2017-05-31, 22:22 | Link #21 |
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Stratolaunch's Massive Mothership Rolls Out Of Its
Nest For The First Time: "After the better part of a decade of development, we are getting our first glimpse of Stratolaunch's massive mothership outside her low-slung hangar at Mojave Air and Space Port. As expected, the size and design of the huge and exotic aircraft is impressive to say the least. At 385 feet wide, it has the longest wingspan of any aircraft in the world—even longer than the record-setting Hughes H-4 Flying Boat, aka the "Spruce Goose." Loaded fully, it will tip the scales at a whopping 1,300,000 pounds, and is powered by six Pratt & Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines—the same engine that powers many 747-400s —putting out a combined 340,500 pounds of thrust. There is no doubt about it, Stratolaunch has given birth to a truly technologically wondrous machine." See: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...the-first-time |
2017-07-14, 23:15 | Link #22 |
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Moon Express Aims for Multiple Lunar Landings,
Sample Return Mission By 2020: "Last month, Popular Mechanics covered the exciting prospect of the first ever commercial moon landing, which could launch by December 2017 if everything goes according to plan. That mission involves Moon Express, a company that hopes to build a number of commercial lunar landers, and Rocket Lab, a launch vehicle company that recently conducted its first flight test of the Electron rocket. Yesterday, Moon Express unveiled design details for its lunar spacecraft at a hearing held by the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. The company is planning three missions to the moon by the end of 2020, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanent station near the moon's south pole and returning lunar samples to Earth. Moon Express has revealed a number of spacecraft designs to help it achieve its various goals. The first up is the MX-1E, which is the small craft designed to launch on the Electron rocket and land on the moon later this year." See: http://www.popularmechanics.com/spac...sample-return/ |
2017-09-30, 23:00 | Link #23 |
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Spacex Big Rocket will go down in history like DC-3 and
Caravel sailing ships: "The 150 ton payload fully reusable Spacex Big F*ing Rocket (BFR) will make it easy to begin a true space age. Each Spacex BFR launch would enable the placement of 2 to 4 times larger space stations than the International Space Station which took dozens of Shuttle launches. The BFR will be able refuel in orbit and go to the moon, land and launch from the moon and return to earth without refueling. The BFR establishing new commercial space age like DC-3 boosting commercial aviation before WW2" See: https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/0...ing-ships.html |
2017-10-01, 02:22 | Link #24 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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A full on space economy needs a good start followed by more places to go up there. First you have the explores, then the markets start looking for something to exploit, than the people start to move it to make a profit off something, than they stay and live because its theirs.
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2017-11-18, 02:55 | Link #25 |
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China wants to catch up to US rockets in 2020
and then get nuclear spaceships in 2045: "China plans a fleet of nuclear carrier rockets and reusable hybrid-power carriers by the mid-2040s. They will be ready for regular, large scale interplanetary flights, and carrying out commercial exploration and exploitation of natural resources by the mid-2040s. China plans to catch up with the United States on conventional rocket technology by 2020. If Spacex and Elon Musk achieve fully reusable rockets with the Falcon 9 or the BFR in the 2020-2022 timeframe then China would be 13-15 years behind if they hit their target for reusable rockets in 2035. By 2030, China will put astronauts on the moon and bring samples back from Mars." See: https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/1...s-in-2045.html |
2017-11-19, 19:41 | Link #26 |
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Spaceplane meant to resupply the space station pulled off
a successful glide flight this weekend: "On Saturday, private spaceflight company Sierra Nevada announced that its Dream Chaser spaceplane had successfully glided and landed on a runway after being released from a helicopter. The stunt, done at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, is known as a free-flight test and is meant to test out the vehicle’s landing capabilities. It’s an important milestone in the Dream Chaser’s development, as Sierra Nevada readies the plane for spaceflight." See: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/13/...am-free-flight |
2018-03-18, 23:09 | Link #27 |
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Elon Musk’s ‘Big F**king Rocket’ Is a Big F**ing Deal:
"Elon Musk, the maestro of SpaceX, has figured out a new way to fly into deep space. In doing so he seems to have disrupted all previous proposals for returning to the moon and reaching beyond to Mars. Musk is gambling on the success of a project that is a radical departure from anything seen before—and far simpler than any competing space program. It is centered on a 157-foot long spaceship named BFR (Big Fucking Rocket). No kidding: That’s longer than the longest version of the Boeing 737 and, with a width of 29 feet it’s eight feet wider than the Airbus A380 super jumbo’s fuselage. It will be designed to be used in three ways: to carry three kinds of payloads—people, cargo, or fuel (playing the role of a tanker to refuel other vehicles in space)." See: https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-m...-deal?ref=home |
2018-09-03, 20:00 | Link #29 |
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Scientists Map Out How to Nudge Small Asteroids into Earth’s Orbit:
"The notion of an asteroid headed for Earth is typically seen as a bad omen. On the flip side, some scientists and entrepreneurs increasingly see this scenario as a potential opportunity. Deliberately redirecting asteroids to our planet’s vicinity could enable us to study them up close, or even mine them. Given that these objects are packed with valuable resources, building a collection of them nearby could spark major advances in spaceflight, to say nothing of the scientific research that might result from easy access to these extraterrestrial bodies. A recent paper published in Acta Astronautica suggests that asteroids could be captured in Earth’s orbit with aerobraking, a maneuver that uses atmospheric drag to decelerate and position objects in stable trajectories around a planet. Aerobraking has helped place interplanetary spacecraft in orbit around Mars and Venus, and to slow down spacecraft returning to Earth. Led by Minghu Tan, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow, the paper immediately addresses the most obvious concern with this scenario: What if there’s some mistake in the redirect process and an asteroid accidentally impacts Earth? It’s bad enough that the dinosaurs were oblivious to their doomsday space rock, but it would be especially embarrassing if we humans smack ourselves in the face with one." See: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/a...o-earths-orbit |
2018-11-11, 15:15 | Link #30 |
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Rocket Lab’s Modest Launch Is Giant Leap for Small Rocket Business:
"A small rocket from a little-known company lifted off Sunday from the east coast of New Zealand, carrying a clutch of tiny satellites. That modest event — the first commercial launch by a U.S.-New Zealand company known as Rocket Lab — could mark the beginning of a new era in the space business, where countless small rockets pop off from spaceports around the world. This miniaturization of rockets and spacecraft places outer space within reach of a broader swath of the economy." See: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/10/s...ab-launch.html |
2018-11-11, 18:59 | Link #31 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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Best someone do something. NASA seems to be kind of half heartedly making an explorer vessel starting with the remains of the Orion craft due for a test moon shot in 2020 asnd a manned effort in 2023. There seems to be a plan for some kind of transfere station in Lunar orbit, followed by a modular explorer craft for Mars and Venus around 2033. If any of it is funded.
