Category Archives: Space Travel

File photo: Chandrayaan 2 launch.

Even though the year 2020 would be known for the COVID-19 pandemic, it could also be termed as the defining year for the Indian space sector to put it in a different orbit with the private sector as a co-traveller of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

As a part of that, the Department of Space (DoS) recently signed an agreement with Chennai based small rocket company Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd to access the facilities and technical expertise available in ISRO centres.

According to DoS, this is the first of its kind agreement to be signed after the establishment of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), the authorisation and regulatory body for enabling private players to undertake space activities in India.

Under the agreement, Agnikul Cosmos will be provided access to the facilities and technical expertise available in ISRO centres to proceed with their launch vehicle/rocket development program. A couple of days later, Syzygy Space Technologies Pvt Ltd, commonly known as Pixxel, signed up with NewSpace India LtdDoS' commercial armto launch its first satellite using ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket in early 2021.

Pixxel plans to have its Firefly constellation consisting of 30 small earth observation satellites by the end of 2022. The DoS has also come out with three draft policiesDraft Space Based Communication Policy of India 2020 (Spacecom Policy-2020), Draft Space Based Remote Sensing Policy and Revised Technology Transfer Policy Guidelinesto enable the private sector play a greater role in the space field.

File photo of Chandrayaan 2

The DoS Secretary and ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said a policy for launch vehicles and rockets, space exploration and also a comprehensive Space Act will also be announced.

In effect, after the insipid first half, the year 2020 turned a bit interesting after the Central government decided to open up the sector for private players.

During the start of 2020, Sivan had said that ISRO had planned to have 25 launches, including Aditya-L1 satellite, Geo Imaging Satellite (GISAT-1), realisation of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) or small rocket (carrying capacity 500 kg), navigation satellite with indigenous atomic clocks and Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS), and GSAT-20 satellite with electric propulsion.

Sivan also said that India will embark on its third moon missionChandrayaan-3and attempt to land a lander on the lunar surface sometime in 2020-21.

The year began well for ISRO with the launch of the 3,357 kg communication satellite GSAT-30 by the European space agency Arianespace rocket Ariane 5 on January 17.

Vyom Mitra, the humanoid for ISRO's crewless Gaganyaan Mission.

ISRO also showcased its robot/half-humanoidVyommitrawhich was part of its human space mission programme 'Gaganyaan'. The first setback of the year for ISRO came on March 4, when it had to call off the launch of GISAT-1, a day before its actual launch, owing to technical reasons.

The ISRO did not share any detail about the technical reasons, or the glitch, and its rectification since then. It is also not known when the satellite with a very good camera would be launched.

Then came the COVID-19 lockdown within and outside India that had its cascading impact on ISRO's core plans like the realisation of SSLV, launch of GISAT-1, delay in the first test-flight of the rocket as part of GaganyaanIndia's human space flight mission.

Meanwhile, two positive developments happened for ISROsecuring an Indian patent for its liquid cooling and heating garment (LCHG) suitable for space applications and for its method of manufacturing highland lunar soil simulant or simply lunar/moon soil.

On May 16, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Indian private sector will be a co-traveller in India's space-sector journey and a level-playing field will be provided for them in satellites, launches, and space-based services.

She also said that a predictable policy and regulatory environment will be provided to the private players.

Future projects for planetary exploration, outer space travel and others are to be opened up for the private sector, and there will be a liberal geo-spatial data policy for providing remote-sensing data to tech-entrepreneurs subject to various checks.

ISRO Launch Rocket PSLV

On June 24, the Union Cabinet decided to set up IN-SPACe, making ISRO focus on research and development (R&D) of new technologies, exploration missions, and human spaceflight programme.

The IN-SPACe would provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.

As a part of the rejig, DoS' commercial arm New Space India Limited (NSIL) will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a 'supply driven' model to 'demand driven' model, thereby ensuring optimum utilisation of the country's space assets.

"The best is to establish an independent regulatorSpace Regulatory Authority of India (SRAI)which will create a level-playing field for many of the emerging players," Narayan Prasad, Chief Operating Officer, satsearch, told IANS.

Establishing an independent regulator could allow a systematic review and reforms on a continuous basis rather than one-off announcements, Prasad said.

As per current scheme of things, IN-SPACe will have its own directorates for technical, legal, safety and security, monitoring as well as activities promotion for assessing the private sector's needs and coordination of the activities. IN-SPACe would have a board and representatives from industry, academia and the government, Sivan said.

"Initially, IN-SPACe will be manned by people from the existing space setup. Later, people from outside will be taken in. It will have its funds from the budgetary allocations for the DoS. The new body may not need big financial allocations," Sivan remarked.

Meanwhile, ISRO restarted its satellite launch operations on November 7 by putting into orbit the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-1, formerly RISAT-2BR2, and nine other foreign satellites in a text book style, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C49).

With this launch, ISRO put into orbit a total of 328 foreign satellites, all for a fee. On December 17, ISRO orbited India's 42nd communication satellite-CMS-01 (formerly named GSAT-12R) with its PSLV-C50 rocket.

While that was the last space mission for India in 2020, Sivan told IANS that the first quarter of 2021 will see Indian space agency's cash till ringing with the commercial launch of Brazilian satellite Amazonia as well as three Indian satellites.

"End of February or early March 2021, we will be sending our rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C51 (PSLV-C51). The primary payload will be the Brazilian satellite called Amazonia an earth observation satellite," Sivan said.

"The PSLV-C51 mission will be a very special mission not only for ISRO but also for India as the rocket will be carrying the earth observation satellite Anand made by an Indian startup called Pixxel (Incorporated as Syzygy Space Technologies Pvt Ltd)," he added.

File photo from one of ISRO's launches.

The PSLV-C51 will also carry a communication satellite - Satisat - built by the students of city-based Space Kidz India and another satellite, Unisat, which is built by a consortium of three Indian universities.

According to Sivan, Team ISRO has a busy schedule ahead for the launch of Aditya L1 satellite, third moon mission Chandrayaan-3, Gaganyaaan - India's human space mission, and realisation of small rocket Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).

