Space X Makes Historic Launch

In a historic first, Space X successfully launched a refurbished Dragon cargo craft atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which returned to the launch pad a few minutes later.

SpaceX Liftoff

Falcon 9 return

Space X Plans to Orbit the Moon in late 2018

In what would be a first, SpaceX plans to fly two private citizens around the moon atop one of the company’s own rockets. And, SpaceX says, the cost will be paid out of the astronauts’ own pockets.

Elon Musk, billionaire founder and chief executive, said that two individuals came to him and asked if SpaceX could and would set up the flight, and that they are “nobody from Hollywood.” They’ve put down their deposits and will start fitness tests and training later this year to make the flight in late 2018.

For more click HERE

SpaceX Dragon Prepared to be Unloaded

Remember that SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft
which splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at

2:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 11, about 261

 miles southwest of Long Beach, California  

Seems the Dragon brought back a heafty load.

3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station.

The first destination for the Dragon will be taken by ship to Long Beach where some cargo will be removed and returned to NASA.Then prepared for shipment to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing.

Click the LINK

for complete article  information

More BEAM From Bigelow

I didn't think it would be too long before news about the 'expandable module' from Bigelow Aerospace started catching more attention. 

Well we know that Bigelow's BEAM or Bigelow Expandable Activity Module was launched aboard SpaceX's Dragon supply vehicle  April 8 and will be attached to the ISS April 16 but will not be expanded until the end of May.  

There is a ream of information on the NASA site.  Please check it out HERE

Bigelow is on the BEAM

It is no surprise that one of the limiting factors in launching a spacecraft is it's
size/weight.

If your like me, you most likely considered Bigelow Aerospace and it's unique inflatable space craft module a concept of the past.

Not so it would appear.  Bigelow Aerospace and NASA will be studying the radiation protection, thermal performance and general operations of expandable habitats in space, with a module called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) which will be attached and inflated to the ISS.

More information can be garnered from the enclosed video. 

NASA OKs SpaceX's Latest Milestone for ISS Crew Transfers

NASA has approved SpaceX's first push towards launching crews to the International Space Station.  This under the auspices of NASA's  Commercial Crew Transportation Capability  contract.

Elon Musk of Space X Says to be Wary of Artificial Intelgence

Elon Musk is easily one of the most forward looking people today. The driving force behind Tesla Motors and Space X, Musk has his feet firmly planted in the future. Even so, in recent interviews Elon has reveled concerns for the future of technological advancement.

Musk's concerns center around artificial intelligence that has made great improvements and advancements over the past decade. He feels without proper stop gaps there is a very real possibility of a "Terminator" class breakdown.

During a recent CNBC interview, Musk said "There are some scary outcomes...." Elon intimated that vigilance will go a long way towards making sure that the outcomes are good....

Musk has made substantial investments in A.I. companies like DeepMind and another called Vicarious - From the Article:

• "It's not from the standpoint of actually trying to make any investment return," Musk explained. ".... I like to just keep an eye on what's going on with artificial intelligence. I think there is a potentially dangerous outcome there." 

Here is the CNBC video where Musk speaks at length about a variety of subjects such as advancements in electric cars and batteries as well as solar generation:

complete NBC News article link HERE

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft Returns Home

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft returned home this past weekend loaded with  more than 3,500 pounds of NASA cargo and science samples from the International Space Station.

The Dragon cargo craft splashed down at 3:05 p.m. EDT Sunday, in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 300 miles west of Baja California.

Some of the experiments and data that were part of Dragon's cargo were science samples that are critical to improving our knowledge of how space affects humans who live and work there for long durations,  data that could aid in better understanding the decreased effectiveness of antibiotics during spaceflight while also improving antibiotic development on Earth.  Plus many others.

For more information, check out the NASA.GOV sight HERE

Below is an earlier water landing of the Dragon cargo module.

Tesla founder Elon Musk Wants to Build a Hyper What?

Musk want to build a Hyperloop.  A machine able to transport passengers from  downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes.

Described as a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table - Musk envisions the Hyperloop traveling 3 or 4 times faster than the bullet train, all the while costing you much less than an air ticket or for that manner cheaper than any other mode of transport. 

So what started him in this direction?  Well it seems Elon doesn't put much stock in the proposed bullet train.  First it seems that the Californian bullet would be the slowest in the world and the most expensive, in Musk's mind a complete waste.

But what exactly IS the Hyperloop?  Musk has been uncharacteristically quiet on the particulars.     However in a recent CNBC today Elon was a bit more talkative.  Of the Hyperloop, he said - It's basically an underground bullet train that, freed from pesky terrestrial concerns like weather, farm animals, and friction, could cross the country in hours instead of days. 

Wait you you say.  We can already fly across in hours, which is true, but at greater expense and at substantially higher risk.  

Musk says that the tech to build such a device already exists - basically superconducting magnets.

But as the Atlantic Wire writes:  

• Sadly, the Hyperloop will never, ever happen. It's a brilliant, pie-in-the-sky idea that the realities of politics and construction permits would render all but impossible. Even if the technology is perfect, we can barely build a train from Orlando-to-Tampa (using already obsolete technology)

Business Insider link HERE

Hey pssssssst Wanna Go To Mars?

Hey, I am serious here!  Have a yen to tread the red?  Sure you do!  Well SpaceX has some good news for you!

Yep, THAT SpaceX!  They are making room for you and about 80K of your best friends, so start saving your pennies now.  How much you ask?  Well I think the asking price is pretty damn reasonable.   Only 500k!  Of course that is the up side.  The down side is its a one way trip! 

Yes, SpaceX wants you to invest 500,000 to become a colonist on Mars.  All of this is contingent on a reusable craft that will land and take off again.  

