International Space Station •

ESA Shoots For The Moon While NASA Aims At Mars

The barren lunar surface may one day light up with cities and colonies built by humans alongside robots.

Even though this might seem as the next logical step in our space-faring endeavors, the fact that the ESA shoots for the Moon while NASA aims at Mars might still come as a bit of a surprise for a part of the general public, as well as the scientific community. But this will not be made completely possible until the end of 2030, so people that dreamed to one day follow in Neil Armstrong’s footsteps need to exercise some patience.

Earth’s Moon is not seen as a much more viable goal for space travel by the ESA, with Russia and China having more or less the same idea. But this trip to the moon will not be just a one shot escapade. The first stop will be on board the International Space Station in order to resupply, basically making the ISS a veritable pit stop.

The reason why the ESA, along with China and Russia, want to go to the moon first, besides the fact that it is extremely close to Earth in comparison to Mars, is the amount of resources currently hidden by the lunar shadow. One of the most important resource sought by scientists and geologists are pockets of lunar water ice hidden near the polar regions.

One important thing to keep in mind is that this endeavor is not a competition in any way shape or form. This will be based extensively on cooperation between the three parties, with Research and Development to be conducted in partnership with each other. The main goal, once people will actually reach the moon, will be the construction of the Lunar Village, similar to the Global Village back on Earth.

If a self-sufficient colony will be built on the moon, only after that this alliance will start to consider the possibility of using the moon as a viable launching platform towards other planets. The construction of the colony, as well as the exploration and resource gathering missions, will not be carried out by human explorers only. Robots in the form of rovers and telerobotics will be controlled by astronauts located on the ISS or in Earth’s orbit starting with 2020.

These robots will be used to construct the main lunar base, as well as exploring the moon further into its lunar shadow. Once that process is complete, people will start to land on the surface and help the robots continue the construction and exploration alongside robots until everything is set into place.

Another important thing to note is the fact that President Obama is the one that focused on Mars’s exploration and eventual colonization. If the newly elected president, that brings in tow a new NASA administrator, will choose to go for the moon as well, NASA will more than likely take part in this alliance too. This will be extensively possible if the president will be part of the Republican party which has set its sights on the moon for a couple of years up to this point due to its potentially harnessable resources.

Although the ESA shoots for the Moon while NASA aims at Mars, once this presidential election is over, we might see all of the biggest economic powers on Earth join forces in order to make the idea of a self-sustainable lunar colony come true.

Image source:blogs.esa.int

NASA astronauts take five-hour spacewalk, finish cable job outside ISS

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Two NASA astronauts completed a spacewalk on Sunday outside the International Space Station (ISS) despite the appearance of water inside the helmet of one of them.

The American space agency announced the news of a successful spacewalk by its astronauts Terry Virts and Barry Wilmore on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

According to the space agency, the spacewalk outside the space station lasted five hours and 38 minutes.

“Crews have now spent a total of 1,171 hours and 29 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 187 spacewalks,” NASA said in a news release.

In a tweet, the space agency said Virts again witnessed water inside his helmet as he experienced during his previous spacewalk on Wednesday. The agency, however, allayed the fear of any known threat.

The NASA scientists had earlier said that the suit worn by Virts holds a “sublimator water carryover” history. Water present in the sublimator cooling component can begin condensing when the suit is repressurized following a spacewalk and can cause a little amount of water to push into helmet, NASA explained.

NASA, however, continued to impose trust on the suit, saying the managers at International Space Station had “a high degree of confidence”.

During the spacewalk, Wilmore and Virts installed antennas meant for providing data to the visiting vehicles and also deployed 400 feet of cable along the edge of the space station.

NASA gears up to reassemble parts of ISS to end reliance on Russia

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US space agency NASA commenced its work this week on reassembling parts of the International Space Station (ISS) in order to create parking spots for its two space taxis that would be used in the commercial purposes.

With the recent dust-ups between Russia and the United States bringing the focus back on the ISS arrangements of the two nations.

NASA’s reconfiguration is the first major revamping of the International Space Station (ISS) that was completed in the year 2011 following over a decade of space shuttle-based assembly missions.

The reconfiguration of ISS is likely to be finished before the end of this year.

With space station construction work completed, the American space agency has retired a number of its space shuttles and has now turned to Russia for the crew ferry flights, a service costing the US over USD 70 million a person.

Kathy Lueders, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said, “The agency is expecting to pay its American operators an average USD 58 million a person for the transportation purpose to and from the ISS.”

Hoping to end its reliance on Russia before 2017-end, NASA had awarded several contracts to and Space Exploration Technologies (Space X) and Boeing in order to develop, test and fly the space capsules that can take astronauts to and from the ISS, which is orbiting nearly 260 miles above the Earth.

