They said the first-generation prototype – now in production at US naval research labs – was 1.7mm thick, but the second generation is only 0.17 mm thick. One sheet of paper has a thickness of 0.1mm.
The prototype, which was part-funded by an Israeli government grant, will now be subject to rigorous testing in space, to determine the system's integrity and robustness when dealing with temperature extremes. If it passes then the tiny US-Israeli system could power future missions to Jupiter and Saturn.
Not to change the topic here:
One third of British people think we will have to leave Earth eventually - BBC Science Focus
While the public sector dominated space exploration in the 20th Century, the space race this century has been revolutionised by the private sector. And it seems increasingly likely that people will look to private enterprises like SpaceX , Virgin Galactic and Asgardia to facilitate their space travel.
A total of 29 per cent of those surveyed said they would pay to go to space if it were easily accessible to the general public. Less than a fifth (18 per cent) would use their savings to visit space if given the chance.
NASA Engineer Proposes 'Helical Engine' For Interstellar Travel With No Propellant
An engineer who works for NASA has put forward a proposal for a new way to travel through interstellar space—a "helical engine" that could, potentially, push a spacecraft forward without the need for any propellant at all.
David Burns, from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, presented his idea on the space agency's Technical Reports Server , which provides access to documents relating to aerospace that were created or funded by NASA, including meetings, journal papers, reports and patents, among others. Burns' research, which he funded himself, is described as an "attempt to define an in-space propulsion engine that does not expend propellant."
Civilian space travel is almost here - Marketplace
A handful of companies out there plan to take rich thrill-seekers to the edge of space, and they're ready to convince investors there's money to be made. Virgin Galactic made its stock market debut on Monday. It's offering suborbital rides for about $250,000, it’s first paying customers buying tickets for lift off as soon as 2020.
Jeff Hoffman: You definitely will get a real astronaut’s view of the world; you’ll be up where the sky is black; you’ll see the curvature of the Earth; you’ll see the very thin blue line, which is the true view of the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s not the big blue sky, which looks like it goes on forever when we see it on a nice sunny day.
Not to change the topic here:
Opinion: What about space travel? – The Review
Space travel is hard. It's something that became an incredible milestone in the 1950's with the launch of Bumper Two, the NASA first launch out of Cape Canaveral in Florida. Throughout the next 50 years, NASA has made superior progress within the realm of space science; but are we done?
Many people began to think when news spilled out to the public that NASA was somehow done: no more missions, no more telescopes and no more people on the moon. Somehow, people thought the space agency terminated, but it is important for people to know that NASA has never stopped and they never will. They won't stop until all questions, even questions that nobody has asked yet, are answered.
Why NASA's First All-Women Spacewalk Made History - The New York Times
It happened by accident, really. After a rocket launch aborted mid-flight, grounding two astronauts who were supposed to go to the International Space Station, NASA had to shift its schedule. Without thinking much of it, the agency announced that Christina Koch and Anne McClain — two women — would do the spacewalk instead.
"First All-Woman Spacewalk," celebratory headlines declared, just in time for Women's History Month, only to turn critical when it was announced that, actually, the spacewalk would not happen as planned , because NASA didn't have enough spacesuits to fit the two female astronauts. (Both needed a size medium.) "Make another suit," Hillary Clinton tweeted .
New coalition aims to make space travel safer, sustainable | 2019-10-29 | Safety+Health Magazine
On Sept. 16, the coalition published a paper to “address gaps in current space governance and promote better spacecraft design, operations and disposal practices aligned with long-term space operations sustainability.” The paper looks at the current international treaties, standards and guidelines, and includes more than 40 additional requirements.
“There are things that are feasible that operators and industry can do to help protect our environment and long-term sustainability of space,” Dan Oltrogge, director of the Center for Space Standards and Innovation, says in an SSC video .
Deep space travel takes the spotlight in Fox Cities | WLUK
Happening on Twitter
On 6.11.2019 H.E. Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov, Deputy MFA Sergey Ryabkov, representatives of Israeli Knesset, Minis… https://t.co/p6na3U6ahs israel_mid_ru (from Israel, Tel-Aviv) Wed Nov 06 16:20:23 +0000 2019
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