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Space exploration news

AlbertC

AlbertC

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European Space Agency asks for more cash

Europe's space program says it needs more funding to stay competitive internationally. Just as several projects are starting to take off, private space companies pose a particular threat to the agency.

www.dw.com

European Space Agency asks for more cash – DW – 11/28/2019

Europe's space program says it needs more funding to stay competitive internationally. Just as several projects are starting to take off, private space companies pose a particular threat to the agency.
www.dw.com www.dw.com
 
This is my new favourite thread! Deffo.

I was going to start one with a biochemistry, neurology, and pharmacology focus, which are of massive interest to me.

Nice one, AlbertC! I appreciate all your aritcle curation.

Because, as I always say: The more you know, the more you know.
 
Race against time to launch Europe’s troubled mission to Mars

European Space Agency asks for help from Nasa with ExoMars project as trials fail and cost rises to €1bn

Robin McKie
Sun 15 Dec 2019 10.04 GMT

www.theguardian.com

Race against time to launch Europe’s troubled mission to Mars

European Space Agency asks for help from Nasa with ExoMars project as trials fail and cost rises to €1bn
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
Irishmonk said:
I bet a majority of people want Donald Trump--and his entire extended family--on the Moon.
Click to expand...
I would prefer Trump and his entire extended family to move to Venus. The Moon is too close to the Earth to move the Trump family there.

Oh, and Bolsonaro and his extended family should move to Venus as well.

Their ways would make the Earth become another Venus, so it would be better for them to be on Venus instead so that the Earth can recover.
 
SpaceX finally sent humans to space. What happens next?

Privately owned orbital human spaceflights are here. A new era of commercialized space travel begins.

By Sara Morrison May 30, 2020, 3:35pm EDT

www.vox.com

SpaceX finally sent humans to space. What happens next?

Privately owned orbital human spaceflights are here. A new era of commercialized space travel begins.
www.vox.com www.vox.com
 
AlbertC said:
www.bbc.co.uk

To the Moon and beyond

Donald Trump wants humans back on the Moon by 2024, as part of a new spacefaring age. But what will it take to get there?
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
Other politics aside, sending astronauts to the Moon again seems like a pointlessly expensive boondoggle. The idea appears to have arisen in place of hopes of sending people to Mars, which remain quite unrealistic until there is some kind of revolutionary new propulsion system that would allow spacecraft to get there much faster than is presently possible. The thought may be unexciting for many, but it looks like there won't be much practical purpose for sending people into space for the near future.
"There is a huge cost gap between manned and unmanned missions, and it is increasing all the time ... With each advance in robots and miniaturisation there is less need to put a man or woman into space or on to the Moon, and that saves money."
"Keep the astronauts at home, and there will be much more money available to send robots farther out than humans could ever go, and to bring back immeasurably more knowledge."
For example, astronauts who went to the Moon from 1969 to 1972 took cameras and brought back film that had to be developed. We probably already know more about the surface of Mars from all the digital images sent back by the robotic rovers.
 
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picard102 said:
It doesn't take that long to get to mars with current propulsion.
Click to expand...
It takes three days to get the moon, while a Mars return mission would require more than two years because that's how long it takes for the orbits of the two planets to line up again.
Chris Hadfield: "We won't go to Mars with people with the engines that exist right now. It's prohibitively slow. And we can't protect ourselves, and the risks aggregate."
There's many currently unaddressed issues involved with the prospect of sending people on a mission to Mars, almost all of them directly related to how long it would take. When he mentioned "we can't protect ourselves" he was likely referring to radiation. In August 1972, between the last two Moon landings of Apollo16 and 17, there was a solar flare. "A moonwalker or one on an EVA in orbit could have faced severe acute illness and potentially a nearly universally fatal dose."
 
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Sub_Human said:
It takes three days to get the moon, while a Mars return mission would require more than two years because that's how long it takes for the orbits of the two planets to line up again.
Chris Hadfield: "We won't go to Mars with people with the engines that exist right now. It's prohibitively slow. And we can't protect ourselves, and the risks aggregate."
There's many currently unaddressed issues involved with the prospect of sending people on a mission to Mars, almost all of them directly related to how long it would take. When he mentioned "we can't protect ourselves" he was likely referring to radiation. In August 1972, between the last two Moon landings of Apollo16 and 17, there was a solar flare. "A moonwalker or one on an EVA in orbit could have faced severe acute illness and potentially a nearly universally fatal dose."
Click to expand...

What we have right now (chemical propulsion) is perfectly fine going to mars - you don't need any spectacularly advanced rocket engine technology; The 2 year round trip figure assume the use of the lowest energy trajectory; you have other options (opposition class; fast transit/long stay) that limit the duration of time spent in space. Also, unlike Apollo - mars-bound spacecraft are designed with radiation in mind, with the provision of on-board shelters.

AoD
 
Sub_Human said:
It takes three days to get the moon, while a Mars return mission would require more than two years because that's how long it takes for the orbits of the two planets to line up again.
Chris Hadfield: "We won't go to Mars with people with the engines that exist right now. It's prohibitively slow. And we can't protect ourselves, and the risks aggregate."
There's many currently unaddressed issues involved with the prospect of sending people on a mission to Mars, almost all of them directly related to how long it would take. When he mentioned "we can't protect ourselves" he was likely referring to radiation. In August 1972, between the last two Moon landings of Apollo16 and 17, there was a solar flare. "A moonwalker or one on an EVA in orbit could have faced severe acute illness and potentially a nearly universally fatal dose."
Click to expand...

You’ve made a case for first colonizing the Moon. Having a base with low gravity, no atmosphere and an abundant fuel source that can be mined, makes the Moon far better at launching humans to other planets and celestial bodies.

It takes robotic missions 6 to 8 months to reach Mars and it’s only that long because they’re being efficient on the payload launching from Earth, given limited budgets. Sending an empty ship to the Moon then filling it up with fuel on the Moon itself will enable continuous propulsion which could get a craft to incredibly high speeds, arriving near Mars in a matter of weeks then firing the rockets on approach to slow it down. A ship with that amount of fuel isn’t feasible from Earth but is from the Moon.

The World is experiencing major changes, including financial and in our priorities so I won’t try to predict how long it’ll be before Humans get to Mars, but in The pre-COVID/BLM timeline, early 2030s was entirely doable if the return to the Moon happened in 2024 as planned.
 
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