Category Archives: Space Exploration

Today is Space Exploration Day, commemorating the first steps by a human on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. There are people who want this observed as a national holiday, so check out the petition if that interests you. Also, we thought this was interesting:

Also. We're SYFY, so we have a pretty serious interest in this. In fact, we spend a lot of time geeking out over stuff just like this.

May we suggest you bookmark the articles under Bad Astronomy here.

July 20th also happens to be, sadly, the day that Bruce Lee died in 1973. Born in San Francisco, raised in Hong Kong, educated in Seattle, Lee started his career as a child actor. After college, he landed a role as as Kato on TV'sThe Green Hornet. After that,Lee went back to Hong Kong and found success making several films, including:

Fist of Fury

Way of the Dragon (which Lee wrote, directed, starred in, choreographed and also got Chuck Norris to be in):

Ultimately, he came back to the United States to make Enter the Dragon:

And yet, before the movie was released, Lee died of an allergic reaction to a medication found in a common drug called Equagesic. He was 32 years old. Requiescat in pace.

Tomorrow: Mrs. Doubtfire on The Trans-Siberian Railroad.

The rest is here:

July 20 in Sci-Fi History: Space Exploration & Bruce Lee - SYFY WIRE (blog)

Its a well known fact that Elon Musk is infatuated with Mars, and has a crazy plan to colonize the red planet.

However, he's setting his eyes on something much closer to home first.

During an interview at the International Space Station Research and Development conference on Wednesday, SpaceX founder revealed that he believes having a permanent facility on the Moon would help space agencies unlock their true potential for space exploration.

Getting people to Mars and beyond, that's the continuance of the dream of Apollo that I think people are really looking for.

However, despite his excitement for the idea, Musk has no intentions of building a lunar base himself. Hes previously indicated that Earths little satellite isnt a priority for SpaceX, especially since their focus is on settling Mars. And though the company plans to have a spaceship fly around the Moon sometime in 2018, the passengers will not be making a stop off.

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Elon Musk Thinks A Permanent Moon Base Would Make Space Exploration Easier In The Future - Indiatimes.com

Orlando Business Journal

NASA's space exploration tech to help self-driving cars at new test track Orlando Business Journal NASA's enclosed den will put self-driving cars' sensors to the test with fog, smoke and dirt. Subscribe to get the full story. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Subscribe to get the full story. Already a subscriber? Sign in. SPECIAL OFFER. Digital $98.00. and more »

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NASA's space exploration tech to help self-driving cars at new test track - Orlando Business Journal

NASA Space Auction To Celebrate Moon Landing Anniversary

CBS News , WFMY 9:51 PM. EDT July 19, 2017

The bag used to bring moon rocks home from Neil Armstrong's 1969 moon landing is expectd to fetch $2-4 million. (Photo: CBS News)

Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind onto the moon allowed him to make several small scoops there as well. Collecting lunar dust and rocks in a specially designeddecontamination bagto bring home, the rocks became national treasures.

The bag -- not so much. It was forgotten about until resurfacing three years ago on a government auction website that space enthusiast Nancy Carlson liked to check out.

"I did see a bag that was described as a lunar bag," she said. "Flown. With a number on it. And it included the word moon dust."

She quickly slapped down her $995, and a week later a brown box arrived. Inside the box: history.

RELATED: Origin of Moon Landing Flag A Mystery; NC Town Makes Claim

Carlson said she "loves it" because "it was like finding the Holy Grail."

But "found" was almost "lost" again for Carlson. She'd matched a number on the bag to one on the Apollo 11 flight manifest, but wanted to be absolutely sure. She sent her bag off to NASA so it could test the dust embedded in the fabric.

"And that was where things started to go off the rails, to put it nicely," Carlson said.

NASA told Carlson that yes, her bag had been to the moon, but no, they would not be returning it since -- they said -- it never should've been sold to start with. Carlson had to sue to get her bag back.

She won, though the publicity convinced her the bag won't be safe in her home. So on Thursday, the 48th anniversary of the moon landing, Carlson will auction it off.

Makeit easy to keep up to date with more stories like this.Download theWFMYNews 2 Appnow.

