Seeking Out New Homes On New Worlds
Oct 7, 2008
(Hat Tip: Space Transport News) After President Bush signed the Soyuz waiver allowing NASA to rely on Russia to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, it looks as if the space agency is seriously considering courting the private sector (aka NewSpace) at Russia’s expense. (Space.com) NASA has no intention of paying Russia to help deliver...
Sep 28, 2008
(Hat Tip: Space Transport News ) After three previous launches that ended prematurely, it looks as if SpaceX has finally launched their Falcon 1 rocket, setting a stage for NewSpace (aka the private space sector) and more importantly humanity. Here is a link (windows media player) to the video for those of you who might have missed the launch. an image...
Aug 19, 2008
(Hat Tip: Space Transport News, Image Credit: John Ballentine) While many will acknowledge SpaceX’s third launch failure as a setback for the private space sector (aka NewSpace), many may not realize that it was also a setback for the “deep space” community as one of the passengers on board was the Nanosail-D satellite (a solar sail...
Apr 23, 2008
SpaceX, an emerging space corporation that is slowly (but surely) winning over NASA’s affection has been awarded a contract by the space agency in order to transport cargo into orbit. (NASA Press Release) NASA has awarded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, a NASA Launch Services contract for the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles. [...] The...
Apr 7, 2008
(Hat Tip: Personal Spaceflight) It looks as if one of the three “major” competitors for the suborbital flights has recently disappeared–at least from cyberspace. Benson Space, who was pursuing development of the Dream Chaser seems to have either allowed its domain BensonSpace.com to fall into the hands of Rockets Away! Media (which is a good...
Apr 7, 2008
It looks as if one of the contestants in the Google Lunar X-Prize has found a unique way of securing funding in order to win the $30 million prize. (LunaTrex X-Prize Blog) Team LunaTrex has a few companies in its membership that are profitable and that also have profit-generating products that relate to aerospace. One such company, AirBuoyant, is coming out...
Apr 1, 2008
After realizing that going to the Moon was not their cup of tea, the Mountain View giant has decided to partner up with Virgin Galactic to launch the first Martian colony funded by corporate dollars instead of governmental taxes. (Google Press Release) “Some people are calling Virgle an ‘interplanetary Noah’s Ark,’” said Virgin...
Mar 26, 2008
No matter where you go, you can not escape it. Understood by infants, “math-matized” by Newton, you can not forsake the effects of gravity, no matter what your “lying eyes” may be telling you. You may never be able to escape the effects of gravity (in its entirety), but you can reduce it, freeing yourself from the stress of lifting...