Parabolicarc – Armadillo Aerospace Gets Launch License for Reusable STIG-B At Newspace 2012 hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation in Santa Clara CA, Dr. George Nield, Associate Administrator for the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation, presented Neil Milburn, Armadillo Aerospace’s VP of Program Management,with an Operator Launch License for their STIG (Suborbital Transport with …
1. Mining Weekly – India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) would permit private miners to process beach sand and supply monazite tailings to the government-owned Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) to increase the latter’s capacity to extract thorium and uranium. At present, private miners were allowed to extract rare earths from beach sand but not …
1. Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, says not to freak out about China’s economy Yes, China’s growth is decelerating from the double-digits of recent years; various forecasters are predicting a possible GDP growth range of 7 – 8% this year. However, I think it’s important to emphasize that would still represent …
Halophytes are salt-tolerant plants that are found throughout the world. Halophytes can be used to grow both fuel and food, and a NASA facility is attempting to use halophytes for large-scale fuel production. The aim is to create aviation-grade biofuels without using any arable land, freshwater, or standard food crops. Dr. Bilial Bomani, the head …
Nature – One of the greatest sources of uncertainty for future climate predictions is the response of the global carbon cycle to climate change. Although approximately one-half of total CO2 emissions is at present taken up by combined land and ocean carbon reservoirs, models predict a decline in future carbon uptake by these reservoirs, resulting …
Mars Science Laboratory represents the first use of a “soft-landing” technique employed at Mars. The sheer mass of Mars Science Laboratory prevents engineers from using the familiar airbags to deliver their rover safely to the martian surface. As rovers become more capable and carry more instruments, they become larger. So, in order to accommodate this …
Texas field production of crude oil is at 1.834 million barrels of oil per day in May, 2012. Texas production is at oil production levels last seen in 1991. There is a difference in how the EIA is calculating Texas field production versus the Texas railway commission tracking of crude oil production. The Texas railway …
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program announced its 2012 awards. These proposals have been selected based on the potential of their concepts to transform future aerospace missions, enable new capabilities, or significantly alter and improve current approaches. Each Phase I study will receive approximately $100,000 for one year, and each Phase II study will …
LA Times interview of Elon Musk of Spacex. Q – The movies provide us with two space future models: “Star Trek,” where a government agency governs space, versus “Alien,” where a private space mining company makes its own rules. A – We need a new archetype. I’ve talked to James Cameron about this. He’s got …
Yuri Milner, who made $1 billion from investments in Facebook, Twitter, Zynga and Groupon, has awarded nine initial prizes worth $3 million each to recognize advances in the field of fundamental physics, dealing with the basic laws of nature. The nine winners will now form a committee to select a winner, or winners, for next …
Musk also cites Aeromovel as a similar transportation network, meaning that the Hyperloop could take advantage of a similar pneumatic transportation guideway. This system I have in mind, how would you like something that can never crash, is immune to weather, it goes 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train… it goes an …