Watch Japan launch its H3 rocket on return-to-flight mission tonight – Space.com

Japan's new H3 rocket will attempt to bounce back from an explosive failure tonight (Feb. 16), and you can watch the action live.

The H3 is scheduled to lift off from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center tonight during a nearly four-hour window that opens at 7:22 p.m. EST (0022 GMT and 9:22 a.m. Japan Standard Time on Feb. 17).The launch was originally planned for Wednesday (Feb. 14), but bad weather forced a two-day delay.

You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or directly via JAXA. Coverage will begin around 6:20 p.m. EST (2320 GMT).

Related: Japan's new H3 rocket fails on 1st test flight, advanced Earth observation satellite lost

The H3 has flown just once before, on a test flight in March 2023 that attempted to send the DAICHI-3 Earth-observation satellite to orbit. The rocket's second-stage engine failed to ignite on that mission, however, resulting in loss of the satellite.

On tonight's flight, the H3 will carry two small Earth-observation satellites, called CE-SAT-IE and TIRSAT, to sun-synchronous orbit. The main payload, however, is a 5,900-pound (2,600-kilogram) mass simulator, which is standing in for a big-ticket spacecraft.

"The primary purpose of this mission is to evaluate the performance of the H3 rocket and its payload deployment mechanism," EverydayAstronaut.com wrote in a mission description.

JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have been developing the H3 for the past decade. The rocket which stands either 187 feet or 207 feet (57 or 63 meters) tall depending on the choice of payload fairing will eventually replace Japan's venerable H-2A rocket, which debuted in 2001.

The H-2A hasn't been put out to pasture yet, however. It lofted the IGS Optical 8 spy satellite for the Japanese government last month, for example. And, in September 2023, it sent Japan's SLIM lander on its way to the moon. SLIM touched down on the lunar surface on Jan. 19, making Japan just the fifth nation to land softly on Earth's nearest neighbor.

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Watch Japan launch its H3 rocket on return-to-flight mission tonight - Space.com

News from the Press Site: A roundup of the week’s space news Spaceflight Now – Spaceflight Now

Join us for a roundup of the weeks space news with reporters covering the big stories. Spaceflight Nows Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Chris Davenport of The Washington Post and Gina Sunseri of ABC News. The show goes live at 4 p.m. EST (2100 UTC).

The discussion will include stories like the launch and process of Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander, which is making its way towards the Moon; the warnings on Capitol Hill about Russias potential development of an anti-satellite weapon and SpaceX achieving the 300th launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with its latest Starlink mission.

Chris Davenport, The Washington Post: Possible Russian aggression in space Launch of commercial lunar lander

Gina Sunseri Intuitive Machines Moon-bound lander launches Warning of national security threat from Russian space activity

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News from the Press Site: A roundup of the week's space news Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

NASA Artemis Science, First Intuitive Machines Flight Head to Moon – NASA

A suite of NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations is on the way to our nearest celestial neighbor for the benefit of humanity. Through this flight to the Moon, they will provide insights into the lunar surface environment and test technologies for future landers and Artemis astronauts.

At 1:05 a.m. EST on Thursday, Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agencys Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At approximately 1:53 a.m., the lander deployed from the Falcon 9 second stage. Teams confirmed it made communications contact with the companys mission operations center in Houston. The spacecraft is stable and receiving solar power.

These deliveries are part of NASAs CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, which includes new solar system science to better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for evidence of water and other resources, and support long-term human exploration.

NASA scientific instruments are on their way to the Moon a giant leap for humanity as we prepare to return to the lunar surface for the first time in more than half a century, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. These daring Moon deliveries will not only conduct new science at the Moon, but they are supporting a growing commercial space economy while showing the strength of American technology and innovation. We have so much to learn through CLPS flights that will help us shape the future of human exploration for the Artemis Generation.

While enroute to the Moon, NASA instruments will measure the quantity of cryogenic engine fuel as it is used, and during descent toward the lunar surface, they will collect data on plume-surface interactions and test precision landing technologies.

Once on the Moon, NASA instruments will focus on investigating space weather/lunar surface interactions and radio astronomy. The Nova-C lander also will carry retroreflectors contributing to a network of location markers on the Moon for communication and navigation for future autonomous navigation technologies.

NASA science aboard the lander includes:

Intuitive Machines Nova-C-class lunar lander, named Odysseus, is scheduled to land on the Moons South Pole region near the lunar feature known as Malapert A on Thursday, Feb. 22. This relatively flat and safe region is within the otherwise heavily cratered southern highlands on the side of the Moon visible from Earth. Landing near Malapert A will also help mission planners understand how to communicate and send data back to Earth from a location where Earth is low on the lunar horizon.

The NASA science aboard will spend approximately seven days gathering valuable scientific data about Earths nearest neighbor, helping pave the way for the first woman and first person of color to explore the Moon under Artemis.

Learn more about NASAs CLPS initiative at:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

-end-

Karen Fox / Alise Fisher Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 / 202-358-2546 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

Nilufar Ramji Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov

Antonia Jaramillo Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-501-8425 antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov

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Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off with space debris removal mission Spaceflight Now – Spaceflight Now

An Electron rocket lifts off from Rocket Labs launch site on New Zealands Mahia Peninsula carrying the ADRAS-J satellite for Astroscale. Image: Rocket Lab.

A small satellite that will inspect a discarded rocket body in orbit lifted off Sunday/Monday on a mission to develop techniques for removing space debris. The satellite built by Japan-based Astroscale launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 3:52 a.m. NZDT (9:52 a.m. EST / 1452 UTC).

The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan satellite or ADRAS-J will approach and monitor the spent upper-stage rocket of an H-2A rocket that launched in January 2009. It is part of the Japanese space agencys (JAXA) Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration program and is designed to lay the ground work for a future mission to deobit the rocket stage, tentatively scheduled for 2026. A contract has yet to be awarded for this second phase of the program.

ADRAS-J was deployed 64 minutes into flight after two firings of the Electrons Curie kick stage to precisely place the spacecraft on course for its rendezvous in space.

100% mission success, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck wrote in a social media post. Big day for the GNC [Guidance Navigation and Control] team with perfect argument of perigee targeting.

The mission, nick named On Closer Inspection, was the 44th Electron launch to date and Rocket Labs second mission of 2024.

The ADRAS-J spacecraft will initially close in on the derelict rocket body using ground-based observation data but will then switch to on-board sensors to complete the rendezvous. It is equipped with visual and infrared cameras and LiDAR sensors. Once in close proximity, it will assess the rocket bodys condition and gauge the extent to which it might be tumbling. It will circle the upper-stage and make a close approach, but will not attempt to latch on to the rocket.

The H-2A upper stage is currently in a 622 x 557 km orbit, inclined at 98.2 degrees to the equator, has a mass of three tonnes, is 11 meters long and a diameter of four meters.

Taking images in space might sound easy, but doing it with an unprepared object that does not provide any location data on its own and its moving at approximately 7.5 kilometers per second is extremely hard, said Nobu Okada, founder and CEO of Astroscale. In fact, this kind of operation is one of the most challenging capabilities necessary for on orbit services.