He also said the SSLV will carry EOS-02 (Earth Observation Satellite), and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F10 (GSLV) carrying EOS-3.

The other Indian satellites that are ready for launch are GISAT and Microsat-2A.

**

The above article has been published from a wire agency with minimal modifications to the headline and text.

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From Delayed Missions to Bringing Private Sector Onboard: Here's How ISRO Fared Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic | The Weather Channel - Articles from The...

Covid-19 sucked most of the oxygen out of science this year. But we still had brilliant wins.

The pandemic couldnt bring rockets or humans down: multiple missions blasted off to the red planet in the summer of Mars. Two astronauts launched to the International Space Stationand made it safely backin a game-changer for commercial space travel. NASA released dozens of findings on how space travel changes our bodies, paving the way to keep us healthy in orbitor one day, on Mars and beyond.

Back on Earth, scientists scoured mud ponds and fished out a teeny-tiny CRISPR enzyme that packs a massive punch for genome editing. AI and neuroscience became even more entwinedsometimes literally. Biological neurons got hooked up to two silicon-based artificial neurons, across multiple countries, into a fully-functional biohybrid neural network. Others tapped dopaminethe main messenger for the brains reward systemto unite electricity and chemical computing into a semi-living computer. While still largely a curiosity, these studies take brain-inspired computers to another level by seamlessly incorporating living neurons into AI hardware. Now imagine similar circuits inside the brainNeuralink sure is.

More abstractly, biological and artificial brains further fed into each other in our understandingand craftingof intelligence. This year, scientists found mini-computers in the input tree-like branches of neurons. Like entire neural networks, these cables were capable of performing complex logical calculations, suggesting our brain cells are far brainier than we previously thoughtsomething AI can learn from. On the flip side, a hotshot algorithm inspired by the brain called reinforcement learning pushed neuroscientists to re-examine how we respond to feedback as we learn. AI also helped build the most dynamic brain atlas to date, a living map that can continuously incorporate new data and capture individual differences.

As we leave 2020 behind, two main themes percolate in my mind, not just for what theyve accomplished, but as indicators of what lies ahead. These are the trends Ill be keeping my eyes on in the coming year.

Why we age is extremely complex. So are methods that try to prevent age-related diseases, or slow the aging process itself. This nth-dimensional complexity almost dictates that longevity research needs to self-segregate into lanes.

Take probing the biological mechanisms that drive aging. For example, our cells energy factory spews out bullet-like molecules that damage the cell. The genome becomes unstable. Cells turn zombie-like. Working stem cells vanish. Tissue regeneration suffers. Scientists often spend entire careers understanding one facet of a single hallmark of aging, or hunting for age-related genes. The lucky ones come up with ways to combat that one foefor example, senolytics, a family of drugs that wipe out zombie cells to protect against age-related diseases.

But aging hallmarks dont rear their heads in isolation. They work together. An increasing trend is to unveil the how of their interactions workcrosstalk, in science-speakwith hopes of multiple birds with one stone.

This year, longevity researchers crossed lanes.

One study, for example, took a stem cell playbook to rejuvenate eyesight in aged mice with vision loss. They focused on a prominent aging hallmark: epigenetics. Our DNA is dotted with thousands of chemical marks. As we age, these marks accumulate. Using gene therapy, the team introduced three superstar genes into the eyes of aged mice to revert those marks and reprogram cells to a younger state. Youve probably heard of those genes: theyre three of the four factors used to revert adult skin cells into a stem-cell-like state, or iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells). Resetting the epigenetic clock was so powerful it improved visual acuity in old mice, and the team has now licensed the tech to Life Biosciences in Boston to further develop for humans.

Another study combined three main puzzle pieces in agingzombie cells, inflammation, and malfunctioning mitochondriainto a full picture, with the surprise ending that senolytics has multiple anti-aging powers in cells. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Finally, one team (which I was a part of) combined two promising approaches for brain rejuvenationexercise and young bloodto begin pushing the limits of reigniting faltering memory and cognition due to aging.

Longevity research has long been fragmented, but its starting to coalesce into a multidisciplinary field. These crossovers are just the start of a rising trajectory to combat the multi-headed Hydra thats aging. More will come.

If youre looking for a sign that AI is leaving the digital realm of Atari games and heading into the real world, this year was it.

In biotech, theres no doubt of AIs promise in drug discovery or medical diagnoses. In late 2019, a team used deep learning and generative modelssimilar to AlphaGo, the DeepMind algorithm that trounced humans at Go and wiped the Atari libraryto conjure over 30,000 new drug molecules, a feat chemists could only dream of. This year, the viral hurricane thats Covid-19 further unleashed AI-based drug discovery, such as screening existing drugs for candidates that may work against the virus, or newlydesigned chemicals to fight off SARS-CoV-2 infectionthe virus that causes Covid-19.

For now, we dont yet have an AI-designed drug on the market, an ultimate test for the technologys promise. However, although AI wasnt able to make a splash in our current pandemic battle, the scene is set for tackling the next oneand drug discovery as a whole.

In contrast, AI-based medical diagnosis had a resounding win. This year, the FDA approved a software that uses AI to provide real-time guidance for ultrasound imaging for the heart, essentially allowing those without specialized training to perform the test. The approval brings a total of 29 FDA-approved AI-based medical technologies to date. Even as the debate on trust, ethics, and responsibility for AI doctors cranked up in temperature, the Pandoras box has been opened.

Medicine aside, deep learning further honed its craft in a variety of fields. The neuroscience-AI marriage is one for the ages with no signs of fracture. Outside the brain, AI also gave synthetic biology a leg up by parsing the interactions between genes and genetic networksa mind-bending, enormously complex problem previously only achieved through trial and error. With help from AI, synthetic biologists can predict how changes to one gene in a cell could affect others, and in turn, the cells biochemistry and behavior. Bottom line: it makes designing new biological circuits, such as getting yeast to pump out green fuels or artificially hoppy beer, much easier.

