Important Innovations

  NASA Will Pay Thousands for Moon Dirt and Moon Rocks Source:  Moon stock image  Moon Commercial Exploration About to Expand NASA wants to mine the Moon. And to do so, it just announced that it's looking for companies to do lunar mining.  This is a bold bid by NASA to start the commercial development of the Moon.  The initial purpose is to help US astronauts establish permanent bases on the Moon and "live off the land".  And, then for NASA to move forward to Mars where astronauts would need to live off the resources available there. The new program to find valuable resources on the Moon and later Mars is part of NASA's Artemis Project and it is open to international companies. International Companies Encouraged to Participate NASA is looking for private companies, that are already part of space explorations, to collect rocks and dirt from the lunar surface and sell them to NASA, as part of a technology development project.  NASA Administrator Jim Brid...

Who Owns Commercial Rights in Space? Planet Snatchers Source:  NASA Russia & US Intergalactic War of Words This could be a script for a new George Lucas  "Star Wars" movie. But it's not science fiction.   It's the latest global news on space and it's a big fight. The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos has accused President Donald Trump of creating a basis for  snatching planets.  At issue is an Executive Order the President just signed detailing US policy on commercial mining in space.  From Russia's perspective, the Executive Order slams the concept that space is  the property of all of humanity. At Stake - Intergalactic Money in Trillions of Dollars Experts believe that the mineral deposits that space  contains could be worth trillions of dollars.  Mr. Trump's Order states that the US will negotiate bilateral and multilateral statements and agreements on "safe and sustainable operations for t...

Starliner Manned Flight to International Space Station Source:  Boeing Starliner Boeing and NASA Commercial Astronauts At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a veteran team of astronauts are training for the trip of a lifetime.  They'll be launched into space onboard Boeing's new spacecraft Starliner to the International Space Station.  The Starliner is a next generation space capsule designed to take people to and from low Earth orbit. For Boeing, NASA is the anchor company for Starliner, beginning with missions to the ISS with NASA and NASA sponsored crews.  The space vehicle will eventually take tourists on space voyages. Launch Time The Starliner mission will launch in late 2019 or in early 2020.  The five person crew, two women and three men, are Boeing and NASA veteran astronauts.  This mission underscores the importance of the growing commercial business opportunities in space.  You might call it an intergalactic global business fron...

International Commercial Launches India's PSLV India in Space India's PSLV - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle - is going to put into orbit 2, foreign satellites on September 16.  The satellites are both from the United Kingdom.  They are the NovaSAR and the S14.  The launch underscores India's growing importance in the exploration and commercialization of space. Innovation Hub India is a global force in breakthrough innovation and it's becoming a growing leader in the race to space.  It just finalized an agreement with France to partner on technology and space medicine for the manned space flights that India is planning. UK Launch and Mission The launch of the 2 satellites is for commercial purposes.  The satellites belong to Surry Satellite Technologies of the UK.  They are earth observation satellites.  Their mission in space is to map forests, land use and ice cover.  They will also monitor flooding and any other disasters.