• Briefs: Solar sails; X-51 and Falcon HTV-2

    Updated: 2010-03-20 05:23:36
    Alan Boyle gives an update on the Japanese and Planetary Society solar sail projects: Solar sails take shape - Cosmic Log/msnbc.com. === An update on the X-51 waverider and Falcon HTV-2 hypersonic test glider: U.S. Hypersonics Could Hinge On X-51 Tests - Aviation Week - Mar.31.10

  • Brief: Spaceflight barnstorming; David Brin on space futures

    Updated: 2010-03-20 05:11:32
    : Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Orion Propulsion Rocket Racing Scaled Composites SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR Next Generation Exploration Conf NASA Ames , CA April 5-8, 2010 Space Access 010 Phoenix AZ April 8-10, 2010 NSS ISDC 2010 Chicago , IL May 27-31, 2010 New Space 2010 NASA Ames , CA July 23-25, 2010 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with a contribution via credit : card Brief : Spaceflight barnstorming David Brin on space futures Phil Plait is excited about the prospects for science research on manned suborbital space transports : Barnstorming the final frontier Bad Astronomy Discover Magazine Mar.19.10 Sci-fi author and scientist David Brin discusses the future of space exploration in a series of videos : David Brin Space Exploration Discussion Videos Next Big Future Mar.19.10 Here is part : 1 Posted 03 20 10 00:11:32 by TopSpacer Filed under : NewSpace Comments No comments yet Add Comment Note : HTML code will not work except for bare URLs i.e . http : www . Also , for

  • Carnival Of The Space Geeks (Crowlspace)

    Updated: 2010-03-20 05:10:50
    Colony Worlds: Last week the 145th Carnival of Space was hosted by Adam Crowl upon Crowlspace. Posts ranged from close encounters with moon rocks and Martian valleys to future space vacations under $500, to viewing astronauts resolve Hubble trouble in 3D. Did I mention that there might be millions of habitable planets within our galaxy? Interesting articles within our own start system included: Adam Crowl of Crowlspace analyzes Buzz Aldrin’s plans for Mars and concludes that the Moon is too valuable to skip over. Brian Wang from Next Big Future goes nuclear on why we need to use nuclear rockets for space (note: I agree!!) David Portree of Beyond Shuttle digs up 1981 plans to land humans on Mars in 1995! (note: sigh, missed opportunities) Be sure to read the rest of the entries, and if you would like to join our rowdy band of space geeks, feel free to visit Universe Today on details on how to sign up. Random PostsCarnival Of The Space Geeks (Over The Hill At 50)Magnetic Safe Havens On The Lunar SurfaceNASA Not Fond Of Space Elevators?

  • Space policy round-up

    Updated: 2010-03-20 05:02:32
    Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Orion Propulsion Rocket Racing Scaled Composites SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR Next Generation Exploration Conf NASA Ames , CA April 5-8, 2010 Space Access 010 Phoenix AZ April 8-10, 2010 NSS ISDC 2010 Chicago , IL May 27-31, 2010 New Space 2010 NASA Ames , CA July 23-25, 2010 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with a contribution via credit : card Space policy round-up Sen . Bill Nelson seems to suggest that they can fit both a Constellation style heavy lift program and a commercial crew program into the NASA budget : Nelson : Senate will order super-sized rocket Florida Today Mar.19.10 Another review of the Sen . Nelson hearing last Thursday on commercial spaceflight capabilities : Sen Nelson Floats Alternate Use for NASA Commercial Crew Money SpaceNews.com The NASA vs FAA remarks at the hearing leads Jeff Krukin to wonder When Is An Astronaut Not An Astronaut More on the panel debate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on whether

  • Will Discovery Be 'Go for Launch' or Forced to Roll Back?

    Updated: 2010-03-20 04:03:37
    Over the weekend, NASA engineers will conduct additional tests to determine if Discovery can launch "as is" or have to be rolled back for repairs — which would mean a three-month delay for the STS-131 mission. Helium regulator assemblies downstream from a failed isolation valve in the shuttle's right rear maneuvering engine pod must [...]

  • Where The Planetary Society Stands

    Updated: 2010-03-20 02:16:00
    Spaceports: Jack@JackKennedy.net

  • Sail Your Name to Venus and the Stars!

