Category Archives: Space Travel

"There is a fifth force which shaped religious belief, but its effect is so universal and profound that it deserves to stand alone...it deserves to be written thus: SPACE TRAVEL!"unknown[src]

Space travel played a major role in the evolution and expansion of humanity throughout the known universe. Two forms of space travel existed: faster than light space travel, and conventional space travel.

Supposed early draft for Jodorowskys Dune

For several thousand years, faster than light travel (FTL travel or space-folding) was conducted exclusively by the Spacing Guild, using Spacefolder vessels piloted by Guild navigators that folded space-time and moved almost immeasurable distances in the blink of the eye.

This form of travel, while extremely expensive, was also not safe as one in ten ships that used space folding engine disappeared, at least during the early years of the technology's use before the advent of Navigators. It was utilized for both commercial and military purposes. Space-folding made use of two key factors:

Eventually, at some point between the fall of the Atreides Empire and the discovery of the Dar-es-Balat hoard, Ixian navigation machines broke the guild monopoly on foldspace by providing a means of safely navigating foldspace without a navigator.[1][2]

The old FTL conventional space travel was used mainly for travel within the confines of a star system (not for interstellar travel). However, before the discovery of the new faster-than-light travel method, it was also used for long-distance space travel. The old method was described as "outracing photons". Even after space-folding became the primary means of interstellar travel, many Imperial warships still kept their old FTL drives as an alternative to the much faster but less reliable Holtzmann engines.

A calculation for velocities obtainable with old FTL conventional space travel can be made from the book "The Butlerian Jihad" by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Before the Battle of Earth, the unified Armada is stated to have gathered at Salusa Secundus. This planet is stated in this wikipedia to be located in theGamma Waiping system which is about 130.8 light-years form Earth, again according to this wikipedia. In the book"The Butlerian Jihad" Xavier Harkonnen states that the Armada takes over a month to reach Earth while traveling at its maximum sustainable speed. Using terrestrial time periods (days, weeks, months) for simplicity's sake, we get1,591.4c for a month,1,136.72c for six weeks, and795.7c for two months (c being equal to the speed of light).

The connection between faster than light travel and the Holtzman Effect is not explicitly mentioned by Frank Herbert. It is a connection made in the prequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

In the 'Legends of Dune' trilogy, the pair describe the time shortly before and during the discovery of space-folding. In these works the discovery of space-folding is attributed to Norma Cenva, who goes on to become the first prescient folded space navigator. Prior to this, although described in 'The Machine Crusade' as "outracing the old faster than light method", vessels still took weeks or months to cross between even the closest stars.

Original post:

Space travel | Dune Wiki | Fandom

Sir Richard Branson flew into space aboard a Virgin Galactic vessel, a voyage he described as the experience of a lifetime at the Spaceport America in New Mexico, United States on July 11, 2021. Virgin Galactic / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

2021 is a historic year for commercial space travel. A record number of civilian orbital and suborbital missions launched successfully: Elon Musks SpaceX launched four amateur astronauts into Earths orbit for the first time; a Russian film crew spent 12 days on the International Space Station shooting the worlds first movie in space; and two multi-billionaires flew to the edge of Earths atmosphere as the first passengers of their respective space companies to show the public that their new spacecrafts are safe and fun.

As with everything in its early stages, space tourism today is unattainably expensive (although demand appears to be strong enough to keep existing companies in this market busy for several years). But eventually, as technology matures and more companies enter the industry, prices will hopefully go down. As a space tourism entrepreneur told Observer this summer, going to space in the future will be more and more like going to Europe.

Below, weve rounded up every space tourism package that is either available now or in the near future. We have listed them in the order of price and compared them by travel duration, maximum altitude, passenger cabin amenities, and value for moneyif you can afford it, that is.

Price: $125,000Flight altitude: 30 kilometersWhat youll get: A relaxing six-hour ride to the stratosphere in a balloon-borne pressurized capsule.Date available: 2024Value for money: (4/5 stars)Space Perspective offers a radically gentle journey 20 miles above. Space Perspective

Founded by the team that launched Alan Eustace in 2014 for his Guinness World Record space jump, Florida-based Space Perspective in June began selling tickets of its yet-to-be-licensed Spaceship Neptune flights.

A pressurized capsule designed to carry up to eight passengers and one pilot will be slowly lifted by a hydrogen-filled balloon the size of a football field when fully inflated to 19 miles (30 kilometers) in the sky, about three times the altitude of commercial planes. The passenger cabin features a bar, a bathroom and huge windows specially designed for sightseeing.

The balloon will hover at its peak altitude for about two hours before slowly descending to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, where passengers and will be picked up by a recovery ship.

Because the space balloon moves at only 12 miles per hour during ascent and descent, no special training is required before the ride.Space Perspective completed a test flight in June. The company expects to begin flying paying customers before the end of 2024.

Ticket Price: $450,000Flight altitude:50 kmWhat youll get: A 90-minute ride to 50 kilometers above sea level in a SpaceShipTwo spaceplane. A few minutes of zero-gravity experience during descent.Date available:NowValue for money: (2/5 stars)Virgin Galactic Spaceship Cabin In Payload Configuration Virgin Galactic

If you like a more thrilling space experience provided by a company with a little bit of a track record, Virgin Galactics 90-minute suborbital flight might be your choice.

In July, the companys founder, Richard Branson, became its first passenger and flew to the edge of Earths atmosphere in a VSS UnitySpaceShipTwo spaceplane along with two pilots and three Virgin Galactic employees.

A pioneer in the nascent space tourism industry, Virgin Galactic began selling seats in 2013 at $250,000 apiece. By the time it halted sales in 2014 (after a test flight failure), the company had collected deposits from more than 600 aspiring customers.Ticket sales resumed in August this year at a higher price of $450,000. Virgin Galactic said it has since received 100 reservations.

