NASA preparing to reassemble International Space Station

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On Friday, astronauts aboard the International Space Station will initiate the station's first reassembly in several years. The station will be reconfigured to create two new docking ports for the space taxis NASA hopes to have launched by the end of 2017 as part of its Commercial Crew program.

The first of three assembly spacewalks will be conducted on Friday by NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts. While outside the station, they will begin work installing cables and communications equipment for the two new berthing slips.

Wilmore and Virts won't be able to ready the two new ports without new equipment, however. Two International Docking Adapters are needed to turn what were once parking spots for NASA's Space Shuttles into docks capable of accepting future U.S. commercial crew vehicles. The two adapters will be launched by SpaceX resupply missions later this year.

"This is quite a bit of work," Mike Suffredini, NASA's ISS program manager, told Discovery News. "Our plan has always been to have a docking capability in place and operational by the end of 2015 and we're on track to do that."

NASA is anxious to have its space taxis up and operational. Since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA has had to rely on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station. Last year, NASA awarded major contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to construct space taxis.

The combination of space taxis and reconfigured ports will not only make NASA's ISS missions more autonomous, but also bolster their size and scope.

"They will permit the standard station crew size to grow from six to seven, potentially doubling the amount of time devoted to research aboard the orbiting laboratory," NASA officials said in a recent press release.

Friday's spacewalk will be televised by NASA TV. It will be Wilmore's second career spacewalk and the first for Virts.

"SAFER" virtual reality simulator- the jet pack we can use to get back to ISS if we floated away during a spacewalk. pic.twitter.com/Fp2tiwzpqj Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 18, 2015

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NASA preparing to reassemble International Space Station

Ukrainian among Mars Flight Volunteers: 24 astronauts will be chosen for 2025 space flight – Video

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Ukrainian among Mars Flight Volunteers: 24 astronauts will be chosen for 2025 space flight
Ukrainian engineer Serhiy is among a group of people chosen from 200000 applicants who might fly to Mars in ten years #39; time. Now there are hundred volunteers, but the Dutch organisers of the...

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Space shuttle fleet grounded

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Israel anxious after shuttle tragedy

JERUSALEM -- Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, lifted the spirits of a troubled country when he blasted off last month on the space shuttle Columbia. The shuttle's disintegration just before landing Saturday brought back the numbness of sudden loss. "The state of Israel and its citizens are as one at this difficult time," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said in a statement. Ronit Federman, a friend of Ramon's since high school 30 years ago, took comfort from e-mails she received from the astronaut during his flight. "I'm sure he was the most satisfied of people in his last moments," Federman told Israel's Channel 10 television. "He wrote about the divine happiness of looking at Earth. He wrote that he would like to keep floating for the rest of his life. That was the last sentence he wrote to us." Ramon, 48, was an air force colonel and the son of a Holocaust survivor. His military career included fighting in two wars and bombing an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. But those missions were carried out anonymously. He became a national hero overnight as newspapers featured him on the front page. Israel television stations carried live broadcasts of the Jan. 16 liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Ramon's 79-year-old father, Eliezer Wolferman, was being interviewed live in Jerusalem on Channel Two shortly before the scheduled landing. "I last spoke to (Ramon) via a video conference when I was still in Houston," the smiling, silver-haired Wolferman said. "It was very emotional. Our family saw him, and the children asked their dad to do somersaults in the air." Wolferman went on to say, "We write via e-mail ..." At that moment, the interviewer cut him off as the station broke away to its correspondent in Florida, who explained that the ground controllers had lost contact with the shuttle. When the broadcast returned to the Jerusalem studio, Wolferman had left. A couple of hours later, he spoke again to the media. "I think of everything from the day he was born until now," he said. "I have no son, it is very sad and I don't know what else to say." High-school science student Adar Moritz, 17, helped prepare one of the experiments Ramon performed in space. "It's like going on a trip and getting to the door of your house and falling just as you go in," Moritz said of the accident. "It's very sad." Ramon's wife, Rona, and their four children, who have lived in Texas for several years while Ramon prepared for the flight, were at Cape Canaveral for the landing. NASA took the astronauts' families to a secluded place. Ramon was selected in 1997 to be a payload specialist. He spent much of Columbia's 16-day flight aiming cameras in an Israel Space Agency study of how desert dust and other contaminants in Earth's atmosphere affect rainfall and temperature. For a few days, Ramon's journey with six American crewmates diverted attention from the grinding conflict with the Palestinians, which has reached 28 months of nonstop fighting. Ramon was not particularly religious, but chose to eat kosher food in orbit. "I'm secular in my background, but I'm going to respect all kinds of Jews all over the world," Ramon said before his flight. "For Israel and for the Jewish community, it's a very symbolic event." President Bush called Sharon and said it was a "tragic day for the astronauts' families and a tragic day for science." Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority also offered "condolences to the six American families and to the Israeli family who lost their loved ones," said Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. Israel's enthusiasm for the shuttle flight stemmed partly from the fact that Ramon was one of the country's top air force pilots, considered among the nation's military elite. Ramon logged thousands of hours of flight time and was part of the first Israeli squad to pilot American-made F-16 fighter jets in 1980. He fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and in the 1982 war in Lebanon. Ramon also was one of the fighter pilots who destroyed an unfinished, French-built nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, a senior Israeli government official said last month on condition of anonymity. Ramon, whose mother and grandmother survived the Auschwitz death camp in World War II, honored those who endured the Holocaust. During the flight, he carried a small pencil drawing titled "Moon Landscape" by Peter Ginz, a 14-year-old Jewish boy killed at Auschwitz and other mementos. Ramon's father gave him family photos to take into space and a brother had a letter stowed away in the shuttle that Ramon read in orbit.more...

