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Archive for the ‘space travel’ category: Page 484

Mar 3, 2016

What One Year of Space Travel Does to the Human Body — By Marina Koren | The Atlantic

Posted by in categories: space, space travel

Expedition 46 Flight Engineer Tim Kopra performs a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in this December 21, 2015 NASA handout photo. Kopra and Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly successfully moved the International Space Station's mobile transporter rail car ahead of the December 23, 2015 docking of a Russian cargo supply spacecraft.  REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - RTX1ZSVJ

“The goal of the yearlong expedition is to better understand how the human body reacts to microgravity for long durations. Researchers say they hope the data acquired in this mission will help them figure out how to send humans on even longer missions, like one to Mars, which would take two-and-a-half years, roundtrip.”

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Mar 3, 2016

US Military Set to Unveil Concepts Based on Skylon Space Plane Tech

Posted by in categories: military, space travel

Within the next year, the U.S. Air Force plans to unveil novel spacecraft concepts that would be powered by a potentially revolutionary reusable engine designed for a private space plane.

Since January 2014, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has been developing hypersonic vehicle concepts that use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which was invented by England-based Reaction Engines Ltd. and would propel the company’s Skylon space plane.

In April 2015, Reaction Engines announced that an AFRL study had concluded that SABRE is feasible. And AFRL is bullish on the technology; the lab will reveal two-stage-to-orbit SABRE-based concepts either this September, at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ (AIAA) SPACE 2016 conference in Long Beach, California, or in March 2017, at the 21st AIAA International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference in China, said AFRL Aerospace Systems Directorate Aerospace Engineer Barry Hellman. [The Skylon Space Plane in Pictures].

Continue reading “US Military Set to Unveil Concepts Based on Skylon Space Plane Tech” »

Mar 2, 2016

Former Fermilab Physicist Aims To Build A ‘Star Trek’-Style Antimatter Engine

Posted by in category: space travel

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Gerald Jackson and his partner are starting a Kickstarter to raise funds.

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Feb 29, 2016

Quarks To Quasars Photo

Posted by in categories: particle physics, space travel

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Feb 28, 2016

Solar Electric Propulsion: NASA’s engine to Mars and Beyond

Posted by in categories: futurism, space travel

NASA is hard at work developing Solar Electric Propulsion engines for future space missions to Mars and beyond.

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Feb 26, 2016

‘Imagined Futures:’ Pivot Art + Culture’s Newest Exhibition | Vulcan Inc.

Posted by in categories: media & arts, space, space travel

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“Vulcan Inc. today announced a new exhibition of nearly 60 objects related to science fiction and the history of space exploration – Imagined Futures: Science Fiction, Art, and Artifacts from the Paul G. Allen Family Collection – that will be on view at its 3,000-square-foot flexible concept space, Pivot Art + Culture beginning April 7, 2016. The exhibition, curated by Ben Heywood, runs through July 10, 2016.”

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Feb 26, 2016

We Explored Pluto, Now Let’s Explore The Nearest Star!

Posted by in category: space travel

With the recent milestone achieved by the New Horizons mission, many are contemplating what our next space exploration goal should be.

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Feb 26, 2016

Here’s how we could build a colony on an alien world

Posted by in categories: alien life, habitats, solar power, space travel, sustainability

If the human race is to survive in the long-run, we will probably have to colonise other planets. Whether we make the Earth uninhabitable ourselves or it simply reaches the natural end of its ability to support life, one day we will have to look for a new home.

Hollywood films such as The Martian and Interstellar give us a glimpse of what may be in store for us. Mars is certainly the most habitable destination in our solar system, but there are thousands of exoplanets orbiting other stars that could be a replacement for our Earth. So what technology will we need to make this possible?

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Feb 26, 2016

NASA Planning To Send HAVOC Airships To Venus

Posted by in categories: engineering, space travel

We’ve talked a lot about sending people to Mars, but what about Earth’s sister? NASA engineering are planning to send HAVOC airships to Venus.

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Feb 25, 2016

Photonic propulsion cuts Mars travel time

Posted by in categories: astronomy, energy, lifeboat, physics, space travel, transportation

Recent advances in lasers suggest that we may see rockets propelled by light earlier than we had imagined. NASA scientist Philip Lubin and his team are working on a system that would use Earth-based lasers to allow space travel to far-away places in just a fraction of the time needed with current technology.

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Using earth based lasers to push along a spacecraft instead of on board hydrocarbon-based fuel could dramatically reduce travel time to Mars, within our lifetime. Currently, it takes five months for a space craft to reach Mars. But, with photonic propulsion, it is likely that small crafts filled with experiments will reach Mars in just 3 days. Large spaceships with astronauts and life support systems will take only one month, which is about 20% of the duration of a current trip.

What’s next? Lubin believes that we may be able to send small crafts with scientific experiments to exoplanets as fast as 5% light speed in, perhaps, 30 years. Eventually, he claims that the technology will carry humans at speeds up to 20% light speed.

Read about it here.