Astroscale was founded in 2013 with the goal of offering on-orbit servicing and space debris removal services. It is headquarted in Japan and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Israel.

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Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off with space debris removal mission Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites on 3rd leg of spaceflight tripleheader (video) – Space.com

SpaceX launched 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites on Thursday (Feb. 15), the third mission in less than 24 hours for the company.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday at 4:34 p.m. EST (1:34 p.m. local California time, or 2134 GMT).

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff as planned. It made a vertical landing on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

It was the second launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Its previous flight was also a Starlink mission.

The rocket's upper stage, meanwhile, continued powering its way skyward, eventually deploying the satellites into low Earth orbit.

The Starlink launch was the final leg of a spaceflight tripleheader for SpaceX. On Wednesday evening (Feb. 14), the company launched the classified USSF-124 mission for the U.S. Space Force.

Then, at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT) on Thursday, SpaceX launched the private IM-1 moon-landing mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

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SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites on 3rd leg of spaceflight tripleheader (video) - Space.com

H3 reaches orbit on second launch – SpaceNews

Updated Feb. 17 with additional details from JAXA.

WASHINGTON Japans H3 rocket successfully reached orbit on its second launch Feb. 16, nearly a year after its inaugural launch failed.

The H3 rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 7:22 p.m. Eastern after a two-day delay caused by weather. There were no issues reported during the countdown, with liftoff occurring at the beginning of a window lasting more than two and a half hours.

A key point in the launch was the separation of the upper stage and ignition of its LE-5B-3 engine. On the vehicles inaugural launch in March 2023, that engine failed to ignite, forcing controllers to issue a destruct command to destroy the stage and its payload, the ALOS-3 Earth observation satellite.

On this launch, designated H3 Test Flight 2 (H3TF2) by the Japanese space agency JAXA, the engine did ignite. The stage reached a preliminary orbit of about 674 kilometers 16 and a half minutes after liftoff, and moments later deployed one of its payloads, the CE-SAT-1E imaging satellite built by Canon Electronics.

It was scheduled to be followed about nine minutes later by the other secondary payload, a cubesat called TIRSAT. JAXA said in a later statement that the separation signal for tIRSAT was sent, but did not explicitly state that the cubesat had deployed.

A second burn of the upper stage took place one hour and 47 minutes after liftoff, lasting 26 seconds. After that, the upper stage deployed its primary payload, a mass simulator called Vehicle Evaluation Payload (VEP) 4. VEP-4 is a metallic column with the same mass and center of gravity as ALOS-3. JAXA flew the inert payload after criticism about flying ALOS-3, a $200 million satellite, on the rockets first launch.

That second burn was designed to demonstrate the ability to perform a controlled reentry of both the upper stage and VEP-4, said Yasuo Ishii, JAXA vice president, during a session of the Space Debris Conference organized by the Saudi Space Agency Feb. 11.

JAXA and the vehicles prime contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, spent months investigating the inaugural launch failure. Engineers concluded that while the rocket received the signal to ignite the engine, an electrical failure prevented the ignition system from starting up.

While the investigation did not identify a single root cause, it did find three scenarios that most likely explained what happened: a short-circuit in wiring in the ignition system, a failed transistor in the ignition system and a failure in one computer in the stages control system that sent electrical current to a redundant computer that caused it to fail. JAXA made changes to prevent any of those scenarios from reoccurring.

The potential problems with the ignition system also affected the older H-2A rocket, which uses a version of the same upper-stage engine. That grounded the H-2A for half a year, with the rocket returning to flight in September.

The H3 is key to Japans future space plans. The rocket will succeed the H-2A and launch civil and military missions, including the new HTV-X spacecraft that will transport cargo to the International Space Station. The H3 is also designed to operate at far lower costs than the H-2A, making the vehicle more competitive in the commercial launch market.

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Undiscovered ‘minimoons’ may orbit Earth. Could they help us become an interplanetary species? – Livescience.com

In 2006, astronomers with the NASA-backed Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona discovered a peculiar body floating amid the sea of thousands of human-made satellites orbiting our planet. After taking a closer look, they determined that the object wasn't just another piece of space junk. Rather, it was a natural satellite that had been temporarily yanked into a tagalong orbit with the Earth, similar to the moon.

This "minimoon," designated 2006 RH120, was just a few meters in diameter. But unlike the actual moon, this cosmic body was a transient Earth companion, traveling around the planet for only a year before being ejected from our planet's orbit. More than a decade later, scientists with the Catalina Sky Survey spotted another minimoon (2020 CD3) this one about the size of a small car roaming through Earth's orbit, before it was flung out of the Earth-moon system's influence in March 2020.

Because of their proximity to Earth, these minimoons have warranted close scientific scrutiny. But more recently, some experts have eyed minimoons and other near-Earth asteroids for a different reason: They have the potential to act as stepping stones in our exploration of the cosmos.

"We have yet to become an interplanetary species," Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Live Science. Minimoons could become milestones "to achieve as you're learning how humans can operate in interplanetary space, and ultimately reach Mars."

In September 2016, NASA launched the uncrewed OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on a mission to collect a sample from the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu, which has a 1-in-2,700 chance of slamming into Earth in 2182. Seven years later, OSIRIS REx returned to Earth with a tiny chunk of the 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid.

The success of the OSIRIS-ReX mission has inspired scientists planning the next phases of near-Earth exploration. One idea is to use close asteroids as stepping stones for missions to Mars, Binzel said.

Retrieving Bennu was a step in the right direction, he said, but there might be a better target when it comes to testing our technology to expand further into the cosmos. At its closest, Bennu is around 186,000 miles (300,000 km) away from Earth and only crosses the planet's orbit around the sun every few years. As a result, the mission took seven years and cost an estimated $1.16 billion.

Minimoons, on the other hand, are some of the easiest asteroids to reach from Earth, Binzel said.

"To go anywhere in space, you have to change your velocity," Binzel said. Minimoons are small bodies with very little gravity, and have a low required change in velocity, or delta-V, which means that it doesn't take much propulsion to transport a spacecraft from low Earth orbit to a rendezvous with the asteroid.

Given these properties, minimoon missions would require less fuel than journeys to many other cosmic bodies. "It only takes a puff of fuel to leave the Mini-Moon and head back towards Earth," Binzel told Live Science in an email.

Journeys to minimoons would take about 100 days to get there and back, research suggests. (Our permanent moon is about a three-days' journey away, but it took NASA's Saturn V rocket 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of kerosene fuel and 318,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) of liquid oxygen just to get off the ground.

While minimoon missions are promising, the flaw with this strategy goes back to their ephemeral nature, which could make it difficult to plan and execute a mission before the natural satellite is ejected from its short-term journey around Earth.

"They are in tagalong orbits with the Earth, so they're like a pet," Binzel said. "Temporary pets that you keep for a while and then they wander off."

By conducting missions to minimoons and other near-Earth asteroids in their vicinity, NASA and other space agencies can test their technologies' effectiveness in deep space, including life support systems, engines and propulsion systems, Paul Abell, chief scientist for small body exploration at NASA, told Live Science.

"Going to Mars is a big, big step," he said. "There's a lot of things that have to happen, so why don't we look at some of these near-Earth asteroids that are in between the Earth-moon system and Mars."

