Lifeboat Foundation

An increasingly likely catastrophe can cause major disruptions in space flight and our daily lives.

SpaceX is scheduled to launch the first crewed flight of its Crew Dragon capsule on May 30th at 3:22PM ET. Follow along as the crew, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, suit up and board their capsule as the clock counts down to their liftoff.

Circa 2019

Scientists have longed to create the perfect energy source. Ideally, that source would eventually replace greenhouse gas-spewing fossil fuels, power cars, boats, and planes, and send spacecraft to remote parts of the universe. So far, nuclear fusion energy has seemed like the most likely option to help us reach those goals.

The big problem? It’s difficult to harness, and we’re nowhere near producing it at the scales we need in order to cause a seismic shift in energy policy. That’s why teams of researchers across the world are racing to improve our understanding of this reaction.

Continue reading “The Navy’s Patent for a Compact Nuclear Fusion Reactor Is Wild” »

The spacecraft engine that will help take humans to Mars may be based on a University of Michigan prototype.

Watch history unfold on Saturday, May 30, as NASA and SpaceX launch astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station. This mission marks the first time since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 that humans will fly to the space station from U.S. soil. The mission’s first launch attempt on Wednesday, May 27 was scrubbed due to weather conditions.

Tune in starting at 11 a.m. EDT as NASA and SpaceX provide joint, live coverage from launch to arrival at the space station. Teams are targeting 3:22 p.m. EDT for the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon is scheduled to dock to the space station on Sunday, May 31.

Continue reading “Making History: NASA and SpaceX Launch Astronauts to Space!” »

A SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule is attempting to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for a historic mission.

NASA has estimated a 1-in-276 chance that the astronauts on the SpaceX rocket could die during the company’s first crewed mission.

Still, commercial crew has managed to move faster and stay on budget compared to other NASA projects which explicitly eschew private capital and insist that NASA is the only suitable customer for their wares. The agency estimates it saved as much as $30 billion by building its new spacecraft this way.

What if THIS is the most important thing that happens in 2020?

On May 30th, SpaceX is slated to launch its first human passengers to space on the company’s new Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission is a critical test flight for NASA as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, aimed at getting private companies to create vehicles that can take astronauts to orbit. Here’s what to expect as the mission unfolds.