Category Archives: Space Travel

They might be the tools of the bad guys, but you have to admit the spaceships and vehicles of Avatar look awesome.

Despite the daily who cares about Avatar posts on social media that have been a thing for roughly a decade now, James Camerons big original sci-fi universe is alive and kicking, with Avatar 2 and 3 already shot and deep in post-production. The first of the five planned sequels is set to finally arrive on December 16, 2022; the second one has occupied a slot on December 20, 2024. Disneys current plan for Christmas moviegoing, starting next year, is to alternate between big Avatar and Star Wars releases (so you might want to catch up on the Star Wars movies in chronological order)... but well see whether that sticks or not.

On top of that, the folks at Ubisofts Massive Entertainment have been developing a sprawling open-world Avatar game for a while. The game, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, was officially unveiled earlier this year, and aims to hit next-gen consoles and PC in 2022 just in time for the new movie if development doesnt hit any unexpected obstacles. The (meaty) debut trailer already teased the return of plenty of creatures, spaceships, and vehicles of Avatar from the original movie, and well likely be discovering more of those as marketing ramps up next year.

Plenty has been said for over a decade about Pandoras natives and the real science of Avatar. Moreover, the moons bestiary has been equally studied and detailed by both Camerons team and the legions of diehard fans. However, we feel that most of the spaceships and vehicles of Avatar were generally taken for granted theyre quite intricate and worth discussing as well. Lets go over the movies most striking machines and their backgrounds. And, while youre at it, check out the other coolest spaceships in sci-fi too.

Watch Avatar on Disney Plus

The first man-made creation we see in the movie is the most important of the spaceships and vehicles of Avatar; the Interstellar Vehicle Venture Star (ISV) is one of ten interstellar spaceships used for the looping Earth Pandora supply chain. It kind of looks like a space station, and thats because it was designed to operate only in deep space; shuttle-like ships called Valkyries (more on them below) are the vehicles that actually land on Pandoras surface. As stated in the movie, the trip between Earth and Pandora takes more than five years, so each Venture Star carries a substantial amount of cargo and over 100 passengers, plus four crew members who also hit the sack in cryosleep for the entirety of the trip.

The Venture Star covers the 4.37 light years of distance between Earth and the Alpha Centauri system in an expected timeframe of 6.75 years an initial acceleration takes place for about six months, reaching 0.7 times the speed of light. That speed is then maintained for nearly six years until the ship decelerates with another months-long process.

Unobtanium, the extremely valuable mineral only found on Pandora, is key to the construction of these spacecraft, as it helps contain the matter-antimatter reactions needed to space-travel within reasonable time frames. While there is obviously a fair bit of artistic license here, it's an entirely plausible set-up. We've recently spotted a potentially habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A

The Valkyrie SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit)-TAV-37 B-class shuttlecraft is, as stated above, of utmost importance to the Resources Development Administrations (RDA) operations on Pandora theyre the ships which offload new personnel, armed troops, and Earth-manufactured machinery and supplies. On the trip back home, around 25 tons of refined unobtanium can be fit inside. Two Valkyries are carried by each ISV Venture Star.

While these vessels are designed mainly for transport activities, some are left on Pandora and later re-purposed to serve as automated gas harvesters that skim through Polyphemus (the planet which Pandora orbits around) upper atmosphere to obtain the anti-hydrogen and deuterium used to refuel ISV spacecrafts. As seen in Avatar, Valkyries also have vertical take-off and landing capabilities and can even be used for military operations despite their massive size and limited maneuverability.

The Mitsubishi (yes, really) MK-6 Amplified Mobility Platform (or AMP suit) is arguably the most iconic of the spaceships and vehicles of Avatar and a memorable mech design that has clearly had a big influence on subsequent works of science fiction. Its heavily featured throughout the flick, and plays a key role in the final confrontation between Jake Sully and main baddie Colonel Quaritch.

The official description says its a distant descendant of the first military exoskeletons used on Earth in the mid-21st century. The MK-6 AMP was improved over the decades and after its use in a myriad of theaters of war plus the Moon and Mars colonies. The Navi, the inhabitants of Pandora, often refer to this menacing machine as shield that walks. Its multi-purpose design, with human-like limbs, allows it to effectively replicate (and amplify) the functions of infantry soldiers.

The C-21 Dragon Assault Ship only appears in the film during the attacks on the Omaticaya Hometree (which is completely destroyed) and, later, the Tree of Souls, but it gets plenty of screen time. Its a heavy gunship used for full-scale military operations, or as support during smaller incursions into hostile territory; its specs make it the most powerful non-nuclear weapon on Pandora.

Unsurprisingly, the Dragons size and heavy armor make it slower and less maneuverable than the SA-2 Samson and AT-99 Scorpion (more on those later). It makes up for its movement-related shortcomings with a vast array of heavy machine guns, dozens of rocket and missile pods, and the possibility of using complements of door-gunners. Fans of James Camerons filmography might make a clear connection between the Dragons design and that of the Colonial Marines dropships in Aliens (a movie worthy of a top spot on our Alien movies, ranked worst to best list).

Another impressive example of the spaceships and vehicles of Avatar, the Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson are ducted-fan crafts that can be easily mistaken for Scorpion Gunships from afar. The Samson stands out as the main workhorse of RDA operations on Pandora thanks to its cargo-carrying capabilities, detachable rocket pods, and side-door guns.

Trial runs in Antarctica, the Himalayas, and Honduras proved the Samson could fly well in difficult atmospheres and/or extreme temperatures with minimal maintenance work needed. When the RDA started preparing large-scale operations for Pandora, the Samsons reliability and sturdiness made it the ideal candidate for everyday operations in uncharted alien territories.

It looks like the Samson takes its real world inspiration from a couple of different helicopters - namely the Boeing AH-64 Apache and the Bell UH-1 Iroquois aka the Huey, which played a huge role in the Vietnam war that Avatar takes some of its inspirations from.

The gunship of choice on Pandora, the AT-99 Scorpion Gunship packs impressive frontal firepower without sacrificing the Samsons iconic speed and agility. As a result, cargo-carrying capacity and side-door guns are gone in this ducted-fan craft design, plus a single pilot must coordinate everything that happens inside and outside the vehicle. They are mainly used to escort shuttle landings and take-offs, and to provide close-air fire support during military and mining operations.

Additional background information explains that the Scorpion Gunship was originally built for use on Earth as terrorists and insurgents had gained access to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weaponry to counter drones and other combat machines. While the machines combat hulls and external electronics were hardened against EMP weapons, the central processing units (CPUs) remained vulnerable, so a human solution was needed the RDA quickly realized that, even on Pandora, manned attack crafts were needed to negate the short-circuiting woes that came with CPUs, as all machinery on the newly-colonized, distant moon was required to last for as long as possible.

Its safe to assume that James Cameron and his team, plus Massives artists, have already come up with many cool new vehicular designs for their upcoming Pandora-set projects, so expect to see slight variations of these vehicles and spacecrafts starting next year.

Wed be surprised if all-new designs didnt make a splash, too. Avatars universe, which is expected to expand beyond the landscapes of Pandora that weve already seen, is almost a blank canvas itd be nice to get some new vehicles that dont resemble military aircrafts or mechs, but that will depend on what (and how big) the human presence is in the upcoming sequels. For now, the Navi have kicked all the bad Earthlings back to their home planet and are quite happy with their non-mechanical flying mountain banshees (ikran), thank you very much.

