Daily Archives: June 6, 2020

The first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The first human to go into space, Yuri Gagarin, was launched, again by the Soviet Union, for a one-orbit journey around Earth on April 12, 1961. Within 10 years of that first human flight, American astronauts walked on the surface of the Moon. Apollo 11 crew members Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin made the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969. A total of 12 Americans on six separate Apollo missions set foot on the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972. Since then, no humans have left Earth orbit, but more than 500 men and women have spent as many as 438 consecutive days in space. Starting in the early 1970s, a series of Soviet (Russian from December 1991) space stations, the U.S. Skylab station, and numerous space shuttle flights provided Earth-orbiting bases for varying periods of human occupancy and activity. From November 2, 2000, when its first crew took up residence, to its completion in 2011, the International Space Station (ISS) served as a base for humans living and working in space on a permanent basis. It will continue to be used in this way until at least 2024.

Since 1957 Earth-orbiting satellites and robotic spacecraft journeying away from Earth have gathered valuable data about the Sun, Earth, other bodies in the solar system, and the universe beyond. Robotic spacecraft have landed on the Moon, Venus, Mars, Titan, a comet, and three asteroids, have visited all the major planets, and have flown by Kuiper belt objects and by the nuclei of comets, including Halleys Comet, traveling in the inner solar system. Scientists have used space-derived data to deepen human understanding of the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, and other cosmological phenomena.

Orbiting satellites also have provided, and continue to provide, important services to the everyday life of many people on Earth. Meteorologic satellites deliver information on short- and long-term weather patterns and their underlying causes. Other Earth-observation satellites remotely sense land and ocean areas, gathering data that improve management of Earths resources and that help in understanding global climate change. Telecommunications satellites allow essentially instantaneous transfer of voice, images, and data on a global basis. Satellites operated by the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India, and Europe give precision navigation, positioning, and timing information that has become essential to many terrestrial users. Earth-observation satellites have also become extremely useful to the military authorities of several countries as complements to their land, sea, and air forces and have provided important security-related information to national leaders.

As the many benefits of space activity have become evident, other countries have joined the Soviet Union and the United States in developing their own space programs. They include a number of western European countries operating both individually and, after 1975, cooperatively through the European Space Agency, as well as China, Japan, Canada, India, Israel, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, and Brazil. By the second decade of the 21st century, more than 50 countries had space agencies or other government bodies carrying out space activities.

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Space exploration - Major milestones | Britannica

Why explore space? Its an expensive arena to play in, between the fuel costs and the technological challenge of operating in a hostile environment. For humans, a small mistake can quickly become fatal something that we have seen several times in space history. And for NASAs budget, there are projects that come in late and over budget, drawing the ire of Congress and the public.

These are some of the drawbacks. But for the rest of this article, we will focus on some of the benefits of going where few humans have gone before.

Spinoffs

Perhaps the most direct benefit comes from technologies used on Earth that were first pioneered in space exploration. This is something that all agencies talk about, but well focus on the NASA Spinoff program as an example. (NASA will be used as the prime example for most of this article, but many of these cited benefits are also quoted by other space agencies.)

The program arose from NASAs desire to showcase spinoffs at congressional budget hearings, according to its website. This began with a Technology Utilization Program Report in 1973, which began as a black-and-white circular and progressed to color in 1976 following public interest. Since that year, NASA has published more than 1,800 reports on spinoffs.

The agency has several goals in doing this. Dispelling the myth of wasted taxpayer dollars is one NASA cites, along with encouraging the public to follow space exploration and showing how American ingenuity can work in space.

There are many commercialized advances the program says it contributed to, including memory foam (first used for airline crash protection), magnetic resonance imaging and smoke detection. In many cases, NASA did not invent the technology itself, but just pushed it along, the agency says.

But as counterpoint to NASAs arguments, some critics argue the technology would have been developed anyway without space exploration, or that the money spent on exploration itself does not justify the spinoff.

Job creation

Another popularly cited benefit of space exploration is job creation, or the fact that a space agency and its network of contractors, universities and other entities help people stay employed. From time to time, NASA puts out figures concerning how many associated jobs a particular project generates, or the economic impact.

Heres an example: in 2012, NASA administrator Charles Bolden published a blog post about the Curiosity Mars rover landing, which was picked up by the White House website. Its also important to remember that the $2.5 billion investment made in this project was not spent on Mars, but right here on Earth, supporting more than 7,000 jobs in at least 31 states, he wrote.

But the benefit can cut in a negative way, too. NASAs budget is allocated by Congress, which means that the amount of money it has available for employment fluctuates. There are also some programs that are highly dependent on grants, which can make stable jobs challenging in those fields. Finally, as the priorities of Congress/NASA change, jobs can evaporate with it. One example was the space shuttles retirement, which prompted a job loss so massive that NASA had a transition strategy for its employees and contractors.

Its also unclear what constitutes a job under NASA parlance. Some universities have researchers working on multiple projects NASA-related or not. Employment can also be full-time, part-time or occasional. So while job creation is cited as a benefit, more details about those jobs are needed to make an informed decision about how much good it does.

Education

Teaching has a high priority for NASA, so much so that it has flown astronaut educators in space. (The first one, Christa McAuliffe, died aboard the space shuttle Challenger during launch in 1986. Her backup, Barbara Morgan, was selected as an educator/mission specialist in 1998 and flew aboard STS-118 in 2007.) And to this day, astronauts regularly do in-flight conferences with students from space, ostensibly to inspire them to pursue careers in the field.

