Mars

A Massive, and Very Accessible Ice Deposit on Mars

A Massive, and Very Accessible Ice Deposit on Mars

For future colonists, Mars’ Utopia Planitia  or “Plains of Paradise” may be rather aptly named despite its less than appealing appearance. In a paper highlighted last week on NASA.gov, scientists using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s shallow ground penetrating radar (SHARAD) have concluded that the region contains a volume of ice equivalent to the amount of […]

Posted in: Mars
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
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
Big Rockets and Bigger Dreams: Elon Musk Introduces SpaceX’s Interplanetary Transport System

Big Rockets and Bigger Dreams: Elon Musk Introduces SpaceX’s Interplanetary Transport System

SpaceX founder Elon Musk took to the stage at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico on Tuesday to finally unveil to the public his company’s vision of a Mars transportation architecture capable of ultimately transporting hundreds of thousands of colonists to the Red Planet. Through the course of the presentation which began with a […]

A Red Hot Tesla and Driving on the Red Planet

A Red Hot Tesla and Driving on the Red Planet

It’s been a while since InnerSpace has revisited the topic of Tesla, which though not directly space related is still very significant for multiple reasons. Yesterday, Tesla released a new 100 KWH battery pack for the Model S and Model X, which among other things takes the range of the Model S over 300 miles, […]

Posted in: Mars, SpaceX, Tesla
SpaceX Red Dragon Mars Mission Will Cost NASA Less than 10 Days Expenditure on Orion

SpaceX Red Dragon Mars Mission Will Cost NASA Less than 10 Days Expenditure on Orion

A few more details regarding SpaceX’s Red Dragon mission to Mars emerged during a quarterly meeting of the NASA Advisory Council, which was held in Cleveland on July 26th. As reported in SpaceNews, NASA estimates that it will spend roughly $32 million over four years supporting the mission, which SpaceX hopes to launch in 2018. SpaceX […]

Posted in: Mars, SpaceX
The Choices We Make: Thiel, the Moon and Mars

The Choices We Make: Thiel, the Moon and Mars

What a week in space. It began of course, with SpaceX launching a Dragon spacecraft to ISS for the 9th time, and landing a Falcon 9 first stage at Cape Canaveral for only the second time. It also featured a speech and curious non-endorsement by former astronaut and first female Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins at […]

Posted in: Mars, Moon, NASA, SpaceX, Uncategorized
Leting NASA’s Curiosity Rover “Follow the Water” on Mars

Leting NASA’s Curiosity Rover “Follow the Water” on Mars

  After four years of studiosly ignoring what might be the most interesting destinations on its path due to concerns over planetary protection, NASA is consideing letting its Curisoity Rover operating in Mars’ Gale Crater, have a bit more leash. “Pending approval of a mission extension, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover will continue to climb to […]

Posted in: Mars
Affordable Science May Power Spacex’s Red Dragon to Mars; Again and Again, and Again

Affordable Science May Power Spacex’s Red Dragon to Mars; Again and Again, and Again

As much of the space community waits for September and the promised big reveal of SpaceX’s Mars colonization plans, company founder Elon Musk is finding it difficult to keep from spilling the beans about what is coming. In this interview in the Washington Post, an interesting venue considering the paper’s owner,  Musk shares a bit […]

Posted in: Mars, SpaceX
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