Space Solar Race Heats Up, Now With Flying Data Centers
Space solar technology has created the conditions for launching data centers into orbit, taking advantage of ultra-low energy costs and opportunities for expansion.
Space
The Largest Digital Camera Ever Built for Astronomy Makes Its Debut
On screensaver mode, smart TVs often rotate through photos of natural wonders, from waterfalls to canyons. Now imagine hundreds of those televisions, with one single image spread out among them. The photograph is a sweeping panorama of a huge section of the night sky, with stars and galaxies shining bright … [continued]
New Theory Explains Sand Ripples on Mars & on Earth
Common causes could upend previous understandings. Sand ripples are fascinating. They are symmetrical, yet wind, which causes them, is very much not. Furthermore, they can be found on Mars and on Earth. They would be even more fascinating if the same effect found on Mars could be found here on … [continued]
Japan’s Wooden Satellite Shows Us That We Should Give Wood A Fresh Look
That Time When Japanese Wood Construction Was Seen As A Weakness During World War II, the United States came up with an idea that was almost as awful as using atomic bombs: a bomb that slowly drifts down and then releases bats, which would then carry little napalm bombs to … [continued]
Self-Repairing Solar Panels Are Heading For Space
NASA is lending its financial muscle to help an Arizona startup send its self repairing solar panels into space and meet the demand for larger, more powerful arrays.
Last Gasp For Fossil Fuels: Space Solar Is Happening
Space solar once seemed like a faraway dream, but the economic case is taking shape and the basic technology is at hand.
NASA Plans To Manufacture Solar Cells On Moon, From Scratch
NASA wants new solar cells to sport a “Made on the Moon” label, using only materials harvested from the Moon.
Climate Damage Caused by Growing Space Tourism Needs Urgent Mitigation
A formidable space tourism industry may have a greater climate effect than the aviation industry and undo repair to the protective ozone layer if left unregulated, according to a new study led by UCL Earth’s Future. Courtesy of UCL. Published today in the journal Earth’s Future, researchers from UCL, the University … [continued]
The Story of Blue Marble Images, Part 2
The Blue Marble is credited by many as one key element launching the big environmental movements of the past ~50 years. In this followup to “The Story of the Blue Marble,” Fritz Hasler writes about additional Blue Marble images and developments, as well as an insider’s account of the first Blue Marble photo taken on the way to the Moon.
The Story of the Blue Marble
This picture above of the Earth by NASA Apollo Astronaut Harrison Schmitt en route to the Moon on Apollo 17 remains to this day one of the most famous and most viewed photographs of all time. From deep in space, our Earth appeared to the astronauts as a small blue … [continued]
