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Category: space travel

NEW ORLEANS, La. — The rollout of the fully-stacked Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle, from Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC’s) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), has been scheduled to occur by the end of the year. However, SpaceFlight Insider previously reported that the rollout may be delayed. On Dec. 7, 2021, while speaking at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), NASA Administrator Bill Nelson confirmed the delay by stating, It’s going to have it’s rollout to the pad in January.

In addition, other news outlets have reported on an issue that may be driving the delay — a problem with with the engine controller on one, of four, core stage RS-25 engines.

The Artemis I RS-25’s are previously-flown Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME’s). However, the controllers, or “brains,” for the engines have been updated for use on Artemis SLS flights.

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Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University

A new era of space stations is about to kick off. NASA has announced three commercial space station proposals for development, joining an earlier proposal by Axiom Space.

These proposals are the first attempts to create places for humans to live and work in space outside the framework of government space agencies. They’re part of what has been called “Space 4.0,” where space technology is driven by commercial opportunities. Many believe this is what it will take to get humans to Mars and beyond.

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A team from the Limitless Space Institute (LSI), funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and led by Dr. Harold “Sonny” White, a former NASA specialist, pioneer in warp drive or warp drive, has reported that he has discovered a veritable warp bubble in the real world. The event marks a breakthrough for scientists trying to develop a spacecraft capable of going faster than light.

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A UK company with lofty aspirations around sustainable space travel has test-fired a rocket engine powered in part by plastic waste. Pulsar Fusion’s hybrid rocket engine is part of an ambitious journey that also involves the development of nuclear fusion technology for high-speed propulsion, which could cut travel times to Mars in half.

The idea of incorporating recycled plastic waste into hybrid rocket fuels is something we have seen explored before. Virgin Galactic flirted with the idea back in 2014 through the use of a rocket powered by a fuel based on a class of thermoset plastics, though this was swiftly abandoned after a failed test flight. Scottish company Skyrora is another outfit working on such a technology, having successfully tested out its Ecosene fuel made from converted plastic waste.

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In 2020, Houston-based company Axiom Space got a NASA contract of its own, worth up to $140 million, to deliver at least one habitable private module to the ISS. Axiom plans to launch its first element to the orbiting lab in late 2024, then send several more up over the next few years. Eventually, the connected Axiom modules will detach from the ISS, leaving their natal nest like a bird that has learned how to fly.

Axiom has other irons in the spaceflight fire as well. For instance, the company has booked four commercial crewed flights to the ISS with SpaceX, the first of which is scheduled to launch in February.

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