Related: Just 22 people are needed to colonize Mars as long as they are the right personality type, study claims

These minimoon journeys could also help scientists who are dedicated to a different pursuit that could be just as crucial for getting to Mars: mining for water.

Water is vital not only for hydration but also for the creation of additional rocket fuel, which is typically liquid hydrogen. This will be required to get as far as Mars, which is, on average, more than 140 million miles (225 million km) from Earth.

Currently, spacecraft have to carry all of the water and fuel they will need from Earth. The massive weight added by the liquid drives the "tyranny of the rocket equation," which states that as payload mass increases, so must the amount of propellant required to break free from Earth's gravitational pull.

Essentially, if NASA increases the payload mass of a spacecraft even slightly, they have to add much more fuel to get it off the ground and into orbit and the fuel itself adds even more weight to lift, creating a vicious cycle. The key to breaking this cycle is finding a way to refuel in space, Abell said.

"When you go on vacation, when you fly or drive anywhere, you're not taking all your oxygen, all your food, everything with you for the entire round trip," Abell said. "Well, it's the same type of thing. We want to get away from having to take everything with us from Earth, all the way out and then come back, because that's super expensive."

The good news? Near-Earth asteroids may be ideal candidates for space gas stations. A growing body of research shows that many near-Earth asteroids are rich in minerals and water that's locked inside the rock. If this water can be accessed, it could be split into hydrogen and oxygen, both key elements for creating rocket fuel.

"If you can access that water and leverage it, all of a sudden you have water to drink, you have oxygen to breathe and, more importantly, you have rocket fuel," Abell said.

Currently, most of NASA's efforts are focused on harvesting water from the moon, but many commercial companies including Karman+, TransAstra and AstroForge have their sights set on asteroids for water and metal mining.

These operations haven't gotten off the ground yet, largely due to the cost and technology required to get to these floating rocks, experts say. But minimoon missions could help streamline operations by providing companies a training ground to test "feasibility of asteroid mining technologies for future commercial applications," according to a 2018 study.

However, minimoons themselves may not be the best option for fueling up spacecrafts because they are small, with surfaces dried out from "sitting in the sun, cooking for a long time," said Binzel.

Robert Jedicke, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the 2018 study, suspects that many minimoons aren't water-bearing, because they may have either broken off from the moon or were pulled in from the edge of main asteroid belt, both of which suggest a low potential for water.However, other scientists, including Abell, think it could be possible. Binzel, for his part, is more optimistic, saying there's lots of uncertainty in the modeling. "You don't know til you look!" he suggests.

Even if minimoons lack water, they could enable companies "to test their ability to maneuver spacecraft near an asteroid," said Jedicke, who is currently working with TransAstra to develop techniques for mining water from asteroids.

Related: 'Stepping stone to Mars': Minimoons may help us become an interplanetary species, says MIT astrophysicist Richard Binzel

Minimoons' small size and rapid motion make them incredibly difficult to detect with existing ground-based telescopes. However, a new telescope could soon change that. High in the Chilean Andes, construction is almost complete on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which will hold the world's largest digital camera.

Starting in 2025, the camera, known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, will snap 700 pictures each night for 10 years to catalog the solar system at a high-precision 6-terapixel level. This thorough exploration of the universe will help scientists understand mysterious substances such as dark matter and dark energy. And with a tailored approach, it could also help astronomers detect a minimoon as often as every three months, according to a 2020 simulation.

And in 2027, another NASA instrument, dubbed the NEO Surveyor, will detect asteroids from space. The surveyor will complete a full scan of the sky every two weeks to characterize potentially hazardous asteroids and comets near Earth's orbit. While the primary focus of this infrared space telescope is to keep humanity safe from "planet-killer asteroids," it has the potential to uncover tiny minimoons in the process.

It's too soon to tell whether minimoon missions will play a key role in spacecraft technology or mining operations, experts told Live Science. But no matter what, studying these temporary Earth companions and other near-Earth asteroids could provide crucial clues to the mysteries of our solar system, Binzel said. Many scientists think near-Earth asteroids, like Bennu, probably brought the seeds of life to Earth early in our planet's history.

For tracing the chemical origins of the solar system and finding the ingredients that made life on Earth, minimoons are a great place to go, he said.

"But the reason we haven't gone to them before is there aren't very many of them," Binzel said. "We're just now discovering them. But they will come to the forefront because we have new telescopes coming online."

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Undiscovered 'minimoons' may orbit Earth. Could they help us become an interplanetary species? - Livescience.com

SpaceX stacks giant Starship rocket ahead of 3rd test flight (video, photos) – Space.com

SpaceX's third Starship megarocket is standing tall ahead of its upcoming test flight.

SpaceX recently stacked the enormous vehicle on the orbital launch mount at its Starbase site in South Texas, placing the Ship 28 upper-stage prototype atop its Booster 10 first-stage partner.

"Starship team is preparing for a full launch rehearsal ahead of Flight 3," SpaceX wrote in a post on X today (Feb. 13) that shared photos of the milestone. In another post, the company published a short video of the stacking, which was performed by the "chopstick" arms of Starbase's launch tower.

Related:See stunning photos and video of Starship's 2nd launch

Flight 3 will likely occur about three weeks from now, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, provided the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration awards a launch license in time.

The first two test flights of Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, occurred in April and November of last year.

Both missions ended in the explosive death of Starship, though the vehicle notched some important milestones on Flight 2.

For example, the 33 Raptor engines of Starship's first stage aced their initial burn on the November missions, and the booster separated seamlessly from the upper-stage spacecraft.

Both of Starship's stainless-steel stages are designed to be fully and rapidly reusable. SpaceX is developing the 400-foot-tall (122 meters) megarocket to take people and payloads to the moon and Mars, as well as conduct other operations closer to home including, potentially, carrying people on superfast trips here Earth.

SpaceX has already signed NASA up as a customer: The space agency picked Starship to be the first crewed lander for its Artemis program of moon exploration. If all goes according to plan, Starship will put NASA astronauts down near the lunar south pole for the first time in September 2026, on the Artemis 3 mission.

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SpaceX stacks giant Starship rocket ahead of 3rd test flight (video, photos) - Space.com

SpaceX rolls giant Starship rocket to launch pad ahead of 3rd test flight (photos) – Space.com

SpaceX continues to gear up for the third test flight of its giant Starship rocket and the private spaceflight company has some amazing photos to prove it.

The company rolled the two stages of its latest Starship rocket to the launch pad at Starbase, its site on South Texas' Gulf Coast, over the weekend.

SpaceX documented the milestone publicly, sharing three photos of the move in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday (Feb. 10).

Related:See stunning photos and video of Starship's 2nd launch

SpaceX then stacked the two elements the huge Super Heavy booster and the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) Starship upper stage atop Starbase's orbital launch mount on Saturday night (Feb. 10), as NASASpaceflight.com noted.

Such work is part of the prep for Starship's third test flight, which SpaceX aims to launch in the coming weeks, provided a license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) comes through in time.