Here is the complete article along with a cool vid to show what SpaceX is up to at this point and some of their plancs 

NASA coverage of the Dragon module's splashdown

Reader Kallamis sent in a comment on the Dragon coverage.

He wrote:

• NASA will broadcast the release reentry and splashdown. They will have a briefing on the NASA channel at 10am EDT, on Wednesday morning.
• All info can be found on this on this link.
• http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/may/HQ_M12-0098_SpaceX_Splashdown_Coverage.html

Is it to much to say "History in the making"?   Thanks for the heads up Kallamis

Pic of the Insides of Dragon While Docked With the ISS

André Kuipers, a physician with the European Space Agency, aboard the ISS, had a chance to take this photograph while SpaceX's Dragon supply vehicle was docked with the station.

He also wrote,

• Inside of the Dragon module. Beautiful. Spacious, Modern. Blue LEDs. Feels a bit like a sci-fi filmset. Of course it is from Los Angeles.

Yep, even though we have seen it before, there is something about seeing it while it is working. The light DO add to the futuristic feel, don't they.

More in the Boing Boing article

Dragon Docks With ISS

Space X's unmanned supply capsule Dragon was successfully captured by Don Pettit using the International Space Station's (robotic arm. SpaceX is the first private company to dock a spacecraft at the ISS. Dragon is carrying supplies consisting of food, water and clothing and for the ISS crew. After unloading, Dragon will be repacked with equipment to come back to Earth. It is scheduled to detach, do a de-orbit burn and return to Earth on May 31.

The video shows the Iss's "arm" controlled by Pettit capturing the Dragon capsule





Read more at The Telegraph

Space Station by Total Ghost

I found this piece of weirdness on Boing Boing. I would have totally spaced it if it were not for the comments that came with the video. Seems this music video had been making the rounds on YouTube for a few months without much fan fare until as the Boing Boing corespondant wrote:

• SpaceX founder Elon Musk shouted it out on Twitter. ...it's the perfect theme song for SpaceX

Ok all you liquid fueled rocket engine nuts out there, here is news on the new engine from SpaceX. Here is the video text:

• SpaceX successfully test fires SuperDraco, a powerful new engine that will play a critical role in efforts to change the future of human spaceflight. These engines will power a revolutionary launch escape system that will make Dragon the safest spacecraft in history and enable it to land propulsively on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy. In a series of tests conducted at SpaceX's Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, the SuperDraco sustained full duration, full thrust firing as well as a series of deep throttling demonstrations.

3D inactive SpaceX Dragon Interior

This is cool! Check out this 3/d interactive view of the SpaceX Dragon module here  As the Boing Boing article points out:
SpaceX's Dragon will be the first private spacecraft to visit the International Space Station.

• SpaceX's Dragon will be the first private spacecraft to visit the International Space Station.

Huge Flying Launch System, Next Rutan/Allen Project

Where are Burt Rutan / Paul Allen going after their present project is up and running on it's own? Well how about this monster! A gigantic 385-foot wing span, 544-tonne plane powered by six 747 engines that will serve as a flying launch platform for 490,000 pound orbital rockets.

The reason it looks so familiar is Rutan built SpaceShipOne, the ship that made the first private suborbital flight, as well as its http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifmothership, WhiteKnightOne and the follow on versions for Virgin Galactic: WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo. Of course it will not be a sole effort either, SpaceX will be providing support in the way of boosters for the payload.

Here is a short animated film showing how the Stratolaunch System will work.





complete Gizmodo article here

NASA Gives SpaceX Go Ahead for ISS Rendezvous

NASA also has agreed to allow SpaceX to send its Dragon spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station. According to SFScope.com NASA has also set a date for a second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight.

• Pending completion of final safety reviews, testing and verification will be February 7, 2012.

The objectives of the Dragon module's ISS flight are:

• fly-by of the space station at a distance of approximately two miles
• demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous

Dragon will then perform a close approach at which time the crew will use the station's robotic arm to capture Dragon and berth it to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node. Mission completed the crew reverses the procedure and Dragon returns to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California.

SFScope link here

SpaceX says they can put a man on Mars in 10?

From the Wall Street Journal via Boing Boing I read that Elon Musk of SpaceX who says: We Can Put A Man On Mars In 10 Years or worst case, 15 to 20. NASA? Nope, SpaceX that's who.

From the WSJ article:

• SpaceX, is aiming to send the first man to space in three years. But, he said, “we’re going all the way to Mars.”

It seems NASA wants to play too by awarding SpaceX $75 million in funding to aid in developing commercial spacecraft.

• SpaceX (already) has NASA contracts to transport cargo to and from the international space station, and its hoping that its Falcon family of rockets will carry NASA astronauts to the space station, too.
• Musk said in the WSJ interview. “I’d like to see a self-sustaining base on Mars.”

Full WSJ article and interview video

SpaceX Testing New Heavy Lift System

From SpaceXhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif via Boing Boing is news on SpaceX's new heavy lifting system, The Falcon Heavy which according to the website:

• (is)the world’s most powerful rocket. (The Falcon Heavy has) the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Falcon Heavy can lift nearly twice the payload of the next closest vehicle, the US Space Shuttle, and more than twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy.

The Falcon Heavy develops over 3.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. To put that into perspective: that kind of thrust is equal to fifteen Boeing 747 aircraft at full power. That makes it one of the most powerful rockets since Apollo's Saturn 5 main stage.

(I KNOW! Saturn 5 WAS the main stage! But lets be honest, when most people see the whole Saturn stack they think Saturn 5! I know...Saturn 3 was the next stage and Saturn 1 was what pushed the "Luna stack" towards Luna insertion. I just KNOW some of you rocket jocks would call me on that if I hadn't said something! lol)

Check out the SpaceX page here