Category Archives: Space Travel

Jane Poynter is the founder, co-CEO and chief experience officer of Space Perspective, an extraordinary space tourism company. Poynter has extensive experience as a deep tech entrepreneur and explorer and was part of the original crew for Biosphere 2, the worlds first human-made prototype space base.

In 1993, she founded Paragon Space Development Corporation which, three decades later is still a key part of NASAs human exploration mission to the Moon and Mars. She has since headed up countless companies and projects which have revolutionised our access to space. She is a current fellow of the Explorers Club and her Ted talk on global sustainability has been viewed over one million times.

Here, ahead of her appearance at the Bazaar At Work Summit, she reflects on the lessons learnt in her impressive career.

'Having a magnetic vision and being able to communicate it clearly and with passion is core to any leadership team. At Space Perspective our team is dedicated to giving millions of people the transformative experience of seeing Earth in space, which creates a deep connection to our one human family living together on Earth. Imagine a society where people have this view, it will change things for good forever.

Staying focused on ones core mission and not forgetting who you are as a company is crucial

As a human spaceflight company, a critical quality for everyone in the company is to be able to provide clear feedback. It is important to create an environment where everyone feels that it is his or her job to say something when they see something wrong and for leadership to listen and learn. Having a listening and learning organisation is a critical component to doing human spaceflight operations safely.'

'I think it would be the work I am doing reimagining space travel. This is to exclude the high g-forces and rigours required of rocket flight and instead offer a gentle, safe and responsible way to go to space in Spaceship Neptune, a pressurised capsule propelled by a SpaceBalloon that ascends at the contemplative speed of 12mph. To do all that that takes passion and perseverance.'

'To get to commercial operations in 2024. We are now building Spaceship Neptunes capsule and detailing our rapidly growing customers experience from now, through their flight to space and beyond. Because of the safety and comfort of our space experience, we are finding that this is becoming a social experience with groups of friends and family all going together to have this incredibly rarefied experience (to date under 600 people have been to space). The journey to space starts from the moment a customer puts down a deposit to go, and our focus is to make the entire experience utterly mind blowing and meaningful for them.'

'Our recent focus has been on financing the business all the way through to commercial operations to mitigate the risk of capital markets locking up. Im thrilled to say we have now completed that, which shows huge confidence in the global market for space travel and in our team. Having a diverse dream team as we have is critical for every business and is one of the best ways to mitigate a whole host of risks. I could not be prouder of the team we are building at Space Perspective.'

'We are mission-focused company, and little could be more motivating than a significant mission that everyone in the business is passionate about. It aligns everyone so we are all pulling in the same direction. We get up every morning to work on something as inspiring as taking people to space so they can see the curved horizon and the miraculously thin blue line of our planets atmosphere illuminated by our sun in a completely black sky and the perspective change that comes with that breath-taking view. That provides such inspiration that sometimes I have to pinch myself. Remembering to celebrate and give thanks that we get to do this is incredibly important to keeping us grounded.'

'Saying no to opportunities, bright shiny objects that are so enticing that some might think you mad for not taking them, is an incredibly difficult but critical thing to do. Staying focused on ones core mission and not forgetting who you are as a company is crucial.'

'Space Perspective is creating a new industry and a new way to travel to space so one of our key metrics is rate of learning. We cannot and do not shy away from failures, and learning from the outcome is an important aspect of how we progress rapidly, as it always has been for me in life and business. We are building the safe spaceflight experience, and for that we need our systems to be inherently safe (the SpaceBalloon we fly has been flown by NASA a thousand times, for example), build in backup systems (between the capsule and SpaceBalloon is a parachute system that has never failed in the thousands of times it has been used), and then test those systems over and over again. And we expect failures. Not pushing our systems to failure would be a huge mistake. '

'Lead by doing. We are offering people the Space Perspective whereby those who go to space return with an expanded vision of who they are in the context of our planet and our human family. We run our business according to this perspective. Our spaceship is emissions free, and our business operations are carbon neutral. This perspective is just about woven into my DNA. Who you are as a leader has to come from who you are authentically and deeply.'

'Place blame. A blaming organisation is a shaming organisation and that never results in a productive team but one where issues are hidden and go unaddressed. Worse yet, they become organisations of fear where people are afraid to make a mistake and speak their mind. This is the opposite of a team that fosters innovation, trust and ultimately safety for employees and customers. Whatever issues occur in the business are the leaderships responsibility. Whatever goes well is cause for team celebration where the credit belongs. Business is a team effort and a human endeavour. Never forget that.'

