"New nonprofit foundation to move U.S. farther and faster toward its destiny as world leader in technical innovation, science, exploration and discovery"
Via Vincent Lieser
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To boldly go where only Astrophysicians have gone before. What I find interesting (and can roughly understand) in Astronomy & Space exploration these days.
Curated by
gdecugis
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"Either we spread earth to other planets, or we risk going extinct. An extinction event is inevitable and we’re increasingly doing ourselves in."
gdecugis's insight:
We can't blame Musk for not being visionary. I wonder whether dramatizing the topic like he did will have an impact. Delete the scoop?
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Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group co-owns Virgin Galactic, said in Dubai yesterday that he would be on board the first public flight on December 25. Via Allen Taylor
gdecugis's insight:
Bold. 
Allen Taylor's curator insight,
May 15, 12:27 AM
Richard Branson proclaims first public flight to space of SpaceShipTwo will happen on Christmas Day 2013 and that he will be on it. This puts the pressure on the Scaled Composites team doing the flight testing. Delete the scoop?
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A NASA concept for a robotic spacecraft that would capture a small near Earth asteroid and direct it towards the Moon. (credit: NASA)
gdecugis's insight:
Amazingly enough, some say it's a plausible scenario that would cost "just" $2.6 Billion and could help missions to Mars. Delete the scoop?
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NASA’s irrational approach to risk undermines its mission and costs thousands of lives.
By Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society from the February 2012 issue Via Vincent Lieser
gdecugis's insight:
This is a great article that I discovered thanks to a comment by Vincent Lieser. However precious astronauts' lives are, they can not be assigned an inifinte cost without being heavily detrimental to other budget allocations that can save lives on earth and, more importantly, to the very mission of space exploration. Great read. Delete the scoop?
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The commercial SpaceX rocket venture has launched Dragon cargo capsules to the International Space Station three times in the past year, and every time there's been a problem. Should NASA be upset?
Not really.
The fact that glitches have cropped up — and have been solved, with no impact on the multimillion-dollar cargo resupply missions — isn't a black mark against the California-based company. Rather, it's a sign that the designs for SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 are resilient in the face of the inevitable glitches associated with spaceflight. It's also a sign of things to come.
Via Stratocumulus
gdecugis's insight:
Interesting take on how to design future spacecrafts. Not for perfection but for robustness in order to make space flights both more reliable and affordable. 
Vincent Lieser's comment,
March 6, 3:25 PM
"Transplanted" to human spaceflight, that reminds me of Zubrin's take on the price of an astronaut's life : http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/26/how-much-is-an-astronauts-life-worth
Vincent Lieser's curator insight,
March 6, 3:25 PM
"Transplanted" to human spaceflight, that reminds me of Zubrin's take on the price of an astronaut's life : http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/26/how-much-is-an-astronauts-life-worth Delete the scoop?
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Planetary exploration is stuck in a Martian rut
gdecugis's insight:
Maybe. But is that bad? NASA was moon-obsessed in the 60's and achieved something great.
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Dennis Tito's nonprofit organization may want to launch astronauts toward the Red Planet in 2018.
gdecugis's insight:
Plan would not be to land but do just a round trip. Still doesn't it sound crazy (and awesom!) that private money could beat governments in the space race?
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Traces of water have been detected within the crystalline structure of mineral samples from the lunar highland upper crust obtained during the Apollo missions, according to a University of Michigan researcher and his colleagues.
gdecugis's insight:
This puts the theory of the moon formation from a debris of the earth in question.
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It's one of the most iconic images in all of science fiction: the stretching of stars as a ship makes the jump to lightspeed. But as a group of physics students at the University of Leicester has revealed, it wouldn't actually look like this.
gdecugis's insight:
Blame the Doppler effect... Delete the scoop?
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Brilliant answer from the US Geek in Chief on why we can't have a Death Star in spite of the petition. Awesome.
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An analysis of planet candidates suggests at least one in six stars in the night sky hosts an Earth-sized planet - 17 billion in total.
gdecugis's insight:
This is based on extrapolating the results from obeserving 150,000 stars. There are some caveats to the study but the exciting news is that we don't seem to be falling short of earth-like planets. 
