Category Archives: Space Exploration

The millionaires leading mankind's march to space have a few things in common in particular, starry-eyedvisions of sending humans to the final frontier and galaxy-size bank accounts to launch their ideas into orbit.

But the motivation of Robert Bigelow who made millionsin the extended-stay motel industry then launched his own aerospace company is kind of, well, out there.

Bigelow told "60 Minutes reporter Lara Logan that not only is he absolutely convinced that aliens exist but that he and his family members have had personal experiences with beings from another planet.

He is, to quote dozens of alien movies, not alone. A Newsweek poll from 2015 showed that 54 percent of Americans believe in intelligent alien life.

But Bigelow is capable of pumping millions of dollars into testing histheories about spacecolonization and alien life forms.

He spoke about his beliefs and his motivations with Logan, who asked whether he believed that aliens have ever visited Earth.

There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence, he said. And I spent millions and millions and millions I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject.

By his own admission, it was millions that may not have been needed to make contact with beings from another planet.

You don't have to go anywhere, he said. " It's just like right under people's noses. Oh my gosh. Wow.

Whether people believe his claims doesn't really matter. He's used his own money some $290 million, he told "60 Minutes to form a company with a stylized alien logo to send things into space.

Last May, astronauts pumped up the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, a $17.8 million inflatable space beach ball that Bigelow hopes will be the future of space exploration.

CEO Elon Musk says SpaceX plans to fly two private citizens around the moon next year using a spaceship under development for NASA astronauts and a heavy-lift rocket that has not yet flown. (Reuters)

If it can survive the rigors of space, the modules could serve aswork spaces, labs and living quarters that are much wider than the narrow tube of a space shuttle.

The module was launched in 2016 and will be attached to the International Space Station for another year as NASA scientists test radiation levels and structural integrity.

As "60 Minutes reported: With no formal training in science or engineering, Robert Bigelow created an aerospace company with scientists and engineers that's achieved what no one else in the industry has done. His expandable spacecraft are the first and only alternative to the metal structures that have housed every astronaut in space for over half a century.

Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, told The Washington Post that Bigelow's inflatable module is a promising concept even if people think his claims about alien contact are dubious.

Shostak said he's talked with Bigelow several times over the yearsabout whether aliens are among us.

He asks the multimillionaire for the same thing he demands of other people who call with claims of close encounters: proof.

I think the evidence is very poor, and its usually witness testimony, Shostak said. No one would have ever proved relativity by proving how clever the relativity witnesses are.

Shostak said he is skeptical that aliens have visited Earth but notof the existence of aliens.

[Meet the latest multimillionaire with an out-of-this-world idea for space]

He told The Post that it's hard to believe that of the trillions of planets in our galaxy, there's only one with intelligent life. It's more likely, he thinks, that there's intelligent life that hasn't been detected by humans.

But Shostak said he is a scientist one who works in a field that has also been the target of intense skepticism. That means he's not ruling anything out yet or writing Bigelow off as an eccentric billionaire.

Not that Bigelow would care.

Near the end of the "60 Minutes interview, Logan asks the millionaire whether he's worried that people will think he's mentally unstable.

Is it risky for you to say in public that you believe in UFOs and aliens? she asks.

I don't give a damn, he replies. I don't care.

You don't worry that some people will say, 'Did you hear that guy, he sounds like he's crazy?'

I don't care, Bigelow repeated.

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This millionaire has a promising idea for space exploration. But he says aliens are already here. - Washington Post

Even though the Iranian government set a goal of sending a human into space by 2018, an Iranian news agency has reported that Tehran has dropped its human space exploration program, citing costs.

The Iranian government has decided to cancel its program for sending humans into space, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported that the countrys semi-official ILNA news agency broke the story.

In January 2013, Iran sent a monkey into space and stated that its goal is to send a person into space by 2018. However, it appears that this goal requires more funds than the government can allot. The AP report stated that the deputy head of the space organization told ILNA that the cost of the program was too high.

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Iran cancels human space exploration program - JerusalemOnline

The rocket that blasted into space from New Zealand on May 25 was special. Not only was it the first to launch from a private site, it was also the first to be powered by an engine made almost entirely using 3D printing. This might not make it the first 3D-printed rocket in space that some headlines described it as, but it does highlight how seriously this manufacturing technique is being taken by the space industry.

Members of the team behind the Electron rocket at US company RocketLab say the engine was printed in 24 hours and provides efficiency and performance benefits over other systems. Theres not yet much information out there regarding the exact details of the 3D-printed components. But its likely many of them have been designed to minimise weight while maintaining their structural performance, while other components may have been optimised to provide efficient fluid flow. These advantages reducing weight and the potential for complex new designs are a large part of why 3D printing is expected to find some of its most significant applications in space exploration, with dramatic effect.