But the coup de grce against AI as an overhyped technology is DeepMinds decimation of a 50-year-long challenge in biology. With a performance that shocked experts, DeepMinds AlphaFold was able to predict a proteins 3D structure from its amino acid sequencethe individual components of a proteinmatching the current gold standard. As the workhorses of our bodies, proteins dictate life. AlphaFold, in a sense, solved a huge chunk of the biology of life, with implications for both drug discovery and synthetic biology.

One more scientific brilliance this year is the use of light in neuroscience and tissue engineering. One study, for example, used lasers to directly print a human ear-like structure under the skin of mice, without a single surgical cut. Another used light to incept smell in mice, artificially programming an entirely new, never-seen-in-nature perception of a scent directly into their brains. Yet another study combined lasers with virtual reality to dissect how our brains process space and navigation, mentally transporting a mouse to a virtual location linked to a reward. To cap it off, scientists found a new way to use light to control the brain through the skull without surgerythough as of now, youll still need gene therapy. Given the implications of unauthorized mind control, thats probably less of a bug and more of a feature.

Were nearing the frustratingly slow, but sure, dying gasp of Covid-19. The pandemic defined 2020, but science kept hustling along. I cant wait to share what might come in the next year with youmay it be revolutionary, potentially terrifying, utterly bizarre* or oddly heart-warming.

* For example, Why wild giant pandas frequently roll in horse manure. Yes thats the actual title of a study. Yes, its a great read. And yes, its hilarious but has a point.

Image Credit: Greyson Joralemon on Unsplash

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2020 in Neuroscience, Longevity, and AIand What's to Come - Singularity Hub

George Clooney's Netflix movie The Midnight Sky has inspired viewers to find other movies about space; check out these 10 recommendations.

After three year-hiatus from making movies, George Clooney returns to the big screen as the leading actor, producer, and director in Netflix's newest film, The Midnight Sky.

RELATED:The Midnight Sky: Every Project George Clooney Has Directed, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes

Alongside George Clooney, the movie consists of an ensemble cast that includes Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, and Kyle Chandler. It is an emotional film that will leave viewers anticipating the missions by the scientist and astronauts. Also, it shows the beautiful visuals of space and the disheartening imagery of Earth. Of course, The Midnight Sky is not the first of its kind. Several other films capture the movie's essence, whether it be another space mission or another apocalyptic catastrophe.

Considering the mysteries behind a black monolith, two astronauts venture into space to find answers regarding its origin. While traveling with H.A.L. 9000, a supercomputer, a new conflict arises between humanity and machine that changes the course of their mission and brings about revelations regarding the space and time continuum.

Of course, 2001: A Space Odyssey sets the foundation of the space theme that we now see today. The film was gratified for its complex story and breathtaking visuals that have since inspired future sci-fi films.

Interstellar is one movie that most equates to the tone and premise of The Midnight Sky. As Earth becomes inhospitable, a pilot joinsa team of researchers to try and save humanity. His time and sacrifice mean leaving his children behind for several years, and matters worsen when there is deception regarding their plans.

Interstellar is like any Christopher Nolan movie. The story is convoluted, but it is still substantive in its approach. The stakes of it all make thefilm emotionally investing, from phenomenal performances by the cast, such as Matthew McConaughey,Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain, and the beautiful score composed by Hans Zimmer.

As a group of astronauts escapes the conditions of Mars, one botanist gets left behind, leaving him stranded on the red planet. Now, he has to find a way to communicate with Earth and keep himself alive as long as possible, with his innovation and intelligence.

RELATED:10 Movies To Watch If You Loved The Martian

Though most space movies have a dramatic tone,The Martianis a unique movie, where it is more light-hearted. Based on Andy Weir's novel of the same title, the film is one of a kind that viewers compliment for its brilliance, thrill, and humor. Furthermore, Matt Damon gives a genuinely unforgettable performance.

George Clooney has a soft-side when it comes to space movies and their calamities. When space debris causes critical damage to the space shuttle, a medical engineer and a team commander are the only ones to survive the impact. Now, they have to figure out how to get back home to Earth, which means understanding the ways around space.

Gravity was one of the biggest movies in 2013. It is quite a harrowing and anxiety-inducing film that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats. Critics praised the film for its beautiful visual effects and direction, which earned the film Best Director for Alfonso Cuarn and Best Visual Effects at the86th Academy Awards.

With the sun slowly dying, the resultscould lead to the end of humanity. Therefore, a group of astronauts is on course to reignite the sun and give humanity another fighting chance. However, when the team detours and meets upon an older spaceship, they face the unexpected aftermaths that jeopardize their mission and risk everyone's life onboard.

Danny Boyle presents another thrilling piece of work with Sunshine. It is extraordinary with the complexities and psychological elements of space traveling, with incredible visual effects and impactful storytelling. The movie is also supported by an ensemble cast that includes Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, and Rose Byrne.

Moonis no ordinary space movie as it takes a turn on the psychological and quintessential effects of space travel. An astronaut travels home from his research on the moon. However, he deals with hallucinations that could be from his trip. Now, he has to figure out what all the mysteries mean before he arrives home.

Moon may not be the most highly-budgeted sci-fi movie, but it is a must-watch for viewers to watch. Of course, Sam Rockwell is the star of the film. He gives a remarkable performance and is perhaps one ofRockwell'sbest roles to date.

Sometimes, mother nature can change unexpectedly. These cases could lead to unspeakable natural disasters from tornadoes around cities to a tsunami-like hurricane during the cold season. For one paleoclimatologist, he goes on a complicated journey through a superstorm to find his only son and bring him home before it's too late.

RELATED:10 Best Disaster Movies That Don't Have A Happy Ending, Ranked

The Day After Tomorrowis nota perfect movie,especially for a natural disaster flick. However, the visuals are horrifying yet mesmerizing that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats. The movie stars Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Emmy Rossum.

Ad Astra is not any usual sci-face movie in space. It is more than that as it focuses on the estranged bond between a father and son. After Roy McBride's father has been missing for three decades, Roy goes on a mission to find the truth about his father's expedition and stop the threat upon those at home.

Not everyone loves this movie because of the slow pace and development. However, it is quite ambitious in its approach by narrating a different spin on space-related movies. Also, it is visually stunning with brilliant cinematography and an amazing performance by Brad Pitt.

