September 1, 2022 By Amy Thompson, Staff Writer

This piece is part of our ISS360 series highlighting the 2022 International Space Station Research and Development Conference.

The unique conditions on the International Space Station (ISS) allow companies to create products in space that cannot be realized on Earth or that could be superior to their terrestrial counterparts. In a panel session at the 2022 ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC), industry leaders discussed how the orbiting laboratory can provide valuable benefits for in-space production applications such as tissue engineering, advanced materials production and characterization, and therapeutic development.

The past 10 years of the ISS were the decade of utilization, where NASA, its partner agencies, and the ISS National Laboratory were learning how best to use this powerful platform in low Earth orbit. Now, in this next decade, were seeing the benefits of all the experiments that have been carried out onboard.

We are living in an exciting era on the ISS, said Ken Shields, director of business development at Sierra Space, during the panel session. As we begin to transition from government control to commercial, we are starting to see new capabilities that weve never seen before.

Shields says that were on the cusp of something incredibly exciting: the next great industrial revolution, only this time its in space. Through the ISS, companies and research institutions will be able to make advancements in technology, robotics, and even artificial intelligence. In the not-too-distant future, we will see a transition from one space station to multiple, commercially run space stations that will act as mini space factories, manufacturing new products ranging from medicine to new materials and maybe one day organs for transplant.

This is truly an exciting time in space, said John Vellinger, executive vice president of in-space manufacturing & operations at Redwire, during the panel session. Weve worked really hard to get to the point where were working to turn our research into products.

According to Vellinger, Redwire was able to leverage the ISS to create an industrial protein crystal for use in optics and other industries that is superior to the crystals grown on the ground. This is one of the first examples of how the space station can be used to create products for Earth-based industry.

During the panel, Paula Grisanti, CEO of the National Stem Cell Foundation, discussed the value of doing research in space to better understand degenerative brain disorders. Using organoids derived from the donated stem cells of patients with Parkinsons disease, Grisanti and others hope to be able to understand what is happening to the brain.

In space you can actually see the cells talking to each other and interacting in ways that are not possible on Earth, Grisanti said during the panel. We are hoping to be able to identify the point at which that conversation goes south, and you could intervene with a new drug or cell therapy that would halt the progression of these types of degenerative diseases.

A recording of the full panel session is now available. ISSRDC is an annual conference hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS), manager of the ISS National Laboratory; NASA; and the American Astronautical Society (AAS). For more information on research sponsored by the ISS National Lab, visit our website.

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In-Space Production Applications on the ISS - ISS National Lab

Valerie Moore, a senior studying mechanical engineering, holds up the first prototype of her research teams zero-gravity turbulent flow facility, which has been selected as one of a handful of projects to make a journey into space on the International Space Station.

Article by Maddy Lauria Photos courtesy of Tyler Van Buren and NASA | Photo illustration by Joy Smoker September 01, 2022

The International Space Station isnt just for astronauts exploring the great beyond. It also offers an opportunity for scientists of all ages and disciplines to test the limits of their research, if theyre able to propose a project worthy of the 200-plus-mile trek into space.

A small team of researchers from the University of Delawares College of Engineering, largely students, will soon be among the lucky few to send their own ideas to the ISS to further their research on how particles move in turbulence.

Ive always been interested in space, so its really cool to come onto a project that will hopefully be going to the ISS, said lead student researcher Valerie Moore, a senior studying mechanical engineering.

UD is one of five universities selected to receive $100,000 in grant funding through the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) for an experiment to be conducted on the ISS.

Each of these projects has the potential to contribute to critical innovations in human spaceflight on the International Space Station and beyond, NASA EPSCoR Project Manager Jeppie Compton said in a press release. Were very impressed with the ideas put forward in these investigation concepts and look forward to seeing how these technologies perform.

Evan Battaglia, a recent electrical engineering graduate, solders critical motor components and control systems to autonomously drive the von Karman flow facility, named in part for the aerospace engineer Theodore Von Krmn, who used math to study fluid flow.

Since Spring 2022, several undergraduate engineering students, led by Department of Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Tyler Van Buren, spent months designing a device that will fit within a CubeSat that will be sent to the ISS, where it will collect information about how turbulence affects particles in a zero-gravity environment. A cubesat is a small (100-by-100-by-300 millimeters), rectangular compartment that holds experiments like theirs like a suitcase of science headed for space.

Things on Earth that want to sink or rise really fast, in space, theyll stay put, Van Buren said, adding that their experiment will require no intervention or assistance from astronauts. The goal is it would go up, plug in, run un-crewed and wed get status updates.

The datasets theyre hoping to collect with their small zero-gravity turbulent flow facility are impossible to get on Earth, but are necessary to confirm Earth-based simulations exploring turbulence in fluid mechanics.

Think about swimming somewhere shallow, close to the bottom of the waterway, and how the kicks of a flipper or in the case of a fish, fins kick up particles. Researchers would like to know how particle sizes interact or suspend.

This kind of fills that gap where we start to understand how particles impact the fluid flow without worrying about the gravity being involved, Van Buren said.

The rotor for the zero-gravity turbulent flow facility prints on a Prusa 3D printer.

Basically, explained Moore, their device is made of two cubes, each with a cylinder cut out of the center. The ends can spin in opposite directions to create the flow the researchers need, and eventually they will put liquid, bubbles and both heavy and light sediment inside. Theyre utilizing something known in mechanical engineering as the Von Krmn flow, named for the aerospace engineer Theodore Von Krmn, who used math to study fluid flow and eventually helpd found the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. More informally known as the French washing machine, to create the turbulence needed to study how their materials react.

In between the two cubes is a data collection brain, explained Van Buren. The set-up also includes cameras that are used to record the flow.

Because the device houses water albeit purified, deionized water, which is less conductive and safer than regular old H2O mechanisms are needed to ensure the water stays put without human interference. Their hands-off experiment may have given them an advantage in gaining NASAs approval for the idea, but they also have to make sure that it doesnt break when met with the strong G-Forces that come during a rocket launch.

Joining the project team as a junior allowed Moore to learn such complex concepts that she hadnt even encountered in her studies yet.

Recent mechanical engineering graduate Hannah Wiswell works on the zero-gravity turbulent flow facilitys fluid subsystem with a custom designed magnetic torque transmission.

I didnt take fluids yet, so it was really cool to go into class and already know what theyre talking about, she said. Van Buren said the project wouldnt exist without Moores work.

While Moore handles the fluid mechanics side of their work, honors electrical engineering student Evan Battaglia, who graduated in spring 2022 and is headed to Columbia University for graduate studies this fall, helped drive the programming. For the small facility to work, it needs a control system for the moving parts, for when researchers need motors to spin on lights to turn on. That will be controlled by Arduino technology. Then theres the brain on the system, which is a Raspberry Pi miniaturized computer-on-a-chip (and definitely not the dessert) that allows the researchers to collect data and categorize it as needed.

These electronic devices, each with their own particular features and capabilities, will be the part of the experiment that handles instructions from operators, collects data and runs the cameras during the six months the device is in space. During that time, Van Buren said they will likely collect more than 10 terabytes of data. Theyre working with NASA to determine how theyll retrieve the data either through transmission from space or by having a small component, such as the hard drive, sent back to Earth once the mission is completed.

In summer 2022, Van Buren and recent honors mechanical engineering graduate Hannah Wiswell were the only members of the team actively working. Over the summer, Wiswell who dreams of becoming an astronaut herself worked on all of the subsystems of the device, from the motors that drive the rotating flow to image processing to the particles themselves.

Im more of an interim editor, swooping in to help, she said, noting that she didnt know shed be working on a project at UD that will someday soon go to space. Its crazy that you could be doing something so small that could have such a giant impact. Im incredibly happy to be here.

When Wiswell leaves for Princeton to pursue a doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering in the fall, Moore and a new team of students will step back in to take over the final year of designing the device.

As the school year gets underway, another small group of senior engineering students will be handling the thermal management, including 3-D printing the frame for their device out of flame-resistant material for their senior capstone project. Meanwhile, the team is planning an outreach effort with the Early Learning Center in Newark, where young children could learn the basics of fluid dynamics (more simply, flow, mixing and what a liquid is) and possibly even contribute a small note to be sent into space along with the experiment.

If all goes well, the device should be in working condition by the end of Summer 2023. Then it has to go through NASAs safety testing before it can be approved for space travel. It will likely take at least another year (or more) until their device is approved to exit Earths atmosphere.

Once its ready, then you get in line for a flight, Van Buren said. We could learn a lot about a very difficult problem, and this project can also just help bring eyes to fluid mechanics in general.

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Experiments in space | UDaily - UDaily

The seven members of the Expedition 67 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had yet another action-packed month in August 2022. From spacewalks to research to cargo vehicle departures, the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory and mission teams back on Earth stayed busy.

Expeditions are long-duration, research-based astronaut missions aboard the ISS. Each Expedition lasts around six months, typically beginning and ending with Russian crew rotations. Expedition 67 began in March upon the departure of the Soyuz MS-19 crew and is planned to continue until the Soyuz MS-21 crew departs the station in September. The seven international crew members of Expedition 67 come from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Roscosmos.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov arrived at the ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft in March, with Artemyev assuming command of the ISS and Expedition 67 in May when Thomas Marshburn returned to Earth with the SpaceX Crew-3 mission. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti arrived at the ISS in April aboard Crew Dragon Freedomas part of the SpaceX Crew-4 mission.

The crew kicked off August by performing health tests, preparing experiments, and transferring cargo. On August 1, Watkins and Hines worked to adjust the plant growth chamber aboard the ISS, which monitors vegetables grown in microgravity aboard the ISS. Meanwhile, Lindgren retrieved cargo items and took images with them for outreach purposes.

Cristoforetti collected air samples for the ANITA-2 (Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air-2) device and was later joined by Lindgren to prepare the Rodent Research-22 experiment. Cristoforetti and the other NASA astronauts also completed remotely-guided eye exams. The three Roscosmos astronauts exercised using the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED), VELO ergometer bike, and Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS) devices.

The Expedition 67 crew. (Credit: NASA)

The experiment preparations and science sample collections continued on August 2, with Hines setting up and photographing the Genes in Space-9 experiment and Watkins collecting samples of carbon dioxide from the Thermal Amine Scrubber.

