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The Cryptocurrency Market is Exploding. Here’s What You Need to Know. – Futurism
Posted: June 14, 2017 at 3:40 am
A Major Spike
On April 1, 2017, the total market cap for all cryptocurrencies was slightly higher than $25 billion. Roughlytwo months later, the cap exceeded $100 billion. In just over 60 days, the value of cryptocurrencies surged by 300 percent. So what is going on?
The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, recently made headlines by climbing dramatically in value (itscurrently sitting around $2,600USD, about 160 percent higher than its value in April). But Bitcoin hasnt been alone in this extreme growth. The cryptocurrency market as a whole has spiked in value within the last few months.
While those already invested in Bitcoin might be celebrating, this jump is clearly reason to pause for anyone considering entering the market. Historically, what goes up super-fast must come down at least when it comes to the stock market. This has prompted many to call this rise a bubble, leaving investors to wonder when it will burst.
In an interview with Bank Innovation,cryptocurrency trader Jacob Eliosoff, who runs a Bitcoin-focused investment fund, explains:
Factor number one in the general price rise is just another of cryptos periodic bubble[s]: see Nov 2013, March 2013, July 2011. Lots of coins which patently have no plausible long-term use case or value the classic example is Dogecoin, an obsolete joke have set new highs during this frenzy a bad sign.
Author, professor, and game designer Ian Bogosthas previously written about bitcoin for The Atlantic.He shared his view on the latest cryptocurrency surge in an interview with Mic, explaining how the investors themselves could cause a drop in value:
Weve seen with these sort of ups and downs, these small groups of mostly Chinese pools end up with more than 50% of the capacity. And we dont know anything about these organizations. Are they state controlled? The moment [there is too much consolidation in the mining pools], then effectively the platform is dead, at least as a currency.
Anyone looking for proof of the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin, got it whenMark Cuban publicly criticized the currency.After the billionaire entrepreneur claimed on Twitter that Bitcoin was in a bubble and not, in fact, a currency at all, the cryptocurrency dropped significantly in value, seemingly illustrating a fragile and unstable nature.
Whether due to historical precedent, a monopoly on investment, or simply an easily swayed investor pool, it seems pretty likely that this recent rise of cryptocurrencies will lead to some sort of drop. However, that doesnt mean cryptocurrencies dont have the potential to be a major player, if not the only player, in the future of finance.
One positive development is the increasing diversity of cryptocurrencies. While Bitcoin was long the definitive leader in the market, holding roughly 80 percent of the total market cap, others such as Ethereum are making major gains, knocking Bitcoin down to just about 50 percent. As TechCrunch writer Fitz Tepper notes, The fact that these gains have come from currencies other than Bitcoin are a good sign that this is less of a bubble and more of a resurgence of interest in crypto.
Other experts notethat while drops in value are likely, they dont signal an end to cryptocurrency by any means. As Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of global investment management firm BKCM, told CNBC, Bitcoin isin the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but Bitcoin is here to stay.
Blockchain, the technology supporting these digital currencies, may be even more worthy of the investment than the cryptocurrencies themselves. I would say I think conventional wisdom now is that blockchain and the underlying technology is probably more interesting and has more potential than maybe Bitcoin does by itself, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari explained in aReuters report.
The link between digital currencies and this super-securedistributed database lends further support to the argument that digital currencies are a sound investment. However, only time will tell whether this current period of rapid growth will slow, plateau, drop, or continue skyward. As with any investment, the potential for reward comes with its share of risks, but right now, the future looks pretty bright for cryptocurrency.
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Scientists Discover That Our Brains Can Process the World in 11 Dimensions – Futurism
Posted: at 3:40 am
Seeing Like Never Before
Neuroscientists have used a classic branch of maths in a totally new way to peer into the structure of our brains. What theyve discovered is that the brain is full of multi-dimensional geometrical structures operating in as many as 11 dimensions.
This latest brain model was produced by a team of researchers from the Blue Brain Project, a Swiss research initiative devoted to building a supercomputer-powered reconstruction of the human brain.
