Category Archives: Space Exploration

What is it like to be on the surface of Mars or Venus? Or even further afield, such as on Pluto, or Saturns moon Titan?

This curiosity has driven advances in space exploration since Sputnik 1 was launched 65 years ago. But were only beginning to scratch the surface of what is knowable about other planetary bodies in the Solar System.

Our new study, published today in Nature Astronomy, shows how some unlikely candidates namely sand dunes can provide insight into what weather and conditions you might experience if you were standing on a far-off planetary body.

English poet William Blake famously wondered what it means to see a world in a grain of sand.

In our research, we took this quite literally. The idea was to use the mere presence of sand dunes to understand what conditions exist on a worlds surface.

For dunes to even exist, there are a pair of Goldilocks criteria that must be satisfied. First is a supply of erodible but durable grains. There must also be winds fast enough to make those grains hop across the ground but not fast enough to carry them high into the atmosphere.

So far, the direct measurement of winds and sediment has only been possible on Earth and Mars. However, we have observed wind-blown sediment features on multiple other bodies (and even comets) by satellite. The very presence of such dunes on these bodies implies the Goldilocks conditions are met.

Our work focused on Venus, Earth, Mars, Titan, Triton (Neptunes largest moon) and Pluto. Unresolved debates about these bodies have gone on for decades.

How do we square the apparent wind-blown features on Tritons and Plutos surfaces with their thin, tenuous atmospheres? Why do we see such prolific sand and dust activity on Mars, despite measuring winds that seem too weak to sustain it?

And does Venuss thick and stiflingly hot atmosphere move sand in a similar way to how air or water move on Earth?

Our study offers predictions for the winds required to move sediment on these bodies, and how easily that sediment would break apart in those winds.

We constructed these predictions by piecing together results from a host of other research papers, and testing them against all the experimental data we could get our hands on.

We then applied the theories to each of the six bodies, drawing on telescope and satellite measurements of variables including gravity, atmospheric composition, surface temperature, and the strength of sediments.

Studies before ours have looked at either the wind speed threshold required to move sand, or the strength of various sediment particles. Our work combined these together looking at how easily particles could break apart in sand-transporting weather on these bodies.

For example, we know Titans equator has sand dunes but we arent sure of what sediment encircles the equator. Is it pure organic haze raining down from the atmosphere, or is it mixed with denser ice?

As it turns out, we discovered loose aggregates of organic haze would disintegrate upon collision if they were blown by the winds at Titans equator.

This implies Titans dunes probably arent made of purely organic haze. To build a dune, sediment must be blown around in the wind for a long time (some of Earths dune sands are a million years old).

We also found wind speeds would have to be excessively fast on Pluto to transport either methane or nitrogen ice (which is what Plutos dune sediments were hypothesised to be). This calls into question whether dunes on Plutos plain, Sputnik Planitia, are dunes at all.

They may instead be sublimation waves. These are dune-like landforms made from the sublimation of material, instead of sediment erosion (such as those seen on Marss north polar cap).

Our results for Mars suggest more dust is generated from wind-blown sand transport on Mars than on Earth. This suggests our models of the Martian atmosphere may not be effectively capturing Marss strong katabatic winds, which are cold gusts that blow downhill at night.

This study comes at an interesting stage of space exploration.

For Mars, we have a relative abundance of observations; five space agencies are conducting active missions in orbit, or in situ. Studies such as ours help inform the objectives of these missions, and the paths taken by rovers such as Perseverance and Zhurong.

In the outer reaches of the Solar System, Triton has not been observed in detail since the NASA Voyager 2 flyby in 1989. There is currently a mission proposal which, if selected, would have a probe launched in 2031 to study Triton, before annihilating itself by flying into Neptunes atmosphere.

Missions planned to Venus and Titan in the coming decade will revolutionise our understanding of these two. NASAs Dragonfly mission, slated to leave Earth in 2027 and arrive on Titan in 2034, will land an uncrewed helicopter on the moons dunes.

Pluto was observed during a 2015 flyby by NASAs ongoing New Horizons mission, but there are no plans to return.

Read more: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune: why our next visit to the giant planets will be so important (and just as difficult)

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What's it like to be on Venus or Pluto? We studied their sand dunes and found some clues - The Conversation

The last time the planetary science community came together to conduct a decadal survey, Mars was ascendant. NASA had flown a series of Mars missions and was working on its most ambitious rover yet, Curiosity. The decadal survey endorsed continuing that Mars exploration strategy by backing a mission to collect samples as the first step to returning those samples to Earth.