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Space shuttle fleet grounded

Milk experiments sent to space returns to Walterboro students

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WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCIV) -- Four Walterboro middle school girls wanted to find a way to keep astronauts healthy while in space -- and their experiment made it all the way to the International Space Station.

Through a science competition called the Students Space Flight Experiments Program they were able to test how long it takes for milk to spoil in space compared to Earth.

We tested whole milk, skim milk and one percent milk ultra-pasteurized, said Amber Avant, a seventh grader in the group. We did it because those types of milks are most common. We tested the two milks for a month.

The students got the milk back from space on Thursday. Over the past 24 hours they've been studying the difference between the two.

We found out that the milk in space lasts longer, said Avant. So far our theory is because there is less bacteria in space and it's more sanitary, and one of the necessities for milk to spoil is bacteria.

The girls started the project because they say astronauts have to drink powdered milk while in orbit.

They hope their experiment changes that.

"Astronauts in space have less bone density and the proteins in milk help strengthen your bones, said Megan Dewitt, another seventh grader in the group. So since they have less bone density, the milk will help them get stronger bones. That's why we sent it, because they have to have powdered milk up there which has no proteins in it and doesn't help them as much as the milk would."

As the group of Colleton County Middle School students continue their project, they hope to go to Washington, D.C. this summer to present their work.

To help the girls get to D.C., click here.

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Milk experiments sent to space returns to Walterboro students

The seasteading movement is getting a reality TV show …

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February 20, 2015

Kevin is a senior editor and co-executive producer at Fusion. He may or may not be a bot.

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The seasteading movement has always been one of Silicon Valleys more intriguing pockets. Born at Burning Man, funded in its early days by PayPal billionaire Peter Thiel, stacked with tech workers, and dedicated to its mission of building utopian civilizations on giant floating platforms in the middle of the ocean, the quixotic, libertarian-leaning group has been chugging along for seven years, inspiring magazine profiles and holding conferences while its floating-cities project inches closer to reality.

Now, seasteading is becoming realityTV. The Institute sent the following e-mail to its mailing list today:

Subject: Casting Call: TV Series Seeks Seasteaders

Your dream to leave land behind and experience a new life at sea is now a possibility.

The Seasteading Institute is consulting with a new unscripted television series for a major cable network. The show is seeking a variety of experts and survivalists ready to create a new community on the ocean while building, engineering, and rehabbing residential quarters. If you have what it takes to survive challenging weather and sea conditions, if you have a yearning desire to experiment with ocean-based technologies, if you can bring a skill set that will add to the sea-villages development, then this is an opportunity for you.