The team used algebraic topology, a branch of mathematics used to describe the properties of objects and spaces regardless of how they change shape. They found that groups of neurons connect into cliques, and that the number of neurons in a clique would lead to its size as a high-dimensional geometric object.
We found a world that we had never imagined, says lead researcher, neuroscientist Henry Markram from the EPFL institute in Switzerland. There are tens of millions of these objects even in a small speck of the brain, up through seven dimensions. In some networks, we even found structures with up to 11 dimensions.
Human brains are estimated to have a staggering 86 billion neurons, with multiple connections from each cell webbing in every possible direction, forming the vast cellular network that somehow makes us capable of thought and consciousness.
With such a huge number of connections to work with, its no wonder we still dont have a thorough understanding of how the brains neural network operates. But the new mathematical framework built by the team takes us one step closer to one day having a digital brain model.
To perform the mathematical tests, the team used a detailed model of the neocortexthe Blue Brain Project team published back in 2015. The neocortex is thought to be the most recently evolved part of our brains, and the one involved in some of our higher-order functions like cognition and sensory perception.
After developing their mathematical framework and testing it on some virtual stimuli, the team also confirmed their results on real brain tissue in rats.
According to the researchers, algebraic topology provides mathematical tools for discerning details of the neural network both in a close-up view at the level of individual neurons, and a grander scale of the brain structure as a whole.
By connecting these two levels, the researchers could discern high-dimensional geometric structures in the brain, formed by collections of tightly connected neurons (cliques) and the empty spaces (cavities) between them.
We found a remarkably high number and variety of high-dimensional directed cliques and cavities, which had not been seen before in neural networks, either biological or artificial, the team writes in the study.
Algebraic topology is like a telescope and microscope at the same time, says one of the team, mathematician Kathryn Hess from EPFL.
It can zoom into networks to find hidden structures, the trees in the forest, and see the empty spaces, the clearings, all at the same time.
Those clearings or cavities seem to be critically important for brain function. When researchers gave their virtual brain tissue a stimulus, they saw that neurons were reacting to it in a highly organised manner.
It is as if the brain reacts to a stimulus by building [and] then razing a tower of multi-dimensional blocks, starting with rods (1D), then planks (2D), then cubes (3D), and then more complex geometries with 4D, 5D, etc, says one of the team, mathematician Ran Levi from Aberdeen University in Scotland.
The progression of activity through the brain resembles a multi-dimensional sandcastle that materialises out of the sand and then disintegrates.
These findings provide a tantalising new picture of how the brain processes information, but the researchers point out that its not yet clear what makes the cliques and cavities form in their highly specific ways.
And more work will be needed to determine how the complexity of these multi-dimensional geometric shapes formed by our neurons correlates with the complexity of various cognitive tasks.
But this is definitely not the last well be hearing of insights that algebraic topology can give us on this most mysterious of human organs the brain.
The study was published in Frontiers of Computational Neuroscience.
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In Letter, At Least 12 States Will Sue to Block Any Rollback of Emissions Standards – Futurism
Posted: at 3:40 am
States Take A Stand
While the White House and Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA, have indicated their plan to roll back vehicle emissions standards set by the Obama administration in 2011, the attorneys general of 12 states and Washington District of Columbia have pledged to sue the EPA if the roll back happens. The states California, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Oregon, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland made their intentions clear in a letter to Pruitt.
Back in 2011, President Obamas administration made the deal with automakers, who agreed to work on doubling their average fuel efficiency fleet-wide until it reaches 54.5 miles per gallon by the year 2025. The parties also agreed to undergo mid-term evaluations no later than April 2018 to ensure progress was on track. Under former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, the evaluations were ahead of schedule, so the administration did not make any adjustments before President Obama left office.Click to View Full Infographic
Once President Trump took office, however, Fiat Chrysler, VW, Ford, Toyota, GM, Nissan, Honda, and Hyundai asked for a re-evaluation of the efficiency guidelines. Trump ordered the EPA to review the standards for fuel efficiency, and Pruitt is clearly onside, calling the standards costly for automakers and the American people.
