Author Archive: Stewart Money

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Musk Reddit AMA on Mars Plans Echo NASA’s Approach to Apollo Decades Ago

Musk Reddit AMA on Mars Plans Echo NASA’s Approach to Apollo Decades Ago

A Sunday “Ask Me Anything” segment on Reddit by SpaceX CEO Founder and CEO Elon Musk filled in some of the details regarding the company’s recently announced Mars plans. It also demonstrated once again the unique nature of SpaceX’s path to its overriding goal and a big picture approach which is strongly reminiscent of the […]

Posted in: Mars, NASA, SpaceX
Mars Eats Another One: Europe’s Schiaparelli Lander Likely Destroyed

Mars Eats Another One: Europe’s Schiaparelli Lander Likely Destroyed

It is a saying we get tired of hearing: “space is hard.” Most often it a reflection of the cold reality of every aspect of space, but it can also be an excuse to cover questionable decisions or poor engineering. Mars has a way of pushing for answers on both. On Wednesday, the European Space […]

Posted in: Mars
Newly Discovered Deep Space Object Builds the Case for Planet 9

Newly Discovered Deep Space Object Builds the Case for Planet 9

  One ongoing subject of fascination at InnerSpace is the cascade of discoveries of new objects at the extreme reaches of the solar system. Although all are incredibly distant, and may strike many as cold, dim, dirty balls of ice and rock, the fact that we still don’t know what all is out there is […]

Posted in: Outer Planets
With Successful Antares Launch, Russian Engines Are Riding High

With Successful Antares Launch, Russian Engines Are Riding High

After a near two year stand down while the launch pad was repaired and the rocket was retooled, Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket made a triumphant return to flight Monday evening. Liftoff from Pad OA at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport took place at 7:45 PM EDT, as the booster lofted a Cygnus cargo vehicle loaded with […]

ET: Astronomer Claims Earth is Receiving Signals From 234 Different Sun-Like Star Systems

ET: Astronomer Claims Earth is Receiving Signals From 234 Different Sun-Like Star Systems

The title, as far as formal research papers go, is a fairly innocuous one; Discovery of peculiar periodic spectral modulations in a small fraction of solar type stars, but the claim is a whopper. According to a Canadian astronomer, Earth is currently on the receiving end of laser transmissions from some 234 different star systems, a signal […]

China Resumes Crewed Spaceflight With Sunday Launch

China Resumes Crewed Spaceflight With Sunday Launch

On Sunday, China launched a two person crew to its newly orbited Tiangong-2 space station. The launch, labelled Shenzhou-11, took place aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the Gobi desert, lifting off at 7:30 PM EDT, which was 7:30 AM local. The crew of the Shenzhou-11 carrier […]

Posted in: Chinese space
Update: Retooled Antares 230 Rocket Set to Make its Debut on (Monday) Evening Flight

Update: Retooled Antares 230 Rocket Set to Make its Debut on (Monday) Evening Flight

  Update from NASA: Today’s launch of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket is postponed  24 hours  due to a ground support equipment (GSE) cable that did not perform as expected during the pre-launch check out. We have spares on hand and rework procedures are in process. The Antares and Cygnus teams are not currently working any […]

Earth’s Nearest Exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, May Be a Water World Too

Earth’s Nearest Exoplanet, Proxima Centauri b, May Be a Water World Too

In August, the European Southern Observatory announced the discovery of an Earth sized planet orbiting in the habitable, or Goldilocks Zone, of the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri. Given its location just 4.22 light years away, the newfound world is as close to Earth as a potentially life-supporting planet could plausibly be, raising interesting philosophical […]

Posted in: Exo Planets
Stratolaunch Systems and Orbtial ATK Team Up (Again)

Stratolaunch Systems and Orbtial ATK Team Up (Again)

The wild, but underwhelming ride that has been Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s effort to revolutionize the launch industry with the Stratolaunch aircraft has taken another turn. Yesterday, Stratolaunch Systems announced an agreement with Orbital ATK to use the massive carrier aircraft to loft Pegasus XL rockets for air launch, a move which would supplant the […]

Another Day, Another Water World in Our Own Solar System

Another Day, Another Water World in Our Own Solar System

The solar system just keeps getting wetter and wetter. According to a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters, Enceladus is not the only Saturnian moon harboring a global ocean beneath its frozen surface. Based on new modeling, Dione, the fourth largest moon in the system, can now be called a water world as well. […]

Posted in: Outer Planets
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