December 6th, 2017
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Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination has issued a free, downloadable book: Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities. This volume takes on the challenge of imagining new stories at the intersection of public and private—narratives that use the economic and social history of exploration, as well as current technical and scientific research, to inform […]
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Now in Sol 1896, NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover is wheeling across to new targets on Vera Rubin Ridge. New December 6 imagery shows the Mars machinery moving into new science duties. Curiosity Navcam Right B image acquired on Sol 1896, December 6, 2017. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Curiosity […]
The U.S. government should learn to live with the proliferation of space capabilities, even in the face of potential threats, in order to maximize their potential benefits. That’s one of the key points in a new Mitchell Policy Paper Release: Leading in a Rapidly Changing World: Policy Issues in Global Space Operations The authors of […]
Now in Sol 1895, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is slated to begin another “action-packed” science investigation for several days on Vera Rubin Ridge. That’s the report from Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist from the University of Michigan in Dearborn. Curiosity spent last weekend analyzing the chemistry of several interesting targets. Doglegging left The robot has […]
“Lost in space” – a scenario no astronaut wants to face. Thanks to new spacesuit engineering work, a patent has been filed for a self-return system to ensure space explorers are safe, even if no other astronaut can rescue them. This spacesuit comes with a “take me home” button. Self-return Kevin Duda, a space systems […]
Elon Musk, SpaceX lead rocketeer, has twitter followers abuzz again. This time Musk posted that his Falcon Heavy mega-rocket is to launch in January from the historic Apollo 11 pad in Florida. “Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another,” Musk tweeted. But there’s more. […]
NASA’s Opportunity rover has been reconnoitering the Red Planet since landing on January 25, 2004 – and now has 28 miles on its odometer. Now in Sol 4,926, the veteran robot is 4,836 Sols past “warranty.” Winter exploration At present, Opportunity is continuing its winter exploration of Perseverance Valley on the west rim of the […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is closing out Sol 1892 duties. Late last week, Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist at the University of Michigan in Dearborn, reported the rover was preparing to hit the road for a next stop on Vera Rubin Ridge. Unique patch of terrain Curiosity’s Mastcam was slated to take a multispectral image […]
Budweiser recently announced plans to send barley seeds to space, one of the key ingredients in beer. The company wants to determine if it’s possible to make and drink beer on Mars. Barley samples are to be flown to the International Space Station later this month. But a new poll indicates that […]
A new Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) to be issued early next year will detail international strategies for returning to the Moon. One aspect of the roadmap is how best governments can work with commercial companies to provide communications relay services, as well as early delivery of cargo/scientific instruments to the lunar surface. A major thrust […]