The situation is somewhat different in the latest planetary science decadal survey, published April 19 by a National Academies committee. While Mars is still at the center of much of present-day planetary science at NASA, the planetary decadal makes the case that the future is further out in the solar system, among distant planets as well as icy moons that could harbor life.

While the decadal survey offers a broad survey of planetary science, from an overview of current knowledge of the field to the state of the profession itself, the section that gets the most scrutiny is its recommendations for the next flagship missions NASA should pursue. Those recommendations drive decisions on missions costing billions of dollars. The two flagship missions from the previous decadal survey in 2011, a Mars rover to cache samples and a Europa orbiter, took shape as the Perseverance rover currently on Mars and Europa Clipper, set to launch to that icy moon of Jupiter in 2024.

The leaders of the decadal survey said that, in their deliberations, it became clear that the focus of the next major flagship mission should be two of the solar systems least-studied planets, Uranus and Neptune. Both have been visited by just a single spacecraft: Voyager 2, which flew by Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. Both are called ice giants by scientists, as theyre smaller than the gas giant worlds of Jupiter and Saturn, and may have some mix of rock and ice in their interiors.

This is the only class of planet in the solar system that hasnt had a dedicated orbital tour, said Robin Canup of the Southwest Research Institute, one of the co-chairs of the steering committee for the survey. Understanding the composition and the properties of either one would revolutionize our understanding of ice giant systems and solar system origins.

Another factor is that studying Uranus or Neptune could provide insights into exoplanets, given the large number of ice giants discovered around other stars. This may, we think, be the most common class of planet in the universe, she said.

The key question then became whether to send a mission to Uranus or Neptune. Here, technical readiness tipped the scales in favor of a Uranus mission. For the Uranus Orbiter and Probe, we have a viable end-to-end mission concept right now on currently available launch vehicles, Canup said. There are no new technologies required for this mission.

The $4.2 billion mission, launching as soon as 2031 on a Falcon Heavy or similar large launch vehicle, would place a large spacecraft in orbit around Uranus to study the planet and its moons and rings, and also deploy a probe into the planets atmosphere, as Galileo did at Jupiter in the 1990s. A launch in 2031 or 2032 could take advantage of a gravity assist by Jupiter to reach Uranus in about 13 years, while a launch later in the 2030s would require gravity assists in the inner solar system, reaching Uranus about 15 years after launch.

The decadal also looked at a Neptune orbiter, but a key issue was uncertainty about the launch vehicle: it would require the upgraded Block 2 version of the Space Launch System with an additional Centaur upper stage. It would also cost about $1 billion more than the Uranus mission.

The second-ranked flagship mission is one to Enceladus, the icy moon of Saturn that has a subsurface ocean, with plumes of material from that ocean erupting into space. This addresses the fundamental question: is Enceladus inhabited? Canup said. It would do so first from orbit, sampling plume materials as theyre ejected into space, and then from the surface.

The Enceladus Orbilander mission, costing between $4.2 billion and $4.9 billion, would launch in the late 2030s on either an SLS or Falcon Heavy. That would allow the spacecraft to land in the south polar regions of Enceladus, the site of many of those plumes, in the early 2050s, when lighting conditions are favorable.

NASA has already been studying a mission to land on an icy moon, but not Enceladus. The agency did initial studies of a Europa Lander mission several years ago at the behest of John Culberson, at the time the chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and a staunch advocate of exploring Europa. A new Europa lander mission was among the flagships considered by the decadal survey, but it didnt make the cut.

Philip Christensen of Arizona State University, the other co-chair, said both the prominent plumes on Enceladus as well as a more benign environment there helped that mission win out over a Europa lander. The plumes at Europa are more sporadic, and the harsh radiation environment means a lander could operate for only weeks versus years at Enceladus. We just felt that, if we have one opportunity to explore an ocean world with a flagship mission, Enceladus provided the best opportunity, he said.

Enceladus is just the right opportunity for this time, Canup added. Hopefully, well land on Europa some time, too.

None of the other flagship mission concepts studied in detail by the decadal survey included Mars. The report, though, endorsed NASAs ongoing Mars Sample Return campaign, which includes Perseverance and now two landers to retrieve the samples that rover collected and a European-led orbiter to bring the samples back to Earth.

Our recommendation is that sample return is the highest scientific priority of NASAs robotic mission, and Mars sample return should be completed as soon as practically possible with no changes in its current design, Christensen said.

However, he said NASA should closely watch the missions cost. The report stated that Mars Sample Return would cost $5.3 billion over the next decade, a figure NASA had not previously disclosed and is even more expensive than other flagship mission concepts studied by the decadal.