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The spaceships and vehicles of Avatar - Space.com

Things are heating up in space in more ways than one. Recently, Russia conducted an anti-satellite (ASAT) test and launched a missile at one of its old spy satellites. The explosion hurtled debris through space, forcing the crew of the International Space Station to take shelter in a spacecraft for protection. ASAT tests are a growing threat to satellites, but theyre not the only threat. Gen. David Thompson of U.S. Space Force told The Washington Post that Russia and China are launching attacks on U.S. satellites every day using digital attacks, lasers, and radio frequency jamming.

The rise in satellites, rockets and shuttles is creating an expanded attack surface. Just like transportation, energy, and other vital industries, space systems need protection. And while we probably wont see civilians launching into space anytime soon, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are making such travel more feasible by the day. A proposed bill in the U.S. House of Representatives the Space Infrastructure Act would designate space as a critical infrastructure sector. It would be a good first step.

Given how much equipment is in space and how dependent we are on it, it makes sense to classify it as critical infrastructure. There are more than 6,500 satellites in orbit; a record 1,283 launched in 2020 alone. They are integral to cellular communications, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, monitoring weather and climate, managing Internet of Things systems for agriculture, and keeping energy and other critical infrastructure running. And this infrastructure is disconcertingly fragile.

Outages have widespread, cascading, and potentially catastrophic consequences. One disabled satellite can affect vast networks on earth, leaving regions without cellular and other services. This makes them attractive targets for malicious attackers. The risk is so great that the director of the Defense Departments Space Development Agency has cited cyber attacks against satellites as a greater threat than missiles.

The threat is not theoretical

Attacks have been going on for many years and have recently ramped up. In 2018, hackers infected U.S. computers that control satellites. Iranian hacking groups tried to trick satellite companies into installing malware in 2019. And one report concluded that Russia has been hacking the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and sending spoofed navigation data to thousands of ships, throwing them off course. While there havent been any public reports of direct hacks on satellites, vulnerabilities in ground stations have been exploited to try to alter satellite flight paths, among other aims.

There are a number of ways satellites can be attacked. Hackers could compromise ground control systems to take control of space equipment remotely or inject malware into communications between terrestrial computers and satellites. They can spoof, or snoop on communications for espionage purposes, or disrupt signals. Imagine a weather data outage during a hurricane or data glitches that lead to power blackouts or supply chain delays. The economic costs would be vast. A cyber attack on the Global Positioning System alone could cost the U.S. $1 billion a day, according to Brian Scott, director of critical infrastructure cybersecurity for the National Security Council.

Federal initiatives are a good starting point

Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are taking notice of this fast-growing threat. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act established a new military branch Space Force. Meanwhile, President BidenJoe BidenHouse Democratic campaign arm outraises GOP counterpart in final quarter of 2021 Putin's 'Brezhnev Doctrine' involving Ukraine could backfire Rising inflation adds pain to student loan debt MORE is reviewing the first comprehensive cybersecurity policy for space systems, dubbed Space Policy Directive 5. It requires capabilities to prevent jamming and spoofing of communications and unauthorized access of equipment in orbit.

The Space Infrastructure Act, proposed by U.S. Reps. Ted LieuTed W. LieuSpace race needs better cybersecurity Buttigieg touts supply achievements at ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach In their own words: Lawmakers, staffers remember Jan. 6 insurrection MORE (D-Calif.) and Ken CalvertKenneth (Ken) Stanton CalvertMORE (R-Calif.) this summer, is another key measure that would put space on par with other industries by classifying it as a critical infrastructure domain. This move would enable more private and public collaboration on cybersecurity for space assets.

One critical infrastructure sector that has dealt with similar cybersecurity concerns is transportation. Transportation operators that have invested in IT security measures have taken first steps, but efforts are on the rise to bolster proactive risk management that demonstrate a more complete understanding of infrastructure security. Under DHS Secretary Alejandro MayorkasAlejandro MayorkasSpace race needs better cybersecurity Overnight Energy & Environment Biden officialsannounceclean energy plans DHS unveils effort to recruit climate change professionals MORE, the TSA has introduced regulations that urge operators to appoint a cybersecurity coordinator, report incidents to CISA within 24 hours, complete vulnerability assessments within information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems, and develop an incident response plan based on security issues discovered.

Another critical infrastructure that has work to do is the U.S. military. The Government Accountability Office released reports in 2018 and 2021 chiding the DOD for the poor to non-existent cybersecurity protection on its most critical fleet assets, ranging from fighter jets to tanks to aircraft carriers. These systems were never designed with cybersecurity requirements. As these systems have become more networked and interconnected, the DODhas an enormous, latent problem on its hands that its only beginning to grapple with.

Other steps to take

These initiatives addressing cybersecurity in space are important, but more is needed to get ahead of the cybersecurity problems while the market is still relatively nascent.

With SpaceX, Amazon, and others launching new satellites weekly and commercial space travel on the horizon, the stakes will only get higher if we dont work to secure these systems.

Satellites arent just communication equipment; they are infrastructure we rely on to keep our hospitals open, streets lit, internet on, food delivered and emergency systems working. Its time to make security for these systems a national priority before a disaster strikes.

Josh Lospinoso is an ex-Army sergeant and Oxford-educated cybersecurity expert who is CEO and co-founder of Shift5, which protects planes, trains and tanks from cyber threats.

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Space race needs better cybersecurity | TheHill - The Hill

Rolls-Royce has moved a team onto Space Park Leicester to push forward its work on nuclear power for space travel.

The engineering giant has taken space in the new 100 million facility which was launched as a breeding ground for out-of-this-world tech by bringing together industry and academia.

Rolls-Royce is reported to be the only UK company focussing on the line of work and staff with a pedigree in nuclear power will collaborate with new space park head Professor Richard Ambrosi, Professor of Space Instrumentation and Space Nuclear Power Systems at University of Leicester and other experts in space science.

Last January, Rolls-Royce signed a contract with the UK Space Agency to study future nuclear power options for space exploration.

Abi Clayton, director for future programmes at Rolls-Royce, which is headquartered in Derby, said: Having the opportunity to have a presence at Space Park Leicester allows us to be close to the action.

Its also incredibly inspiring to work among scientists from the University of Leicester and representatives from space-related companies.

Our innovative integrated electric power and thermal management solutions will work alongside our novel nuclear technologies, digital capabilities and engineering excellence to realise our customers ambitions for exploratory space missions to become a reality.

Gary Jones, head of manufacturing innovation at Rolls-Royce, said: Our presence at Space Park Leicester is a really good opportunity for our people that are specifically working on the Space Programme to immerse themselves in all things space.

Rolls-Royce is the UKs nuclear thought leader and what we bring is unique.

The expertise and just sheer innovation and brain power of some of our people is incredible and its tremendously exciting to surround ourselves with like-minded people.

Space Park Leicester is being led by The University of Leicester in partnership with Leicester City Council and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.

Professor Ambrosi, executive director of Space Park Leicester, said: The presence of Rolls-Royce at Space Park Leicester and their work in leading the development of space reactor systems will enable Leicester researchers to collaborate with Rolls-Royce on a range of space mission concepts and technology solutions that will transform access to space for scientific and human exploration endeavours.

