Space travel to get boost from solar power

by Chris Owen on

The reality of manned space travel has scientists on limited budgets looking at every angle that might make it happen efficiently. Recently, five aerospace companies contracted with NASA to study the idea of a new propulsion system, designed to turn the sun’s rays into electricity for space travel.

NASA hopes the end result is a new propulsion system that will power a reusable “space tugboat” capable of ferrying satellites from low-Earth orbit to the higher geosynchronous Earth orbit.

The idea is popular because a solar powered vehicle would save money on fuel and eliminate the need for the secondary rocket booster normally required to send a satellite into high orbit.

Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Aerospace Systems sector and Boeing‘s Phantom Works unit are two of the companies involved, each winning a four-month $600,000 NASA contract to conduct early-stage studies for a high-power solar propulsion system.

“The study has no hardware, so the `work’ is all design work, and will be done here in Redondo Beach mostly,” Northrop spokeswoman Mary Blake said in the Daily Breeze.

Just one piece of the space travel puzzle, the new solar-powered propulsion system would have other uses too, including cargo transportation for human exploration and cargo transportation to the moon.

Flickr photo by y gr33n3gg


Training shuttle to be displayed in Seattle’s Museum of Flight

by Sean McLachlan on


It looks like the Space Shuttle, but it isn’t. It’s made of plywood, for one thing, and it can’t fly.

Yet it’s a piece of aeronautics history and will soon grace Seattle’s Museum of Flight. This training shuttle, more properly called the Full Fuselage Trainer, is a full-scale mockup that astronauts have used for practice since the 1970s. The museum originally hoped to get one of the four actual Space Shuttles, but those went to other museums. The advantage of the training shuttle, however, is that visitors will be able to climb aboard and get a feel of what it must have been like to go on a mission.

The shuttle will be flown to Seattle in five segments starting in May and should be open to the public sometime in June, the Seattle Times reports.

The Space Shuttles are going to four different museums. The Atlantis will go to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center in Florida. The Endeavour will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The Discovery is earmarked for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia. The Smithsonian will transfer the shuttle prototype Enterprise to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Discount space travel site launched

by Chris Owen on

A new website devoted to discount space travel was launched this week and has member-only benefits for joining.

“Space.Travel was created to fill a void in the burgeoning space tourism industry. With passenger space travel becoming a routine activity, outer space needed a destination website just like any other travel location. A one-stop website for all of your space trip planning,” says Kenneth Schweitzer, Founder of Space.Travel.

In addition to discounts on space-related travel, membership ($99 a year) includes access to a Space Trip Reviews section that invites members to describe and post travel reviews of their experiences. These experiences might include visiting a space center or museum, attending a space camp or launch event, experiencing weightlessness in an aircraft, or even visiting outer space itself.

“When people think about space tourism they initially imagine trips into outer space. However, millions of people a year attend a space-themed attraction or museum. Space.Travel provides a place to share all of these amazing experiences,” adds Schweitzer.The website also offers daily space tourism news and a travel directory. The Space.Travel Directory includes listings of space travel agents, space insurance providers, and space tour operators.

Flickr photo by Marxchivist


NASA is looking for new astronauts!

by Kraig Becker on

Anyone who has ever dreamed of going into space received a glimmer of hope this past week when NASA announced that they were looking for their next class of astronauts. This high profile “help wanted” ad had the dual effect of sending many of us scrambling to update our resumes, while simultaneously regressing to a point in our lives when we actually believed we could still grow-up to be an astronaut.

The actual job posting can be found online by clicking here. It provides plenty of great information for those wanting to know the details about the requirements and perks of the position. For example, the salary ranges from $64,724 to $141,715 per year, which is a bit surprising, because many of us would probably actually pay that much for an opportunity to go into orbit. The position is listed as Full Time and Permanent, but would require a move to Houston, which is probably the biggest downside of the job.

As you might expect, the position requires at least a Bachelor’s degree and three years of experience in your field, which can include technology, nursing, aviation, amongst others. Candidates will be required to pass a physical as well, and must have vision that is correctable to 20/20 in each eye. They also need to be between the heights of 62 and 75 inches, which will rule out most NBA players who are looking to pick up supplemental work during the lock-out.

The job listing also notes that prior to being hired candidates must undergo a background check and pass a drug-test as well. After all, NASA isn’t going to turn over multi-million dollar equipment to just anyone. They also note that frequent travel is required, but considering that travel involves going into space, I doubt anyone will really complain all that much. How many frequent filer miles is a trip to the International Space Station worth anyway?

When I was a kid, being an astronaut ranked right up there with ice cream taster and James Bond as the best jobs on the planet. For some reason I thought the career path to getting that job would be different than simply filling out an application and going in for an interview. Turns out, NASA hires people just in the same manner as Walmart.

For more information on the position and the application process, click here. Good luck to everyone who applies. You’re going to need it, because I’ve seen every episode of Star Trek ever and have visited the local planetarium twice.

Video of the Day: My Jet Pack

by Mike Barish on

We’ve covered jet packs before here at Gadling. We’ve looked at water-powered versions, jet packs used for stunts and attempts to bring jet packs to the masses. However, as a viable means of transportation, jet packs still seem to fall a bit short. That said, they are perfectly suited as inspiration for an epic New Wave travel song. While we might have to wait years about we lift our feet off the ground with a jet pack, we can at least tap those feet to the beat while listening to this little ditty about a jet pack, a girl and a magical trip to space.

Keep the dream alive!