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Forum Explores SpaceBYBRIANNEEBQYKIN

BBOYKIN@MORGANTON.COM

MORGANTON — For 30 years,the Fall Speakers Forum andErvin Constitutional IssuesProgram has tried to cover con-troversial and contemporaryissues.

Recently, space explorationhas thrown itself back into thelimelight with shuttle disas-ters, near misses and presiden-tial promises to return to themoon.

This makes space a perfecttopic for this year's forum"Apollo and Beyond: America'sRace to Space," said RaymondGoodfellow, dean of humani-ties and social sciences at West-ern: Piedmont Community Col-lege.

.It's human nature to explorenew frontiers, said forumchairwoman Mary CharlotteSafford, and space is the ulti-mate frontier.

Paul Wardzinski, coordina-tor of the college's English pro-gram, said the issue of space

exploration has become in-creasingly complicated asmore nations become involvedand private enterprise has en-tered the race.

Safford said the forum mag-nifies a topic and lets peoplelook at it in depth, letting themsee different aspects of the sub-ject.

She believes this year's fo-rum will spark a great deal ofinterest as it considers the past,present and future of space ex-ploration, nationally, interna-tionally and by private enter-prise.

FRED RAISE

7:15 P.M. OCT. 3

In 1970, Fred Haise was partof "a great and ill-fated spacemission—Apollo 13.

He served as the lunar mod-ule pilot and watched as a criti-cal malfunction stopped Apollo13 from landing on the moon.

The near disastrous accident

PLEASE SEE FORUM, A12

Haise

Zubrin

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did not end his NASA career though. He went on to serve as back-up crew for the Apollo 16 mission and flew five flights as the com-mander of the Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1977.

Haise began his 20-year NASA career in 1959 as an aeronauticalresearch pilot after graduating with honors in aeronautical engi-neering from the University of Oklahoma.

Haise has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, theAmerican Institute of Aeronautics, Astronautics (AIAA) HaleyAstronautics Award, the General Thomas D. White Space Trophy,the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA ExceptionalService Award, the NASA Special Achievement Award and wasinducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

ROBERT ZUBRIN 7:15 P.M. OCT. 4Robert Zubrin believes man can colonize the moon within the

next decade.As founder of Pioneer Astronautics and president of the Inter-

national Mars Society, Zubrin is part of a growing trend in spaceexploration—private enterprise.

Zubrin crafted a blueprint, making the case that Mars coloniza-tion is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us im-possible billions.

In a step-by-step process, Zubrin outlines man's ability to usepresent-day technology to send humans to Mars, produce fuel andoxygen on the planet, build bases and settlements, and one day al-ter the atmosphere of planets and pave the way for sustainable life.

He has gone so far as to simulate a manned mission to Mars, withfellow scientists and engineers, in the Arctic.

The former senior engineer with Lockheed Martin has writtenthree books: "The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Plan-et and Why We Must," "Entering Space: Creating a SpacefaringCivilization" and "Mars On Earth: The Adventures of Space Pio-neers in the High Arctic."

All of Zubrin's books will be available for purchase and besigned after the forum.

DONNER GRIGSBY 7:15 P.M. OCT. 5Dormer Grigsby was working as a factory trained service tech-

nician for American Honda Motor when NASA recruited him in1986 to join their Engineering Technician Apprentice Program.

His nearly 20 year career has been an eventful one.In 1992, he began designing aerospace models and wind-tunnel

hardware while continuing his studies at Old Dominion Univer-sity

In 1996 Grigsby was selected as Systems Integration Engineerfor TAP, a program for the development and integration of tech-nologies making global air transportation faster and safer.

In 2005, Grigsby earned a Master's in Science Degree in AppliedPhysics and Computer Science. As part of the thesis requirement,he developed a prototype micro-gravity strength training systemintended for use aboard the International Space Station.

In 2004, he was chosen as NASA's Speaker of the Year.

Herald Oc4. (2,2005

Donner Grigsby Looks To The Next CenturyKELLY VINES

WPCC STUDENT

On Oct. 5, Donner Grigsby, aNASA Systems Integration Engi-neer and NASA's 2004 Speaker of theYear, was Western Piedmont Com-munity College's third speaker ofthe Fall Speakers Forum/Ervin,

. Constitutional Issues Program. TheForum, held in conjunction with theSenator Sam Ervin Jr. Constitution-al Issues Program, is an annualevent hosted by Western Piedmontand is sponsored by ttie college's Di-vision of Humanities and Social Sci-ences. The topic this year was,"Apollo and Beyond: America's Raceto Space."

Grigsby, with the help of almost ahundred slides, lectured on thei'.fa-.ture of NASA and the relevance ofspace exploration for America andthe 21st century. Attendees of theevent were made privy to excitingnew technologies in development atNASA that within the. next twodecades could revolutionize every-thing from the commercial air trav-el industry to the way in which weprovide power to our major urbanareas.

