Bigelow Aerospace's Inflatable Space Pod To Be Tested On The Space Station In 2015

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October 8, 2014

Image Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Starting next year, astronauts aboard the International Space Station will be able to work inside an inflatable module attached to the stations Tranquility node, according to Space.com Contributor Elizabeth Howell.

Developed by Bigelow Aerospace, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will travel to the ISS aboard SpaceXs Dragon cargo spacecraft in 2015. After arriving at the station, the robotic Canadarm2 will be used to attach the nearly $18 million BEAM.

Once attached, BEAM is expected to expand out to a length of 13 feet and diameter of about 10.5 feet. After the expansion and initial testing, a member of the ISS crew will enter the module a first for space exploration. The module is expected to remain attached for a nominal period of two years.

Testing of the new module will determine if it is space-worthy and capable of protecting occupants from radiation, small meteorites and space debris.

We cannot think of a stronger endorsement for either our company or expandable habitat technology than NASAs desire to make BEAM a part of the ISS, Bigelow said in a statement released last year.

[ Watch the Video: Bigelow Expandable Activity Module Installation Animation ]

Expandable habitats will dramatically increase the amount of volume available for crewed, space-based activities, the statement added. Expandables will also provide enhanced protection from solar radiation, physical debris, and trace contaminants, while requiring less mass, smaller amounts of rocket faring space, and fewer dollars than traditional metallic structures.

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Bigelow Aerospace's Inflatable Space Pod To Be Tested On The Space Station In 2015

Rookie spacewalkers chalk up successful outing

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Last Updated Oct 7, 2014 3:15 PM EDT

Working outside the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency crewmate Alexander Gerst successfully moved a failed ammonia pump module to an external stowage platform Tuesday, completing a task originally planned for a repair spacewalk last December.

They also replaced a burned-out television camera light, used during spacecraft arrivals and departures, and installed a backup payload power system on the mobile transporter used to move the station's robot arm and attached equipment from one worksite to another.

The spacewalk, the 182nd since station construction began in 1998, got underway at 8:30 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) and ended six hours and 13 minutes later when Gerst and Wiseman returned to the Quest airlock and began repressurization procedures at 2:43 p.m. It was the fifth of seven spacewalks planned this year by station astronauts and the first for Wiseman and Gerst.

"Alex, it looks like we've almost got a full moon out here," Wiseman marvled as he floated out of the airlock. "It's beautiful."

A few minutes later, Gerst said simply "this is awesome."

"Yep, this is amazing," Wiseman agreed.

The major goal of U.S. EVA-27 was to move a failed ammonia coolant pump from the mobile transporter to an insulated bay on External Stowage Platform No. 2 near the airlock. The pump failed last December and was replaced during two spacewalks later that month. But the repair crew did not have time to move the failed unit back to ESP-2.

As the space station moved into orbital darkess, astronaut Reid Wiseman, center (with red stripes around legs) heads back to the Quest airlock. Fellow spacewalker Alexander Gerst is visible to the lower left.

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Rookie spacewalkers chalk up successful outing

Astronauts Complete First Spacewalk Of Expedition 41, Work Outside ISS For 6 Hours

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Two astronauts on the International Space Station, or ISS, successfully completed the first of three Expedition 41 spacewalks at 2:43 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. During the spacewalk, the astronauts worked outside the Quest airlock of the space station for more than six hours.

The two astronauts -- Reid Wiseman of NASA and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency -- first relocated a failed cooling pump, which was temporarily stowed on the stations truss by Expedition 38 spacewalkers Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio in December. The other tasks included replacing a light on an external television camera group outside the ISS' Destiny laboratory and installing a Mobile Transporter Relay Assembly, or MTRA, on to the solar power truss right above Destiny, according to NASA.

The MTRA allows flight controllers to provide power to attached payloads even if any technical glitch prevents the transporter's payload attachment fitting from drawing power from worksites, CBS News reported.

Alex and I, we'd like to express just our huge gratitude for getting us back into planned EVAs (spacewalks), safely outside, safely back in, CBS News quoted Wiseman as saying. It's a good day for NASA, it's definitely a good day for the European Space Agency.