We welcome the opportunity to grow our portfolio of research in space nuclear power technologies, built on our heritage in radioisotope power systems.

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Rolls-Royce team moves into Space Park Leicester to work on nuclear powered space travel - Business Live

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Despite reaching the most important milestone in its history, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) shredded off nearly 80% of its value since June last year. Although it is still one year away from the first revenue-generating spaceflight, the extend of its selloff is not warranted considering its progress and $1bn in liquidity. My FCF valuation model indicates 150% undervaluation at a current market price of $12, so I maintain a strong buy view on this stock.

Virgin Galactic is a space flight company backed by billionaire Richard Branson and forms part of the Virgin Group. Earlier last year Ive published my first piece on VG, so if you missed it you can pick it up here. Ive discussed a great deal of the companys business model and the commercial space tourism market trends in that article, so I will not go through it again. Rather, I am going to focus more on all major developments that happened since March last year (including latest Q3 results) and present my updated financial model.

Since my last article, my target price has been downwardly reviewed from $48 to $30 as a result of the revenue-generating phase delay and stock dilution, which I will discuss in more detail under the valuation section.

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After so many years of delayed launches and unfulfilled promises, VG has finally made it it launched its final test flight on 11th July 2021 with Sir Richard Branson on board. What a milestone! In addition, it has also received approval to fly people into the space from US aviation safety regulator FAA in June. So, now the company is officially ready to start sending private clients into space and to start its transition from a prototyping space innovator to a global, scaled, commercial operation.

Despite all skeptics out there, VG proved that it could deliver on its main promise. Nevertheless, same skeptics are now downgrading VG progress suggesting that the altitude of 53 miles, which has been reached by the VSS Unity, is not an actual outer space as it is ten miles lower than the, so-called, Karman line. I am not inclined to spend too much time debating this argument, but what I want to say is that the experience at both altitudes is exactly the same in terms of weightlessness and Earth view. In addition, some scientists argue that a more suitable choice for the beginning of space would be an altitude of 50 miles.

Blue Origin, which is currently the only competitor of the VG on suborbital commercial flights, followed suit and completed its demonstration flight with Jeff Bezos on board of New Shepherd on the 21st July, just ten days after Branson's flight.

Both companies offer suborbital flights into space with two to three minutes of weightlessness, but by design, the experiences are substantially different. New Shepherd is a much more of a traditional rocket, some sort of a rocket-and-capsule combo. It has a vertical takeoff, reaches an altitude of around 66 miles above the surface, and then is parachuted back to the Earth. The trip lasts approximately 10 minutes. On the contrary, VGs spaceship VSS Unity uses a mothership VMS Eve for a takeoff and is detached from it after reaching space. Its trip lasts around 90 minutes, and it lands on a runway like a traditional plane.

From the user experience point of view, I think both companies offer spectacular once in a lifetime experiences, and it probably depends on someones preferences which one to choose. I personally find VG design more appealing. Its cabin is more spacious, the seats are more flexible (looks more comfortable), and its easier to unbuckle the seatbelts. The access to space is more gradual as you are not shot straight into the space as in the case of New Shepherd. Despite those little wins I believe there should be sufficient demand for these two companies as well as any newcomers as the space tourism market is untapped now and is going to increase to some $3bn within the next 5 years.

However, what is more important from an analyst's point of view is the growth and scalability prospects, and from that angle, VG wins a big time. Firstly, as soon as the company starts its commercial flights and with the addition of new spaceports the scalability should ramp up very quickly. Sub-orbital space travel is only a start for VG. There are plans to offer hypersonic travel that they are working on in partnership with NASA and Rolls-Royce, which developed the original Concordes engines. VGs technology seems like a good fit for high-speed point-to-point travel on Earth. On the contrary, New Shepherd is designed purely as a space tourism vehicle and new technology will have to be developed by Blue Origin to be able to enter the hypersonic travel market.

These prospects of VG are very important for the analysis because potentially they are not only going to have a share of the space tourism market, but also a share of the commercial air travel market that before Covid-19 outbreak stand at approx. $600bn.

VG remains a cash-burning machine, which is not surprising considering it has not started its commercial service yet. It has been spending cash at a rate of $60m a quarter in 2021, so its estimated cash loss for this year is around $240m. At this cash burning rate their liquidity position of around $1bn will allow it to remain afloat for another three years and considering that they are planning to start commercial service in Q1-23 it should be more than enough.

Source: VG Earnings presentation Q3-21

I have made two important adjustments to my FCF model since my previous report. Firstly, the company confirmed (as I have expected) that the ticket price for future flights will increase. My projection was an increase of 40%, but VG has increased price way more aggressively by 80% to $450k per seat. This is of course an upside adjustment to my target price. The increase was well received by the clients and out of 1000 reservations to buy tickets, 700 had been sold by August last year. This is in addition to the previously sold 600 at lower prices. The pipeline looks very strong and it is clear that demand is not an issue for the space travel market.

Another adjustment comes from the company announcement to postpone the first revenue-generating flight to the Q1-2023 which means that until that moment we cannot record the tickets sales as a revenue item.

Despite a substantial increase in tickets price, my valuation model shows a target price of $30 which is a notable downward revision to my previously calculated price of $48. This is mainly due to a delay of the first revenue-generating spaceflight and stock dilution to 255m from the previous 225m.

Nevertheless, $30 represents 150% undervaluation at the current market price of $12, so I hold strong buy view on the stock.

Source: Authors calculations

I have used the discount rate of 10% to account for the uncertainty related and considering the current ERP is 5.5% it is quite reasonable. The terminal growth rate of 6% corresponds to the commercial space market growth rate according to the US Chamber of Commerce. I also present a sensitivity table below if you prefer to use different assumptions.

Source: Authors calculations

It is important to note that my valuation is based only on the first phase of the companys growth plan, so there is significant upside potential to the target price if the company enters the commercial air travel market with its hypersonic flights' offer.

Despite a strong demand for commercial space travel the company still does not have a predictable revenue stream. In October VG announced the beginning of the planned vehicle enhancement period with the expected start of commercial service only in Q1-23, so there is a prolonged period of no flights ahead of us, so its main risk of burning all its cash remains on the table. The companys liquidity should be able to cover running R&D and CapEx expenses for at least another three to four years, so there is still some room for further delays.

VG reached an especially important milestone last year by completing its test flights cycle and, technically, it is in a position now to start sending private clients to space. Clearly, the demand for space travel is not an issue and if the company starts revenue-generating spaceflights early 2023 it should scale up quickly and be able to reach a $1bn revenue milestone by the end of 2025. Considering the space travel is only the first stage of its growth plan and potentially VG may tap into the commercial flights market with TAM $600bn, this company may indeed grow significantly in a long term.

My valuation model indicates 150% undervaluation at current market prices, so I maintain a strong buy view on this stock. However, this should only be considered as a long-term play at this stage and is only appropriate for investors with high tolerance to risk.

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Virgin Galactic: The Best Time To Go Long Is Now - Seeking Alpha

Humankind has yearned to explore space since our ancestors began to study the night sky millennia ago. What weve been able to accomplish in the last 63+ years has taken the dedication, perseverance, and imagination of countless people. While many nations have aided in scores of missions outside of the Earths atmosphere, NASA has certainly had the lions share of firsts. Indeed, NASA successfully landed astronauts on the surface of the moon, collaborated with European governments on the exploration of Saturns largest moon, and developed space telescopes that capture the far reaches of the universe. While this list isnt meant to outline every major accomplishment, it will lend some perspective on what this U.S. space agency has been able to achieve since its creation in 1958 (via History).

