Friday, May 31, 2019

My review copy of Robert Zubrin's The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility has arrived and I am eager to read it.
SpaceX world-wide internet plan could launch private vs public space race

Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently launched the first 60 satellites to test the concept of what will eventually be a constellation of thousands of satellites that are designed to bring high-speed internet to every corner of the Earth. When the constellation is complete, sometime in the mid-2020s, SpaceX thinks it can provide wi-fi services that are competitive with fiber optic cable in urban areas as well as to currently underserved rural parts of the planet.

‘MOONRISE’ project will use lasers to melt Moon dust
NEW Water partners with NASA to research blue-green algae
Artemis: A Novel
A Brother on the Moon
NASA's James Webb Telescope Clears Final Vacuum Test, Astronomers Prep First Projects
The Moments After Chernobyl Blew
Blood stem cells produced in vast quantities in the lab

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

A REPLACEMENT FOR NASA’S INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IS ON THE WAY

The International Space Station, by any measure, has been a triumph for the scientific discoveries and the technological innovations that it has given birth to. The ISS has also proven to be a model for international cooperation in space that NASA would like to see replicated for the “return to the moon” program.

Space Force Clears Senate Committee After House Attempt to Stall
NASA says SpaceX readying Crew Dragon capsule for possible piloted test flight by end of year
Momentum Grows for Nuclear Thermal Space Propulsion
Landing Eagle: Inside the Cockpit During the First Moon Landing
The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining Caper
Hyperloop Hype
How Russia (yes, Russia) plans to land cosmonauts on the Moon by 2030
Scientists Cook Up a New Way to Make Breathable Oxygen on Mars

Friday, May 24, 2019

Trailer | Chasing the Moon | American Experience | PBS

Watery ancient Venus could have been rendered uninhabitable by its own oceans
50 years later: How Apollo 10 rehearsed the moon landing

Everyone knows something about the flight of Apollo 11, the first landing of human beings on the moon. However, that historic flight might not have been possible had it not been for Apollo 10, a mission that took place 50 years ago from May 18, 1969 to May 26, 1969. Apollo 10 replicated every step of a moon landing except for the final approach to touch down on the lunar surface, obtaining much-needed data that would be of use during later Apollo missions.

Why the Soviets Lost the Moon Race
SpaceX to launch Starhopper 16,400 feet high in next test flight
JFK SPACE SUMMIT
Major Martian ice discovery thrills scientists
NASA Administrator Talks Moon Mission, Mars During Florida Tech Visit
American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
The Moon, Mars, and Beyond: Two Tales from the Coming Space Age
NASA officially orders its first segment of a lunar space station
NASA Executive Quits Weeks After Appointment To Lead 2024 Moon Landing Initiative

Monday, May 20, 2019

Friday, May 17, 2019

NASA administrator on new Moon plan: ‘We’re doing this in a way that’s never been done before’
Did Bezos just save NASA's Project Artemis moon mission?

When Jeff Bezos recently presented his vision of a space future he declared, “It’s time to go back to the moon — this time to stay.” Whether he knew it or not, the CEO of Amazon.com and Blue Origin was echoing the words of the late President George H. W. Bush when he announced the Space Exploration Initiative some 30 years ago. Bush’s attempt to start a deep space exploration program failed, largely due to political considerations. Bezos’ announcement may have ensured that the latest attempt to send American astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars will succeed.

How We Could Actually Move Our Planet
O’Neill Colonies: A Decades-Long Dream for Settling Space
The Martian
The Man from Mars: The Asteroid Mining Caper
NASA’s New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results
NASA picks Huntsville company for Moon landing study
SpaceX wins NASA funds to study a Falcon Heavy-launched Moon lander

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

INDIA AND CHINA DOMINATE THE NEW MOON RACE

India recently announced that it will launch its Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission in mid-July. If all goes well, after a 45-day journey, the probe will enter lunar orbit. On Sept. 6, the Vikram lunar lander will detach and attempt a landing at the moon’s south pole. If it succeeds, the Pragyan rover will roll out onto the lunar surface. The Indian moon shot is one of the most complex ever attempted by an uncrewed mission. The three parts of the Chandrayaan-2 will take images and conduct scientific observations on the Earth’s nearest neighbor.

