Atlantis sits on the launch pad in July 2011 ahead of the final launch of the space shuttle program, STS-135. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Has it been three years already? The last mission of the space shuttle program launched on this day in 2011. We’ve included some of the most beautiful NASA images from the final flight of Atlantis.
But we’re also interested in publishing photos from Universe Today readers! If you attended STS-135 or any other launch of the space shuttle program, we’d like to hear from you. More details below the jump.
The mission’s major goal was to heft a multipurpose logistics module into space, as well as a bunch of spare parts that would be difficult to ship after the space shuttle retired. But it also served as a point of remembrance for the thousands of workers who constructed and maintained the shuttle, and the millions of people who watched its flights.
Where were you during that flight? What pictures did you take? Let us know in the comments and if you’d like to see your images published in a future Universe Today story, share your photos in our Flickr group. The photos must belong to you and be free to share. While this story focuses on STS-135, pictures from any shuttle launch or event are welcome. Let us know which one it was!
To kick off the memories, I’ll talk about where I was during the launch: I was on my way to a wedding in Toronto, Canada — five hours away from my hometown of Ottawa. I managed to pull into a parking lot just a few minutes before the launch sequence started.
I tried and tried to get a steady signal for video, but my phone was having none of it, so I instead “watched” the launch on Twitter. Luckily for me, friends were tweeting and sending text updates from watching television or in person, so I didn’t miss a thing. Then a couple of days later, my best friend and I both watched the NASA launch video together for the first time.
The flag of Atlantis flies from the Mobile Launcher Platform that brought Atlantis to the launch pad, May 31, 2011. Below the flag are crowds of people who attended the rollout. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsRandy Meyers (left) and Mitchell Bromwell of United Space Alliance, the primary industry partner for space shuttle operations, show off an American flag to crowds of people gathered for the rollout of STS-135 Atlantis on May 31, 2011. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsThe STS-135 crew admires the shuttle Atlantis just prior to launching July 8, 2011. From left, Rex Walheim, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus and Chris Ferguson. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsAtlantis lifts off on the last launch of the shuttle program, STS-135, on July 8, 2011. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsSpace shuttle Atlantis gets ready to dock with the International Space Station on July 10, 2011 during STS-135, the last mission of the space shuttle program. It is backdropped by the Bahamas. Credit: NASANASA astronaut Ron Garan (who was on Expedition 28 while Atlantis was docked to the International Space Station for STS-135) adjusts his tethers early in a spacewalk July 12, 2011. Credit: NASAThe crew members of STS-135 and Expedition 28 share a meal and a selfie on July 14, 2011, marking one of the last times a shuttle crew and International Space Station crew ate together. Credit: NASANASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, who commanded STS-135, signs a decal for his mission (the last space shuttle mission) in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station. Next to it is the crew patch for Expedition 28. Credit: NASASpace shuttle Atlantis flies home in this image captured from the International Space Station. Atlantis was completing STS-135, the last mission of the shuttle program. Credit:Atlantis touches down in the last moments of STS-135 on July 21, 2011, marking the end of the shuttle program’s flights. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsThe view from under Atlantis, looking forward, after it landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida July 21, 2011, closing out the shuttle program with STS-135. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsAtlantis is placed into its permanent home — an exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center — which opened in 2013. Credit: NASA
“Saw a beautiful Southern Light last night. I so wish you could see this with your own eyes!” Image taken from the International Space Station (ISS) on 5 July 2014. Credit: ESA/Alexander Gerst
Spectacular snapshots of the Southern Lights, Shooting Stars, the Sahara Desert and much more are streaming back from space to Earth courtesy of Alexander Gerst, ESA’s German astronaut currently serving aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
See a gallery of Alex’s stunning space-based views (sagenhafte Weltraum bilder) collected herein – starting with the auroral fireworks seen from space – above. It coincides with the Earth-based fireworks of America’s 4th of July Independence Day weekend celebrations and spectacular Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) wafting over the Northern Hemisphere. NLC gallery here.
“Saw a beautiful Southern Light last night. I so wish you could see this with your own eyes!” Alex tweeted in English.