One thing the set of technologies known as additive manufacturing or 3D printing does really well is to produce highly complicated shapes. For example, lattice structures produced in exactly the right way so that they weigh less but are just as strong as similar solid components. This creates the opportunity to produce optimised, lightweight parts that were previously impossible to manufacture economically or efficiently with more traditional techniques.

Boeings microlattice is an example of taking this to the extreme, supposedly producing mechanically sound structures that are 99.9% air. Not all 3D printing processes can achieve this, but even weight savings of a few percent in aircraft and spacecraft can lead to major benefits through the use of less fuel.

3D printing tends to work best for the production of relatively small, intricate parts rather than large, simple structures, where the higher material and processing costs would outweigh any advantage. For example, a redesigned nozzle can enhance fuel mixing within an engine, leading to better efficiency. Increasing the surface area of a heat shield by using a patterned rather than a flat surface can mean heat is transferred away more efficiently, reducing the chances of overheating.

The techniques can also reduce the amount of material wasted in manufacturing, important because space components tend to be made from highly expensive and often rare materials. 3D printing can also produce whole systems in one go rather than from lots of assembled parts. For example, NASA used it to reduce the components in one of its rocket injectors from 115 to just two. Plus, 3D printers can easily make small numbers of a part as the space industry often needs without first creating expensive manufacturing tools.

3D printers are also likely to find a use in space itself, where its difficult to keep large numbers of spare parts and hard to send out for replacements when youre thousands of kilometres from Earth. Theres now a 3D printer on the International Space Station so, if something breaks, engineers can send up a design for a replacement and the astronauts can print it out.

The current printer only deals with plastic so its more likely to be used for making tools or one-off replacements for low-performance parts such as door handles. But once 3D printers can more easily use other materials, were likely to see an increase in their uses. One day, people in space could produce their own food items and even biological materials. Recycling facilities could also enable broken parts to be reused to make the replacements.

Looking even further ahead, 3D printers could prove useful in building colonies. Places like the moon dont have much in the way of traditional building materials, but the European Space Agency has proven solar energy can power the production of bricks of lunar dust, which would be a good start. Researchers are now looking at how to use 3D printing to take this idea further and develop complete printed buildings on the moon.

To make many of these applications a reality, well need to research more advanced materials and processes that can manufacture components to withstand the extremely harsh conditions of space. Engineers also need to work on developing optimised designs and find ways of testing 3D printed parts to prove theyre safe. And then theres the irritating issue of gravity, or rather the lack of it. Many current processes use powders or liquids as their raw materials so were likely to need some clever tricks in order to make these function safely in a low or microgravity environment.

Some of these barriers may even require entirely new materials and techniques. But as research goes on, 3D printing is likely to be used more and more in space, even if a fully printed space vehicle isnt going to launch any time soon. The sky is no longer the limit.

Link:

A 3D-printed rocket engine just launched a new era of space exploration - The Conversation UK

In 1962, NASA launched the Mariner 2 probe past Venus, marking the first successful planetary flyby for the agency. It was done with an incredibly primitive computer that hardly fits the bill of anything we'd recognize today.

Each instrument worked on a tape loop, and the computer on board would run a sequence of commands based on an internal clock. It wasn't very sophisticated or easy to control. All input came from ground control, which could merely activate it to run certain pre-programmed sequences. (In fact, the lack of control led to the Mariner 1 craft's destruction when it failed to clock correctly.)

Later Mariner missions, which explored Mercury, Venus and Mars, were equipped with a very, very limited computer that was paired with the sequencer clocks. For instance, Mariner 8 could store data and run slightly more complex commands by kicking on sequencers in a cycle. Still, it only had about 100 commands it could understand based on a 512-word "vocabulary."

Chris Jones, a chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Motherboard it was similar to a diagnostic check. While making flight adjustments, for instance, it would check the spacecraft's orientation and position against what the sequencers were programmed to do, "and if they don't match abort, the burn and try again."

"It's brand new science"

The 1970s brought immense change to NASA. In 1971, the central processing unit became commercially available. It allowed something that computers had struggled with before: handling multiple commands at once. And it let NASA enter a golden era of exploration, one that continues today with the Voyager probes. These probes, launched in 1977, visited the outer solar system and are now on the fastest trajectories of any craft as they head into interstellar space. They also have some of the first CPUs ever used by NASA, enabling the agency to move beyond the sequencer.

It enables the agency to re-program the craft as needed using primitive assembly languages like Cobol, Fortran, and Algol. The ability to reprogram the craft helped it move beyond the outer solar system and toward measuring particles in interstellar space.

"It's brand new science," Jone said. "It's never been seen before, so the Voyager team wants to extend that as long as they can."

