Category Archives: Space Travel

At any of these space stations, NASA will be the anchor tenant, Mastracchio says. But as the commercial space travel market grows, the station will host other visitors, which could include those coming for tourism, sports, entertainment, and advertising. In fact, how the ISSs successor takes shape and which additional modules get prioritized for development could depend on market forces. In practice, that could initially create competition for the limited space available: Astronauts from the US, Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada could end up vying for legroom and space for their research-focused experiments while private customers do the same for their activities.

But as the station is built up over time, different kinds of activities will be spread out through the various modules, so no ones sleeping in the lab, and tourists who just want to enjoy the view and zero-G life wont be in the way of the astronauts. The easiest thing to imagine is essentially a dormitory, where all the habitation functions, like exercising and eating and socializing and sleeping, occur separately from laboratory functions or manufacturing functions, Brent Sherwood, senior vice president of advanced development programs at Blue Origin, said at the press conference.

But to have the first stages of a new space station in orbit by the late 2020s, NASA and its commercial partners have their work cut out for them. NASA faces significant challenges with fully executing the plan in time to meet its 2028 goal and avoid a gap in availability of a low-Earth orbit destination, states the agencys Office of Inspector General report, published on November 30. The ISS costs about a third of NASAs annual human spaceflight budget. Its currently slated for retirement in 2024, but agency officials expect that date to be extended until 2030. In the meantime, astronauts will have to monitor cracks and leaks in hopes that the ISS remains safe until new modules start coming up.

These three new contracts fall under NASAs Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program. Axiom Spaces modules, designed for research and other applications, do as well. These include a habitation module, planned for launch in the second half of 2024, and lab and observatory modules. Theyre designed to connect to the ISS, and when the station finally retires theyll detach and become a free-flying commercial station.

Ultimately, NASAs competition could yield more than one winner, Jeffrey Manber, president of international and space stations for Voyager Space and chair of the board at Nanoracks, argued at the press conference: At the end of this decade, there will be multiple privately owned space stations, maybe in different orbits.

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Here's How 3 Space Companies Aim to Replace the ISS - WIRED

On December 9th, a Blue Origin flight will be making a journey to space. Aboard it will be Laura Shepard, who is the daughter of the first American to fly to space, Alan Shepard. But given this is a furry news site, one of the paying passengers has piqued more interest within fandom circles. Cameron MeepsKitten Bess, a modest furry content creator of around 2,500 subscribers on YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter, will be riding aboard with his father, Lane Bess.

The video "I'm Going to Space" on MeepsKittens YouTube channel shows how he is both excited and anxious about this opportunity. He discusses how he plans to bring the paw of his fursuit along with a pansexual flag, which is his sexual identity, with him on the spaceflight.

MeepsKitten is a fursuiter and content creator in the fandom. Hes been posting videos since around 2019 on his YouTube channel. He recently started to stream on Twitch around two months ago. While he is mostly known in the fandom for his pending space venture, the content in the videos are of a more standard furry fare: Omegle chat reactions, gaming moments, and fursuit activities of the both mundane and unusual variety.

On that note if youre interested in furries talking about space as a subject, I would recommend Hiyus YouTube channel which is more oriented toward the STEM subject manner than MeepsKittens more social oriented channels.

His father, Lane Bess, has noted that he is accepting of his son for who he is. The wealth of MeepKittens father, who will be joining him on the space venture, is where the funding for this endeavor is coming from. Lane Besss fortunes comes from his leadership of companies within the sector of cyber security. So if some furs believe that MeepKittens father is merely accepting of their sons eccentricities because he doesnt know what a furry is, there may be some room for doubt. He has a masters degree and works in cyber security, he probably knows.

Two of the major companies he worked for on the board, Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks, have gone parabolic during the coronavirus period. The young investors seem to call this exponential price change in an equity going to the moon, but I will note that despite Lanes stocks in Zscaler doing just that, their tickets to space dont get them that far. This upturn in those stocks are due to technology sectors getting a boost due to the increase in work-from-home and greater dependence on tech. Thus the security of our more decentralized world seems to have many investors believing the cyber security sector to be a strong one for the future.

