To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: SpaceX said Monday it plans to fly two private citizens on a mission around the moon by late 2018 as part of a lunar journey that would last about a week and travel deeper into space than any human has ventured before. SpaceX founder Elon Musk would not name the two individuals, who he said approached the company and would pay for the flight.
Category: Space
Fly me to the moon: SpaceX taking 2 ‘private citizens’ into lunar orbit
Two private citizens will join a crew of SpaceX astronauts on the first-ever mission to orbit the moon in decades, the space flight company announced Monday. SpaceX says it’s planning a mission for blast-off in late 2018, using one of its as-yet untested Falcon Heavy rockets to carry the capsule into space.
SpaceX says it will fly 2 people to moon next year
SpaceX said Monday it will fly two people to the moon next year, a feat not attempted since NASA’s Apollo heyday close to half a century ago. Tech billionaire Elon Musk – the company’s founder and chief executive officer – announced the surprising news barely a week after launching his first rocket from NASA’s legendary moon pad.
Normal People Are Going To The Moon – For A Cost
SpaceX is doing good on its promise to send normal folk into space. In an announcement released today, the company said that it began training two people for a trip around the moon.
SpaceX to send 2 people around moon
SpaceX founder Elon Musk would not name the two individuals who approached the company with an offer to pay for a flight around the moon and back. On July 18, 2016, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off, carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station for the company’s ninth commercial resupply mission.
SpaceX is planning to send two tourists on a trip around the moon next year
SpaceX announced Monday it’s sending two private citizens on a week-long trip around the moon next year in the first voyage to the planet since NASA’s final Apollo mission in 1972. The wealthy individuals recently approached SpaceX about the possibility of making such a journey, and, following discussions, have now paid a “significant” deposit to make it happen.
The Heat Is On
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft that landed the Curiosity rover on Mars endured the hottest, most turbulent atmospheric entry ever attempted in a mission to the Red Planet. The saucer-shaped MSL was protected by a thin, lightweight carbon fiber-based heat-shield material that was a bit denser than balsa wood.
BASF Supports Student Experiment to Analyze Growth Behavior of Plant Cuttings in Zero Gravity
The first school experiment to test if plant cuttings build roots in zero gravity has been sent to the International Space Station . The trial, designed by Maria Koch, Raphael Schilling and David Geray – three students from an agricultural high school in Ravensburg, Germany – left Kennedy Space Center on board the SpaceX rocket that launched yesterday.
FEATURE-The billionaire philanthropists intent on using satellites to save the world
Some of the world’s most influential billionaire philanthropists plan to launch a powerful digital platform to harness the avalanche of data sent from satellites each day – and make it freely available for humanitarian and environmental causes. Bill and Melinda Gates – who are also custodians of legendary investor Warren Buffet’s billions – have joined forces with Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, to fund the ‘Radiant Earth’ project, a repository and archive of the world’s satellite, aerial and drone imagery.
In Our View: Continue to Boldly Go
Humans have long been drawn to news that allows us to escape our earthly constraints. So it is that a couple recent items have piqued our interest, reminding that the universe holds secrets that extend well beyond Washington, D.C., or Olympia – and that those secrets are often more interesting than politics.
THOMPSON: Finding meaning in the movies
Sunday night marks the annual Academy Awards, where the top films and performances of the year will be honored and celebrated. As an avid fan of cinema, I watch every year.
Life really rocks for French artist
Talk about solitary confinement – a French artist has entombed himself inside a 12-tonne rock with space just big enough for him to sit up in, and plans to stick it out for a week.” I am traveling in this rock without moving, like an astronaut,” Abraham Poincheval, 44, said through a crack in the limestone boulder.Known for his unusual performances, he made headlines when the two halves of the rock… Talk about solitary confinement – a French artist has entombed himself inside a 12-tonne rock with space just big enough for him to sit up in, and plans to stick it out for a week.
This Discovery Could Give NASA a Good Reason to Boldly Go Where It’s Never Gone Before
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, NASA just announced that its Spitzer Space Telescope has detected a heretofore unheard-of number of seemingly rocky, Earth-size exoplanets circling a star 39 light years from Earth. To date, space telescopes utilizing the “transit technique” have identified nearly 3,500 planets lying in systems outside our own.
