Important Innovations

  Space Balloons For a Leisurely Space Visit Source:  Space Perspective Space Trip With No Rockets & No Rocket Fuel Space Perspective, a human space flight company based in Cape Canaveral, Florida, is offering a unique space adventure.  Luxury balloon trips to 20 miles above the Earth into the stratosphere. There are no rockets and no rocket fuel involved.  The company says it is a safer and smoother way to experience the edges of space.  In fact, the approach is completely different from a rocket flight.  The space craft takes off at a leisurely pace of 12 mph.  A huge hot air balloon gently carries the passenger capsule aloft into the upper atmosphere and then gently returns it for a splashdown in the ocean, according to the company. Passenger Tickets to Space Space Perspective has started selling tickets for the first trip in late 2024 aboard the Spaceship Neptune.  It's a hot air balloon type space vehicle that gets lift from hydrogen.  The company is taking $1,000 deposits

  NASA's Tiny Helicopter Ingenuity Sends Mars Status Report                                                                        Source:  NASA Perseverance and Ingenuity NASA's Perseverance rover's travelling companion to Mars, mini-helicopter Ingenuity, has sent a positive status report to NASA Mission Control.  Ingenuity sent it by phone.  Ingenuity is a small helicopter drone that will detach from Perseverance and attempt the first drone flight on another planet.  It weighs 4 pounds and is specifically designed to fly in the Martian atmosphere which is 100 times thinner than the Earth's atmosphere.  The helicopter is equipped with a camera and will take images of the Martian surface. Next Steps Perseverance will take the next 30 to 60 days to find an area suitable for Ingenuity to take off and land on.  In the next several days, the mission is to get Ingenuity's batteries fully charged.  The power source is Perseverance's radioisotope power reactor.  NASA h

  Perseverance   Mission Impossible Just Accomplished                                         Source:  NASA Perseverance Perseverance Free to Roam Mars For Two Years NASA's most advanced rover has defied the stiff Martian  odds and successfully landed on Mars.  Cheers erupted late today in the NASA control room as the Perseverance rover, NASA's most technologically advanced rover that the team built for ten years, touched down safely on the Red Planet.  Hundreds of major technological maneuvers had to go right for this historic accomplishment.  The most important:  what NASA calls "the last 7 minutes of terror" when Perseverance was out of contact with NASA because of an 11 minute delay in radio wave communications with the Red Planet.  Perseverance was on its own maneuvering down to the surface of Mars on a rocket powered jet pack and finally lowered down by cables.  It is a technological wonder that worked! Bold and Ambitious Space Exploration This is NASA's mos

NASA Diligently Searching Source:  NASA What's Underground on Mars? NASA scientists have a fascinating and very innovative theory.  They're exploring the possibility that some forms of life could be supported underground and inside caves on Mars.  They believe there's a chance that water may exist underground to support life on the Red Planet. 2020 Launch In July 2020 NASA will launch its Mars 2020 rover with a mission to search for life on the Red Planet.  It will touch down on the Martian surface on the targeted date of February 18, 2021 at a location called Jezero Crater.  NASA calls the area  one of the most scientifically interesting landscapes on Mars. Search for Water and Life Jezero Crater was once home to an ancient river delta that may contain signs of microbial life. The possibility exists that there is water underground on Mars.  Exploring for water and life is rover's big mission.   The rover will join lander InSight that rece

NASA Discovery: Possibilities of Life on Saturn's Biggest Moon Titian Source:  NASA Titan Moon Surface image Does Life Exist Beyond Earth? The images from NASA are mesmerizing.  This is the terrain of Titan, which is Saturn's largest moon.  There are oceans and lakes of liquid methane, vast plains and dunes of frozen organic material, which is the basis of life.  These are the first ever global geological maps of Titan, provided by NASA.  NASA scientists say they suggest the possibility of life of some form is possible on Titan. NASA has a Dragonfly mission with a drone to explore Titan in upcoming years,  For more details on the possibilities, go to Important Innovations Collection: Saturn's Titan Moon & Life : New Science from NASA - Possibility of Life on Titan, Saturn's Largest Moon Source:   NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Moonscapes, Science...

Polish Astronomers Provide Large and Precise 3D Scaled Map  Source:  University of Warsaw Surprise Finding "Warped and Twisted", Not Flat Astronomers from the University of Warsaw in Poland have created the most precise and largest  map of the Milky Way to date.  By tracking thousands of stars pulsating in the galaxy, they've created a 3D scale map of the system.  They discovered that it isn't as flat as a pancake but twists and turns in shape much more than previously thought by astronomers. Spiral Galaxy The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy measuring 120,000 light years across.  It's a mass of stars, gas and dust about 27,000 light years from the Earth.  The team found the distortions in the Milky Way are immense with some stars 60,000 light years away from the Milky Way's center. And, the galaxy's thickness is quite variable. Potential Causes The astronomers cited several potential causes for the "warped and twisted"

