Cover image: This lunar mining base is close to the Moon’s north pole, with crew habitats at left, power storage batteries and propellant depot at rear, and a lunar ferry taking off in the distance. The site is surrounded by tall solar power arrays, with a rocket propellant production plant in the right foreground and a trencher operating in the left foreground.
IMAGE CREDIT: © ANNA NESTEROVA
Featured Articles:
12
NEW HORIZONS VISITS PLUTO
By Clifford R. McMurray
18
ISDC 2016:
SPACE BEYOND BORDERS: THE INSIDE SCOOP
By Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin
22
BACK TO THE MOON:
GETTING THERE FASTER FOR LESS
By Charles Miller and Sarah Preston
28
’TIS NOT TOO LATE TO SEEK A NEWER WORLD:
Finding Planets Outside Our Solar System
By Lance Frazer
32
A BREAKTHROUGH IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND EDUCATION HELPS STUDENTS REACH FOR THE STARS
By Lynne F. Zielinski, Fred J. Becker, and Alice M. Hoffman
36
TWEETING FROM SPACE
By Travis K. Kircher
38
HOW TO CHANGE A LIFE:
A Longstanding NSS Learning Program Inspires Young Minds to Seek Space-Focused Futures
By Mark Barthelemy
40
KIP THORNE, SCIENCE STAR, WEIGHS IN ON ISDC 2015
By Alla Malko, PhD
44
BECAUSE IT WOULD BE FANTASTIC
An Interview with Erik Wernquist, Space Animation Mastermind
By Mark Barthelemy
47
NSS CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS OF NEW HORIZONS SPARK PUBLIC INTEREST
By Claire Stephens McMurray
49
SPACE MINERAL RESOURCES
By Brad Blair
Departments:
7
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
By Pat Silver
8
NSS CORRESPONDENCE
NewSpace 2015 Conference
By Alla Malko, PhD
10
NSS ANNOUNCEMENTS
ISDC 2015 Virtual Reality Blowout
By Al Anzaldua
48
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR
Cost of Returning to the Moon Reduced by a Factor of Ten
By Mark Hopkins
50
BOOKS
Welcome to Mars, by Buzz Aldrin
Reviewed by Bart Leahy
Hubble’s Universe, by Terrence Dickinson
Reviewed by Claire S. McMurray
52
CHAPTER LISTINGS
55
SIGNING OFF
Preparing for the Journey Home