Lifeboat Foundation

Small, versatile, and autonomous, Astrobee will be getting to work on the ISS.

Young Bae of Advanced Space and Energy Technologies in Tustin, California, has improved his photonic laser thruster. was developed with NASA funding. His thruster works because light exerts pressure when it hits something. In theory, it is possible to move an object like a CubeSat by nudging it with a laser beam. In practice, however, the pressure which light exerts is so small that a device able to do a useful amount of nudging would require a laser of unfeasibly large power.

Dr Bae has overcome this limitation by bouncing light repeatedly between the source laser and the satellite, to multiply the thrust. In his latest experiments, Dr Bae has managed to amplify the thrust imparted by a single nudge of the laser by a factor of 1,500, which is big enough to manoeuvre a CubeSat as well as a conventional thruster would. This brings two advantages. First, since no on-board propellant is required, there is more room for instruments. Second, there being no fuel to run out, a CubeSat’s orbit can be boosted as many times as is desired, and its working life prolonged indefinitely.

Continue reading “YK Bae can now amplify photonic laser thrust” »

Capturing drones in mid-air just became easier.

Imagine a world where huge cities could be created with the click of a button.

It might seem like the stuff of science fiction, but that’s where 3D-printing technology is headed, according to one Dubai-based start-up.

While it’s far too early to speculate on who will be the first humans to travel to Mars, we may have an idea of what they will wear: An Israeli-designed space suit.

Together with the Israel Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center, Israeli startup StemRad is suiting up to launch a trial of its new protective suit against cosmic gamma rays on the next flight of NASA’s Orion satellite.

Continue reading “Israeli-designed Cosmic Ray Vest Approved For Mars Trial” »

The last extreme luxury frontier… Production, sale and hire.

3D printing is profoundly changing not just how we make things, but how we design them as well. As well as saving materials, time, water and waste, it is also opening up possibilities for new products and is set to unleash a wave of innovation in the industrial sector.

It looks like Self Driving cars may create a US organ shortage that finally acts as the Kick in the Ass to force stem cell generated organs on to the market. Enough of the ‘in the future’ we might have these Nonsesne.

Science, however, can offer better a better solution.

The waiting lists for donor organs are long — 120,000 people on a given day — and ever increasing. With fewer donor organs to go around, researchers are working on other ways to get people the parts they need. With help from 3D printing and other bioengineering technologies, we will eventually be able to grow our own organs and stop relying on donors.

Continue reading “Self-driving cars will create organ shortage — can science meet demand?” »

University of Michigan micro-motes aim to make the Internet of Things smarter without consuming more power.