In this post-apocalyptic world where Earth undergoes a second Ice Age, civilization now lies on speed-trains to keep humanity alive. However, everyone is located in each cart by the class system, leaving the poorest to live in unbearable conditions. With the help of one man, they push their way to the engine and change the rules and lifestyle set by those in control.

Before becoming an Oscar-winning director, Bong Joon-ho was already crafting pieces of art. Snowpierceris surprisingly entertaining due to its unique and captivating story. Itconsists of a stellar cast of Chris Evans,Song Kang-ho, andTilda Swinton.

This biographical drama centers on Neil Armstrong's life story as he becomes one of the first astronauts to step foot on the moon. However, life as an astronaut is more than just space alone as he recounts the people that he loses close to him.

Directed by Damien Chazelle, First Manis a touching and beautiful movie about Neil Armstrong, played by Ryan Gosling. Critics and audience alike raved the film for its emotional storytelling, brilliant direction, and amazing performances by Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. Also, the Moon landing sequence is quite a stunning scene that viewers surely cannot miss.

NEXT:The Midnight Sky: 10 Best Movies About Astronauts & Outer Space

Next MCU's Fantastic Four: Why Doom Should Be The Villain (& Why It Should Be Someone Else)

Based in South Florida, Fariba Rezwan is a list writer for CBR and Screen Rant. Though working on her graduate degree at the University of Florida, her science education does not take away her love of movies and TV shows. She is a huge geek and considers her herself a huge fan of many fandoms including Star Wars, Marvel, GoT, Supernatural and many more.

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10 Movies To Watch If You Like Netflix's The Midnight Sky - Screen Rant

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Here are the top new hypergrowth industries Im focused on right now. My research shows all of them will soon have their breaking out moment in 2021:

1.Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is a brand-new sector where breakthrough technology allows scientists to program living things. Im sure youve seen the DNA double helix before.

Source: edn.com

DNA is basically your bodys unique set of instructions. Its what makes you, you. Your unique DNA makeup determines what you look like, how your body functions. Think of DNA as the source code of every living thing on Earth. Synthetic biology gives us the tools to edit and create the DNA of an organism to get it to do something entirely new. Basically, it allows scientists to alter the makeup of living things.

How does it work? In short, engineers design sequences of DNA on computers. Then they physically print out those sequences and insert them into living things. This can then add beneficial character traits to a living thing.

For example, scientists already use it to make self-fertilizing plants. Joyn Bio used fake DNA to modify the microbes of plants so they can pull nitrogen gas from the air and convert it into fertilizer. Using synthetic biology, scientists have also created a reliable source of artemisinin which is used in malaria vaccines.

Fake meat pioneer Beyond Meat also harnessed this new technology to create more realistic veggie burgers. It was first to use a DNA coding sequence from soybeans to create meat that looks and tastes like beef but is actually made from vegetables.

In short, this breakthrough tech allows scientists to reprogram the operating system of plants and other organisms. Synthetic biology is hands down the most cutting-edge industry on earth right now. Just as Intels microchips and IBMs computers underpinned Americas computing revolution,Twist BiosciencesDNA synthesis platform provides the building blocks for the biology revolution.

2.Genomics

DNA carries your genetic information. Think of it as a set of instructions for your body. Mapping your DNA allows scientists to decipher your bodys unique set of instructions. By learning the secrets hidden within your DNA, doctors can tell what diseases youre likely to get. This allows them to catch problems earlier and diagnose them more accurately.

In fact, the use of DNA mapping in healthcare is exploding right now. A new prenatal test based on DNA mapping can detect hard-to-find problems with babies inside their mothers wombs. Its the fastest-growing medical test in American history.

Invitae(NVTA)is using these breakthroughs to turn Americas healthcare system on its head. In short, its building an alternate healthcare industry around DNAor geneticinformation.

By the end of 2020, Invitae will have mapped the DNA of almost one million Americans. And its creating a system where this information is used in our healthcare decisions. For example, most cancers have a genetic link. In other words, mapping DNA can help detect the disease early. And when it comes to cancer, an accurate and timely diagnosis can literally save your life.

But right now, many cancers go largely undetected. Invitae is working to change this. I see genetic mapping ushering in the era of personalized medicine in America. If you havent heard about this yet, you will soon.

In short, DNA mapping will allow you, as an individual, to know which diseases youre most at risk for. Knowing this, youll better understand the perfect foods, the perfect drugs, and the perfect exercise regimen, just for you.

But thats only stage one. The genomics industry is evolving from mapping our DNA to editing it. Gene editing promises to transform how we treat and cure disease. Humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes that carry the DNA instructions for our bodies. But devastating diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia are caused by just one error.

Gene editing is making cures for certain diseases possible for the first time in history. It has the potential to cure thousands of diseases like cystic fibrosis, Huntingtons, sickle cell anemia, and hemophilia.

Space has always been a business dominated by governments. The Space Race between America and the Soviet Union kicked off back in the 1950s. And since then, the US government has pumped $600+ billion into NASA. That dwarfs the $20 billion that private companies have invested in space.

But over the past decade, theres been a quiet revolution in the space industry. The advent of reusable rockets and innovative launch methods have slashed the cost of going to space. The cost to launch a satellite into orbit has dropped more in the past 10 years than in the entire history of space!

Rapidly declining costs are transforming space travel into a thriving business. In fact, private space investment has jumped 400% since 2013. Elon Musks intergalactic company SpaceX has launched 20+ resupply rockets to the International Space Station over the past few years. And earlier this year SpaceX sent its first two astronauts into space on its Crew Dragon capsule. It was the first privately built rocket and capsule ever to put humans into space.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is also pushing private space exploration forward. His company, Blue Origin, recently won a NASA contract to put Americans back on the moon. In short, the era of private space exploration is here. Over the coming years, tourists will fly into outer space, companies will figure out how to mine asteroids, and companies likeMaxar Technologies (MAXR)will continue to improve their fleets of spy satellites.

Over the past decade, investors have poured a record $26 billion into 535 space companies globally. Last year alone $5.8 billion was investeda new record. In fact, data from the Space Foundation shows the space economy generated $415 billion in revenue last year. Current industry projections peg the 2040 global space economy at between $1 and $3 trillion.