NASAs education office has three goals: making the workforce stronger, encouraging students to pursue STEM careers (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and engaging Americans in NASAs mission. Other space agencies also have education components to assist with requirements in their own countries. Its also fair to say the public affairs office for NASA and other agencies play roles in education, although they also talk about topics such as missions in progress.

But its hard to figure out how well the education efforts translate into inspiring students, according to a National Research Council report on NASAs primary and secondary education program in 2008. Among other criticisms, the program was cited as unstable (as it needs to change with political priorities) and there was little rigorous evaluation of its effectiveness. But NASAs emphasis on science and discovery was also praised.

Anecdotally, however, many astronauts and people within NASA have spoken about being inspired by watching missions such as Apollo take place. And the same is true of people who are peripherally involved in the field, too. (A personal example: this author first became interested in space in the mid-1990s through the movie Apollo 13, which led to her watching the space shuttle program more closely.)

Intangible benefits

Added to this host of business-like benefits, of course, are the intangibles. What sort of value can you place on better understanding the universe? Think of finding methane on Mars, or discovering an exoplanet, or constructing the International Space Station to do long-term exploration studies. Each has a cost associated with it, but with each also comes a smidgeon of knowledge we can add to the encyclopedia of the human race.

Space can also inspire art, which is something seen heavily in 2014 following the arrival of the European Space Agency Rosetta mission at Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko. It inspired songs, short videos and many other works of art. NASAs missions, particularly those early space explorers of the 1950s and 1960s, inspired creations from people as famous as Norman Rockwell.

There also are benefits that maybe we cannot anticipate ahead of time. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is a network that advocates looking for life around the universe, likely because communicating with beings outside of Earth could bring us some benefit. And perhaps there is another space-related discovery just around the corner that will change our lives drastically.

For more information, here is a Universe Today article about how we really watched television from the moon. We also collected some spin-offs from the Hubble Space Telescope. You can also listen to Astronomy Cast. Episode 144 Space Elevators.

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What Are The Benefits Of Space Exploration? - Universe Today

I never look at the Moon without being reminded of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and of the day, July 20, 1969, when they left their first footprints on its dusty surface. The exploit seems even more heroic in retrospect, when we realise how primitive the technology was: Nasas entire suite of computers was less powerful than a single smartphone today.

Apollo 11 was only 12 years after the USSRs first Sputnik satellite launched into orbit around the Earth. Had the pace of missions been sustained in the subsequent half-century, there would surely have been footprints on Mars long before today.

But this has not happened.

The reason, of course, is that Apollo was motivated by the US strategic imperative to beat the Russians; it consumed up to four per cent of the US federal budget. Once US primacy was achieved, continuing gargantuan levels of funding was not justifiable, and the Apollo Programme ended in 1972 with the safe return of Apollo 17.

Hundreds more people have ventured into space in the ensuing decades, but anti-climactically they have done no more than circle the Earth in low orbit, mostly in the International Space Station.

Space technology has nonetheless burgeoned. There is participation from more than 70 nations, as well as the commercial sector. We routinely depend on orbiting satellites for communication, navigation, environmental monitoring, surveillance and weather forecasting. And space technology offers a huge boost to astronomers, lifting telescopes into orbits far above the blurring and absorptive effects of Earths atmosphere.

The sector has been energised by private companies, such as Elon Musks SpaceX and Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin. These ventures bring a can-do Silicon Valley culture into a domain long dominated by Nasa and a few aerospace conglomerates. They have developed the techniques to recover and reuse the main launch rocket, presaging real cost savings.

Machine learning is advancing quickly, as is sensor technology. In coming decades, the entire solar system planets, moons, and asteroids will be explored by fleets of tiny, automated probes interacting with one another like a flock of birds.

Giant robotic fabricators will construct, in space, solar energy collectors, telescopes and other giant structures. Indeed, much industrial production could eventually happen away from Earth.

Ever more capable instruments have been sent to Mars to orbit around the red planet or land on its surface. They will be joined next year by the UAEs Hope spacecraft to study the Martian climate hopefully a pathfinder for other projects, both inspirational and practical, from the Middle East.

But the extra cost of sending humans and returning them safely remains significant. So will humans once again venture into what we call deep space, rather than simply orbiting the Earth?

Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley, foreground, and Bob Behnken call down to mission controllers for a report on their second flight day onboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Nasa's SpaceX Demo-2 mission approaching to dock to the International Space Station (ISS). Nasa TV / EPA

SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft approaches to dock to ISS. Nasa TV / EPA

SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft approaches to dock to ISS. Nasa TV / EPA

SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft approaches to dock to ISS. Nasa TV / EPA

The SpaceX Dragon crew capsule, with Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken aboard, docks with the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP

The SpaceX Dragon crew capsule, with Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken aboard, docks with the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP

The SpaceX Dragon crew capsule, with Nasa astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken aboard, docks with the International Space Station. Nasa TV / AP

SpaceX Crew Dragon is seen from the International Space Station during the spacecraft's approach to the orbiting laboratory. Nasa TV / EPA

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft launched from Launch Complex 39A on Nasas SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with Nasa astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, at Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Nasa / AFP

To todays young people, the Apollo programme is ancient history. It was all over long before they were ever born. Of the 12 men who walked on the moon, only three are still living. We could be nearing a time when no human has a first-hand memory of standing on another world.