But there doesn't seem to be an effort for a Lunar base to attempt to mine for fuel for the long ranged missions. Though maybe the Chinese are doing that or it will be a commercial contract effort.
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2019-02-22, 14:28 | Link #32 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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Virgin Galactic testing the passanger compartment on their space plane.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compa...oET?ocid=ientp
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2020-04-10, 01:46 | Link #33 |
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Trump Makes It Official: The U.S. Will Mine the Moon:
"President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing for the mining of resources from the moon and asteroids, continuing a decades-long U.S. interest in doing so. With the imminent return of U.S. astronauts to the moon scheduled for 2024, this issue is more real than it has been for several decades. But the U.S. isn’t alone. The European Space Agency (ESA) also wants to mine the moon, and the world’s spacefaring nations have all notably stayed out of a 1979 treaty that says nations will refrain from mining in space. The 1967 (deep breath) Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies outlines the way the world agrees to behave in space. We must be peaceful, consider ourselves ambassadors for Earth, and resist colonizing or claiming areas of space. The U.S. is one of 109 fully completed signatories to this treaty—in fact, we helped initiate it and signed it right away. But no one has made enough progress into space to really test the component parts of this important treaty, and the political reality of space could end up being more like Antarctica. A dozen countries had made territorial claims or research ventures in Antarctica by the time the Antarctic Treaty System was introduced in 1959. Many nations signed and continue to honor this treaty, but others insist they could still do whatever they wanted. They just haven’t wanted to." See: https://www.popularmechanics.com/spa...ing-asteroids/ |
2020-04-18, 02:09 | Link #34 |
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America's First Crewed Space Launch in Nearly a Decade Set for May 27:
"Next month, NASA will launch its first astronaut mission from U.S. soil in almost a decade. This mission marks the final test for SpaceX before NASA begins regularly ferrying astronauts into orbit using the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. “BREAKING: On May 27, @NASA will once again launch American astronauts on American rockets from American soil!” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted Friday. On that day, NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will travel to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the event will not be open to the public, and access to nearby viewing sites could also be curtailed if Florida officials extend the state’s currently stay-at-home order. As a precaution, NASA told Business Insider earlier this month that it was “limiting contact with crew members” ahead of the launch in addition to other routine health safeguards, which includes a two-week quarantine. As for how long they’ll be up there, the agency is still mulling that over. Since shuttering its Space Shuttle program in 2011, NASA has relied on Russia’s space program to ferry American astronauts to the station—a space taxi service that’s cost roughly $3.4 billion over the last nine years. Upon the success of next month’s mission, NASA will transition to relying on SpaceX’s spacecraft to do the job as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program." See: https://gizmodo.com/americas-first-m...e-s-1842929142 |
2020-09-16, 22:21 | Link #35 |
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China to Launch Space Mining Bot:
"The possibility of space mining has long captured the imagination and even inspired business ventures. Now, a space startup in China is taking its first steps towards testing capabilities to identify and extract off-Earth resources. Origin Space, a Beijing-based private space resources company, is set to launch its first ‘space mining robot’ in November. NEO-1 is a small (around 30 kilograms) satellite intended to enter a 500-kilometer-altitude sun-synchronous orbit. It will be launched by a Chinese Long March series rocket as a secondary payload. This small spacecraft will not be doing actual mining; instead, it will be testing technologies. “The goal is to verify and demonstrate multiple functions such as spacecraft orbital maneuver, simulated small celestial body capture, intelligent spacecraft identification and control,” says Yu Tianhong, an Origin Space co-founder." See: https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/...ace-mining-bot |
2024-05-04, 01:53 | Link #36 |
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Boeing’s Starliner Prepares First Human Launch In Bid To
Catch Musk’s SpaceX — How To Watch And Why It Matters "Boeing’s Starliner is set to carry astronauts into space for the first time on Monday, a major milestone for the aerospace giant after years of trouble and setbacks as it tries to catch up with Elon Musk’s SpaceX amid NASA’s efforts to nurture commercial partners and grow the budding space economy." See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberth...hy-it-matters/ |
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