The mission, dubbed NG-20, marks the first of three planned flights of Cygnus aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff occurred at 12:07 p.m. EST (1707 UTC).
Category: space travel – Page 73
IVO Tests Adding the Thrust From Multiple Quantum Drives
Barry-1 has 2 Quantum Drives: QD1 (Blue Arrow, internal) & QD1-TC (Green Arrow). Both are designed to produce thrust in the same direction (Red Arrow). QD1-TC is expected to produce about 2x the thrust of QD-1. CEO Richard Mansell said it has two drives a 0.25mN and a 0.65mN drive.
The DARPA funding (2018−2022 Quantized Inertia investigation) $1.3 million was for the researcher Mike McCulloch. But none of the DARPA funding has been or is yet for IVO is all privately funded. No VC or DARPA funds. The $17 Million DARPA Otter which appears intended for this type of work, but nothing has been allocated to my knowledge and definitely no DARPA funds have gone to IVO.
If they are fully successful, they will see both at once and see 3x thrust of QD-1. This would prove scaling via multiple devices. The devices are lightweight. If they have additive thrust, it will barely matter that the thrust is tiny. It means that arrays of thousands or millions of devices can be created. The devices might be one millinewton or less but then a million devices achieves constant one thousand newton thrust. The operation for a decade of multiple drives mean this would scale to full up interstellar drives. The best lab result is one watt for 52 millinewtons. The devices flown to orbit have far less thrust and each has different thrust so that it is clear whether zero, one or two devices are working.
Farmbots, flavour pills and zero-gravity beer: inside the mission to grow food in space
Astronauts content themselves with freeze-dried gruel, but plans for crewed missions to Mars mean scientists need to create more delicious, nutritious menus by James Shackell.
How does a spacecraft dock with the Space Station outside Earth?
Docking and berthing are not just about connecting two spacecraft; they are vital for crew transfer, resupply missions, and the assembly and maintenance of the ISS.
As of December 22, 2023, the ISS hosted four spacecraft: the SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew spacecraft, the Soyuz MS-24 crew ship, and the Progress 85 and 86 resupply ships. In January, the Axiom-3 crew arrived in another Dragon spacecraft.
The future of space exploration relies on these intricate docking procedures, which will continue to evolve with new technologies and spacecraft.
DARPA Partially Funded Quantum Space Drive Orbital Test
Richard Mansell, Chief Executive Officer at IVO Limited gave the reasons he is optimistic about the Quantum Space Drive tests that will be done in orbital microgravity.
IF the orbital test works then it will lead to interstellar travel and shrinking it down would give material that would have anti-gravity like effects. We would spend the money to make nanocavities so that we could have propellantless thrust for floating cities. All of space and propulsion related science fiction would become possible within about three decades short of faster than light. This drive is in orbit now for a few months. I think DARPA gave them more money to conclusively prove if it works or not. All of the ground tests show it might work. But if it proves out then we first get 1,000 times better than a hall effect thruster but with no fuel limit. No fuel is used. So long as you have power, solar or nuclear the drive keeps working. So nuclear fuel supply for decades then thrust for decades. The theory proves out, then we make nanocavities which could act like antigravity then we get 1G or even 3G thrusters in space. This would be the Expanse TV show tech.
2023 Moon to Mars Architecture Concept Review Outcomes Released by NASA
NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture has been instrumental in developing, designing, and executing the long-term goals of establishing not only a permanent human presence on the Moon but sending humans to Mars, someday. Today, NASA announced the results from the recent 2023 Moon to Mars Architecture Concept Review, which outlines key objectives, strategies, and key decisions in establishing a human presence on Mars in the future.
The Concept Review discussed in detail the architecture objectives and segments for not only returning humans to the Moon but establishing a long-term presence there through testing new technologies, systems, and equipment that would be used on an eventual human mission to Mars. the Moon to Mars Objectives cover a myriad of goals, including lunar and planetary science, heliophysics, human and biological science, physics and physical sciences, science enabling, applied science, lunar infrastructure, Mars infrastructure, transportation and habitation, and operations.
“Over the last year we’ve been able to refine our process for Moon to Mars architecture concept development to unify the agency,” Nujoud Merancy, who is the Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategy & Architecture for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), said in a statement. “Our process in the coming months will focus on addressing gaps in the architecture and further reviewing the decisions the agency needs to make to successfully mount crewed Mars missions.”
10 Space Startups to Keep an Eye on in 2024
In-development space innovations from the private space industry include space cannons, modular space station units, and 3D-printed rockets.
The Urgency of Large-Scale Space Migration (LSSM) — Frank White
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to let us know that Spaceship Earth is in deep trouble. Humanity is operating as if we did not live on a finite planet with…
Japan makes history with tense, successful moon landing
HELSINKI — Japan’s SLIM “Moon Sniper” spacecraft made a successful lunar landing Friday, making the country just the fifth to robotically land on the moon.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft began its descent from a 15-kilometer perilune shortly after 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Jan. 19 (1500 UTC), decelerating from a speed of around 1,700 meters per second.
SLIM appeared to have successfully touched down at 10:20 a.m. (1520 UTC), during a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) livestream of the event. It was not however immediately clear if the landing was successful, with the livestream ending inconclusively. A wait of more than an hour followed for clarification and confirmation.