for a window of quietness whilst they filmed their closing shot, and great fun was had! An early night was also most welcome! ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

45The following day was spent with more glorious skiesand solar observing and with the astro imaging ses-sions running, it really was a relaxed atmosphereaccumulating in an \"astro high tea\" with everyone onthe common sharing sandwiches, snacks and tea, ofcourse!Below: (Image by Alex Speed)Night was soon around again and with a borrowed power pack I made another attempt at using my scope on thecommon and after a few very frustrating false starts I was up and running. A very helpful and much more expe-rienced observer came to my rescue in the form of a 13 year old young lady when my scope was playing up andwithout her I would probably have given up after a failed fifth attempt at star alignment! There were lots of beau-tiful firsts, with views of the Wild Duck Cluster, Owl (ET) Cluster and Alberio. I could not believe how beautiful adouble star could look at the eyepiece...and wondered why I hadn’t attempted to view it before then. Old favou-rites such as the Double Cluster and Andromeda to name just two were all the more vibrant in the darkest of skies.More shared views through some great telescopes and fantastic moments such as the excitement when a fellowastro captured three galaxies in one field of view, will be very difficult to forget! With the Milky Way stretching fromone horizon to another there is so much to take in. A good part of the night was spent sitting in a chair just using ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

46 eyes as equipment of choice, with great company. With a long journey ahead in the morning I reluctantly bunked down around 3 am with fantastic images of the wonderful sights I had seen still in my head. All too soon and it was time to leave...but what a great experience. The date of the next camp was displayed and all I can say is it cannot come soon enough! (Image Paul Hill) (left)ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

47ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

48THE IMAGINARY NUMBER THE COMPLEX NUMBERSNumbers are so familiar to us that it might seem unimaginable that there was a time when the very conceptdidn’t exist. Indeed the invention of numbers is lost in antiquity. Historians of mathematics speculate thatthe origin of numbers was probably connected with real problems of life at the time, like describing whetherthere was one animal, or more than one animal as food source (or a threat). A certain level of abstraction wasrequired to use numbers. Three rabbits, three stars and three rocks only share the common property of three-ness. Manipulation of number – with no connection to physical objects – was a great intellectual leap.BEYOND THE COUNTING NUMBERSNegative numbers arrived on the scene much later. Trading and commerce meant that profit and loss shouldbe accounted for properly. Negative numbers were used to represent an absence or a loss. Despite that neg-ative numbers were not immediately accepted by mathematicians. Early practitioners of algebra would oftendiscard negative values when they appeared as solutions. After all it’s easy to picture three people in a room. Ortwo. Or one. Or even none. But what does minus one person in a room look like? One of my students recentlysuggested it would be like a ghost. There may be grounds for rejecting negative numbers as the solution to aparticular problem but in other situations their use may be perfectly acceptable.Negative numbers eventually found their place in our number system because they can be solutions of equa-tions – just as valid as their positive namesakes. Likewise the history of zero is just as fraught with controversyand confusion. Zero initially served as a placeholder in the representation of number. For example, it is thezeros which tell you about the size of the numbers 15 and 105 and 1005. But zero as a number in its own righttook a long time to gain acceptance. Just like negative values, the solutions to some equations can be zero. ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

49The negative and positive numbers (integers and all the values between them) along with zero can be rep-resented on a numberline stretching infinitely in both directions For most people that’s the end of the story – we usually don’t need other types of number to survive in life. Or do we? Impossible Square Roots Mathematicians of the Renaissance, armed with algebraic methods and newly invented symbols, began to tackle a difficult equation: the cubic. A cubic equation contains the variable multiplied by itself three times (compare with a quadratic equation which has the variable“squared”--- multi- plied with itself twice). A method for solving quadratic equations was well known. Mathematicians eventually found a method for solving cubic equations. A simple cubic equation is x^3-15x-4=0. Mathematicians applied the algorithm for solving it and one of the intermediate steps generated this fearful expression: ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014

50The exasperating thing about the cubic equation was actually has simple solution: ������=4. But the method was generating the complicated expression shown here which contains, among other things, a square-root of a negative number.Why is the square-root strange? Well, mathematicians had long thought that only positive numbers (andzero) could have a square-root. For example, since 9×9=81 then the square-root of 81 is 9. The square-rootcould also be -9 because −9×−9=81. Similarly 4 is 2 or -2. There are no numbers, positive or negative, thatwhen multiplied with itself, gives a negative number. Therefore expressions like −121 had no sensiblemeaning and mathematicians were puzzled by its presence. Instead of rejecting the square-roots of thenegatives the Italian mathematician Rafael Bombelli (1526 - 1572) embraced them and manipulated themusing the rules of algebra. He was able to change the solution into something a little simpler: The solution still contains square roots of negative numbers, but the second one subtracts and cancels the first leaving just x=2+2=4, which was the expected answer. Whatever the square-roots of negative numbers were, they obeyed the rules of arithmetic and algebra and led to “real” solutions.ICY SCIENCE | WINTER 2013- 2014