The assembled Mars Hope probe sits in a clean room. (Credit: MBRSC/Ken Hutchison)

This month, researchers from Boulder and beyond will watch live as a slice of space exploration history launches from a pad on the Japanese island of Tanegashima.

TheEmirates Mars Mission (EMM) is slated to blast off aboard an H-IIA rocket. As soon as the weather in Japan behaves, whichit hasnt done recently, the event will mark the first step in the mission's 7-month-long journey to the red planetthe first voyage to another planet undertaken by the Arab world. The mission is led by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in the United Arab Emirates.

How to watch the launch

The EMM launch has been delayed due to weather. Once a new launch time is confirmed, viewers can watch it live online.

Launch the Livestream

The EMM team is waiting for a clear weather window, said Omran Sharaf, project director for the mission, which we expect daily now.

The launch of the spacecraft, called the "Mars Hope probe," will also be a big moment for the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Since 2014, researchers at the institute have worked side-by-side with dozens of young scientists and engineers from the UAE to help them make this mission a reality.

Hope will capture the ebbs and flows of weather on Mars to a degree that wasnt possible before," said Daniel Baker, director of LASP. "Its a showcase for how space exploration has become an increasingly international endeavor."

Read the announcement from LASP

CU Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano applauded the efforts of the Colorado scientists and students who worked on the mission and their colleagues overseas.

This new Mars mission shows Colorados growing leadership in the aerospace industry, both here at home and around the world, DiStefano said. That our scientists and engineers can share their knowledge with the next generation of space pioneers across borders is inspiring.

For LASP, the Emirates Mars Mission is the latest step in more than 70 years spent exploring the solar system. For example, LASP is the lead research institute for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, which arrived at Mars in 2014. Among other pursuits, the mission investigates how gases escape from the Martian atmosphere into space, leaving the planet with unusually thin air.

Hope science will be complementary to the science data gathered by MAVEN and a number of other orbital missions that have taken atmospheric measurements on the planet. The probe will enter into a unique orbit around Mars, allowing it to observe weather patterns at every point around the red planet and from the top to the bottom of its atmospheresomething that no mission from any country has ever done to date.

If theres a dust storm on Mars, changes in temperature, how do those impact rates of atmospheric escape? said Sarah Al Amiri, EMMs science lead, in last weeks press conference.

Designing a spacecraft to do all of that was no easy feat, said Pete Withnell, program manager for EMM at LASP.

To finish the project in just six years, the UAE partnered with LASP to assemble and test the spacecraft in facilities on the CU Boulder campus. The UAEs goal for the project was to build it not buy it, according to Sharaf.

Teams worked on both sides of the globe, both separately, and in extended trips and stays. The hands-on experience of building hardware happened primarily in Boulder, but team members experienced cultural exchanges and outdoor adventures in both locations.

The effort was a lesson in how people from different cultures can work together to complete a space mission on time and under budget. Knowledge transfer on the mission came in the form of hands-on learning through an integrated team approach with shared responsibilities.

There are multiple stories of Emirates engineers who started on the program with perhaps little experience in aerospace and ended up defending complex spacecraft subsystems and designs in front of seasoned review panels, Withnell said.

Withnell added that the team is confident that EMM will get the job done, but that wont make the next few weeks any less nerve-wracking. About an hour after the Hope Probe leaves its launch pad, the spacecraft will separate from its rocket and extend its solar panels. From there, it will begin making moves that will take it to Marsnot an easy target to hit from Earth.

Its equivalent to an archer hitting a 2-mm target 1 kilometer away, Withnell said. This is not for the faint of heart.

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Emirates Mars Mission to begin journey to the red planet - CU Boulder Today

When people think of NASA, Idaho doesnt exactly jump to mind.

Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center are in Florida. Johnson Space Center and Mission Control are in Texas. And the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is in California.

But Idahos contributions to space exploration date back to the early years of the space race and continue today.

In fact, when NASA launches the Perseverance mission to Mars this summer, its rovers heat and power will come from a radioisotope power system (RPS) assembled and tested at Idaho National Laboratory.

Craters of the Moon

Idahos relationship with NASA began in 1969, the same year Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

That August, NASA sent four Apollo astronauts, including Alan Shepard, to Craters of the Moon National Monument for geology training.

In the Apollo days, NASAs central mission was to get astronauts where they were going and return them alive. Only one scientist was sent to the moon, said Idaho State University volcanologist Shannon Kobs-Nawotniak. The rest were all test pilots. Today, things are driven much more by science.

The former test pilots would be collecting rocks on the moons Fra Mauro Highlands, and NASA mission planners decided Craters of the Moon would be a good place for them to practice spotting scientifically interesting rock specimens.

NASA still uses Craters of the Moon for research. In 2014, scientists from the Ames Research Center began a project called FINESSE (Field Investigations to Enable Solar System Science and Exploration) to conduct field experiments and procedures that may be used by astronauts on the moon and Mars. A second project, BASALT (Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains) examines terrain similar to the surface of Mars.

We have the benefit of so much more technology, said Kobs-Nawotniak, geology co-lead on FINESSE and deputy principal investigator on BASALT. With tools such as spectral imagery and more sophisticated satellites, we have a much better sense of what were looking for, she said.

FINESSEs focus on volcanic terrain applies to both the moon mission slated for the mid-2020s and Martian exploration in the 2030s. BASALT focuses on how water-rock interactions might affect habitability for microbial organisms on Mars.

In addition to her research, Kobs-Nawotniak engages with students all over the country, including the Idaho Space Grant Consortium, which funds Idaho students who are awarded NASA internships. Based at the University of Idaho in Moscow, the consortium was established in 2009 with a $1 million grant for STEM education.

Partnering in STEM education

NASA has emerged as a vital partner for STEM education in Idaho, especially in the states underserved rural communities and on Native American reservations.

Ed Galindo, a part-time professor at Idaho State University in Pocatello, deserves a lot of the credit. A member of the Yaqui tribe, Galindo first gained NASAs attention when he formed the Native American Science Association. Realizing the agency might be sensitive to another group using its name, he went right to the head of NASA for permission. This was the beginning of a warm relationship.

In 1997, Galindo took Fort Hall students to Houston for a ride on NASAs notorious Vomit Comet, a Boeing KC-135A that makes parabolic arches to give passengers the sensation of zero gravity flight.

None of the Native American students lost it on the plane, Galindo said. I just told the students to have fun.

A series of student-designed NASA experiments followed, including Spuds in Space, in which the Fort Hall students planted Idaho potatoes in JSC Mars-1, a soil mix designed to emulate everything scientists knew about the Martian soil. The test, done on the STS-Atlantis in 2000, examined how soil would support plant growth in space.

Fun With Urine went aboard STS-Endeavor in 2001 to learn whether urine could serve as the basis of usable space water. In 2003, the club launched its sequel, More Fun With Urine, in which students sought to learn whether their space water could be mixed with paint pigment and American Indian dyes to make art.

Other students around Idaho have put science projects in space. Gary Lam, a sixth-grade teacher at Potlatch Elementary School, helped his class get the Pepper Oil Surprise experiment on the International Space Station. (Watch the YouTube video here.)

We wanted to see if water and oil would separate in space, said Lam. We got hold of someone at NASA who told us, You should be OK because they do have pepper oil on board to spice up their food.

Power and heat for Mars, deep space

Since 2003, INL researchers and engineers have participated in four missions for NASA.

That includes support for the radioisotope heater units that warmed the Spirit and Opportunity rovers during the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover mission.

More recently, INL has assembled and tested the systems that power and heat spacecraft and rovers as they gather data.

In 2006, the Pluto New Horizons spacecraft launched with a radioisotope power system provided by INL. That system is still generating electricity and heat as the craft approaches the edge of the solar system. Nearly four years after passing Pluto in 2015, New Horizons flew by and photographed Ultima Thule in the Kuiper Belt, the most distant object in the solar system ever explored by humans 4.1 billion miles away.

The second RPS assembled and tested for NASA at INL left Earth in 2011 on NASAs Curiosity rover.

