In all of human history, never have the faraway wonders of the galaxy felt closer to us than they do today, thanks to the ongoing advances in spacefaring technologies that science continues to make. Why, then, should there be any need to make space travel cool and sexy?

First, lets be clear about what we mean by sexy. Simply put: sexy sells. Whether its soft drinks, skateboards, or hair straighteners, being able to make the idea of something in some way attractive is what makes people want to buy into it.

So when we talk about the prospect of space exploration, thats clearly something you cant go and pick up from the supermarket, or order through an online store.

For the majority of the public, space doesnt matter much beyond being a romantic backdrop for a kiss under the stars. So why should space matter to them?

I will probably not see the opportunity to visit space in my lifetime, but I wish I could do it. The young people of two or three hundred years from now will be able to travel to Venus or I dont know where. They are so lucky!

As for space fashion and design, if youre looking 10 centuries ago we were in heavy armor. That was not very glamorous. The evolution is going from the armor to Jean Paul Gaultier. So if you imagine now the future, all the fabrics will be lighter and efficient.

As consumers of a news culture thats almost perpetually dominated by the strife and strains of a world that seems hell-bent on self destruction, be it economically, politically, or literally, it would be easy to give up on the possibilities of space travel and focus instead on solving the problems that surround us.

But if we dont continue our efforts to venture into space, experts believe were in trouble. Stephen Hawking said it himself, we need to colonise another planet within 100 years or were doomed.

Considering that we are living through a time when the US government has cut significant funds from NASAs budget, it may never be more important than it is right now to stoke the fires of the publics imagination when it comes to venturing into space.

The right stories can inspire the next generation of astronauts, spacecraft designers, scientists and astrophysicists to take up the responsibility of space exploration. And with NASAs bold new plan to get people to Mars by 2030, along with commercially-owned space companies promising to take space tourists to the moon within the next decade, there really is more reason to be excited than ever.

An illustration of what NASAs Mars 2020 rover would look like, set to be launched in 2020. Its mission is to seek signs of habitable conditions on Mars. Credit: Nasa

The challenge is in proving to people they need to learn more about space - whether to inspire them to one day work at NASA or to consider buying a ticket to the ionosphere from Elon Musk or Richard Branson. But how do we drum up interest when it seems so out of reach? With science-fiction, of course.

Science fiction itself is a vast genre that incorporates many forms of speculative fiction, from space travel, to time travel, making it a difficult subject to pin down for focused discussion.

More often than not, it offers fiction thats grounded in science-based fact or emerging theory. There remains plenty of room for creative licence when it comes to speculating about the science and technology of the future thats why some stories straddle the line between science-fiction and fantasy, and why youll hear some people talking about hard sci-fi, which is a sub-genre characterised by a rigorous attention to scientific detail, rather than indulging in too many flights of speculative fancy.

The Fifth Element blended science fiction with fantasy. Credit: The Fifth Element/Sony Pictures

Science fiction has an important role to play in igniting interest in space because it can make it seem not only possible, but appealing, stylish and sexy, and this presents endlessly fruitful opportunities for the creative industries to explore ideas about what the future may hold for the human race, especially with regard to our relationship with space.

I often start with whats new now and then create my own interpolations of what that technology will look like in the future.

We spoke to science fiction and fantasy illustrator Dave Dorman, whose work can be found in the pages of Star Wars and Alien comics, about the role sci-fi creators can play.

I find it helpful to use reference photos and articles/news stories about the latest technologies quite a bit," he told us. The science fiction imagery I create often reflects current technology, machines, computers, robotics and other technical advances, he explained.

I often start with whats new now and then create my own interpolations of what that technology will look like in the future.

I hope the fans who are seeing my work, as well as the amazing images created by other illustrators, painters, computer effects wizards and the rest, will be inspired to be the scientists, technicians and visionaries for our collective future, much like Bradbury, Asimov, Sturgeon and Heinlein were for the generation that were influential in running the space race in the middle of the 20th century.

The Martian, based on Andy Weirs hit novel, became a box office hit in 2015, raking in more than $663 million worldwide and moving up the ranks as one of the highest grossing sci-fi movies ever made. But it wasnt just popular among mainstream movie audiences. It was also screened for the astronauts aboard the ISS as a special treat, because of its accuracy. That comes as no surprise considering Ridley Scott partnered up with NASA to make the scenes, science and tech look as real as possible.

