Category Archives: Space Travel

Between better weather and a population still spiritually exhausted by COVID-19, outdoor experts are hoping to keep this summers impending rush of novice hikers and trekkers out of trouble.

Mount Rainier National Park information officer Kevin Bacher foresees a gangbuster season for backcountry enthusiasts this year, just like last summer. In 2020, park staff had to adapt to a huge number of people who were using trails and outdoor spaces with little prior experience, he said, and the park saw several record-setting weekends for attendance.

I think that was the real revelation about last summer, Bacher said. Not only were a lot of people coming out, but a lot of people who usually dont recreate (were) doing so for the first time.

On one hand, Bacher was thrilled to see people discover the wonders of the wilderness for the first time, developing skills, hobbies and connections to the outdoor world that they didnt have before.

But more adventure means more misadventure: The Seattle Times reported in early March that Mount Rainier National Park rangers embarked on 60 search-and-rescue operations in 2020, the most in the past five years, according to park data.

With visitor centers closed due to the pandemic, the park had to beef up ranger and volunteer presence on the trails in order to reach hikers that were often stepping foot for the first time on the mountain, unaware of safety or etiquette on the trail, Bacher said.

Hes hoping adventurers this summer are just as eager, and a little wiser.

KNOW YOUR TRAIL

Park rangers stress the value of researching the place youre visiting before heading out. Geographical and seasonal hazards are usually detailed online or in trail guides.

Its also helpful to learn CPR and the fundamentals of first aid and wilderness survival before embarking.

Before you leave, check the weather and road conditions in the area youre visiting, Bacher said. Wheres the closest gas station? Which roads are closed in the season youre visiting? Those arent mysteries you want to be solving on-the-day.

Mount Rainier, for instance, is open, but park visitor centers, the Paradise Inn and the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center are closed due to the pandemic. Most park roads are closed, and all drivers are required to carry and be ready to use tire chains in the park in the winter season (November through the end of April).

Another step rangers and search-and-rescue volunteers stress: Make an itinerary for the day and share it with someone else who isnt going hiking. That way, if you dont return on time, that person can alert searchers as to where you were heading and when you were supposed to be back.

When you do head out, get an early start so as to maximize your time before nightfall (and your chances of getting a parking space). Travel with a group, especially in rough weather, so you and your friends can get help if someone is injured.

SUIT UP

You dont need a giant backpack full of gear, but packing clothes for a variety of temperatures, as well as rain, snow and sun is a good start, King County Search and Rescue volunteer Nathan Lorance said.

You might have a really warm cotton sweatshirt, but as soon as it gets wet, its like a t-shirt, Lorance said. Theres nothing there.

First-aid kits and tools to communicate and navigate are also crucial for when mishaps strike. The most common rescue calls searchers took were for minor injuries, Lorance said, like twisted ankles from slips and falls on hiking trails.

Accidents truly happen to everyone, Lorance said. You can have all the protective gear, all the training, and still trip on a rock.

Park officials stress these items for any kind of outdoor excursion:

Navigation: A compass, map of the area (a paper map doesnt run out of batteries) and a GPS.

Light: A flashlight or lamp with extra batteries (save your phone juice for communication).

Food: Extra food and water, and a way to filter water on longer journeys .

Severe weather protection: Raingear, insulating clothes and gloves.

Sun Protection: Sunscreen, sunglasses, chapstick and a hat.

Tools: A pocketknife and any other tools you foresee yourself needing.

Firestarters: Weatherproof matches and a lighter or other firestarters.

Communication: A fully-charged cell phone along with a backup battery.

First Aid Kit

Shelter: An emergency blanket for shelter on short trips, or a tent or tarp for longer trips .

If you plan to go on the water, a lifejacket or other flotation device is handy, too.

In an emergency, all these tools help you manage the one resource you cant buy: Time.

One of the things a lot of folks dont realize, is that unlike the fire department, our volunteers are coming from all over the county, Lorance said. As long as it takes you to hike in, its going to take us that long too. Having the basic essentials means you can be as comfortable as possible while waiting for additional help to survive.

WHERE AND WHEN TO START?

Spring is a great time to develop your physical and mental outdoor skills, especially if you plan to hike some of the grueling and high-elevation trails that wont be snow free until late summer.

