June 2015
Innovation at escape velocity: from NASA’s Apollo to SpaceX
... an initial goal of reducing cost per pound of cargo to orbit to $1,000.11 This figure is traceable to a series of studies fostered by NASA and the US Department of Defense from the 1970s–90s.12 Those studies pointed to launch costs as the constraint...
August 2017
Big science from small spacecraft
... a gravity assist manoeuvre at Venus to provide a boost in velocity to propel them on their way to their primary mission target. NASA missions that have used this slingshot effect include Galileo (Jupiter), MESSENGER (Mercury), Cassini (Saturn), and...
January 2018
Shielding the human genome
... more antibioticresistant capabilities resulting from exposure to zero gravity and other environmental factors. The challenge facing NASA? Neutralise these species without chemicals, antibiotics, acids and solvents. And just in case that problem was...
February 2019
Building a space museum from scratch
... where the realities of money set in. I discovered, however, that there was some money available. For decades, NASA would send a representative to live in Canberra to be an interface between the tracking station, government, the site’s operations and...
May 2019
Cold comfort for astronauts
...technology-driven human space exploration paradigm. About the author Tibor Balint is a Principal Human Centred Designer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and an Adjunct Faculty Member at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. His...
January 2020
Apollo girl - camaraderie and discrimination in the Apollo era
...labour-management process, one that stressed professionalism, honesty and, above all, a mutual commitment to achieving the NASA mission through fair, equitable and respectful treatment of employees. Mariners 8 and 9 were designed to be the first Mars...
