Space news and Exploration II

[ScienceRocks]

KOI-2939b: the largest and longest-period Kepler transiting circumbinary planet

Veselin B. Kostov, Jerome A. Orosz, William F. Welsh, Laurance R. Doyle, Daniel C. Fabrycky, Nader Haghighipour, Billy Quarles, Donald R. Short, William D. Cochran, Michael Endl, Eric B. Ford, Joao Gregorio, Tobias C. Hinse, Howard Isaacson, Jon M. Jenkins, Eric L. N. Jensen, Ilya Kull, David W. Latham, Jack J. Lissauer, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Tsevi Mazeh, Tobias W. A.Muller, Joshua Pepper, Samuel N. Quinn, Darin Ragozzine, Avi Shporer, Jason H. Steffen, Guillermo Torres, Gur Windmiller, William J. Borucki
(Submitted on 1 Dec 2015)

We report the discovery of a new Kepler transiting circumbinary planet (CBP). This latest addition to the still-small family of CBPs defies the current trend of known short-period planets orbiting near the stability limit of binary stars. Unlike the previous discoveries, the planet revolving around the eclipsing binary system KOI-2939 has a very long orbital period (~1100 days) and was at conjunction only twice during the Kepler mission lifetime. Due to the singular configuration of the system, KOI-2939b is not only the longest-period transiting CBP at the time of writing, but also one of the longest-period transiting planets. With a radius of 1.06+/-0.01 RJup it is also the largest CBP to date. The planet produced three transits in the light-curve of KOI-2939 (one of them during an eclipse, creating a syzygy) and measurably perturbed the times of the stellar eclipses, allowing us to measure its mass to be 1.52+/-0.65 MJup. The planet revolves around an 11-day period eclipsing binary consisting of two Solar-mass stars on a slightly inclined, mildly eccentric (e_bin = 0.16), spin-synchronized orbit. Despite having an orbital period three times longer than Earth's, KOI-2939b is in the conservative habitable zone of the binary star throughout its orbit.​

Kepler-47: A Three-Planet Circumbinary System

Kepler-47 is the most interesting of the known circumbinary planets. In the discovery paper by Orosz et al. (2012) two planets were detected, with periods of 49.5 and 303 days around the 7.5-day binary. In addition, a single "orphan" transit of a possible third planet was noticed. Since then, five additional transits by this planet candidate have been uncovered, leading to the unambiguous confirmation of a third transiting planet in the system. The planet has a period of 187 days, and orbits in between the previously detected planets. It lies on the inner edge of the optimistic habitable zone, while its outer sibling falls within the conservative habitable zone. The orbit of this new planet is precessing, causing its transits to become significantly deeper over the span of the Kepler observations. Although the planets are not massive enough to measurably perturb the binary, they are sufficiently massive to interact with each other and cause mild transit timing variations (TTVs). This enables our photodynamical model to estimate their masses. We find that all three planets have very low-density and are on remarkably co-planar orbits: all 4 orbits (the binary and three planets) are within ~2 degrees of one another. Thus the Kepler-47 system puts interesting constraints on circumbinary planet formation and migration scenarios.

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Transit timing variations (TTVs) of Kepler-10c indicate the likely presence of a third planet in the system, KOI-72.X. The TTVs and RVs are consistent with KOI-72.X having an orbital period of 24, 71, 82, or 101 days, and a mass from 1-7 M⊕.


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ULA has contracted Blue Origin to design and build a reusable engine for their Vulcan launch vehicle which is intended to be a direct competitor to the Falcon 9. I can understand the comparison made to Virgin Galactic because they haven't achieved recovery of an orbital booster stage yet, but a comparison to SpaceX is perhaps more apt based on the ultimate ambition.

Rendering of ULA's Vulcan rocket intended to be partially reusable.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Planet with 900,000-year orbit lies a trillion kilometers from its sun

• David Szondy
• January 25, 2016
• 4 PICTURES

In an astronomical astronomical discovery, scientists have identified what's believed to be the widest known planetary system. Situated about 104 light years from Earth, a planet that could be 15 times the size of Jupiter is in a 900,000-year orbit at a mind-boggling distance of 1 trillion km from its parent star – that's 7,000 times the distance of the Earth from the Sun.
The focus of studies by British, American, and Australian scientists, 2MASS J2126 was discovered in an infrared sky survey. Initial findings allowed astronomers to estimate the object's age, which in turn allowed them to determine its mass. It's mass was too low to be a failed star, so it was at first thought to be a free-floating planet. That is, a planet that isn't part of a star system, but floats like a cosmic orphan through interstellar space.