Cassandra Hatton, who is handling the sale for Sotheby's, said it is "absolutely" a one-of-kind item.

"I just say Neil Armstrong moon dust -- you get it," Hatton says. "You don't have to be American to understand why this is so important and this is also what's exciting about this. I could talk to a 5-year-old in China, and they would get excited about this."

The bag is expected to fetch $2-4 million -- not a bad return on Carlson's $995 investment.

"I found a piece of history that everybody forgot about," Carlson says. "So that's my great gratification in all this. I saved it from being lost."

Nearly half a century later, thanks to Nancy Carlson's internet trolling, there's a new footnote to the greatest adventure story in human history.

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Originally posted here:

Space Exploration-Themed Auction Planned on 48 Anniversary of First Moon Landing - WFMY News 2

The Luxembourg Government has passed a new law permitting exploration and usage of space resources, opening the possibility of mining in outer-space.

Adopted by the Luxembourg Parliament, the draft lawis part of the SpaceResources.lu initiative.

This law is aimed at easing the legal and regulatory framework that is expected to result in an enabling atmosphere for private companies to carry out exploration activities in space.

Set to be effective next month, the law is aimed at meeting future energy needs taking into consideration advances in space technology, increasing exploration of outer space and the reducing resources on Earth.

Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy tienne Schneider said: Luxembourg is the first adopter in Europe of a legal and regulatory framework recognising that space resources are capable of being owned by private companies.

"The Grand Duchy thus reinforces its position as a European hub for the exploration and use of space resources.

"Luxembourg is the first adopter in Europe of a legal and regulatory framework recognising that space resources are capable of being owned by private companies."

"The legal framework is part of the expertise ecosystem and the business-friendly, innovation-nurturing environment that Luxembourg is offering to space industry companies."

Recently, the Grand Duchy signed a joint statement on future activities concerning missions to the asteroids, related technologies and space resources exploration and utilisation with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Luxembourg and the ESA agreed to further study the technical and scientific aspects of space resources exploration and utilisation activities.

There is a growing interest from private investors and start-ups to invest in space technology,travel, and exploration.

In 2012, Space Exploration Technologies, a space transport services company founded by private investor Elon Musk, delivered cargo to and from the International Space Station using its Dragon spacecraft.

Recently, US-based Moon Express unveiled its plans to build a robotic outpost on the South Pole of the Moon by 2020, in order to land robots on it for mining water and minerals.

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Luxembourg passes law for space exploration - Mining Technology

Design optimizationis something of a trendy topic right now, thanks largely to the advances in processing power coupled with the new design space allowed by additive manufacturing. Shapes that were previously impossible to manufacture are being realized, and with them, engineers are given a whole new pallet of possibilities to work with.

So it stands to reason that design software would have to evolve to meet the needs of designers working within this area.

The latest company to jump onto the design optimization bandwagon is Siemens, who has recently announced the addition of two new features into its STAR-CCM+ multiphysics analysis package.

The first feature, dubbed STAR-Innovate, incorporates HEEDS technology, which was acquired by Siemens as part of its 2016 acquisition of CD-adapco. HEEDS technology is a design optimization package that allows users to automate the design process for optimal topology for fluid flows and other computational fluid dynamics operations.

In one case study, engineers used HEEDS software to evaluate the position of a cooling system inside a computer case design. After inputting the standard model, it took just two days and 50 cores to evaluate 200 different design configurations, resulting in a 10 percent increase in cooling performance and a 50 percent reduction in heatsink mass.

Take HEED(S)! Design optimization can save time and money by automatically showing the most optimum designs. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

The second main addition to the latest version of STAR-CCM+ is the Design Manager feature, which allows users to evaluate a number of computer-generated design options based on performance requirements.

I firmly believe that single-scenario engineering simulations are about to become a thing of the past, said Jean-Claude Ercolanelli, senior VP of product management at Siemens PLM Software. If you know how to use STAR-CCM+, you will instinctively know how to use Design Manager. This means that every engineer who installs STAR-CCM+ v12.04 can now conduct design exploration studies with ease to discover better designs faster.

You can read more case studies on how HEEDS is helping engineers to increase productivity and performance at the HEEDS Design Exploration Blog.