And keep in mind, government activity in space is growing once again. The Commerce Department revitalized the Office of Space Commerce, which was established over 30 years ago to help enable commercial space activities. Last December, Congress approved a $738 billion defense policy bill to create a Space Force, the sixth branch of the US military.

The core idea of artificial intelligence (AI) is a machine that learns and thinks just like you or me. Most important, it learns all by itself, without human intervention. But please understand, AI isnt one single all-knowing machine like you see in the movies. Instead, it describes intelligent computers that do ultra-specific tasks.

For example, right now machines are learning to see for the first time ever. This is the basis of the flourishing computer vision industry. Medical imaging disruptor Paige is using computer vision to revolutionize the way we diagnose cancer. Paige fed millions of real-life medical images into its computer program and taught it to detect early signs of tumors.

And it recently tested the system by scanning 12,000 medical images for potential tumors. It had never seen these images before, yet achieved near-perfect accuracy. In other words, this computer has learned to recognize cancerous tumors better than human doctors. Paige is just one example of machines performing like superhuman doctors.

Stanford researchers recently built a computer that scans MRIs to detect Alzheimers disease with 94% accuracy. Other teams are teaching computers to drive. Amazon recently acquired top self-driving car startup Zoox for $1.2 billion. Zooxs computer on wheels is so good at driving it can zip through San Franciscos busy streets without a human driver.

Then you have firms developing checkout-free grocery stores, which turns your local Whole Foods into a giant supercomputer. Earlier this year, Amazon launched its Dash Cart. The shopping cart uses computer vision algorithms and sensors to identify the items in the cart. So you can simply grab items, throw them in the cart, and walk out.

In short, these are all world-changing technologies that will make many folks rich. Many new, unique disruptions are hiding underneath the misleading banner of AI.

Do you remember when every company had a dedicated payroll department?Now most businesses outsource it to companies like Paylocity and Paycom. In fact, offloading your payroll department makes total sense. Why do it yourself when you can pay a specialist to do it for less?

And as businesses outsourced their payroll needs, Paylocity and Paycoms stocks surged. This outsourcing phenomenon isnt just confined to payroll anymore. All kinds of functions that used to be done in-house like accounting, web design, IT support, and data storage are being offloaded now. For example, most companies that need to build a website no longer hire a whole web design team. Instead, they pay firms like Shopify and Wix to handle all their online needs.

Firms still employ armies of accountants to look after their finances. But this is rapidly changing. An upstart called BlackLine has created software that automates most accounts payable and receivable jobs. It now counts major firms like Nike, Costco, and Dominos as customers. And its stock has shot up 300%+ in the past couple years.

Remember when every office in America had a dedicated server room? The in-house IT department would look after the companys systems. And ensure hackers couldnt steal valuable data.

IT departments are now shrinking rapidly. Instead of employing dozens of workers to stop hackers, companies now simply pay cybersecurity firms likeOktaandZscalera monthly fee to protect their networks.

Then you have a company likeSmartsheet, which is automating much of what project managers used to do. Its app basically allows teams to collaborate, manage, and report on work in real time. And its stock has surged 150%+ over the past couple months.

All these jobs used to be done by in-house employees. Now they are being outsourced to specialist firms. And the firms pioneering new software products have been among the best-performing stocks in the entire market.

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The Top Five Hypergrowth Industries I'm Targeting In 2021 - Forbes

From artificial suns to limitless energy, the United States, China and Russia are competing for creating sun-like fusion, which promises a better world for some and worse for others.

At the heart of our sun is a ceaseless nuclear furnace, where unparalleled heat and the gravitational force caused by its tremendous mass place incredible pressure on its core. This results in indescribable pressure, fusing hydrogen and helium together. The reaction gives off a tremendous amount of energy in the form of light and heat the two essential components for life on earth.

For the first time in a long time, realising commercial fusion may well be within humanitys grasp: within the next decade. In spite of the incredible benefits fusion promises, a breakthrough in the field would cause radical upheaval to the worlds fossil fuel energy industry, impacting petroleum-reliant countries the most.

War and peace

Ever since humans mastered the splitting of the atom through fission, sun-like fusion quickly became the holy grail of every nuclear scientist. This pursuit led to the creation of the hydrogen bomb, and while never used in war, it is potentially 1000 times strongerthan the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Unlike fission which is used by todays nuclear power plants, fusion doesnt produce radioactive waste as a byproduct and only requires hydrogen which is readily found in water. Uranium-235, a highly radioactive isotope used in atom-splitting nuclear weapons, takes 703.8 million years to decay by 50 per cent, and a similar amount of time to lose the remaining 25 per cent.

This presents tremendous problems for governments, making it nearly impossible to store it safely. For instance, a United States proposal to deal with radioactive waste suggested it be stored underground in the middle of the Yucca desert. But even if it was stored in lead-lined steel drums, planners realized the waste would still be radioactive long after the drums fell apart hundreds if not thousands of years later. Given the mutations and cancer radiation causes, fusion remains the ideal standard for nuclear energy.

Because fusion doesnt produce greenhouse gases, scientists the world over see it as a clean, limitless source of energy to power the future.

Triggering fusion for a fraction of a second is relatively easy though, compared to sustaining the chain reaction indefinitely to power entire cities.

Fusion is incredibly difficult

Even if it occurs in the sun naturally, creating sustainable fusion is hard. On paper, its pretty simple. Smash some atoms together, and soak up the energy. But in reality, creating the equivalent of an artificial sun is much harder.

For one, the sun is 1.3 million times larger than the Earth. The kind of gravity the sun's mass yields is impossible on Earth. Second, fusion of hydrogen at the suns core happens in a stellar oven that burns at an intense 15 million degrees celsius.

For scientists on earth, the challenge isnt only in creating the pressure and heat necessary to fuse hydrogen, but also in keeping it contained. So they use magnetic fields to keep it suspended.

Thats more challenging than it sounds. Containing turbulent molten plasma at just the right conditions for fusion under high pressure while subject to heat in the millions of degrees celsius requires significant research, experimentation and continuous trial-and-error.