Along with millions of others, I would be saddened if human exploration of deep space faded into history.

Mars is a more alluring target than the Moon, albeit more remote. I hope that some people alive today will walk on the red planets surface as an adventure, and as a step towards the stars.

Nasas Space Shuttle, when it was operational, was launched more than 130 times. Its two crashes were national traumas because it had been promoted unwisely as a safe vehicle for civilians (and because a schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe, was one of the casualties). Test pilots and adventurers would readily accept much more risk than the two per cent implicit in the experience of the Space Shuttle programme.

China has the resources, the dirigisme and maybe even the willingness to undertake an Apollo-style programme. It already achieved a first by landing on the far side of the Moon, and will surely follow this up with a manned Lunar base. But a clearer-cut great leap forward in Chinese space exploration would involve footprints on Mars, not just on the Moon.

Looking further ahead, the UAE envisages that, by 2117, there could be a real "city" on Mars, and it is welcome to have this inspirational goal to inspire interest among the next generation and inspire innovation in the region.

I think the future of manned spaceflight also lies with privately funded adventurers who are prepared to participate in a cut-price programme far riskier than the kind Nasa has been able to impose upon its astronauts thus far.

The phrase space tourism should be avoided. It lulls people into believing that such ventures are genuinely safe. And if that is the perception, the inevitable accidents will be as traumatic as those of the Shuttle. These exploits must be sold, so to speak, as dangerous sports, or intrepid exploration.

So I hope that adventurers and thrill-seekers later this century might establish a fragile base on Mars. But do not ever expect mass emigration from Earth. And here I disagree with Mr Musk and with my late Cambridge colleague Stephen Hawking, who enthuse about a rapid build-up of large-scale Martian communities.

Space does not offer an escape from all of Earths problems. We have got to solve these here. Coping with climate change may seem daunting, but it is simple compared to terraforming Mars. No place in our solar system offers an environment as clement as even the Antarctic, or the top of Everest. There is no Planet B for ordinary, risk-averse people. We must cherish our Earthly home and our global heritage but continue to seek inspiration from the stars.

Martin Rees is the UKs Astronomer Royal and the author of On the Future: Prospects for Humanity

Updated: June 6, 2020 10:46 AM

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Space exploration is about adventure, but also responsibility - The National

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Opinion columnist Published 11:32 a.m. ET June 3, 2020

This is huge, but in a sense nothing new: We were launching people into orbit over 50 years ago, after all. But SpaceX is doing it for much less, and thats revolutionary.

Though the news is filled with stories of riots and a pandemic, the most transformative things going on at present are in a totally different sphere.One of those things is pretty obvious, the other less so.

The obvious transformation involves SpaceXs successful launch of a human crew into orbit, the first such launch involving an American spacecraft in nearly a decade, and the first such launch everby a commercial spacecraft.

At the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 30, 2020.(Photo: Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY)

This is huge, but in a sense, nothing new:We were launching people into orbit over 50 years ago, after all. SpaceXs Crew Dragoncapsule is bigger and fancier than a Gemini, but the mission profile is not all that different.And of course, our last mission to orbit, on board a space shuttle, was basically old hat itself.

But SpaceX is doing it for much less, and thats revolutionary.To get a kilogram into orbit on the space shuttle costs $54,500. To do the same thing with SpaceXs newest rocket, the Falcon 9, costs $2,720. Thats basically a twenty-fold reduction in cost.

Lots of things that are too expensive to do at $54,500 become doable at $2,720.And SpaceX isnt standing still.Its Starship reusable rocket, under development now, is to cost a mere $2 million per launch, and Elon Musk says its cost per kilogram to orbit will be at least 10 times lower than the Falcon 9.There are a lot more things that become doable at $272 per kilogram.At those prices, things like space tourism, space hotels, lunar minesand asteroid mining become feasible.

As Robert Heinlein once said, once you get to Earth orbit, you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system.

Editorial Board: SpaceX, launching to space station, rockets to new age of entrepreneurial orbital flight

Which brings me to the second, less obvious transformation of this spring: President Donald Trumps opening outer space for business. "The executive order, Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources, is meant to createa new industry: the extraction and processing of resources from the moon and asteroids toward thesettlement of the solar system," as I wrote in April.

Theres a lot of wealth in spaceas I wrote back in 2013, "A 79-foot-wide M-type (metallic) asteroid could hold 33,000 tons of extractable metals, including $50 million in platinum alone. A 23-foot-diameter C-type (carbonaceous) asteroid can hold 24,000 gallons of water, useful for generating fuel and oxygen.Larger asteroids could be worth as much as the GDP of a superpower. Asteroid 1986 DA is a metallic asteroid made up of iron, nickel, gold and platinum. Estimates of its value range between $6 and $7 trillion. Something that size won't be retrieved anytime soon, but the figure gives some idea of just how much wealth is out there."

People have been talking about asteroid mining for awhileand even started companies with that in mind, but theyve been slowed down by two problems:The expense of getting into outer space, and the legal uncertainties around extracting lunar and asteroid resources.Musk is addressing the expense; Trump is addressing the legal uncertainty.

The executive order makes clear that Americarejects the failed 1979 Moon Treaty which the United Statesnever joined, and which banned private property rights in space and that it will recognize and defend the rights of its citizens in developing space resources.

