NASA: Considering New Deep Space Missions.Parked Space Stations to Perform as Solar System Service Stations.

NASA is taking a close look at new concepts to send crews on deep space expeditions near the moon, as a promising next major "stepping stone" for human spaceflight.

The goal of the appraisal is to focus on what can be accomplished cost effectively in the near future, to showcase NASA’s ability to venture beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO).

At the heart of current efforts to explore beyond Earth's orbit is extensive use of the International Space Station, which astronauts can use to prepare for human travel beyond LEO. Moreover, work is underway to find novel ways to reuse existing equipment at the space station.

For instance, leftover components from the station and the now-defunct space shuttle program could be used to house technology demonstration hardware. Indeed, a combo of shuttle/station gear could be re-tasked and put together into a spacecraft for operations beyond LEO, researchers said. [Gallery: NASA's Vision for Deep Space Missions]

Click image for all proposals for deep space stations

Deep space scenarios

One ambitious human voyage on the table is long-duration crewed operations at libration points, gravitationally stable points in space that are also known as the Lagrangian points.

The Lagrange points are space places where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other out, allowing spacecraft to essentially "park" there.

There are five Lagrange points in near-Earth space. The closest Earth-sun Lagrange points are L1 (between Earth and the sun) and L2 (behind Earth, as viewed from the sun), which are about 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from the planet. For comparison, the moon is typically about 238,000 miles (382,900 km) from Earth, and represents the farthest point from Earth humans have ever explored.

Space architects contend that Lagrange point travel could sharpen human skills and technologies for even more challenging manned space sojourns. 

Space Boat: Proposal for Floating Probe to Sail the Oceans of Saturn's Moon Titan

While rovers are ideal for exploring Mars, a boat is best for Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Scientists are proposing a new mission to explore this alluring world that would send a floating probe to land in a lake on Titan.

Titan, the largest of the more than 60 natural satellites of Saturn, is covered in seas, lakes and rivers of methane, and hosts a thick atmosphere, making it one of the most Earth-like bodies in the solar system. Smaller than Earth but wider than Mercury, Titan is in many ways more like a planet than a moon.

 Titan

Prof. Michio Kaku Accurately Predicts Scientific Future: New Predictions? Exciting New Technologies Ahead!

In his latest book, Physics of the Future, Kaku interviewed 300 top scientists, Nobel laureates and directors of laboratories, picking their brains for future inventions. Like this: a chip in our toilets that will detect cancer 10 years before a tumor forms by analyzing our urine and feces.

And this: computers that are embedded in everyday objects such as note pads and household appliances and accessed from a "cloud" that follows us.

Aging will be slowed or maybe even halted. New discoveries have pinpointed the mechanisms that cause aging, Kaku said. It's the buildup of genetic or cellular errors. Over time, skin cells start to get sluggish and no longer function properly and bones become brittle and hollow. Error-correcting mechanisms in cells start to fail. Targeting those mechanisms, Kaku said, could extend our lives.

Click image for more predictions from the world recognized professor of Quantum Mechanics

One of Michio Kaku’s theories is that aging will be slowed or stopped.

Asteroids: 1930's Nazi Expedition Discovered Ancient Statue Determined Carved from Rare Meteorite

Researchers say the 1,000-year-old object with a swastika on its stomach is made from a rare form of iron with a high content of nickel.

They believe it is part of the Chinga meteorite, which crashed about 15,000 years ago.

The findings appear in the Journal,Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

The 24cm (9-inch) tall statue is 10kg (22lb) and is called the Iron Man,an ancient Buddhist statue that was recovered by a Nazi expedition in the 1930s was originally carved from a highly valuable meteorite.

Click for full story