    Updated: 2010-03-20 01:11:00
    Spaceports: The Planetary Society is collecting names and messages to fly on two exciting solar sail missions: Our own LightSail mission and JAXA’s IKAROS mission. The last day to send messages on IKAROS now Sunday, March 22. However, you will still be able to send messages on the LightSail mission for a few more months.Lightsail, a project of The Planetary Society, will merge the ultra-light technology of nanosats with the ultra-large technology of solar sails setting a course to the stars. LightSail-1 is the beginning of an innovative program that will launch three separate spacecraft over the course of several years.IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is a solar sail which gathers sunlight as propulsion by means of a large sail. This solar powered sail craft will employ both photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise. IKAROS will be launched together with the [vid] Venus Climate Orbiter, 'Akatsuki' in fiscal 2010 by JAXA.Jack@JackKennedy.net

  • Change is Coming to NASA Space Launch

    Updated: 2010-03-20 01:03:24
    Space Frontier Foundation: (Note – This post started out differently…it was, in fact much harsher. But after reading some critiques from readers such as rikerjoe, MP walsh, @ghostNASA and TrentWaddington I reconsidered, and did something completely unheard of on the internet – I took it down before full posting and toned it down a notch (at least in some ways…lol) You see, my goal is indeed to make you think, to make you ask the right questions, to take down the smokescreens of lies and deceipt thrown up by those who would rob us of our dreams. But my goal is also that actually read this stuff, that you do think about it rather than toss it off as “rantings” (and yes, I reserve the right for a good Lewis Black style rant now and then.) and that if possible you tell others to read these words, and perhaps spread these ideas, – heck make them your own… We are here to win, not to be “right”. We are here to help this species break out from the Earth and expand itself and the seeds of life to worlds now dead. And just as I have said about the NASA Constellation fiasco, sometimes ...

  • Solar sails take shape

    Updated: 2010-03-20 00:17:00
    Cosmic Log: JAXA An artist's rendering shows Japan's Ikaros solar sail in flight. As Japan gears up to send the first working solar sail into orbit in a couple of months, the Planetary Society is moving ahead with its own solar-sail project. You can put your name on both sails … if you act now. Sunday is the deadline for adding your name to the list for Japan's Ikaros spacecraft, due to piggyback on the May 18 launch of the Venus-bound Akatsuki orbiter aboard a Japanese H-2A rocket. More than 25,000 people have signed up already using the Planetary Society's "Sail Away" Web page - and when those are added to the Japanese list, the tally goes up to 60,000 names....(read more)

  • David Brin Space Exploration Discussion Videos

    Updated: 2010-03-19 22:17:47
    skip to main skip to sidebar Next Big Future Tracking high impact progress to the technology future , future technology and especially advanced nanotechnology , nuclear and energy technology , quantum computers , life extension , space technology and AI . Proposing and tracking the best societal , business and technical choices to the next big things that will shape our future . Official Lifeboat Foundation news . source March 19, 2010 David Brin Space Exploration Discussion Videos Ads Nano Technology Netbook Technology News nbsp Computer Software David Brin talks about how the Constellation program was no good . He likes going to Phobos Mars Moon or near earth asteroids . He wants to open up low earth orbit access to commercial competition . He wants to lower the cost to get to orbit and space . He likes space . mining Space Exploration Part 1:Planning our next steps in space Space Exploration Part 2 : Mining the sky Space Exploration Part 3 : The Big Picture Space Exploration Part 4 : Ambitious Technologies Advertising Trading Futures Nano Technology Netbook Technology News Computer Software Future Predictions Thank You Posted by bw at 3 19 2010 Labels : astronomy future Mars

  • Weird and wonderful ISS image

    Updated: 2010-03-19 19:00:05
    Over at The Planetary Society Blog, Emily has posted this bizarre image of the International Space Station, taken by another satellite in the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum. If you want the whole story, then click it and see what she wrote!