As far as how wealthy Lane is, it is public knowledge that Lane Bess bought a 1.75 million dollar chunk of Zscaler stock back in March of 2018 soon after it went into trading publicly (called an IPO or Initial Public Offering). Should he have held the entire stack of shares to this day that 1.75 million dollar investment would now be worth around 750 million dollars.

We do not know if he continues to hold these Zscaler equities or not, so he may not be a near billionaire. However, the internet only has information on one asset and no sane person with a business degree would put all their eggs in one basket. Though Bill Hwang and his insanely jacked Viacom position that got margin called remind me thats not a certainty. I doubt that Mr. Bess is nearly so foolish, though. Going to space is certainly less crazy than buying a ton of one telecommunication stock on borrowed money.

Social media had its say on the situation, some besmirching the luxury that the furry YouTuber was about to partake in, others simply getting agitated on him using the noun of astronaut to describe his activity.

As society advances, words that once were used to describe an activity become too broad, and thus need reworking. Some indicate that MeepsKitten should be considered more of a Space Tourist than an Astronaut. The logic being how being a passenger on an aircraft does not make one a pilot or stewardess, so being a passenger on a spacecraft does not make one an astronaut, which is seen as more of a job than activity.

Not everyone agreed with this need for a distinction. Firstly you have the article from Blue Origin itself about the space flight, linked earlier, denoting all 6 on this journey as astronauts. Secondly, a furry raccoon by the name of Drenthe posted a short thread under which he noted that just because someone is an astronaut doesnt necessarily mean that they need to be active pilots of the vessel. His example included the situation surrounding the crew of the Mercury mission, NASAs first manned rocket to break into outer space.

Today I heard a furry is going to outer space and thats pretty cool. Then I heard people making fun of him for having rich parents, and thats not cool. Cant you just be happy for someone doing something cool?

I saw a complaint that hes not going to even do anything so why call him an astronaut? Let me remind you, Mercury astronauts werent even supposed to touch anything on their rockets. Unless told to.

At one point NASA seriously debated sedating Mercury astronauts so they wouldnt get cute and start touching the controls. They were there to sit in their chairs and ride the rocket.

Chuck Yeager called them Spam in a can.[Drenth]

But as I performed lateral reading against the above thread to find out the truth of it, I found that this thread is the ultimate of ironies. Our raccoon friend used Yeagers phrase spam in a can to highlight how ultimately that the Mercury astronauts were mere passengers as well. And so that present furries are unjustified for belittling those going up to space by calling them something other than astronauts. However, when you read into the quote by Chuck Yeager, it is actually him being no different than those on Twitter calling for MeepsKitten to not be called an astronaut.

In fact, these words from the mid 20th century are far more demeaning and spiteful toward the space goers in the Mercury project than any phrase furries have uttered on Twitter in the year of 2021 toward the furry with a ticket to ride the upcoming Blue Origin flight.

You see, Chuck Yeager was a distinguished air force pilot that became renowned as being the first human to break the sound barrier. For the Mercury mission to space, NASA was looking for distinguished air force pilots. However, there was a catch. They also desired those with a college background in a STEM field. Yeager, unfortunately, did not fit within that criteria. So when he called the Mercury crew spam in a can he basically was saying that they were not pilots, nor astronauts, but just meat bags in space. It would be hard pressed to think he would have used that wording if he were given the opportunity to be a part of the crew himself.

So if anything can be gleaned of this it is that sour grapes do not have an expiration date. Jealousy of opportunities that our fellow species are given that we are not is nothing new. Its just that in the modern era we have been given a platform to present bitterness in real time. It also shows that these emotions of envy are not isolated simply based on class, but can occur wherever a limitation is placed that restricts opportunities. Even amongst those considered elites in our society.

History is anything if not recursive. As work in space expands, there is no doubt there will be an expansion of roles that will be defined with new words, just as there has been with any other profession and utility developed in the last century. Space Tourist or Interstellar Passenger will probably become canon lexicon, and the term Astronaut regulated to those whose careers revolve around crewing spacecraft.

And then even further down the timeline when the novelty of space travel has worn off, the words will simplify and be reverted back to passengers and crew respectively.

