* Astronomy

In 1955, a 10-year-old James Benson joined the Science Fiction Book Club and began devouring works by Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. Forty-two years later, he founded SpaceDev, a developer of low-cost rocket technology and small satellites. Benson's dream was to build a self-sustaining space economy in which humans pursuing profit among the stars would open the door to wider exploration. He still had his book-club membership card when he died of a brain tumour on October 10 at 63.

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