How NASA is keeping coronavirus off the International Space Station

A mission is planned for just three weeks from now, but NASA has a plan.

Image source: NASA.gov
  • Before liftoff on every mission since 1971, NASA crew members spend two weeks in a "health stabilization" quarantine.
  • Other employees of the agency have been given a response framework that tells them where and how to proceed with their duties.
  • For upcoming launches, NASA is depending on Russia and SpaceX to step up to the challenge.
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Elon Musk writes a hit song. Listen now.

The tech billionaire Elon Musk releases a song where he performs himself.

Getty Images / Elon Musk
  • Elon Musk released an EDM song on SoundCloud.
  • The track "Don't doubt ur vibe" has racked up millions of listens.
  • Musk said he wrote the lyrics and performed them himself.
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Scientists race to use zero gravity to kill the worst cancers

A 2020 space mission wants to use zero gravity to disable some of the hardest cancers to fight.

Left: U.S. Air Force photo/Heidi Hunt). Right: Source Dr. Raowf Guirguis. National Cancer Institute
  • An Australian research mission, launched in 2020 by Elon Musk's SpaceX, will study effects of zero gravity on four cancers.
  • Other missions with similar objectives are set to launch in 2022 aboard the new China Space Station.
  • In earlier experiments, scientists found that microgravity can kill cancer cells.
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Who is leading the private space race?

The space station sector has exciting potential as more private companies enter the conversation.

  • The International Space Station is the most expensive public project ever built in the history of humanity.
  • Companies like NanoRacks, SpaceX, and Blue Origin have already entered the conversation of what the future will look like for the ISS.
  • Now, it's important to entertain only the serious contenders in the space race.
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Why would NASA outsource missions to SpaceX?

When it comes new PR disasters, NASA isn't taking any risks.

  • Tragedies at NASA, such as Challenger and Columbia disasters, have impeded the organization from taking risks, critics say. Indeed, in terms of PR, these tragedies were particularly baleful.
  • Although NASA was once a contractor, its staff spearheading missions, today they are more a client. SpaceX is basically selling NASA a ride to the ISS.
  • Essentially, NASA has put the risk on private companies — if anything bad happens, it's on SpaceX, for example. This switch may better further space colonization goals, though, because the private sector has more flexibility, in terms of how business is conducted. Also, NASA, as a national entity, avoids the pall of a possible disaster.
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