NASA’s technology development branch has been funding a project called Kilopower for three years and testing is due to start in September, 2017 and end in January 2018. NASA Game Changing Development program backed Kilopower, with the goal of building and testing a small fission reactor by Sept. 30, 2017, the end of the current …
The US believes North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday, two U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News — a significant step forward in Pyongyang’s weapons program. The ICBM, which is believed to be “two-stage,” officials said, would have a range of at least 3,500 miles, and thus be capable of reaching Alaska. …
The Institute of International Finance (IIF) Global Debt Monitor 2017 report shows that growth in global debt has slowed over the past several years, particularly in mature economies. However, Emerging Market economies borrowing more heavily, global debt has set a new record high of USD217 trillion (over 327% of GDP) in early 2017. The IIF …
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has ambitious plans to put an astronaut on the moon sometime around 2030, according to new proposals from the space agency. This is the first time JAXA has publicly explored sending astronauts anywhere beyond the International Space Station, a JAXA spokeswoman said Friday. The idea is to first join …
India plans to commission its first fast breeder reactor (FBR) by the end of this year at Kalpakkam in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. India’s Prototype Fast Breed Reactor will produce 500MW of power. India would be the second country worldwide to have a commercial reactor currently produce power through a fast-breeder reactor. Russia …
Tesla Motors Model 3 mass-market electric car will begin production on Friday after passing regulatory production requirements. The first car will roll off the assembly line two weeks ahead of schedule. Tesla has scheduled a “handover party” for the first 30 customers for July 28. Planned Model 3 Production by Month in 2017 July 30 …
NASA approved the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) which will fly a spacecraft into an asteroid and measure the deflection. NASA is also developing a first-ever robotic mission to visit a large near-Earth asteroid, collect a multi-ton boulder from its surface, and use it in an enhanced gravity tractor asteroid deflection demonstration. The spacecraft will …
The first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defense — the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — is moving from concept development to preliminary design phase. Artist concept of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft. DART, which is moving to preliminary design phase, would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate an …
Carnival of Space 516 is up at links through space. Planetaria – New Horizons team successfully observes transit of next KBO target, and clouds on Pluto. Images of seven possible clouds on Pluto, as seen by New Horizons. The other bright layers are haze in the thin atmosphere. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI Nextbigfuture – Spacex had …
The IMF has increased the projected GDP growth for China to 6.7 percent in 2017 and average annual growth of 6.4 percent between 2018-20. Previous predictions from the IMF had China at 6.2% or less GDP growth from 2018 to 2020. Based on the lower projections the IMF had China with purchasing power parity GDP …
China’s launch of a new heavy-lift rocket, the Long March-5 Y2, carrying what the government said was its heaviest ever satellite, failed on Sunday. The same rocket type had been expected to take China’s latest lunar probe to the Moon this year and to return with samples. It is not clear how the timetable for …