Collaborate Disseminate
Virgin Galactic is further expanding its scope of space-faring services, today signing a new agreement with NASA that will see it organize private trips to the International Space Station. The deal is hoped to help usher in the era of space tourism and… Continue reading Virgin Galactic to organize private passenger trips to ISS for NASA
With the launch of the SpaceX Demo-2 mission, the United States has achieved something it hasn’t done in nearly a decade: put a human into low Earth orbit with a domestic booster and vehicle. It was a lapse in capability that stretched on far longer than anyone inside or outside …read more
Continue reading NASA’s Long-Delayed Return to Human Spaceflight
History was made today as the United States launched the first manned commercial mission into orbit. At 3:22 pm EDT, the SpaceX Demo-2 spacecraft carrying astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy… Continue reading America returns to manned spaceflight with launch of SpaceX Demo-2
Complexity is a funny thing. In prehistoric times, a caveman might float across a lake on a log. That’s simple. But as you add a rudder, a sail, or even a motor, it gets more and more complex. But if you add enough complexity — a GPS and an autopilot, …read more
Continue reading Docking with ISS isn’t as Easy as You Might Think
The date for SpaceX’s first manned Crew Dragon flight has been set. NASA announced that the Demo-2 mission will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 27, 2020, at 4:32 pm EDT with NASA ast… Continue reading First manned SpaceX Crew Dragon flight set for May 27 liftoff
There is a lot we don’t know about the impacts of spaceflight on the human body, but scientists investigating the physiological effects of extended periods in space are uncovering some very useful insights. A new study has revealed a significant change… Continue reading Extended stints in space may cause permanent changes to brain volume
At this point, most of us are painfully aware of the restrictions that COVID-19 social distancing protocols have put on our daily lives. Anyone who can is working from home, major events are canceled, non-essential businesses are closed, and travel is either strongly discouraged or prohibited outright. In particularly hard …read more
Continue reading Getting To Space Is Even Harder During a Pandemic
A few years ago, for the first time ever, astronauts ate lettuce that had been grown aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It has now been determined that the “space lettuce” was at least as nutritious as similar plants grown on Earth.Continue … Continue reading ISS-grown “space lettuce” is just as good as its Earthly counterparts
Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), humanity has managed to maintain an uninterrupted foothold in low Earth orbit for just shy of 20 years. There are people reading these words who have had the ISS orbiting overhead for their entire lives, the first generation born into a truly spacefaring civilization. …read more
Continue reading Expanding, and Eventually Replacing, the International Space Station
For decades, astronauts have been forced to endure space-friendly MREs and dehydrated foodstuffs, though we understand both the quality and the options have increased with time. But if we’re serious about long-term space travel, colonizing Mars, or actually having a restaurant at the end of the universe, the ability to …read more
Continue reading First Space Cookies: Cosmic Cooking is Half-Baked