If interested, email [redacted] and please CC: [redacted] by March 1, 2015 with:

Break a sea-leg, The Seasteading Institute

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The seasteading movement is getting a reality TV show ...

Surprising red carpet looks that turned heads

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26 photos

Halle Berry, 2002 Halle Berry was stunning in an embroidered Elie Saab gown in 2002 when she won an Oscar for her role in "Monster's Ball," becoming the first African-American woman to win best actress.

26 photos

Michelle Williams, 2006 In 2006, Michelle Williams was nominated for best actress in a supporting role for her performance in "Brokeback Mountain." She walked the red carpet wearing a yellow Vera Wang gown with her then-boyfriend, the late Heath Ledger.

26 photos

Cher, 1986 Cher channeled her inner showgirl at the 1986 Academy Awards, showing up in this sequined and feathered ensemble.

26 photos

Hilary Swank, 2005 Hilary Swank turned heads in a backless dress by Guy Laroche in 2005, the year she won the Oscar for her role in "Million Dollar Baby."

26 photos

Jennifer Lawrence, 2011 Jennifer Lawrence was praised for donning a simple Calvin Klein gown on the red carpet at the 2011 Academy Awards. The actress was nominated for her role in "Winter's Bone," but lost the statue to Natalie Portman.

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Surprising red carpet looks that turned heads

Astronomy – Ch. 7: The Solar Sys – Comparative Planetology (9 of 33) Planet Atomsphere – Video

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Astronomy - Ch. 7: The Solar Sys - Comparative Planetology (9 of 33) Planet Atomsphere
Visit http://ilectureonline.com for more math and science lectures! In this video I will discuss the various atmospheres of the planets in our Solar System. ...

By: Michel van Biezen

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Astronomy - Ch. 7: The Solar Sys - Comparative Planetology (9 of 33) Planet Atomsphere - Video

NASA ‘Rides On Meteoroid’ Lighting Up Western PA | Video + Animation – Video

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NASA #39;Rides On Meteoroid #39; Lighting Up Western PA | Video + Animation
A huge fireball was captured by NASA All-Sky camera at the Allegheny Observatory near Pittsburgh in the early morning hours of February 17th, 2015. NASA #39;s Meteoroid Environment Office created...

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NASA 'Rides On Meteoroid' Lighting Up Western PA | Video + Animation - Video

NASA Europa Mission May Search for Signs of Alien Life

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MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. A potential NASA mission to Jupiter's moon Europa may end up hunting for signs of life on the icy, ocean-harboring world.

NASA officials have asked scientists to consider ways that a Europa mission could search for evidence of alien life in the plumes of water vapor that apparently blast into space from Europa's south polar region.

These plumes, which NASA's Hubble Space Telescope spotted in December 2012, provide a possible way to sample Europa's ocean of liquid water, which is buried beneath the moon's icy shell, researchers say. [Photos: Europa, Mysterious Icy Moon of Jupiter]

"This is our chance" to investigate whether or not life exists on Europa, NASA science chief John Grunsfeld said here Wednesday (Feb. 18) during a Europa plume workshop at the agency's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. "I just hope we don't miss this opportunity for lack of ideas."

NASA has been working on Europa mission concepts for years. Indeed, last July, agency officials asked scientists around the world to propose instruments that could fly aboard a Europa-studying spacecraft.

The quest to explore the 1,900-mile-wide (3,100 kilometers) moon got on firmer ground earlier this month when the White House allocated $30 million in its fiscal year 2016 budget requestto formulate a Europa mission. (NASA was allocated a total of $18.5 billion in the request, which must still be approved by Congress.)

NASA is zeroing in on a flyby mission design, something along the lines of a long-studied concept called the Europa Clipper. As currently envisioned, Clipper would travel to Jupiter orbit, then make 45 flybys of Europa over 3.5 years, at altitudes ranging from 16 miles to 1,700 miles (25 km to 2,700 km).

