Morpheus : Image Credit NASA Bit by bit, NASA’s vision of the Kennedy Space Center as a 21st century spaceport is taking shape, offering an interesting mix of public and private spaceflight. And bit by bit, the spaceport which launched mankind to the Moon, is helping to send machines back. As Florida Today reports, as […]
Griffin Lander: Astrobotic Technology Inc. All those artifacts the United States left on the Moon are soon going to have company, perhaps a great deal of it. Just over a year ago, Moon Express held a gala event in Las Vegas to unveil its MX-1 Commercial Lunar Lander, the centerpiece of its effort to compete […]
Hydrogen Piston Pump: Image Credit XCOR Aerospace XCOR has announced a new milestone in its upper stage engine program being supported by United Launch Alliance. The complete press release is below. From a big picture standpoint, ULA appears to be in an interesting state of transition, with stories coming out in a bad cop/good cop […]
Image Credit: Lunar Mission One Lunar Mission One, a private effort aimed at drilling at least 20 meters deep into the Moon’s South pole was announced in London today. As with an increasing number of missions, inital funding is being sought through a crowd-sourced KickStarter campaign. In this case key incentives are a digital memory […]
At just after 10 AM CST (US) Wednesday morning, November 12, the European Space Agency received confirmation that the Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae lander touched down on its target, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, currently more than 500 million kilometers away from Earth. The initial jubilation over what appeared to be a perfect descent and touchdown, and a moment of […]
Image Credit: Intuitive Machines Last month, CASIS, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the organization which operates the U.S. National Laboratory aboard the International Space Station, announced agreements on six new unsolicited proposals designed to improve the quality of science being performed aboard the Station. One in particular stood out, a small […]
Vostochny Under Construction. Image Credit The Moscow Times One question which defines the NewSpace movement, is which individuals, companies, or governments are investing in technologies or systems which have the capacity to significantly reduce the cost of access to space. In the case of the latter, governments, all too often it is just as easy […]
Image Credit: Founders Fund An interesting article from WSJ.com from Elon Musk friend and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel challenging the notion that open and widespread competition is an ideal to be pursued. “Americans mythologize competition and credit it with saving us from socialist bread lines. Actually, capitalism and competition are opposites. Capitalism is premised on […]
Image Credit Virgin Galactic Confirming a schedule slip which comes as no surprise, Virgin Galactic is now estimating that the first passenger flight (with founder Richard Branson aboard) will not take place until February or March of 2015. 2015. The comments from the flamboyant businessman and adventurer came during an appearance with David Letterman on […]
Two items in the news highlight the potential of additive manufacturing, or 3D printing to benefit an expanding future in space. The first is very near term, with the upcoming launch of the first 3-D printer to the International Space Station. The printer, which is manufactured by NewSpace company Made in Space, is among the […]
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