The states all dispute these characterizations, as well several unusualprocedural issues the Trump administration and Pruitt have cited: Although EPA is often faulted for missing deadlines, we are unfamiliar with any occasion on which the EPA Administrator has criticized his own agency for fulfilling its regulatory obligations ahead of schedule, reads the letter. [T]here are at least three separate reports by scientists, engineers, and other experts analyzing the standards and concluding that they are feasible. The record is clear that appropriate technology exists now for automakers to achieve the current standards for model years 2022-25 at a reasonable cost.
Efforts to create vehicles that use renewable energy and run clean are just one important aspect of managing climate change an area that states as well as municipalities and private companies have taken thelead in as the federal government effectively abdicates its leadership role. Some of the largest states in the U.S., along with several major cities, have formed the United States Climate Alliance with the intent of adhering to the Paris Accord despitePresident Trumps removal of the U.S. from it. Various American cities, including Burlington, Vermont, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York City have all stepped up to the plate in recent weeks wth plans to continue to their fight against climate change.This latest move by state attorneys general todefend against theEPAs backsliding is another major boost for fighting climate change at the state and local level, as these officials are recognizing the importance of their role. Any effort to roll back these affordable, achievable, and common-sense vehicle emission standards would be both irrational and irresponsible, attorney general Eric Schneiderman of New York wrote in the letter. We stand ready to vigorously and aggressively challenge President Trumps dangerous anti-environmental agenda in court as we already have successfully done.
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Scientists Imagine What Plants Would Look Like on Alien Worlds – Futurism
Posted: at 3:40 am
Alien Plants
The idea of discovering and studying alien life has tantalized scientists for centuries. Astronomers have been studying planets in the Goldilocks Zone a distance from a sun in whichwater on a given planet is not constantly boiled off or frozen for any sign of life, whether that be microbial or intelligent. But what would alien plant life look like given their planets different sizes, atmospheres, and associated stars?
If these planets happen to be smaller than Earth, any plants on them would be far taller and thinner. The plants would also probably have large leaves than Earth plants because the lower gravity would permit the stems to support more mass. If the planet was more massivethan Earth, this might cause the plants to be shorter and broader with smaller leaves, as everything on the planet would be heavier.
A thin atmosphere would causeany breeze on the planet to be exceptionally weak this would mean that, evolutionarily, the plants would not grow to be particularly robust and would be tall and thin. A thick atmosphere would produce plants that would have to be much thicker and closer to the ground in order to withstand the powerful winds.
Our plants are green in orderto capture the blue and red light our Sun emits while reflecting the green light, which is minimal. Not all stars operate in this color spectrum, though. A star that emits a more green and blue light would likely produce plants that were bright red.
Given the potentially huge changes different environments could have on plants, a key aspect of planning for space exploration concerns accommodating for these changes. Interplanetary colonists will need to predict both what type of life we could find on these planets and how we would adapt to those environments.
Three potentially habitableplanets are housed in the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, which about 39 light years away from Earth and is home to seven Earth-sized planets in total. The TRAPPIST-1 star is called an ultracool dwarf star it isaround the same size as Jupiter, and is much cooler and dimmer than our sun.
This means all seven planets circle their sun at a closer proximity than Mercury circles ours, making orbits and therefore years extremely shortOne year would be about two Earthweeks. This also means planets get hit by solar flares frequently, which is something that may hinder life.
The nature of the TRAPPIST-1 star means that it emits mostly infrared heat, capable of warming the air on the surface of the planet, but causing it to be much dimmer than we are used to. Plants that evolved in this system would have bigger leaves to capture as much of the light possible and may have developed a method to convert infrared radiation into energy.
This alien plant life would most likely grow on only one side of their host planets because the planets in the system are tidally locked which means only one side ever faces the sun.But wherever we find alien plant life, and whatever it looks like, the discovery will cause major advances in our understanding of botany, and of life itself.
