Space Exploration
Building a Lunar Base with 3D Printing
Setting up a lunar base could be made much simpler by using a 3D printer to build it from local materials. Industrial partners including renowned architects Foster + Partners have joined with ESA to test the feasibility of 3D printing using lunar soil. "Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures," said Laurent Pambaguian, heading the project for ESA.
NASA Researchers Studying Advanced Nuclear Rocket Technologies
A glimpse of NTREES testing in progress in mid-2012, as a non-nuclear fuel element is heated to more than 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit while hydrogen is funneled through it. (MSFC/Emmett Given)
Advanced propulsion researchers at NASA are a step closer to solving the challenge of safely sending human explorers to Mars and other solar system destinations.
Rocket Launched from Wallops Flight Facility Creates Red-colored Lithium Vapor Trails
NASA successfully launched a Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital rocket at 5:50 p.m. EST this evening from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. During the flight, two red-colored lithium vapor trails were produced. Reports from those viewing the launch or vapor trails came from as far away as the Outer Banks, N.C.; eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Video: ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano in training at Star City
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano from Italy is the first of Europe's new generation of astronauts scheduled to fly into space. He'll soon be making a long-duration stay onboard the International Space Station, launching from Baikonur end of may in a Russian Soyuz capsule with two fellow crew members. His preparation for this mission has involved training with the Station's international partners, including a stint at Star City near Moscow - where, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, he's gained experience on full-scale mockups of the Soyuz capsule and the Russan segment of the International Space Station. This A & B-roll shows Mission training at Star City with interviews of Luca Parmitano in English, Italian and French.
Photo: Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral As Seen From the International Space Station
@Cmdr_Hadfield - Chris Hadfield - Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral, launch site of my first 2 spaceflights, and where our Dragon will launch from in March. pic.twitter.com/OmCRO96Z
