Category Archives: Space Travel

Humanity could reach the Red Planet and the Moon sooner than we think.

SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gwynne Shotwell said a crewed mission to Mars could happen before the end of the 2020s.

I think it will be in this decade, yes. People on the Moon, sooner, Shotwell told CNBC recently.

"I think we need to get a large delivery to the surface of Mars, and then people will start thinking harder about it," she added. "And then, I think within five or six years, people will see that that will be a real place to go".

Elon Musks company has set itself the ambitious task to make space travel more accessible for humanity.

SpaceX is developing a reusable rocket called Starship that aims to take people to the Moon, Mars and elsewhere. The Japanese billionaire Yasaku Maezawa, for instance, has booked the rocket for a round-the-Moon trip in 2023.

While SpaceX has yet to bring humans to the Moon, the company has had successful trips to the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA has also picked Starship for its Artemis programme, which aims to put astronauts near the Moons south pole in 2025.

But another of Artemiss missions is to go from the Moon to Mars in about 2040, which is about 10 years later than Shotwells prediction.

It means that SpaceX could beat NASA to the punch but as Musks company provides a lot of tech equipment to NASA, they may end up working together.

The most recent mission between NASA and SpaceX occurred last Friday after the third long-duration astronaut team launched by SpaceX to the ISS safely returned to Earth to end months of orbital research ranging from space-grown chillies to robots.

SpaceX is also working towards Starships first-ever orbital test flight, launching from its Texas base.

However, it is currently awaiting an environmental assessment from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

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Elon Musks SpaceX COO says manned missions will reach Mars by 2030. NASA says otherwise - Euronews

What previously seemed like science fiction and the prediction of futurologists is now becoming much more of a reality - you do not have to be a professional astronaut to be able to fly into space.

Billionaire Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic (SPCE), successfully flew to the edge of space on in 2021. His flight took about an hour, included several minutes of weightlessness, and reached an altitude of 90km. In the same year, Jeff Bezos, successfully flew into space in the New Shepard spacecraft built by his company Blue Origin. Billionaire private space travel enthusiasts also include SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Last year, his Falcon 9 rocket began transporting astronauts to the ISS in the Dragon spacecraft. Musk himself has not yet flown into space but has booked a ticket on Virgin Galactic flights.

So with space tourism now being seen as a reality, what space related companies should invest keep an eye out for?

The top companies to invest in

1. Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic went public in October 2019 and was the first space company to do so. The flotation took place via the SPAC merger. At the time of publication, its shares are trading on the NYSE at almost $7.5 (6) each.

Virgin Galactic is a three-stage growth company. In the first phase, it will gain revenue from ticket sales for private flights, and from microgravity research, space infrastructure and services. In the second phase, Virgin Galactic plans to offer long-haul (hypersonic and supersonic) flights and tap into a staggering $900 billion (713bn) aviation market. In the long term, the company wants to enable customers to buy real estate in space and use space resources and energy.

2. Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000. He financed the company by selling $1 billion (79m) in Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares a year. Since 2015, Blue Origin has flown 15 test flights. Apart from an emergency landing on the booster on the first launch, all flights have been successful.

If Blue Origin continues to conduct more successful tester flights then an IPO launch could very well happen in the near future.

3. SpaceX

Elon Musk's company is actively developing two space projects: Starlink and Starship. If all goes well financially, Starlink will go public.

Although the last two test flights organised by SpaceX have not been very successful, the company has seen them as steps forward and may launch the next Starship prototype in the coming weeks.

4. ETF ARKX

The ARK ETF Space Exploration & Innovation ETF opened on the 30th of March 2021. Companies have been added to the ETF that are not only directly related to the space exploration industry, but also those that will use technologies developed for space to improve life on Earth.

Analyst Predictions

Switzerland's largest financial holding company, UBS, estimates the current potential of the space tourism market at $4 billion (3.2bn). Northern Sky Research (NSR), in its "Space Tourism and Travel Markets" report, says that an estimated 57,000 passengers will fly into space by 2031. Revenues from these space tourists and orbital travel will account for most of the industry's total combined revenues of $20.3 billion (16.07bn).