Among the topics broached werethe testing of the X-13, a remote air-craft operating an experimental"Scramjet" engine that one daycould lead to cross country flights inunder five minutes, or about thetime it takes to microwave leftovers.Within 15 years, aircraft couldachieve speeds of mach 27 (speeds inexcess of 20,000 mph), Grigsby en-thusiastically revealed to the audi-ence. .

NASA is also considering extract-ing Helittm-3, an elemental isotope,from, the surface of the moon. Onlyrecently discovered to be imbeddedin the lunar landscape, Helium-3could be a cheap, plentiful fusionpower for Earth's cities::" With 245pounds of the materialvpresent per/acre of surface, a single ounce couldrun a fusion plant for five years withenough power to keep five major

Grigsby

cities going," said Grigsby.Gjyen that the annual budget for

NASA operations is the equivalentof less than one tenth of one percenton the dollar of the US budget, it isamazing the level of innovation thebest and brightest American minds ;in the field of physics, astronomy,,and engineering have come up with.A major reason for this is NASA'scommitment to scientific educationin the United States. Through its"Explore" program NASA is foster-ing early interest in science in ournation's elementary and middleschools. Even the community col-lege level has been touched withGrigsby noting that "Out of my en-gineering technician apprenticeprogram, 51 out of 54 of us were re-cruited from community colleges:"

The most dramatic moments ofthe forum came when Grigsby dis-cussed our solar system and howmuch we don't know about our ce-lestial neighbors. Science realizesthere is methane present on Sat-urn's moon, Titan, but cannot as ofyet, tell us why Usually methane on-ly occurs with the help of organic orliving material. Those participatingat the event also learned about Sed--na^the so-called "tenth planet," that^Ms discovered beyond Pluto in 2003 -and the potential presence of unex-plained volcanic activity on themoons in our solar system.

Hcvaic) Ocl. f Z , 2006

Apollo Astronaut Fred Haise Wows CrowdBY RASHAUN JAMES

WPCC STUDENT

Western Piedmont CommunityCollege kicked off its Annual FallSpeakers Forum/Ervin Constitu-tional Issues Program Oct. 3. Thisyear's theme is "Space Exploration,"and the first speaker was the famedApollo XIII astronaut, Fred Haise,who piloted the Lunar Moduleaboard the ill-fated mission por-trayed in the movie, "Apollo XIII."Haise, along with his companionsJim Lovell and Jack Swigert and hisguardian angels at Houston MissionControl, were responsible for bring-ing the Apollo XJH safely home afteran oxygen tank explosion occurredis space.

Haise was born in Biloxi, Miss.,and graduated from the Universityof Oklahoma in 1959 with honors. Hereceived a degree in aeronautical en-gineering and pursued a career as amilitary pilot. After receiving Navyflight training in 1954, he served as aMarine fighter pilot. During Haise'saviation career he logged more than9,100 hours of flight time and hasflown more than 80 types of aircraft.

In 1973, Haise's life took a terribleturn when he was badly injured in aplane crash while flying a BT13 mod-ified to looklike Japanese aircraftforthe 20th Century Fox film "Tora, To-ra, Tora." In the crash, over 65 per-cent of Haise's body was burned, andhe spent three months recovering.After 14 months, he was OK'd forflight status and flew the Space Shut-tle Enterprise for NASA in 1977.

Haise's commendations includethe Presidential Medal of Honor.Haise, however, is not a man to singhis praises; instead, in his presenta-tions all over the country he providesa vivid account of how teamwork,rigorous training and undying willkept the Apollo XIJJ mission fromturning into a tfagfedy: 'T; .¥\: •

Haise is a man who has i£ken oneof the most interesting, perilous .anddaring adventures of any human be-ing. Haise, being a true professional,

Haise

told how he never once lost faith inthe abilities of his in-flight crew, nordid he ever doubt the effectiveness ofboth his and their training and prob-;lem-solving abilities. Unlike thefilm, which has Haise arguing with-fellow astronaut Jack Swigertaboard the Apollo XIII about hisjudgment in throwing the switch to."stir the tanks" of oxygen which'caused an electronic short and ex-^plosion leading to the mission's de-'.mise, Haise tells of how the argu-ment never took place and that hecould have easily been the one in the;position to throw the switch. ;

The most heartfelt time in the pres-;entation was Haise recounting how;he had come so close to reaching hisdream of flying to the moon, but likeMoses peering over into the prom-ised land, he came within miles butwas never able to achieve it.

Fred Haise is probably recognizedmore as a national hero due to the"technical failure" of the Apollo XI-:IPs mission and his fateful brushwith death than if it had been suc-cessful.

At the end of the evening, Haiseopened the floor to questions. Re-garding what NASA was doing today,Haise said the organization, whilestill youthful in the age of its mem-bers, has lost the youthfulness of itsmotivation to discover.