In the 1970s, NASA launched four crafts that would head to the outer planets, and eventually leave the solar system. Pioneers 10 and 11 left Earth in 1972, and Voyagers 1 and 2 in 1977. The five-year gap between Pioneer and Voyager, while small, made all the difference in the world as computing advanced at a fast clip.

The Pioneer-10 spacecraft in 1972. Image: NASA Ames/Wikimedia Commons

The Pioneer crafts still worked with the sequencer-and-computer architecture, meaning they could only run the commands on board set by NASA Ames on the ground. The computer itself wasn't rewriteable and still mostly steered the craft toward certain commands, like analyzing for cosmic rays and micro-meteors or tracking solar winds, along with returning the first close images of Jupiter and Saturn.

The Voyager craft, on the other hand, were the first fly-by missions to have computers on them as we think of them todayalbeit one only slightly less primitive than a Commodore 64. They could handle multiple commands, turn certain instruments on and off, and be fully reprogrammed. And, indeed, the need for programming and reprogramming the craft's onboard computers (even with their limited capabilities compared to today's machines) has been persistent in the 40 years they've been in space, flying out to distant stars.

The twin Voyager probes actually had three computers each, which are still functioning todayone for flight control, one for positioning of the craft, and another for the science payload, which is what transmits information on interstellar particles back to Earth. We'll be mostly concentrating on the science computer, called the Computer Command System, here.

The ability to write and rewrite code on the ground and reprogram the craft proved essential to Voyager's success

Jones was brought into the Voyager program at the beginning in 1973, when both Pioneer probes were already en route to Jupiter and Saturn. Jones previously worked on the later Mariner missions and understood their basic architecture, which was similar to Voyager's.

At that time, NASA was thinking even bigger. It wanted to do something no other agency had done: land an object on Mars. (The Soviets tried with Mars 2 and 3, both of which got there but neither of which were successful.) The Viking program was vital in our understanding of the red planetand it also boasted the first CPU-based computer on-board any NASA probe which helped it perform some of the first hunts for microbial life on another planet.

Read More: How Viking 1 Won the Martian Space Race

That system was put inside the hardware of the Mariner probe architecture, creating a machine that could understand 4,096 words instead of just a few, one that was fully rewriteable, and offered control of all of the instruments on board on an ongoing basis, meaning that for some problems, there were workarounds in the case of instrument errors. (And there were plenty.)

When the Voyagers were initially launched in 1977, their design was clear: it was a four-year mission to get to Saturn. Anything after that would need to be greenlit by the powers-that-be at NASA. Jones and his team helped position Voyager 2 toward Uranus after its 1981 Saturn encounter. The ability to write and rewrite code on the ground and reprogram the craft proved essential to its success. This can be especially challenging when trying to reach a bus-sized craft that's so far away it takes 17 hours for communication to reach it, even though the signals are blazing toward it at the speed of light.

"After we'd flown the two missions to Saturn, we were pretty good at adding new data modes and working around problems," Jones said. "We became more conscious of what it could and couldn't do, and we took advantage of that in the Uranus and Neptune flybys."

At least twice, the Voyager team sent commands to the crafts that fixed errors. In 1978, Voyager 1 had to be reprogrammed to free up three instruments stuck in place by a combination of hardware and stubborn software. The mission was saved from failure by the computer inside. The lessons on fixing the scan platform helped recover Voyager 2 after a camera became misaligned in 1981, which could have jeopardized the science of the craft during its Uranus encounter (and thus, its Neptune encounter too).

Artist concept of Voyager in flight. Image: NASA/JPL/Wikimedia Commons

40 years later this September, and still equipped with those computers armed with (very) primitive microprocessors, the Voyager crafts are headed in separate directions out of the solar system. Both are in interstellar space, beyond the energy fields (but not the gravity) of the Sun. Both, unlike the Pioneer missions, are still fully in contact with NASA and performing essential science. Pioneer 10 lost contact with Earth in 2003 and Pioneer 11 in 1995, both crafts having expended their available energy beyond the ability to communicate back to Earth in effect, because they weren't reprogrammable.

That requires a team of software engineers to continually reprogram the craft as it moves through unknown territory.

There aren't that many people left from the early days of Voyager, and the languages used to program it aren't widely taught today. The assembly languages it uses are now only found in remote areas of system architecture in computing, rather than in day-to-day programming.

This means that the Voyager team has to engage in retro-computing in order to get the craft to work continually and return science through at least the next half-decade, when the radiothermal gradiant power source may be too weak to keep the instruments online. They also have to troubleshoot the quirks that come with operating a 40-year-old computer that runs at 4 megahertz and is powered by a rapidly decaying radioactive "battery."