'Dr. Jane Goodall for her absolute dedication to her mission. Buckminster Fuller for his refusal to include impossible in his vocabulary, and for insisting we create Biosphere 2. Carl Sagan for his extraordinary abilities as a visionary communicator who helped us see ourselves in the context of the cosmos. Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her incredible intelligence and compassion who insisted that women be equal in fact and in law. And as Theodore Roosevelt said, Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. Words to live by.'

'Do not judge your insides by other peoples outsides. A new leader often believes that showing a tough exterior is the sign of strength and that having voices of fear and doubt in your head is a sign of weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. A little fear is a gift not to be squandered. It makes you alert, rise to the occasion, often allowing you to see and do things that you would not if always comfortable. Few people are truly fearless, and those who are crash badly. Building real confidence comes with work on your skills as a leader and as a human. '

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Link:

Aerospace executive Jane Poynter on how to lead a company with a mission - harpersbazaar.com

On Tuesday, Nov. 16, I was sitting in my night class when my classmate looked at her phone and gasped. I glanced over inquisitively, and she turned her phone toward me to display an Apple News alert proclaiming that a Russian weapons test had created multiple pieces of space junk, threatening the Space Station.

I looked around the classroom, expecting to see a frenzy of panic and concern, but instead, the room was perfectly calm and silent. I was wondering why more people were not alarmed about the situation, but then I had to remind myself that stories akin to this are much too familiar.

Russia decided to test an anti-satellite defense weapon on Nov. 15. There was no logistical reason for this test, as no satellites orbiting over Russia were harmful. In fact, the satellite they destroyed, Cosmos 1408, was put in place by Soviet intelligence in 1982. The test was simply a reckless way to prove to the world that the Russian defense system has the ability to destroy a satellite if need be.

Space junk has been accumulating in space for years, but the issue has only recently been acknowledged.

After firing a missile that destroyed the satellite, hundreds of thousands of pieces of debris were sent into orbit. Because of this, seven astronauts residing in the International Space Station (ISS) had to seek shelter to protect themselves as the spacecraft flew through the cloud of man-made debris.

However, the threat presented by the fragmented pieces from the satellite did not end when the ISS made it through the cloud: This space junk will pose a threat to satellites, space missions and the sustainability of outer space for many years.

Space junk has been accumulating in space for years, but the issue has only recently been acknowledged. The earliest known piece of space junk resulted from the first human-made satellite, Sputnik 1. On Oct. 4, 1957, the satellite escaped Earths gravitational pull and marked the first permanent footprint from humans in space.

Fast forward 64 years, and now there are 23,000 known man-made fragments larger than about 4 inches roughly the size of a credit card or bigger floating around our planet. Furthermore, there are an estimated 500,000 pieces between 0.4 inches and 4 inches across that join those larger fragments in space. Long story short: There is a lot of junk floating around us.

Besides a satellite leaving Earths orbit, there are many other reasons for the existence of unnatural objects in space: satellites colliding, tools from the ISS, pieces expelled from a rocket launch, etc.

Space junk is a major inconvenience to, and sometimes dangerous factor in, a spacecrafts journey. If debris is in the way, the team must calculate the risk of staying on path and the probability of a collision. If they believe that the probability of a collision is low enough, they will execute a debris avoidance maneuver.

With space junk becoming more of a problem with every year that passes, it is incredibly negligent and irresponsible to plan for space tourism without addressing space junk.

The International Space Station has conducted 29 debris avoidance maneuvers since 1999, including three in 2020. Due to an increase in space junk, the rate at which debris avoidance maneuvers are necessary is rapidly increasing, making future space tourism or travel much more difficult, if not impossible.

Jeff Bezos, who famously traveled to space with his space tourism company Blue Origins rocket ship earlier this year, has announced plans to open a space tourism station that includes a space hotel. As someone who constantly marvels at the intricacies of space, I have always been excited by the idea of space tourism. I would put my name first on any list to take a trip around the Earth, land on another planet or experience zero gravity. However, I know the difficulty in executing my desires and the complications that now threaten the legitimacy of space travel.