Thus far, the only country to land on the moon in the 21st century has been China, with its Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4 lunar landers. A private Israeli group attempted a lunar landing with its Beeresheet robotic probe, but it crashed on impact. The Israelis are undertaking a second attempt with the Beresheet-2 lander.

NASA photographed the crash site of Israel's failed moon lander, and it's not pretty
The F-35 Isn't Just 'Stealthy': Here's How Its Electronic Warfare System Gives It An Edge
NASA's Kilopower nuclear reactor would be a space exploration game changer
Bridenstine says $1.6 billion at “low end” of funding needed to keep 2024 lunar landing on schedule
SpaceX Is Launching 60 Starlink Internet Satellites Tonight: How to Watch Live
SpaceX is building another Starship in Florida

Review: The Case for Space

The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility
Nocturne
NASA NEEDS $1.6 BILLION MORE TO SEND A HUMAN TO THE MOON
New water cycle discovered on Mars
This Is Why Mars Is Red And Dead While Earth Is Blue And Alive

Sunday, May 12, 2019

The second-greatest thing I ever saw was the moon landing
Who really needs to give advice on ‘Game of Thrones’
I just discovered that an old friend of ours has authored a series a children's books. Dr. Hope Erica Schultz's latest is The Mysterious Sea (Royal Trouble)
COULD THE 2024 MOON LANDING BECOME AN ELECTION ISSUE?
NASA's Kilopower nuclear reactor would be a space exploration game changer
Jeff Bezos wants Blue Origin to go to the moon. Here's why that's a big deal
New water cycle on Mars discovered
The Astronaut Maker: How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Generation
Why is it So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?
Northrop Grumman, NASA test Cygnus-derived lunar gateway habitat
Women are now in charge of NASA's science missions
NASA may not have televised the first moon landing if it weren't for a group of geologists

Friday, May 10, 2019

NASA's Kilopower nuclear reactor would be a space exploration game changer

Last year, NASA conducted a successful test of a new nuclear power generator called Kilopower under a program called Kilowatt Using Stirling Technology or KRUSTY for short. The generator ran a series of tests between November 2017 and March 2018, ending in a full-power trial that proved its effectiveness and safety. Since then the space agency has been examining a flight test of the technology.

Trump’s NASA sees Space Force as a means to bring free market capitalism to the final frontier
A dust devil passed over NASA's lander on Mars
Star Trek: Discovery - Season One [Blu-ray]
The Last Moonwalker and Other Stories
NASA Moving Ahead with Return to the Moon, with or without SLS
'It failed': NASA says SpaceX and Boeing's recent spaceship-parachute tests did not go well
Jeff Bezos unveils his sweeping vision for humanity’s future in space

Thursday, May 09, 2019

From the Daily Caller: COULD THE 2024 MOON LANDING BECOME AN ELECTION ISSUE?

What happens after NASA returns astronauts to the moon in 2024?

The plan to accelerate the lunar exploration program’s pace is an excellent one, if only because it concentrates NASA’s and contractor engineers’ attention on the goal. As the Apollo program demonstrated, a hard and fast deadline works to make the goal of landing people on the moon and returning them safely to Earth happen and not be forever delayed until it gets cancelled. That is what happened to the previous two attempts proposed by both presidents Bush.>/P>

THE MOON RACE BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA IS BEGINNING IN EARNEST
NASA and FEMA practice asteroid collision scenario
Bezos about to speak about his secretive rocket company
Jeff Bezos And Elon Musk Want To Get To The Moon—They Just Disagree On How To Get There
American Moonshot: John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
Why is it So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?
NASA astronaut pays a sweet tribute to Peter Mayhew in space
Swedish-Israeli NASA astronaut Jessica Meir gets ready for her first trip into space
NASA’s plan to get to the Moon by 2024 isn’t ready yet