NASA to begin first-ever yearlong biomedical study at ISS

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US space agency NASA has announced that two of its astronaut, namely Mark Kelly and his twin brother Scott Kelly, are tightening their sleeves for a medical study linked with the International Space Station (ISS).

This will mark the first-ever year-long study which will be carried by an astronaut staying at the space station for the complete study period.

According to the American space agency, Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will begin their ISS mission on March 27. The two astronauts will act as a test-subject for various experiments at ISS.

Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut who has flown four space shuttle missions during his tenure, will also be part of scientific studies.

The space scientists are hopeful that the scientific data collected by NASA during the study period could assist in better understanding the impact of space atmosphere on an astronaut’s body and how does the body respond after being out of earth’s atmosphere for longer duration in space.

NASA has high expectation with the ISS mission as the space agency believes it could greatly help in the next generation of space exploration. According to the reports, the scientists will be comparing the medical data from the two astronauts at the ISS in order to comprehend the results gathered from extended mission of Scott.

NASA said that the two astronauts will spend nearly a year at the ISS.

ISS crew evacuates US segment after ‘false’ alarm of ammonia leak

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The astronauts from various countries, who are conducting several space researches at the International Space Station (ISS), were forced to evacuate a part of the space station on Wednesday after a computer glitch was detected.

The US space agency NASA said that astronauts in the US section of space station moved into the Russian side after an alarm raised concerns of an ammonia leak.

NASA, however, said that the preliminary inquiry suggested that it was a false alarm.

The crew of the space research laboratory was never in any danger, according to NASA.

Following probe, NASA mission commentator Rob Navias said that there was no sufficient data to indicate an ammonia leak.

“It’s becoming a stronger case that this is a false indication, which is great news,” astronaut Jim Kelly, at Mission Control in Houston, told the crew shortly before 8:30 am EST.

The precautionary move was done after ground control team found a rise in pressure in a water line in one of the two cooling loops at the station, which was a possible indicator of ammonia leakage into the line.

Butch Wilmore (NASA’s astronaut and the station commander), Terry Virts (NASA’s flight engineer) and Samantha Cristoforetti (a flight engineer with the European Space Agency) abandoned the American side of the space station after an alarm sounded around 4 am EST hinting of computer glitch.

The three astronauts joined other three Russian crewmates at the Russian side of ISS.

The USD 100 billion International Space Station, which is in orbit nearly 260 miles (418 km) above Earth, is jointly run by 15 countries and is overseen by Russia and the United States.

SpaceX Dragon successfully docks at ISS to deliver 5000 pounds supplies

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US space agency NASA’s unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Dragon space capsule successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday morning, completing its latest resupply mission to the revolving space station.

The unmanned rocket arrived at 10:54 am at the ISS after US astronaut Barry Wilmore successfully captured the craft flying over the Mediterranean Sea with the robotic arm manned from inside the international space station.

“We’re excited to have it on board,” the station commander Wilmore concluded after the rocket successfully docked at ISS.

The Falcon 9 rocket was launched on Saturday carrying the SpaceX Dragon capsule that contained approximately 5,000 pounds of supplies including food and groceries, Christmas presents and several other materials for 256 science experiments in the space.

The supplies also included a special instrument that will be used by the scientists at the ISS for analyzing the tiny particles and clouds in the atmosphere of the Earth. Scientists said that the findings will assist in better comprehending the climate changes on our planet. Moreover, the resulting data will also aid in getting advanced weather forecast.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule also delivered supplies for various biological experiments that are designed for the microgravity environment not present on the Earth. Scientists say these experiments will further facilitate in the advancement of knowledge in the field of medicine.

According to NASA, the SpaceX Dragon will be linked to the space station for over a month. Following completion of its mission at the ISS, it will head towards home to a “parachute-assisted splashdown” off the California coast.

This marks the fifth successful delivery mission of the SpaceX Dragon to the ISS.

SpaceX has signed a USD 1.6-billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with the American space agency for the deliveries of a minimum of half a dozen cargo at the ISS.

SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying food, supplies to leave for ISS on Tuesday

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The Space Exploration Technologies, popularly known as SpaceX, is set to launch its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket on Tuesday to deliver food, supplies and experiments to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket will be blasted off from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, at 6:20 am on Tuesday.

An unmanned Dragon capsule loaded with nearly 5,000 pounds of food, supplies and scientific items for experiments will be carried atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which seeks to successfully conclude the fifth resupply mission of SpaceX under a USD 1.6 billion contract with the American space agency.