What The Martian did so well was retain scientific integrity (naturally, the science it presents still met with some criticism) throughout a narrative journey that was able to hold the interests of an audience hungry for entertainment. With Matt Damon in the lead role, it didnt just make speculative space sexy, it made (mostly) real space exciting which is an even greater artistic feat.

Matt Damon is stranded on Mars in The Martian. Credit: The Martian/Fox Movies

The Martian isnt even a rarity at the box office either. Alfonso Cuarns Gravity is a film in a very similar vein and although some of the science it presents isnt entirely accurate, it still offers an experience of space that feels grounded in the real world, with two glamorous leads in Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Christopher Nolans Interstellar followed a similar path, and before that came Moon, Apollo 13, and so on, going all the way back to 2001: A Space Odyssey and beyond.

What these films prove is that its possible to combine authentic science with a little artistic license and still make space travel exciting and relevant to contemporary audiences.

As with The Martian, perhaps the reason these films were hits with audiences is partially because their creators involved real world experts in the field. Kubrick famously shipped in a few dozen minds from the heart of NASA during the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Christopher Nolan worked with astrophysicist Kip Thorne when he was developing Interstellar.

And yet sci-fi isnt beholden to science when it wants to make space the place to be.

The Fifth Element presents an inspiring vision of the near-future thats catwalk sexy and riven with real-world foibles.

Luc Bessons The Fifth Element is a stellar example of a visually-stunning space opera that skews toward fantasy, but still retains an earth-bound sensibility, with its cab-driving protagonist winning contest tickets for a cruise ship holiday in space. And who knows, maybe Bransons sexy hotels will look like Fhloston Paradise 50 years down the line.

With superstar fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier crafting the look and the feel of the movie's characters, The Fifth Element presents an inspiring vision of the near-future thats catwalk sexy and riven with real-world foibles.

Jean Paul Gaultier designed the costumes for Luc Bessons space opera. Credit: The Fifth Element/Sony Pictures

More recently, the surprise hit and game-changer for Marvel Studios, Guardians of the Galaxy, exploded onto cinema screens with an extremely stylised look, grounded in the story of an orphan boy from Earth growing up on the criminal fringes of the cosmos.

Speaking about the creative process behind Guardians, writer-director James Gunns has said that his movie is "more about yellow and blue and teal and orange. But I also really wanted to up the ante with the pulp elements.

So we harken back a lot to 1950s/60s pulp novel colors and that look of 'Flash Gordon' - both the 1980s version and the earlier comics. Really grabbing onto this pulp feeling and bringing it alive in a bright, big, colorful way was important."

A still from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Credit: Valerian/STX Entertainment

Guardians 2 picked up the same ball and ran even further with it back in April and now Luc Bessons Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets has arrived in cinemas, oozing sci-fi chic with star-studded style (yep, Rihanna is in it) and an eye-popping palette of otherworldly sights and sounds.

And lets not forget the imminent Blade Runner sequel: Blade Runner 2049. Although the original took place on Earth, its plot was driven by the consequences of the desire to colonise space and, if the trailers are any indication, Denis Villeneuves sequel may even take us to the off-world colonies.

As superficial as it might sound, if weve learned anything from the success of sci-fi blockbusters, its that style certainly sells.

Branson is tapping into the commercial appeal of a fashion brand to normalise the idea of buying a ticket to the moon.

The fly-on-the-wall footage of space travel from NASA that the public sees via YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat is dominated by bulky spacesuits and big dials on bland spaceships.

It makes sense, then, that style-conscious Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic have enlisted Y-3 (the decade-long collaboration between designer Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas) to design and make the flight-suits for our future astronauts and pilots...garments worn by our operations and maintenance teams as well as our hosting staff.

Branson is clearly tapping into the commercial appeal of a fashion name brand to normalise the idea of buying a ticket to the moon by aligning it with high-street fashion. Its even got fashion bible GQ talking about it. Outer space meets inner city and vice versa.

Although its not just commercial enterprises that are taking cues from the worlds of sci-fi and fashion to define what space travel and exploration will look like in the future. Potentially aware it has an image problem, NASA has recently teamed up with Reebok to create the Floatride Space Boot SB-01 that would look more at home in The Fifth Element than it would on the ISS.

