New Atlas

Science Audio available

Caltech reactor could convert CO2 into breathable oxygen for space trips

Michael Irving May 28, 2019

Most oxygen in the universe isn’t in the form that we need to breathe: molecular oxygen, or O2. Now, researchers at Caltech claim to have created a reactor that can turn carbon dioxide into molecular oxygen, which could help us fight climate change here on Earth or generate oxygen for life in space.

Konstantinos Giapis, with the reactor that converts carbon dioxide into molecular oxygen

Space Audio available

Arthritic astronaut mice suggest space travel is bad for your joints

David Szondy May 21, 2019

An examination of the tissues of rodents that orbited the Earth in a Russian spacecraft revealed that the reduced load on their joints caused the breakdown of cartilage and signs of arthritis-like degradation.

Based on mice studies, damage to joint cartilage may be added to the list of health ...

Space Audio available

Spinning bed-ridden people in a centrifuge for the good of astronaut health

Michael Irving March 21, 2019

The lack of gravity in space means that muscles begin to waste away, and scientists have been studying these health effects on Earth with extended bed-rest experiments. In the latest, those beds will be put in a centrifuge to mimic artificial gravity, to see if that can help offset the issues.

A new study will examine the effects of artificial gravity on astronauts by having participants lie ...

Physics

"Impossible" EMDrive thruster may stall after latest experiments

Michael Irving May 24, 2018

Several experiments have shown that the EMDrive can generate thrust from basically nothing – in apparent violation of Newton’s Laws of Motion. Unfortunately, a German team has now built and tested their own EMDrive, and found that environmental factors may have been responsible for false positives.

A prototype of the EMDrive, which can apparently produce thrust without fuel

Space

Alien technology? Harvard scientists propose source for fast radio bursts

John Anderson March 13, 2017

There are plenty of strange phenomena in the universe, and fast radio bursts are among the more mysterious. So far, we don't know the source of these high-energy light bursts, but Harvard researchers propose they're caused by planet-sized alien transmitters for powering interstellar spacecraft.

Artist's depiction of a light sail powered by a radio beam (in red) generated on the ...

Science

Life on Earth may have arrived very early on the cosmic timeline

Lynda Delacey August 29, 2016

At this moment, two Voyager probes are speeding out into the unknown each carrying a "golden record" with information about our planet, our many different languages, our sciences and arts. But if a new theory about life in the universe is correct, those records may never find an audience.

Our attempts to make contact with ET may be a little premature

Space

Final ground test of launch booster for NASA's Journey to Mars a success

John Anderson June 28, 2016

NASA’s Journey to Mars mission got a step closer with the successful ground test of the launch booster on the Space Launch System (SLS), the world’s most powerful rocket. It’s the second and final ground test on the booster before a crewless test flight in late 2018 with the Orion spacecraft.

Space

Second team with verified launch contract kicks off XPRIZE space race

Stu Robarts December 8, 2015

Having previously announced that it had signed a launch contract in pursuit of the Google Lunar XPRIZE, Moon Express has now received official verification of the contract from XPRIZE. It is the second team receive verification, after SpaceIL. The news kicks off a new space race.

Moon Express has signed an agreement to use its own MX-1E lunar lander with Rocket Lab's ...

Space

Lunar detour could lighten the launch load for manned missions to Mars

Darren Quick October 19, 2015

A new study out of MIT says that, although possibly a little out of the way, the Moon would make a worthwhile refueling pit stop for manned missions to Mars by reducing the mass of a launch from Earth by 68 percent.

An MIT study says a detour to the Moon could make repeated trips to the Red ...

3D Printing

3D-printed ice shelter wins NASA's Mars habitat design competition

Stu Robarts October 1, 2015

NASA has announced the winners of its 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge Design Competition. The contest sought architectural concepts for how 3D printing might be used to create shelters on the Red Planet. The overall winner, Ice House, would be built using the planet's predicted abundant water supply.

Ice House is based on NASA's "follow the water" approach to exploration