Neil deGrasse Tyson: Leaving earth once is not enough

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Forty years after the first moon landing on July 20, 1969, SPACE.com asked Apollo astronauts and leaders of the space community to ponder the past, present and future. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of PBS's television series NOVA scienceNOW and the new StarTalk radio show, worries that Americans view spaceflight as a luxury rather than a fundamental science driver:

SPACE.com: Do you see a big difference between the public's involvement and interest in the space program back in the 1960s as compared to today?

Tyson: Back then, there was a keen awareness expressed by the public as well as by our lawmakers in Washington of the correspondence between creative investments in science and technology and our self image as scientific and technological leaders of the world. There was also an awareness of the role that those investments would play in our economic growth.

One of my worries in recent years has been the loss of that awareness. That absence of awareness is catching up, and it's holding us back while other nations are fully aware of this correspondence.

The trend lines in research and innovation look good for places such as India and China and less good for America as we go forward. So even if you're not enchanted by the prospect of cosmic discovery, the prospect of dying poor may be what it takes to understand the role of this adventure in the future of the natural world in which we live.

S: Do you think the public undervalues space exploration now?

T: Too many people view it as a luxury rather than as a fundamental driver to stimulate interest in science to everyone in the educational pipeline. It's vital to our prosperity and security.

S: Can the U.S. recover its status as a scientific leader?

T: While we may lose track of certain goals intermittently throughout the decades, I think we as a nation can be nimble when we need to be. All the buzz today is on the need for science literacy. That is on the agenda in ways it hasn't been in previous decades.

There is a growing awareness that we're losing our technological competitive edge. I think there's an awareness that we're losing our leadership, and that maybe our self image over the past several decades has been a little bit delusional. We tell ourselves we are leaders, and if you tell yourself enough you start to believe it.

S: Is part of the public apathy toward space exploration now because we don't have a goal as exciting as being the first nation to land on the moon?

T: There are countless space activities that would be no less exciting than the moon missions were, I have no doubt. The search for life on Mars, for example. We have some asteroids coming our way, why don't we deflect them?

It's like building a house in the middle of a huge continent, and then going into the backyard and saying, 'There's nothing more exciting than this. I'm done. I see stuff out there, but that's not going to be as interesting as this boulder right here.'

I can't think that way. I can't think that leaving Earth once is enough. How shortsighted would that be? We've never been that shortsighted before.

So I believe that the manned space program can engage the public by advancing the space frontier. Every next mission takes you farther out in space than you were before, either technologically or in terms of distance. For example the Gemini launches - none of them left Earth orbit but each was more ambitious. Each mission was something the press could talk about.

When you don't advance a frontier how could you possibly expect the public to be interested?

S: Were you inspired to pursue science at all because of the Apollo missions?

T: No, actually. My interest in the space program has a certain purity to it because I recognize the romance of it but I was never seduced by it. That allowed me to view it through a more purely scientific lens. My interest in space while in school came about through my scientific activities. (Editor's note: Tyson is the also director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City).

S: What do you think of NASA's current plans for manned spaceflight?

T: It looks pretty clear that the budget is not commensurate with expectations on NASA.

Either the portfolio must be tuned down or the budget is raised, or both. But something has to happen for NASA to go places.

I agree that we should go back to the moon and on to Mars. We should treat all objects in the solar system, including comets and asteroids, as exploration targets.

It is very possible that it can happen in my lifetime and I think it should. It's a matter of aligning the technological and political funding pistons to fire in harmony with each other. When they all fire together you can accomplish great things.

S: Do you think the current economic downturn presents a major roadblock to aligning those pistons?

T: It's not as though we didn't have problems before. It's not as though the '60s was some tranquil time of prosperity. One could argue it was one of the most troublesome decades in the history of the country, yet it was in that decade that we went to the moon.

As important as the civil rights movement was, I think what will rise to the top is that we left Earth in that time.

Space travel 'too pricy'

A large majority of leading researchers believe human space exploration is scientifically worthwhile but costs too much, a survey has shown.

Almost 80% of 800 scientists polled in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings thought there were good research reasons for sending people into space.

An even greater proportion believed wide-ranging fields of science had benefited to some degree from human space flight, and nearly 90% felt it inspired younger generations.

A total of 62% of Americans and 83% of Europeans rated their own governments' expenditure on human spaceflight as "about right", demonstrating a broad level of support.

But it was a different story when they were asked about priorities.

Around 80% of those questioned said they would welcome a shift in spending from manned to unmanned missions, and 70% were in favour of diverting cash to other areas of scientific research.

The poll was carried out by the scientific journal Nature, which contacted 800 researchers from fields as diverse as physics, astronomy, life sciences and engineering. All had seen work published in Nature in the past three years, making them leaders in their fields.