Each VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo can carry up to four passengers. Virgin Galactic expects to fly paying passengers three times a month in 2023. At its current reservation volume, it will take the company a number of years to clear its wait list. So, patience is your friend here.

Ticket Price: Reportedly $28 millionFlight altitude: 100 kmWhat youll get: A 12-minute ride to the Krmn line, the internationally recognized boundary between Earths atmosphere and outer space.Date available:NowValue for money: (1/5 stars)

Blue Origin offers a similar suborbital flight package to Virgin Galactics. The main difference is that Virgin flies passengers in a plane while Blue Origin launches amateur astronauts in a real rocket.

On July 20, a few days after Bransons spaceflight, Jeff Bezos became the first customer of his own space company as well, blasting off to 107 kilometers in the sky in a New Shepard booster-capsule combo. The same spacecraft launched another crew of four passengers, including Star Trek actor William Shatner, on October 13.

Blue Origin began taking reservations in May. The exact ticket price is still a mystery. Bezos has said Blue Origin will price New Shepard flights similarly to its competitors, which led us to speculate that it would likely fall in the range of what Virgin Galactic charges. But, according to Tom Hanks, the ride would cost $28 million, which he said was the reason he turned down Bezos invitation to fly on the October mission. Hanks may have been joking, but $28 million was how much an auction winner paid to fly alongside Bezos in July. Of that total, $19 million was donated to various space organizations, Blue Origin said. If the remaining amount went to the company itself, it was still a hefty $9 million.

Blue Origin said it has raked in $100 million from private clients, but refused to disclose how many tickets have been sold.

Ticket Price: Estimated $55 millionFlight altitude: 574 kmDate available:NowWhat youll get: Three-day stay inside SpaceXs Dragon capsule circling around Earth with three crew mates.Value for money: (3/5 stars)Earth view through the glass cupola on SpaceXs Dragon capsule during the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission in September. SpaceX

SpaceX has more experience launching humans into space than any other company in this roundup. Its civilian package, rightfully the most expensive of the bunch, provides the closest experience to true space exploration.

In September, four amateur astronauts blasted off into space in a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule, equipped with a 360-degree glass dome, and spent three days flying in Earths orbit. The crewed spacecraft shot up to an altitude of 357 miles, about 100 miles higher than the average orbital altitude of the International Space Station.

The trip was paid for by tech billionaire Jared Isaacman, who was also one of the passengers. SpaceX didnt disclose the exact amount he paid. It was estimated in the $200 million ballpark, given that NASA pays about $55 million for each seat on SpaceXs regular crewed missions to the ISS.

Ticket Price: $55 millionFlight altitude: 408 kmDate available: 2022What youll get: A 10-day trip to the International Space Station, including a weeklong stay in the orbital lab.Value for money: (5/5 stars)

Next year, another four-person, all-civilian mission is expected to launch with a SpaceX Dragon capsule, this time to actually dock at the International Space Station and let the crew live in the orbital lab for a week. (The Inspiration4 mission stayed in orbit only.)

The trip is marketed by Houston-based Axiom Space, a company led by former NASA official Michael Suffredini. Dubbed Ax-1, the mission will be piloted by former NASA astronaut Michael Lpez-Alegra. Three passengersLarry Connor, Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbehave reportedly paid $55 million each for the remaining seats.

Axiom has three more flights planned in 2022 and 2023. Under NASAs low Earth orbit commercialization policy, two ISS civilian missions no longer than 30 days are allowed per year. Axiom actually aims to eventually build a stand-alone space station to replace the aging ISS. The first major module is expected to launch in 2024.

Ticket Price: $50 million to $60 millionFlight altitude: 408 kmDate available: NowWhat youll get: A 12-day trip to the International Space Station.Value for money: (5/5 stars)Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (C), along with film director Klim Shipenko (R) and actress Yulia Peresild (L) pose for a photo ahead of the launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 05, 2021. Roscosmos Press Service/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

If you dont feel like buying your first space trip from an inexperienced private company, Russias national space agency Roscosmos has a ISS getaway package very similar to what Axiom and SpaceX have to offer.

In October, Roscosmos sent an actress and a director to the ISS for a 12-day trip to shoot scenes for what will be the first movie filmed in space. On December 8, another civilian, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, known for having booked a SpaceX Starship flight around the moon in 2023, will travel to the ISS in a Russian Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft, set to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Maezawa will fly with his assistant, Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. According to Space Adventures, a Virginia-based company currently working with Roscosmos on future commercial flights, a seat on an ISS-bound Soyuz spacecraft will cost in the range of $50 million to $60 million.

Link:

Every Space Tourism Package Available in 2021 Ranked: From $125K to $60 Million - Observer

Supercharge your familys brain power with a visit to these dynamic destinations. Here are five compelling places to consider.

U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Ala..

Do you have what it takes to be a space explorer? Visit this other-worldly technology center to experience the Discovery Shuttle simulator, feel three times the force of gravity in the G-Force Accelerator and to peruse one of the largest collections of rockets and space memorabilia on display anywhere in the world.

You can also discover what it takes to be among the worlds great record holders. Check out the centers latest traveling exhibition, The Science of Guinness World Records, to uncover the stories of those whose talent and tenacity enabled them to best the longest, farthest, deepest, highest records on the planet.

Contact rocketcenter.com

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Encouraging curiosity and celebrating questions, this is the place to see a German submarine, understand how tornadoes and avalanches happen and explore the structure of the eye in a hands-on lab environment.

