Space Flight Sonata In B Minor

By: Burton Stokes

Read the rest here:

Space Flight Sonata In B Minor - Video

GDC 2015 - Elite Dangerous Interview
Elite: Dangerous is coming to Xbox One, and we caught up with the team behind the space flight sandbox to talk about launch, progress on new features, and the port to XBOX One. Be sure to...

By: MMORPGcom

Visit link:

GDC 2015 - Elite Dangerous Interview - Video

A panel of administrative judges at an obscure federal agency ruled this week that a largely behind-the-scenes clash of billionaire entrepreneurs, which pits Elon Musk against Jeff Bezos, can continue.

The dispute centers on a patent awarded to Bezos Blue Origin space company that gives it the right to launch and then land rockets on a floating barge in the ocean. But Musks SpaceX, which earlier this year became the first company to attempt such a landing, challenged the patent, saying that the idea on how to pull off a landing at sea had been discussed in space circles for years.

Earlier this week, administrative patent judges at the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board agreed with SpaceX's argumentsor most of themand is allowing the issue to go to a full administrative hearing before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Both companies declined to comment. Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, also owns TheWashington Post.

At stake is the right to pursue what many view as a potentially momentous breakthrough in space flight: the ability to launch a rocket into space, return it to Earth, and then launch it again as if it were a commercial air plane.

The ability to reuse rockets could dramatically lower the cost of space flight. And whoever is able to do it first could capitalize in a huge way.

A drawing submitted to the Patent Office by Blue Origin of how it planned to develop a re-usable rocket.

While Musk, who founded Tesla Motors and Paypal, has pioneered many innovations in electrical cars and e-commerce, he is also keenly focused on rocket reusability. SpaceX has been working on the technology for years, and in January it attempted the unprecedented feat of landingthe first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating barge it calls an autonomous spaceport droneship.

The rocket hit the platform and exploded. But even making it to the barge was considered something of a triumph, and the company is forging ahead with plans to try again.

If Blue Origin is able to hold on to its patent, SpaceXs ability to carry out its plans could be cut short. But with the patent boards ruling that seems unlikely, said Andrew Rush, a patent attorney specializing in aerospace who is not affiliated with the case.

Visit link:

Clash of the billionaires: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are duking it out over space

Dawn: Mission Vesta-Ceres Mission - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010
Dawn is a space probe launched by NASA in September 27, 2007 to study the two most-massive protoplanets of the asteroid belt: Vesta and the dwarf planet Cere...

By: Rseferino Orbiter Filmmaker

Continue reading here:

Dawn: Mission Vesta-Ceres Mission - Orbiter Space Flight Simulator 2010 - Video

NIKE AIR SPACE FLIGHT REVIEW
Comment Ig MIKEANDMARS_kicks.

By: mikeandmars2345

Go here to see the original:

NIKE AIR SPACE FLIGHT REVIEW - Video

NIKE SPACE FLIGHT ON FOOT
More videos to come If u like share my video.

By: mikeandmars2345

Continue reading here:

NIKE SPACE FLIGHT ON FOOT - Video

Offical Trailer - DR JOS GAL First German Founder Astronaut XCOR
Follow Jos Gal into Space - be a part of XCORs First German Founder Astronauts scheduled Space-Flight as the Co-Pilot of the XCORs 2-Man-Spaceship Lynx MKII. Discover his preparation...

By: Jos Gal

See more here:

Offical Trailer - DR JOS GAL First German Founder Astronaut XCOR - Video

New research might shed light on how we got here by demonstrating that chemical components of our DNA could be produced in the brutal conditions of space.

The machine NASA scientists used to zap out three components of our hereditary material from a chunk of ice. NASA/ Dominic Hart

We know a whole lot about life on our planet, but one mystery persists: how it got here.

NASA scientists working at the Ames Astrochemistry Laboratory in California and the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland may have just found a clue to that mystery. They've determined that some of the chemical components of our DNA can be produced in the harsh crucible of space.