Gerst is posting his Earth & space imagery from the ISS on a variety of social media including Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and his ESA astronaut blog bilingually in English and German.
Another new snapshot of Earth’s “beautiful Southern Lights” taken from the ISS on 5 July 2014. Credit: ESA/Alexander Gerst
“Habe gestern ein wunderschönes Südlicht gesehen. Ich wünschte ihr könntet das mit eigenen Augen sehen!” Alex tweeted in German.
Check out Alexander Gerst’s stunning 1st timelapse video from the ISS:
Video Caption: ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s first timelapse from the International Space Station features the first shooting star that he saw from above. Made by stitching together over 250 images this short clip shows the beauty of our world and the space around it. Published on July 5, 2014. Credit: ESA/Alexander Gerst
Gerst launched to the ISS on his rookie space flight on May 28, 2014 aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule along with Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.
ISS Expedition 40 patch
The trio are members of Expeditions 40 and 41 and joined three more station flyers already aboard – cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov & Oleg Artemyev and astronaut Steve Swanson – to bring the station crew complement to six.
Alex will spend six months on the ISS for ESA’s Blue Dot mission. He is Germany’s third astronaut to visit the ISS. He is trained as a geophysicist and a volcanologist.
Gerst also has practiced and honed another talent – space barber! He shaved the heads of his two American crew mates – to match his bald head – after winning a friendly wager with them when Germany beat the US in a 2014 FIFA World Cup match on June 26.
Here’s several of Alexander Gerst’s newest views of the Sahara Desert and more.
“Even from space, the Sahara looks dry! Sogar vom Weltraum aus, sieht die Sahara trocken aus!” Taken from the ISS on 6 July 2014. Credit: ESA/Alexander Gerst“Harsh land. Windswept valleys in northern Africa. Hartes Land. Windgefraeste Taeler in Nordafrika.” Taken from the ISS on 6 July 2014. Credit: ESA/Alexander Gerst“Sometimes our atmosphere looks incredibly complex and three-dimensional, sometimes you don’t even see it. Manchmal schaut unsere Atmosphäre unglaublich Komplex und dreidimensional aus, manchmal fast unsichtbar.” Taken from the ISS on 5 July 2014. Credit: ESA/Alexander GerstAntarctic aurora. The Antarctic aurora, photographed by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and posted on social media with the comment: “Antarctic Aurora fleeing from sunrise. I have rarely seen something more magical in my life!” Credits: ESA/NASA/Alexander Gerst
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing ISS, OCO-2, GPM, Curiosity, Opportunity, Orion, SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital Sciences, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more Earth & Planetary science and human spaceflight news.
Learn more about Orbital Sciences Antares ISS launch on July 11 from NASA Wallops, VA, and more about SpaceX, Boeing, commercial space, NASA’s Mars missions and more at Ken’s upcoming presentations.
July 10/11: “Antares/Cygnus ISS Launch from Virginia” & “Space mission updates”; Rodeway Inn, Chincoteague, VA, evening
Artist's conception of Rosetta's target, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which is losing two 5-ounce (150 millileter cups) of water every second while still 362 million miles (583 million kilometers) from the sun. The water vapor output will increase as the comet gets closer; these measurements were made on June 6, 2014. Credit: ESA
Feeling thirsty? If you could somehow capture the water vapor from Rosetta’s comet, you would have the equivalent of two water glasses every second. That’s more than scientists expected given that Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is still screaming into the inner solar system at more than double the distance from Mars to the Sun.
“We always knew we would see water vapor outgassing from the comet, but we were surprised at how early we detected it,” stated Sam Gulkis, the instrument’s principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
“At this rate, the comet would fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about 100 days. But, as it gets closer to the Sun, the gas production rate will increase significantly. With Rosetta, we have an amazing vantage point to observe these changes up close and learn more about exactly why they happen.”
Comets are sometimes called “dirty snowballs” because they are collection of debris and ices. From their origin points in the outer solar system, occasionally one will be pushed towards the Sun.
Artist’s impression (not to scale) of the Rosetta orbiter deploying the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Credit: ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab.