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Ray Kurzweil Says He Wouldn’t Put His Money in Bitcoin but Doesn’t Dismiss Blockchain – Futurism
Posted: at 3:40 am
In Brief Renowned author, futurist, inventor and Google's head of engineering, Ray Kurzweil, spoke on his reticence to embrace bitcoin. He is not the only expert to have their qualms about the burgeoning digital currency.
Ray Kurzweil, a leading futurist, author, inventor, and the head of Googles engineering lab, has made some impressively accuratepredictions about the future. However, this may not be the best news for the burgeoning cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Kurzweil spoke at the Exponential Finance Summit in New York City late last week and he had some less than flattering things to say about the currency. While he may see the value in the decentralizationof currency, he doesntfeel like Bitcoin is the way forward.
He explained:
Currencies like the dollar have provided reasonable stability. Bitcoin has not. And its not clear to me that the whole mining paradigm can provide that type of stability Weve seen tremendous instability with bitcoin, so I wouldnt put my money into it. I certainly do think there could be alternatives to national currencies emerging in the future. Algorithmic ones are a possibility, I just dont think weve arrived at the right algorithm yet.
Kurzweil is not the only high-profileBitcoin skeptic or opponent. Billionaire investor Mark Cubanspoke out about Bitcoin last week, denouncing it as a currency and discussing it as a bubble. Kurzweils comments echo these sentiments, especially with his view of the cryptocurrencys instability. However, Daniel Roberts from Yahoo! Financesees Kurzweils view of that instability as an oversimplification. When looked at in the long term, Bitcoin is showing steady gains.
Bitcoin has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent weeks as prices have surpassed $3,000 (albeit briefly). In the first moments of 2017, Bitcoin could barely reach the $1,000 mark. As of today, the cryptocurrency stands at more than $2,550.
Bitcoin is powered by blockchain technology. A blockchain is a decentralized ledger that allows for complete anonymity, security, and transparencyfor all transactions taking place on the ledger. Kurzweil is more optimistic about blockchain, saying, I think once we can demonstrate confidence, then yes, a blockchain currency makes sense, and being able to document transactions securely, but theres a lot to work out.
In an effort to work out those kinks, many companies and even some countries are adopting blockchain technology. Some countries are even exploring switching their national currencies over to cryptocurrencies. We are in the early stages of its development, but this could go down as one of the few predictions Kurzweil gets wrong.
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Futurist Graeme Codrington on leading in a changing world – Bizcommunity.com
Posted: at 3:40 am
Futurist, strategist, best-selling author and academic, Graeme Codrington, addressed the Western Cape Chapter of the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) on Leading in a Changing World'. Attended by a host of Cape-based industry professionals, the Primedia Unlimited Malls-sponsored event offered insights into the not-too-distant-future. The future is near, Codrington proclaimed, and individuals, brands and corporates need to constantly evolve to keep up with change.
Graeme Codrington
Autonomous vehicles reduce road risks by up to 90%, which means that insurance companies will be impacted because if there are less accidents on our roads, how will they make profits? Shopping and retail will change because this takes online shopping to a completely new level. Autonomous vehicles will be used for instant deliveries - people order online and then an autonomous car will be dispatched with orders.
"Furthermore, autonomous cars will not need to park in the traditional sense, so shopping centres can reclaim parking bays that make up to 15% of the property. Now retail can expand or use the space for entertainment. We need to be more proactive and less reactive. The world is changing and we need to be ahead of it.
1. Switch on your radar Read, research and keep yourself informed about what aspects of the world are changing. Be informed about new technology, new forms of energy and new ways of streamlining ways of doing things. Also, change your sources of information and surround yourself with forward thinkers. Stay away from fake news.
2. Be curious Ask better questions and do not be afraid to ask these questions.
3. Experiment more If you are in a position to make key decisions then experiment a little. Try new ways of attracting new business through trial and error. You have nothing to lose.
