We live in interesting times, but as 2016 finally comes to its conclusion, I’m hoping for a happier future. Enjoy whatever you might be doing this evening and, before I head out, I have gathered, with the Bureau’s help, a few Newspace stories for ya:
NASA’s Jeff Williams has posted this amazing video of earth from space. It seems like a good way to end the year, so take a good, long look:
And, below:
We have fan films, fans, space news, and an extra-terrestrial deadline this week to cover.
This fan film, uploaded to Youtube earlier this week, features a spectacular battle between the Hulk and Hulkbuster Iron Man.
I put together a video of the third annual Forest City Comicon, which featured Billy West, battling vikings, cosplay, and more:
Of course, there were other Cons held recently…..
Are students at your local school using electronic waste to build 3-D printers? ‘Cause these kids in Hong Kong are:
And 3-D printed bones, as it turns out, can foster new growth.
Unrelated: various people’s views of New York Comic Con, below.
By now, you’ve undoubtedly heard that SpaceX founder Elon Musk hopes to establish a colony on Mars. Eric Mack of Cnet argues that the plan is insane but not impossible, while TheVerge’s Elizabeth Lopatto finds Musk’s plans implausible, but notes that they may lead to other important discoveries.
Assuming the first flights ever get off the ground, they’ll be dangerous one-way trips.
Who wants to sign up?
Or ask additional questions?
In May, a Russian telescope received a distinct and unusual signal, possibly from the sunlike star, HD 164595, which is known to have at least one planet. Information is now reaching the press. I’m not saying it’s aliens, but It’s the kind of signal that deserves and is receiving further investigation. Stay tuned.
Juno completed its first orbit of Jupiter this weekend, while NASA’s year-long simulation of a Mars mission ended with much learned and no one dead from annoying their close-quarters roommates. In fact, the six participants are confident a Mars mission would succeed, at least in terms of the human factors. It is the longest such experiment since a Russian one that ended in 2011.
Also from Russia, with love if a bit belated: Some video has been posted to Youtube of St. Petersburg’s StarCon, earlier this summer.
The International Space Station receives its new docking port tonight. More below, and some things a little closer to earth. The 74th World SF Con, Mid America Con II, is underway in Kansas City, Gamescon has started in Cologne, and…..
The Rio Olympics opened with spectacle– and a lesson on climate change (from an Olympiad with more than a few problems, environmental and otherwise)
In off-world-related news, Moon Express has been approved for a private lunar landing in 2017, Space-X prepares for a pair of launches, and Russia plans to land on Ganymede:
Below, Spider-Robot spins a web, any size:
Designed to make a point about road safety, “Graham“, the man who would survive any car crash, looks remarkably like a Sontaran from Doctor Who.
For those interested in actual space news, keep watching the skies over the next few days for the Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower. And…
This week brings us science fact:
Science Fiction:
And both combined, as Rocket and Groot return to space on an official NASA patch:
The Guardians of the Galaxy NASA patch and much more of both below, including some sort of con in, I think, San Diego: