Mars In A Month?

There is a plan to send humans to Mars…the problem is that the trip will take up to a year or more and the concern is how will the astronauts handled such ling periods of confinement.

But what if it only would take a month?

– A century ago, the first transatlantic flight took about 23 days. Soon, we could reach Mars in about as long. The key: perfecting laser technology. NASA scientist Philip Lubin says that by swapping out the current fuel-based rocket propulsion system with one relying on photons would significantly boost our space travel speeds, reports Reuters. Science Alert explains it like this: Particles of light from lasers in Earth’s orbit would reflect off a “large, reflective sail” on a spacecraft and produce a thrust capable of sending it toward a destination at insane speeds. Lubin estimates a 220-pound probe could reach Mars in as little as 72 hours, reports Wired. A bigger, manned spacecraft would take about a month; experts believe the Space Launch System currently in development could take humans to Mars in about five months.

If all that isn’t intriguing enough, Lubin says “photonic propulsion” opens up the possibility of travel outside our solar system, per Space.com. “The human factor of exploring the nearest stars and exoplanets would be a profound voyage for humanity, one whose non-scientific implications would be enormous,” Lubin writes in a study. “There are recent advances that take this from science fiction to science reality,” he adds in a YouTube video. “There is no known reason why we cannot do this.”

Furthermore…..there will be humans on Mars by the 2030’s…..NASA says there will be humans on Mars by the 2030s.

That is it for the space stuff….have a great day my friends…..

Where No Miner Has Gone Before

That is Miner not Minor……quote from Galaxy Quest…..

A lazy Sunday…too damn hot to be outside for long….so I will sit in the a/c and do what I do best….NOTHING!

I am always looking for a far thinking investment that could prove to be very lucrative…..I have gone with nano technology and quantum computing and now…….I’m think asteroid mining…..

It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for asteroid prospectors.

On September 8, NASA is embarking on a new mission to investigate the origins of the universe. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a small spacecraft, the OSIRIS-REx, will journey 509 million miles to an asteroid called Bennu. Named for an Egyptian deity linked to the sun and creation, Bennu has likely gone untouched for the past four billion years, offering us a valuable glimpse into the early days of our solar system.

The spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for approximately 19 months. Once it has mapped Bennu’s surface, the Osiris-rex will inch closer to the asteroid. Then its eleven-foot robotic arm will reach out and collect a two-ounce sample to bring back to Earth in 2023.

A seven-year journey to fetch a candy bar–sized sample of rock hasn’t sparked the kind of global excitement reserved for, say, the prospect of blasting Sir Richard Branson off the planet and into deep space. But there’s a bigger game at play here: The precious minerals and metals in asteroids may be worth billions of dollars to galactic prospectors, and NASA’s mission is paving the way for an outer-space gold rush.

Source: Where No Miner Has Gone Before | New Republic

I may be old…but I am not stupid…..industries of tomorrow will be the thing of the future…..

Disclaimer:  This is NOT financial advice on my part…..check it out at your own RISK!

Me?  I am gonna have more coffee and a scone…..tah tah……

Here Comes The Neighborhood

My weekend is going good…I hope everyone here is also having a pleasant weekend…..hopefully all are relaxing and enjoying the day….

Before I jump into my post for today I would like to share a couple of bumper stickers I saw this week……

jesus-loves-you

This one is my fave…I live in the “Bible Belt” so I am always getting someone approaching me  with some “witness” or another….but this one I love ….

WHITE - 6.5 x 2.75" Jesus Is Coming And Boy Is He Pissed Vinyl Die Cut Decal bumper sticker, windows, cars, trucks, laptops, etc

Okay let’s jump into today’s post before I get sidetracked again…..

Today’s post is about Earth 2….not the Scifi show from 20 years ago but a real-life Earth 2….for years now scientist having been saying they have found earth-like planets in our universe…..but this time they are proclaiming  “we hit the jackpot”!

After scanning the vast reaches of the cosmos for Earth-like planets where life might exist, astronomers have found one right next door, the AP reports. A planet that is rocky like Earth and only slightly bigger has been discovered orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our solar system, scientists reported Wednesday. It is probably in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold Goldilocks Zone where liquid water—a key to life—is possible, if the planet has an atmosphere. And it is a mere 4.22 light-years from Earth, or nearly 25 trillion miles. It is easily the closest potentially habitable planet ever detected outside our solar system—and one that could be reachable by tiny, unmanned space probes before the end of the century, in time for some people alive today to witness it.

The international team of astronomers that announced the discovery did not actually see the planet but deduced its existence indirectly, by using telescopes to spot and precisely calculate the gravitational pull on the star by a possible orbiting body—a tried-and-true method of planet-hunting. “We hit the jackpot here,” said Guillem Anglada-Escude, an astrophysicist at the Queen Mary University of London and lead author of a study on the discovery in the journal Nature. He said the planet is “more or less what we have on Earth.” They’re calling it Proxima b, and while it could be like Earth in the important features, it would probably still look very alien. It is 4.6 million miles from its red dwarf star, or just one-twentieth of the distance between Earth and the sun, creating an incredible orange sky with no blue, so it looks like a perpetual sunset. And if that’s not different enough, the planet circles its star so quickly that its year is about 11 days. Click for more on the planet, which doesn’t rotate.

Enjoy the rest of your day…..I shall be back tomorrow….not a threat but rather a promise…..

Peace out, my friends!

 

Miners Not Minors

Another Sunday and another day to just kick back and enjoy the people around me….unless the world ends I will not be posting anything like the stuff I do during the week….take some time off and enjoy life…..and argue with my daughter and granddaughter…..cannot think of a better way to spend my day……

I have heard the next “Last Frontier” will be space and especially the minerals and stuff that is found there…..the first out there will make a fortune and become the stuff of SciFi novels and movies……(think the “Expanse”)…….

News this past week makes the idea of space mining just a little more like reality….

A prospective asteroid mining company has taken a major step towards beginning operations in the next 10 years. Deep Space Industries (DSI) has announced plans to launch a demonstration spacecraft to test some of the technologies that will be needed to find and utilize asteroid material.

Now, asteroid mining is probably something that still feels like it’s far off in the future at the moment. But last week, DSI said that it will partner with Luxembourg (via their Space Resources initiative) to develop the various technologies needed to start asteroid mining. The first result of this partnership is a spacecraft called Prospector-X, which is a small vehicle that will be launched into low Earth orbit within a year.

Source: Asteroid Mining Just Moved A Step Closer To Being A Reality | IFLScience

If successful we just need to sit back and see who does what and why….will it be for the good of the planet or just another exercise in greed?

Any ideas?