UBS expects several major space tourism trips to be organised during the 2022. There are already plenty of people wishing to fly. Among the first to go into space will be 600 people who have already paid the full price for their tickets - $250,000 (197,958), including Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber. Virgin said it expects to increase the waiting list to 1,000 people by the time flights resume. With the flight plan in place and the VSS Unity (4 passengers once a month) and VSS Imagine (6 passengers twice a month) fully loaded, Virgin Galactic could carry 16 customers a month, or 192 people a year.

The profits of Bezos, Musk and Branson's companies will increase at a cosmic rate as the industry grows in popularity. Investors in the stock market can also make good money on this. The obvious advantage of the space industry is the early stage of its development, which can provide super-profits with a well-chosen securities strategy.

ENDS

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The space stocks expected to skyrocket - Marketscreener.com

A live David Bowie tribute performance is set to take place at the UKs largest planetarium later this month.

The planetarium, located at the National Space Centre in Leicester, will host the four special performances titled Bowie: Oddity to Mars from 20th-22nd May 2021. The concerts will celebrate the late Starmans music between 1969 and 1972, a period that saw Bowie shoot to global stardom under his alter ego Ziggy Stardust.

The music will be performed by a five-piece Bowie tribute band named David Live in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium. Meanwhile, the planetarium dome will give visitors a 360-degree screening of NASA footage depicting the journey of Apollo 17 and one of the centres own shows to accompany the music.

It is really fitting this hit show is our first big evening event, following the pandemic, said Malika Andress, head of marketing for the National Space Centre in a statement. David Live are phenomenal, bringing the music of David Bowie to life in our planetarium alongside stunning visuals created by our in-house team.

The shows are to be held in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Apollo 17 marked the last manned journey to the moon.

In 1969, Bowie rose to fame with his first hit single Space Oddity. The single was inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey and the 1960s zeitgeist surrounding space travel and astronomy.

Discussing the writing of the song in 1969, Bowie said: The publicity image of a spaceman at work is of an automaton rather than a human being and my Major Tom is nothing if not a human being. It came from a feeling of sadness about this aspect of the space thing, it has been dehumanised, so I wrote a song-farce about it to try and relate science and human emotion. I suppose its an antidote to space fever, really.

The song was released on July 11th, 1969, as the label had wanted to capitalise on the concurrent Apollo 11 Moon Mission, which launched five days later. The mission became the first successful manned flight to the moon and earned Bowie his first glimpse of fame in the USA.

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David Bowie tribute to be staged at National Space Centre - Far Out Magazine

Peter Thiel, co-founder and chairman of Palantir Technologies Inc., pauses during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019.

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Monday.

Palantir Shares of the software company dropped 21.3% after Palantir's first-quarter earnings came in below expectations. The company reported 2 cents of adjusted earnings per share on $446 million of revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected 4 cents of earnings per share on $443 million of revenue. Palantir's second-quarter guidance for revenue and adjusted operating margin was also below expectations, according to StreetAccount.

Rivian Shares of the electric vehicle maker fell 20.9% following a CNBC report that Ford Motor will sell 8 million sharesas the insider lockup for the stock is set to expire. Ford currently owns 102 million shares of Rivian. Ford shares fell 4%.

Uber The ride-sharing company's stock dropped 11.6% after CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed plans to slash marketing and incentives spendingand treat hiring as a "privilege," according to an email to employees obtained by CNBC. "It's clear that the market is experiencing a seismic shift and we need to react accordingly," he said.

Coty Shares tumbled 7.4% despite an earnings beat from the cosmetics company. Coty earned 3 cents per share on revenues of $1.19 billion in its most recent quarter. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting earnings of 1 cent per share on revenues of $1.15 billion. Coty also raised its full-year outlook based on strong consumer demand.

Tyson Foods Shares of the beef and poultry producer gained 2.2% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results. Tyson reported earnings of $2.29 per share on revenue of $13.12 billion. Analysts had expected a profit of $1.91 per share on revenue of $12.85 billion, according to Refinitiv.

BioNTech The stock rose 3.1% after BioNTech posted a better-than-expected first-quarter report. BioNTech earned $14.24 per share on revenue of $6.37 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected a profit of $9.16 per share on revenue of $4.34 billion.

Twitter Shares of the social media company fell 3.7% after The New York Times reported on Elon Musk's financial goals for Twitter, citing an investor presentation. The billionaire who is acquiring Twitter for $44 billion aims to quintuple revenue by 2028, cut Twitter's reliance on advertising and reach 931 million users by 2028, among other objectives set out in the presentation.