Cristoforetti also joined in on the science fun as she prepared the Biofilms-2 experiment, which characterizes the mass, thickness, structure, and associated gene expression of biofilms that are formed in space by analyzing fungal species that are grown on different materials. Lindgren changed the media inside the Life Sciences Glovebox for specific samples. ISS commander Artemyev tested a 3D printer while Korsakov and Matveev took microbial samples from various areas aboard the ISS.

On August 3, Lindgren worked to set up the free-flying Astrobee robots for a student robot competition. Hines continued his work with the Genes in Space-9 study by preparing and photographing sample returns from the experiment, which aims to evaluate how cell-free technology could be used in microgravity environments. Watkins also continued to purge and take samples of carbon dioxide from the ISS using the Thermal Amine Scrubber.

Cristoforetti spent the day talking with students before transferring cargo from the SpaceX CRS-25 Cargo Dragon vehicle with Watkins. Roscosmos Artemyev and Matveev located, photographed, and stored equipment and tools. Meanwhile, Korsakov performed regular station maintenance.

August 4 saw the Expedition 67 crew perform installations and inspections, as well as complete training exercises. Watkins prepared a drain for an installed recycling tank for the stations Environmental Control and Life Support System and made configurations for the Plant Habitat Facility. Hines worked with the Cerebral Autoregulation investigation, which assesses how the human brain regulates blood flow in microgravity environments.

Lindgren performed a photo survey of fasteners on the ISSs airlock close-out panel and later worked to reconnect parts and inspect a leak for the Solid Combustion Experiment Module.

Cristoforetti focused on the Ring Sheared Drop investigation, installing a sample into the hardware being used for the experiment. Artemyev and Matveev staged spacewalk equipment and tools while Korsakov photographed microbial samples.

At the end of the day on August 4, the entire Expedition 67 crew gathered together to train on how to respond to an emergency aboard the ISS. The crew used a simulator to practice communication skills, execute procedures, and make smart decisions in the event of an emergency.

Bob Hines works on the Genes in Space-9 experiment. (Credit: NASA)

The crew wrapped up their first week of August on August 5, with Hines scrubbing cooling loops and reconfiguring loop scrub hardware for EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) spacesuits. Lindgren and Cristoforetti removed and stored sample carries for various experiments. Lindgren later joined Watkins and continued packing the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon in preparation for its undocking. The three Roscosmos cosmonauts mainly performed and completed basic maintenance on the Russian segment of the ISS.

After taking the weekend to rest, the Expedition 67 crew got back to work on Monday, August 8. Hines and Cristoforetti cleaned hardware and samples for the Rodent Research-22 experiment, which aims to explore the ways skin heals in space. Hines later installed seed cartridges and root modules in the XROOTS space agriculture study. Lindgren opened the airlock in the Japanese Kibo laboratory module and installed small-satellite deployer hardware on an external science platform, which will release small satellites once deployed outside of Kibo.

Watkins connected cables in the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), a research rack, and assisted Lindgren with installing a barrier on the Quest Airlocks vent relief and isolation valve. Cosmonauts Artemyev and Matveev serviced a pair of Russian Orlan spacesuits while Korsakov performed maintenance and inspections in the Nauka and Zvezda modules.

August 9 would see Lindgren and Hines work with a slew of experiments studying the benefits of humans living both on and off Earth, with Lindgren investigating how our immune systems age in microgravity and Hines working to swap carbon dioxide bottles and filters inside the ISSs Plant Habitat facility. Watkins and Cristoforetti worked together to swap cargo inside the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon. After transferring cargo, Watkins processed samples for the Rodent Research-22 study while Cristoforetti tested a vest designed to transmit health data wirelessly. Commander Artemyev and Matveev continued maintenance on the Russian Orlan spacesuits. Korsakov, meanwhile, continued to work on ventilation in Nauka and Zvezda and later imaged microbe samples.

On August 10, Watkins investigated how the human immune system ages in space by looking at tissue stem cells through a microscope in the ISSs Destiny module and would later move to the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon to continue readying the spacecraft for its departure and return to Earth later in the month. Lindgren installed a full small satellite deployer instrument onto an external science platform inside the Kibo modules airlock, where it was later moved into space for deployments.

Cristoforetti studied the dynamics of several materials in microgravity specifically foams, droplets, and granular materials and what implications they present for future planetary travel. Hines transferred U.S. EVA equipment to the stations Russian segment and later serviced hardware for the Ring Sheared Drop experiment. Artemyev and Matveev installed the U.S. EVA equipment onto the Russian Orlan suits while Korsakov concentrated on network cable connections in Nauka and Zvezda.

Jessica Watkins prepares cell samples for viewing under a microscope. (Credit: NASA)

Preparations for an upcoming spacewalk continued on August 11 as Artemyev and Matveev continued to service the Russian Orlan spacesuits and prepare necessary tools and the Poisk module airlock for their journey outside the ISS. Korsakov, who will assist his fellow cosmonauts during the spacewalk from inside the ISS, configured the European robotic arm (ERA) the new robotic arm that will be used to move payloads and equipment outside the Russian segment of the ISS. Meanwhile, Lindgren prepared hardware in the Life Science Glovebox for the Rodent Research-22 study, Hines inspected seeds and fluids in the XROOTS experiment, Watkins worked on orbital plumbing in the Unity module, and Cristoforetti serviced research gear and swapped components on a microscope. Additionally, Hines and Watkins drew blood samples while Cristoforetti continued departure preparations for the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon.

As the second week of August drew to a close, the Expedition 67 crew continued tending to experiments and preparing for spacewalks and spacecraft departures. Friday would see the four Crew-4 astronauts gather together to practice surgical techniques to heal wounds in microgravity. Following this, the four astronauts worked to gather and transfer frozen science samples from science freezers to the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon spacecraft. Whats more, Watkins and Cristoforetti collected blood samples to store in a freezer, Lindgren investigated the usefulness of the Butterfly IQ Ultrasound device, and Hines completed orbital plumbing tasks and spacewalk gear inspections. Roscosmos Artemyev and Matveev tried on their spacesuits, checked for leaks, tested equipment, and practiced movements. Korsakov assisted his Russian crewmates during their EVA preparations and dry run.

Following a weekend break, mission managers met and gave the go for Artemyev and Matveev to exit the ISS to configure the ERA, which will operate outside the Russian segment of the ISS. On August 15, Russian cosmonauts Artemyev, Matveev, and Korsakov continued to prepare for the spacewalk, with Korsakov managing to fit in some ventilation maintenance work in Nauka and research on exercise techniques that will help astronauts maintain physical fitness in microgravity.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. segment of the ISS, Watkins and Cristoforetti continued to pack the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon with station gear and experiments planned to return to Earth with the spacecraft. Lindgren and Hines worked with experiments that focus on improving human health in space and on Earth, with Lindgren preparing tissue stem cell samples in the Life Science Glovebox and Hines working with the Rodent Research-22 study.

Lindgren processes samples in the Life Science Glovebox. (Credit: NASA)

August 16 would see mission managers give the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon the go to depart the ISS later in the week. Lindgren and Watkins kicked the day off by working with experiments in the Life Science Glovebox in the Japanese Kibo module, with Hines and Cristoforetti taking their place later in the day. Whats more, all four Expedition 67 astronauts would take turns investigating how microgravity environments and spaceflight conditions (weightlessness, radiation, etc.) affect the genetic expressions that drive the human bodys healing process. The experiment, the Rodent Research-22 study, was later packed up and placed inside the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon the following day to return to Earth. As the astronauts were tending to experiments, the Russian cosmonauts continued to prepare for their upcoming spacewalk, the seventh of the year, by finalizing task lists and spacesuit checks.

Commander Artemyev and Matveev officially exited the ISS at 13:53 UTC the following day on August 17, beginning the planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk to continue the configuration of the ERA robotic arm. The goals of the EVA were to install cameras on the ERA, relocate an external control panel for the arm, remove launch restraints, and test a mechanism that will be used to facilitate the grasping of objects.

However, approximately four hours into the spacewalk, Roscosmos Mission Control in Moscow, Russia instructed Artemyev and Matveev to return to the Poisk airlock due to Artemyevs spacesuit showing abnormal battery reading ending the spacewalk early. Before being instructed to return to the ISS early, the cosmonauts were able to install the two cameras onto the ERA. Fortunately, the Russian duo was never in any danger during the excursion, and the ERA was placed into a safe configuration by Korsakov inside the ISS.

Furthermore, the departure of the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon spacecraft, at the time scheduled for August 18, was delayed by a day due to unfavorable weather conditions at splashdown sites off the coast of the United States. With the delay in the departure of Cargo Dragon, the four Expedition 67 astronauts continued to pack the vehicle with research samples and other science experiments until the hatch was closed Friday morning. Additionally, on August 18, the three Russian cosmonauts continued working through post-EVA tasks, such as removing components and tools from the Russian Orlan spacesuit.

Artemyev and Matveev work outside the ISS in April. (Credit: NASA)

At 15:00 UTC on August 19, flight controllers sent commands to the ISS and the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon to release the spacecraft from the forward-facing docking port of the stations Harmony module. Cargo Dragon was released from the ISS at 15:05 UTC, packed with more than 4,000 pounds of science samples, station equipment, and other materials. The following day, Saturday, August 20, the CRS-25 Cargo Dragon successfully splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral, Florida at 18:53 UTC.

After taking a well-deserved break from spacewalks and spacecraft departures, the Expedition 67 crew jumped back into doing their daily tasks on August 22. The four Expedition 67 astronauts (Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti) spent the majority of the day practicing surgical techniques for how to heal wounds in microgravity providing advanced skin healing therapies that can be used both in space and on Earth.

Afterward, Lindgren and Cristoforetti worked to set up an AstroPi science computer in the Harmony module, which will allow European students to take imagery of the Earth. Watkins also helped Lindgren and Cristoforetti by recording videos of the AstroPi activities. Hines performed a routine checkup on the XROOTS botany experiment by checking on the plants being grown and checking fluid levels in the hardware.

Cosmonauts Artemyev and Matveev continued with their post-EVA duties before researching how weightlessness affects blood circulation throughout the body. Korsakov participated in the cardiac research as well, and would later join forces with Artemyev to study how to pilot spacecraft and robots on future space missions.

Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti would get together again the following day, Tuesday, August 23, in the Japanese Kibo module to continue their study into surgical techniques that can be used to heal wounds in space. Following the completion of the medical research on Tuesday, Lindgren reviewed procedures for a night photography session using the newly-installed AstroPi computer in the Harmony module, which aims to inspire and guide European students toward science, technology, engineering, and math careers.

