Posted on by Matt Williams

Moonbase by 2022 For $10 Billion, Says NASA

Based on a series of articles that were recently made available to the public, NASA predicts it could build a base on the Moon by 2022, and for cheaper than expected. Credit: NASA

Returning to the Moon has been the fevered dream of many scientists and astronauts. Ever since the Apollo Program culminated with the first astronauts setting foot on the Moon on July 20th, 1969, we have been looking for ways to go back to the Moon… and to stay there. In that time, multiple proposals have been drafted and considered. But in every case, these plans failed, despite the brave words and bold pledges made.

However, in a workshop that took place in August of 2014, representatives from NASA met with Harvard geneticist George Church, Peter Diamandis from the X Prize Foundation and other parties invested in space exploration to discuss low-cost options for returning to the Moon. The papers, which were recently made available in a special issue of New Space, describe how a settlement could be built on the Moon by 2022, and for the comparatively low cost of $10 billion.

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Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

New Issue of Space Lifestyle Magazine Now Available


Have you heard about Space Lifestyle Magazine? It’s a digital magazine, with a full color layout just like a print magazine, but its all online. And the winter issue of Space Lifestyle Magazine is now online and available for free. SLM has feature articles about all aspects of space — NewSpace, NASA, military, science and astronomy — but mostly it’s about the people that make the space sector tick.

In the latest issue, you’ll find a bang-up article written by UT’s Ian O’Neill about SpaceX. Ian actually toured the SpaceX facility and took some great pictures and wrote a very comprehensive article about SpaceX’s recent successful launch to orbit.  Other features include an interesting overview about the work being done to create magnetic shielding for spacecraft that will help repel radiation.

There’s also a feature story about South Korea’s Yecheon Astro Space Center selecting XCOR Aerospace services – specifically their Lynx Mark II suborbital vehicle – as its preferred supplier of suborbital space launch services.

There’s also a comprehensive rundown of the X PRIZE Lunar Lander Challenge competition last fall, and much more including book reviews (Death From the Sky by Phil Plait) and a special discount for the National Space Symposium to be held March 30-April 2 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. If you haven’t already “subscribed” to SLM, please do so for the chance to win a Zero-G parabolic flight and other prizes. Enjoy!

Check out Space Lifestyle Magazine.