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Elon Musk says there's a '70 percent' chance he'll move to Mars
Elon Musk has talked about personally heading to Mars before, but how likely is he to make the trip, really? Well, he just put a number on it. In an interview for the Axios on HBO documentary series, Musk said there was a "70 percent" chance he'll go to Mars. There have been a "recent number of breakthroughs" that have made it possible, he said. And as he hinted before, it'd likely be a one-way trip -- he expects to "move there."
NASA considers selling trips to space tourists
The Jim Bridenstine-era NASA's efforts to privatize spaceflight could involve borrowing a page from Russia. The Washington Post notes the agency is mulling the possibility of offering seats to private tourists on the ships that take astronauts to the International Space Station, similar to how Russia has accepted space tourists in the past. It's just a proposal and would have to clear NASA's advisory council, but it already has the support of an advisory subcommittee.
Virgin Orbit's rocket completes its first 'captive carry' flight test
Virgin Orbit just edged closer to its goal of launching rockets in mid-air. The company has completed the first "captive carry" test for its LauncherOne rocket, hauling the 70-foot machine under the wing of Cosmic Girl (its Boeing 747 launch aircraft/Jamiroquai reference) as it flew over southern California. The flight wasn't dramatic, but it provided vital data on how well the two vehicles will behave together when the rocket is ready to fire in earnest.
SpaceX drops plans to make Falcon 9 rockets more reusable
For a while, SpaceX has dreamed of making its Falcon 9 rocket as reusable as possible, and not just the first stage. Now, though, it's having a change of heart. SpaceX has scrapped plans to make the rocket's second stage reusable. Instead, Elon Musk said, it's focused on "accelerating" development of the BFR. Musk also teased a significant design shake-up, calling it "delightfully counterintuitive" and a "radical change" compared to the previous design.
Rogue satellite startup gets the launch license it needed first time around
Sending things to space is a serious business that normally requires capital investments, rigorous preparations — and taking care of the paperwork. Earlier this year US startup Swarm circumvented the last part and sent a series of probes — so-called SpaceBEEs — into orbit despite being rejected for an FCC license. Although FCC is still looking at how to punish the rogue operator, it has just granted it a temporary license to send up a few more satellites.
Watch SpaceX announce its first BFR passenger at 9PM ET
SpaceX announced last week that it booked its first private passenger for a flight around the Moon in its BFR spacecraft, and today the company will share who that is. Elon Musk gave a hint about who the passenger might be last week, replying to someone asking if the passenger was Musk himself with a Japanese flag emoji. SpaceX says we'll be able to find out who is flying and, interestingly, why during an event today, which will be livestreamed at 9PM ET. You can check it out below. Update: Elon Musk announced that "fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa" has been selected for the trip, currently scheduled to occur in 2023.
NASA explores product endorsements and rocket naming rights
NASA's new leader is gung-ho on privatizing spaceflight, and that could lead to some new approaches to branding... like it or not. Administrator Jim Bridenstine has unveiled a NASA Advisory Council committee that will explore the feasibility of commercializing the agency's operations in low Earth orbit to lower its costs while its eyes turn toward the Moon and Mars. Some of these plans could include product endorsements from astronauts and even selling the naming rights to rockets and other spacecraft. You could see an astronaut on a box of Wheaties, or a Red Bull mission to the Red Planet.
Russia won't replace its aging Proton rocket before 2024
Russia has been using variants of Proton rockets in its space program since 1965, and the design is showing its age. For starters, every launch is an environmental mess -- Proton uses toxic chemicals where newer rockets have moved on to cleaner fuels. The country will have to put up with ancient technology for a while longer, however. Rostec Corporation council chairman Yuri Koptev has warned that Angara, Proton's long-delayed successor, isn't expected to replace the older rocket before 2024. Koptev didn't explain why it would take so long, but he was confident the high costs of Angara would come down through refinements.
Virgin Galactic plans to open a commercial spaceport in Italy
Virgin Galactic announced today that it has partnered with two Italian aerospace companies with the aim to bring commercial space flight to Italy in the future, The Verge reports. Alongside Altec, which is owned in part by the Italian Space Agency, and private space company Sitael, Virgin Galactic intends to develop an Italian spaceport from which future flights can take off. "From the Renaissance to modern space science, Italy has always been a natural home to great innovators and breakthrough ideas which have shaped the human experience," Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said in a statement. "I believe Italy's vision, which has led to this collaboration with our Virgin space companies, will provide a real impetus as we strive to open space for the benefit of life on Earth."
Richard Branson plans to visit space in 'months'
It's no secret that Richard Branson would like to go to space aboard Virgin Galactic's ships. However, it's now clear that he's eager to hasten the process. The tycoon told BBC Radio 4 that he expects his flight to be "months away, not years away," and that he's going through astronaut and fitness training to be sure he's ready. Just when that happens isn't clear (Branson has been optimistic about Virgin's timeline the past), but it's a more realistic claim now that powered VSS Unity tests are underway.