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Formed in part as a response to the successful Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite, NASA raced to pull the U.S. ahead of their Cold War rival by the end of the following decade. Throughout some serious tragedies that have taken the lives of nearly 30 NASA crewmembers in different incidents over the years, the space agency stayed the course and continues to pave the way for the continued exploration of worlds beyond our own.

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When President John F. Kennedy gave his famous We choose to go to the Moon speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962, the United States was already behind the Soviets in the space race (via Science Focus). In an effort to boost both public and congressional support for increasing NASAs budget, Kennedy delivered an address that declared that the United States would land on the moon before the end of the decade.

The Apollo 11 mission was launched on July 16, 1969, carrying astronautsNeil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Buzz Aldrin. Four days later on July 20, Aldrin and Armstrong touched down on the moon via the Lunar Module. Together, they spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the surface of the Earths moon (via NASA).

The three crew members of Apollo 11 safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24. They were picked up by the recovery ship, the U.S.S. Hornet.

Humankind had finally accomplished a feat that only imagination could have previously captured. Altogether, it is estimated that 650 million people worldwide watched this event live, setting a new record that would be unsurpassed until Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981 (via Reference).

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Some NASA missions primarily result in data being transmitted for several years. Others continue to give scientists information for decades. The latter is certainly the case for both the Voyager 1 and its sister spacecraft Voyager 2. First launched on September 5, 1977, the Voyager 1s primary mission was to perform fly-bys of Saturn and Jupiter and relay images back to Earth for study (via Solar System). More than 44 years later, this spacecraft is still being propelled through space, having left our solar system in August of 2012. It is still transmitting data to this day.

Onboard the Voyager 1 is the Golden Record, which contains Earthly greetings to prospective other-worldly beings in over 55 languages. Recordings of music ranging from Chuck Berry to Beethoven are also contained in the record, as well as various images of Earths people.

There have been many observations made by Voyager 1 that have helped map out our solar system. The discoveries of two additional moons of Jupiter (Thebe and Metis), a thin ring around Jupiter, and five newly observed moons of Saturn have changed the known makeup of the bodies that rotate around our sun.

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The ability to capture images far beyond what Earthly telescopes can achieve was recognized in 1990. On April 24th of that year, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit via the space shuttle Discovery. Orbiting the Earth at more than 300 miles above its surface, the Hubble has been transmitting images back to Earth for over 30 years now (via HubbleSite).

Hubble has been able to show the people of Earth both the beauty and vastness of the worlds that exist beyond what our naked eye sees. Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson quipped, No matter what Hubble reveals planets, dense star fields, colorful interstellar nebulae, deadly black holes, graceful colliding galaxies, the large-scale structure of the Universe each image establishes your own private vista on the cosmos, (via Rocket Stem).

Hubble is able to stay functional in part due to various servicing missions that keep the space telescope maintained and updated. The last servicing mission was carried out in 2009.

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The first robotic rover to land on the surface of Mars, the Mars Pathfinder touched down on the surface of the Red Planet on July 4, 1997 (via NASA). Far outlasting its expected useful life, the Mars Pathfinder transmitted data to Earth until September 27, 1997, NASA also noted. Over that period, more than 2.3 billion bits of information were sent back to scientists on Earth, along with nearly 17,000 images.

NASA released information about an additional 15 separate soil tests conducted by The Pathfinder, in which the martian surface was analyzed. The test results concluded that the surface of Mars was once very wet and warm. Analyses of various rocks, along with the wind on the planets surface, help to build a better picture of how wind erosion impacted the planet.

This spacecraft consisted of two parts: a space lander and a rover (via NASA). The lander was named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station after the late famed astronomer. The rover itself was given the moniker Sojourner, after 19th century abolitionist and civil rights leader Sojourner Truth.

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The idea to maintain and constantly crew an orbiting space station was conceived early on in the NASA program. But it would take years of technological advances and international cooperation before this dream would become a reality. Under orders given by then-President Ronald Reagan, NASA began cooperating with the Japanese space program and the European Space Agency in 1984 (via ISS NationalLaboratory). By 1998, this collaboration would grow to include Russias Roscosmos and the Canadian Space Agency (via National Geographic).

Construction started in late 1998 and the International Space Station (ISS) was first occupied in 2000. It has been continuously occupied since, sometimes with as few as three crew members aboard.

The ISS continues to grow, and improvements are almost always occurring. While crew members carry out a large portion of these duties, they are also tasked with experiments and lab studies. The results will help steer humankind in the direction of being able to live indefinitely off the surface of the Earth. Learning how to deal with near weightlessness, exposure to radiation, and other hazards of space travel are just part of what scientists need to overcome before this is possible.

As of April 2021, 244 people from nine nations have been aboard the ISS (via Space).

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Kepler was an orbiter craft launched on March 7, 2009 (via NASA). The primary purpose of this spacecraft was to discover and observe exoplanets that are within the Milky Way galaxy. Exoplanets, a name given to planetary bodies that exist outside of our solar system, could be detected by Kepler via its observation of distant stars. Kepler watched stars for dips in the light that they emitted. The only body large enough to cause a noticeable dip in a stars light would be an orbiting planet.

Designed to monitor over 100,000 stars for the existence of exoplanets, Kepler eventually discovered more than 2,600 of them (via Exoplanets). Kepler stopped transmitting to Earth in October 2018, after more than nine years.

The legacy of the Kepler spacecraft is the sheer number of exoplanets that are mapped out, coupled with the knowledge that it helped to show scientists just how many more planetary bodies there are within our galaxy.

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Not only did the Soviets launch the first successful satellite into orbit in 1957, but they also beat the United States in putting a human being into orbit. As noted by Space, on April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth for 108 minutes while onboard the Vostok 1. Per NASA, not wanting to fall too far behind the Soviets, NASA recruited U.S. Navy test pilot Alan Shephard to be the first NASA astronaut to be sent into orbit. He was sent into space aboard the Mercury capsule (dubbed Freedom 7) on May 5, 1961.

While traveling in a sub-orbital trajectory for less time than his Soviet cosmonaut counterpart, Shephard went down in history as the first American to do so. This buoyed the spirits of the American people, as they saw that the United States remained capable of competing with the Soviets in the space race.

Shephard became an important figure within NASA, eventually walking on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 (via Biography).

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Before NASA could attempt a human landing on the moon, it needed to show that doing so could be done safely. Simulations performed on Earth only show so much, and the data and projections from these endeavors really dont do any justice to what a real lunar landing is like. This is where the Apollo 8 mission came into play.

Launched into space on December 21, 1968, this Apollo mission carried aboard three crewmembers, astronautsFrank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders. This was the first manned crew to leave aboard a rocket and the first to observe the Earth from a distance (via Solar System).

According to Smithsonian Air and Space, the purpose of Apollo 8 was to carry a crew to the moon and back, without landing on the moons surface. In order to carry out an actual moon landing, it was first necessary to make certain that the Apollo program was capable of not only reaching the moon but could also successfully orbit this body.

As an aside, the astronauts aboard Apollo 8 were the first to capture images of the Earth from lunar orbit. Their stunning photographs are still widely circulated today.