Goodbye ground control: Nanosatellites achieve first autonomous orbital maneuver

• David Szondy
• January 25, 2016

One of the advantages of bread loaf-sized nanosatellites is their potential to act as a swarm that can equal the power of a single larger satellite, but with more flexibility and at lower cost. Deep Space Industries has taken a major step in that direction in a successful test involving two autonomous Canadian satellites, which carried out the first orbital maneuver without human supervision.

 

[ScienceRocks]

EPIC210957318b and EPIC212110888b: two inflated hot-Jupiters around Solar-type stars
[1601.07635] EPIC210957318b and EPIC212110888b: two inflated hot-Jupiters around Solar-type stars

EPIC211089792 b: an aligned and inflated hot jupiter in a young visual binary
[1601.07680] EPIC211089792 b: an aligned and inflated hot jupiter in a young visual binary

Confirmation of Two Hot Jupiters from K2 Campaign 4
[1601.07844] Confirmation of Two Hot Jupiters from K2 Campaign 4


A Neptune-sized Exoplanet Consistent with a Pure Rock Composition
[1601.07608] A Neptune-sized Exoplanet Consistent with a Pure Rock Composition

We report the discovery of BD+20594b, a Neptune-sized exoplanet consistent with a pure rock composition, made using photometry from Campaign 4 of the two-wheeled Kepler (K2) mission. The host star is a bright (V=11.04, Ks=9.37), slightly metal poor ([Fe/H]=−0.15±0.05 dex) solar analogue located at 152.1+9.7−7.4 pc from Earth, for which we find a radius of R∗=0.928+0.055−0.040R⊙ and a mass of M∗=0.961+0.032−0.029M⊙. A joint analysis of the K2 photometry and HARPS radial velocities reveal that the planet is in a ≈42 day orbit around its host star, has a radius of 2.23+0.14−0.11R⊕, and a mass of 16.3+6.0−6.1M⊕. The data at hand are most consistent with a pure rock composition with a low volatile content, potentially making it a rare exception among Neptune-sized exoplanets discovered so far.

Statistics of Long Period Gas Giant Planets in Known Planetary Systems
[1601.07595] Statistics of Long Period Gas Giant Planets in Known Planetary Systems

We conducted a Doppler survey at Keck combined with NIRC2 K-band AO imaging to search for massive, long-period companions to 123 known exoplanet systems with one or two planets detected using the radial velocity (RV) method. Our survey is sensitive to Jupiter mass planets out to 20 AU for a majority of stars in our sample, and we report the discovery of eight new long-period planets, in addition to 20 systems with statistically significant RV trends indicating the presence of an outer companion beyond 5 AU. We combine our RV observations with AO imaging to determine the range of allowed masses and orbital separations for these companions, and account for variations in our sensitivity to companions among stars in our sample. We estimate the total occurrence rate of companions in our sample to be 52 +/- 5% over the range 1 - 20 M_Jup and 5 - 20 AU. Our data also suggest a declining frequency for gas giant planets in these systems beyond 3-10 AU, in contrast to earlier studies that found a rising frequency for giant planets in the range 0.01-3 AU. This suggests either that the frequency of gas giant planets peaks between 3-10 AU, or that outer companions in these systems have a different semi-major axis distribution than the overall gas giant planet population. Our results also suggest that hot gas giants may be more likely to have an outer companion than cold gas giants. We find that planets with an outer companion have higher average eccentricities than their single counterparts, suggesting that dynamical interactions between planets may play an important role in these systems.

Giant gas cloud boomeranging back into Milky Way
Since astronomers discovered the Smith Cloud, a giant gas cloud plummeting toward the Milky Way, they have been unable to determine its composition, which would hold clues as to its origin. University of Notre Dame astrophysicist ...