"They've learned some of the shortcuts and tricks that the original programmers used," Jones said. "It can turn a good day into a bad day if you stumble across one you didn't know."

The computing hardware used on the craft has long been supplanted by spaceships that use solid state memory instead of magnetic tape, and process information at gigahertz rather than low megahertz speeds. The Voyager crafts may be old, primitive, and at time clunky to work with, but above it all they endure.

And it's all thanks to a computer slower than some of the early desktop personal computers.

Subscribe to Science Solved It , Motherboard's new show about the greatest mysteries that were solved by science.

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How the Humble CPU Launched NASA's Golden Age of Space ... - Motherboard

Press Release

May 28th, 2017

Image Credit: Coalition for Deep Space Exploration

COALITION FOR DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION WELCOMES THE RELEASE OF THE FULL FY18 PRESIDENTS BUDGET REQUEST FOR NASA

WASHINGTON, D.C. The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration (Coalition) welcomes the release of the full Presidents Budget Request for NASA for Fiscal Year 2018, which builds on the information first released in March highlighting funding requests for NASAs exploration, science, and space operations programs. The budget requests $19.092 billion for NASA overall a little more than $560 million below the FY 2017 Omnibus level that was signed into law earlier this month but a significant increase above the prior Administrations final request for NASA in FY 2017.

The Coalition is encouraged by the relatively strong funding levels for key exploration, human spaceflight[,] and science programs across the agency, especially compared to requested levels for other non-defense agencies in FY 2018, said Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar, Executive Director of the Coalition. Although overall funding levels are lower than the FY 2017 Omnibus levels, the Coalition recognizes that much of the planning for the FY 2018 Presidents Budget Request was completed prior to the negotiation and passage of the final Omnibus earlier this month. We are optimistic that the Administration and Congress will work together using the higher FY 2017 Omnibus levels as the basis for the development of the FY 2018 appropriations bill for NASA.

The Coalition appreciates the funding requested for NASAs key exploration programs, including its next-generation deep space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), crewed spacecraft, Orion, and associated Exploration Ground Systems, as well as for key exploration mission capabilities funded under the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) account. AES is developing technologies for deep space habitation via NASAs NextSTEP program, as well as deep space propulsion, lunar lander capabilities and other systems that will enable robust Exploration Missions. Some of these technologies notably those leading to a habitat, together with a propulsion module are components of NASAs planned Deep Space Gateway.

The Deep Space Gateway and other systems intended for the area around the Moon are part of a large-scale, in-space infrastructure that will open space to exploration and development, Dittmar said. This superhighway to space begins with SLS, Orion[,] and Exploration Ground Systems. Taken together, all of these programs will return NASA astronauts to deep space for the first time in nearly 50 years and will enable a range of compelling missions to strengthen Americas leadership in space.

The Coalition also applauds the requested funding for the James Webb Space Telescope, Mars 2020 and Europa mission[s], as well as a range of important astrophysics, heliophysics, and other space science programs. As the only country in the world to visit every planet in the Solar System, as well as to deploy the unique telescopes capable of detecting exoplanets and understand the formation of our universe, the United States must continue to invest in these groundbreaking science programs. We continue to support funding for the International Space Station (ISS), which is Americas testbed platform for exploration research including long-duration crewed mission and life support systems necessary to support such deep space missions as well as the cargo and crew transportation necessary to support the ISS.

We note with concern the flat out-year spending levels in this budget for most NASA programs, as well as the elimination of NASAs education office. It is imperative that NASAs topline and key program areas continue to grow, at or above the rate of inflation, to ensure no net decrease in the agencys resources to continue Americas leadership in space. Similarly, NASAs education efforts have engaged hundreds of thousands of students over the years, drawing students into careers in STEM that contribute to American security and global competitiveness.

The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration is a national organization of more than 70 space industry businesses and advocacy groups focused on ensuring the United States remains a leader in space, science, and technology. Based in Washington D.C., the Coalition engages in outreach and education reinforcing the value and benefits of human space exploration and space science with the public and our nations leaders, building lasting support for a long-term, sustainable, strategic direction for our nations space program.

###

MEDIA CONTACT Lauren Quesada Griffin Communications Group (832) 864-7224; Lauren@GriffinCG.com

Tagged: Coalition for Deep Space Exploration NASA Press Release The Range

The preceding is a press or news release either issued by one of the space agencies or by an aerospace firm or organization. The views expressed in the above post do not necessarily reflect those of SpaceFlight Insider.

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Coalition for Deep Space Exploration welcomes FY18 NASA budget - SpaceFlight Insider

President John F. Kennedy was in office less than three years before his tenure came to an abrupt and bloody end. He didn't live to see the impact of his presidency, or to fulfill all he set out to accomplish when he entered the White House in 1961.

