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It’s Time to Cleanup
Photo Credit Gate Space
Our friends at KMI (Kall Morris) are teaming up with GATE Space, a company that uses green tech to move things in space. This new partnership will help clean up space.
Diggin’ It...
Moon Rocks
We are living in an exciting time for space exploration. And it started with something that happened 55 years ago!
Our Mission
Ignite imagination and inspire young learners by connecting students, educators, and industry experts in a journey of sharing and growth.
Photo Credit NASA
JumpAero
Empowering Real Life Super Heros!
Shinning Stars
Some of the schools we work with to create NOUN content.
Jump Aero wants to help first responders get to emergencies quickly. They're developing special planes - known as eVTOLs - that can take off and land vertically and fly really fast.
Jump Aero’s eVTOLs will be like superheroes for people living in the country, because they'll cut in half the time it takes for help to arrive in an emergency.
Learning Collaborative Partners
A few of the air and space entities we work with to engage and inspire young learners.
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Click the cat!
RoboKitty
See what Crestview Elementary students designed for KMI, an aerospace company using biomimicry to design satellites.
Kall Morris and GATE Space are teaming up to clean up space junk. KMI will use special computer programs and equipment, while GATE Space will use their systems for moving things in space with eco-friendly fuels.
The companies have met in England, Colorado, and California to talk about how they’ll be working together and to plan missions to pick up space junk around Earth. This teamwork shows that KMI and GATE Space want to make space safer. By working together, they hope to prevent dangerous crashes in space and make space operations safer for everyone.
Watch Liza Fust from KMI explain during our interview last year that space junk is a big problem because it can damage important things in space.
Photos: Coulson Aviation
Coulson Aviation is changing a former Southwest Airlines plane into the world’s largest air tanker to fight fires. They plan to get up to ten of these planes from Southwest Airlines.
The FIRELINER – a large air tanker (LAT) – can carry 5,000 gallons (19,000 liters) of water to put out fires. It can also carry people when it’s not fighting fires.
In 2023, wildfires caused a lot of damage and released over 2.1 billion tons of CO2 – more than many countries produce. Planes like the FIRELINER are important for stopping fires before they become too big and dangerous.
Diggin’ It
In July 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong made history by collecting 17 scoops of lunar soil from a small area right outside the Eagle - a Lunar Module or spacecraft. This soil, contained something very special: Helium-3.
What is Helium-3?
Helium-3 is a light and stable form of Helium. It is very rare and expensive on Earth, costing over $20 million per kilogram - that’s about the same weight as a pineapple!
On earth, it mostly comes from the decay of Tritium, making it very limited. However, Helium-3 is much more plentiful on the Moon.
Why is Helium-3 Important?
Helium-3 has many amazing uses:
- Clean Energy: It can be used in nuclear fusion to create a new era of clean energy.
- Quantum Computing: It helps in making advanced computers that can solve problems faster and more accurately.
- Medical Imaging: It improves MRI scans, helping doctors diagnose and treat patients better
Harvesting Helium-3 from the Moon.
Now, we have the technology to collect Helium-3 from the Moon. Thanks to lower space launch costs and new lunar equipment like landers and rovers, we can bring this valuable resource back to Earth in a responsible way.
The Mission.
Interlune - a company leading the development of sustainable, responsible harvesting of natural resources from space - is working to make this happen. They have a team of experts working on the technology and making sure everything is legal and sustainable. One of their executives - Harrison “Jack” Schmitt - was an Apollo 17 astronaut and is the only geologist to walk on the Moon. He has been studying Helium-3 for many years.
Building the Future.
With new rockets like Starship and programs like Artemis, they are ready to build a successful space business. They have already raised funding - money from investors to build their business - and they have agreements with customers.
IThis new era of space development that started with a small scoop of lunar soil in 1969, holds the promise of transforming our world in incredible ways.
Photo Credit NASA
More Space History
On May 15th, 1963, NASA astronaut L. Gordon Cooper launched from Launch Complex 14 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the Faith 7 spacecraft. This was the last of the Mercury missions.
More than sixty years later, Stoke Space will use the same launch pad for their Nova rocket.
Stoke Space Co-founder and CEO, Andy Lapsa, said, “The opportunity to reactivate this site is a profound responsibility that our entire team holds in the highest regard.”
Photo Credit Sierra Space
They Passed The Test
Sierra Space, a big space company, shared some exciting news! Their special spaceplane called Dream Chaser Tenacity® has passed some really tough tests at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio.
Dream Chaser Tenacity and its cargo friend, Shooting Star®, have arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, they will get ready for their first big trip into space later this year.
Imagine you're planning a big trip to the Moon. Well, just like we have time standards here on Earth, we need to make sure we have the right time standards for space travel too! Here's what the United States and it’s partners are planning:
Moon Time
1. Setting Time Standards: making sure when people travel to the Moon, they have their own special time to follow. This time needs to be super accurate and work even if they lose contact with Earth.
2. What's the Big Deal? Well, when we go to the Moon or other places in space, we need to know what time it is for lots of reasons. It helps us navigate and communicate better with each other!
3. Why Does Time Act Funny in Space? Because of something called relativity, time can be a little wonky in different places. For example, a clock on the Moon might track time a bit differently than one on Earth.
4. Making Space Travel Safer: Having the right time standards helps to keep track of minutes and seconds and make sure space travelers stay safe and can do their jobs correctly.
So, those are a few of the reasons scientists are working hard to figure out the best way to keep track of time in space!
©Astroscale
Satellite Trash Talk
A company in Japan called Astroscale shared some exciting news about their special satellite called ADRAS-J! It got close to a piece of space junk, which is like garbage floating in space, but it did it safely and in a controlled way.
The ADRAS-J team in Japan and the UK planned everything carefully, and their satellite moved closer and closer to the space junk using special techniques and cameras. The satellite took a picture of the space junk, which was an old rocket part.
This is a big deal because it's the first time anyone has snapped a picture of space junk. This information will help Astroscale and others - KMI for example - learn how to clean up space!
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