4. Embrace difference The world is changing. Do not be afraid to change, it forms part of our evolution.
5. Confront your limiting orthodoxies Do not limit yourself. Confront your inhibitions.
"On the other hand, consumers too, need to switch on their radars'. They need to be careful not to be taken for a ride. Do not run for every new toy that comes up. The latest gadget, the latest version of your phones and you stand in line for three days to make sure you get it, I see it as a trap there. Consumers need to become more purposeful and more deliberate in how we live our lives, he concluded.
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LOOK UP! The International Space Station flies over Asheville Monday night – WLOS
Posted: June 12, 2017 at 7:48 pm
At 9:43 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2017 the ISS will fly over Asheville, and if you know where to look, you can see it fly by. It will look like a bright, fast-moving star. (Image credit: MGN)
At 9:43 p.m. on Monday, June 12, 2017 the ISS will fly over Asheville, and if you know where to look, you can see it fly by.
It will look like a bright, fast-moving star.
If skies are clear in your area, look northwest at 9:43 and wait for the ISS to clear the horizon. This pass will move out of sight into the southeast, and the ISS will be visible for about three minutes.
The ISS travels at about 17,150 mph as it flies by, and you can view how many people are aboard it right here.
You can track where the ISS is here. There's even a livecam on the ISS, and you can see what the international astronauts are seeing here.
(If you're seeing this story ahead of the flyover, a good way to remember to watch the ISS is to set an alarm on your cell phone.)
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Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey – BBC News – BBC News
Posted: at 7:48 pm
BBC News | Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey - BBC News BBC News David Le Conte took five photos in 1.3 seconds as the International Space Station crossed the sun. Incredible image shows International Space Station passing in front ... |
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Space station pictured crossing sun from Guernsey - BBC News - BBC News
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Space station flyover visible from Greenville, Asheville tonight – WYFF Greenville
Posted: at 7:48 pm
GREENVILLE, S.C.
If you look up at the right time tonight, youll be able to see the International Space Station fly over.
The space station will be visible starting at 9:43 p.m. in Greenville and Asheville and the surrounding areas. Weather permitting, it will be visible in the northwest sky for about three minutes.
It will move across the sky and pass out of sight at 9:47 p.m.
The space station will look like a small, bright star moving across the sky. It is traveling at more than 17,000 mph as it passes by. It only takes 90 minutes for the laboratory to make a complete circuit of Earth. Astronauts working and living on the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets each day.
The Expedition 52 crew of two NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut from Russia's space corporation, Roscosmos, is in its second week aboard the International Space Station.
To track the International Space Station, click here.
The tracker, developed by the European Space Agency, shows where the space station is right now and its path 90 minutes ago and 90 minutes ahead. Because of the Earth's rotation the space station appears to travel from west to east.
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Next Wallops mission to International Space Station set for September – Delmarva Daily Times
Posted: at 7:48 pm
Carol Vaughn, cvaughn@delmarvanow.com Published 5:56 p.m. ET June 12, 2017 | Updated 2 hours ago
Wallops executives give an update concerning Antares and Cygnus missions. Produced by Ralph Musthaler
Dan Givens, Anteres Field Site Manager, speaks to the media during a press event at the Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)Buy Photo
Orbital ATK's next cargo supply mission to the International Space Station, OA-8, is set to launch from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in September, officials said at a briefing thereMonday.
Another mission, OA-9, is slated for later this year, likely in November.
Orbital ATK currently has contracts with NASA for a total of 10 cargo missions, all of which are set to be launched from Wallops.
"Right now, all the missions we have on the schedule are intended to go on the Antares (rocket) and go out of the Wallops Flight Facility," said Frank Culbertson, Orbital ATK Space Systems Group president.
Orbital ATK's most recent cargo supply mission, OA-7, was launched from Florida in April.
The Wallops facility is one of two spaceports in the United States from which the commercial cargo supply missions are launched, along with Cape Canaveral in Florida.
READ MORE: NASA Wallops: Predawn sounding rocket launch a success
The date set for the launch of the OA-8 mission is Sept. 12, but the rocket could be ready for launch earlier than that if NASA needs to bump up the date, said Kurt Eberly, Orbital ATK Antares vice president.