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As noted above, the Soviet governments successful launch of the Sputnik space satellite on October 4th, 1957 sent the United States government into a panic. With the knowledge that the Soviets also shared the capacity for nuclear warfare, U.S. government officials foresaw a nightmare scenario in which their Cold War enemy would dominate the night sky, forcing the United States to be at their mercy.

Not wasting any time, theU.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency commissioned the Jupiter rocket to carry its own satellite into orbit. OnJanuary 31, 1958, Explorer 1 was launched (via NASA). This satellite orbited the Earth more than 58,000 times before it crashed into the Earths atmosphere on March 31, 1970.

With the success of Explorer 1, the space race stepped into high gear. The U.S. government immediately constructed additional Explorer satellites, attempting four subsequent launches throughout 1958. Of the five total Explorers launched, only three made it out of the Earths atmosphere.

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The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched on July 23, 1999. As the Earth itself absorbs X-rays as they enter its atmosphere, Chandra needed to be launched and situated beyond Earths orbit. After a successful launch, Chandra became renowned for being the worlds most powerful telescope (via NASA).

NASA launched the Chandra X-ray Observatory in order to detect and observe X-ray emissions from some of the hottest events in the universe. According to Chandra, this includes gathering data from stars that have exploded, areas around black holes, and galaxy clusters.

Four sensitive mirrors are on board, which bounce X-rays off of an optical bench. The images this observatory has captured include of a black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, the separation of dark matter from normal matter, and the regions surrounding black holes. Chandra has also been able to detect black holes across the universe, helping scientists begin to map out the vastness of what lies beyond the naked eye.

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As the costs associated with one-time use rockets took their toll on the federal governments budget, NASA scientists began to imagine a reusable vessel that could carry astronauts safely to and from space. According to Spaceline, designers presented their plans for the original space shuttle in late 1969, with NASA hopeful that a successful launch would be achieved no later than 1977.

History tells us that NASA was a little off the mark in their prediction. The first successful shuttle launch occurred on April 12, 1981. On this date, astronautsJohn Young and Robert Crippen were launched into space aboard the space shuttle Columbia. This mission marked the first of many for this particular shuttle until disaster struck decades later. On February 1, 2003, the Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into the Earths atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard the spacecraft.

Over the course of the so-called Space Shuttle Era, NASA successfully launched five shuttles into space. Between the five shuttles, 135 shuttle missions were flown, carrying 833 different crew members. The shuttle program officially ended in 2011.

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July 20, 1976, marks the date when NASA first successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars (via Space). Following several failed Soviet attempts to land probes on the Red Planet, NASAs touchdown allowed the probe to transmit data for 90 days. The Viking probe was able to capture martian images for nearly six years, however.

Before transmission was ended in 1982, Viking 1 was able to send over 52,000 images back to Earth to be studied by scientists (via Solar System). It also successfully collected and analyzed soil samples from Mars, the results of which are still being analyzed. Scientists hope these photos provide a glimpse into how humans may be able to integrate into life on the red planet, with particular emphasis on how food might be grown sustainably.

Sophisticated instruments also were able to record temperatures on the surface of the planet at different times of the day and night. This data is being used, alongside the additional materials, to help determine how sending human astronauts to Mars can be safely accomplished in the future.

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The Cassini-Huygens Project shows what can be accomplished when different space agencies pool their resources and knowledge to move humanity forward in the age of space exploration. With a mission to explore Saturn and its moons, this endeavor was a collaboration of the European Space Agency, NASA, and the Italian governmentsAgenzia Spaziale Italiana (via NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory). With a focus on the moon Titan, in particular, the Cassini-Huygens Project was developed to hopefully discover what chemical reactions are happening in this moons atmosphere, as well as determine the source of the abundance of methane on Titan.

This mission consisted of two separate spacecraft, the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe. Cassini was constructed to continuously orbit Saturn, while the probe was to be launched from Cassini so that it could land on Titan.

Overall, this mission was structured so that the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe could conduct 27 separate scientific investigations. When the Huygens probe safely landed on the surface of Titan in 2005, scientists learned that the moons surface had the consistency of wet sand and was comprised of tiny ice pebbles (via ESA Education). The probe also detected carbon dioxide on the ground, which wasnt found in Titans atmosphere.

Cassini continued to orbit Saturn until September of 2017 when it ended its mission by plunging into Saturns atmosphere and disintegrating.

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Learning about the formation of what is perhaps the oldest planet in our solar system is key to learning about how our own planet was formed. Believed to have its beginning at a time when our sun was new, Jupiter was formed when massive amounts of dust and gases formed into a giant sphere (via Space).

Launched on August 5, 2011, the Juno spacecraft was engineered to give NASA scientists the most in-depth study of Jupiter to date. The mission was to hopefully learn more about Jupiters origin, atmosphere, interior, and magnetosphere. While Jupiter has been observed to be a gaseous sphere, it is thought to have a stable and solid core. According to NASA, testing this theory is an additional aim of the spacecrafts mission.

As described by NASA and shared with Phys.org, this spacecraft is built to withstand the intense amount of radiation that is emitted from Jupiter. While it has been orbiting the solar systems largest planet, Juno has observed never-before-seen low lightning and detected water near Jupiters equator.

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Launched in August 2003, the Spitzer Space Telescope has succeeded in being the first observatory to capture photos of planets that lie outside of our own solar system (via NASA). Known as extrasolar planets, images of these bodies were unable to be captured before this mission. Spitzer was able to discover the most remote planet from the Earth, orbiting a star nearly 13,000 light-years away. This telescope has also been able to capture a previously unknown ring of Saturn, a cluster of seven Earth-like planets rotating around a distant star, and has shown NASA the existence of the most remote galaxy in the universe, according to NASA (linked above).

The images transmitted from Spitzer are breathtaking. Since 2003, scientists have been able to study detailed photos showing weather conditions on some extrasolar planets, as well as photographic proof of water vapor on others (see link above).

What was originally intended to be a two-and-a-half-year mission has far exceeded NASAs expectations. Still in orbit, the telescope continued to send photos of bodies outside our solar system until the funding for this project ended on January 30, 2020 (via Space).

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The 15 Most Groundbreaking NASA Missions - SlashGear

Today, The Expanse comes to its end. Prime Video released the show's final episode, "Babylon's Ashes," depicting the showdown between Marco Inaros' (Keon Alexander) Free Navy and the united forces of Earth, Mars, and Kamina Drummer's (Cara Gee) Belters. The Expanse lasted for six seasons, rescued by Prime Video after Syfy unceremoniously canceled the series following its third season. Based on the first six novels in James S.A. Corey's (Ty Franck & David Abraham's) 9-volume sci-fi series, The Expanse's blend of realism and space opera has firmly etched its way into sci-fi history as one of the best genre television shows of all time.

To sum up The Expanse as succinctly as possible, one might call it sci-fi Game of Thrones, though that doesn't entirely do it justice, especially since it avoids most of Game of Thrones' excesses. It does bear a similar structure, following multiple point-of-view characters across a galaxy divided by seemingly unending and unchanging simmering conflict at the moment when an existential threat appears poised to wipe all other players off the board. And, as Game of Thrones deconstructed certain fantasy tropes, creating a sense of gritty realism in its fantasy world, The Expanse made a point of embracing many of the realities of space travel that other franchises choose to gloss over.

