“SpaceX will soon attempt to launch a craft into orbit and dock it with the International Space Station, a first for a private company. Success could alter how the U.S. runs missions.”
- post submitted by Ariel Waldman
Space History - I found this amazing chart on the MIT Technology Review site. It shows the number of space launches for each country over time, starting with the very first launch ever, to the end of the Space Shuttle era. One thing that immediately struck me was that the often mentioned “US leadership in space flight” people were so worried about losing when the Shuttle retired isn’t as self-evident as some would like to believe.
Actually, the list of nations on that chart is pretty long, and growing every year! Just as all nations share the responsibility of stewardship for planet Earth - and the consequences when any one of them fails in that responsibility - it will take all of humanity’s resources and efforts to make us a multi-planetary society. No matter what flag is on it (although personally I’d prefer it to be none at all), any spaceship that successfully claws its way out of Earth’s gravity is an accomplishment for all of us.
(via itsfullofstars)
Daily chart: two decades of satellite launches. Last year 13 out of 26 satellite launches were Russian; in 2010 China launched more satellites than America, for the first time ever.
(via itsfullofstars)
World’s First Commercial Space Station Planned in Russia
Called the Commercial Space Station, the orbiting space laboratory and hotel will be able to host up to seven people at a time. It is being planned under a partnership between the Russian companies Orbital Technologies and RSC Energia.
The space station is expected to launch sometime between 2015 and 2016. The cost of individual trips may vary based on launch vehicle, duration and purpose of missions.
Dark alien planet discovered by NASA
Scientists are unsure why the planet is blacker than coal, but believe it could be a chemical they ‘haven’t even thought of yet.’
Antiprotons discovered around Earth, could power spaceships of the future.
Information gained from a Russian Earth observation satellite has revealed a ring of antiprotons trapped in a ring around the Earths magnetic fields. The antimatter may last up to several hours before annihilating with normal matter.
That reaction between matter and antimatter produces more energy than the fusion process in the core of the sun. “This is the most abundant source of antiprotons near the Earth,” says a researcher. “Who knows, one day a spacecraft could launch then refuel in the inner radiation belt before travelling further.”
(Source: newscientist.com, via 8bitfuture)
Don’t Get Neil deGrasse Tyson Started About the Un-Science-y Politicians Who Are Killing America’s Dreams
As we’ve learned time and time again, when you need to hear someone kvetch hard about the state of science in this country, point your radio telescopes at Hayden Planetarium head Neil deGrasse. In the midst of the debt debacle, he responds to Bill Maher’s question about Washington’s possible assassination of the James Webb Space Telescope with a ranty explanation of how Congress is mortgaging the futuristic dreams Americans used to have. He ends with a good question: How far can science go in Washington when so few Congressmen are scientists?
See the full discussion here, and calm your Tyson-ish nerves with this relaxing Carl Sagan video.
Source: motherboard.tv
“Boeing says two of its own employees will crew the first manned mission of its new astronaut capsule. The US company has confirmed it will use the Atlas 5 rocket to test its CST-100 ship on three flights in 2015. An unmanned capsule will be used on the first and second launches. On the third, Boeing test pilots will take the vessel to the space station.”
“Cuts to NASA’s astrophysics division would see it fall from being the highest-funded science division (2008) to one of the least funded in the agency (2012).”
(via Alasdair Allan via NASA Astrophysics: It Really Is This Bad | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine)