The $2.1 billion mission would study Europa's subsurface ocean, giving researchers a better understanding of the water's depth, salinity and other characteristics. The probe would also measure and map the moon's ice shell, returning data that would be useful for a future mission to the Europan surface. [Europa and Its Ocean (Video)]

And now, it appears, NASA would like to add plume sampling to the Europa mission's task list, if possible. Grunsfeld urged workshop attendees to "think outside the box" and come up with feasible ways to study the moon's plumes.

If one such idea could be incorporated into the upcoming mission, so much the better. After all, the earliest that Clipper (or whatever variant ultimately emerges) could blast off for Europa is 2022 and, using currently operational rockets, the craft wouldn't arrive in the Jupiter system until 2030, Grunsfeld pointed out. (Use of NASA's Space Launch System megarocket, which is still in development, would cut the travel time significantly.)

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NASA Europa Mission May Search for Signs of Alien Life

NASA delays spacewalk for added suit check

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NASA postponed a spacewalk on the International Space Station that had been slated for today.

NASA postponed a spacewalk on the International Space Station that had been slated for today because astronauts needed time to conduct further checks on the suits that will be used.

The space agency announced that two American astronauts will perform a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk on Saturday instead of today to begin assembly of two new docking stations on the orbiter. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m. ET.

The delay is so "added analysis" can be done on the spacesuits that NASA astronauts Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts will wear during their spacewalk.

This isn't the first time that spacesuits have delayed the beginning of work on the space docks.

Dan Huot, a NASA spokesman, said the spacewalk initially had been set for early last month but was pushed back so ground teams could analyze two fan pump separators, which control the temperature in the suits, that exhibited start-up issues.

The spacewalk, which had been scheduled for today, was pushed back 24 hours for final testing.

"The suits currently on board and their fan pumps have been thoroughly tested and teams are confident in their performance," Huot said. "The 24-hour delay this week was just to give teams the time to close out final paper work and make sure everything was ready to go."

The space agency, working with other international partners, is trying to add two new space docks to the orbiting station to handle what is expected to be an increasing number of commercial space taxis bringing supplies and astronauts to the station.

NASA is expected to stop paying Russia to ferry its astronauts to the space station in 2017. The agency contracted with SpaceX, which already conducts resupply missions, and Boeing to launch astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since NASA retired its fleet of space shuttles in 2011.

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NASA delays spacewalk for added suit check

NASA delays spacewalk

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Facebook offers users control on ads

Facebook says it will begin allowing users to see more information about the ads delivered to them.

The New York Times reports online giant Amazon is preparing to launch a streaming music service.

Google has helped opened a new workspace for Internet entrepreneurs for innovation and collaboration.

A tweet holding a snippet of computer code has spread itself through Twitter by taking advantage of a flaw.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt today unveiled plans for a new supercomputer at the Bureau of Meteorology.

The Coorong has become the first district in regional SA to connect to NBN's fixed wireless network.

Monash University graduate Ken Chen has designed an exoskeleton to help firemen battle high-rise infernos.

Researchers looking for remains of the author of Don Quixote have identified a Madrid church as a lead.

People watching a video of a woman playing an online game called authorities to report a home invasion.

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NASA delays spacewalk

NASA spacecraft to reach dwarf planet soon

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Way out beyond Mars, but before you get to Jupiter, is a planet.

You read that right. There's a planet between Mars and Jupiter.

You may not have heard of it, but it was discovered in 1801 -- 129 years before Pluto. It originally was called a planet, then later an asteroid and now it's called a dwarf planet.

Its name is Ceres (pronounced like series) and you'll likely be hearing a lot more about it in the coming weeks.

Ceres is one of five named dwarf planets recognized by NASA and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The other four are Eris, Pluto, Makemake and Haumea.

But Ceres is the first of these worlds to get a visitor from Earth: NASA's Dawn spacecraft is arriving on March 6.

"Ceres is a 'planet' that you've probably never heard of," said Robert Mase, Dawn project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Ceres may be considered a dwarf planet, but it's "the giant of the main asteroid belt," Dr. Marc Rayman, chief engineer and mission director of the Dawn mission, told CNN. "It is not only the largest object between Mars and Jupiter, it is the largest object between the sun and Pluto that a spacecraft has not yet visited."