Commander Artemyev worked on several experiments on Tuesday, investigating space exercise methods, photography using ultrasound sensors, and the human digestive system in space. Matveev performed maintenance on power systems in the Russian Zarya module and checked radiation detectors. Korsakov analyzed urine samples and collected air samples from the Russian Zvezda, Poisk, and Nauka modules.

The surgical techniques studied continued on August 24, with Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforettie learning how to perform biopsies, suture splints, and wound dressings, all inside of the Life Science Glovebox in the ISSs Kibo module. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that occur during tissue regeneration in a microgravity environment can offer advanced therapies and insights into how advanced skin aging in space affects an astronauts healing capabilities.

Whats more, NASAs three Expedition 67 astronauts Lindgren, Hines, and Watkins practiced robotically capturing a spacecraft via a simulation for the Behavioral Core Measures study, which aims to understand how astronauts will perform in stressful situations, such as capturing a spacecraft from orbit. Roscosmos cosmonauts Artemyev and Matveev investigated how microgravity affects the digestive system of humans by taking ultrasound scans of their digestive systems. Korsakov spent Wednesday tinkering with the ERA arm, which is attached to the Russian Nauka module.

Cristoforetti swaps research samples inside the Soft Matter Dynamics experiment. (Credit: NASA)

Furthermore, the ISS received an orbital boost on Wednesday night from the Russian Progress 81 cargo spacecraft, which is docked at the Zvezda modules aft port. This orbital boost was conducted in preparation for upcoming crew and cargo spacecraft that are expected to visit the ISS in September.

On August 25, Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti continued their medical research on how skin heals in microgravity in the Life Science Glovebox in the Japanese Kibo module. Meanwhile, station commander Artemyev and flight engineer Matveev continued to research how zero-gravity environments, like space, affect the human digestive system by performing ultrasound scans of their digestive system. Their Russian colleague, Korsakov, participated in an ear, nose, and throat study, later moving to learn how to communicate with international crews and ground controllers better.

The week drew to a close on August 26, and much of the same research and everyday tasks the Expedition 67 crew had worked on all week were done on Friday. Flight engineers Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti continued their medical research on how wounds heal in microgravity environments. As it had been done all week, the medical research was performed in the Life Science Glovebox in the stations Japanese Kibo module. Cosmonauts Artemyev, Matveev, and Korsakov began reviewing procedures for another spacewalk that would continue their work on configuring and setting up the new ERA robotic arm on the Russian segment of the station.

The Expedition 67 crew kicked off the final week of the month on August 29 with research and spacewalk preps. Lindgren and Hines started the day by collecting muscle measurements in the stations European Columbus module to understand how weightlessness affects muscle tone, body stiffness, and body elasticity, allowing doctors to develop more effective space fitness strategies. After completing their measurements in Columbus, Lindgren collected and stored urine samples while Hines moved over to the Kibo module and joined Watkins and Cristoforetti in continuing to research how wounds heal in space. Artemyev and Matveev continued to prepare their Orlan spacesuits and equipment for a spacewalk while Korsakov performed maintenance in Nauka.

Bob Hines replaces a carbon dioxide bottle inside the Plant Habitat Facility. (Credit: NASA)

NASAs three flight engineers, Lindgren, Hines, and Watkins, took turns scanning one anothers veins in their necks, shoulders, and legs in the Columbus module on Tuesday, August 30. After collecting the ultrasound imagery, Lindgren gathered his blood samples and spun them in a centrifuge for the Phospho-aging study, which aims to understand accelerated bone loss and muscle atrophy caused by space.

Cristoforetti drew her blood samples before swapping samples inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace high-temperature research facility. Additionally, Cristoforetti and Watkins serviced a U.S. spacesuit in the Quest airlock before cleaning cooling loops. Hines charged and updated computer devices around the station on Friday while Artemyev and Matveev inspected and activated their Orlan EVA spacesuits. Korsakov maintained electronic systems and other life support hardware in the Russian segment of the ISS.

The final day of August saw the crew continue to conduct research and preparations for future station events. Lindgren and Watkins, with assistance from Hines and Cristoforetti, continued researching how wounds heal in microgravity environments in the Japanese Kibo module. When not assisting Lindgren or Watkins, Hines worked in the European Columbus module on the XROOTS botany study by mixing nutrient solutions and recirculating fluids to the plants and vegetables in the experiment. Cristoforetti performed station maintenance by completing light plumbing tasks and checking fire extinguishers around the ISS. Cosmonauts Artemyev and Matveev continued to prepare and study for their spacewalk while Korsakov maintained laptop computers and other systems in the Russian segment of the ISS.

Assuming all goes to plan, August should have been the final month of the Expedition 67 mission. Both Crew-4 and Soyuz MS-21 crews are expected to depart the station following the arrival of the Crew-5 and Soyuz MS-22 crews in mid-September.

(Lead image: the International Space Station in November 2021. Credit: ESA/NASA/Thomas Pesquet)

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Research, spacewalks, and maintenance: Expedition 67's final month aboard the ISS - NASASpaceFlight.com - NASASpaceflight.com

Scanning electron micrograph of cultured human neuron from induced pluripotent stem cell. Photo via Mark Ellisman and Thomas Deerinck, National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, UC San Diego

UC San Diego will use the largest single gift in its history to fund an institute tasked with expanding stem cell research and regenerative medicine, it was announced Tuesday.

The $150 million gift from businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford follows up on his $100 million gift in 2013, which established UCSD as a leader in developing and delivering the therapeutic promise of human stem cells.

The special cells have the ability to develop into many different cell types which, when modified and repurposed, have the potential to treat, remedy or cure a vast array of conditions and diseases.

Dennys previous generosity spurred discoveries in stem cell research and medicine at UC San Diego that are already benefiting countless patients around the world, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said. His most recent gift adds to our portfolio of stem cell research conducted in Earths orbit that will help us better understand the progression of cancer cells and aging.

New programs to be established at the UCSD Sanford Stem Cell Institute aboard the International Space Station include:

We are thrilled to announce the establishment of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute with Denny Sanfords generous support, said Dr. Catriona Jamieson, who will direct the institute. This will allow us to keep pace with the growing need for regenerative and stem-cell based therapies and accelerate translational stem cell research and discoveries that will transform human health for years to come.

According to the university, exposure to radiation and microgravity in low-Earth orbit can simulate and speed up aging in stem cells, as well as their transformation into cancer cells. Space-related research may have applications that create better treatments for various cancers and diseases on Earth, including blood cancers, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

This investment enables the team to dream beyond what is possible, Sanford said. The sky is no longer the limit.

In addition to his investment to create the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UCSD Health in 2013, Sanfords gifts established the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion in 2019, which focuses on research into the neurological basis of compassion, with application toward developing compassion and empathy-focused training for future generations of medical professionals, the university said.

He also recently made a $5 million gift to support the Epstein Family Alzheimers Research Collaboration, a partnership between UCSD and the University of Southern California to spark collaborative efforts to discover effective therapies for Alzheimers disease.

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Largest Gift in UCSD History to Fund Stem Cell Research on Space Station - Times of San Diego

"This is Sierra 21 Romeo Charlie, from Bangladesh. Do you copy? Over."

"I copy Bangladesh. This is the International Space Station, this is Yury."

This is part of a short conversation between a Bangladeshi youth Fazlay Rabby and Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov. This communication took place in 2009 between the two over a VHF (very high frequency) radio while the cosmonaut was circling the planet Earth at a speed of 27,000 km/hour onboard the International Space Station (ISS), and Fazlay Rabby was in his residence at Bhuter Goli in Dhaka.

Isn't it exciting?

Most of the astronauts (US trained) and cosmonauts (Russian trained) aboard the ISS have amateur radio licences, and they use the station's ham radio to contact amateur radio stations on ground in their free time.

Fazlay Rabby, who is also an amateur radio operator, has been pursuing this hobby for more than two decades now.

Amateur radio, or ham radio, is the use of two-way radio equipment for various purposes such as private recreation, non-commercial communication, wireless experimentation and emergency communication.

In an interview with The Business Standard, Rabby shared his story, described how this century-old hobby survived in the age of internet and mobile phones, and how someone new can start practising it.

"Since my childhood, making electronics has been one of my hobbies. In 1997, in a scout camp in Sylhet, I first saw an amateur radio station, and I was fascinated. While I often dreamt of making a wireless transmitter and communicating with friends like Kishore, Musa and Robin [from Tin Goyenda] did, those guys with amateur radios were talking to the world with their own personal wireless sets," reminisced Rabby.

"In 1997, I came to Dhaka for higher studies and later in 1999 I found that the same person, Manju Haque (call sign S21AM), who was operating that station in Sylhet almost two years back. He mentored me in his lab at Lalmatia. I sat for an exam in 2000 and got my ham radio licence the same year. At that time, the former BTTB (Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board) was the authority issuing licence from their Tejgaon office," Rabby added.

The hobby

There are multiple branches of ham radio that the hobbyists can pursue: some only converse with others for longer time (called 'rag chewing' in ham radio parlance), some focus on trying to communicate with another ham radio operator who is in distant places around the world (called Dxing), some pursue new technical challenges like making Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite and launch it with the help of universities and space agencies like NASA and ESA. And there are even some who use the moon as a reflector to bounce their signal to be received by another operator sitting on the other side of the world.

"There are some other popular and internationally recognised activities such as Dx-expedition, Islands On The Air (IOTA) etc. In the latter case, solo operators or groups of operators set up amateur radio stations in a remote island. In Bangladesh, I did IOTA from St Martin's Island (2009), Char Kukri (2021) and am planning to do it in Dhal Char this year," said Rabby.

"When you start radio transmission from such a place, millions of operators from around the world will try to talk to you at least once. Because it is a 'rare' station," Rabby added.

There are specific rules, and often prior permissions are required for these activities. There are awards for those as well. New amateur radio enthusiasts need to apply to BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) for a Licence. BTRC takes Amateur Radio exams every few years and issues licences.

"After passing the exam, one will get an internationally recognised unique call sign. Once you have the licence to operate radio equipment in amateur bands (frequencies), you can either buy a commercially made radio equipment as per your choice or start building one if you have that expertise. Both require prior permission from BTRC," explained Rabby, shedding light on the path to becoming a ham radio operator.

