Category Archives: Advanced Technology

Friday / 22 March 2013

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Apollo F-1 Engines May Help Get Us Back To The Moon

LED F-1 Engines

Saturn V F-1 Rocket Engines That Took Humans To The Moon Recovered From 4.8 km Beneath Atlantic Ocean By Bezos Expeditions; 5.8-m Tall By 3.8-m Wide Engineering Feat Impacted Water At 8,047 km/hr; NASA MSFC Engineers Refurbishing / Testing Components From Museums To Develop SLS – Next Generation Heavy Launch Vehicle; F-1 Is Most Powerful Single-Chamber Liquid-Fueled Rocket Engine Ever Developed, Provides 6.6M Newtons Of Thrust, 32M Horsepower

Image Credit: Bezos Expeditions

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 15-18 Mar 2013

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Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration Ready For Launch

LLCD0313

Rigorous Testing & Integration Of LLCD System On LADEE Spacecraft Complete; Technology Demonstration Will See Data Sent From Lunar Orbit To Earth At Up To 622 Mbps – 6 Times The Rate Of Advanced Radio Communication Systems; Hundreds Of Millions Of Short Infrared Pulses Sent Precisely Every Second To Any One Of 3 Ground Telescopes In New Mexico, California & Spain; LADEE To Launch In Aug 2013

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 15 March 2013

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Chang’e-3, Chang’e-5 Spacecraft Advancing

Chang'e-3 & 5

China Chang’e-3 Lander Camera Reaches Completion, Being Tested With Lunar Satellite Payload Subsystem; Will Take 360° Color Images Of Moon Surface & Monitor Rover; Mission To Launch Late 2013; Chang’e-5 Prototype Will Consist Of Chang’e-2 Orbiter Base Structure & Chang’e-5 Return Capsule; Capsule To Begin Atmosphere Re-Entry Testing Before 2015; Spacecraft / Lunar Sample Of At Least 2 kg Estimated To Re-Enter At 11.2 km/s; Chang’e-5 Mission NET 2016

Image Credit: xinhuanet.com, dragoninspace.net

Tuesday / 12 March 2013

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Moon Is Priority Destination For Leading NewSpace Entrepreneurs

LunarEntrepreneurs0313

Robert Bigelow Confirms Desire To Help Develop Lunar Base; Robert Richards Discusses Moon Express Mission, Implications And Value Of Lunar Mining; Golden Spike Company Conducting Video Contest As Part Of Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign; Canadian Space Commerce Association Head Says Off-World Mining Will One Day Surpass Earth Mining, Suggests Adding Tax Benefits To Start Up Companies

Image Credit: NASA, Moon Express, Bigelow Aerospace, Golden Spike Co.

Friday / 8 March 2013

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Russia IKI Head “Human Moon Base Is Priority For Next Space Race”

Russia Scientists Developing 3 Probes To Analyze Surface Of Moon In Preparation For Building Human Moon Base; Planning To Send 120-kg Luna-Glob 1 To Polar Orbit 2015, Luna-Glob 2 By 2016, Landing Module & Rover 2017; Then Build Robotic Base & Human Base; Igor Mitrofanov Head Of Lunar Program At Space Research Institute (IKI) Says Moon Is Important Part Of Future Of Civilization; Goal Is To Use Moon To Access Mars, Solar System, Universe

Image Credit: NASA, Eisenhower Institute

Thursday / 7 March 2013

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Moon Crater Rover System Development In Germany

GermanBots0313

German Research Centers ZARM & DFKI Robotics Innovation Center Developing Robotic System For Lunar Crater Exploration; RIMRES (Reconfigurable Integrated Multi-Robot Exploration System) Project Consists Of 2.4-m / 200-kg SHERPA Rover (R) Which Uses Hybrid Wheel-Leg System To Transport 1-m / 27-kg CREX Hexapod Robot (L) Capable Of Descending 80⁰ Crater Slopes, Conduct Science Investigations; All Modules Connected Via Electromechanical Interface

Image Credit: DFKI, ZARM

Friday / 1 March 2013

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Shackleton Fueling Human Exploration To Moon & Beyond

Shackleton 2

Shackleton Energy COO Jim Keravala, To Be Featured At 2013 CSCA National Conference, Says Water Estimated At Moon North Pole Could Fuel A Shuttle Launch Every Day For 2,200 Years; Company Plans To Create Fuel Depot Stations On Moon & In LEO By 2020; Will Launch 2 Robotic Prospectors To Lunar Poles By 2016; If Resource Extraction For Propellant Appears Profitable Will Send 6-12 Humans To Surface To Establish Base

Image Credit: J. Keravala/Shackleton Energy

Thursday / 28 February 2013

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Interplanetary Cubesat Missions Could Open Lunar Opportunities

LunarCubes0213

INSPIRE Mission Among 24 Small Satellites Selected By NASA To Fly As Auxiliary Payloads In 2014-2016; Dual 3U INSPIRE CubeSats Will Be 1st To Travel Beyond Earth Orbit, Demonstrating Functionality In Interplanetary Space; Relatively Affordable (~US$3M) Moon Missions By Universities & Private Organizations Likely To Follow; LunarCubes Missions Briefing 11 April 2013 At NASA KSC

Image Credit: NASA

Tuesday / 26 February 2013

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Susmita Mohanty Envisions Private Astronaut Taxis To Moon

MohantyMoon0213

India Commercial Space Company Earth2Orbit Founder Susmita Mohanty Discusses India’s Part In NewSpace Movement & Her Thoughts On How To Accelerate Human Spaceflight Development; Aerospace Companies Over-Engineer / Under-Design Crew Craft With Exorbitant Costs; International Consortium Of Companies Such As Apple, Samsung, SpaceX Could Design Spaceships That Think; Private Astronaut Taxis To LEO & Moon Would Follow

Image Credit: Abhijit Bhatlekar, Earth2Orbit

Friday / 22 February 2013

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Moon Valuable To Study / Mine Asteroids & Protect Earth

Moon Asteroids

Naveen Jain Of Moon Express Says Over 4B Years Of Well-Preserved Asteroid Impacts On Moon Provide Resources For Asteroid Research & Solar System Exploration; Stable Environment Is Beneficial For Astronomical Observatories & Asteroid Detection; Can Create Fuel Depots, Lunar Bases & Earth Space Port; Private-Public Partnerships For Moon Exploration Will Safeguard Future Of Humankind

Image Credit: NASA, Moon Express