The process also requires an incredible amount of energy input. To make fusion a commercial reality, scientists are working hard to realize an energy output thats higher than its input. Thats a tall order. In fact, because Earth's gravity is nowhere near that of the suns', scientists need to turn up the heat to compensate for the lack of pressure which actually ends up using more energy. Instead of a natural sunny 15 million degrees celsius, fusion reactors on earth need to work at several hundred million degrees celsius. With higher temperatures comes the need for stronger magnetic containment however, requiring even more energy to realize fusion.

Quick study

But the way scientists work and improve reactors is changing with the introduction of artificial intelligence for data analysis. Physics experiments arent simple, and figuring out what data means, or what went wrong takes a significant amount of time. Neural networks tasked with learning the most efficient conditions for fusion make lightning-fast inferences, turn around experiments faster, and feature a rapid learning curve thats making the entire process much faster.

The brunt of the work has already been carried out by physicists and engineers. From 1950 to 2000, levels of reactor density, temperature and total run-time have increased by a factor of one million. Scientists estimate we only need an increase in this triple product by a factor of two to break even and produce more energy than reactors require.

Race for power

This means the race is heating up like never before, and its primarily between the United States, China and Russia. For some nations, it's a matter of national security; leaving fusion technology a closely guarded secret. The US team, led by Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a spin-off of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, plans to show a net energy gain by 2025.

China, a more recent addition to the fusion race is close behind, and takes energy just as seriously, and is already competing with Russia for conventional nuclear energy. On December 4 2020, China turned on its artificial sun for the first time using a Russian-designed reactor it has been improving for some time. While China is working in collaboration with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and is joined by 35 other countries, the race to produce a commercially viable fusion reactor is still very much an individual one for China.

While China has already activated its fusion reactor previously for test runs, ITER aims to turn on its artificial sun in 2025, with the aim of achieving net power by 2035, nearly 10 years after MITs estimated deadline.

New dawn

Fusion promises to reshape much of our known world, making fossil fuels obsolete, while reducing overall energy costs. For countries whose primary exports are petroleum products or liquid natural gas, fusion is a great disruptor. But thats not to say fusion will replace fossil fuels outright, given their role in running engines the world over.

The possibilities dont end there. NASA recently announced its relative success in producing fusion on a miniature scale, which it aims to utilize in space travel, and a number of companies such as Princeton Satellite Systems, Helicity Space and Pulsar Fusion are working on using fusion to produce new forms of propulsion.

As the global race to make fusion a reality nears the finish line, corporate interests are beginning to pay serious attention to its prospects.

Andrew Holland, Executive Director of the Fusion Industry Association, estimates that more than $1.5 billion has been invested in private fusion energy start-ups. That's to say nothing of government sponsored efforts. Other key backers of fusion include Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and Bill Gates. But a stronger sign of how serious fusion is being taken can be seen by the resources poured into it by strategic investors such as Legal & General and traditionally-fossil fuel energy companies like Equinor, Eni and Chevron.

For our generation, fusion is poised to introduce a new chapter in humanitys quest for energy.

Source: TRT World

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The covert race for an artificial sun and unlimited energy - TRT World

Two weeks ago, we thought we found the bottom, the dumbest possible way the Houston Texans could lose to the Indianapolis Colts. Nick Martin scuffling a snap across the turf while simultaneously missing his block and giving Grover Stewart a path to the ball couldnt be topped.

Then this week happened. The same thing. The same situation. It wasnt a question of if the Texans would lose, but how dumb they would look doing it. Somehow, they nearly surpassed their previous buffoonery. Keke Coutee was tackled from behind after breaking a tackle and turning up the field to tie the game, only to be stripped and for the Colts to recover in the end zone. T

he bottom is infinite. There are no limits to the misery the soul can experience or, in this case, what our favorite football team can inflict upon those who dare to love it.

On this episode of Battle Red Radio, Matt Weston, BFD, and Scott discuss Houstons newest stupid loss to the Colts while simultaneously envisioning the future. Topics include where this loss ranks in the history of dumb losses to the Colts, why Deshaun Watson has had so much success against the Colts this year, my emergency room visits resulting from having a little too much Kahale Warring, how long it will take for nature to heal itself in the post Bill OBrien wasteland this team travels through, Chad Hansen, Tyrell Adams inter-dimensional space travel, and, of course, your beautiful and perfect listener questions.

Lets start the show.

You can listen via the direct link here.

You can listen to the embedded player below.

While youre at it, give it a five star review and subscribe below:

You can subscribe/listen on iTunes here.

You can subscribe/listen on Spotify here.

You can subscribe/listen on Stitcher here.

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Houston Texans Podcast: Dumb and Dumber - Battle Red Blog

The recent launch of the Mars rover Perseverance is the latest U.S. space mission seeking to understand our solar system. Its expected arrival at the Red Planet in mid-February 2021 has a number of objectives linked to science and innovation. The rover is equipped with sophisticated instruments designed to search for the remains of ancient microbial life, take pictures and videos of rocks, drill for soil and rock samples, and use a small helicopter to fly around the Jezero Crater landing spot.

Mars is a valuable place for exploration because it can be reached in 6 months, is a major opportunity for scientific exploration, and has been mapped and studied for several decades. The mission represents the first step in a long-term effort to bring Martian samples back to Earth, where they can be analyzed for residues of microbial life. Beyond the study of life itself, there are a number of different benefits of Mars exploration.

The site where Perseverance is expected to land is the place where experts believe 3.5 billion years ago held a lake filled with water and flowing rivers. It is an ideal place to search for the residues of microbial life, test new technologies, and lay the groundwork for human exploration down the road.

The mission plans to investigate whether microbial life existed on Mars billions of years ago and therefore that life is not unique to Planet Earth. As noted by Chris McKay, a research scientist at NASAs Ames Research Science Center, that would be an extraordinary discovery. Right here in our solar system, if life started twice, that tells us some amazing things about our universe, he pointed out. It means the universe is full of life. Life becomes a natural feature of the universe, not just a quirk of this odd little planet around this star.