Rabby's radio world

Apart from communicating with the help of radios, Rabby is into building his own radio equipment as well. As he planned to contact the ISS back in 2009, he spent many days buying suitable wires and PVC pipes from the Hatirpool hardware market to make a suitable antenna. Once he sent the log file, ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) sent him the acknowledgement certificate which is called a QSL card.

Rabby also has some other remarkable achievements so far.

"My hobby gained momentum during the Covid pandemic as I had much time staying at home. By this time we have our own geostationary satellite transponder [Es'hail 2 Sat, Launched by Qatar]. I started making my own SDR [Software Defined Radio] radio and antenna system to communicate with the QO-100 [Qatar Oscar 100]," said Rabby, adding, "it took me almost a year to finally speak with other ham operators via that satellite. It was like a hurricane when they first heard my callsign, S21RC.

They [European stations] were very astonished to find that someone from Bangladesh [a Rare DX station to them, number 28 in worldwide most wanted list] managed to make his own station and accessed the satellite with crystal clear signal."

For building the system, most of the parts were procured from Daraz and the antenna came from DTH TV system (Akash).

Some of his circuit designs and codes have become popular among the international community, often called S21RC design.

A dying art?

When asked how this century-old hobby is faring in the age of internet and mobile phones, Rabby said, "there is a popular way to answer this: 'Not your grandfather's ham radio.' When the contemporary world is working with 2 to 5 GHz for the latest 5G mobile amateur radio operators started using 247 GHz frequency decades ago."

However, Rabby added that in real life the hobby is declining worldwide.

"The younger generation do not find it as exciting as we did in our time. Most of the hobbyists are old timers. But still there are some perks remaining: many universities often built Low Earth Orbit Satellites; getting an OSCAR (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) designation is a pride for them. It also helps them as they can use the internationally allotted amateur radio frequencies, often get free slots for launch vehicles with NASA, get free millions of earth stations for monitoring the telemetry etc, and of course the most precious orbital slots as well," Rabby explained.

In this part of the world, China and Japan have their own LEO OSCAR launched multiple times in the past. From Bangladesh, the LEO satellite launched by Brac University was not an OSCAR, Rabby informed.

Another motivation is the pride one takes to be able to deploy a small radio station quickly and establish communication with the world without internet or mobile phone infrastructure in case of disasters. Radio is still the most reliable medium in such times, which is why humanitarian organisations and law enforcement agencies still use two-way radio devices called wireless sets, said Rabby, who works for an international humanitarian organisation as an ICT Officer.

"If one really wants to understand telecommunication practically from scratch, tries to make a radio transmitter which can transmit thousands of kilometres, getting a licence for amateur radio is his/her ticket to this fun world," said the hobbyist.

"It's a purely technical hobby and a gateway to telecommunication. I feel bad that none of our universities, even Buet, has amateur radio clubs. In other countries like Japan, the US, and many European countries, schools and universities have their own club stations. It should be mentionable that apart from educational institutes, organisations such as NASA, UN, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) all have their own amateur radio club stations," said Rabby.

There are two registered amateur radio clubs in Bangladesh: Bangladesh Amateur Radio League (BARL) and Amateur Radio Society of Bangladesh (ARSB) who can help anyone looking forward to starting this hobby.

However, although BTRC is supposed to take licence exams regularly, the last one was held in 2018.

"They should organise exams more often. As this hobby creates technically advanced human resources, one day it might prove helpful for the country," the ham concluded.

Read more here:

Bhuter Goli to International Space Station: Fazlay Rabby's exciting radio world - The Business Standard

By now, the spaceship should have been on its way to the moon. By now, NASA had hoped, the gumdrop-shaped capsuledesigned to carry astronauts somedaywould be sending all kinds of data back home, showing engineers how its first journey to space was going.

But the capsule is still here, sitting atop a giant rocket that has so far refused to leave Earth. NASA spent weeks hyping up the inaugural flight of the Space Launch System, the rocket at the center of Americas ambitious effort to land astronauts on the moon again in this decade. Celebrity appearances and musical performances were lined up. There were enough Krispy Kreme doughnuts at the Kennedy Space Center to feed the whole state of Florida. Even the vice president flew in. And yet, the rocket has stayed put.

Plenty of natural factors can lead to a launch delay: nearby lightning, hovering cumulus clouds, the rotation of the planet itself. But in the case of the Space Launch System, the problems were with the rocket. NASA postponed its first attempt, at the end of August, after a sensor indicated an issue with one of the main engines. The agency called off its second attempt this weekend after the liquid-hydrogen tank sprouted a leak too big for engineers to contain. NASA will have a chance to make a third attempt in late September or October, after engineers have pulled the rocket off the launchpad and back indoors to inspect the system and reset its batteries. Were not going to launch until its right, Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, told reporters this weekend. The moon will have to wait a bit longer.

Folks in the rocket business werent surprised that the Space Launch System didnt take off on its first, or even second, attempt. Delays happen, and so do leaks; the Space Launch System is a new vehicle made partially out of old, familiar parts from NASAs now-retired fleet of space shuttles, which experienced their own frustrating share of escaping hydrogen. But two scrapped attempts in one week is a disappointing setback for the countrys new moon program, named Artemis (for Apollos sister in Greek mythology).

Read: America is trying to make the moon happen again

The rocket program is already years behind schedule and many taxpayers dollars over budget. NASA no longer faces a geopolitical space race, but it does have to contend with competition at home from private rocket manufacturers that have vowed to fly more often and at a lower cost than the government. A series of delays could bolster the argument that maybe NASA, the only organization to ever put human beings on the lunar surface, shouldnt be in the business of launching moon rockets at all. The successful operation of the Space Launch System is as much about going back to the moon as it is about demonstrating that NASAs approach is worth it.

The first Artemis mission involves the Space Launch System lofting the astronaut capsule, called Orion, on a weeks-long trek around the moon and back. Its a technical demonstration, a test of countless parts and components to make sure the vehicle is safe for people. If Orion performs as designed, survives the blazing reentry through Earths atmosphere, and ends up back in the hands of engineers, NASA will move on to the next stage of the program: another test-drive around the moon, this time with a crew of four astronauts. If that goes well, the next mission will culminate in a landing on the surface.

Humankind has done this kind of thing before. From 1969 to 1972, NASA put men on the moon six times, using technology with less computing power than the little devices that manage our 21st-century lives. The astronauts descended to the surface and explored, ate, and slept while the rest of humanity chugged along nearly 240,000 miles away. This time, NASA wants to do things a little differently. The next crew to set foot on the dusty regolith, for example, will not be solely composed of white men; NASA has promised that the group will include the first woman and the first person of color on the moon. And the landings are meant to bring about a sustained presence on the moon, a future with habitats and rovers on the surface and a small space station circling overhead.

At the Kennedy Space Center, along the countrys Space Coast, people were buzzing with anticipation in the days before both Artemis 1 attempts. Astronauts dressed in blue jumpsuits milled around, sneaking glances at the rocket that could someday be their ride. When I asked Victor Glover, a NASA astronaut who might very well be part of the first crew to land, which Artemis trip hed want to take, he said, I don't know, but if they want me on a mission, Ill be ready when my time comes.

Read: Why is NASAs hold music so catchy?

A rocket built for the moon hasnt flown since 1972. After the crew of Apollo 17 returned, the American space program, subject to political whims and budget fluctuations, turned closer to home. NASA built space shuttles, and astronauts rode them into orbit and helped assemble the International Space Station. The development of the Space Launch System got under way in 2010, and, fueled by bipartisan support and liquid hydrogen, the effort managed to survive several presidential administrations and reach the launchpad this year, bringing the country closer to a moon return than it has been in recent memory.

All that history, though, might be slowing NASA down. The Space Launch System design relies on hardware that was used in NASAs shuttles, which were retired in 2011 after 30 years of operations. The rockets fuel includes liquid hydrogen, which, although more efficient, is also more prone to leaks than the methane that other rocket manufacturers have begun to use. And after every launch, NASAs rocket must ditch some very expensive hardware into the ocean, with no hope of reusing any of itsomething that commercial companies have demonstrated they can do.

One of those commercial companies, SpaceX, is developing its own moon rocket, known as Starship. A decade ago, the public might have scoffed at the idea of Elon Musks rowdy start-up doing anything very historic. But today, SpaceX is NASAs only ride to the International Space Station, and the agency has signed with the company to launch several of its upcoming missions, including a new space telescope and a probe to study one of Jupiters icy moons. Not only that, NASA has also hired SpaceX to produce the lander that future Artemis astronauts will use to ride down to the moons surface, plus the spacecraft that will help nudge it toward lunar orbit. In a future where SpaceX technology could do all that, the government rocket might seem almost superfluous. Of course, like NASAs rocket, Starship will likely face its own issues. But if a Starship explodes, Congress isnt going to haul in SpaceX officials and demand a formal explanation. The private company can keep going in a way that a federal space agency can't.

Read: Someone show NASA a calendar

NASA has set some very ambitious timelines for the Artemis program, and each one should be taken with a grain of moon dustespecially the working target for the first landing, in 2025. The landing technology from SpaceX is still in the works. The spacesuits have yet to be completed. Even the toilet that will eventually be installed in the Orion capsuledont laugh; its a crucial piece of technology!is still being tested on the International Space Station, and according to a NASA engineering manager, its running into some problems. NASA budgets havent begun to account for the habitats and rovers that astronauts would use after theyve perfected landing on the surface. America could certainly put astronauts on the moon before this decade is out, but were a long way from lunar glamping.

This early in the Artemis story, high-profile delays raise all sorts of questions that NASA would rather not answer, ranging from Whats taking so long to get back there? to Why are we even going at all? The American space program has always received mixed reviews. NASA doesnt talk about it now, but many Americans didnt support the Apollo program, which unfolded during the late 1960sa chaotic and painful era in the countrys history. The United States had enough work to do here on this planet without pouring money into leaving it, people argued. Mark Kirasich, the NASA deputy associate administrator in charge of outlining the Artemis program, was 9 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, and he remembers thinking that, after a feat like that, people would soon travel even deeper into space. In fact, NASA officials envisioned that, after the moon feat, astronauts could reach Mars by the early 1980s. When you looked at my coloring book, it had all kinds of space vehicles going all over the universe, Kirasich told me.

This time around, NASAs budget is much smaller, and the agency is selling the public on several reasons for going back to the moon: scientific exploration, economic opportunities, inspiring a new generation. At the Kennedy Space Center, the wrapper of a special launch treatan Artemis-branded chocolate-covered, marshmallow-topped biscuitdeclared that the launch was for the benefit of all humanity. The unofficial slogan for Artemis 1We are goingis, in a way, perfect. It offers no immediate explanation; it is free of justification.

