"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever," wrote Soviet space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in a letter in 1911. Scientists have long written and spoken about a perceived necessity to travel to other planets for the long-term survival of the human species.
While NASA, SpaceX, and other companies have relatively short-term plans to get us to Mars, what of the need to explore beyond our star, the Sun, which is estimated to die out in 7.5 billion years?
And here's another article:
How moon mining could transform the economy and space travel | MNN - Mother Nature Network
The moon, observed with Mars (lower right) in July 2003, hold far more riches than you would think. (Photo: Marc Van Norden [CC by 2.0] /Flickr)
Moon mining is poised to become a thriving off-world industry, one that could transform not only the world economy, but also be a driving force for putting boots on the ground throughout our solar system.
But what exactly does the moon, long considered a barren rock — or, in some quarters, a very old piece of cheese — have to offer?
Ion thruster for space travel being developed in Adelaide - The Science Show - ABC Radio National
Most space propulsion systems use gas. Even if carried in liquid form, this type of fuel takes up a lot of room, hardly ideal for space travel. And if there is a problem, as happened with the Challenger Space Shuttle mission, the results can be catastrophic. Better would be a propulsion system using solid fuel, being far safer than explosive liquid or gas.
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But what many fans may have missed is that TIE actually stands for Twin Ion Engine, and that ion engine sound, well, it turns out, as in so much science-fiction, it's probably not quite right. Apparently an ion engine actually sounds more like this:
Technique offers path for biomanufacturing medicines during space flights
With promising results, the team hopes to conduct a similar experiment aboard the space station. And while they're starting with E.coli, the workhorse of molecular biology, the team hopes to eventually use the instrument to grow microorganisms with radiation resistance, which could protect developing pharmaceuticals from the ever-present radiation of space as they are produced.
Bacteria like E.coli need oxygen to grow, and the gold standard method for aerating bacteria in a liquid growth medium uses an orbital shaker, a machine that horizontally shakes a platform on which the vessels containing the liquid can be stowed. The shaker relies on the force of gravity to swirl the liquid contents, which rise and fall within a flask, mixing oxygen with the liquid.
Not to change the topic here:
Three astronauts are launching to space Thursday after lengthy quarantine - The Verge
Final preparations for a trip to the space station from Russia usually begin in Star City — a small town just outside of Moscow. After a brief stay, the crew then heads to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where their rocket launches, and enters a two-week quarantine period.
However, quarantine procedures accelerated slightly while the crews were still in Star City. Around the time of Cassidy's arrival at the beginning of March, stricter travel restrictions and social distancing measures were enacted all over the world to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Op-Ed: NewSpace, the corporatization of space — Ideal or horror story?
Philanthropy is Rocket Science
A 15-year-old boy opens a newspaper and starts reading a science-fiction story about travel between Mars and Earth. The next thing you know, he's spending all his time thinking about flying through space, and filling notebooks with scribbled ideas about how to make that happen.
Today, that's not an unusual story. But when the teenaged Robert Goddard began to have his high-altitude dreams, it was 1899, and space travel was only a fantasy. But Goddard was passionate, serious, and stubborn—the ingredients of invention.
Jeff Bezos' space company is pressuring employees to launch a tourist rocket during the pandemic
Employees at Jeff Bezos' aerospace firm Blue Origin are outraged that senior leadership is pressuring workers to conduct a test launch of the company's New Shepard rocket — designed to take wealthy tourists into space — while the COVID-19 pandemic devastates the United States.
To conduct the flight, Blue Origin officials are considering transporting employees from the company's main headquarters in Kent, Washington — a town near Seattle where COVID-19 cases have surged — to a small town in West Texas called Van Horn. The town, which has a population of just over 2,000, is home to Blue Origin's test launch facility where the company has conducted all past flights of the New Shepard rocket.
Happening on Twitter
@JoeNBC Just the facts: 1-22-20 CNBC: "Are there worries about a #pandemic?" Donald Trump: "No. Not at all. We… https://t.co/4fHRaaBi5T maxtaves Mon Apr 06 21:34:49 +0000 2020
