Hadfield talks guitars and other space oddities

Chris Hadfield may not be quite the household name among astronauts that John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, or Buzz Aldrin are, but he tops them all in at least one category: Hadfield’s video version of the David Bowie tune “Space Oddity,” recorded on the International Space Station, has been viewed more than 19 million times on YouTube. That’s by far the most hits among his many made-from-space flicks and eclipses on-line hits on Moon-landing videos.

Hadfield made a stop in Seattle earlier this month for a talk before a large crowd at Town Hall Seattle, where he signed copies of his book An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything.

Though YouTube didn’t exist during the Apollo era, Hadfield said he was nonetheless inspired by the space pioneers.

“I decided to be an astronaut when I was nine; that’s when Neil and Buzz walked on the Moon,” he said. This was especially challenging for a kid from Canada. “It wasn’t just hard, it was impossible. There was no Canadian astronaut program.”

He pursued the dream anyway, learning to fly airplanes as a teen, and picking up astronaut-type skills the best he could until, finally, the opportunity presented itself.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield spoke Nov. 12 at
Town Hall Seattle. Photo: Greg Scheiderer.

Hadfield didn’t talk much about the book during his Seattle event, mostly limiting prepared remarks to an account of what it’s like to be launched into space. He said the first nine minutes bring the majority of the risk on any mission.

“You have seven million pounds of thrust and you are going… somewhere!” he said. “It feels like something crashed into your spaceship. There’s this big pulse of energy through the whole ship and then a big rumbling vibration. You can’t hear it, but oh, you can feel it, like a piston in the small of your back that pushes harder and harder.”

He said that on his first space flight he experienced an unexpected injury by the time they reached orbit.

“About this time I noticed my face hurt; my cheeks were all cramped up and I realized that I’d been smiling so broadly,” Hadfield recalled.

“I laughed at myself to think that I didn’t know how much fun I was having. Part of me was going ‘OK check the pressures, check this, call out the distances, all the ranges, black zones, all the rest of it,’ and part of me was going ‘WHEEEEEE!'”

Hadfield said that playing guitar in space is an interesting experience because of weightlessness.

“When you fret with your hands, the whole guitar just takes off!” he said. “Eventually you learn how to stabilize it.”

In addition, he said that playing with a weightless arm throws you off.

“When you try to do something quick up and down the neck you miss,” Hadfield explained. “You have to re-learn how to fret properly.”

There’s a West Coast connection to Hadfield’s space musicianship. He has a special guitar made by Roscoe Wright of Wright Guitars in Eugene, Oregon.

“He makes this really weird guitar that is just the fret board,” Hadfield said. “The guitar pieces are actually like a coat hanger, so that it gives the shape of a guitar, it feels like a guitar against your body, but it folds up really tiny, a really clever design. I got him to cut the neck in half so it would fit into a shuttle locker. He built one special for me.”

It’s not the guitar used in the “Space Oddity” video, which is an ordinary acoustic instrument.

Hadfield also fielded questions about the past and the future of space exploration. He, like most astronauts I’ve heard speak, thinks that shutting down the space shuttle program was the right call, noting that shuttles flew for the better part of three decades.

“You probably don’t drive a 30 year old car to work every day, you sure don’t drive one to space every day,” Hadfield said.

“There’s only so much money in the NASA budget, and you can’t fly an expensive vehicle while building a new vehicle unless you get a big whack of money from somebody else, and there was no somebody else,” he explained. “I think we did it just right.”

“Everybody should celebrate the space shuttle,” he added. “It was the most capable vehicle we’ve ever built and it served us superbly. I was delighted to get a chance to fly it.”

As for the future, Hadfield feels the next logical step in humanity’s continuing drive to explore will be an international effort to return to the Moon.

“We need to learn how to go live there,” he said. “We will learn an awful lot by setting up permanent habitation on the Moon over the next–who knows? 30 years, couple generations. From there hopefully we’ll invent enough things that we can go even further.”

Amateur astronomers ID mysterious bright object in COS skies

“When in doubt, call an amateur.”

This may not be good advice for neurosurgery or airline piloting, but it was just the ticket for identifying a mysterious, bright object in the early evening skies over Colorado Springs. While visiting family in Springs they shared with me an article in Saturday’s Colorado Springs Gazette, prompted by an email from a reader who had spotted said object for several days running and urged the paper to investigate, insisting adamantly that “it is not the planet Venus.”

Reporter Tom Roeder consulted local Navy and Air Force experts on flying things as well as an astronomer from the University of Colorado. Two of the three figured it was Venus, but demurred from making definitive statements to that effect because identifying strange, bright objects isn’t necessarily squarely within their bailiwicks.

