Homework: Trailblazers

By 2057, ships capable of sending humans to other solar systems were possible. What was once a trip thought to last thousands of years was shortened to about 150 years thanks to the new engines scientists would be outfitting the new ships with. All was made in due time as well since colonization was at its peak; humanity has settled all of the planets in the Solar System and has set its eyes towards SS-024, a nearby solar system.

"We're nervous of course." one of the chief scientists responsible for the Trailblazer Engine, aptly named because of the blue trail it left behind and because of it being the first ever engine developed to take humans to other stars, said when asked by a reporter. "By 2039 planetary colonization efforts of the Solar System were taking off. By 2051, most of the planets were settled by humanity using colony bases on the ground or in orbit. In just 6 years after the colonizing missions, we're already prepping to go to a nearby star. It's exciting and scary at the same time, we've never done something like this before." We've never done something like this before, words most pioneers speak before doing something that breaks the mold.

300 people were chosen to go on this adventure, most of them were scientists and engineers with a couple of ordinary people. All of them were going to be the first humans in another solar system. As they loaded up inside the ships one by one, they kept that thought in their heads.

The ships, 7 in all, left Earth at 2052 and headed for SS-024. Amenities like gyms, cinemas, and e-readers containing thousands of books were included in the ships in order to make their journey more pleasant. Being generational ships, the older people would eventually die, but not before imparting the knowledge they had to their children; their replacements and the ones to carry on the mission. Each ship elected a leader to make decisions for them as a society, separate to the decisions the Captain makes for the ship.

"The Mayor, basically the leader we elected, makes the decisions on like, whose block's turn is it to clean the ship, or if we need to up the population or put everyone on birth control before we get overpopulated. The Captain decides on things like whose turn is it to pilot the ships,  or whose turn is it to turn off the lights inside the ship. Things that don't affect us as a society unless you have a problem with lights." a crewmember states contrasting the two positions. "But honestly, if there was an emergency, the ship got damaged or maybe aliens attacked us or something, you know the Captain knows what to do in scenarios like that. Hell, our Captain’s the formal admiral of the 11th fleet."

The years went on, 143 to be exact. The older generation died and passed on what they knew to their children who continued the mission but lacked the spirit their parents had. "By the 58th year of the mission, the residents of the Asimov went crazy." Drake Ekards, the current Mayor of the Clarke tells us. "The eggheads say it had something to do with being in space too long, they felt isolated. Alone."  What followed was the war that would ravage the fleet. "They wanted to turn back you know? Return back home to Earth, get the feeling of being with others again. But they couldn't do it without the food and meds we needed to live out here. Water you could make that from your piss. But food and medicine? You had to grow those and as far as I know, only the Orwell had the labs to grow them."

By January 2 of 2110 the Asimov with the help of 2 other ships, Herbert and Pratchett, launched an attack on the Orwell with the goal of taking over the ship for their food labs. "My grandfather fought in that war actually," Ekards says about Daemon Ekards, "they tried to hail Lewis when they realized they were headed straight for them. A lot of people died the moment they hit." The Lewis was unable to breach the Orwell though. "The other ships quickly rallied to the Orwell's defense," says Thomas Davids, one of the last members of the older generation who fought in the war. "you had ships ramming each other. We didn't have weapons on the ships so we just rammed the hell out of each other."

Over the course of 3 days, the battle went on. "On the third day, I think it was a Saturday, Ripley tore a hole inside The Asimov." That was the beginning of the end. Crewmembers of Clarke and Ripley breached inside the Asimov and a fight ensued inside. Herbert and Pratchett tried to ram Orwell from opposite sides in an effort to take the labs again but comically hit each other instead when the Orwell evaded at the last minute. The ships exploded when the Pratchett hit Herbert's engine core. In the meanwhile, the Asimov was overwhelmed. Most of the crew and the civilian population inside were either killed or surrendered. "In the end, we lost two ships, the Herbert and Pratchett, and damaged the Asimov badly we had to tow it." Duncan Oscars, the resident historian of the fleet said as he showed a photo of the 3 ships.

The enthusiasm for the mission waned since. Some of the fleet's population became depressed because of the losses they suffered. Suicides became common then causing the population of the fleet to fall. The Mayors of each ship turned to encouraging the other members of the ships to have sex more often in order to offset the losses. Their children and the children that came after became more and more disillusioned with the mission. Ekards, in particular, lost a friend because of it. "I remember Ryan saying that when he was little his mother was talking up how we were going to do good things, how we were going to be pioneers of something that has never been done before. He committed suicide on his 21st birthday. He left a note saying that we were irrelevant, that we were relics." Ekards' spirits are high though, 7 years before their expected arrival at their new home. "We haven't even burned through half of the movies in the cinemas so we have that going for us."

