Space – Lifeboat News: The Blog

New patent granted to 3D printed hybrid rocket fuel engines for low cost access to space

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in 3D printing, space

Jan 13
2017

Rocket Crafters, Inc (RCI) have been granted a patent that will allow the mass-production of an expendable 3D printed hydrid rocket engine.

Confirmed: We Really are ‘Star Stuff’

Posted by Shane Hinshaw in biotech/medical, particle physics, space

Jan 11
2017

Scientist Carl Sagan said many times that “we are star stuff,” from the nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, and the iron in our blood.

It is well known that most of the essential elements of life are truly made in the stars. Called the “CHNOPS elements” – carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur – these are the building blocks of all life on Earth. Astronomers have now measured of all of the CHNOPS elements in 150,000 stars across the Milky Way, the first time such a large number of stars have been analyzed for these elements.

“For the first time, we can now study the distribution of elements across our Galaxy,” says Sten Hasselquist of New Mexico State University. “The elements we measure include the atoms that make up 97% of the mass of the human body.”

Humans living on the MOON? Scientists find ideal location for LIFE on the rock’s DARK SIDE

Posted by Karen Hurst in space

Jan 10
2017

I do know that China has already made plans to mine the dark side of the Moon. And, China is launching their 1st ship this year; so this is going to get interesting.

NASA scientists exploring the dark side of the moon have revealed an ideal location for a permanent base on the rock.

Very Large Telescope joins Breakthrough search for Alpha Centauri’s planets

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in innovation, space

Jan 9
2017

One of the most powerful observing instruments on Earth, the Very Large Telescope, will join the search for potentially habitable planets around the Alpha Centauri star system.

The survey will take place in 2019 under the terms of an agreement signed by the European Southern Observatory, which operates the VLT in Chile, and by the Breakthrough Initiatives.

First African-American Astronaut To Board The International Space Station

Posted by Karen Hurst in space

Jan 8
2017

Luv this; definitely a great role model to young girls everywhere.

This was the first of two spacewalks astronauts will perform this month to finalize the replacement of 12 old nickel-hydrogen batteries six with new lithium-ion batteries.

Kimbrough is wearing the suit bearing red stripes marked as EV1 member 1, but Whitson is wearing the suit with no stripes, marked EV2, member 2.

NASA is sending an African-American astronaut to the International Space Station for the first time. Built by Swales Aerospace Inc., it is the staple of NASA’s space tool arsenal.

MIT Invented The Material We’ll Need To Build In Space

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in materials, space

Jan 7
2017

It’s ten times stronger than steel but is only 5% as dense, and it could revolutionize architecture on Earth, too.

Jeff Bezos tweets his vote of support for constructing a ‘superhighway in space’

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in space, transportation | 1 Comment on Jeff Bezos tweets his vote of support for constructing a ‘superhighway in space’

Jan 5
2017

What should Donald Trump have NASA do? Today Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos voiced his support for the idea that the space agency should help build a “highway in the sky” analogous to the interstate highway system that President Dwight Eisenhower ramped up in the 1950s.

The backing came in the form of an eight-word tweet, accompanied by a link to an article by Howard Bloom appearing in Salon (and as a guest blog posting on Scientific American’s website as well).

Mysterious radio signal traced to dwarf galaxy 3 billion light-years away

Posted by Sean Brazell in space

Jan 4
2017

A mysterious signal that has confounded scientists for years has been traced to a spot in the sky more than 3 billion light-years away.

Almost a decade after the first fast radio burst (FRB) was discovered, an international team of researchers has pinpointed the origin of one such signal as a dwarf galaxy in the pentagon-shaped constellation Auriga.