It's unclear when SpaceX will get that license, however. The FAA is still investigating what happened on Starship's second flight, which lifted off from Starbase last November. Starship flew well on that mission, notching milestones such as a nominal Super Heavy engine burn and successful stage separation. But both Starship and Super Heavy ended up exploding, and the flight ended just eight minutes after launch.

The first Starship flight, which launched last April, ended with the destruction of a tumbling Starship four minutes after liftoff. That vehicle experienced some problems with its first-stage burn, and its two stages failed to separate as planned.

Starship is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable, and it will be capable of delivering up to 150 tons of payload to low Earth orbit. SpaceX is developing the vehicle to expand humanity's footprint out into the solar system especially to the fourth rock from the sun.

"We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars. Civilization only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said in an X post on Saturday.

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SpaceX rolls giant Starship rocket to launch pad ahead of 3rd test flight (photos) - Space.com

What time is SpaceX’s IM-1 private moon lander launch for Intuitive Machines on Feb. 15? – Space.com

Update for Feb. 14: SpaceX is now aiming to launch the IM-1 moon lander mission for Intuitive Machines no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 15, due to a liquid methane temperature issue during preparations to fuel the Odysseus lander. You can read our story and see the updated times for the mission below.

SpaceX will launch a privately built lunar lander to the moon for the company Intuitive Machines on Feb. 15, and if you want to know where and when it will lift off, we've got you covered.

The IM-1 mission, as it's called, will launch Intuitive Machines' first Nova-C spacecraft to the moon from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in a predawn flight atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT).

If all goes well, the Nova-C lander (Intuitive Machines has named it Odysseus) is expected to land on the moon on Feb. 22 to deliver experiments for NASA and commercial customers to the lunar surface under a $118 million contract with NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Here's how and when to watch it launch.

Currently, SpaceX and Intuitive Machines plan to launch the Odysseus lander early Thursday, Feb. 15, from Pad 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Liftoff is set for 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT).

SpaceX must launch the IM-1 mission during a three-day window this week, which opens on Feb. 14, in order for the Odysseus lander to reach its landing day target of Feb. 22, NASA and Intuitive Machines officials have said. SpaceX originally hoped to launch the mission in January but had to delay the flight after a ripple of other SpaceX launch delays due to bad weather.

An attempt to launch the mission on Feb. 14 at the start of the IM-1 launch window was delayed due to off-nominal methane fuel temperatures ahead of the loading process for the Odysseus moon lander, SpaceX has said.

Yes, you'll be able to watch SpaceX's IM-1 launch for Intuitive Machines and NASA online for free in one of several livestreams. Our guide on how to watch SpaceX launch the IM-1 moon lander has everything you need to know.

NASA will provide a livestream of the launch beginning at 12:20 a.m. EST (0520 GMT) that will be broadcast on NASA TV, the agency's NASA+ streaming channel and its website.

SpaceX will also provide a launch webcast on its X account (formerly Twitter), starting at least 45 minutes before liftoff.

Meanwhile, Intuitive Machines will host the same NASA webcast on its own IM-1 mission website during the launch webcast. Space.com will host a simulcast of NASA's webcast on our homepage, the top of this page and likely our YouTube channel.

During the launch webcast, viewers will be able to see SpaceX's final minutes of prelaunch preparation for the Falcon 9 rocket, which typically includes final fueling for launch. About eight minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9's first stage will return to Earth and land at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, an event that will also be webcast. IM-1 will mark the 18th flight for the mission's Falcon 9 first stage.

Intuitive Machines' IM-1 mission will send the Nova-C lander Odysseus to the moon on a 16-day mission that, if successful, will mark the first-ever private landing on the moon and the first U.S. landing on the lunar surface since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

If SpaceX launches the Odysseus lander on time, Intuitive Machines' mission plan calls for a nine-day trip to the moon, followed by a seven-day stay on the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines aims to land the Odysseus spacecraft in Malapert A, a satellite crater of the nearly 43-mile-wide (69 kilometers) Malapert Crater near the moon's south pole.

The mission will end when the two-week long lunar night begins, according to a mission overview.

It is unclear exactly how long NASA and SpaceX will livestream the IM-1 mission's flight after launch, but the webcast is expected to run through at least the landing of the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage eight minutes after liftoff. SpaceX and NASA may opt to provide live coverage through spacecraft separation, so we'll have to wait and see.

If SpaceX is unable to launch the IM-1 mission on Feb. 15, the company will have at least one more chances this week, depending on the reason for a delay.

SpaceX, NASA and Intuitive Machines have a three-day window that includes launch opportunities on Feb. 14, Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 before SpaceX would have to stand down until some time in March, according to Trent Martin, vice president of lunar access for Intuitive Machines. A launch on Feb. 15 would take place at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT), according to SpaceX. A potential delay to Feb. 16 could likely shift slightly later in the 1 a.m. hour.

Regardless of which day IM-1 launches during this week's window, the Odysseus lander would still be on target for a Feb. 22 moon landing, Martin added.

"If we were to push into the March window, it is also a three-day window, and we're coordinating with SpaceX and that as well," Martin told reporters in a Jan. 31 briefing.

Complicating the launch options for IM-1 is NASA's Crew-8 astronaut mission, which SpaceX is also scheduled to launch from KSC's Pad 39A this month. That mission, which will send four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on a Crew Dragon spacecraft, was originally scheduled to launch on Feb. 22.

"Right now, we're working towards the 22nd, with the possibility of going later depending what happens with IM," NASA associate administrator Jim Free told reporters in a Feb. 5 press conference, referring to the Crew-8 mission.

On Tuesday (Feb. 13), NASA and SpaceX delayed the Crew-8 launch to Feb. 28.

Editor's note: This story was update at 12:30 am ET on Feb. 14 to include the new launch date and time due to a SpaceX delay.

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What time is SpaceX's IM-1 private moon lander launch for Intuitive Machines on Feb. 15? - Space.com

Russia launches a Valentine’s Day Progress supply ship to the ISS – Space.com

A fresh load of supplies is headed for the International Space Station.

Russia launched its robotic Progress 87 cargo ship on a Valentine's Day delivery mission toward the International Space Station tonight (Feb. 14).

The freighter lifted off atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST (0325 GMT and 8:25 a.m. on Feb. 15 local time in Baikonur).

Related: Facts about Roscosmos, Russia's space agency

Progress 87 is carrying about 3 tons of food, propellant and other supplies.

If all goes according to plan, the freighter will reach the orbiting lab early Saturday (Feb. 17), docking with the Russian Zvezda service module at 1:12 a.m. EST (0612 GMT). You can watch that rendezvous live here at Space.com, via NASA; coverage will begin at 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT) on Saturday.

Progress is one of three robotic spacecraft that currently fly resupply missions to the ISS, along with Northrop Grumman's Cygnus vehicle and SpaceX's Cargo Dragon capsule.

Progress and Cygnus are expendable spacecraft, burning up in Earth's atmosphere when their time in orbit is done. But Dragon is designed to be reusable; it splashes down safely in the ocean under parachutes, which means it can bring science samples back down to Earth.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:45 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 with news of a successful liftoff.