Concerns about fuel in Star Wars: The Last Jedi seemed like a jarring break in the franchise's rules, and Star Trek essentially treats spaceships like sea vessels. By contrast, The Expanse embraced the nuances and challenges of space travel physics as storytelling opportunities. Scarcity is omnipresent, making every bullet and torpedo fired during a space battle -- which directors often pointedly linger on -- matter. Important characters die due to the stress of the increased gravity from a hard burn through space. An entire system of inequality sprung up around humanity's extraplanetary evolution.

In The Expanse's galaxy, the United Nations, based on Earth, and the Martian Congressional Republic, an independent colony on Mars, divide power. Mars and Earth have long opposed each other on philosophical grounds that permeate their citizens' lifestyles. Practically everyone on Earth is reliant on some form of government assistance. Mars culture emphasizes hard work, fetishizing struggle in a way that appeals to its many soldiers and technocrats alike. It's essentially the blue- and red-state divide blown up to planetary-scale to encompass our solar system's blue and red planets.

And then there's the Belt, those doing the dirty work that keeps the galaxy going. They're disenfranchised, eking out an existence by working to supply the Inner Planets with resources even though Belters struggle going down a gravity well after generations spent living in zero or artificial gravity. Through their eyes, whatever conflicts may exist between Earth and Mars is nothing but petty squabbling among the privileged who jointly keep their boots on Belters' necks, viewing them only as terrorists and troublemakers.

This treatment leads to an entire Belter subculture, the rag-tag Outer Planets Alliance insurgency network, and some of the show's most fascinating characters. Detective Joe Miller (Thomas Jane) worked for the Earth company that owned his home station and, as a Belter, grew tired enough of living in what he saw as a defeatist culture that he embraced the Inners' cultural aesthetic. He went as far as to wear a hat despite never having had a sky above his head. Fred Johnson (Chad Coleman) was an Earther. He became disgusted enough at his role in keeping the Belters in their place that he defected and became the face of the OPA. His protege, Drummer, is a trueborn Belter, living in a polyamorous family made up of her shipmates. Thanks to Gee's performance, the inner conflict she goes through as she allies with the Inners against other Belters proves heartbreaking.

The divide also led to the rise of charismatic insurgent Marco Inaros, who irrevocably shifted the balance of power with a single rock flung at Earth. But, as eternal optimist James Holden (Steven Strait) concedes in the finale, Inaros was evil, but he had a point regarding the Inners' treatment of Belters.

And then comes that existential threat. Where Game of Thrones' invading White Walker horde was pretty straightforward, and its dragons interpretable as symbols of nuclear power, the protomolecule discovered in The Expanse's first season is both more sinister and more adaptable as a symbol. That's because the protomolecule itself isn't good or evil. It's an advanced technology, and like all technology, its moral value comes from its use. The Expanse cleverly uses the protomolecule to depict how the promises of technological advancement that will make all lives better often serve as cover for enhancing the lives of the already wealthy, often through creating new weapons for war or advanced tools for oppression. The threat of whatever wiped out the protomolecule's creators is out there, haunting every use of the ring gates like an ecological disaster waiting to happen. Yet, at the same time, The Expanse drives home the idea that humanity is plenty capable of wiping itself out well before that crisis could rear its head.

What's an average person to do in the face of all this existential dread? That, in part, is what The Expanse's final episode drives home. There are plenty of noble deeds to be done in "Babylon's Ashes." The show's heroic warriors -- the tempestuous Amos Burton (Wet Chatham) and battle-ready Bobby Draper (Frankie Adams) -- are at their most courageous. The intrigue is at its most intriguing, with the equally stately and ferocious Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo) setting the pace. But ultimately, the moment that will linger is Naomi Nagata (Dominque Tipper) and Holden's conversation after the fighting ends.

It's Naomi's monologue about how we'll never fully understand the effects our actions have on others, how our kind words may linger, or cruel ones may haunt a person throughout their entire lives, and we'd likely never know. All we can do is live our best lives and hope that others do the same and that things change for the better. After all the warfare and politics, that's the lasting message The Expanse leaves us with as it comes to its end.

Or does it? Fans who have read Corey's novels know that there's a 30-year time jump after the end of the sixth book, which is where the television adaptation concludes. And yet, The Expanse spent a significant chunk of its final six episodes introducing Laconia and its leader, Admiral Duarte (Dylan Taylor), and revealing what the stolen sample of protomolecule has wrought. These subplots only pay off in the final three books of the series and, despite a dramatic line about Duarte dealing with gods, they go unresolved in The Expanse's finale.

The last line of The Expanse is Naomi, in response to Holden bringing up the still missing protomolecule sample, telling him to stay in this moment for the time being. It's possible to read this as Naomi speaking to the audience. One might take it as a concession to the parts of Corey's story that The Expanse never got to tell. Or, perhaps with a dash of Holden's optimism, it could be telling viewers to savor the series' conclusion for now while awaiting whatever might come next.

Or maybe that's wishful thinking. Perhaps viewers will get to return to The Expanse's universe sooner or later, be it through a trilogy of films or a revival series years down the line. Or maybe they won't. Either way, the six seasons we've already seen are enough for The Expanse to stand alongside the likes of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica as one of the great sci-fi shows in television history.

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The Expanse's Finale Cements Its Place as One of TV's Best Sci-Fi Shows - ComicBook.com

William Shatner has been an icon in the realm of fictional space travel going all the way back to the original Star Trek in the 1960s, and it wasnt until 2021 that the actor made the trip to the stars in real life. He made history in the process as the oldest person launched into space at the age of 90; upon his return to Earth, he found three words to describe his experience beyond the atmosphere.

The Star Trek legends trip into space was documented for fans with a one-hour documentary special fittingly called Shatner in Space, and William Shatner took to Twitter to hype the special and describe the experience for those of us who havent also traveled in space. He said:

Space travel, in three words, is you go fast.

While William Shatners experience on Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket wasnt quite as fast as what Captain Kirk experienced during his years in Star Trek, the speed clearly left a strong impression on the actor. And it clearly wasnt too much for him, despite his status as the oldest person ever launched into space. Of course, the man also filmed with live sharks for a Shark Week special that aired over the summer, so perhaps its no surprise that space really was the next frontier for him!

Shatner was open with his excitement even before he made the trip, sharing a back-and-forth on social media with none other than Lynda Carter to encourage her to give space a shot as well, although he also admitted that he was terrified off and on about what he was going to do. Neil DeGrasse Tyson even weighed in on the question of whether it was safe for a man of Shatners age to make the journey, and he broke it down for any fearful fans.Shatner also shared his initial response to taking off:

The first thing I said after takeoff and the rumble of the rockets, and I knew there was no escape, was 'Oh shhhh...' and I never finished the word.

Now that Shatner has returned (and dropped some comments about it directed at former co-star George Takei), fans will be able to follow along with his experience courtesy of the Shatner in Space special. Check out more of what he had to say about his time in space:

Shatner in Space is available streaming on Amazon Prime now, and it covers the events before, during, and after the journey itself. It will also cover the dynamic between Shatner and Amazons Jeff Bezos, who founded Blue Origin and was evidently inspired by the original Star Trek. If this puts you in the mood to revisit the days of William Shatners Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoys Spock, and DeForest Kelleys Dr. McCoy, you can find the original series streaming on Amazon.

