As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

space

SPACE: How Close Are We to a Starliner?

by
boeing starliner

Picture this: A team of space travelers blasts off from Earth in a fully automated shuttle that carries them to an outpost orbiting around the moon, where they will embark on a voyage to Mars. Though it sounds like science fiction, this fantastic journey may be closer than you think: An automated spacecraft designed to transport people into low Earth orbit could be ready for its maiden (uncrewed) voyage as early as this summer. The new spacecraft, called the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner, is being developed in partnership with NASA by a private company generally associated with commercial airplanes: … Read more

SCIENCE: The Bubble That Will Destroy the Universe

by
Higgs Boson - Pixabay

Scientists say they know how the universe will end. It won’t be a cosmic collapse but rather a giant cosmic bubble that devours everything in its path. According to a recent paper, published on March 12 in the journal Physical Review D, the final moment for the universe will be triggered by a bizarre consequence of subatomic physics called an instanton. This instanton will create a tiny bubble that will expand at the speed of light, swallowing everything in its path. It’s only a matter of time. “At some point you will create one of these bubbles,” study lead author … Read more

SPACE: Make Your Reservation for the World’s First Luxury Space Hotel Now

by
Luxury Space Hotel

A Houston-based company said this week it plans to open the “first luxury hotel in space” by late 2021. Orion Span’s compact Aurora Station – at 35ft-by-14ft its interior will be comparable to that of a Gulfstream jet, the company said – is projected to accommodate four travelers and two crew members for 12-day stays 200 miles above the earth. Guests will be charged $9.5m each, or about $791,666 a night. Refundable deposits of $80,000 can now be made online. The founder Frank Bunger – described by his own company as “a serial entrepreneur and technology start-up executive” – told … Read more

Stephen Hawking on Colonizing Alien Worlds

by
Steven Hawking - Expedition New Earth

The computer-generated voice of the late physicist Stephen Hawking will address audiences once again from their television screens on March 25, during his appearance in one of the last TV projects of his life. In the Smithsonian Channel documentary “Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet,” Hawking shares his long-held vision of humanity confronting an uncertain future on Earth by looking to the stars, and setting a course that will lead us to one day inhabit distant worlds beyond our own solar system. Where we would go, how we would get there and what it would take to make … Read more

SPACE: Wanna See the Earth From Orbit, But Don’t Have $20 Million?

by
One Strange Rock

Looking down at the vast curve of planet Earth hundreds of miles below, I can see its white cloud cover stretching over expanses of blue ocean. This may be the closest I’ll ever get to outer space, but I haven’t left Midtown Manhattan. I’m peering at our distant world using a special “space” helmet that re-creates the dizzying sensation of hovering far above the planet. Displayed across my visor — and on those of my fellow “astronauts” in the seats of a small theater — were excerpts from “One Strange Rock,” a new documentary series from the National Geographic Channel … Read more

SPACE: Robot Bees on Mars

by
Mars - robot bees

NASA has two teams of researchers working to design a robotic bee that can fly on Mars. The space agency announced the project on March 30. It’s in its early stages, but the idea is to replace modern rovers — which are slow, bulky and very expensive — with swarms of sensor-studded, fast-moving micro-bots that can cover much more ground at a relatively low cost. Literally called Marsbees, the little bots are “flapping wing flyers of a bumblebee size with cicada-sized wings,” NASA officials wrote. By Rafi Letzter – Full Story at SOURCE

SPACE: International Space Station to Get a Floating Brain

by
Floating Brain

The crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) will soon welcome a new member — one that is 3D-printed from metal and plastic and is described by its creators as “a kind of flying brain.” It goes by the name CIMON, short for “Crew Interactive Mobile Companion.” Built by the aerospace design company Airbus in collaboration with IBM, CIMON houses artificial intelligence (AI) in an autonomous, spherical body that would “float” in the space station’s microgravity environment, with a screen that can display data readouts for astronauts — or present an image of a friendly face — as well … Read more

SPACE: Trash on the Moon

by
moon - NASA

The moon has a lot of junk on it, including a gold olive branch, a flag kit, several lunar orbiters, and a hammer and a falcon feather — the components of a 1971 experiment used to demonstrate that objects fall at the same rate regardless of mass. There are dozens more pieces of lunar debris. But how much garbage, exactly, have humans left or sent to the moon? It’s challenging to say, but the trash on the moon likely weighs upward of 400,000 lbs. (181,000 kilograms) on Earth. This weight is taken from Wikipedia, but it sounds about right considering … Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT/GIVEAWAY: The Luxorian Fugitive, by J. Alan Veerkamp

by
The Luxorian Fugitive - J. Alan Veerkamp

J. Alan Veerkamp has a new MM sci fi book out: Trying to escape his tortured past, Sergeant Liam Jacks travels aboard the transport vessel, the Santa Claus, as the security chief alongside his best friend and captain, Marc Danverse. Having survived the Civil War, they shuttle amongst the Proxima Centauri planetary cluster, trying to find some modicum of peace. Something of which Liam is in short supply. During a stopover on the planet Luxoria, they take on a mysterious passenger. Hadrian Jamison’s history is questionable and his effect on Liam is undeniable. The more they learn, the more questions … Read more

SPACE: Was the Moon Formed by a Giant Doughnut?

by
Doughnut Earth and Moon

Once upon a time, about 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth was an unformed doughnut of molten rock called a synestia — and the moon was hidden in the filling. That’s one possible explanation for the moon’s formation, anyway. And according to a new paper published today (Feb. 28) in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets, it may be the best explanation scientists have so far. “The new work explains features of the moon that are hard to resolve with current ideas,” study author Sarah Stewart, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Davis, … Read more