Dish Network Shares dipped 4.5% after JPMorgan downgraded Dish to neutral from overweight, citing "weaker than expected PayTV and wireless results." Meanwhile, Credit Suisse upgraded Dish to outperform from neutral, saying it sees "sufficient upside" for the company.

Match Shares of the online dating company slid 4.5% after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight. Wells said shares are "compelling" at current levels.

Virgin Galactic Shares of Virgin Galactic pulled back by 10.7% as Truist downgraded the space travel company to hold from buy amid concerns over additional flight delays.

CNBC's Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Samantha Subin and Sarah Min contributed reporting.

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Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Palantir, Rivian, Uber and more - CNBC

Most people are familiar with the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, with its spectacular curtains of light rippling across the night sky.

But theres another type of aurora called a patchy pulsating aurora with irregular shapes and pulses turning on and off every few seconds or so, like a lava lamp.

Like all aurora, pulsating aurora are emissions of light caused by electrons and other particles coming from near-Earth space. These particles plunge into the ionosphere (Earths upper atmosphere) and collide with atoms and molecules, causing them to glow in distinctive colours.

But the physical process that creates the pulsating aurora is very different than the process that creates the curtain-type of auroral arcs, says Dr. Emma Spanswick, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science, and a member of UCalgarys Auroral Imaging Group.

Scientists know that high-energy particles coming from sub-storms, a type of energy release in the geospace environment, are involved in pulsating aurora as are waves in Earths magnetic field.

We know a lot of the pieces of whats involved. But no one has really stitched it all together into a coherent, detailed picture, says Spanswick, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Geospace Dynamics and Space Plasma Physics.

The international Loss through Auroral Microburst Pulsations (LAMP) mission, led by U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), aims to determine whether the pulsating aurora is connected to another phenomenon called microbursts higher-energy electrons from Earths magnetic field that occur in bursts lasting about one-tenth of a second.

Emma Spanswick

Riley Brandt, University of Calgary

On March 5, 2022, a NASA Black Brant IX sounding rocket launched from the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The rocket flew directly through a pulsating aurora, measuring particles and magnetic fields, before falling back to Earth.

Many kilometres below, two new ground-based radio instruments listened carefully for any disturbance caused in the ionosphere by high-energy particles in the pulsating aurora.

It was the first test for these protype instruments, built at UCalgary and designed in collaboration with Merrimack College near Boston.

UCalgary wasnt originally part of the LAMP mission. However, the mission leaders learned about Spanswicks work on the radio instruments from collaborators in the U.S.

So they contacted me and asked if we could supply support for the launch, she says.

Spanswicks success in securing a Canada Research Chair enabled her to apply for and receive a Canadian Foundation for Innovation-John R. Evans Leaders Fund (CFI-JELF) grant, to develop and deploy 15 of the new instruments, called riometers.

The next-generation instruments will replace the UCalgary Auroral Imaging Groups 11 riometers across a network in northern Canada. These older instruments operate only on a single radio frequency, which limits their capability.

A riometer is essentially a radio receiver used to monitor the radio signal emanating from the cosmos the stars and galaxies. Whenever the near-Earth geospace system is active and high-energy particles are driving deep into the ionosphere, the radio signal from the cosmos starts to disappear.

We can use the dropout in radio signal from the cosmic background as an indicator that the ionosphere is disturbed, Spanswick says.

Spanswicks next-generation riometers employ multiple radio frequencies to indicate at what altitude the ionosphere is disturbed. By incorporating models with the riometer data, researchers can show what the electron density looks like at certain altitudes, which can help identify the process driving the pulsating aurora.

When Spanswick got the call from the LAMP mission leaders, she and her UCalgary team installed and field-tested one of three riometers theyd built, deploying it at Meanook, a hamlet north of Edmonton. They then shipped the other two instruments to Fairbanks, Alaska.

Lukas Vollmerahus, instrument design and maintenance engineer, built and tested the riometers. Brenden Bickner, software and electrical engineering technician, developed a real-time dashboard used to view and assess data in support of the launch mission.