 

[ScienceRocks]

SpaceX completes successful test of parachutes for manned Dragon capsule
SpaceX completes successful test of parachutes for manned Dragon capsule | ExtremeTech

As SpaceX tries to perfect reusable rockets, it’s also working on another important project — manned spaceflight. SpaceX and Boeing are both part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to fly manned missions between Earth and the International Space Station. Sending unmanned cargo modules to the station is one thing, but there are a lot of test that need to be completed before any people will be climbing into the Dragon v2 capsule. SpaceX has accomplished an important milestone objective with the successful test of Dragon’s parachute system.

The design of the Dragon v2 isn’t completely final, and this test was only focused on the effectiveness and reliability of the parachutes. Thus, it’s not a Dragon spacecraft tethered to the parachutes — that’s a “weight simulant” that stands in for a fully loaded crew module. Four parachutes were rigged to the mock spacecraft to slow its descent just as they would the real thing.

Fungi survive on the ISS under Mars-like conditions

• Chris Wood
• January 29, 2016

Results are back from one of the latest experiments hosted on the International Space Station (ISS), with researchers from Spain's National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) using the facility to study how hardy fungi species, collected from the Antarctic, cope under simulated Martian conditions. The results are helping scientists gain insights relevant to the search for life on the Red Planet.

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Image: Pluto's widespread water ice
Data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft point to more prevalent water ice on Pluto's surface than previously thought.

 

[ScienceRocks]

A new @NASA office aims to protect us all from Earth-menacing space rocks http://oak.ctx.ly/r/48vyq

Pluto is icier than we thought: http://oak.ctx.ly/r/48wa1 @NASANewHorizons

Violent Impact That Created Moon Mixed Lunar and Earth Rocks http://oak.ctx.ly/r/48v56

Ancient Babylonian astronomers were about 1,500 years ahead of their time: http://oak.ctx.ly/r/48sgt #Jupiter

 

[ScienceRocks]

Pluto might have icebergs that float in frozen nitrogen

By Rachel Feltman February 4 at 2:39 PM

Pluto is weird. Good weird, but definitely weird. The latest findings from NASA's New Horizons mission help confirm that beautiful weirdness: According to the latest scientific analysis of photos and data from the July flyby, Pluto is home to rock-hard glaciers made of water ice (note: planetary scientists use the terms "water ice" or "frozen water" instead of the more obvious "ice," because ice on other planets can be made of all sorts of molecules other than good old H2O).

These water ice glaciers float around on frozen nitrogen, which is much more common on the frigid dwarf planet. Because of the temperature on Pluto (minus-380 degrees Fahrenheit, on average), water ice glaciers are likely as hard as mountains made of rock are on Earth. Meanwhile, nitrogen – which doesn't even freeze until it hits minus-346 degrees – is icy but flowing, like glaciers on Earth.

That water ice may be hard as rock, but it's still less dense than frozen nitrogen. NASA scientists believe the water ice hills break apart and are carried atop the nitrogen flows, causing them to move in chains and cluster together based on the flow pattern.

In some areas of Sputnik Planum (an informal name for the plains of ice flows that sit in Pluto's "heart") these water ice mountain clusters span 12 miles across.

The informally named Challenger Colles (a tribute to the lost crew of NASA's Challenger shuttle), which is 22 miles by 37 miles across, could be a cluster of "beached" water ice mountains shoved into place by the nitrogen flows, according to the mission scientists.

-snip-

Read more: Pluto might have icebergs that float in frozen nitrogen



NASA's Juno spacecraft completes Jupiter rendezvous burn

http://www.gizmag.co...-jupiter/41679/

Anthony Wood
February 4, 2016

NASA's Juno spacecraft has successfully completed a maneuver designed to fine tune its orbit around the Sun, preparing it for a rendezvous with Jupiter in just over five months' time. The probe will be required to undertake one further burn on May 31 in order to complete the fine-tuning of its trajectory

Asteroid mining initiative announced by Luxembourg

The Luxembourg government yesterday announced a series of measures to position the country as a European hub in the exploration and use of space resources. Amongst the key steps undertaken will be the development of a legal and regulatory framework that provides certainty about the future ownership of minerals extracted from Near Earth Objects (NEO's), such as asteroids.

http://www.futuretim...g/2016/02/4.htm

A Distant Supermassive Black Hole Emits Giant “Death Rays” Larger Than Our Galaxy

Astronomers have released a new X-ray/radio composite image of the distant galaxy Pictor A, showing a huge jet of high-energy particles produced by a supermassive black hole. They were also able to determine how this jet, over three times the size of the Milky Way galaxy, produces such powerful X-ray emissions.