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Russia launches a Valentine's Day Progress supply ship to the ISS - Space.com

Valentine’s Day 2024 means 3 rocket launches, a SpaceX doubleheader and a moon probe for space lovers – Space.com

Update for Feb. 14: SpaceX is now aiming to launch the IM-1 moon lander mission for Intuitive Machines no earlier than Thursday (Feb. 15), due to a liquid methane temperature issue during preparations to fuel the Odysseus lander. You can read our story and see the updated times for the mission below.

SpaceX also recently announced another mission with a Feb. 14 liftoff, however: The company plans to launch 22 of its Starlink internet satellites from California at 7:30 p.m. EST (0030 GMT on Feb. 15).

This Valentine's Day is going to be out of this world for space fans.

With up to three rocket launches possible on Wednesday (Feb. 14), including at least two by SpaceX one of which carries a private moon probe Valentine's Day 2024 is certainly shaping up to be a space lover's dream. You can even watch them all live online, but you'll need to be both an early bird and a night owl.

The space action actually starts before dawn with SpaceX's launch of the private IM-1 moon lander Odysseus for the company Intuitive Machines. The mission will launch to the moon on a Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:57 a.m. EST (0557 GMT) and you can watch it online, with NASA's webcast beginning at 12:15 a.m. EST (0515 GMT).

Odysseus is the first Nova-C lander built by Intuitive Machines and is carrying a suite of NASA experiments as part of a $118 million contract under the agency's Commercial Lunar Payloads Services program. If all goes well, the spacecraft will touch down in a crater near the lunar south pole on Feb. 22 to deliver NASA's experiments and host of other commercial payloads to the lunar surface.

Have Your Own Starship

You can have a SpaceX Starship of your own with this desktop rocket model. Standing at 12.5 inches (32 cm), this is a 1:375 ratio.

SpaceX will follow the IM-1 moon flight with the launch of USSF-124, a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. That mission is scheduled to lift off at 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

SpaceX is expected to provide a livestream of the military space launch beginning 10 to 15 minutes before liftoff, but the company may cut off the stream shortly after liftoff at its customer's request as has been done in the past for classified missions. You can watch that USSF-124 launch at SpaceX's page on X (formerly Twitter).

Because of its classified nature, not much is known about the USSF-124 mission, but it is part of SpaceX's commitment for its National Security Space Launch contracts, according to Spaceflight Now.

Finally, Russia's space agency Roscosmos will close out Valentine's Day with an uncrewed Progress cargo ship launch to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A Russian-built Soyuz rocket will launch the Progress MS-26 vehicle, also known as Progress 87, to the ISS at 10:25 p.m. EST (0325 Feb. 15 GMT).

Progress 87 will deliver nearly 3 tons of food, fuel and supplies to astronauts on the ISS. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock at the station on Saturday (Feb. 17) at 1:12 a.m. EST (0612 GMT) to deliver its bounty. NASA will provide a live launch webcast for Progress 87 on NASA TV starting at 10 p.m. EST (0300 GMT).

If rocket launches don't light your space fire, there is one other big space event to track on Valentine's Day.

The future of the International Space Station will take center stage at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) during a congressional hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology in Washington, D.C. The hearing, entitled "ISS and Beyond: The Present and Future of American Low-Earth Orbit Activities," will discuss NASA's plans to retire the ISS around 2030 by burning it up in Earth's atmosphere, as well as the agency's efforts to spur the development of private U.S. space stations as a replacement.

"This hearing will also provide the Committee with insight into NASAs end-of-life planning for the International Space Station (ISS) as well as the status of commercial space station development," the hearing's charter states.

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Valentine's Day 2024 means 3 rocket launches, a SpaceX doubleheader and a moon probe for space lovers - Space.com

This astronaut took 5 spacewalks. Now, he’s helping make spacesuits for future ISS crews (exclusive) – Space.com

The next generation of spacesuits for astronauts just went parabolic.

Collins Aerospace tested its new spacesuit design, built for International Space Station spacewalks, on a parabolic flight that simulated microgravity conditions. The goal was to fulfill requirements for a NASA contract aimed at replacing the long-standing extravehicular mobility units (EMUs) now used on the orbiting complex.

Following the news release on Feb. 1, Collinschief test astronaut John "Danny" Olivas a retired NASA astronaut spoke with Space.com about the company's plans for the floating suit. He also discussed exciting possibilities for moon exploration. Read on to learn more about how Olivas is using his past spacewalking experience to pave the way for future spacewalkers.

Collins received a 2022 task order from NASA to develop a next-generation EMU to be lighter and more flexible than current spacesuits. These suits are also under consideration to become moonwalking outfits for the agency's Artemis program; the design team received a separate task order in July 2023 to modify the floating-style spacesuits for surface excursions.

Related: Watch next-generation lightweight spacesuit tested on Zero-G flight (photos, video)

Space.com: What sorts of experiences were you able to port from your time at NASA to Collins, to help with the development?

Danny Olivas: I've been an engineer for over 35 years. I've always been fascinated about space. It is very much like coming home and being part of an engineering family where we toil away to produce things that are safe, efficient and effective for our clients.

The intent is basically, "right design" this suit. It should be a suit that is intuitive to the astronauts. So I feel like what I'm bringing to the table is essentially helping the engineers understand what is important, where do things need to be placed, what are the things that you need to be considering. For example, in December of last year, we completed an exercise called the "concept of operations." That essentially is evaluating the suit in an environment like you're integrated onto a spacewalk and then coming back from doing a spacewalk.

I was able to bring to the table: when we do our prep and post, here's what we do. Here's what we did on orbit. Here's how we work to this particular issue. Through that exercise, it provided feedback directly to the engineers on how to move forward. It's not a one and done thing. It's a collaboration: we've gone, and taken a look at that, and we can do this or we can't do that.

Related: Shuttle astronaut Danny Olivas talks diversity on Earth (and space) in 'Virtual Astronaut' webcast

I feel like I'm bringing everything I can to this. This likely going to be my last job, and I'm going to be on the field. I care about the astronauts: that we're building the spacesuits for the people who got me five spacewalks, and did so in a safe manner. I owe it to them, to give back to the engineering community: everything I can to help our team be successful and provide the safest and most efficient, most effective spacesuit for the next generation of explorers. That's the very least I owe for being given the opportunity.

Space.com: Can you step us through the development?

Olivas: Collins, with our partners ILC Dover Astrospace and Oceaneering, use heritage or legacy from the original Hamilton Standard suit technology, which is something that's been ingrained in the company DNA from the Apollo missions. The A7L spacesuit was the first one that was formed, all the way through the current EMU. It makes perfect sense that we are looking at extending to the next generation spacesuit for the International Space Station.

The intent is for NASA delivery and, at that point, we'll have a new suit on the space station that will not only be for the space station, but also will be applicable for other commercial destinations after ISS. That includes lunar landings as well; as you're familiar with, Axiom Space won the contract for the lunar suit and they're destined for their launch on (first moon landing) Artemis 3. We wish them the very best of luck. But we're also making a suit that's compatible with lunar applications. We look to be a continued competitor in the lunar space as well, because that is the future of exploration.

Space.com: What happened during the parabolic campaign?

Olivas: This campaign actually began over a year ago, when it was first decided that we would conduct a portion of the crew capability assessment in a microgravity environment. There's no 1 G equivalent that would give you confidence that the things that you would be doing could be applicable in microgravity. We looked at some of the more challenging things, such as airlock egress and ingress. Collins has built a mockup that was to scale.