Kennedy came into office in 1961 at age 43, the youngest president ever to take office and the first Catholic president.Succeeding Dwight Eisenhower, the oldest president elected since James Buchanan in 1857, Kennedy brought a dose of youthfulness and energy to the job.

He entered office at a dynamic time, both at home and abroad. He was the first peacetime president in more than two decades, but Kennedy inherited Cold War tensions, a sluggish economy and simmering social unrest.

In his inaugural address, Kennedy acknowledged the profound challenges that lay ahead. The world is very different now," he said. "For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.

In the speech, he expressed hope for peace, but also welcomed his generations role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. It was a responsibility that Kennedy took to heart and one that quickly led him into perhaps the biggest blunder of his presidency.

Just four months into his first term, Kennedy signed off on a plan to oust Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The U.S. provided training and supplies to Cuban exiles who were supposed to swiftly invade Cuba through the Bay of Pigs and topple its communist leader. Instead, the rebels found themselves outgunned and lacking critical intelligence. Their surrender was an embarrassment to Kennedy and a blemish on his early record in office.

But the president rebounded quickly. The following month he delivered an unexpected State of the Union address, recalibrating in the wake of his failure.

In the speech, which he said was warranted by the "extraordinary challenge" of upholding freedom, Kennedy laid out a vision of using aid and other peaceful measures to stanch the spread of communism.

No amount of arms and armies can help stabilize those governments which are unable or unwilling to achieve social and economic reform and development, he said.

Kennedy also unveiled in the famous speech one of the most ambitious plans of his presidency: to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. He framed the project as a response to Soviet space achievements (they had sent the first man to space the previous month) and a way to sway the minds of men everywhere, who are attempting to make a determination of which road they should take.

The speech was not a turning point, but his success, months later, in steering the U.S. from the brink of nuclear war, certainly was. in October 1962 Kennedy managed to strike a deal with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that prevented the installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States. The Soviets nixed their plan in exchange for the United States removal of missiles from Turkey. Kennedy's ability to appear cool and level-headed amid such a high-stakes crisis bolstered his image on the international stage.

Meanwhile, Kennedy was also navigating the growing conflict in Laos and Vietnam, which were steadily falling into the sphere of communist influence. He aimed for a measured approach, boosting U.S. aid and military presence in the region, without entering U.S. forces into combat.

They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam against the Communists, he said, adding that he also did not believe the U.S. should withdraw. We also have to participatewe may not like itin the defense of Asia.

On the domestic front, Kennedy found himself the target of criticism from both civil rights proponents and segregationists who were engaged in a fiery fight over the future of America. Though he ran on a pro-civil rights platform, once elected, he was reluctant to push too hard or too early for legislation that would dismantle the country's system of racial inequality.

Civil rights leaders were particularly critical of Kennedys appointment of southern conservatives to federal judgeships and his failure to introduce a civil rights bill early in his presidency.

But Kennedy did use his powers to intervene in several high-profile instances, most notably the integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962. Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort a black student, James Meredith, into the school amid massive protests that later turned violent. Months earlier, he had ratcheted up his rhetoric, framing civil rights as a moral issue as old as the Scriptures and as clear as the American Constitution.

He finally submitted a civil rights bill toward the end of 1963 but died before its passage.

He did live long enough, however, to see other significant goals accomplished. During his tenure, the U.S., U.K. and Soviet Union agreed to limit nuclear testing after Kennedy andKhrushchev entered into negotiations in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis.Though he died before Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew landed on the moon, making his vision a reality, Kennedy did live to see John Glenn orbit the earth. He was also able to watch the rapiddevelopment of the Peace Corp., which he established by executive order in 1961. In its first years, hundreds of Americans traveled to developing countries, bringing with them Kennedys vision of peace, friendship and servicea vision he consistently hammered in his major addresses.

In his final speech, which he never had the chance to deliver, Kennedy was to tout Americas strength, but emphasize that strength should only be used in the pursuit of peace.

We ask ... that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility," Kennedy was set to say at Trade Mart in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, according to the prepared text. " and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, good will toward men.'"

Published at 11:40 AM PDT on May 26, 2017 | Updated at 12:45 PM PDT on May 26, 2017

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JFK's 1036 Days in Office: From Space Exploration to the Bay of Pigs - NBC Bay Area

In the opening pages of his seminal 1988 work A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking has a cause for concern. It has certainly been true in the past that what we call intelligence and scientific discovery have conveyed a survival advantage. It is not so clear that this is still the case: our scientific discoveries may well destroy us all, and even if they dont, a complete unified theory may not make much difference to our chances of survival.

