A lot of Space News will be happening in 2018.

The biggest space missions and rocket launches we'll see in 2018

Next year is already overflowing with exciting missions to space. NASA is launching a new lander to Mars, as well as a spacecraft that will get closer to the Sun than ever before.

From article: (MARCH 2018: TESS LAUNCH

NASA’s next exoplanet-hunting spacecraft, TESS, is going up this year. Like the space agency’s Kepler probe, TESS will look for planets as they pass in front of distant stars and slightly dim the stars’ light. But TESS will study stars throughout the entire night sky, expanding Kepler’s limited range. The plan is for TESS to find the closest rocky exoplanets to Earth, so that astronomers can figure out the types of atmospheres these worlds have and if they can potentially host life. TESS’s launch is currently planned for no earlier than March and no later than June on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

APRIL – NOVEMBER: COMMERCIAL CREW TEST FLIGHTS

This year could be the first test of two vehicles that are part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the space agency’s initiative to launch astronauts on privately made spacecraft. Both SpaceX and Boeing have been developing capsules to carry passengers to the space station — the Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner, respectively. SpaceX is scheduled to do an uncrewed test flight of the Dragon capsule in April, followed by the first crewed flight test in August. Boeing is targeting August for an uncrewed flight of the Starliner and a crewed flight for November.

Many other commercial space companies will likely do big test flights of their own in 2018, too. Just before the end of 2017, Blue Origin pulled off another launch and landing of its New Shepard — a rocket designed to take paying customers to space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Testing should continue into the new year, and it’s possible test pilots will start flying on board the rocket in 2018.

MAY 5TH, 2018: LAUNCH OF NASA’S INSIGHT MARS LANDER

NASA’s InSight spacecraft is designed to land on the surface of Mars, where it will study the interior of the Red Planet and figure out how the world formed billions of years ago. The lander was originally supposed to launch in 2016, but the mission was delayed after a leak was spotted in one of the spacecraft’s instruments. Now the instrument, meant to analyze quakes on Mars, is fixed and the spacecraft is nearly ready for its trip. InSight’s launch on top of an Atlas V rocket is planned for sometime within a 30-day launch window that opens on May 5th. It should land on Mars around seven months later, on November 26th.

JULY 31ST – AUGUST 19TH: LAUNCH OF NASA’S PARKER SOLAR PROBE

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is being hailed as the first spacecraft that will “touch” the Sun, though it won’t actually plunge into the Sun’s surface. Instead, it’ll be a mere 3.9 million miles away from the solar surface, flying through the outer edges of the Sun’s atmosphere.

That will allow the spacecraft to study the origins of something called solar wind, streams of highly energetic particles that are ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere at super high speeds. Solar wind often zooms past Earth and can mess with our planet’s magnetic field, causing interference with our satellites and even our electrical grid. The Parker Solar Probe is meant to tell NASA how these particles get so sped up — a question that scientists have had for decades.

The probe is scheduled to launch on top of a Delta IV Heavy rocket sometime between July 31st and August 19th.

OCTOBER 2018: LAUNCH OF BEPICOLOMBO TO MERCURY

A new mission to Mercury, the least explored planet in our Solar System, is on the calendar: BepiColombo, a joint project between Europe and Japan, will send two spacecraft into orbit around the closest planet to the Sun. The spacecraft are set to launch combined on top of a European Ariane 5 rocket in October and will arrive at Mercury in 2025. Once in orbit, the two spacecraft will separate, with Europe taking control of one and Japan taking control of the other. Together, the two vehicles will analyze as much as possible about Mercury — from the planet’s magnetic field to its surface and interior.

NOVEMBER 26TH: INSIGHT LANDS ON MARS

After its journey through space, InSight will arrive at Mars and land on its surface on November 26th. But landing on the Red Planet is tough: Mars has a very thin atmosphere, which provides little cushion to slow incoming spacecraft. Many other Mars-bound spacecraft have come in too fast during landing attempts and created new craters on the planet’s surface, like Europe and Russia’s ExoMars lander did in 2016.

InSight will use a combination of parachutes and onboard engines to gently lower itself down to the Martian surface. The entire landing will last just seven minutes, and if it’s successful, the spacecraft will spend the next two years studying Mars and its interior.