Reebok has reworked Sigourney Weaver's classic hi-top sneakers from Aliens

This signals an interesting move for NASA, as well as Reebok. The sports design brand who isnt new to space design having created the Alien Stompers to replicate the shoes Sigourney 'Ellen Ripley' Weaver wears in Aliens. But now moving from sci-fi space design to actual space design could open the floodgates for many other brands to put speculative, concept designs to good use.

Another great example of this marriage of real world and sci-fi design is the way car manufacturer Lexus was recently called upon to help with concepts for what transportation of the future might look like by Luc Besson for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

Inspiration for the Skyjet was mainly taken from nature. Dolphins, whales and sharks inspired aerodynamic design. Credit: Lexus

Using what the brand already implements into its vehicles, like artificial intelligence and a 'HMI' (human machine interface), they helped Bessons design team to dream up the Skyjet (pictured above, and at the top of this article), a single-seater spacecraft that was used throughout the movie.

Dorman sees a sci-fi as a vital source of inspiration for future-gazing engineers.

I believe the marriage of technology and science fiction right now (aided by current visual effects technology and artistry) helps make things once thought to be complete fantasy now seem more believable," he said.

"I also think part of the job of the sci-fi artist is to foreshadow how things will be in the future.

Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey has long been applauded for its accurate portrayal of future tech. Credit: 2001: A Space Odyssey/MGM

A similar sentiment was shared by science-fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer

He told us: A third of my work time each year is spent on research, on attending and speaking at science conferences, on talking with working scientists and technologists, and on visiting universities, laboratories, and corporate and government facilities.

But this is a two-way street. The reason I, and other science-fiction writers, have access to these places is that the working scientists recognise the symbiosis: they learn as much from our speculative responses to their breakthroughs as we learn from them.

Ive been an advisor to NASA, DARPA, Google, XPRIZE, the Canadian Federal Government, and many other organisations as have many of my peers.

So the crossover between imaginary and actual is well recognised as being rich and fertile ground for all, with the active cross-pollination of ideas occurring more readily than we might think.

A concept drawing of Virgin Orbit's second stage rocket as it makes its way to orbit. Credit: Virgin

We may now be only a few years away from the reality of space tourism, with NASAs Journey to Mars set to put human astronauts on martian soil by 2030, and companies such as Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Blue Origin constantly grabbing headlines due to their ambitious plans to do similar.

There will always be a trade-off in sci-fi between whats scientifically accurate and whats dramatically satisfying. But these movies are inspiring people to look again into the night sky and wonder what our destiny out there could be.

To celebrate the release of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, director Luc Besson is today behind the lens at TechRadar. Heres what weve got in store for you:

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is released in UK cinemas August 2nd, and is out now in the US.

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Star spangled glamour: the mission to make space travel cooler than ever before - TechRadar

Those images of a robust Star Trek Captain James T. Kirk beaming around the solar system at maximum warp, or an irreverent Han Solo with his sidekick Chewbacca bustling through space on a quest to save Princess Leia, are sadly, an illusion.

The truth of the matter is that humans or any other living thing be it a plant or a fruit fly from planet Earth are not meant for space travel. Traveling in space is very hard on creatures, producing physiological effects similar to premature aging.

Thats one of the reasons the Stein Institute on Aging at UC San Diego brought NASA affiliate Brinda K. Rana, Ph.D., to speak to a packed audience of mostly older adults at the Garren Auditorium of the UCSD School of Medicine, last week.

Rana, who has been the Principle Investigator (PI) on three NASA studies, spoke at length about the effects of space travel on all aspects of the human body everything from vision to genetics.

Everything I say has to be approved by NASA. I have to be very careful about the data I reveal, Rana wryly explained. Her chief NASA project was a comprehensive medical study of twin brother astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly who spent different lengths of time in space.

Since the brothers are genetically identical, researchers thought they could ferret out the effects of time in space on their bodies. Mark had 54 days in space, while Scott spent 365 days living on the space station.

Rana headed up a team of scientists from UCSD, one of 10 university-based teams from around the world chosen by NASA to study the astronauts. It was a difficult assignment requiring a great deal of cooperation. For instance, all 10 teams had to share just one vial of blood among themselves from each of the two astronauts.