A second spacewalk is scheduled for Oct. 15 when Barry Wilmore of NASA will follow Wiseman outside the Quest airlock for a six-and-a-half hour excursion. The goal of the spacewalk will be to replace a failed component for regulating voltage.They will also move external camera equipment ahead of a major reconfiguration of station modules next year.

The first Russian spacewalk of Expedition 41 is scheduled for Oct. 22 when cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Max Suraev will wear Russian Orlan spacesuits and exit the Pirs docking compartment at 9:24 a.m. EDT, according to NASA.

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Astronauts Complete First Spacewalk Of Expedition 41, Work Outside ISS For 6 Hours

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes another test flight

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MOJAVE, Calif., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Virgin Galactic -- the Richard Branson enterprise aimed at taking civilians to the brink of space aboard a commercial shuttle -- successfully launched and landed its SpaceShipTwo Tuesday in an unmanned flight test.

The rocket-powered shuttle took off from and landed at Mojave Air and Space Port in California Tuesday, the latest test since the shuttle last took to the air in August. Virgin Galactic commercial space flight plans have suffered a string of delays, but Branson and his company are still confident that they aren't far from taking their first paying customers to space.

Virgin Galactic's Twitter account said the successful test flight "brings spaceflight closer."

Not everyone thinks the delays are anything to put much stock in, and many believe the company continues to make significant strides.

"They're doing it the right way," former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria recently told Space.com. "They're taking their time. They're being safe. They're making sure they have all the t's crossed and the i's dotted."

Branson originally promised the first commercial spaceflight would take off from New Mexico's Spaceport America by the end of the year. That date has since been pushed into 2015.

SpaceShipTwo is built to carry two pilots and six passengers to suborbital space. Paying customers won't orbit Earth, but they will get dramatic views of their home planet set against the blackness of space -- as well as a few minutes of zero-gravity weightlessness. Tickets are $250,000. More than seven hundred passengers have already reserved seats.

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes another test flight

Land Rover is Offering 4 Friends the Chance to Win a Space Flight with Virgin Galactic

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WHITLEY, UK -- October 7, 2014: Land Rover has released exclusive new detail on what budding astronauts can expect to experience on a Virgin Galactic space flight.

The short film has been created as part of Land Rover's 'Galactic Discovery' competition, which offers four friends a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a trip to space. Worth over US$1million, the top prize will see the winners take a one-week trip to the US, where they will undergo three days of training and preparation at the Foster + Partners designed Spaceport America in New Mexico, before taking a Mach 3.5 ride to space in Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, experiencing out of seat weightlessness and life changing views of planet Earth.

Gabi Whitfield, Global PR director for Land Rover said: "We knew the appetite for space travel would be huge around the world but also that this is still an area most people know very little about. We wanted to give our competition entrants as much detail as possible on the prize, to get them really excited about this once-in-a-lifetime experience

The film shows footage of the test flights undertaken by Virgin Galactic to date, alongside CGI animation of the zero gravity experience. The voiceover provides a step by step account of the planned Virgin Galactic space experience from arrival at Virgin Galactics Gateway to Space facility at Spaceport America, to the Mach 3.5 vertical rocket ride into the black sky of space and the return to Earth.

Narration comes from Virgin Galactics Vice President of Operations, Mike Moses. He leads the team in all aspects of safe and successful space flight operations, including WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo vehicle processing, planning, training and flight crew operations. Mike came to VG after a distinguished career with NASA where amongst other things he chaired the Mission Management Team providing the ultimate space shuttle launch decision authority.

The film also shows Spaceport America in New Mexico, featuring the Norman Foster-designed Gateway to Space building which will become the home for Virgin Galactic space travel once commercial operations go live. This is the second film released in the last few weeks to showcase the facility, the other being the Land Rover Discovery Sport and competition launch film. Land Rover created this footage to bring the consumer one step closer to personal space travel, something anyone now has a chance to experience with Virgin Galactic through the incredible Galactic Discovery competition.