Getting this this new suit across the hatch was vital to demonstrate that you have the ability to be able to do so, and the geometry of the suit would in fact actually go through there. So that was a big risk, especially if you consider that you only have a parabola to be able to demonstrate that. Sometimes getting in and out of the airlock can take upwards of a couple of minutes, but you don't get that liberty if you're doing a zero-G flight.

Related: I flew weightlessly on a parabolic flight to see incredible student science soar

The answer to that is practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. We were literally, on a weekly basis, writing the choreography of what we would do on each and every parabola. Every team member was there. We knew where we were going to be positioned. The whole idea was that you want to be out of the way when it's time to go to the task, when there's limited time to be able to do that. And it worked flawlessly.

I learned some things. Trying to stand on your feet on a footplate makes it a bit challenging, so for me, it was trying to learn how to operate in this I would call it a bronco, if you will. Certainly there were oscillations. But we were still able to demonstrate that you could get inside a portable foot restraint within 20 seconds.

Space.com: Can you give a comparison about what it's like to be working in the current EMU compared with what Collins is going to be able to offer?

Olivas: From the outside, probably not a lot. You're going to see two arms, two legs, a helmet and a layer of white. The secret sauce is below that layer of white. There's no technology that's carried over from the EMU, but what has been carried over is all the lessons learned against this concept in doing this from day one. We bring all that experience and heritage with the suit into the development designers.

Now let's talk about the difference between the EMU and the next generation suit. It is like night and day. I'm talking strictly right now from the PGS the pressure garment system, the mobility aspect of it. Things that would lock you up in the suit on orbit. By the way, lockup issues especially with shoulder joints are part of the reason why we had an injury rate.

As we think of accessibility to the lunar application, we have intentionally gotten rid of a component called the waist bearing assembly, the ability to essentially pivot around the waist. In exchange we have introduced hip joints, joints which work in unison to allow for walking. This gives us a lot more flexibility in the lower extremities. I think the increasing range of motion, increased maneuverability are probably the biggest attributes that I've seen.

Space.com: Anything else would you like to add?

Olivas: I would say, help me carry forward the message about what the suit is. As much as this machine is to keep the human being alive in the space like solo spacecraft it's the contributions that make it right. It's all those engineers who go through kind of an anonymous perspective in their entire career, and you're never really knowing what they do. But it just happens because of a human being behind it. That team, I'm part of today, and I want to make sure that that becomes clear.

This interview was edited and condensed. This article was amended at 2:15 p.m. EST Feb. 14 to add information about other companies involved with the Collins spacesuit and to address a typo.

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This astronaut took 5 spacewalks. Now, he's helping make spacesuits for future ISS crews (exclusive) - Space.com

‘Odysseus’ SpaceX launch: Could it be 1st commercial lander to reach moon? – USA TODAY

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'Odysseus' SpaceX launch: Could it be 1st commercial lander to reach moon? - USA TODAY

Astronauts may accidentally threaten Mars missions with their gut bacteria, scientists warn – Space.com

As space agencies plan for future crewed missions to Mars, with NASA hoping to have humans step foot on the Red Planet as soon as the 2030s, scientists warn that astronauts themselves could be carrying a threat to these missions.

This threat may very well live within their bodies.

New research using simulated Mars conditions such as the planet's lack of water, harsh ultraviolet radiation and exposure to toxic salts suggests four strains of bacteria that can be carried in the human gut may not only survive in Martian soil, or "regolith," but, under the right conditions, thrive.

Worryingly, these bacteria including Burkholderia cepacia,Klebsiella pneumoniae,Pseudomonas aeruginosa andSerratia marcescens have the potential to cause disease in humans. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that even though B. cepacia can cause wildly varying symptoms, exposure to the bacteria can result in serious respiratory infections and is already resistant to common antibiotics.

"We looked at four different bacterial species, which are associated with humans and had not really been investigated in a Mars-like environment," research team member and German Aerospace Center scientist, Tommaso Zaccaria, told Space.com. "We were able to see that these species of bacteria were able to survive, to an extent, in certain Mars conditions under desiccation [loss of moisture], UV radiation and in Mars' atmosphere."

Related: Life on Mars could have thrived near active volcanoes and an ancient mile-deep lake

The bacteria's survival surprised the team. Particularly, the researchers weren't expecting how the bacteria took to toxic Martian regolith, which was simulated here on Earth to represent global conditions on the Red Planet rather than a specific area of the planet.

"We thought that the regolith would actually have more of a toxic effect on the bacteria and that it would limit the growth in such a way," Zaccaria said. "We didn't think it would completely kill them all, but we thought it would be more limiting. Instead, it seemed regolith was supplementing the bacteria's growth."

The team also found that not only can the bacteria survive for several days, with P. aeruginosa lasting for a period of up to 21 days, but in certain conditions, they could prosper in Martian soil. These conditions included access to liquid water and protection from UV light exactly the conditions human habitats on Mars will have to establish for astronaut survival.

Zaccaria added that this means missions to Mars will have to take medical precautions, such as carrying extra antibiotics, to protect humans on the Red Planet from bacterial threats brought from home.

Despite the survival of the bacteria in Mars-like conditions, the dependence on very specific conditions to survive means it is unlikely that the organisms will colonize the Red Planet after being carried from Earth. "Growth would be very limited," Zaccaria assured.

That doesn't mean there isn't cause for concern, however.

"We still think it's quite important to protect Mars, and we want to highlight the fact that there should be some mission planning to take into account also these kinds of bacteria," Zaccaria said. "We don't want to contaminate Mars with human-related bacteria."

Currently, NASA rovers Curiosity and Perseverance are exploring ancient, dried lake beds on Mars to search for signs that simple life, like bacteria, could have once existed on the presently arid world.

This new research suggests, however, that if humans were to explore regions like this in person, they may carry unwanted bacteria with them and potentially cause contamination. This bacteria could also change under the conditions of Mars, making it hard to identify as having come from Earth. And this could result in some confusion that prevents us from determining whether signs of life discovered on Mars originated on the Red Planet or hitched a ride from our own home.

"If there would be some interesting astrobiological interest on a specific location of Mars, perhaps only easily sterilized robotic missions less contained with human bacteria should be allowed to go there," Zaccaria said. "This could involve classifying certain areas of Mars as regions like national parks that we have here on Earth."

Zaccaria added that, because the human immune system functions differently in the microgravity of space, he can't currently predict the precise effect the four studied bacteria would have on human health on Mars. This is an investigation that he and his colleagues at the German Aerospace Center will undertake in the future.

Additionally, the researchers will investigate how other bacteria deal with Mars-like conditions.

"Perhaps some bacteria would be more tolerant to the conditions on Mars, and they will resist for longer periods of time, or maybe they're less resistant," Zaccaria concluded. "It will be interesting to evaluate other types of bacteria which are human-associated, which do not necessarily cause disease, but can be transported by the human microbiome either on the skin or inside the human body, to Mars."

The team's research was published in January in the journal Astrobiology.