JANUARY 1ST, 2019: NASA’S NEW HORIZONS FLIES BY A DISTANT ICY SPACE ROCK

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has been traveling even farther out into the Solar System after its encounter with Pluto in 2015. Early in the morning on New Year’s Day, the probe will fly by a small rock in the Kuiper Belt — the large cloud of icy bodies that orbit beyond Neptune. This is a first: no human crafts have ever visited one of these objects. New Horizons’ target is a rock dubbed 2014 MU69, though it’s possible that the object is actually two rocks orbiting close together. And the science team thinks the rock (or rocks) may even have a moon. We’ll know for sure when New Horizons flies by around 12:30AM ET on January 1st.)

Vitamin C has another benefit. Along with standard drugs, It helps cure people of TB.

Vitamin C Might Shorten Tuberculosis Treatment Time, Study Indicates

A new study has found that anti-tuberculosis drugs killed more bacteria in laboratory mice given a vitamin C supplement than those given drugs alone. If the findings hold up in human studies, the authors say, the result could be that there's a cheap, safe way to reduce the months-long treatment time for one of the world's leading killers.

From article, (Albert Einstein College of Medicine microbiologist William Jacobs and colleagues previously discovered by accident that antioxidants like vitamin C stopped TB bacteria in a test tube from becoming persisters.

"When we first discovered it, it was like, 'Wow! There's just so much we don't know yet. And wouldn't that be really cool if it really works,' " Jacobs said.

The study in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy said Jacobs and colleagues found that TB-infected mice treated with two standard drugs plus a high dose of vitamin C had roughly tenfold fewer bacteria in their lungs after several weeks than mice treated with drugs alone.

"It's not sterilization yet," he added, "but it's heading in that direction."

But will it work in people?

"The bottom line is that we don't know the answer," Jacobs acknowledged. "But I think what this study suggests is we should really go and [find out]."

Other experts not connected to the study agreed.)

Multiple, star system, exoplanet, discovery technique, devised. Could capture images of Earth size planets.

New Tech Could Help Astronomers See Planets Around Alpha Centauri

Technology in development could capture images from an Earth-size planet in the nearby Alpha Centauri system in the 2020s, new research suggests. The new technique, presented Dec. 15 at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in New Orleans, could also help researchers see exoplanets in other systems with more than one star.

From article, (Technology in development could capture images from an Earth-size planet in the nearby Alpha Centauri system in the 2020s, new research suggests. 

The new technique, presented Dec. 15 at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in New Orleans, could also help researchers see exoplanets in other systems with more than one star.

Although there's only one star in Earth's solar system, previous work found that two-thirds of so-called class G yellow dwarf stars (the group that includes our sun) are in multiple systems, or systems with two or more stars orbiting each other. Some known multiple systems are home to up to seven stars. [What Do We Know About Alpha Centauri?] Because multiple systems are common, they may be rich targets in the hunt for alien planets, according to Ruslan Belikov, an astrophysicist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, and his colleagues. For example, the sun's closest neighbor, the Alpha Centauri system, possesses three stars and potentially multiple planets, such as the Earth-size Proxima Centauri b.

To capture images of an exoplanet, astronomers typically employ an instrument known as a coronagraph, which blocks out its star's glaring light, thus letting them seeany faint light reflected off or emitted from that world. When researchers want to directly image an exoplanet in a system that has more than one star, light from a star's companion may drown out their view of the planet even after they block the first star's light.

Although scientists could conceivably use more than one coronagraph to block out the light from all the stars in a multiple system, tiny imperfections within the components of a telescope would inevitably cause light to leak through a coronagraph, Belikov said. "This light is only a small fraction of the original star's light but can still overwhelm planets, which are much fainter still," he told Space.com.Belikov and his colleagues have developed a way to get around that issue and image exoplanets in multiple-star systems. 

"We are developing the technology to search for Earth-like planets around other stars," Belikov said in an email. "If, when I was a kid, somebody told me that I would be doing this as an adult, I would not have believed it — in my mind, detecting Earth-like planets is 'Star Trek' science that rightly belongs in the 23rd century. But we are doing it now."

The new method the researchers have devised, known as the multi-star wavefront control, relies on deformable mirrors within telescopes that are used to bounce light from stars and planets onto sensors. These mirrors can alter the shape of their surfaces to correct for imperfections within the optical components of telescopes.

The new technique controls a deformable mirror "in a way that allows it to remove light from more than one star," Belikov said. The mirror can superimpose multiple shapes onto itself, each of which can factor out light from a star.

"It's a bit like when an audio speaker plays a symphony," Belikov said. "It uses its lower-frequency range to represent the cellos and the higher-frequency range to represent the violins. In our case, the cello would correspond to one star and the violin to the other."

A major advantage of this new system "is that it is compatible with many already-designed instruments," Belikov said. "A deformable mirror is all that's needed, which is almost always present with modern coronagraphs.")