Whatever the rationale, a triumphant return to the moon can only begin in one place: on the launchpad, with a successful liftoff of a rocket. NASA must now wait for technicians to complete various repairs, including replacing a seal that would prevent liquid hydrogen from flitting out. Hydrogen is the smallest molecule in the universe, which makes it difficult to contain, even with the best materials on the market, Jim Free, NASAs associate administrator for exploration-systems development, told me this weekend. Free joined NASA in 1990, when the agency spent months trying to find the source of a hydrogen leak in one of the space shuttles. They couldnt get off the ground without resolving it. When I asked Free whether he thinks that the Space Launch System could face its own frustrating seasonthat a tiny molecule could stall the nations attempt to reach the moon this yearhe gave a nervous laugh. I hope not, he said.

See the original post:

Americas Moon Dreams Are on Hold - The Atlantic

The European Space Agency (ESA) is celebrating another milestone for the European Robotic Arm (ERA), which "effortlessly" completed a test on the International Space Station last week.

The 11-metre arm completed its first transfer following commands from cosmonauts inside the space station as teams from Russia and the Netherlands watched on from Earth.

Cosmonauts roused the robotic arm from hibernation, stretched it out and moved a payload about the size of a small suitcase from one side of the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module to the other and back again.

After this, the ERAwent back into hibernation.

It might sound minor, but the whole operationtook aboutsix hours.

The ESA called it "one small step for robot" but spoke of its significance.

"The test proved what the European Robotic Arm was built for: to move and latch payloads and equipment outside the Russian segment of the Space Station with an accuracy of 5 mm, saving time and work for the crew," the agency said in a statement.

It said the arm completed the task "effortlessly".

The test was carried out on August 26 ahead of a spacewalk scheduled for later on Friday.

Roscosmos astronauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev will step out of the station to keep working on the robotic arm after last month's spacewalk was cut short when one of their spacesuits had battery power problems.

"Oleg and Denis will relocate the arms external control panel, remove some restraints near the two end effectors or 'hands' of the arm, and test a rigidising mechanism that will facilitate the grasping of payloads," the ESA said.

The arm will be testedagain later this month in a performance mission that the ESA said would "push the arm'scapabilities to the limit".

Space engineers will evaluate the arm's brakes, motions and force control.

The ESA will also be scrutinising the quality of images captured by the cameras on thearm's "elbow", to work out if they're good enough to guide operations during the orbital night.

Launched in 2021, the ERA is the International Space Station's newest robotic arm.

TheCanadian and Japanese robotic arms were already functional, but were unable to reach the Russian segment of the station.

Forming a V shape, the ERA has one elbow joint and two limbs, with both ends of those limbs acting like a hand and a foot as it is able to effectively "walk"around the Russian segment.

Itshome base is theMultipurpose Laboratory Module but it was designed to anchor to the station at multiple points.

It can handle payloads of up to 8 tonnes, can withstand temperatures from between -150 and 120 degrees Celsius and has the capacity to transport spacewalkers around the outside of the stationlike acherrypicker crane.

Read the rest here:

Robotic space arm successfully completes test by moving a suitcase-sized object around the International Space Station - ABC News

The International Space Station in 2006, shortly after the departure of Space Shuttle Atlantis.Image: NASA (Getty Images)

Russias newly launched International Space Station module Nauka is still in the fight as of Friday afternoon, as early reports indicate that the modules backup engines have fired successfully. Thats a big relief for Roscosmos, which nearly saw its long-awaited module become a tragic piece of space trivia instead of the newest piece of the International Space Station. But its not out of the woods yet.

The first glitch in Naukas journey happened yesterday, when the spacecraft didnt complete its first orbit-raising burn. This meant that the uncrewed Nauka wasnt on track to actually intercept the ISS, which its scheduled to dock with on Thursday, July 29. The problem was attributed to a software issue in a computer aboard Nauka, which prevented the spacecrafts main engines from firing. Naukas team was able to manage a remote course correction, but a second bout of course corrections were deemed necessary, and scheduled for today. One early report from journalist Anatoly Zak indicated that one of the spacecrafts engines sputtered back to life in a mission. The backup engine seems to have fired fine, said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in an email today, though he added that the status of the engines was not yet certain and it would likely be a few hours before a new dataset from Nauka verified the situation.

The thrusters are just one piece of the engineering puzzle, so the new module is hardly home free. Naukas also been having issues with one antenna and its docking target, and its uncertain how those issues will affect docking attempts, SpaceNews reported. Apparently there is still an issue with the Kurs rendezvous system, and that is pretty critical for docking, McDowell said, adding that the spacecrafts TORU systemwhich allows the astronauts aboard the ISS assist with the dockingis working normally.

For now, the Pirs docking compartment is currently sitting in Naukas assigned dock on the ISS. Pirs scheduled undocking to make way for the new module was postponed from Friday to Sunday, according to RussianSpaceWeb.

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It is not unusual for complex spacecraft to have teething troubles. However, the number and severity of problems on this flight is above the norm, and perhaps this is not too surprising given the long delays in the development of the vehicle. Nevertheless, I am moderately optimistic that they will eventually complete a successful docking, although not necessarily on the first attempt, McDowell said.

Keep your eyes on this spacecraft. Theres certainly a twist or two left in this tale.

More: Russia Averts Possible Disaster as New Space Station Module Finally Reaches Proper Orbit

More here:

Russian Module Headed for the ISS Is Still Having Problems - Gizmodo

A Russian Progress cargo ship undocked from the International Space Station early Monday, taking with it the two-decades-old Pirs airlock and docking compartment to clear the way for Thursday's arrival of Russia's new Nauka multipurpose lab module.

With the Progress MS-16/77P supply ship firmly locked to Pirs, hooks and latches holding the docking compartment to the Zvezda service module's Earth-facing port were commanded open, and the Progress backed away at 6:55 a.m. EDT.

After moving a safe distance away, the Progress fired its thrusters at 10:01 a.m., setting up a destructive plunge into the atmosphere 41 minutes later. The braking burn was planned to make sure any debris that might survive reentry heating would fall harmlessly into the southern Pacific Ocean.

Undocking originally was planned for last Friday, two days after Nauka's launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but problems with the lab's navigation and propulsion systems prompted Russian flight controllers to delay Pirs' departure.

Finally, after several anxious days of troubleshooting, Nauka's propulsion system was restored to normal operation, and two successful tests of its KURS navigation and rendezvous system were carried out. While few details were provided, Russian mission managers then cleared Pirs and Progress for departure.

Pirs was launched on September 14, 2001, three days after the 9/11 attacks. It served as a docking port for visiting Soyuz crew ships and Progress freighters for nearly 20 years and as an airlock for Russian spacewalks.

The much larger 44,000-pound Nauka module features an airlock and docking port, expanded crew quarters, research space, an additional toilet, oxygen generator, solar arrays and a European Space Agency-built robot arm. Nauka's thrusters also will help provide roll control to keep the station properly oriented.

With the departure of Pirs, NASA flight controllers planned to reposition the station's Canadian-built robot arm on the Russian Zarya module so it could carry out a seven-hour inspection of the Zvezda module's now-vacant Earth-facing port. Russian engineers want to make sure no debris or other issues are present that might prevent the docking mechanism from working properly when Nauka arrives.

Assuming no problems are found, the lab module will complete its rendezvous with the space station Thursday, moving in for docking at Zvezda's Earth-facing port at 9:24 a.m. It will take up to 11 Russian spacewalks over about seven months to electrically connect and outfit the new lab module.

Nauka's docking will come the day before a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launches a Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew capsule to the station for an unpiloted test flight. The Atlas 5 rollout to pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is expected Wednesday, setting up a launch at 2:53 p.m. Friday.

The Starliner, like SpaceX's already operational Crew Dragon spacecraft, is designed to carry U.S. and partner-agency astronauts to and from the space station on a commercial basis, helping end NASA's post-shuttle reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for crew transportation.

An initial Starliner test flight in December 2019 had major software problems, prompting Boeing to launch a second unpiloted test flight before the ship's first planned launch with a crew on board late this year or early next year.

For the test flight, the Starliner will dock at the front end of the station's forward Harmony module, returning to a White Sands, New Mexico, landing on August 5.

Read more:

Russia ditches 20-year-old space station module to clear way for lab's arrival - CBS News

Proposed U.S. space station

Space Station Freedom was a NASA project to construct a permanently crewed Earth-orbiting space station in the 1980s. Although approved by then-president Ronald Reagan and announced in the 1984 State of the Union address, Freedom was never constructed or completed as originally designed, and after several cutbacks, the project evolved into the International Space Station program.

Space Station Freedom was a multinational collaborative project involving four participating space agencies: NASA (United States), NASDA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).

As the Apollo program began to wind down in the late 1960s, there were numerous proposals for what should follow it. Of the many proposals, large and small, three major themes emerged. Foremost among them was a crewed mission to Mars, using systems not unlike the ones used for Apollo. A permanent space station was also a major goal, both to help construct the large spacecraft needed for a Mars mission as well as to learn about long-term operations in space. Finally, a space logistics vehicle was intended to cheaply launch crews and cargo to that station.

In the early 1970s, Spiro Agnew took these general plans to President Nixon, who was battling with a major federal budget deficit. When he presented the three concepts, Nixon told him to select one. After much debate, NASA selected the space logistics vehicle, which by this time was already known as the Space Shuttle. They argued that the Shuttle would so lower costs of launching cargo that it would make the construction of the station less expensive.

From this point forward these plans were never seriously changed, in spite of dramatic changes to the funding environment and the complete redesign of the Shuttle concept. In the early 1980s, with the Space Shuttle completed, NASA proposed the creation of a large, permanently crewed space station, which then-NASA Administrator James M. Beggs called "the next logical step" in space. In some ways it was meant to be the U.S. answer to the Soviet Mir.

NASA plans called for the station, which was later dubbed Space Station Freedom, to function as an orbiting repair shop for satellites, an assembly point for spacecraft, an observation post for astronomers, a microgravity laboratory for scientists, and a microgravity factory for companies.

Reagan announced plans to build Space Station Freedom in 1984, stating: "We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful economic and scientific gain."

