So I got my ticket to Houston on Thursday (12/31), which really makes this whole thing seem much more official. I'll be leaving Anchorage January 23rd at 12:58 AM and returning May 9th at 11:30 PM. Housing is all lined up, so the only real issues left to resolve are car and transportation from the airport to Clear Lake. The car should be ok, but probably expensive since I'll be renting. Rent-A-Wreck will rent to under 21 year olds as long as they have their own insurance, so that's a definite possibility. It'll come out to about $600/month, although I'm hoping that there will be cheaper alternatives, as I'd like to return from the internship with at least a little bit of cash in hand. As for the airport to house travel, it's about a 40 mile trip, which is tooooooo far for a taxi. No ideas on that so far, but I'll see what comes up. Maybe I can find someone to carpool with... Hm.
In other news, I also purchased 6 pairs of black socks, because nothing screams "business casual" like black socks. We'll see how long I can keep up the look, since I only have 6 button down shirts and 1 really nice pair of pants. I'm hoping that jeans will be ok, especially since it's much less of a loss to ruin thrift jeans than Banana Republic pinstriped suiting pants.
Really, there's not a lot left to do besides wait. 19 days until I'm in Houston, and 21 days until works starts. Deep breaths...
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Countdown to liftoff: approx. 58 days
Hello,
So this will be where I'll communicate with people about adventures working at JSC and living in the Houston metro area from January 25th through May 7th. Although this blog will hopefully be an easier and less annoying way than constant emails to keep in touch with everyone in Seattle/Anchorage during these coming 15 weeks, it will also serve as a journal of sorts. Considering this, the posts might be less than exciting when they are written, but fun to read when I'm 80.
So this will be where I'll communicate with people about adventures working at JSC and living in the Houston metro area from January 25th through May 7th. Although this blog will hopefully be an easier and less annoying way than constant emails to keep in touch with everyone in Seattle/Anchorage during these coming 15 weeks, it will also serve as a journal of sorts. Considering this, the posts might be less than exciting when they are written, but fun to read when I'm 80.
You are cordially invited...
WHAT: Internship in the lab of Dr. Igor Broun. Continuation of research into developing feasible life support systems for long term lunar exploration and habitation by utilizing oxygen producing cyanobacteria.
WHERE: Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX (or more accurately, Clear Lake City)
WHEN: January 25th - May 7th
WHO: Me
BYOB!!!
WHERE: Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX (or more accurately, Clear Lake City)
WHEN: January 25th - May 7th
WHO: Me
BYOB!!!
For those who might be interested, here's the formal description of the project:
Bio-processing of lunar regolith: application for lunar habitation
The overall goal of this proposal is to develop and test an innovative bio-processing system for air regeneration and the extraction of different elements based on bioleaching of lunar regolith by litholitic cyanobacteria. It is believed that this process will be extended for re-filling Biological Life Support Systems (BLSSs), propellant production, and re-utilization of terrestrial organic compounds. The general idea of this proposal is based on the well-known ability of different group of microorganisms to leach (dissolve) minerals, rocks, and glasses by biomolecules secreted by microorganisms, e.g. organic acids and exopolymeric substances. Litholitic cyanobacteria seem to be almost ideal for extraterrestrial bioleaching because they are autophototrophic organisms which mainly require light, inorganic carbon, and some chemical elements for their proliferation, and they are able to secret organic acids. Moreover, we believe that many elements in lunar regolith can be used for the cultivation of cyanobacteria on the Moon using any sources of water, including gray waters, generated by future colonists. The major objective of this proposal is to develop an effective biotechnological process of the cultivation of cyanobacteria using lunar regolith as a source of bioelements. The excess of elements, e.g. O, released from regolith, along with O2 photosynthesized by cyanobacteria, will be used for biological air revitalization, while different released elements, e.g. Fe, Ti, Al, Si, Mn, Ni, etc., can be utilized for other purposes. Unleached regolith enriched with organic matter produced by cyanobacteria can be used for soil manufacturing. We presume that bioleaching of lunar regolith will be more ecologically friendly than their chemical leaching with sulfuric acid and will work as a beneficial component with lower environmental risk for both ISRU and life support systems. Anticipated results of this project will be very useful to merge three independent systems, namely in situ resources retrieving, BLSSs, and the re-utilization of waste of different origin within an integrated system to sustain human exploration of the Moon.
Bio-processing of lunar regolith: application for lunar habitation
The overall goal of this proposal is to develop and test an innovative bio-processing system for air regeneration and the extraction of different elements based on bioleaching of lunar regolith by litholitic cyanobacteria. It is believed that this process will be extended for re-filling Biological Life Support Systems (BLSSs), propellant production, and re-utilization of terrestrial organic compounds. The general idea of this proposal is based on the well-known ability of different group of microorganisms to leach (dissolve) minerals, rocks, and glasses by biomolecules secreted by microorganisms, e.g. organic acids and exopolymeric substances. Litholitic cyanobacteria seem to be almost ideal for extraterrestrial bioleaching because they are autophototrophic organisms which mainly require light, inorganic carbon, and some chemical elements for their proliferation, and they are able to secret organic acids. Moreover, we believe that many elements in lunar regolith can be used for the cultivation of cyanobacteria on the Moon using any sources of water, including gray waters, generated by future colonists. The major objective of this proposal is to develop an effective biotechnological process of the cultivation of cyanobacteria using lunar regolith as a source of bioelements. The excess of elements, e.g. O, released from regolith, along with O2 photosynthesized by cyanobacteria, will be used for biological air revitalization, while different released elements, e.g. Fe, Ti, Al, Si, Mn, Ni, etc., can be utilized for other purposes. Unleached regolith enriched with organic matter produced by cyanobacteria can be used for soil manufacturing. We presume that bioleaching of lunar regolith will be more ecologically friendly than their chemical leaching with sulfuric acid and will work as a beneficial component with lower environmental risk for both ISRU and life support systems. Anticipated results of this project will be very useful to merge three independent systems, namely in situ resources retrieving, BLSSs, and the re-utilization of waste of different origin within an integrated system to sustain human exploration of the Moon.
So that's what's up with me. More to follow eventually...
Thanks!
- Hannah
Thanks!
- Hannah
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