SCIENCE

Nearly 45 years after man fi rst stepped

on the Moon, a new era of exciting,

staggeringly ambitious space exploration

is under way – masterminded by

a handful of wealthy entrepreneurs as

much as governments. Prepare for lift-

off as World Of Knowledge hitches

a ride on the most mindblowing

space missions of the near future

Nearly 45 years after man fi rst stepped

on the Moon, a new era of exciting,

staggeringly ambitious space exploration

is under way – masterminded by

a handful of wealthy entrepreneurs as

much as governments. Prepare for lift-

off as World Of Knowledge hitches

World Of Knowledge hitches

World Of Knowledge

a ride on the most mindblowing

space missions of the near future

MAN ON A MISSION

WO

RD

S: V

ince

Jack

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MISSION

Was it Barack Obama signing off on a manned Mars mission by 2030? Or could it have been sparked by the ambitions of developing superpowers China and India? Maybe it was

the rise of the internet and the ability to share mindboggling stellar images with the touch of a button. Or maybe it’s the fact that mankind fi nally has the technology to realise its galactic dreams.

On a philosophical level, perhaps deep down we realise that in order to survive as a species, the need for resources will one day force us to leave this planet and inhabit other worlds.

Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: space is sexy again, and back on the news agenda. Even as we were putting the fi nishing touches to this feature, an incredible story was breaking about a Dutch company’s plans to build a colony on Mars. The outfi t, Mars One, was seeking volunteers to establish the fi rst-ever human settlement on the Red Planet. The catch? The ticket was one-way. Even so, the company had already received 40,000 applications and counting.

Clearly, the same desire for exploration and discovery that fi rst led man to venture out of his caves still beats strongly within us as a species – whatever the risks.

Yet with something as complicated as space travel, instinct will only get you so far – what’s needed are ideas and vision and, yes, money. Which is why the next wave of space exploration is driven and funded as much by wealthy businessmen and private organisations as it is governments.

In a couple of years, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic hopes to offer regular sub-orbital space fl ights to anyone who can afford the $200,000 ticket. PayPal founder Elon Musk has a vision to build an 80,000-strong community on Mars in his lifetime.

Not to be outdone, though, the original space pioneers NASA, are still working on the cutting-edge of possibility, drawing blueprints for a forthcoming solar probe – man’s fi rst contact with a star – as well as discovering ways to catch, and then mine, asteroids.

You can read about these mindblowing projects, and more, over the coming pages: World of Knowledge’s tribute to the visionaries who are always looking to conquer the fi nal frontier, to boldly go where no man has gone before… >

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HOW DO WE MAKE MARS SAFE FOR HUMANS?

people and cargo – including machines to produce fertiliser, methane and oxygen from Mars’s atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The fi rst settlers would also take construction materials to build domes that when pressurised with the planet’s atmospheric CO2 could grow Earth crops in the red soil.

An even more ambitious plan has been debated in the last decade: changing the climate, surface and entire biosphere of Mars so that it’s safe for human habitation, known as ‘terraforming’. One idea is to build a giant mirror, many kilometres wide, and place it in orbit above the planet. This would direct sunlight onto Mars’s polar icecap, melt the ice, release its frozen carbon dioxide contents, which would then trigger a greenhouse-style effect and warm the planet’s surface. Atmospheric pressure would then rise. Trees could be planted.

An alternative idea involves building advanced energy plants capable of generating greenhouse gases at strategic locations on Mars, encouraging temperature rises. Both are long-term projects, and could take at least a couple of centuries to get properly up and running.

Sound like a fl ight of fancy? NASA has already hosted a conference about the possibility, and

there is a growing voice within the agency who believe the technology exists to make

it viable. NASA terraforming advocate Dr Chris McKay is adamant: “We should

get serious about sending life to Mars.”