The exclusive Winner Experience video can be seen here Go to Space

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Land Rover is Offering 4 Friends the Chance to Win a Space Flight with Virgin Galactic

'Blood moon' to awe sky watchers in Americas, Asia

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(UPDATED) The eclipse is the second of four total lunar eclipses, starting with a first 'blood moon' on April 15, in a series astronomers call a tetrad

(Live stream courtesy of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center)

WASHINGTON DC, USA (UPDATED) Stargazers in the Americas and Asia were treated to a lunar eclipse Wednesday, October 8, a celestial show that bathed the moon in a reddish tint to create a "blood moon".

During the total lunar eclipse, light beams into Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow that gives it a red hue.

The early phase of the eclipse began at 0800 GMT, or 4:00 am, on the east coast of the United States.

NASA provided live footage via telescope of the eclipse, showing a black shadow creeping across the moon in a crawl that took about an hour.

Only when the moon was totally eclipsed did the redness appear. The total eclipse was also to last about an hour, and ditto for the return to its normal color. The total eclipse happened at 6:25 am on the US east coast (1025 GMT).

The moon turns red and orange during a total lunar eclipse, as seen from Wichita, Kansas, USA, 15 April 2014. Larry W. Smith/EPA

The NASA web site was peppered with Tweets bubbling with questions and comments on the heavenly phenomenon.

"This is amazing. Thank you for this opportunity," read a Tweet from the handle @The Gravity Dive.

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'Blood moon' to awe sky watchers in Americas, Asia

Field Hockey: Red Storm batter Scots

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Scarborough swept into Buxton Saturday morning, unleashing a torrent of goals on the Scots, who found themselves unable to keep their heads above the level of the Red Storm surge. Victoria Timm put Scarborough on the board early, and Lily Nygrens mid-game hat trick all but sank any Bonny Eagle chance of fighting back. The Scots ultimately fell, 10-0, to the Red Storm.

Struggling Bonny Eagle, ranked 16th at present, slip to 1-10. Scarborough, on the other hand, continues its march across the face of western Maine, moving to 11-0 and tightening their grip on first place.

[We] spread the field well and looked to transition the ball with precision passes, using the space to [our] advantage, Red Storm head coach Kerry Mariello said. Once the ball was in our offensive zone, we took advantage of scoring opportunities. This was a well-balanced victory for [us].

Timms goal came early, on a Kaitlyn Prince assist. Soon after, Abby Walker made it 2-0 all by her lonesome. Emma Crovo from Maddie Dobecki pushed the Red Storm another notch further ahead before Nygrens take-no-prisoners rampage on assists by Ashley Levesque, Sydney Rusak and Dobecki juiced their advantage to 6-0.

The Red Storm have almost exclusively pick any appropriately destructive-sounding, storm-related verb blown away their opposition this season. Wrecked them, swamped them, whatever. In those 11 wins, Scarborough have scored 77 goals, and allowed just one, to No. 6 Sanford (7-3). Like their namesakes, the Spartans made their stand, dealt their blow, but ultimately fell in this case, 2-1 to an overwhelming, invading force.

Similarly, by the time the Red Storm had finished in Buxton, theyd added four more goals by Dobecki (from Walker), Kristen Murray (Kristen Levesque), Ashley Levesque (Lucy Bogdanovich) and Kristen Levesque (Murray) all while holding the Scots silent.

Its difficult to see how the Red Storm wont go category five through the playoffs and into the State Game, where Skowhegan emerged from the East last year to snuff them. 2014s crop of top teams from across the way again includes the Indians, as well as Lawrence and Messalonskee. All three teams are 10-1, and have exactly the same Heal Point indices. Whoever takes part, the battle for the title this Nov. 1 should be art in motion.

And lest anyone think its too early yet to speak of the playoffs: there are only three regular-season games remaining on Scarboroughs schedule: home against McAuley (Oct. 8, 6 p.m.); away at Cheverus (Oct. 10, time TBD); and home against Deering (Oct. 14, 6 p.m.).

Similarly, Bonny Eagle has just a trio of games left to play: at South Portland (Oct. 8, 4 p.m.); home against Thornton (Oct. 10, 4 p.m.); and at Westbrook (Oct. 14, 4 p.m.).

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Field Hockey: Red Storm batter Scots

Lack of ocean heat puzzles NASA hunt for warming ‘hiatus’ – Video

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Lack of ocean heat puzzles NASA hunt for warming 'hiatus' - Video