Due to COVID travel restrictions, the two riometers shipped to Alaska were installed by collaborators from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Alaska Geophysical Institute, and Merrimack College.

One riometer was installed at the Poker Flat Research Range where the sounding rocket was launched. The other unit was deployed north of Fairbanks in Venetie, a town located directly below where the rocket reached its peak altitude.

Spanswick and her team are now involved with LAMP mission scientists in analyzing the data. From what Ive seen, this data is going to provide lots of discussion on mechanisms for the pulsating aurora, and its certainly going to drive more active research in this area, she says.

Being able to collaborate with new instrumentation and the experts who have developed it provides us additional ways to look at the space environment and see what is going on, says Dr. Alexa Halford, PhD, LAMPs principal investigator from NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.

When we can find these partnerships, we end up with better results providing new insights into the physics of the aurora than we would have if it was only our own experiment and were able to ask additional science questions, Halford says.

UCalgarys long-standing international reputation for auroral research and innovation opened the door to participating in the LAMP mission, Spanswick notes. We have world-leading programs here for remote sensing the space environment and studying the aurora.

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University of Calgary space physicist participates in NASA rocket mission to study pulsating aurora - University of Calgary

Canadian politicians have passed an amendment to the nation's Criminal Code to allow for the prosecution of crimes committed on the Moon.

The change to the law which MPs voted 181 to 144 in favour was described in a 443-page budget implementation bill presented to parliament this week.

Ottawa has already extended its jurisdiction over criminal acts committed by Canadian astronauts during space travel to the International Space Station.

They are treated the same as crimes committed inCanada.

The update comes as the number of space flights is increasing, and ahead of the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years set to launch in May 2024, with a Canadian astronaut expected to be onboard the Artemis II lunar flyby.

Under the subheading Lunar Gateway, the Criminal Code amendment reads:

"A Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offence is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada."

This would include crimes en route to or on the Lunar Gateway station currently in the works to orbit the Moon, and also "on the surface of the Moon", the document states.

Foreign astronauts who "threaten the life or security of a Canadian crew member" on a Canadian-supported space mission could also be prosecuted, according to the ways and means motion.

The issue of potential crimes committed in space came up in 2019 when NASA investigated what was being characterised as the first alleged space crime.

Astronaut Anne McClain was accused by her estranged spouse of improperly accessing bank records while on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Lieutenant ColonelMcClain was later cleared and her former partner charged with making false statements to federal authorities.

The Canadian Space Agency is participating in the NASA-led Lunar Gateway project, along with the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Starting as early as 2026, the outpost will act as a staging point for robotic and crewed exploration of the lunar surface, as well as travel to Mars.

AFP

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Canada warns it will prosecute astronauts for crimes in space and on the Moon - ABC News

With Chinas Tiangong Space Station set to become operational this year, Beijing is poised to advance its burgeoning space program. This development comes at a time when the International Space Station (ISS) is struggling with an internal conflict and could retire by 2030.

Tiangong space station, whose first module was launched last year, is 340 miles above the Earths surface, approximately 100 miles higher than the International Space Station, and has a mass of about a fifth of the ISS.

China has some ambitious plans for the Tiangong, including inviting international and commercial partners to participate and visit the facility. It is also reportedly working to welcome international astronauts to its Space Station, which was revealed at a press conference held last month.

The Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) plans to launch six major missions before the end of the year to complete the space station, which will soon be connected to a powerful telescope and host commercial operations and foreign astronauts, informed the officials at the press conference.

Two more modules, i.e., the area in the space station where the astronauts live and work, will be added to the existing habitation unit. Currently, the Tiangong Space Station has just one core module, called Tianhe, which was launched in 2021.

The ambitious announcements about the future of Chinas own space station come at a time when the only space station in the world, the ISS, is in the midst of an intense political battle due to the Russia-Ukraine War.

As a consortium of space agencies, including Russia, the ISS grapples with stark divisions as Moscow refuses to end its special military operations in Ukraine.

Many space collaborations with Moscow have either been halted or, hang in the balance as the war rages on in Eastern Europe. Russia also announced that it has decided to quit the ISS, a news that was debunked by NASA Chief. However, Moscows exact intentions remain unknown.

The uncertainty gripping the ISS due to the Ukraine war, escalating tensions among its members, and its retirement inching closer could collectively become a perfect setting for Chinas resurgence through a successful space station.