The search for a singular theory that explains the cosmos, our place in it, where we are going, and why we are here troubles the professor. As scientists continue to come up short in their efforts to explain the grander reality of the universe, while contendingwith the development of technology at an inconceivably fast rate, the overarching feeling towards the future is one of anxiety, it seems.

It should be of no surprise to hear then, that Hawkings anxieties have grown; so much so that he believes the human race must leave Earth and find a new planetary home within the next 100 years. Speaking at The Royal Society in London ahead of Starmus IV, a science and music festival set to take place next month in Trondheim, Norway, the professor said: I strongly believe we should start seeking alternative planets for possible habitation. We are running out of space on Earth and we need to break through technological limitations preventing us living elsewhere in the universe.

The professor has previously stated that we need to leave planet Earth within the next 1,000 years, but his recent estimation of 100 years adds a new layer of urgency to his claims.

He will expand on this issue in Trondheim, accompanied by the likes of Buzz Aldrin and various Nobel Prize winners, some of who are thought to share this belief. Viewers of the BBCs new series Tomorrows World too will find these remarks reiterated by Hawking. For many, it may seem inconceivable to leave our planetary abode so soon, if at all. It must therefore be asked: is the concern warranted?

A central issue cited by Hawking is climate change, not least because of the overwhelming evidence pointing towards global warming, but also because of the anti-science movement that takes climate change to be a hoax. US President Donald Trumps administration has repeatedly threatened withdrawal from the Paris Agreement a move that, if carried through, would severely hamper the international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep global temperature rises this century at well below 2 degrees Celsius.

However, Nobel Laureate Edvard Moser, who was also present at The Royal Society, may have succinctly summed up the appropriate response to climate change deniers. Speaking on the critical importance of clear science communication, Moser said: I think what it comes down to is explaining how the data of climate change has been collected and how the scientific process works, and how data is tested over and over again and I think its an educational job.

At a time when establishment ideas and opinions are under scrutiny, Mosers focus on education is perhaps what the professor too would like to encourage within public discourse. You have to explain to the public how science works, said Moser.

And what of artificial intelligence? At various times, Hawking has deemed the rise of artificial intelligence an existential threat. Autonomous robots may prove to be more efficient than humans in certain capacities, with the automation of factories making people redundant an oft-referred to indicator of this. The rise of powerful AI will either be the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity. We do not yet know which, Hawking has said.

But there is a third option, one in which artificial intelligence doesnt take up a Manichean good or evil position. Instead, it continues on as a tool for societal and cultural evolution. Indeed, it isthe unprecedented development of AI and other technologies that will make Hawkings desire of multi-planetary life a pragmatic possibility.

This brings me to his contention that we should start seeking alternative planets for possible habitation. Though the recent discovery of Earth-like exoplanets, particularly those orbiting the dwarf star Trappist-1, has fuelled some speculation about the possibility of life beyond the Solar System, the most obvious Planet B for humanity has been Mars. Hawking himself has referred to it as the obvious next target.

The most notable mission to take humans to Mars comes from Space Xs Elon Musk, whose Interplanetary Transport System hopes to take a million people to the red planet within the next 20 years. But it seems Musks ambitions to make the human race a space-faring civilisation come from a slightly different place to that of Hawkings.

In a recent conversation with TEDs Head Curator Chris Anderson, Musk was probed on why we need to build a city on Mars. If the future does not include being out there among the stars, and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing, he said. Depressing indeed. Journeying to Mars will not only increase the likelihood of humanitys survival, but it will also offer the chance to search for extra-terrestrial life. The development of artificial intelligence can support our desires to create new colonies and food sources on Mars, to understand terrain other than our own and to move one step closer to knowing whether we are truly alone in space.

Hawkings pessimism is understandable. The planet is taking on a number of new challenges that it is yet to overcome: overpopulation, antibiotic resistance, overdue asteroid strikes, terrorism, resource depletion and more. The list of threats may be endless.

What cannot be allowed to happen is for humanity to succumb to that pessimism and fear. Of course, these issues will take a lifetime to counter, and many of Hawkings contemporaries understand this and share a deep concern for the future of the planet. But as the innovators and predictors of the future, it is the scientists who must maintain optimism about the world that humans can create for themselves. As Musk points out, its important to have a future that is inspiring and appealing.

In a hundred years time, we may still be searching for a unified theory of the universe. We most probably will have a new set of challenges to face. But with a radical rethink of scientific education and inspiration, perhaps one day the human race will feela lot more optimistic about its future on two planets.

Read more from the original source:

Will it be Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk who is proved right on space exploration? - New Statesman

If you look back over my previous Space Matter columns, I talk about going to Mars like its an inevitabilityand to me, it is. Whether its NASA or SpaceX or another private company that gets us there first, humans will set foot on Mars in the next two decades.

