A Look at the Proposed Space Launch System

With the Constellation debacle seemingly behind us, NASA administrator Charlie Bolden proudly announced the successor to the Space Shuttle Program: the Space Launch System (SLS). Assuming that the SLS receives the proper funding, research and development (and that's a BIG assumption), what can we expect from this architecture?

NASA's MESSENGER Space Probe Arrives at Mercury

In August, 2004, a small robotic spacecraft hurtled skywards to begin a 4.9 billion mile trek to the planet Mercury. Today, 6 years later, that spacecraft arrives and officially becomes the first artificial satellite of Mercury in history.

MESSENGER arrives at Mercury (Artists Depiction)

Watch the Next Shuttle Launch Live on your Playstation

Got a Playstation 3? If you do, you might want to take the opportunity to watch the upcoming Shuttle launch streamed live. The event is currently slated for  February 24 at 4:50pm EST.

Launch to be streamed live to Playstation 3

Don't forget that this is one of the final Space Shuttle missions that will ever be launched, so please take advantage of this opportunity to witness essential nerd history. This is one of the coolest missions in a long time; the crew consists of 6 humans and 1 humanoid robot!

The Physics of Mass Effect

Recently I have been playing Mass Effect 1 and 2 for the second time. During these play-throughs, I have taken more time to read the codex entries, and I have become fascinated with the Mass Effect Universe. Naturally, one of the parts that really fascinates me the most is the science behind Mass Effect.

Then I stumbled onto this video, in which Theoretical Physicist Michio Kaku examines the various aspects of Mass Effect, and tires to comment on the plausibility of each aspect. 

For example, how far off of ‘invisibility’ are we? Are Biotics physically plausible? Could we travel faster than light using “the Mass Effect”?

While the video is enjoyable and all of what he says is accurate, unfortunately it seems as if Dr Kaku has never played the game, as he doesn’t actually address the “mass effect” in good detail. Instead he talks about dark energy and matter, which is nothing to do with the mass effect. I will now attempt to jump in!

Why It's Never Hammer Time in Space

Have you ever been watching a sci-fi show, and heard the captain of the ship yell “All Stop!” at the helmsman? Have you ever wondered what that actually means?

Orion CEV

I once had a long debate with a fellow astrophysics student over the question of what ‘all stop’ really means for a spaceship.

See, for a real life spacecraft (lets say the Shuttle or Apollo missions) the vessel itself never stops, from the moment it leaves the planet to the moment it lands again. It is constantly moving: either orbiting earth, or the moon, or moving between the two. But it is always moving at speeds of at least 17,000 mph (all the way up to 24,000 for a lunar mission). You can only imagine that for interstellar missions, the same principle must be true, probably to an even greater extent. 

Well I decided to try and imagine the physics and do some simple calculations.

Top 7 – Ways for a Beginner to Learn About Space and Science

If you are a real geek, then science is cool. And space is the coolest part of science. While you don’t need a degree in astrophysics to be geek, some basic knowledge is not only useful, but can be damn interesting! So here are the top seven ways to learn about space for free, that I think you would enjoy.

I would just like to make one thing clear – I am not trying to imitate Gamesradar in this post, I am simply paying homage to them. Somebody recently asked me the best way(s) for them to learn about space/science, and it just so happened that I named seven such ways. Complete coincidence. So, I thought, what better way to publicise this to my fellow geeks than with a “top seven”?

I would like to add one little note: the order of this top seven is not based on quality, it is based on complexity. The entries get more in depth as the list progresses.

FEATURE: How Would You Know if You Were on Another Planet?

So, I finally got the chance to watch the latest ‘Predators’ movie. The movie opens with seven of the worlds leading ‘killers’ falling to the ground, into a mysterious Jungle. About thirty minutes into the movie, the characters realise that they are on another planet (or moon) when they reach the edge of the Jungle and are greeted with a panoramic view of what appears to be two gas giants and a collapsing moon.

Predators - the new movie

This got me thinking, “How would you know if you were suddenly on another planet, if nobody told you?" "What would it feel like to be on another planet?" Well, using my studies of astrophysics in conjunction with my extensive (and borderline-scary) knowledge of geeky science, I thought I’d try and put you onto another planet, using nothing but the magic of vocabulary!

Inside the Real Spaceship Enterprise

I refuse to use the word “Starship” in conjunction with “Enterprise” in this post. Despite the inner geek in me having a mental breakdown at that statement, it just would not be accurate in describing the vehicles that are in question.

What vehicles are they? Well, so far there have been two real-life human spacecraft thus far named “Enterprise”. One of these never actually went into space, and never will. The other will almost certainly be the next human-carrying vessel to actually go to space in known history.

The Enterprise - OV101

The first vessel named “Enterprise” was the US Space Shuttle designated “OV-101”. This was the first fully completed, flight worthy Space Shuttle. It was named directly after the fictional Star Trek vessel “USS Enterprise” in recognition of its place as a pioneering flagship of human space travel.

Enterprise OV101 never actually went to space; its purpose was primarily flight tests (and most insiders will say a huge PR booster) which demonstrated that the concept of a reusable shuttle was indeed viable. These days you can find the Enterprise in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

The First Bad-ass in Space

Space travel today is generally a much safer endeavour than it was in the sixties. Some people feel that Space agencies such as NASA are too cautious; that Space should be an explorative, risk-taking endeavour. Each mission is strictly controlled and monitored, and must have a tangible, practical objective, like delivering goods to the space station, or repairing satellites.

But it hasn’t always been this way. Once upon a time Astronauts would go up to space and pull some frankly outrageous, cowboy-esque stunts. I’d like to tell you a story about what I think is the craziest thing an Astronaut has ever done.

Kirk, Sulu and Lieutenant Laser-Fodder

Remember that scene in the Star Trek 2009 movie, where Krik, Sulu, and Red-shirt do a ‘space-jump’ from a shuttle and freefall to the planet, parachuting to safety? Well one brave Astronaut pretty much did that over 40 years ago! I’d like to tell you his story.

Here to warp speed – how will we get there?

Currently, on Earth, there are three space-faring nations. Those are The USA, Russia, and China. That means that if a human being wants to go into space they will have to go to one of those nations. Other countries may have satellite launch capabilities, but there is a huge gulf between launching a satellite and launching people aboard an actual spaceship.

Russian Soyuz spaceship

As of next year, that number will shrink to two, as the USA will retire the shuttle fleet and have no replacement. That leaves the Russian Soyuz and the Chinese Shenzhou as humankinds only option for reaching space.

So what will the USA do? The answer is, we do not know. You see, the difficulty with building a new spaceship (for humans) is that it costs money and takes time. And the time it takes is longer than any single presidential term. That means that even if a President green-lights some amazing new spaceship, it could not be completed until probably two more presidents have been and gone.

Chinese Shenzhou spaceship

So you see the problem; each president is reluctant to throw money at NASA during his term because he will probably not see the benefits during his term. In fact, over the 30 or so years that the Shuttles have been running, there have been numerous plans for some, well, really cool spaceships.

Let’s have a look at some of those spacecraft that have been proposed, worked on, and then cancelled.

Why you should be sad that constellation program has been cancelled.

This week we had news that the next Space Shuttle launch, STS 133, has been delayed. I’m not going to lie, that is barely newsworthy. But something that is very newsworthy is that, according to current plans, it is the anti-penultimate (third-to-last) launch that humanity will ever witness. That means that there are only three shuttle flights left and then – finito. And what’s scary is that the US has no replacement, and no immediate plans to construct one. The constellation program (next-gen shuttle system) is cancelled.