The alarms on the Clarke blared, waking Ekards and just about everyone else asleep aboard the ship. 150 years into their mission, the fleet finally made it into SS-024. Applauses and cheers roared throughout the ships, that is until an unknown ship flew past them. A voice rang out in their radios much to their horror. "State your intent or be met with a force capable of wiping you from existence." The ships were silent. In the bridge of the Clarke, Eckards called the Mayors of the other ships on the radio, beside him was the current Captain Leroy Jenkins.

The question was simple. What do we do? One of the Mayors asked for the fleet to turn back, her Captain seemed to support this idea. Another said they came a long way, why not just tell them their intent? The Mayors and Captains debated with each other for minutes until the voice came back, more aggressive this time. "Alright, I already alerted my superiors to their presence they're already sending me help. Let's not make this a massacre" Everyone on the call became silent. Until Leroy spoke up. "I think Eckards can decide for us." It wasn't a bad idea, he did prevent a second war and most of the time he was the most outspoken of the Mayors, sometimes even deciding things for them. Another minute passed, Ekards could see a fleet of ships amassing outside from his window. Without waiting for the decision of the other Mayors, he spoke to the voice on the radio. First, he told the voice who they were and where they came from. "We are humans, natives of the Solar System." The voice on the other line was silent as if it was waiting for something. Outside, Ekards saw that the fleet was preparing their weapons. "We are ships from the Trailblazer Mission. We come in peace." Silence still preceded Ekards. A moment later, another voice came on the radio, this time it was a different one. "By God, so you guys are true!" said the voice on the other line.

The fleet led the trailblazers towards a nearby space station. One after another, the people inside the ships peered outside the windows. They saw other ships and space stations bearing the flag of Earth. It wasn't long until they realized they weren't the trailblazers. Someone else came first. As they made their way towards the dock of the space station, Ekard thought back to Ryan's note. They became relics of the past.

Homework: Contact

The film Contact is about Dr. Eleanor Arroway who is a scientist working on SETI. The film shows that while Dr. Arroway is a good scientist, she is ridiculed for her work because others think that there is nothing for her there. Specifically, Dr. David Drumlin who pulls the plug on the work of Dr. Arroway and her colleague Dr. Kent. Regardless, the two plan to raise funds to fund their own research in the very large array in New Mexico. The months leading up to her finding new factors were hard since no one wanted to touch her research. She got the eye of one Hadden who agreed to fund her research.

It was 2 years before she made a discovery. A signal which sounded garbled Drumlin and the US government came to denounce her discovery that coincidentally another discovery was found. The Olympic speech of Adolf Hitler was embedded in the signal. Still, Dr. Arroway did not get recognition for her find. Instead, it all went to drumlin. More discoveries were made soon enough though. The signal also contained data which needed a “primer” in order to decode them. Arroway then receives a message from Hadden telling her to meet with him. In this meeting, he gives her the primer. It was included in the data all along.

The data after being decoded apparently contained blueprints for a machine. What kind of machine? Nobody knows until it was found out that it was a transport machine. Committees were formed in order to determine who best to send. Arroway was one and Drumlin was another ultimately the choice went to Drumlin because as the committee states Arroway lacks belief in God.

On the day of a test for the machine, all was going smoothly until a religion zealot blew the machine. All hope is not lost though since it was shown that there was another machine built with the help of Hadden and he with others wanted Arroway to be the one transported since Drumlin died during the machine test.

Before Dr. Arroway embarks, she is visited by her lover and the contrast to her atheism Palmer Joss. During the day of her journey, all went smoothly until they reach a critical point and lost contact with Arroway. Nevertheless, the machine proved to be washing when it sent Arroway to various worlds through a wormhole. Culminating in her arriving at a planet where she meets her long-dead father. It is then revealed that an alien was taking the form of her dead father to make it easier for her and that this was the first step in humanities’ journey. She is then sent back and finds that only were moments passed in contrast to what she experienced. A committee is formed in order to discuss Dr. Arroway’s story about Vega. Ultimately she could not prove what she saw, asking that they believe her in faith.

Homework: Interstellar’s Interpretation of Time, Gravity, Singularity, and Relativity

Gravity: the movie’s plot which involves a wormhole that leads to another galaxy can only be created unnaturally. In the movie, it is said that beings (us from the future) placed it near Saturn. This, in turn, shows us that since Murph has solved the gravitational equations, humans can now manipulate gravity. Gravity is the focus of the movie too since both Dr. Brand and Murph are both trying to solve it in order to save the humanity using the gravitational anomalies.

Singularity: In the movie, Romilly tells Cooper that Gargantua's –the black hole in the movie. Singularity is where the center of the black hole is and where all of the mass of the black hole is concentrated.

Relativity: Our characters go to a planet located near a gigantic black hole. The characters explain that due to the planet being in close proximity to the black hole “every hour on the planet is seven years back on Earth.”