Discover the mathematical patterns that surround us every day in the natural world from the delicate, nested spirals of a sunflowers seed to the ridges of a majestic mountain range, in a compelling exhibit called Numbers in Nature. Then make your way to the Whispering Gallery to understand how sound travels in different environments. A theater and hands-on exhibits further enhance the experience.

Contact MSIChicago.org

Monterey Bay Aquarium. Monterey, Calif.

Founded in 1984, this world-renowned organizations mission is to inspire conservation of the worlds oceans.

Through a variety of interactive activities and exhibits designed for young children and families, your crew will learn about the delicate balance that exists in our seas today. The youngest visitors will be drawn to the 40-foot-long touch pool for an up-close look at curious creatures like sea stars, urchins, kelp crabs and abalones. Youll all enjoy the playful antics of southern sea otters, learning about the world of mud flats and marshes, and observing a master of disguise, the Giant Pacific Octopus.

Contact MontereyBayAquarium.org

The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis

Spreading 29 acres with more than 472,900 feet of exhibit space on five floors, this extraordinary nonprofit institution has been entertaining and educating families since 1925. Considered the largest childrens museum in the world, kids can learn about the day-to-day duties of astronauts and get inspired by the powerful stories of other children including Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, Ryan White and Malala Yousafzai. Families are charmed by a historic carousel and inspired by exhibits that explain how plant science can help the world by cleaning up oil spills and cultivating healthy food.

Contact childrensmuseum.org

Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix

This unique museum enables families to see and experience more than 3,000 instruments and artifacts from around the world. Live performances, family-friendly festivals and a wide array of lectures and classes are available. Check out the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed Imagine as well as the instruments of Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and George Benson. Wireless headsets allow guests to see and hear exhibits throughout the museum. Kids will enjoy the Experience Gallery, where they can touch, play and hear instruments from far away cultures. Check out their extensive and diverse concert schedule.

Contact TheMim.org

Tribune News Service

More here:

Education travel destinations the whole family will enjoy - Boston Herald

In February 2022, Texas-based startup Axiom Space will launch the first fully private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) a milestone for commercial spaceflight. While onboard, the astronauts will conduct microgravity research that could help future astronauts, the first step in Axioms quest to create the worlds first commercial space station.

The challenge: The microgravity environment aboard the ISS allows scientists to conduct experiments that wouldnt be possible on Earth.

However, there isnt nearly enough time for government scientists to conduct all of the potential microgravity research, nor is there enough room aboard the ISS for all the potential experiments.

Humanity has only scratched the surface of low-Earth orbits potential for breakthrough innovation.

The idea: Axiom Space is working to expand the amount of research that can be done in microgravity by creating the worlds first commercial space station, a place where anyone could buy the time and space needed for their experiments.

Humanity has only scratched the surface of low-Earth orbits potential for breakthrough innovation, Michael Suffredini, the startups president and CEO, said in a press release, and Axiom was founded to push that envelope.

In 2024, Axiom plans to launch the first module. Initially, it will attach to the ISS to expand the amount of room available for astronauts and experiments, and when the ISS is retired, itll separate to become its own space station.

Before that happens, though, Axiom is sending groups of private astronauts to the ISS to conduct experiments.

Were doing these series of missions in order to do a couple of things, Christian Maender, in-space manufacturing and research director at Axiom, said during a November conference. First, to develop markets, but also to do pathfinder work towards what is eventually our Axiom station.

Whats new: The first of those missions, Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), is set to launch in February 2022 with four crew members one is an Axiom employee (hell serve as commander), and the other three are men paying $55 million each to spend about a week aboard the ISS.

During their time in space, the crew will conduct more than 100 hours of microgravity experiments on behalf of a number of universities, startups, and institutes.

We applaud the Ax-1 crews commitment to advancing scientific inquiry and kicking off this civilizational leap.

Those include studies related to climate change, STEM education, and the environmental health of the Great Lakes. Several microgravity experiments focused on the impact of space travel on the human body are also planned.

We applaud the Ax-1 crews commitment to advancing scientific inquiry and kicking off this civilizational leap, Suffredini said.

Were confident this mission will become not just a monumental moment in space travel, but the true beginning of making spaces potential for meaningful discovery available to private citizens and organizations for the first time, he continued.

Wed love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at tips@freethink.com.

Originally posted here:

First commercial mission to the ISS prepares for launch - Freethink

As yet, no-one has committed a crime in space - but someone came close in 2019.

Then Summer Worden, the wife of NASA astronaut Anne McClain, claimed that the former US Army engineer had illegally hacked her bank account from a computer on the International Space Station.

The claims were disproven, and the two women subsequently divorced. But with more and more people making their way into orbit every year its only a matter of time before the first outer-space crime is committed.

The first attempt to draft a set of laws governing space travellers dates back almost 30 years before the first manned space flight. A Czech legal expert published a book about the problems space travel might represent for lawyers.

Most efforts at creating a universal set of laws for off-world activities have centred on property law and mineral rights for example, a NASA bid to capture an asteroid and place it in lunar orbit sparked a major debate about who owns celestial objects.

After all, with the value of some asteroids estimated to be in the trillions of dollars, its a question we need to resolve.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has predicted that the Earths first trillionaire will be the person who exploits the natural resources on them.

For example, one massive iron asteroid that was probably once the core of a dead planet could make someone incredibly rich or end all life on Earth.

The asteroid, called 16 Psyche, is thought to contain deposits of iron worth around 8,000 quadrillion.

Theoretically, if 16 Psyche could be mined and its iron retrieved, the value of the metal could be divided between the worlds eight billion people to make every man, woman and child on the planet a billionaire.

Or, equally, any attempt to bring the multi-trillion-dollar space rock down to Earth could result in a planet-killing catastrophe on a par with the event that saw off the dinosaurs.

