On Feb. 20, 2021, Northrop Grumman will launch its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard an Antares rocket to deliver several tons of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station for its 15th resupply mission (CRS-15). Included in these bulky supplies will be a handful of items that weigh no more than a few grams—a sampling of seeds, some microscopic proteins, and…
Tag: Space travel
Elon Musk Says His Start-Up Neuralink Has Wired Up a Monkey To Play Video Games Using Its Mind
Tesla boss Elon Musk said in an interview late Sunday that a monkey has been wired up to play video games with its mind by a company he founded called Neuralink. CNBC reports: Neuralink put a computer chip into the monkey’s skull and used “tiny wires” to connect it to its brain, Musk said. “It’s not an unhappy monkey,” he said…
Axiom Names First Private Crew Paying $55 Million For a Trip To the ISS
An American real estate investor, a Canadian investor, and a former Israeli Air Force pilot are paying $55 million each to be part of the first fully private astronaut crew to journey to the International Space Station. The Verge reports: The trio will hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule early next year, with a veteran NASA astronaut as the…
UK Nuclear Spacecraft Could Halve Time of Journey To Mars
British spacecraft could travel to Mars in half the time it now takes by using nuclear propulsion engines built by Rolls-Royce under a new deal with the UK Space Agency. From a report: The aerospace company hopes nuclear-powered engines could help astronauts make it to Mars in three to four months, twice as fast as the most powerful chemical engines, and…
Invisible ‘arches of chaos’ span the solar system
Scientists have mapped the “arches of chaos:” a vast network of arching structures filling the solar system that could one day aid space travel. Source: https://www.livescience.com/arches-of-chaos.html
Hibernating lemurs may be the key to cryogenic sleep for human space travel
Science fiction is shifting into reality. With humanity’s plans to return to the moon this decade and further ambitions to travel to Mars in the next, we need to figure out how to keep astronauts healthy for these years-long missions. One solution long championed by science fiction is suspended animation, or putting humans in a hibernation-like sleep for the duration of…
Fruit flies reveal new insights into space travel’s effect on the heart
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that fruit flies that spent several weeks on the International Space Station (ISS)—about half of their lives—experienced profound structural and biochemical changes to their hearts. The study, published today in Cell Reports, suggests that astronauts who spend a lengthy amount of time in space—which would be required for formation of a…
Can the EmDrive actually work for space travel?
The EmDrive doesn’t just violate our fundamental understanding of the universe; the experiments that claim to measure an effect haven’t been replicated. When it comes to the EmDrive, keep dreaming. Source: https://www.livescience.com/can-emdrive-space-propulsion-concept-work.html
SpaceX Starship as a trash collector in Earth orbit?
SpaceX Starship’s many tasks may include launching humans into space, carrying satellites into orbit and — perhaps — removing troublesome pieces of space debris. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/spacex-starship-clean-up-space-junk…
NASA’s guide to near light speed space travel
Take a couple of minutes and have a little fun with this new video from NASA Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-guide-to-near-light-speed-space-travel-video…