Following the presidential announcement, NASA began a set of studies to determine the potential uses for the space station, both in research and in industry, in the U.S. or overseas. This led to the creation of a database of thousands of possible missions and payloads; studies were also carried out with a view to supporting potential planetary missions, as well as those in low Earth orbit.

Several Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and early 1990s included spacewalks to demonstrate and test space station construction techniques. After the establishment of the initial baseline design, the project evolved extensively, growing in scope and cost.

In April 1984, the newly established Space Station Program Office at Johnson Space Center produced a first reference configuration; this design would serve as a baseline for further planning. The chosen design was the "Power Tower", a long central keel with most mass located at either end. This arrangement would provide enough gravity gradient stability to keep the station aligned with the keel pointed towards the Earth, reducing the need for thruster firings. Most designs featured a cluster of modules at the lower end and a set of articulated solar arrays at the upper end. It also contained a servicing bay. In April 1985, the program selected a set of contractors to carry out definition studies and preliminary design; various trade-offs were made in this process, balancing higher development costs against reduced long-term operating costs.

At the same time, late 1986, NASA carried out a study into new configuration options to reduce development costs; options studied ranged from the use of a Skylab-type station to a phased development of the Dual-Keel configuration. This approach involved splitting assembly into two phases; Phase 1 would provide the central modules, and the transverse boom, but with no keels. The solar arrays would be augmented to ensure 75kW of power would be provided, and the polar platform and servicing facility were again deferred. The study concluded that the project was viable, reducing development costs while minimizing negative impacts, and it was designated the Revised Baseline Configuration. This would have a development cost of US$15.3 billion (in FY1989 dollars) and FEL in the first quarter of 1994. This replanning was endorsed by the National Research Council in September 1987, which also recommended that the long-term national goals should be studied before committing to any particular Phase 2 design.

During 1986 and 1987, various other studies were carried out on the future of the U.S. space program; the results of these often impacted the Space Station, and their recommendations were folded into the revised baseline as necessary. One of the results of these was to baseline the Station program as requiring five shuttle flights a year for operations and logistics, rotating four crew at a time with the aim of extending individual stay times to 180 days.

NASA signed final ten-year contracts for developing the Space Station in September 1988, and the project was finally moving into the hardware fabrication phase.

The Space Station Freedom design was slightly modified in late 1989 after the program's Fiscal 1990 budget again was reduced from $2.05 billion to $1.75 billion when the design was found to be 23% overweight and over budget, too complicated to assemble, and providing little power for its users. The 1990 Space Exploration Initiative called for the construction of the Space Station Freedom. Congress consequently demanded yet another redesign in October 1990, and requested further cost reductions after the fiscal 1991 budget was cut from $2.5 billion to $1.9 billion. NASA unveiled its new space station design in March 1991.

Repeated budget cuts had forced a postponement of the first launch by a year, to March 1995. The Station would be permanently crewed from June 1997 onwards, and completed in February 1998. Cost escalation of the project and financial difficulties in Russia led to a briefing between NASA and NPO Energia on Mir-2. In November 1993, Freedom, Mir-2, and the European and Japanese modules were incorporated into a single International Space Station.

Underestimates by NASA of the station program's cost and unwillingness by the U.S. Congress to appropriate funding for the space station resulted in delays of Freedom's design and construction; it was regularly redesigned and re-scoped. Between 1984 and 1993 it went through seven major re-designs, losing capacity and capabilities each time. Rather than being completed in a decade, as Reagan had predicted, Freedom was never built, and no Shuttle launches were made as part of the program.

By 1993, Freedom was politically unviable; the administration had changed, and Congress was tiring of paying yet more money into the station program. In addition, there were open questions over the need for the station. Redesigns had cut most of the science capacity by this point, and the Space Race had ended in 1975 with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. NASA presented several options to President Clinton, but even the most limited of these was still seen as too expensive. In June 1993, an amendment to remove space station funding from NASA's appropriations bill failed by one vote in the House of Representatives.[1] That October, a meeting between NASA and the Russian Space Agency agreed to the merger of the projects into what would become the International Space Station. The merger of the project faced opposition by representatives such as Tim Roemer who feared Russia would break the Missile Technology Control Regime agreement and felt the program was far too costly.[2] Proposed bills did not pass Congress.

In 1993, the Clinton administration announced the transformation of Space Station Freedom into the International Space Station (ISS). NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin supervised the addition of Russia to the project. To accommodate reduced budgets, the station design was scaled back from 508 to 353 square feet (47 to 33 m), the crew capacity of the NASA-provided part was reduced from 7 to 3 (while the complete station is crewed by 6 but may be increased to 7[3]), and the station's functions were reduced.[4] Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998,[5] with the first long-term residents arriving in November 2000.[6]

Link:

Space Station Freedom - Wikipedia

NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are growing red and green Hatch chile peppers that will be ready to eat in just a few months.

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The 48 chile pepper seeds were planted here on Earth at the Kennedy Space Center then delivered to the ISS in June. The seeds were slotted into the Advanced Plant Habitat, one of three plant growth chambers on the ISS. This is one of the longest and hardest growth experiments the astronauts and scientists on the ground have attempted.

Luckily, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who initiated NASAs Plant Habitat-04 (PH-04) experiment onboard, has already tended to space crops. He helped grow (and eat) "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce in late 2016.

The peppers will be harvested in about four months. Some will be sampled by the astronauts onboard, while others will be sent back to the Kennedy Space Center for analysis.

It is one of the most complex plant experiments on the station to date because of the long germination and growing times, said Matt Romeyn, principal investigator for PH-04. We have previously tested flowering to increase the chance for a successful harvest because astronauts will have to pollinate the peppers to grow fruit.

Jason Fischer (left), a research scientist, and Lashelle Spencer, a plant scientist, with the Laboratory Support Services and Operations contract at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, harvest peppers from pepper plants on Jan. 15, 2020, that were grown in the Space Station Processing Facility for a growth assessment in preparation for sending them to space. As NASA prepares to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit, the ability for astronauts to grow a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in space will be critical. Fresh produce will be an essential supplement to the crew's pre-packaged diet during long-duration space exploration when they are away from Earth for extended periods of time.

Growing peppers on the ISS has a few benefits for NASA's astronauts. Living in microgravity can cause astronauts to lose some of their sense of taste and smell, which means spicy foods are a welcome meal for some. Peppers are also high in Vitamin C and other nutrients. Plus, the bright peppers even help the astronauts' mental health while onboard the ISS.

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Growing colorful vegetables in space can have long-term benefits for physical and psychological health, Romeyn said. We are discovering that growing plants and vegetables with colors and smells helps to improve astronauts well-being.

It's comforting to know when humans eventually colonize Mars, we might not have to give up our beloved chiles. Man can only live on astronaut ice cream for so long.

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NASA astronauts are growing chili peppers on the International Space Station - Chron

The International Space Station is getting mobile robot space avatars controllable by the public from Earth, courtesy of a joint project between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and ANA Holdings telepresence start-up avatarin.

The project will create a virtual remote space tourism experience aimed at those who can't afford to hitch a ride with Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson.

JAXAs press release reads:

This isnt the first collaboration between JAXA and avatarin. The duo collaborated last year resulting in a technology demonstration of virtual experience enabling robots onboard the KIBO module of the ISS.

The new project builds on that technology demonstration increasing the role of robots onboard the ISS with a new type of avatar that will act as a co-worker for astronauts on the station and on other settings like the moon. Avatars working in this capacity will have high-precision hands. Other avatars will be all about an entertainment experience .

In addition to the two new types of avatars, the project will use an existing type of avatar robot called newme as education and public relations tools, giving virtual tours and nurturing interest in space exploration from Earth.

avatarin will provide the avatars and telepresence tech; JAXA will bring its space experience, knowledge and facilities; and a third party, the University of Tokyo School of Engineering, will pitch in by developing a self-position estimation system.

None of the parties are saying when the avatars will become available for a spot of tele-tourism, but their aspirations already exceed ISS experiences and aim at "possible robotics technologies that can be effectively deployed in future space exploration missions."

And seeing as JAXA has twice landed on asteroids, we may be in for quite a ride.

Excerpt from:

Japan plans remote-controlled robotic space tourism to the ISS and beyond - The Register

The International Space Station (ISS) is preparing to take delivery of the European Robotic Arm (ERA) later this week.

The 11-meter-long robot launched on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 21, and is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Thursday.

Due to its large size, the ERA was folded into a more compact shape prior to loading, and then attached to what will be its home base at the ISS the new Multipurpose Laboratory Module, also called Nauka.

The space station is already home to two robotic arms from Canada and Japan. While extremely useful for docking procedures and assisting astronauts on spacewalks, neither of these arms can reach the Russian segment of the orbiting outpost. But the ERA will be able to do just that.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the new robotic arm will also be the first with the ability to walk around the outside of the ISS by moving hand-over-hand between fixed base-points.

Moving hand-over-hand around the Russian parts of the station, the ERA will bring more freedom, more flexibility, and more skills to space operations, said David Parker, ESA director of human and robotic exploration.

Itll also be the first robotic arm at the ISS thats able to be controlled by crew members both inside and outside the station.

The robots main tasks will be to handle experiment payloads and other components, transport spacewalkers between locations outside the station like a cherry-picker crane, and carry out inspection work of the stations exterior using its four built-in cameras. During its activities, the ERA will be able to handle components weighing up to 8,000kg with an impressive 5mm precision.

First, though, the ERA needs to be set up. Current ISS astronaut Thomas Pesquet will help prepare the robot for installation, with incoming astronauts Matthias Maurer and Samantha Cristoforetti conducting the first of five spacewalks to fully deploy the device.

The ERA is the work of a consortium of 22 European companies from seven countries. It was actually designed more than three decades ago and was supposed to head to the ISS long before now, but technical issues kept it grounded for longer than expected.

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An arm made for walking is about to arrive at the space station - Digital Trends

Live from the International Space Station

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Live from the International Space Station Toggle header content - YourErie

If youve ever heard someone refer to the idea of working in space, youd be forgiven for thinking they were describing a science-fiction plot. But the number of humans actively working beyond Earths atmosphere and living significant chunks of their lives there, too is about to start growing at a potentially exponential rate. Given how small that population is now, the growth might look slow at first but its happening soon, and plans are in place to help it start ramping up quickly.

The main company leading those plans in the near-term is Axiom Space, a private space station service provider, and eventual operator. Axiom is founded and led by people with International Space Station experience and expertise, and the company already operates R&D missions on behalf of private clients on the ISS with the help of NASA astronauts. Its planning to begin shuttling entire flights of private astronauts to the station starting in 2021, and its also building a new, commercial space station to ultimately replace the ISS on orbit once that one is decommissioned.

