Monthly Archives: March 2017

A new virtual-reality simulation lets users explore the International Space Station, dock cargo capsules, go on spacewalks and perform other tasks high above Earth's surface.

The "Mission:ISS" simulation, released yesterday (March 9), is available for free. It works with the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset and the Oculus Touch motion controllers (reviewed on our sister site Tom's Hardware). Production company Magnopus made the simulation in collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, the Oculus team said in a blog post.

"Mission:ISS" models spacewalks and other space station tasks in 3D.

"Based on NASA Space Station models as well as discussions with multiple astronauts and the VR Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, 'Mission:ISS' recreates the International Space Station in painstaking detail," they wrote.

In addition to performing mission tasks using the Oculus Touch, users will learn about the space station's history and hear astronauts' stories through several included videos.

Users can also dock incoming cargo spacecraft using the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2.

The project also includes two very different types of outreach: A beta program will provide some high school students in the United States access to "Mission:ISS" and the necessary hardware, and the Rift will also be sent to space for astronauts to use on the orbiting lab.

"The Rift will be used for the first time in orbit by European astronaut Thomas Pesquet to test the effects of zero-gravity on human spatial awareness and balance using software developed by the space agencies," the Oculus team wrote. Space station astronauts have also worked with Microsoft's HoloLens headsets, which superimpose virtual-reality elements on the real world to be viewed through the headset, to test a system that guides technical procedures and repairs in orbit.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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'Mission:ISS' Lets You Explore Space Station & Spacewalk in Virtual Reality - Space.com

In Brief

Aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow thinks space stations could be orbiting the Moon by 2020. However, he stresses, these giant refueling depots will only be possible by that time if the Trump administration prioritizes the national urgency and funding that such an initiative will need.

The key is going to be how fast the Trump administration can react, Bigelow told Space.com in a March 3 interview, adding that the administration would have to move quickly to energize funds and to galvanize the private sector.

Bigelow, who heads Bigelow Aerospace, understands the industry. His company has already launched three private inflatable space-habitat prototypes into orbit. The most recent is the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) project, which was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2016 via a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship. BEAM is the first inflatable room ever privately built and installed on the space station. It was created as part of a NASA future space habitats test, and thus far, Bigelow reports that it is performing well.

Space tourismis a hot topic for Bigelow and other space entrepreneurs.

On February 26, Elon Musk announcedthat SpaceX will launch a private flight to the Moon in 2018. The charter aboard the Dragon capsule already has two passengers who have made significant deposits. Those private citizens will have the opportunity to orbit the Moon after launching via SpaceXs Falcon Heavy rocket. Also with his eyes on the Moon is Jeff Bezos,who told The Washington Poston March 2 that his private space company, Blue Origin, is making its own plans for a Moon venture.

Habitats for the Moon and beyond and private space stations are goals for Bigelow and his company. He hopes to launch a colossal inflatable space habitat and free-flying private space station into orbit in 2020 and claims that Bigelow Aerospaceaims to provide habitats at a fraction of NASAs cost. As his company and others make space flight cheaper and more accessible, humanity will be able to extend its reach beyond our home planet, perhaps one day visiting and even colonizing new ones.

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Within 3 Years, We Could Have Private Space Stations Orbiting the Moon - Futurism

In a video uploaded to YouTube, a cigar-shaped object is seen above Earth, with two bright objects below it.

And the two smaller orbs appear to move towards the larger shape.

The, before the footage ends, the UFOs appear to suddenly disappear.

prolific UFO hunter Streetcap1 uploaded the video to YouTube.

STREETCAP!*YouTube

Fellow UFO chaser Tyler Glockner who another YouTube channel SecureTeam 10 said of the discovery: I have monitored hundreds, likely thousands, of hours of ISS live feed footage and I've seen UFOs, I've seen ice crystals, I've seen space debris and I've seen light reflections.

What we're seeing here looks like none of those.

And it would appear that shortly after these objects come into view, NASA either purposely or the UFOs do it on their own, but the objects quickly dim out.

NASA

1 of 14

ISS Nasa live cam cuts after 'suddenly locking on to mystery glowing UFO'

it would appear that shortly after these objects come into view, NASA either purposely or the UFOs do it on their own, but the objects quickly dim out.

Tyler Glockner

So we may have had NASA dimming the feed, messing with the contrast or the exposure to make these objects disappear from view."

