We try to avoid thinking about it, but spacecraft are machines that break down and eventually fail. Some can last for years, others decades, but in the end they’ll be gone forever.
Mar 24th: What Do We Do With Aging Spacecraft?
Fraser Cain Archive
Mar 17th: Just How Tough Is Earth Life?
Every time we send a spacecraft to another world, our Earth-based lifeforms are going with us. No matter how well we try to keep them clean, a few stowaways will always come along for the ride.
Mar 10th: Living Off The Land On Mars
Extending humanity to other worlds in the Solar System is at the very limits of our modern technology. Extending humanity to other worlds in the Solar System is at the very limits of our modern technology. And unless there are dramatic discoveries in new propulsion systems or we learn how to build everything out of carbon nanotubes, the future of space exploration is going to require living off the land.
Feb 17th: Missing Baryonic Mass in the Universe… Found!
Astronomers have finally solved one of the outstanding mysteries in cosmology. Forget about all the dark matter and dark energy, where’s all the missing regular mass in the Universe? This has been called the “missing baryon problem”.
Feb 10th: Is There A Shadow Biosphere? Searching For Life On Earth That Isn’t Related To Us
Why does life rely on water? Couldn’t there be lifeforms which are completely different from life on Earth? Isn’t that the textbook definition of alien?
Jan 27th: Spacecraft Gyroscopes And Reaction Wheels
It’s amazing to think there are telescopes up in space, right now, directing their gaze at distant objects. It’s all thanks to the technology of reaction wheels and gyroscopes. Let’s talk about how they work, how they’re different, and how their failure has ended missions in the past.
Dec 30th: What If We Could Explore Oumuamua Or 2I/Borisov?
The distances to other stars are depressingly enormous. Fortunately, the Milky Way has got our back. Other star systems have been hurling comets and asteroids towards the Solar System. All we’ve got to do… is catch them.
Aug 31st: Why Haven’t Aliens Settled Every Star In The Milky Way?
This week Fraser Cain discuss about Fermi Paradox. How difficult it would be for aliens traveling at 10% the speed of light to settle the entire Milky Way, and it turns out, it’s not as simple as you might think.
Aug 12th: Harvesting Resources From The Solar System: ISRU
In order to really survive and thrive in space, we’ve got to learn to live off the land, to acquire the resources in space that will allow us to survive… in space. We’ve got to learn to turn those raw materials into forms we need: fuel, breathable air, water, construction materials, and eventually even finished goods like rocket parts and electronics.
Jul 29th: 16 Years of Hubble Data in One Incredible Picture
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990, and it’s been hard at work ever since, studying the cosmos like no other observatory in human history.