Martha McSally: The COVID-19 pandemic is misery, but we'll come out stronger in the end

In doing so, its pretty bipartisan:In 2015, President Barck Obama signed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which provides that a U.S. citizen engaged in the commercial recovery of an asteroidresource or a space resource ...shall be entitled to ...possess, own, transport, use, and sell the asteroid resource or space resource obtained in accordance with applicable law, including the international obligations of the United States.

Trumps order ensures that international obligations will be supportive and not destructive of such efforts.

Rather than the Moon Treaty, the administration is working on a new set of agreements with other spacefaring nations, known as the Artemis Accords, in which participants will agree to respect each others rights in outer space. Theres already interest from other nations, though the Russians, whose space-launch business has collapsed in the face of competition from SpaceX, arent happy.

At any rate, it may well be that future historians will remember 2020 much more for being the second beginning of a wave of human expansion into space, than for the grubby earthbound problems that occupy the news on a daily basis. I certainly hope so.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and the author of "The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself," is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.

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A new era: The Space Age is making a comeback, but it's cheaper this time with SpaceX. - USA TODAY

With most of us cooped up at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, we've rounded up some educational courses from MasterClass and The Great Courses to dive in-depth into space topics. We hope this will provide some distraction in between the activities you need to do to stay safe.

MasterClass was co-founded by David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen in 2014, and released publicly the following year. On the website, dozens of well-known celebrities offer information on their field of expertise, ranging from cooking to creative arts. The streaming service offers a few ways of viewing content. If you want a full buffet experience, you can get unlimited access for U.S. $15 a month or $180 a year (pricing will vary by country). Or if you prefer to hold on to one class forever, that will cost $90. Here are some of its classes about space and space-related topics:

American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City, offers a new course on scientific thinking and communication. Topics included are how to think skeptically, elements of scientific literacy, understanding data, and overcoming bias to seek objective truth. Additionally, deGrasse Tyson offers tips for communicating your ideas to different audiences.

Canadian retired astronaut Chris Hadfield, who is now an independent consultant and public speaker, has a course on space exploration. This not only covers the usual topics such as rockets, the International Space Station, spacewalking and training, but also a segment on leadership that allows you to learn how to think like an astronaut. Space.com previously covered the class in detail, with the top 15 lessons learned.

Acclaimed science fiction author Neil Gaiman explores the art of storytelling, which he has deployed in numerous space books such as his Interworld trilogy or "Stardust" (HarperCollins Publishers, 1997) His course goes in-depth into developing characters, finding an author's voice, developing the study, and seeking the truth in fictional works. He also deals with the usual writers' worries, including the editing process and overcoming writer's block.

Malcolm Gladwell, whose numerous bestsellers explore the intersection between science and culture, offers an in-depth course on storytelling in journalism. The author of "Blink" (Back Bay Books, 2007) and "The Tipping Point" (Little, Brown and Company, 2000) explores topics ranging from interviewing, to structuring language, to dealing with technical matters such as jargon, case studies and tone. He also goes through the writing process, including how to make the most of drafts and revisions.

"Rolling Stone" photographer Annie Leibovitz, who has tackled space subjects (such as this portrait of astronaut Eileen Collins) and famous cultural icons such as the Beatles' John Lennon over the decades, has a course on portrait photography. Her perspectives include making the best use of light, deciding between studio or location shots, ways of interacting with people, and her photographic influences.

Ron Howard, director of space film "Apollo 13" (1995, Universal Pictures) and co-producer of HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon" miniseries (1998), discusses the art of direction. This walks you step-by-step through how to get a movie from concept to screen, including choosing a story, readying a script, the importance of choosing collaborators, doing your research and finessing the result with editing.

Jodie Foster, who starred in the 1997 movie "Contact" about seeking out alien civilizations, shows her work from behind the camera in a series of classes about filmmaking. This will explore the process all the way from storyboarding, to casting, to ways to deploy your cameras. The series also features a few short films by Foster.

The Great Courses, which was founded by The Teaching Company in 1990, features short university-style lectures from award-winning professors. Course lengths range from miniseries to many dozens of lectures. There are two separate websites to access The Great Courses content, with different selections on each site.

You can access the back catalog online at TheGreatCourses.com, buying individual courses. The price varies considerably, but some courses are advertised on the front page as being below $75; others will be much more in price. If you prefer unlimited streaming, a selection of content is available at TheGreatCoursesPlus.com. While the content on the "Plus" site is more limited, there is plenty of stuff to keep you entertained. You can view as many courses as you want within that selection, for prices as low as U.S. $14.99 monthly if you buy a year at at time. Prices will vary by country.

Here's a look at some fun courses to satisfy your thirst for space.

Taught by Alex Filippenko, astronomy professor and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor in the Physical Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, this massive, 96-lecture course will keep you occupied with nearly 50 hours of content going through the science step by step. Starting with a grand tour of the cosmos, students will learn about the basics of the night sky, then quickly move to more advanced topics such as eclipses, astronomy history, the planets, alien life, stars, and even the structure of the universe.

Taught by Bradley E. Schaefer, Distinguished Professor and Alumni Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Louisiana State University, this course begins with one of the most famous sites of ancient astronomy (Stonehenge, in the United Kingdom) and moves through the worldviews and viewing sites of many cultures whether it be New Mexico, Egypt, China and the Middle East. You will also learn the roots of many aspects of modern astronomy, including timekeeping, eclipse-tracking and figuring out planet positions.