Axiom Spaces Chief Business Office Amir Blachman joined us at TC Sessions: Space last week on a panel that included NASA Chief of Exploration and Mission Planning Nujoud Merancy, Sierra Nevada Corporation senior vice president and former astronaut Janet Kavandi, as well as Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+) co-founder Melodie Yashar. The panel was focused on how public and private entities are preparing for a (relatively near) future in which humans spend more time off Earth and further away from it, too.

Its now, its been now for a couple years already, Blachman said, in response to a question about how far off humans beyond NASA astronauts living in space actually is. Axiom, sends crews to the International Space Station today on our own missions, while were building the new commercial space station that will succeed ISS when its decommissioned. Our first mission with a crew of four astronauts launches 12 months from now, and the four crew members have already gone through medical, theyve done their suit fittings, weve already integrated our medical operations and training team with our launch provider. Well launch that crew in 2021, another crew in 2022, two crews and 2023, four in 2024 and it grows from there.

Both Blachman and Merancy talked about the importance of automation and robotic systems on both Axioms future commercial space stations and on NASAs future habitats on the lunar surface, and on the lunar Gateway that will remain in orbit around the moon and act as a staging ground for lunar missions.

ISS was meant to be tended all the time, Merancy said. Its not meant to be an uncrewed station. And while the flight controllers on the ground do a lot of the actual operation of it, its meant to have people there to perform maintenance. We dont have that luxury, when you start talking about the lunar architecture, the Gateway will be tended only when the crew arrives, and the stuff on the surface will be tended only for, you know, a week at first and then longer over time. But you still want to have all of those things be capable of doing useful science or useful exploration even without the crew. So the ability to do tele robotics, maintain things via ground command and things like that so that when the crew arrives, they can just throw the hatch open and get to work would be the ideal state.

Weve been working under the assumption that these habitats and critical infrastructure on Mars, and now more recently on the moon should be constructed, and should be thought of as being constructed, as autonomously as possible, Yashar added. So we typically design for precursor missions, which would happen even before a crew arrives, hoping that almost all of the systems through construction, materials, excavation, materials handling and all of the other systems that weve been looking at would more or less happen as autonomously as possible.

Kavandi, too, echoed the sentiments of the others with regards to the degree to which modern human space systems will incorporate automation. I asked whether that would introduce complexity, but she said that rather, it should accomplish the opposite. Somewhat ironically, the path forward for human activity in space actually involves a lot less human activity at least when it comes to the business of operating and maintaining in-space infrastructure.

Advanced technology things can sometimes add simplicity, Kavandi said. As weve increased our capabilities over the years, with computers, for instance, theyve become easier to use, not harder to use. The objective is to try to minimize crew time and crew maintenance so that you can concentrate your time, your time for doing research, or whatever it is that youre supposed to do up there, whatever your mission happens to be. So the more we can simplify the interfaces, the more that we can have automation, where the crew only has to intervene when something is going wrong, but generally things go smoothly, and they dont have to do anything, that is an ideal situation. And in that case, you have a lot more free time available to then actually do the work that youre up there for.

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Dedicated commercial human in-space operations are coming sooner than you may realize - TechCrunch

1. NC native heading to International Space Station in fall of 2021  WCTI12.com
2. NASA Astronauts Hard at Work on Multiple Life Science Investigations Aboard the International Space Station  Space Ref
3. China's Space Program Suggests Decoupling Won't Work Like the US Hopes  The Diplomat
4. World's space achievements a shining star in 2020 | Science  Albany Democrat Herald
5. Eventful year in space distracted us from grim year on Earth  Los Angeles Times
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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NC native heading to International Space Station in fall of 2021 - WCTI12.com

Santa Claus will be performing a ceremonial fly-by of the International Space Station (ISS) on Dec. 24. The visit will honor the 20th anniversary of continuous life on the ISS, a milestone achieved in November.

The official NORAD Santa Tracker at NoradSanta.org will allow users to track Santas journey all day on Dec. 24. New for this year, visitors will be able to see the ISS orbiting the planet in its precise real-time location by zooming out on the 3D Santa Tracker app. Other updates include additions to Santas traditional garb, including a face mask and space helmet.

Santas sleigh flying past the International Space Station on a precise digital twin of the Earth built by Cesium. (Photo: Cesium)

The ISS is a spectacular example of what humans can accomplish when we work together, said Hannah Pinkos, lead developer of the app. 2020 has been a tough year, but I think this special trip is Santas way of reminding us to believe in ourselves.

NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is a United States and Canada bi-national organization that defends North America by tracking objects flying in and around its airspace 24 hours a day using radar, satellites and fighter jets. Each year, it joins corporate partners in taking on a special mission to also track Santas sleigh. The app shows Santas position reflected on a digital twin of the Earth provided by Cesium, a Philadelphia-based geospatial software company.

Cesium is rooted in aerospace, so its especially meaningful to us that our technology will allow millions of people to enjoy this event in real-time from the safety of their homes, added Cesium CEO Patrick Cozzi.

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Santa Claus to fly by the International Space Station - GPS World magazine

UK Science Minister Amanda Solloway remembers Peakes Dec. 15, 2015 mission to the ISS as a turning point for British space exploration.

Five years ago today, Maj. Tim Peake stepped off a gangway into a Soyuz rocket, fastened his seat belt and took to the skies from a remote desert in Kazakhstan. As he did so, he took along a photograph of his family and friends, his iPod nano, and the anticipation of a whole country.

As Tim made the eight-minute, 45-second journeyaway from the Earths gravity, the former RAF officer and Apache helicopter pilot wrote his name into our history books, and pub quizzes up and down the land, becoming the first Briton to live on humanitys most unique science laboratory, the International Space Station.

I am delighted that we are ending this difficult year on a rare high note. These past few weeks have seen rapturous applause for the outstanding achievements of scientists from our shores and beyond in helping us find a safe vaccine for COVID-19. And it is a time in which we should also recognize the shot in the arm for science that Tim Peake gave this country.

Tim became our own star in space and used his time to inspire many school children in the UK to believe space is within their grasp and to discover the wealth of opportunities that exist in science, technology, engineering.

During his missions 186 days and 11 hours, Tim undertook no fewer than 250 pioneering science experiments, before going on to don the infamous white pressure suit and join the history books once again as he joined the few who can say they have walked in space.

But Tims job on the space station went far beyond the experiments.

While onboard Tim took time to host question and answer sessions with school students giving kids a chance to put their questions to an astronaut floating round the Earth, thousands of miles away, and have answers beamed back down to Earth.

He was able to harness the growing power of social media to capture the publics imagination, sharing images that reflected the true beauty of the world; allowing us all to vicariously enjoy a thin slice of the heavens on a daily basis.

In the weeks prior to launch, a competition to design the mission badge, led by the BBCs Blue Peter, generated over 3,000 entries and was won by 13-year-old Troy Wood, who, with talent beyond his years, visualized a design featuring Isaac Newtons apple and the Soyuz rocket.

Five years on, we know Tim did not leave his legacy in orbit. Since his return he has been a beacon for science and a champion for space, sharing his wonderful experiences as an astronaut to inspire people in myriad ways. He embarked on a nationwide tour with the Soyuz rocket in tow, visited schools across the country and used his platform to encourage us all to ponder a career in space, to take up that science qualification, or register for an amateur astronomy course.

In the first two decades that followed the halcyon days of the space race in the 1960s, one of the great ambitions of many children was not to be a football player, singer or a celebrity, but to be an astronaut or a rocket scientist.

We know that the legacy of Tims historic journey similarly captivated people in the UK and we have now launched a campaign to ask people to share their memories of Tims mission and their personal reflections.

Inspiring British spacemen and women cannot be a guise for underinvestment. We are serious about turbocharging our research community, which is why we are not just talking a good game, we are investing record amounts in research and development. In the recent Spending Review we committed to invest 14.6 billion ($19.5 billion) in research and development including to support groundbreaking technologies and businesses, for innovation loans to help cutting-edge UK businesses access capital, and to build new science capability and support the whole research and innovation ecosystem.

This is married to big ambitions to make us the first country in Europe to launch satellites in the next couple of years, earning us our stripes as a space nation and giving the UK its very own Sputnik moment.

When Tim reached the International Space Station five years ago, he boldly went where no Briton had gone before. Because of him, I know he will be the first of many.

Amanda Solloway is the United Kingdoms science minister.

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Commentary | Tim Peake's 2015 space station mission gave UK science a long-lasting shot in the arm - SpaceNews

Over the past 20 years, the International Space Station (ISS) has housed more than 200 astronauts from 17 countries. The ISS has proven to be uniquely capable of enabling the development and testing of exploration technology and human physiology research for future Mars missions.

In the next 10 years the ISS can play a critical role in overcoming hurdles on the road to human exploration of Mars, not only as a laboratory for key research topics, but as the starting point for simulated Mars missions that take humans from a zero-G environment to Mars analog sites on Earth. Areas of research include environmental and life support systems, habitation module development, human factors, space nutrition, space suit testing, long duration human physiology, surface adaptation and rehabilitation, and much more. The ISS is a unique facility for solving scientific mysteries, and if we leverage everything it has to offer, it will accelerate our efforts to explore the solar system.

Integrated Mars mission analogs

One unanswered question is how long it will take for astronauts to recover from their zero-gravity transit to Mars when they reach the martian surface. Currently, astronauts returning from the ISS are scooped up by support staff moments after they reach the Earth; however, astronauts will not have the same luxury on Mars. They will need to self-recover on a dangerous alien planet after six to nine months in a zero-g environment and begin work as soon as possible. Given this reality, it is necessary to understand how long astronaut recovery, both physical and mental, will take in order to design the architecture of future Mars missions to meet their needs. We can start to answer these questions with astronauts returning from the ISS now.

Mars missions will also require updates to the operations concepts, tools and processes astronauts need to enable their ground activities as quickly and safely as possible. Expeditions that simulate astronaut operations with time-delayed support teams will demonstrate where knowledge is lacking. These activities should be incorporated into upcoming ISS expeditions to maximize the benefits of the ISS while it is in orbit. Addressing these unknowns will allow us to buy down significant risk for the crews on their way to Mars.

