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Planetary Society Explores Role of Private Funding in Space Exploration

Planetary Society Explores Role of Private Funding in Space Exploration

The Planetary Society is examining the increasing role of private funding in space exploration. Casey Dreier, the chief of space policy for The Planetary Society, discussed this topic with Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA, on the 'Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition' podcast. Their conversation delved into MacDonald’s book, 'The Long Space Age,' which provides a historical perspective on private sector involvement in space. This discussion highlights a growing trend where private entities are contributing significantly to space missions and research, raising questions about the balance between public and private investment in this field. The Planetary Society emphasizes that exploration is inherent to human nature, as quoted by Carl Sagan.

Blue Origin Wins NASA Mars Communications Contract, Rocket Lab Files Protest

Blue Origin Wins NASA Mars Communications Contract, Rocket Lab Files Protest

NASA has awarded Blue Origin a contract, potentially worth up to $700 million, to build and operate its next communications relay at Mars. This decision, announced on September 1, has been met with a formal protest from Rocket Lab, an unsuccessful bidder, filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on September 11. Blue Origin is tasked with designing, developing, integrating, launching, and operating the Mars Telecommunications Network (MTN), with a high-performance telecommunications orbiter due by December 31, 2028, and expected to be operational at Mars by 2030. The spacecraft, based on Blue Origin's Blue Ring platform, is intended to relay science data, imagery, navigation information, and critical communications for Mars missions. Rocket Lab's protest alleges that NASA's selection is inconsistent with statutory eligibility criteria and that the agency conducted an inconsistent and punitive review of its technical proposal.

IBM and NASA Release Open-Source AI Model to Support Lunar Exploration

IBM and NASA Release Open-Source AI Model to Support Lunar Exploration

IBM and NASA have announced the open-source release of the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model, a significant advancement in the scientific exploration of the Moon. This model, one of the first publicly available foundation models for lunar science, was trained using an extensive dataset of lunar observations curated by researchers from both IBM and NASA. Its primary purpose is to help scientists convert decades of complex, multi-instrument data into actionable insights, which will support the establishment of a sustained human presence on the Moon. The model is designed to accelerate scientific progress by identifying hidden relationships within various types and resolutions of lunar data. It can investigate phenomena such as potential lunar ice deposits, the Moon's volcanic history, and crater detection, offering improved accuracy and efficiency compared to previous methods. Kevin Murphy, chief science data officer and acting chief data and AI officer at NASA Headquarters, emphasized that the model makes dat...

UTMB Establishes Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine, Appoints Dr. Ronak V. Shah as Chair

UTMB Establishes Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine, Appoints Dr. Ronak V. Shah as Chair

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) has announced the establishment of a new Department of Aerospace and Exploration Medicine within its School of Public and Population Health. Dr. Ronak V. Shah, DO, MBA, MPH, has been appointed as the inaugural chair of this new department. This move elevates the former Aerospace Medicine Division to departmental status, signaling an expanded focus on research, discovery, and innovation in the field. The addition of 'Exploration' to the department's name reflects the evolving nature of human exploration into increasingly complex and extreme environments, and UTMB's commitment to addressing the associated health challenges. Dr. Shah, who has been with UTMB since 2012 and directed the Aerospace Medicine Division since February 2022, brings extensive experience from his decade of clinical, operational, and research work supporting NASA programs.

The Columbus Dispatch

Astronaut Donn Eisele went from Columbus' West Side to piloting Apollo 7

Astronaut Donn Eisele went from Columbus' West Side to piloting Apollo 7

Columbus-born astronaut Donn Eisele was key to the Apollo 7 flight crew, but mission tensions and personal struggles made him a forgotten hero.

IBM just placed two very different tech bets in one day

IBM just placed two very different tech bets in one day

Two partnerships. Two industries. One company quietly expanding its reach in ways investors should notice.