As it gets closer, the ices bleed off and the comet develops an envelope of gases that eventually, with the Sun’s help, will turn into a tail. Some of the major “volatiles” include water, carbon monoxide, methanol and ammonia.
The observations were made on June 6 by an instrument called the Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO), taken when the spacecraft was about 218,000 miles (350,000 km) away from its target. MIRO is trying to figure out the relative ratios of the ingredients of the coma, and will keep following along with the comet as it makes its closest approach to the sun in August 2015.
Rosetta, meanwhile, will get up close to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko by August and if all goes well, subsequently deploy a lander called Philae to check out the surface of the comet.
File photo of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after successful static hot-fire test on June 13, 2014 on Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, FL with ORBCOMM OG2 mission with six OG2 satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was rolled out to its Florida launch pad early this morning at 1 a.m., Friday, June 20, in anticipation of blastoff at 6:08 p.m. EDT this evening on an oft delayed commercial mission for ORBCOMM to carry six advanced OG2 communications satellites to significantly upgrade the speed and capacity of their existing data relay network, affording significantly faster and larger messaging services.
The Falcon 9 rocket is lofting six second-generation ORBCOMM OG2 commercial telecommunications satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fl.
Update (6/23): The Saturday launch was scrubbed due to 2nd stage pressure decrease and then was scrubbed on Saturday and Sunday due to weather and technical reasons. SpaceX must now delay the launch until the first week in July because of previously scheduled maintenance for the Eastern Test Range, which supports launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This also allows SpaceX to take “a closer look at a potential issue identified while conducting pre-flight checkouts during [Sunday’s] countdown,” the company said in statement on its website on June 23.
The next generation SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is launching in its more powerful v1.1 configuration with upgraded Merlin 1D engines, stretched fuel tanks, and the satellites encapsulated inside the payload fairing.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff, Friday, June 20, 2014 on ORBCOMM OG2 mission with six OG2 satellites from Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Falcon 9 will deliver all six next-generation OG2 satellites to an elliptical 750 x 615 km low-Earth orbit. They will be deployed one at a time starting 15 minutes after liftoff.
The first stage is also equipped with a quartet of landing legs to conduct SpaceX’s second test of a controlled soft landing in the Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to recover and eventually use the stage as a means of radically driving down overall launch costs – a top goal of SpaceX’s billionaire CEO and founder Elon Musk.
The launch has been delayed multiple times from May due to technical problems with both the Falcon 9 rocket and the OG2 satellites.
The May launch attempt was postponed when a static hot-fire test was halted due to a helium leak and required engineers to fix the issues.
Last week on June 13, SpaceX conducted a successful static hot-fire test of the 1st stage Merlin engines (see photos above and below) which had paved the way for blastoff as soon as Sunday, June 15.
However ORBCOMM elected to delay the launch in order to conduct additional satellite testing to ensure they are functioning as expected, the company reported.
“In an effort to be as cautious as possible, it was decided to perform further analysis to verify that the issue observed on one satellite during final integration has been fully addressed. The additional time to complete this analysis required us to postpone the OG2 Mission 1 Launch,” said ORBCOMM.
You can watch the launch live this evening with real time commentary from SpaceX mission control located at their corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.
An ORBCOMM OG-2 satellite undergoes testing prior to launch. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp
The six new satellites will join the existing constellation of ORBCOMM OG1 satellites launched over 15 years ago.
The weather outlook is currently not promising with only a 30% chance of favorable conditions at launch time. The launch window extends for 53 minutes.
The primary concerns according to the USAF forecast are violations of the Cumulus Cloud Rule, Thick Cloud Rule, Lightning Rule, Anvil Cloud Rule.
In the event of a scrub, the backup launch window is Saturday June 21. The weather outlook improves to 60% ‘GO’.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after successful static hot-fire test on June 13 on Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, FL. Launch is slated for Friday, June 20, 2014 on ORBCOMM OG2 mission with six OG2 satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Fueling of the rocket’s stages begins approximately four hours before blastoff – shortly after 2 p.m. EDT. First with liquid oxygen and then with RP-1 kerosene propellant.