With space junk becoming more of a problem with every year that passes, it is incredibly negligent and irresponsible to plan for space tourism without addressing space junk. Bezos even said in an interview that We need to take all heavy industry, all polluting industry, and move it into space. And keep Earth as this beautiful gem of a planet that it is.

What Bezos seems to be implying is that we need to try our best to preserve the integrity of the planet, but throw the polluting and harmful industries into space. Putting the questionable logistics of moving industries to space aside, the attitude that claims space can be harmed in order to preserve Earth is dangerous and contradictory; the space orbiting Earth is essential for our present society and future space travel goals.

Sadly, Bezos is not the only person who has a lackadaisical attitude on what is thrown into space. Russia, in the same year that they needlessly put hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk into orbit, had previously announced they would be returning to the moon. It is extremely contradictory and hypocritical to carelessly throw junk into space while also promising a future of space travel.

Aside from possibly taking away the chances of space tourism, space junk also threatens the functionality of satellites. According to NASA, a 1 centimeter paint fleck is capable of inflicting the same damage as a 550 pound object traveling 60 miles per hour on earth. There are roughly 523,000 pieces of man-made debris, of varying sizes, floating through a network of 1,738 satellites currently in orbit. This satellite network is crucial for modern communication, commerce, travel and security systems. Anyone else see a problem here?

Humanity is so careless about the destruction of our own planet that I suppose it only makes sense that the sustainability of space wouldnt be respected either.

As more and more space junk orbits Earth, many components of our society are at risk: GPS systems, airline routing systems, military technology, business and finance, weather tracking, and phone service. Needless to say, it is vital that we preserve the safety of satellites, and the inconsiderate actions that lead to the accumulation of space junk hinders their protection.

As a young adult trying to make tentative plans and goals for my life, I am constantly aware of the shadow that our dying planet casts on my future. The trash and pollution we have generated for years has changed the trajectory of our planet and poses a potentially irreversible fate. Many scientists, when discussing the grim future of our planet, will make a remark regarding the hope for eventual habitation on other planets and space travel.

While this is very exciting, I cant help but be pessimistic about the likelihood of it happening. Humanity is so careless about the destruction of our own planet that I suppose it only makes sense that the sustainability of space wouldnt be respected either. This reckless attitude toward cluttering the space around Earth with man-made objects is causing long-lasting damage, and I am tired of it.

There is no Space B.

Excerpt from:

The Harmful Threat Space Junk Poses to Life on and off Earth - Fordham Observer

The race to access space has opened a new frontier of investment opportunities that could bring cosmic returns. Although it is difficult to imagine, the rapid pace of innovation and high public and private interest could make fields like space tourism and hypersonic intercontinental travel a near-term reality.

By 2040, Morgan Stanley estimates the potential revenue from the global space industry could surpass $1 trillion, from $350 billion today, an increase of 286 percent. In addition, possible breakthroughs in aerospace and defense, satellite-broadband internet, telecom, and high-speed cargo delivery may propel the industry to new highs.

Weve put together this handy beginners guide to help you better understand the investment potential, along with some popular trends in this fast-evolving industry.

Over the past decade, technological advancements and manufacturing innovations have redefined what was previously only thought of as fiction. From artificial intelligence (AI) to driverless cars, the tech industry is on the cusp of a massive evolution. And its no different for the space industry.

Since humans first set foot on the moon in 1969, space-launch costs for satellites, rockets, and other space artifacts, have become more affordable. Plus, with a combination of private and public funding and increased competition, the cost of reaching space has continued to decrease.

According to 2018 estimates, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spends an average of $152 million per launch. Yet, private companies like SpaceX, founded by tech innovator Elon Musk, have developed spaceships that can reach orbit for a fraction of the cost. For example, launching SpaceXs Falcon 9, a reusable rocket, is estimated to cost around $30 million.

Similarly, Blue Origin, a space company founded by billionaire investor Jeff Bezos, has developed a fleet of commercial reusable space travel rockets and satellites. As a result, the space launch industry has evolved into a growing business, with many global companies rising to secure market leadership.

The changing economics in the space industry also means that greater accessibility and affordability may spark a new era of innovation, opening the door for investors to get behind the companies that could benefit from this trend.

Welcome to the age of space tourism.

In 2001, Dennis Tito, an American businessman, made headlines after spending nearly eight days onboard the International Space Station and becoming the first space tourist. That trip cost him an estimated $20 million.