Finally, INL delivered an RPS for the latest Mars Rover, Perseverance, which is scheduled for launch in late July or early August 2020. Once the rover lands, its RPS will provide a source of power and heat for the rovers instruments and onboard systems as it explores the surface.

Center for Space Nuclear Research

Idaho National Laboratory is home to the Center for Space Nuclear Research (CSNR), which invites undergraduate and graduate-level students to work with INL scientists on space nuclear research of potential interest to NASA. CSNR researchers have studied a tungsten-based fuel for use in a nuclear thermal rocket that emits a clean, nonradioactive exhaust.

NASA luminaries and supporting players from Idaho

Barbara Morgan of McCall was the first teacher in space onboard the STS-Endeavor in 2007 for a mission to the International Space Station. She served as robotic arm operator and transfer coordinator, directing the transfer of over 5,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS and bringing home over 3,000 pounds.

John Herrington of Lewiston, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and the first Native American in space, flew on the shuttle Endeavor in 2002. After leaving NASA and retiring from the U.S. Navy in 2005, he earned a Ph.D. in education from the University of Idaho.

Nick Bernardini, now at JPL, is the planetary protection lead on Curiosity and the 2020 Perseverance mission. He earned his Ph.D. in microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry at UI in 2008.

Jason Barnes, an associate professor at UI, is a founding member and deputy principal investigator on NASAs Dragonfly project, the robotic rotorcraft lander planned to launch for Saturns Titan moon in 2025.

David Atkinson, UI professor of electrical engineering from 89 to 16, is now senior systems engineer at JPL on the Saturn Ice Giant Probe Mission.

Read more:

Spuds and Space: NASA and Idaho have a long history - East Idaho News

In 1960, many Americans sent mail to Czechoslovakia, wrote the correct addresses, and paid the proper postage, but nevertheless found their envelopes returned undelivered. The envelopes were still sealed, so no one had opened them and decided on the basis of what was written inside to send them back. Instead, the problem was stuck to the front of the envelopes: All the returned envelopes had a postage stamp featuring Tom Masaryk, the leader of Czechoslovak independence. The stamp was part of the Champions of Liberty series honoring non-Americans who had struggled for political freedom in their homelands.

The stamps message was not lost on Communist Czechoslovakia. In a letter to the State Department, the Czechoslovak embassy accused the United States of not issu[ing] the stamp to honor Masaryk as it had alleged, but to use it as a propaganda means against the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. In response, the State Department insisted that issuing stamps of honored personages of various nationalities is an accepted international philatelic practice.

Missing from this response was a fact about postage stamps that governments have long recognized: Stamps, in addition to carrying mail all over the world, carry designs that reflect the issuing countrys cultural ideals, historical narratives, and even political ideologies. Stamps are government-sponsored art. They are like political posters in their concentrated visual rhetoric, yet they are more like internet ads in their ability to spread that rhetoric across international borders, even if it contravenes the prevailing politics of the countries to which they travel.

Art, literature, and music were all means by which the United States tried to portray itself as more culturally refined than, and therefore superior to, the Soviet Union during the Cold War. While the CIAs covert funding of cultural front organizations has received a lot of attention, declassified U.S. government documents reveal that the designs of the Champions of Liberty series and other Cold War-era stamps were similarly co-opted by the nations top intelligence and military officials.

In the United States, proposals for stamp designs are evaluated by members of the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee appointed by the postmaster general. The original founding committee in 1957 consisted of seven members: three philatelists (people who study stamps), three artists, and one representative from the U.S. Information Agency, then the lead institution for public diplomacy. This representative, Deputy Director Abbott Washburn, attended monthly meetings of the stamp committee. At the same time, he or his boss attended meetings of the Operations Coordinating Board of the National Security Council. This unique arrangement gave the U.S. government a valuable tool in its communication arsenal.

After the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin, the Operations Coordinating Board recommended issuing a stamp symbolizing the U.S. commitment to the divided city on the front lines of the Cold War. This commitment had been reaffirmed by President Dwight Eisenhower in his televised address of March 16, 1959. According to CIA Director Allen Dulles memo of a Board meeting two days later (attended by other high-level officials from the White House and State and Defense Departments):

The Board discussed at considerable length a number of possible choices for individuals to be honored in the Champions of Liberty commemorative stamp series. Discussions centered particularly on Ernst Reuter, late mayor of West Berlin. A number of members of the group felt that Reuter would be an admirable choice at any time but that he might be a particularly good one during this period of tension over the Berlin situation.

It was agreed that the USIA representative on the panel considering individuals to be so honored would submit Reuters name, but that if there was determined opposition from other sources, he should not insist to the bitter end.

The meeting minutes indicate that the next stamp in the series was originally supposed to feature Sun Yat-sen, the first leader of the Kuomintang, but that the Operations Coordinating Board proposed Reuter instead. (Suns turn would come three years later, coinciding with a politically significant anniversary for Taiwan.) The minutes also suggest a broader discussion about the use of stamps as a foreign policy tool through a discussion of the entire question of the issuance of commemorative stamps and OCB interest therein.

The designs being contemplated by these U.S. officials, who were normally responsible for coordinating and implementing national security policies, reflected the dual nature of the Cold War as a period of both geopolitical upheaval and scientific and cultural rivalry. In one instance, after the chief of the CIAs clandestine service learned that the Soviet government was planning celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Leo Tolstoys death, he wrote an internal CIA memo on Feb. 9, 1959 endorsing the idea of a Leo Tolstoy stamp as part of the Champions of Liberty series. After all, Tolstoys writings on non-violence as part of his Christian beliefs were reminiscent of how the United States tried to portray itself. (Three Soviet stamps featuring Tolstoy, but no American ones, were issued the following year.)

Similarly, one of the topics discussed during a meeting of the Operations Coordinating Board on Oct. 8, 1958 was the possibility of a stamp commemorating the first U.S. satellite. This idea was proposed by the Army, on whose rocket Explorer 1 was launched into space earlier that year nearly four months after Sputnik. Hence, according to Dulles memo of the meeting, the majority of the Board felt that it might be unwise to issue such a stamp in view of the obvious disparity which now exists between our accomplishments in the satellite field and those of the USSR. Ironically, the first country to issue a stamp commemorating Explorer 1 was Soviet-allied Poland! (The global popularity of stamps with space-exploration themes no doubt played a role in the issuance of this 10-stamp set titled Conquest of Space.)

In addition to having these brainstorming sessions, the Operations Coordinating Board and CIA even got involved in the seemingly bureaucratic task of publicizing new stamps. Minutes of a Board meeting on May 22, 1957 state that the OCB Working Group on the Philippines would coordinate a draft Presidential announcement in connection with the commemorative stamp featuring Ramon Magsaysay, the anti-communist fighter and president of the Philippines who had just died in a plane crash, and the first in the Champions of Liberty series. Dulles himself accepted a personalized invitation from the postmaster general to attend the release ceremony of a 1955 Atoms for Peace stamp.

Between 1957 and 1961, ten leaders of foreign lands (including South America, Hungary, Poland, Finland, Italy, and India) became rare exceptions to the tradition of primarily featuring Americans on U.S. stamps. Functionally, these stamps represented proof of postage. Symbolically, they portrayed the United States as continuing those leaders legacies and political struggles. This aspect of the Champions of Liberty series advanced U.S. policy objectives, as Sen. Thomas Dodd explained:

Many millions of people, cut off from the normal free press, nevertheless receive letters from abroad and study the stamps affixed to these letters. They recognize the person pictured on the stamp and remember his role in their national life. The memory of freedom is thus strengthened, and the will to freedom thus encouraged.

Such capacity for visual storytelling has ensured stamps continued relevance even in this age of electronic communication. In May, Serbias foreign ministry denounced a North Macedonian stamp that displayed an outdated map cutting into present-day Serbia as a hostile provocative act aimed against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia. Two years ago, a set of Pakistani stamps with the caption, Atrocities in Indian Occupied Kashmir, led to the cancelation of a high-level meeting between two nuclear-armed countries. On the other hand, Indias foreign ministry once tweeted, using the hashtag #StampOfDiplomacy, about how the United States was the first country after India to issue a stamp honoring Mahatma Gandhi part of the Champions of Liberty series.