Even in the summer, trails in the upper parts of Mount Rainier and other parks are subject to harshly cold weather and treacherous conditions. The trail that looks fantastic on Instagram might be buried in snow even when you visit it in June, Bacher said.

But maybe this is the time of year to hike places where the trails dont have the spectacular views of the mountain, but are really really beautiful, (with) forest trails through ancient trees, waterfalls that are really flowing beautifully because the snow is melting and feeding them, Bacher said.

Trail of the Shadows and Greenwater (AKA Meeker) Lakes are two such places in and around the Mt. Rainier National Park. The former provides a great beginners hike in the foothills of the mountain, while Greenwater Lakes serves up a smorgasbord of old growth forest, waterfalls, lakes and bridges. (Its even pet friendly.)

For picturesque views of the Carbon River Rainforest, consider the Rainforest Nature Loop Trail in the Carbon River area. Its a short, 0.3 mile loop that is snow-free year round.

And for those who like to see history up close, the Melmont Ghost Town can be traversed from Wilkeson/Carbonado via SR 165. No pass is needed to visit the ruins, which are slowly being reclaimed by nature.

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Hitting the hiking trail to escape pandemic-induced ennui? A bit of preparation could save your bacon | Courier-Herald - Enumclaw Courier-Herald

ELON Musk is set on getting to Mars as quickly as possible.

The billionaire claimed in a recent tweet that his company SpaceX would reach the Red Planet "well before 2030".

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It comes as the latest prototype of the US firm's huge Starship rocket prepares for lift-off from a SpaceX facility in Texas.

"SpaceX will be landing Starships on Mars well before 2030," Musk tweeted on Tuesday.

"The really hard threshold is making Mars Base Alpha self-sustaining."

Musk has previously claimed that Starship a bullet-shaped stainless steel tower standing 160ft tall could reach Mars as early as 2022.

That would take the form of an unmanned flight carrying cargo to the planet.

Starship's first flight to Earth orbit will take place this year, according to SpaceX.

SN11, the company's latest prototype, fired up its engines as part of a series of static tests early this morning ahead of its first flight.

The rocket could blast into the sky this week, weather permitted. SpaceX will use the test to collect data that will inform future flights.

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Expectations for the first flight of SN11 are high after its predecessor, SN10, met a fiery end earlier this month.

The prototype shot six miles into the air during a test flight on March 4 before touching down safely at the Starship facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

It stood upright on the ground for about 10 minutes before suddenly bursting into flames due to apossible methane leak.

Two other rockets, SN8 and SN9, met similar violent ends following flights in December and January.

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Starship is in the early stages of development, and trial launches have thus far taken the form of high-altitude flights of a few miles.

SpaceX plans to reach orbit with the rocket in an unmanned flight by 2022.

Billionaire Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, hopes to send a million people to Mars in his lifetime using a 1,000-strong fleet of the powerful rockets.

The finished product will stand 165ft (50 metres) tall and boast six of SpaceX's powerful Raptor engines.

What is SpaceX?

Here's what you need to know...

SpaceX is a cash-flushed rocket company that wants to take man to Mars.

It was set up by eccentric billionaire Elon Musk in 2002 and is based in Hawthorne, California.

SpaceX's first aim was to build rockets that can autonomously land back on Earth for refurbishment and re-use.

The technology makes launching and operating space flights more efficient, and therefore cheaper.

SpaceX currently uses its reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets to fly cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) for Nasa.

It also carries satellites and other space tech into orbit for various government agencies and multinational companies.

The company took astronauts to the ISS for the first time in 2020.

Other future missions involve carrying tourists to the ISS and astronauts to the Moon and Mars.

Musk has repeatedly said he believes humanity must colonise Mars to save itself from extinction.

He plans to get a SpaceX rocket to the Red Planet by 2027.

According to SpaceX, the contraption will hit speeds of 15,000mph (25,000kph), making it the world's most powerful spacecraft.

In a series of tweets last year, Musk outlined how his Starlink plans would open up space travel to anyone, regardless of their income.

"Needs to be such that anyone can go if they want, with loans available for those who don't have money," he wrote.