Half said the Apollo missions, which carried men to the Moon in what was arguably the greatest scientific adventure in human history, inspired them to pursue science. It was Apollo 11 that carried out the first moon landing on July 20, 1969 and the last manned landing was by Apollo 17 in December 1972.

Now the American space agency Nasa and the European Space Agency (Esa) plan to send astronauts back to the Moon and ultimately on to Mars. In the current financial year, Nasa will pour 9.7 billion US dollars (£6bn) into human spaceflight-related activities, roughly half the agency's 18.7 billion dollar (£11.5bn) budget.

Esa allocates only 481 million Euros (£413m), or 13% of its 3.6 billion euro (£3bn) budget, to human spaceflight.

(Agencies)

China ready to watch total solar eclipse

People watch the newly-installed equatorial sundial, measuring 1.5 meters in diameters, donated by the National Observatory to mark the spot for observation of the forthcoming 2009 total solar eclipse on the Yangtze Valley, believed to be the longest one visible in the century that is to betide on July 22, in Haining, east China's Zhejiang Province, July 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Wang Chaoying)

Photo taken on July 11, 2009 shows the sketch maps illustrating the whole process of the full solar eclipse during a popular science exhibition on the introduction to the forthcoming 2009 Full Solar Eclipse at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in Shanghai, east China. The upcoming full solar eclipse, predicted to betide on July 22 and believed to be the longest of its kind in 500 years, will be visible in most parts of the Shanghai Municipality. (Xinhua)

Local citizens watch the sketch maps illustrating the whole process of the full solar eclipse, during a popular science exhibition on the introduction to the forthcoming 2009 Full Solar Eclipse at the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, in Shanghai, east China, July 11, 2009. (Xinhua)

Chen Yinghua (R) shows her embroidery "Total Solar Eclipse" in Suzhou City of east China's Jiangsu Province, July 7, 2009. Recently finished by embroidery master Chen Yinghua after a total of 120 days' work, the embroidery "Total Solar Eclipse" will be displayed on an academic meeting on solar coronal dynamics hosted by the International Astronomical Union in Suzhou. (Xinhua/Zhu Guigen)

The upcoming full solar eclipse, predicted to betide on July 22 and believed to be the longest of its kind in 500 years, will be visible in most parts of the Shanghai Municipality.

NASA releases restored Apollo 11 moonwalk video

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) released Thursday newly restored video from the July 20, 1969, live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk, to commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first mission to land astronauts on the moon.

The initial video release, part of a larger Apollo 11 moonwalk restoration project, features 15 key moments from the historic lunar excursion of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

NASA lost its original moon landing videotapes and after a three-year search, officials have concluded they were probably erased. So the restoration has four other video sources: CBS News originals; kinescopes from the National Archives; a video from Australia that received the transmission of the original moon video; and camera shots looking at a TV monitor.

"The restoration is ongoing and may produce even better video," said Richard Nafzger, an engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, who oversaw television processing at the ground tracking sites during Apollo 11.

"The restoration project is scheduled to be completed in September and will provide the public, future historians, and the National Archives with the highest quality video of this historic event," Nafzger said Thursday at a news conference at the Newseum in Washington.

NASA contracted with Lowry Digital of Burbank, California, which specializes in restoring aging Hollywood films and video, to take the highest quality video available from these recordings, select the best for digitization, and significantly enhance the video using the company's proprietary software technology and other restoration techniques.

Under the initial effort, Lowry restored 15 scenes representing the most significant moments of the three and a half hours that Armstrong and Aldrin spent on the lunar surface.

1st US 2-hand transplant patient yearns to feel

Double hand transplant recipient Jeff Kepner, 57, of Atlanta Ga., right, works with hand therapist Kimberly Maguire after discussing his nine-hour, May 4, 2009 surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh Thursday, July 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The nation's first double hand transplant patient can wriggle his new fingers a litte bit now and grab a tennis ball, but what he really wants to do is be able to feel his wife's hands when he holds them.

Jeff Kepner held hands with his wife Thursday as he talked to news reporters about his recovery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he underwent the nine-hour surgery in early May.

So far, he has no feelings in his new hands because the nerves have not grown into them. Nerves grow about an inch a month, according to his doctors.

Kepner said he does daily therapy to develop muscle strength to use his hands, and he hoped to inspire others who need such surgery to consider it. He lost his hands and feet a decade ago to a bacterial infection, and said he did not want to undergo the surgery at first.

"I thought, 'Are you kidding me?' I said, 'There's no way I'm going to do that,'" Kepner recalled telling his wife when she told him about the possibility last fall.

Showing off his hands Thursday, Kepner said he's glad he went through the surgery. He had been ambivalent because he could manage with his prosthetics and had read that the world's first double hand transplant patient had to have the hands removed because his body rejected them.

