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Archive for the ‘space travel’ category: Page 333

Jan 24, 2019

NASA: Astronaut immune system cells affected by long-term trips

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, space travel

NK-cell function appears to be impaired during spaceflights over long durations according to a new study published this week. This means that immune systems could be broken down somewhat during the long trips NASA hopes to take with astronauts in the distant future. The research here was done by a team of researchers at the University of Arizona, the University of Houston, Louisiana State University, and NASA-Johnson Space Center.

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Jan 23, 2019

Blue Origin Just Landed Its First Rocket of 2019 Ahead of Crewed Flight

Posted by in category: space travel

It’s an important step for the firm.

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Jan 23, 2019

Trump reportedly offered NASA ‘all the money you could ever need’ to land on Mars during his presidency

Posted by in categories: economics, space travel

Some people on his communications staff at the time were not pleased.


Sims writes that he was “getting antsy” in the room due to Trump’s abrupt question shortly before a televised phone call with the Space Station. NASA officials were believed to have gone to great lengths to coordinate with the Space Station, which could only be reached during a certain time due to “orbital mechanics.”

“All I could think about was that we had to be on camera in three minutes … And yet we’re in here casually chatting about shaving a full decade off NASA’s timetable for sending a manned flight to Mars,” Sims reportedly wrote. “And seemingly out of nowhere.”

Continue reading “Trump reportedly offered NASA ‘all the money you could ever need’ to land on Mars during his presidency” »

Jan 19, 2019

Blue Origin to Launch 10th New Shepard Test Flight Monday

Posted by in category: space travel

Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spaceflight system will fly again on Monday (Jan. 21), if all goes according to plan.

Blue Origin, which is led by billionaire Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, had originally aimed to launch the 10th uncrewed New Shepard test flight in mid-December but was thwarted by an issue with the infrastructure at the company’s West Texas test site. That problem has now been resolved.

New Shepard will now launch Monday at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT/9 a.m. CST), Blue Origin representatives said in a statement.

Continue reading “Blue Origin to Launch 10th New Shepard Test Flight Monday” »

Jan 19, 2019

Why it is dangerous to build ever larger big bang machines

Posted by in categories: alien life, astronomy, cosmology, energy, engineering, ethics, existential risks, general relativity, governance, gravity, innovation, law, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, particle physics, philosophy, physics, policy, quantum physics, science, scientific freedom, security, singularity, space travel, supercomputing, theory, time travel

CERN has revealed plans for a gigantic successor of the giant atom smasher LHC, the biggest machine ever built. Particle physicists will never stop to ask for ever larger big bang machines. But where are the limits for the ordinary society concerning costs and existential risks?

CERN boffins are already conducting a mega experiment at the LHC, a 27km circular particle collider, at the cost of several billion Euros to study conditions of matter as it existed fractions of a second after the big bang and to find the smallest particle possible – but the question is how could they ever know? Now, they pretend to be a little bit upset because they could not find any particles beyond the standard model, which means something they would not expect. To achieve that, particle physicists would like to build an even larger “Future Circular Collider” (FCC) near Geneva, where CERN enjoys extraterritorial status, with a ring of 100km – for about 24 billion Euros.

Experts point out that this research could be as limitless as the universe itself. The UK’s former Chief Scientific Advisor, Prof Sir David King told BBC: “We have to draw a line somewhere otherwise we end up with a collider that is so large that it goes around the equator. And if it doesn’t end there perhaps there will be a request for one that goes to the Moon and back.”

“There is always going to be more deep physics to be conducted with larger and larger colliders. My question is to what extent will the knowledge that we already have be extended to benefit humanity?”

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Jan 18, 2019

This Photo of Earth and the Moon Was Shot from 71 Million Miles Away

Posted by in category: space travel

Here’s a new photo that shows Earth and the Moon from a whopping 71 million miles away. It was captured by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, which is currently on a mission to obtain a sample from a near-Earth asteroid and return it to Earth.

The photo was captured on December 19th, 2018, using the spacecraft’s NavCam 1 camera. Earth and the moon can be seen on the bottom-left side of the photo. The much larger white object in the upper-right side is asteroid Bennu.

Earth is 71 million miles (114M km) away in the photo, while Bennu is just 27 miles (43 km).

Continue reading “This Photo of Earth and the Moon Was Shot from 71 Million Miles Away” »

Jan 18, 2019

NASA reveals gigantic tank of megarocket that could take man to Mars

Posted by in category: space travel

NASA has finally begun testing the gigantic 200ft main tank of its huge Space Launch System rocket.

The huge liquid hydrogen tank will stores cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s four RS-25 engines when they fire up.

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Jan 14, 2019

This steam-powered spaceship could cruise the cosmos indefinitely without running out of gas

Posted by in category: space travel

Scientists say the microwave-sized craft would suck its watery fuel right out of the asteroids, planets and moons it’s exploring.

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Jan 13, 2019

A Bengaluru startup’s small step to Mars could be a big leap for nanomaterials

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, space travel

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Bengaluru, the city home to India’s space research organisation, he dreamt of going to space one day. Now he wants to be the first human on Mars.

One would expect him to train to be an astronaut or dismiss the idea altogether. But that’s not how he plans to get to the red planet.

Meet Gadhadar Reddy, a nano-technologist from Bengaluru, who might just get to live his dream someday in the near future thanks to a new material his company is manufacturing.

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Jan 13, 2019

The International Space Station will release its SpaceX cargo ship this weekend

Posted by in category: space travel

Both SpaceX and NASA are eager to get the Dragon cargo spacecraft back to Earth now that it has fulfilled its duties in bringing much-needed supplies to the crew aboard the International Space Station. The ship was originally expected to be released from the ISS earlier this week but plans have since changed, and NASA now expects the space station to bid farewell to the Dragon on Sunday afternoon instead.

Prior to this latest change, the most recent schedule would have seen the ISS release the Dragon on Sunday morning, but now NASA says it wants to release it later due to some weather quirks back on Earth.

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