Lifeboat Foundation

SpaceX is another step closer to crewed flight.

On Monday (Aug. 20), the private spaceflight company installed an astronaut walkway at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, the jumping-off point for SpaceX’s new Crew Dragon spaceship.

The walkway is like the jetways that connect airport lounges and airliners. Astronauts will use the walkway to get from Pad 39A’s tower to Crew Dragon, which will sit atop SpaceX’s 230-foot-tall (70 meters) Falcon 9 rocket. [Photos: Behind-the-Scenes Look at SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Spaceship].

Continue reading “SpaceX’s New Astronaut Walkway Represents a Step Toward Crewed Flight” »

NASA’s new administrator, Jim Bridenstine, sat down with Space.com and other outlets to discuss his priorities for NASA going forward.

Billionaires have the money to make things happen. The ultra rich individuals on this list for the most part have two main subjects on their mind: space travel and immortality. Almost all the ideas appear to be for the benefit of mankind.

If you had a spare US$1 billion or US$100 billion, what would you spend your money on? These men could have anything in the world, but they want more as they push the boundaries of health, science and infrastructure.

But there are still many tests and hurdles before SpaceX’s test launch in April 2019.

Stratolaunch has confirmed what most people have long speculated: it’s developing its own launch vehicles for its air-launch system, including a reusable space plane that could eventually carry people.

SpaceX’s first crew is starting training on cockpit simulators and replicas of the spacecraft that will take them to the ISS.

Let Bill Nye and Robert Picardo take you on a journey through the future of space exploration and artificial intelligence. Each week they will show us a different space-themed topic and reveal how AI can help us reach the stars.

“The countries which have the capacity to bring that source from the moon to Earth will dictate the process,” said K Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). “I don’t want to be just a part of them, I want to lead them.”

The mission would solidify India’s place among the fleet of explorers racing to the moon, Mars and beyond for scientific, commercial or military gains. The governments of the US, China, India, Japan and Russia are competing with startups and billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson to launch satellites, robotic landers, astronauts and tourists into the cosmos.

The rover landing is one step in an envisioned series for ISRO that includes putting a space station in orbit and, potentially, an Indian crew on the moon. The government has yet to set a timeframe.

Continue reading “India’s quest to find a trillion-dollar nuclear fuel on the Moon” »

I pilot. I fly. wink

Take a look inside the CST-100 Starliner hangar, where Boeing is building the private space capsules that will fly NASA astronauts and more into space! This photo shows an exterior view of the Boeing Starliner Facility, which once housed the space shuttle Discovery.