Cassini's huge dataset will yield discoveries for many years, as witness the global topographical map of Titan that has been assembled by Cornell University astronomers. The map draws on topographical data of the moon from multiple sources by way of studying its...
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The Plasma Magnet Drive: A Simple, Cheap Drive for the Solar System and Beyond
Can we use the outflow of particles from the Sun to drive spacecraft, helping us build the Solar System infrastructure we'll one day use as the base for deeper journeys into the cosmos? Jeff Greason, chairman of the board of the Tau Zero Foundation, presented his take...
Interstellar Communication Using Microbes: Implications for SETI
Mention Robert Zubrin's name and the planet Mars invariably comes up, given his long-time work on finding ways to establish a human presence there. Dr. Zubrin is the originator of Mars Direct, the author of The Case for Mars, and founder of the Mars Society. But his...
`Oumuamua: Listening To An Interstellar Interloper
The buzz about `Oumuamua, our first known visitor from another stellar system, seems likely to continue given yesterday's news that the object's axis ratio is a startling 10 to 1. Given all that, Jim Benford wondered whether there were SETI implications here. Was...
Unusual Visitor: A Deeper Look at ‘Oumuamua
When I first wrote about the interstellar interloper now called 'Oumuamua, I made reference to Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama because of the delightful symmetry between the novel and the object, though noting that 'we're unlikely to find that A/2017 U1 is as...
‘Dark Star’ and Staring into the Cosmic Abyss
Most of us fortunate enough to see 2001: A Space Odyssey in a theater when it was released never dreamed it would spawn a strange 'twin.' But as Larry Klaes explains in the essay that follows, Dark Star was to emerge as a telling satire on the themes of the Kubrick...
Vintage Voyager: Online Video Resources
With Voyager on my mind because of its recent anniversary, I had been exploring the Internet landscape for archival footage. But Ioannis Kokkinidis made my search unnecessary with the following essay, which links to abundant resources. The author of several Centauri...
New Horizons After 2014 MU69
If New Horizons can make its flyby of Kuiper Belt Object MU69 at a scant 3500 kilometers, our imagery and other data should be much enhanced over the alternative 10,000 kilometer distance, one being kept in reserve in case pre-encounter observations indicate a...
Creating Our Own Final Frontier: Part Two
In which Larry Klaes concludes his analysis of Forbidden Planet, the still revered science fiction classic from the 1950s. If you ever had any questions about this film, Larry is your man, and note the full complement of online resources at the end of the essay. by...
Creating Our Own Final Frontier: Forbidden Planet
Larry Klaes takes the helm today and tomorrow while I finish up some necessary (not space related) business. Most Centauri Dreams readers, I'm assuming, have seen Forbidden Planet, the 1956 science fiction tale that proved so influential on later depictions of...