A race for space dominance continues between China and the US (with NASA being an influential member of the ISS), with the US trying to preserve the status quo and China trying to dismantle it.

According to the head of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), Hao Chun, the six planned critical missions would begin in May with a resupply trip, followed by the six-month-long Shenzhou 14 crewed voyage in June.

The Tianhe core module will be joined in orbit by a second module, Wentian (Asking the Heavens), in July, and a third and final module, Mengtian (Dreaming of the Heavens), in October. The completion of the Tiangong Space Station would mean three modules or living units for Chinese astronauts in space.

The Tianzhou 5 cargo and Shenzhou 15 crewed missions will be launched later this year, when the Tiangong station will host its first crew rotation, with the Shenzhou 14 astronauts welcoming the newcomers aboard, thanks to extra living quarters of the Wentian module.

The last crewed mission involving three astronauts returned to earth last month after spending 183 days in microgravity.

Further, Chinas announcement to invite space tourists and astronauts from other space agencies is significant as it comes in the backdrop of the first-ever private mission to ISS aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.

The mission was given the name Ax-1 after Axiom Space, which acted as a form of space travel agency, paying SpaceX for two-way transportation and NASA for the use of the orbiting facilities.

China also plans to connect the station to a powerful space telescopes control center. According to its space agency, the Xuntian space telescope is identical to NASAs Hubble but has a 300-fold larger field of view.

It will be in a shared orbit with Tiangong, allowing it to dock for repairs, upgrades, and refueling as and when needed.

Tiangong will host six-month crewed flights after it is fully assembled, during which astronauts will conduct a variety of experiments and outreach activities.

The Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) is also considering expanding the space stations capabilities and the scope of its activities and developing new ways to approach Tiangong.

Were developing the extending modules and cabins of the spacecraft to conduct more experiments and provide better living conditions for the astronauts, Hao said.

According to previously stated expansion plans, Tiangong could eventually be expanded to six modules.

Well also actively explore new models of commercial human spaceflight and introduce commercial cargo, Hao said.Earlier, EurAsian Times had reported how China was gearing to open the space station to commercial activities for competitive, innovative players.

The lead designer of Chinas manned space program, Zhou Jianping, had earlier stated that international astronauts would be welcomed onboard Tiangong in the future.

We would actively promote foreign astronauts participation in the work in Chinas space station, which is an important part of international cooperation. You look forward to it, I look forward to it too, Zhou had told CGTN.

With the International Space Station retiring sometime in 2030, Chinas Tiangong will be the lone space station in the world. While the ISS is a consortium, China will be the only country to operate its own space station once Tiangong becomes operational.

Even though Russia is a vital part of the ISS, it is pertinent to mention that China is not a part of the international consortium. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR), the US has somewhat enjoyed complete space dominance with NASAs astonishing budget.

However, it appears that China is now aggressively replacing the former USSR and is actively challenging the might of the American space program.

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Challenging The Might Of US Space Program Chinas Tiangong To Rival ISS For Global Dominance - EurAsian Times

Space travel. Lifelike, interactive virtual reality destinations and attractions. Robots.

These are some of the technological advancements that are even today shaping where, how and even why we travel.

As we continue celebrating National Travel and Tourism Week this week, we recognize all the challenges the industry has had to overcome over these past two years while also looking toward the future.

And what a future it is shaping out to be.

2022 NTTW: The Future of Travel from U.S. Travel on Vimeo.

While consumer trends like sustainability, workations and bringing pets along for the ride during travel are some trends that shape the ways hotels, tour operators, cruise lines, airlines and other travel industry companies approach consumers, there are other trends that are even today shaping how, why and even where they travel.

The pandemic has been a pivotal force in bringing new technology into the travel industry. Virtual tours, contactless amenities, attractions to visit via augmented reality, robots that use UV light to disinfect airports, airplanes and hotel rooms. These are just a few examples of the types of technology the travel industry is expected to utilize in the future.

One emerging technology that is growing in airports across the country is facial recognition technology. Using biometrics, or the unique shape of your face, your eyes or your fingerprints (sometimes all three), companies like CLEAR and Corsight, the latter of which worked on IATAs Travel Pass, can speed up the process at airports and provide a contactless security check for those going through security checkpoints.