 

[ScienceRocks]

NASA tests solar sail deployment for asteroid-surveying CubeSat NEA Scout

9 February 2016

Progress continues on the journey to Mars as NASA plans to send astronauts deeper into space than ever before, including to an asteroid and ultimately to the surface of Mars. Before humans embark on the journey, the agency will survey an asteroid to learn about the risks and challenges asteroids may pose to future human explorers.

One way NASA will do this is by performing a reconnaissance flyby of an asteroid with Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout. NEA Scout - a CubeSat, or small satellite - will launch as a secondary payload on the inaugural flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the world's most powerful rocket, scheduled to launch in 2018. Information gained from NEA Scout's flyby will enhance the agency's understanding of asteroids and their environments and will help reduce risk for future exploration of asteroids and small planetary bodies.

http://www.spacedail..._Scout_999.html

SpaceX is Kicking Production Into High Gear

At the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Conference, SpaceXannounced that they will be shifting their focus from the testing and development of Falcon 9rocket cores towards mass production.



That’s right, we are about to have a slew of SpaceX rockets on our hands.

Site of Martian lakes linked to ancient habitable environment


10 February 2016

Groundwater circulation beneath a massive tectonic rift zone located along the flanks of some the solar system's largest volcanic plateaus resulted in the formation more than 3 billion years ago of some the deepest basins on Mars, according to a new paper by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist J. Alexis Palmero Rodriguez.

These basins could have been episodically covered, perhaps during hundreds of millions of years, by lava and water lakes that were discharged from subsurface pressurized sources, Rodriguez writes in "Groundwater Flow Induced Collapse and Flooding in Noctis Labyrinthus, Mars" that appears in Planetary and Space Science.

This shows an area on Mars that could possibly have harbored life.

http://www.marsdaily...onment_999.html

 

[ScienceRocks]

Spacex planning to launch every 2 to 3 weeks and achieve 70% landing success rate in 2016

Elon Musk is confident about Spacex's ability to land rockets in 2016 and he predicted a 70% success rate for the year. If all goes as planned, Spacex will achieve a launch rate of once every two to three weeks, according to a recent comment from SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell. Spacex is transforming its rocket factory. It is going...

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Proto-planet has two masters
A Rice University researcher will discuss images that may show the formation of a planet—or a planetary system—around a distant binary star at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science ...

 

[ScienceRocks]

First Ever SuperEarth Atmosphere Detected --"It's Carbon Rich and a Very Exotic Place" http://goo.gl/LyslTG

First detection of super-earth atmosphere

For the first time astronomers were able to analyse the atmosphere of an exoplanet in the class known as super-Earths. Using data gathered with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and new analysis techniques, the exoplanet ...

Astronomers detect five new 'hot Jupiters'

(Phys.org)—Giant exoplanets, like the so-called 'hot Jupiters' that are similar in characteristics to the solar system's biggest planet and orbit very close to their host stars, are excellent targets for astronomers in ...

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hubble directly measures rotation of cloudy 'super-Jupiter'

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have measured the rotation rate of an extreme exoplanet by observing the varied brightness in its atmosphere. This is the first measurement of the rotation of a massive exoplanet ...

Longest-lasting stellar eclipse discovered

Imagine living on a world where, every 69 years, the sun disappears in a near-total eclipse that lasts for three and a half years.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Virgin Galactic unveils new SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity

• David Szondy
• February 19, 2016
• 8 PICTURES

Over a year after a fatal test flight accident, Virgin Galactic is back as CEO Sir Richard Branson today unveiled the new spacecraft that will replace the ill-fated SpaceShipTwo, Virgin Spaceship (VSS) Enterprise. Sporting a new silver and white livery and pulled by a Land Rover Autobiography, the new vehicle was wheeled out before an invited audience and named VSS Unity by Professor Stephen Hawking via a recorded message.

