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Posts Tagged “
Space Travel
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mars rover
physical limits
Extreme Skydiver to Plummet 25 Miles to Earth
In a little over two weeks, skydiving specialist Michel Fournier plans to break the world record for the highest skydive ever attempted. If all goes well, he will jump from a balloon at an altitude of around 131,000 feet, or 25 miles above Saskatchewan, Canada. At around 115,000 feet his body will blow through the sound barrier. More »
triviagasm
Jules Verne Wants You To Shoot The Moon
Jules Verne first published From The Earth to the Moon, or De la Terre à la Lune, in 1865, pre-dating our first real visit to our lunar neighbor by over 100 years. It involves a post -American Civil War group called The Baltimore Gun Club firing a three-person capsule from an enormous gun. The goal: to get them to the Moon, although it would have been a one-way trip. Is trying to fire people into space crazy? Check out the some little known facts about the book, the real life efforts to do the same, and the impact it's had on science fiction, in the triviagasm below. More »
mad science
Suspended Animation Now Possible -- Using Sewer Gas
Scientists have unlocked the secret of suspended animation, a state of "undeath" where the body's metabolism shuts down but all major organs continue to function. Hydrogen sulfide, also known as sewer gas, may be the miracle substance that finally allows humans to stay alive in a frozen, non-aging state. In science fiction, of course, suspended animation is used by astronauts to travel across great distances in space by putting their bodies into suspend mode. Suspended animation could also be induced in dramatically injured people to prevent them from dying while being rushed to the hospital. What's truly amazing is how simple it turns out to be. More »
chart
Meet the First Realistic Martian Woman
What would we have to do to our bodies if we wanted to live on Mars? io9 consulted scientists, our imaginations, and a designer, and came up with the most realistic-possible portrait of a Martian colonist who might truly exist on the Red Planet in 100 years. She's really tall, doesn't have to wear a bra, and has some pretty awesome photosynthesis and water-reclaiming implants in her exosuit. It's time to meet the first Martian woman. Click through for full frontal. More »
mad economics
Worried About Interplanetary Trade Agreements?
We may not have interplanetary travel for humans yet, but it's never too early to start dealing with problems related to interstellar trade and solar system stock market crashes. That's why textbook publisher Routledge has a journal called Astropolitics, whose latest issue features an in-depth scholarly article on "problems of interplanetary and interstellar trade." And no, the problems aren't "we don't have warp drive yet." More »
aliens
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Space Traveler
This depressed little traveling alien, who has been searching unsuccessfully for life on one of the planets he's visited, is ecstatic when he descends from his space craft to find an alien cat looking for a friend. They take walks together, check out their reflections in a crater-like pond, and lie down under the night sky. Then the alien cat wakes up... It's a cute silent film that embodies the loneliness of space travel. Ilias Sounas via Neatorama
New 'Gattaca' DVD Brings High Def to Genetic Fascist Dystopia
Andrew Niccol's film Gattaca seems like it's been swept under the carpet and behind the radiator lately, which is surprising given the current obsession with stem cells, in utero fetal testing, and the human genome. In fact, there's a whole generation out there who haven't even seen this film. Breathe easy, because you'll be able to help them see it when a brand-new edition comes to DVD and Blu-ray on March 11th. Can you believe Danny DeVito produced this thing? The new disc features all new interviews with Ethan Hawke and Jude Law and an expose on DNA testing.
Andrew Niccol's film Gattaca seems like it's been swept under the carpet and behind the radiator lately, which is surprising given the current obsession with stem cells, in utero fetal testing, and the human genome. In fact, there's a whole generation out there who haven't even seen this film. Breathe easy, because you'll be able to help them see it when a brand-new edition comes to DVD and Blu-ray on March 11th. Can you believe Danny DeVito produced this thing? The new disc features all new interviews with Ethan Hawke and Jude Law and an expose on DNA testing.
space politics
We Must Leave Earth
Hilary Clinton is currently the only presidential candidate with a space plan, which can't be pleasing to the scientists and scifi writers who warn that the human race must escape from Earth if it's to have any future. It's probably not surprising that 1970s astronomer icon Carl "billions of stars" Sagan was an offworld booster; nor would it boggle your mind to know that SF visionary Octavia Butler's post-apocalypse duet Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents is about why colonizing space is one of the most urgent political tasks of our time. But space travel as a political issue goes back further than that — way further. More »
space travel
Scientists: "Warp Speed Travel? Make It So!"
In a sobering moment of life imitating William Shatner, scientists plan to meet next week to discuss the possibility of real life warp speed space travel. The British Interplanetary Society's catchily-titled conference, "Faster than Light: Breaking the Interstellar Distance Barrier", aims to raise awareness of what used to be as impossible as the Vulcan nerve pinch and Ricardo Montalban's chest in The Wrath of Khan, according to organizer Kelvin Long:Historically, black holes and worm holes were not taken seriously. Now, dozens of papers are published every year on these topics. It is desirable for warp field theory to receive similar attention, if we are to realistically appraise its potential.Finally, Gene Rodenberry's favorite dream that doesn't involve women in short skirts and knee-length boots may come to pass. Flickr image by ckirkman.
Researchers follow the Enterprise and look into warp speed [Guardian Science]
space travel
"Earth's Twin" Discovered In Distant Solar System?
If life on Earth isn't doing it for you, then there's good news - an alternative may be around the corner. As German scientists announce that theoretical "Super-Earths" - planets 10 times the size of Earth with similar atmospheres - could support life for 35 per cent longer than our home planet, NASA scientists have discovered 55 Cancri f - a planet 45 times the size of Earth in a distant solar system thatspend[s] its entire orbit within what astronomers call the "habitable zone". The zone marks a "Goldilocks" band of space where the heat from a star leaves a planet neither too hot nor too cold to support liquid water, which is believed to be crucial for life.
Is this the next holiday destination, or the home of our future alien overlords? Only time will tell.
Could this be Earth's near twin? [Guardian Science]
space travel
Humans To Reach The Moon - Of Mars - In Ten Years?
Proving that the space race isn't entirely dead, scientists have announced that while manned missions to Mars may still be some time away, manned missions to Mars' moons could happen within the next decade According to Pascal Lee of the Mars Institute:They are the most accessible planetary bodies in our solar system. It's counterintuitive, but they're even easier to get to than Earth's Moon, for a robotic mission.That's right; the space race isn't dead, it just has real problems with the concept of distance. Image of Phobos courtesy of ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Mars's tiny moons - One small step for mankind? [New Scientist]
