SCIENCE
A N O N MA
S S I M
WORDS: Vince Jackson
stepped t s r fi n a rm g, ears afte y 5 4 of excitin y l a r r e Nea w e oon, a n loration p x e e on the M c a p bitious s m a y inded by l g m r n i e r t s e a g g m sta way – eurs as n e r is under p e r t en wealthy f o l u re for lift f a d p n e r P . a ha s nt es over nme g s a dge hitch h e l c w o mu n K rld Of blowing d n i off as Wo m t s e the mo ear futur a ride on n e h t f o ssions space mi
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IS ON
W
as it Barack Obama signing off on a manned Mars mission by 2030? Or could it have been sparked by the ambitions of developing superpowers China and India? Maybe it was the rise of the internet and the ability to share mindboggling stellar images with the touch of a button. Or maybe it’s the fact that mankind finally has the technology to realise its galactic dreams. On a philosophical level, perhaps deep down we realise that in order to survive as a species, the need for resources will one day force us to leave this planet and inhabit other worlds. Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: space is sexy again, and back on the news agenda. Even as we were putting the finishing touches to this feature, an incredible story was breaking about a Dutch company’s plans to build a colony on Mars. The outfit, Mars One, was seeking volunteers to establish the first-ever human settlement on the Red Planet. The catch? The ticket was one-way. Even so, the company had already received 40,000 applications and counting. Clearly, the same desire for exploration and discovery that first led man to venture out of his caves still beats strongly within us as a species – whatever the risks. Yet with something as complicated as space travel, instinct will only get you so far – what’s needed are ideas and vision and, yes, money. Which is why the next wave of space exploration is driven and funded as much by wealthy businessmen and private organisations as it is governments. In a couple of years, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic hopes to offer regular sub-orbital space flights to anyone who can afford the $200,000 ticket. PayPal founder Elon Musk has a vision to build an 80,000-strong community on Mars in his lifetime. Not to be outdone, though, the original space pioneers NASA, are still working on the cutting-edge of possibility, drawing blueprints for a forthcoming solar probe – man’s first contact with a star – as well as discovering ways to catch, and then mine, asteroids. You can read about these mindblowing projects, and more, over the coming pages: World of Knowledge’s tribute to the visionaries who are always looking to conquer the final frontier, to boldly go where no man has gone before… > 11
HOW DO WE MAKE MARS SAFE FOR HUMANS?
T
he first scientific argument for a manned Mars mission was put forward in 1953 by German physicist Wernher von Braun in his non-fiction book Das Marsprojeckt (The Mars Project). He predicted a 1965 launch date. Since then almost 60 such projects have been proposed, all typically taking place 10 to 30 years in the future. But why have none of them come to fruition? Mars is a brutal environment; the mean surface temperature is -87C to -5C, the air is composed mainly of deadly carbon monoxide and no oxygen, the atmospheric pressure is too low for humans to survive without pressure suits, and there’s no liquid water. All this is a challenge, not a hinderance, to Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX have a vision to establish an 80,000-strong colony on the Red Planet by 2023. In May 2012, Musk’s reusable Dragon rockets became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully dock with the International Space Station. A more advanced version of the craft, Mars One Dragon, would transport
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people and cargo – including machines to produce fertiliser, methane and oxygen from Mars’s atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The first settlers would also take construction materials to build domes that when pressurised with the planet’s atmospheric CO2 could grow Earth crops in the red soil. An even more ambitious plan has been debated in the last decade: changing the climate, surface and entire biosphere of Mars so that it’s safe for human habitation, known as ‘terraforming’. One idea is to build a giant mirror, many kilometres wide, and place it in orbit above the planet. This would direct sunlight onto Mars’s polar icecap, melt the ice, release its frozen carbon dioxide contents, which would then trigger a greenhouse-style effect and warm the planet’s surface. Atmospheric pressure would then rise. Trees could be planted. An alternative idea involves building advanced energy plants capable of generating greenhouse gases at strategic locations on Mars, encouraging temperature rises. Both are long-term projects, and could take at least a couple of centuries to get properly up and running. Sound like a flight of fancy? NASA has already hosted a conference about the possibility, and there is a growing voice within the agency who believe the technology exists to make it viable. NASA terraforming advocate Dr Chris McKay is adamant: “We should get serious about sending life to Mars.”
LAW AND ORDER
The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, made of 72 member states, seeks to maintain galactic order. The 1967 Outer Sapce Treaty forbids any nation from claiming the Moon or a planet as its own, and bars parties from testing weapons in space.
