Have you ever wondered how much of the technology and science used in Star Trek is even plausible? The show began in 1966, and was so popular that five other series and eleven movies came in its wake.
Here is a link to a documentary about the science behind Star Trek. It not only discussed how the movie was made but also asks the questions about the physics of warp drive and SETI's involvement in searching for life beyond Earth.
Congress just awarded NASA 750 million dollars than they had requested from Congress this year. That means that they will have a budget of 19.3 billion dollars for 2016.
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http://www.iflscience.com/space/congress-just-gave-nasa-massive-budget-next-year
A sketch of the proposed engine.
Illustration via Debris Engine: A Potential Thruster for Space Debris Removal
An artist's impression of space debris in low-Earth orbit. ESA
Engineers at the Tsinghua Unviersity in Beijing have designed a space debris engine that will consume space junk and then convert that into a plasma fuel to continue its mission. This is a much needed concept considering that there is so much space junk orbiting our planet natural and man made. This could make space safer for spacecraft and satellites in the future. Not only that, the engineers believe that this kind of self-sustaining craft could be used in space exploration.
Raytheon's Exoatomospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) is the intercept component of the Ground Based Interceptor (GBI)
If you are old enough to remember, you may recall a proposed plan called "Star Wars" back in the 80's. The Reagan administration wanted to have satellite defense systems set up that would protect us from nuclear missile launches. The whole thing was scrapped by later administrations due to it being too complex.
However, Raytheon is wanting to bring the whole idea back. The company is working on four different kill vehicles that they believe will defend the US in the future.
The video below is one of the original videos aired to try to get the American people on board with the "Star Wars" project.
The concept of a multiverse is not uncommon in science fiction or comic books. The very idea that we exist in some other dimension as ourselves but because we went left instead of right one day, the version of ourselves could be strikingly different.
This concept is not just all comic book fantasy. There is real science to it. There are two articles below. One is a break down of the multiverse in comic books and the other is about the actual science behind it.
A look at the propulsion side of the Orion European Service Module (ESM) structural test model. Credit: Airbus Defence and Space SAS 2015
The test version of the ESA's service module for NASA's Orion spacecraft arrived on November 11. The service module is adapted from the Automated Transfer Vehicle and is located directly below the Orion crew capsule. It provides power, propulsion, thermal control, water, and air for a crew of four. On top of that, the solar array can provide enough energy for two homes. It was built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy and after being tested in Europe, NASA will be doing vibration tests to ensure it can handle the strains of a launch.
NASA fully intends to extend its journey to Mars. In the paper NASA's Journey to Mars; Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration, they are outlining just how they intend to do that. If you don't feel like reading all of it, NASA has a breakdown of it on their website.