Closing in on launch: NASA’s gold-mirrored, $8 billion Webb Space Telescope
The world’s most expensive telescope is parked for the moment in Greenbelt, Maryland, shrouded in a protective tent at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In just two years, this long-delayed, $8 billion, cosmos-penetrating instrument is supposed to be nearly a million miles from Earth.
Cleveland’s ‘Hidden Figures’ of NASA Glenn aim to inspire generations
The film “Hidden Figures,” up for Best Picture tonight at the Oscars , shines a light on the black women who were known as “human computers” at NASA during the genesis of the space program and the height of the space race against Russia. Until the film, many people had no idea about the contributions these women made and the struggles they endured.
NASA takes a look back at Supernova 1987a
Three decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years. The titanic supernova, called Supernova 1987A , blazed with the power of 100 million suns for several months following its discovery on February 23rd, 1987.
Record-breaking PSLV mission has a downside: Ex-ISRO chief
Bengaluru, Feb 26 – Buried in the flood of congratulatory messages that the Indian Space Research Organisation received after its recent space feat is one discordant note raising some concern. It is from none other than G. Madhavan Nair, the former chairman of the country’s premier space body.
Son of Apollo
Dave Scott, who visited the moon in 1971, thinks the next generation of lunar pilots will have it much easier than he did. He likens his Apollo 15 landing to “the old barnstorming days, when guys used to take these old World War I airplanes and land in a farm field, in the grass, with no lights, and trees all around.”
Wondering what Austin looks like from space? Check out this photo | All…
If you’ve ever lay in the grass at Zilker Park staring up at the sky thinking, “I wonder what Austin looks like from space,” wonder no more. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough shared a photo of Austin from the International Space Station on Twitter Saturday, writing, “Good morning USA! Austin Texas looking good from @Space_Station.”
NASA to do feasibility study on manning Orion Spacecraft’s first flight
Days after the US President Donald Trump promised to “unlock the mysteries of space”, Nasa has kicked off a study to assess the feasibility of adding a two-member crew to the first unmanned flight of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft called Exploration Mission-1 .William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA’s human explorations and operation mission directorate in Washington, said they would be looking at a “big, crisp list of all the things we would physically have to change” on the vehicle in order to accommodate astronauts.
Mission to metal: Team targets unique asteroid
Space Systems Loral’s satellite production facilities are on site in Palo Alto. The spacecraft that will be used for the Psyche mission will be built in a high-bay facility – 165,000 square feet – like this one.
SETI Has Already Tried Listening to TRAPPIST-1 for Aliens
The Trappist-1 system has been featured in the news quite a bit lately. In May of 2016 , it appeared in the headlines after researchers announced the discovery of three exoplanets orbiting around the red dwarf star.
NASA Weighing Risk Of Adding Crew To Megarocket’s 1st Flight
NASA is weighing the risk of adding astronauts to the first flight of its new megarocket, designed to eventually send crews to Mars. The space agency’s human exploration chief said Friday that his boss and the Trump administration asked for the feasibility study.
NASA Weighing Risk Of Adding Crew To Megarocket’s 1st Flight
NASA is weighing the risk of adding astronauts to the first flight of its new megarocket, designed to eventually send crews to Mars. The space agency’s human exploration chief said Friday that his boss and the Trump administration asked for the feasibility study.
Apollo 8 redux: Why NASA might send humans to orbit the moon, again
NASA could be sending astronauts around the moon sooner than expected, if President Trump has his way. But some argue the change in plans could be costly.
Annular Solar Eclipse 2017 to look like “ring of fire” on February…
Space lover will have an amazing time on Sunday, February 26 as it will be the first solar eclipse of this year. The Solar eclipse will be visible in certain areas around the world.