As politicians debate the future of the U.S. Postal Service, history shows that the message inside the envelope is not the only one the stamp delivers.

Matin Modarressis research on philately and foreign affairs has appeared in the Journal of Cold War Studies and Wilson Centers History and Public Policy blog. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins SAIS. He works in law enforcement in New York.

Image: Photo by Matin Modarressi

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Stamps and Spies: The CIA's Involvement in Postage Design - War on the Rocks

ABU DHABI, 21st July, 2020 (WAM) -- H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, GWU, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, FDF, stated that the dream of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is being realised by the will and persistence of the Emirati people.

In her statement on the occasion of the launch of the Hope Probe on Monday, which was manufactured and is being operated by Emiratis, to discover Mars, she said, "Our ambitions have always been limitless, especially in space exploration, which reflects the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to support the space sector and scientific research."

"This Emirati achievement is a message to the entire world stating that the UAE does not believe in the impossible. Despite the exceptional circumstances facing the world caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, the UAE is highlighting its persistence, guided by its leadership, to excel in the area of global competitiveness," she stated.

"We have been following, with much pride, the successful launch of the Hope Probe, which carries our unlimited ambitions. Since its establishment by the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE has proven to the world that this dream could not have been achieved without its young citizens who have the capacities and skills to succeed in the space and technology sectors," she added.

The historic launch of the probe took place after years of hard work by Emirati specialists from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, MBRSC, she further added, noting that it is a turning point in the list of inspiring Emirati achievements.

WAM/Tariq alfaham

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Sheikh Zayed's dream is being realised by 'will and persistence' of Emirati people: Sheikha Fatima - Emirates News Agency

We human beings have been venturing into space since October 4, 1957, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. This happened during the period of political hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States known as the Cold War. For several years, the two superpowers had been competing to develop missiles, called intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), to carry nuclear weapons between continents. In the U.S.S.R., the rocket designer Sergei Korolev had developed the first ICBM, a rocket called the R7, which would begin the space race.

This competition came to a head with the launch of Sputnik. Carried atop an R7 rocket, the Sputnik satellite was able to send out beeps from a radio transmitter. After reaching space, Sputnik orbited Earth once every 96 minutes. The radio beeps could be detected on the ground as the satellite passed overhead, so people all around the world knew that it was really in orbit. Realizing that the U.S.S.R. had capabilities that exceeded U.S. technologies that could endanger Americans, the United States grew worried. Then, a month later, on November 3, 1957, the Soviets achieved an even more impressive space venture. This was Sputnik II, a satellite that carried a living creature, a dog named Laika.

Prior to the launch of Sputnik, the United States had been working on its own capability to launch a satellite. The United States made two failed attempts to launch a satellite into space before succeeding with a rocket that carried a satellite called Explorer on January 31, 1958. The team that achieved this first U.S. satellite launch consisted largely of German rocket engineers who had once developed ballistic missiles for Nazi Germany. Working for the U.S. Army at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, the German rocket engineers were led by Wernher von Braun and had developed the German V2 rocket into a more powerful rocket, called the Jupiter C, or Juno. Explorer carried several instruments into space for conducting science experiments. One instrument was a Geiger counter for detecting cosmic rays. This was for an experiment operated by researcher James Van Allen, which, together with measurements from later satellites, proved the existence of what are now called the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth.

In 1958, space exploration activities in the United States were consolidated into a new government agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). When it began operations in October of 1958, NASA absorbed what had been called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and several other research and military facilities, including the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (the Redstone Arsenal) in Huntsville.

The first human in space was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who made one orbit around Earth on April 12, 1961, on a flight that lasted 108 minutes. A little more than three weeks later, NASA launched astronaut Alan Shepard into space, not on an orbital flight, but on a suborbital trajectorya flight that goes into space but does not go all the way around Earth. Shepards suborbital flight lasted just over 15 minutes. Three weeks later, on May 25, President John F. Kennedy challenged the United States to an ambitious goal, declaring: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."

In addition to launching the first artificial satellite, the first dog in space, and the first human in space, the Soviet Union achieved other space milestones ahead of the United States. These milestones included Luna 2, which became the first human-made object to hit the Moon in 1959. Soon after that, the U.S.S.R. launched Luna 3. Less than four months after Gagarins flight in 1961, a second Soviet human mission orbited a cosmonaut around Earth for a full day. The U.S.S.R. also achieved the first spacewalk and launched the Vostok 6 mission, which made Valentina Tereshkova the first woman to travel to space.

During the 1960s, NASA made progress toward President Kennedys goal of landing a human on the moon with a program called Project Gemini, in which astronauts tested technology needed for future flights to the moon, and tested their own ability to endure many days in spaceflight. Project Gemini was followed by Project Apollo, which took astronauts into orbit around the moon and to the lunar surface between 1968 and 1972. In 1969, on Apollo 11, the United States sent the first astronauts to the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on its surface. During the landed missions, astronauts collected samples of rocks and lunar dust that scientists still study to learn about the moon. During the 1960s and 1970s, NASA also launched a series of space probes called Mariner, which studied Venus, Mars, and Mercury.

Space stations marked the next phase of space exploration. The first space station in Earth orbit was the Soviet Salyut 1 station, which was launched in 1971. This was followed by NASAs Skylab space station, the first orbital laboratory in which astronauts and scientists studied Earth and the effects of spaceflight on the human body. During the 1970s, NASA also carried out Project Viking in which two probes landed on Mars, took numerous photographs, examined the chemistry of the Martian surface environment, and tested the Martian dirt (called regolith) for the presence of microorganisms.

Since the Apollo lunar program ended in 1972, human space exploration has been limited to low-Earth orbit, where many countries participate and conduct research on the International Space Station. However, unpiloted probes have traveled throughout our solar system. In recent years, probes have made a range of discoveries, including that a moon of Jupiter, called Europa, and a moon of Saturn, called Enceladus, have oceans under their surface ice that scientists think may harbor life. Meanwhile, instruments in space, such as the Kepler Space Telescope, and instruments on the ground have discovered thousands of exoplanets, planets orbiting other stars. This era of exoplanet discovery began in 1995, and advanced technology now allows instruments in space to characterize the atmospheres of some of these exoplanets.

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The History of Space Exploration | National Geographic Society

BioAsteroid, a biomining experiment, uses a collection of 12 automatic culturing devices fitted with a layer of material on which the bacteria will be grown in the KUBIK ISS incubator for 3 weeks.

This experimental apparatus, which flew to space station in 2019, is a miniature bioreactor which allows the scientists to study how microbes grow in space and what effect microgravity has on their growth.

The University of Edinburgh and Kayser Space have collaborated on the project which is the first European experiment to be fast-tracked to the International Space Station through the Bioreactor Express programme.

Libby Jackson, Human Exploration Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency, said:

This is another exciting step forward in the commercialisation of research and business in space.

Enterprises such as Bioreactor Express allow anybody who wishes to carry out research or manufacture on the ISS the opportunity to do so. There is great potential for UK businesses and entrepreneurs to utilise the programme, which will help further reduce the costs of exploration and open the opportunities of space to a broader audience.

David Zolesi, Kayser Space Managing Director, added:

Executing the entire BioAsteroid project within one year, the UK has positioned itself at the forefront of two activities that will define the future of the commercial exploitation of space: asteroid mining and fast-track access to microgravity.

The experiment utilises Sphingomonas desiccabilis and Penicillium simplicissimum - two microbes that, when placed in a liquid, feed from the rock surface, extracting ions. This causes the rock to break down and either form soils or release economically attractive elements in biomining.

