The SpaceX Starship will have six Raptor engines but will still be larger and cheaper than the external fuel tanks of the Space Shuttle. Elon Musk has a goal of building Starships for $5 million. Elon Musk has indicated that one of the reasons for switching to stainless steel for the SpaceX Super Heavy Starship …
SpaceX has an environmental application to the FAA. It shows plans for a Mobile Service Tower and increasing launches to 70 per year. SpaceX will need to amend these plans when the Super Heavy Starship is working. The plans do not include Super Heavy Starship launches. SpaceX plans to develop vertical integration capabilities at LC-39A …
Pekka Janhunen, who designed the electric sail, has proposed a 200 person L5 space station that would have safe long term radiation shielding and rotate for one G of gravity. The proposed station would weigh 89000 tonnes and provides 60 square meters (646 square feet) of floorspace per person. The radiation shield is made of …
SpaceX has started building its seventh Starship prototype. This is the second Starship construction start in May. They now have four Starship prototypes under active testing or construction. SN4 is being prepared for a test flight. SN4 has passed tank pressurization tests that show it could withstand the pressures needed to fly to orbit. SpaceX …
Doug Liman previously directed Tom Cruise on “Edge of Tomorrow” and “American Made” and will now join him on the first feature film that will have some scenes shot in outer space. Variety reports that Liman will also write the script and co-produce with Cruise. NASA has also confirmed their involvement with the project. SOURCES- …
A summary of activities around concept development, design, manufacturing, and early irradiation testing of a novel coated fuel particle, uranium nitride tristructural-isotropic fuel is provided. This fuel particle offers significantly higher uranium density over historic manifestations of coated fuel particles and may be more optimal for a range of advanced reactor applications. After reviewing the …
Oak Ridge National Laboratory are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods to confirm the consistency and reliability of its printed components. A rapidly built 3D printed nuclear reactor could get nuclear energy competitive again for power generation. A compact …
SpaceX is targeting today (May 27) for Falcon 9’s launch of Crew Dragon’s second demonstration (Demo-2) mission from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This test flight with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board the Dragon spacecraft will return human spaceflight to the United States. The instantaneous …
Acta Astronautica – Future interstellar rockets may use laser-induced annihilation reactions for relativistic drive Until now, no technology was known that would be able to give rocket exhaust at relativistic speed and a high enough momentum for relativistic travel. Here, a useful method for relativistic interstellar propulsion is described for the first time. This method …
Dr. Jonathan K. Witter is the Chief Engineer for BWXT Advanced Technology Programs. He reviewed the nuclear thermal rocket work from the 1970s to today. BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) is working with NASA in support of the agency’s Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) Project. BWXT is responsible for initiating conceptual designs of an NTP reactor in …
A team at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility led by a William & Mary physicist has made a significant advancement in physics understanding that represents a key step toward practical fusion energy. The work, published in an article in the journal Nuclear Fusion, helps better explain the relationship among three variables – plasma turbulence, the …