R
IS IT POSSIBLE TOI CATCH AN ASTEROID?I
ight now, astronomers have their eyes on at least 1000 asteroids hurtling through space that are large enough to cause serious damage if they struck Earth. But these represent only 1% of those with the potential to cause large-scale destruction. Luckily then, NASA recently unveiled a possible planet saver: an unmanned spacecraft that could literally catch an asteroid. Using a huge telescopic plunger, the craft would fly out to the space rock, suck it in, and secure it in a giant super-strength net. It would then tow the asteroid and dump it somewhere safe, perhaps in a steady orbit around the Moon. At the moment, NASA is looking to snare an asteroid of up to 10 metres in diameter, weighing about 500 tonnes. But as their techniques are honed, larger more destructive rocks could be trapped and dragged 800 YEARS AND to safety. The cost of the COUNTING… mission, pencilled in for Of all the near-Earth the “early 2020s”, is objects astronomers know around $2.5 billion. about, one labelled That sounds like a lot of ‘(29075) 1950 DA’ is the most hazardous. It has money, until you consider a one in 300 chance of NASA’s other motives hitting the Earth in 2880, for the projects. While giving NASA at least also providing a training eight centuries to perfect ground for the US’s its asteroid catchers. manned Mars landing in 2030, astronauts would be able to fly up to the asteroid and collect rock and soil samples for analysis, paving the way for the Americans’ first foray into asteroid mining (see page 14) – a process which has the potential to solve Earth’s impending resource crisis… >
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NATURE
CUDDLY KILLING MAC 30
OPEN WIDE...
The widely accepted image of seals as chilled-out, flipper-clapping layabouts couldn’t be further from the truth. Closely related to bears, these deceptively fast and fierce creatures are amongst the most skilled hunters on the planet ■
CHINES
If seals were engineered machines, the leopard seal would be the high-performance model. This streamlined hunter patrols the ice blocks with surprising agility and speed. They’re canny, too, waiting near major penguin breeding colonies to capture young penguins venturing seawards for the first time. Roaming as far as the coasts of Australia, South America and South Africa, leopard seals are a prime example of why, as a species, seals are thriving: simply put, they’re brilliantly adapted to their surroundings.
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NATURE
SECRET WONDERS
OF THE
DESERTS
Home to drug smugglers, burnt-out tanks and the most expensive road ever built, deserts are anything but dead stretches of sand. Over the following pages we showcase these breathtaking sandscapes – and the surprises that lie among them ■
HOW DO YOU TRACK A SMUGGLER IN A MAZE? THE PLANET’S HOTTEST DESERT – IN SOUTHEASTERN IRAN – IS HOME TO MAZE-LIKE SMUGGLING ROUTES BELOVED OF DRUGRUNNERS. BUT NOT FOR MUCH LONGER
The Iranian province of Kerman is home to the Dasht-e Lut desert, a brutally arid, ferociously hot region that has seen temperatures reach 70.7°C – the highest ever recorded anywhere on the planet. Dasht-e Lut’s hills – known by geologists as yardangs – can reach 75 metres in height. Lying parallel to the prevailing winds, these streamlined ridges have been carved by the wind out of the silty clay and sand lining the desert floor. The yardangs are separated by troughs measuring 100 metres or more and are so densely packed that they provide concealed, criss-crossing pathways for heroin dealers smuggling drugs to the West from neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan. This labyrinthine landscape has made it virtually impossible to track the drug-runners using aeroplanes or helicopters, as the sound of approaching engines will send any smugglers scurrying behind the nearest hill that provides shelter from prying eyes. This simple ploy, however, won’t work for much longer: Iranian anti-drugs authorities have begun deploying an espionage satellite that uses a high-definition camera to pinpoint smugglers, from an altitude that makes it invisible to anyone on the ground.
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“THE DESERT OF EMPTINESS”
That’s one translation of Dasht-e Lut, the name given to Iran’s largest desert, which covers around 155,000 square kilometres.
70.7˚C
The highest surface temperature ever was recorded here. Conditions are so hostile that, left uncovered, milk won’t go off, because bacteria can’t grow in those temperatures.
75m high
Yardangs can be half as tall as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They’re formed by a wind that only ever blows in one direction; the side facing into the wind is always broader than the leeward side.
480km
The vast Iranian Dasht-e Lut desert – 480 kilometres in length – is filled with yardangs. These huge hills are not unique to the Dasht-e Lut – they’ve even been discovered on Mars – but the yardang field pictured here is among the largest on Earth.
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SPIRITUAL SITE
Wadi Rum was formed 30 million years ago. In 1922, T. E. Lawrence – also known as Lawrence of Arabia – described it as “vast, echoing and godlike”. It remains so to this day.
20
The number of Arabian Oryx (eight males and 12 females) that were released into the Wadi Rum in 2009. Satellites track the animals’ movement and behaviour to ensure their safety.
