Exomoons

Seekers of life in the universe are beginning to look for exomoons-- moons of exoplanets.

Such moons could help stabilize climates on the larger world, as Earth's Moon does, thus making it easier for life to arise on the exoplanet, or possibly harbor life themselves.

Cislunar Outpost

NASA wants an outpost in space in the vicinity of the Moon, and a team at Locheed is looking at using its Orion capsule to establish one.

Such a manned outpost could control rovers on the lunar surface, perform life science research, and test technologies for a Mars ship.

Weird Music

A report came out this weekend that the Apollo 10 crew heard "weird music" while flying over the far side of the Moon, and thus cut off from Earth transmissions.

NASA still has no explanation for the incident.

Astronaut Application

NASA announced yesterday it has received more than 18,000 applications for its next astronaut class.

It's by far the most for a single class ever, smashing the previous record of about 8.000 in 1982.

Virgin Galactic Returns

Virgin Galactic intends to resume test flights of its SpaceShipTwo today.

The flights have been halted since October 2014 when an accident killed one pilot and badly injured another.

Photonic Propulsiom

On the technological horizon for NASA is photonic propulsion, a rocket that uses electromagnetic force rather than chemical reactions.

Photonic propulsion would reach relativistic speeds, allowing three day trips to Mars and making interstellar flight possible.

Boeing Commercial

A Boeing television commercial now showing predicts a thriving community on Mars and Earth being powered by solar power satellites by 2116.  It also depicts space elevators.

It's a vision worth pursuing.