NASA 3D Prints Lighter and More Powerful Rotating Detonating Engine

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recorded ignition of a full-scale Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine combustor, which was fired for a record 251 seconds and achieved more than 5,800 pounds of thrust. NASA has stated their intention to create a 10,000 lbs thrust engine. Rotating detonation engine could be up to 25% more …

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NASA Finds Evidence Enceladus is More Habitable and More Likely to Have Microbial Life

Analysis of the Cassini probe data shows evidence for Enceladus habitability a step further. They’ve found strong confirmation of hydrogen cyanide, a molecule that is key to the origin of life. The ocean below the ice of Saturn’s moon holds a powerful source of chemical energy. Unidentified until now, the energy source is in the …

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SpaceX May Test Propellant Transfer During the Next Starship Launch

Lakiesha Hawkins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars program office, one of her slides (at a Congressional Committee presentation) said SpaceX is moving quickly toward the third Super Heavy/Starship launch and that this flight will include a propellant transfer demonstration. Cutaway diagram was by Tom Dixon SpaceX Has a $52 million cryogenic fluid …

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SpaceX Lunar Starship and Refueling in Orbit Might Slip from 2025 to 2027

Government Accounting Office (GAO) projects the HLS (Human Landing System – AKA SpaceX Lunar Starship) development takes as many months as NASA major projects do, on average, the Artemis III mission (first moon manned landing) would likely occur in early 2027. This would be a delay from the current 2025 target. GAO analysis of past …

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Next Generation Radioisotopes Can Power Ultrafast Space Missions Up to 220,000 MPH

USNC-Tech envisions adapting EmberCore for an electric propulsion system that could propel a spacecraft to extremely high speeds. “The spacecraft architecture is capable of incredible delta-V on the order of 50-100 km/s,” USNC-Tech’s Christopher Morrison says in the company’s proposal. That would translate to 110,000 to 220,000 mph. Cobalt-60 gives 17 watts per gram. A …

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2011 NASA NIAC Fission Fragment Rocket Design

Early 2011, NASA NIAC study of fission fragment propulsion. Brian WangBrian 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 …

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50 Meter Fluidic Space Telescope

The Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE) project team, jointly led by NASA and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, envisions a way to make huge circular self-healing mirrors in-orbit to further the field of astronomy. Larger telescopes collect more light, and they allow astronomers to peer farther into space and see distant objects in greater detail. The …

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Nearterm 10X Aerogel Fission Fragment Rocket Will Lead to Interstellar Capability

A nuclear fission fragment rocket engine (FFRE) that is exponentially more propellent efficient than rocket engines currently used to power today’s space vehicles and could eventually achieve very high specific impulse (>100,000 sec) at high power density (>kW/kg). A new NASA NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) project is creating a buildable near term design for …

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