For the full Star Trek catalogue of Shatners appearances as Kirk in the TV shows and films, however, be sure to check out Hulu. And if youre in the market to look ahead to 2022 for the shows that are on the way in the new year, swing by our 2022 winter and spring premiere schedule!

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The Three Words Star Trek's William Shatner Used To Describe Space Travel After Record-Breaking Flight - CinemaBlend

Gong Yoo plays the leader of a perilous space mission in 'The Silent Sea.'

Gong Yoo originally thought his future lay behind the camera, as he wanted to create advertising content. The first time he faced the camera lens was in college, when he got a part-time job as a VJ for a music show

From that point on, I found myself wanting to express my emotions through the camera lens, said Gong. It was fascinating to influence peoples emotions with my eyes, voice, and the subtle changes in my facial expressions.

That led to a desire to experience life through different characters.

I think the part-time job might have been a turning point in my life. That is how I eventually started acting and it has been more than 20 years since I started to share different emotions with audiences and live vicariously through various characters.

It has been an impressive 20-year career. Gong landed his first leading roles in the TV dramas Hello My Teacher and One Fine Day and after his role in Coffee Prince quickly became an international star. He appeared in the film Silenced, a story so powerful it prompted legislative change in Korea. He played a supportive husband in the award-winning film Kim Ji-young: Born 1982, fought zombies in the international hit Train to Busan and guarded a clone in the sci-fi film Seo Bok. He played the title role in Guardian: The Great and Lonely God, aka Goblin, which became the fifth highest rated drama in Korean cable television history. A wider audience met him through his cameo as a recruiter in Squid Game and hes now taking k-dramas to space with the Netflix NFLX production The Silent Sea.

Gong has a gift for choosing successful projects.

I believe that a good script holds all the answers for a good story, which is why I am cautious when selecting/reviewing a script, he said. When it comes to the veiled parts of a scriptfor instance, the hidden intentions of the directorI first review them in detail with the director to make sure that we are on the same page. After that, I add my own imagination to bring the character to life. That is how I build the core of a character. Nonetheless, there are other aspects I potentially may add as I interact with other cast members; however, only to an extent that these new additions do not undermine the essence of the character.

Gong Yoo played the recruiter in 'Squid Game.'

He was attracted to The Silent Sea because his character Han Yun-jae is an experienced leader, who has a strong sense of responsibility and is calm under difficult circumstances.

Not everyone can become a leader and it is a lonely title that comes with great responsibility. I sympathize with him to a certain extent. But Yun-jae is also an ordinary dad who worries about the well-being of his child. To be honest, I selected The Silent Sea not only because I was drawn to my character, but because I was drawn to the creative theme and how the story portrays its universe. I wanted to challenge myself in a genre that has never been tried out in Korea. As someone who always looks to broaden his spectrum into various genres, I wanted to be a part of this amazing journey to the moon. This aligns with the reasons why I chose Train to Busan.

His characters tend to exude a sense of inner calm, which reflects his own efforts to maintain an even keel.

Personally, I tend to try to stay calm under pressure, said Gong. Of course, it doesnt always work, but I think disciplining myself to remain calm can be very helpful in life. I believe that mental strength is pivotal in terms of physical health. If you allow your emotions to overwhelm you, you may not always make the best choices. And in any game, whoever loses their temper is most likely to lose.

While traveling to space might seem like an appealing idea, Gong suggests the story of The Silent Sea should prompt renewed concerns for this planet.

Ma Dong-seok and Gong Yoo battle zombies in 'Train To Busan.'

As wonderful as space travel is, being forced to migrate to another planet for survival as portrayed in The Silent Seadue to desertification or in the face of extinctionwould be a tragedy. I try to remind myself that I need to stay alert and do better to protect our planet. Yun-jae ultimately takes risks and heads to the moon for survival. He is a selfless father who would sacrifice himself for his daughter. I dont have a child yet, but I think I would make the same choice as Yun-jae did. In the big picture, it also can translate into the sacrifice made by this generation for the welfare of the next generation to come.

Space travel is a new genre for Asia so The Silent Sea can be seen as a giant step forward for k-content. The story, which also stars Bae Doona and Lee Joon, focuses on a perilous 24-hour mission on the moon. Gong and his team must retrieve samples from an abandoned research facility steeped in classified secrets.

Similar to zombie content, space travel sci-fi is a ubiquitous theme in Hollywood, which has set audience standards, said Gong. After Train to Busan, I gained the assurance that great content has less to do with the amount of production budget, but more to do with the clever use of it. Creative themes, premise, along with the design of a story are the crucial factors. The creativeness and refreshing themes are what absorb the audience.

Filming The Silent Sea involved many physical challenges. To film an elevator fall, Gongwore about 10 to 12 wires.

I have had my fair share of wirework for action films, but it was challenging nonetheless. Wirework stunts not only inversely bend your back, but also its almost impossible to sustain a balanced position while hanging upside-down. I had to take short breaks after every take because blood would circulate to my head. Therefore, it was physically tiring for both myself as an actor and the film crew.

There were scenes where he ran through narrow, low-height passages while wearing a heavy outfit.This damaged my knees, but Im fully recovered now.

The weightlessness in the spacecraft and the low gravity on the surface of the moon were challenging to portray, but Gong found it fun because hed never done it before.

I did use the wires for support, but for scenes where I only needed to bend down my torso, itwas easier to naturally demonstrate the movement than to depend on wires. For these scenes wirework was a severe challenge, because if my coordination with the crew slightly went off, the movements started to look awkward. Generally for these scenes, we had to take multiple takes for each scene.

Gong was already an international star before his cameoin Squid Game, but he notes a bump in interest.

Even though I wasnt a part of the main cast for Squid Game, I think a lot of viewers have been checking out my other works after watching the series. That interest continued to extend to The Silent Sea, which Im very grateful for.

He worked with Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk on the film Silenced and they are still good friends.

I knew about Squid Game from its very initial phase of production and we had some brief chats about it. I found the story engaging from the very beginning and anticipated its success; however, I never knew to what extent it would succeed. I made a cameo appearance to support director Hwang, but it turned out that I ended up benefiting a lot more from Squid Game. I was so happy for him. Director Hwang is a great filmmaker that I have always believed in, but now Im even more excited for his next steps. I hope he can continue to focus on creating the many stories that he likes.

Gong sees the popularity of Squid Game as a positive sign, introducing international viewers to the wider world of Korean content.

I think it will open new doors to bigger opportunities for creators and actors in Korea. We will have to be smart about effectively leveraging those opportunities. We live in an era where content produced in different countries can be accessed globally as long as you have a TV or a phone, for various platforms. As an actor, Im both very grateful and fascinated to be alive in a time like this.

Acting has led to some soul searching and taught him a lot about himself.

Kim Shin in Goblin is one example. The character gave me an opportunity to take a step back and reflect upon myself before turning 40. It also helped me to realize how valuable I am and that I needed to love myself more. The process was tough, but ultimately, it helped me to find myself again.

Being an actor also gave him the gift of bringing comfort to others.

I am not sure if this is the right comparison, but back when I was going through an emotionally tough phase, a film and the characters it portrayed offered me great comfort, said Gong. The film was titled Manchester by the Sea. Ironically, the protagonist was portrayed in a very dry and understated tone and intriguingly it was a sad story.

To Gong, that is what films are all about.