  • UK space agency debut

    Updated: 2010-03-19 16:12:38
    The UK is apparently going to reorganize its space efforts into a new space agency but it's not clear if more funding for space will be included: /-- Will UK space agency announcement see £20 million for industry? - Hyperbola /-- I got an invite! - Rocketeers.co.uk

  • Briefs: COTS update; Senate hearing reviews; Legislative ploy for Constellation

    Updated: 2010-03-19 16:07:27
    : Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Orion Propulsion Rocket Racing Scaled Composites SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR Next Generation Exploration Conf NASA Ames , CA April 5-8, 2010 Space Access 010 Phoenix AZ April 8-10, 2010 NSS ISDC 2010 Chicago , IL May 27-31, 2010 New Space 2010 NASA Ames , CA July 23-25, 2010 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with a contribution via credit : card Briefs : COTS update Senate hearing reviews Legislative ploy for Constellation Rob Coppinger reports on progress by the two companies contracted by NASA to deliver cargo to the ISS : NASA's private-sector launch champions move closer to lift-off More about yesterdays Senate hearing on commercial crew services for : NASA Senator Nelson hearing shows they know they don't know Hyperbola Space X president : We can fly cheaper than Russians Space Technology Earthtimes Senate mulls rocket future Florida Today Jeff Foust reports on an attempt to use FAA legislation to further hobble NASA's efforts to deal with the

  • Teachers in Space and other ideas for NASA

    Updated: 2010-03-19 16:00:36
    Support Teachers in Space at OpenNasa: NASA should support Teachers in Space - IdeaScale. You can vote on other suggestions for NASA at opennasa.ideascale.com.

  • The strange Dnepr

    Updated: 2010-03-19 15:56:25
    Jonathan Amos writes about the Dnepr rocket, which has some unusual features in the way it is launched and releases its payload: Riding the strangest rocket in the world - Spaceman/BBC. Examples of Dnepr launches:

  • The Seas of Titan

    Updated: 2010-03-19 15:23:10
    There's an interesting article at PhysOrg about the possibility of life on Saturn's moon Titan. Since the 1940s humans have known that Titan has an atmosphere rich in complex carbon compounds, and that fueled (heh) speculation about living beings there....

  • You Create the Caption

    Updated: 2010-03-19 07:02:00

  • Will the NASA WISE Space Telescope Find Nemesis, a Binary Companion Star for the Sun ?

    Updated: 2010-03-19 04:40:30
    , skip to main skip to sidebar Next Big Future Tracking high impact progress to the technology future , future technology and especially advanced nanotechnology , nuclear and energy technology , quantum computers , life extension , space technology and AI . Proposing and tracking the best societal , business and technical choices to the next big things that will shape our future . Official Lifeboat Foundation news . source March 16, 2010 Will the NASA WISE Space Telescope Find Nemesis , a Binary Companion Star for the Sun Ads Nano Technology Netbook Technology News Computer Software Astrobiology Magazine Is our Sun part of a binary star system An unseen companion star , nicknamed Nemesis , 8221 may be sending comets towards Earth . If Nemesis exists , NASA’s new WISE telescope should be able to spot . it Our solar system is surrounded by a vast collection of icy bodies called the Oort Cloud . If our Sun were part of a binary system in which two gravitationally-bound stars orbit a common center of mass , this interaction could disturb the Oort Cloud on a periodic basis , sending comets whizzing towards us . A recently-discovered dwarf planet , named Sedna , has an extra-long and

  • Strange Weather on Saturn

    Updated: 2010-03-19 02:00:50
    From our vantage point on Earth, Saturn may look like a peaceful orb with rings worthy of a carefully raked Zen garden, but NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been shadowing the gas giant long enough to see that the rings are a rough and tumble roller derby. It has also revealed that the planet itself roils with strange weather and shifting patterns of charged particles. Two review papers to be published in the March 19 issue of the journal Science synthesize Cassini's findings since arriving at Saturn in 2004. read more

  • Photo: Houston As Seen From Orbit At Night

    Updated: 2010-03-19 01:24:35
    The Houston metropolitan area at night is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 22 crew member on the International Space Station. Houston, Texas has been called the "energy capital of the world" due to its role as a major hub of the petroleum and other energy resource industries. The Houston metropolitan area covers almost 2,331,000 hectares (approximately 9,000 square miles) along the southeast Texas coastline, with an average elevation of 13 meters (approximately 43 feet) above sea level and a population of over 5 million (2006 US Census estimate). read more

  • Titan 1 Arrives at its New Home

    Updated: 2010-03-19 00:36:27
    The Titan 1 has arrived at Building 596 at NASA Ames Research Center. Photos by Matt Reyes (via Twitpic) show the process of loading things onto the transport trucks. Photo (above) by Dennis Wingo shows the final installation. More photos

  • Photo: Soyuz TMA-16 At The Instant of Touchdown

    Updated: 2010-03-18 23:22:32
    The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, Expedition 22 commander, and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, Expedition 22 flight engineer, onboard. The Soyuz landed near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan March 18, 2010. The two are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 21 and 22 crews. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls high res (0.6 M) low res (123 K) read more

