Author Archive: Stewart Money

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With Trump Victory, Is The Moon Rising In A Big Way?

With Trump Victory, Is The Moon Rising In A Big Way?

Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election has raised a number of interesting questions regarding what substantive changes, if any, may be coming in the way of American space policy. Whereas Hillary Clinton’s transition team was reportedly prepared to show up at NASA headquarters when the doors opened the morning after her victory, […]

Posted in: NASA, SLS / Orion
15,000 Near Earth Asteroids: Your Election Day Getaway

15,000 Near Earth Asteroids: Your Election Day Getaway

“I don’t know where I’m a gonna go when the Volcano blows” – Mr. James Buffet On a day on which some portion of the U.S. population may be prone to a contemplating a permanent change of address, perhaps it is time to consider the long term prospects of what may be the the ultimate […]

Posted in: Asteroids
SpaceX Aims for Return to Flight Next Month

SpaceX Aims for Return to Flight Next Month

After an exhaustive investigation, one which company founder Elon Musk said is “the toughest puzzle to solve that we’ve ever had to solve,” SpaceX has positively identified the cause of a September 1st pre-flight test that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and its Amos-6 payload. Confirmation came from Musk via a wide-ranging Friday interview on […]

Posted in: SpaceX
China Enters the Big Leagues With Maiden Flight of Massive New Rocket

China Enters the Big Leagues With Maiden Flight of Massive New Rocket

China has taken a major step forward in advancing its space ambitions with the maiden flight of its Long March 5 heavy lift booster. Liftoff of the all liquid fueled rocket took place from China’s Wenchang Satellite Launch Center located on Hainan Island. As with most Chinese launches, and any that carry the potential of […]

Posted in: Chinese space
Safety Panel Objects to SpaceX Astronaut Boarding Plan

Safety Panel Objects to SpaceX Astronaut Boarding Plan

SpaceX is facing a potential roadblock in its path to sending astronauts to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program. Yesterday, Lt. Gen. Tom Stafford, a veteran astronaut who flew during the Gemini and Apollo eras, and who happens to be chair of the ISS Oversight Panel, an independent safety committee […]

Posted in: NASA, SpaceX
Was Discovery of Lunar Ice a Missed ‘Sputnik Moment’ ?

Was Discovery of Lunar Ice a Missed ‘Sputnik Moment’ ?

Did the United States foolishly overlook what should have been an obvious call to action when DOD’s (not NASA’s) Clementine mission discovered water ice at the lunar poles?  And is there still time to do something about it? Spacepolicyonline’s Marcia Smith has a writeup on comments made by U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine at a meeting […]

Posted in: Congress, Mars, Moon
Risk and Advancement: SpaceX Anomaly Investigation Makes Progress

Risk and Advancement: SpaceX Anomaly Investigation Makes Progress

Late last week, SpaceX released a new update regarding the ‘anomaly’ which destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload during pre-flight testing on September 1st. It is included in its entirety below. As suggested by previous updates, as well as comments both on and off the record from company officials, the overall cause […]

Posted in: SpaceX
Fly Through the International Space Station in Ultra HD

Fly Through the International Space Station in Ultra HD

NASA has released this gloriously shot Ultra HD fly-through of the International Space Station, seen through the view of a fisheye lens. Reminiscent of scenes from science fiction, but very much a part of the here and now, the latest ISS video is haunting in a certain way, which is seasonally appropriate at least. It […]

Russia Plans to Test Nuclear Power Generation at ISS

Russia Plans to Test Nuclear Power Generation at ISS

The Russian newspaper TASS has an intriguing, but agonizingly scant on details article about plans to use the International Space Station to a test elements of a “megawatt class” nuclear propulsion system. “Specifically, Roscosmos expects to receive “proposals on the rational structure of key elements, systems and items of a perspective nuclear propulsion unit intended […]

Candidate Op/Eds on Space, Do They Really Matter Anymore?

Candidate Op/Eds on Space, Do They Really Matter Anymore?

At this point, the space policy positions being taken by Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are probably a great deal more relevant for the long term future of human space exploration than those offered by the U.S. presidential candidates, but for what it is worth, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have op/eds in Space […]

Posted in: NASA
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