Everything You Wanted to Know About BEAM but Were Afraid to Ask

Humanity’s first human-habitable inflatable spaceship, (or as those in the industry prefer to call it, “expandable” spacecraft), is soon to launch off-world. Tucked inside a Dragon cargo transport‘s “trunk” and perched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, this momentous departure targets the International Space Station (ISS) and is slated to occur today. The precious expandable […]

Recalling Dr. Edgar Mitchell

We recently lost one of humanity’s pioneers – one of twelve to step on another world and a man who made a distinct impact on me, though in an unexpected way. Famous for his belief in extraterrestrial life and dabbling in the science of consciousness and extrasensory perception, he is most widely known for […]

What the world thinks spacecraft scientists/engineers do…

Well, ramping up to the birth of our second child, (daughter Sloane on 08/05/14!), I’ve been completely absorbed by family by night and the incredible clip at work at Bigelow Aerospace by day. -And amidst it all, I’ll admit that there is a visceral seduction in the elbow-grease-saturated chaos. So, with this in mind, during […]

Treatise: Abandoning OldSpace’s Conceit

Space Exploration is suffering an identity crisis. Like atmospheric flight before it, space exploration is evolving to include a spectrum of public and private participants, motivations, and goals. However, even amongst space enthusiasts and professionals, there is much (mostly friendly – I’ll get to that) debate regarding just what exactly it is that qualifies as […]

The Antimatter Plot Thickens…

I realize it’s been egregiously silent here at the Astrowright blog for some time. Apparently, I am not immune to the same disappointing (as a reader) dry spells experienced in/by so many other blogs I’ve followed during the years. (With grad school, teaching at CSN, my day-job working for DOE, a side-business or two in flux, moonlighting the occasional and […]

Why Support Human Spaceflight?

It seems that an eternal question plagues conversations about the future of commercial or governmental spaceflight: “To man (a spacecraft), or not to man?” -This query is one I am often posed when I reveal my own spaceflight ambitions. Many wonder why we bother with the incredible expense of sending humans off-world when critics argue that 1) […]

Remembering September 12, 1962

Exactly a half-century ago today, President John F. Kennedy declared in a landmark speech America’s rationale for achieving the impossible: Going to the Moon. And it is in this speech, which we commemmorate on the day after another anniversary marked by such tragedy, in a social climate today burdened with so much loss, strife, and economic depression, […]

Arsenic-based life and Astrobiology

It’s been some time since the controvertial announcement that “arsenic-based life” had been discovered on planet Earth. With time, however, the less-sensational reality of the discovery has been made more clear, and I think it is sensible to review the current state of the research as it relates to the biochemistry of life and the idea of […]

Revisiting Schmitt’s National Space Exploration Administration

Nearly a year ago, famed geologist, former United States Senator, and former Apollo Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt recommended what to many was the utterly unthinkable: Dissolve NASA. To be frank, I agree with him. While to those who have paid even a passing visit to this blog, such an admission may seem completely counter-intuitive. But the reality […]

Telepresence, Androids, and Space Exploration

Our culture is replete with examples of androids and humanoid robots in space. From David in Ridley Scott’s brand-new film, Prometheus, to the iconic C-3PO in George Lucas’s Star Wars, androids and humanoid robots are often portrayed as our trusted servants and protectors, capable of tasks we ourselves cannot or will not perform. Further, the […]