The most fleshed out response of this situation was made by a fur within the aerospace field. Within it he discusses how those in the aerospace industry feel about this new space tourism industry, and highlights the positive impact it makes on the governmental programs whose purposes in space are more utilitarian. It notes with private capital pushing for the rockets and tourism, the government can focus on the more practical tools instead. It is well written and worth the read.

There is a major juxtaposition with the kitten who is going to space and the stoat who works within aerospace, and that is they are furs of different classes. Where the kitten had a father who gained massive abundance, the stoats family barely got by. Yet when push came to shove, both parents allowed their children to grow freely and with their support.

While most may look on in envy of the fur going to space because of the financial wealth he had been born into, the message that the fur who works in aerospace with more humble origins shows that the greatest wealth for both has been the support of those who came before them. To have parents that allow their children to boldly move forward where their ancestors never tread.

Things would have been much different had their parents not been the roots they needed to succeed. Toxic parents are the greatest detriment that one can have when transitioning into adulthood, should they allow you to make it that far. Class is irrelevant in this. Rich parents can be toxic to their children, just as much as impoverished ones can.

The wealthy toxic parent, wishing for their offspring to merely be an extension of their life, shove their descendant into learning the family business with an iron fist. That if they dont continue, or go beyond their accomplishments, that they will deem them a failure in their eyes. Treating them no different from the items they buy as tools to be used for their purposes. Even beyond the grave. Donald Trump may be a good example of being a child of a toxic wealthy parent. Though in his case Trump may have benefited by leaning into the toxicity himself, which is why he was given the keys instead of his other sibling rivals. Those siblings of course, continued dealing with their fathers scorn through his child.

On the other side of the class lines, the impoverished toxic parent sees the potential in their child to go further than they had. But instead of feeling blessed for their success, they become angry at their own shortcomings and eye their child with envy. They start to sabotage their youth, in hopes that they will remain the failure they see themselves as. They will restrain them so they never get the opportunities they failed to reach. Even if that means their childs death. Judith Eva Barsi, the late voice actress of Ducky from Land Before Time, is a prime example of being the child of a toxic impoverished parent, yup yup yup.

In the end, those of us who are given fathers and mothers who dont restrain their children to succeed and offer support in any way they can are far more a source of privilege than the material of the spoon which we are born into. If we as a society start to push towards being the best parents we can over what we have stewardship over, whether it be our businesses, community, or actual children should we rear them, then maybe one day humanity will be worthy and find the strength to join the stars.

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Furry to be aboard Blue Origin space flight - December 9th - Flayrah

As rocket after rocket seems to blast off from the launch pad, there are plenty of reasons to toast to infinity and beyond. With the Samuel Adams Space Craft IPA, this special beer offering could offer a glimpse into the future of beer. Is there a new hoppy harvest waiting to give rise to a more robust brew?

Recently the iconic Boston beer brand debuted Samuel Adams Space Craft IPA. Made with hops that were part of the first ever all-civilian space mission, the 66 pounds of Citra and Mosaic hops are the heart of the West Coast-style IPA.

While this offering is a limited release for Samuel Adams, the flavors are a bold step forward for the brand. The tropical forward flavors of grapefruit, guava and passionfruit highlight the hoppy flavors.

Like the mystery that space holds, this beer offering invites drinkers to explore brewerys creativity. Even if that traditional lager is always a pour away, sometimes that touch of what is possible brewers a great appreciation for the classic.

Many brewers are always looking for a way to set themselves apart both on the shelf and in the taproom. While there is craft and art to making the perfect brew, the ingredients are the starting point.

While there is buzz surrounding the Samuel Adams Space Craft IPA, it isnt the only beer that has used space hops. Budweiser tested this idea many years ago. That brands experiment was a forward-looking idea about how to accomplish enjoying and creating beer in space. Given that space travel seems to be likely for more people than just select astronauts, it seems logical that people might want a refreshing beverage to toast that journey.

Even before that Ninkasi Brewing Company used yeast that had been to the celestial heavens. The Ground Control Imperial Stout had many people talking all those years ago and the conversation hasnt waned.

Many breweries use space as a theme for their earthy creations. From Elysian Brewings Space Dust to Playalindas Robonaut Red, there are plenty of spacey-beers to enjoy. Whether it is peoples fascination with the great unknown or just a creative name, these beers entice people to grab a can or two from the shelf.