The question of the origins of life and its ubiquity around the universe is central to science, religion, and philosophy. For much of our existence, humans have assumed that even primitive life was unique to Planet Earth and not present in the rest of the solar system, let alone the universe. We have constructed elaborate religious and philosophical narratives around this assumption and built our identity along the notion that life is unique to Earth.

If, as many scientists expect, future space missions cast doubt on that assumption or outright disprove it by finding remnants of microbial life on other planets, it will be both invigorating and illusion-shattering. It will force humans to confront their own myths and consider alternative narratives about the universe and the place of Earth in the overall scheme of things.

As noted in my Brookings book, Megachange, given the centrality of these issues for fundamental questions about human existence and the meaning of life, it would represent a far-reaching shift in existing human paradigms. As argued by scientist McKay, discovering evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars would lead experts to conclude that life likely is ubiquitous around the universe and not limited to Planet Earth. Humans would have to construct new theories about ourselves and our place in the universe.

The U.S. space program has been an extraordinary catalyst for technology innovation. Everything from Global Positioning Systems and medical diagnostic tools to wireless technology and camera phones owe at least part of their creation to the space program. Space exploration required the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to learn how to communicate across wide distances, develop precise navigational tools, store, transmit, and process large amounts of data, deal with health issues through digital imaging and telemedicine, and develop collaborative tools that link scientists around the world. The space program has pioneered the miniaturization of scientific equipment and helped engineers figure out how to land and maneuver a rover from millions of miles away.

Going to Mars requires similar inventiveness. Scientists have had to figure out how to search for life in ancient rocks, drill for rock samples, take high resolution videos, develop flying machines in a place with gravity that is 40 percent lower than on Earth, send detailed information back to Earth in a timely manner, and take off from another planet. In the future, we should expect large payoffs in commercial developments from Mars exploration and advances that bring new conveniences and inventions to people.

In the not too distant future, wealthy tourists likely will take trips around the Earth, visit space stations, orbit the Moon, and perhaps even take trips around Mars. For a substantial fee, they can experience weightlessness, take in the views of the entire planet, see the stars from outside the Earths atmosphere, and witness the wonders of other celestial bodies.

The Mars program will help with space tourism by improving engineering expertise with space docking, launches, and reentry and providing additional experience about the impact of space travel on the human body. Figuring out how weightlessness and low gravity situations alter human performance and how space radiation affects people represent just a couple areas where there are likely to be positive by-products for future travel.

The advent of space tourism will broaden human horizons in the same way international travel has exposed people to other lands and perspectives. It will show them that the Earth has a delicate ecosystem that deserves protecting and why it is important for people of differing countries to work together to solve global problems. Astronauts who have had this experience say it has altered their viewpoints and had a profound impact on their way of thinking.

Many objects around the solar system are made of similar minerals and chemical compounds that exist on Earth. That means that some asteroids, moons, and planets could be rich in minerals and rare elements. Figuring out how to harvest those materials in a safe and responsible manner and bring them back to Earth represents a possible benefit of space exploration. Elements that are rare on Earth may exist elsewhere, and that could open new avenues for manufacturing, product design, and resource distribution. This mission could help resource utilization through advances gained with its Mars Oxygen Experiment (MOXIE) equipment that converts Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen. If MOXIE works as intended, it would help humans live and work on the Red Planet.

One of the most crucial features of humanity is our curiosity about the life, the universe, and how things operate. Exploring space provides a means to satisfy our thirst for knowledge and improve our understanding of ourselves and our place in the universe.

Space travel already has exploded centuries-old myths and promises to continue to confront our long-held assumptions about who we are and where we come from. The next decade promises to be an exciting period as scientists mine new data from space telescopes, space travel, and robotic exploration. Ten or twenty years from now, we may have answers to basic questions that have eluded humans for centuries, such as how ubiquitous life is outside of Earth, whether it is possible for humans to survive on other planets, and how planets evolve over time.

The author would like to thank Victoria E. Hamilton, staff scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, for her helpful feedback on this blog post.

See the original post here:

Five reasons to explore Mars - Brookings Institution

In the center of our Milky Way galaxy, scientists have spotted the fastest star ever detected, moving at more than 8% of the speed of light.

Our galaxy's center features the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which is as massive as about 4 million suns. Being so massive, it has hundreds of stars pulled closely into its orbit, traveling extra-fast from the gravitational boost presented by this close proximity. In a new study, scientists discovered the fastest of these stars, S4714, which orbits around Sgr A* at more than 8% of light speed, or 15,000 miles per second (24,000 km/second), faster than any other known star.

Another star orbiting close to Sgr A*, called S2, was once thought for to be the fastest star. But last year, a new speedy contender, the star S62, was detected by a team led by astrophysicist Florian Peissker of the University of Cologne in Germany. At the time, S62was said to be the closest star orbiting Sgr A*, speeding around the black hole. Now, the same team has discovered five new "S stars," or stars which travel in long, elliptical orbits around Sgr A*, that are even closer S4711, S4712, S4713, S4714 and S4715.

Video: How the Milky Way's Black Hole Ejected Runaway Star

Related: The biggeststar mysteries of all time

The team has been studying our galaxy's center and the ultra-fast stars orbiting its supermassive black hole using the ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile for the past seven years. They have also used near-infrared data from SINFONI (Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observations in the Near Infrared).

"I am constantly working on the galactic center and I am pretty sure that this was not our last publication," Peissker told ScienceAlert. "The high dynamical environment is for scientists like a candy-shop for children..

This discovery doesn't just highlight S4714 and its incredible speeds, it also gives scientist a window into studying a theorized type of star known as "squeezars" that orbits so close to black holes that they are "squeezed" by the black hole's tidal forces. Theresearch also suggests that there could be even more of these ultra-fast stars zipping around supermassive black holes like this, scientists said.

This work was published Aug. 11 in the Astrophysical Journal.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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The fastest star ever seen is moving at 8% the speed of light - Space.com

It may not be welcomed by residents, but the tiny south Texas town of Boca Chica Village may wind up as a spa destination for the well-heeled who are interested in space travel. Its all part of Elon Musks plans to turn the area into a 21st Century spaceport.

