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Archive for the ‘space travel’ category: Page 332

Nov 3, 2019

OffWorld’s Smart Robots Could Swarm Solar System to Help Astronauts and Settlers

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

The company OffWorld wants to build mining robots to send to the moon and beyond.

Nov 1, 2019

Sean Carroll: Quantum Mechanics and the Many-Worlds Interpretation

Posted by in categories: cosmology, mathematics, particle physics, quantum physics, robotics/AI, space travel, time travel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNqqOLscOBY

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at Caltech and Santa Fe Institute specializing in quantum mechanics, arrow of time, cosmology, and gravitation. He is the author of several popular books including his latest on quantum mechanics (Something Deeply Hidden) and is a host of a great podcast called Mindscape. This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast.

This is the second time Sean has been on the podcast. You can watch the first time here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-NJrvyRo0c

Continue reading “Sean Carroll: Quantum Mechanics and the Many-Worlds Interpretation” »

Oct 29, 2019

Air Force’s mystery space plane lands, ends 2-year mission

Posted by in category: space travel

The Air Force’s mystery space plane is back on Earth, following a record-breaking two-year mission.

The X-37B landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Sunday. The Air Force is mum about what the plane did in orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX rocket in 2017. The 780-day mission sets a new endurance record for the reusable test vehicle.

It looks like a but is one-fourth the size at 29 feet.

Oct 26, 2019

SpaceX shares fiery video of Crew Dragon escape system test

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, space travel

SpaceX and Elon Musk are hoping to avoid another explosive testing disaster.

Oct 25, 2019

Space – the next frontier – requires innovation in nuclear fuel design and testing

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, space travel

To go where no man has gone before (and to get back) will require quite a bit of oomph. All that energy must come from somewhere. Traditional chemical rocket fuels could work for some missions, but nuclear-based propulsion systems have several advantages.

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) rockets use a nuclear reaction to heat liquid hydrogen. When the hydrogen is heated, it expands and is forced through a nozzle to produce thrust. This is similar to how air can stream out of the stem of a balloon and cause it to fly across the room. With rockets, this happens with much greater speed and force.

These hydrogen propelled rockets are designed for space exploration, not for use on Earth, and subsequently would not be turned on (i.e. brought critical) until after they left Earth. Although the specific type of fuel for these applications has not been formally selected, the fuel envisioned for use in an NTP environment is uranium fuel.

Oct 23, 2019

On #Artemis missions, astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion Spacecraft will travel from Earth to the Gateway lunar outpost and use a lunar lander to descend to the Moon’s surface

Posted by in category: space travel

They’ll return to the Gateway and board Orion once again to go home to Earth. Astronaut Randy Bresnik explains: https://go.nasa.gov/2qu3Bx8

Oct 23, 2019

A green light for our NASA Solar System Exploration mission Lucy, following a successful critical design review on Oct. 18

Posted by in category: space travel

The team can now begin building the spacecraft. Lucy will be the first-ever mission to visit the swarms of Trojan asteroids — “fossils of planet formation” — that orbit in tandem with Jupiter. Details: https://go.nasa.gov/2qyeHRW

Oct 22, 2019

SpaceX plans to start offering Starlink broadband services in 2020

Posted by in category: space travel

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Oct 22, 2019

Podcast #35: NASA, The Next Ten Years, with Dan Dumbacher

Posted by in category: space travel

A new space race is upon us. But unlike the cold war-driven days of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, it is now a multi-player competition to dominate and exploit the final frontier. The U.S. and Russia have been joined by the European Union, China, India and Japan, as well as numerous commercial space ventures, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Where does NASA sit in all of this, in the rapidly changing world of the second space race. In Seeking Delphi episode #35, host Mark Sackler gets an overview of where the agency is headed, from former NASA program director for launch systems, Dan Dumbacher. There’s also a very special announcement of the upcoming ASCEND** space conference, slated for Las Vegas in November of 2020.

** Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery.

Oct 22, 2019

Blue Origin, Lockheed, Northrop join forces for Artemis lunar lander

Posted by in category: space travel

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin is joining forces with three other major aerospace firms in a “national team” to develop a human lunar lander for NASA.

The company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, announced Oct. 22 his intent to work with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper on the unnamed lunar lander, the proposal for which they will submit to NASA for its Human Landing Services competition.

“I am excited to announce that we have put together a national team to go back to the moon,” he said during an onstage interview at the 70th International Astronautical Congress here, where he received an Excellence in Industry award. “We could not ask for better partners.”