Rana explained that space travel impairs blood and lymph circulation, especially to the lower parts of the body: Your face gets puffy and your legs get weak. Space travel is like hanging upside down for a long time! she said.

Thats why astronauts have to be helped out of their space capsule when they return to Earth. They cant stand up on their own because their legs are so weak due to poor circulation.

NASA knows that space travel, specifically spending time in zero gravity, is hard. But since the plan is to send men and women up to Mars, which is a six-month flight one way, it is trying hard to develop ways to counteract the debilitating aspects of space travel so the astronauts can function when they get to the red planet. Luckily, the gravity on Mars is less than it is on Earth, so they should be able to stand up and carry out their activities.

Space travel also produces bodily changes you cannot see, affecting the chemistry and physiology of the body. It also affects DNA and RNA. Rana found that while in space, astronaut Scott Kelly had 200,000 differences or mutations in RNA actions, which returned to normal when he came back to Earth. This just shows that genes are not static, but very sensitive to the environment around us, Rana said.

Space travel also changes the intestinal flora or probiotics in the gut, which aid digestion. There are also cardiovascular changes, muscular atrophy, arteriosclerosis, glaucoma and bone loss. It looks just like the signs of aging!

Space travelers also experience increased cranial pressure. There are changes to the eyes and vision problems develop. This syndrome is known as VIIP or Visual Impaired Intracranial Pressure syndrome.

Rana is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD and has a lab at the Stein Institute of Aging. She is an alumna of UCSD with a B.A. in math from Revelle College. She also has an M.S. in math from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas in molecular genetics. At the Stein Institute, her chief duty is to look for the genes that seem to keep some older adults from getting age-related disorders.

Ranas NASA studies are relevant because the results have an application to understanding aging on Earth and in helping people in similar situations to space travel, like those who are bedridden for long periods of time. In one experiment, Ranas lab studied people who were confined to bed with their body inclined downward toward the head at a 15-degree angle, mimicking the effects of space flight.

Karen Ocorr, Ph.D., was at the lecture because she is also working with NASA. Ocorr is a professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at the Sanford Burham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute on North Torrey Pines Road.

Ocorr studies the ion channels responsible for the relaxation of the human heart, which she says is similar in fruit flies. She just got back a batch of fruit flies that were flown to the space station on the SpaceX CRS-11 mission. She is looking at the effects of zero gravity on their heart function, which can provide models to help understand the human heart. The fruit flies arent doing too well after their space flight, she confided.

Einstein once predicted that if we start to travel faster in space and get closer to the speed of light, which is about as fast as we could ever go, time will slow down. Thus we would age slower (happy thought!) in terms of chronology. But if we are in zero gravity at light-speed our bodies will age faster (unhappy thought!). Professor Rana says not to worry. NASA will figure it out!

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Astronaut twins study shows space travel causes premature aging - La Jolla Light

This is the first time in 25 years the remaining astronauts have been under the same roof. (NBC RAW)

NBC , WXIA 5:59 PM. EDT July 29, 2017

NBC

Astronauts from most of the Apollo missions that put the first humans on the moon got together for a reunion in Wisconsin.

They gathered at the EAA Air Venture Show in Wisconsin Friday night to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASAs Apollo space program.

This is the first time in 25 years that this many astronauts have been under the same roof.

"I would like to know how many people in the audience would like to spend 14 days in a volume the size of a front seat of a Volkswagen Beetle with a sailor," asked Frank Borman.

"I suspect that the space program will eventually go back to the Moon, said Jim Lovell. I think in my mind to go to Mars we should get very comfortable making lunar voyages, building up the infrastructure and the architecture to be comfortable landing on the moon, exploring the moon, then using that architecture to expand to eventually to going to Mars."

2017 NBCNEWS.COM

Excerpt from:

Apollo astronauts talk space travel in reunion - WXIA-TV

Space travel is no longer the distant fantasy it once was. A new book explores how we might one day - technology depending - be able to spend time on the other planets in our solar system.

Destination: The Moon Travel time: three days Distance from Earth: 222,000 to 253,000 miles Good for:A quick getaway

To get the full Moon experience, be sure to stay a full lunar day. Its longer than it soundsa day on the Moon lasts almost 30 Earth days. That will give you plenty of time to explore both the near and far sides.

