Lifeboat Foundation

Occasionally we come across a piece of information which reminds us that, while flying cars are still nowhere to be found, we’re definitely living in the future. Usually it’s about some new application of artificial intelligence, or maybe another success in the rapidly developing field of private spaceflight. But sometimes it’s when you look at a website and say to yourself: “Oh cool, they have 1.5kW electromagnetic accelerators in stock.”

Arcflash Labs, a partnership between [David Wirth] and [Jason Murray], have put their EMG-01A Gauss gun up for sale for anyone who’s brave enough and willing to put down $1,000 USD on what’s essentially a high-tech BB gun. The creators claim it obtains an efficiency of 6.5% out of its RC-style 6S LiPo battery pack, which allows it to fire over 100 rounds before needing to be recharged. Firing 4.6g steel projectiles at a rather leisurely 45 m/s, this futuristic weapon would be more of a match for tin cans than invading alien forces, but at least you’ll be blasting those cans from a position of supreme technical superiority.

Continue reading “You Can Now Buy A Practical Gauss Gun” »

What’s in a name? A little thought and a good cause, according to Jeff Bezos who was recently pressed about why he named his space company “Blue Origin.”

The Amazon founder recently spoke at the JFK Library for a fireside chat event. During the 50 minute conversation, he was asked about his other company, Blue Origin.

Northwest is primed for the space economy.

A company called Celestis has tucked small pods of cremated “participants” into a spacecraft that will also carry NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock.

NASA wants to put humans back on the Moon’s surface by 2024. Now these companies are scrambling to design spacecraft no engineer has built in 50 years.

BLUE ORIGIN, the space company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is one small step closer to achieving its ambition of reaching the Moon, after acing its first rocket test.

What Is an Atomic Clock?

Clock is ticking: A technology demonstration that could transform the way humans explore space is nearing its target launch date of June 24, 2019. Developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the Deep Space Atomic Clock is a serious upgrade to the satellite-based atomic clocks that, for example, enable the GPS on your phone.

It’s sound and fury signifying a step toward landing on the lunar surface.

SpinLaunch has been awarded a responsive launch prototype contract from the DoD, facilitated by DIU for kinetic energy-based launch services.

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• #spaceflight
• #spacesystems
• #innovation
• #technology
• #aerospace
• #space

Media Contact: Diane Murphy ([email protected]) Tel: 310.658.

Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos gave more insight into his space company’s lunar plans on Wednesday, explaining how its spacecraft will eventually be powered with fuel harvested from the moon.

“We know things about the moon now we didn’t know about during the Apollo days,” Bezos said, speaking at the JFK Space Summit in Boston, Massachusetts.

One of the things learned since Apollo that Bezos highlighted is that there are deposits of water ice at the bottom of craters on the moon.