The fi rst scientifi c argument for a manned Mars mission was put forward in 1953 by German physicist Wernher von Braun in his non-fi ction

book Das Marsprojeckt (The Mars Project). He predicted a 1965 launch date. Since then almost 60 such projects have been proposed, all typically taking place 10 to 30 years in the future. But why have none of them come to fruition?

Mars is a brutal environment; the mean surface temperature is -87C to -5C, the air is composed mainly of deadly carbon monoxide and no oxygen, the atmospheric pressure is too low for humans to survive without pressure suits, and there’s no liquid water.

All this is a challenge, not a hinderance, to Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX have a vision to establish an 80,000-strong colony on the Red Planet by 2023. In May 2012, Musk’s reusable Dragon rockets became the fi rst commercial spacecraft to successfully dock with the International Space Station. A more advanced version of the craft, Mars One Dragon, would transport

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IS IT POSSIBLE TOI CATCH AN ASTEROID?I

Right now, astronomers have their eyes on at least 1000 asteroids hurtling through space that are large enough to cause serious damage if they

struck Earth. But these represent only 1% of those with the potential to cause large-scale destruction.

Luckily then, NASA recently unveiled a possible planet saver: an unmanned spacecraft that could literally catch an asteroid. Using a huge telescopic plunger, the craft would fl y out to the space rock, suck it in, and secure it in a giant super-strength net. It would then tow the asteroid and dump it somewhere safe, perhaps in a steady orbit around the Moon.

At the moment, NASA is looking to snare an asteroid of up to 10 metres in diameter, weighing about 500 tonnes. But as their techniques are honed, larger more destructive rocks could be trapped and dragged to safety. The cost of the mission, pencilled in for the “early 2020s”, is around $2.5 billion.

That sounds like a lot of money, until you consider NASA’s other motives for the projects. While also providing a training ground for the US’s manned Mars landing in 2030, astronauts would be able to fl y up to the asteroid and collect rock and soil samples for analysis, paving the way for the Americans’ fi rst foray into asteroid mining (see page 14) – a process which has the potential to solve Earth’s impending resource crisis…

800 YEARS AND COUNTING… Of all the near-Earth objects astronomers know about, one labelled ‘(29075) 1950 DA’ is the most hazardous. It has a one in 300 chance of hitting the Earth in 2880, giving NASA at least eight centuries to perfect its asteroid catchers.

LAW AND ORDERThe United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, made of 72 member states, seeks to maintain galactic order. The 1967 Outer Sapce Treaty forbids any nation from claiming the Moon or a planet as its own, and bars parties from testing weapons in space.

tonnes. But as their techniques are honed, larger more

>

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CUDDLY KILLING MACHINES

NATURE

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KILLING MACHINES

� The widely accepted image of seals as chilled-out, �ipper-clapping layabouts couldn’t be further from the truth. Closely related to bears, these deceptively fast and �erce creatures are amongst the most skilled hunters on the planet

If seals were engineered machines, the leopard seal would be the high-performance model. This streamlined hunter patrols the ice blocks with surprising agility and speed. They’re canny, too, waiting near major penguin breeding colonies to capture young penguins venturing seawards for the first time. Roaming as far as the coasts of Australia, South America and South Africa, leopard seals are a prime example of why, as a species, seals are thriving: simply put, they’re brilliantly adapted to their surroundings.

OPEN WIDE...

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The Iranian province of Kerman is home to the Dasht-e Lut desert, a brutally arid, ferociously

hot region that has seen temperatures reach 70.7°C – the highest ever recorded anywhere on the planet.

Dasht-e Lut’s hills – known by geologists as yardangs – can reach 75 metres in height. Lying parallel to the prevailing winds, these streamlined ridges have been carved by the wind out of the silty clay and sand lining the desert fl oor. The yardangs are separated by troughs measuring 100 metres or more and are so densely packed that they provide concealed, criss-crossing pathways for heroin dealers smuggling drugs to the West from neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This labyrinthine landscape has made it virtually impossible to track the drug-runners using aeroplanes or helicopters, as the sound of approaching engines will send any smugglers scurrying behind the nearest hill that provides shelter from prying eyes. This simple ploy, however, won’t work for much longer: Iranian anti-drugs authorities have begun deploying an espionage satellite that uses a high-defi nition camera to pinpoint smugglers, from an altitude that makes it invisible to anyone on the ground.