But Valarie Kepner was persistent. She had contacted UPMC without telling her husband. She wanted him to be able to regain some of his independence after being on her schedule for years. She gets up for work at 4:30 a.m., and that meant he had to as well.

Eventually, Kepner met with Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, the hospital's chief of plastic surgery, who helped put his mind at ease.

Lee said that for the May 4 surgery, 21 surgeons worked in teams of four: two prepared Kepner's forearms and two prepared the donor's hands. The teams worked simultaneously.

UPMC developed a protocol to reduce the amount of toxic anti-rejection medications that must be taken so that the hands are not rejected, Lee said. The medications can increase the risk for diabetes, infections and other complications.

While Kepner shows no sign of rejection and is making steady progress, it could be a year or two until he gains full movement of his fingers, Lee said. Kepner could be at the hospital another couple months.

Demonstrating some exercises, Kepner struggled a bit because the muscles in his fingers are tight. He tried passing a small ball between his hands and used his right hand to unstack a set of small cones and build another stack.

Kepner said he looks forward to being able to shower and cook, explaining he became a pastry chef after retiring from the Air Force.

"I want to try these hands out. I want to put them to use," he said. "It will really free me up and free her (Valarie) up. The independence will be nice, to get that back. And the touch and the feel. That's the big part for me."

Eight double hand transplants have been performed abroad. UPMC performed its first hand transplant in March on a Marine who lost his hand in a training accident. Lee said that patient is recovering well and can do crossword puzzles.

(Agencies)

Astronauts inspect space shuttle for launch damage

In this frame grab taken form NASA TV, a video camera mounted to space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank captured imagery of falling debris during the shuttle's launch Wednesday July 15, 2009 during the first 2 minutes, 15 seconds of the flight, the most aerodynamically sensitive portion of the ascent. (AP Photo/NASA TV)

Space shuttle Endeavour's astronauts inspected their ship for damage Thursday as NASA struggled to understand why a normally benign section of the fuel tank lost so much foam during liftoff.

"We have a bit of a mystery," said shuttle program manager John Shannon. "We're not worried about this flight, but we need to understand what was going on for the next flight."

The slow, tedious inspection work unfolded as Endeavour rocketed toward the international space station for a Friday linkup. It was the first full day in orbit for the seven astronauts, who are delivering a veranda for Japan's enormous lab. It also happened to be the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first manned moon landing.

At a news briefing, Shannon said the thin layer of foam insulation on the central area of the tank peeled away in approximately 6-inch strips as Endeavour blasted toward orbit Wednesday. The green primer on the metal skin of the tank was exposed in places.

Fortunately, he said, the shedding from this area 鈥?the so-called intertank connecting the hydrogen and oxygen reservoirs 鈥?occurred well past the critical two-minute mark in the flight and posed no danger to Endeavour.

Some foam broke off an adjoining area less than two minutes after liftoff, however, and hit the underside of Endeavour, where the right wing joins the fuselage. That left a series of dings in the thermal tiles.

Shannon said the damage looks to be less extensive than what occurred in practically the same place on the last flight. In all likelihood, it's merely coating loss and considered minor.

In all, more than a dozen pieces of foam came off the fuel tank during liftoff, at least two of which struck Endeavour.

"It was dramatic footage looking at it," Shannon told reporters.

Throughout Thursday afternoon, Endeavour's seven-member crew used a 100-foot laser-tipped boom to inspect their ship's heat shield, standard procedure ever since shuttle flights resumed after the Columbia accident. Columbia was destroyed during re-entry in 2003 because of a hole in its wing, left there by flyaway foam at liftoff.

But the boom could not reach everywhere, and NASA was going to rely on a complete photo survey of the shuttle, right before Friday's docking, to fill in the coverage gaps. The space station residents will use zoom lenses to photograph every angle of the shuttle as it performs a somersault for the cameras.

Any additional damage should show up in those photos. It will take several days, however, to sift through all the data.

Endeavour will remain docked at the space station for nearly two weeks. During that time, the astronauts will install the third and final piece of the Japanese space station lab, a porch for outdoor experiments. Five spacewalks are planned.

Engineers, meanwhile, will conduct extensive testing of the fuel tank that will be used on the next shuttle flight in August.

Shannon said it's too soon to know whether the glue beneath the intertank foam or some other material or process caused the problem. He would not speculate on whether the next mission might be delayed because of the extra checks or the effect if a bonding problem is found; Discovery's liftoff currently is targeted for Aug. 18.

(Agencies)

NASA lost moon footage, but Hollywood restores it

In this undated photo released by Bonhams New York, a uniform emblem signifying the Apollo 11 mission signed by the three Apollo 11 astronauts is shown. Bonhams says that the emblem sold at auction Thursday, July 16, 2009 for $61,000 exceeding its $25 to $35 thousand expectation. (AP Photo/Bonhams New York)

NASA could put a man on the moon but didn't have the sense to keep the original video of the live TV transmission.