But when that will happen is harder to predict. And recent news from NASA hasnt been encouraging.

NASA has been developing a new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), which, when finished, will be the most powerful rocket ever constructed. It will be the rocket that takes NASAs astronauts to Mars. Theyre also simultaneously working on a crew vehicle, Orion, that returns to the capsule technology of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo after testing out something new with the Space Shuttle. Orion wont take a crew all the way to Mars; the interior space is much to small to support a crew for the nine-month journey to the red planet.

The Mars Curiosity rover takes a self-portrait on Mars (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

Instead, the organization envisions a deep space transport system that will make multiple journeys to and from Mars, ferrying crew and equipment between our sister planet and the Moon. Thats right, were going to establish a lunar base It wont be occupied full time, unlike the International Space Station, but it will provide a jumping-off point for further exploration of the solar system. Orion will ferry astronauts to this Moon base, and the organization will construct it in space using SLSs lift power. NASA plans to begin this process in 2023but I wouldnt count on that date. Given recent announcements from the organization, that is likely too aggressive of a timeline.

Two weeks ago, a collective groan went around the science and space communities, as NASA announced that the first test flight of the SLS rocket (with Orion atop it) would be delayedagain. The sort-of-original plan, back in 2016, was for a tentative November 2018 launch. As whispers grew that NASA couldnt meet that commitment, and the launch would be pushed into 2019, back in February the president asked NASA to research the feasibility of putting crew aboard EM-1. Now, while there has always been a plan to have an Orion capsule aboard the first SLS test launch, NASA wasnt planning on putting astronauts aboard for multiple reasons, mainly because the life support systems wouldnt be ready. I always thought it was a terrible idea while the idea of getting humans into space sooner was exciting (after all, the United States hasnt been able to launch our own astronauts into space since the retirement of the Shuttle fleet in 2012), putting astronauts aboard the first test flight of the most powerful rocket ever constructed seemed like a terrible idea.

The EM-1 heat shield for Orion is unloaded at Cape Canaveral for processing (Image credit: NASA/Dimitri Derondidakis)

Thankfully, NASA decided that, while it was technically possible to upgrade the components of the EM-1 mission to accommodate a crew, it was better that the mission be unmanned as originally planned. Howeverand this is the real disappointmentthe launch date will slip regardless into 2019. We knew there would be a delay if a crew was added to the EM-1 mission, but to have an additional delay with the same unmanned mission is a real blow. This, in turn, means that the actual crewed mission of EM-2, currently scheduled for late 2021, will likely be delayed as well.

Its hard not the be disappointed by thisafter all, SLS, first announced in 2010, has been riddled with delays (the original scheduled launch date was in 2016), and it seems like every step forward comes with additional pushes on key dates. The cost of SLS has become astronomically highthe program total is estimated at over $20 billion, and each launch will cost about $500 millionand its more than enough to make a person wonder why NASA is expending so many resources developing its own rocket when private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing their own more efficiently and inexpensively.

But this brings us back to the original pointwhen will we actually get to Mars? While Elon Musks plans are aggressive (a little too aggressive, most likely), NASAs projections dont have astronauts launching to Mars until 2033. Before that would come shorter duration missions, culminating in a 300-400 day test run of the deep space transport system in 2029, just to work out all the kinks.

SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on another successful mission, Inmarsat-5 (Image credit: SpaceX)

Knowing NASA (though its important to note that these delays arent all NASAs faultEric Berger over at Ars Technica has written a must-read piece on why the Senate is actually at fault here), its unlikely they will be able to reach these targets. The question is, how long will the delays stretch? Will SpaceX and Blue Origin actually beat NASA to Mars?

Top photo: SpaceX, CC-BY

Swapna Krishna is a freelance writer, editor and giant space/sci-fi geek.

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Space Matter: When Are We Going to Mars? :: Science :: Features ... - Paste Magazine

How one of the big questions about a potential space age was answered.

These baby mice were born from sperm flown aboard the International Space Station for about nine months. Image credits: Teruhiko Wakayama.

If we want to discuss long-term space travel or some sort of colonization, theres one thing which always comes up: reproduction. Were good at that on Earth (perhaps even too good, Id say), but can we do it in outer space or on Mars? This isnt just some random question, we genuinely dont have a good idea how reproduction is affected by low-gravity and increased radiation. Well, according to a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we shouldnt worry too much about that: researchers usedfreeze-dried sperm stored on the International Space Station (for nine months), and it produced healthy offspring. While this doesnt necessarily mean the same applies to humans, its quite promising.

Kris Lehnhardt, a physician at George Washington University who specializes in emergency and extreme-environment medicine comments on how much we dont know about these aspects:

We really dont know any of the things that we need to know to say that human reproduction in space is going to be successful or safe, he says. Its not been studied in much detail.