That raises worries that cost increases would affect other planetary missions. Looking back over the last 20 to 30 years, Mars exploration has clearly figured very prominently in NASAs planetary exploration program, he said, accounting for 2535% of the overall planetary budget. Mars Sample Return accounts for 20% of the projected planetary budget for the next decade, he said, so there is some room for cost growth. However, the report recommended that NASA seek a budget augmentation if Mars Sample Return overruns its projected cost by 20% or more.

That leaves very little room in the budget for other Mars missions, even as existing missions are projected to end over the next decade. The only new Mars mission the decadal endorsed was a lander called Mars Life Explorer, which would search for evidence of present-day life near the surface. That $2.1 billion mission would not launch until the mid-2030s, in part because work could not start until after Mars Sample Return got past its peak spending levels later this decade.

By then, NASA will be shifting its attention to human missions to Mars, with agency officials today projecting the first crewed Mars missions could launch by the late 2030s. In the coming decade, there will be an overlap of human and robotic exploration of the moon, as NASA sends both robotic landers and Artemis crewed missions to the lunar surface.

The decadal survey pushed NASA to incorporate planetary science into its human exploration plans. NASAs moon-to-Mars plans hold real promise for tremendous benefit to the nation and to the world, Christensen said. However, we feel strongly that a robust science program is the key that provides the motivating rationale for a truly sustained human program.

This fed into another mission the decadal recommended, a lunar rover called Endurance-A. The rover would be delivered on a robotic lander to the south polar regions of the moon, traveling more than 1,000 kilometers and collecting 100 kilograms of samples along the way. The rover would deliver the samples to astronauts on an Artemis mission to return to Earth on their lander.

It would truly revolutionize our understanding of not only the moon but of the early solar system, he said. It would begin to really get humans and robots all working to accomplish a truly remarkable goal.

An ambitious program of missions does not come cheap. The recommended program of missions included in the report assumes NASAs planetary science budgets grow by 17.5% over the decade. An alternative level program that keeps pace with inflation (or, at least, expectations of 2% inflation when the report was developed) would delay the start of the Uranus mission to the late 2020s and defer the Enceladus Orbilander and Mars Life Explorer missions entirely.

Another reason for the higher budgets is to reflect the true cost of smaller missions, including the Discovery and New Frontiers programs. Christensen said that while the Discovery program has an official $500 million cost cap, excluding launch and operations, the most recent missions have total costs twice that.

That total cost is totally commensurate with their expected scientific return, he said. However, the large difference between the cost cap and the true lifecycle costs undermines budget planning and creates a potential mismatch between the expectations and the budget reality. The report instead recommends a revised cost cap of $800 million, including operations but not launch.

The same is true for the larger New Frontiers program. The most recent competition had a cost cap of $850 million, excluding launch and operations. The winner, the Dragonfly mission to Saturns moon Titan, will have a projected lifecycle cost more than twice as high.

This is the kind of mission we want to see done at New Frontiers, Canup said of Dragonfly, but said it demonstrated the need for a better cost cap. The report recommended a revised cost cap of $1.65 billion for New Frontiers, a figure that includes operations but not launch. There would also be $30 million a year for quiet cruise phases of the mission, en route to its destination, to avoid penalizing missions that require long travel times. Youre competing on a level playing field in terms of the scientific instruments and your spacecraft, and the science you do once you reach your target.

The report is now in the hands of NASA. Were all really excited, said Lori Glaze, director of NASAs planetary science division, calling the report incredibly compelling and exciting and inspiration.

During that inspiration and excitement into implementation plans will take time. Our plan is to take 90 days to absorb this really comprehensive document, she said at a NASA science town hall meeting the same day as the reports release. By mid-July, she said, NASA plans to offer a preliminary response through town halls other meetings, with a more detailed plan later this year.

So far, the report has received a positive reaction, with more concerns about funding than the choice of missions. This particular survey is an ambitious, inspirational, and pragmatic plan for NASA that The Planetary Society looks forward to working to help realize, said Bethany Ehlmann, a planetary scientist at Caltech and president of The Planetary Society, said of the decadal.

The reports authors believe the plan sets forth a strategy to answer some of the central questions in planetary science and beyond. Theres a true desire this decade, said Canup, to make progress not just in studying habitability but also in trying to detect whether life exists elsewhere in our solar system.

This article originally appeared in the May 2022 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

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Ice giants and icy moons: The planetary science decadal survey looks beyond Mars to the outer solar system - SpaceNews

Utah State Universitys Space Dynamics Laboratory announced Tuesday that it has delivered a critical subsystem to NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory for integration onto the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument was delivered to JPL at SDLs facilities on USUs Innovation Campus.