This course is taught by David M. Meyer, professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, where he is also Director of the Dearborn Observatory. The 12-lecture course highlights the scientific contributions of the Hubble Space Telescope, including why it was launched, its spectacular observations of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's collision with Jupiter, and famous targets such as the Crab Nebula or the Cat's Eye Nebula.

This course, also taught by Meyer, brings viewers across the solar system and the universe to show more about the cosmos. This visually illustrated 18-lecture series looks at topics such as how auroras are formed, the search for water on Mars, the significance of icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus, and the search for other Earths.

The 25-lecture course, taught by Felix J. Lockman, the Green Bank Telescope principal scientist at the Green Bank Observatory. Here, viewers will learn how astronomers find planets, how radio astronomy started as a science, how radio telescopes work, and common observation topics such as pulsars, galaxies and stars.

This course is taught by David K. Johnson, associate professor of Philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Several space movies and series are covered in this content, including "Contact" (1997), "Arrival" (2015), "Interstellar" (2014) and the popular franchises "Doctor Who" and "Star Trek." The 24-lecture series promises an "intellectual journey" through time and space.

This course is taught by Sabine Stanley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in the Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. The 24-lecture course takes an in-depth look at each of the solar system's planets, starting with searing Mercury and then moving out to the solar system to Neptune. The lecture also discusses the little worlds at the edge of the solar system Pluto, Kuiper Belt objects, comets and more. Exoplanets, planetary research and human exploration are also discussed.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Explore awesome space and physics courses from MasterClass and The Great Courses - Space.com

NASAs Kennedy Space Center has long served as Americas spaceport, hosting all of the federal governments manned spaceflights since the late 1960s. I was lucky enough to get a special invite to go behind the scenes and visit the Cryogenics Test Laboratory in November and hear about the vital role industrial gases play in space exploration.

Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and helium: these gases, and their liquefied forms of storage and handling, are the driver for the entire space enterprise. Its not possible without them, James Fesmire, Senior Principal Investigator and founder of the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at NASA Kennedy Space Center, told me.

The centrepiece of any launch vehicle is chemical-based stored energy, it fundamentally is. Any rocket is basically a big flying set of tanks with engines at the bottom.

Looking back to NASAs Apollo program, which ran from 1961 to 1975, and landed the first man on the Moon, Adam Swanger, NASA Research Engineer, highlighted the importance of liquefied gases to these missions.

They were central to it. To me, a kind of equivalent question would be: how important is uranium, or some other radioactive material, to a nuclear reactor or a nuclear power plant? Without it, there is no reason for it to exist or it cannot exist. Without liquid oxygen you dont have human space flight, Swanger said.

NASA is currently building and testing the most powerful rocket in history to send American astronauts back to the Moon, through the Artemis program. Derived from the Greek goddess of the Moon and twin sister to Apollo, whose namesake program first brought crews to the Moon 50 years ago, the Artemis program will send the first woman and next man to the lunar south pole by 2024 an ambitious deadline set last year by President Donald Trump.

This time when NASA goes to the Moon, the space agency is going to stay, with the purpose of learning how to live and work on another world so it can use that knowledge and information to take its next giant leap sending astronauts to Mars. And industrial gases will be play a major role in this.

Here, in this latest In Focus gasworld spoke with Ad Astra Rocket, INOX and Chesterfield Special Cylinders to find out what involvement they have in the space industry.

Ad Astra Rocket

American rocket propulsion company Ad Astra Rocket, founded by former NASA astronaut Franklin Chang Daz, is working on a revolutionary high-power plasma propulsion electric rocket engine, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR).

The VASIMR, will transform the way we move around in space by providing a transportation solution that allows for higher fuel efficiency, lower fuel costs, larger payload capabilities, multiple application purposes, and major scalability, Chang Diaz explained.

The rocket engine has added flexibility to efficiently process a variety of propellant gases depending on mission requirements. Although Argon is the gas used for most of the companys current testing, the VASIMR has done tests to show its performance with: Hydrogen, Helium, Neon, and Krypton. Each gas does offer different advantages depending on the type of mission requirements. This flexibility is one of the many ways in which this engine displays range.

As such, it will help improve our current space transportation capabilities, enhance the economics of space operations, and expand the human presence in space, Dr. Jared Squire, Vice-President of Research, said.

Ad Astra Rocket Company is currently finishing up its milestones for the NASA NextSTEPprogram, to help graduate the VASIMR to a Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6). TRL 6 is the phase of maturity for a space technology or component, in which a space-flight ready prototype is built and tested, in preparation for its debut launch.

The VASIMR is at the end of TRL 5, we have two more tests to go before we enter into TRL 6. Once there our focus will shift to the final design, construction and testing of our very first Space Flight Prototype! Squire said.

In other words, we will be building the prototype that will be launched and tested in space! We, of course, would like to finish those two tests before the end of the year but with the current Covid-19 situation, while still moving forward, our progress has slowed a bit.

Chesterfield Special Cylinders

Beyond the US and NASA, UK-based Chesterfield Special Cylinders (CSC) supplies the European Space Agency and the French Governments National Centre for Space Studies with high-pressure gas cylinders and tubes for its space rocket launches, including Ariane 5, Vega and Soyuz.