As another rocket blasts off from the launch pad, crack open a space-themed beer. It might not be one small step for man, but it is a sip of refreshment that everyone can appreciate.

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Blast off to a beverage adventure with Samuel Adams Space Craft IPA - FoodSided

Very few of us will ever get to venture into space, but for those who do it is not just a dream come true, a scientific pursuit, or a step for mankind it is also a profound experience, and one that can in some small way, be passed on to those below. We have known this ever since astronaut William Anders took his famous Earthrise photo on 24 December 1968. Said to have played a huge part in galvanizing the environmental movement, it suggests that there is something about looking down at the planet that inspires us to protect it.Nicole Stotts book, Back to Earth, is very much in this vein. Now with her feet firmly on the ground, the retired astronaut, who undertook two spaceflights and spent 104 days living and working in space as a crew member on both the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle, dedicates much of her time to passing on the lessons she learned. These lessons are largely drawn from the extraordinary international cooperation that the ISS represents, where, since 2000, 15 countries have peacefully worked together. It is, says Stott, a model for how we should be living and working together as the crew of Spaceship Earth.Rather than strict commandments, each chapter loosely highlights a particular way of being, taken from life in space including act like everything is local and never underestimate the importance of bugs. Theres no hint of preachiness and, in fact, the bulk of the narrative is taken up with fascinating stories of Stott and others time spent in space sure to please anyone who wishes more than anything they could experience it themselves.Stotts ways of being really boil down to being respectful of your environment. On the ISS, this is essential to ensure the survival of the crew. But, of course, its a good analogy the same applies to the planet as a whole. This is then both a manifesto and a memoir, fascinating for anyone interested in space travel, environmentalism or ideally, both.

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BACK TO EARTH: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet and Our Mission to Protect It by Nicole Stott book review - Geographical

A new NASA video advertises a suite of the agency's real-life missions as previewing an "Exoplanet Travel Bureau" of the future.

The one-minute short on YouTube, released Oct. 19, reimagines a set of exploration posters released by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2015 and in 2016 as animated futuristic mini-adventures. (The posters themselves were inspired by art that the Works Progress Administration commissioned to advertise United States national parks between 1936 and 1943, attempting to boost employment during the Depression.)

In the new video from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a skydiver plunges towards the huge super-Earth HD 40307 g, a family in a bubble-like spacecraft watches the icy moon Enceladus blast out water geysers, and a parent and child watch a rocket lift off from their Martian settlement, among other imaginative ways in which future humans experience worlds near Earth.

Related: These 10 super extreme exoplanets are out of this world

"While our robotic explorers have toured our solar system, the only place beyond Earth where humans have stood is the moon. That's also the next place we'll send astronauts. But not the last! While humans haven't yet visited Mars, we're planning to add boot prints to the rover tire tracks there now," Goddard representatives wrote in a description accompanying the video, noting that the project's goal is to envision the far future of exploration.

The fanciful tour extends far beyond NASA's budgeted plans, of course. The agency is firmly focused on reviving human moon exploration, with hopes to land astronauts on the moon again in the 2020s. This Artemis program will be performed with international collaboration from other space agencies, at least some of whom plan to fly their own astronauts on these missions.

As for Mars, the earliest NASA might send people there is 2035 but that was an estimate released under the previous administration in October 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic and a presidential election changed the constraints and priorities of the U.S. government. Technological, legal and funding delays are also slowing Artemis, which is waiting on key equipment such as spacesuits and human landing systems to proceed.

With the new video, Goddard also advertised a link to NASA's new Exoplanet Travel Bureau website, which reframes the agency's ongoing exploration as a set of extraterrestrial tourism opportunities. Along with the JPL posters, the website includes a new set of posters featuring planet-hunting NASA observatories past, present and future: the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the Kepler telescope, and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

A behind-the-scenes video Goddard released separately on YouTube shows how the new video animations were performed using actors and a green screen, which is a backdrop placed in the background of a camera shot to allow for digital effects, background images and other post-production changes.

One memorable scene in the video shows a person sitting on a box with a kayak paddle, simulating the experience portrayed in the exploration video of a kayaker on the soupy Saturnian moon Titan. "Goddard video maven Chris Smith employed green screens and computer graphics to bring these scenes to life," Goddard said in the statement accompanying the main Exoplanet Travel Bureau video.