The last mission to the International Space Station launched from Wallops was OA-5 in October 2016.
That mission was the first to the space station launched from Wallops since an Antares rocket exploded shortly after liftoff on Oct. 28, 2014, after amotor malfunction happenedas the spacecraft began to clear the launchpad. After that, Orbital ATK replaced the first-stage engines on the rocket.
Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, speaks to the media in front of a launch pad on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017.(Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)
"Wallops continues to be a neat place where we do a wide variety of things for both commercial and government customers," said Bill Wrobel, NASA Wallops Flight Facility director.
The facility "at any given time (has) about 50 different missions" in the works, ranging from balloon missions to sounding rocket launches, among others.
Wrobel called Orbital ATK "a strong partner with us here for a number of years now," noting the company, in addition to the more widely publicized missions to the International Space Station, also handles the sounding rocket and balloon programs at Wallops.
Wrobel also noted the first small satellite built at Wallops recently was deployed off the International Space Station.
"We look forward to a lot more of these things coming up in the future," Wrobel said of the upcoming cargo mission.
"It is a real pleasure to be back here at Wallops ... It's a great place to be," Culbertson said.
The company is "very much committed to completing our CRS-1 contract," Culbertson said, noting there are four more flights to be completed under that contract.
Additionally, six flights are slated to happen under the CRS-2 contract with the first of those planned for 2019.
A view of the inside of the Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo: Staff photo by Ralph Musthaler)
The company in that second phase will be able to carry more cargo on each mission, he said. "That's going to really help ... keep things here at Wallops moving," Culbertson said.
The Horizontal Integration Facility on Wallops Island currently holds two Antares rockets slated for the OA-8 and OA-9 missions.
Orbital's plan is "to build two at a time, basically, and we plan to have them ready in advance of when they are needed," Eberly said.
The rocket for the OA-8 mission is ready for the Cygnus cargo module to be installed, putting it at about the three-week mark from readiness for launch.
"We're at that milestone now, so we'll be ready for September; we'll even be ready a little earlier if they need us in the August time frame," he said.
Data from the last ISS mission launched from Wallops in October the first mission using the Antares' new stage one engines has been analyzed and the verdict is "it was a very clean mission," Eberly said.
The engines have 13 percent higher thrust than the ones formerly used on Antares and they come with 10 seconds of additional specific impulse a measure of how efficiently the propellants are burned.
The improved performance will allow each future mission to carry more cargo the next two missions are each scheduled to carry 3,350 kilograms of cargo and by the OA-11 mission, the goal is to carry 3,500 kilograms.
In addition to the cargo supply missions, the company is hoping Antares will be on track to perform other NASA missions in the future, Eberly said.
Dale Nash, executive director of Virginia Space, said the launch pad for OA-8 should be in launch configuration by the end of July.
"The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport ... is ready to support the upcoming OA-8 mission," said Nash.
READ MORE:1st in flight: Va. governor opens Wallops drone facility
Launch pad O-A, the pad used for the Antares launches, after the last mission in October, "came through that very well," Nash said, adding, "There's always some wear and tear as you come through the mission, but it came through in remarkably good shape."
Among reasons for the good result is that with the new, more powerful engines, the rocket got off the launch pad "very fast the faster it can get off, the less damage you have," Nash said.
Additionally, the spaceport goes through a thorough analysis after each launch, including looking at where the pad was damaged, and "we harden the launch pad."
The spaceport advertises that it can support a 30-day turnaround between launches from both launchpads it operates one for liquid-fueled rockets like Antares and the other for solid-fueled rockets.
"We probably could have done it quicker on the last one," Nash said.
The spaceport is at the point now where it has proven performance under its belt.
Nash mentioned by way of example two successful high-profile missions launched there within days of each other in September 2013.
"We have already proven that we can launch off launchpad A to the International Space Station and then, 12 days later, launch a mission to the moon off launchpad B."
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Next Wallops mission to International Space Station set for September - Delmarva Daily Times
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