The Download: making drugs in orbit and NASA’s nuclear-powered spacecraft
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. A plan to make drugs in orbit is going commercial. A startup called Varda Space Industries is betting that the future of pharmaceuticals lies in orbit. The company has signed a deal with United Therapeutics to test whether drugs crystallize differently in microgravity, potentially creating improved versions with new properties. The idea sounds futuristic, but falling launch costs and reusable rockets are making space-based manufacturing seem increasingly plausible. Varda says the partnership could mark an important step toward building products in orbit for use back on Earth. Discover how space could become the next frontier for drug development. —Antonio Regalado MIT Technology Review Narrated: NASA is building the first nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft. How will it work? Just before Artemis II began its historic slingshot around the moon, NASA revealed an even grander space travel plan. By the end of 2028, the agency aims to fly a nuclear reactor-powered interplanetary spacecraft to Mars.A successful mission would herald a new era in spaceflight—and might just give the US the edge in the race against China. But the project remains shrouded in mystery.MIT Technology Review picked the brains of nuclear power and propulsion experts to find out how the nuclear-powered spacecraft might work. —Robin George Andrews This is our latest story to be turned into an MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we publish each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Sam Altman claims Elon Musk tried to seize control of OpenAIAltman said Musk initially wanted 90% of the e