"We are tremendously excited," Rayman said. "We have guided this robotic probe for well over seven years on an interplanetary journey of more than 3 billion miles. Along the way we sailed past Mars. We spent 14 months orbiting and scrutinizing the giant protoplanet Vesta. ... Now, finally, we are on the verge of conducting the first exploration ever of the first dwarf planet."

New images from Dawn, taken when the probe was about 52,000 miles (83,000 kilometers) from Ceres, show craters and what NASA calls mysterious bright spots. Rayman said its surface is pretty beaten up and that the craters that are "scars from life in the rough and tumble asteroid belt."

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NASA spacecraft to reach dwarf planet soon

Innovations: The 12 threats to human civilization, ranked

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Earlier this month researchers at the Global Challenges Foundation released a thorough and unsettlinglook at what threatens human civilization. They define a civilization collapse as a drastic decrease in human population size and political/economic/social complexity, globally and for an extended time.

The bad news is this is a long list. Ive broken down what the researchers see as the doomsday scenariofor each risk, and the odds that it will happen in the next 100 years. On the bright side, the odds are generally very low, but therisks should still be takenseriously.

1. Artificial intelligence

Why its bad: Machines with an extreme amount of technology could be difficult to control. They may hoard resources to boost their own intelligence, leaving little or nothing for humankind. That would be very bad for us.

Odds of wiping out civilization: 0-10 percent

2. Unknown consequences

What to be afraid of:Thats unclear. Lots of things could go wrong that we arent even considering. Remember the Fermi paradox alien life likely exists but weve had no known contact. Perhaps intelligent life always destroys itself or something else does before it can explorethe galaxy. This leaves usto guess at the causes that may have destroyed any other intelligent life.

Evaluating the risk: 0.1 percent

3. Synthetic biology

The issue: A pathogen could be engineered to target humans or a critical part of the ecosystem. If synthetic biology products became a part of our economy, that adds a vulnerability, as they could become an entry point for biowarfare or bioterrorism.

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Innovations: The 12 threats to human civilization, ranked

9 ways to automate your life with IFTTT

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IFTT's new standalone Do apps for iOS and Android simplify the tasks you do every day. Here are a few awesome ways to use them.

Josh Miller/CNET

IFTTT's new Do apps -- Do Button, Do Note and Do Camera -- are simple, yet versatile tools to help you automate and simplify the tasks you do everyday. While the apps are well designed and fun to use, they can be a bit overwhelming at first, because there are hundreds of ways to use them.

I'm highlighting the some of the best recipes available for each of the apps, most of which you can create in just a few steps. Still stumped on what to do with the Do apps? Check out the collections that IFTTT created, which are available in each app.

Before you use the Do apps, you'll need an IFTTT account, which you can get for free either within the apps or at IFTTT.com.

Next, activate the channels you want to use by signing into your accounts on each. Channels are the services that are connected to IFTTT and they include Dropbox, Twitter, Google Drive, Instagram, SMS, WeMo, Phillips Hue, Pocket and Fitbit. All told, IFTTT has 169 channels that you can use.

Now you're ready to login to the Do apps to start creating new recipes. Recipes are the formulas that IFTTT uses to complete an action. When you press one of the buttons in the Do apps, the recipe tells the app what to do in response. You can either browse existing recipes in the app, or create a brand-new one.

Here's how to create a new recipe: Tap the mortar and pestle icon, tap the grey plus sign and then press the black plus sign. Pick a channel and choose from the available actions you see. Actions vary greatly by channel, so you might need to look around and experiment to find the right action for what you want to do.

Once you choose an action, you can edit the recipe from the available options. That usually includes changing the recipe title or editing a message that's sent. You can often attach extra information to your recipe, such as location information or a shareable URL. Tap "Add Recipe" to save the recipe and you're done.

You can't yet send someone an SMS message with the Do apps, but you can send an email. Instead of typing out a message each day to let your roommate, parent or partner know that you're heading home, you can streamline the process by tapping the Do Button each time. By default, IFTTT will also send a map photo of your current location with your message too.

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9 ways to automate your life with IFTTT