DailyDirt: Moving To Outer Space (Temporarily)

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The number of ways to get people into space is at a record low right now, but some projects on the horizon are planning to get more people living in space in the not too distant future. Commercial space ventures are going to be shuttling (or capsule-ing, as the case may be) people to low earth orbit, and some other projects are aiming for more distant journeys. Here are just a few space exploration plans to keep an eye on if you still want to be an astronaut someday.

• In December, NASA is planning to launch Orion on a Delta IV Heavy rocket as a test for its next generation manned space vehicle that may one day get astronauts to Mars. No one will be on board for the first trip, but the craft will be gathering data to make sure the vessel is suitable for transporting people comfortably and safely. [url]
• The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an inflatable habitat that can connect to the International Space Station and provide commercial living space for a little over $50 million for a 2 month stay. This will be a steal compared to the current $40 million price tag for an individual to stay on the ISS for a week. (No word yet if you'll be able to re-rent out your spot on Airbnb.) [url]
• The optimism of the Mars One project should not be dismissed, but the technology to actually build a viable colony on the red planet may be further from reality than 2025. An analysis from some MIT students concludes that Mars One is unlikely to be sustainable with the current state of its technological progress. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: beam, colony, delta iv, iss, leo, manned missions, mars, mars one, orion, space, space exploration
Companies: bigelow, boeing, mit, nasa, spacex

DailyDirt: People In Space

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Hundreds of thousands of people have already applied for a one-way ticket to Mars for the Mars One program to establish a human colony on the red planet by 2023. Funding for Mars One is expected to come from a reality TV show as well as sponsorships and donations -- and even IP licensing from any technology it develops along the way. Mars One appears to have collected over $150,000 in donations so far, so there's at least some interest in the concept (though the total cost for a Mars trip could easily be billions). Here are just a few more links on some other plans to get humans into space.

• The odds of vasts amounts of ice existing on the moon are looking pretty grim. Without a significant amount of ice on the moon, potential lunar colonies would have to bring their own water -- and that would make it a lot more expensive to live on the moon. [url]
• Mark Burnett has been pitching a reality TV show for putting contestants into space since the late 1990s, even selling a show called Destination Mir to NBC in 2000. Burnett's latest space-themed reality show would put an ordinary person on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. [url]
• Sony Pictures Television is launching a reality TV show on Dutch broadcaster Nederland 1 called Milky Way Mission that will have (local Dutch) celebrities competing for a seat on an XCOR spaceplane via the Space Expedition Corporation's (SXC) space airline. The first season will have eight 1-hr episodes that will might end in a blast off to an altitude of 340,000 feet. [url]
• Objective Europa is an ambitious manned exploration project that aims to put people on an icy moon of Jupiter. The organizers plan to crowdfund a one-way trip to Europa, and these astronauts would face certain death even if they managed to reach Jupiter's moon. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: astronauts, colony, crowdfunding, destination mir, europa, jupiter, manned exploration, mark burnett, mars one, milky way mission, moon, reality tv, space
Companies: sony pictures television, sxc, xcor

DailyDirt: Simulations For Living On Mars

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Manned missions to Mars aren't going to happen for decades (if ever?), but in the mean time, we have awesome robots roaming the surface of Mars for us. We also have some simulations of living on Mars -- like the Mars500 project -- and the unforgettable original Total Recall movie. Here are just a few more Martian simulations if you need some help escaping from the realities of Earth.

• Will Wright, the creator of SimCity, has imagined what the first Mars settlement might look like in 2047. A Martian town with a population of 8,000 inhabitants sounds somewhat unlikely in less than 50 years, but it might happen someday. [url]
• An open source Mars Simulator built in Java has been around since 1998. SimMars was never commercially released, so this open source project was the only game in town -- until the mod for SimCity 4. [url]
• FMARS is a simulated Mars habitat project, located near an impact crater on Devon Island. The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station was created by the non-profit Mars Society in 2000 -- and it would be cool if they rented it out on AirBnB... [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: colony, fmars, mars, mars500, settlement, simcity, simulation, space