In an embarrassing acknowledgment, the space agency said Thursday that it must have erased the Apollo 11 moon footage years ago so that it could reuse the videotape.

But now Hollywood is coming to the rescue.

The studio wizards who restored "Casablanca" are digitally sharpening and cleaning up the ghostly, grainy footage of the moon landing, making it even better than what TV viewers saw on July 20, 1969. They are doing it by working from four copies that NASA scrounged from around the world.

"There's nothing being created; there's nothing being manufactured," said NASA senior engineer Dick Nafzger, who is in charge of the project. "You can now see the detail that's coming out."

The first batch of restored footage was released just in time for the 40th anniversary of the "one giant leap for mankind," and some of the details seem new because of their sharpness. Originally, astronaut Neil Armstrong's face visor was too fuzzy to be seen clearly. The upgraded video of Earth's first moonwalker shows the visor and a reflection in it.

The $230,000 refurbishing effort is only three weeks into a monthslong project, and only 40 percent of the work has been done. But it does show improvements in four snippets: Armstrong walking down the ladder; Buzz Aldrin following him; the two astronauts reading a plaque they left on the moon; and the planting of the flag on the lunar surface.

Nafzger said a huge search that began three years ago for the old moon tapes led to the "inescapable conclusion" that 45 tapes of Apollo 11 video were erased and reused. His report on that will come out in a few weeks.

The original videos beamed to Earth were stored on giant reels of tape that each contained 15 minutes of video, along with other data from the moon. In the 1970s and '80s, NASA had a shortage of the tapes, so it erased about 200,000 of them and reused them.

How did NASA end up looking like a bumbling husband taping over his wedding video with the Super Bowl?

Nafzger, who was in charge of the live TV recordings back in the Apollo years, said they were mostly thought of as data tapes. It wasn't his job to preserve history, he said, just to make sure the footage worked. In retrospect, he said he wished NASA hadn't reused the tapes.

Outside historians were aghast.

"It's surprising to me that NASA didn't have the common sense to save perhaps the most important historical footage of the 20th century," said Rice University historian and author Douglas Brinkley. He noted that NASA saved all sorts of data and artifacts from Apollo 11, and it is "mind-boggling that the tapes just disappeared."

The remastered copies may look good, but "when dealing with historical film footage, you always want the original to study," Brinkley said.

Smithsonian Institution space curator Roger Launius, a former NASA chief historian, said the loss of the original video "doesn't surprise me that much."

"It was a mistake, no doubt about that," Launius said. "This is a problem inside the entire federal government. ... They don't think that preservation is all that important."

Launius said federal warehouses where historical artifacts are saved are "kind of like the last scene of `Raiders of the Lost Ark.' It just goes away in this place with other big boxes."

The company that restored all the Indiana Jones movies, including "Raiders," is the one bailing out NASA.

Lowry Digital of Burbank, Calif., noted that "Casablanca" had a pixel count 10 times higher than the moon video, meaning the Apollo 11 footage was fuzzier than that vintage movie and more of a challenge in one sense.

Of all the video the company has dealt with, "this is by far and away the lowest quality," said Lowry president Mike Inchalik.

Nafzger praised Lowry for restoring "crispness" to the Apollo video. Historian Launius wasn't as blown away.

"It's certainly a little better than the original," Launius said. "It's not a lot better."

The Apollo 11 video remains in black and white. Inchalik said he would never consider colorizing it, as has been done to black-and-white classic films. And the moon is mostly gray anyway.

The restoration used four video sources: CBS News originals; kinescopes from the National Archives; a video from Australia that received the transmission of the original moon video; and camera shots of a TV monitor.

Both Nafzger and Inchalik acknowledged that digitally remastering the video could further encourage conspiracy theorists who believe NASA faked the entire moon landing on a Hollywood set. But they said they enhanced the video as conservatively as possible.

Besides, Inchalik said that if there had been a conspiracy to fake a moon landing, NASA surely would have created higher-quality film.

Back in 1969, nearly 40 percent of the picture quality was lost converting from one video format used on the moon 鈥?called slow scan 鈥?to something that could be played on TVs on Earth, Nafzger said.

NASA did not lose other Apollo missions' videos because they weren't stored on the type of tape that needed to be reused, Nafzger said.

As part of the moon landing's 40th anniversary, the space agency has been trotting out archival material. NASA has a Web site with audio from private conversations in the lunar module and command capsule. The agency is also webcasting radio from Apollo 11 as if the mission were taking place today.

The video restoration project did not involve improving the sound. Inchalik said he listened to Armstrong's famous first words from the surface of the moon, trying to hear if he said "one small step for man" or "one small step for A man," but couldn't tell.

Through a letter read at a news conference Thursday, Armstrong had the last word about the video from the moon: "I was just amazed that there was any picture at all."

(Agencies)