Lifeboat Foundation

Credit where credit is due: Evolution has invented a galaxy of clever adaptations, from fish that swim up sea cucumber butts and eat their gonads, to parasites that mind-control their hosts in wildly complex ways. But it’s never dreamed up ion propulsion, a fantastical new way to power robots by accelerating ions instead of burning fuel or spinning rotors. The technology is in very early development, but it could lead to machines that fly like nothing that’s come before them.

You may have heard of ion propulsion in the context of spacecraft, but this application is a bit different. Most solar-powered ion spacecraft bombard xenon atoms with electrons, producing positively charged xenon ions that then rush toward a negatively charged grid, which accelerates the ions into space. The resulting thrust is piddling compared to traditional engines, and that’s OK—the spacecraft is floating through the vacuum of space, so the shower of ions accelerate the aircraft bit by bit.

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The Falcon Heavy payload fairing goes blue (da ba dee, da ba daa).

What is today’s NASA’s Orion Spacecraft ascent abort test all about? We’re verifying the Orion capsule’s launch abort system, a tower on top of the crew module, can steer the capsule and astronauts inside it to safety in the event of an issue after liftoff. The test is quick, fast and high, lasting less than three minutes with the test crew module reaching an average speed of Mach 1.5, roughly 1020 miles per hour, at approximately 32,000 feet in altitude.

Live coverage: https://go.nasa.gov/323AaQO Latest updates: https://go.nasa.gov/323AbnQ

Can space exploration help us protect biodiversity on Earth, and what cautions does our history in space offer?

Humanity first went to the moon to make a point. Now it’s time to overcome rivalries and pitch in together.

• By Clara Moskowitz

The idea of travelling amongst the stars is often romanticized in science fiction and pop culture. Star Trek, Star Wars, and Firefly are just a few examples where space flights are developed enough in that universe that traveling to another world is as easy as it is for us to travel to another country. Traveling by spacecraft in science fiction is often akin to travelling by airplane in the real world. But even as advanced as our technology is compared to when Star Trek first aired or when Star Wars graced the movie screens, it still is not quite at that level. The furthest mankind has ever touched down in space is the Moon, a relatively meager 238,900 miles away. For reference, Mars- the next place humanity may travel to- is 33.9 million miles away, and that’s only the next planet over from Earth! But in order to truly understand the troubles NASA and other space agencies are having with one of modern day’s biggest engineering problems, we must examine what makes it so hard for people to explore space.

Age 45: Boring Co ($113M) Age 45: Neuralink ($27M) Age 44: OpenAI (nonprofit) Age 32: Tesla ($59B) Age 30: SpaceX ($30B) Age 28: PayPal ($1.5B) Age 24: Zip2 ($307M)

Pc: unknown.

This week: 🚁 A new mission to Saturn’s largest Moon Titan 🚀 Launching new missions & landing astronauts…on the same night!

🎛️ Restoring the glory to the Apollo Mission Control Room.

There are a few of the stories to tell you about on the latest episode of This Week at NASA! Watch:

SpaceIL says the Moon is old news. They’ll be sending Beresheet 2, the original Beresheet’s successor, to a location that they’re keeping secret. For now.