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Trump may get Kennedy-esque with earlier return to moon

Feb. 15 (UPI) — The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Wednesday indicated that President Donald Trump may want the United States to resurrect its pioneering spirit in outer space — much the same way another American leader did five decades ago.

Acting NASA Administrator Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr., sent a memo to employees Wednesday saying he had instructed the agency to work up a feasibility report on adding astronauts to its planned EM-1 flight late next year.

The mission, which is currently unmanned, will launch NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket with an Orion capsule. The spacecraft would orbit the moon and return to Earth. The agency’s EM-2 mission, scheduled for years later, was supposed to be the spaceflight to carry humans.

Why Elon Musk’s transhumanism claims may not be that far-fetched

Excellent article in Wired this morning. My novel “The Transhumanist Wager” quoted quite a bit to add context to some of Elon Musk’s statements: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/elon-musk-humans-must-become-cyborgs #transhumanism


The Tesla and SpaceX founder warned that a future where AI is smarter than us will be ‘dangerous’ and we must all become cyborgs to survive.

Resource Prospector

(RP) is an in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technology demonstration mission which will test extraction of oxygen, water and other volatiles from lunar soil (regolith). It will also measure mineralogical content such as silicon and light metals, like aluminum and titanium, from lunar regolith. Expanding human presence beyond low-Earth orbit to asteroids and Mars will require the maximum possible use of local materials, so-called in-situ resources, and the moon presents a unique destination to conduct robotic investigations that advance ISRU capabilities, as well as providing significant exploration and science value.