Until recently, the Chinese space program was government run. China opened up its space exploration and exploitation to private companies in 2014. In the last few years, private companies have entered the arena in China and are pushing hard to catch up to the private space industry that is thriving in the United States. Now there are eighty commercial Chinese space-technology startups.
There are many threats to human existence on Earth. There are inactive super volcanoes that could erupt and kill billions of people. Climate change is not as dramatic but does pose an existential threat. Comets or asteroids impacts could devastate the surface of the planet and wipe out the entire ecosystem.
I have blogged before about the effects of space travel on human health. There are a variety of negative effects on different organs in the human body caused by either zero gravity or space radiation. Today I am going to report on a study of the brains of Russian cosmonauts following their time spent in orbit around the Earth.
A solar mirror is an object with a reflective surface that is used to reflect the light of the Sun. Solar mirrors have many uses such as concentrating solar radiation for heating or the generation of electricity. When placed in orbit around the Earth, solar mirrors are referred to as Space Reflectors (SR) and could provide illumination at night for a specific area.
Part 5 of 5 Parts (Please read Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4)
Part 4 of 5 Parts (Please read Parts 1, 2 and 3)
Part 3 of 5 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2)
Part 2 of 5 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
SpaceX says that when all the components and tests have been completed, the rocket will carry the spacecraft above the Earth and then detach itself to fly back to Earth for inspection and refueling. The spacecraft will fire its engines and achieve Earth orbit. The president of SpaceX says that this might happen as early as 2020.
Part 1 of 5 Parts
Elon Musk has been in the news a lot lately for a variety of reasons. A lot of the stories have to do with his obsession to send astronauts to Mars. His company, SpaceX, is working on a new rocket dubbed that Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) which will figure in his plans for Mars missions.
Last week I blogged about the history of the idea of a space elevator that could reach all the way beyond an anchor in geosynchronous orbit. Cargo and people could be moved to and from orbit in elevator cars traversing the elevator. Today I am going to talk about current work and future plans for such a construction.
