Important Innovations

  First Missions to Inferno Like Planet in Late 2020's                                                                                                                                                                      Source:  NASA Search for Interplanetary Answers NASA will launch two new missions to Venus between 2028 and 2030.  These missions of discovery will be the first explorations of Venus in thirty years.  NASA Administration Bill Nelson says the purpose is to provide new understanding of how Earth evolved, why it is habitable and why other planets in our solar system are not.  Nelson added that planetary science is critical to answering key questions like "Are we alone?" $1 Billion in Funding   The two selected mission concepts are called DAVINCI+ and VERITAS.  Each will be given $500 million for development funding. DAVINCI+ will measure the composition of Venus' atmosphere to learn how the planet formed, evolved and if it ever contained an ocean.  DAVINC

US Air Force's X-37B Spaceplane - Clouded in Mysteries & Missions Successfully Lands After Record Orbit The US Air Force announced that its top secret, experimental spaceplane - the X-37B - just successfully landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in FL after a record flight. The spaceplane has been more than two years - 780 days - in orbital flight.  This is its longest test mission for a group of military technologies.  The X-37B is an experimental, test spaceship.  It was built by Boeing, is operated by the US Air Force and was launched into its latest mission aboard a SpaceX rocket. Clandestine Missions This is the spaceplane's 5th mission.  What the missions have entailed are for the most part a mystery.  They are top secret missions.  But we do know the purpose is to demonstrate new technologies, such as propulsion systems, avionics and spacecraft reentry systems for what the Air Force hopes will be a "reliable, reusable, unmanned space test pl

Solar Sailing in Space - LightSail 2 Source:  LightSail 2 Promising New Solar Innovation for Space Travel This green energy technology has the potential to be disruptive innovation. It's a solar powered sail invented through the non-profit Planetary Society in California, led by the Science Guy Bill Nye.  The LightSail 2 CubeSat spacecraft successfully deployed its solar sail to get propulsion in space a few days ago.  It's the first spacecraft to be propelled by sunlight alone.  This is very important science because the use of solar sails to convert solar wind into thrust could save fuel for spacecrafts on long space missions. Solar Sailing The small spacecraft is the size of a toaster.  It was hurled into space aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket in late June.  A few days ago, flight controllers on the ground in California fully deployed the solar sail from the CubeSat into space.  The sail is the size of a boxing ring and the system is orbiting the Earth solely