Space and astronomy news
If you watch astronauts in space then you will know how they seem to float around their spaceship. Spaceships in orbit around the Earth are in free-fall, constantly falling toward surface fo the Earth with the surface constantly falling away from it. Any occupant is also in free-fall but living like this causes muscle tone …
Continue reading “A Rotating Spacecraft Would Solve So Many Problems in Spaceflight”
A surprise cometary appearance made the April 8th total solar eclipse all the more memorable.
NGC 4753 is a prime example of what happens after a galactic merger. It looks like a twisted mess, with dust lanes looping around the massive galactic nucleus. Astronomers long wondered what happened to this galaxy, and with a sharp new image created by the Gemini South telescope, they can finally explain its tortured past.
First Contact. It’s a topic guaranteed to inspire a mix of emotions in people. It’s also one of the most fascinating SF scenarios we can imagine. What will people do when “they” appear? Or when we find evidence of life elsewhere in the Universe? For answers, one suggestion is to turn to a discipline called …
Continue reading “Should We Be Preparing for First Contact?”
After a journey spanning almost two decades, Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser reusable spaceplane, named Tenacity, is officially undergoing environmental testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility located at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in anticipation of its maiden flight to the International Space Station (ISS), currently scheduled for April 2024. The environmental testing consists of …
Light sail technology is a fascinating concept and a step change in rocket propulsion. It may not be big and impressive like the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle or the new Starship rocket but when it comes to travelling among the stars, light sails could just be the answer. And what better material to build …
Continue reading “Photonic Crystals Could Be Exactly What Breakthrough Starshot is Looking For”
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos may harbor multibillion-dollar dreams of sending millions of people to live on Mars, on the moon and inside free-flying space habitats — but a newly published book provides a prudent piece of advice: Don’t go too boldly. It’s advice that Kelly and Zach Weinersmith didn’t expect they’d be giving when they began to work on …
Continue reading “Get a Reality Check on Plans to Build Cities in Space”
You’re an excited, spacefaring passenger strolling about a pressurized cabin approximately 30 kilometers (20 miles) above the Earth. Your trip is scheduled for six hours, and you’ve already consumed the world-class food and drinks to complement this awesome view from Spaceship Neptune, which is provided by Space Perspective, the World’s First Carbon-Neutral Spaceflight Experience Company. …
Continue reading “Sit on the Toilet while you Gaze at the Earth from the Edge of Space”
The upcoming solar eclipses and the current high sunspot activity means it’s a great time to observe the Sun. Eclipses also mean that large groups of people will be together to view these events. However, rule #1 for astronomy is to never look at the Sun with unprotected eyes, especially with a telescope or binoculars. …
Continue reading “Want to Safely Watch the Sun With a Large Group? Get a Disco Ball”
Most science fiction portrays the first contact between humanity and alien civilizations as a disaster. That’s probably because our history hasn’t turned out so well. But does it have to end poorly for us? A new paper looks at the game theory of first contact. It shows that the rational response to another civilization is to be cautious, with both groups understanding the other before taking decisive action. Communication would be difficult but not impossible. Since we share a physical Universe and have reached a technology level that allows us to detect each other, we could assume some of their characteristics in advance.