Space Travel in 2019
Op-ed | The space industry: A closer look at the new ecosystem
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Those immortal words belong to history. But in the long story of human evolution, 50 years is only the blink of an eye, hardly of import when measured against the rhythm of civilizations. Fifty years is significant when measured in a human life span, affecting…
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SpaceX Finishes Assembling New Starship Prototype (Photo)
We can now take the full measure of SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype. The company has mated the top and bottom halves of the Starship Mk1 vehicle at its South Texas facilities, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said today (Sept. 27). “Starship halves being joined,” he posted on Twitter, along with a photo of the sleek silver Mk1.…
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India Just Found Its Lost Vikram Lander on the Moon, Still No Signal
India’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter circling the moon has spotted the country’s lost Vikram lander on the lunar surface, but there is still no signal from the lander, according to Indian media reports. K Sivan, chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation, said today (Sept. 8) that the Vikram lander was located by Chandrayaan-2 and efforts to restore contact…
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Can satellite megaconstellations be responsible users of space?
For many in the space industry, so-called “megaconstellations” of communications satellites are the next big thing. Such systems have the potential to provide services from tracking planes and ships to offering broadband internet access more effectively than existing satellite systems or terrestrial alternatives. They offer a feel-good story about connecting the world as well as…
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Space station gets a new docking port in key upgrade for Boeing and SpaceX visits
Two NASA astronauts floated outside the International Space Station early Wednesday and helped attach a second docking port for commercial crew ships being built by Boeing and SpaceX. They also routed and connected cables to expand the lab’s external wireless network and provide backup power to the station’s robot arm. in the station’s Quest airlock, astronauts…
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Nuclear Propulsion Could Be ‘Game-Changer’ for Space Exploration, NASA Chief Says
Humanity’s next giant leap could be enabled by next-gen nuclear tech, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. During the sixth meeting of the National Space Council (NSC) today (Aug. 20), the NASA chief lauded the potential of nuclear thermal propulsion, which would harness the heat thrown off by fission reactions to accelerate propellants such as hydrogen to tremendous…
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Blue Origin files protest over ‘flawed’ Air Force launch procurement
Blue Origin filed a “pre-award” protest with the GAO, arguing that the rules set by the Air Force do not allow for a fair and open competition. WASHINGTON — Blue Origin filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday challenging the Air Force’s plan to select two providers in the next procurement…
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Maxar to install NASA pollution sensor on commercial satellite
SAN FRANCISCO — Maxar Technologies plans to install a NASA sensor to monitor air pollution over North America on a commercial communications satellite scheduled to travel to geostationary orbit in 2022, NASA and Maxar announced July 22. Maxar executives are speaking with multiple customers about flying the payload but have not yet signed a contract…
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Engineer charged with falsifying inspections of SpaceX hardware
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors have charged a man with falsifying inspection records for hardware his company produced for SpaceX, highlighting an issue about the overall aerospace industry supply chain. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York filed charges May 22 against James Smalley, a former employee of PMI Industries, a Rochester,…
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This NASA Experiment Shows Promise for Farm-Fresh Foods in Space
On long space voyages, food variety will be key. A new NASA experiment called Veg-PONDS 02, which astronauts just ran on the International Space Station, offers a chance to attain that variety. While the experiment used a food already grown in space — romaine lettuce — future crops could include tomatoes or other plants, NASA officials said…
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NASA seeks additional $1.6 billion for 2024 Moon plan
WASHINGTON — The White House and NASA announced May 13 that they will seek an additional $1.6 billion in funding for the agency in fiscal year 2020, a “down payment” on efforts to achieve a human lunar landing by 2024. In a tweet late in the day, President Trump announced the additional funding to support…
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Solar farms in space could be renewable energy’s next frontier
As the green energy revolution accelerates, solar farms have become a familiar sight across the nation and around the world. But China is taking solar power to a whole new level. The nation has announced plans to put a solar power station in orbit by 2050, a feat that would make it the first nation to harness…
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