To reach their conclusion, they created a chunk of ice in their lab containing molecules known as pyrimidine. These molecules, which consist of carbon and nitrogen, form the core of three chemicals found in DNA and RNA, the genetic composition of all Earth-based life.

Pyrimidine is also found on meteorites, which prompted the researchers to explore how it reacts when frozen in water in space.

So they put their chunk of ice in a machine that reproduces the vacuum of space, along with temperatures around -430F and harsh radiation created by high-energy ultraviolet (UV) photons from a hydrogen lamp.

They found that not only could the pyrimidine molecules survive these brutal conditions, but the radiation actually morphed some of them into three chemical components found in DNA and RNA: uracil, cytosine and thymine.

"We are trying to address the mechanisms in space that are forming these molecules," Christopher Materese, a NASA researcher working on these experiments, said in a statement. "Considering what we produced in the laboratory, the chemistry of ice exposed to ultraviolet radiation may be an important linking step between what goes on in space and what fell to Earth early in its development."

Added Scott Sandford, a space science researcher at Ames, "Our experiments suggest that once the Earth formed, many of the building blocks of life were likely present from the beginning. Since we are simulating universal astrophysical conditions, the same is likely wherever planets are formed."

Originally posted here:

NASA creates ingredients of life in harsh simulated space conditions

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.(March 4, 2015) -- The Space Foundation's 31st Space Symposium will culminate on April 16 with ceremonies celebrating the induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame of two innovationsdeveloped for space that now improve life on Earth.

The inductees are:

Chronos Vision Technology,a refractive eye surgery device used internationally to improve vision

Seismic Damper Technology, a motion control mechanism used to protect structures against the effects of high winds and earthquakes

The induction will be held duringthe 31st Space Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA. These three events will honor the inductees:

The Space Technology Hall of Fame Private Induction Ceremony

The Space Technology Hall of Fame Cocktail Reception

TheSpace Technology Hall of Fame Dinner, co-sponsored by SpaceX and featuring guest speaker Mark McCaughrean, Ph.D., Senior Scientific Advisor in the Directorate of Science and Robotic Exploration for the European Space Agency (ESA)

The Private Induction Ceremony is by invitation only, and the reception and dinner are open to all Space Symposium attendees. Reserve tickets in advance atwww.SpaceSymposium.org.

The Space Foundation's Space Technology Hall of Fame was established in 1988 to increase public awareness of the benefits that result from space exploration programs and to encourage further innovation. Since then, 73 technologies havebeen inducted.

Read the rest here:

Chronos Vision and Seismic Damper Technologies are 2015 Space Technology Hall of Fame Inductees

Former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin addresses the crowd at Macky Auditorium on Tuesday evening during his presentation, "A Unified Space Vision." (Jonathan Castner / Daily Camera)

Just like President John F. Kennedy challenged America to land on the moon before the end of the 1960s, so too can some new leader inspire the future of space exploration on Mars, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin believes.

Aldrin, 85, spoke before a packed house Tuesday at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus.

"America must be the world leader in human space flight," he said. "There is no other area that clearly demonstrates American innovation and enterprise than human space flight."

Aldrin made history with Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, when the two men became the first humans to step foot on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. In total, they spent 21 hours on the lunar surface gathering 46 pounds of moon rocks. Some 600 million people watched the historic scene on television.

Former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin told the crowd at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado campus that he would like a permanent residence on Mars by 2040. (Jonathan Castner / Daily Camera)

Though Aldrin isn't a CU-Boulder alumhe went to West Point and MIT the campus has ties to 18 astronauts and a long history of space research and exploration. CU-Boulder is the No. 1 NASA-funded public university with nearly $500 million in sponsored research awards, and is leading the space agency's MAVEN mission to Mars.