As people who know them recognize, amateur astronomers have no such reservations. Roeder called Alan Gorski of the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society, who, after a little double checking, confirmed that the bright light is Venus, despite the assessment by the Gazette reader.

When my mother-in-law mentioned the article I, too, immediately concluded it is Venus. Readers occasionally write Seattle Astronomy with what-is-it questions, and it’s almost always either Venus or Jupiter. The King of Planets is also up in the evening these days, rising in the eastern sky a bit before 8:30 p.m. It was a nice sight shining in mostly clear skies last night.

Colorado Springs has some good potential for stargazing, as it is at just over 6,000 feet in elevation and has some pretty clear horizons, especially to the east. But alas, with a population of more than 430,000 the light pollution in the city, while not quite so bad as our home base in West Seattle, is pretty robust. The Colorado Springs Astronomical Society owns a dark-sky observing site near the town of Gardner, Colorado, a little over 100 miles south of The Springs and closest to the city of Walsenberg. The site is home to the annual Rocky Mountain Star Stare.

The Bearscove star party intensity scale

Astronomy clubs often hold star parties, but seasoned attendees and newcomers alike have varied expectations for such events. Jon Bearscove says that’s no wonder. He identified five different types of star party during a talk at October’s meeting of the Seattle Astronomical Society, and also suggested a common rating system so those planning to attend a star party will know what to expect.

Public astronomical observing goes back at least to Great Britain’s King George III, whom Bearscove, founder of the Galileo Astronomy Unclub, described as “a star party guy.” The definition of star party is simple: A gathering of amateur astronomers for the purpose of observing the sky. But star parties can come in a lot of different formats.

Bearscove is something of a star-party commando and knows whereof he speaks. Here are his five types:

1. Outreach
2. Observing
3. Mixed
4. Publicity
5. Literal

Outreach is a common type of star party. Most astronomy clubs hold regular events to share members’ love of the night sky with others, and this is a primary mission for many. Clubs may set up a star party in a public park or even a supermarket parking lot and invite anyone who happens by to take a look through their telescopes. Outreach star parties also may be given for school groups, scout troops, or specific communities. Outreach events are highly social and are all about sharing.

Observing star parties are on the opposite end of the spectrum. These are more serious affairs for the hardcore, experienced amateur who is doing research, study, or photography. They are often held at remote locations with much darker skies. While a number of amateur astronomers may be in the same place at the same time, nobody wants to be disturbed.

President Obama’s White House Astronomy
Night from 2009 qualifies as a Publicity Star
Party. Jon Bearscove says you can’t do much
real observing with TV lights on in one of the
most light-polluted cities in the U.S.
Photo: White House.

Mixed star parties are a blending of the outreach and observing types. The annual Table Mountain Star Party is an example. It’s a highly social event at which people check out everyone else’s cool astronomy gear, but there are some serious observers who attend as well. Usually those who want to be left alone can make it known. Respect those who are doing serious work; bump into someone’s telescope and you might foul up a six-hour photographic exposure.

Publicity is a new category of star party on Bearscove’s list. He describes it as an event with “no purpose” and came up with the notion when he saw photos of an Astronomy Night event held at the White House in 2009.

“If there are bright lights, media coverage, and the Secret Service, it’s a different kind of star party,” he quipped.

Literal star parties are, well, exactly that.

“Star means shiny thing in the sky; party means light, music, booze,” Bearscove said as he explained the category. His example: he once traveled to Japan for the annual Tainai Star Party, often described as the biggest in the world. Bearscove described it as more of a rock concert, with bands, bright lights, vendors, 20,000 people, and “zero observing.”

Bearscove, the shadowy figure at the bottom of the frame,
 explained his Star Party Intensity Scale at October’s
meeting of the Seattle Astronomical Society.
Photo: Greg Scheiderer.

Bearscove suggests a shorthand way of referring to star parties, inspired by the hurricane intensity scale. His three-step scale loosely corresponds to the observing, mixed, and outreach types of star parties. On the Bearscove Scale a “Category 1” star party would feature extensive observing, “Category 2” would have moderate intensity, and “Category 3” would be the lowest intensity, focused on outreach.

“I think it would be neat if there could be a standard scale,” Bearscove said. “You might have people more interested in a category 2 or a category 1. Everyone’s different.”

His advice for navigating those differences: “Match star parties to your taste,” he suggested. “I like outreach a lot but I also like hard-core observing.” He crosses categories.

It will be interesting to see if the Bearscove scale catches on!