HOW DO YOU TRACK A SMUGGLER IN A MAZE?THE PLANET’S HOTTEST DESERT – IN SOUTH-EASTERN IRAN – IS HOME TO MAZE-LIKE SMUGGLING ROUTES BELOVED OF DRUG-RUNNERS. BUT NOT FOR MUCH LONGER

NATURE

SECRET WONDERS

� Home to drug smugglers, burnt-out tanks and the most expensive road ever built, deserts are anything but dead stretches of sand. Over the following pages we showcase these breathtaking sandscapes – and the surprises that lie among them

SECRET WONDERS

DESERTSDESERTSSECRET WONDERSSECRET WONDERS

DESERTSDESERTSOF THEOF THEOF THEOF THE

“THE DESERT OF EMPTINESS”That’s one translation of Dasht-e Lut, the name given to Iran’s largest desert, which covers around 155,000 square kilometres.

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70.7˚CThe highest surface temperature ever was recorded here. Conditions are so hostile that, left uncovered, milk won’t go off, because bacteria can’t grow in those temperatures.

75m highYardangs can be half as tall as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They’re formed by a wind that only ever blows in one direction; the side facing into the wind is always broader than the leeward side.

480kmThe vast Iranian Dasht-e Lut desert – 480 kilometres in length – is fi lled with yardangs. These huge hills are not unique to the Dasht-e Lut – they’ve even been discovered on Mars – but the yardang fi eld pictured here is among the largest on Earth.

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SPIRITUAL SITEWadi Rum was formed 30 million years ago. In 1922, T. E. Lawrence – also known as Lawrence of Arabia – described it as “vast, echoing and godlike”. It remains so to this day.

20The number of Arabian Oryx (eight males and 12 females) that were released into the Wadi Rum in 2009. Satellites track the animals’ movement and behaviour to ensure their safety.

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As homes from home go, it’s pretty impressive. Mohammed bin Zayed

Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, bought this estate in the Jordanian desert in 2002 and set about transforming it into a nature reserve. Located in the Wadi Rum protected area – a UNESCO World Heritage site – the reserve is home to a range of desert wildlife, including various species of birds and the Arabian Oryx, which was reintroduced to its native Jordanian habitat as part of an initiative overseen by the prince. The reserve owes its remarkable lushness to the water from nearby groundwater wells which is pumped to the site. It’s something of a real-life oasis: grass is abundant, reeds fl ourish, and in the middle are small ponds.

Wadi Rum is a spectacular series of valleys in southern Jordan that were made famous by the exploits of Lawrence of Arabia. Local Bedouin tribes know it as The Valley of the Moon thanks to the otherworldly-looking canyons and mountains that have formed there over millions of years. Archaeological fi nds in the area indicate that Wadi Rum has been inhabited as far back as prehistoric times, helped no doubt by the region’s countless water sources. It even rains a few months of the year – ideal conditions for the sheikh’s green and pleasant land…

WHO OWNS A HOLIDAY HOME IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT?SOME HEAD TO THE COAST TO RECHARGE THEIR BATTERIES, BUT NOT SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN OF ABU DHABI…

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WARRIOR”� Canadian activist Paul Watson has battled with whale-hunters for 30 years, upholding Australian law. But his aggressive, zero-tolerance policy has resulted in an international warrant for his arrest. And so far, Canberra has refused to offer him a safe haven…

WORLD EVENTS

“If you want to

WARRIOR”“If you want to“If you want toSAVE THE WHALES

WARRIOR”�� Canadian activist Paul Watson has battled with whale-hunters Canadian activist Paul Watson has battled with whale-hunters Canadian activist Paul Watson has battled with whale-hunters WARRIOR”SAVE THE WHALESSAVE THE WHALESyou need to be a

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WARRIOR”WARRIOR”SAVE THE WHALES

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With a muffl ed bang, the ship’s cannon fi red. The projectile – a harpoon the size of a man, trailing a rope – ripped a cross-shaped hole into the sperm whale’s back. When the harpoon had

penetrated half a metre into the whale’s body, a grenade fi xed to its tip exploded, right on cue.