Be sure to request an Earth-view room when you check into your hotel. Because the same side of the Moon always faces Earth, the planet will never move out of your window.

History buffs will enjoy the six Apollo landing sites, particularly the place where Apollo 11 landed in the Sea of Tranquility. Be sure to visit the perfectly preserved first footprints on the Moon, left in 1969 by astronaut Neil Armstrong.

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The science behind holidays in space could breaks on the moon really work? - Telegraph.co.uk

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that he's looking forward to sending humans into space next year, confirming an earlier report by Popular Mechanics that the company's manned space flight is on track.

Popular Mechanics issued its report late last month. Musk, who has been busy juggling events at this other company Tesla , got around to commenting on it Thursday.

SpaceX and Boeing , both of which received contracts from NASA to build spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, have changed launch plans from 2017 to 2018. In 2014, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.6 billion contract to carry crew to space.

SpaceX is developing the Dragon 2 spacecraft and Boeing is building the CST-100 Starliner. Musk founded SpaceX to lower the cost of space travel with the eventual goal of colonizing Mars.

SpaceX is planning a demonstration mission in February 2018, followed by test in June that will have two crew members aboard, according to NASA .

Boeing is scheduled to conduct an orbital flight test in June, followed by a manned test in August 2018

SpaceX announced in February that it plans to send to private citizens in a crewed Dragon in a trip around the moon next yearan important step towards the company's ultimate goal. At the time, SpaceX said the private mission would be launched once the operationational Crew Dragon missions are underway for NASA.

SpaceX's ultimate aspiration is to travel to Mars. SpaceX is already working with NASA scientists to locate possible landing sites on Mars . Paul Wooster, who manages the guidance, navigation, and control systems on SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft, said during a presentation in March at MicroSymposium 58 that the landing sites were for both its Red Dragon spacecraft as well as future human missions

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Elon Musk Confirms SpaceX Is On Track to Send Humans Into Space - Fortune

By Scott Smith Times Recordssmith@swtimes.com

Noah Burgin is banking on someday being an astronaut and traveling to Mars, although he isn't sure how his mother is going to react to his gravity-defying goal.

The 15-year-old son of Jennifer and Bradley Burgin of Fort Smith, Burgin is about to begin his sophomore year at Southside High School, and he already knows that he wants to spend his adult years working at NASA. He thanks his recent, "wonderful" experiences at the Advanced Space Academy program at the Huntsville, Ala.-based U.S. Space and Rocket Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's official visitor center.

"The Advanced Space Academy program was a great experience for me," said Burgin, who received a full-ride scholarship to attend the week-long Advanced Space Academy program. "It helped me overcome some of my fears, and it showed me that I can do things if I really want to do them."

Burgin was selected to receive the program's scholarship, as well as the special Hall of Fame scholarship and its accompanying Hall of Fame medal. The medal is awarded to a select few participants by Hall of Fame members, who are Space Academy alumni who went on "to do great things" in their respective communities, he said.

"That scholarship included an award packet that had signatures from astronauts, and I was able to get my picture with Hall of Fame members," Burgin said. "It was a pretty cool deal."

Burgin's application for the scholarship included letters of recommendation from his eighth-grade science teacher, AmyAdams, and Captain Brad Kidder, public affairs officer for the Arkansas Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Burgin also had to write two essays and design a "patch" that included different drawings that represented him before he could be considered an Advanced Space Academy attendee.

"The Advanced Space Academy is for older kids kids in grades 10 and older," he said. "It's more detailed, and we are assigned specific roles in simulations. We get to act out those roles in those large simulators.

"There are more details," Burgin added. "We have more anomalies, and we have more trouble with our missions. It's a bit harder, and we have to do more specific commands during the simulation."

Burgin said he and his fellow academy participants also benefited from team-building exercises via zip-lining sessions, scuba diving programs and the Pamper Pole.

"The Pamper Pole is where you climb up a telephone pole that has these little tiny pins in it," he said. "At the top of the pole, there's a circular top that spins, and that was the scariest part. You have nothing to pull up onto; you just have to balance yourself up on that pole."

Those on the Pamper Pole then are supposed to jump off the pole and use their hand to touch a nearby rope.