Many viewers were not convinced by the theory.

One posted on YouTube: "probably an old satellite thats space debris.

Another added: Its obviously an airplane distorted the same way you see an image through a clear glass that is round.

There have been several similar claims of NASA shutting the feed when an alleged UFO came into view - but it turned out they were nothing more than light reflected of the ISS itself showing on the camera.

Scott Brando, who runs hoax-busting website ufoofinterest.org said the latest video was just another lens flare anomaly.

He also provided an example of a similar lens flare in another ISS video feed, uploaded by Streetcap1.

NASA denies it has ever seen any UFOs by the ISS, and says the camera only cuts out due to a technical glitch, or changing between different cameras.

More:
'Monster UFO' appears by International Space Station 'before NASA cuts camera feed' - Express.co.uk

Raphael Schilling, one of the three student team members who built V3PO, prepared the space station experiment by planting 0.6-inch (1.5 cm) cuttings of Ficus pumila into agar-based nutrient gel four cuttings in each of two compartments.

What started out as an after-school science-club project is now an important experiment aboard the International Space Station.

Astronauts have grown plants from seeds in microgravity before, but three students at the Edith-Stein School Ravensburg & Aulendorf in Germany wondered whether plants could also grow from cuttings. If proven possible, it would be a key development that would help astronauts quickly grow food in space. The students raised money through crowdfunding and industry sponsors to develop their experiment, called V3PO, to fly to the space station.

Maria Koch, Raphael Schilling and David Geray, who started the project about three years ago as 16-year-old students, traveled to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the launch, which was delayed a day before finally lifting off Feb. 19. [Plants in Space: Photos by Gardening Astronauts]

The V3PO team, along with their teacher and two assisting aerospace engineers (l-r) Chriss Bruderrek, David Geray, Maria Birlem, Raphael Schilling, Brigitte Schuermann, Maria Koch handed over the final experiment to NASA's operations team 36 hours before the scheduled launch.

The team was disappointed when the launch was called off with just 13 seconds to go, but were elated the next day when it finally flew, said Sebastian Rohrer, head of fungicide early biology at the German chemical company BASF's crop protection division and a scientific adviser to the students. "We kind of were staring at the skies and couldn't really believe it that it's now really happened," he told Space.com by phone from near the launch site.

"Everybody was standing there, mouths open, and didn't really know what to do, but then we started shaking hands and cheering and from there, it kind of erupted," he added.

BASF was one of the major sponsors of the students' project, and the company also provided materials and equipment for the students to use.

On Feb. 23, the space station crew installed the NanoRacks module with the experiment, which activated lights and a video feed to document the plants' fate. The whole space-borne package will return to Earth along with SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in about two weeks, and in the meantime monitoring images are sent down daily.

The V3PO team chose a small, decorative plant called Ficus pumila (commonly called the creeping fig) for the experiment. The plant is compact enough to fit in the two compartments of the tiny box sent to space; each compartment measures 1.6 by 1.2 by 1.8 inches (4 by 3 by 4.5 centimeters). It also can withstand the temperature changes inherent in a flight through space; the plants were cooled to 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) beforehand to make sure they wouldn't grow until they were in microgravity. Four cuttings of the plant, along with a nutrient gel, were placed in each chamber.

After the first launch attempt was called off with just 13 seconds left on the clock, the rocket with V3PO aboard finally lifted off Feb. 19. Here, the students (l-r) Sebastian Rohrer, Maria Koch, Brigitte Schuermann, Chriss Bruderrek, Maria Birlem, Raphael Schilling, David Geray celebrate from their nearby viewpoint.

When the experiment lands back on Earth, the students will re-create the atmospheric conditions the plants went through, to see how Earth-bound plants fare in the same circumstances, the students and teacher, Brigitte Schuermann, told Space.com by phone (through a translator).

On Earth, pieces cut from the plants' stems can shoot out their own roots and grow into new plants a behavior that can be used to replicate crops such as tomatoes on Earth. If the little plant cuttings can grow roots without the help of gravity, they could pave the way for easier food growing on long trips through space, like those astronauts will experience when traveling to Mars someday, the students said.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Can Plants Grow from Clippings on the Space Station? Student Project Will Find Out - Space.com

What happens when an astronaut gets sick in space? Do the astronauts get on each other's nerves? What would happen if the International Space Station were struck by debris?

