May 6th, 2019
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A bio-regenerative life support system in Beihang University in Beijing has supported a group of four volunteers lived in a self-contained cabin for 200 days in Beijing. Yuegong-1 is a 150-square-meter lab designed to observe how animals, plants, and micro-organisms can co-exist in a lunar environment. The volunteers planted crops and managed waste according to […]
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In my new book for National Geographic – Moon Rush: The New Space Race – I dig into the science and technology – past, present, and future – central to our explorations of Earth’s only natural satellite, the space destination most hotly pursued today. In these pages, I explore the Moon in all its facets, […]
The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility by Robert Zubrin; Prometheus Books, New York, 2019; hardcover: 395+ pages, $25.00 There is an on-going revolution in spaceflight. But where will this uprising in technological prowess take us? Robert Zubrin has written a compelling account of the trajectory […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2410 duties. The robot has used its front wheel to dig a small trench in a ripple at the ripple field named “Rigg,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona. The plan then called for focus on what that […]
The Lunar Planetary Institute’s (LPI) has released the Lunar South Pole Atlas – a new online reference for mission planners. NASA has been directed to land astronauts at the lunar south pole by 2024, an objective with a five-year timeline. Speed, safety, and efficiency are key priorities driving this implementation of Space Policy Directive-1, […]
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has used its high-powered LROC system to image Israel’s SpaceIL Beresheet crash site. The imagery was taken eleven days after the attempted landing on April 11th. Think gouge…rather than crater At the scale of the narrow angle camera image, photo specialists cannot […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2409 duties. Now that the robot is back on the road following a drill campaign at Kilmarie, a quick “touch-and-go” activity was planned to characterize the local bedrock, explains Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist at the University of Michigan in Dearborn. Ripple field Curiosity recently drove a […]
Explore Mars, Inc. has released The Humans to Mars Report 2019, issued at the group’s summit meeting being held May 14-16 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington D.C. The report notes that the past year has been a particularly active year with regard to space policy. The National Space Council announced that […]
Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit will go on display July 16, the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. “This is a big moment for us,” explains a Smithsonian Air and Space Museum statement, “because it will be the first time the suit is displayed in 13 years, and the suit just completed a […]
Apollo Leadership Lessons: Powerful Business Insights for Executives by Dick Richardson; Authority Publishing 2019; paperback: 232 pages, $24.99. As we close in on the July salute of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, you’ll find this book an inspiring read – one that captures hope and disappointment, villains and heroes, greed and sacrifice. […]
One small, high-flying step toward interstellar travel! Last month, UC Santa Barbara students sent up, via balloon, a prototype miniature spacecraft designed to further interplanetary and eventually interstellar flight. “It’s part of a process of building for the future, and along the way you test each part of the system to refine it,” said […]
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced today that the space company plans to relocate more than 100 employees to New Mexico’s Spaceport America as it begins to ramp up operations for commercial flights. Virgin Founder Sir Richard Branson announced that Virgin Galactic’s development and testing program had advanced sufficiently to move […]