SDL designed, built, tested, and delivered the Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem, which includes two space-qualified radiators, two thermal straps, and support structures that will reject heat generated by the detectors of Romans sensitive Coronagraph Instrument. One of two instruments on the Roman Space Telescope, the Roman Coronagraph Instrument will demonstrate technology to enable future missions to discover and characterize planets that could sustain life within their stars habitable zones. Planets within a habitable zone are those within the range of a star where water could exist on the planets surface.

Since the 1970s, SDL has been at the forefront of developing thermal technologies for space applications. Early in its history, SDL understood the need for cryogenically cooled instruments to obtain accurate space-based measurements in the infrared and other wavelengths. Now a signature SDL capability, the thermal subsystems SDL designs and manufactures enable exceptionally sensitive instruments, which in turn provide scientists with information to better understand the universe and our place in it.

The Cryogenic Thermal Subsystems most critical function is to provide cooling to maintain the detectors in two of the Roman Coronagraph Instruments cameras at sufficiently low temperatures, approximately minus 161 degrees Fahrenheit, which will allow them to function with the required sensitivity. The first-stage radiator shields the second-stage radiator from the heat radiated by the Roman Coronagraph Instrument and other parts of the spacecraft.

Matt Felt, head of SDLs thermal technologies, further explained, Two thermal straps conduct heat from the cameras to the second-stage radiator, radiating that heat into deep space. Size and weight are premium commodities on any spacecraft, and SDLs new Pyrolytic Graphite Sheet thermal strap technology allows the Cryogenic Thermal Subsystems mass to be significantly lower than previously possible with metallic straps.

The talented staff of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory have long been world leaders in developing technologies that enable space exploration. SDL is honored to support JPL and be a part of the historic Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope program, said Gabe Loftus, SDLs program manager for the project. The delivery of the Cryogenic Thermal Subsystem for the Roman Coronagraph Instrument shows our commitment to providing quality space flight hardware with the rigorous program execution that has become synonymous with SDL.

The Roman Space Telescope is slated to launch no later than May 2027. With an estimated mass of 4,059 kilograms, the spacecraft will operate at the second Earth-Sun Lagrange point, where the gravities of the Earth and Sun balance each other, to answer fundamental questions about dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics. It will measure the history of cosmic acceleration in addition to searching for worlds beyond our solar system.

Since 1959, SDL has been solving the technical challenges faced by the military, science community, and industry and supports NASAs mission to drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of Earth. SDL is a research laboratory headquartered in North Logan, UT, and has offices in Albuquerque, NM; Colorado Springs, CO; Dayton, OH; Houston, TX; Huntsville, AL; Los Angeles, CA; Stafford, VA; and Washington, DC. For more information, visit http://www.sdl.usu.edu.

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Are We Alone in the Cosmos? Space Dynamics Lab to Help Answer the Question - Utah State University

New astronauts who go on long-duration space missions experience serious alterations to their brains, a new study has found.

The research has shown that the perivascular space, the space around blood vessels in the brain, increases after a long-term mission in space.

Enlargement of these fluid-filled spaces usually occurs in ageing, and has also been associated with the development of dementia and Parkinson's disease.

Perivascular spaces play an important role in brain health and help cleanse the brain during sleep. They are part of the glymphatic system, a brain-wide network that clears proteins associated with neuro degeneration so they do not build up in the brain.

The study, published in Nature journal, was carried out by Oregon Health and Science University and scientists across the US.

These findings have important implications as we continue space exploration, said Juan Piantino, senior author of the study.

It also forces you to think about some basic fundamental questions of science and how life evolved here on Earth.

There have been a number of studies in the past looking at how space flight affects the human body, but this is first time this specific area of the brain has been studied.

Researchers believe the findings could help in diagnosing and treating disorders that people face on Earth, such as hydrocephalus, which involves a build-up of fluid in the cavities deep within the brain. However, more research is needed.

These findings not only help to understand fundamental changes that happen during space flight, but also for people on Earth who suffer from diseases that affect circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, said Mr Piantino.

The research involved 15 astronauts whose brains were imaged before and after long-duration missions on the International Space Station.

Images were taken before the launch and immediately after their return. MRI measurements were taken again one, three and six months after their return. The results were compared with the brains of 16 controlled subjects on Earth.

It was found that new astronauts experienced an enlargement of the perivascular space, but no difference was seen among astronauts who had previously served aboard the space station orbiting Earth.