NASA Announces Winners of Artemis II Data Methodology Challenge for Human Spaceflight Research

NASA Announces Winners of Artemis II Data Methodology Challenge for Human Spaceflight Research

NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) has announced the winners of its Artemis II Human Research Data Methodology Challenge. This public competition sought innovative methods to draw rigorous conclusions from the small, information-dense datasets characteristic of human spaceflight research. With only four crew members on missions like Artemis II, data is limited, yet each astronaut is measured across numerous physiological variables over time. The challenge asked entrants to design methodologies capable of extracting trustworthy, decision-ready insights from such small-sample, high-dimensional data. Praniil Nagaraj from Purdue University secured first place with a 'Transfer-Calibrated Normative Modeling' approach, treating the Artemis II challenge as a high-resolution case series. Other top winners included Estrella (Star) Perez, Waste Parrot Technologies, OJ Ochiai, and Ismael AL-Hadhrami, each proposing unique Bayesian or AI-driven frameworks to analyze complex physiological data.

Gemini 11’s Crewed Earth-Orbit Altitude Record Stood Until 2024

Gemini 11’s Crewed Earth-Orbit Altitude Record Stood Until 2024

Gemini 11, NASA's ninth crewed mission, marked a significant milestone in space exploration, pushing the boundaries of human presence in Earth orbi...

French President Macron Calls for 'Shared Governance' of Space at Paris Summit

French President Macron Calls for 'Shared Governance' of Space at Paris Summit

French President Emmanuel Macron advocated for 'shared governance' of outer space during the International Space Summit in Paris. He emphasized that outer space is a major global commons lacking adequate regulations to address current challenges. Macron highlighted the fragility of Europe's space sector and urged European nations to collaborate in developing joint sovereign space capabilities, including a crewed spaceflight program within a decade. He announced approximately €20 billion in investments for Europe's space industry. The call for increased European autonomy in space comes in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which underscored the critical role and potential vulnerabilities associated with services like Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), stressed the daily utilization of satellites as critical infrastructure for citizens. The United States remains a global leader in the space sector, with NASA's Arte...

New Study Suggests Mercury is Shrinking Faster Than Previously Estimated

New Study Suggests Mercury is Shrinking Faster Than Previously Estimated

Recent scientific analysis indicates that Mercury, the solar system's smallest and innermost planet, may be shrinking at a rate 30% greater than earlier models predicted. This new research, conducted by scientists from the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Space Research and led by Gaku Nishiyama, suggests Mercury's diameter could have decreased by as much as 14 miles since its formation 4.5 billion years ago. The planet's hot iron core cools and contracts, causing the mantle and crust to tighten. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, posits that Mercury's rough surface, constantly reshaped by impact craters, might have obscured the full extent of this contraction. By comparing maps of faults and other geological signs of contraction with newer maps highlighting surface roughness, researchers found that the roughest areas showed fewer shrinkage wrinkles, which they believe could be buried under impact debris. This updated understanding is based on measurements from NASA’s M...

NASA and IBM Launch Open-Source AI Model for Lunar Exploration

NASA and IBM Launch Open-Source AI Model for Lunar Exploration

NASA and IBM have launched an open-source Artificial Intelligence (AI) model, named the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model, designed to support future moon explorations under NASA’s Artemis program. The model, made publicly available on the collaborative AI platform Hugging Face, was trained using decades of lunar observation data curated by IBM and NASA researchers. This AI model aims to provide critical insights to advance human presence on the moon. Historically, scientists manually analyzed maps and images from various instruments, or used low-resolution machine learning models for specific tasks. The new foundation model is intended to streamline this process by identifying data patterns at scale across different instruments and has shown to outperform existing methods by up to 23% in identifying key lunar geographic features such as craters, volcanic formations, and potential ice deposits.

IBM, NASA launch AI model to help map ice, craters on Moon

IBM, NASA launch AI model to help map ice, craters on Moon

Sept 10 (Reuters) - IBM and NASA on Thursday released an open-source AI model designed to help scientists analyze decades of lunar observation data and support plans for a sustained human presence on the Moon.