CLEAR currently operates in over 55 airports, stadiums and other venues in the U.S. and North America. Its likely that due to the pandemic, more people will want a quicker, contactless method of identity verification, and facial recognition technology can provide just that.

Even as early as 2015, we reported on robots entering the travel industry. But it wasnt in the way that anyone couldve expected.

The first robots in the industry were bartenders onboard Royal Caribbeans Quantum-class cruise ships. Like the robotic arms that work in assembly lines in factories across the world, these robots are programmed to do one thing repeatedly: make drinks.

But when the pandemic spread across the world, robots began growing in number and purpose, for more than just entertainment value.

They helped and continue to help disinfect airports, airplanes and even hotel rooms using UV light technology, like those employed in Key West International and Pittsburgh International airports, enhancing sanitization measures while protecting at-risk humans from exposure to COVID-19.

The robots currently employed to enhance cleanliness arent replacing those who are hired to clean hotel rooms or airports; they work alongside them to destroy the viruses and bacteria that could be left behind even with routine cleaning.

Its expected that the need for these types of robots will grow, and will grow to include robots in more than just bartending and sanitization; last year, a GlobalData poll asked over 475 companies the types of things they would invest in over the course of the next year. Thirty-one percent of those companies named robotics, which was the third most popular answer overall.

With cities and countries on lockdown and travel all but completely stalled, the worst days of the pandemic brought a rise in creative alternatives to traditional tours and travel experiences, effectively jump-starting the rise in virtual reality travel experiences.

From tour operators offering video tours of destinations closed to international tourists, like InsideJapan Tours, to destinations themselves investing in AI or VR experiences, like the German National Tourist Board or Visit Malta, the pandemic informed many different organizations and companies across the travel industry of the importance of investing in unique, creative and often innovative ways for travelers to interact with a destination or attraction, even before they leave on their trip.

New data from Accenture found that about half of consumers expressed interest in buying a virtual or augmented reality travel experience, whether it be a virtual hotel stay or augmented reality tour in the metaverse, the term now commonly referred to as any virtual reality space that users can interact with in real-time.

The metaverse is not intended to replace physical travel, rather provide a complementary enhancement to an overarching experience. Giving the option to sit in a virtual first-class seat, experience the lounge or walk around a hotel resort or room, opens up opportunities to truly engage and inspire people before they travel, said Emily Weiss, senior managing director and global head of Accentures travel industry group.

And, through trying-before-you-travel, recreating landmarks in all their past glory or allowing travelers to investigate parts of nature, which they cannot explore within real-life interaction, the metaverse can also help create a more meaningful travel experience that delivers on or even exceeds customer expectations.

While the metaverse will never completely replace real travel for most people, it can be used to educate and promote a destination, tour, cruise line or other travel-related experience.

Another emerging technology has the opportunity to fundamentally change how we view travel: space travel. Soon, it wont just be for billionaires and multi-millionaires, thanks to revolutionary companies like Space Perspective and Orbital Assembly Corporation.

Space Perspective will begin bringing travelers into space via SpaceBalloon technology, a more sustainable and carbon-neutral method of reaching Earths orbit, as early as 2024. Its Space Lounge will be made from sustainable materials and offer nearly 360-degree views, with prices currently at $125,000 per ticket, much more reasonable than Elon Musk, Richard Branson or Jeff Bezoss alternatives.

"Now, more than ever, people are seeking purpose and meaning in their travel experiences and once-in-a-lifetime moments. Space travel offers not only a brand new destination but also the opportunity to have the quintessential astronaut experience and enjoy the phenomenal beauty of Earth and the vastness of space. Space Perspective offers travelers the thrill of space exploration with the worlds most comfortable and gentle voyage to space, said Jane Poynter, Founder, Co-CEO and Chief Experience Officer of Space Perspective.

Orbital Assembly Corporation, on the other hand, is working on developing gravity ring technologies to install the first orbital space station where people can live, work, play and yes, even visit for tourism purposes, all with gravity the likes of that found on the moon, which should make being in space safer for everyones health while also allowing them to eat and sleep as they would on Earth.

OAC is expected to launch its smaller version of what will one day be a space station for up to 400 as early as 2025, called the Pioneer space station. It will be large enough for up to 28 individuals.