Experienced astronauts may have reached some kind of homeostasis [stability], said Mr Piantino.

The study did not say whether the spaces go back to their regular size after a while, neither did it say what was found in the MRI scans that they did months after the astronauts returned. More research is now needed to understand how to harness this knowledge.

Scientists have been using the space station to study how microgravity affects human physiology and psychology since it became operational in 2000.

Other known effects of space on an astronauts body include loss of muscle mass and strength at an accelerated rate compared with people on Earth. This is why astronauts are required to exercise for about 2.5 hours daily while on the station.

One of the most extensive research projects was carried out when Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly lived on the floating laboratory for a year, while his twin Mark stayed on Earth.

It was discovered that Mr Kellys telomeres the caps that protect chromosomes from damage had grown longer while in space and rapidly shrunk once he returned to Earth, to become shorter when he departed for the mission.

Telomeres shorten as people age, while unusually longer telomeres can be associated with cancer.

Updated: May 18, 2022, 3:09 PM

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Long-duration space flight alters new astronauts' brains, study finds - The National

Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on theFiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

This mornings hearing examines NASAs Fiscal Year 2023 budget request. Our witness today is the NASA Administrator, Senator Bill Nelson. Administrator, it is good to see you again.

The last time you were in front of this subcommittee was almost one year ago: May 19, 2021. At that time, you had been on the job for only a couple of weeks, and the presidents Fiscal Year 22 budget had not even been released.

Now that youve had a year on the job, you have a strong Fiscal 23 proposal before us, and Im delighted to acknowledge that youve completed your first in-person visit to the most important emerging-space-technology state in the union, Pennsylvania.

So, we look forward to hearing from you today, and I hope to see more of you in the Keystone State.

NASAs budget request of almost $26 billion is clearly designed to keep the core missions of the agency on track scientific discovery, exploration of the solar system, and educating and inspiring our children.

The budget request expands Americas economic leadership in the Space Economy as well as our global leads in climate change research, aeronautics research, and, of course, space exploration.

The budget prioritizes one of my favorite goals, which is to intellectually stimulate and create research opportunities for young people, through a strong increase in STEM education funding.

After reviewing the presidents request, I also want to congratulate you on a bold vision for Earth Science research.

In addition to developing four major missions and continuing or operating more than a dozen others, the FY 23 request proposes a new Earth Information Center that will make NASA a go-to resource for climate change data that can be shared across academia and the federal government.

I additionally appreciate NASAs request for a 10% increase in Aeronautics research. Collecting data on climate change is one thing, but NASAs aeronautics research can be an important way to slow its progression.

To that end, NASAs aeronautics work is helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing more efficient aircraft engines, improving air traffic management, and pioneering electric flight.

But, no matter how useful NASAs general research is, the agency will continue to be known mostly for its flagship initiative to return American astronauts to the moon, the Artemis program.

Artemis is truly a national program. When Artemis I flies later this year, it will inspire and unify our country, reminding everyone that we have important shared purposes. And that those efforts bring us together.

When crews do go to the Moon in later missions, the plan this time is to stay there, not just plant a flag and depart.

But, even though we all support inspiration, the scientific benefits of both uncrewed and crewed space exploration must come at a reasonable and fair cost to the taxpayer.

I mention this because, according to the Government Accountability Office, NASA has more major projects in development right now than at any other time since GAO started tracking them.

Most are related to Artemis, but NASAs Science Directorate is also juggling an unprecedented number of major missions designed to unlock the secrets, including emerging secrets, of the universe.

Make no mistake: those are answers we all want. But, as you well know, this Subcommittee, the full Appropriations Committee, and the Congress must be careful when appropriating and overseeing large sums of money.

Unfortunately, across all major NASA programs, schedule slips and cost overruns have increased for the sixth consecutive year, with cumulative overruns for your major projects now exceeding $12.6 billion.

Some of the delays and cost increases are due to the continuing impacts of COVID-19. Some are there because NASA is trying to do things it has never been done before. Youre essentially inventing what youre doing as youre doing it.

So, while they are at least partially understandable, the rising costs and lengthening schedules are definitely a concern.

Given the budget realities we face, it is more important than ever for NASA to manage contractors and programs efficiently and in ways that protect the taxpayer.

Poor performers must be held accountable so that their failures do not reflect on the agency.

Most of the companies involved in Artemis and your Science missions are doing great work, from the small mom-and-pop shops to the largest aerospace corporations.

But lets be clear: participation in Americas space program is not an entitlement. It is a privilege.