The resupply mission was earlier scheduled for late December but was called off after a test-firing of the nine Merlin 1D engines of Falcon 9 booster failed to go exactly as planned. Moreover, the unfavorable conditions near the International Space Station due to the excessive heating caused by the sun’s angle relative to the ISS also forced the postponement of the space mission.

Now, SpaceX has planned the launch of the space mission on Tuesday as there would be no launch opportunity until Friday morning.

The astronomers are expecting a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather conditions during the instantaneous window at the Launch Complex 40 of the Kennedy Space Center.

ESA astronaut turns 12500 rare space photos into six-min-time lapse video

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European Space Agency (ESA) has posted an incredible time-lapse video created from 12,500 spectacular photographs of the celestial bodies like the Earth, Milky Way, asteroids and some of the interesting shots of the astronauts working at the International Space Station (ISS).

Adding to the enthusiasm of the sky gazers, all the outstanding 12,500 images have been clicked by the same individual from the International Space Station.

Alexander Gerst, an ESA astronaut, has caught the awesome and rare images of the space and celestial objects while he was on the space expedition at the ISS.

He had spent six months aboard the space station between May and November this year.

“Seen from a distance, our planet is just a blue dot, a fragile spaceship for humankind. We need to understand the Universe we live in to protect our home,” Gerst said in a written statement.

During his stay at the ISS, Gerst clicked thousands of photographs of the Earth’s surface, Milky Way, meteors etc, as well as few interesting shots of the active ISS, using ultra-high definition cameras.

The pictures featuring ISS in action includes the robotic arm of ISS manipulating a SpaceX Dragon capsule, the active solar panels and lots more. Gerst also caught a rare view of the Milky Way galaxy from the ISS in his photos.

The ESA astronaut has developed all the photos into a six-minute-long time-lapse video.

Here is the full six-minute-long time lapse video:

MAVEN, Orion, Curiosity make 2014 a spectacular year for NASA

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2014 had been a spectacular year for the American space agency NASA as it has carried many space expeditions, ranging from the Orion’s test flight towards Mars, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft to cutting-edge scientific experiments and discoveries in the study of Earth and other celestial objects.

Apart from this, the proposed next generation air travel and sending American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) are among the highlights for US space agency this year.

Releasing a statement, NASA administrator Charles Bolden said, “We continued to make great progress on our journey to Mars this year with successful completing the first flight of Orion – the next deep space spacecraft in which our astronauts will travel.”

In December this year, the space agency achieved a major milestone in its expedition to Mars when its Orion spacecraft completed its first spatial voyage during a four-and-a-half-hour test flight.

Orion is part of NASA’s plan which is integrated with the development of new capabilities and technologies in order to send astronauts to the farthest place in the space than landed by man ever before, firstly to an asteroid followed by the Red Planet.

In September, NASA had announced that the American astronauts would travel to and from the International Space Station (ISS) on the country’s spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts worked by the Commercial Crew Programme of the space agency.

The agency picked SpaceX and Boeing for the transportation of US crews to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with the help of their Crew Dragon and CST-100 spacecraft respectively, with the aim to end the country’s sole reliance on Russia in the year 2017.

It is in this year only when the most powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket transformed from the concept phase to the development phase.

Observing the successful journey of Mars Curiosity rover, the US space agency had in July this year announced its Mars Rover 2020, which will carry instruments for the unprecedented investigations based of scientific and exploration technology on the Red Planet. NASA is also eyeing a human mission on Mars.

On September 21, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft successfully entered the orbit of the Red Planet.

Curiosity has also made spectacular observations on Martian surface about possibility of life in form of a large lake bed over tens of millions of years near the Mount Sharp.

NASA has spotted nearly 12,000 Near Earth Objects to-date.

3D-printer used for first time in space

Astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) have carried the first ever 3D printing in the space.

The use of 3D printers in the space has paved a milestone in the celestial study as it has allowed creation of things in space despite of having to deliver them.

Speaking about the big experiment, Made In Space CEO Aaron Kremmer said, “This is the first object truly manufactured off of planet Earth. It marks a huge milestone, not only for us or NASA but also for the humanity as a whole.”

Project manager Niki Werkheiser said the 3D printing in space has opened new ways of learning about some of the celestial occurrences.

“Once the printed parts returns to Earth, we’ll be able to carry a more in-depth analysis of finding out how they compare to parts printed on Earth,” Werkheiser said.

Researchers also believe that this is the first step forward in direction of a truly unrestricted space travel.

Kemmer said the new development represents the idea that if anything trouble emerges at the space station or upcoming space stations then the NASA and the space crew can find a possible solution into the problem.

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