Time: In connection with time is relativity. After visiting Miller’s planet, 24 years have passed on Earth - showing the effects of the black hole. Time is also represented a physical dimension towards the end of the movie. It’s the tesseract Cooper can interact with the events in his life and through this, he helps Murph solve the second part of the gravity equation.

Homework: Departments of PhilSA

Relate the UN Sustainable development Goals to the section 5 of PhilSA.

The UN Sustainable Goals, as per the UN website, states that these are a set of goals “to end property, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all”. The 6 key Development Areas fit with the UN’s goals of sustainable development. Sections a,b, and c of  PhilSA fall under the UN’s goal of “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions”, “Climate Action”, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, and “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure”, and “No Poverty” since they tackle how PhilSA will create a thriving space industry hosting the public and private sectors. “Quality Education” is also tackled since PhilSA aims to educate everyone about space and astronomy as a whole. “International Cooperation” is again, tackled since PhilSa will need the cooperation of various countries for its projects

Appoint or Elect the Director General?

I would like a little of both- Aspiring Director Generals would pass their resumes and Congress will vote or rank them basing on their resumes. The top 3 of the ranking will the choices the president will select between from for the position of Director-General.

Divisions and Departments of PhilSA

Aerospace - this department will be responsible for the creation/development of satellites, telescopes, and spacecraft.

Robotics - this department will be responsible for the rovers that PhilSA might use

Astronomy awareness - this department will be responsible for the overall education and marketing of astronomy to the community.

Mission operations - this department is responsible for the coordination of all the departments of PhilSA when a mission is underway.

Research Department - this department will be responsible for all the research PhilSA will undertake. The various scientists under PhilSA will make use the department.

Homework: Life

Like the movie Aliens, most of the characters in Life commit mistakes that ultimately lead to their deaths. The movie does its best to present what may happen when we discover a life form different from us. The movie also did a good job showing the inner workings of a space station.The alien Calvin was also fascinating since the cells in his body are simultaneously a nerve, an eye, and a muscle all at the same time. As far as I know, no life forms on Earth have the same traits as Calvin. 

The characters in the movie did not follow the firewalls set by Dr. Miranda North, their quarantine officer. Various solutions were present when Calvin gripped the hand of Hugh Derry. One of which was to remove the conditions they set inside the firewall box. Still, though most of them are excellent scientists especially Hugh Derry. He can do the job most people can’t while being a person who can’t walk.

Their plan of using the escape pods to send Calvin into space is worthy of praise since one of them - David Jordan essentially sacrificed his life in order for Miranda North to live. A case of bad luck prevented the execution of such a plan though. When it was him that Calvin made his way into the Earth. There was a certain sense of dread since you know Calvin will destroy every life on Earth.

Do you still want to discover an extraterrestrial being even if it means the extinction of the human race?

No. Because ultimately, the safety of everyone on Earth is more important than the discovery of a species killer. One thing that the characters missed during the movie is that they should have sent a probe instead of a spacecraft piloted by men in order to send the space station into deeper space. They had information that an alien was killing off members of the team one by one yet they still decided that sending a manned mission was the right decision. The events that followed - the docking and the subsequent deaths after opening the docking tube you can chalk it up to bad luck. But still, the point stands. The safety of everyone else is important and you should not do things that will endanger them especially when you have the necessary information to keep them from harm.

Given that the alien Calvin is already on Earth, how will you destroy it?

I will assume that Calvin is resistant to the elements since he survived being burned by flamethrowers and the freezing temperature outside space even though he did not have protective wear with that, weapons like flamethrowers are out of a window since they do not have an effect on him. Bullets we do not know since it wasn’t used in the movie so that would be a good start. If ballistic weapons still have no effect then using nukes can be the viable next step. Nukes, when used on people, have extremely devastating effects and the radiation from such a weapon is very high; capable of causing death even if a person is far from the blast zone. If the nuke doesn’t work, I suggest building a huge firewall like what is shown in the movie. Inside the firewall, a scientist can manipulate the environment. This is why the scientists from the film were able to wake Calvin from hibernation. They made the environment inside the firewall mimic the environment on earth. I would devise a plan that culminates in Calvin being captured inside the firewall and once he is inside, will manipulate the environment to mimic the one on Mars since Calvin hibernated when Mars become barren to life.

Homework: Laceyella

The genus laceyella was first assigned to the baccilicae family by Yoon et al, in the year 2005. Laceyella’s family was changed subsequently by Matsuo et al, a year later. They used data gathered from a polyphasic taxonomic study. The members of the Laceyella gems are aerobic meaning they require oxygen to live chemoorganotrophic meaning they require a source of carbon and metabolic energy. Gram-positive meaning they have a very thick cell wall made up of peptidoglycan thermophilic meaning they can survive in high temperatures. The substrate and aerial mycelia are formed. The aerial mycelium has a white color. Sessile Endosphors may be produced on the sporophore. Greyish yellow or yellow-brown diffusive pigment may also be produced. MK-A is a predominant menaquinone, vitamin K. The germs compromises of 3 species laceyella sacchuri, laceyella putida and laceyella tengchouis.

