Choosing the spot where your remains will live for eternity is a tough one, especially because there is no changing your mind once it’s said and done. For those looking for a really spectacular way to spend $12,000 that isn’t a lavish funeral on Earth, the San Francisco-based Elysium Space has you covered, offering to shoot your ashes into space or even onto the surface of the moon. Continue reading… “12,000 dollar Moon funeral”
The Contour Crafter could 3D print housing on the surface of the Moon using concrete made from lunar rock.
Imagine it’s the year 2045, and you open the curtains in the morning and instead of grey skies and rain, you are looking out at a rust-colored rocky panorama. You have just woken up on Mars.
Continue reading… “3D printed Mars homes could be built in 24 hours”
Bigelow Aerospace plan to build bases on the moon.
One day, a rocket carrying more than a dozen privately built probes touches down on the moon. The robots burst from the vehicle in a race to beam back high-definition video and other data while roving the surface of Earth’s nearest natural satellite. The people of Earth watch a broadcast of the race as the rovers roam (or stall) in the lunar dust. (Videos)
Continue reading… “The future of moon exploration”
The Japanese architectural and engineering firm, Shimizu, has a solution for the climate crisis: Simply build a band of solar panels 400 kilometers (249 miles) wide running all the way around the Moon’s 11,000-kilometer (6,835 mile) equator and beam the carbon-free energy back to Earth in the form of microwaves, which are converted into electricity at ground stations.
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.
Continue reading… “Lunar scientists’ plan for sustainable and affordable Moon base”
This diagram shows a simulation of four stages of a collision between the Moon and a companion moon.
There may have been a tiny second moon that had once orbited Earth before catastrophically slamming into the other one. The clash of the two moons could explain why the two sides of the surviving lunar satellite are so different from each other, according to a new study.
Continue reading… “Earth had two moons that collided to form one: study”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRe79QxzxWY[/youtube]
The X PRIZE Foundation has announced the official roster of 29 registered teams competing for the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, an unprecedented competition to send a robot to the Moon that travels at least 500 meters and transmit video, images, and data back to the Earth. This group of teams signifies this new era of exploration’s diverse and participatory nature as it includes a huge variety of groups ranging from non-profits to university consortia to billion dollar businesses representing 17 nations on four continents. The global competition, the largest in history, was announced in September 2007, with a winner projected by 2015.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.