Prof. Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, said:

By studying biofilm formation of these organisms on the asteroidal material in microgravity, BioAsteroid will investigate how space conditions ultimately affect microbe-mineral interactions, addressing questions on the biochemistry of the organisms, biofilm morphology and structure, fungal attachment and the ability of the microbes to break down rock, a key process for the future use of microorganisms in space exploration, including the mining of asteroids.

The Science Verification Test for BioAsteroid will take place later this month in Edinburgh, where the microbes will be grown for the first time on the actual flight culturing hardware. The experiment is scheduled to be launched to the ISS with SpaceX in October 2020.

See original here:

UK at the forefront of space exploration with biomining experiment - GOV.UK

Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market Report aims to provide an overview of the industry through detailed market segmentation. The report offers thorough information about the overview and scope of the market along with its drivers, restraints and trends. This report is designed to include both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry in each region and country participating in the study.

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Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market is Anticipated to Gain Moderate CAGR by 2025 - Owned

HOUSTON, TX -- Today Space Center Houston, the Official Visitor Center of NASA Johnson Space Center, welcomes back guests to a new enhanced guest experience with new safety measures and new exhibits. Registration is also open for the centers Explorer Camps and Space Center U education programs.

We are ready to welcome back everyone to a safe and sanitized environment, said William T. Harris, president and CEO of the science and space exploration learning center. We have reopened with limited capacity in center and have increased health and safety measures based on CDC, state and local guidelines to offer a safe and welcoming experience for everyone.

With health and safety top of mind, Space Center Houstons educating youth with new Clean Room experiences offered through its Space Center U and Explorer Camp programs this summer. Inspired by NASA missions, the nonprofit offers Clean Room experiences for ages 6-18 to learn how NASA prepares for a mission in an immersive way while maintaining health and safety. Youth will take part in educational activities, tour inspiring Space Center Houston exhibits, watch live presentations and films; and go behind the scenes at NASA Johnson Space Center. Register today at spacecenter.org/education.

Experience the museum and education programs with limited capacity to allow everyone to follow social distancing and sanitation practices. There are top things to know before you go.

All guests, including members, must have a timed admission tickets to enable staggered, capacity-limited guest entry to the museum.

Face coverings are required for employees and guests ages two and older.

Experience new live shows in open spaces; a new Apollo 13: Failure is not an option exhibit summarizing the mission as it unfolded; the new permanent outdoor exhibit, a flown SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

A new themed guest journey experience, plus a one-directional flow through galleries.

Ample space allows for social distancing throughout your visit, including the centers queuing and Zero-G Diner.

Download the free Space Center Houston mobile app to select a new NASA Tram Tour virtual boarding pass to board the tram tour during your visit. The NASA Tram Tour takes guests behind the scenes at NASA Johnson Space Center.

A new concierge at the entrance is ready to support guest entry. For a complete list of the reopening procedures, guests are encouraged to review the centers Know Before You Go Guide for tips on planning a visit and a list of what to bring and what to not bring.

The centers 250,000 square-foot facility offers ample space for social distancing with access to get up close to actual spacecraft and hardware used for historic missions. Guests will experience the new permanent outdoor exhibit, a flown SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It is the only Falcon 9 on public display outside of SpaceXs headquarters and is the same type of rocket that was used in the Demo-2 mission, marking the first time since 2011 that astronauts launched from American soil. Guests can also take a tour of the spacious Independence Plaza exhibit, the only place you can walk inside a shuttle replica mounted on top of the historic shuttle carrier aircraft NASA 905.

The nonprofit has new protocols in place including social distancing practices; special hours for vulnerable populations from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesdays; a new touchless entry with self-scan turnstiles; increased hand sanitizer stations; Plexiglass shields at ticket counters; enhanced daily cleaning; and a deep sanitize to all surfaces is conducted center-wide nightly.

For timed admission tickets to Space Center Houston, visit spacecenter.org. Parking fees will be waived for a limited time. Become a Space Center Houston member and experience exclusive perks including a 20 percent discount at the gift shop through the end of July, monthly member mornings and more. Ticket prices range from $24.95 for children (ages 4-11) to $29.95 for adults (12 and older) with discounts for seniors and members of the military. All Space Center Houston experiences are subject to change while the center continues to monitor state and local health and safety guidelines for reopening.

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Space Center Houston Opens with New Safety Measures and New Experiences - Woodlands Online

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Settlement Challenge and the Dubai Future Research, Dubai Future Foundations research arm, have published a report presenting the findings of 35 projects developing technological advancements for a future Mars Settlement, in line with the Emirates Mars Mission and the UAEs National Innovation Strategy which highlights the space sector as one of the key pillars of innovation and growth for the future economy.

The Mohammed bin Rashid, MBR, Space Settlement Challenge was launched in 2018 at the world Government Summit and sought to accelerate the gains of space research, support the UAEs vision of building a strong national space agency, develop a domestic space industry, and become a hub for scientific research and talent. The Challenge funded 35 research teams from private companies and academic institutions from countries all over the world to advance space research and develop technological solutions designed specifically for a Space Settlement on Mars.

The challenge included research in various disciplines including science, mathematics, engineering, technology, economics, law, political science, and even art. The findings therefore address a number of questions that will not only be relevant to future space settlement, but also to issues that are already present on Earth, such as food and water scarcity, public health and policy, and sustainable energy.

BOTTLE Water-farm The BOTTLE prototype will capture vapour from the Martian atmosphere to produce water for astronauts. Not only will this technology have "great impact for Mars exploration and the UAEs strategic space exploration goals" but it will also be critical in addressing economic, environmental and social, challenges on Earth according to Dr. Javier Martin-Torres Principal Investigator of BOTTLE at Lule University of Technology Sweden.

"Large-scale water-farms could support displaced communities living in extreme conditions, and can provide agriculture and water for desert countries" that rely on desalination according to Torres.

According to the Dr. Javier MBR Space Settlement Challenge funding grant "supported cutting edge research, which otherwise would not have happened." The grant enabled the development of "several functional prototypes of water farms" which were tested in the Boulby Mine (UK), as an extreme environment comparable to Mars.

The Bionic Plant prototype will absorb CO2 from the Martian atmosphere, or from within a spacecraft, and recycle it into oxygen and glucose.

This technology "will not only have a significant impact on deep space exploration, but also several unique applications on earth for energy sustainability" according to Dr. Tara Karimi and Moji Karimi the founders of the Bionic Plant and Cemvita Technology Texas.

According to Karimi, funding from MBR Space Settlement Challenge "allowed us to build our first prototype with the mission to convert CO2 to glucose and create a regenerative life support system... Initial funding to build the proof of concept for a breakthrough technology is very critical and not everyone is willing to take the risk."

"Since our technology mimics photosynthesis, it can harvest solar energy and be carbon-negative. This provides a sustainable method for the production of chemicals and polymers using CO2 as feedstock which will have several benefits for our society, economy and the environment.

Currently many companies use carbon capturing and sequestration technologies to capture C02 and store it underground. However, the rapid onset of climate change will not only require countries to reduce carbon emissions but actually recycle carbon dioxide, as per the Paris Agreement of the UN. The Bionic Plant technology is an effective carbon utilisation technology which will help companies not only in capturing carbon from their exhaust gases but recycle it into useful products such as glucose, ethanol and PVC.

Gesture-based Robot Control for Telemanipulation in Space Environments In this project, researchers contributed to the development of a technology that seeks to replicate the sense of touch, allowing engineers to physically "touch" objects remotely, known as "teleoperation." Such technology will be able to enhance users perception capabilities in high-precision teleoperation activities, such as the fine control of mechanical tools, or in scenarios when remote tasks require both force and precision. It could also provide amputees with prosthetic limbs that allow them to regain the sense of touch Building on Mars with Interlocking Blocks Researchers designed construction blocks that can interlock to build strong structures without the need for additional building materials. This paves the way for rapid and reliable automated construction, something which may be critical for building space settlements.