NASA are currently working with Elon Musk to design a probe that can land on 16 Psyche, remove a small section, and return it to the Earth for analysis.

Theres another set of international agreements covering the legality of weapons in space. A 1967 Outer Space Treaty signed by most of the major world powers bans military bases, weapons testing and military manoeuvres on other heavenly bodies.

However it doesnt go as far as banning all military activity in space, and the recent anti-satellite weapons tests from Russia and China show that the law doesnt really stretch very far beyond the Earth at all.

John Logsdon, founder of the Space Policy Institute and professor emeritus at George Washington University, says that there are no meaningful laws in space at all.

He said: The governing structure for space activities is way out of date and doesnt reflect today's realities in space.

There are no rules. Theres no space traffic regime or control. [There are] thousands of objects in space - satellites and space debris. Its a wild environment up there with things shooting around and no traffic management to make sure they dont collide with one another.

Paul Kostek, a space policy specialist from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers , says that the next phase of space exploration, with prospectors competing to claim the next valuable asteroid, threatens to turn space into a new wild west.

It really is the wild wild west, or in this case the wild wild space,' he said. "What is all of that going to mean, how are people even going to manage space?

See the article here:

Race to make laws in space before asteroid mining starts and there's a 'new wild west' - Daily Star

The sleeper has awoken! More than 55 years after Frank Herberts seminal sci-fi novel "Dune" hit the shelves, and a year-long pandemic delay, director Denis Villeneuve ("Arrival," "Blade Runner: 2049") has unwrapped the first half of his ambitious $165 million adaptation of the award-winning book with mixed results but a palpable dose of storytelling passion.

The 1965 novel was inspired partly by Herbert's awareness of the Department of Agriculture's plan to stabilize and relocate tons of encroaching sand dunes in Florence, Oregon. This blossomed into a futuristic work of singular significance encompassing themes of religion, politics, and ecology amid the turbulent world of feuding houses vying for control of a valuable consciousness-expanding substance called the spice melange. This rare commodity is found only on Arrakis, AKA Dune.

With such legendary notoriety, this project is only the third Hollywood iteration of "Dune," even counting the respectable TV version produced by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2000. The first to mount an assault on the work was Chilean-French cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, whose trippy version would have come with Mick Jagger, Salvador Dali, Orson Welles and a burning giraffe! Note: If you're wondering how to see the new movie outside the theaters, check out our "Dune" streaming guide for tips on where to watch.

A superb documentary titled "Jodorowsky's Dune" chronicles his exhaustive efforts.

Following the failure of Jodorowskys wild dreams to bring "Dune" to life in the mid-70s, iconoclastic director David Lynch ("The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet") took up the quest. In 1984, Universal Pictures released the first "Dune" feature adaptation which I still believe is a flawed masterpiece.

Audiences were enraptured with the film's scope and stirring score (and an oiled-up Sting in a loincloth), but were bewildered at the movies' hallucinatory tone and head-spinning mythology. Pre-"Game of Thrones" patrons of that era were unaccustomed to complex sci-fi narratives of the same magnitude as todays "The Expanse," requiring nervous theater owners to even issue "cheat sheet" info cards to aid the confused. Polarizing at best, it's still an ambitious attempt.

Now Villeneuve takes a stab at the book once considered unfilmable, and in his hands the material takes on a magnificent 21st century sheen that at times seems like the definitive cinematic version of the source novel. But this valiant attempt at a revelatory adaptation is sort of ponderous and boring. Not that its not without its visually arresting moments. The spaceships instill power and austerity and those dragonfly-like Ornithopters seem like theyre real machines straight from the novel!

In one of the most startling sequences of the movie near its midpoint, we're whisked from the arid wastelands of Arrakis to the harsh prison planet of Salusa Secundus.

Here in the former homeworld of Emperor Shaddam IV's House Corrino prior to its resettlement on Kaitain, we see thousands of fanatical Sardaukar terror troops in formation during a sinister ceremony while an unsettling war cry drones. It's a chilling scene that reveals the fierce warriors' recruitment process as theyre marked in fresh blood streaming from upside-down victims crucified inside tiered stone fortifications.

Herbert's novel delves briefly into Salusa Secundus as the secret hive where Sardaukar are spawned and trained, but Lynch's treatment doesn't allude to any of it. Witnessing their rituals add a measure of fear that supports their legendary status as the fiercest fighters in the galaxy.

"The big challenge was to try not to crush the audience at the start with an insane amount of exposition," Villeneuve told the Los Angeles Times. "It took a long time to find the right equilibrium so that people who don't know 'Dune' will not feel left aside and will feel part of the story."

Regarding the casting process, Timothe Chalamet is seriously up to the task of portraying Paul, the young messianic member of the Atreides clan who will bring deliverance to the desert planet of Arrakis. Doubters should watch his riveting performance as young Henry V in the Netflix film, "The King."

Chalamet plays Paul with simmering intensity and a hint of naivety that transforms into a determined leader whose compassion is matched only by his reserved vengeance against the Harkonnens and the machinations of the Emperor and the Spacing Guild. The guild and its deformed Navigators from Lynchs version are the ones who alert Shaddam IV of the necessity to kill Paul Atreides to secure spice production. Their monopoly on space travel cannot be understated. Strangely, Villeneuve brushes over the importance of the Spacing Guild and its paranoid orchestration of events that lead to the downfall of House Atreides

Those familiar with the 1984 film will recall the eerie scene when a grasshopper-like Third Stage Guild Navigator in his glass travel tank permeated with orange spice gas glides into the Emperors throne room to warn him of the Atreides' prophecy and implications of his threat to Arrakis' future.