"You're harnessed in, of course, and the harness then brings you down," Burgin said. "Eventually I went on it, even though I was terrified of it at first. It definitely was one of the scariest things I did, but it was really fun. I ended up enjoying that a lot."

Burgin also felt excitement while scuba diving at the academy. Learning about the equipment and how to give "OK" and "Not OK" hand signals simultaneously were educational and entertaining, he said.

"They had this giant tank filled with water, and you're down there for 20 or maybe 30 minutes," said Burgin, who attended the regular Space Academy program in August 2016. "There's a massive structure under there made of PVC pipe. You get to swim around it and inspect it, and there's a basektball hoop attached to the PVC pipe. You throw a bowling ball through the hoop, and that helps signify weightlessness in outer space."

Joining his fellow team members to create a heat shield also was rewarding for Burgin. The shield was created to protect an egg from a blowtorch.

"You put the heat shield right up to the blowtorch, and after the torch is on the shield for three minutes, they see if your egg has cooked at all,' Burgin said. "If the egg hasn't cooked, you pass, but if the egg did cook, then you don't pass. It was fun and challenging."

Burgin thinks he's always been somewhat of a fan of NASA and outer space travel. He playfully blames the "Lego Space" set he cherished as a younger child.

"One day on vacation, we decided to visit the Space Center in Huntsville, and that really opened my eyes," Burgin said. "I started really getting interested in the space program, NASA and third-party space programs, and I asked my parents, 'Do you think I could go to the Space Academy?'

"I think it costs about $1,000 to go to the Space Academy, but my family couldn't afford to dish out that kind of money," he added. "My parents encouraged me to raise money, so they bought me over 500 lollipops, and I started selling them to everyone."

Burgin began to make a profit on the lollipops, but he still lacked the money to attend the Space Academy. That is when his grandfather, H.C. Varnadore, stepped into the picture.

"My grandpa, who was big on the space program and was a lieutenant colonel for the 188th Air Base in Fort Smith, decided to pay the rest of my way to Space Camp last year," Burgin said. "This year, he bought me a NASA flight suit to wear at the Advanced Space Academy."

Despite interacting with the other academy members for only one week, Burgin formed solid friendships that continue to blossom, thanks to Facebook and email.

"I was very lucky because when I was there, they had schools come from all over the world," he said. "There were only three or four Americans in my group over half of my group was from New Zealand, and others were from Belgium and Australia so we got to meet a bunch of other kids from around the world. It was a cultural experience."

A former viola player who plays trumpet in the school band program, Burgin isn't sure where he will attend college, but he is positive he will pursue work opportunities at NASA. He said he feels it's his mission to "help" the NASA space program.

"I dream about becoming an astronaut, and the Advanced Space Academy has shown me that anything is possible, as long as you work hard at it and stay dedicated," Burgin said."And our age is perfect. Our generation will be going to Mars. People want to give us the skills to pursue that opportunity. I would definitely love to go to Mars. I'd even love to go to the moon, as long as it's somewhere in space."

Jennifer Burgin sounded less gung-ho when it came to discussing her son's wish to go into outer space.

"I was barely able to leave my son alone in another state, in Alabama, for the Space Academy," she said with a laugh. "I had a hard enough time with that, let alone the thought of my son going to another planet.

"But I know Noah had a blast with the program," Burgin added. "He has experiences that he would never have gotten otherwise. He was able to set goals for himself, and he saw that he can achieve things. He used to never get onto roller coasters. We went to Universal after the program, and Noah was riding every scary ride possible."

Like Jennifer Burgin, Bradley Burgin is proud of Noah.

"It takes people with a little more nerve and determination than what his Mom and I have to go into outer space," he said. "It took extra steps to get someone to go to the moon, and it will take even more steps for someone to go to Mars. If it's Noah's heart's desire to go to Mars, then I say, 'Go with it.'"

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Fort Smith teen attends Advanced Space Academy, sets sights on Mars - Times Record

August 4, 2017 by Rob Garner After a large sunspot rotated out of Earth's view on July 17, 2017, NASA instruments could still track its effects on the far side of the star. This imagery from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory on July 23, 2017, captures an eruption of solar material -- a coronal mass ejection -- from that same active region. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/STEREO/Bill Thompson

On July 5, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory watched an active regionan area of intense and complex magnetic fieldsrotate into view on the Sun. The satellite continued to track the region as it grew and eventually rotated across the Sun and out of view on July 17.

