Blue Origin goes step by step ferociously into space
The appearance of a photo of an old wooden sailing ship set the stage for a dramatic announcement by a secretive space company earlier this year. On April 26th of this year the usually quiet twitter account of Jeff Bezos’ privately funded space company, Blue Origin, tweeted a cryptic yet telling image: a black and …
ITS: SpaceX’s bold vision for crewed exploration of the solar system
It has long been known that SpaceX’s long term goal is the colonization of Mars. Everyone from the engineers to their CEO, Elon Musk, dreams of a world away from home. In September of 2016, we got a glimpse of how SpaceX is going to get there. At last, the long rumored Interplanetary Transport System …
SpaceX set to debut Falcon Heavy this year
After a ‘very fast fire’, a four-month hiatus, a complicated anomaly, and a general shaking of confidence, SpaceX was finally able to launch – and land – their Falcon 9 rocket once again last month. This is the first of 27 missions for 2017, a slate of launches that will not only introduce the final version of …
Mining the sky
Prospecting for treasure within the solar system The current cost of space travel, on a price per mass basis, is astronomically high. All puns aside, this is a major economic barrier that must be overcome. If we are to send humans to Mars, or anyplace really, we’re going to have to lower the cost of space travel. Companies …