As the NewSpace era gradually transitions from addressing the challenges of reaching orbit to building out the business cases for what can happen once you do, regulatory issues are going to continue to play a significant, and in many cases, enhanced role. For those who are prone to be unhappy about seeing the advance of […]
A slew of recent discoveries point to our solar system being a much wetter place than we once thought it was. From permanently shadowed ice on the Moon, to seasonal Recurrent Slope Linea evidence on Mars, and subsurface oceans on outer planet moons, space offers an abundant supply of life’s most vital element. Melting a […]
NASA released this photo of three of Saturn’s moons yesterday. The image, which was taken by the Cassini spacecraft in December shows Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas cast against the absurdly photogenic backdrop of Saturn’s rings. The original caption was “Three Times the Fun,” but perhaps it could also hae been called “Three Times the […]
From NASA, comments follow: “New data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft point to more prevalent water ice on Pluto’s surface than previously thought. This false-color image, derived from observations in infrared light by the Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) instrument, shows where the spectral features of water ice are abundant on Pluto’s surface. It […]
Is Elon Musk about to launch a revolution in satellite construction similar to the one he began at SpaceX which has is already altering the economics of how they are launched? The Wall Street Journal apparently thinks so, based on a story by Rolfe Winkler and Andy Pasztor. According to the report, Musk is considering […]
The following release from CSA, the Canadian Space Agency, makes a good point about the potential for self-repair off Earth. Although it may seem like a small step, and in some ways it is, Canada’s progress with the Canadarm2 and Dextre robot might be considered another example of how the International Space Station program […]
RIANovosti has an interesting article regarding the use of tailored drugs to fight radiation exposure in laboratory mice. From the article: “In a new study, researchers at Stanford University tested a class of small molecule drugs, known as PHD inhibitors, on mice exposed to toxic amounts of radiation and the drugs protected the animals from […]
One of the myriad challenges in establishing a self supporting settlement on Mars (or anywhere else off-planet) will be in developing an interesting, palatable and sustainable diet. Freeze dried ice cream from the KSC Visitors center may be tasty, but you can hardly live on it. Not just survival, but achieving the quality of life […]
In a media driven culture, major shifts in national policy can sometimes be traced to the point at which key opinion makers change their minds on a given subject. For example, it is often said that Walter Cronkite’s coverage of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War was the deciding factor in shaping how the […]
Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station Arguably, no-one has doe more to popularize the concept of colonizing Mars than Dr. Robert Zubrin. Through his groundbreaking book, The Case for Mars, and the efforts of the Mars Society, Zubrin has led the charge to re-think assumptions about the cost and complexity of establishing a permanent human presence […]
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