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NASA Announces New Partnerships to Develop Space Exploration Technologies
NASA is partnering with six U.S. companies to develop 10 "tipping point" technologies that have the potential to significantly benefit the commercial space economy and future NASA missions, including lunar lander and deep space rocket engine technologies.
Selections are based on the agency's third competitive Tipping Point solicitation, and have a combined total award value of approximately $44 million – a significant investment in the U.S. space industry.
A technology is considered at a "tipping point" if investment in a ground or flight demonstration will result in significantly maturing the technology and improving the company's ability to bring it to market.
The companies are Blue Origin, Space Systems/Loral, United Launch Alliance, Frontier Aerospace Corporation, Paragon Space Development Corporation, and Astrobotic Technology, Inc.
Also at Engadget.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 11 2018, @02:32AM (7 children)
The US and the world are finally moving toward space, after a long hiatus. Some person sitting on an idea, or an experiment, or whatever, may well develop his/her thing with some of this money. It is time, and past time, for mankind to move out into the solar system.
IMO, it is shameful that a few men walked on the moon decades ago, then we hunkered down like a bunch of apes, afraid of the consequences.
Let's MOVE, people! Even today, we only have a small handful of people who are motivated to get out there, relative to the naysayers.
If we had always listened to those naysayers, we would all be living in Africa, afraid to explore Asia, Europe, the oceans, and the Americas. All "exploration" would have been done by unwilling little pockets of humanity who were displaced by some natural disaster or another.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @02:48AM (2 children)
Mars's gravity is 1/3 that of Earth's.
The Moon's gravity is 1/6 that of Earth's.
Nobody ever talks about these facts.
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Saturday August 11 2018, @03:02AM
Rotating stations can simulate 1g. Humans have been able to live in microgravity for a while, so we should try sending them to experience lunar and Mars gravity (which is about 0.376g, a whopping 12.8% more than "0.333g"). Mercury has 0.38g and ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles. Venus has 0.904g, the most Earth-like of all, and could support a floating habitat in the upper atmosphere.
And plenty of people talk about these facts.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 11 2018, @01:41PM
Nobody? Odd - I've read it, and read it, and read it again, and again, throughout my life. Well - to be fair, starting at about age 11 or 12. I'm not sure that I was aware of those facts before about 5th grade.
Most people with any sort of a STEM background - not even a degree, just a background in it - is well aware that gravity is different on different celestial bodies.
Few people are willing to stick their necks out to predict how varying gravity wells might affect the health and development of people living there. At this point in time, we can make some reasonably well educated guesses, but no one is willing to say that .3 G will shorten life spans by fifteen years, or anything like that.
What do YOU want to say about microgravites? Or, would you prefer to talk about macrogravities? How much gravity do you think would be "too much"?
Your turn. Start talking about those facts!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 11 2018, @03:16AM (2 children)
Lulz Runaway, don't be so melodramatic. It's literally one guy with a huge wad of cash running the whole show. All the me-toos now hopping on the bandwaggon just don't want to be left holding the bag when Musk really pulls it off.
Don't get me wrong, Musk drawing out the governments of the world to finally get us as a species to a new frontier is one of the most admirable uses of a huge wad of cash I've ever seen. But it doesn't mean the people behind him are united - quite the contrary. It's just the usual collection of greedy (either in a capitalistic or an intellectual sense) assholes wanting their piece of the cake.
It is not mankind that is moving into space. It's a mob running behind Musk, shrieking and fighting for the breadcrumbs he leaves in his trail. Sad, really. I have to admit I'd rather believe your version.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday August 11 2018, @05:13AM
At the end of the day, SpaceX is a launch provider. It may also become an ISP in a few years. It's not a Mars colonization company. A government would probably have to pay for that, at least in the initial years. SpaceX is unlikely to develop a lunar base, advance ion thruster technology, or mine asteroids. But they can help put assets on the Moon and launch spacecraft cheaply and at a high velocity.
It's only a matter of time before the SpaceX reusability formula (fully realized as BFR) is copied by others. Blue Origin is developing a partially reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle (the 3-stage version of New Glenn). They don't even need to match SpaceX on price or capabilities since the US government demands redundant capabilities in case one fails. Once the reality of BFR sinks in, China, and maybe Europe, Russia, India, and others will begin working on their own fully reusable rockets.
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 11 2018, @01:44PM
Mmmm-kay. Compare that collection of greedy assholes to the Euros who settled the Americas.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday August 11 2018, @08:47AM
If we didn't reinvent wheels, we'd all be driving to work in cars whose tires have wooden spokes.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]