NASA forges ahead with next major space telescope

• David Szondy
• February 20, 2016

NASA is moving forward with plans for its next big eye in the sky: the Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST). Scheduled to fly in the mid-2020s – after the 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope – the new orbital instrument will have a field of view 100 times bigger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, but with the same power.

Photonic Laser Propulsion to send a 100 kg vehicle to Mars in 3 days and to get to wafercraft to 30% of the speed of light by 2035

Philip Lubin describes his appraoch to achieving laser driving spacecraft propulsion in the near term 100kg robotic craft could be sent to Mars in 3 days 1kg could go overnight to Mars 50-100 GW could send a wafercraft to 30% of the speed of light and i would involve 10 minutes A system that is about 100 times the mass of the space station...

Reaching the newly discovered Planet 9 which is about 18 times farther than Pluto

Adam Crowl has a great series of article about space missions to the newly discovered super-earth or Neptune like Planet 9. Power, Distance and Time are inextricably linked in rocketry 1. An important concept is the Power-to-Mass ratio or specific power – units being kilowatts per kilogram (kW/kg). Any power source produces raw energy,...

Pluto's moon Charon used to have a subsurface ocean

Images from NASA’s New Horizons mission suggest that Pluto’s moon Charon once had a subsurface ocean that has long since frozen and expanded, pushing outward and causing the moon’s surface to stretch and fracture on a massive scale. The side of Pluto’s largest moon viewed by NASA’s passing New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 is characterized...

New research explores asteroid deflection using spacecraft to crash into body at high speeds

Asteroids headed for a collision with the Earth, if found early enough, can be acted upon to prevent the potentially devastating consequences of an impact. One technique to divert an asteroid, called kinetic impact, uses ...

 

[sealybobo]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Where's the money to come from? Oh yeah it's all Obama's fault. How about taking a few billion from the military's 700b.? After all with a Nasa budget of around 17b, 2 or 3b would be a real shot in the arm.Congress got the will to do that? Do you Sarge?

"A NASA authorization bill drafted by the Republican majority of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology proposes to slash NASA's funding to $16.6 billion for 2014 — $300 million less than it received in 2013, and $1.1 billion less than President Obama requested for NASA in 2014. The bill — which authorizes spending levels but provides no actual funding — would roll back NASA’s funding to a level $1.2 billion less than its 2012 budget."

LINK: Space.com

2aguy is on another thread trying to make the same argument that liberals hate space travel.

Clearly the corporations must be eyeballing this and seeing how they can make a fortune ripping us off in space and here

 

[ScienceRocks]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Where's the money to come from? Oh yeah it's all Obama's fault. How about taking a few billion from the military's 700b.? After all with a Nasa budget of around 17b, 2 or 3b would be a real shot in the arm.Congress got the will to do that? Do you Sarge?

"A NASA authorization bill drafted by the Republican majority of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology proposes to slash NASA's funding to $16.6 billion for 2014 — $300 million less than it received in 2013, and $1.1 billion less than President Obama requested for NASA in 2014. The bill — which authorizes spending levels but provides no actual funding — would roll back NASA’s funding to a level $1.2 billion less than its 2012 budget."

LINK: Space.com

2aguy is on another thread trying to make the same argument that liberals hate space travel.

Clearly the corporations must be eyeballing this and seeing how they can make a fortune ripping us off in space and here

I've given up. I love exploration and seeing this nation leading in science but that is coming to a end. Maybe I'll personally watch China do these things as we go backwards.

 

[sealybobo]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Where's the money to come from? Oh yeah it's all Obama's fault. How about taking a few billion from the military's 700b.? After all with a Nasa budget of around 17b, 2 or 3b would be a real shot in the arm.Congress got the will to do that? Do you Sarge?

"A NASA authorization bill drafted by the Republican majority of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology proposes to slash NASA's funding to $16.6 billion for 2014 — $300 million less than it received in 2013, and $1.1 billion less than President Obama requested for NASA in 2014. The bill — which authorizes spending levels but provides no actual funding — would roll back NASA’s funding to a level $1.2 billion less than its 2012 budget."