Most people understand that. Certainly, workers on the line every day assembling hardware understand that.

But, Administrator, I would ask you to let me know if there are company leaders out there who need a reminder of this principle. It is a principle on which I know we both agree.

In conclusion, Im confident that this Subcommittee can be helpful in realizing the full potential of the Space Economy, including in parts of the country not near a NASA center of operations.

The FY 23 budget submission is additional evidence that the American taxpayer is, in a sense, a multiple-billion-dollar partner with private companies to drive commercial space growth.

The benefits of that partnership need to be felt nationally, and those benefits must always be worth their cost.

Again, Administrator Nelson, I know you understand this. I look forward to hearing your explanation of the FY 23 budget request and how it keeps us moving in the right direction on NASAs indispensable missions.

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Chairman Cartwright Statement at Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Hearing - House Appropriations

WASHINGTON NASA is continuing to investigate water that leaked into a spacesuit helmet during a spacewalk earlier this year and is holding off on future spacewalks until engineers can resolve the problem.

The leak took place during the most recent spacewalk from the U.S. segment of the station March 23, involving NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer. At the end of the nearly seven-hour spacewalk, Maurer reported that water had pooled on his visor, although the thin layer of water, about 20 to 25 centimeters across, did not pose an immediate threat to him.

NASA had provided few updates about the water leak since the incident. However, at a May 12 meeting of NASAs Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), Susan Helms, a former NASA astronaut who serves on the panel, said that the agency is no-go for spacewalks, or EVAs, currently because the ongoing investigation.

Because NASA is thinking through the risk posture for these suits, which are aging, the EMU is currently no-go for planned EVAs pending an investigation into what they discover, she said. An EMU, or Extravehicular Mobility Unit, is the spacesuit used by NASA for ISS spacewalks.

At a May 17 briefing about the upcoming Boeing CST-100 uncrewed flight test, Dana Weigel, NASA ISS deputy program manager, confirmed NASA is holding off on routine spacewalks for the time being. The investigation had found no signs of contamination in water in the suit that could be linked to the helmet leak.

The suit itself, she said, cant be inspected in detail until its returned to Earth. NASA is planning to bring the suit back on the next SpaceX cargo Dragon mission, launching to the station in early June.

From an EVA standpoint, until we understand better what the causal factors might have been during the last EVA with our EMU, we are no-go for nominal EVAs, she said. We wont do a planned EVA until weve had a chance to really address and rule out major system failure modes. That will be done through a review process she compared to a flight readiness review.

Weigel said NASA will consider contingency spacewalks by balancing the risk of conducting the spacewalk against the risk posed by the station component that requires a spacewalk to repair or replace. Well have to look at risk versus risk, she said, which will include the status of the investigation and any measures to resolve the problem.

The Crew-4 mission did deliver several pads designed to be placed inside the helmet to absorb water, she said. Sixteen more pads will be delivered on the Starliner mission.

The no-go assessment for routine spacewalks has little practical effect on ISS operations, as no spacewalks were planned until later this year to install a second set of new solar arrays. Weigel didnt estimate how long the investigation will take.

The incident in March was nowhere near as serious as one in 2013, when water leaked into the helmet of another ESA astronaut, Luca Parmitano, shortly after his spacewalk started. He was able to return to the airlock safely, but only after about one and a half liters of water leaked into the helmet, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Water leaks have been an intermittent issue for the suits for years. There are still continuing issues with evidence of water in the spacesuit helmets after the conclusion of an EVA or even, in some cases, during an EVA, Helms said at the ASAP meeting, with no clear root cause for the problem. Besides the addition of the pads, she said engineers are studying the general level of helmet moisture normal for the suit.

The water leak, she suggested, is evidence that the decades-old suits are nearing the end of their useful lives. Replacing the suits has been a long-running area of concern for ASAP and others, including the agencys inspector general. NASA has focused on a new spacesuit, called the xEMU, for Artemis lunar missions, and has proposed measures to extend the life of the current space station suits to 2028.

The current plan is to extend todays EMU use to 2028; however, it is increasingly apparent that the usable life of the current EVA suits is limited, the panel noted in its annual report published in January. New suits are needed not only for future space exploration, but also for its current space activities. NASA cannot maintain the necessary, ongoing low-Earth orbit operations without fully functional EVA suits.

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NASA puts ISS spacewalks on hold to investigate water leak - SpaceNews

London-based Seraphim Space Camp, a VC-led accelerator for global space tech startups, has revealed the crew members of its latest programme, Mission 9.

Onboard the 11-week programme seven companies will develop relationships with space corporates and agencies and receive support to attract investment.

