Worldcrunch
Bezos, Branson, Musk, Isaacman. Will the billionaires throwing untold resources into private space travel prove to be visionaries or just thrill seekers? The latest, Isaacman’s Polaris dawn mission, launched Tuesday with the objective to feature the first ever private spacewalk.
Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Air Force pilot and cosmonaut became the first human ever to travel into outer space on this day in 1961.
An endeavor to retrieve samples from the red planet is in the works. Some scientists wonder if it’s a wise investment.
August 21 – August 27, 2023
Created by Donald Trump four years ago, the new U.S. military branch embodies the strategic importance of space defense. Faced with competition from China and Russia, Washington is renewing its commitment (and drastically increasing the amount of money it devotes) to space — marking quite the reversal of fortune for Space Force, which not so long ago was the target of pastiche and mockery.
Many are focused on the race to Mars, but Russia sees a unique opportunity to make an inhabitable base on the Moon. The possibility of lunar life and patented technologies could change the calculus.
European rocket company Arianespace doesn’t get the attention of Elon Musk’s U.S.-based upstart SpaceX, but its approach may be better equipped for the long haul.
MOSCOW — Compared to last century’s Cosmonaut glory, Russia’s space program is looking more like a dud these days. On May 16, a Proton-M rocket crashed in Siberia with its commercial load, a Mexican telecommunications satellite. A week earlier, a Progress spacecraft, a Russian cargo craft that was supposed to deliver more than three tons […]