Musk's plan involves building an expansive fleet of Starship vehicles, which comprise a huge rocket topped by a bullet-shaped spacecraft.

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SpaceX says reusable rockets that can land and take off again make space travel more cost effective, accessible and sustainable.

However, the team has a long way to go before they can conduct Starship's first manned flight.

Musk is targeting a Mars cargo mission by 2022 and a manned flight to the Red Planet by 2024.

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In other news, the worlds firstreality show filmed in spacewill follow a contestant on a 10-day trip to the ISS in 2023.

Acids may have destroyed any evidence ofancient life on Mars, according to a new study.

And, a Nasa has unveileda new lunar landerthat could put astronauts back on the Moon in 2024.

Would you like to go to space? Let us know in the comments...

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Elon Musk says his Starship rocket will land on Mars well before 2030 to create Base Alpha... - The Sun

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.andHOUSTON, March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Redwire (or "the Company"), a leader in mission-critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, and Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: GNPK) ("Genesis Park"),a publicly tradedspecial purpose acquisition company, announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement that will result in Redwire becoming a publicly traded company. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2021, and at that time, Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. will change its name to Redwire and the company will trade on the NYSE.

Redwire provides critical space infrastructure technology and services and is uniquely positioned to deliver critical solutions to meet the growing needs of national security, civil, and commercialcustomers for a full spectrum of activity in space. The Company is differentiated from its peers because it offers both rich flight heritage, with more than 50 years of space flight experience and more than 150 missions flown, and unmatched innovations in space infrastructure, including over 100 patents and applications. Its infrastructure and services enable nearly every space mission, and Redwire sees increasing opportunities as decreasing launch costs continue to enable exponential growth in deployed space infrastructure.

Redwire is the leading developer of on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing ("OSAM") capabilities, a transformational technology deploying 3D printing that enables customers to build satellites and other spacecraft in space, solving the size and other limitations posed by launch dynamics. Through the launch of raw materials into orbit, in-space manufacturing of component parts through 3D printing and other methods, and robotic assembly of highly functional objects, Redwire's OSAM technology enables lower cost deployment and higher power capabilities. The advantages of Redwire's in-space manufacturing will allow its customers to efficiently create more advanced products in space with greater performance characteristics than terrestrial based manufacturing methods, driving increased investment in space infrastructure from adjacent markets and the commercialization of space.

"Space-based capabilities and services are improving lives on Earth every day, and Redwire is an invaluable mission partner, providing technology that has been at the forefront of space infrastructure from the beginning. Today, the influx of private capital, new public sector space initiatives and decreased launch costs are driving tremendous growth in the space industry, which is projected to exceed $2 trillion by 2040," said Peter Cannito, Chairman and CEO of Redwire. "With our extensive space flight heritage and deeply innovative capabilities, we are accelerating humanity's expansion into space by delivering reliable, economical and sustainable infrastructure for future generations. As we enter this second golden age of space, Redwire is supplying the picks and shovels that enable nearly every space mission, supporting initiatives to help us better understand our planet, transform our space security infrastructure, and move humanity deeper into our solar system. We are thrilled to enter into this business combination with Genesis Park. With their extensive aerospace, operational and financial expertise and strong industry relationships, we are confident that Genesis Park is the right partner to propel Redwire's growth in the public market."

"We intended to find a profitable partner with strong management, powerful intellectual property and impressive organic growth. Redwire achieves that vision by transforming the future of space infrastructure and services at a time when the space industry is on the brink of exponential growth. Redwire is a proven, solidly profitable player in the space community and the undisputed leader in on-orbit 3D printing, servicing, assembly, and manufacturing. We also believe there is significant opportunity to accelerate growth through strategic combinations in the fragmented space landscape. Redwire has established itself as a first-mover consolidator and an acquirer of choice, and we believe its position will be further improved as a public company," said Paul Hobby, CEO and Director of Genesis Park. "We are very excited about Redwire's growth potential and we look forward to partnering with Peter and his team as they help usher in this new era of space exploration."

"As an innovative space infrastructure leader, Redwire is set to power a new age of space travel, exploration and commerce," said Kirk Konert, Partner at AE Industrial Partners. "With this transaction, Redwire will have even greater opportunities to drive growth and value by delivering tailored, responsive solutions for its growing customer base across the public and private sectors."

