Lamentations on Chemistry

Last night I found myself sitting at a restaurant with astronomers for the occasion of viewing a meteorite. Customarily, a few observatory folk have dinner with the speaker and then we go to the observatory for a public star night. While waiting for our entrees we passed the object carefully amongst ourselves, cherishing a few moments of close contact with this rare object.

Astronomers seem to be prone to public displays of humility. I would estimate that the humility quotient was near 0.8 (8 out of 10 Sagans- the Sagan is the international unit of humility). It is generally agreed that the Buddha achieved a Sagan quotient of unity. Okay, I’m kidding.

The curious 936 gram achondrite is from the recent Berthoud, Colorado, fall.  Meteor enthusiasts refer to the arrival of a meteorite as a “fall”.  This is one of only 5 witnessed falls in Colorado. A section of the meteor has been cut off and has been the subject of investigation at the University of Arizona.

Based on the composition of the object (olivine, plagioclase, ilmenite, chromite) and based on the reflectance spectra of various asteroids, the Berthoud meteorite is thought to be a fragment of the asteroid Vesta. Imagery of Vesta suggests that a portion of this object may have been shattered by an impact in the past.

The family whose property the stone landed on are somewhat bewildered by the event. They have been the subject of much unwanted attention, so the object is kept secure at an unknown location. In October of 2004, in the early afternoon several family members were standing outside their home when they heard a whistling sound and thump. Following the direction of the sound, they found the impact site less than 100 feet from where they were standing and in a spot where one member had just walked through. Only a small part of the object protruded upward through the disturbed topsoil.

Reportedly, it was cool to the touch immediately after arrival. This is counter-intuitive given the fiery appearance of most meteors. However, the object was quite cold prior to entry into the atmosphere and the rapid transit through the air didn’t allow for heat saturation. And, ablation carries away much of the friction energy.

The low iron object has a dark fusion crust over a grey, mottled composition. Other than the crust, it is not that unusual in its appearance. 

Actor Sharon Stone has managed to piss-off China. I gotta hand it to her, I’ve never been able to do that. I’ll just have to try harder.

The toilet on the ISS failed the other day due to some form of blockage. I suppose they should either review the engineering or the menu.

As I live and breath. The space community has gotten serious again about chemical analysis of Martian soil. NASA is very much driven by physicists and engineers, so it is nice to see chemistry get some flight time.  Why don’t more chemists elbow these physicists out of the way to put packages on rockets? I guess we are insufferable ground pounders.

The Phoenix Lander which, to NASA’s great credit, has successfully landed in the North polar region of Mars, is equipped with an array of analytical instruments and wet chemical apparatus for on-the-spot analysis of soil samples. Among the devices on board is a Swiss-made Atomic Force Microscope. This device will provide direct microscopic imaging of Martian soil samples. In true Swiss fastidiousness, it has multiple cantilevers for redundancy. I’m sure it keeps good time as well. 

The Canadian Space Agency has contributed a meterological station on the lander.

The lander was constructed by contractor Lockheed Martin.

Given that the lander contains hazardous chemcials for the analyses, somebody is going to have to dispose of the hazardous waste after 90 days. I hope it is properly placarded.  \

Vatican Astronomer, Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, stated in an interview that, essentially, belief in aliens was not incompatible with Catholic Doctrine.

“How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?” Funes said. “Just as we consider earthly creatures as ‘a brother,’ and ’sister,’ why should we not talk about an ‘extraterrestrial brother’? It would still be part of creation.”

In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like “putting limits” on God’s creative freedom, he said.

This is quite a thing to hear from the Vatican. Rev. Funes stated that he felt that the big bang theory seemed quite reasonable to him, provided that the universe was an act of creation rather than chance. The Vatican has come a long way from the trial of Galileo, resulting in what John Paul II called a “tragic mutual incomprehension.”

Photo pilfered from Collegehumor.com. 

China has announced that it will enter into the passenger jet manufacturing business.  China Commercial Aircraft is expected to produce 150-passenger aircraft by 2020. 

This is a big deal.  And a big time challenge to the primacy of the US aviation industry. China’s aim is to achieve self-sufficiency in all high tech sectors. If it were just that, it would be less threatening. But what it really means is global market domination, not just self-sufficiency.  This is just competition, but how it plays out for the US will depend on how US industry acts to hold on to its marketshare beginning right now.

The USA retains talent and ability in the entertainment and aviation industries. I believe that US influence of the petrochemical industry is in decline, due in part to the rise of nationalized oil companies in much of the oil producing world. It looks as if our aviation industry will feel competition by a nationalized aircraft manufacturer as well.

The rise of Chinese competition in the marketplace in inevitable. What the west must come to grips with is the inherent leverage that China has with its low wage labor force and the ability to channel resources into projects of national pride such as this.

China will also have the benefit of a century of jet engine and aeronautical research paid for by other nations. I imagine that more than a few of its engineers will have western universities listed on their resumes. Can’t do much about this either. But we in the west can use this example to strengthen our resolve to not go the way of tired and anemic empires.

28 April, 2008. University of Colorado at Boulder.  Dr. Carolyn Porco of the Space Science Institute gave a public lecture at CU Boulder on the highlights of the Cassini Mission to Saturn. Porco gives a lively presentation and- dare I say it?-  may even be mildly charismatic. The website of the imaging group, ciclops.org, is quite well done and even includes downloads of many of the papers from the team. The paper on Enceladus is particularly interesting.