These blocks "use geometry instead of chemistry" by utilising the self- reinforcing strength of block combined in certain structures. 3D printing can build small shapes quickly, but is not easy to rebuild, nor is it practical for large scale construction. The technology developed in this project builds structures from interlocking standardised components. This leads to rapid, sturdy construction, and it allows structures to be easily repaired, altered or recycled later Designing a Martian House This project consulted experts from various fields, including architects, geologists and engineers to design and build a house that will be physically and aesthetically ideal for living on Mars. The researchers developed a house that is completely sustainable. It comprises systems that recycle waste products into energy sources - just like how our houses on Earth will need to be in the future.

The researchers also looked at the significance of living spaces for the mental and psychological health of people living in challenging environments. By consulting experts in polar and arctic construction, the researchers estimated the ideal ratio of personal and social space that astronauts living on Mars can maintain their mental and emotional wellbeing.

DFFs Dubai Future Research will be hosting a webinar with the UAE Space Agency on the 28th of July to discuss some of the findings of the report and the potential they offer for longer term space settlement.

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35 innovative projects support UAEs pioneering efforts in space research and exploration - Emirates 24|7

No Mans Sky keeps making it big with yet another update. With the Xbox pass, the Windows 10 release, and last months update that enabled crossplay, the game saw a huge surge in the in-game census. On that note, the devs dropped yet another update for the game, promising improved combat and increased possibilities of space exploration. Sean Murray, the programmer of the indie studio, Hello Games, was happy to announce this on news.xbox.com.

Last month we welcomed over a million new players into No Mans Sky by virtue of Xbox Game Pass and the Windows 10 release. This, together with our cross-play update, meant that we are seeing some of our biggest ever in-game numbers, all playing together regardless of their gaming platform. It is genuinely humbling, nearly two years after first releasing on Xbox One, that there are still so many people interested in exploring our universe.

Further reading:Customer Is in Control of the Price- Phil Spencer on the Xbox Series X and the Future Of Gaming

For those not familiar with the game, imagine Halo but if its focus was more on exploration and survival. But the game also has its fair share of combat. The game revolves around an alien humanoid planetary explorer called Traveller in the uncharted universe.

(Courtesy: Xbox)

Devs have been pretty regular in updating the game and including new features from time to time. The latest Desolation update has brought a roster of Quality of Life changes and new features. In addition to this, the game now allows you to customize your freighter. Along with this, it has also ensured new combat and in-game arsenal improvements.

As for the major focus of the Desolation update, expect a whole new bunch of exploration areas. There are a lot of deserted freighters out in the space with malfunctioning AI drones and security systems that are half-active. Some of these freighters are also crawling with hostile entities. The new update had definitely increased the opportunity for more exploration (and more action too). Also, you can use parts from the deserted freighters to upgrade your own.

This game has had a constant and steadily growing community over the years. It spread across platforms with its Worldwide release on the Xbox One back in 2018. Last month, the devs succeeded in bringing the entire community together with their crossplay update. Currently, NMS is looking at its largest in-game numbers ever.

The game crossed a significant milestone too that helped it achieved such an upsurge in the community population. The inclusion of this game in the Xbox Game Pass is undoubtedly a big step for it. This indeed seems to be the right time to launch an update as big as Desolation, right after having built this big a community for the game.

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Million New Players Resurrect Game Following Xbox Game Pass and Update - Essentially Sports

The Global Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market report presents an in depth analysis about the major segments covering all the applications, top products, top companies and key geographies. Also report on Global Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market solutions market size is expected to grow in billions from base year 2019 to 2025 at Compound Annual Growth Rate in terms of revenue during the forecast period. Report also covers some major driving factors for the market which are the growing initiatives for the promotion of the Global Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market. Furthermore, technological trends, new innovations, governing an industry are some factors impacting development of the market.

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Segmentation by product type:RocketsLandersRobotsSatellitesOrbiters

Segmentation by Application:Moon ExplorationTransportationOrbital InfrastructureMars ExplorationOthers

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The report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/players in the market. The key players covered in this report:Airbus S.A.SNorthrop Grumman CorporationAstroboticBradfordBlue OriginAxiom SpaceMAXAR Technologies Inc.Lockheed Martin CorporationNanoracks LLCMasten Space SystemsPlanetary ResourcesThales GroupSpace Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)The Boeing CompanySierra Nevada Corporation

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All these developments would take the industry in the long term growth. In addition, report provides upcoming industry solutions for the Global Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market. Report also presents driving factors which are influencing the growth of the market. However, there can be some challenges and risk to face for the participants which may hamper the growth of the market during the forecast period. In addition, report also covers the vendors with complete overview of their company profile, market size, and sales analysis on the basis of regions that would offer high growth for the vendors in the market. Key players and Market leaders are competencies and capacities of these companies in terms of production as well as sustainability and prospects of the market.

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Market segment by Type, the product can be split into

RocketsLandersRobotsSatellitesOrbiters

Market segment by Application, split into

Moon ExplorationTransportationOrbital InfrastructureMars ExplorationOthers

Some essential tools have studied such as SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis and Value chain analysis for the quantitative study of the market to help the participants to explain an overview of the Global Deep Space Exploration and Technology Market. This report is suitable for any stakeholders investing in the market. Thus report provides strategic analysis to the vendor to expand their business at large scale across the globe. Also report covers all the challenges so that users will be aware of the situations while investing in the market. Moreover, report covers all the quantitative and qualitative study of the market on the basis past and current data.

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Updated 6:08 Eastern with information on NASA initiatives.

For many, the Black Lives Matter protests occurring while NASA celebrated a historic achievement were reminiscent of the Apollo era.

In July 1969, civil rights protesters marched outside the Kennedy Space Center the day before Apollo 11 launched to the moon. NASAs historic achievement occurred against the backdrop of a nation struggling to address discrimination against Black Americans.

The May 30 launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the first flight of astronauts from U.S. soil in nine years, also happened amid widespread protests prompted by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man in who died with his neck under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.

Once again, NASA risks being out of touch with the nation as a whole by failing to be more proactive on matters of equality, said Lori Garver, who pushed NASA to hire more women and people of color as astronauts when she was the deputy administrator from 2009 to 2013.

NASA finally responded to the civil rights and womens marches of the 1960s by selecting its first female astronaut in 1978 and its first Black astronaut in 1979. But more than 40 years later, the results of that shift remain limited.

It is still unbelievable to me that we have flown only 11 Black males and three Black females in space out of 350 U.S. astronauts, Garver said. Its shameful.

Since late May, the space industry, like organizations and individuals around the world, has been responding to the Black Lives Matter movement and calls for racial justice.

Responses range from corporate scholarships and diversity training to new leadership for the Brooke Owens Fellowship and a petition to rename NASAs Stennis Space Center. Still more action is expected in the weeks ahead as companies respond to this unique moment in American history when millions of people, confined to their homes for months to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, emerge to attend racial justice rallies.

Many recent initiatives focus on increasing the diversity of the space workforce, which is overwhelmingly white compared with the U.S. population, according to Aviation Weeks annual aerospace and defense workforce report.

Small launch vehicle startup Relativity Space announced plans July 1 on Twitter to hire a diversity, equity and inclusion program manager to help build and drive an inclusive workplace that personifies the values within our organization.

Satellite fleet operator SES pledged to support underrepresented communities through various actions, including adding Black Lives Matter to charities included in its employee donation-matching program.

Virgin Galactic announced a new scholarship as part of its Galactic Unite outreach initiative. The suborbital spaceflight company pledged $100,000 to a scholarship for Black Americans pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math with a focus on aerospace.

Students selected to participate in the program, also backed by The Spaceship Company, Virgin Orbit and Virgin Hyperloop, will receive scholarship support, mentoring, summer fellowships and job opportunities upon graduation, Virgin Galactic announced June 19. The aspiration is to support Black scholars through the academic pipeline to a successful early career placement opportunity.

The Brooke Owens Fellowship, a similar initiative to bring women and gender minorities into the aerospace industry, announced a change in leadership. Garver, a Brooke Owens Fellowship founder, announced plans June 19 to step down from the leadership team to make room for women of color.

I had been going to rallies and doing what I could, but it felt inadequate, Garver said. I thought [the Brooke Owens Fellowship] needed a more representative leadership team.