It also provides Italian space sector specialist Telematic Solutions with bespoke 1,000 litre helium tubes for the pressurisation of tanks implemented on its rocket launcher.

We have also developed a close working relationship with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) where our expertise and experience is helping the overall development of ISROs gas-based activities, CSCs Sales Director Lee Lawrence told gasworld.

The activities carried out at the ISROs Mahendragiri site include assembly, integration and testing of earth storable propellant engines, cryogenic engines and stages for launch vehicles; high altitude testing of engines and thrusters; and production of cryogenic propellants for the cryogenic rocket programme.

INOX

Another company who has been working closely with ISRO for more than two decades is cryogenic engineering company INOX. During this period, INOX has not only supplied industrial gases but also designed and supplied on a turnkey basis critical equipment required for space research, including:

Several propulsion systems which use liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen. This equipment typically covers engine test stands and component/sub-system testing for next generation rockets.

Turnkey equipment for a simulation of acoustic vibration experienced by a spacecraft.

A 6.5 metre diameter themo-vacuum chamber with stringent specifications.

On a turnkey basis, INOX has built a complete launch pad with cryogenic storages and supply system as well as high pressure gases storage and supply systems.

Today, ISRO carries out about 12 launches a year and consumes around 5,000 tonnes of liquid nitrogen, 660 tonnes of liquid oxygen and 12 tonnes of liquid helium every year. ISRO produces its own liquid hydrogen required for launches, says INOX Director Parag Kulkarni.

INOX has recently been entrusted with supplying high pressure (~36MPa) cryogenic tanks in various sizes to ISROs Cryogenic Test Facility and Department of Space, for performance evaluation of high pressure propulsion sub-systems of their launch vehicles.

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In focus Industrial gases and space exploration - gasworld

SpaceX captured headlines for accomplishing something no private company has done before: launching two astronauts into orbit. Aside from the initial launch datesdelay due to weather, the historic flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon went off without a hitch. Veteran astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken docked at the International Space Station 19 hours after blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The success of the Crew Dragon launch isnt just a win for SpaceX.Its also a major victory for NASAs Commercial Crew Program,a partnership with both SpaceX and Boeing designed to develop spacecraft and rockets capable of launching humans into orbit.

While Boeing and SpaceX areworking with NASA to send humans to space, that doesnt mean theyve cornered the market on space exploration. In fact, the space agency has partnered withcompanies like Ball Aerospace, Maxar Technologies and Blue Origin to further itsefforts. Zooming in on the work these companies do with NASA is critical to better understandingthe United States efforts toreturn to space and better understanding our universe in general.

Founded: 1956

Headquarters: Broomfield, Colorado

Ball Aerospace in a sentence: Founded at the start of the space race, Ball Aerospace has pioneered much of the machinery behind what it takes to make it to orbit, including satellites and rocket antennae.

What are Ball Aerospace and NASA building? NASA chose Ball Aerospace to build the spacecraft for the Spectro Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer mission better known as SPHEREx. According to NASA, the unmanned spacecraft will spend two years recording data on hundreds of millions of galaxies and scouring the Milky Way for water andorganic molecules in the spawning grounds of new stars and planets.

Ball Aerospace is committed to supporting the goals of NASA and the science community to explore and understand our universe, said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, Ball Aerospaces vice president and general manager of civil space, in a statement. Our extensive heritage across a wide breadth of NASA science and exploration mission classes informs our development of technology that will enable the science of tomorrow.

Founded: 2000

Headquarters: Kent, Washington

Blue Origin in a single sentence: Blue Origins mission is to build reusable rockets and launch vehicles to lower the cost of space travel to the point where millions of people live and work in outer space.

What are Blue Origin and NASA building? The Blue Origin National Team a group made up of Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper was recently chosen by NASA to develop the Artemis Human Landing System. The goal of the Artemis program is to land two astronauts on the moon, including the first woman, by 2024.

The landing system developed by the group aims to bring astronauts to the moons southern pole and back into orbit, where the craft will dock with either the Artemis projects Orion space capsule or the Gateway, a sort of miniature space station designed to orbit the moon.

The Next Disruptive Space Technology? 3D PrintersNASA Invests in 3D Printing to Enable In-Space Manufacturing

In a press release, Blue Origin said its role will include leading program management, systems engineering, safety and mission assurance, and mission engineering and operations. The company will also develop the landing systems descent element.

NASAs Artemis program will be the next major milestone in the history of human space flight, and were honored to be a part of it, said Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith in a statement. Our National Team brings unparalleled heritage, passion and innovation that will enable Americans to return to the lunar surface and inspire another generation. Its time to go back to the moon, this time to stay.

Founded: 1969

Headquarters: Westminster, Colorado

Maxar Technologies in a sentence: Born out of the 2017 merger of Digital Globe and MDA, Maxar Technologies is a space technology company specializing in robotics, software and infrastructure.

What are Maxar and NASA building? This past February, Maxar won a $142 million NASA contract to construct a robotic arm for OSAM-1, a robotic spacecraft designed to repair and refuel satellites in orbit. Theyre also behind SPIDER, or the Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot, which is designed to assemble an antenna reflector in space and demonstrate in-space manufacturing.

The latter will be accomplished thanks to technology developed by Tether Unlimited, which has developed a device that can create a carbon beam in space. Once the beam is made, SPIDER will attach it to OSAM-1 to test its durability. Al Tadros, Maxars vice president of space infrastructure and civil space, told Space News that the demonstration is planned to happen sometime in the mid-2020s.