Excerpt from:

STAR-CCM+ Update Incorporates HEEDS for Design Space Exploration - ENGINEERING.com

NASA has given new life to the idea of using nuclear fission to power space missions, something it last considered in the 1960s. Now for three years, it's been funding the development of a project called Kilopower that could be the key to colonizing Mars and other planets.

The goal of the project is to develop a "low-cost, scalable fission power system" for providing power in space. The Kilopower tech aims to achieve that by creating smaller reactors that can be combined to provide the necessary amount of energy. The scientists envision that the uranium-splitting Kilopower reactors can be used in multiples on Mars instead of one large power plant. This would result in a new generation of surface landers and human missions that originate from Mars.

In fact, the researchers estimate Mars surface missions would need around 40kW of power altogether. This amount of energy can power "about eight houses on Earth," according to NASA. The 6.5-feet-tall Kilopower reactors are each designed to provide 1-10 kW of electrical power to a spacecraft. Thanks to nuclear fission, with 4 or 5 Kilopower reactors, NASA could power a Mars colony, running with all the equipment necessary to produce fuel, clean the air and water, and charge all the batteries.

What is nuclear fission? It's the process of splitting of a heavy atomic nucleus into two lighter nuclei, releasing tremendous amounts of energy which is converted into electrical power. Atomic bombs and nuclear power plants utilize fission.

The reactors are being developed at the Los Alamos National Lab, in partnership with NASA Research Centers and other DOE National labs.

BigThink spoke to Patrick McClure, Kilopower Project Leader and Chief Reactor Designer David Poston. They were optimistic that the technology works, sharing that the idea behind the reactor originated at the Los Alamos National Lab, which was then taken on by NASAs R&D arm - the Game Changing Development Program. Their goal was to design a lean machine, simple enough to pull off a systems test. Another hallmark of the projects practical approach was to focus on adapting existing NASA technology that has been approved by regulators. Now the project is further along than any such work in the last 40 years because we are building an actual nuclear reactor, explained the scientists.

The team pointed out that the Kilopower technology could offer much more power than solar cells and the plutonium-powered Pu-238 radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), currently in use by NASA. RTGs have been used to power Curiosity, Voyager and Cassini, but they only put out about 110 watts. NASA also has a problem of obtaining enough plutonium going forward, with the worldwide supplies dwindling.

One big advantage of using fission reactors as opposed to solar power, another idea being developed, is that the Kilopower tech can work in situations when sunlight is not available. Even the places on Mars that receive the most amount of sun get about one-third of the sunlight theyd have on Earth. Blinding dust storms also make solar less than ideal as a reliable supplier of power.

While more work will need to be done to scale the reactors, the Kilopower team is enthusiastic that the technology is almost there. A testing phase of the project begins to September and is supposed to wrap up by the end of 2017.

After the testing completes, NASA will debate the future of the technology as it evaluates its plans going forward. While its very promising, the size of the current team supporting this idea is only about 10-11 people. With NASAs blessing, nuclear fission reactors can become the reality of space exploration in the near future.

Heres NASA conceptual video outlining the thinking behind the Kilopower technology:

Originally posted here:

NASA Closer to Using Nuclear Reactors for Powering Space Missions - Big Think

By CBS News 4:26 PM July 16, 2017

Sothebys is holding their first space-exploration themed auction on the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing on June 20.

On June 13, Sothebys previewed the items up for auction, which includes a bag used to collect the first lunar samples, space photography, equipment used on Apollo missions and memorabilia.

The items are from both the American and Russian space programs and are expected to fetch between $3-5 million, with the lunar expected to fetch the most.

I think that its something that transcends culture, race, religion, age, economic background, educational background, said Cassandra Hatton, Sothebys Vice President and Senior Specialist in Books and Manuscripts Department. Anybody can get excited about it and understand it. You talk to a 4-year-old, you can talk to a 90-year-old, theyre both going to get excited about looking up at the sky and the starts and exploring space. So its, its something that kind of unites us across humanity.