Singer Janelle Monae finds critical acclaim as two of her movies score Oscar best picture nods
Monae stars in both ‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘Moonlight,’ which will compete for the best picture Oscar prize at the ceremony on Feb. 26. ‘I consider myself not just an actor or a musician or singer, but an artist-storyteller, and my hope is to continue to tell untold, unique, universal stories in unforgettable ways,’ she said. Janelle Monae attends the 8th Annual Essence Black Women in Music at NeueHouse Hollywood on Feb. 9, 2017, in Los Angeles.
NASA mulls putting astronauts on deep space test flight
Miami: The US space agency said Friday it is considering putting astronauts on an upcoming test flight of the deep space capsule Orion as it aims to orbit the Moon. Orion is being built with an eye to one day ferrying astronauts to Earth’s neighboring planet, Mars, perhaps by the 2030s.
NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #737 24 February 2017
SPACELINE Current Awareness Lists are distributed via listserv. Please send any correspondence to Robyn Ertwine, SPACELINE Current Awareness Senior Editor, rertwine@nasaprs.com.
Texas transgender wrestler advances to semifinals
Police have released surveillance video from the Jan. 24 incident at a Wal-Mart in the 4100 block of LBJ Freeway. It shows the theft suspect, a white man in his 50s, walking out of the store at 10 a.m. and then running into a man who tried to stop him in the parking lot.
NASA weighing risk of adding crew to megarocket’s 1st flight
NASA is weighing the risk of adding astronauts to the first flight of its new megarocket, designed to eventually send crews to Mars. The space agency’s human exploration chief said Friday that his boss and the Trump administration asked for the feasibility study.
MacDonald, Dettwiler CEO: Head office may move from Vancouver to U.S. by 2019
Canada’s leader in space technology, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd., may end up moving its head office to the United States within two years, but that’s only one possible outcome of its proposed takeover of Colorado-based DigitalGlobe. The Vancouver-based company has made a firm commitment that DigitalGlobe’s ultimate parent will be a U.S. company by the end of 2019 _ although there’s been no decision yet about how that will be done, MDA CEO Howard Lance said Friday.
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 24 February 2017
The docking capture time was 055/08:29:50 GMT . Following hatch opening the crew transferred early unstow and US cargo items.
Voyager 1 captured first image of Enceladus plume in 1980
Researchers have discovered the Voyager 1 probe captured a tantalising image of giant plumes on the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladues in 1980 – but it wasn’t spotted until today. Ted Stryke, a philosophy professor at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, revealed the discovery on the Planetary Society’s blog.
Russia announces plans to fly tourists to the MOON by 2022
In the race to offer tourists the opportunity to explore space, Russia looks to be inching ahead of its rivals. The country’s leading aerospace design contractor, Energia, has announced that it will start tourist flights to the moon in 2022.
James Webb Space Telescope: Five things you didn’t know
It is named after James Webb – NASA’s second administrator and champion of many NASA science missions. JWST was formerly known as the “Next Generation Space Telescope” but it was renamed in September 2002 after the former NASA administrator, James Webb.
Newly found planets tidally locked to star, have short orbits10 min ago
Washington, Feb 23 The seven newly discovered Earth-sized planets in the ultra cool dwarf star system may only face one way towards their sun, similar to the Earth’s moon, and orbit very close to it, scientists have found. Astronomers, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, announced the discovery of the first known system of seven Earth-sized planets around a single star – located a mere 40 light years away – that could have liquid water, and possibly host alien life.
7 Earth-size planets identified in orbit around a dwarf star
‘A leap forward’: Scientists found that seven Earth-size planets orbit the dwarf star Trappist-1. If our sun were the size of a basketball, Trappist-1 would be a golf ball.
UCSD Astrophysicist Involved in NASA Planet Discovery
The UCSD astrophysicist involved in the discovery investigates the lowest mass stars, including coldest brown dwarfs and exoplanets, according to UCSD. A UC San Diego professor is one of about three dozen scientists from around the world who worked on a NASA study that led to the discovery of seven new planets.
Google doodle pats NASA’s back for exoplanet discovery
Scientists from NASA have discovered seven exoplanets beyond our solar system revolving around a small, cold star – which points to the possibility of liquid water and life. The announcement was made yesterday by scientists from the space organisation and is being seen as one of the biggest announcements made by it yet.