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Category: space travel – Page 184

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Interstellar travel is very time consuming, moving from star to star, but perhaps we could use stars themselves as spaceships, and move whole solar systems or even galaxies.
Today we’ll look at how to use Shkadov Thrusters, novas, supernovae, black holes and quasars to move through space, literal starships.

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Continue reading “Fleet of Stars” | >

Two different versions of the 35-meter-wide subsonic parachute flew perfectly.

The European Space Agency (ESA) completed the first successful high-altitude drop test of the ExoMars mission parachute, which will be the largest to ever fly on Mars, a press statement reveals.

The first and second stage parachutes have now both flown this year, meaning the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission is on course to launch for the Red Planet in Sept. 2022.

ExoMars mission is ‘on the road to launch’ The latest high-altitude drop tests took place in Oregon on Nov. 21 and Dec. 3 as part of a series of parachute tests aimed at ensuring the safe landing of the Exomars rover aboard the Kazachok lander, which is currently scheduled for some time in June 2023. The 35-meter-wide subsonic parachute will be the second parachute to deploy during the ExoMars descent modules final moments before touchdown. Two different versions of the 35-meter subsonic parachute were tested, with one developed by European firm Arescosmo, and the backup by U.S.-based Airborne Systems.

Continue reading “ExoMars: The ESA Successfully Drop Tested the Largest Parachute to Ever Go to Mars” | >

Referring to Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self Driving features.

Elon Musk has claimed that no other CEO cares as much about safety as he does in an interview with Financial Times.

In the year that has seen his private wealth balloon like never before, Musk has also been showered with titles, beginning with the richest person in the world and more recently, the person of the year by Time Magazine. The Time accolade is probably one of the many titles Musk will receive as he embarks on his mission to send humanity to Moon with his space company, SpaceX.

Before we get there though, there are some issues with his other company Tesla that needs addressing. The company’s short history is peppered with incidents that have risked human lives as it pushes the boundaries of autonomous driving. The company offers features called Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) which are still in beta stages and have been involved in accidents. In August, this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into the Autopilot feature that involves 750,000 Tesla vehicles.

Speaking to FT, Musk said that he hasn’t misled Tesla buyers about Autopilot or FSD. “Read what it says when you order a Tesla. Read what it says when you turn it on. It’s very, very clear,” said Musk during the interview. He also cited the high ratings Tesla cars have achieved on safety and also used SpaceX’s association with NASA to send humans into space to highlight his focus on safety. He also went a step further to say that he doesn’t see any other CEO on the planet care as much about safety as he does.

Continue reading “Elon Musk Says No Other CEO Cares About Safety as Much as Him” | >

And it could work in wearables and light aircraft.

Researchers at Stanford University are developing an efficient new solar panel material that is fifteen times thinner than paper, a press statement reveals.

Made using transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), the materials have the potential to absorb a higher level of sunlight than other solar materials at the same time as providing an incredibly lightweight alternative to silicon-based solar panels.

Searching for silicon alternatives The researchers are part of a concerted effort within the scientific community to find alternative solar panel materials to silicon. Silicon is by far the most common material used for solar panels, but it’s heavy and rigid, meaning it isn’t particularly well suited to lightweight applications required for aircraft, spacecraft, electric vehicles, or even wearables.

Full Story:

Continue reading “A New Flexible Solar Panel Material Is 15 Times Thinner Than Paper” | >

SpaceX is embarking on a bold new adventure: making rocket fuel out of thin air.

“SpaceX is starting a program to take CO2 out of atmosphere & turn it into rocket fuel,” CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Monday. “Please join if interested.”

The news comes after Musk announced a $100 million prize to come up with carbon removal technologies earlier this year. The goal is to pull 1,000 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere annually — and eventually scaling up the operation dramatically.

Continue reading “Elon Musk Says SpaceX Is Going to Start Sucking CO2 Out of the Air and Turning It Into Rocket Fuel” | >

Billionaire Elon Musk is pushing ahead with an attempt to utilize emissions contributing to climate change, tweeting that his rocket company will launch a program to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to power spacecraft.

The chairman and chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Musk announced the project on Dec. 13, shortly after being named Person of the Year by Time magazine.

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Advancing Human Exploration Beyond Our Solar System — Dr. Harold “Sonny” White, Limitless Space Institute

Dr. Harold ‘Sonny’ White, is Director, Advanced Research & Development, at the Limitless Space Institute (LSI — https://www.limitlessspace.org/), in Houston, Texas.

Dr. White has over 25+ years of experience working in the aerospace industry with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, as well as at NASA, and in his current role at the Limitless Space Institute he leads all R&D work and establishes priorities for investigations and expenditures.

Continue reading “Dr. Harold White — Advancing Human Exploration Beyond Our Solar System — Limitless Space Institute” | >

Time magazine on Monday named Tesla chief and space entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, citing his embodiment of the technological shifts but also troubling trends reshaping people’s lives.

Musk — who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this year to become the world’s wealthiest person — wields impact on Earth with his Tesla electric car company and beyond our planet with his SpaceX rockets.

“Musk’s rise coincides with broader trends of which he and his fellow technology magnates are part cause and part effect,” Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote.

Read more | >