  • World Nuclear Energy in 2010

    Updated: 2010-03-18 23:07:23
    skip to main skip to sidebar Next Big Future Tracking high impact progress to the technology future , future technology and especially advanced nanotechnology , nuclear and energy technology , quantum computers , life extension , space technology and AI . Proposing and tracking the best societal , business and technical choices to the next big things that will shape our future . Official Lifeboat Foundation news . source March 18, 2010 World Nuclear Energy in 2010 Ads Nano Technology Netbook Technology News nbsp Computer Software The status of nuclear reactors expected to start in 2010 Nuclear Power Reactor Details LINGAO 3 Ling Ao II Phase 2 China Connected to Electricity Grid 2010 08 31 Net Capacity 1000 MWe Commercial Operation 2010 12 15 Construction Started 2005 12 15 Nuclear Power Reactor Details QINSHAN 2-3 China Connected to Electricity Grid 2010 12 28 Net Capacity 610 MWe Commercial Operation 2011 03 28 Construction Started 2006 03 28 Nuclear Power Reactor Details RAJASTHAN-5 India Connected to Electricity Grid 2009 12 22 Net Capacity 202 MWe Commercial Operation 2010 02 04 Nuclear Power Reactor Details RAJASTHAN-6 India Connected to Electricity Grid 2010 02 28 Net

  • New Uses for an Old Titan 1

    Updated: 2010-03-18 01:36:17
    As the current plan goes, the move of an aging Titan 1 ICBM from its current location at NASA ARC to its new home next to Building 596 starts around 7:30 AM PST on 18 March 2010. This Titan 1 was brought to ARC in 1969 and was used in a variety of tests to study buffeting of launch vehicles during atmospheric ascent. The rocket has been sitting outside since the early 1980s as an exhibit next to the (former) Ames visitor's center. read more

  • An Extrasolar Planet The Size of Jupiter

    Updated: 2010-03-17 21:13:51
    An international team of scientists, including several who are affiliated with UC Santa Barbara, has discovered a new planet the size of Jupiter. The finding is published in the March 18 issue of the journal Nature. read more

  • Planck Mission Images Galactic Web of Cold Dust

    Updated: 2010-03-17 17:08:54
    ESA: Tendrils of the coldest stuff in our galaxy can be seen in a new, large image from Planck, a mission surveying the whole sky to learn more about the birth of our universe.   read more

  • Lunakhod 2 Found

    Updated: 2010-03-17 17:06:01
    A researcher from The University of Western Ontario has helped solve a 37-year old space mystery using lunar images released yesterday by NASA and maps from his own atlas of the moon. Phil Stooke, a professor cross appointed to Western's Departments of Physics & Astronomy and Geography, published a major reference book on lunar exploration in 2007 entitled, "The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration. read more

  • Russia has a Deal to Build 16 Nuclear Reactors in India and Other World Nuclear News

    Updated: 2010-03-17 16:48:47
    skip to main skip to sidebar Next Big Future Tracking high impact progress to the technology future , future technology and especially advanced nanotechnology , nuclear and energy technology , quantum computers , life extension , space technology and AI . Proposing and tracking the best societal , business and technical choices to the next big things that will shape our future . Official Lifeboat Foundation news . source March 17, 2010 Russia has a Deal to Build 16 Nuclear Reactors in India and Other World Nuclear News Ads Nano Technology Netbook Technology News nbsp Computer Software 1. BBC News reports that Russia has announced it will build 16 nuclear reactors in India as part of defence and energy . deals Russia's state-owned nuclear company earlier said six of the reactors would be built by 2017. Russia is already building two reactors in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu . Russia is competing with French and US firms for contracts to build nuclear power plants in Asia's third-largest economy which is looking to increase its energy supply to sustain rapid economic . growth Coal still accounts for more than 50 of India's energy use but a substantial expansion of nuclear

  • ‘Nuff said…

    Updated: 2010-03-17 06:05:37

  • Lasermotive Winner of the 2009 Space Elevator Power Beaming Challenge Preps for the 2010 Challenge and Power Beaming to UAVs