Goddard also released a side-by-side comparison video of the JPL posters and the new animations so that you can spot the similarities and the differences. A suite of JPL illustrators created the original posters (you can see the full list of people on the poster website) led by creative strategists Dan Goods and David Delgado.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Kayak on Titan? Soar past exoplanets? Epic new NASA video envisions future space travel - Space.com

In recent years, technology has been rapidly evolving, giving rise to new industries such as space tourism. As innovators create advanced aircraft, a trip to space could one day be a realistic travel option. Entrepreneurs at companies including Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX are looking to capitalize on renewed public interest in space travel. These companies are backed by billionaires including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson, who aim to offer people a chance to travel to space.

Jeff Bezos company Blue Origin is dedicated to advancing space travel for the benefit of Earth, according to Blue Origin. Companies are beginning to generate publicity for their flights using celebrities like former NFL star Michael Strahan, who will launch into space aboard a Blue Origin flight. That launch will be the first time all six seats on the rocket will be filled, and it will likely generate additional media coverage and interest in the company.

Bezos undertook a journey of his own in July when he and three others reached the outer limit of Earths atmosphere in the New Shepard launch vehicle. The event was highly anticipated as many debated the capabilities of Blue Origins aircraft. During the flight, the rocket flew about 62 miles to the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The New Shepard surpassed the distance reached earlier by competitor Richard Branson and his company Virgin Galactic. Some have doubts about Virgin Galactics ability to attract customers because of its low ticket sales and safety concerns.

Virgin Galactic halted ticket sales in the past but recently reopened reservations, and has sold around 700 tickets. With tickets costing close to $500,000, space travel is for the rich now, but as more flights sell in the future, the ticket prices might slowly drop.

Virgin Galactic is a publicly listed company and trades under the symbol SPCE. Earlier this year the stock surpassed $60 per share, showing investors are interested in space tourism. The price fell but surged again over the summer, indicating investors believe this fledgling business may become an established field in the future. The stock price has recently fallen because officials temporarily closed ticket sales in response to safety concerns, but should increase once commercial flights take place.

Musks SpaceX, which recently collaborated with NASA on a project meant to protect Earth from asteroids, is another company in the space technology mix. The company will launch a rocket into space to crash into an asteroid, testing the possibility of pushing one threatening Earth off course.

This work with NASA has helped establish SpaceX as a well-known company in the space field. That could translate into consumer trust of space tourism. The company already has the backing of Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who will be the companys first tourist on a flight planned for 2023.

While space travel sounds enticing to many as both a vacation option and an investment, there are many risks involved. One example is a fatal 2014 crash during a Virgin Galactic test flight. During the flight, the aircraft broke apart, scattering debris over a 5-mile radius in the Mojave Desert and killing one person.

That incident serves as a reminder of the dangers of pioneering a new industry. To gain consumer confidence, Branson boarded a flight of his own and reached the edge of space in July. This has helped stave off peoples fears as they see a billionaire willing to risk his life betting on his companys design.

Space travel is still a developing sector, but tickets are selling and new developments and test flights are happening each year. As the flights give people a chance to explore new heights and see the earth from above, the burgeoning industry represents an attractive but potentially volatile investment opportunity.

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Space tourism is becoming a reality, but investing in it carries risk - The Arkansas Traveler

Representational Image

From time immemorial, there have been relentless speculations about the possibility of alien life. Ever since space exploration took off, we have realised that the chances of complex life forms in our immediate vicinity are quite bleak. But the possibility of past or present microbial life in our nearby celestial bodies have always excited scientists.

And while most of us may dismiss the matter as a lesser concern, some researchers have proposed that the advent of increasingly frequent space flights might put us under a genuine threat of unwelcome alien visitors. And they might not be the friendly ones like E.T. or Bollywood's own alien, Jadoo.

In reality, the probability of extraterrestrial life is more along the lines of alien microorganisms and less spooky antenna-bearing creatures. According to Anthony Ricciardi and his colleagues from McGill University, microscopic organisms from outer space, should they exist, may even hitch a ride on a spacecraft back to Earth.

