Eisenhower embarked on what he called his "Atoms for Peace" program, with commercial nuclear energy powering cities around the world as its big idea. The Duquesne Light Company out of Pittsburgh suggested an intriguing idea: What if they took a large-scale light water reactor for a proposed military aircraft carrier and used it for peaceful purposes? Eisenhower loved the idea, appearing at the groundbreaking ceremony of what would become the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in 1954.
Many things are taking place:
Chinese space probe returns to Earth with samples from the moon
A Chinese space probe successfully returned to Earth on Wednesday with samples from the moon, making China only the third country in history to accomplish such a mission.
China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft landed in the Inner Mongolia region after a 23-day mission to collect lunar rocks from the near side of the moon. It's the first time moon samples have been returned to Earth in nearly 50 years. China now joins the ranks of the U.S. and the former Soviet Union in pulling off the feat.
Nuclear power push could mean quicker trips to moon, Mars | Tom Roeder | Military | gazette.com
Tom Roeder is the Gazette's senior military editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom covers seven military installations in Colorado, including five in the Pikes Peak region. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids.
A Gazette investigation shows an increasing number of soldiers, including wounded combat veterans, are being kicked out of the service for misconduct, often with no benefits, as the Army downsizes after a decade of war.
Jupiter and Saturn swing by the moon this week ahead of a 'Great Conjunction' | Space
This week Jupiter and Saturn are low in the southwest during the chilly December dusk. When this month began, they were separated by 2.1 degrees.
But in the days that followed, they have been slowly approaching each other; getting closer by about 0.1 degrees each day on their way toward the long-awaited " great conjunction " next Monday evening (Dec. 21). Their inching closer to each other will be further enlivened by the passage on Wednesday and Thursday evenings (Dec. 16-17) of a foreground waxing crescent moon.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Could the first lunar habitat be 3D-printed with moon dust? - CNN Style
NASA SLS megarocket for the moon resumes testing after equipment hiccup | Space
Days after NASA signed two international memoranda of agreement related to missions for the Artemis moon program, there's good news on offer for its delayed Space Launch System rocket testing.
"Green run" tests on the new Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, which is scheduled for its debut launch in November 2021, are moving forward again after problems with ground equipment earlier this month pushed the testing behind, NASA announced Thursday (Dec. 17).
White House Launches Plan for a Nuclear Power System on the Moon - Nextgov
In journeys into space environments too harsh for more common power sources—or so deep that it's too dark for solar power or too far to bring much fuel—space nuclear systems can offer a useful means to power spacecraft. They include radioisotope power systems and nuclear reactors for power generation and propulsion.
"Nuclear power in a variety of ways is going to be important for the moon. As we look towards having a more robust science and more permanent human presence there on the lunar surface, then the fission reactor sizes that we are talking about are needed," an official said. "So, I think we start with putting a power reactor on the moon. That will in turn support a surface architecture."
The real color of the moon -- and why it's probably not what you think
Look up at the moon and you’ll probably see a yellowish or white disk, pockmarked by darker structures. But despite this first-glance appearance, the moon isn’t exactly yellow nor bright white. It’s more of a dark grey, mixed in with some white, black, and even a bit of orange — and all this is caused by its geology.
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The moon appears to shine because it reflects light from the Sun — it doesn’t actually produce any light of its own. It doesn’t even reflect that much light to begin with — just 3 to 12% of the sunlight that hits it gets reflected.
Happening on Twitter
In video: Moon samples collected by China's Chang'e-5 probe have been transferred to the Chinese research teams Sat… https://t.co/pdcwPQ3tO9 PDChina (from Beijing, China) Sat Dec 19 06:00:00 +0000 2020
China's Chang'e 5 lunar probe landed in Inner Mongolia on Thursday, bringing with it rock and 'soil' from the moon… https://t.co/Lr7DMV38Lr RT_com Fri Dec 18 14:00:01 +0000 2020
"We lost an opportunity to have worldwide cooperation in the development of vaccines, bringing in not only Europe,… https://t.co/GiL8mQ9zTK ceprdc (from Washington, D.C.) Sat Dec 19 19:01:06 +0000 2020
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