1. Universe Today – SpaceX and NASA Confirm Delay of First Crewed Dragon Flight to 2018
2. Universe Today – Martian Mineral Points Toward Past Habitability
3. Universe Today – The Car Alan Stern Drove to Pluto
4. Blasting News – Donald Trump chooses more members of NASA landing team
5. Blasting News – Before he died John Glenn wrote a letter praising Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos
6. God speed John Glenn, dead at 95
7. NASA funds Restore-L space mission to refuel and repair satellites
8. Moon Express co-founder Naveen Jain predicts $10,000 trips to the moon by 2026
9. Why the German Google Lunar XPrize mission will not debunk the moon landing hoax
NASA, Stephen Hawking Join Forces on Nano Starship Project
10. Incredible Computer Simulation Recreates The Evolution Of Our Universe
11. Reaction Engines UK progressing to full demonstrator hypersonic engine in 2020 and fully reusable spaceplanes and hypersonic fighter jets around 2030. SABRE – Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine – is a new class of engine for propelling both high speed aircraft and spacecraft. SABRE engines are unique in delivering the fuel efficiency of a jet engine with the power and high speed ability of a rocket.
Unlike jet engines, which are only capable of powering a vehicle up to Mach 3, three times the speed of sound, SABRE engines are capable of Mach 5.4 in air-breathing mode, and Mach 25 in rocket mode for space flight. They are simply going to revolutionise the way we travel around the globe, and into orbit. Like jet engines, SABRE can be scaled in size to provide difference levels of thrust for different applications which is crucial to our success – it’s going to enable a whole generation of air and space vehicles.
Hitler and Malthus made the case that there is only so much to go around and you must fight and kill for it.
However, there was 1 billion people at the time of Malthus and they had the equivalent in todays dollars of GDP $180 per person.
Malthus made the case that there was finite resources and we had to stop population growth.
But now there are 7 billion people with the equivalent of $9000 GDP per person.
7 times the population, 50 times the wealth (7 squared) and 350 times the total wealth (7 cubed)
13. Nextbigfuture – Physics Today has a speculative article that proposes that laser light be used to shape and polish an asteroid to high optical standards. This could create an Asteroid Belt Astronomical Telescope (ABAT). The imagined angular resolution of exoplanet Gliese 832 c is a factor of 10 000 short of the theoretical limit of 2 × 10^−11 arcsec. Instead of waiting for laser shaping of asteroids, we can start mass production of cubesats with 2 meter mirrors. Deploying these telescopes around the solar system could form a hypertelescope that has the capabilities of the imagined asteroid belt telescope.
14. Nextbigfuture – Moon Express targets trips to the moon at $10,000 per person by 2026 and will use rocket with 3D printed parts. Naveen Jain, founder of Moon Express, sees moon exploration as part of a larger, ten-year vision that could span anywhere from research facilities for needed Mars-bound technologies to honeymoon destinations. That, and he’s eyeing SpaceX as a natural launch partner in reaching for those goals.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Jain expressed his reason for getting involved in private space exploration as one we are familiar hearing from Elon Musk: Multi-planetary habitation as a backup plan for the survival of the human race. With such a compatible perspective, Elon Musk and SpaceX certainly would seem to have many reasons to work with Moon Express in the future. Jain also expressed his willingness to work with Elon.
If all goes well in the space tourism economy, tourists will be able to book a flight to the moon within the next decade and stay in a hotel in orbit above Earth while watching cargo ship shuttle up from our planet’s surface, Jain told Space.com.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.