Friday / 12 April 2013

Bigelow-NASA Agreement To Build Moon Base

Bigelow-NASA

Bigelow Aerospace Lunar Base Project Expected To Receive NASA Contract / Funding To “Extend & Sustain Human Activities Across The Solar System;” 3 BA-330 Inflatable Habitats With Propulsion Tanks & Power Units Would Be Joined In Space & Piloted To Moon Surface, Offer 990m3 Of Room, House Up To 18 Astronauts; Robert Bigelow Confident Habitats Could Accommodate Uneven Surface, Says Moon Great Practice For Mars & Beyond

Image Credit: Bigelow, Samuel Coniglio

Wednesday / 3 April 2013

Future Of Space Law

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Iran Lawyer Babak Shakouri Examines Space Law Issues Likely To Arise With The Advent Of Lunar / Space Settlements; Legal Framework Of Free Market Economic System With Positive Economic Exchange Rate With Earth, Recognition Of Private Property Ideal; Proposes Specialized Space Code Of Conduct To Cover Legal Topics Within Multinational Habitats; Should Administrative Legal Regimes Be Independent Or Earth-Based?

Image Credit: unl.edu, en.memory-alpha.org

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 29 Mar-1 Apr 2013

GLXP Team Summit In Chile

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23 Teams Remaining In The Google Lunar X PRIZE Will Meet In Santiago, Chile For 4-Day Team Summit Beginning 2 April; Several Major Announcements Are Expected Involving Financing, Launch Agreements, Team Mergers, Etc.; Meeting Should Help Distinguish Contenders From Pretenders As Teams Need To Have Financing And Launch Agreements In Place To Complete Mission By End 2015 Deadline 

Image Credit: GLXP

Friday / 1 March 2013

Shackleton Fueling Human Exploration To Moon & Beyond

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Shackleton Energy COO Jim Keravala, To Be Featured At 2013 CSCA National Conference, Says Water Estimated At Moon North Pole Could Fuel A Shuttle Launch Every Day For 2,200 Years; Company Plans To Create Fuel Depot Stations On Moon & In LEO By 2020; Will Launch 2 Robotic Prospectors To Lunar Poles By 2016; If Resource Extraction For Propellant Appears Profitable Will Send 6-12 Humans To Surface To Establish Base

Image Credit: J. Keravala/Shackleton Energy

Tuesday / 26 February 2013

Susmita Mohanty Envisions Private Astronaut Taxis To Moon

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India Commercial Space Company Earth2Orbit Founder Susmita Mohanty Discusses India’s Part In NewSpace Movement & Her Thoughts On How To Accelerate Human Spaceflight Development; Aerospace Companies Over-Engineer / Under-Design Crew Craft With Exorbitant Costs; International Consortium Of Companies Such As Apple, Samsung, SpaceX Could Design Spaceships That Think; Private Astronaut Taxis To LEO & Moon Would Follow

Image Credit: Abhijit Bhatlekar, Earth2Orbit

Weekend Edition / Fri-Tues 15-19 Feb 2013

New International Space Age Emerging

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Bruce Cordell Outlines Evidence For Emergence Of New Apollo-Level International Space Age By Mid-Decade; Cites Cyclical Patterns In Politics, Economics, International Relations & Public Ebullience Over Past 200 Years; Significance Of New ‘Gold Rush In Space’ / Emergence Of Commercial Space, Geo-Political Significance Of Moon In Coming Years; Recent Poll Indicates 75% Of Americans Want Increased NASA Budget For Human Missions To Moon / Mars

Image Credit: 21stcenturywaves.com, cislunarnext.org

Friday / 15 February 2013

Future Of Private – Public Partnerships Should Boost Moon Development

Commercial Launch

Golden Spike Co Receives Thousands Of Public Offers To Help, Starts Indiegogo Campaign To Get Humans To Moon By 2020; Mike Griffin (L) Former NASA Administrator Says No Significant Commercial Space Market Exists At LEO, Wants Permanent Moon Base Claiming Market Potential Is 10X Larger & Longer; Clark Lindsey of NewSpace Watch Argues NASA Commercial Contracts Effectively Increase Competition, Cost-Saving, Private Investment

Image Credit: Huntsville Times/R. Conn, GSC

Wednesday / 13 February 2013

CSCA Brings Space / Lunar Entrepreneurs, Mining Industry Together

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Canadian Space Commerce Association 2013 National Conference On 7 March In Toronto, Ontario, Canada; What Can Space Companies Learn From Canada Mining Industry & Vice Versa? Speakers Include Dale Boucher Of NORCAT, Robert Richards Of Moon Express, Rick Tumlinson (T) Of Deep Space Industries Inc., Peter Visscher (B) Of Artemis Jr / RESOLVE Project, Space Law Experts Ram Jakhu & Melissa Force 

Image Credit: CSCA

Tuesday / 12 February 2013

Could Athena Again Launch Lunar Mission?

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Athena Emerging As Potential Launch Vehicle For Lunar Missions; More Launch Providers = More Competition / Lower Costs, Thus Goes Argument Inspiring US Air Force To Select Launch Vehicles Like Athena & Falcon 9; With Prior Success Launching A Lunar Mission (Lunar Prospector, 1998) The Lockheed Martin Rocket Could Also Be Viable Option For Emerging Commercial Space Moon Missions 

Image Credit: NASA, GLXP

Wednesday / 23 January 2013

Buzz Promotes Space Travel For Everyone

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Famed Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Who Recently Celebrated 83rd Birthday (20 Jan), Still Active In Space Exploration Initiatives / Advocacy; Teaming Up With AXE To Send 22 Contest Winners To Space Aboard XCOR Lynx Spacecraft Operated By Tourism Firm Space Expedition Curacao; The Astronaut Who Spent 289.9 Hours In Space, Including 21.6 Hours On Lunar Surface Says “Space Travel For Everyone Is The Next Frontier In The Human Experience”

Image Credit: AXE, XCOR Aerospace