Out of the seven space tech companies selected, four are UK based. Seraphim launched its first space tech accelerator in 2018.

Over the last five years, we have helped 54 early-stage companies raise over $180m of investment and build fruitful connections with some of the major corporations in the industry. As a result, our alumni are prepared for the journey ahead of them and have an impressive survival rate of 98 percent, said Rob Desborough, managing partner, Seraphim Space and CEO, Space Camp.

The programme will involve an in-person investor pitch day in the UK and the US followed by an investor showcase.

Following its prior eight missions, 55 of Seraphims alumni have raised $150m (120m) in investment and $46m (37m) in grant funding.

In 2021, Seraphim launched its first space tech fund, the Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT), on the London Stock Exchange.

Based: Norway

Ntention builds user-centred interaction systems. For space, it is developing its Astronaut Smart Glove that could be used to control a drone during space exploration. Its technology has further applications in virtual reality, construction, music and industrial machinery.

Based: UK

The Oxford-based company is developing reusable orbital transfer vehicles that transport satellites to space. Its aim is to provide cheaper transportation through ridesharing to get satellites into orbit.

Based: UK

ODIN is installing a network of sensors that will be used to locate and map hard to spot space debris. The company, based in London, provides mission planning software and collision sustainability reports.

Based: UK

Manchester-based SmartIR has developed tech that can control infrared thermal radiation. A benefit of this tech is the capability to control visible colour and infrared light. In space, the tech could be used in space suits to regulate body temperature.

Based: US

Cislunar wants to re-use space debris using in space metal processing and recycling. It has plans for a space foundry that will process metal, produce materials such as wires and can be located on or off-planet. Cislunar was founded in 2017 and is located in Denver, Colorado.

Based: UK

Deep Planet is creating an artificial intelligence platform that uses satellite imagery and sensors to provide data to help grapes grow in vineyards. Its software VineSignal gives growers with knowledge such as grape maturity prediction, when to harvest, forecasts for yield picking and identifying areas with issues. The Oxford-headquartered company was founded in 2018

Based: Germany

AIRMOs is a satellite constellation that provides greenhouse gas emissions monitoring. It will offer data on CO2 AND CH4 emissions visualisation on a map and a historical database with raw data. The platform will have a satellite constellation carrying instruments with data processed from the satellite and the ground and delivered to customers through the web.

Image credit: NASA Haughton-Mars Project / Pascal Lee

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Meet the out-of-this-world startups in Seraphim Space Camp's accelerator - UKTN (UK Technology News

Six Minutes to Midnight actor James DArcy is set to star in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Constellation.

He joins previously announced cast Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks in the eight-episode conspiracy-based psychological thriller drama, reported Deadline.

Written and produced by Peter Harness, Constellation will see Rapace play Jo, a woman who returns to Earth after a disaster in space only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be missing.

The action-packed space adventure is an exploration of the dark edges of human psychology, one womans desperate quest to expose the truth about the hidden history of space travel and recover all that she has lost, the official logline read.

DArcy will play Magnus, Jos husband, whereas Banks will play Henry, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist.

Additionally, Oscar-nominated Oliver Hirschbiegel and Joseph Cedar join previously announced director and executive producer Michelle MacLaren to helm the series.

Constellation is a Turbine Studios and Haut et Court TV co-production.

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James DArcy joins the cast of Apple TV+ series Constellation - The Indian Express

ISRO will conduct two unmanned abort missions, one in September and the other in December, to simulate failure and ensure crew safety as part of its roadmap for Gaganyaan, the countrys first manned flight to space, in 2024, ISRO chairman S Somanath told The Indian Express.

Our first priority is human safety. So, we are now focusing on abort missions that is simulating failures and bringing the crew back safely under those circumstances. The first Test Vehicle for this purpose is ready and we will launch it in September this year. The human capsule will be sent up 15 kilometres, we will simulate an abort and then the capsule will be safely brought down by parachutes into the sea, Somanath, who is also Secretary, Department of Space, said.

The second Test Vehicle will be launched in December this year, sent to a greater height and then brought back after a similar simulation is carried out.

We are intentionally delaying the manned mission as this is a very dangerous mission. If this is not successful, then the entire project may even have to be closed down. So, we have to be extremely accurate and absolutely sure. An unsuccessful mission will have a very bad impact on the system as well as on ISRO, Somnath said.

The ISRO chief pointed out that while the main purpose of the Gaganyaan mission is to demonstrate Indias capability, it is also the first step toward an Indian Space Station in the future.