To take full advantage of any of these tests, we need to start now. If humans are going to go to the martian system in the 2030s, it requires an understanding of what the crew will experience. Integrated analog missions, in harsh environments such as the dry valleys of Antarctica or the Arctic, which combine the above research areas, could potentially revolutionize our understanding of Mars mission operations.

Long duration spaceflight studies laboratory

The ISS is also useful for testing how humans will perform during deep space missions. Early Mars missions may be as long as 1,100 days from launch to Earth return for both orbital and surface missions. Whether by design or as a contingency plan, the crew could end up spending the entire duration in a zero-G environment. It is currently unknown how missions of this duration will affect astronaut health and performance. In fact, there are zero data points for long term human spaceflight beyond 438 days (Valeri Polyakovs Mir mission in 1994), not even half the duration of the shortest Mars missions.

Missions such as The Year in Space, with Scott Kelly and Mikhail Korniyenkos time aboard the ISS, have been key to understanding how long-duration space flight affects the human body and psyche. That being said, we need more data points to generate a statistically meaningful dataset from a diverse population if we are going to generalize the findings.

The two-and-a-half hour exercise regimen currently employed on the ISS largely remediates the effects of bone loss and muscle deterioration on 6-month to 1-year missions. But, even if these problems prove manageable, there are still other challenges that we need to examine. For example, astronauts on the ISS can also experience vision blurring, renal stone formation, bone fractures and limited access to medical care, to name a few. How astronauts will overcome these and other unknown challenges that may arise as they extend their stay in space is currently unknown. But we can pursue more long duration missions on the ISS to find out.

A testbed for Mars mission equipment

ISS can also serve as a valuable testbed for Mars mission equipment such as for experiments and technology demonstrations that require microgravity, radiation or thermal space environments. Environmental control systems, 3D printing techniques, intelligent systems and many other technologies required for Mars exploration could be tested on the ISS today, in an in-space environment only hours away from the Earths surface. It is necessary to understand how new deep space systems withstand the rigors of exposure to a zero-G environment. In fact, many of these systems, such as urine processors, can be thoroughly tested only when there are humans regularly stressing the system.

Public outreach

The public wants NASA to do great things; they want to see humans explore the solar system. As NASA develops more comprehensive plans to send humans to Mars in the 2030s, the public would almost certainly be excited to see NASA testing equipment for the Mars Transfer Vehicle in orbit or to follow the progress of astronauts on simulated Mars missions from the ISS to a Mars analog site during the 2020s. Taxpayers will witness astronauts doing real training in preparation for Mars, and the public will even be able to experience the challenges of such missions firsthand, both through social media and augmented or virtual reality experiences currently in use in the space program.

The ISS is unique: it is nearby, it is active, but it will not last forever. If we are serious about ever going beyond the Earth system, we need to take advantage of our resources at hand. With the right expertise applied and supporting management structure, the ISS can expand the horizons of human space exploration. There are no other platforms in existence that provide the unique capabilities that the ISS offers. Abandoning the opportunity to use the ISS to the fullest extent of its capabilities will only slow us down and even stand in the way of the journey to Mars.

Chris Carberry is CEO of Explore Mars, Inc., and author of Alcohol in Space. Rick Zucker is vice president for policy, and member of the board of directors, of Explore Mars, Inc.

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Utilizing the International Space Station to enable humans to reach Mars - The Hill

China may have been a latecomer to the moon, but when its capsule full of lunar rocks and soil returned to Earth early Thursday, it set the stage for a new space race over the coming decades. This time, it will be a competition over resources on the moon that could propel deeper space exploration.

The countrys Change-5 spacecraft gathered as much as 4.4 pounds of lunar samples from a volcanic plain known as Mons Rmker in a three-week operation that underlined Chinas growing prowess and ambition in space. It was Chinas most successful mission to date.

The United States and the Soviet Union competed for supremacy in an epic space race in the 1960s and 70s, during which they brought back lunar samples, but that was a different era. Now China is in the fray, and todays competition once seemingly the realm of science fiction could be equally intense and more mercantile.

The Chinese are eager to flaunt their technical skills and explore the solar system. Like the United States, the country has a broader goal to establish a lunar base that could exploit its potential resources and serve as a launching pad for more ambitious missions.

Beijing has not staked out some sort of declarative statement where they want to replace the United States as leader in space, said Brendan Curry, chief of Washington, D.C., operations at the Planetary Society. But they certainly want to be a major actor in space.

In a statement, the China National Space Administration said a capsule with the moon rocks landed in Inner Mongolia at about 2 a.m. local time (it was around 1 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday). The capsule had separated from the main spacecraft when it was about 3,000 miles above the southern Atlantic Ocean. At an altitude of about six miles, it deployed its parachutes to slow its descent.

Video broadcast on state television showed recovery teams arriving at the capsule less than an hour after the landing. It may take hours for the capsule to be transferred to facilities where it can be confirmed that the lunar samples are intact.

Space now is fast becoming one more arena where the two countries might clash. Although Chinas military and civilian space programs are still catching up with those in the United States, the countrys ambitions were part of the Trump administrations motivation to set up a Space Force.

Vice President Mike Pence last year announced plans to accelerate Americas return to the moon by 2024 during a speech in which he warned that China wanted to seize the lunar strategic high ground and become the worlds pre-eminent spacefaring nation.

Entrepreneurial space companies could further upend any competition between NASA and China. By the time that NASA or Chinese astronauts reach the moon, Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, says he will be sending people to Mars. Even if Mr. Musks pronouncements turn out to be too optimistic, the future of space exploration may no longer be dominated by national space agencies.

Some hope that a competition between China and the United States could change to cooperation. But NASA is currently limited from directly working with the Chinese space agency or Chinese-owned companies. That provision was inserted in 2011 into the law financing NASA by Frank Wolf, then a Republican congressman from Virginia, to punish China for its human rights record and to protect American aerospace technology.

In the near term, planetary scientists in the United States could be left out of the science bonanza from the rocks gathered by Change-5, which came from a region of the moon much younger than those visited previously.

Although the law does not prevent non-NASA scientists from working with Chinese counterparts, it does prevent Chinese scientists from looking at the moon rocks that NASA astronauts brought back during the Apollo missions, and China may well return that snub.

Obviously the United States prohibits cooperation with China, no? said Xiao Long, a scientist at the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, who has advised the Chinese space program. It certainly does not hope that China develops quickly. They have already put their cards on the table. It is not something that is being done quietly.

At a talk on Tuesday to the Greater Houston Partnership, an economic development organization, Jim Bridenstine, the NASA administrator, addressed the prospect of relaxing the ban on NASA-China cooperation.

Its above my pay grade, Mr. Bridenstine said. But certainly, I do believe NASA is a tool of diplomacy. I believe that asset is a tool that can be used as, for example, a pot sweetener for a trade deal. I think it can be used for all kinds of purposes for international diplomacy.

The incoming Biden administration has yet to announce its plans for NASA. But it will probably push back the Trump administrations 2024 target, which was unlikely to be achieved even if President Trump had been re-elected because of technical and financial limitations.

In contrast to the uncertainty and periodic shifts in direction at NASA, China has stuck to its plans and timetables, with the countrys space program serving as a source of national pride that provides another tool of international diplomacy.

Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, has made space a central part of his dream of creating a greater, more powerful China and, despite occasional setbacks, the space program has made enormous progress.

They are able to commit to a much longer-term goal, said Namrata Goswami, an independent analyst and co-author of a new book on space exploration, Scramble for the Skies.

The development of the Change probes started in the early 2000s when President George W. Bush declared that NASA astronauts would return to the moon by 2020. It continued that path when the Obama administration canceled that moon program and focused on more distant destinations like an asteroid and Mars.

The first two Change spacecraft were orbiters that circled the moon. Change-3 landed in December 2013, and China joined the United States and Soviet Union as the only nations to make a successful landing there. In January 2019, Change-4 became the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon. Its rover, called Yutu-2, is still operating, studying lunar geology nearly two years later. China is now the only country to land successfully on the moon in the 21st century, and has done it three times.

And even as the Trump administration touted a return to the moon, China has shown no urgency to accelerate its plans of sending Chinese astronauts to the moon in the 2030s. If NASA astronauts arrive earlier, China seems to be in no rush to beat them.

But while China takes its time with longer-term space goals, the successful Change-5 mission took off only last month, and its speedy return with lunar samples provided almost instant gratification. It required feats of engineering and execution that China has never attempted before.

Not long after arriving in lunar orbit, Change-5 split into two parts, an orbiter and a lander that reached the surface on Dec. 1. It then scooped up and drilled for samples that the spacecraft returned to lunar orbit and then ultimately back to Earth. The lander also lifted a small Chinese flag.

China envisions its moon missions as more than demonstrations of its space technology and national pride. It envisions the moon as a base robotic at first, then perhaps a human outpost that will support space exploration in the decades to come.

Lt. Gen. Zhang Yulin, a former deputy commander of Chinas astronaut program, wrote in The Peoples Daily last year that cislunar space the area between the Earth and moon would become another broad field for the expansion of human living space.

Another senior official in Chinas space program, Bao Weimin of the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, last year floated the once seemingly fanciful idea that cislunar space could become an economic zone generating $10 trillion for the countrys economy.

Its not just about showing off technology, Dr. Goswami said in a telephone interview. They are starting to articulate economic aspirations in terms of the resources that are out there.

China was not the only country to bring something back from space in December. A Japanese spacecraft, Hayabusa2, returned to Earth after a six-year journey with what that countrys space agency described as a large number of particles, which scientists will study to understand the building blocks of the solar systems inner planets, including Earth.

Still, in scope, ambition and resources, Chinas program now rivals the United States and Russias. And in the nearer term, competition between the two countries could occur closer to Earth.

China is planning to build a space station in orbit around Earth and has offered to have astronauts from other nations work there. If it is able to accomplish that goal, that would make the Chinese orbital outpost a competitor with the International Space Station led by the United States and Russia.

And the restrictions on cooperative study of Chinas new stash of moon rocks will also be a disappointment for many scientists in the United States in the years to come.

They represent a completely different era of lunar history and will definitely help in our quest to understand the evolution of our moon, wrote Clive R. Neal, a professor of civil engineering and geological sciences at the University of Notre Dame who said he would love a chance to examine the new samples.

Alas, Dr. Neal added in his email, I dont think this is possible.

That was followed by a sad face emoticon.

Claire Fu in Beijing contributed research.

Originally posted here:

China Moon Mission Brings Lunar Rocks to Earth, and New Competition to Space - The New York Times