Astronaut Tom Jones: Flight Notes

John Kelly of Florida Today included my comments about the challenges facing spacewalkers’ hands in his Nov. 23 blog post. I described my own experiences on my three EVAs in my book, “Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir,” from HarperCollins.

Happy Thanksgiving to the crews of Atlantis, the ISS, and to all of you!

Tom Jones

www.AstronautTomJones.com

On November 6, we had a close encounter with a near-Earth object, 2009 VA (a NEO is a near-Earth object, including both asteroids and dormant comets). The space boulder, a 7-meter-diameter asteroid, streaked by at a distance of only 14,000 km, well inside the orbits of our geosynchronous satellites. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab estimates that we have two such encounters each year, on average, with objects of this size. About every five years, Earth is struck by such a body, but objects this small burn up in the atmosphere, resulting in a fireball and the release of several kilotons of energy (TNT equivalent).

500-m-wide NEO Itokawa, imaged by the Japanese Hayabusa probe in 2005 (JAXA)

The close pass of 2009 VA surprised some news outlets, which speculated on why the small asteroid had not been detected sooner by astronomers (The University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey picked up 2009 VA about 15 hours before closest approach). The answer is that these small cosmic rocks are so numerous, and so difficult to observe, that we only discover them at random. NASA runs a search program, Spaceguard, to detect larger objects, 1 km and up, that may pose a civilization-ending threat to Earth. So far about 85% of those objects have been found; none pose an immediate threat to Earth, but may in future decades.

Impacts of small objects like 2009 VA create only sky-high fireworks, no harm to us here on the ground. But the Tunguska impact in Siberia a century ago devastated 2,000 square km of Siberian forest. That airburst of about 5 megatons (Mt) of TNT equivalent was caused by an object 30-40 m in diameter; large enough to level a city center. Such an object strikes us every few hundred years. The last one was a century ago; the next one to come along may hit us tomorrow. With current telescopes, we have only a small chance of seeing such an object before it strikes Earth.

Congress has asked NASA to look into what it would cost to search systematically for NEOs down to 140 m in diameter; if we found most of those objects, we would have greater confidence that no “city-buster” NEO is headed for an imminent collision with a populated area on Earth. A report to NASA on the prospects of detecting and even deflecting such potentially hazardous NEOs is due out by year’s end from the National Research Council.

Impact, or cosmic bombardment, is a process that has been altering the faces of the planets since the dawn of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Impacts by giant comets and asteroids have changed the course of life on Earth, ending the reign of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and possibly causing other mass extinctions through Earth’s long history. We now have the technology to both detect damaging NEOs heading for Earth, and with proper warning, to nudge them out of the way. What we lack is the international will to take action should a hazardous NEO be found on a collision course with Earth. The Association of Space Explorers is working with the United Nations to draft such a NEO decision-making agreement.

At the Houston Museum of Natural Science on Tuesday, Nov. 17, I will be speaking about impact and the other processes that shape the worlds of the solar system, in a talk called Planetology. My talk will discuss these processes — tectonics, volcanism, erosion, for example — and our search for life and “other Earths” across the galaxy. Please join me for the lecture that evening at 6:30 pm, or turn the pages of Planetology, written by me and noted planetary geologist Ellen Stofan. After the talk, I’ll be answering questions and signing copies of the book.

See reviews and more info on Planetology at:

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Jet Propulsion Lab depiction of recent close pass by 2009 VA

*Well, wetter than we thought. The Moon’s surface is still much drier than any Earth desert.

South Pole terrain of the Moon measured by laser altimetry (NASA)

The Thursday announcement by the Brown University team (and co-workers) that water (in minute amounts) is widespread on the Moon led to my video interview yesterday (9/24) on Fox News Channel. Carle Pieters and her co-workers used the Indian lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 and their Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument to detect tiny amounts of water and hydroxyl molecules in the top few millimeters of the lunar soil. Perhaps implanted by solar wind protons combining with oxygen in the surface rocks, the water could be trapped on extremely cold crater floors near the lunar poles. Although the water is transient on the Moon’s sunlit side, it is there, and future prospectors (robots and astronauts) could harvest this water by gently heating the soil and collecting the vapor.

