I am attending the Epicenter of Space event in Kirkland Washington on the evening of August 27th. This is a networking meeting for the space industry in the Seattle area. There will be a couple of special speakers including a Managing Partner from the Space Angels Network.
Launching payloads into Earth orbit or beyond is expensive and difficult. Climbing up out of the deep gravity well of the Earth is not easy.
The International Space Station (ISS) has been in the news lately. The first section of the ISS was launched in 1998. The ISS is the largest artificial body in Earth orbit. The ISS consists: "of pressurized modules, external trusses, solar arrays and other components.
I was really excited when it was announced that the Space Trade Association was being started in Seattle where I live. I have been an avid reader of science fiction since I was a kid and have been eager to see the entry of private companies into peaceful exploration and exploitation of space.
I was thrilled when the U.S. landed a man on the Moon in 1969 and have been very disappointed that it is decades later and we have not sent any humans to the Moon in quite awhile. I could never understand how we could have done it the first time from scratch and with primitive equipment only to be told that it would take decades and break the bank to send humans up there again.
One of the interesting trends in science fiction in the past thirty years has been the emergence of "steampunk". "Steampunk refers to a subgenre of science fiction and sometimes fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery." (Wikipedia) I have read some of these books and gone to a couple of steampunk conventions.
Part Two of Two Parts: (Please read Part One first)
Part One of Two Parts:
I have made it clear in many posts that I do not think that nuclear power is appropriate for massive generation of commercial electricity.
Last week I blogged about the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy lifter program that NASA is working on. One of the missions of the SLS will be to launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion MPCV) into Earth orbit and beyond. The Orion is intended to carry up to six astronauts on missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and interplanetary exploration.
