DIY Space: Space Travel Grants are Go!

Citizens of Earth: for as little as $15 you can apply to fly in a rocket ship of your choice. How? It’s all thanks to your money, and an inspired program from the people you are giving the money to–Spaceship Earth Grants (SEG). From the middle of last September, until the end of this year (Dec 31, […]

Four New Space Companies Awarded NASA Contracts

Another Clearancejobs.com post of mine about NASA’s announcement last week of their awarding four “new space” companies a few contracts. Just go there for the details: New Space Firms Awarded NASA Contracts.

Skylon: They Do it with Smoke and Mirrors?

Every now and then I’ve heard of this Skylon space transport. It sounds very interesting and I honestly hope technology like it does come to fruition. But here’s the thing: Skylon-related research has apparently been going on for over thirty years. According to the wiki, which might contain some inaccuracies, the idea of horizontal take-off […]

DARPA’s Next Generation Spaceplane

This is my most recent Clearancejobs.com post. It’s about DARPA’s proposed XS-1 spaceplane. The prime contractors for the first phase of the contract, and they’re working with some of the “new space” companies. I raise questions about which one of those might be able to help their partner companies succeed in the post: DARPA’s Next […]

She’s Got a Golden Space Ticket!!

Okay, so this is admittedly a nice public relations stunt from XCOR Aerospace. But for the recipient of this stunt, it’s pretty awesome. Imagine the scenario: you’re a typical comic nerd attending the San Diego Comic Con in 2012. Suddenly, there’s an announcement that certain audience members are eligible for a “golden ticket” for a […]