Shockwaves rippled through the 50-ton mammal’s fl esh. The whale panicked, and attempted to fl ee, but found it was stuck: four barbed hooks had opened up like umbrellas inside the animal’s body. Then came another shot, as the suspension lines began to pull tight and drag the sperm whale from its ocean home.

Watching from his boat, Paul Watson was stunned and horrifi ed by the whale’s life-and-death struggle in the crimson-coloured water. With more than 1,500 litres of blood to lose, the creature’s thrashing seemed to last an eternity – until, eventually, the fi ght was lost. The dying animal surfaced for one last time, so close that Watson was able to see his refl ection in its eyes. They stared at

each other for a few seconds. At that moment, Watson knew that he was going to dedicate the rest of his life to protecting these creatures – regardless of the cost or risk to himself.

“THE ONLY LANGUAGE THAT WHALERS UNDERSTAND IS VIOLENCE” That was in 1975. At that point, Paul Watson was part of a team of Greenpeace activists manoeuvring a tiny rubber dinghy directly into the line of fi re between a mighty Russian whaling fl eet and a defenceless school of sperm whales. It was one of the fi rst Greenpeace actions of its type, and Canada’s Watson was among the founding members of the environmental-

THE FLEET COMMANDERA former member of the Canadian Coast Guard, Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has dedicated his life to the ocean’s inhabitants since the early 1970s. Following a warrant being issued for his arrest, he’s been forced to scale back his offi cial role, but still oversees his fi ve-strong fl eet of ships. Understandably, the atmosphere onboard the boats is different to that of traditional navy ships; former activists describe it as “anarchy run by God”.

FIERCE WATERBoth whalers and animal rights activists use water cannons to hinder each other’s activities. The high-pressure weapons have a range of 60 metres, and a direct hit can result in serious injuries.

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protection organisation. But he was becoming disillusioned – Greenpeace was simply not radical enough for him. So, in 1977, Watson founded the whale-protection organisation Sea Shepherd, and since then he’s been commanding a fleet of armoured ships and mercilessly hunting the whale-hunters, whenever and wherever they set sail.

The 62-year-old’s strategy is brutally simple: prevent whaling ships from harpooning whales – with violence, if necessary. In fact, Sea Shepherd’s operations often more closely resemble sea battles than protest actions. In many cases, Watson’s crew will ram or even board whalers’ vessels, and both sides will fire at each other with water cannons. Watson’s people have also

developed super-strength butyric-acid stink bombs, which produce a smell so ferocious and distracting that it hampers the work of the whaling crew.

In theory, these encounters need never happen, as international agreements forbid whale-hunting in international waters. The problem is, no country is actively enforcing this ban – including Australia – so Watson has taken the law into his own hands. Although some accuse him and his crew of violent, criminal activity, he claims that he’s merely trying to curb illegal whaling in the only truly effective manner available to him.

“I can’t understand nature-protection organisations that don’t do anything except hold meetings, create >

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NEXT MONTHINTERNATIONAL

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The incredible feats of the animal kingdom’s smallest members

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DOES THE INTERNET RULE

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and no citizens, how has the internet become a superpower?

INTERVIEW WITH A PSYCHOPATHThe chilling moment when our psychologist met his match

Why the risk of a glacier exploding is growing by the day

Why the risk of a Why the risk of a CRYSTAL TIMEBOMB

W O R L D E V E N T S

T H E H U M A N B O D Y

N A T U R E

N A T U R E

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