Hem Id OcA- 12 zoos

Apollo andForum Recaps America's Race to Space

Robert Zubrin Brings Mars To LifeBY KATIE SELM '•WPCC STUDENT

Robert Zubrin has a mission plan toMars, but his mission'starts here onearth. The founder of the Mars Soci-ety Zubrin is on a mission to educate

. and .persuade those doubtful aboutthe exploration of Mars that going toMars and even colonizing Mars is. anexcellent and feasible idea. Accordingto Zubrin, with the right equipment,

. financial resources, and willingminds, we could see exploration ofMats as soon as 2014. On Oct. 5,Zubrin, who is a proponent of what hecalls' the Mars Direct Plan, was thesecond speaker in Western'PiedmontCommunity College's Annual FallSpeakers Forurn/Ervin Constitution-al Issues.

Zubrin graduated from the Univer-sity of Washington after completing abachelor's in mathematics, a master'sin nuclear engineering, another mas-ter's in astronautics and aeronautics,and finally a Ph.d in nuclear engi-neering. A popular question raised bythose interested in the Mars DirectPlan is why design a plan .to exploreMars without going through NASA?Zubrin's answer is very simple: "TheDeath Star." .That is what he refers toas -NASAs idea of a huge interplane-tary space ship. Costing over 400 bil-.lion dollars, 75 percent of the mass of'The Death Star is oxygen and fuelforthe trip home, whereas the ideallysimple Mars Direct Plan advocatesmaking use of Martian resourof s tosustain yisifc6rsandit3imakeJ,.:^Bte^back to earth.

According to'the Mars Direct Plandrawn up by the Mars Society, threetrips to Mars would occur in smalli in-expensive rocket ships whose tech-nology already exists. The first tripwould involve an unmanned ERV(earth return vehicle). The ERV

'Lewis and Clark didnot take with them

every bit of food, wa ter,and oxygen they wouldneed for their three-year

explorations.''ROBERT ZUBRIN

SPEAKER

would be shot to Mars with a heavy-lift booster sitnilar to the technologyusedtasend rnen.to the moon 30 yearsa|o> Once ontjie Martian surface, the •ERV would use 'a pump, to pull carbondioxide from .Mars and combine it.with a bit of hydrogen taken fromEarth.! The final product would bemore .than enough methane<)xygenrocket fuelfor the trip home and thensome, in his lecture Zubrin comparedusing the Martian resources to the ad-ventures of Lewis and Clark:. "Lewisand Clark did not take with themevery, bit of food, water, and oxygenthey would need for their three-yearexplorations," Zubrin jokingly said."Instead, they made use of their re-sources by hunting and trading theirway across the west." :Much likeLe wis arid. Clark's mission to findhab-ita'ble .land, Zubrin feels the numberone reason for the exploration andeventual polpnization of Mars, is that'Mars ,is"fee plaJietjHitll potential re-sources to sustain life.

The' second trip' .fo Mars that wquld'take place top ; years :;frprn,.the fir$t

.ana then a booster with a pay load of asmall crew. .

The crew would carry out field ex-ploration and would live for a year

Robert Zubrin, the founder of;the Mars Society, speaks bict. 5 at theWPCC's annual fall forum. • ':M:;-^.S;'^;\/'; \ >V-;/;-;^ :-;'Wv, :-,.'•;-. ••';•;.

'arid a half in a small habitatiori;tnod-ule. One question Zubrin has beenfaced with is the affects, that zero grav-ity will have ohv'the crew. The deterio-ration of muscles and bones causedby zero gravity can be.'reyersed usingartificial gravity (centrifugal force).Two years after the second trip* thethird, trip would proceed exactly likethe second depositing a new crew al-lowing the first to return to the.earth.All future trips would follow this cy-cle; . ,i

One of the' many purposes' ofZubrin's presentations has, been. to re--.njihd people of the humanity's curi-ous nature. He ftelievgs'tito^of stir

the.. surface x>f ' Mars, .Fossils ofriverbeds and new findings" 'ofgroundwater permit the chance .oflife existing or forming on this redplanet. "One way or the other, it isworth .finding out; ".stated Zubrin. .

The second question is will life ohMars develop? He is almost positive itwill, but he does hotlook to predict-anytliing. "Mars is a world, not justscientific-inquiry" Zubrin said. "Thenature of life is transformationf anditwould.be uri-haturalnot." '

When Zubrin is not writing booksor giving lectures, he is .on hisowri lit-tle piepe :pf Mars— Devon Island m

anada. Devon Islnd -is

choo'se e; sp.aGe.-fkring ̂ ohe.'-ag1 PJH •posgdto tiie eafe^Mynitufe. Zubrinalso 'feels inwo'questipns 'wiilleadus toMars and back.-Tne first questionwould be is or was there life on Mars?According to many types of M&riiahfossils found, water once existed on

."J&cafion of; '&e Mars :Soc;le '̂'s.siinu:

latedMars base; Flashlirie MSrs AfticResearch Station (FMARS)/Bar:reiiDevon Jsland" was chosen for its- geo^logic structures and its climate; so far,it, is the closest thing to a Mars onearth.