NASA is naming eight astronauts who will fly the first test missions on commercial spaceships designed by Boeing and SpaceX. The space agency is broadcasting live video — here’s how to watch the NASA announcement.
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Long lead time
This timeline represents quite a long lead-up for the engines and the fifth flight. Nominally, NASA now plans to make the first SLS launch in June 2020, although that date may slip into 2021 or later if further technical or hardware problems arise with the new rocket. Eventually, NASA wants to get to a cadence of one flight every year of the rocket, but that is unlikely to happen right away. Therefore, the fifth flight of the SLS rocket is unlikely before the second half of the 2020s.
There is also some question as to whether the rocket will actually make multiple flights. By the mid-2020s, Blue Origin’s large New Glenn booster should be flying. Additionally, SpaceX’s larger Big Falcon Rocket may also have begun making test flights by then. Both of these boosters would offer NASA significant lift with privately developed, reusable rockets at a fraction of the cost of the SLS rocket.
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Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University reversed hair whitening and loss associated with a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet by using an experimental compound in a mouse model [1].
The compound
The experimental compound used by the researchers, called D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (D–PDMP) acts by blocking the production of glucosphingolipids (GSL), which are lipids that are abundant in the uppermost layer of the skin and in keratinocytes, which are pigment cells that are responsible for the coloration of hair, eyes, and skin.
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Bishop on the Moon?
It might sound strange, but in addition to encompassing nine counties and hundreds of cities, the Diocese of Orlando, Florida also has jurisdiction over an otherworldly object: the Moon. Why might you ask? The answer involves an obscure rule from 1917 and the Apollo 11 space mission.
On June 18th, 1968 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, Florida was established. It would encompass much of the greater central Florida area, along with Cape Canaveral (We’ll get back to that later). William Donald Borders was ordained the first Bishop of Orlando. One year later, Bishop Borders would also become the first Bishop of the Moon.
The Apollo 11 space mission began with the launch from Cape Canaveral on July 16, 1969. The mission fulfilled the national goal proposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth, before this decade is out.” However, when Apollo 11 made its famous flight from Cape Canaveral to ultimately fulfill that goal, they inadvertently made Bishop Borders the first Bishop of the Moon thanks to an obscure rule from the 1917 Code of Canon Law in effect at the time.
Here’s who we think they might be:
NASA is about to name the first eight astronauts ever to fly Boeing and SpaceX’s brand-new spaceships.
The Commercial Crew Program, as it’s called, is a spaceflight competition that NASA started about two years before retiring its space shuttles in July 2011. The goal: ensure NASA astronauts can access the International Space Station and end US reliance on Russia’s increasingly expensive Soyuz spaceships to get there.
Boeing and SpaceX came out on top with their CST-100 Starliner and Crew Dragon space capsule designs, respectively. Together, the two companies earned about $8 billion in government contracts and awards. Their new ships could be test-launched (without any astronauts inside) by the end of the year.
Rejuvenation Roundup July 2018
Posted in futurism, life extension
The July 2018 Rejuvenation Roundup is out!
Another month, another series of great news items for healthy life extension enthusiasts! It’s hard to believe that July is already behind us and, with it, the first Lifespan.io conference in New York City; let’s take a look back and review the past month before diving into the next one.
The Rejuvenation Roundup podcast
Starting this month, the Rejuvenation Roundup is available as a podcast! For this great initiative, we owe our thanks to Ryan O’Shea, the man behind Future Grind—a podcast discussing all things future. Our Vice President Oliver Medvedik has already had the honor to be featured in a previous podcast about life extension, but all the topics that Ryan deals with are absolutely exciting, so we highly recommend checking out the other episodes as well!