Trump to sign directive ordering NASA to return to the Moon
President Trump's administration hasn't been shy about wanting to put people back on the Moon, and now it's taking action to make sure that happens. In a statement, the White House said the President would sign Space Policy Directive 1, which orders NASA to lead an "innovative space exploration program" that sends astronauts to the Moon and, "eventually," Mars. Details of what the policy entails aren't available at this point, but the signing will take place at 3 PM ET. The date isn't an accident -- it's the 45th anniversary of the landing for the last crewed Moon mission, Apollo 17.
SpaceX finishes testing Falcon Heavy's first stage cores
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket has been in the works for so long that it almost feels like the stuff of legend at this point (Elon Musk first unveiled it in 2011), but there are signs that it might make that promised November launch. The private spaceflight outfit has just finished testing Heavy's three first stage cores at its McGregor, Texas facility, ending a cycle that began in May. It's not as dramatic as an actual launch, of course (the image you see above is just a conceptual render), but it's an important step toward prepping the rocket for its debut.
Watch record-setting astronaut Peggy Whitson's return to Earth
NASA astronaut Dr. Peggy Whitson has broken more than one record for time spent in space, but now she's ready to come home. Whitson, fellow American astronaut Jack Fischer and Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin are leaving the International Space Station to return to Earth, and NASA is livestreaming the whole thing starting today (September 2nd) at 2:15PM Eastern. It'll start with a farewell and closing the hatch on the Soyuz spacecraft taking them back to terra firma, but don't worry if you're not there the minute it starts -- the vessel won't start undocking until 5:30PM, and the deorbiting burn takes place at 8PM with an expected landing at 9:22PM.
Trump's pick for NASA's new leader sparks mixed reactions
After weeks of rumors, the White House has officially picked a new NASA leader... and he's already proving to be controversial. President Trump has announced his intention to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican and former executive director of Tulsa's Air and Space Museum, as the new permanent administrator following the exit of Charles Bolden in January. Some in the space industry are fond of him, but there are also vocal objections to his background -- there are concerns he'll politicize an agency that's supposed to be interested solely in the pursuit of science.
Researchers want astronauts to put their biological waste to work
Researchers at Clemson University are presenting work at the National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society that could change how astronauts handle waste in the future. For long trips -- to Mars, for instance -- astronauts will need to maximize the utility of everything they bring on board. Extra weight means more fuel is required, so keeping stocks low while being able to recycle waste into something useful is going to be necessary for these sorts of trips. "If astronauts are going to make journeys that span several years, we'll need to find a way to reuse and recycle everything they bring with them," Mark Blenner, one of the researchers on the project told Phys.org. "Atom economy will become really important."
SpaceX aims to reuse rockets within 24 hours by 2018
Elon Musk shared more of SpaceX's plans to get its rockets to full reusability today at the International Space Station R&D conference. Those plans include faster turnaround for recycled Falcon 9 rockets and recovery of the rocket's nose cone.
Virgin Galactic to conduct first powered spaceship tests in 3 years
Virgin Galactic is determined to put its private space travel plans back on track following its tragic 2014 crash. Richard Branson tells Bloomberg that the company is about to resume powered test flights for the first time in close to 3 years, ending a series of glide-only tests that began in December. The company will fly in the atmosphere every 3 weeks, and plans to return to space (or at least, the edge of space) by November or December.
China's heavy-duty rocket fails in mid-flight
China's space program has largely run smoothly (with notable exceptions), but it just ran into a serious obstacle. State media reports that a new heavy-duty rocket, the Long March 5 Y2, failed shortly after launch. Xinhua would only say that an "anomaly" occurred and that an "investigation" will follow, but it's apparently serious enough that the 5 Y2's satellite-carrying mission had to be scrapped altogether.
The first commercial astronaut training center will be built in the UK
The government's mission to put the UK at the forefront of commercial spaceflight has been given a big boost after plans were announced to build the world's first private space research centre in Bedfordshire. The £120 million Blue Abyss facility will be constructed at RAF Henlow, providing domestic and international companies with access to the world's biggest 50 metre deep pool, a 120 room hotel, an astronaut training centre and a "human performance centre" that will help divers, astronauts and athletes train at the very top level.
Mars astronauts at greater risk of cancer than previously thought
You might not want to book that trip to Mars just yet. Researchers have published a study estimating that the risk of cancer from cosmic rays is twice as high as previously thought. They've determined that conventional risk models are incomplete. While NASA and other groups believe that radiation-based cancer stems only from direct cell damage and mutations, the new model accounts for the possibility that heavily damaged cells will increase the cancer risk for "bystander" cells. There's a knock-on effect that would be difficult to escape.