Each of the 170 kg OG2 satellites was built by Sierra Nevada Corporation and will provide a much needed boost in ORBCOMM’s service capacity.
The ORBCOMM OG2 mission will launch six OG2 satellites, the first six of a series of OG2 satellites launching on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 vehicle. Credit: SpaceX10 more OG2 satellites are scheduled to launch on another SpaceX Falcon 9 in the fourth quarter of 2014 to complete ORBCOMM’s next generation constellation.
“ORBCOMM’s OG2 satellites will offer up to six times the data access and up to twice the transmission rate of ORBCOMM’s existing OG1 constellation,” according to the SpaceX press kit.
“Each OG2 satellite is the equivalent of six OG1 satellites, providing faster message delivery, larger message sizes and better coverage at higher latitudes, while drastically increasing network capacity. Additionally, the higher gain will allow for smaller antennas on communicators and reduced power requirements, yielding longer battery lives.”
The next generation Falcon 9 is a monster. It measures 224 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada, Orbital Sciences, commercial space, Orion, Mars rover, MAVEN, MOM and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Well, this is cool: A new video from SpaceX shows the Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) rocket during a 1,000 meter test flight at the SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas. This was the first flight test of a set of steerable fins that provide control of the rocket during the fly-back portion of the return flight. The fins deploy approximately 1:15 into the test flight and return to their original locked position just prior to landing.
This seems like a truly smooth flight!
These types of fins are not new, but are new for human space flight. They’ve been used on missiles and bombs to aid in precision targeting, and likewise will help the F9R to land precisely on target.
SpaceX confirmed that during the early tests flights of F9R, the landing legs will be fixed in the down position, however soon they will transition to a liftoff with the legs stowed against the side of the rocket with the legs extending just before landing. The company also said that future test flights of F9R will be at SpaceX’s New Mexico facility which will allow them to test in higher altitude flights, give them the chance to prove unpowered guidance and to prove out landing cases that are “more flight-like.”
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk briefs reporters including Universe Today in Cocoa Beach, FL prior to SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blastoff with SES-8 communications satellite on Dec 3, 2013 from Cape Canaveral, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, is a hot topic in the media these days. He recently unveiled a manned version of his successful Dragon spacecraft. He’s talking about retrieving the first stage of his Falcon 9 rocket, a feat that has never been accomplished.
Last night (June 18), Musk spoke on CNBC because his company was named #1 to the cable network’s second annual Disrupter 50 list. You can watch portions of the interview here and we’ve isolated the space-related parts below based on the transcript from CNBC (which does not exactly match Musk’s words, but is pretty close.)
And Musk is still a big fan of Mars exploration, as he says in the interview he hopes to see people walk on the planet in 10-12 years.
On attempting to recover the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that will launch six Orbcomm satellites on Friday, if the weather holds (it is only 30% go according to local news reports):
Essentially what I was alluding to a moment ago was is to be able to recover the rocket booster and then refly it. That’s the revolutionary potential. Now we have been trying to do that for 12 years, and haven’t yet succeeded. But I feel as though we are finally close to achieving it. We have a shot with the next launch of recovering the rocket booster. If not with this launch, I think a very good chance later this year, and then potentially to refly the booster next year. This would really mark a significant change in the technology of rocketry.
‘Threading the needle’, the Falcon 9/Dragon vehicle passes through the catenary lightning wires as it roars from the pad on the CRS-3 mission. Credit: nasatech.net
Musck also spoke on what would happen if SpaceX does not get the next round of commercial crew funding from NASA. The company is right now being funded along with Boeing (CST-100) and Sierra Nevada (Dream Chaser), but NASA is still figuring out how many companies it can afford to back in the next stage, which will be announced later this year. Musk revealed the manned prototype version of its Dragon spacecraft to great media fanfare in late May.
First of all, I should acknowledge the critical role NASA played in the success of SpaceX. We wouldn’t be are where we are without the help of NASA. And it’s possible we may not win the commercial crew contract. We certainly have done that we can for our part. And I think we have got a great design solution. If NASA in the end doesn’t go with us, because also we are competing with big established companies like Boeing, then we’ll do our best to continue on our own with our own money. […]
Well it definitely would slow us down, but we would keep going and we should keep launching commercial satellites. We have an existing contract to transfer…from the space station so we would keep going. It just would be slower.
