Short Takes – 10-15-25 – Space Geek Edition

Blue Origin rolls out powerful New Glenn rocket for testing ahead of Mars launch. Space.com article. Pull quote: “Mission number two is an operational flight: It will send the two ESCAPADE ("Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers") orbiters rocketing toward the Red Planet, where they will study the Martian atmosphere and how it is affected by the solar wind and space weather.”

How one scientist's wide-eyed dream of giant space cities was crushed by reality. Space.com article. Pull quote: “The 1970s concept of space habitats is a demonstration of the vision that we once had in our technology and in ourselves, a vision that in the intervening years seems to have left us. From the vantage point of the 1970s, the 21st century was to be a far-flung time of hope and riches and technological wonders. Yet today, in the real 21st century of war amid growing authoritarianism and sectarianism, and environmental catastrophe, we are left to ask: Did we fail the future, or did the future fail us?”

Opening lines of communications for space safety. TheSpaceReview.com article. Pull quote: “The common ground among American and Chinese companies on the need for better communications among satellite operators, and a new Chinese willingness to discuss conjunctions with Western operators, show that perhaps there is an ability for countries to talk with each other on critical space topics, rather than talk past each other on a convention hall stage.”

The history and future of the spacesuit: What NASA’s next astronauts will wear to travel in space. Creators.Yahoo.com article. Pull quote: “The Apollo suits weighed over 200 pounds, that's on Earth. It was only 35 pounds on the Moon, which means that that suit would weigh about 80 pounds on Mars. That would severely limit the astronauts' abilities. Even the most fit astronaut, taking samples and squatting in an 80-pound suit is extremely taxing. I'm trying to look at the rocks, and it's really, really hard. They have similar needs for radiation and temperature protection and things like that. In my opinion, a great way to start would be, let's get a suit for Mars, because that would probably work on the Moon.””