Other cool elements of Lynch's "Dune" you won't see in Villeneuve's movies are the wearable sonic weapons called the Weirding Modules that transform sounds into high-intensity bolts. These throat-worn devices are not mentioned in Herberts "Dune" novels. The special weapons were substituted for the books' Bene Gesserit martial arts form known as the Weirding Way.

Apparently Lynch decided to use sonic modules instead to stay clear of the goofiness of seeing "Kung-fu on sand dunes." I'll sure miss those vocal-triggered neck guns as Villeneuve's "Dune: Part 2" unfolds.

For "Dune's" musical score, the great Hans Zimmer wields the orchestral baton with his usual thunderous aplomb where everything is turned up to "11." This is in stark contrast to Lynch's use of Brian Eno's hypnotic Prophecy Theme and the pop rock tracks by Toto. One wouldnt think those choices wouldn't meld into a proper soundtrack but it gave that movie an operatic grandeur which feels lost in Villeneuves film beneath deafening action-oriented drums and primal chants. Zimmers derivative music seems stale and falls somewhere between his acclaimed scores for "Black Hawk Down" and "Man of Steel." Nothing new here to hear.

The rest of Villeneuve's casting choices are a bit predictable but often daring, especially Jason Momoa inhabiting the skin of the gruff battle-hardened swordmaster, Duncan Idaho, as well as Dave Bautista's rabid Rabban, who cultivates a charismatic ferocity to match his Harkonnen pedigree.

Stellan Skarsgard's Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a bloated brute portrayed as a power-addicted despot, far different from Kenneth McMillans role in the 1984 film which bordered on over-the-top cartoonishness. (Remember the blood-gushing heart plugs?) As the short-lived patriarch of House Atreides, Oscar Issac is a solid Duke Leto and Josh Brolin lends gravitas to the troubadour-warrior Gurney Halleck. Thick-accented Javier Bardem is magnetic playing the Fremen chieftain Stilgar.

As the Lady Jessica, Rebecca Ferguson is engaging and vulnerable but feels too young to have a son of Pauls age. I was also pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed British actress Sharon Duncan-Brewsters gender-swapped performance as the Imperial planetologist, Dr. Liet-Kynes.

Overall, the glacial pacing for Villeneuve's "Dune" feels far too relaxed, especially the plodding first act before the galactic crossing to Arrakis and the stronghold city of Arakeen. The director can apparently indulge in a languorous start due to the project being delivered in two chapters. Lynch wisely chose one extra-long cut.

And yes, those monster sandworms are on the prowl here, perfectly depicted via modern CGI instead of the intricate puppets created by "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial's" Carlo Rambaldi. These colossal creatures erupt from the sandy oceans like killer kaiju bent on disrupting spice production in the fertile harvesting beds. We're treated with some gaping maws erupting from the sand but not any full-length glimpses of their immensity.

Those hoping to see Zendaya ("Spider-Man: Homecoming") better not blink or youll miss her as her Chani consists of seven minutes of total screen time made up of pensive glances inside Pauls dreams and a dearth of lines in the films final scenes. For someone featured so prominently in all the trailers, teasers, and marketing material it seems somewhat misleading.

But it's not what is shown in "Dune" that feels adrift and absent, it's what's not shown. Namely the royal domain of Emperor Shaddam IV on planet Kaitain, his daughter Princess Irulan, the Spacing Guild and its mutated Navigators, and Feyd-Rautha, the Baron's nephew famously played with sexy savagery by The Police's Sting and whose fate is linked to Paul's.

"Dune: Part 1" unfolds as a sometimes sluggish but occasionally brilliant introduction to Frank Herberts influential magnum opus. I can only hope that the sequel, now officially greenlit by Legendary/Warner Bros. due to the films $41 million opening for a 2023 release, offers a more energized pace and emotionally resonant climax to expand our minds like the fabled psychotropic spice of Arrakis.

It shall be seen whether or not Villeneuve decides to retain the secret that Paul Atreides carries the Harkonnen bloodlines as his mother was once part of the Barons concubine. This was expressly left out of the David Lynch adaptation and needs to be included. Another piece of Herberts book thats omitted is the anti-technology stance of banning all AI and computers across the galaxy.

This movie is really focused on Paul and I brought in a little bit of the Harkonnens just for context, to understand the geopolitics of the story, Villeneuve adds in his interview. This movie just gives a little glimpse into the Harkonnens. The second movie is much more about them.

Overall, I truly miss the source materials inherent weirdness and psychedelia (Herbert experimented with magic mushrooms!) on screen and hope Villeneuve delivers a less subdued and sterile interpretation for the follow-up in two years.

Until then, I just might pop on Lynchs much-maligned Dune and soak up some radical 80s nostalgia. The spice must flow!

Follow uson Twitter @Spacedotcomand onFacebook.

More here:

Will the spice flow? How does new 'Dune' hold up to 1984's film and Frank Herbert's classic novel? - Space.com

With latest entry into the Star Trek universe "Star Trek: Prodigy" warping into the unknown on Paramount Plus, Space.com got the chance to talk to one of its stars: none other than Kate Mulgrew, best known for playing Capt. Kathryn Janeway in "Star Trek: Voyager."

The new show from streaming service Paramount Plus and Nickelodeon will follow five kids who are incarcerated on an obscure planet in an uncharted part of the galaxy. They escape from their imprisonment and race across the planet to find a defunct starship buried in the sand of the planet's surface. They enter the ship, but are unable to make it work. With prison guards hot on their heels, they suddenly stumble upon an Emergency Training Hologram in the form of Capt. Janeway.