Redwire Highlights

Key Transaction TermsThe transaction values Redwire at a $615 million pro forma enterprise value, representing 9.6x estimated 2023 Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $64 million and 2.5x estimated 2025 Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $250 million. Assuming no redemptions by Genesis Park stockholders, the Proposed Transaction is expected to deliver approximately $170 million cash to the Redwire balance sheet. The proposed transaction is further supported by a $100 million fully committed and oversubscribed PIPE of common stock, priced at $10.00 per share, with participation by Senvest Management, LLC and Crescent Park Management, L.P.

Redwire's existing stockholders will hold approximately 55% of the fully diluted shares of common stock immediately following the closing of the business combination, assuming no redemptions by Genesis Park's existing public stockholders. AE Industrial Partners will remain a significant shareholder in Redwire following the completion of the proposed merger.

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of Redwire and Genesis Park, is subject to approval by Genesis Park's shareholders and other customary closing conditions.

Following the closing of the transaction, Redwire will continue to be led by Chairman and CEO Peter Cannito. The Redwire Board will be comprised of current Redwire Board members Pete Cannito, Dr. Reggie Brothers, Joanne Isham and Kirk Konert, along with Jonathan Baliff President, CFO & Director of Genesis Park; John Bolton, Advisor to Genesis Park and Les Daniels, Operating Partner of AE Industrial Partners.

Additional information about the proposed transaction, including a copy of the merger agreement and investor presentation, will be available in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Genesis Park with the Securities and Exchange Commission and at http://www.sec.gov. The investor presentation can also be found on https://www.genesis-park.com/redwire.

Investor Conference Call InformationRedwire and Genesis Park will host a joint investor conference call to discuss the proposed transaction on March 25, 2021 at 7:30 AM ET. To access the conference call, please visit https://www.genesis-park.com/redwire. The live call may also be accessed by dialing 1 877 876-9173 or 1 785 424-1667 providing the Conference ID 3086566. A replay of the call will be available on the Genesis Park website.

AdvisorsJefferies is serving as financial advisor and Kirkland and Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Redwire. Greenhill and KPMG are serving as financial advisors, Jefferies is serving as sole placement agent for the PIPE and capital markets advisor, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP are serving as legal counsel to Genesis Park.

About RedwireRedwire is a new leader in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy. With decades of flight heritage combined with the agile and innovative culture of a commercial space platform, Redwire is uniquely positioned to assist its customers in solving the complex challenges of future space missions. For more information, please visitwww.redwirespace.com.

About Genesis Park Acquisition Corp.Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. ("GNPK") is a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of Genesis Park, trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol NYSE: GNPK.U. GNPK is one of the first aerospace and aviation services special purpose acquisition companies, and may pursue an initial business combination in any industry or geographic region, but specifically seeks to capitalize on the operational and investment experience of the GNPK management team and Board of Directors by focusing on companies that have significant growth prospects in the aerospace and aviation services sectors.

About AE Industrial Partners AE Industrial Partners is a private equity firm specializing in Aerospace, Defense, Space & Government Services, Power Generation, and Specialty Industrial markets. AE Industrial Partners invests in market-leading companies that can benefit from its deep industry knowledge, operating experience, and relationships throughout its target markets. AE Industrial Partners is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing. Learn more atwww.aeroequity.com.

Redwire ContactsMedia: Austin Jordan321-536-8632Austin.jordan@redwirespace.com OR Investors: investorrelations@redwirespace.com