Puneet Gupta's curator insight,
January 9, 4:36 AM
This is based on extrapolating the results from obeserving 150,000 stars. There are some caveats to the study but the exciting news is that we don't seem to be falling short of earth-like planets. Delete the scoop?
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gdecugis's insight:
A good high-level recap of all the different theories behind the multiple universes concept (yes there are also multiple theories of multiple universes: isn't that meta?). 
Gestcash's curator insight,
December 23, 2012 10:39 AM
The universe we live in may not be the only one out there. In fact, our universe could be just one of an infinite number of universes making up a "multiverse." Delete the scoop?
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AVAST gentle reader: mild SPOILER(S) and graphic depictions of shattered satellites ahead!
gdecugis's insight:
Finally saw the movie Oblivion and that was the first question I googled following that as the movie's (otherwise great) plot seemed strange to me on that point.
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SPACE is expensive. Really expensive. If you want an idea of how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly expensive it is, the International Space Station (ISS) is a good... (Looking forward to see the result!
gdecugis's insight:
NASA - and more generally government agencies - are losing their monopolies on Space exploration. And that's old for everyone.
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NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered more than 100 confirmed planets orbiting distant stars.
gdecugis's insight:
Watch them orbit on scale and sort them by size: great job by the nytimes! 
Gust MEES's curator insight,
April 27, 10:37 AM
Nice interactive infographic, check it out an learn more...
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By Rob CoppingerSpace.com LONDON — A nonprofit organization that aims to land four astronauts on Mars in 2023 will kick off its two-year, televised search for Red Planet explorers this summer.
gdecugis's insight:
If it sounds crazy then maybe it is. But then again who said Columbus was sane?
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The oldest known star appears to be older than the universe itself, but a new study is helping to clear up this seeming paradox.
gdecugis's insight:
Interesting paradox. Delete the scoop?
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Vincent Lieser's curator insight,
March 6, 3:30 PM
Neil DeGrasse Tyson gives you the answer, before he slaps you in the face in an astounding video. Delete the scoop?
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Liftoff of Falcon 9 and Dragon from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Fl. March 1, 2013.
gdecugis's insight:
Dragon made history last year by becoming the first private vehicle to dock the ISS and carry cargo back to earth.This is a video of its last launch - also bound to the ISS which it safely docked this morning.I hadn't realized yet how great the videos were from this launch thanks to the onboard cameras. This one gives you the full picture of the first ten minutes up until orbit.
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Chromoscope shows you the view of the Universe that we get from Earth. The view is mostly dominated by our galaxy - The Milky Way - which is the band running horizontally across the middle. Via Dr. Stefan Gruenwald
gdecugis's insight:
Pretty cool way to play with zooming options and visible/non-visible light. Delete the scoop?
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It may still be a few years away from practical use, but scientists have created a real tractor beam, like the ones featured in the "Star Trek" TV series and movies.
gdecugis's insight:
Sensational headline from the Huf Post but nevertheless a pretty cool discovery for particle physics. Delete the scoop?
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gdecugis's insight:
Raisin bread, Einstein and the speed of light: a great explanation on the difference between motion and expansion. Delete the scoop?
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Planet KOI 172.02 has yet to be confirmed, but it could potentially have water and life.
gdecugis's insight:
Earth 2.0? Delete the scoop?
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A 2.1-billion year-old lump of rock that fell to Earth in Morocco is a new type of Martian meteorite, say scientists.
gdecugis's insight:
Crazy story of that rock that was blasted out of Mars by a meteor impact and fell back on earth after millions of years in the cosmos to reveal fascinating secrets on the presence of water on Mars. Delete the scoop?
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This is a follow up to the rumour I published a few days ago and a confirmation that space traveler billionaire Denis Tito seems serious in considering a free return, low cost fly-by of the red planet five years from now. Any doubt that the private sector is now a serious contender in the space race? Read this.