With their complex magnetic fields, sunspots are often the source of interesting solar activity:

During its 13-day trip across the face of the Sun, the active regiondubbed AR12665put on a show for NASA's Sun-watching satellites, producing several solar flares, a coronal mass ejection and a solar energetic particle event. Watch the video below to learn how NASA's satellites tracked the sunspot over the course of these two weeks.

Such sunspots are a common occurrence on the Sun, but less frequent at the moment, as the Sun is moving steadily toward a period of lower solar activity called solar minimuma regular occurrence during its approximately 11-year cycle. Scientists track such spots because they can help provide information about the Sun's inner workings. Space weather centers, such as NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, also monitor these spots to provide advance warning, if needed, of the radiation bursts being sent toward Earth, which can impact our satellites and radio communications.

On July 9, a medium-sized flare burst from the sunspot, peaking at 11:18 a.m. EDT. Solar flares are explosions on the Sun that send energy, light and high-speed particles out into spacemuch like how earthquakes have a Richter scale to describe their strength, solar flares are also categorized according to their intensity. This flare was categorized as an M1. M-class flares are a tenth the size of the most intense flares, the X-class flares. The number provides more information about its strength: An M2 is twice as intense as an M1, an M3 is three times as intense and so on.

Days later, on July 14, a second medium-sized, M2 flare erupted from the Sun. The second flare was long-lived, peaking at 10:09 a.m. EDT and lasting over two hours.

This was accompanied by another kind of solar explosion called a coronal mass ejection, or CME. Solar flares are often associated with CMEsgiant clouds of solar material and energy. NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, saw the CME at 9:36 a.m. EDT leaving the Sun at speeds of 620 miles per second and eventually slowing to 466 miles per second.

Following the CME, the turbulent active region also emitted a flurry of high-speed protons, known as a solar energetic particle event, at 12:45 p.m. EDT.

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Research scientists at the Community Coordinated Modeling Centerlocated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Marylandused these spacecraft observations as input for their simulations of space weather throughout the solar system. Using a model called ENLIL, they are able to map out and predict whether the solar storm will impact our instruments and spacecraft, and send alerts to NASA mission operators if necessary.

By the time the CME made contact with Earth's magnetic field on July 16, the sunspot's journey across the Sun was almost complete. As for the solar storm, it took this massive cloud of solar material two days to travel 93 million miles to Earth, where it caused charged particles to stream down Earth's magnetic poles, sparking enhanced aurora.

Explore further: NASA's SDO watches a sunspot turn toward Earth

An active region on the sunan area of intense and complex magnetic fieldshas rotated into view on the sun and seems to be growing rather quickly in this video captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory between July ...

The sun emitted a trio of mid-level solar flares on April 2-3, 2017. The first peaked at 4:02 a.m. EDT on April 2, the second peaked at 4:33 p.m. EDT on April 2, and the third peaked at 10:29 a.m. EDT on April 3. NASA's Solar ...

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:29 pm EDT on April 17, 2016. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. ...

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 6:34 p.m. EDT on March 12, 2014, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, captured an image of it. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation ...

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 12:20 p.m. EDT on July 8, 2014, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from ...

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 4:16 a.m. EDT on June 25, 2015. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of ...

On July 5, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory watched an active regionan area of intense and complex magnetic fieldsrotate into view on the Sun. The satellite continued to track the region as it grew and eventually ...

Spectacular sunsets and sunrises are enough to dazzle most of us, but to astronomers, dusk and dawn are a waste of good observing time. They want a truly dark sky.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) was part of an international team that recently discovered a relatively unpopulated region of the main asteroid belt, where the few asteroids present are likely pristine relics from early ...

The elemental composition of the Sun's hot atmosphere known as the 'corona' is strongly linked to the 11-year solar magnetic activity cycle, a team of scientists from UCL, George Mason University and Naval Research Laboratory ...

According to one longstanding theory, our Solar System's formation was triggered by a shock wave from an exploding supernova. The shock wave injected material from the exploding star into a neighboring cloud of dust and gas, ...

Scientists have found the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on an enormous planet outside our solar system, with an atmosphere hot enough to boil iron.

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Two weeks in the life of a sunspot - Phys.Org