Space Travel – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Oct 24
2025

Common crystal proves ideal for low-temperature light technology

Superconductivity and quantum computing are two fields that have seeped from theoretical circles into popular consciousness. The 2025 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for work in superconducting quantum circuits that could drive ultra-powerful computers. But what may be less well known is that these promising technologies are often possible only at cryogenic temperatures—near absolute zero. Unfortunately, few materials can handle such extremes. Their cherished physical properties disappear when the chill is on.

In a new paper published in Science, however, a team of engineers at Stanford University spotlights a promising material—strontium titanate, or STO for short—where the optical and mechanical characteristics do not decline at extreme low temperatures, but actually get significantly better, outperforming existing materials by a wide margin.

They believe these findings suggest that STO could become the building block for new light-based and mechanical cryogenic devices that push quantum computing, space exploration, and other fields to the next level.

Oct 24
2025

Rocket maker Firefly Aerospace files to go public under ticker FLY

Rocket maker Firefly Aerospace filed for an initial public offering on Friday, with plans to trade under the ticker symbol “FLY” on the Nasdaq.

Firefly’s planned offering comes during a resurgence period for IPOs after the market collapsed in 2022 as rising interest rates and skyrocketing inflation deterred investors from betting on riskier assets.

Some companies, including Klarna and ticket reseller StubHub, delayed public offerings earlier this year as President Donald Trump’s tariff plans rattled global markets. But venture capitalists are becoming more optimistic after a strong June for deal activity that included a surge in crypto company Circle and a major Meta Platforms deal with Scale AI. Figma also filed its prospectus earlier this month.

Oct 19
2025

Firefly Aerospace seeks incentives to expand its footprint, headcount in Cedar Park

Move over Houston, Austin is in the space race.

Oct 16
2025

A new private moon lander rises: Impulse Space throws its hat into the lunar ring

Impulse Space has already started working on the moon lander’s engine, which will “use a nitrous and ethane bipropellant — the same combination used successfully in space on Mira,” Mueller wrote.

And he reminded readers that Impulse took Mira from a mere design on paper to a functioning spacecraft in Earth orbit in less than 15 months.

“We’re confident in our ability to deliver this solution because of our strong track record of rapid success,” Mueller wrote of his company’s moon plans.

Oct 16
2025

First bedrest samples arrive at exploration biobank in Portugal

ESA’s new Exploration Biobank received its first biological samples linked to European space research in Portugal this week.

The shipment contained over 1,400 human samples from the Vivaldi III bedrest and dry-immersion campaign that took place earlier this year at Medes space clinic in Toulouse, France. Vivaldi III had a group of volunteers lying down on a waterbed and another group in bedrest for 10 days to recreate some of the effects of spaceflight on the body.

Samples of blood, saliva, urine, stool and hair from the participants arrived at the Biobank of the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM) in Lisbon on 14 October following strict safety, traceability and conservation protocols.

Oct 16
2025

NASA lays off 550 employees at Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Approximately 550 employees of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will be laid off, according to an announcement made on the agency’s website on Monday (Oct. 13).

The news comes in the midst of an ongoing U.S. government shutdown and the looming threat of the single largest funding reduction in NASA’s 66-year history. Due to those potential cuts, NASA has been forced to reshape many of its science and space exploration efforts. However, NASA has stated this latest wave of layoffs are unrelated to the government shutdown that has seen over 15,000 federal employees furloughed and is, rather, part of an agency-wide “reorganization” that began in June.

Oct 16
2025

New Models Show How Solar ‘Tornadoes’ Could Wreak Havoc on Earth

Weather forecasting is a powerful tool. During hurricane season, for instance, meteorologists create computer simulations to forecast how these destructive storms form and where they might travel, which helps prevent damage to coastal communities.

When you’re trying to forecast space weather, rather than storms on Earth, creating these simulations gets a little more complex.

To simulate space weather, you would need to fit the Sun, the planets, and the vast empty space between them in a virtual environment, also known as a simulation box, where all the calculations would take place.