Whether companies focus on making it to Mars, to the Moon or just into orbit, its expected that in the decades to come, space tourism will become increasingly more possible for less wealthy individuals and that emerging technologies like artificial gravity will help spur safer space travels.

With the growth in technology for everything from airport security to hotel sanitization and virtual experiences, issues relating to cybersecurity will become a greater focus for the travel industry in the future.

The World Travel & Tourism Council recently released a new report called Codes to Resilience, in partnership with Microsoft, detailing the challenges and threats that the industrys increased digitization could encounter in the years to come, as well as possible cybersecurity solutions that can be adopted to solve them.

According to the report, 72 percent of all small and medium-sized businesses in the U.K., U.S. and Europe have reported at least one cyberattack in the past; 80 percent of the travel industry are small or medium-sized businesses, proving that cybersecurity is a very real concern for the industry.

"Technology and digitalization play a key role in making the whole travel experience more seamless, from booking a holiday to checking in for a flight or embarking on a cruise, said Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO. But the impact of cyberattacks carries enormous financial, reputational and regulatory risk."

The latest security breach TravelPulse covered earlier in February was Scenic Group's security breach; while it didnt identify any stolen client information when it was first reported, the website did go offline during the cyber breach.

Issues surrounding cybersecurity, then, should remain a humbling factor and a prioritized concern as we consider the future of the travel industry.

"Automation and self-service has always been something that most industries strive for to make sure processes are as seamless and efficient as possible. You can see that in airports all over the world with examples like self-service kiosks for check-in and apps for check-in and getting your boarding pass. Those two things seem like an obvious part of the travel process these days but thinking back to 15-20 years ago that technology would have blown people's minds," said Jordan Bradshaw, Vice President of Northcutt Travel Agency.

"So I like to take that into consideration when thinking about new technologies to come. It seems like technology advances at a slow pace but when you step back and look at decade over decade rather than year over year, its amazing how far weve come and to think about what the future has for us!"

The travel industrys future is at a turning point as we celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week in a year in which the world continues to reopen and recover from the pandemic.

Emerging technologies might never fully replace the travel experiences that people love, but they can add extra safety, save time, draw interest and even take travelers beyond the bounds of Earths atmosphere, and thats something to look forward to.

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The Future of Travel: Technologies Shaping the Industry This Year and Beyond - TravelPulse

Since The Space Age began in the 1960s, leading scientists have believed that plants will someday be crucial for human space travel. Astronauts will need to be part-time farmers when they establish settlements on other planets. Theres just one problem: when we get to Mars, there will not be enough sunlight to grow crops.

Plants need light to grow, and when sunlight isnt enough (like on Mars or on many indoor farms and greenhouses across the world), farmers only option is to use electric light fixtures, grow lights. Some indoor or greenhouse farmers use a mix of grow lights and sunlight, like in greenhouses that are outfitted with electric lights. This way, indoor farmers use cheap sunlight to grow plants, and only turn on the electric lights when absolutely necessary. But even this method has its downsides, including the costs of light fixtures and electricity. No matter what indoor and greenhouse farmers try, lighting costs remain expensive, making our food more expensive too.

Therefore, scientists and engineers across the world have been seeking ways to grow crops more efficiently with novel lighting technologies. One team of scientists from the University of Arizona has recently been testing quantum dots, to see if this microscopic technology could make it more efficient to grow food on Earth and on Mars.

Quantum dots are synthetic crystals that are only a few nanometers across, comparable in size to the width of a DNA strand. They are a relatively new technology, and their uses are still being explored. In the research teams recently published paper, Optimizing spectral quality with quantum dots to enhance crop yield in controlled environments they performed experiments to see whether quantum dots could improve light for farming.

In their paper, the scientists describe quantum dots as arranged in a sheet, embedded in a resin film. When light shines through this film, the light particles (photons) are slowed down, and the color of the light changes. There are many types of quantum dots which create a rainbow of different colors, but this research uses quantum dots that can change ultraviolet radiation into red or orange light.

Quantum Dots. Source: Prof. Michael S. Wong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Why does this help plants? Plants can capture energy from many colors of light, but they cannot use energy from ultraviolet radiation. By turning ultraviolet radiation into red or orange light, these scientists are making unusable light into usable light for plants. This light filtering quantum dot technique could potentially improve yields in greenhousesthat is, if it actually works.

