Bigelow Aerospace announced a new spinoff venture that will focus on marketing and operating their inflatable space habitats. The announcement comes as part of Bigelow’s plans to launch two new modules into low-Earth orbit by 2021.
Continue reading… “Two space hotels could open as early as 2021”
The slope rises as high as London’s Big Ben tower. Beneath its ruddy layer of dirt is a sheet of ice 300 feet thick that gives the landscape a blue-black hue. If such a scene sounds otherworldly, it is. To visit it, you’ll have to travel to Mars.
Continue reading… “‘A fantastic find’: Mars hides thick sheets of ice just below the surface”
The bacteria were brought to the space station accidentally on tablet PCs together with various materials that are placed aboard the ISS for long time to study the materials’ behavior in outer space
Continue reading… “Scientists find living bacteria from outer space on ISS surface”
Researchers are working on plasma jet engines that could fly aircraft to the edge of space using air and electricity alone. This development would mean lower operational costs, extended range, and a clean power source for commercial flights.
Continue reading… “Get ready for low-cost jet engines that reach space without burning fossil fuels”
The world’s first “space nation” has taken flight.
Continue reading… “Asgardia, the world’s first ‘space nation’, takes flight”
This past summer, a plane went into a stomach-churning ascent and plunge 30,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was not thrill-seeking, but something more genuinely daring: for about 25 seconds at a time, the parabolic flight lifted the occupants into a state of simulated weightlessness, allowing a high-tech printer to spit out cardiac stem cells into a two-chambered, simplified structure of an infant’s heart.
Continue reading… “The factories of the future could float in space”
The world has set its sights on Mars — not just to visit, but to stay. Private organizations and governments have made it their mission to get to the Red Planet, and the United Arab Emirates wants to be first. The UAE said it planned to build the first city on Mars in 100 years. (Pics)
The aspiring asteroid miners at Planetary Resources have struck pay dirt in Luxembourg, the tiny (but wealthy) European country positioning itself as an ally to commercial space. The country is directly investing €12 million, with another €13 million coming from public investment bank SNCI.
Continue reading… “Planetary Resources is mining Luxembourg for $28M in asteroid funds”
Boeing Co. once helped the U.S. beat the Soviet Union in the race to the moon. Now the company intends to go toe-to-toe with newcomers such as billionaire Elon Musk in the next era of space exploration and commerce.
sketched out a Jetsons-like future at a conference Tuesday, envisioning a commercial space-travel market with dozens of destinations orbiting the Earth and hypersonic aircraft shuttling travelers between continents in two hours or less. And Boeing intends to be a key player in the initial push to send humans to Mars, maybe even beating Musk to his long-time goal.
Continue reading… “Boeing CEO: We’ll Beat Musk to Mars”
SEATTLE, July 22 — Seattle-based company Vulcan Aerospace announced that its Stratolaunch Systems, an air-launch platform for rockets, is close to completion.
According to the company’s website, the Stratolaunch has a wingspan of 385 feet and measures 238 feet in length. This six-engine aircraft is currently the world’s largest aircraft.
Continue reading… “Stratolaunch – The World’s largest aircraft is almost ready”
In the constant search for low-cost spaceflight, Norwegian startup Ripple Aerospace has come up with a unique solution: How about we just get rid of, like, the land? Their plan calls for reusable cargo rockets to be built in shipyards, transported to open ocean, and launched from the sea, without so much as a floating launch pad to get in the way of the rocket’s journey from ocean to space.
Continue reading… “Spaceflight startup Ripple Aerospace want to launch rockets from the ocean”