Aldrin's visit was organized by the Distinguished Speakers Board, a student-fee funded group that's brought Bill Nye, B.B. King, Soledad O'Brien, Madeleine Albright and other influential people to campus.

In a speech that was humorous, but also deeply technical, Aldrin outlined his "unified space vision" for American explorationand the colonizationof Mars.

He's hoping to draw on lunar landing nostalgia to get the world, especially young people, excited again about traveling into the great unknown, he said.

View post:

Buzz Aldrin lays out plan for Mars colonization in talk at CU-Boulder

Millennium Space Systems today announced that it has shipped out their first set of RWA-1000 reaction wheels to commercial customer SSL inPalo Alto, CA.This first delivery under a contract from SSL which was inked just four months agoestablishes Millennium's entry into the commercial space component production market, further establishing their reputation as a go-to provider of credible alternatives for reliable, affordable, high performance components in the space industry. Commenting on the completion of the first shipset,Doug Nelson, Millennium's Manufacturing & Production Lead, "all the build and test went like clockwork we made a few design modifications, such as an additional aluminum lid for added radiation shielding, but even with the unplanned engineering changes, we still delivered on the originally advertised schedule, just as our customers should expect."

The RWA-1000 small satellite reaction wheel, under exclusive license from Sinclair Interplanetary ofCanada, provides key market near-term availability for small,USA-made satellite actuators, and further complements Millennium's larger DIRWA reaction wheel, being manufactured under a separate exclusive license from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

The SSL order for 52 reaction wheels is being manufactured over the next 16 months in Millennium's newEl Segundo, Californiasatellite factory, just minutes from LAX. The Company has additional inventory available for immediate sale, and for larger production orders, can readily support customers who know what they want, and who want to move fast. The RWA-1000 is a 1 Newton-meter second reaction wheel, used to precisely slew and point satellites. Each satellite carries four of the 1-kg units, which are fitted with precisely balanced flywheels and diamond-coated ball bearings. It is the largest reaction wheel in Sinclair Interplanetary's reaction wheel product line, which has wheels on 17 orbiting satellites.

About Millennium Space Systems

Millennium Space Systems is a privately held, employee-owned company founded inNovember 2001, providing alternative, relevant and affordable solutions to today's aerospace challenges. The company designs flight systems and develops mission and system solutions for the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, National Aeronautics & Space Administration and commercial customers.

More about Millennium Space Systems:www.millennium-space.com More on SSL can be found at:www.sslmda.com More on Sinclair Interplanetary can be found at:www.sinclairinterplanetary.com

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

View original post here:

Millennium Space Systems Ships 4 of 52 Flight Reaction Wheels to SSL

As the sun travels through the galaxy, its extended magnetic bubble (known as the heliosphere), interacts with the gases and magnetism in the space between the stars a vast region known as the interstellar medium.

However, astronomers have assumed that the heliosphere gets dragged out into a comet-like tail (not too dissimilar to a stretched-out raindrop), shaped by the interstellar medium, but scientists now think the suns magnetic field strength has been underestimated, overturning our understanding as to how our solar system looks from afar.

VIDEO: Voyager 1 Not Even CLOSE to Leaving Solar System

The heliosphere reaches far beyond the orbit of Pluto and it is filled with the energetic particles ejected by the sun contained within the solar wind. The suns magnetic field pushes outward with the solar wind, creating a magnetic bubble separating solar plasma from the interstellar medium. A balance of pressure between the outward pressure of the solar wind and the inward pressure of the interstellar medium is reached at the heliospheres boundary, called the heliopause.

As the sun is moving, it was assumed that the heliopause is being shaped through its interaction with the interstellar magnetic field, but new models and observations suggest that the suns magnetic field is actually dominating its shape. Rather than producing a classical comet-like tail researchers now suggest two tails are formed from jets protruding from the suns north and south poles.