LINK: Space.com

2aguy is on another thread trying to make the same argument that liberals hate space travel.

Clearly the corporations must be eyeballing this and seeing how they can make a fortune ripping us off in space and here

I've given up. I love exploration and seeing this nation leading in science but that is coming to a end. Maybe I'll personally watch China do these things as we go backwards.

I like the idea of an international space project. Yes, let's partner with China. You don't go to war with your partners.

 

[sealybobo]

China wouldn't even have to pay. We'll just take it off the money we owe them.

 

[sealybobo]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Where's the money to come from? Oh yeah it's all Obama's fault. How about taking a few billion from the military's 700b.? After all with a Nasa budget of around 17b, 2 or 3b would be a real shot in the arm.Congress got the will to do that? Do you Sarge?

"A NASA authorization bill drafted by the Republican majority of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology proposes to slash NASA's funding to $16.6 billion for 2014 — $300 million less than it received in 2013, and $1.1 billion less than President Obama requested for NASA in 2014. The bill — which authorizes spending levels but provides no actual funding — would roll back NASA’s funding to a level $1.2 billion less than its 2012 budget."

LINK: Space.com

2aguy is on another thread trying to make the same argument that liberals hate space travel.

Clearly the corporations must be eyeballing this and seeing how they can make a fortune ripping us off in space and here

I've given up. I love exploration and seeing this nation leading in science but that is coming to a end. Maybe I'll personally watch China do these things as we go backwards.

Nope! Did you just see Stephen hawkin on ABC news? They have this spaceship the size of a computer chip that might be able to do interstellar travel. And he believes the must be other intelligent life in other star systems. Send 20,000 of those things out to every direction. I guess they can travel really fast

 

[Votto]

Progs, the reason aliens hide from us.

 

[sealybobo]

You are aware of course that Obama with support of the Democrats stripped NASA of anyway to reach orbit or space? We must hire private enterprise to deliver materials to the space station and must use Russia to send people into space.

We have no space vehicle and no plans to make another. Ohh did I mention that Obama and the democrats cut NASA's budget to the bone?

Where's the money to come from? Oh yeah it's all Obama's fault. How about taking a few billion from the military's 700b.? After all with a Nasa budget of around 17b, 2 or 3b would be a real shot in the arm.Congress got the will to do that? Do you Sarge?

"A NASA authorization bill drafted by the Republican majority of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology proposes to slash NASA's funding to $16.6 billion for 2014 — $300 million less than it received in 2013, and $1.1 billion less than President Obama requested for NASA in 2014. The bill — which authorizes spending levels but provides no actual funding — would roll back NASA’s funding to a level $1.2 billion less than its 2012 budget."

LINK: Space.com

2aguy is on another thread trying to make the same argument that liberals hate space travel.

Clearly the corporations must be eyeballing this and seeing how they can make a fortune ripping us off in space and here

I've given up. I love exploration and seeing this nation leading in science but that is coming to a end. Maybe I'll personally watch China do these things as we go backwards.

Basically a space probe on a microchip with a sail propelled by a laser. They can reach alpha centauri in 20 years. They travel 1/5 the speed of light.

Each space probe costs as much as an iPhone.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Progs, the reason aliens hide from us.

Cavemen like you liberterians are probably why. WE're not ready.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Stephen Hawking and Billionaire Team Up on $100 Million Quest to Find Alien Life

Source: ABC NEWS

Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner are teaming up in a $100 million hunt for alien life that will rely on a fleet of postage stamp-sized spacecraft to explore the universe.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will also join Milner and Hawking on the board of Breakthrough Starshot, a philanthropic initiative to focus on space exploration and the search for life in the universe.

Astronomers believe an Earth-like planet could exist within the "habitable zones" of Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, located 25 trillion miles (or 4.37 light-years) away.

Each nanocraft would carry cameras, photon thrusters, power supplies, navigation and communication equipment, and the newly engineered "lightsail," which would propel each probe. If a single nanocraft makes it to Alpha Centauri after a 20-year journey, it would take an additional four years to transmit that information back to Earth.

Read more: Stephen Hawking and Billionaire on the Hunt for Alien Life

Damn, this is impressive if this can carry all the tools on a postage stamp!