SPIDER, in combination with our flexible 1300-class spacecraft bus and technologies for in-space operations, will enable new applications in communications and remote sensing satellites, large in-space assembled telescopes and future exploration missions that support a sustained human presence beyond Earth orbit, said Megan Fitzgerald,a senior vice president and general managerat the company, in a statement.

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3 Companies Helping NASA Usher in a New Space Age - Built In

A promotional product suppliers iconic product is an essential part of a new chapter of American space exploration, just as it has been an essential part of its past.

Fisher Space Pen Co.s (asi/54423) AG7 Original Astronaut Space Pen is the writing instrument NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have used aboard their history-making SpaceX flight.

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley use the Fisher Space Pen on their history-making SpaceX flight.

SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musks private space company, launched Behnken and Hurley to the stars on May 30, marking the enterprises first-ever crewed mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft are the first private sector-designed and built craft to carry astronauts into space. The mission is also a return to space for NASA astronauts; the agency hasnt launched its own astronauts into orbit since the end of the space shuttle program nearly a decade ago.

On their flight to the International Space Station, Behnken and Hurley used the AG7 Original Astronaut Space Pen to do their writing. Theyll continue to use the pens at the space station, where about 50 Fisher Space Pens are in use.

The Fisher AG7 Original Astronaut Space Pen has been flying aboard every crewed space mission since Apollo 7 in 1968.

We are delighted that Fisher Space Pens are once again flying aboard American rockets from American soil, says Matt Fisher, vice president of Fisher Space Pen Co. Fisher Space Pen was created especially for use in zero-gravity, and our company continues to innovate new functionalities for future releases. Congratulations to NASA, SpaceX, astronauts Behnken and Hurley and everyone involved in this historic mission.

Astronaut Walter Cunningham writes with the Fisher Space Pen on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968.

Paul C. Fisher, an inventor and entrepreneur, created the Fisher Space Pen. He spent more than $1 million of his own money to develop an ink refill that uses pressurized gas to force ink to flow in zero gravity.

The Fisher Space Pen brand has become an iconic symbol of American technology and design, as Counselor documented in an in-depth piece about the pen and the company. It has also become part of American pop culture. Fisher Space Pens are enjoyed and used by millions worldwide, and the pen has become the subject of hundreds of fan videos. It has been featured on several TV programs, including an episode of the hit series Seinfeld titled The Pen.

All Fisher Space Pen products, which are Made in America, contain the patented pressurized ink refill, which allows them to write upside down, under water, in extreme temperatures from -30 to +250 degrees F (-35 to +121 Celsius), over almost any surface and three times longer than the average pen.

While astronauts are among its end-clients, Fisher Space Pen Co. sells its pens through promo products distributors for everyday use in a functional and promotional way, as the pens can easily be imprinted through traditional decoration means.

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Fisher Space Pen on First Manned SpaceX Flight - Advertising Specialty Institute

Regarded by many as mankind's greatest achievement, the famous mission in 1969 had star-gazers dreaming we would go bigger and bolder.

The logical next step was Mars and while man-made machines have touched down on the Red Planet, for human beings that particular giant leap never came.

After America won the race to the moon, Presidents found it harder to justify investing millions of pounds in space exploration due to political pressures on the ground.

Those who gathered around their televisions in awe to watch the moon landing would probably have found it hard to believe that more than half a century on that feat would not be topped.

But that could all be about to change.

Last week's launch of SpaceX, fronted by the billionaire Elon Musk, has reignited discussion about manned space travel to Mars and beyond.

The fact it was a commercial flight makes it all the more exciting and, just like that summer of 69, the opportunities seemingly endless.

The first SpaceX launch has sent astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) but the flamboyant Musk, who co-founded the electric car and clean energy giant Tesla, has made no secret of his desire to go to Mars.

Virgin's Richard Branson has also dabbled with space travel, while Boeing and Amazon supremo Jeff Bezos are also entering the market.

Many scientists believe this is the key to sending a manned mission to Mars.

Governments often find ploughing millions into space travel hard to sell to voters more concerned about issues that affect their daily lives, and this has proved a barrier to going further than the moon.

But a super-rich businessman, without these concerns holding him back, is now talking about making it a reality.

Couple that with a deeply nationalist President currently residing in the White House who never misses an opportunity to take pleasure in getting one over China and Russia - and, crucially, doesn't have to foot the bill - and there is plenty of new-found optimism for space travel.

As groundbreaking a moment the launch to the ISS was - the first time astronauts had been sent into space from US soil since 2011 - there's a sense that it's only the precursor to something much bigger.

Bosses at SpaceX have not been shy about stating their ambitions - even talking about 'cities on Mars'.

Colonisation of other planets has always seemed like the stuff of science fiction, but some scientists believe it could be key to extending the survival of the human race.

Uncrewed missions to Mars have been talked about as early as 2022. Even if that date sounds a tad ambitious, humans touching down on the Red Planet seems to be closer than ever.

Experts have spoken about rockets refuelling at stations in Earth's orbit and attempting to cut journey times from six months to four months to decrease radiation.

Dr Gareth Dorian, a space science research fellow at the University of Birmingham, believes the launch of SpaceX is a stepping stone to much bigger things in the future.

