“If you want a nation to have space exploration ambitions, you’ve got to send humans.”-Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil might have added, “or have profit motives.” The news about commercial space exploration is almost nonstop these days. Here’s what’s been happening in the past week.
Commercial space ventures–
- Elon Musk (who else?) and SpaceX, not to be outdone by anyone or anything, one-upped the Russian space agency’s 2022 moon tourism plans by announcing it would send its as yet untested Dragon capsule around the moon with two tourists by late next year.
- Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin revealed plans to launch a robotic lander to the moon in 2020. It is seen as a possible first step to establishing an Amazon-like service to supply future lunar bases.
- Bigelow Aerospace said it plans to launch a lunar orbiting space station by 2020.
- Low and mid-earth orbit satellites could number as many as 20,000 by the 2020’s as several ventures filed to launch constellations of V-band communication devices.
In more down-to-earth news:
- The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has received a review registration from the U-battery Consortium for its micro-modular 4 mega-watt reactor which it hopes to demo by 2025.
- GE Reports forecast a total global investment in renewable energy, by companies and governments, of between 7 and 11 trillion US$ by 2040.
- Several sites on the web reported the showcasing of a 3D printing process that can create a modular home in 24 hours for around $10,000. This will be the subject of an upcoming Seeking Delphi podcast.
3D-printed home
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