Not only that, we might also end up sending microbes from Earth to space which could be equally bad. The researchers warn that sophisticated protocols are required to prevent biological contamination of extraterrestrial environments from Earth and vice versa.

Frankly, a lot of things!

Space-like conditions have proven to stimulate rapid genetic mutations in microorganisms. Researchers discovered that when a thousand generations of E.coli were grown in microgravity, the hazardous bacteria became even more competitive, resulting in antibiotic resistance.

Now imagine that such a resistant bacteria is accidentally carried back to Earth. It would be disastrous and might even endanger human life. And while this seems like a hypothetical situation, the authors reiterate an example of something that has already happened.

A while ago, bacterial strains showing extreme resistance have already been isolated in NASA "clean rooms", the place where engineers assemble spacecraft. The study's authors pointed out that if these tiny microbes find their way on board a spacecraft, they could grow even more virulent in microgravity conditions.

The recent research highlights several other instances where human-induced biological invasions of microorganisms on Earth have caused considerable damage to the native species.

Since 2013, scientists have been warning about the probability of radiation-resistant microbes returning to Earth, capable of surviving the severe conditions of space. Bacterial strains of this type have already been detected aboard the International Space Station, demonstrating how difficult they may be to avoid.

The researchers also point out that the evolutionary descendants of these bacterial strains could sabotage human efforts to colonise Mars!

As per Ricciardi, space agencies such as NASA have been aware of the possible concerns of biological contamination for many years, and planetary protection measures have been in place since the 1960s. However, the new phase of space exploration targeting places most likely to harbour life poses enormous risks, he said.

Unfortunately, the current planetary protection guidelines are not mandatory.

The International Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) has assembled a Panel on Planetary Protection, but none of the members has experience with invasion science. This, according to Australian invasion biologists, is a significant oversight. They claim that more complex processes are needed to prevent biological contamination of Earth from extraterrestrial settings and vice versa.

Another issue is the lack of knowledge about what's "alien" and what's native. Researchers propose greater collaboration between invasion biologists and astrobiologists to enhance existing international protocols for planetary biosecurityboth for Earth and for extraterrestrial bodies that could contain life.

The study was published in the journal BioScience this month and can be accessed here.

**

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Alien Bio-Threat: Space Travel Presents Biosecurity Risks of Pathogens Hitchhiking to Earth, Warn Scientists | The Weather Channel - Articles from The...

Oxford University researchers may have solved a mystery about the origins of Earth's water which could help future space travel.

The scientists describe how new analysis of an ancient asteroid suggests extra-terrestrial dust grains carried water to Earth as the planet formed.

According to the study, the water in the dust was produced by space weathering.

Researchers found the solar wind, made up of charged particles from the Sun, created water on the surface of dust grains carried on asteroids that smashed into the Earth during the early days of the Solar System.

They suggest the finding could answer the long-standing question of where the unusually water-rich Earth got the oceans which cover 70 per cent of its surface.

It could also help future space missions find sources of water on airless worlds.

Read also:See inside one of Oxford's cheapest homes to buy

Oxford University contributed to the study published in Nature Astronomy along with researchers from institutions across the world.

The University of Glasgow-led team used a process called atom probe tomography to scrutinise samples from a different type of space rock known as an S-type asteroid, which orbit closer to the Sun than C-types asteroids one type of water-carrying space rock.

The samples they analysed came from an asteroid called Itokawa, which were collected by the Japanese space probe Hayabusa and returned to Earth in 2010.

Lead author Dr Luke Daly, of the University of Glasgow said: The solar winds are streams of mostly hydrogen and helium ions which flow constantly from the Sun out into space.

When those hydrogen ions hit an airless surface like an asteroid or a spaceborne dust particle, they penetrate a few tens of nanometres below the surface, where they can affect the chemical composition of the rock.

Read also:Volunteers clear paths of face masks at the John Radcliffe Hospital

Over time, the space weathering effect of the hydrogen ions can eject enough oxygen atoms from materials in the rock to create H2O water trapped within minerals on the asteroid."

Co-author Professor Hope Ishii of the University of Hawaii at Manoa said: One of the problems of future human space exploration is how astronauts will find enough water to keep them alive and accomplish their tasks without carrying it with them on their journey.

