Don Brownlee on Stardust and more
Take a few dozen 3-D glasses, add a sprinkling of comet dust, a spoonful of speculation about extraterrestrial life, a dash of the intelligent-design debate and a scientific cliffhanger, and what do you get? Something a lot like NSWA's March 2 session at the University of Washington, featuring UW astronomer (and science writer) Donald Brownlee.
More than 25 science fans turned out to hear Brownlee talk about his work as principal investigator for NASA's Stardust mission and his science-writing experience as co-author of "Rare Earth" and "The Life and Death of Planet Earth."
Stardust was the star of Brownlee's show: During a seven-year mission, the NASA spacecraft flew through the cloud of dust surrounding Comet Wild 2, captured samples of that dust in a collector filled with ice-cube-sized blocks of an ultralight glassy material, then sent those samples back to Earth for study.
At the beginning of the talk, Brownlee handed out 3-D glasses for looking at slides of Comet Wild 2 in all its craggy glory. Then he flashed pictures and played videos that documented the Stardust capsule's fiery return to Earth.
The buildup to the return was a nail-biter, particularly because of 2004's crash landing of a similar sample-return capsule for the Genesis solar-wind mission. Extra reviews of Stardust's mission were ordered. "We were put through the wringer over the past year," Brownlee recalled. "NASA does not like to fail."
Fortunately, Stardust's capsule worked like a charm. "It was just in absolutely incredible shape," Brownlee said. "By the way, the Smithsonian is very interested in this. ... They don't have anything that went out from Earth [orbit] and came back except Apollo."
The flecks of comet dust were golden as well. Brownlee said he and his UW colleagues have worked on just two particles so far, but scientists around the world are already getting an unparalleled look at material thought to date back to the very beginnings of the solar system, more than 4 billion years ago.
Among the ingredients are metals, silicates and sulfides ... minerals found on earth such as olivine, enstatite and forsterite ... and organic materials as well. Brownlee didn't say much about the organics, apparently saving his thunder for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas later in March. But advance reports have indicated that organic materials make up 10 percent of the material recovered from Wild 2.
"We will announce something in March that people will probably discuss for 10, 20 years what the significance of it actually is," Brownlee told the attendees.
Among the other topics touched upon:
- The importance of science writing: Brownlee said that it was "incredibly important for our society to know about the science," and that science writers play an essential role in that process. He recalled how he himself was inspired to get into science by the Life magazine articles on the space effort back in the 1960s. "It's really a handful of science writers who communicate all that science."
- "Rare Earth" misunderstood: In 2000, Brownlee and UW paleontologist Peter Ward came out with a book claiming that the conditions required for the rise of intelligent life should arise extremely rarely in the universe. The chances are better for extraterrestrial microbial life, however, and Brownlee said that part of the claim was often left out by intelligent-design advocates who cite "Rare Earth" as supporting their views. He observed that "a lot of people talk about the book but they haven't read it."
- So are we alone? Brownlee speculated that intelligent life may exist somewhere else in the universe, but probably not in a place we can realistically reach. "We're not really alone, but if they're far enough away, we'll never be able to communicate with them or detect them."
- Quantum questions: Brownlee indicated that his next book would address some of the mysteries of quantum physics - including the "now it's here, now it's there" phenomenon known as quantum tunneling. "The sun will not work ... without quantum-mechanical tunneling," he said.
- Who's watching the scientists? Scandals such as the recent stem-cell fraud have cast a cloud over the scientific establishment, but Brownlee noted that science is a self-correcting enterprise. "There is a watchman, and that's nature. ... If you're cheating, someone will absolutely find out about it with time."
More than 25 science fans turned out to hear Brownlee talk about his work as principal investigator for NASA's Stardust mission and his science-writing experience as co-author of "Rare Earth" and "The Life and Death of Planet Earth."
Stardust was the star of Brownlee's show: During a seven-year mission, the NASA spacecraft flew through the cloud of dust surrounding Comet Wild 2, captured samples of that dust in a collector filled with ice-cube-sized blocks of an ultralight glassy material, then sent those samples back to Earth for study.
At the beginning of the talk, Brownlee handed out 3-D glasses for looking at slides of Comet Wild 2 in all its craggy glory. Then he flashed pictures and played videos that documented the Stardust capsule's fiery return to Earth.
The buildup to the return was a nail-biter, particularly because of 2004's crash landing of a similar sample-return capsule for the Genesis solar-wind mission. Extra reviews of Stardust's mission were ordered. "We were put through the wringer over the past year," Brownlee recalled. "NASA does not like to fail."
Fortunately, Stardust's capsule worked like a charm. "It was just in absolutely incredible shape," Brownlee said. "By the way, the Smithsonian is very interested in this. ... They don't have anything that went out from Earth [orbit] and came back except Apollo."
The flecks of comet dust were golden as well. Brownlee said he and his UW colleagues have worked on just two particles so far, but scientists around the world are already getting an unparalleled look at material thought to date back to the very beginnings of the solar system, more than 4 billion years ago.
Among the ingredients are metals, silicates and sulfides ... minerals found on earth such as olivine, enstatite and forsterite ... and organic materials as well. Brownlee didn't say much about the organics, apparently saving his thunder for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas later in March. But advance reports have indicated that organic materials make up 10 percent of the material recovered from Wild 2.
"We will announce something in March that people will probably discuss for 10, 20 years what the significance of it actually is," Brownlee told the attendees.
Among the other topics touched upon:
- The importance of science writing: Brownlee said that it was "incredibly important for our society to know about the science," and that science writers play an essential role in that process. He recalled how he himself was inspired to get into science by the Life magazine articles on the space effort back in the 1960s. "It's really a handful of science writers who communicate all that science."
- "Rare Earth" misunderstood: In 2000, Brownlee and UW paleontologist Peter Ward came out with a book claiming that the conditions required for the rise of intelligent life should arise extremely rarely in the universe. The chances are better for extraterrestrial microbial life, however, and Brownlee said that part of the claim was often left out by intelligent-design advocates who cite "Rare Earth" as supporting their views. He observed that "a lot of people talk about the book but they haven't read it."
- So are we alone? Brownlee speculated that intelligent life may exist somewhere else in the universe, but probably not in a place we can realistically reach. "We're not really alone, but if they're far enough away, we'll never be able to communicate with them or detect them."
- Quantum questions: Brownlee indicated that his next book would address some of the mysteries of quantum physics - including the "now it's here, now it's there" phenomenon known as quantum tunneling. "The sun will not work ... without quantum-mechanical tunneling," he said.
- Who's watching the scientists? Scandals such as the recent stem-cell fraud have cast a cloud over the scientific establishment, but Brownlee noted that science is a self-correcting enterprise. "There is a watchman, and that's nature. ... If you're cheating, someone will absolutely find out about it with time."
posted by Alan Boyle at 10:53 PM
1 Comments:
Nice article. Stardust is rad.
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