These were a few of the questions students from Blair Pointe Elementary School asked Thursday when they spoke to ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough.

Blair Pointe Elementary is one of only 12 organizations around the world to speak with the ISS in a 6-month period as part of a grant through Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, otherwise known as ARISS.

Blair Pointe applied for the grant last year after Maconaquah Elementary was awarded it in 2015. Bill McAlpin, president of the Miami County Amateur Radio Club, assisted in the grant application and helped the school connect with the ISS Thursday morning.

The students were given approximately 11 minutes to speak with Kimbrough. The ISS moves so quickly that they had to connect as soon as it was within range of their radio set-up, and they lost contact as it passed over the Atlantic Ocean. Within those 11 minutes, the ISS traveled about 3,000 miles.

It was a tense few minutes when McAlpin began trying to contact Kimbrough.

November Alpha One Sierra Sierra, this is Whiskey Delta Nine Golf India Uniform, he said several times, followed only by static.

Finally, Kimbrough responded.

Fifteen students lined up to ask Kimbrough questions. One student asked how many people live on the ISS at one time. Kimbrough said only six, because the shuttle used to get to it can hold only three people.

Another student asked what happens when astronauts get sick in space. Kimbrough said they have a well-stocked supply of medicine and equipment.

But fortunately for us, nobodys gotten sick on our mission, he said.

Kimbrough provided several answers during the 11-minute contact with the school. He said he and the astronauts perform several kinds of experiments every day, and they have to exercise regularly to keep their bones from deteriorating in zero gravity.

He said the astronauts go through extensive training before going into space, but nothing prepared him for his first space walk, which he said is the hardest physical thing about his job.

You just cant train for that experience, he said.

Hannah Baker asked whether bones break differently in space than they do on Earth. Kimbrough said he wouldnt know for sure because none of his crew have broken bones while on the ISS. He speculated that bones would probably break in a similar way, though the healing process might be different.

It was amazing to get to talk to an astronaut, Baker said after the event.

A few other students asked questions that Kimbrough could only answer theoretically because they havent happened, such as what would happen if an astronaut became unhooked from the ISS or if the ISS were struck by debris. One student asked if he worried about the ISS traveling beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. Kimbrough said thankfully those situations have not happened, though they are trained for most emergency scenarios.

One student asked if the other astronauts ever get on Kimbrough's nerves. He answered by saying that it's always a possibility with six people in a small space disconnected from the rest of the world, but the astronauts are trained to be able to work well together.

Kimbrough will return to earth next month after having been in space for six months. He said hes looking forward to seeing his family, adding that if he could bring his family on the ISS with him, it would be a perfect set-up.

Terri McCain, a fifth-grade teacher at Blair Pointe, said she was grateful for the opportunity to speak with the ISS.

I thought the kids had wonderful questions, she said. I thought it was amazing.

The ISS's next contact is with a junior high school in Komotini, Greece.

See original here:
Call to space: Blair Pointe Elementary contacts the International ... - Kokomo Tribune

IANS | Washington March 11, 2017 Last Updated at 11:38 IST

The launch of Orbital ATKs seventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station has been delayed and it is now targetted for no earlier than March 21, NASA said.

The Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission was earlier scheduled for March 19.

Orbital ATK aims to launch the Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for delivery of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the space station.

During prelaunch testing on March 10, ULA discovered a booster hydraulic issue at the pad.

Both the cargo spacecraft and Atlas V rocket remain secure in their processing facilities, NASA said in a blog post on Friday.

The Cygnus spacecraft, packed with about 3,447 kgs of supplies and research for crew aboard the orbiting laboratory, will be launched atop the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

--IANS

gb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The launch of Orbital ATKs seventh commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station has been delayed and it is now targetted for no earlier than March 21, NASA said.

The Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission was earlier scheduled for March 19.

Orbital ATK aims to launch the Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket for delivery of essential crew supplies, equipment and scientific experiments to astronauts aboard the space station.

During prelaunch testing on March 10, ULA discovered a booster hydraulic issue at the pad.

Both the cargo spacecraft and Atlas V rocket remain secure in their processing facilities, NASA said in a blog post on Friday.

The Cygnus spacecraft, packed with about 3,447 kgs of supplies and research for crew aboard the orbiting laboratory, will be launched atop the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

--IANS

gb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

IANS

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Orbital ATK's 7th resupply mission to space station delayed - Business Standard