The seemingly derelict starship is the NX 76884 USS Protostar. Since it carries the NX registration, perhaps this was an experimental ship or prototype of some kind. Here's how to watch Star Trek: Prodigy online and if you're looking for more Trek, check out our Star Trek streaming guide.

A protostar is a very young star that is still gathering mass from its parent molecular cloud and they have been mentioned in "Star Trek" before. The Enterprise NX-01 surveyed a protostar just before the incident at the Vulcan monastery at P'Jem in the "Enterprise" episode "The Andorian Incident" (S01, E07) and the Argolis Cluster was a protostar cluster mentioned in the "Deep Space Nine" episode "Behind the Lines" (S06, E04).

Interestingly, we learn in the "Voyager" episode "The Omega Directive" (S04, E21) that in theory, a type-6 protostar could be used to generate a wormhole So we asked Kate Mulgrew about this. You can watch the full interview above.

"Do you enjoy being nerdy questions about Voyager?" I asked.

"Nerdy questions..?" Mulgrew replied with a quizzical tone in her voice.

"Do you mind if I ask you a nerdy question about Voyager..?!" I continued.

"I wondered if that was coming and I'm not surprised! Go for it!" Mulgrew said with a laugh.

"We learn in the 'Voyager' episode 'The Omega Directive' (S04, E21) that theoretically, a type-6 protostar could be used to generate a wormhole So is this an indication of what's to come, is this an experimental vessel designed to somehow travel to the Delta Quadrant in superfast time by way of a wormhole?" I asked, almost out of breath.

"Not only nerdy, but beautifully and wonderfully nerdy!" Mulkgrew said, smiling. "But unanswerable, due to spoilers. You're going to have to wait and watch."

Along with Kate Mulgew, "Star Trek: Progidy" features an all-star cast, including Jason Alexander (Doctor Noum), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Jimmi Simpson (Drednok), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Jameela Jamil (Ensign Asencia), John Noble (Diviner), Daveed Diggs (Commander Tysess), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), Brett Gray (Dal), Angus Imrie (Zero), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk) and Robert Beltran as Capt. Chakotay.

"Star Trek: Prodigy" is airing now on Paramount Plus in the U.S. and has already been renewed for a second season. You can also stream it on Paramount Plus in international territories including Latin America, the Nordics and Australia. The first two seasons of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" are also available to on Paramount Plus along with four seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery" which just returned to TV this month.

Today's best Paramount Plus deals

Follow Scott Snowden on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Read more here:

Kate Mulgrew spills the beans on 'Star Trek: Prodigy' and bringing Captain Janeway back to TV - Space.com

Investment trusts are supposed to be century old institutions known for solid but stale strategies, but a spate of new launches have offered DIY savers the chance to own stocks involved in space, hydrogen and "digital infrastructure".

It has been a record year for new fund launches, according to the Association of Investment Companies, a trade body, with 13 new companies to choose from. They have attracted 3.4bn in savings.

However, while more options gives investors the chance to own modern stocks, knowing whether a fund is good is difficult due to the lack of a track record.

New funds include Seraphim Space, which raised 180m and buys companies involved in space travel and communications while HydrogenOne Capital raised 107m to invest in hydrogen power. Two digital infrastructure funds were also launched: Cordiant Digital Infrastructure and Digital 9 Infrastructure. Both buy and run physical assets that keep our lives connected and online, such as data centres and undersea cables.

Mick Gilligan, of wealth manager Killik & Co, has invested in four new trusts this year: Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, Digital 9 Infrastructure, Pantheon Infrastructure and Seraphim Space.

"We bought the two digital funds because they generate a lot of cash and are low risk, because customers of the stocks they own will need them regardless of economic growth. They are also big and growing areas so there is a long pipeline of investors to buy and make money from," he added.

The rest is here:

A record year for investment trusts but only these four deserve your attention - Telegraph.co.uk

For all of the clamour around Elon Musks prognostications of a human colony on Mars by 2026, experts said that the limiting factor of humanitys aspirations to reach other worlds is still dictated by the frailty of the human body.

At a recent talk organised by the French Embassy and Institut Francais, a panel of authorities pointed out any attempt to reach other planets and celestial bodies is massively challenged by the task of protecting and sustaining astronauts during long-haul space missions.

Among the obstacles are solar radiation, the need for safe habitations plus concocting ways to carry out agriculture or storing food on the austere new world or spacecraft, addressing the fearsome battery of physiological and psychological problems associated with long-term space travel worsened by a sense of disconnect from Earth and even the disposal of food and human waste that 'earthlings' take for granted.

It is this set of challenges that leaves Mathieu J Weiss, Space Counsellor and the Bengaluru representative of the French Space Agency, the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), convinced that it is not so much the technicality of space technology or even propulsion systems holding back a deluge of human-crewed missions into space, but concern about how humans will survive missions that could take months or years to complete.

The space sector has gone through tremendous changes these last years. Look at reusable technologies, look at sustainable technologies, solutions with artificial intelligence, Weiss said. In fact, the novels we were reading in the 20th century about science fiction are just becoming reality and we, as experts in the field, we are feeling it, living it every day.

At the same time, Weiss cautioned that living on the moon or on Mars presents technical challenges which have never really been addressed by the earlier generations of space travel or even current missions at the International Space Station (ISS).

We are at the cusp of a major leap in human space flight to other celestial bodies but whatever we learned from the fantastic Apollo program and all the work the Russians have done cannot be used for us to live on Mars. We need to now understand the physical limits of sending humans out there, which raises questions such as: How will they rehab from the prolonged flight duration and how will they fare from a physiological point of view and from a psychological point of view? he said.

