We are making a lot of advances in space travel, so many in fact they don’t always become public knowledge. Here is something you may not have heard about. Before I get into this I would like to say one of the things, maybe the major thing stopping us from meaningful space travel is the time it takes to get anywhere. An example of this is traveling to Mars by rocket. It has been estimated it would take humans 150 to 300 days to reach the Red Planet. This means not only would the trip be exceedingly long, the occupants would be exposed to so much radiation they could die or have their lives shortened. The time was calculated for travel by rocket and the reason for the difference in days is it depends on how much fuel you want to carry to use for the journey. If you go as fast as you can, you have to use more fuel to burn, which means you would have to carry so much of the stuff it might become impractical. This is where a new NASA announcement comes in. NASA has announced it is experimenting with a way for astronauts to reach Mars in three days. A physics professor thinks we might be able to use photonic propulsion to power a spacecraft weighing about 220 pounds in that time. It will take longer for larger craft, but the point is it will be far faster than what we are using now. The craft would not carry any fuel, it would have reflectors which a beam would strike pushing the craft. The system is said to be very scalable. It can also be used to deflect space debris and detect other technological civilizations. It hasn’t been said, but this system seems to have the attributes of a space weapon where the enemies’ satellites could be deflected out of orbit. The system is known as DEEP IN.

Remember the star which scientists suspected had an alien megastructure around it? Scientists may be changing their mind about that concept. A few days ago scientists had a different theory for what we thought was the work of aliens and it was the star swallowed a planet and this accounts for the strange bursts of light which seem to be blocked at some points. The theory states the remains of the swallowed planet or some of its moons are responsible for the blocking of the star’s light from time to time and not a structure of any kind. The scientists think the bursts of light coming from the star is the release of energy caused by consuming this planet. Instead of the usual 1 percent dip in light a star has when a planet orbits it KIC 8462852, the star in question has a light dip of 22 percent. Scientists are saying there is no way to actually prove this theory, but I guess there won’t be any way to disprove it short of finding an alien structure in the future with a super powered instrument.

Scientists have made a very rare prediction. They claim in 2022 we will be able to see two stars collide with our naked eyes. I remember when I was a kid I actually was able to see a supernova in the sky which lasted for about three days before it faded out of existence. The collision will supposedly take place in the constellation Cygnus and the scientist predicting this says he could be off by a year either way but is confident he is correct in that the collision will occur. The stars are 1,800 light years away from earth. They are jointly known as KIC 9832227. Collisions of stars are very rare in our field of view and occur about once in 10,000 years. The two stars are part of a binary system and actually share a common atmosphere. One scientist stated they are like two peanuts sharing one shell. Remember this, due to their distance they have already collided and we are waiting for the light to reach us so we can see it.

This question has been asked many times and is still being asked today. The question is how did NASA get the astronauts through the Van Allen Belts safely? Some people who didn’t believe we actually sent astronauts to the moon stated they felt this way because it was impossible to get people through these belts without killing them. NASA claims the solution was simple, they merely skirted the most dangerous parts of the belt and sped the astronauts through it as quickly as they could.

There is a very strange asteroid near us and NASA has noticed it. NASA wants to explore this asteroid which is made of metal. It is thought it could be what was left of the core of a destroyed planet. The asteroid is named Psyche. NASA is getting a mission ready for a launch in sometime in the 2020s. The asteroid is about the size of Massachusetts. Earth has a density of about 344 pounds per cubic foot, but this asteroid has a density of 450 pounds per cubic foot which is far more than most asteroids. It is very bright and this was one of the reasons it was thought to be made of metal. One scientist stated we have visited rocky words, icy worlds and worlds made of gas, but never one made of metal. It is thought the trip will take seven years, but this supposes we haven’t found a way to travel faster.

The White House actually has a plan to handle an asteroid impact. Having said this let me make it clear, no plan will help if an asteroid is beyond the size which could destroy the earth. Anyway the plan calls for NASA and the US defense and research agencies to form the Detecting and Mitigating the Impact of Earth-bound NEO (DAMIEN) group. The group has outlined its goals which are:
1. Enhance NEO (Near Earth Objects) detection, tracking and characterization capabilities
2. Develop methods for NEO deflection and disruption
3. Improve modeling, predictions and information integration
4. Develop emergency procedures for NEO impact scenarios
5. Establish NEO impact response and recovery procedures
6. Leverage and support international cooperation
7. Establish coordination and communications protocols and thresholds for talking
One of the problems the agency faces is the time it takes to reach an object. It has been estimated we need to detect these objects about ten years before they could hit the earth.

As I said above, we have a lack of speed which hinders not only our space travel, but also the defense of the earth from collision with asteroids, comets, meteors and other objects. Some of these objects we could not defend against anyway even if we had the speed, because they are just too big. Until we can obtain more powerful weapons capable of destroying whole planets we are vulnerable to some of these objects. Would it help the human race to have these types of weapons or would that be the worst possible scenario? I guess this would be a no win situation, because while we might be able to destroy threats from outer space, the worst threat might come from humans possessing these weapons.