NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers the State of NASA address for 2023. Learn about NASA plans to explore the Moon and Mars, monitor and protect the planet, sustain U.S. leadership in aviation and aerospace innovation, drive economic growth and promote equity and diversity within the agency and across the nation, while inspiring the next generation …
The James Webb Telescope found earlier giant galaxies or giant blackholes from only 500 million years after the big bang. Michio Kaku believes they could be giant early blackholes that were left over from the big bang. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per …
NASA has published its new goals for the moon and Mars. Most of the ambitious goals will require SpaceX to develop the Superheavy Starship, in orbit refueling and the lunar Starship. The purple infrastructure goals are interesting for developing a lunar power grid and robotics automation. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and …
SpaceX had seven launches in January, 2023 and should have five in February by the end of today. The two missions are scheduled to launch at 2:12 p.m. and 10:59 p.m. ET. There will be a Starlink mission today 2:12pm EST. There will also be an Inmarsat mission 10:59 pm EST. There should be two …
DARPA wants to fly satellites closer to the earth where there is more drag and resistance. The thermosphere (90 km or 56 miles) up to 500 and 1,000 km (311 to 621 miles) above our planet. DARPA wants Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) as orbits less than 450 km, or roughly 280 miles, in altitude. …
NASA and DARPA will work together to develop and demonstrate a nuclear thermal rocket engine in space by 2027. The Demonstration Rocket is part of the Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme. DRACO’s proposed solid core nuclear thermal rocket temperatures could reach almost 5000 degrees fahrenheit, which will need new advanced materials. It will use high-assay …
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is one of the best options for manned missions throughout the solar system with over double the ISP of chemical rockets. A new NASA NIAC study will look at improved nuclear propulsion with a Wave Rotor combined with Nuclear Electric. This could enable four times the ISP of nuclear thermal and …
The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. A NASA NIAC Phase 1 study will look at a space observatory with a large-aperture (50-meter) unsegmented primary mirror suitable for a variety of astronomical applications. The mirror would be created in space via a novel approach based on fluidic shaping in microgravity, which has …
NASA has a phase 1 NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) to overcome the limitations for making giant lightweight dish structures in space. In this NIAC effort, they aim to overcome limitations by using a novel in-space manufacturing method and advanced materials to fabricate high-performance reflectors with dimensions greater than 100 meters, 100 m/m surface precision, …
NASA has funded a phase 1 NIAC (NASA Innovation Advanced Concepts) study to get through about 24 miles (40 kilometers) of ice on Europa and other moons with liquid oceans. Jupiter’s satellite Europa almost certainly hides a global saltwater ocean beneath its icy surface. Chemistry at the ice surface and ocean-rock interface might provide the …
A new NASA NIAC phase 1 study is analyzing a 20-meter class infrared space telescope. It is currently impossible to find Earth-like planets in the habitable zones (where the temperature supports liquid water) of Sun-like stars. It is even harder to measure the composition of their atmospheres. But this is necessary if we want to …
