Lifeboat Foundation

You know the scene in “Akira” where Tetsuo rips a satellite space weapon out of orbit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxh-IjxG2KY

Now the U.S. military wants to try something similar, according to Defense One. The Pentagon is requesting hundreds of millions of dollars to ramp up space-based weaponry including particle beams and space lasers that’ll fire downward at Earthly targets — a dark vision of the militarization of space.

Albert Einstein first discovered the phenomenon in 1936.

Circa 2017

NASA is beginning to design its next big astrophysics mission, a space telescope that will provide the largest picture of the universe ever seen with the same depth and clarity as the Hubble Space Telescope.

Scheduled to launch in the mid-2020s, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) will function as Hubble’s wide-eyed cousin. While just as sensitive as Hubble’s cameras, WFIRST’s 300-megapixel Wide Field Instrument will image a sky area 100 times larger. This means a single WFIRST image will hold the equivalent detail of 100 pictures from Hubble.

Continue reading “NASA’s Next Major Telescope to See the Big Picture of the Universe” »

Yesterday, the physics community got hyped-up over rumours that scientists might have finally detected gravitational waves — ripples in the curvature of spacetime predicted by Einstein 100 years ago — and that their observations could be coming to a peer-reviewed journal near you soon.

So far, our understanding of how gravity affects the Universe has been limited to observations of natural gravitational fields created by distant stars and planets. In fact, gravity is the last of the four fundamental forces that humans haven’t figured out how to produce and control. But now André Füzfa, a mathematician at the University of Namur in Belgium, has published a paper proposing a device that could do just that — albeit in tiny doses. And it wouldn’t require any new technology.

Let’s be clear, we’re talking about incredibly small gravitational fields here, not the type of ‘artificial gravity’ that’s used throughout science fiction to keep characters on shows like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica walking, not floating, around spacecraft. As yet, that technology isn’t possible.

NASA has released a detailed plan for an ‘Artemis Base Camp’ that will be home to first woman and next man on the moon in 2024.

The 13-page document highlights elements such as a terrain vehicle for transporting the astronauts around the landing zone, a permanent habit and a mobility platform to travel across the lunar surface.

Continue reading “NASA reveals its plan for ‘Artemis Base Camp’ on the moon” »

Three people will launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) in the predawn hours Thursday (April 9), and you can watch their departure from Earth live.

Comet Borisov, only the second interstellar object spotted by astronomers, shed at least one big chunk as it rounded our sun.

Let NASA and the International Space Station help inform and entertain your child from the safety and comfort of your own home. Both are sharing a wealth of activities and experiments for kids of all ages.

Why the world’s most ambitious array of submillimeter antennas continues to reap astronomical dividends.