For this experiment, the researchers grew lettuce plants in a custom-built plant growth chamber, a box designed to maintain a very uniform growing environment. Plants were grown under three different treatments: normal white light, normal light with an orange quantum dot filter, and normal light with a red quantum dot filter. By maintaining the same environmental conditionssame temperature, same humidity, same hydroponics, etc.the researchers designed this experiment so that they could easily determine whether the quantum dots made any difference in yield.

Their results were an exciting yes, quantum dots did improve plant growth. Although the quantum dot filters made the light a little bit less intense, the lettuce under the quantum dots had higher yields (10% more fresh mass) and greater productivity than the plants under the normal light treatment. Additionally, the plants under quantum dot films were more efficient at converting light energy into edible material. This is wonderful news because it indicates that we could grow more food from the same amount of sunlight.

Furthermore, in space environments like on Mars there is more ultraviolet radiation than on Earth, and quantum dots could provide even greater yields on space farms. Mars doesnt get as much sunlight as Earth does, so every extra bit of usable light energy helps.

More research and development must be done, but this data is promising. If quantum dots can be integrated into durable sheets that are easy and affordable to use in greenhouses, they could improve productivity in farms on Earth. Farms are supporting almost 8 billion people, and technological advancements, like quantum dots, are vital to support our growing population. And when future generations look to the sky, quantum dots may help us expand the reach of humanity.

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Could quantum dots reduce the cost of indoor farming? - Sciworthy

Paramount's latest Star Trek series is nothing short of a space-glory adventure that leaves you wanting the next episode. Episode 1 of 'Star Trek - Strange New Worlds' is out and we're loving every bit of it.

The new series neatly falls into the sci-fi adventure genre, and rightfully so. The show left no stone unturned in using the public's enthusiasm about space travel to tackle war, racism, and the issues with eugenics with its plotlines. It also depicted the aspirational stages of human achievement when it comes to space research and travel.

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The episode starts with an alien spaceship that starts firing weapons at the USS Enterprise with Captain James Kirk on board. Captain Nero, from the alien ship, demands to meet James. James evacuates the crew sensing danger and continues to drive straight through the nucleus of the alien ship.

Cut to the next part of the story, Spock's childhood is shown. Spock is seen to be half human half Vulcan and is shunned because of it. After the Vulcans disrespect his mother he decides to leave. We then see the story show Jim Kirk, son of Captain James Kirk, in a club in Iowa. He meets Uruha there, gets beaten by some boys for teasing her, and captain Pike saves him with an offer to join the ship.

Jim's at the ship the next day and meets Leonard Mckoy instantly becoming friends. Jim goes along to give the Kobayashi Maru test designed by Spock and beats his simulation. Spock doesn't like that and calls in a jury to judge implying that Jim cheated.

Meanwhile, there's a distress call from Vulcan, and everyone straps on to leave to help them while Jim is taken on board by Mckoy. Jim saves the ship from Romulans after sensing the distress called to be a facade for an attack. The federation is attacked by the Romulans and captain pike is called so he asks Olsen, Kirk, and Sulu to join him. The three land on the planet where the ship is parked and start combating the alien crew and sabotaging the drill. The Romans understand this and try to launch a matter that will consume the whole planet while Sulu and Kirk manage to get outta there.

Captain Pike is taken hostage by Romulans. Meanwhile, a tiff between Spock and Kirk leads Spock to throw Krik off the ship to another planet where he meets his future self of Spock. Future Spock then explains how he met Nero. We'll save that for when you watch the episode.

So coming back we have future Spock and Kirk heading to a shady science garage handled by future Montgomery Scott. There they discover the equation for transport so Scott and Kirk leave back to ship. Kirk plays the 'emotions compromised' card on current Spock and makes him resign his post.

Eventually, the two decide to hit Neo's spaceship and procure the dark matter. In their quest to do so, they manage to destroy the drill and take back the Vulcan ship. The duo manages to save Captain Pike and leave the matter in the alien ship to let it consume them. Kirk offers final assistance that is rejected by Neo followed by the death of him and his crew. The story ends with James Kirk becoming the captain of the USS Enterprise ship relieving Captain Pike and the federation embarks on another journey.

Catch the latest episode of 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' exclusively on Paramount+

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