Lithium Ion battery dying? An inventor has solved this problem. And if the technology is put into your next phone, or electric car, you won't have to buy a replacement battery.

NTU scientist's invention can restore phone's battery life

Poor batteries are the bane of smartphone users but a Singapore invention that could extend their life promises to be a game changer. It involves restoring a battery that has reduced capacity due to repeated use. This could take up to 10 hours but need only be done once every few years when the power flags.

From article, (Poor batteries are the bane of smartphone users but a Singapore invention that could extend their life promises to be a game changer.

It involves restoring a battery that has reduced capacity due to repeated use. This could take up to 10 hours but need only be done once every few years when the power flags.

Such a process could be revolutionary as lithium-ion batteries are widely used, from smartphones to laptops to electric vehicles, said Professor Rachid Yazami, an adjunct scientist at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), who devised the innovation.

Prof Yazami, a 64-year-old French-Moroccan, told The Straits Times at NTU last Thursday that its greatest potential would be in electric vehicles.

"People don't change their cars as often as they do smartphones - some would change a phone every two years, but you would want a car to last for more than 10 years," said Prof Yazami, who is also the chief executive of battery technology firm KVI that was set up under NTU.

He said the technology is also environmentally friendly as fewer batteries would need to be made and disposed of.

His idea garnered interest from some of the world's leading electronics manufacturers, including Apple, Panasonic and Samsung, when he presented it at the International Battery Seminar in the United States in March last year.

The invention requires adding a third electrode on top of the two poles in typical lithium batteries. This third component is used to drain the residual lithium-ions in one of the poles which causes battery decline. By doing so, the battery can be restored to up to 95 per cent of its original capacity.)

A new Lithium Ion battery (Lithium-Iron-Oxide battery) that should not work. But does. Has been created. It has 8 times the strength of current Lithium Ion batteries (Lithium-Cobalt-Oxide batteries). Meaning your electric car could go 8 times as far as now. Your cell phone will last 8 times as long as now.

This inexpensive battery could revolutionize the clean energy industry

Christopher Wolverton and his team of researchers at Northwestern University, in collaboration with a team of researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, have created a new lithium ion battery that shouldn't work. For starters, it uses iron, a material that has always failed when used in other batteries.

From article, (Christopher Wolverton and his team of researchers at Northwestern University, in collaboration with a team of researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, have created a new lithium ion battery that shouldn’t work. For starters, it uses iron, a material that has  always failed when used in other batteries. It also uses oxygen in a way scientists used to think would make batteries unusable.

Instead of producing another failing battery, Wolverton and Zhenpeng Yao, a PhD student in Wolverton’s laboratory, used computations to create a new formula that allows it to function. Specifically, they found the right balance of lithium, iron, and oxygen ions that enable the oxygen and iron to cause a chemical reaction that doesn’t result in the oxygen escaping, which would render the battery unstable.

In the end, their battery not only works, but it’s rechargeable, cheaper than traditional lithium-cobalt-oxide batteries — as iron is one of the cheapest elements on the planet, and cheaper than cobalt — and has a much higher energy capacity. It could one day be used in smartphones and electric vehicles, thereby boosting their capabilities. According to Wolverton, their new battery could keep phones powered eight times longer “or your car could drive eight times farther.”

The team’s inexpensive batteries could also help decrease the price of electric vehicles (EVs), putting them on par with gas-powered cars. We’ve seen that people are open to buying EVs, but for some, the price isn’t low enough yet, unless they buy used.

“If battery-powered cars can compete with or exceed gasoline-powered cars in terms of range and cost, that will change the world,” said Wolverton.

Wolverton and his team aren’t finished working on their battery. In fact, Wolverton has since filed a provisional patent with Northwestern’s Innovation and New Ventures Office. He and his team also intend to test other compounds and materials to see if their methods will continue to work. If so, we could see an even wider range of cheaper, more efficient batteries.)

Me, "I told you techies out there that Battery technology is advancing very fast. This is more proof." 

Is a Maglev train proposal between D.C. and Baltimore a White Elephant?

Enthusiasm for 'maglev' train between D.C., Baltimore mounts - as does opposition

Opponents of a proposal to build a high-speed train line that could make the trip between Washington and Baltimore in 15 minutes are asking state and federal officials to kill the project.

From article, (“Our infrastructure is old and straining. The car traffic is terrible. The rail infrastructure is 100 years old. And the airports are overcrowded. So we got to do something about it,” Rogers said. “We have to move on this today.”