Elon Musk seated inside Dragon V2 explaining consoles at unveiling on May 29, 2014. Credit: SpaceX
Musk on how quickly he wants to see humans on Mars:
This is a very difficult thing, obviously. I’m hopeful that the first people could be taken to Mars in 10, 12 years. I think it’s certainly possible for that to occur. The thing that matters long term is to have a self-sustaining city on Mars. To make life multi-planetary. That will define a fundamental bifurcation of the future of human civilization. We’ll either be a multi-planet species and out there among the stars, or a single-planet species until some eventual extinction event, natural or man-made.
Why it’s difficult to get public funding right now:
The incentive structure tends to be short-term. You can trace it back to people that own the stocks, portfolio managers. They are evaluated on a quarterly basis, or at least an annual basis. They push companies to produce results on a quarterly or annual basis. With SpaceX we are trying to develop technology that will ultimately be able to take large numbers of people to Mars. That’s really difficult to get portfolio managers. It’s beyond their tenure in owning the stock. So it is difficult to ask them to like that.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule on approach to the ISS during the COTS 2 mission. Credit: NASA.
Which is harder, getting people to Mars or building a car battery that costs less than $5,000 (which is an oblique reference to Musk’s Tesla line of vehicles):
I think, probably, Mars. The car battery certainly is hard. I’m quite optimistic, though, about improvements in the battery price or the cost of the battery. The fundamental cost. We have daily meetings with Panasonic, our key development partner, on this. I am really feeling quite good about being able to produce a compelling mass market car in about three years.
What would be a “truly disruptive” technology:
I mean, at this point, human life span is mostly about old age. It’s not about cancer or anything else. If you cured cancer, I think the average life expectancy would increase from two years. You would go from 80 to 82, or something like that. We just have a genetic life span. It’s kind of like if you take a fruit fly and gave it the best exercise and diet possible, the perfect life. Maybe it will live four weeks instead of three weeks. Genetics just drives a lot of these things. So for something to be truly disruptive on that front, you would want to do something with genetics. I don’t have much involvement there. Or any involvement, really.
A 3-D printer from Made In Space Inc. gets put through its paces during a simulated microgravity flight on a Zero G airplane. Credit: Devin Boldt
A 3-D printer intended for the International Space Station has passed its NASA certifications with flying colors — earning the device a trip to space sooner than expected. The next Dragon spacecraft, scheduled to launch in August, will carry the Made In Space printer on board.
“Passing the final tests and shipping the hardware are significant milestones, but they ultimately lead to an even more meaningful one – the capability for anyone on Earth to have the option of printing objects on the ISS. This is unprecedented access to space,” stated Made In Space CEO Aaron Kemmer.
The device was originally supposed to launch not on this next Dragon flight, but the one after that. But it recently completed several tests looking at everything from vibration to human design to electromagnetic interference, and was deemed enough of a “minimal risk” to get moved up a slot.
A close-up of the 3-D printer made by Made In Space Inc. Credit: Made In Space
This 3-D printer will be the first to be used in orbit. Officials have already printed out several items on the ground to serve as a kind of “ground truth” to see how well the device works when it is installed on the space station. It will be put into a “science glovebox” on the International Space Station and print out 21 demonstration parts, such as tools.
“The next phase will serve to demonstrate utilization of meaningful parts such as crew tools, payload ancillary hardware, and potential commercial applications such as cubesat components,” Made In Space added in a statement.
Once fully functional, the 3-D printer is supposed to reduce the need to ship parts from Earth when they break. This will save a lot of time, not to mention launch costs, the company said. It could also allow astronauts to manufacture new tools on the fly when “unforeseen situations” arise in orbit.
NEEMO 15's Shannon Walker (NASA astronaut) does a little dance during a simulated asteroid mission. Credit: NASA
Bust a move! Astronauts make regular trips into a shallow part of Key Largo to simulate asteroid missions and learn about procedures that could be used in space.
