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Mars on Earth
In an effort to identify potential problems with a Martian settlement, the Mars Society has four planned “Mars Analog Research Stations” which will act as a sort of dress rehearsal. The FMARS 11 unit in the Antarctic has recently finished its run, but the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah is currently operating. When researchers…
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Suicide Mission to Mars
There’s a lot of buzz in the blogosphere surrounding a former NASA engineer’s recent suggestion that a manned mission to Mars would be much easier if we didn’t worry about bringing the astronauts back. Jim McLane worked at NASA for 21 years, and noted the difference between Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts: “Cosmonauts are primarily…
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Aaaawwww
Mathias Pedersen makes me sad. Link (via VetMommy)
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Earth-On-Moon Violence
NASA scientists are planning to whack a couple of spacecraft into the Moon’s south pole to see if they find water. We’ve never been to the Moon’s poles, and since some craters at the south pole are deep enough that sunlight never reaches the bottom there might be unsublimated ice lurking there. Researchers have already…
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Space Settlement Art
The National Space Society recently held an art contest for the NSS 2009 Space Settlement Calendar. They’ve just announced their winners and have posted a gallery of images. The one shown here is “After the Storm” by Raymond Cassel. It won grand prize, and it’s just wonderfully evocative. Link (via BoingBoing)
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The Alliance to Rescue Civilization
The grandly-named Alliance to Rescue Civilization is dedicated to creating continuously-staffed facilities on the Moon and other off-planet locations, in an effort to get all of humanity’s eggs out of one basket. The facilities would preserve backups of scientific and cultural achievements, and of “the species important to our civilization.” So I guess cows are…
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Source of Mystery Antimatter Found
There’s a large cloud of antimatter lurking out in space, and researchers have long wondered where it came from. An international team examining four years’ worth of data from the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL satellite has identified the positrons as originating from stars being eaten by black holes and neutron stars. Is it just me,…
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Russia Joins Europa Mission
Russia has joined a planned mission to search for life on Europa. The LaPlace mission is supposed to launch some time between 2015 and 2025. Link
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35 Years
Today makes 35 years since man has been to the moon. The last time humans were on the moon, I was the age that my son is now. I’m going to go sit in a corner and be depressed. ‘Scuse me.
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Possible Alternate Universe Found
Back in August, astronomers reported the discovery of a huge hole, a billion light-years across, in the constellation Eridanus. Now, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton and her colleagues are claiming that the hole is an “unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own.” No word on whether Spock has a beard…