Homework: Effects of Spaceflight on the Human Body

It is the future technology has allowed us to travel to the other stars in our solar system, the following are the effects people will experience:

Loss of crucial calcium: This happens when the astronauts don’t do any loud bearing exercises-exercises that put load in the badly using the Earth gravity.

Wasting away of bones and muscle: Because of the lack of gravity in space, the muscles of the body do not need to work hard against it. Astronauts typically combat this by doing exercise.

Radiation: Unlike here on Earth where the atmosphere protects us from the harmful radiation from space, scientist lack the protection we have. This exposes them to radiation levels up to 200 MSV.

Homework: 400 Days

The movie is about the effects longtime isolation has on people. The movie has 4 characters: Theo, Emily, Dvorak, and Bug. They are astronaut hopefuls who are undertaking a mission underground - a mission to see if they are worth being sent on a real mission in space. 

On a mission where a group will be isolated, they need to be friendly with each other. The characters had tension with each other. Theo and Emily broke up, Dvorak has sexual desire for Emily, and Dvorak and Bug do not like each other. Boredom is another hurdle people in isolation. They have to find ways in order to fend off boredom. As time goes by the team experiences vision that turns them away from each other. These symptoms really can happen when people are isolated. Their reality becomes warped.

Midway through the film, they exit their bunker and find the world was not the sense way they left it. The earth was hit by moon dust, blackening the sky and turning what remained of the Earth and society into a Mad Max-esque world. Dvorak and Bug think that this is still part of the mission, thinking of it as another test they need to pass.  The group gets separated one by one starting with Dvorak who disappears when he gets lured by a woman. Next was Bug who was ambushed by a fast food joint owner they encountered. Theo and Emily now aware that this isn’t part of the mission tries to escape but gets chased by the settlers of the town back to their bunker. In the ensuing chaos that happens in the bunker, Theo and Emily kill 3 people ending the chase. In the end, they contemplate if the horrors they experienced are real or part of the mission.

Homework: Mars Terraforming

Do you agree to send people to Mars and inhabit it? If you were chosen, would you go?

I believe that humanity’s ultimate goal in relation to astronomy is sending people to other planets in hopes of colonizing them and turning them into another home where humans can live. With humanity’s population growing bigger every year, the goal of one day sending people to other planets is a viable way of solving the planet’s growing population.

If I were chosen to go to Mars, or any planet in order to inhabit it, I would go. That is if I am still young. I want to experience fully the life of trying to colonize and inhabit a foreign planet complete with the hardships such a life may entail. I might not be able to serve a purpose anymore if I go in my old age.

Is Mars terraforming moral?

For me, Mars terraforming is moral. Think of terraforming as a way to help anyone everyone on Earth.  Terraforming Mars offers us another planet we can call home. In the worst case scenario, in which an asteroid hits Earth or our planet gets overpopulated to the point where we can’t live. One moral issue I see is the destruction of potential scientific knowledge that is not yet discovered. But this can be remedied by deploying scientific missions in order to gather as much information as possible before terraforming efforts begin.

Of all the mistakes and failed missions, what should space agencies do to lessen casualties and damages and improve data gathering?

In my opinion, no matter how well you plan, even taking in the various variables that may affect the mission, problems will always arise. The best thing scientists and engineer can do is make a follow a plan to a T, do all they can in making the mission is a success, and make the equipment and the ships to be used by the astronauts safe. 

Homework: Fermi Paradox

Among the three paradox, the second and third paradox seems more likely. I opted for the second paradox because the galaxy is really hard to colonize because of its sheer size. Another thing is that interstellar travel is really hard to accomplish. Right now millions, if not, billions of dollars are spent finding ways for us to travel stars different from ours. If we really want to be a space-faring civilization then it means that we should not take shortcuts in order to do so.

I also chose the third paradox because aliens might not think of us as a species worthy of their attention. Our technology is not up to par with what they currently have. It’s just been the past hundred years where we can consider our technology as “high-tech”. Another is that out technology might not be picking up their presence. Maybe they have technology that allows them to be invisible from us. Another is that they may be aware of us but prefers diplomacy over aggressiveness, perhaps fearing that we might attack them when we detect them.

Another paradox is that there were aliens but a civil war or a natural disaster eradicated them. We must not rule out the possibility of a disaster eradicating life since they are always there. As a threat, nukes too can eradicate life on Earth as well as in a push of a button. Wars always the possibility of devolving into a nuclear war.