Lifeboat Foundation

Nanosatellites are the new low-cost way to get your research into space.

“We are all stardust,” astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tells CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garret on this week’s episode of “The Takeout.” “And you have a connectivity to the universe that for me is uplifting rather than ego-busting.”

Tyson joined the podcast to discuss his new book, “Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysicists and the Military.” The book, written with co-author Avis Lang, explores the long and complicated history of how the study of astrophysics changed warfare.

In July, “The Takeout” welcomed NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who described how reliant we are on space technology.

Physicist Jun Ye built the world’s most precise clock and is part of the group of scientists who changed our understanding of time itself.

Planets can ‘discover’ nuclear power on their own, naturally, without any intelligence. Earth did it 1.7 billion years before humans.

By translating a key human physical dynamic skill — maintaining whole-body balance — into a mathematical equation, the team was able to use the numerical formula to program their robot Mercury, which was built and tested over the course of six years. They calculated the margin of error necessary for the average person to lose one’s balance and fall when walking to be a simple figure — 2 centimeters.

“Essentially, we have developed a technique to teach autonomous robots how to maintain balance even when they are hit unexpectedly, or a force is applied without warning,” Sentis said. “This is a particularly valuable skill we as humans frequently use when navigating through large crowds.”

Sentis said their technique has been successful in dynamically balancing both bipeds without ankle control and full humanoid robots.

The Arch Foundation plans to encode important books and crowdsourced images into synthetic DNA molecules and store them on the Moon.

NASA’s got a whole new plan. It wants boots on the Moon in 10 years and on Mars in 20. Give or take.

On Wednesday, the space agency announced its detailed National Space Exploration Plan to achieve the President’s lofty goals set out in his December 2017 Space Policy Directive-1.

Those bold plans include: planning a new Moon landing, long-term human deployment on and around the Moon, reassertion of America’s leadership in space, strengthening private space companies, and figure out how to get American astronauts to the surface of Mars.

Continue reading “It’s Official: NASA Just Announced a Bold 3-Part Plan to Send Humans to The Moon And Mars” »

Scientists in China and Japan are working to create a space elevator, and an experiment aboard the International Space Station could help point the way.

The newfound “exomoon” is giant — about four times as big as Earth.