GALLERY: Voyager 2s Epic Outer Solar System Odyssey

Everyones assumption has been that the shape of the heliosphere was molded by the flow of interstellar material passing around it, said astronomer Merav Opher, of Boston University, lead author of a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters in February. Scientists thought the solar wind flowing down the tail could easily pull the magnetic fields in the heliosphere along as it flowed by, creating this long tail. But it turns out the magnetic fields are strong enough to resist that pull so instead they squeeze the solar wind and create these two jets.

Interestingly, other stars in our galaxy have been observed with this two-jet heliosphere morphology, but now the mechanisms behind the two tails are being revealed inside our own solar system. For example, the star BZ Cam, below, exhibits a shortened heliosphere shaped by 2 jets:

ANALYSIS: Wheres the Edge of the Solar System? Its Complicated

The revelation that our basic comet-like model of the suns heliosphere was incomplete came when NASAs Voyager 1 probe exited the heliosphere. On measuring the direction of the interstellar magnetic field the first mission ever to do so astronomers were surprised to find it matched the direction of our suns magnetic field, contrary to predictions.

Go here to read the rest:

Sun May Blast Two Jets of Plasma into Interstellar Space

Former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin addresses the crowd at Macky Auditorium on Tuesday evening during his presentation, "A Unified Space Vision." (Jonathan Castner / Daily Camera)

Just like President John F. Kennedy challenged America to land on the moon before the end of the 1960s, so too can some new leader inspire the future of space exploration on Mars, Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin believes.

Aldrin, 85, spoke before a packed house Tuesday at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus.

"America must be the world leader in human space flight," he said. "There is no other area that clearly demonstrates American innovation and enterprise than human space flight."

Aldrin made history with Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, when the two men became the first humans to step foot on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. In total, they spent 21 hours on the lunar surface gathering 46 pounds of moon rocks. Some 600 million people watched the historic scene on television.

Former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin told the crowd at Macky Auditorium on the University of Colorado campus that he would like a permanent residence on Mars by 2040. (Jonathan Castner / Daily Camera)

Though Aldrin isn't a CU-Boulder alumhe went to West Point and MIT the campus has ties to 18 astronauts and a long history of space research and exploration. CU-Boulder is the No. 1 NASA-funded public university with nearly $500 million in sponsored research awards, and is leading the space agency's MAVEN mission to Mars.

Aldrin's visit was organized by the Distinguished Speakers Board, a student-fee funded group that's brought Bill Nye, B.B. King, Soledad O'Brien, Madeleine Albright and other influential people to campus.

In a speech that was humorous, but also deeply technical, Aldrin outlined his "unified space vision" for American explorationand the colonizationof Mars.

He's hoping to draw on lunar landing nostalgia to get the world, especially young people, excited again about traveling into the great unknown, he said.

More:

Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin lays out plan for Mars colonization in talk at CU-Boulder

Late last week, a company came one step closer to sending tourists to the edge of space using ginormous balloons, breaking a record for the worlds highest parafoil flight. Arizona-based World View carried the parafoila large, wing-like parachuteto the edge of space using its ballon, and had it fly back to the ground. It also carried experiments designed by students from Montana State University and the University of Northern Florida.

The experiments, which tested high-definition video and computer equipment at high altitudes, arent the news here. Neither is reaching that altitude. World View has flown to this height and higher before. Last year, it acquired the tech Paragon StratEx used in October to float Google exec Alan Eustace up to 135,000 feet before he detached and dove/plummeted back down. Researchers have been sending similar balloons to edge-of-space altitudes for years, transporting payloads and collecting data.

The significance of World Views latest endeavor lies in the downward flight of the parafoil, a fundamental piece of the projected designs its manned tourist expeditions. The company wants to load its passengers into a flight capsule, attach that to a massive (as in roughly-the-size-of-a-football-stadium massive) polyethylene balloon filled with gas, and float them up to the destination altitude. After a leisurely two-hour jaunt through near-space, the capsule will begin its return trip, using the balloon initially and then transitioning to the parafoil to glide back to Earth.

