Space Travel – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Feb 2
2020

The Ice Giant Spacecraft of Our Dreams

Scientists imagined some innovative technologies that could enhance a future mission to Uranus or Neptune.

Jan 30
2020

Another shot at bringing a SpaceX rocket plant to San Pedro is in the works

Talks center around quickly erecting a SpaceX plant across the channel from what will be San Pedro’s new waterfront development opening in 2021.

Jan 30
2020

Inside SpinLaunch, the Space Industry’s Best Kept Secret

The company is building a massive centrifuge to accelerate rockets and send them screaming into space.

Jan 29
2020

‘Curious and curiouser!’ Meteorite chunk contains unexpected evidence of presolar grains

An unusual chunk in a meteorite may contain a surprising bit of space history, based on new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Presolar grains—tiny bits of solid interstellar material formed before the sun was born—are sometimes found in primitive meteorites. But a new analysis reveals evidence of presolar grains in part of a meteorite where they are not expected to be found.

“What is surprising is the fact that presolar grains are present,” said Olga Pravdivtseva, research associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences and lead author of a new paper in Nature Astronomy. “Following our current understanding of solar system formation, presolar grains could not survive in the environment where these inclusions are formed.”

Jan 27
2020

NASA’s Johnson Space Center Photo

We pause to honor these three men, lost 53 years ago today, who paved the way for future giant leaps in space exploration.

Gus grissom, ed white and roger chaffee: apollo 1.

Jan 27
2020

The unexpected renaissance of the hard science-fiction movie

What defines the last decade’s hard science-fiction is a tendency to use process-oriented survival dramas to gain a personal understanding of the role of scientific inquiry and the big picture questions it poses.

From The Martian to Interstellar to Gravity, the 2010s was a comeback era.

Jan 26
2020

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be the first to fly SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship. Here’s how they’re preparing

The Crew Dragon is expected to launch a new era of US spaceflight. NASA will then stop relying on Russia to launch its astronauts.

Jan 25
2020

Better interior design might keep astronauts healthier and happier in deep space

When it comes to building the interior of a spacecraft, engineers often prioritize function over aesthetics, focusing on materials and hardware that are both safe and effective for executing the vehicle’s intended mission. But some scientists say it’s time to consider another crucial factor when designing a spacecraft’s insides: how it will affect the behavior of the passengers?

Jan 24
2020

NASA has now decided what it is going to send to the moon next year

16 different experiments and technology demonstrations are going to the moon, in the run-up to the Artemis program’s goal to send humans back in 2024.

Jan 24
2020

SpaceX releases preliminary results from Crew Dragon abort test

Data from the Jan. 19 in-flight launch escape demonstration of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft indicate the performance of the capsule’s SuperDraco abort engines was “flawless” as the thrusters boosted the ship away from the top of a Falcon 9 rocket with a peak acceleration of about 3.3Gs, officials said Thursday.

The Jan. 19 test demonstrated the Crew Dragon’s ability to safely carry astronauts away from a launch emergency, such as a rocket failure, and return the crew to a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

For its final full-scale test before astronauts ride it into space, the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) on Jan. 19 from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket carried the capsule aloft — just as it would on a crewed mission — for the first 85 seconds of the mission.