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Archive for the ‘space travel’ category: Page 412

Jun 26, 2018

The Right Chemistry, Fast: Employing AI and Automation to Map Out and Make Molecules

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, military, robotics/AI, space travel

Chemical innovation plays a key role in developing cutting-edge technologies for the military. Research chemists design and synthesize new molecules that could enable a slew of next-generation military products, such as novel propellants for spacecraft engines; new pharmaceuticals and medicines for troops in the field; lighter and longer-lasting batteries and fuel cells; advanced adhesives, coatings and paints; and less expensive explosives that are safer to handle. The problem, however, is that existing molecule design and production methods rely primarily on experts’ intuition in a laborious, trial-and-error research process.

DARPA’s Make-It program, currently in year three of a four-year effort, is developing software tools based on machine learning and expert-encoded rules to recommend synthetic routes (i.e., the “recipe” to make a particular molecule) optimized for factors such as cost, time, safety, or waste reduction. The program seeks to free chemists so that they may focus their energy on chemical innovation, rather than testing various molecular synthesis pathways. The program also is developing automated devices that uniformly and reproducibly create the desired chemical based on the software-generated recipe – this one-device, many-molecules concept is a departure from the traditional dedicated reactors in chemical production. Make-It research teams have recently demonstrated significant progress toward fully automated rapid molecule production, which could speed the pace of chemical discovery for a range of defense products and applications.

“A seasoned research chemist may spend dozens of hours designing synthetic routes to a new molecule and months implementing and optimizing the synthesis in a lab,” said Anne Fischer, program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office. “Make-It is not only freeing chemists to expend brain power in other areas such as molecular discovery and innovation, it is opening chemical synthesis and discovery to a much broader community of scientific researchers who will benefit from faster development of new molecules.”

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Jun 26, 2018

China’s hypersonic military projects include spaceplanes and rail guns

Posted by in categories: drones, military, space travel

China’s hypersonic progress ranges from increasing scramjet testing and cheaper drones, to keeping its lead in railguns.

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Jun 25, 2018

Why the James Webb telescope launch could be the most exciting astrological event of the millennia

Posted by in categories: cosmology, space travel

The NASA James Webb telescope could prove to be the biggest leap forward to humankind’s exploration into deep space.

The Webb telescope will give us the ability to investigate the cosmos, unlocking secrets from the beginning of the Big Bang to how galaxies are formed and beyond, bringing us light years ahead of our current understanding of planetary evolution.

Continue reading “Why the James Webb telescope launch could be the most exciting astrological event of the millennia” »

Jun 24, 2018

Trump’s ‘Space Force’ could fuel a new $1 trillion economy, Morgan Stanley says

Posted by in categories: economics, security, space travel

Space is the next frontier for war.


  • President Donald Trump’s proposed “Space Force” could help fuel the $1 trillion intergalactic economy, Morgan Stanley says.
  • The bank is tracking 100 private companies poised to profit from interstellar industries.

If President Donald Trump successfully organizes his so-called Space Force, it could speed up investment in what Morgan Stanley sees as the next trillion-dollar economy.

In a note to clients Friday, the bank doubled down on its intergalactic thesis from last October, saying the Space Force “could address critical vulnerabilities in national security, raising investor awareness in the formation of what we see as the next trillion-dollar economy.”

Continue reading “Trump’s ‘Space Force’ could fuel a new $1 trillion economy, Morgan Stanley says” »

Jun 21, 2018

What If We Terraformed the Moon?

Posted by in category: space travel

Would you move to the Moon?

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Jun 20, 2018

Astronauts eject space junk demo mission

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

The £13m RemoveDebris spacecraft was taken to the ISS in April and stored onboard ahead of Wednesday’s release.

The spacecraft was pushed out of an airlock where a robotic arm then picked it up gave it a gentle nudge down and away from the 400km-high lab.

In the process, RemoveDebris became the largest satellite to ever be deployed from the International Space Station. The time was about 12:35 BST.

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Jun 18, 2018

Interplanetary Challenge

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

CADET EXPLORER MISSION

Let Bill Nye and Robert Picardo take you on a journey through the future of space exploration and artificial intelligence. Each week they will show us a different space-themed topic and reveal how AI can help us reach the stars.

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Jun 17, 2018

Astronaut Chris Hadfield says the rockets from NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin won’t take people to Mars

Posted by in categories: futurism, space travel

Sorry, Elon.


Chris Hadfield, a former astronaut, says the future rockets and spaceships of NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin would be too risky to get people to and from Mars. He thinks we need some possibly “outlandish” solutions for space travel to make round-trip travel to the red planet practical.

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Jun 17, 2018

Combining Laser And Particle Beams For Interstellar Travel

Posted by in categories: engineering, particle physics, space travel

By jan mcharg, texas A&M university college of engineering

A new technology combining a laser beam and a particle beam for interstellar propulsion could pave the way for space exploration into the vast corners of our universe. This is the focus of PROCSIMA, a new research proposal by Dr. Chris Limbach and Dr. Ken Hara, assistant professors in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University.

NASA has chosen the proposal “PROCSIMA: Diffractionless Beam Propulsion for Breakthrough Interstellar Missions,” for the 2018 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) phase 1 study. PROCSIMA stands for Photon-paRticle Optically Coupled Soliton Interstellar Mission Accelerator, and is meant to evoke the idea that interstellar travel is not so far away.

Continue reading “Combining Laser And Particle Beams For Interstellar Travel” »

Jun 17, 2018

How Human Hibernation Will Soon Get Us to Mars

Posted by in categories: entertainment, space travel

It’ll be like that movie Passengers, but less creepy. #til

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