Abell 2744 cluster
Astronomers have announced a view of the universe though a lens more than 500,000 light years wide, as part of a program called “Frontier Fields” to search for the first galaxies. (Video)
Continue reading… “A telescope bigger than a galaxy”
NASA is taking steps that could lead to colonization of other planets.
NASA is working on plans to make water, oxygen, and hydrogen on the surface of the Moon and Mars. It is vital that we find a way of extracting these vital gases and liquids from moons and planets if we ever want to colonize other planets, rather than transporting them from Earth (which is prohibitively expensive, due to Earth’s gravity). The current plan is to land a rover on the Moon in 2018 that will try to extract hydrogen, water, and oxygen — and then hopefully, Curiosity’s successor will try to convert the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into oxygen in 2020 when it lands on Mars.
Continue reading… “NASA plans to make water and oxygen on the surface of the Moon and Mars by 2020”
The Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel in Shenzhen, China.
Would you like to travel to space but the cost of a Virgin Galactic flight falls outside of your budget? You might want to consider a trip to China instead.
Continue reading… “Chinese space-themed hotel run by robots”
Abigaille, a robot inspired by the gecko.
Inspired by the gecko, a robot that crawls up walls has taken a small but important step towards a future in space, scientists said on Thursday. The tiny legged prototype could be the forerunner of automatons that crawl along the hulls of spacecraft, cleaning and maintaining them, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.
Continue reading… “Gecko-inspired wall-crawling robot could someday be used in space”
SpiderFab 3-D robotic printer
Since the 1970’s, space-based solar power has been a futuristic fantasy but the advent of 21st century 3-D printing may bring it a step closer to reality. (Video)
Continue reading… “Will 3D printing bring space-based solar power to reality?”
“I don’t know of any astronauts who think we’re alone in the universe,” Chris Hadfield.
Chris Hadfield is a reasonable man. He is a former astronaut, former commander of the International Space Station, and a social media superstar.
Continue reading… “Do astronauts believe aliens exist?”
Much like Dr Frankenstein, she was determined to bring her old clothes back to life!
Quote of the Day: “We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.” – Robert Wilensky
Continue reading… “Top 13 Photos of the Week”
An American Columbus for the space age should generate space colonies with a population of 300,000 people within about 25 years of the start of space colonization.
Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October in the U.S. Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, which happened on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday. The landing is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, as Día de la Raza in many countries in Latin America, as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, as Día de la Hispanidad and Fiesta Nacional in Spain, as Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity) in Argentina, and as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas) in Belize and Uruguay.
Continue reading… “What will it take to be an American Columbus for the space age?”
Falcon 9 rocket
SpaceX, Elon Musk’s commercial space company, has just launched a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit carrying a Canadian Space Agency satellite, CASSIOPE. Part of the satellite’s payload is Cascade, a prototype for a super-fast space-borne file-transfer system—a kind of digital courier service.
Continue reading… “Ultra-fast internet connection just launched into space”
An example of Contour Crafting.
Researchers at the University of Southern California believe that within a couple of years 3D printing techniques will be used to construct entire buildings in less than a day. (Video)
Continue reading… “3D printing will be used to construct buildings here and in outer space”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOm-x7Mjyio[/youtube]
Japan has launched a rocket, Epsilon, into space in what it hopes will be the start of cheaper space exploration. The rocket is about half the size of normal rockets, and relies on artificial intelligence to do its final safety checks–meaning just eight people were at the launch site, rather than the 150 needed for previous launches. On board was the Sprint-A telescope, which was released 620 miles above the Earth’s surface, and which will be observing Venus, Mars, and Jupiter.
Continue reading… “Japan launches affordable Epsilon rocket using artificial intelligence”
NASA is organizing the Vegetable Production System (VEGGIE) program that will send packs of seed material to the ISS.
When humans begin colonizing space there is one challenge we’ll be facing, how to get food to those colonies. The idea of farming in space is hardly a new one. Astronaut Don Pettit successfully grew a zucchini, broccoli, and sunflower on the ISS, but NASA is now researching how vegetables may be grown in space for consumption.
Continue reading… “NASA plans to grow vegetables in space”