More and more human activity is likely to shift to space over the coming decades, he said. For instance, 3D printing of organs is emerging as one of the biggest sectors that will shift to space in the future, as zero-gravity is the perfect condition for growing organs, he said.

Last week, ISRO carried out the launch of the HS 200 rocket booster in Sriharikota as a part of the first stage of Gaganyan. The HS200 booster, which was 20 m long with a 3.2 m diameter, was loaded with 203 tonnes of solid propellant and tested for a 135-second duration.

The mission, which will carry three Indians into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), was pushed back due to the pandemic it was initially to be launched this year, coinciding with 75 years of Indias independence.

There has been a large impact due to the Covid pandemic the production of various systems gets affected and the restart takes time. We have lost one-and-a-half years because of Covid. Europe was severely affected and thereby the production and supply chains were disrupted, and we needed to acquire many parts from these countries, including electronics and computer chips. There was also a restriction on expenditure due to Covid, Somanath said.

According to ISRO, the Rs 9,023-crore Gaganyaan programme will lay the foundation for a sustained Indian human space exploration programme in the long run.

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For safety of Gaganyaan crew, ISRO will simulate failure with abort missions - The Indian Express

The Moon Shots: Space photography 19501999 auction included 327 photographs covering the earliest rocket launches through to the first manned lunar missions. The fortnight-long auction was held by Christie's online, with bidding having closed earlier this afternoon. The lots, the auction house said, documented a wide-ranging view of the Golden Age of space exploration.

They added: Spanning the 1950s, with the launch of Atlas, to the late 1990s, with images capturing the beauty of Saturns rings, the collection captures an exciting panorama of one of the most important scientific stories in history.

Among the most evocative photographs are shots of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin setting foot on the Moon for the first time, and the first untethered space flight.

In fact, the sale was led by two images of Mr Aldrin on the lunar surface with one, dated July 1624, 1969, showing the pioneering astronaut posing by the US flag with the Eagle Lunar Module in the background. It was valued at 20,00030,000.

The second was a picture in which the Eagle and Neil Armstrong, who was behind the camera, can be seen reflected in Mr Aldrins mirrored visor. This sold for 9,450.

Christies added: The photographs are arguably some of the most recognisable photographs from space exploration, capturing Aldrin posed against the backdrop of a vast lunar landscape.

Other notable inclusions in the auction included two pictures of NASA engineer Ed White performing the first-ever US spacewalk in the June of 1965, one of which was auctioned off for 1,386.

Meanwhile, a shot of the first spacecraft rendezvous conducted at a whopping 17,000 miles per hour sold for 1,008, and a sunset photograph of the first Saturn V rocket on its launch pad sold for 504.

The auction also includes various breath-taking shots of the Earth and Moon as seen from space including the iconic first human-taken photograph of an Earthrise over the lunar surface in the December of 1986, which went for a whopping 15,120.

The full selection of photographs being sold in the Moon Shots: Space photography 19501999 auction can be viewed on Christies website.

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The space-themed auction is coming to a close just as NASA officials have revealed the prospective launch dates for the Artemis I mission.

A major step in efforts to return humanity to the lunar surface, the uncrewed mission will see the first integrated flight test of NASAs Orion spacecraft and the long-awaited Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the mission will engage in several orbits of the Moon, including the first-ever distant retrograde orbit which will reach some 43,730 miles out from the lunar surface.

The mission will last anywhere between 26 and 42 days, depending on which launch window is chosen with NASA having identified 158 different opportunities between July 26 this year and June 30 in the next.

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The choice of launch windows depends on various factors including the orbital mechanics that will be in play at each given point in time.

A NASA spokesperson explained: The resulting trajectory for a given day must ensure Orion is not in darkness for more than 90 minutes at a time.

This, they added, is so that the solar array wings can receive and convert sunlight to electricity and the spacecraft can maintain an optimal temperature range.

Mission planners eliminate potential launch dates that would send Orion into extended eclipses during the flight.

On Tuesday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told a US House subcommittee hearing that they were aiming, all things being well, to launch Artemis I in August.

As NASAs Kathryn Hambleton told Ars Technica: The range of dates is not meant to convey anything about the probability of launching in 2022 or 2023.

All launch dates more than about two months out are preliminary. It is standard for the team to have a preliminary outlook several months ahead.

Well set a more specific target after we complete wet dress rehearsal testing."

This trial which will see the SLS fully fuelled and brought to within 10 seconds of engine ignition is currently anticipated to take place in earlymid-June.

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Apollo 11 photos of Armstrong and Aldrin auctioned as NASA announces Moon return date - Express