For this variety of manned near-space travel to become even remotely feasible, World View must first prove its parafoil (which it calls the ParaWing) can be relied upon to act as both the safety net and the landing mechanism from 100,000 feet. Setting this record proves parafoil flight from that height is possible. From here, World View will move forward to testing parafoil descents with heavier payloads.

Compared to rocket-powered offerings from space tourism companies like Virgin Galactic and XCOR, World Views balloon scheme has some advantages. Visitors get to spend several hours in the near-space environment, rather than a few minutes outside of the atmosphere. Floating up to altitude, instead of rocketing up, promises to be a more serene experience and doesnt require special training or equipment. Passengers wont be weightless, but there is a bar onboard (who doesnt want to pop bottles 100,000 feet up?). And it will be less expensive than other suborbital flights.

Dont confuse less expensive with inexpensive. A ticket to reserve your ride in the flight capsule is still going to set you back $75,000. And even though the capsules will float to the edge-of-space, they dont actually go into space, which is something of a bummer for anyone looking to say theyve actually been to the final frontier and willing to spend that kind of cash. World View doesnt have plans to launch their first flight until the end of 2016, but if a balloon ride to the point where aeronaut meets astronaut sounds like your idea of a good time, you may want to get a head start on setting aside some money.

See original here:

Flight Brings Us Closer to Balloon-Powered Space Tourism

Around 150 scientists, from more than 30 countries gathered in Fukuoka, Japan, today to assess the status of space weather instruments (ground and space-based), data access, availability, and collection and modelling efforts to advance space weather research and to improve space weather forecasting.

Space weather, or the Sun's effects on near-Earth space, can cause disruptions and failures of communications satellites in geostationary orbit, or even severely damage ground-based infrastructures.

Opening the 2 to 6 March United Nations/Japan Workshop on Space Weather, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Expert on Space Applications, Mr. Takao Doi, a former astronaut and veteran of two space flight missions, said; "Understanding and eventually being able to forecast space weather is not only of scientific interest, but also has economic value by helping to protect space and ground-based infrastructures such as satellites, electric power plants and oil pipelines that are susceptible to space weather effects".

The Workshop will also review international cooperation activities in addressing space weather-related matters such as possible further cooperation towards a global space-weather monitoring capability. This capability will also be necessary for future human exploration of Solar Systems, when astronauts travel beyond the protecting confines of the Earth's magnetic field.

Hosted by the International Centre for Space Weather Science and Education (ICSWSE) of Kyushu University on behalf of the Government of Japan, the Workshop is being held under the umbrella of the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI), a programme of international cooperation to advance space weather research and applications.

Further information is available on the Workshop webpage at http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/SAP/act2015/japan/index.html

The Workshop is part of a long series of conferences organized within the Basic Space Science Initiative (BSSI) under the United Nations Programme on Space Applications.

See more at http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/SAP/bss/index.html

See the original post here:

Space Weather experts meet at United Nations workshop

3 hours ago Credit: NASA/Goddard/C. Gunn

Building a space telescope is no mean feat. Conditions here on Earth are drastically different from those experienced in orbit around our planet. How do we know that any telescope built in our controlled laboratories can withstand the harsh environment of space?

Luckily, we can recreate space-like conditions using simulators such as this thermalvacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA. In this image, the chamber is not in action, as shown by the presence of a photographer wielding a torch on the sidelines. When switched on, multiple pumps suck all the air out to create a space-like vacuum, and the temperature can drop to a toe-curlingly low 253C.

However, the real star of this image is the futuristic gold-coloured frame and its contents. This frame holds the Integrated Science Instrument Module, a structure containing the science instruments for 2018's James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Along with the frame, this module weighs about as much as an elephant and houses four instruments to observe in the infrared, a part of the spectrum that is key for exploring the origins of the Universe and the properties of very distant cosmic objects.

