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Welcome to HobbySpace. the site that will prove to you that everyone can participate in space exploration and development in one way or another.
February 2011
Space for All Blog Space Transport News Blog
Special Features
NewSpace Log 2011
NewSpace Log 2011
This section holds links to blog posts, articles, pictures, etc. about events and developments this year in NewSpace. See also NewSpace Log 2010.
Coverage of first Falcon 9/Dragon
1st SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon Flight Resources
Links to blog posts, pictures, videos and commentary about the successful first launch, orbiting and safe return of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Dec. 8, 2010.
NewSpace 2010 (Bigelow Aerosspace space  station )
NewSpace 2010 Review
A report on the annual Space Frontier Foundation's conference, held this year in Sunnyvale, California. Topics of discussion ranged from entrepreneurial space businesses to lunar miing to fully reusable suborbital space vehicles.


More Interviews, Articles, and Special Topics.
Space Art Spotlight

Bussard Ramjet by Joe Bergeron
Bussard Ramjet

Saturn Ring Particles  by Joe Bergeron
Saturn Ring Particles

Daedalus Starship by Joe Bergeron
Daedalus Starship
Mars Fantasyt by Joe Bergeron
Mars Fantasy
Room with a View by Joe Bergeron
Room with a View
Rotating Tether  by Joe Bergeron
Rotating Tether


Joe Bergeron
More space art...
Space Music Video of the Month

MRO HiRISE Mars Images

World music soundtrack (unnamed artists)
Previous space music in spotlight
Space Hobbies & Activities in the Spotlight
Create a Video to Celebrate the
50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight

April 12, 2011 will mark the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's, and humanity's, first flight into space. Yuri's Night parties around the world will celebrate that amazing feat.

Yuri's Night 2011

To mark this special occasion, the Yuri's Night organization is holding the Yuri's Night 2011 Video Contest:

The Yuri's Night 2011 Video Contest is an open source competition to engage the public to create tribute videos for the 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight to share at Yuri's Night events around the world.

Your video must be submitted before April 1st, 2011. A $500 Cash Prize is sponsored by OpenLuna.

Check out this video about the contest:

It's a Whole New Outer Space Out There

NASA Engineers Design a Real Spaceship - NAUTILUS-X

Will NASA astronauts in the future explore space beyond earth orbit while crammed into spacecraft the size of the Apollo capsule? If a couple of NASA engineers have their way, the answer is NO. Instead, when US space explorers travel to the Moon, asteroids and Mars they will travel in a real space ship like this:

Nautilus-X Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle

Engineers Mark Holderman and Edward Henderson of NASA Johnson Space Center recently unveiled a conceptual design (see their slides here) for the NAUTILUS-X Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV). The NAUTILUS-X has large roomy modules to live and work in. It even has a centrifuge ring to provide a degree of simulated gravity to greatly reduce or eliminate the bad effects of weightlessness.

The Nautilus-X centrifuge

The NAUTILUS-X would be constructed IN space. Don't worry! This does not mean decades to complete as was required for building the International Space Station (ISS). Lightweight expandable modules like those under development by Bigelow Aerospace can be connected together within relatively quickly. (See here how Bigelow plans to build their multi-module stations starting in 2015.) The modules and the components of the system can be launched with commercial space transports that will soon start servicing the ISS.

The cost of the NAUTILUS-X is estimated at $3.7B, far less than the cost of the Orion capsule that NASA is building.

The NAUTILUS-X would be the first true space ship. It would be built in space and would operate only in space. It would not be used once and thrown away but would be capable of multiple trips. It would refill its fuel tanks from orbital propellant depots. The propulsion system is also modular and could be replaced when a new and better propulsion system becomes available.

The NAUTILUS-X would act as the mothership during exploration missions. A spacecraft like the SpaceX Dragon would dock with it to bring crews from earth and would later take them back. Also attached would be descent/ascent vehicles for visiting other bodies in the solar system such as the Moon or Mars.

The NAUTILUS-X is obviously quite an ambitious concept. However, it will be tested in steps. Bigelow will demonstrate the building of multi-modular systems when they build their commercial space stations starting in 2015. The centrifuge could be tested on the International Space Station as shown here:

Centrifuge attached to the ISS

A view of the ISS with the centrifuge attached

For longer and more elaborate missions with bigger crews, the modular approach allows for building bigger spaceships:

Extended  duration MMSEV

More about the NAUTILUS-X concept can be found on the HobbySpace blog Space Transport News.



Check for the latest in leading edge rocket and space travel projects on the
Space Transport News Blog
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See the archive of previous HobbySpace homepage Spotlight items ...
January 11 - March 11

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The Art of C. Sergent Lindsey

 
 
 
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