Joining Brooke Owens Fellowship co-founders Cassie Lee, aerospace director at Vulcan Inc., and Will Pomerantz, vice president of special projects at Virgin Orbit, on the executive committee are alumnae: Caroline Juang, a PhD student at Columbia University; Kayla Watson, Amazon Prime Air system reliability engineer; and Diana Trujillo, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory aerospace engineer.

Space industry leaders also are publishing letters and statements about racial justice online.

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith urged employees June 1 to be thoughtful and compassionate with colleagues struggling once again with long-standing racism and are demanding solutions today not in some vague time in the future.

In the letter, Smith said, The institutional and individual racism that has long plagued our country was pulled into plain view by Ahmaud Arberys shooting death in Georgia, through the lies of Amy Cooper in Central Park, in Breonna Taylors killing inside her Louisville home, and, most recently, the Minneapolis killing of George Floyd.

SES CEO Steve Collar wrote about the deaths of several unarmed Black Americans.

The frequency of these kinds of events and the fact that the underlying biases that drive them are endemic makes us question whether there is even a path to change, Collar said in a June 9 LinkedIn post. But the strength of the global reaction to Floyds killing makes me believe there are reasons to hope for something better.

NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey Manber, called on the space community to become part of the solution to the horrific challenges America faces today. In a statement posted on the NanoRacks website Manber said, We must assure diversity in the workplace and in our kids school system in such a manner that it is standard, not the exception, that your neighbors, your friends, your leaders, are people of color, women, or someone with a differing sexual orientation.

Much of the space industrys response has focused on increasing minority participation. A walk through the halls of any major conference Space Symposium, the International Astronautical Congress or the annual Satellite show show the industry struggles with diversity.

Its well documented that the aerospace community, like many other technical communities, is not diverse, but thats not my biggest concern, said Danielle Wood, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who leads the Space Enabled Research Group within the Media Lab. Lack of diversity is a symptom, she added.

If the space industry wants to become more diverse, it must come to terms with how racially motivated decisions shape the country, Wood said. The industry must acknowledge that white supremacy is the reason why there is disproportionate violence towards Black people by police, why there are a disproportionate number of people of Black and Hispanic backgrounds in jails, why there are a disproportionate number of people who cant get loans, and also why there arent enough people of color in the aerospace industry, she said. Then we can start to make progress.

NanoRacks Manber said he hopes the space industry sees todays movement as a tipping point that leads to a permanent change.

Part of my fear, in terms of being a business person in space, is that space exploration gets branded as being either behind the times or counter to the reforms taking place, he said.

The space industry cant risk, by inaction, being viewed only as a domain for the wealthy and white, he said.

This is not your grandfathers space program, he said.

NASA announced plans June 24 to rename its Washington headquarters for Mary W. Jackson, NASAs first female African-American engineer and someone who spent her career advancing opportunities for women and minorities in engineering, a NASA said in an emailed statement.

Also on June 24, Pomerantz called on Twitter for the space agency to consider renaming the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

I think that was largely, but not entirely, a coincidence, Pomerantz said.

Space friends: maybe its time we had a talk about the fact that one of NASAs main campuses is named after a person who has been called the heart, soul, and brains of the white supremacist caucus in the 1948 Congress, the Twitter thread began.

The quote by retired U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Reuben Keith Green appeared in his June 2020 U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings commentary calling for renaming the USS John C. Stennis, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

Pomerantz began thinking about NASA facility names after watching organizations like university libraries and U.S. Army bases rethink their namesakes in response to national demonstrations for racial justice.

NASA field centers are named for locations, functions and white men, Pomerantz pointed out. They include: Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics chairman Joseph Ames, astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard, Army General and Secretary of State George Marshall and John Stennis, a U.S. senator from Mississippi.

Stennis opposed the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and signed the Declaration of Constitutional Principles, also called the Southern Manifesto, a document published in 1956 in response to the Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education that found racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The Southern Manifesto pledged all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision which is contrary to the Constitution and to prevent the use of force in its implementation.

NASAs Stennis website focuses on less controversial details about the former senator. The courtly senator from Mississippi who was unanimously elected president pro tempore of the Senate for the 100th Congress also served as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, 1969-1980, the website says. Senator Stennis stood firm for U.S. military superiority and was a staunch supporter of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NASA leaders are sensitive to the discussion of racism, discrimination and inequalities going on around the world, including conversations about renaming NASA facilities, NASA said in an emailed statement. We are having ongoing discussions with the NASA workforce on all of these topics. NASA is dedicated to advancing diversity, and we will continue to take steps to do so.

For example, NASA is developing a diversity and inclusion strategic plan scheduled to be completed in December. Employee engagement will be the cornerstone of this process, and employees input will drive this plans development and implementation, according to the emailed statement.

In addition, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has directed the space agencys Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity and NASAs Chief Human Capital Officer to review how NASAs commitment to unity, diversity and inclusion are reflected in workforce recruitment, hiring, training and management.

In 2019, NASA kicked off a Unity Campaign focused on helping its organisations and people work together more effectively. By October, all NASA centers and major organisations will produce plans to implement the Unity Campaign.

On Twitter, Pomerantzs idea has received both support and opposition. One person suggested Pomerantz leave NASA and space alone.

Others have embraced the idea.

After seeing Pomerantz tweet, Andy de Fonseca, Planetary Society outreach coordinator, created a Change.org petition calling for NASA to rename the Stennis Space Center.

Garver also endorses the idea of renaming Stennis, saying she regretted not knowing about Stennis namesake when she worked under a Black president and a Black administrator.

NASA renamed the Lewis Research Center after Glenn in 1999 and renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center to honor Armstrong in 2014, meaning names can and do change. So yes, I would change it, she said.

Another petition gathering signatures on Change.org calls for renaming the USS John C. Stennis.

This article originally appeared in the July 13, 2020 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

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How the space sector is responding to the killing of George Floyd - SpaceNews

Do road trips actually require roads? Not if youre NASAs Curiosity rover, who is embarking on an extended 1 mile long road trip this summer up the side of Mount Sharp.

The rover will be moving between two units of Gale Crater, where it has been exploring since 2014. Its wrapping up experiments in the clay-bearing unit, which resulted in the highest concentrations of clay found during the mission. Its now moving to the sulfate-bearing unit, which is expected to contain an abundance of sulfates, such as gypsum and Epsom salts.

The presence of these sulfates, as well as the clay in the area the rover is leaving behind, provide scientists with a more in depth history of the presence of water in Gale Crater. Both clay and sulfates often form in water, pointing to a much wetter past for the craters landscape.

Despite that wetter past, the entire landscape has been covered in sand, making it hazardous to drive over. That sand is causing Curiosity to take a mile long detour to avoid getting stuck. The rover drivers, who are working from home like much of America, will only partially be directing Curiosity on the path to take. The rover will also rely on its self-driving capability, a version of which you can help train if youre looking for a way to contribute to space exploration during the long lockdown summer.

Since it is not subject to any travel restrictions, Curiosity made a detour back in March to the top of the Greenheugh Pediment, a feature that spans both the clay and sulfate units. At the top, the rover snapped an image that shows the extent of the road trip it is currently undertaking. It also showed a number of nodules, known colloquially as blueberries, that were similar to those found by Opportunity 5,200 miles away. The blueberries found by Opportunity are formed largely of hematite, a type of iron oxide that is common on both Earth and Mars, though the ones discovered by Curiosity appear to be made up of different materials.

The science team might want to schedule an additional detour to sample some of these novel blueberries. That detour might delay the rovers planned early fall arrival time at the sulfate-bearing unit. At least Curiosity wont continually ask its handlers if its there yet.

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NASA: Press ReleaseNASA: Curiosity HomepageUT: Curiosity finds clay

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Curiosity Is Going To Spend Its Summer Driving Around a Dangerous Sandy Region on Mars - Universe Today

No Mans Sky is getting yet another genre-bending refresh: the new Desolation update turns the usually upbeat space exploration adventure into a horror game that looks a whole lot more like Alien.

