Offworld Report: Weird Science, November 2004
02/11/2004 . Source: Jessica Martin 
Iran's first satellite, the X Prize is won, a fossil dragon, robot fish, why space access costs must, and can, drop dramatically, and has the Great Galactic Ghoul lost its appetite for Martian probes? No
Space in this Election
Why hasn’t space policy drifted into the recent
US Presidential Campaign? The
Muslim Satellite
The implications of Iran’s plans to launch a satellite
using its own rocket system. An
X-Prize for a Moon Base?
Promoting space settlements via an X-prize-like
challenge. The
Moon. Going once, going twice …
Auctioning off-world real estate?
What’s that about? Nearly
there
Why we are on the threshold of public space travel. X-Prize
for world's 'Holy Grails'
Why a string of X-Prizes for science to
crack the world's supreme challenges are being lined up. Russian
and US crew arrives at the ISS
Stuck on how to get to the International
Space Station? Kazakhstan can help. Sleeping
Dragons
A fossil dinosaur caught acting like a bird is found in China.
Humanity
is a Man-Bacteria Hybrid?
Why people should be viewed as hyper-cooperative
composed of a hotchpotch of human, bacterial, fungal and viral life. Robo-Fish
Swims for It
Why a robot fish is now swimming the oceans. NASA
on Autopilot
Why NASA’s next space ship will be able to fly itself. What
next for the X-Prize?
Now that SpaceShipOne has won the Ansari X Prize,
where can we go next? The
X-Prize Significance
Now the X-Prize has been won our life will never
be the same again, argues this article. SpaceShipOne
Photo opportunity
Gallery of pics from the X-Prize-winning flight. Lottery
to the Star
Will there be a lottery for members of the public to win
trips to space? The
Real Space Race
Does a race to the stars offer a better deal than
an auction? UK
– the next NASA?
The UK wants in on the space race with its Aurora
programme to Mars. The
Walking Lab
Look at NASA’s plans for a walking space lab for the Moon
and Mars. X-Prize:
the Bit Players
Who are the legions of geeks who have helped grab
the X-prize? SpaceShipOne
Wins
Rocket-ship SpaceShipOne grabs the $10m X-Prize for private space
travel. Going
Sub-atomic
Gross, Politzer and Wilczeck scoop the Nobel Prize for
their work on the structure of matter. Lowering
launch costs
Space access costs are being inflated by intuitional
barriers, reckons this article. Space
Tourism Deadly?
Commercial space flight could be real risky for the
travellers in the early days. Moore's
Law For Spaceflight?
Will space transport now be on a semiconductor-like
ride of cheapness? China
in Space
China turns up at the International Astronautical Congress
in Canada, and they are hungry. 2004:
A Vintage year for space
What a fab year this one’s been for space
travel. The
Drama of the Win
SpaceShipOne gets its prize but it had a few blips
on the way. Galactic
Ghoul loses appetite?
The Great Galactic Ghoul has been killing Mars-bound
spacecraft for a long time, but perhaps it is now losing its taste for human-sent
ships? Time
in the Sun
Solar satellites and fusion may be while off yet, even
with an energy crisis brewing. UFO
Genius Dies
The UFO world loses a champion in a mysterious crash. Martian
Evian
If Mars had oceans in the past, where is all that water now? Hubble's
still Surprises
The Hubble Space Telescope gives the scientists a
bit of a deep space surprise. Oxygen
Generator Failure
Why the International Space Station’s O2 generator
keeps on breaking down. Virgins
In Space
Richard Branson gets into the commercial space race. Plasma
Beam to the Stars
A new way of travelling into space is being developed
in the US. Robo-Scope
Looks into the world of RoboNet, the AI-driven search for Earth-class planets
and other astronomical wonders. Flying
Cars Back Again
Once again, flying cars are being touted as the next
generation of personal transport. Grumman’s
Jupiter probe
Northrop Grumman gets the job of building the Jimo Jupiter
space probe. 
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