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.

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.

'Like trying to build the USA in the middle of the Atlantic': Elon Musk just dunked on Jeff Bezos' vision to build floating space colonies
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.

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Did Bezos just save NASA's Project Artemis moon mission?

Let's face it. If Congress does not fully fund Artemis. @JeffBezos and @elonmusk will go to the moon by themselves and without @Nasa to supervise them, who knows what they'll do?

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.

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Stealthy USS Zumwalt Destroyer to Fire New Missiles, Laser Weapons

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.

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)

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.

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>