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Astronauts may accidentally threaten Mars missions with their gut bacteria, scientists warn - Space.com

Tech Installs and Maintenance for Crew Ahead of Cargo Launch – NASA Blogs

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral OHara, both from NASA, pose for a portrait inside the Destiny laboratory module.

Equipment installs and station maintenance topped the in-orbit schedule aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The Expedition 70 crew members expanded on work that began yesterday while completing some maintenance around station as they await the arrival of an upcoming cargo craft.

The Progress 87 cargo craft is scheduled tolaunchfrom the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 14.Loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, Progress will dock to the station around 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17.

As one cargo resupply ship readies for launch, two cosmonautsOleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chubwere on duty last night, Feb. 12, to monitor the departure of the Progress 85 cargo craft. Progress undocked from the orbital lab at 9:09 p.m. before it reentered Earths atmosphere three hours later and harmlessly burned up over the Pacific Ocean.

Kononenko and Chub had a light duty day afterward, focusing on cargo audits and preparations for future experiments.

Meanwhile, ESA (European Space Agency) Commander Andreas Mogensen spent the bulk of his day working in the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock. He installed the Nanoracks-GITAI S2 modular robotic arm, which demonstrates the design, build, and operations of extravehicular robotic systems. This tech demonstration aims to aid in the development of robots for in-space assembly and manufacturing, supporting future commercial lunar missions.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli spent her day on a few different tasks, collecting blood pressure data for the Vascular Aging investigation, stowing the Bio-Monitor garment and headband she donned yesterday, and collecting atmosphere samples throughout the station.

NASA astronaut Loral OHara assisted Mogensen with the Nanoracks-GITAI S2 install before photographing Plant-Microbe Interactions in Space (APEX-10) petri plates, which launched aboard Northrop Grummans 20th commercial resupply mission to the station. The new investigation examines whether beneficial microbes can mitigate some of the negative effects the space environment can have on plant growth and development.

In the Kibo Laboratory, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa spent his day recording space demonstrations suggested by students for JAXAs Try Zero-Gravity educational activity. Students can vote for and suggest tasks for JAXA astronauts to carry out on station, such as putting in eye drops, performing push-ups on the ceiling, and more, to allow the youth to interact with station residents and learn about living and working in microgravity.

In the Roscosmos segment, Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov completed some orbital maintenance tasks and ran a distillation cycle on the Roscosmos water management system.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Tech Installs and Maintenance for Crew Ahead of Cargo Launch - NASA Blogs

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 98 Inside NASA with Pam Melroy – Yahoo News

On Episode 98 of This Week In Space, Tariq and Rod discuss what NASA's up to with the agency's Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

This week, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who is also a former astronaut, commander of the space shuttle, and US Air Force test pilot, joins us for a very special episode. We discussed the recently announced delays to the Artemis lunar landing program, NASA's long-term goals on the Moon, the overall trajectory of human spaceflight, Pam's favorite memories of her time in space, and perhaps our favorite moment her "gentle" rejoinder to a male pilot who hadn't had much experience flying with "ladies"! Be sure to join us for this exclusive interview.

Download or subscribe to this show at:https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space.

Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT athttps://twit.tv/clubtwit

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Finally, did you know you can launch your own SpaceX rocket? Model rocket maker Estes' stunning scale model of a Falcon 9 rocket that you can pick up now. The launchable model is a detailed recreation of the Falcon 9 and retails for $149.99. You can save 10% by using the code IN-COLLECTSPACE at checkout, courtesy of our partners collectSPACE.com.

This Week in Spacecovers the new space age. Every Friday we take a deep dive into a fascinating topic. What's happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars?

Join Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik fromSpace.comas they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe today on your favorite podcatcher.

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 98 Inside NASA with Pam Melroy - Yahoo News

How will Artemis 2 astronauts exercise on the way to the moon? – Space.com

MONTREAL, CANADA From simulators to space snacks, Artemis 2 astronauts are trying to practice all facets of moon living before they head toward the lunar surface in 2025.

Artemis 2 astronaut Jeremy Hansen emphasized here at Canadian Space Agency (CSA) headquarters that every detail matters when getting ready for the big mission, as it is the first moon excursion since 1972 that will have humans on board.

The constant practice, he told reporters in a gaggle, helps "keep our skills sharp, to challenge ourselves ... we're constantly in an operational environment where you're making decisions."

CSA's Hansen and his three NASA astronaut crewmates are practically livingin mockups of their Orion spacecraft to learn how to safely maneuver themselves in tight quarters. And among their tasks to tackle is something mundane, yet essential: learning how to stay fit in a tiny space while floating all the time.

Related: Astronauts won't walk on the moon until 2026 after NASA delays next 2 Artemis missions

While Orion has 60% more room than the Apollo moon capsules of the 1960s and 1970s, it has to carry four astronauts instead of three. Certainly, computers are wearable these days instead of the "single-room" machines of two generations ago and, NASA knows how to pack efficiently.

Nevertheless, getting anything on board will be a challenge.

"We're very mass-constrained and space-constrained, and that does determine how much room we have to bring things," Hansen said, noting his limited personal items will include a single pendant for his wife and three children. Orion only has 316 cubic feet (8.9 cubic meters) of space in it, which is something akin to a tiny bedroom you'd find in urban areas like New York City or Singapore. Add in computers and equipment, and that small space shrinks swiftly.

By these standards, the six-bedroom-house-sized International Space Station seems incredibly roomy. To that end, Orion has no space for any of the large exercise machines the ISS currently holds: a treadmill with straps to hold running astronauts down, a piston-driven weight machine to counteract "weightlessness," and an exercise bicycle. Taken together, the exercise equipment alone would require nearly triple the space of an Orion spacecraft, so new thinking is needed.

Enter a portable solution: The flywheel.

Versions of the flywheel have been floating around since at least 2016, when the device for astronauts was called ROCKY after the fictional boxer portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in numerous films. (That's Resistive Overload Combined with Kinetic Yo-Yo, if you're looking for some band name inspiration.)

Today's flywheel version is nested below the side hatch on Orion meant for entering and exiting.

In true small space thinking, the device acts as a step when the astronauts come inside during launch day. The crew will spend 30 minutes daily doing squats and deadlifts using cables on the device that act like a yo-yo; simple adjustments also allow the flywheel to act as a rowing machine.

The flywheel is tiny, smaller than a carry-on suitcase airlines typically allow in the passenger cabin. It also has a mass of only about three sacks of potatoes: 30 pounds, or 14 kilograms. But with small size comes a big limitation: the elastic strength maxes out at only 400 pounds (181 kilograms), which is interesting considering similar cables did not work so well for ISS missions.

NASA used to have a weight-lifting machine on the ISS called the Interim Resistive Exercise Device that also used cables that maxed out around 300 pounds (136 kg). Worse, reports from places like Wired indicate exercises like squats were only half as effective in microgravity. The newer Advanced Resistive Exercise Device does away with strength exercises "maxing out" by instead using pistons, helping astronauts stay fitter for 180 days or more in orbit. ARED is a key factor in allowing astronauts to return home with more bone mass than before, peer-reviewed research shows.