Japanese media have reported that the nation’s government has offered $5 billion in financial backing for the Maryland line, while Central Japan Railway, the train operator, has said it will not charge any licensing fees for the technology. Northeast Maglev would have to raise the remainder from public and private sources, company officials said. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pitched the Washington-to-New York maglev as an opportunity to invest in infrastructure at a 
White House visit last February.

Maryland has since pursued grants for the project and has looked at other initiatives that could bring a high-speed transportation system to the state. Maryland recently gave conditional approval for construction of a tunnel from Baltimore to Washington as part of entrepreneur Elon Musk’s plans to build a super-high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop. Musk’s Boring Co. envisions tunnels that will cart goods and people underneath major cities in vacuum-sealed tubes at high speeds.

 Maglev proponents say while the Hyperloop remains a concept, maglev is a proven technology already carrying passengers. “We are talking about bringing a train that already exists, it’s already been designed. It’s already something that you can ride on,” Rogers said. And it has financing commitments.

Project leaders say the maglev line is planned to run about 60 percent underground; the aboveground portion would be built on less developed areas of the corridor, reducing impact on residential communities.

They also say ticket prices probably would be slightly more than an Acela fare. The one-way adult business-class fare between Washington and Baltimore costs about $46.

The project has the backing of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), and the state has received a $28 million federal grant to cover impact studies. If things go as planned, construction could begin as soon as 2019, with service starting in 2027, officials said.)

Me, "The pluses for this transportation project is it has the backing of Maryland's governor and has $5 billion dollars in financing from Japan, but the problem always comes down to NIMBY. The only way to solve this is not Eminent Domain but placing the whole line underground. The ticket price needs to be rethought. It needs to run closer to Amtrak's prices or lower to stimulate ridership. In the end though it comes down to marketing. How is the governor selling this plan? Does it come off as a plus or a minus to people. So, far it seems to have just upset people."

Cincinnati Bus riders, and Bus planners now have a detailed way of seeing the real time data on how their mass transit system is working, and in some instances, isn't

Bus advocate hopes new map will show just how many people rely on Metro

CINCINNATI -- A new tool launched this week is aimed at painting a clearer picture of when and where bus service is in the most demand across the Tri-State. The Better Bus Coalition, a grassroots transit advocacy group, has developed an online, interactive map that provides route and navigation data throughout the Cincinnati Metro system.

From article, (The Better Bus Coalition, a grassroots transit advocacy group, has developed an online, interactive map that provides route and navigation data throughout the Cincinnati Metro system. It also includes information about wheelchair accessibility, which stops are used the most and how many passengers each route usually carries each weekday.

"There's not a way really to easily see this kind of data," said Mark Samaan with the Better Bus Coalition. "Through this, people can actually see which stops are used and which are not."

Samaan is a numbers guy, volunteering for the coalition as a data analyst. His data-driven approach has led to multiple revelations about Cincinnati Metro service, including efficiency recommendations based on identifying the routes with the highest and lowest ridership.

"This is what it looks like. This is how many people are being moved. This is where people are being dropped off," he said.

"This isn't so much about trip planning," Samaan said. "It's more about seeing what ridership looks like. Making this map, I've noticed more details. You'll see clusters of things, where there will be issues."

The map is the latest in the coalition's efforts to promote enhanced bus service in the region. The group released its wishlist for Cincinnati Metro in November. The plan includes more routes, more frequent service and bus rapid transit options. That's a system that dedicates a lane of traffic to bus travel only along certain routes.)

Atlanta Suburb looks to Expand its Mass Transit System

Fulton County to hold public meetings for proposed transit expansion

Through the month of January, Fulton County residents can weigh in on how they want to get around the county in the years to come. Fulton, outside the city of Atlanta, is considering expanding its mass transit options in both the north and south parts of the county.

From article, (“The public is asking us to do something,” Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann said in December. “It’s a sea change, really, from what it was before.”

[Probably, because they have horrendous traffic problems.]

Fulton, outside the city of Atlanta, is considering expanding its mass transit options in both the north and south parts of the county. The county’s proposals came about with residents’ input, and leaders are seeking more feedback about which plan to get behind by holding four public meetings.

At the meetings, the county will present several options for expanding transit in the metro area. A $16 billion plan that would encompass everything residents were looking for would include MARTA rail extensions, including up Ga. 400 from the North Springs station to Holcomb Bridge Road, from the Hamilton Holmes MARTA station west along I-20 and from Hapeville to Clayton County.

It would also have light rail on the top end of I-285, bus rapid transit lines in the north and south of the county and arterial rapid transit lines that would allow more connections between stations.