While No Mans Sky has had some horror-ish elements before, like its Whispering Egg items that can cause the aptly named Biological Horrors to appear and attack players, the Desolation update looks to take things further by adding abandoned derelict freighters filled with overgrown alien infestations that feel like they came right out of Dead Space.

In typical No Mans Sky fashion, the abandoned freighters are procedurally generated, with each one featuring its own hazards, design, and disasters that caused the crew to take flight. A variety of dangers will await players inside the haunted ships: flickering lights, failed life support and gravity systems, rogue security AI, and ominous nests of alien creatures.

Additionally, the 2.6 update brings a host of other useful updates to No Mans Sky, including improved lighting effects, new items, and better inventory and customization options for players capital ships. The full patch notes can be viewed over at the No Mans Sky website.

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No Mans Sky has a new Desolation update that turns it into a horror game - The Verge

STOCKHOLM, July 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ironhand is the world's first active soft exoskeleton for the hand, based on Bioservo's SEM Technology in combination with Robo-Glove, invented by NASA and General Motors. Robo-Glove and the commercialized version Ironhand has won the NASA Commercial Invention of the Year Award for 2020.

In the Inventions and Contributions Board's motivation, they write: "The winning invention, "Robo-Glove," is the world's first soft robotic muscle strengthening system for professional users. In developing the Robo-Glove, NASA set out to assist astronauts, improve the efficiency of spacewalks, and extend its capabilities in space exploration. Co-developer General Motors sought to improve the safety and effectiveness of the production operators working in its manufacturing plants. Robo-Glove in its commercial product form of "Ironhand" has far exceeded the current state of the art which includes: uncomfortable hand exoskeletons, passive grip strengthening gloves, or low strength rehabilitation gloves used by individuals who, for medical reasons, cannot create simple grasps. General Motors workers are using Ironhand on automobile assembly lines and performing well. No other currently available grasp assist glove is effective in performing these types of demanding manual assembly tasks."

"We are very proud of receiving this award which recognizes a lot of hard work over the last years." Says Petter Bckgren, CEO at Bioservo and continues, "without the close collaboration with and the continuous feedback from our development partners, such as General Motors, we would not have been able to make Ironhand so intuitive, comfortable and ergonomic."

Read the NASA announcement here

For more information, please contactPetter Bckgren, CEO of Bioservo Technologies ABPhone: +46 (0)8-21-17-10petter.backgren@bioservo.com

Mikael Wester, Marketing Director of Bioservo Technologies ABPhone: +46 (0)8-21-17-10mikael.wester@bioservo.com

About Ironhand

Ironhand is the world's first active soft exoskeleton for the hand, designed to improve the health for workers that perform grip intensive, repetitive and static work tasks. Ironhand mimics the user's grasp movements and gives extra strength and endurance to the grip. The extra strength relieves the muscles and conserves the energy of the user, improving productivity as well as the well-being by the end of the shift. In short, the system helps to keep the workers healthy and efficient.

About Bioservo Technologies

Bioservo Technologies AB (publ) is a world leading company in wearable muscle strengthening systems for people in need of extra strength and endurance. All our innovative products and systems are designed to keep people strong, healthy and efficient.

The company has a unique global position within soft exoskeleton technology for the hand, both for industrial applications to improve the health for workers and to improve quality of life for people with reduced muscle strength.

Bioservo Technologies was founded in 2006 in collaboration between researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology and a doctor at Karolinska University Hospital. Bioservo Technologies is a Swedish public limited company with headquarters in Stockholm.

FNCA Sweden AB, +46(0)8-528-00399, info@fnca.se is the Company's Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North Growth Market.

For more information, please visit

http://www.bioservo.com

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Ironhand Wins NASA Commercial Invention of the Year Award - BioSpace

Alyssa Carson attended her first space camp at 5 years old. She graduated from the Advanced Space Academy program at 16, the youngest person ever to do so. Before the pandemic hit, the rising college sophomore had planned to spend her summer flying airplanes.

The eventual goal: fly to Mars.

Carson is one of a small group of young people who are already positioning themselves to be astronauts in the US's next phase of space exploration. They are attending advanced preparation programs and building social media personas to put themselves on NASA's radar now, all with an eye towards being in the astronaut class sent to the red planet in the next couple of decades.

The group, mostly teenagers, talks online about the latest developments in space exploration and works to broadcast their interest to a wider audience. Carson's online personality is NASA Blueberry she uses the name on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

"We're kind of translating space talk and doing science experiments on TikTok," she told Business Insider. "It's definitely a lot of the science geeks trying to learn this new TikTok thing, but it's about being entertaining while talking about science."

Going to Mars has been Carson's dream since she was 3 years old and watched an episode of "The Backyardigans" about astronauts going to Mars. She's the only person who's attended every NASA space camp. When she was 12, she was invited to speak at NASA about her interest in the red planet. She's currently pursuing an astrobiology major at the Florida Institute of Technology.

The draw is that stepping onto the red planet is something no one has done before, she said.

NASA aims to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. A crucial though preliminary step in that effort launches later this month, when the Perseverance rover will begin its journey to the red planet. Assuming it lands there safely, the robot is expected to search for signs of life and measure Mars's weather, dust, and water conditions. This information could help set up future crewed missions.

An artist's concept of astronauts and human habitats on Mars. JPL/NASA

Carson considers herself and her "science geek" friends part of the "Mars generation." For people her age who are into science and space, she said, Mars is the new moon.

But she believes that a push from the public, especially young people, is what's needed to make sure the mission happens.

"The whole reason why we went to the moon was because there was so much public interest around it," Carson said. "I definitely think that Mars kind of needs that same push. So it's kind of either teaching or inspiring or helping people to either want to get involved in the space program in some way or just want to support it."

Alyssa Carson in a flight simulator at Advanced Space Academy. Bert Carson

NASA Blueberry, the username Carson coined, references her time at the Advanced Space Academy. It's her "call sign" the nickname astronauts use for each other when they are giving commands over the radio.

"I got 'Blueberry' because the second time I went to space camp, when I was really little, I wanted one of the blue flight suits that I saw everyone wearing because I wanted to be an astronaut, so I wanted to look like one. I was too short and small to fit in any of the flight suits, so my dad ended up finding this knockoff, like not really the right shade of blue," she explained.

"When I wore it everyone told me it made me look like a blueberry. So after that, throughout the day and the rest of the time at space camp, they would just say, 'Oh, Blueberry, can you do this?'"

Carson said she looks to female astronauts of the past as her role models.

She met former astronaut Sandra Magnus once at a career day for young women interested in science and technology. Magnus chatted with Carson and explained that she'd decided to become an astronaut at a young age.

"That inspired me and told me that it didn't really matter how old I was when I decided this, that I could actually successfully do it in the future," Carson said. "So it's just kind of been a little push and a little motivation to kind of keep me working towards my dream."

After finishing her schooling a PhD in astrobiology is a possibility, she said Carson plans to apply whenever NASA puts out its next call for astronaut applications. The space agency usually accepts applicants every few years.

"Then just hopefully applying until I get selected," Carson said, adding, "ideally, I just want to contribute in some way to the space program whether that is the mission to Mars being on it or whether that's doing work on Earth for the mission, or any other mission."

But her real hope, she said, is to be in space by the time she's in her 30s.

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Mars inspires a new generation of astronauts, like Alyssa Carson - Business Insider - Business Insider

NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson is ready and excited for the future of space exploration.

Earlier this year (before the COVID-19 pandemic) Space.com met up with NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson, a veteran of three spaceflights who has logged more than 42 days in space, at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island, New York.

Wilson, who is one of 17 NASA astronauts eligible to become the first woman to step foot on the moon in 2024 as part of NASA's Artemis program, shared her thoughts on the future of space exploration and her advice for new explorers dreaming of joining the Artemis generation.

