stories about: "nasa"

Mon, Jan 16th 2012 5:00pm

Filed Under:
caenorhabditis elegans, elon musk, international space station, mars, spaceflight, worms

Companies:
nasa, spacex

DailyDirt: Missions To Mars

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The future of manned spaceflight to other planets is a bit uncertain nowadays, but there are still plenty of people who are working on plans that could lead to people walking around on Mars before the end of the century. In the meantime, unmanned missions will have to suffice, but here are some quick links on traveling to Mars.

Landing equipment on Mars that weighs anywhere near 40-80 tons (on Earth) is just out of the question using current technology. The Mars Science Laboratory weighs about a ton and it's about as big as we can go right now... and we'll see how it does later this year. [url]
SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk wants to send people to Mars in 10-20 years. It would be interesting if a private company lands on another planet before any nation does. [url]
Studying 12 generations of worms on the International Space Station could help us better understand how humans will survive indefinitely long trips in space. So Caenorhabditis elegans could be the first animals sent to another planet, instead of dogs or chimps. [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

13 Comments

Innovation

by Michael Ho

Tue, Dec 20th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
burt rutan, low earth orbit, manned missions, mothership, paul allen, space shuttle, spacecraft

Companies:
nasa, spacex, stratolaunch systems

Permalink.

DailyDirt: Commercial Space

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Now that the Space Shuttle has been retired, NASA temporarily has no vehicle of its own to send astronauts into space. The plan is to encourage commercial entities to be more interested in manned spaceflight, and there are a handful of companies that are taking a shot at putting people on rocketships. Here are just a few interesting links on the future of commercial space missions.

NASA is handing off low-Earth orbit to commercial enterprises and taking a look at longer-range missions for itself. The space race has essentially turned into America's Next Top Space Model... or American Space Idol... [url]
Paul Allen and Burt Rutan have developed an enormous mothership that will launch rockets from the stratosphere. Stratolaunch Systems hasn't built it yet, but they plan to launch the first rocket in 2016. [url]
So far, SpaceX is the only commercial company to successfully return a spacecraft from orbit. This capability is only shared by five nations and the European Space Agency. [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

3 Comments

Studies

by Michael Ho

Wed, Nov 30th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
lunar base, lunar reconnaissance orbiter, moon, moon smell, re-fueling station

Companies:
nasa, shackleton energy

Permalink.

DailyDirt: That's No Moon...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The moon is a nice place to visit, but you probably wouldn't want to live there. We've left quite a bit of space junk behind on the surface of our nearest natural satellite, but maybe someday we will go back and clean up after ourselves. Here are just a few more quick links about some moon projects.

Shackleton Energy wants to be the first company to set up a lunar base for mining the moon and offering a re-fueling depot for spacecraft. If you think gas prices are high, the prices for refueling cryogenic liquid propellants in space are insane... [url]
NASA has released a detailed map of the moon using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. A single pixel on this map corresponds to about 100 meters of elevation on the moon. [url]
If you've ever wondered what the moon smells like... there's an app for that. Spoiler: It smells like gunpowder, not cheese. [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

3 Comments

Rumors, Conspiracies, etc.

by Michael Ho

Thu, Nov 17th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
apollo, astronauts, human colony, lunar rock, moon, moon base, moondust, space

Companies:
nasa

Permalink.

DailyDirt: Everyone Knows The Moon Is Made Of Cheese...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Astronauts haven't been back to the moon in a long time. It's not quite as simple as building a rocket in the backyard with your trusty dog. The technology to get people back to the moon could be re-created, but the benefits of doing it again don't seem to justify the costs. Maybe someday folks will go back, but until then, here are a few moon-related links for your amusement.

Earlier this year, a piece of moondust stuck to a bit of tape was returned to NASA. All your moon bits are belong to us! Seriously, though, NASA says that its astronauts have brought back about 842 pounds of moon material, but some of the dust that stuck to equipment has been collected by enthusiasts over the years and sold. [url]
A lunar rock from the Apollo 16 mission looks to be about 100 million years younger than expected. Isotopes of lead and neodymium suggest that the age of this rock sample is 4.36 billion years old -- which means the moon solidified much later than we'd thought or that the moon itself is younger than we expected. [url]
The Indian Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft discovered a pretty big cave on the moon that might be suitable for a human colony. The cave is over a mile long and would provide natural shielding for a moon base. [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

12 Comments

Bleeding Edge

by Michael Ho

Thu, Oct 27th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
fusion, space, spaceflight, spaceplane, starship, x-37b, x-37c

Companies:
darpa, nasa, usaf

Permalink.

DailyDirt: More Manned Spaceflight

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Manned spaceflight has obviously seen better days. There aren't that many ambitious spaceflights that actually have solid funding these days, but there are still a lot of plans and desire for manned space exploration to resume again. Here are just a few projects that might get off the ground.

DARPA has $500,000 in seed money to get folks thinking about interstellar space travel. The 100-Year Starship Study will encourage discussion about what it would take to make a trip to another star system, and a lot of the proposals will be science fiction for a very long time. [url]
The US Air Force has a "secret" mini space shuttle that might be able to take astronauts into space, and return them just like the retired space shuttle used to. The X-37B space plane could spawn a larger X-37C model that is twice a long, but the budget for producing these vehicles isn't exactly guaranteed. [url]
The concept of using nuclear reactions isn't a particularly new idea for space propulsion, but NASA engineers are designing aneutronic fusion reactor schemes that could be useful for shooting satellites across our solar system more efficiently. Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup. They slither while they pass they slip away across the universe... [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

6 Comments

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Michael Ho

Tue, Oct 11th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
carmack prize, rockets, space exploration, spaceships

Companies:
citi, nasa, scaled composites, spaceship factory, virgin galactic

Permalink.