Other options that are more affordable — and therefore more likely — were also presented. A quarter penny sales tax would bring in $2.4 billion over 40 years and allow for the construction of three bus rapid transit lines. A half-penny tax could raise $4.9 billion to pay for the northern MARTA extension and some bus rapid transit, but wouldn’t cover the cost of making connections outside those main lines. Used another way, that $4.9 billion could pay for bus rapid transit lines up Ga. 400 to Old Milton Parkway, and along Holcomb Bridge Road to the north and along South Fulton Parkway to Ga. 92 and on U.S. 29 in the south. Bus rapid transit has dedicated lanes and stations for people to board.

It could also cover the cost of arterial rapid transit lines, which use stations like bus rapid transit, but don’t have their own lanes. Arterial rapid transit vehicles have the ability to turn traffic lights green and have dedicated bypass lanes at major intersections. Those lines are proposed for Roswell Road, Old Milton Parkway, Ga. 141, Fulton Industrial Boulevard and Camp Creek Parkway.)

New Ideas from Elon Musk, on how to spend your time waiting for your Tesla to charge. Of Course, it's a new income Stream for Tesla.

Elon Musk talks about building retro drive-in restaurant at Tesla Supercharger with in-car digital menu

Elon Musk again shared another Tesla project that makes us think "is he joking?" But it's apparently still another project just as real as sending his Tesla Roadster to space. Tesla's CEO is talking about building a retro drive-in restaurant at a new Tesla Supercharger in Los Angeles.

From article, (Elon Musk again shared another Tesla project that makes us think “is he joking?” But it’s apparently still another project just as real as sending his Tesla Roadster to space.

Tesla’s CEO is talking about building a retro drive-in restaurant at a new Tesla Supercharger in Los Angeles.

The move comes as Tesla has been pushing to have more amenities at its Supercharger stations.

Tesla recently launched a new type of larger Supercharger station with 40+ connectors, lounges, and restaurants.

The automaker tries to build its Supercharger stations around businesses like cafes and restaurants in order for drivers to have something to do while their vehicles are charging, but with Tesla’s new bigger stations, the concept is evolving.

Like we reported in our exclusive look at the first of Tesla’s new type of Supercharger station with 40 stalls between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Tesla built a lounge with a cafe for owners on the site of the Supercharger and they are even planning to reserve a section to allow food trucks to come into the station.

That first station came online in Kettleman City last year.

After that station was completed, Tesla Co-founder and CTO JB Straubel went to the Foodservice Technology Conference Trade Show (FSTEC) to talk about how Tesla Superchargers are becoming more like convenience stores and they are working with companies in the food industry to improve the experience.

Within this context, Musk’s announcement of a drive-in restaurant makes more sense:) 

Me, "Go to main site above for more info."

Beautful Drone Pictures in Winter.

Flying Drones in Cold Weather: Always Better Safe Than Sorry

Every time I post a story on Instagram of me flying in the snow, I tend to get a couple of people reaching out to me with questions. "You can fly in the snow?" "Does the cold weather affect the drone?" "Is the drone waterproof?" and so on.

From article, (Every time I post a story on Instagram of me flying in the snow, I tend to get a couple of people reaching out to me with questions. “You can fly in the snow?” “Does the cold weather affect the drone?” “Is the drone waterproof?” and so on. When I first flew in the snow, I was definitely worried about how the drone would do up there, but after a few flights in it, I now know that I can trust it as long as I take the right steps while flying.

 Now, the first thing I will note is that I am not flying in any sort of blizzard conditions. If the wind is crazy, the visibility is poor and the roads are really bad to drive on, it is probably best you don't fly. If I am going to fly in the snow, I make sure the roads are pretty safe to be driving on so I can get to where I need to go. No matter how good you are at driving or how safe your car is, things can still go wrong and there are other people on the road that can cause accidents. That being said, if you plan on flying in the snow and are planning to drive somewhere, please be careful.

 A lot of people have asked me questions about flying when it is still snowing. I have flown in all different kinds of snow, flurries, and even some crazier heavy snow. My best suggestion is to try and wait for the snow to actually stop because it will get your drone a little bit wet depending on how far away or how long you fly. Will your drone be OK if it is wet? More than likely yes, but you probably don't want it to be soaking wet while it is up in the air and away from you for too long. Waiting a little for the snow to stop is also more helpful because you aren't getting snowflakes through your shots and usually everything is still freshly covered in snow which can give your photos a nice wintry feel.) "Go to above site for full article."