Sometimes a film makes me laugh, or cry, but sometimes it just embraces me with a silent hug. And I sincerely hope my performances and films/series do the same for other people. I am still in the middle of that journey and plan to continue on that path. I want to remain an actor who can offer great comfort to people.

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Why Gong Yoo Explores Space Travel And A New Genre In The Silent Sea - Forbes

MONTREAL -- The rapid development of space tourism and the planning of long missions to the Moon or Mars mean that humans will sooner or later have sex in space, and it is important to start thinking about how this sexuality will be experienced, argues a Montreal researcher.

NASA asserts that no sexual relations have ever taken place in space but its only a matter of time before this happens, believes Concordia doctoral student Simon Dub.

As we continue to expand into space, as we go on longer and longer missions, either in orbit, or to the Moon, or to Mars or elsewhere eventually, we obviously have to confront all the complex bio-psycho-social issues related to sexuality, and then human intimacy," said Dub.

A wealthy couple who takes a trip to space might decide to join the 62-mile-high club (the ultra-exclusive club of those who have been intimate in orbit, at an altitude of 100 kilometers, compared to the mile-high club of those who have done the deed on an airplane). Astronauts trapped aboard a spacecraft for several months could end up giving in to temptation.

So far, studies conducted on the subject show that sexual and romantic relationships will eventually develop between space explorers, Dub and his colleagues write in the Journal of Sex Research. They argue that banning such relationships or imposing sexual abstinence on astronauts is not a viable option.

Healthy sexuality is an essential component of human physical, psychological and emotional health, the study authors say. The crew of a spacecraft or members of a permanent mission to the Moon or Mars, on the other hand, will have limited access to compatible sexual or romantic partners, and this can be a source of stress and conflict.

Its easy to imagine a situation that might arise if two crew members develop a relationship that ends badly or if one crew member refuses the advances of another. And who would dare in a situation where collaboration is essential and each is dependent on the other to refuse a rapprochement with the person in charge of medical care, for example?

Thousands of kilometers from Earth, it is simply not possible to get out of an uncomfortable or dangerous situation by taking a cab home.

The likelihood of such risks emerging likely increases with the amount of time people spend in space and their distance from Earth resources, the authors argue.

Imagine if it happens in contexts where youre on a long-duration mission, and for several months or even years, with a relatively small crew. You cant run away. What are the solutions?" asked Dub.

The articles authors cite Quebec scientist Judith Lapierre as an example, who participated in a European space mission simulation at the turn of the millennium. She is also the co-author of the new article.

Now a researcher at Laval University, Lapierre was locked in a train-car sized chamber (which replicated the defunct Mir space station) with a few men for 110 days. She recounted being grabbed and forcibly kissed by the Russian mission leader, to the point where she felt the need to start sleeping with a knife under her pillow.

She was also allegedly subjected to a sexist discussion in which she was objectified by other participants.

These deplorable events highlight the likelihood of sexual harassment and violence on a space mission, the authors write.

The experiences of some members of the armed forces during long overseas deployments can also serve as a point of comparison for what lies ahead for space explorers. In Canada, for example, the military has been plagued by a succession of sex scandals for more than a year.

To contain the risks and harness the benefits of sex in space, it is important to first understand them better, the authors argue.

We really need to take a proactive approach, and then start studying [the subject] to develop training, courses, preparations, for people who are going to live in space for long periods of time, to prepare them for that reality," Dub said.

We need to address sexuality in space before space travel becomes even more prevalent and unfortunate events occur," he added.

Intimacy and sexuality like entertainment could help normalize life in space by making it more enjoyable and less lonely, the authors write.

[Sexuality can] have benefits for cardiovascular health, for psychological well-being, Dub said. It can help you sleep, it can help you relax. It can also help normalize life in space. It can help people adapt to contexts that are very stressful and demanding, that is, living and working in a restricted environment.

The authors propose that technology could be used to satisfy astronauts sexual needs, much as participants in long-duration scientific or military missions might have pornography or sex toys in their possession.

And if humans aspire to permanently colonize other worlds, we will need to better understand how they will then be able to reproduce, since procreation in space would come with multiple challenges such as weightlessness and radiation exposure. Experiments conducted on mice have shown, for example, that microgravity can interfere with sperm motility and embryo development.

In the event of a slip-up, the authors warn in conclusion, the space agencies, whether public or private, will not be able to plead ignorance since studies on related subjects have been carried out for some thirty years. They could therefore one day be held accountable for the health and safety of those they send to the stars.

If we dont study and plan for these issues, there can be a lot of problems that will arise.

This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Dec. 23, 2021.

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Humans will one day have sex in space: Montreal researcher - CTV News Montreal

Earlier this month, the World Inequality Lab, founded by Thomas Piketty, among others, released its annual data on inequalities of wealth, income, gender, and ecology. As usual, the report is expansive and worth reading in full. A particular highlight, however, comes in the section on global carbon inequality, which extensively details the disproportionate share of carbon emissions produced by the superrich. While people in wealthy countries do tend to emit more as a group, the very richest people worldwide are truly in a category of their own: taken as a whole, in fact, those in the global top 1 percent of income account for some 15 percent of emissions more than double the share of those in the bottom half.

The reasons for this are straightforward enough. The lifestyles of the ultra-wealthy, almost by definition, involve consumption habits and patterns of behavior that carry a much bigger carbon footprint. As the Financial Times Stefan Wagstyl succinctly put it this summer: Almost everything the wealthy do involves higher emissions, from living in bigger houses to running larger cars and flying more often, especially by private jet. Eating meat comes into it, as does owning a swimming pool. Not to mention a holiday home. Or homes.

Its hard to imagine a starker illustration of carbon inequality than the recent phenomenon of recreational space flights, like those undertaken by Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin, Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic, or Elon Musks SpaceX earlier this year flights whose ambition was clearly to mainstream the whole idea of commercial space travel so that it can eventually become a more common (and perhaps profitable) enterprise.

So, just how much carbon do such flights emit?

Dig into this years World Inequality Report and youll find the astonishing estimate that a single, eleven-minute space flight emits at least seventy-five metric tons of carbon per passenger (according to researchers, this is actually an extremely conservative estimate, and the figure may well be in the range of two hundred fifty to a thousand metric tons per passenger). For comparison, the reports data shows that as many as 1 billion people emit less than a single metric ton per year meaning that a single passenger on a short space flight produces more carbon pollution in a few minutes than people belonging to roughly one-eighth of the global population will throughout their entire lifetimes.

Were commercial space travel to successfully expand beyond brief, suborbital flights, to lengthier trips or even prolonged orbital stays, its both easy and terrifying to imagine how much more significant the carbon footprint would quickly become. As it stands, at least one company is currently boasting of its plans to build and launch a luxury space hotel before the decades end. If those plans succeed as currently written on paper, the so-named Voyager Station will house nearly three hundred guests and more than a hundred crew members, putting the pollution produced by private space travel on an entirely new scale.

Its as yet unclear, of course, whether commercial space flight can actually represent a viable or profitable business model in the decades ahead. What is clear is that the ever-rising consumption habits of the extremely wealthy are already placing an unsustainable burden on the global climate and that private space travel undertaken on a larger scale could effectively represent a death sentence for the planet.

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Billionaire Space Flights Are a Carbon Bomb That Will Destroy the Planet - Jacobin magazine