Lifeboat Foundation

Anyone who’s looked into high-voltage experiments is likely familiar with ion lifters — spindly contraptions made of wire and aluminum foil that are able to float above the workbench on a column of ionized air. It’s an impressive trick that’s been around since the 1950s, but the concept has yet to show any practical application as the thrust generated isn’t nearly enough to lift a more substantial vehicle.

It’s a bit early to suggest that [Jay Bowles] of Plasma Channel has finally found the solution to this fundamental shortcoming of electrostatic propulsion, but his recently completed multi-stage ion thruster certainly represents something of a generational leap for the technology. By combining multiple pairs of electrodes and experimentally determining the optimal values for their spacing and operational voltage, he’s been able to achieve a sustained exhaust velocity of 2.3 meters per second.

Continue reading “Multi-Stage Ion Thruster Holds Exciting Promise” »

The list of things that interest Elon Musk ranges from space travel to easing Los Angeles’ infamous traffic.

One thing that doesn’t make the cut? Patents.

The 51-year-old entrepreneur recently appeared on CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage” to give the former “Tonight Show” host a tour around the SpaceX Starbase facility in Texas.

Florida’s “silent” flying dish-rack, powered by ionic propulsion, is on track for commercial rollout in 2024, according to Undefined Technologies, which has released new outdoor flight test video. We remain curious, but unconvinced it’ll be viable.

The “Silent Ventus” drone doesn’t use propellers to fly. Instead, its entire broad structure creates two stacked grids of electrodes, designed to create high-voltage electric fields that can ionize the oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the air, freeing electrons to give them a positive charge, and then propelling these downward to create an “ionic wind” that can produce thrust.

Continue reading “Undefined claims 4.5-min flight for its ‘silent’ ion-propulsion drone” »

The hotel giant will help “reimagine the human experience in space, making extended stays more comfortable”.

In Stanley Kubrick’s landmark film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, a Hilton hotel is seen orbiting the Earth. More than 20 years later, sci-fi fantasy has become reality.

Hotel behemoth Hilton has signed on to design astronaut facilities for an Earth-orbiting commercial space station Starlab, Voyager Space, a global leader in space exploration, announced. Starlab is currently under development by Voyager Space Holdings and Lockheed Martin, who first announced the orbiting complex in 2021.

Circa 2016 face_with_colon_three

Imagine if we could get to Mars in 40 days instead of seven months! It could happen if we used plasma rockets, which travel at 34 miles per second. But how do we make this a reality?

SpaceX has completed a record-breaking test of a Starship booster and rolled a newer Super Heavy prototype to the launch pad just hours apart.

Almost six weeks after SpaceX began Super Heavy Booster 7’s static fire test campaign, the company has broken new ground by simultaneously igniting seven Raptor engines at once. A matter of hours later, confirming SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s plans in real time, the company transported a second Super Heavy prototype (Booster 8) from the factory to the launch pad, where it joined Booster 7.

According to Musk, those rockets will soon switch places, ensuring that no time is wasted while SpaceX continues to gradually work towards Starship’s first orbital launch attempts.

SUSIE’s vertical landing capabilities draw comparisons to SpaceX’s Starship. Europe’s not quite there yet, but it’s a step in the right direction.

French aerospace giant ArianeGroup revealed a new concept for a reusable upper-stage spacecraft called Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration, or SUSIE.

Continue reading “Europe’s new reusable spacecraft is more like a ‘large Crew Dragon’ than Starship” »

Elon Musk said the “next big test” is likely a full stack wet dress rehearsal of Starship.

SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket continues to pass key tests on its road to sending the Mars-bound launch system up to orbit for the first time.

The private space firm fired seven Raptor engines on its Starship Super Heavy prototype, called Booster 7, on Monday, September 19. As Space.com points out, it is the highest number of next-generation engines ever tested simultaneously.

Artificial gravity is the new black.

Vast, a California-based startup, has revealed that the company will develop artificial-gravity space stations to enhance human productivity in space. With a team of exceptional engineers, industry experts, k and an aerospace engineer and former vice president at SpaceX, Hans Koenigsmann, the company aims to create a setting where people can live as well as work in space.

The solar system has an incredible amount of resources.

Continue reading “A startup will build the world’s first artificial-gravity space stations” »