Besides its awe-striking size, thousands of completed science experiments, and a list of impressive inhabitants, the International Space Station (ISS) is a project unlike any other in terms of sheer scale — a beacon for what can be accomplished when the world cooperates in space exploration.
Are we gushing yet?
As the “most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken,” the ISS is even more ‘international’ in nature than the 5-space-agency cooperative might suggest, involving 15 of the world’s most wealthy nations. (Space exploration, of course, comes with a hefty price tag.) Read more.
From the moment a child first recognizes his or her reflection, their sense of self awareness is forever changed. So too was humanity’s when we got our first look at the planet from space. It was a life-changing event on a species-wide scale — our microcosm suddenly became extremely macro and we were able to finally see ourselves against the grander backdrop of the universe.
Last Friday May 10th marked the anniversary of the first colour pictures taken of Earth from space. Captured by the Apollo 10 crew, it marked the first time we were able to bring back images of our blue marble, in full colour.
Lassoing an asteroid and dragging it back toward the moon — at first blush, the idea sounds a little insane. For a number of reasons.
On the heels of the SpaceX Dragon becoming the first commercially launched cargo ship from the U.S., and the amazing success of the Mars Curiosity rover landing, comes the next great space adventure: lassoing an asteroid.
As cool as unmanned aircraft are, the idea of small drones taking freely to our skies can make many shift in their seats. But the integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into our airspace doesn’t necessarily need to be a scary thing. With enough regulations in place to maximize safety and minimize fear, there’s much to gain from these unmanned fliers. Read more.
Imagine having asteroid warnings issued every day of the week. Aside from the resulting mass panic, it’s not such a stretch — NASA estimates that thousands of meteors hit Earth’s atmosphere relatively unnoticed every day.
Meteors are comets or pieces of asteroid that break free and burn up in the atmosphere. If one hits the Earth, it’s called a meteorite. (Or just “Yikes!” depending on the size.)
Will asteroid wranglers be the next space cowboys? Probably.
Will it be easy? Absolutely not. Traveling and working in space has never been for the feint of heart or weak of stomach. Only the most fit make the cut.
Is travelling to space romantic? Sure. The idea of space travel always has been. So have cowboys.
And if you’re wondering whether travelling to space to deal with asteroids is necessary, just take another look at the footage of that asteroid exploding over Russia.
What remains to be seen is whether it’s lucrative.
It might seem easy at first blush to dismiss Russia’s call for a massive global defense effort to protect against meteors and other space objects that threaten Earth.
But can you blame them? Twice in the last 105 years, once-in-a-lifetime meteors have wreaked devastation on Russian soil.
First a pioneer in space satellite communications, then in space robotics, Canada has taken another step into space history by blazing a trail in space refueling.
More importantly, it’s a step towards refueling satellites in space using robotics, which could be key to maintaining global communications and promoting human exploration of the universe.
It was the closest asteroid flyby in our recorded history.
But as close as it was, Asteroid DA-14 didn’t plummet towards Earth today. People didn’t parish in its wake. Economic centres didn’t crumble. Ecosystems weren’t devastated.
Coincidentally, a meteor did burn-up over, and eventually hit, Russia today. And it could have just as easily hit anywhere else on the world — a densely-populated, major economic centre, for instance.
While the two phenomena are not related, what these close encounters have done is reignite discussion around the need for a plan to deal with asteroids and meteors, should one ever become a threat to Earth.