This capability is the reason for the chamber's extremely low temperature: infrared light is emitted by warm objects. To avoid infrared emissions from the telescope itself interfering with JWST's observations, the entire telescope must be cooled to very low temperatures.

In space, JWST will make use of a giant sunshield to keep it completely in the shadows. This will keep the telescope at 233C.

The JWST team hit a milestone last summer as all four science instruments passed their cryogenic testing in this chamber. The three near-infrared units were cooled to around 233C, while the mid-infrared instrument reached an even lower 266C, for a total of 116 days. For more information, read here.

After these tests, one of the units the Near InfraRed Spectrograph was removed and fitted with new detectors and 'microshutters', a new technology to study hundreds of celestial objects simultaneously using minuscule windows the width of a human hair. When this upgraded instrument is returned, the entire module will continue with further environmental tests to reproduce the conditions endured during launch and in space.

Explore further: Improved vision for James Webb Space Telescope

View post:

Image: Simulating space for JWST's four infrared instruments

Astronaut tributes to Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy, the human actor who donned a pair of pointy Vulcan ears continued Saturday.

As the International Space Station passed over Massachusetts, US astronaut Terry Virts snapped a photo of the Vulcan salute as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy on Saturday. Nimoy was born in Boston. Virts tweeted the photo andNASA posted it to its official site.

As Space.com noted,the idea for Spock's signature Vulcan salute was "actually inspired by his Jewish heritage after seeing men at his synagogue use the hand gesture during prayer. He suggested it to the director as a Vulcan greeting and it stuck, Nimoy told theYiddish Book Center in a video.

On Friday,NASA astronaut Mike Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano offered their thoughts,via a video posted to YouTube on Nimoy's role as Spock, who inspired a generation of scientists and engineers all over this planet.

"As we at NASA, with our international partners, explore the moon, Mars, and beyond, we'll take the spirit and energy that Leonard brought to his character, Mr. Spock, along with us," said Fincke. "Live long and prosper."

And ESA Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano said:

The message of Star Trek is one of international cooperation and integration. Mr. Spock, a Vulcan from another planet, was fully integrated into his crew of humans and non-humans. We at the European Space Agency believe in that message and working with our international partners, we will take that message with us as we go beyond to explore space for humanity and for our planet."

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, soon to launch on a one-year mission to the International Space Station, offered this tweet:

The official NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a research facility in Maryland, dug into its photo archives for a 1967 visit by Nimoy.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued the following statement about Nimoy: Leonard Nimoy was an inspiration to multiple generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other space explorers. As Mr. Spock, he made science and technology important to the story, while never failing to show, by example, that it is the people around us who matter most. NASA was fortunate to have him as a friend and a colleague. He was much more than the Science Officer for the USS Enterprise. Leonard was a talented actor, director, philanthropist, and a gracious man dedicated to art in many forms. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the legions of Star Trek fans around the world.

Read more:

A sign from space: Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy

Astronaut tributes to Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy, the human actor who donned a pair of pointy Vulcan ears continued Saturday.

As the International Space Station passed over Massachusetts, US astronaut Terry Virts snapped a photo of the Vulcan salute as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy on Saturday. Nimoy was born in Boston. Virts tweeted the photo andNASA posted it to its official site.

As Space.com noted,the idea for Spock's signature Vulcan salute was "actually inspired by his Jewish heritage after seeing men at his synagogue use the hand gesture during prayer. He suggested it to the director as a Vulcan greeting and it stuck, Nimoy told theYiddish Book Center in a video.

On Friday,NASA astronaut Mike Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano offered their thoughts,via a video posted to YouTube on Nimoy's role as Spock, who inspired a generation of scientists and engineers all over this planet.

"As we at NASA, with our international partners, explore the moon, Mars, and beyond, we'll take the spirit and energy that Leonard brought to his character, Mr. Spock, along with us," said Fincke. "Live long and prosper."