According to a recent job posting, the hunt is on for a resort development manager to oversee the development of SpaceXs first resort from inception to completion.

SpaceX is committed to developing revolutionary space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets, the job posting reads. Boca Chica Village is our latest launch site dedicated to Starship, our next generation launch vehicle. SpaceX is committed to developing this town into a 21st century spaceport. We are looking for a talented resort development manager to oversee the development of SpaceXs first resort from inception to completion.

Applicants will need experience bringing teams and processes from development to production, strong leadership skills and be willing to work long hours and weekends.

Residents arent exactly enamored with Musk. They complain of noise from rocket launches and bullying tactics to get them to sell their homes. SpaceX reportedly now owns half of the villages 35 homes.

Musk is putting down more roots in Texas. In late July, Musk announced plans to build a Tesla Cybertruck plant just outside Austin.

Written by RA News staff.

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Need a Job? Elon Musk May Have One for You in South Texas. - Reform Austin

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Darrell West, Guest Contributor

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Mars, PHOTO: NASA

UNDERSTAND THE ORIGINS AND UBIQUITY OF LIFE

The site where Perseverance is expected to land is the place where experts believe 3.5 billion years ago held a lake filled with water and flowing rivers. It is an ideal place to search for the residues of microbial life, test new technologies, and lay the groundwork for human exploration down the road.

The mission plans to investigate whether microbial life existed on Mars billions of years ago and therefore that life is not unique to Planet Earth. As noted by Chris McKay, a research scientist at NASAs Ames Research Science Center, that would be an extraordinary discovery. Right here in our solar system,if life started twice, that tells us some amazing things about our universe, he pointed out. It means the universe is full of life. Life becomes a natural feature of the universe, not just a quirk of this odd little planet around this star.

The question of the origins of life and its ubiquity around the universe is central to science, religion, and philosophy. For much of our existence, humans have assumed that even primitive life was unique to Planet Earth and not present in the rest of the solar system, let alone the universe. We have constructed elaborate religious and philosophical narratives around this assumption and built our identity along the notion that life is unique to Earth.

If, as many scientists expect, future space missions cast doubt on that assumption or outright disprove it by finding remnants of microbial life on other planets, it will be both invigorating and illusion-shattering. It will force humans to confront their own myths and consider alternative narratives about the universe and the place of Earth in the overall scheme of things.

As noted in my Brookings book,Megachange, given the centrality of these issues for fundamental questions about human existence and the meaning of life, it would represent a far-reaching shift in existing human paradigms. As argued by scientist McKay, discovering evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars would lead experts to conclude that life likely is ubiquitous around the universe and not limited to Planet Earth. Humans would have to construct new theories about ourselves and our place in the universe.

DEVELOP NEW TECHNOLOGIES

The U.S. space program has been an extraordinarycatalyst for technology innovation. Everything from Global Positioning Systems and medical diagnostic tools to wireless technology and camera phones owe at least part of their creation to the space program. Space exploration required the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to learn how to communicate across wide distances, develop precise navigational tools, store, transmit, and process large amounts of data, deal with health issues through digital imaging and telemedicine, and develop collaborative tools that link scientists around the world. The space program has pioneered the miniaturization of scientific equipment and helped engineers figure out how to land and maneuver a rover from millions of miles away.

Going to Mars requires similar inventiveness. Scientists have had to figure out how to search for life in ancient rocks, drill for rock samples, take high resolution videos, develop flying machines in a place with gravity that is 40 percent lower than on Earth, send detailed information back to Earth in a timely manner, and take off from another planet. In the future, we should expect large payoffs in commercial developments from Mars exploration and advances that bring new conveniences and inventions to people.

ENCOURAGE SPACE TOURISM

In the not too distant future, wealthy tourists likely will take trips around the Earth, visit space stations, orbit the Moon, and perhaps even take trips around Mars. For a substantial fee, they can experience weightlessness, take in the views of the entire planet, see the stars from outside the Earths atmosphere, and witness the wonders of other celestial bodies.

The Mars program will help with space tourism by improving engineering expertise with space docking, launches, and reentry and providing additional experience about the impact of space travel on the human body. Figuring out how weightlessness and low gravity situations alter human performance and how space radiation affects people represent just a couple areas where there are likely to be positive by-products for future travel.

The advent of space tourism willbroaden human horizonsin the same way international travel has exposed people to other lands and perspectives. It will show them that the Earth has a delicate ecosystem that deserves protecting and why it is important for people of differing countries to work together to solve global problems. Astronauts who have had this experience say it has altered their viewpoints and had a profound impact on their way of thinking.

FACILITATE SPACE MINING

Many objects around the solar system are made of similar minerals and chemical compounds that exist on Earth. That means that some asteroids, moons, and planets could be rich in minerals and rare elements. Figuring out how toharvest those materialsin a safe and responsible manner and bring them back to Earth represents a possible benefit of space exploration. Elements that are rare on Earth may exist elsewhere, and that could open new avenues for manufacturing, product design, and resource distribution. This mission could help resource utilization through advances gained with its Mars Oxygen Experiment (MOXIE) equipment that converts Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen. If MOXIE works as intended, it would help humans live and work on the Red Planet.

ADVANCE SCIENCE

One of the most crucial features of humanity is our curiosity about the life, the universe, and how things operate. Exploring space provides a means to satisfy our thirst for knowledge and improve our understanding of ourselves and our place in the universe.

Space travel already has exploded centuries-old myths and promises to continue to confront our long-held assumptions about who we are and where we come from. The next decade promises to be an exciting period as scientists mine new data from space telescopes, space travel, and robotic exploration. Ten or twenty years from now, we may haveanswers to basic questionsthat have eluded humans for centuries, such as how ubiquitous life is outside of Earth, whether it is possible for humans to survive on other planets, and how planets evolve over time.

@DarrWest

The author would like to thank Victoria E. Hamilton, staff scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, for her helpful feedback on this blog post.

This article was first published by Brookings.

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Five Reasons to Explore Mars - Darrell West - GoLocalProv