With regard to her lunar prospects, Wilson said, "I am of course excited to be included among the group and look forward to whoever the first woman is and the women who follow as part of the Artemis program to continue our studies of the moon, continue to descend down to the surface in a lander and hopefully to build a lunar base there on the moon and continue our journey from the Gateway orbiting laboratory."

The "Gateway," Wilson refers to the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a proposed NASA program that would orbit around the moon and allow astronauts to more easily travel back and forth from the lunar surface.

She added that the fact that Artemis explicitly includes women is "a wonderful testament to the progress that women have made" in human spaceflight since women were first allowed to apply to the astronaut corps in 1978.

Wilson elaborated, diving into the earlier days of her 24-year astronaut career and how life for women at NASA has changed over the years.

"I was very fortunate to have been able to study engineering and to find my way to NASA, to join the NASA astronaut class of 1996," Wilson said. "Over that period of my career, I have seen increased opportunities for women. We now have women working in the mission control center, working as flight directors."

As a role model for young people looking to grow up and become astronauts like her, Wilson shared a few pieces of advice.

For young women looking to follow in her footsteps, Wilson said, "there are many opportunities now for women in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math], so I encourage these young girls to study hard. If math and science is their interest then they can certainly find their way to NASA for a career," she said.

She added that astronaut hopefuls looking to go "the civilian route" (as opposed to astronauts who come from the military) have to have bachelor's degrees in STEM. "And as far as qualities or traits for the Artemis generation," she added, astronauts have to have what NASA calls "expeditionary skills."

"Very similar to the space station generation, we're looking for people that are adaptable, that are able to work well in a team," Wilson said. She added that astronauts have to be able to transition well between being leaders and followers and additionally "make good decisions quickly and efficiently in an emergency situation or in a situation where resources are limited." Astronauts have to be able "to lead themselves and their teams to a successful and safe outcome," she said.

So, why do people want to become astronauts? Why does our species want to explore the cosmos so badly?

According to Wilson, "being adventurous and being explorers is in our nature. It's in the history of how we've developed Earth and so that naturally continues to the space frontier."

"But," she added, "we also learn a great deal about ourselves, and we're able to bring that technology back to earth." She referenced all of the research that takes place on the International Space Station in fields including physical sciences, material sciences and medicine. Wilson added space-based research can greatly improve our lives as well as advance the technologies that we have here on Earth.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson on going to the moon, Mars and leading the next generation - Space.com

RAPID CITY, S.D. Many people from young generations may know of Apollo 13 from the 1995 film, others may recall that eventful week in 1970.

To commemorate the mission and the future of space exploration, the Journey Museum held an in-person and online forum for the public.

That Apollo mission was meant to be the third moon landing mission and the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo program.

Things took a turn, when almost 56 hours into the flight, the crew was forced to abandon the mission when an oxygen tank exploded. While in some regards, the mission was a failure, the ingenuity of NASA brought the crew home, making it ultimately a success.

Now, 50 years later, NASA is planning on returning to the moon with the Artemis mission.

All of that is being done to do what we didnt do in the Apollo days, and that is set up a lunar base so that the astronauts can stay longer which is what theyll need to do when we send that very first human mission to another planet, and that planet will be Mars, says Tom Durkin, the Deputy Director for the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium.

With this mission, NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2024, with the very first female astronaut to set foot on the moon.

Space X also launched the crew Dragon capsule in May, making it the first time an American spacecraft sent American astronauts to the International Space Station in nine years.

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The Journey Museum commemorates 50-year anniversary of Apollo 13 - Newscenter1.tv

Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc., today announced a new direction for the business, unveiling a new leadership team and signaling its intent to expand its presence in the U.S. space and intelligence markets.

Airbus U.S. Space & Defense Chief Executive Officer, Chris Emerson, formerly the President of Airbus Helicopters Inc., intends to build on the companys known reputation for military aircraft and helicopters. His organization will offer capabilities in low-cost satellite design and manufacturing, space exploration, geospatial intelligence, space-based sensors and equipment, secure communications and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite technology.

Operating under a Special Security Agreement with the U.S. government, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense is approved to deliver on highly sensitive national security and defense requirements. The company is currently executing multiple contracts with U.S. government entities, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and all of the service branches of the U.S. military.

Leveraging our decades of experience delivering Lakotas to the U.S. Army, we have reorganized our U.S. operations also to optimize our ability to support the growing U.S. space and intelligence markets, said Emerson. In addition to continuing our success with the Lakota program, we are building on the global Airbus portfolio of innovative technologies for the U.S., with reliability and commitment to our customers mission needs.

To meet these demands, Emerson has assembled an almost entirely new leadership team, including industry veterans and top picks from the U.S. Airbus executive community. These changes were prescient, coming at a time when the U.S. DoD is spearheading a transformation in national security space, and industry has been shifting to deliver the U.S. government vision.

The recent financing for OneWeb enables continued production of the OneWeb constellation in the high-volume, high-speed advanced satellite production facility operated by Airbus OneWeb Satellites in Florida, said Emerson. Airbus is thrilled to continue to leverage this low-cost capability in the U.S. to support the growing demand from U.S. customers for low-Earth orbit constellations.

We will position the new business to meet the growing demands of the U.S. space market, blending longstanding expertise in space systems and exploration with commercial investments and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Understanding the U.S. governments need for a resilient national security infrastructure, Emerson is also building up the companys U.S.-based geospatial intelligence capabilities. Airbus U.S. Space & Defense has readily-available, affordable, commercial imagery that can be delivered with the speed, precision and accuracy that the U.S. government requires.

Emerson has built a leadership team that he believes has customer service at the core. The new Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and leadership team bring a diverse set of experiences,including strong backgrounds in the space, intelligence, defense and homeland security sectors.

Independent Directors:

Board of Advisors:

Parent company Airbus has been present in the U.S. for more than 50 years and currently supports over 275,000 jobs in more than 40 states. Airbus has contributed to over $48 billion in aircraft-related expenditures in the U.S. in the last three years and has over 450 suppliers and teammate relationships.

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Airbus US Space & Defense, Inc., announces a new direction for its business - Geospatial World

BioAsteroid, a biomining experiment, uses a collection of 12 automatic culturing devices fitted with a layer of material on which the bacteria will be grown in the KUBIK ISS incubator for 3 weeks.

This experimental apparatus, which flew to space station in 2019, is a miniature bioreactor which allows the scientists to study how microbes grow in space and what effect microgravity has on their growth.

The University of Edinburgh and Kayser Space have collaborated on the project which is the first European experiment to be fast-tracked to the International Space Station through the Bioreactor Express programme.

Libby Jackson, Human Exploration Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency, said:

This is another exciting step forward in the commercialisation of research and business in space.

Enterprises such as Bioreactor Express allow anybody who wishes to carry out research or manufacture on the ISS the opportunity to do so. There is great potential for UK businesses and entrepreneurs to utilise the programme, which will help further reduce the costs of exploration and open the opportunities of space to a broader audience.

David Zolesi, Kayser Space Managing Director, added:

Executing the entire BioAsteroid project within one year, the UK has positioned itself at the forefront of two activities that will define the future of the commercial exploitation of space: asteroid mining and fast-track access to microgravity.

The experiment utilises Sphingomonas desiccabilis and Penicillium simplicissimum two microbes that, when placed in a liquid, feed from the rock surface, extracting ions. This causes the rock to break down and either form soils or release economically attractive elements in biomining.

Prof. Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, said:

By studying biofilm formation of these organisms on the asteroidal material in microgravity, BioAsteroid will investigate how space conditions ultimately affect microbe-mineral interactions, addressing questions on the biochemistry of the organisms, biofilm morphology and structure, fungal attachment and the ability of the microbes to break down rock, a key process for the future use of microorganisms in space exploration, including the mining of asteroids.

The Science Verification Test for BioAsteroid will take place later this month in Edinburgh, where the microbes will be grown for the first time on the actual flight culturing hardware. The experiment is scheduled to be launched to the ISS with SpaceX in October 2020.

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UK at forefront of space exploration with biomining experiment - Mirage News