Discovered by International Astronomers Using Powerful Ground Telescopes Source:  NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center May Have "Earth Like" Conditions Astronomers have discovered what they're calling a Super Earth 31 light years away from our solar system.  They say it is "potentially habitable".  The planet is named GJ 357d.  It is six times larger than the Earth and it orbits a sun that is much smaller than ours, every 55 days.  An international team of scientists discovered it using powerful ground telescopes and following up on data first relayed by NASA's planet hunting satellite TESS.  The astronomers believe that it could provide "Earth like conditions" for life.  If so it could answer the question that goes back a thousand years:  Is there life elsewhere in the Universe? Looking for Signs of Life In the next several years, highly advanced telescopes will be going on line that will be able to detect any signs of lif

NASA's TESS Planet Hunter Source:  NASA's TESS Historic Mission and Historic Discoveries With just a year in space, NASA's TESS planet hunting spacecraft has discovered 21 brand new worlds outside of our solar system, 850 potential exoplanets and 6 supernovas.  NASA says this is beyond their wildest expectations. Having explored the southern sky, TESS is now going to check out the northern sky. For a great news blog on this historic mission, go to Important Innovations Collection: NASA 21 Whole New Worlds : NASA Spacecraft TESS Discoveries Source:  NASA Planet Hunter Extraordinary NASA's planet hunter TESS spacecraft - Transiting Exo...

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos' Plan for Lunar Exploration Targets Blue Moon Mission 2024 The world's wealthiest man Jeff Bezos of Amazon has his next target in outer space.  He will launch his spacecraft the Blue Moon with astronauts and scientific payload to the moon in 2024.  The technology that he just unveiled in the Blue Moon is awesome. For a great news blog, go to Important Innovations Collection: Jeff Bezos' Trip to the Moon : Blue Moon Lander Unveiled Source:  Jeff Bezos and Blue Moon Target Date for Lunar Mission 2024 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled hi...

Global Race to the Moon and Beyond Source:  Virgin Galactic Space Vacations Start This Year 2019 is shaping up to be a banner year in space.  Sir Richard Branson's space tourism company Virgin Galactic says it will start carrying tourists to the outer edges of space sometime in 2019, NASA's New Horizons just reached the farthest distance into outer space and performed a flyby of the cosmic rock Ultima Thule.  China's spacecraft The Chang'e 4 is making the first soft landing on the far side of the moon.  SpaceX is readying for space flights to the moon, the International Space Station and Mars.  These are very exciting space exploration times of breakthrough technology and scientific innovation.  For a news blog on the top missions planned, go to my journalist colleague Ed Kane's blog at https://importantinnovationscollection.blogspot.com/2019/01/2019-year-of-space-renaissance.html

Nuclear Powered Robots for the Moon Europa Source:  NASA photo of Europa Proposed to Explore One of Jupiter's Moons for Signs of Life A group of scientists who advise and solve problems for NASA have come up with a unique proposal.  They want to deploy a tunnelbot that would use nuclear power to melt a path through one of Jupiter's frozen moons.  The moon is called Europa and it's the 4th largest of Jupiter's 53 moons.  It's considered a great place in the solar system to host life. Powered by Nuclear Reactor or NASA's Radioactive Heat Bricks The scientists unveiled their proposal to the American Geophysical Union.  They said the tunnelbot could use an advanced nuclear reactor or some of NASA's radioactive heat bricks to generate heat and power.  The robot would carry a payload to search for evidence of life, extant or extinct.  The researchers believe Europa's ice hides open oceans and that life may exist there.  The robot would go down to

Japan Makes Space  Innovation History Rover Photo of the Asteroid.   Source: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Rovers Already Taking Photos Japan just made history.  It's landed 2 hopping rovers on the asteroid Ryugu.  The rovers are in good condition and have already started transmitting data and photos, as you can see in the above photo. Historic The rovers' mobility on the asteroid is historic.  NASA landed a spacecraft on an asteroid in 2001 but it was stationary.  The rovers are equipped with 7 cameras.  They hop around the asteroid which has a low gravity environment.  The rovers are the world's 1st, man-made objects to explore movement on the surface of an asteroid. Rich Resource Asteroids greatly interest scientists researching the history and origins of the universe.  Some experts believe they also have tremendous commercial potential for mining valuable metals like platinum.  The hopping rovers are part of Japan's MINERVA-ll1 program.  A la

France Partners with India to Explore Space India's Space Launch Planned for 2022 Gaganyaan 2022 France has announced its intention to work with India on India's planned manned missions to space starting in 2022.  The Indian space mission is called "Gaganyaan" for 2022. French Innovation Expertise for Space France is offering to provide a wide range of innovation expertise.  The areas include space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, astronaut life support and space debris & radiation protection.  France has already developed these technologies for manned space missions. Indo-French Cooperation in Space The Indo-French cooperation is across the fields of Climate Change, joint groups working on future launch vehicles and deep space exploration with the French contributing to India's future missions to Mars and Venus. Unique, International Cooperation  It's a unique, multitiered international partnership designed to support and forward In