NASA to test revolutionary X-Ray communications system on the ISS soon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Traditional RF communications in space are slow, and can be blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere during re-entry, X-Ray communications have no such problems. Recently NASA tested the world’s first interplanetary space internet by sending a selfie from the Arctic to the International Space Station...
Elon Musk’s SpaceX capsule lands successfully in crucial step toward human spaceflight
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF One of Elon Musk’s ambitions is to allow people to live off world, but first you have to get them there and this is the first step in a long journey. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which Elon Musk first showed off a few months ago,...
NASA’s ISS robot companion CIMON gets caught copping an attitude
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more machines and humans work alongside one another how we interact with one another will become increasingly crucial. As he entered his final month on the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, Alexander Gerst could be proud that he’s helped given birth to...
Space Tango unveil their autonomous, robotic space based manufacturing platform
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The benefits of manufacturing products in space are clear, but it’s still complex and expensive, this technology could help make space based manufacturing a commercial reality. Over the past year or so I’ve been seeing more and more references made to not just space...
World’s first space elevator hitches a ride to the ISS to begin first trials
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The cost of getting astronauts and cargo into space is still astronomical, a space elevator could eliminate the need for costly rocket launches and democratise access to space. Let’s be honest, launching things into space with rockets is a pretty inefficient way to do...
Step inside the SpaceX capsule that will take astronauts to the ISS
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Since the end of the Space Shuttle program the US has had to rely on rides from the Russians to get to the ISS, this marks America’s return to its own manned spaceflight. After making history in 2012 as the first commercial spacecraft company...
IBM’s “flying brain” Watson heads into space
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the space industry steps looks to explore more space and even colonise and mine new planets the demands on astronauts is increasing, so CIMON and its descendents will be used to help lighten their load and make them more productive. IBM Watson is...
NASA’s tests its new interplanetary space internet system, sends a selfie to the ISS
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As humanity reaches for the stars and pens its plans to become an interplanetary species today’s Earth bound internet system just won’t hack it, so an alternative is needed. As humanity reaches for the stars, and to colonise Mars from 2024, NASA used a...
NASA gets ready to trial SEXTANT, its galactic navigation technology
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF There are no accurate maps of deep space but now NASA are creating their own deep space Galactic Positioning System (GPS) using pulsars as galactic beacons. If you want to travel in deep space, for example, aboard Stephen Hawking’s interstellar spaceship, which admittedly might...
Elon Musk announced SpaceX is sending two private citizens to the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Man hasn’t returned to the Moon since first landing on it 45 years ago, and this will be the first time we go back Yesterday afternoon at 4PM EST SpaceX CEO and polymath Elon Musk, who was recently in Dubai selling 200 self-driving Teslas, announced...
Japan gets ready to test its space junk grabbing space whip
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Space debris is an increasingly serious problem for space agencies who are loosing more space assets because of it than ever before, Japans system, while still as yet unproven might prove to be a credible solution The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) will soon...
ISS SPHERE drones learn to see and fly around in space all by themselves
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This new milestone will help to pave the way for fully autonomous drones, and vehicles, that can navigate their surroundings without the need for any specific maps or navigation aids. During an experiment this week on board the International Space Station (ISS) a small drone,...
Take a glorious Hi Def tour of the International Space Station
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Have you ever wanted to float around the International Space Station? Now’s your chance. Since its launch in 1998 only 225 people have ever set foot upon the International Space Station (ISS). So that leaves only seven and a half billion or so of...
The United Nations is going into space
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The UN wants every country to be able to realise the benefits of space. The United Nations (UN) has announced its first ever official space mission, with the aim of giving developing countries the opportunity to conduct research in a microgravity environment. The mission,...
NASA MinION ushers in a new era of space healthcare
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF NASA successfully sequences DNA in space, ushering in better healthcare for astronauts and a new era in space biology. For the first time ever, DNA was successfully sequenced in microgravity as part of the Biomolecule Sequencer experiment performed by NASA astronaut Kate Rubins this weekend...
The solar system just got its own internet
The vastness of space means that traditional internet technologies are unreliable so This month, NASA took a major step toward creating a Solar System Internet by establishing the first operational Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) service on the International Space Station (ISS). The new DTN service will help automate and improve the availability...
The end of Famine
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is getting closer to solving one of the world’s greatest heart aches. No industry has had a greater impact on humanity and society as agriculture has and we can trace its earliest origins back 50,000 years to the Aborigines in Australia who regularly used fire...