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WHO OWNS A HOLIDAY HOME IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT? SOME HEAD TO THE COAST TO RECHARGE THEIR BATTERIES, BUT NOT SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN OF ABU DHABI…
As homes from home go, it’s pretty impressive. Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, bought this estate in the Jordanian desert in 2002 and set about transforming it into a nature reserve. Located in the Wadi Rum protected area – a UNESCO World Heritage site – the reserve is home to a range of desert wildlife, including various species of birds and the Arabian Oryx, which was reintroduced to its native Jordanian habitat as part of an initiative overseen by the prince. The reserve owes its remarkable lushness to the water from nearby groundwater wells which is pumped to the site. It’s something of a reallife oasis: grass is abundant, reeds flourish, and in the middle are small ponds. Wadi Rum is a spectacular series of valleys in southern Jordan that were made famous by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia. Local Bedouin tribes know it as The Valley of the Moon thanks to the otherworldly-looking canyons and mountains that have formed there over millions of years. Archaeological finds in the area indicate that Wadi Rum has been inhabited as far back as prehistoric times, helped no doubt by the region’s countless water sources. It even rains a few months of the year – ideal conditions for the sheikh’s green and pleasant land…
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WORLD EVENTS
“If you want to
SAVE THE you need to be a
WA
Canadian activist Paul Watson has battled with whale-hunters for 30 years, upholding Australian law. But his aggressive, zerotolerance policy has resulted in an international warrant for his arrest. And so far, Canberra has refused to offer him a safe haven… ■
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WHALES
WARRIOR” 65
FIERCE WATER
Both whalers and animal rights activists use water cannons to hinder each other’s activities. The high-pressure weapons have a range of 60 metres, and a direct hit can result in serious injuries.
THE FLEET COMMANDER
A former member of the Canadian Coast Guard, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has dedicated his life to the ocean’s inhabitants since the early 1970s. Following a warrant being issued for his arrest, he’s been forced to scale back his official role, but still oversees his five-strong fleet of ships. Understandably, the atmosphere onboard the boats is different to that of traditional navy ships; former activists describe it as “anarchy run by God”.
W
ith a muffled bang, the ship’s cannon fired. The projectile – a harpoon the size of a man, trailing a rope – ripped a cross-shaped hole into the sperm whale’s back. When the harpoon had penetrated half a metre into the whale’s body, a grenade fixed to its tip exploded, right on cue. Shockwaves rippled through the 50-ton mammal’s flesh. The whale panicked, and attempted to flee, but found it was stuck: four barbed hooks had opened up like umbrellas inside the animal’s body. Then came another shot, as the suspension lines began to pull tight and drag the sperm whale from its ocean home. Watching from his boat, Paul Watson was stunned and horrified by the whale’s life-and-death struggle in the crimson-coloured water. With more than 1,500 litres of blood to lose, the creature’s thrashing seemed to last an eternity – until, eventually, the fight was lost. The dying animal surfaced for one last time, so close that Watson was able to see his reflection in its eyes. They stared at 66
each other for a few seconds. At that moment, Watson knew that he was going to dedicate the rest of his life to protecting these creatures – regardless of the cost or risk to himself.
“THE ONLY LANGUAGE THAT WHALERS UNDERSTAND IS VIOLENCE”
That was in 1975. At that point, Paul Watson was part of a team of Greenpeace activists manoeuvring a tiny rubber dinghy directly into the line of fire between a mighty Russian whaling fleet and a defenceless school of sperm whales. It was one of the first Greenpeace actions of its type, and Canada’s Watson was among the founding members of the environmental-
protection organisation. But he was becoming disillusioned – Greenpeace was simply not radical enough for him. So, in 1977, Watson founded the whaleprotection organisation Sea Shepherd, and since then he’s been commanding a fleet of armoured ships and mercilessly hunting the whale-hunters, whenever and wherever they set sail. The 62-year-old’s strategy is brutally simple: prevent whaling ships from harpooning whales – with violence, if necessary. In fact, Sea Shepherd’s operations often more closely resemble sea battles than protest actions. In many cases, Watson’s crew will ram or even board whalers’ vessels, and both sides will fire at each other with water cannons. Watson’s people have also
developed super-strength butyric-acid stink bombs, which produce a smell so ferocious and distracting that it hampers the work of the whaling crew. In theory, these encounters need never happen, as international agreements forbid whale-hunting in international waters. The problem is, no country is actively enforcing this ban – including Australia – so Watson has taken the law into his own hands. Although some accuse him and his crew of violent, criminal activity, he claims that he’s merely trying to curb illegal whaling in the only truly effective manner available to him. “I can’t understand nature-protection organisations that don’t do anything except hold meetings, create
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