Physiological changes

What is known is that within four to six hours of a human being going to space, the individual starts to experience changes in the bodys cardiovascular system involving the heart and blood acid, according to Wing Commander Dr Stuti Mishra, a Flight Surgeon and Instructor at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) in Bengaluru where the Gaganyaan astronauts are being trained.

The moment we put a human behind a machine for a long duration, the human becomes the limiting factor, she said.

This is because something similar to osteoporosis, the instantaneous fractures which happen to old people, occurs in space and as does muscle wasting in the lower limbs. "Demineralisation in the bones is one issue. The other is radiation because it has a long-term effect on cells, Dr Mishra said, adding that natural sensors in the human body known as vero-receptors also are de-conditioned in low gravity.

This has particular resonance for India, whose long-term aspiration beyond the Gaganyaan-manned missions is to set up a space station in low-earth orbit with the eventual aim of going to the moon.

Gaganyaan is just the foundation of a sustained manned space program and it will act as a stepping stone, said V R Lalithambika, Director of ISROs Human Spaceflight Programme. Beyond this programme, we would be thinking of permanent presence in low-Earth orbit first, and we need to develop a lot of enabling technologies for that, which we do not have at the moment onthe engineering side, docking technologies, on the human side, bio-asthmatics is one area where we do not have any expertise.

We need to develop that expertise and all the associated technology which would be required for a sustained presence in space, she added.

Although data exist, going back some 60 years to the early US and Russian-manned missions showing how space travel impacts the human body, Isro officials told DH that the country would like to collect its own data through space expeditions because it could present new findings on how solar radiation affects Indians on a genetic level.

This is a statement corroborated by Dr Audrey Berthier, Executive Director of Medes (the French Institute for Space Medicine and Physiology at Toulouse) who said that there is still a long way to go before individual susceptibility to solar radiation can be established.

In ongoing French-Australian trials at Sydney, for example, scientists have been using a heavy-ion synchrotron to test new radiation-protective light materials for spaceflight on animal meat samples. In our study, we found out that different people are reacting totally differently to radiation, Weiss added.

New lessons to learn

While there is data accumulated in previous space missions, Dr Berthier stressed that additional data, such as that to be generated by Gaganyaan will help complete the picture. But for some facets of future space travel such as deep-space isolation, there is even less quantifiable data. Where studies at Concordia Station in Antarctica have presented some information on the reaction of people to isolation, deep-space missions remain a wildcard.

How this will play out in a mission going to Mars where all one will see is darkness and blinking stars for six to nine months is anyones guess, added the space entrepreneur, Dr Susmita Mohanty, the founder of Liquefier System Group (LSG), an aerospace architecture and design firm based in Vienna.

Psychological impact

When in isolation, sometimes even fungus or mold can become your pet or friend, she said, pointing to a brief stint in Antarctica where she found the sunlight as having an otherworldly quality. It affects your mind and it starts to disorient you a bit in terms of time and space. Little things happen which have a big psychological impact, she added.

Worse, current behavioural data from the International Space Station is of little help as astronauts in low-earth orbit can see the Earth from the window, which is a source of comfort, added Dr Berthier, who pointed out that the ISS astronauts also have the option of a relatively speedy trip back to an Earth hospital in the event of a serious medical emergency a luxury that deep-space travellers lack.

But even if one survives the perils of spaceflight, there are more to follow on planetary surfaces. Future Indian astronauts who take up station on the moon may encounter problematic living conditions, according to Dr Mohanty.

Because there's no weathering force on the moon, if you pick up dust, it's fine and sharp like glass. It gets into everything. It gets into the creases of your spacesuit, it gets into the mechanical parts of your buggy, if you breathe it and sort of bring it into your habitat it goes into lungs, and it smells like burnt gunpowder, she said.

Ultimately solutions to all these problems will be found, experts said, adding that this will yield advances applicable even on the Earth.

Speaking at the event, Thierry Berthelot, General Consul of France in Bengaluru set the context for where humanity seeks to go. If the Earth was the size of a tennis ball, the farthest astronauts have gone is two meters away from the tennis ball to the moon which would be the size of a marble. Now we are aiming for Mars, which is a golf-ball-sized object three football fields away from our tennis ball. What has to be achieved is tremendous, he said.

But he added that the spin-offs: the benefits for our life on Earth will come in similar spurts - leapfrogging in the medical field, but also technical clues for adapting to climate change, new solutions to the conservation of the living and maybe new societal models. There are intensive hopes in these programs to serve humanity, he said.

Watch the latest DH Videos here:

See original here:

Risks and rewards of human deep-space travel - Deccan Herald

Traveling faster than light and time-travel could be real for tachyons. If one thing science fiction excels at, it's allowing us to marvel at the breaking of the physical laws of the universe. We watch and read in wonder as the warp engines of the starship Enterprise push it to beyond the speed of light, or as Barry or Wally whoever is carrying the name of the Flash at the time does the same in no more than a pair of yellow boots.

Likewise, we enjoy tales of adventurers like the Doctor, or Doc Brown, using weird seemingly antiquated machinery to violate the laws of causality. What if there was a fundamental particle that could do all these things? Moving faster than light like the Flash, and traveling back through time without the need for a TARDIS or a Delorian or yellow boots.

Thats a tachyon. But make no mistake, these particles arent just the idling's of science fiction writers. Tachyons are the stuff of "hard" science.

Related: What would happen if the speed of light was much lower?

Tachyons are one of the most interesting elements arising from Einsteins theory of special relativity. The 1905 theory is based on two postulates, nothing with mass moves faster than the speed of light (c), and physical laws remain the same in all non-inertial reference frames. A significant consequence of special relativity is the fact that space and time are united into a single entity; spacetime. That means a particles journey through speed is linked to its journey through time.

