O'Brien From Space For Earth

Brian J O'Brien
Earth, says Professor Brian J O'Brien, like a spacecraft that is very valuable. When viewed from space, Earth is really small, even just a point between the various planets and stars. Although small, this is the only planet known to live.

This awareness is not just a doctrine of a trust for Brian J O'Brien, former Principal Scientist of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) that runs the Apollo project in the 1960's.

Around this time he also recorded as a teaching space science at Rice University, Houston, Texas, by Buzz Aldrin, one of his students who later became astronauts who landed on the moon with Apollo 11.

Fully aware of the fact that O'Brien chose to focus and encourage improvement of environmental quality. Since 1991, over seven years, father of three children became the First Director and Chairman of the Environmental Protection Authority for the Western Australian Government. After that, consulting firms engaged in environmental strategies, Brian JO 'Brien & Associates Pty Ltd, was established.

"Now I can do whatever I want," he said.

With his company, O'Brien 10 also encourages the publication of the relevant regulations of environmental protection in Western Australia. Some of the rules concerning water management, pollution, mining, and environmental ethics for business and tourism.

And Apollo Moon Dust

Environmental issues are also a concern O'Brien returns to the moon dust that has been detected since 1969, when the first human landing on the Moon with Apollo 11. Moreover, U.S. President George W Bush (then) could catapult the discourse continued mission to the Moon in 2020.

Data on the Moon dust has been taken since the Apollo 11 mission, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15. Until now, O'Brien said, there are approximately 30 million digital data about the moon dust. Data on the Moon dust is transmitted to Earth every 54 seconds when the Apollo missions 11, 12, 14, and 15. However, until the project closed on September 19, 1977, no one has analyzed the problem of dust this month.

In fact, the dust is very troubling research team of Apollo on the Moon. Moon dust characteristics very different from the dust on Earth. Moon Dust and the more sticky the sticky afternoon. In fact, Moon dust attached to the seismometer weighing 47 kilograms body mounted on the Apollo 11 as high as 17 meters, also in clothing space. Because sticky, dust it inconvenient research.

To reduce dust levels of stickiness, O'Brien said, landing on the Moon is always in the morning or at the new moon. This dust problem should be considered in the project of human landing on the Moon in the future.

To monitor the dust, O'Brien makes detectors dust (dust detector experiment) simple use of solar cells. According to him, the sun produces electrical voltage. The presence of dust will create a voltage drop.

Dust detector was used on Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 15. Two-dust detector used in the Apollo 11 and 12, even brought and shown to the students who followed O'Brien delivered a guest lecture, beginning last October at the Institute of Technology 10 November Surabaya.

Logically, said O'Brien, the hard object collision will cause the particles apart. However, the presence of dust Months are sticky and very disturbing that the study was under-estimated the scientists. Nevertheless, he continued, NASA did not pay too much attention is Moon dust problem. On Apollo 13 and beyond, NASA is only provided cleaning brush.

Now, many notes on the research of Apollo, but tucked Moon dust. Moreover, most project participants had died. One who still keep a record of it is O'Brien, who had received awards from NASA for outstanding achievement in science.

Aurora

O'Brien also interested in the aurora. Beautiful light tinge that can be found in winter in an area close to the north or south pole, according to the grandfather nine grandchildren, due to battle the Sun's magnetic field and plasma. Energy is transferred from the interplay of magnetic fields to the particles that make auroras.

This was the discovery in 1967 after trying to make a gauge aurora-forming particles and energy. In the notes Rice University, 1967 Aurora First satellite launched to study the aurora. The satellite was built O'Brien with his student, Curt Laughlin and Paul Cloutier, who is also professor of space physics and astronomy. The device is made with spare parts which he worked alone.

The research project to measure the auroral light and energetic particles in fact already started in 1963. At that time, as written in www.media.rice.edu, made satellite, called Sammy I, II, III, and IV according to the campus mascot Sammy The Owl. The first satellite was launched in 1964.

From the study, known to affect the Earth's magnetic field unlike the magnetic field generated bar magnet is symmetrical. Plot is very different because the Earth is also influenced by solar radiation. The results of this study also changed the way scientists about the Earth's magnetic field.

From a variety of knowledge about this space, O'Brien and the world community is fully aware that the Earth is a small part of the universe. The realization that the Earth as the only planet known to be inhabited and surrounded by empty space, making people increasingly appreciate the environment.

"I like talking with the enthusiastic students (and interested in space and the environment). Age I'm 76 years old, 'battery' in this self must always dicas, and it's you who mengecas 'battery' that," he said.