No one has really had sex in outer space (not officially, at least), so we dont really know how that works. With all this in mind,developmental biologist Teruhiko Wakayamawanted to answer some of the questions regarding the safety of reproduction in outer space.

We found that only a few studies were performed about mammalian reproduction in space, and most of them showed no clear results due to the difficulty of taking the mice or rat into space, says Wakayama, of Japans University of Yamanashi.

Whats really interesting is that this happened although the sperm itself did show some evidence of DNA damage. This indicates some intriguing resilience, but its also worrying: If we are to travel to Mars or beyond, there would be even more radiation, doing likely even more damage.

The radiation exposures that are reported in the paper are nowhere near the level of the radiation exposures that are going to be experienced once we travel beyond the protection of the Van Allen belt, Joe Tash of the University of Kansas Medical Center told National Geographic, referring to another layer of radiation shielding thats wrapped around Earth and that envelops the ISS.

The findings arent necessarily surprising. Astronauts go on the ISS all the time, and they can still have babies. Even those who spend lengthy periods there and even go out for spacewalks and are exposed to extra radiation do quite fine. Still, sperm is one of the most vulnerable cells, and if something were to go wrong (such as too much exposure to radiation), thats pretty much the first place youd look for damage. However, this still doesnt tell us anything about how microgravity and increased radiation affect conception (done the old fashioned way), pregnancy, fetal development, or even giving birth. Could we safely have space babies? Thats an open question.

Now, Wakayama wants to try the other thing: send somefertilized mouse eggs to the ISS and see how they fare, as well as try similar things with cryo-preserved human sperm (not fertilize someone, just take it to outer space, bring it back, and study it).

Journal Reference:Sayaka Wakayama et al Healthy offspring from freeze-dried mouse spermatozoa held on the International Space Station for 9 months.doi: 10.1073/pnas.1701425114

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Mouse space sperm could pave a new era of space exploration - ZME Science

Invoking President Donald Trump several times during his first-ever State of NASA address on Tuesday, acting director Robert Lightfoot announced which science programs hes suggesting be cut for the space agencys 2018 fiscal budget.

Here the five Earth science missions being terminated:

1. Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3): This one hasnt launched.

2. Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE): Hasnt launched.

3. Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Pathfinder (CLARREO PF): Hasnt launched.

4. The Radiation Budget Instrument (RBI): A troubled project.

5. DSCOVR Earth-viewing instruments: The Deep Space Climate Observatory program will be shut down.

Theres still 18 good space missions going and several airborne missions going to support the science side of the house, so Im excited about that, said Lightfoot, whos been at the agency since 1989 but became acting director after its previous chief, Charles Bolden, resigned on inauguration day.

The cuts to science missions were expected, as was the elimination of NASAs office of education, but Lightfoot attempted to put a positive spin on the news thatll be hard to take for many at the agency.

[The budget] also no longer supports a formal office of education, but I think well continue to inspire that next generation; its what we do, Lightfoot said from the podium at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He continued, Let me tell you, were committed as we always have been to inspiring that next generation with what we do.

Lightfoot said that NASA will now look for new ways to engage with the public absent a formal office to do that.

And were going to engage the public in the compelling stories of what were trying to do in the missions were trying to create and making those things that are impossible, possible, he said, adding later, were actually gonna take a good, hard look; use this opportunity for NASA to revisit how we do public outreach and public engagement.

Lightfoot brought up the president on two separate occasions:

Over the last couple months weve had the president really recognize the work were doing, he said. It was pretty amazing to be there [when Trump did an uplink to the ISS]. That was pretty neat. This was the same event where Trump made his Mars 2024 comment.

Later, the NASA director recalled Trumps speech when he championed American exploration of space. The president said, American footprints on distant worlds are not too big of a dream. And were executing programs step-by-step to make this dream a reality, Lightfoot said.

Lightfoots official remarks (not the speech) offered this projection for exploration:

Working with commercial partners, NASA will fly astronauts from American soil on the first new crew transportation systems in a generation in the next couple of years. We are continuing the development of solar electric propulsion for use on future human and robotic missions. NASA is fabricating and assembling the systems to launch humans into lunar orbit by 2023. Our budget request supports progress toward these and many other major milestones as part of the diverse portfolio of work we execute as we explore, discover, and develop on behalf of the American people.

The presidents vision for NASA is to turn up the exploration, and turn down the planetary, climate-studying science. NASA estimates the budget 2018 budget to be $19.1 billion, less than the $19.6 billion in 2017, and the $19.2 billion in 2016. Dig into the budget for yourself at nasa.gov/budget.

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Trump's Vision of NASA: Space Exploration in, Earth Science Out - Inverse