He also says the involvement of private companies could open up space to more people in the future.

"It's pretty big. It increases access to space for far more people and that's the big selling point for me. It means more people can go to space independently of state or anything else," he said.

"But also because SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk, and he has a particular vision for human space flight in the future, this enables people like him and others who want to see a multi-planetary civilisation at some point in the future, and this is a stepping stone.

"Absolutely it is. This is a multi-decadal or multi-generational project, you have to have the continuity and this shows that it's possible."

Dr Dorian believes a manned mission to Mars is now likely, but warned there are significant hurdles to be overcome, including the safety of those humans involved.

He said: "I think it will happen, the big question is when. Once you've got a system in place that's working you can refine the design.

"In terms of the physics, it takes more energy to get to low-Earth orbit than it does to get from low-Earth orbit to the moon so in many ways that's the hard part, if you like, and they've done that now.

"There's obviously many other hurdles to overcome and the astronauts still have to be returned safely to Earth as well, that's another huge hurdle to overcome, but it certainly makes it more likely in the medium term."

Dr Dorian acknowledged cities on Mars and beyond would likely be centuries away, if it is ever to happen. But he says private businesses entering the space race opens up endless possibilities, potentially helping to answer the ultimate question: are we alone?

For any of that to be possible though, Dr Dorian insists there must be people ready to continue the visions of Musk and other company bosses entering the market when they are no longer here.

"The way that it's always been phrased is a trip to Mars is always 30 years away. It's been that way since the 1970s," Dr Dorian said.

"After the Apollo mission people were saying we'll be on Mars in 30 years, then the 1990s and 2000s came.

"Timescale depends on a lot of things. One of the big things, frankly, is you need someone with the vision of Elon Musk and the passion of Elon Musk to make this happen.

"If this was just a normal commercial enterprise, a company just looking to make profits, that's fine. He's got a very specific dream and a very specific vision and he's obviously able to use his wealth and resources to spark that future and drive it.

"If he's not there, or someone like him is not there, then other people will come along and their vision might be totally different. There is a huge potential, I think, for someone to come along and say well let's just use SpaceX to make money, so you have to have people with the determination to see it through no matter what.

"It's the same with any great leap forward in civilisation. You have to have people there with the drive to make it happen.

"Whether it's the start of a new era, I think it is as long as the will is there."

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To infinity and beyond: How mankind is plotting a route to Mars - shropshirestar.com

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:30 a.m. EST on Jan. 19, 2020, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft on the companys uncrewed In-Flight Abort Test (Courtesy of NASA)

On May 30 at 3:22 p.m., two astronauts launched off the Florida coast, ushering in a new generation of human space travel for the U.S.

Tightly stowed atop SpaceXs revolutionary Falcon 9 rocket were Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, amicably referred to as the dads, by their NASA Commercial Crew Program colleagues.

As T-0 approached and billows of steam erupted on the launch pad, I realized that the payload being propelled into Earths orbit wasnt just two dads reinvigorating American space flight. Traveling at supersonic speeds were the hearts and minds of 328 million people who were experiencing a challenging reality of confusion, turmoil and fear.

A lethal virus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, effectively shutting down cities across the country. Daily life was halted as Amercans isolated themselves in their homes, facing unemployment, uncertainty and death.

An African American man was killed in police custody after being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill on May 25. Demonstrations erupted across the country, courageously saying enough is enough, and called upon a nation to confront injustice.

About 12 minutes after liftoff, the Crew Dragon shuttle carrying Behnken and Hurley separated from its second stage, marking their successful entry into orbit and the beginning of their nearly 19-hour coast to the International Space Station.

It seems like witnessing history should be a once-in-a-lifetime circumstance. None of us expected to witness history like we have in 2020, with one life-altering, insurgent moment falling like dominos in succession of one another.

Waking up every day in isolation, seeing atrocities unfold against innocent people and peaceful protesters, not knowing what tomorrow has in store, has left me pretty pessimistic.

However, amidst all the unpredictability, anxiety and unrest, witnessing the history of America taking flight in space again made me glad to be alive during this time of dread.

That day, I fell in love with space.

Space gives me something to hold on to. Something to invest my time in. Something to turn to when my social media feed is overwhelming and the home page of The New York Times shows no sign of things looking up.

I watched documentaries about the space shuttle program. I learned about the exciting Artemis program NASA is about to embark on. I discovered that Candanian astronaut Chris Hadfield has a playlist about space. I did an unnecessary amount of research on Elon Musk. And I watched, and rewatched, the launch of Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley a ridiculous amount of times.

I love space for all that it represents in its limitlessness, its curiosity and its possibility. I felt hope again for the future as I learned about the past, present and future of space exploration. Elon Musk is trying to make humans a multiplanetary species, for crying out loud!

But its not just two men who blasted off on a shuttle or a billionaire who wants to send civilians to Mars thats fostering my love affair its the notion we can do better, and we can run into the future with high hopes and expectations.

Space shows us that we can dream big and see our dreams manifest into rocket fuel and space suits and telescopes and astronauts bobbing around at zero gravity in the ISS.

Space shows us that we can literally reach for the stars, even when things feel hopeless.

I hope you can take some time out of your quarantine, your fixation on the news or social media to dream a little. I recommend you spend some time meditating on space. I think youll fall in love with it, too.

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OPINION: A love letter to space and how it restored my faith - The Appalachian Online