Mars Direct | Singularity

Place holder for two concepts that grabbed my attention recently.

Mars Direct – A low-cost plan for a manned mission to Mars proposed by Robert Zubrin and David Baker
Video: A documentary on Zubrin’s effort to kick-start manned Mars missions.
Book: The Case for Mars – Robert Zubrin

Singularity – An eventuality due to accelerated tecnologies, as professed by Ray Kurzweil, when humans evolve beyond biological forms and integrate with matter completely
Video: Ray speaks at Singularity Summit, Stanford
Book: Singularity is Near- Ray Kurzweil

Its time for the Tax Refund.

If you are a single F-1 student ( in US) from India, here are the two crucial details that should get you started. Thanks to U.S.-India Tax treaty, you can claim a Standard Deduction of $5150 for 2006. (that’s entry 11). Exemption deduction in line 13 is $3300.

Here’s what you have to do:

1. Download the elusive 1040NR-EZ form. [ for detailled instructions see i1040nre.pdf ]
2. Here’s a filled form sample along with simple instructions.
3. At 11, claim $5150 and put $3300 at 13.
4. Don’t forget to quote “Standard Deduction allowed under U.S.-India Income Tax Treaty. Article 21(2)” in J, on page2
5. Send it to “Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX – 73301-0215″.  Write the form number 1040NREZ on top of your envelope for faster processing.

and you are done.

American History Videos Online

PBS has screened the first two lecture videos on “A Biography of America”. Though there’s no captivating dramitization like in the history channel, you can treat yourself to a crash course on American History. Watch the videos online at Learner.org

Its also National Youth Day in India on Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi.

Watch Deep Impact live from NASA TV

Watch NASA TV online -Deep Impact Schedule Expected Impact time: July 4, 1:52 am EST NASA launched Deep Impact space craft on Jan 12, 2005 to study Comet Tempel 1. Well the trick is as it approaches the comet on July 3rd, some where near Mars, the craft will separate into an impactor and a fly-by probe. The former will go head-on and hit the comet while the latter would grab some close-shot pictures. Links: NASA Mission – Wiki – Space.Com - Planetary Society

Mission Facts Science Objectives

Deep Impact is part of the low-cost Discovery program of NASA missions. Its overarching goal is to increase our understanding of how the solar system formed by studying what a comet is made of. By digging into the interior of the comet, scientists hope to reach pristine material that reflects the composition of the solar system when the comet formed billions of years ago. The specific mission objectives are:

• Strike Tempel 1 with the impactor
• Observe how the crater forms
• Measure the crater’s depth and diameter
• Measure the composition of the interor of the crater and of the ejecta that is spewed out of the crater
• Determine how the outgassing from the comet changes after the impact

Deep Impact’s science will mostly be accomplished in a very short period of time, within the couple of days before and after the impact occurs.

Mission Information

• Launch: January 12, 2005
• Location: Kennedy Space Center
• Launch Vehicle: Delta II
• Impactor separation: 06:00 on July 3, 2005 UTC (11:00 pm on July 2, PST)
• Encounter: 05:50 on July 4, 2005 UTC (10:50 on July 3, PST)
• Impactor approach velocity: 10.2 kilometers per second (22,800 miles per hour)
• Flyby S/C closest approach: 500 km (310 miles)
• End of Mission: August 3, 2005

Spacecraft Details

• Spacecraft mass:
  • Total: 1020 kg
  • Flyby Spacecraft: 515 kg
  • Instruments: 90 kg
  • Fuel: 86 kg
  • Impactor: 364 kg (49% copper, 24% aluminum)
  • Impactor fuel: 8 kg
• Spacecraft size:
  • Body: approximately 3.2m (126″) long, 1.7m (68″) wide, and 2.3m (92″) high
  • Impactor: 1m diameter
  • Solar panels: about 2.8m square
  • High gain antenna: 1m diameter
• Impact mechanics:
  • Relative velocity between impactor and comet: 10.2 kilometers per second (22,800 miles per hour)
  • Impact energy: 19 Gigajoules (equivalent to 4.5 tons of TNT, or to the amount of energy used by an average American household in one month)
  • Period: 117 minutes
• Mission cost:
  • Development and construction: $252 million
  • Mission operations: $15 million
  • Launch: $??? million