Once thought of as a pipe-dream, exploitation of the solar system’s asteroids is being planned by a growing community of asteroid mining companies and scientists.
NASA.
Category: space – Page 1,057
Super-Cool Quantum Research Lab Heads to Space
Just WOW!
PULLMAN, Wash., Oct. 26 — Washington State University and NASA scientists are set to begin an investigation into the strange world of quantum physics on the International Space Station.
WSU physicists Peter Engels and Maren Mossman are part of a team studying the behavior of atoms laser-cooled to temperatures just a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, the point where they behave like one wave of discrete particles.
On Earth, the unavoidable presence of gravity makes it difficult to conduct unperturbed observations of this this super-cooled substance – called a Bose-Einstein condensate – and the laws of quantum physics that govern its wave-like behavior.
EU Commission’s new space policy to invest in startups to boost private investment
PARIS — The European Union’s executive commission on Oct. 26 unveiled a new space strategy that promises public investment to stimulate the creation of space start-up companies.
The Brussels, Belgium-based commission, which acts on behalf of the 28 European Union members — still including Britain for a couple of years — is already the biggest single customer for Europe’s Arianespace launch-service provider and for Europe’s satellite manufacturers.
The EU plans to launch some 30 satellites in the coming decade for the Galileo navigation and Copernicus environment-monitoring programs, which are the major beneficiaries of the commission’s space budget of 12 billion euros ($13.5 billion) between 2014 and 2020.
The Universe
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How the Universe Could Annihilate Itself at the Speed of Light
Time now for a very cute video about a rather terrible prospect—the very grim possibility of the universe spawning a lethal bubble of pure vacuum that expands in all directions at the speed of light.
ESA’s Mars Lander May Have Exploded On Impact
ESA’s Mars Test Lander likely exploded on impact after dropping from a height of four kilometers after its retrorockets prematurely switched off. Just another lesson in how difficult these missions actually are; a cautionary tale for new space entrepreneurs.
New NASA images of the Martian surface indicate that the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Schiaparelli ExoMars 2016 test lander likely crashed from a height of at least two to four kilometers as it made its way through the Red planet’s thin atmosphere.
Surface markings imaged by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and released via NASA JPL, identifies new markings believed to be related to ESA’s Schiaparelli Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM), which arrived at Mars on Oct. 19th. Schiaparelli may have exploded on impact after impacting at speeds greater than 300 kilometers per hour.
ESA’s ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) released the lander for what was to have been a six minute descent to the touchdown site at Meridiani Planum, a plain near Mars’ equator.
Mining Asteroids? An Interview with the CEO of Planetary Resources
Group metals, a lil history on aluminum, technology needed, space law and more. The one great idea presented here is that many folks think stuff will be brought back to Earth. Though there would be some of that the resources out there will be used out there.
As Humans venture out far away from the Earth into the solar system, they will need material resources to keep us going. Where do we get those from? One for-profit company, Planetary Resources, wants to be the one to make it happen.
We had a chance to speak with the company’s President and CEO, Chris Lewicki about the company’s plans to survey, prospect, and exploit near-Earth asteroids. The company has a lot of financial backing and has plans to send its first satellite to an asteroid in 2020.
This interview was originally broadcast as part of our ongoing Facebook Live segment, The Convo: https://www.facebook.com/PCMag/videos/10154546668188396/
You can see more of our past interviews here: http://www.pcmag.com/article/346681/the-convo-pcmag-nerds-it…-interesti