Mason Peck

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“Are You Guys Going To… Blowup Asteroids?”

June 25, 2013 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Videos | Permalink

Mason Peck, NASA’s chief technologist, did a smart Ask Me Anything at Reddit about a month ago. He’s back doing another one right now, this time focusing on asteroid exploration. A few exchanges follow.

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 Question:

What is the actual chance of an asteroid large enough to do some serious damage actually hitting us anytime soon?

Mason Peck:

Very low. None of the asteroids we have found are expected to impact the earth in the foreseeable future. And we have found most of the largest asteroids. There are still many smaller ones that remain undetected. That’s the current challenge: where are those asteroids, and do they pose a threat?

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Question:

When is it estimated that NASA will be able to send people to an asteroid?

Mason Peck:

The President’s goal is for NASA to do so by 2025. If we find the right asteroid, we’ll be able to do so as early as 2021. We’ll use mostly hardware we’ve already got and are already working on, including the SLS launch vehicle and the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle.

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Question:

I’m an idiot on this subject, and please forgive me. So are you guys going to… blowup asteroids? Like with a missile or something? 

Mason Peck:

The asteroid initiative includes plans to send a robotic spacecraft to move a small asteroid into an orbit near the moon. It also includes a Grand Challenge in which we ask for the world to engage with NASA to identify the threats asteroids pose to human populations and then know what to do about them. The Grand Challenge addresses your question. There are many ideas about how to keep an asteroid from hitting the Earth, but the best offense is a good defense: know where they are, and the sooner we know, the easier it will be to deflect them.

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Question:

What is the point/what can be gained from moving a small asteroid into orbit near the moon?

Mason Peck:

So much! We’ll learn how to send humans beyond Earth orbit, using technologies that will take us to Mars in the following decade. The moon is relatively convenient and safe, compared to trying out these systems for the first time in Mars orbit. So, this is a very cost-effective and yet ambitious way to make a lot of progress towards exploring Mars.

We’re going to send the first, robotic spacecraft under the power of solar-electric propulsion (SEP). So, this mission will be a technology demonstration of a technique that is broadly applicable across NASA’s portfolio and will help the commercial space industry as well. Our plans are to use a 30-50 kW SEP system here, which is traceable to at least 10x that level. This is a bold move, depending on a technology demo. That audacity recalls Apollo and the other work that has made NASA great. 

The President’s goal is for NASA to do so by 2025. If we find the right asteroid, we’ll be able to do so as early as 2021. We’ll use mostly hardware we’ve already got and are already working on, including the SLS launch vehicle and the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle.

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“I’m Very Excited By The Prospect Of Citizen Space”

May 20, 2013 in Excerpts, Politics, Science/Tech | Permalink

Mason Peck, Chief Technologist at NASA, just did an Ask Me Anything at Reddit. A few exchanges follow.

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Question:

Do you agree with Stephen Hawking when he said this: 

“It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million,””Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space.”

Do you think we are doing enough to secure our place in the universe?
Are we failing?

Mason Peck:

I make it a practice to never disagree with Stephen Hawking. I think our destiny lies among the planets of our solar system. It’ll take a combination of NASA, other governments of the world, and the participation of all of you to make this happen.

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Question:

In your opinion, what aspect of our current space technology (besides funding) is truly keeping us back from a trip to Mars? 

Mason Peck:

It comes down to survival of the crew. We need to create ways to help astronauts survive exposure to galactic cosmic rays and other hazards on the trip there and back. Getting there quicker would help. So that inspires the creation of advanced propulsion capabilities, but right now there’s nothing on the horizon to shorten the trip time enough so that we don’t have to worry about radiation.

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Question:

  1. What do you think is going to be the next “big thing” in space technology?
  2. Is there any technology currently being developed by NASA or any partners that you are excited about?

Mason Peck:

  1. I’m very excited by the prospect of citizen space, that is, individuals building their own space technology and launching it. Some incredible innovations come from the do-it-yourself or maker community, and I expect the renaissance in technology that makers represent will have a big impact on NASA’s future.
  2. NASA has many compelling technology projects underway. One of the more promising is inflatable aerodynamic decelerators, which will slow down spacecraft entering Mars atmosphere and will allow us to land twice as much mass as we are currently able.

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Question:

The trickle down of technology from NASA to the real world is well established. In your opinion what is the next big thing to coming down the line that will benefit society?

 Mason Peck:

It may be that someday we will explore the solar system and even settle it using hardware and supplies that we create from resources we gather from other planets. Advanced manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing may be the way that we will build all that hardware in space. What we learn from meeting that kind of challenge will have a big impact on manufacturing here on Earth.

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Question:

With companies like SpaceX wanting to put man on Mars in the foreseeable future, is there any competition at all between NASA and other space frontier companies to reach certain goals?

Mason Peck:

NASA is working with a number of commercial companies, including SpaceX, to bring about a future in which American industry will provide access to space for the sake of science or human exploration. In the past, NASA has entered into agreements known as data buys, where NASA agrees to procure the results of investigations – science data – instead of prescribing every step along the way. I believe this model can be very successful, and I hope we see more of it.

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“We Expect To Duplicate Sputnik’s Achievement Using Less Than One Ten-Millionth Of Its Mass”

August 16, 2011 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

More about swarm robots, this time microchip-sized crafts designed by engineer Mason Peck at Cornell University, which can be used to inexpensively probe the outer reaches of space.  They’re called Sprites. An excerpt from the Cornell page about them:

“Inspired by the success of the first Sputnik launch in 1957, we focus on a simple, feasible, but genuinely new design. For three weeks, the 23 inch diameter sphere of Sputnik I broadcast its internal temperature and pressure as it orbited and hinted at the potential of artificial satellites. A half century later, we expect to duplicate Sputnik’s achievement using less than one ten-millionth of its mass. Our design packages the traditional spacecraft systems (power, propulsion, communications, etc) onto a single silicon microchip smaller than a dime and unconstrained by onboard fuel.'” (Thanks Singularity Hub.)

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Americans amazed by Sputnik, 1957:

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