Since then, multiple private citizens like Star Trek actor William Shatner have made the pilgrimage to space, describing the experience in awe and admiration. That sentiment might be a glimpse of whats to come.

As interest in space tourism grows, multiple companies have emerged to capitalize on the trend, including Blue Origin, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Axiom Space, Space Perspective, and Boeing. For example, Blue Origin plans to build an independent space station called Orbital Reef.

Depending on the distance and trip duration, costs can range from $250,000 for a two-hour flight aboard a Virgin Galactic spaceship or $55 million for a 10-day journey aboard an Axiom Space spacecraft. And demand seems to be growing. For example, Space Perspective, which charges $125,000 for a six-hour trip to the edge of space, has sold out available trips until 2025.

Apart from a fear of heights, the most significant barrier to entering space for most people is price. But as competition increases, that could soon change. And with the increased demand, investment opportunities will likely arise.

Aside from space tourism, Wall Street analysts point to greater access to satellite broadband Internet as the most significant area of opportunity.

Indeed, Morgan Stanley estimates that satellite broadband could capture as much as 70 percent of the space industrys projected $1 trillion revenue by 2040. Additionally, the investment bank believes that greater accessibility to satellites that support broadband Internet could significantly bring down the cost of data.

The demand for data is growing at an exponential rate, while the cost of access to space (and, by extension, data) is falling by orders of magnitude, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas was quoted in a research report. We believe the largest opportunity comes from providing Internet access to under- and unserved parts of the world, but there also is going to be increased demand for bandwidth from autonomous cars, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and video.

And hes likely correct. Over the next decade, the International Energy Agency predicts 145 million electric vehicles could be on the road, up from just 10 million today, potentially bringing billions of dollars to the global economy. Similarly, analysts at International Data Corporation, a provider of market intelligence, estimate that worldwide revenues for the AI market could top $500 billion by 2024. Both high-tech industries heavily rely on data to power their applications.

One way to tap into these industries is through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as the iShares Self-Driving EV and Tech ETF (IDRV), KraneShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility Index ETF (KARS), Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ), and ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ).

The aerospace and defense industry is another area of the market that benefits from space innovation. According to figures compiled by the Aerospace Industries Association, the industry already has strong sales, standing at more than $900 billion.

Public companies like Boeing (BA), Honeywell (HON), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), and many others are among the leaders in the aerospace and defense industry. ETFs in the space include the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) and SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR).

For ETFs focused on space exploration, investors could turn to the Procure Space ETF (UFO), which tracks an index of global aerospace companies, or the SPDR S&P Kensho Final Frontiers ETF (ROKT), which offers exposure to equities involved in space innovation.

Investing in space provides long-term opportunities. This niche area of the market remains relatively uncrowded, with only a handful of players available to the public, as most space companies remain private. However, there are also numerous risks to watch out for like any thematic investment.So before investing, consider reviewing any available information to determine how space exploration might play a role in your portfolio.

Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past investment product performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation.

Follow this link:

How to invest in the space industry: A beginners guide - Bankrate.com

Snoopy in NASA Space Suit

In 1969, just before Neil Armstrong set his foot on the Moon, the iconic Peanuts character Snoopy had already rocketed there. NASA's Apollo 10 test mission had a module dubbed Snoopynamed after the beagle in the Peanuts comicswhich was sent to snoop around the Moon's landing site before the astronauts got there.

Now, Snoopy is all set to travel to the Moon yet againonly this time, it will be for real.

The NASA mascot will soar aboard Artemis I, which is up for launch in early 2022. Like Apollo 10, Artemis I would serve as a test missionthe first one in a series of increasingly complex Artemis missions.

During this flight, the uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and travel thousands of kilometres beyond the Moon, farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.

During the three-week flight, Snoopy will play the role of a zero-gravity indicator, which is essentially an item that provides a visual indicator when a spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity.

Stuffed Snoopy will be seen wearing the custom orange Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) pressure suit, which will also have the NASA patch on it.

In fact, NASA recently shared an image of the dressed stuffed Snoopy on Twitter, captioning it as 'Astronaut Snoopy is no stranger to space'.

Speaking of Snoopys trip to space, Craig Schulz, son of the cartoonist and producer of The Peanuts Movie, told Space.com: "I will never forget watching the Apollo 10 mission with my dad, who was so incredibly proud to have his characters participate in making space exploration history. I know he would be ecstatic to see Snoopy and NASA join together again to push the boundaries of human experience."

