April 14th, 2017
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The Office of Inspector General (OIG) at NASA evaluated the space agency’s plans for deep space exploration and crewed missions to Mars. The April 13, 2017 OIG report notes: NASA’s initial exploration missions on its Journey to Mars – EM-1 and EM-2 – face multiple cost and technical challenges that likely will affect their planned […]
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New research demonstrates the ability to use Moon and Mars stimulants to produce 3D-print structures. That ability presents an easy, highly scalable, sustainable manufacturing method for lunar and Red Planet travelers. 3-D printing allows off-planet settlers the wherewithal to make everything from small tools to large buildings using surrounding extraterrestrial resources. Northwestern Engineering’s Ramille Shah […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is performing Sol 1663 science duties. On Sol 1662 the robot drove roughly 79 feet (24 meters) and another drive is planned for Sol 1664. Targeted remote sensing “Before the drive, lots of targeted remote sensing is planned,” reports Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. That […]
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program nurtures visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs. Among a new slate of NIAC 2017 Phase I awards is a “Pluto Hop, Skip, and Jump” concept. The idea has been proposed by Benjamin Goldman of Global Aerospace Corporation in Irwindale, California. Low […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover is now performing Sol 1662 science duties. A recent drive by the rover placed it away from the “Ogunquit Beach” sand dune, taking the robot about 115 feet (35 meters) to the southwest. Curiosity has wheeled into “a good location to continue measuring the composition of the bedrock as we drive up […]
A new report — The Fourth Community Workshop on Achievability and Sustainability of Human Exploration of Mars (AM IV) – is now available. The report is a product from a December 6-8, 2016 meeting organized by Explore Mars, Inc. and the American Astronautical Society. Nine “long poles” were assessed in depth before and during the […]
Thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, a Jules Verneish hydrogen gas gun is being pursued to blast payloads to 62 miles (100 kilometers) altitude — the Karman Line — the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. The effort is dubbed Green Launch. This Kickstarter is focused on Phase 1: delivery of scientific and DNA […]
Recent testing of an electromagnetic railgun by the U.S. Navy has led to firing a projectile up to Mach 6 – approaching a velocity that harkens back to early ideas of utilizing this technology on the Moon to hurl payloads from the lunar surface. Mach 6 equals 4,567.24 miles per hour with the […]
Satellites operate in a vacuum; policy makers do not. The Aerospace Corp.’s Center for Space Policy & Strategy has initiating a White Paper series to address space policy, strategy, and technology topics. These documents are designed to provide context and points of consideration for important space and technology topics. This library will be expanded and […]
At this week’s grand National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs – the eye-catching Blue Origin New Shepard rocket and passenger capsule was a huge hit. Here are some images of the display:
