Top 10 Innovations in Space Science 🚀
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Dear Investors,
After spending a wonderful weekend in SF and spending time with some of today’s leading scientists I was inspired by the amount of progress in the area of space science. To that end, I wanted to share a list of some of the most recent innovations in space.
Here are ten space innovations from this century that have had a significant impact on our understanding of space and our ability to explore it:
Mars Exploration Rovers: NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were launched in 2003 and have made numerous important discoveries, including evidence that Mars was once a much wetter and potentially habitable planet.
Space tourism: Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo and Blue Origin's New Shepard have both successfully launched private citizens into space for brief suborbital flights, heralding the beginning of space tourism.
SpaceX reusable rockets: SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets have demonstrated the ability to launch payloads into space and then land the first stage booster back on Earth for reuse, greatly reducing the cost of space launches.
Kepler space telescope: The Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009, discovered thousands of exoplanets in our galaxy, greatly expanding our understanding of the prevalence and diversity of planets beyond our solar system.
International Space Station: The International Space Station has been continuously inhabited since 2000 and has provided a unique platform for scientific research, international cooperation, and astronaut training.
Curiosity Rover: NASA's Curiosity Rover was launched in 2011 and has been exploring Mars ever since, providing important data on the planet's geology and potential habitability.
James Webb Space Telescope: Scheduled for launch in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is set to be the most powerful space telescope ever built, capable of observing the early universe, exoplanets, and more.
Commercial resupply missions: Private companies like SpaceX and Orbital ATK have begun launching cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, reducing the dependence on government launches and expanding access to space.
Planetary defense: The detection and tracking of potentially hazardous asteroids and comets has improved greatly in the past 20 years, with the goal of preventing catastrophic impacts on Earth.
CubeSats: Miniature satellites known as CubeSats have greatly reduced the cost of space missions and made space more accessible to small organizations and universities, leading to an explosion in the number of satellites in orbit.
This Week By the Numbers 📈
The rate of inflation decreased for the seventh consecutive month in January, which was attributed to the reduced cost of used vehicles. This provided some relief to consumers who have been dealing with high prices over the past year. According to the Consumer Price Index data released on Tuesday, the prices of various goods and services have increased by 6.4% over the past 12 months. This is slightly lower than the annual rate of 6.5% in December and a 40-year high of 9.1% in June. However, on a month-to-month basis, the prices increased by 0.5% in January, which was a faster rise than the slower gain of 0.1% in December. The increase was mainly due to higher shelter costs.
Top Stories 🗞️
Meta to launch subscription service for Facebook and Instagram
Meta will launch a paid subscription service that allows Facebook and Instagram users to verify their accounts for up to $14.99 a month, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced on Sunday. The new feature, called Meta Verified, lets users “get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support”, according to a Facebook post by Zuckerberg. It will cost $11.99 for web access or $14.99 a month on Apple’s iOS operating system and on Android. Meta Verified will be rolled out first in Australia and New Zealand this week, the post said.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who has led the world’s largest video site for the last nine years, is stepping down from her role. She’ll be replaced by Neal Mohan, her longtime lieutenant. In a letter sent to YouTube’s employees, Wojcicki said she was leaving in order to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health and personal projects I’m passionate about.” During her tenure, YouTube became increasingly important to the business for Google, which bought the site in 2006, and Alphabet, the holding company that houses both of them: In 2022, YouTube generated $29.2 billion in ad sales — more than 10 percent of Alphabet’s total revenue.
Crypto exchange Binance pulls back some potential investments in the U.S., as regulatory pressure mounts
Changpeng Zhao, chief executive at the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, said on Twitter Friday that the company “pulled back on some potential investments, or bids on bankrupt companies in the U.S.” Zhao’s tweet came after Bloomberg reported that Binance was considering ending its relationship with its U.S. partners and considering delisting tokens from any U.S.-based projects. A Binance spokesperson wrote to MarketWatch that “like every other blockchain company, we are conducting a careful cost-benefit analysis and will pivot our business as necessary to protect our global user base.” Meanwhile, Binance has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals of U.S. dollars via bank accounts since Feb. 8. Binance targets non-U.S. customers while Binance.US., a smaller exchange claimed to be independent, wrote to MarketWatch that it doesn’t have any plans to leave the U.S.
Wyoming lawmakers pass bill to prevent forced disclosure of private keys
Wyoming lawmakers have passed a bill that will prohibit courts in the state from forcing someone to disclose their digital asset private keys, with one minor exception. “No person shall be compelled to produce a private key or make a private key known to any other person in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative or other proceeding[s]” in the state of Wyoming, the incoming law reads. The law includes any private keys associated with digital assets, one’s digital identity or any other interests or rights to which the private key provides. The minor exception involves when a public key is unavailable or is unable to disclose details of the digital asset, digital identity or other interest or right. However, the act also states that the new law will not bar one from being compelled “to produce, sell, transfer, convey or disclose a digital asset, digital identity or other interest or right” that a private key could provide access to.
Stanford scholars co-signed Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail deal
A federal judge released the names of two people who co-signed Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail deal, which allowed him to be released on house arrest while he awaits trial on federal fraud and conspiracy charges. In documents made public Wednesday afternoon, the court revealed that Larry Kramer, a former dean of Stanford’s law school, and Andreas Paepcke, a Stanford computer scientist, each signed on as guarantors. Kramer and Paepcke signed bonds worth $500,000 and $200,000, respectively. Bankman-Fried’s parents, both Stanford law professors, are also guarantors, and used their Palo Alto, California, home to secure the bond.
What I’m Reading This Week 📚
Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer - an oldie but goodie, I picked this one up about 7 years ago and it was the very beginning of my spiritual journey. Re-reading it today, the principles for letting go of the voice in your head and following signs from the universe toward your ultimate success, still hold true. Great read for re-gaining perspective and getting grounded 💫
Deal of the Week 💰
Last week I angel-invested in a new start-up based in Kenya:
AMINI is fixing Africa’s data gap through deep tech infrastructure (AI, IoT, and Satellites,) and enabling economic transparency for a continent of 1 billion people by 2030. They use nanosatellites to fetch data, host it on-chain, and use machine learning to generate predictions and return near-real-time data and insights to businesses.
Current raise: $3M Seed.
Founder: Ex-NVIDIA, Intel, Arm, founding member of the tinyML movement, VentureBeat Women in AI Top 100
If this sounds interesting, DM me for an intro!
Thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Myth of Money.🚀
Until next week,
Tatiana Koffman
About the Author: Tatiana Koffman
Hi there and thanks for reading! If you stumble upon my newsletter, you will notice that I write about money, economics, and technology. I hold a JD/MBA and spent my career in Capital Markets working across Mergers & Acquisitions, Derivatives, Venture Capital, and Cryptocurrencies. I write to make financial topics more accessible and create equal opportunity for the next generation of investors. I have personally invested in 20+ companies and funds (👉 my portfolio).
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