ReevemarkPaul Caminiti/Delia Cannan/Pam Greene212-433-4600redwire@reevemark.com

Forward Looking StatementsThis document includes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "forecast," "intend," "seek," "target," "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "outlook," and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward looking statements include estimated financial information, including without limitation, forecasted revenue and revenue CAGR. Such forward looking statements with respect to revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects and other aspects of the businesses of Genesis Park Acquisition Corp., Redwire or the combined company after completion of the Business Combination are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement governing the proposed business combination; (2) the inability to complete the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement due to the failure to obtain approval of the shareholders of Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. or other conditions to closing in the merger agreement; (3) the ability to meet NYSE's listing standards following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement; (4) the risk that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations of Redwire as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transactions described herein; (5) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees; (6) costs related to the proposed business combination; (7) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (8) the possibility that Redwire may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and (9) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. and Redwire undertake no commitment to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Additional InformationIn connection with the proposed business combination between Redwire and Genesis Park Acquisition Corp., Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. intends to file with the SEC a preliminary proxy statement / prospectus and will mail a definitive proxy statement / prospectus and other relevant documentation to Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. shareholders. This document does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed business combination. It is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect to the proposed business combination. Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the preliminary proxy statement / prospectus and any amendments thereto, and the definitive proxy statement / prospectus in connection with Genesis Park Acquisition Corp.'s solicitation of proxies for the special meeting to be held to approve the transactions contemplated by the proposed business combination because these materials will contain important information about Redwire, Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. and the proposed business combination. The definitive proxy statement / prospectus will be mailed to Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. shareholders as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination when it becomes available. Shareholders will also be able to obtain a copy of the preliminary proxy statement / prospectus and the definitive proxy statement / prospectus once they are available, without charge, at the SEC's website at http://sec.gov or by directing a request to: investorrelations@redwirespace.com.

This document shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the proposed business combination.

Participants in the SolicitationGenesis Park Acquisition Corp. and its directors and officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination. Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. shareholders and other interested persons may obtain, without charge, more detailed information regarding the directors and officers of Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. in Genesis Park Acquisition Corp.'s prospectus relating to its initial public offering filed with the SEC on November 24, 2020. Redwire and its directors and executive officers may also be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. in connection with the Business Combination.

Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies to Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination will be set forth in the proxy statement / prospectus for the transaction when available. Additional information regarding the interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction will be included in the proxy statement / prospectus that Genesis Park Acquisition Corp. intends to file with the SEC.

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SOURCE Redwire; Genesis Park Acquisition Corp.

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Redwire, An Innovative Space Infrastructure Company Serving The Fast-Growing Space Industry, To Become Publicly Traded Through Merger With Genesis...

Final Fantasy 7 featured the quintessential Cid, as Cid Highwind brought Dragoon skills to battles and had a story arc among the series' best.

With Final Fantasy VII RemakePart 2somewhere on the horizon, many RPG fans are excited to see how Cid Highwind could make his debut in a current-gen title. The presence of a character named Cid is a staple of theFinal Fantasyseries, but the Cid ofFinal Fantasy 7is unique, due to his presence as a main party member and his standout characterization - even among the other iconicFinal Fantasy 7 characters.

WhenFinal Fantasy 7was released for the PlayStation, Cid Highwind became the quintessential iteration of Cid. He remained a party memberuntil the end, making him a "main" character rather than a guest party member. Cid Highwind was a pilot and an engineer, reluctantly accepting the funding of the Shinra Corporation to pursue his dream of space travel. He was a chain-smoking, foul-mouthed cynic, not afraid to get his hands dirty by leaping into battle - literally - with a spear,much like prior Final Fantasy games' Dragoon character class.

Related:FF7 Remake Part 2 Plot Changes That Probably Won't Happen

Cids Tiny Bronco airplane served as one of the first modes of overworld travel in FF7; his Highwind airship allowed for full world travel in the latter parts of the story; and his rocket tookplayers into space during one key sequence. More important than his role as ferryman for the party, Cid Highwind fought alongside Cloud and the others up through the battle with Sephiroth and Jenova. He proved to be one of the game's strongest characters,andVenus Gospel, Cids ultimate spear, made him a wise choice for the final battles.

As powerful as Cid Highwind was as a damage dealer,his FF7 story was stronger. Cids childhood dream was to be the first human in space. He aborted the initial planned launch of his rocket due to Shera, his assistant, remaining in the blast zone to perform a last-minute safety check. Cid blamed Sheras overcautiousness for sabotaging his dream, and he wasunappreciative of and rudetowards her when the party first encountered them. In a later sequence, when the rocket was launched with the party onboard, an oxygen tank exploded, trapping Cid under debris. He recognized this as the same tank that Shera was inspecting at the time of the prior aborted launch, and that her prudence likely saved his life.