Fortunately, however, Orion is rated for shorter missions. The Artemis 2 astronauts should only use the capsule for 10 days, and time in space will go up only to a month on future missions. The fear of "deconditioning" in a floating environment is therefore less in this case, although medical professionals may eventually consider other solutions.

"As the missions get longer, that's one of the things we need to look at: what is the minimum amount of exercise that you need to perform to maintain a certain level of fitness?" said Natalie Hirsch, CSA's project manager of operational space medicine, during a media gaggle and demonstration of flywheel.

Hirsch noted astronaut health is not the only thing to think about. As any lab manager knows, vibrations can induce unexpected effects in experiments or in equipment. Orion engineers have never tested exercise equipment in space, given that Artemis 1 flew uncrewed around the moon in 2022 and the spacecraft just had a brief Earth-orbiting mission without astronauts in 2014.

Astronaut exercise data on Artemis 2, Hirsch said, will help fortify the spacecraft design against risky vibrations ahead of more ambitious moon-landing missions later in the decade.

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How will Artemis 2 astronauts exercise on the way to the moon? - Space.com

US moon lander launched half century after last Apollo lunar mission – The Jerusalem Post

A moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was launched from Florida early on Thursday on a mission to conduct the first US lunar touchdown in more than a half century and the first by a privately owned spacecraft.

The company's Nova-C lander, dubbed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) atop a Falcon 9 rocket flown by Elon Musk' SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

A live NASA-SpaceX online video feed showed the two-stage, 25-story rocket roaring off the launch pad and streaking into the dark sky over Florida's Atlantic coast, trailed by a fiery yellowish plume of exhaust.

The launch, previously set for Wednesday morning, was postponed for 24 hours because of irregular temperatures detected in liquid methane used in the lander's propulsion system. SpaceX said the issue was later resolved.

Although considered an Intuitive Machines mission, the IM-1 flight is carrying six NASA payloads of instruments designed to gather data about the lunar environment ahead of NASA's planned return of astronauts to the moon later this decade.

Thursday's launch came a month after the lunar lander of another private firm, Astrobotic Technology, suffered a propulsion system leak on its way to the moon shortly after being placed in orbit on Jan. 8 by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket making its debut flight.

The failure of Astrobotic's Peregrine lander, which was also flying NASA payloads to the moon, marked the third time a private company had been unable to achieve a "soft landing" on the lunar surface, following ill-fated efforts by companies from Israel and Japan.

Those mishaps illustrated the risks NASA faces in leaning more heavily on the commercial sector than it had in the past to realize its spaceflight goals.

Plans call for Intuitive Machines' Nova-C vehicle, a hexagonal cylinder with four legs, to reach its destination after about a weeklong flight on Feb. 22 for a landing at crater Malapert A near the moon's south pole.

If successful, the flight would represent the first controlled descent to the lunar surface by a US spacecraft since the final Apollo crewed moon mission in 1972, and the first by a private company.

The feat also would mark the first journey to the lunar surface under NASA's Artemis moon program, as the US races to return astronauts to Earth's natural satellite before China lands its own crewed spacecraft there.

IM-1 is the latest test of NASA's strategy of paying for the use of spacecraft built and owned by private companies to slash the cost of the Artemis missions, envisioned as precursors to human exploration of Mars.

By contrast, during the Apollo era, NASA bought rockets and other technology from the private sector, but owned and operated them itself.

NASA announced last month that it was delaying its target date for a first crewed Artemis moon landing from 2025 to late 2026, while China has said it was aiming for 2030.

Small landers such as Nova-C are expected to get there first, carrying instruments to closely survey the lunar landscape, its resources and potential hazards. Odysseus will focus on space weather interactions with the moon's surface, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies and navigation.

Intuitive Machine's IM-2 mission is scheduled to land at the lunar south pole in 2024, followed by an IM-3 mission later in the year with several small rovers.

Last month, Japan became the fifth country to place a lander on the moon, with its space agency JAXA achieving an unusually precise "pinpoint" touchdown of its SLIM probe last month. Last year, India became the fourth nation to land on the moon, after Russia failed in an attempt the same month.

The United States, the former Soviet Union and China are the only other countries that have carried out successful soft lunar touchdowns. China scored a world first in 2019 by achieving the first landing on the far side of the moon.

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US moon lander launched half century after last Apollo lunar mission - The Jerusalem Post

How NASA’s moon landing with Intuitive Machines will help pave the way for Artemis astronaut missions – Space.com

NASA hopes a robotic moon landing this month will help prep the lunar ground for astronauts a few years from now.

Intuitive Machines' Nova-Cmoonlander, named Odysseus after the mythical Trojan War voyager, is scheduled to launch early Wednesday morning (Feb. 14) on a SpaceXFalcon 9rocket.

The Valentine's Day launch will happen from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in coastal Florida. If all goes according to plan, Odysseus will touch down near the moon's south pole on Feb. 22, pulling off the first-ever private lunar landing.

Odysseus' mission, known as IM-1, includes 12 payloads, half commercial and half NASA science packages. NASA is using this research to get ready for the Artemis program missions that will land astronauts near the moon's south pole, beginning in 2026 or so.

Related: Intuitive Machines moon lander to carry tiny NASA cameras to study lunar surface (video)

IM-1 is part of the series of low-cost private moon missions that include NASA-funded instruments, which are manifested via the agency's Commercial Lunar Payloads Services (CLPS) program.

Each of these private robotic missions is small in cost individually, with the tradeoff being fewer backup systems in case of trouble. That tradeoff was illustrated vividly by the first CLPS mission, which launched Astrobotic's Peregrine lander last month. Peregrine suffered an anomaly shortly after deploying from its United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket, scuttling its moon dreams. Peregrine ended up coming back home for a controlled destruction in Earth's atmosphere.

Smaller and cheaper missions allow NASA to test technologies faster than traditional mission planning allows for, emphasized Susan Lederer, CLPS project scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, during a teleconference today (Feb. 12). The high risk is worth it, as "this will allow us to prepare for Artemis more efficiently," with more missions launching more frequently, Lederer said.

Another advantage is the proliferation of landing options if multiple CLPS missions succeed: There's "a far greater number of places you can go to on the moon and the diversity of people involved" if lots of CLPS missions reach the surface, Lederer said.

IM-1 will help NASA engineers learn about how to communicate from the moon's south pole, where staying in touch with Earth is a challenge due to our planet being at a "very, very low point on the horizon," Lederer said.

"The communications can kind of bounce along the terrain, coming and going," she added. "So, having a location that's close to the south pole will help us to start investigating those kinds of things that are happening."

Additionally, IM-1's equipment will be assessed for how well it performs in the harsh cold of the moon, including components such as solar panels and instruments. But even if that mission or some other CLPS landers don't make it, she emphasized, NASA will proceed with plans for its Artemis 3 mission, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole in September 2026.

"It won't endanger efficiency," Lederer said.

The experiments on board IM-1 from NASA include "instruments focusing on plume-surface (dust) interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies," the agency's website states.

Editor's note: This story was corrected at 5:15 p.m. ET on Feb. 12 to state that IM-1 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, not Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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How NASA's moon landing with Intuitive Machines will help pave the way for Artemis astronaut missions - Space.com