This observational proof of lunar water will be added to the results of the LCROSS satellite impact on Oct. 9, with hopes that the impact plume will toss trapped ice into the view of observing telescopes aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Hubble, and ground-based instruments. Finding ice in the shadowed lunar craters would add additional excitement to this week’s discovery and build interest in going after what could be a practical resource for future explorers.

I liked Carle Pieters’ analogy: a baseball diamond-sized area of lunar soil might yield just a small sip of water. But that’s huge in terms of the Moon’s future importance to exploration.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

This month I was honored to be featured in Phi Beta Kappa’s “Key Reporter.” The text of my comments about the honor society is below:

Soaring through the U.S. Destiny lab aboard the ISS, STS-98, Feb. 2001. Mission Commaner Ken Cockrell follows my contrails! (NASA)

“I became an astronaut because America in the 1960s encouraged the dreams of its young people to reach for the stars. I work now to ensure that our children have that same opportunity to learn, excel and explore. The harsh environment and complex scientific problems confronting us in space will demand the best from our leaders, managers, scientists and engineers.

“Since Apollo 11 first touched down on the Moon 40 years ago, America has led the way in space exploration, a recognition that our nation cannot thrive without competing on the frontiers of science and technology. Maintaining that leadership is a fundamental and necessary investment in our future, rewarding us with new scientific discoveries, sources of energy and raw materials, and a competitive economic edge. Phi Beta Kappa recognizes the value of motivating our next generation of explorers, a skilled ‘corps of discovery’ trained to tackle our toughest 21st-century challenges.”
— Tom Jones
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Thomas D. Jones is a veteran NASA astronaut, scientist, speaker, author and consultant. He holds a doctorate in planetary sciences, and in more than 11 years with NASA, flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth’s orbit. On his last flight, Jones led three spacewalks to help install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. He has spent 53 days working and living in space.

Jones was a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy before graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Arizona in 1988. He piloted B-52D strategic bombers, studied asteroids for NASA, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA and helped develop advanced mission concepts to explore the solar system prior to joining NASA’s astronaut corps.

His latest book is Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System (written with Ellen Stofan, Ph.D.; National Geographic, 2008). His other 2008 book is Hell Hawks! (with Robert F. Dorr; Zenith Press, 2008), a true story of an aerial band of brothers in WWII. The Wall Street Journal named his earlier book Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir (Smithsonian-Collins, 2006) as one of its “Five Best” books about space. Jones writes frequently for the Smithsonian’s Air & Space, Aerospace America, Popular Mechanics and American Heritage magazines.

His awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, four NASA Space Flight Medals, NASA Exceptional Service Award, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Jones is a member of the NASA Advisory Council, serves on the board of the Association of Space Explorers, and regularly supplies on-air commentary for television spaceflight coverage. He is currently active in the debate over our nation’s space exploration policy.

For more, visit www.AstronautTomJones.com.

OUTER SPACE THINKING WITH ASTRONAUT TOM JONES – HOW IN THE WORLD DOES IT HELP US?

Guest:

THOMAS JONES - Dr. Thomas D. Jones is a scientist, author, pilot, and former NASA astronaut. He holds a doctorate in planetary sciences, and in more than eleven years with NASA, flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth orbit. On his last flight, Dr. Jones led three spacewalks to install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. He has spent fifty-three days working and living in space.

His latest book is Planetology: Unlocking the Secrets of the Solar System (written with Ellen Stofan, PhD; National Geographic, 2008). Hell Hawks! (with Robert F. Dorr; Zenith Press), a true story of an aerial band of brothers in WWII, is the top-selling title at the National Air & Space Museum . The Wall Street Journal named his Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir (Smithsonian-Collins, 2006) as one of its “Five Best” books about space.

He is an aerospace consultant, a member of the NASA Advisory Council, serves on the board of the Association of Space Explorers, and is a regular on-air contributor to television spaceflight coverage. He is currently active in the debate over America’s future space exploration plans.

Tom Jones’s website is www.AstronautTomJones.com

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