The term "tachyon" first entered scientific literature in 1967, in a paper entitled "Possibility of faster-than-light particles" by Columbia University physicist Gerald Feinberg. Feinberg posited that tachyonic particles would arise from a quantum field with imaginary mass explaining why the first populate of special relativity doesnt restrain their velocity.

This would lead to two types of particles existing in the universe; bradyons that travel slower than light and compose all the matter we see around us, and tachyons traveling faster than light, according to the University of Pittsburgh. One of the key differences between these particle types is as energy is added to bradyons, they speed up. But, with tachyons, as energy is taken away, their speed increases.

One of the most important and meaningful results from Einsteins theory of special relativity is the establishing universal speed limit of c; the speed of light in a vacuum.

Einstein suggested that as an object approaches c its mass becomes near-infinite, as does the energy required to accelerate it. This should mean that nothing can travel faster than light. But, imagine an anti-mass particle like a tachyon, its lowest energy state would see it speeding at c. But, why would this lead to backward time travel?

That all hinges on the concept that puts the "relative" into "special relativity."

A common tool used to explain special relativity is the spacetime diagram.

Spacetime is filled with events ranging from the cosmically powerful and violent, like the supernova explosion of a distant star, or the mundane, such as the cracking of an egg on your kitchen floor. And these are mapped onto the spacetime diagram. This diagram shows as a particle whizzes through spacetime, it traces out a worldline that maps its progress.

Also filling spacetime are observers, each of whom has their own reference frame. These observers may see the events that fill spacetime occurring in different orders. Observer 1 may see event A, the supernova, occur before event B the egg crack. Observer 2 however may see event B happening before event A.

Each event has a light cone associated with it. If event B falls within the lightcone of event A then the two could be causally linked. The supernova could have knocked the egg off the kitchen counter or maybe the falling breakfast item caused the complete gravitational collapse of a dying star, somehow.Thats because in the light cone a signal traveling slower than light can link the events. The edges of the light cone represent the speed of light. Linking an event outside the light cone with one inside it requires a signal that travels faster than light.

If event A is in the light cone and event B is outside it, then the supernova and egg-related tragedy can't be causally related. But, a tachyon traveling at a speed greater than the speed of light could violate causality by linking these events.

To see why this is a problem, consider it like this. Image event A is the sending of a signal, and event B is the receiving of that signal. If that signal is traveling at the speed of light, or slower all observers in different reference frames agree that A preceded B.

But, if that signal is carried by a tachyon and thus moves faster than light, there will be reference frames that say the signal was received before it was sent. Thus, to an observer in this frame, the tachyon traveled backward in time.

One of the fundamental postulates of special relativity is that the laws of physics should be the same in all non-accelerating reference frames. That means if tachyons can violate causality and move backward in time in one reference frame, it can do it in them all.

To see how this leads to problems called paradoxes, consider two observers, Stella aboard a spacecraft orbiting Earth, and Terra based on the surface of the planet. The two are communicating by sending messages with tachyons.

This means that if Stella sends a signal to Terra which moves faster than light in Stellas frame but backward in time in Terras frame. Terra then sends a reply as ordered which moves faster than light in her frame but backward in time in Stellas frame, Stella could receive the reply before sending the original signal.

What if this response signal from Terra says "do not send any signals"? Then Stella does not send the original signal, and Terra then has nothing to respond to and never sends the tachyon signal that says "dont send any signals."

So not only do tachyons violate causality in every frame they open the door to severe logical paradoxes.

There are suggestions as to how these paradoxes could be avoided. Of course, the most simple solution is that tachyons dont exist.

A less draconian suggestion is that observers in different reference frames cant tell the difference between the emission and absorption of tachyons.

That means a tachyon traveling back in time could always be interpreted as a tachyon moving forward in time because receiving a tachyon from the future always creates the same tachyon and sends it forwards in time.

Another suggestion is that tachyons arent like any other particle we know of, in that they don't interact and can never be detected or observed. Meaning that the tachyon communication system used by Stella and Terra in the above example cant exist.

Along similar lines, other researchers say that tachyons cant be controlled. The receipt and emission of tachyons just happen at random. Thus, theres no way to send a tachyon with a causality violating message.

Aside from the fact that like other particles, they are likely incomprehensibly tiny, because tachyons always travel faster than light it isnt possible to detect one on its approach. Thats because its moving faster than any associated photons.

After it passes, an observer would see the image of the tachyon split into two distinct images. These would show it simultaneously arriving in one direction and disappearing in the opposite direction.

If detecting tachyons, at least of their approach, with light is out of the picture, is there another way we could detect these faster than light particles?

Possibly. Tachyons are proposed to have an "anti-mass" but this still constitutes mass energy. That means these particles should still have some gravitational effect. Its possible highly sensitive detectors could spot this effect.

An alternative detection method could arise from their faster-than-light nature.

While the speed of light in a vacuum c is a universal speed limit, particles have been made to travel faster than light in other mediums. When electrically charged particles are accelerated up to and beyond the speed of light in certain mediums like water, they release a form of radiation called Cherenkov radiation, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

That means that if tachyons are electrically charged, one way of detecting them would be measuring Cherenkov radiation in the near-vacuum of space.

What tachyons really demonstrate is the importance of imagination in our ongoing quest to understand the universe. They may not exist, and if they do we may have no hope of ever measuring one.

But what our technology cant capture, our minds can. We can consider the possibility of a particle that journeys back through time and what that says about the nature of time, and the Universe, and the events that fill them.

In an interview with George Sylvester Viereck published in "The Saturday Evening Post" in 1929, Albert Einstein is believed to have said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

Read more from the original source:

Tachyons: Facts about these faster-than-light particles - Space.com