SPACE-RELATED CENTERS AT UH TARGET NEXT
50 YEARS OF EXPLORATION
Experts Available to Comment on President Bush’s New Plan
As President Bush unveils his plans for the future of the space
program, scientists and researchers at the University of Houston
are mobilizing for the flurry of questions to follow. With a number
of space-related centers on campus, UH already has its eyes on the
next 50 years of space exploration and colonization. The Sasakawa
International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA), Texas Center
for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials (TcSAM), Institute
for Space Systems Operations (ISSO) and Texas Institute for Intelligent
Bio-Nano Materials and Structures for Aerospace Vehicles (TiiMS)
put UH at the forefront of research in lunar colonization.
Experts from each of these institutions are available to discuss
the space program.
Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA)
SICSA is internationally recognized for its leadership in the field
of space architecture and regarded as the leading academic center
in the world for this kind of planning. With research that looks
15 to 30 years down the road, SICSA seeks to answer the question
of how to live and work beyond the Earth’s orbit, dealing
with the actual physical infrastructure of lunar colonization. A
unique research, design and teaching entity, the organization’s
mission is to plan and implement programs that will advance peaceful
and beneficial uses of space and space technology. SICSA initiated
the world’s first Masters in Space Architecture degree-granting
program, established in September 2003.
Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials
(TcSAM)
TcSAM deals with the very practical aspects of bootstrapping energy
generation with a focus on materials development. Addressing the
next 10 to 15 years in space exploration, TcSAM is working on such
projects as developing methods to manufacture huge solar cell arrays
on the moon using materials from the lunar soil. This lunar regolith
(the dust and rocks lying on the moon’s surface) contains
the raw materials needed to make solar cells, and the technology
is under development at UH. TcSAM scientists have the experience
and the research required in the planning for man to leave Earth
and head to the moon and Mars.
Institute for Space Systems Operations (ISSO)
ISSO looks to the distant future, along the lines of 2050, with
lunar colonization to build bases on the moon that collect solar
energy and beam it through space back to Earth. It’s estimated
that by 2050, a population of 10 billion would require about 20
terawatts of power, or about three to five times the amount of commercial
power currently produced. The moon receives more than 13,000 terawatts
of solar power, so to harness just one percent could satisfy Earth’s
power needs. Such a lunar-based system to supply solar power to
Earth would be based on building large banks of solar cells (electronic
devices that gather sunlight and convert it into usable electricity)
on the moon to collect sunlight and send it back to receivers on
Earth via a microwave beam. The microwave energy collected on Earth
would then be converted to electricity that can be fed into the
local electric grid. The system could be built on the moon from
lunar materials and operated on the moon and Earth using existing
technologies.
Bio-Nano Materials and Structures for Aerospace Vehicles
(TiiMS)
UH is one of six participating universities in NASA’s Texas
Institute for Intelligent Bio-Nano Materials and Structures for
Aerospace Vehicles (TiiMS). Adaptive shape reconfigurability, or
“morphing,” is the main focus of this nationally funded
research institute, with UH engineers and scientists concentrating
on two broad research areas. The major focus of the UH initiative
is to establish distributed intelligence architectures to improve
flight and mechanical performance and safety of future aircraft
and spacecraft. The second focuses on fabricating new nanomaterials
that are stronger and lighter than conventional materials. TiiMS
is one of seven NASA University Research, Engineering and Technology
Institutes (URETI) related to NASA’s initiative to launch
aviation and space flight into new frontiers of technological advancement
and efficiency. URETI’s goal is to research and develop emerging
opportunities in technology with potential for revolutionary impact
on the pursuit of future NASA missions.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
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