And ESA Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano said:

The message of Star Trek is one of international cooperation and integration. Mr. Spock, a Vulcan from another planet, was fully integrated into his crew of humans and non-humans. We at the European Space Agency believe in that message and working with our international partners, we will take that message with us as we go beyond to explore space for humanity and for our planet."

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, soon to launch on a one-year mission to the International Space Station, offered this tweet:

The official NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a research facility in Maryland, dug into its photo archives for a 1967 visit by Nimoy.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued the following statement about Nimoy: Leonard Nimoy was an inspiration to multiple generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other space explorers. As Mr. Spock, he made science and technology important to the story, while never failing to show, by example, that it is the people around us who matter most. NASA was fortunate to have him as a friend and a colleague. He was much more than the Science Officer for the USS Enterprise. Leonard was a talented actor, director, philanthropist, and a gracious man dedicated to art in many forms. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the legions of Star Trek fans around the world.

More:

A sign from space: Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy (+video)

Sunday's spacewalk is the 187th in the history of the space station, and one of many planned for the coming year to prepare the space station for a new era in human spaceflight

MIAMI, USA Two US astronauts on Sunday, March 1, made speedy work of their third spacewalk to get the International Space Station ready for the arrival of more commercial spacecraft in the coming years.

Tethered to the outside of the orbiting outpost, space station commander Barry Wilmore and flight engineer Terry Virts reported no problems with their spacesuits during the outing, but Virts discovered a small amount of water building up in his helmet after he re-entered the space station.

A similar problem occurred after Wednesday's (February 25) spacewalk, when about three inches of water collected in Virts' headpiece, but NASA said the problem did not put the astronauts in danger.

Still, the US space agency has expressed concern about repeated technical failures in the American spacesuits, all linked to the same cooling system and a 2013 emergency water leak that nearly drowned Italian spacewalker, Luca Parmitano.

This time, Virts described the water as appearing like condensation, and he said there was about the same amount he had seen on the prior spacewalk, when about 15 milliliters was collected.

"Virts's suit, suit number 3005, has a history of what is called sublimator water carryover," said a NASA commentator on the space agency's live broadcast.

"Essentially a small amount of residual water forms in the sublimator cooling component, that condenses once the suit is re-introduced to a repressurized environment after being exposed to vacuum... resulting in a small amount of water pushing into the helmet."

He added it was "not an issue" for the astronauts' safety.

Fast workers

Excerpt from:

US astronauts speed through ISS spacewalk

March 1, 2015

In Soviet Russia, space explores you. (Credit: Thinkstock)

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com @BednarChuck

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has pledged support for the International Space Station (ISS) through 2024, but will look to build its own orbiting base after that time.

According to Discovery News, the announcement came earlier this week and reverses previous claims by Russian officials that the country would withdraw from the 15-nation program when current agreements expired in 2020. Their new four-year commitment puts pressure on officials in Europe, Canada, and Japan to agree to a similar extension, the website added.

A Russian space station

Those decisions are pending, but this weeks announcement also confirms that Roscosmos has plans to set up its own space outpost in the near future. The officials plan to reposition three of its modules, none of which have actually been launched yet, to form the base of a new, Russian-owned and operated facility that will serve as the base for manned missions to the moon.

[STORY: ISS adding more spaceship parking]

Detailed study and the final decisions are planned after the synthesis of reports of heads of rocket and space industry in subsequent meetings, Yuri Koptev, chairman of the Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council said in a statement. There was a general coordinated point of view. [The council] approved the basic concept of the Russian manned space flight until 2025. We will take into account possible changes in funding, and the program will be updated.

On Twitter, former ISS commander and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield called the reports excellent news, especially when read between the rhetoric. He added that the space station was a key global symbol. However, not everyone shared Hadfields enthusiasm about the news.

Read this article:

Russia commits to ISS until 2024; plans to build own station