Space Travel – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Video Captures How Mice React to Zero Gravity Aboard Space Station

Posted by Genevieve Klien in habitats, space travel

Apr 12
2019

The behavior of 20 mice on the International Space Station is helping shed some light on how humans might adapt to living in space.

The female mice were flown out on the International Space Station aboard an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon capsule and spent up to 37 days floating in NASA’s Rodent Habitat. Video footage show that the mice immediately began their usual grooming, feeding, huddling and socializing, but within 10 days of leaving Earth, younger mice began to run in circles around their cage.

SpaceX Lands All 3 Boosters of the World’s Most Powerful Rocket

Posted by Genevieve Klien in drones, space travel

Apr 12
2019

The first commercial flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy ended with two boosters touching down on land while a third alighted on its drone ship out at sea.

Today in Science History: The third manned lunar landing mission, Apollo 13, kicked off with the launch of the Odyssey spacecraft

Posted by Michael Lance in science, space travel

Apr 12
2019

On April 13, the crew had already traveled 200,000 miles away from Earth when one of the oxygen tanks exploded, forcing them to abort the mission and head back, fighting for their own survival.

You may be familiar with the immortal line “Houston, we have a problem,” which was supposedly uttered by Lovell in the 1995 film “Apollo 13.” Actually, the real quote was “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” and it was Swigert who said it.

#FlipFacts

Falcon Heavy, SpaceX’s Giant Rocket, Launches Into Orbit, and Sticks Its Landings

Posted by Genevieve Klien in space travel

Apr 11
2019

It was only the second flight for what is the most powerful rocket now available on Earth, improving on its spectacular test launch in 2018.

Landmark NASA Twins Study Reveals Space Travel’s Effects on the Human Body

Posted by Caycee Dee Neely in biotech/medical, space travel | 1 Comment on Landmark NASA Twins Study Reveals Space Travel’s Effects on the Human Body

Apr 11
2019

End analysis: No long term or irreversible damage due to long term space exposure.

Here’s what happens on long-duration space missions.

Scientists Have Created A Star Trek-Like Plane That Flies Using ‘Ion Thrusters’ And No Fuel

Posted by Quinn Sena in futurism, space travel

Apr 10
2019

Scientists have taken a major step towards creating an aircraft of the future, one powered by an ion drive rather than using moving parts and fuel like conventional aircraft.

In a paper published today in Nature, a team led by Steven Barrett from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) described how they created a so-called electroaerodynamic-powered plane, one that uses solid-state propulsion, meaning no propellers or jet engines with expendable fuel.

“The future of flight shouldn’t be things with propellers and turbines,” Barrett says in the video below. “[It] should be more like what you see in Star Trek, with a kind of blue glow and something that silently glides through the air.”

Israeli Moon Lander Poised for Lunar Touchdown Thursday

Posted by Alberto Lao in space travel

Apr 9
2019

If Beresheet succeeds, Israel will become just the fourth nation to land a spacecraft softly on the moon, following the Soviet Union, the United States and China.

Beresheet is currently orbiting the moon and remains on an “excellent” track, said its operators, the nonprofit group SpaceIL and the company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

Testing ion thrusters for space exploration

Posted by Quinn Sena in space travel

Apr 8
2019

Engineers are testing ion propulsion systems for the next generation of aircraft now, writes Paul Willis.

British engineers complete test of their new high-speed ‘spaceplane’

Posted by Tracy R. Atkins in space travel

Apr 8
2019

Reaction Engines, which is based in Oxfordshire, has tested their new pre-cooler’ technology — which allows aircraft to travel faster than ever with a Sabre engine designed to take planes into orbit.

Can Robots Build a Moon Base for Astronauts? Japan Hopes to Find Out

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in robotics/AI, space travel

Apr 7
2019

Japan’s space agency wants to create a moon base with the help of robots that can work autonomously, with little human supervision.

The project, which has racked up three years of research so far, is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the construction company Kajima Corp., and three Japanese universities: Shibaura Institute of Technology, The University of Electro-Communications and Kyoto University.

Recently, the collaboration did an experiment on automated construction at the Kajima Seisho Experiment Site in Odawara (central Japan).