For Space
Use attributes for filter ! | |
Google books | books.google.com |
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Originally published | February 8, 2005 |
Authors | Doreen Massey |
Date of Reg. | |
Date of Upd. | |
ID | 2121598 |
About For Space
"Doreen Massey is one of the most profound thinkers in contemporary human geography, and her work addresses fundamental issues with great insight. This is a work of enormous ambition, breadth, and depth, and not a little complexity. " . . .
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... She moved here, long before Hamas emerged, For Space and country air...
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... This will include " an extensive, tailored course of treatment and he asks For Space and privacy while the programme is ongoing, " they continued...
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... " I definitely hope that it s opening people s minds up, not only just For Space but for other things in life...
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... The first was a race For Space, which created high levels of demand from homebuyers...
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... " Sea algae and corals are always competing For Space, " explains Omri Omessi, a maritime inspector for the Israel Parks and Nature Authority who is based in Eilat...
Why 101 people and a dog want to be Toronto's mayor
... There are commuters who live in the city s outer limits battling daily traffic and downtown dwellers jostling For Space on the subway...
A taste of space with world's first disabled astronaut, John McFall
... When this project comes to an end, John isn t guaranteed a mission to space, but as the plane starts its preparations for landing, I ask if this experience has whet his appetite For Space, or made him have second thoughts about his new job...
The high-tech weeding machines cutting herbicide use
... " The biggest challenge in farming is how weeds compete with crops For Space, nutrients and water, " says Nadav Bocher, chief executive and co-founder of Israeli firm Greeneye Technology, another manufacturer of AI-powered precision weeding systems...
A taste of space with world's first disabled astronaut, John McFall
By Rebecca MorelleScience Editor, Bbc News
John Mcfall is The European Space Agency 's first ever para-astronaut, selected to study how feasible it is for someone with a physical disability To Live and work In Space . Bbc News joined him on board a parabolic flight, where he experienced weightlessness for The First Time .
One minute John Mcfall is lying on The floor of a plane. The Next , he starts to float upwards, still horizontal, seemingly levitating towards The Ceiling .
He looks astonished - everyone on this far-from-normal flight does, as they slowly rise into The air. The sensation of being weightless, no longer pinned down by gravity, is extraordinary.
You feel totally out of Control - because you are. Any tiny movement against something solid sends you catapulting around The Cabin , bouncing into walls and people. It's like being in a slow-motion pinball machine.
A smile begins to form across John's face - he starts laughing. " It's brilliant, it's amazing, " he says.
Then suddenly, The weightlessness is gone and he falls to The ground.
John is an astronaut candidate with a Difference - he's an amputee. When he was 19 he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, and now uses a high-tech prosthesis.
He has now been recruited by The European Space Agency (Esa) to take part in a ground-breaking study assessing How To make spaceflight accessible to people with physical disabilities.
" I saw that The European Space Agency had announced that they were looking for an astronaut with a physical disability, " he says, " and I looked at The person specification and thought, 'Wow, that's me - I would love to give that a go'. "
John's used to pushing himself to The Limit . After losing his leg and learning to walk again with a prosthesis, he took up Running - For Fun at first, then competitively. He went on to win a bronze medal in The 100m final at The 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
He then decided to become a doctor and is currently working as a trauma and orthopaedic registrar in Hampshire, But he's had to pause his medical Career - The opportunity to work with Esa was too good to turn down.
" I'm very much following my heart and I'm following my curiosity, " he explains, " and I'm following My Passion for science and life. "
I've joined John on board a specially adapted aircraft to take a parabolic flight. As The plane flies steeply upwards, we experience extra gravity - About twice as much as usual - where your whole body is pressed down into The floor.
Then, as The plane gets ready to nosedive back down, there's a moment when we become weightless for About 20 seconds. It's not that gravity has vanished, we're still bound by The laws of physics. Instead, we're actually in Freefall - As Is The plane around us - But this reproduces zero-gravity conditions. The plane repeats this manoeuvre again and again.
There's a reason parabolic flights are nicknamed " vomit comets" - it's like riding on a mid-air rollercoaster.
Thankfully, I don't feel sick, But it's safe to say I'm not a natural astronaut.
I tumble, out of Control , squealing, asking for help to come down. But I end up pinned to The Ceiling - until The period of zero-gravity comes to an end, and I crash down like a sack of potatoes. Luckily The floor of this plane is Well padded.
Meanwhile, John is faring much better, soaring around and gaining confidence with every period of " zero-gravity".
The prosthesis John wears is technologically very complex, incorporating a microprocessor, hydraulics, a gyroscope, accelerometers and other force sensors.
" All those things together make The knee know where it is In Space and how fast it's bending or straightening, " John says.
He's assessing how Well his prosthetic leg is operating in this unusual environment, and The Challenge comes when weightlessness kicks in.
" You'll probably see I'm floating around with my leg out straight, because that gravity isn't there, " he explains. " So it's harder for me to turn quickly - because my leg doesn't want to bend. I'm just getting used to that and working out how I can move myself in zero-g, But each parabola is a learning opportunity. "
John thinks that his prosthesis may be too high-tech for this environment, and a simpler one might fare better. And this is The whole point of his project with Esa: working out exactly what needs to be adapted for a person with a physical disability to spend time In Space . It will cover everything, from pre-mission training, to looking at whether a spacecraft would have to be modified to accommodate John's needs.
But he says Everyday Life in a microgravity environment is still The biggest unknown.
" Will I wear a prosthesis? And if I wear a prosthesis, will I have to have something that will accommodate variations in volume in my stump? Would I be able to run on a treadmill In Space ? Will we have to adapt a spacesuit for a spacewalk? If so, in what ways? " he wonders. " All these questions are things we do not have answers for. "
John is acutely aware that his disability is specific to him, and he needs to Take That into account while he's undertaking The study.
" I haven't got a Spinal Cord injury, I haven't got cerebral palsy, or spina bifida. So I'm thinking About how this applies to other disabilities as Well - But we have to start somewhere. "
There's a wider impact too. John hopes The Project will redefine people's expectations of what someone with a physical disability can do.
As The Flight nears its end, John keeps working on and improving his zero-gravity skills. He's now moving About easily and can even land Standing Up , while I continue to thwack down to The floor, every time.
When this project comes to an end, John isn't guaranteed a mission to space, But as The plane starts its preparations for landing, I ask if this experience has whet his appetite For Space , or made him have Second Thoughts About his new job.
" It's given me even more hunger and excitement, " he says with a huge grin. " It's just Awesome - I can't wait. "
Follow Rebecca.
Source of news: bbc.com