On January 16th, 2001, the Columbia space shuttle launched for the 27th and last time on a mission to perform various experiments, including investigating the effects of microgravity on the human body.
Category: space travel – Page 287
MOXIE – A Device Aboard NASA’s Perseverance Rover – Could Help Future Rockets Launch off Mars
NASA ’s Perseverance rover carries a device to convert Martian air into oxygen that, if produced on a larger scale, could be used not just for breathing, but also for fuel.
One of the hardest things about sending astronauts to Mars will be getting them home. Launching a rocket off the surface of the Red Planet will require industrial quantities of oxygen, a crucial part of propellant: A crew of four would need about 55,000 pounds (25 metric tons) of it to produce thrust from 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of rocket fuel.
That’s a lot of propellant. But instead of shipping all that oxygen, what if the crew could make it out of thin (Martian) air? A first-generation oxygen generator aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover will test technology for doing exactly that.
Elon Musk’s astonishing life accomplishments to be recognized by award in Berlin
Elon Musk will be awarded the Axel Springer Award for his astonishing life accomplishments. Tesla and SpaceX are just two of the companies Musk leads, but both have already made significant changes in their respective industries and in people’s way of living. Musk will be accepting the award personally on December 21 in Berlin, confirmed Tesla North.
“As one of the most creative entrepreneurs and most brilliant engineers of the digital age, Elon Musk inspires an entire generation. He combines great visions with the indomitable will to achieve them,” said the CEO of Axel Springer SE, Mathias Döpfner.
“With PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk has turned entire industries upside down, and his drive is irrepressible. He is motivated by the goal of making life better for humanity. And not in small steps, but by fundamentally turning the way we do things on their head. With incredible success,” he clarified.
Space or Earth? Both!
While we are opening our preliminary discussion for the 3rd SRI World Congress, a number of questions and concerns are being expressed by the main space columnists, about what could be the philosophic setup of the space policy defined by the new US Administration, should it be confirmed the next December 14th. Though Joe Biden didn’t yet say very much about space policy, the most accredited plans foresee cuts to the budget of NASA’s manned space flight programs, in order to give more fuel to the observation of Earth, climate change, and environmental issues.
We are not against raising the budget to Earth observation programs, which are much needed in the current climatic and environmental situation. Besides Earth observation, space agencies should also begin considering the use of space technologies to mitigate the effects of the climate change and the environmental issues, i.e. active space strategies targeted to control the Earth climate.
However, the most important point to be duly focused is that the same priority granted to environmental space programs should be given to bootstrapping the geo-lunar space region settlement and industrialization. Space development is the primary strategy against the awful multi-crisis that is striking our globalized civilization: pandemics, economic, climatic-environmental, resource conflicts, migrations, unemployment.
What the million-mile battery means for electric cars
To the Moon and back, twice.
It is mainly about greater reliability.
Jeff Bezos’ Company Is Carrying Scientific Cargo to Space. It’s Not Amazon
Does the real future of Space exploration lie with enlightened private entrepreneurs such as Bezos & Musk or do national agencies still have a part to play? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/science/
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket hasn’t flown space tourists yet, but it has found a business niche with NASA and private science experiments.