Daily Archives: April 8, 2015

Inside KSC! April 3, 2015
Inside KSC this week, the launch of the CRS-6 mission to carry cargo to the International Space Station is coming up and the crawler-transporter receives heavy duty modifications for the weight...

By: Waspie_Dwarf

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Inside KSC! April 3, 2015 - Video

Space Station Crew Member Discusses Life in Space with the Italian Prime Minister
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 43 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency discussed her mission and its accomplishments with Italian Prime Minister...

By: NASA

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Space Station Crew Member Discusses Life in Space with the Italian Prime Minister - Video

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) Ever since Alan Shepard blasted off aboard the Freedom 7 capsule in Jan. 1961, the roughly 550 individuals who have traveled into space have all come from an elite albeit similar pool of candidates.

The original "Mercury Seven" astronauts? All military pilots. Through much of NASA's space shuttle program, the space agency mostly limited its pool of astronauts to pilots, engineers, scientists and medical doctors along with the occasional politician.

In 1986, NASA expanded its criteria when it launched teacher Christa McAuliffe aboard space shuttle Challenger a flight that ended in fatal tragedy for all seven crew members. Though NASA says McAuliffe will always be remembered as the nation's first and only "Teacher in Space," the agency launched McAuliffe's backup, Barbara Morgan, as an "Educator Mission Specialist" in 2007, and says it remains committed to sending more teachers in the future.

But as the crew that makes up Expedition 44 comprised of American astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui prepares to launch for a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station, they say they're also preparing to host a new type of unconventional' astronaut: famed opera singer Sarah Brightman.

Station Soprano

Brightman, who received worldwide acclaim for her breakout role as 'Christine' in Andrew Lloyd Weber's popular 1986 rock-opera "Phantom of the Opera," has been a performing vocalist for three decades, with her official Web site calling her "the world's biggest selling soprano" who boasts a vocal range of over "three full octaves."

And if all goes as planned, in September, Brightman will be singing from an unprecedented venue, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule and spending 10 days aboard the International Space Station. Using the station as her concert stage, Brightman is expected to perform a song written in collaboration with Weber especially for the occasion, along with accompaniment by artists on the Earth.

Lindgren, Kononenko and Yui will be on the station during Brightman's brief stay, and WDRB Web Producer Travis Kircher -- along with Space.com reporter Miriam Kramer -- spoke with them briefly during a round robbins phone interview about the upcoming flight.

"I'm excited that Sarah Brightman is flying," Lindgren said. "She is something of an international ambassador for arts and so I'm excited to see the arts in space to see music and do a little performance in space of something that's new."

"She's going to be reaching out to a whole new population that maybe didn't have a particular interest in space previously," he added. "And then she's just going to be something new to the space station. I can tell you that it's going to be very exciting to watch her and hear her perform up there."

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Upcoming International Space Station crew prepares to host musical celebrity

Have you ever wanted to see the International Space Station (ISS)?

Intergalactic travel might be out of the question, but now NASA experts are telling people when the ISS will be visible in different parts of the world - including in our region this month.

The space explorers have an updated list of times when the ISS will be able to be viewed in Dorking, Farnborough, Farnham and Guildford.

The ISS, which appears as a bright glowing object, looks like a fast-moving plane or star shooting across the horizon.

The space station is currently habited by a crew of six people and orbits at a height of about 264 miles, traveling around the earth 15 times a day.

The ISS has been in space for more than 5,800 days, during which time it has completed more than 92,000 orbits of the planet, and has been continuously occupied for more than 13 years,

To see it, look south or west in the night sky.

It pretty much looks like a bright star or fast-moving plane.

It has no flashing lights and doesn't make a sound, so that's how you can tell the difference between it and any aircraft in the sky.

Times are also available for areas bordering the region including in Worthing, Bracknell and East Grinstead.

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How to see the International Space Station flying over Surrey and north-east Hampshire

Washington, DC company United SpaceStructureswants to create a new space station It rotates four times a minute to create artificial gravity - with the 'stem' and 'dome spinning in opposite directions It would be 1,300ft (400 metres) long, cost 200 billion ($300 billion) and take 30 years to build We believe artificial gravity is required to support long term living in space, Bill Kemp from USS told MailOnline

By Jonathan O'Callaghan for MailOnline

Published: 04:53 EST, 8 April 2015 | Updated: 09:40 EST, 8 April 2015

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One problem with space travel is that humans arent very good at coping with reduced gravity - their bones and muscles deteriorate over time.

But one company says they have an answer - a giant rotating space cylinder that can create artificial gravity.

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A Washington, DC-based company called United Space Structures wants to create a new space station. Their giant cylinder (shown, with the ISS and Space Shuttles illustrated) could apparently replace the ISS. It would rotate four times per minute to create artificial gravity, and would be 1,300ft (400 metres) long, cost 200 billion ($300 billion) and take 30 years to build

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Could this $300 billion 'space mushroom' replace the ISS?