Though not given as much screen timeas FF7 protagonist Cloud, Cid's story was just as heartfelt, albeit more straightforward. Cid aspired towards one of humankinds loftiest goals - space travel - and saw Shera as the person who had sabotaged his dream. He then realizedhis ambition had blinded him, and his haste to travel among the stars caused him to lose sight of the details and blame Shera for his shortcomings. With the help of the party, Cid escaped the oxygen tank, humbled and forever changed by the experience.

AmongFinalFantasy's Cid characters,Cid Highwind is an all-time great. Prior iterations of Cid were airship pilots, engineers, and scientists fusing magic and technology. Subsequent games would take further liberties with Cid, casting him as a military academy instructor, a king cursed to be an Oglop, and even a villain, among other roles. Though the Thunder God Cid of theFinal Fantasy Tacticsspinoff could be considered a central character, Cid Highwind is the lone Cid to serve as a main party member in a numberedFinal Fantasygame. FF7's Cid is deeply human - flawed, ambitious, irritable, and dour, but also repentant and inspiring. As a memorable character with a great arc, there is good reason forfansto be excited to see the stubborn, rugged aeronauttake up his spear inFinal Fantasy VII Remake Part 2.

Next:Why We're Excited For Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis (And Why We're Worried)

Animal Crossing Player Creates Michigan Along With Tourism Brochure

Derek Garcia is a Game Feature Writer for ScreenRant. He lives with his wife, three dogs, and a likely excessive number of video game consoles. When he is not writing, playing video games, watching movies or television, or reading novels or comic books, he occasionally takes some time to sleep. Derek majored in journalism and worked for a print newspaper before discovering the internet. He is a fan of science fiction and fantasy, video game and tabletop RPGs, classic Hong Kong action movies, and graphic novels. After being immersed in nerd culture for many years, Derek is now happy to write about the media he enjoys instead of just ranting to his friends.

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How FF7's Cid Is Different From Other Final Fantasy Characters Named Cid - Screen Rant

When did we first start exploring space?

The first human-made object to go into space was a German V2 missile, launched on a test flight in 1942. Although uncrewed, it reached an altitude of 189km (117 miles).

Former Nazi rocket scientists were later recruited by both America and Russia (often at gunpoint in the latter case), where they were instrumental in developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) rockets capable of carrying nuclear weapons from one side of the planet to the other.

A captured German V-2 rocket, the worlds first guided missile, launched at the US Army testing base at White Sands, in New Mexico Getty Images

It was these super-missiles that formed the basis for the space programmes of both post-war superpowers. As it happened, Russia was the first to reach Earth orbit, when it launched the uncrewed Sputnik 1 in October 1957, followed a month later by Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika the first live animal in space.

The USA sent its first uncrewed satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit soon after, in January 1958. A slew of robotic spaceflights followed, from both sides of the Atlantic, before Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin piloted Vostok 1 into orbit on 12 April 1961, to become the first human being in space. And from there the space race proper began, culminating in Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin becoming the first people to walk on the Moon as part of NASAs Apollo programme.

Space exploration is the future. It satisfies the human urge to explore and to travel, and in the years and decades to come it could even provide our species with new places to call home especially relevant now, as Earth becomes increasingly crowded.

Extending our reach into space is also necessary for the advancement of science. Space telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope and probes to the distant worlds of the Solar System are continually updating, and occasionally revolutionising, our understanding of astronomy and physics.

But there are also some very practical reasons, such as mining asteroids for materials that are extremely rare here on Earth.

One example is the huge reserve of the chemical isotope helium-3 thought to be locked away in the soil on the surface of the Moon. This isotope is a potential fuel for future nuclear fusion reactors power stations that tap into the same source of energy as the Sun. Unlike other fusion fuels, helium-3 gives off no hard-to-contain and deadly neutron radiation.

However, for this to happen the first challenge to overcome is how to build a base on the Moon. In 2019, Chinas Change 4 mission marked the beginning of a new space race to conquer the Moon, signalling their intent to build a permanent lunar base, while the NASA Artemis mission plans to build a space station, called Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, providing a platform to ferry astronauts to the Moons surface.