Meanwhile, Peanuts has also partnered with GoNoodle, and they will be releasing a new series of short videos while following Snoopy along his Artemis I journey. Together, they aim to inspire kids to learn about gravity and space exploration.

A new season of 'Snoopy in Space' will also be released on Apple TV+, exploring planets and the conditions necessary to find life in the universe.

The Artemis mission will enable astronauts to step foot on the Moons south pole, an area where no human has travelled before.

**

For weather, science, and COVID-19 updates on the go, download The Weather Channel App (on Android and iOS store). It's free!

See the original post:

Peanuts' Iconic Comic Character Snoopy Set to Fly to the Moon; To Perform the Role of 'Zero-Gravity Indicator' | The Weather Channel - Articles from...

Earth may one day have its own ring system one made from space junk.

Whenever there are humans, pollution seems to follow. Our planets orbit doesnt seem to be an exception. However, not all is lost yet! Research at the University of Utah is exploring novel ideas for how to clear the build-up before it can cause more trouble for space-faring vessels and their crews.

Their idea involves using a magnetic tractor beam to capture and remove debris orbiting the Earth.

Earth is on course to have its own rings, says University of Utah professor of mechanical engineering Jake Abbott, corresponding author of the study, for the Salt Lake Tribune. Theyll just be made of space junk.

The Earth is on its way to becoming the fifth planet in the Solar System to gain planetary rings. However, unlike the rock-and-ice rings of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus, Earths rings will be made of scrap and junk. It would also be wholly human-made.

According to NASAs Orbital Debris Program Office, there are an estimated 23,000 pieces of orbital debris larger than a softball; these are joined by a few hundreds of millions of pieces smaller than a softball. These travel at speeds of 17,500 mph (28,160 km/h), and pose an immense threat to satellites, space travel, and hamper research efforts.

Because of their high speeds, removing these pieces of space debris is very risky and hard to pull off.

Most of that junk is spinning, Abbott added. Reach out to stop it with a robotic arm, youll break the arm and create more debris.

A small part of this debris around 200 to 400 burns out in the Earths atmosphere every year. However, fresh pieces make their way into orbit as the planets orbit is increasingly used and traversed. Plans by private entities to launch thousands of new satellites in the coming years will only make the problem worse.

Abbotts team proposes using a magnetic device to capture or pull debris down into low orbit, where they will eventually burn up in the Earths atmosphere.

Weve basically created the worlds first tractor beam, he told Salt Lake Tribune. Its just a question of engineering now. Building and launching it.

The paper Dexterous magnetic manipulation of conductive non-magnetic objects has been published in the journal Nature.

Link:

Earth might develop junk rings but engineers are working to prevent that - ZME Science

For the past two years, a small CubeSat has been orbiting Earth, occasionally using its ion thrusters to prove that iodine can be used successfully for fuel in space.

Working with members of Sorbonne Universite, researchers from ThrustMe have published a paper in the journal Nature, detailing their work on the satellite and with iodine.

The accelerants used to launch a rocket into orbit are not ideal for actual space travel, where little power is needed to course-correct and propel a spacecraft. Typical rocket fuel is powerful but wildly inefficient. Space travel is where ion thrusters come in, moving spacecraft forward by expelling ions. Solar panels aboard the spacecraft generate the electricity needed to strip a neutral atom of its electrons, creating ions. Xenon gas is currently the default neutral atom source, though the authors of this paper have been trialing iodine as an alternative.

Iodine has been disregarded previously owing to its corrosive nature. The researchers circumvented this by using ceramic materials in the satellite and storing the iodine in solid form. Iodine sublimates readily, so little energy is needed to change the phase and ionize it. The CubeSat's solar panel generates power to heat the iodine, which is held in a tank connected directly to an ionizing chamber. The gas is blasted with electrons to form a plasma inside the chamber. Electricity then accelerates the positive ions in the plasma, generating thrust.

Despite the small size of the CubeSat, only ten centimeters across per side, and a total weight of 1.2 kilograms, its successful two-year orbit is proof of concept for iodine as a viable fuel for use in space.

