Lunar scientists’ plan for sustainable and affordable Moon base

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Settlement on the Moon

It’s been a dream for a long time to have a human settlement on the Moon, but in this age of budget cuts and indecisive plans for NASA’s future, a Moon base may seem too costly and beyond our reach.  But a noted lunar scientist, Dr. Paul Spudis from the Lunar and Planetary Institute and a colleague, Tony Lavoie from the Marshall Space Flight Center, have come up with a plan for building a lunar settlement that is not only affordable but sustainable. It creates a Moon base along with a type of ‘transcontinental railroad’ in space which opens up cislunar space – the area between Earth and the Moon – for development.

 

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NASA To unfurl the largest Solar Sail ever flown in space

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Come sail away.

In a series of upcoming technology demonstration missions, NASA is hoping to prove that giant solar sails are a practical way to explore the cosmos, even though warp drive engines and rocket powered spacecraft make for better movie fodder.

Starting in 2015, NASA will be launching a series of three experiment driven missions, including one that will confirm the feasibility of using solar sails as a viable means of cheap propulsion. The giant 125×125 foot sail is seven times as large as those previously flown in space, but will one day need to be considerably larger to shuttle astronauts around…

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‘Sticky boom’ – a sticky solution for grabbing objects in space

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ein_J_EuAb8&hd=1[/youtube]

For one spacecraft to grab onto another spacecraft in space is a very challenging task. Although the robotic arms on the space shuttles and International Space Station (ISS) have made it look easy over the years, the process requires complex manipulator arms and special fixtures on the objects the arms are grasping, limiting the technology’s use. A small startup company is testing a new approach, though, that could greatly expand the applications of robotic arm technology to include, for example, cleaning up orbital debris and servicing the ISS.

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Star Wars-like planet orbiting two suns discovered

planets

The planet named Kepler-16b, will have an extraordinary double sunset at the end of each day.

Astronomers discover a real-life Tatooine. A spectacle made popular by the “Star Wars” saga — a planet with two suns — has now been confirmed in space for the first time, astronomers revealed.

 

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Space junk at a ‘tipping point’: study

space junk

Space junk: a conceptual artwork representing defunct satellites, failed missions, and shrapnel orbiting Earth.

“A tipping point” for collisions has been reached with the amount of debris orbiting the Earth, which would in turn generate more of the debris that threatens astronauts and satellites, according to a U.S. study released on Thursday.

 

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NASA discovers there may be flowing water on Mars

water on mars

Dark seasonal streaks on crater walls could be flows of salty water.

We have known for a while now that ice exists on Mars.  We have seen a lot of suggestions that liquid water may have once existed on the surface in huge rivers and oceans. But  NASA has announced for the first time, they may have actually spotted some flowing, liquid water.

 

 

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