Home

On:

One of the major roadblocks our culture has in regards to space travel is that in order to travel at speeds that could make a trip to a distant planet or star in a reasonable time frame is the application of energy: currently, we’re stuck burning chemical fuel to propel our vehicles, of which means also lugging that fuel along with the vehicle, meaning the vehicle weighs more because of the extra fuel, meaning the vehicle has to carry more fuel to offset that weight — it unfortunately becomes a cycle of inefficiency, making for a very slow vehicle.
read more

On:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has announced their plans for colonizing Mars, of which includes plans for permanent ‘Earth Independent’ settlements that would be capable of operating for extended missions with little or no material support needed from Earth.

Their report, entitled ‘Journey to Mars’, outlines NASA’s 3-stage plan for developing the path for the long-term colonization of Mars, with the goal of landing a human presence there sometime in the 2030s.
read more

On:

Flowing liquid water has been found on mars, confirming long-standing speculation regarding some anomalous features imaged by orbiting space probes — and further increases the chances of finding living organisms on the Red Planet.

In an announcement made by NASA on Sept. 28, they revealed the findings of a study into images of dark streaks on the slopes of some Martian hillsides during periods where the temperature rises above -23ºC during the summer season, dubbed "recurring slope lineae", that were speculated to be flowing water. While evidence has been found for the presence of ancient Martian oceans, this is the first evidence of present-day water.
read more

On:

The Mars Curiosity rover has taken a picture of a rock formation that looks for all the world like a spoon that is floating above the ground.

NASA has identified the spoon-like object as a ventifact, which is a rock that has been shaped by the wind, slowly sandblasted over time into its present shape, and held in place on its parent rock formation at the end of it’s handle. Mars’s lower gravity, approximately one-third that of Earth’s, has also probably helped prevent the spoon’s snapping off under it’s own weight. There are a number of other ventifacts present in the picture as well, but none quite as dramatic as the levitating Martian utensil.
read more