As a chemist sitting anonymously in a crowd of space science enthusiasts and professionals, I cannot help but compare the tenor of the experience to my own field of chemistry.

Space science people are funded in proportion to the general public enthusiasm for space.  The universe is big. Really, really big. And it is full of breathtaking scenery and wondrous objects. Space science almost always causes people to experience a deeply emotional sense of awe and wonder. This has not been lost on the space science community. The display of majestic photos with a bit of space music in the background goes a long way to rally public support. 

Chemistry on the other hand, rarely induces this kind of raw response from the limbic system.  Whereas chemistry induces shock, astronomy induces awe.

The most common exhortation made on exposure to the chemical sciences is “How in the hell am I going to pass this course?” 

Students take intro to astronomy classes as an enjoyable way to get their science credits. Students take chemistry because they have to. We all know this. Science aversion is even more extreme for the poor sots in physics. 

The SI unit for humility is the “sagan”.  Public astronomy talks usually have a high sagan factor. I would estimate last nights talk was 8.5 out of 10 sagans.

Of particular interest to Porco was the Saturnian moon Enceladus. This moon has substantial water on it with evidence of “tectonic” activity on the uncratered surface. On closer inspection, it is apparent that this body is spewing water into space with fair vigor. Indeed, a vapor torus of water tracing the orbit can be seen on some of the images. The suggestion is that there may be liquid water under a water ice crust. IR images show hot spots that coincide with surface fissures on Enceladus.  This moon would be a good place to land some drilling equipment.

Porco spoke of the hope of eventually finding life on Enceladus or on Jupiter’s Europa. She suggested that this would finally “break the spell” and allow the assumption that life may be relatively common on worlds with liquid water.

What this kind of planetary exploration affords are insights into the evolution of planets and ultimately, what circumstances are likely and necessary for the ignition of life.  But the circumstances that promote life formation are chemical in nature. The origin of life is not an astronomical problem. It is a chemical network problem and for that we need the involvement of chemists.

I’m off to Boulder-town tonight to hear Carolyn Porco lecture on the Saturn Cassini mission in the fabulous Glenn Miller Ballroom on the CU campus. The last time I was in that room I saw Carl Sagan talk about the Viking mission (ca 1978?). It’s been a while. I think I have some blurry Tri-X negatives somewhere of Sagan lecturing.

I’ll follow this post with a commentary afterwards.  Ciao.

It has finally happened. The Aerospace crowd has formed a NASCAR-like racing league to promote an amped-up form of air racing. It is called the Rocket Racing League.  Velocity Aircraft, now a subsidiary of Rocket Racing Composites Corporation, will supply the airframes. The rocket motors are simple, one piece, throttled, stainless steel motors down-rated from 5000 lbs to 1500-2000 lbs of thrust. The motors will burn LOX and ethanol.

The first exhibition race will occur at the upcoming EAA Oshkosh AirVenture show in Wisconsin this summer.

One important result of this is that, if it is successful, it will demonstrate that entities smaller than governments can safely and profitably do rocketry.  If this field is to go anywhere, it must show that rocket propulsion can be conducted with less-than-NASA resources. 

After a long latent period, I found inspiration and managed to nearly complete the assembly of the Radio Jove 20.1 MHz receiver. The kit was missing two Zener diodes. Well, I think. The diodes are tiny and are labeled with microscopic print. My Kenmore home electron microscope isn’t operating, so I can’t read the bloody labels.

We need to get it lit up since Jupiter will soon become an evening object. I have to start thinking about the antenna assembly. I really don’t want to use the dipole antenna that is recommended owing to the excessive real estate it consumes. We have to assemble it in a semi-public space. The thing has guy wires and PVC pipes that beg for vandalism. I’m considering a Moxon or a folding Yagi assembly that can be collapsed into a stowed position when not in use.

Height is the other issue. The antenna needs to be highly pearched for the best gain. Twenty feet would be good. This thing receives decametric radio emissions, so the antenna elements tend to be large and unwieldy. The conductivity of the earth interferes with the gain. 

But first, we’ll put up the dreaded dipole in order to get some signal to test my electronic assembly skills. Once we can pick up some Jovian or solar emissions, we can refine the antenna. The good thing about a dipole, I suppose, is that it’s lobes are so broad that you don’t have to worry too much about pointing it.

Here is an interesting analysis of solar min/max data. I can’t vouch for the kind of analysis that was performed. But it is interesting to see. The effects of variations in the solar flux on global temperatures seems to be neglected in discussions I run into. Among other things, these folks suggest that a lesser known 66 year solar cycle may come into play.

One commentor in a previous post suggested that we are approaching the end of the current interglacial period. He said that recent interglacial periods were characterized by polar cap melting followed by entry into the glacial side of the cycle.

Even if the solar output was constant, the interplay of the ocean heat reservoir with the atmosphere, greenhouse gases, vulcanism, asteroids, and the earth’s albedo is complex enough.  Heap on top of that the subtle thermal modulation by the sun and you have a really complex problem.

Global warming could reduce to an equation where one of the components of the sum derives from anthropogenic greenhouse emissions. 

I keep having this thought that Al Gore is eventually going to have a long talk with Tipper about returning the medal to Sweden.