    Updated: 2010-03-17 05:56:27
    skip to main skip to sidebar Next Big Future Tracking high impact progress to the technology future , future technology and especially advanced nanotechnology , nuclear and energy technology , quantum computers , life extension , space technology and AI . Proposing and tracking the best societal , business and technical choices to the next big things that will shape our future . Official Lifeboat Foundation news . source March 16, 2010 Lasermotive Winner of the 2009 Space Elevator Power Beaming Challenge Preps for the 2010 Challenge and Power Beaming to UAVs Ads Nano Technology Netbook Technology News nbsp Computer Software LaserMotive is commercializing laser power beaming to transmit electricity without wires for applications where wires are either cost prohibitive or physically . impractical They won the NASA-sponsored Power Beaming Challenge Level 1 prize in 2009. This January , team members Tom Nugent , Jr . and Dave Bashford became the first official full-time employees of LaserMotive , moving into the small office section of the Kent . shop The focus for Team LaserMotive is on the 2010 Level 2 prize in the Power Beaming Challenge scheduled for May LaserMotive , LLC , has its

  • A skeptical view of earth-based Space Elevators…

    Updated: 2010-03-16 07:22:05
    I’ve read several books by David Brin and enjoyed them all.  This is the first time, however, I’ve seen a David Brin video (albeit a YouTube version). He talks about future technologies, Space Shuttle fuel tanks representing a lost opportunity, tethers, solar sails and, briefly, Space Elevators.  He’s a skeptic of the idea of an Earth-based [...]

  • A Japanese space elevator

    Updated: 2010-03-14 04:10:05
    At the 2008 Space Elevator Conference, a large contingent arrived from Japan (I blogged about this here).  One of the many items they brought and showed was a video/cartoon that had been created by some organization in Japan.  I think they also brought this video to the 2007 Space Elevator games held near Salt [...]

  • Clubbing on the Space Elevator

    Updated: 2010-03-12 01:14:56
    At least the music is better than the elevators I’ve been on… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29MglcYPpQ . Watch all of the adventures of our audacious explorers here…

  • Mr. LaserMotive goes to Washington…

    Updated: 2010-03-11 00:05:14
    As I posted several days ago, a gathering was recently held in Washington DC - a gathering of NASA people involved in the Centennial Challenges program (of which the Space Elevator Games are a part) and most/all of the recent organizers and competitors from the recent competitions. Team LaserMotive arrived in force and a post about the trip is now on [...]

  • Space Elevator Visions

    Updated: 2010-03-05 06:25:02
    A few days ago, I linked to a YouTube video that featured Frank Chase, an artist out of Hilo, Hawaii.  This video featured Frank and several of the space elevator-related animations and drawings he has created. I’ve now gotten in touch with Frank and he pointed me to a couple of his websites where more of [...]

  • Announcing the Artsutanov and Pearson awards

    Updated: 2010-03-03 18:43:09
    The International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) today announced the Artsutanov and Pearson awards; prizes intended to foster research into Space Elevator related topics. The Press Release announcing these awards, sent out today, is copied below, in full: ================================ The International Space Elevator Consortium Announces the Pearson and Artsutanov Space Elevator Prizes Mountain View, Calif. (March 3, 2010) — The [...]

  • “One of the problems we had last year was wind-induced oscillation…”

    Updated: 2010-03-02 06:05:18
    The Chicago Video Production company, Bitter Jester Creative, Inc., the “official video chronicler” of the Space Elevator Games, has some updated and some new video clips available.  The sound is in stereo, too… Check out this page to view them.  All of them are of the very high quality that we have come to expect from [...]

  • A new Space Elevator traveler…

    Updated: 2010-03-01 21:24:35
    We now have a new fellow-traveler in Space Elevator-land; Captain Casual.  You can view his adventure (which he labels as Episode 1) below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MBJqGfAI0w . I think this has promise, but I’m not sure where the “700 miles of fullerene cable comes in” - a real space elevator would need to be about 60,000 miles long.  Maybe we’ll [...]

  • Centennial Challenges gathering…

    Updated: 2010-02-27 06:05:18
    This past Thursday and Friday saw a meeting at NASA HQ in Washington, DC of all parties involved in the NASA Centennial Challenges.  This is the NASA Press Release: NASA HONORS 2009 CENTENNIAL CHALLENGES WINNERS WASHINGTON — NASA will honor the achievements of the 2009 Centennial Challenges prize winners and competition hosts with a technical symposium Feb. [...]

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Feb 2010 | Jan 2010