See the original post:

Iodine ion thrusters successfully used to move a satellite in orbit - TweakTown

Vizzio Art Creators Lab (VACL), part of Vizzio Art, a European provider of digital wall art technology, announces the launch of a limited NFT collection Homo Spacien. The uniquely crafted series will conceptualize how humanity continues to evolve in parallel with space exploration.

VACL will be dropping their collection of 10,000 female Homo Spaciens, designed as digital collage art, on their website on 16th December 2021. The female series components are created using geometrical shapes combined from a pool of 153 attributes and 13 different traits using computer-generated software.

Celebrating the on-trend movement of space exploration, driven by the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, the NFT collection has been designed to explore how humans will evolve physically and technologically.

I have always been intrigued by space and wanted to explore how human evolution can evolve under different environments, comments Nukhet Cetin, Creative Director of VACL, and art and concept creator.

It is exciting that humans will one day colonize the Earths cosmic backyard and our NFT collection will be another reference point in the conversations about space exploration for years to come.

Homo Spacien will be the worlds first NFT collection that will allow a sneak preview of the collection in high definition on the TVs, and screens, of those interested in the collection.

Patrick Ashworth

Instead of seeing a small image on a marketplace, NFT collectors will be able to experience this distinctive collection using a proprietary Digital Art & NFT platform, Vizzio Art, explains Patrick Ashworth, Founder and CEO.

We are extremely excited to launch this unique NFT collection at a time when there are so many great achievements with space missions adds Patrick Ashworth.

The Homo Spacien collection keeps in line with the current movement towards PFP (Picture for Proof) Art and the huge demand for such computer-generated digital artworks. It pushes the boundaries of our imagination and allows users to imagine what life could be like on another planet. It has been designed to explore the idea of colonizing our cosmic backyard and humanity existing and living in these environments.

Homo Spacien NFT Art Collection Collage

It is more than a NFT collection and will form a community of like-minded NFT collectors and lovers of space innovation that will be able to provide ideas and feedback for a male version. Owners of the female Homo Spacien collection will also receive a unique mobile and desktop screensaver, space-themed events and give-aways, and free access to Vizzio Art and an exclusive merch store will be introduced at the beginning of 2022.

Vizzio Art will also be donating 10% of minting proceeds from the main sale to three charities chosen by the community. All of which are related to the exploration of space through education and advocacy, and helping refugees find new homes.

Details of our female Homo Spacien collection:Limited edition to 10,000 unique Homo Spacien NFTsPrice: 0.045 ETH each (+ gas fees)

Launch: Thursday 16/12/21 at 5pm GMT / 6pm CET / 12pm EST / 9am PST

Early access:

Early bird: 500 Homo Spacien NFTs released on Thursday 2/12/21 at 5pm GMT / 6pm CET / 12pm EST / 9am PST via a whitelisting (join our communities and send us a message via one of the platforms with your wallet details)

Pre-sale: 1,000 Homo Spacien NFTs released on Monday 13/12/21 at 5pm GMT / 6pm CET / 12pm EST / 9am PST via a whitelisting (join our communities and send us a message via one of the platforms with your wallet details it is first come first served, so hurry)

Disclaimer: this is an article written by Vizzio Art Creators Lab. Fintechnews does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products or other materials on this page. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company. Fintechnews is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. Please note this is no investment advice.

See the article here:

Launch of 'Homo Spacien' NFT Collection Shows How Space Travel Will Shape Human Evolution | Fintech Singapore - Fintech News Singapore

Fifteen years before Amazons founder, Jeff Bezos, catapulted himself into space in a rocket, Anousheh Ansari became the first female space tourist, spending nine days on the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. She is still the only woman ever to have traveled to space on a self-funded mission, which cost her $20 million.

Today, Ansari is CEO of XPrize, a California-based nonprofit that organizes multimillion-dollar competitions to support scientific innovation and benefit humanity. The first competition (sponsored by her family and worth $10 million) was aimed at building the worlds first nongovernment-funded spaceship. The winning design was licensed by Richard Branson, who used it to build the Virgin Galactic rocket that he boarded on a July spaceflight (nine days before Bezos).

Q: There seems to be a space craze going on right now among the worlds billionaires. What motivated you to go on a space mission?A: Since I was very young, Ive always wanted to go to space. Its what inspired me to study sciences, physics, math, and go in the direction I went. It was and still is a big passion of mine to understand our universe, how its built, my relationship to it. To me, its this extraordinary place of discovery and exploration.

