The mission, far beyond its design lifetime, may fall into the atmosphere in a few months.
A solar-sailing mission is now marking three years of spaceflight, but is unlikely to celebrate a fourth anniversary.
The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 is a crowdfunded solar sail that launched June 25, 2019. It was expected to last a year in an assessment of how well a spacecraft could perform using only the power of the sun.
It started with JPL agreeing to land something on Mars – cheaply – and do it in a radically different way. This is how the era NASA called “Faster, Better, Cheaper” began. The documentary film “The Pathfinders” tells the story of a small group of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who did not heed warnings that the audacious challenge of landing on Mars with airbags would likely not be a career-enhancing move.
From relying on a parachute that could not be tested in a way to match the Martian atmosphere to receiving the late addition of an unwanted rover that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a toy store, the Mars Pathfinder mission was a doubter’s dream, taken on by a mostly young group of engineers and scientists guided by a grizzled manager known for his maverick ways.
“The Pathfinders” retraces the journey of this daring mission to Mars that captured the imagination of people around the world with its dramatic landing and its tiny rover – the first wheels ever to roll on Mars.
Documentary length: 60 minutes.
In about 5 billion years, the Sun will leave the main sequence and become a red giant. It’ll expand and transform into a glowering, malevolent ball and consume and destroy Mercury, Venus, Earth, and probably Mars.
Can humanity survive the Sun’s red giant phase? Extraterrestrial Civilizations (ETCs) may have already faced this existential threat.
Could they have survived it by migrating to another star system without the use of spaceships?
Posted in military, particle physics, robotics/AI, space travel
Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s high-energy laser systems use photons, or particles of light, to carry out military missions and civil defense. This directed energy technology enables detection of threats, tracking during maneuvers, and positive visual identification to defeat a wide range of threats, including unmanned aerial systems, rockets, artillery and mortars.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s laser solutions are a set of technologies that use photons, or particles of light, to carry out military missions. They measure distance, designate targets and can defeat a wide range of threats, including UAS.
Posted in habitats, nuclear energy, space travel
DARPA’s DRACO Nuclear Powered spaceship is a potential game changer. Lean how and why the Space Force and NASA may use Nuclear Thermal Rockets (NTRs). Will it revolutionize space for better or for worse? Please Subscribe to my Channel for more space news.
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But is it worth it?Starship’s road to launch has been one of soaring highs and dramatic explosions tempered by grinding regulatory procedures.
Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s Starship will make its first flight into orbit in July of this year. And this means the wait is nearly over.