DailyDirt: Rockets In Small, Medium And Large

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Getting into space doesn't seem like a big deal anymore, especially since there have been so many space missions and even amateur projects that have reached the edge of space. But buying a ticket on Virgin Galactic isn't quite affordable, and the edge of space isn't really the same as going to Mars. Still, it's cool to see more rockets shooting off towards the heavens.

NASA introduced its next generation rocket design for manned space exploration that's expected to take off sometime around 2017-2021. Senator Bill Nelson called it a "monster rocket" -- and we'll see if a certain cabling company sues over that nickname. [url]
The Spaceship Company is an appropriately-named joint venture between Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites that will manufacture suborbital spaceships in California. And the company has opened the world's first facility dedicated to producing private, commercial manned space vehicles. [url]
A Carmack Prize entry released a video of a relatively small rocket reaching 121,000 feet in about 92 seconds. Maybe there will be a credit card company space race someday.... [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

7 Comments

Miscellaneous

by Michael Ho

Fri, Jul 29th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
diapers, toilets, urinals

Companies:
gates foundation, nasa

Permalink.

DailyDirt: Spare A Square..?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Toilet humor might be funny to a wide audience, but to some folks, toilets are not a laughing matter -- it's business. Here are a few projects that are attempting to improve toilet technology.

Some MIT business students are headed to Nairobi to start a toilet business. The pitch goes something like: "Everyone poops -- if we can just capture a fraction of that market..." [url]
A pocket urinal for guys (which is basically a packet of diaper material) sounds like a great novelty gift. But there's probably an available surplus of NASA astronaut diapers now... why not wear some of those instead? [url]
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending $3 million to re-invent the toilet. Hmm. One team for this challenge is going to develop microwave technology to transform human waste into electricity. [url]
To find more interesting stuff on entrepreneurship, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

4 Comments

Green Tech

by Michael Ho

Fri, Jul 15th 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
filter, urine, water

Companies:
brita, nasa

Permalink.

DailyDirt: Water, Water, Everywhere...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Safe drinking water is often taken for granted, but having it is obviously fundamentally important for any community to survive and thrive. There are a lot of different ways to purify water, but the trick is to do it cheaply with available materials. Here are a few interesting links on good old H₂O.

Specially-treated sand can (cheaply!) purify water for drinking. Can't wait for DIY versions to replace Brita filters... [url]
Leaving water in PET plastic bottles to soak up some UV sun rays can kill harmful organisms in a few hours. This is how at least 5 million people disinfect their drinking water in 30 different countries.... [url]
Apparently, bottled water sold in the US could use some more transparent labeling. And US tap water needs a better marketing team. [url]
NASA is working on a way to let astronauts drink their own pee safely. Yum, urine simulants! [url]
To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around at StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

DailyDirt: The Space Shuttle Era Ends Soon...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The last space shuttle mission will take place pretty soon, and after that mission, the shuttles are all destined to be stored in museums (and not sent to destroy asteroids headed for Earth). Here are a few more programs for continuing to explore space.

Here's a brief video tribute to the space shuttle program. Disposable space vehicles, FTW? [url]
Space enthusiasts seem to be looking forward to more deep-space missions now. Settlement missions sound like exciting programs.. for our great-grandkids. [url]
The European Space Agency is scheduled to have a re-usable autonomous spacecraft in 2013. Robots want to return to Earth, too. [url]
China has plans for its own space station set for 2020. It'll be a bit smaller than Mir or the ISS, but it's also supposed to be compatible with ISS modules in case other countries ever want to dock with it. [url]
To discover more links on space exploration, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon universe. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

11 Comments

Innovation

by Michael Ho

Mon, May 23rd 2011 5:00pm

Filed Under:
buckminster fuller, challenge, contest, open innovation, problems, solutions, tricorder

Companies:
nasa, x prize

Permalink.

DailyDirt: Challenges For Fun And (Non-)Profit

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Solving really tough problems is a more collaborative process than it used to be. Luckily, it's getting easier for a wide variety of people to come together and work on these difficult challenges. Here are a few prizes looking for creative people to produce some really cool solutions.

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is looking for folks working on humanity's most pressing problems. Fuller had a pretty lofty goal "to make the world work for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or disadvantage of anyone." [url]
There's a $10 million prize for the Tricorder X PRIZE -- which is looking for a mobile medical device that can diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians. It also needs to make a cool "whoo whoo" sound when it wave it over people. [url]
NASA has several Centennial Challenges that are still active -- looking for solutions to various problems like green aviation, super-strong tethers, interplanetary robots to return samples and more. Space elevators, FTW. [url]
To find some other online challenges and games, check out what StumbleUpon has found to play. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

5 Comments

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DailyDirt: Missions To Mars

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DailyDirt: Commercial Space

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DailyDirt: That's No Moon...

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DailyDirt: Everyone Knows The Moon Is Made Of Cheese...

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DailyDirt: More Manned Spaceflight

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DailyDirt: Rockets In Small, Medium And Large

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DailyDirt: Spare A Square..?

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DailyDirt: Water, Water, Everywhere...

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DailyDirt: The Space Shuttle Era Ends Soon...

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