Q: Why do you think Mr. Bezos and Mr. Branson flew to space?A: I happen to know both of them, and both of them are big space fans. Jeff Bezos grew up reading Jules Verne and has had a passion for space for many years. Branson bought the license for the winning spacecraft design in our XPrize competition, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in building Virgin Galactic.

From the outside, it looks like another billionaire splurge. In the case of those two men, I know its not just a whim. Its something theyve passionately cared about all their life.

Q: What made you spend $20 million on your own space trip in 2006?A: To me, I would have paid with my life. It wasnt a matter of money. I felt that this was part of the purpose of my living on this earth.

Q: What was life like on the space station?A: My time up there was spent partly doing scientific experiments with the European Space Agency, partly talking to a lot of students and telling them how it felt to be there. I also wrote a blog.

For me, it was a moment of reflection on my life, the reason Im here on this planet. It helped me see the big picture.

Q: What about the practicalities of spending nine days up there?A: Life on a space station is like being a child and needing to relearn everything whether its washing your hair, eating in space, or working in space. Youre in microgravity, and things are different. You cant have a shower. Water floats; it doesnt flow. Theres no cooking going on, and no refrigerator. So all food forms are either dehydrated or in cans. Youre floating and not sleeping in a bed, so you need to get used to that. Youre not walking around, youre flying around. Realizing that you dont need to exert that much force to move around takes time. I banged myself around the space station many times, and got bruises.

When youre orbiting the Earth, you see a sunrise and a sunset every 90 minutes, so your biorhythm is completely out of whack. Your body goes through a lot of changes. You get this surge of fluid that goes to your head and causes headaches and puffiness. Your spine stretches, so youre taller, but you feel back pain. Your muscle mass changes; your bone density changes. Slowly your body starts adapting and changing as well.

Q: How is space exploration and travel useful to humanity?A: Space is the answer to our future on Earth. As the population grows, as our way of life requires more consumption of resources, we wont be able to sustain life as we know it without access to the resources of space. We need to build infrastructures and technologies that will give us access to the continuous energy of the sun to power our cities, for example, and to move some manufacturing into orbit so that it doesnt have a negative impact on our environment. Space will allow us to understand our planet and be able to predict things better.

Many technologies we use today come from the space program, whether its the lightweight material in clothing or shoes, or the lightweight material used in aerospace, satellite entertainment, GPS systems, the banking system.

Q: Three years ago, you moved over to the nonprofit organization XPrize. Can you talk about its mission?A: XPrize launches massive competitions to solve humanitys grand challenges. We focus on specific problems that have been stagnant because of lack of funding or lack of understanding or attention. A lot of our work right now is focused on climate change, energy, biodiversity and conservation.

Q: How do your competitions attract such huge sums?A: We dont, the teams do. When we have a $10 million competition, someone whos been sitting on their couch at home just thinking about something will have a reason to go build it. They form a team, and we connect them with potential investors.

Q: Are you tempted to go back to space again?A: I would love to go back to space at any point in time. I would be happy and willing to go live in space. I felt at home when I was on the space station; I experienced a freedom I had never felt before.

Q: A spiritual experience?A: Yes, it was a spiritual experience but not because I felt closer to God, because I dont believe that God is up there and that you get close to him if you go into space! I felt like I was reaching a different level of understanding of humanity.

Originally posted here:

Meet Anousheh Ansari, the only woman ever to travel to space on self-funded mission - Economic Times

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

Alex Wong | Getty Images

Jeff Bezos may have earmarked $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, but he says he's spending more of his fortune on addressing climate change.

During an interview at the Ignatius Forum in Washington, D.C., last week, the Amazon founder and executive chairman was asked what he would say to critics who argue that billionaires such as himself should be spending more of their fortune on targeting Earth's climate issues rather than space travel.

"They're missing the duality that we need to do both and that the two things are deeply connected," Bezos told Harvard Business Review editor-in-chief Adi Ignatius. "I'm actually spending even more money on the Bezos Earth Fund than I'm spending on space."

Bezos acknowledged there's a "tremendous amount to be done" on Earth, but that in order to "keep growing as a civilization," humans need to look to developing resources on other planets as well.

Bezos launched the $10 billion Earth Fund in 2020 to issue grants to scientists, activists and other organizations working to address climate change. So far, the fund has granted $947 million, and the goal is to issue the remaining $9 billion by 2030.