We think its reasonable to assume that the same space weathering process which created the water on Itokawa will have occurred to one degree or another on many airless worlds like the Moon or the asteroid Vesta.

That could mean that space explorers may well be able to process fresh supplies of water straight from the dust on the planets surface.

Its exciting to think that the processes which formed the planets could help to support human life as we reach out beyond Earth.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.

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Oxford researchers might have helped the future of space travel with new discovery - Oxford Mail

Our marvelous Moon is an inspiration for many creative folks. It certainly is for Sukhjit Singh. Ever since he was a kid, he has been fascinated by outer space. I would envision myself floating above the Moon lost in its incredible beauty, he recalls. Singh has now translated his love of the Milky Way into a creative product hes calling My Space Moon. Also known as the Moon Mirror, its a reflective surface that is color engraved with a pattern of a crescent moon accenting the edge of the piece.

My Space Moon is intended as a functional work of art that's as beautiful as it is useful. It contains incredible details that make the Moon Mirror a statement maker for your space. Carved into the piece are the intricacies of the surface of Earth's satellitecraters and all.

This attention to detail took two years of development and testingwith input from experts around the worldto produce the exquisite home accessory. What results is a mirror thats 31.5 inches in diameter with an engraved Moon surface encased in glass, making it easy to display and to clean. When hung, Singh hopes that it will evoke dreams of space travel.

My Space Moon is now available for pre-order. If youd like to reserve your own mirror, visit a LinkTree that Singh has set up.

My Space Moon: LinkTree | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok

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Exquisite Moon Mirror Is Engraved With Craters of Earth's Satellite - My Modern Met

Protecting open spaces from overtourism

Overtourism was a major concern prior to the pandemic. From Amsterdam to Venice, New Zealand to the national parks in the U.S., destinations worldwide were dealing with too many tourists.

Although the pandemic brought travel largely to a standstill, the scourge of overtourism is once again looming large. Rousseau points out that mankind's unsustainable production and consumption patterns has led to the planet losing nature faster than it can be restored.

Rousseau said she believes, however, that this decade is set to be defined by transformation and regeneration.

And Rwanda, Banda said, is the perfect example of regeneration and preservation of open spaces. The destination charges $1,000 for a gorilla permit that allows travelers to spend one hour with gorillas. The money is partially invested in protecting gorilla habitats, and as a result mountain gorilla numbers have surpassed 1,000 in the wild for the first time in 50 years.

The low-volume, high-value tourism in Rwanda can stand as a model to conservation efforts in the remote open spaces in Africa, according to Liz Loftus, a private travel designer for Alluring Africa.

Following that example, remote, sensitive ecosystems in Africa will survive and then thrive, she said, adding that conservation, community and open spaces go hand in hand. Impact is what we need to be cognizant of in the future. Low impact is only possible with low-volume, high-value tourism.

Suzanne Bayly, owner of Classic Portfolio, said there is no doubt this model is exceptionally beneficial for the environment, but it is important to ask who benefits from the high value. Is it larger companies that can invest at this level and get a commercial return, or it is the community and conservation stakeholders?

Bayly said that, with the price point of an average safari in Botswana and Rwanda set at over $1,000 per person, per night, it's important to be careful not to become a continent that is only available to the super rich. Africa is enormous, she said. We have loads of wild spaces that can be explored, exciting opportunities that can not only further conservation efforts but be truly inclusive of communities. We need to see a dramatic increase in tourism numbers, and the best outcome would be to have a variety of experiences at different price points and levels of comfort or luxury that appeal to as many travelers as possible.

It's not an easy balance to find, according to Raza Visram, director of AfricanMecca Safaris. He said that the low-volume, high-value tourism model can only be implemented in countries with low populations. Botswana has a population of only 2 million people. However, countries like Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Uganda, all with populations over 42 million, are hungry for employment opportunities.

Dealing in volume brings in more tourists and reduces costs, but volume tourism doesn't mean more land can't be protected for conservation and open spaces, Visram said. We can cap the number of camps and lodges being built, limit the environmental impact and still follow a high-quality model and provide value.

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Travel to Africa is space travel of a different kind - Travel Weekly