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Space artifacts up for grabs at Sotheby's first space-exploration themed auction - KTVA.com - Anchorage, Alaska

An iceberg the size of Delaware one of the largest ever recorded broke off the Antarctic continent this week. Scientists had been anticipating that the trillion-ton iceberg would break away for months, and they now worry about the hazards it poses for nearby ships. (Reuters)

One of the largest recorded icebergs could pose a threat to cruise ships traveling from South America.

Visual by James Petts/Flickr

A film clip has been successfully stored in bacterial DNA using the genome editing tool Crispr. The scientific advance ushers in new possibilities for other record-keeping techniques using bacteria, such as recording and replaying how human cells behave when a person becomes ill. (New York Times)

A record number of environmental activists were killed worldwide in 2016, primarily due to disputes over mining, logging, and agribusiness projects, according to a report released by Global Witness. Sixty percent of the killings occurred in Latin America, and almost 40 percent of the victims hailed from indigenous communities. (BBC)

The Yemeni government has dropped a request for cholera vaccines to slow the spread of the disease, which has claimed more1,742 lives in the war-torn country since April 27. A representative from the World Health Organization said the decision was made because most of Yemen has already been affected by the disease, reducing the effectiveness of vaccination. (Science)

A new gene therapy for leukemia has garnered support from an FDA panel of experts, an important milestone for the experimental treatment. The cancer therapy now awaits approval from the FDA itself, which is expected to make a final decision on October 3. (STAT)

An all-female high school robotics team from Afghanistan has been granted permission to compete in an American competition by President Trump, after having been twice denied requests for U.S. visas. (Associated Press)

The Juno spacecraft captured its first closeup images of Jupiters Great Red Spot. Mission Juno invites the public to download and tweak the images for free. (Science News)

And finally, hoping to become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon, the Florida startup Moon Express released a plan on Wednesday for a regular delivery service to send payloads to the moon. The plan is part of the companys efforts to make space exploration less expensive. (NBC News)

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Abstracts: Environmental Killings, Space Exploration, and More - Undark Magazine

Moon Express is shooting for the moon with every intention of landing on its crater-covered surface. They dont intend to stop there, either.

Lunar exploration is only one small step for Moon Express. The company recently announced that it's developling an entire fleet of spacecraft to explore the moon, Mars and whatever lies beyond without the specter of exorbitant costs. CEO Bob Richards wants to make travel to the moon for both scientific and commercial purposes possible without the financial end of it existing in some unreachable galaxy.

"That's where my heart issolar system exploration on a grand scale that democratizes and completely accelerates our evolution into the solar system through knowledge and discovery, not just a few expensive voyages sponsored by kings and governments, like in history," said Richards. "We need to get everybody going."

A satellite is only the launching point for Moon Express far-out vision. They are currently one of five finalists competing for the Google Lunar X Prize (GXLP), meaning they could win $20 million for further research and development if they manage to be the first privately funded company to accomplish soft-landing a robot on the moon, moving it at least 1,640 feet across its pockmarked surface and beaming back hi-res images and video. Because the award will expire if it remains unclaimed by the end of this year, Moon Express plans to have its lander take off with Rocket Labs Electron booster, though the launch date is still floating in space.

GXLP is just the first portal of opportunity. Next to launch in 2019 will be a robotic research outpost that will search the lunar south pole for water and other resources that could possibly fuel missions to Mars or a potential space station orbiting the moon. The year 2020 will see the first commercial sample-return mission to the moon and back. MX-1 is the lander that will make these missions and more happen. Moon Express wants to mass-produce and market the MX-1 as a solo lunar explorer and use it as the basis for designing orbiter, lander and deep-space models of the more complex MX-2, MX-5 and MX-9. More advanced spacecraft will increase payloads and rocket engine power that could potentially make missions to the moons of Mars, Venus and beyond more than just the stuff of sci-fi.

"We're not The Moon Express," Richards added. "We're Moon Express, so any moon will do."

While a ticket to the moon is likely to set you back more than even a first-class seat to your next Earthly vacation destination, the companys estimates show a drastic reduction in costs that may only keep plunging further with new innovations. Moon travel could even become a thing.

(via Space.com)

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How Moon Express is shooting way beyond the moon for space - Syfy - SYFY WIRE (blog)