The new crews for NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) were just named, which means we have more of these neat photos to look forward to. Check out some of the past crews’ activities below the jump.
Briefly, here’s a rundown of the next two missions:
– NEEMO 18 (July 21, nine days): ” Behavioral health and performance, human health issues, and habitability,” says NASA. Crew members: Akihiko Hoshide (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Jeanette Epps (NASA), Mark Vande Hei (NASA) and Thomas Pesquet (ESA)
– NEEMO 19 (Sept. 7, seven days): “The evaluation of tele-mentoring operations for ESA. Telementoring is when a crew member is given instruction for a task by an expert who is located remotely but is virtually present via a video and voice connection,” NASA says. Crew members: Randy Bresnik (NASA), Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency), Andreas Mogensen (ESA), and non-astronaut Herve Stevenin, ESA’s head of extra-vehicular activity training.
A NEEMO crew descends to its base about 20 meters (65 feet) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: ESA–H. SteveninEuropean Space Agency astronaut Jean-François Clervoy recreates the first moon landing mission underwater. This was not a NEEMO mission, but still looks neat. Credit: Alexis RosenfeldNEEMO 16 during a simulated asteroid mission. From left, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger (NASA astronaut), Andrew Abercromby (NASA deputy project manager for the multi mission space exploration vehicle) and Timothy Peake (ESA). Credit: ESA / Herve SteveninNEEMO 16 astronauts do a simulated astronaut mission. Credit: NASAShannon Walker (NASA) and David Saint-Jacques (Canadian Space Agency) using a small boom during NEEMO 15. Credit: NASATakuya Onishi (JAXA) places seismic instruments during NEEMO 15. Credit: Mark WidickAn unidentified member of NEEMO 14 bends down to pick up a rock. The crew included astronauts and non-astronauts. Credit: NASA
Artist's impression of the IXS Enterprise, a warp ship. Credit: Mark Rademaker
“Let me take you on a little trip … we’re gonna travel faster than light,” the Kinks sang 42 years ago. Well, maybe this was the warp ship they were dreaming of.
Howard White (who we can confirm was a NASA employee as late as 2013) has a vision for a warp-drive ship that he’s been working on for a few years. White, whose biography describes him as the advanced propulsion theme lead for NASA’s engineering directorate, recently released his new vision of the spaceship in collaboration with artist Mark Rademaker. The result is gorgeous. More pictures below the jump.
As for how realistic his concept is, as non-physicists it’s tough for us to evaluate. Essentially, White is proposing some modifications to this warp drive concept by Miguel Alcubierre, which would create a zone of warped space time in front of and behind the spaceship to get it to move quickly. But White has been making the professional and media circuit in recent years touting his theories, and they are getting attention.
Artist’s impression of the IXS Enterprise, a conceptual warp ship. Credit: Mark RademakerArtist’s impression of the IXS Enterprise, a conceptual warp drive ship. Credit: Mark Rademaker
A screenshot from Planetary Resources' "The Trillion Dollar Market: Fuel in Space From Asteroids." Credit: Planetary Resources/YouTube (screenshot)
While we as a community love exploring space, we also recognize it can be expensive. Launch costs, manufacturing and keeping a mission going all take money, which is why NASA (for example) runs reviews every couple of years to figure out which ongoing missions are providing the best return.
Planetary Resources — one of the companies that wants to mine asteroids, and is searching for them with NASA — has produced a new video envisioning a solution to that problem: harvesting fuel from asteroids. Leaving the legal concerns aside, the company points out this could be a way of better opening up exploration of the solar system.
“In space one resource above all others is extraordinarily expensive and without cheap access to it, growth is limited…FUEL,” Planetary Resources wrote. “The catalyst for rapid expansion into every frontier in history has been access to cheap, local resources. And in space, access to rocket fuel is currently neither cheap, nor local.
“But on asteroids,” it continued, “abundant quantities of hydrogen and oxygen can be used to create rocket fuel, the same stuff used by the space shuttle. This allows companies like Vivisat fuel spacetugs that will be used to keep satellites in their Geostationary slots, or fuel up your spacecraft before zooming off to Mars. The possibilities are endless!”
