Lifeboat Foundation

NASA is very interested in developing a propulsion method to allow spacecraft to go faster. We’ve reported several times on different ideas to support that goal, and most of the more successful have utilized the sun’s gravity well, typically by slingshotting around it, as is commonly done with Jupiter currently.

But, there are still significant hurdles when doing so, not the least of which is the energy radiating from the sun simply vaporizing anything that gets close enough to utilize a gravity assist. That’s the problem a project supported by NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and run by Jason Benkoski, now of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is trying to solve.

The project was awarded a NIAC Phase I grant in 2022, focused on combining two separate systems—a heat shield and a thermal propellant system. According to the project’s final report, combining those two technologies could allow a spacecraft to perform what is known as an Oberth maneuver around the sun.

Explore the unique characteristics that make fungi so resilient, and find out why they may be the key to future space travel.

Astronauts aboard the space station Mir made a frightening discovery: several species of Earth-derived fungi were found growing throughout the shuttle, blanketing air conditioners and corroding control panels, putting both the station’s integrity and their lives at risk. How had the fungi survived the journey to space? Shannon Odell shares why fungi may be the key to our future on other planets.

Continue reading “Why are scientists shooting mushrooms into space? — Shannon Odell” »

Once docked, the ISS will “drift down” to 220 km (136 miles) above the Earth’s surface over the following year.

Once in position, the vehicle will fire its 30 Draco engines for a series of burns setting up for a final re-entry burn four days later.

The deorbiting vehicle will be tasked with firing its engines to keep the station on course and powering it when comes into contact with thickening layers of the upper atmosphere during its descent.

“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brittany Brown. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”

The planet Venus just received a gift from NASA, but this time it’s not in the form of a spacecraft or lander, but instead in the form of a hip hop song transmitted by the agency’s Deep Space Network, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”, which was originally released in 1997 by the hip hop artist, Missy Elliott. Not only is Venus the favorite planet of Missy Elliott, but this also marks only the second time a song has been transmitted into the unknown, with the first being “Across the Universe” from The Beatles in 2008.

The song was sent to Venus on July 12, 2024, at 10:05 am PDT by the Deep Space Station 13 radio dish antenna located in Barstow, California, with the command being sent from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The song took approximately 14 minutes to reach Venus traveling at the speed of light.

Continue reading “Hip-Hop History in Space: Missy Elliott’s Song Beamed to Venus by NASA” »

SpaceX says a liquid oxygen leak caused the failure of a Falcon 9 launch last week.

Dive into the world of tachyons, the elusive particles that might travel faster than light and hold the key to understanding dark matter and the universe’s expansion. Join us as we explore groundbreaking research that challenges our deepest physics laws and hints at a universe far stranger than we ever imagined. Don’t miss out on this thrilling cosmic journey!

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction.
00:39 Racing Beyond Light.
03:26 The Tachyon Universe Model.
05:57 Beyond Cosmology: Tachyons’ Broader Impact.
08:31 Outro.
08:44 Enjoy.

Continue reading “Faster Than Light: New Dark Matter Findings Challenge Classical Physics” »

Posted In: NewsSPACETechElon MuskmobilityStarship.

BUSAN, South Korea — A NASA smallsat mission to Mars remains on track to launch this fall, although without a specific launch date yet.

In a presentation at the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) 45^th Scientific Assembly here July 15, Rob Lillis of the University of California Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory said the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission was still scheduled to launch within a few months on the inaugural flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.

ESCAPADE features two identical smallsats, called Blue and Gold, that will go into orbit around Mars. The spacecraft carry instruments to study the planet’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.

Joe Engle, who had the distinction of being the only astronaut to pilot an X-15 aircraft and a space shuttle, died in Houston on Wednesday, July 10. He was 91 years old.

NASA announced the death of Engle, a retired U.S. Air Force major general. The space agency said in its news release that Engle was the last surviving X-15 pilot.

The Kansas native graduated in 1955 from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, with an aeronautical engineering degree. According to his NASA biography, he “received his commission through the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Kansas and entered USAF flying school in March 1956.”