Lifeboat Foundation

No berthing required.

“We should have a base on the moon, like a permanently occupied human base on the moon, and then send people to Mars,” Musk said when asked what SpaceX will do after getting Crew Dragon operational. “That’s what we should do.”

He added: “Maybe there’s something beyond the space station, but we’ll see. We’ve got to focus on getting this right, for sure. That’s the priority. But then, after that, maybe something beyond low-Earth orbit.”

SpaceX rocketed its first spaceship for NASA astronauts into orbit on Saturday. Elon Musk, the company’s founder, said he’s willing to climb aboard.

Continue reading “Elon Musk says he would ride SpaceX’s new Dragon spaceship into orbit — and build a moon base with NASA” »

Unlike the cargo Dragon, which is grappled by a robotic arm, this uncrewed test flight for our NASA Commercial Crew Program will dock autonomously.

Watch live at 3:30 a.m. EST to see a brand-new spacecraft’s first-ever arrival at the station: https://go.nasa.gov/2IPCG7P

Watch the arrival of SpaceX’s #CrewDragon 🐉 : https://go.nasa.gov/2Tses7E

Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 for Demo-1, the first flight test of the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, is targeted for Saturday, March 2, at 2:49 a.m. EST from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Join us at 2 a.m. EST for countdown coverage. Watch:

Fans like Ben Pearson use NASA data to project the car’s location through space. For now, the convertible will continue its long drive around our inner solar system. And perhaps if humans make it to Mars like Musk hopes, we might even see the Roadster on our way there.

A portion of NASA’s $21.5 billion 2019 budget is for developing advanced space power and propulsion technology. NASA will spend $176 to $217 million on maturing new technology. There are projects that NASA has already been working on and others that NASA will start and try to complete. There will be propulsion, robotics, materials and other capabilities. Space technology received $926.9 million in NASA’s 2019 budget.

NASA’s space technology projects look interesting but ten times more resources devoted to advancing technological capability if the NASA budget and priorities were changed.

Continue reading “NASA Will Flight Test a Nuclear Rocket by 2024 and Other High Tech NASA Projects” »

MACH

The Air Force had said there was about a 20% chance that the launch would be delayed because of bad weather. But the 23-story Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on time on Thursday.

After the booster’s landing, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted: “Highest reentry heating to date. Burning metal sparks from base heat shield visible in landing video.”

You can watch the mission and landing, narrated by SpaceX staff, here, though this clip shows the booster’s heat shield burning off.

Continue reading “SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket booster survived a ‘spicy’ landing at sea after launching the first private moon mission” »