Archive for the 'Space' Category
Yes, There Have Been Aliens
June 11th, 2016Via: New York Times: LAST month astronomers from the Kepler spacecraft team announced the discovery of 1,284 new planets, all orbiting stars outside our solar system. The total number of such “exoplanets” confirmed via Kepler and other methods now stands at more than 3,000. This represents a revolution in planetary knowledge. A decade or so […]
Building Blocks of Life Found in Comet’s Atmosphere
May 30th, 2016Via: Space: For the first time, scientists have directly detected a crucial amino acid and a rich selection of organic molecules in the dusty atmosphere of a comet, further bolstering the hypothesis that these icy objects delivered some of life’s ingredients to Earth. The amino acid glycine, along with some of its precursor organic molecules […]
Lockheed Martin Wants Orbital Laboratory for Mars
May 18th, 2016Via: Popular Science: Before our species set foot on the moon, we orbited it first. The same will probably be true for Mars, and on Wednesday, Lockheed Martin plans to unveil its vision for a spacecraft that could make it happen. The “Mars Base Camp,” as the company is calling it, would set up a […]
Quebec Teen Discovers Ancient Mayan Ruins by Studying the Stars
May 11th, 2016Update: That Long-Lost Mayan City a Teen Found Isn’t Lost… Or a City Via: Wired: Geoffrey Braswell, a mesoamerican archaeologist at UC San Diego, and his graduate students have, by coincidence, actually been working in this area, and they immediately recognized the features in the satellite photos. The first image, Braswell says, is of the […]
Software Update Destroys $286 Million Japanese Satellite
May 10th, 2016Via: Hackaday: The Japanese X-ray telescope Hitomi has been declared lost after it disintegrated in orbit, torn apart when spinning out of control. The cause is still under investigation but early analysis points to bad data in a software package pushed shortly after an instrument probe was extended from the rear of the satellite. JAXA, […]
SpaceX Undercut ULA Rocket Launch Pricing by 40 Percent
April 28th, 2016In other words, the Air Force can show they’re saving money *wink*, while funneling billions of dollars for black world R&D to the usual suspects via some other mechanism. Via: Reuters: The U.S. Air Force will save 40 percent by buying a GPS satellite launch from Elon Musk’s SpaceX compared with what United Launch Alliance […]
SpaceX Plans to Send Dragon Spacecraft to Mars in 2018
April 27th, 2016Via: Ars Technica: SpaceX announced Wednesday that it intends to begin sending uncrewed Dragon spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018. This is the first step in the company’s plan to one day land humans on Mars, which is the goal founder Elon Musk set for SpaceX when he created the company in 2002.
The Plan to Send Featherweight Robotic Spacecraft to the Nearest Star at One-Fifth of the Speed of Light
April 13th, 2016100 billion-watt laser??? Via: Guardian: In an unprecedented boost for interstellar travel, the Silicon Valley philanthropist Yuri Milner and the world’s most famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking have announced $100m (£70m) for research into a 20-year voyage to the nearest stars, at one fifth of the speed of light. Breakthrough Starshot – the third Breakthrough initiative […]
SpaceX: Falcon 9 First Stage Landing
April 8th, 2016Via: CBS: An upgraded SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rocket boosted a Dragon cargo ship into orbit Friday, kicking off a two-day flight to the International Space Station to deliver 3.5 tons of cargo, including an innovative inflatable module that could pave the way to future deep space habitats and commercial space stations. And in a […]
Bezos Plans Off World Colonies
March 9th, 2016Via: al.com: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ vision of “millions of people living and working in space” drives his space company Blue Origin. … “We’re not going to find another Earth,” Bezos said, “and we can’t cover the whole surface of the Earth with solar cells. We only have a few hundred years to figure this […]