After stepping down as Amazon CEO in July, Bezos is spending more time on personal ambitions like the Earth Fund and Blue Origin, as well as The Washington Post, which he acquired in 2013.

Bezos is setting aside more time to Blue Origin projects in particular. CNBC previously reported that Bezos recently doubled his weekly time commitment to Blue Origin, dedicating both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to updates or discussions at the space company.

Bezos has long had an interest in space. At his high school graduation, he gave a valedictorian speech that said he wanted to build "space hotels, amusement parks, yachts and colonies for two or three million people orbiting around the earth." He ended his valedictorian speech with the words, "Space: the final frontier. Meet me there." It was meant to be a riff on the "Star Trek" tagline.

Bezos went on to play a small role as an alien in the 2016 sci-fi film "Star Trek: Beyond."

"That was not an easy gig to get," Bezos told Ignatius, adding that he only spoke one line during the film. "I insisted on a speaking role which complicated the whole scenario."

WATCH: Why the Bezos Earth Fund is putting $500 million into renewable energy in the climate change fight

See the article here:

Jeff Bezos says he spends more on climate than space travel and recounts the time he played an alien - CNBC

RJ Pierce, Tech Times 19 November 2021, 06:11 am

Space travel technology has advanced so much within the last 53 years. What used to be impossible is now possible, and it seems like the tech just keeps on progressing.

But amidst the smoke of rocket fuel and high-profile, multi-billion-dollar launches, one specific space exploration tech has gone under the radar: solar sails. And if there's something you should know about them, it's that they could herald in a new age of space exploration.

The solar sail mission LightSail 2 has been up there orbiting the Earth for over two years now. And according to Universe Today, it is providing excellent hard data that could inform humanity's next steps into exploring the cosmos.

Now, you might be asking, "what in the world are solar sails?"

The simple answer is, they basically work like boat sails. The only difference is that they don't use wind to propel a spacecraft (there's obviously no wind in space) but sunlight. That's why they're called solar sails in the first place.

(Photo : Getty Images )

LightSail 2 was a revolutionary mission because it demonstrated that reaching a high orbital altitude is possible without ever using rocket fuel. Furthermore, Bill Nye "The Science Guy"calls it "poetic" that space travel could be achieved by "sailing on sunbeams."

So, how does a solar sail work? According to Planetary.org, literally just like a boat sail.

Light particles, or photons, while not having mass, actually have momentum behind them as they travel through space. When they hit the surface of a solar sail, they give it a tiny push. Every single succeeding photon push will propel a spacecraft forward--and at incredible speeds, too.

Read also:NASA Confirms to Try Latest Solar Sail Technologies in Space by Mid-2022

A spacecraft powered by solar sails could theoretically reach 10 percent of light speed, according to Exploring Solar Sails. That's all without having to use rocket fuel or other conventional forms of propulsion.

Here's a bit of perspective to give justice to that figure. The speed of light is a blistering 186,000 miles per second. This figure remains constant all throughout the universe, according to the American Museum of Natural History.

(Photo : Getty Images )

10 percent of that, while relatively small, is still a whopping 18,600 miles every single second. If, for example, a plane would go as fast as 10 percent the speed of light, it would take less than a second for it to travel from Los Angeles to Beijing--a distance of 6,248 miles.

So, will future space travel incorporate solar sail technology?

For now, the LightSail 2 mission will continue gathering relevant data. But within the next several decades, this technology could potentially allow man-made spacecraft to reach places in the galaxy previously unreachable by conventional tech.

(Photo : Getty Images )

There's already one mission, Breakthrough Starshot, which plans to send a solar sail-powered spacecraft to Proxima Centauri--the nearest neighboring star to our sun. Today's fastest-existing space travel tech, called gravity assist, would take an insane 19,000 years to reach Proxima Centauri, according to Universe Today

With a solar sail, it will only take a few decades, writes Astronomy. That could be humanity's biggest mission yet, which can be achieved within the current generations' lifetimes.

So for now,forget real-life warp drivesand other science fiction space travel tech. Solar sail propulsion is here, and the possibilities are almost endless.

Related: NASA Releases Video Of WILD, Sci-Fi-Like Space Exploration Concepts--Which Ones Can Come True?

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce

2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Read more here:

Space Travel Using Solar Sails: A Good Alternative for Light Speed Propulsion? - Tech Times