Its entirely feasible that human explorers will visit the furthest reaches of our Solar System. The stars, however, are another matter. Interstellar space is so vast that it takes light the fastest thing we know of in the Universe years, centuries and millennia to traverse it. Faster-than-light travel may be possible one day, but is unlikely to become a reality in our lifetimes.

Its not impossible that humans might one day cross this cosmic gulf, though it wont be easy. The combustion-powered rocket engines of today certainly arent up to the job they just dont use fuel efficiently enough. Instead, interstellar spacecraft may create a rocket-like propulsion jet using electric and magnetic fields. This so-called ion drive technology has already been tested aboard uncrewed Solar System probes.

Star Treks USS Enterprise, the iconic warp-capable ship Alamy

Another possibility is to push spacecraft off towards the stars using the light from a high-powered laser. A consortium of scientists calling themselves Breakthrough Starshot is already planning to send a flotilla of tiny robotic probes to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, using just this method.

Though whether human astronauts could survive such punishing acceleration, or the decades-long journey through deep space, remains to be seen.

Pushing forward the frontiers of science is the stated goal of many space missions. But even the development of space travel technology itself can lead to unintended yet beneficial spin-off technologies with some very down-to-earth applications.

Notable spin-offs from the US space programme, NASA, include memory foam mattresses, artificial hearts, and the lubricant spray WD-40. Doubtless, there are many more to come.

Read more about space exploration:

Space exploration also instils a sense of wonder, it reminds us that there are issues beyond our humdrum planet and its petty squabbles, and without doubt it helps to inspire each new generation of young scientists. Its also an insurance policy. Were now all too aware that global calamities can and do happen for instance, climate change and the giant asteroid that smashed into the Earth 65 million years ago, leading to the total extinction of the dinosaurs.

The lesson for the human species is that we keep all our eggs in one basket at our peril. On the other hand, a healthy space programme, and the means to travel to other worlds, gives us an out.

In short, yes very. Reaching orbit means accelerating up to around 28,000kph (17,000mph, or 22 times the speed of sound). If anything goes wrong at that speed, its seldom good news.

Then theres the growing cloud of space junk to contend with in Earths orbit defunct satellites, discarded rocket stages and other detritus all moving just as fast. A five-gram bolt hitting at orbital speed packs as much energy as a 200kg weight dropped from the top of an 18-storey building.

The movie Gravity highlighted the dangers of space debris Warner Brothers

And getting to space is just the start of the danger. The principal hazard once there is cancer-producing radiation the typical dose from one day in space is equivalent to what youd receive over an entire year back on Earth, thanks to the planets atmosphere and protective magnetic field.

Add to that the icy cold airless vacuum, the need to bring all your own food and water, plus the effects of long-duration weightlessness on bone density, the brain and muscular condition including that of the heart and it soon becomes clear that venturing into space really isnt for the faint-hearted.

Its already happening that is, assuming your pockets are deep enough. The first self-funded space tourist was US businessman Dennis Tito, who in 2001 spent a week aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the cool sum of $20m (15m).

Virgin Galactic has long been promising to take customers on short sub-orbital hops into space where passengers get to experience rocket propulsion and several minutes of weightlessness, before gliding back to a runway landing on Earth, all for $250k (190k). In late July 2020, the company unveiled the finished cabin in its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, suggesting that commercial spaceflights may begin shortly.

SpaceX expects that one day their Starship could carry passengers to the Moon SpaceX/Flickr

Meanwhile, Elon Musks SpaceX, which in May 2020 became the first private company to launch a human crew to Earth orbit aboard the Crew Dragon, plans to offer stays on the ISS for $35k (27k) per night. SpaceX is now prototyping its huge Starship vehicle, which is designed to take 100 passengers from Earth to as far afield as Mars for around $20k (15k) per head. Musk stated in January that he hoped to be operating 1,000 Starships by 2050.

10 Short Lessons in Space Travel by Paul Parsons is out now (9.99, Michael OMara)

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Space travel: (almost) everything you need to know about ...

The first earthling to orbit our planet was just two years old, plucked from the streets of Moscow barely more than a week before her historic launch. Her name was Laika. She was a terrier mutt and by all accounts a good dog. Her 1957 flight paved the way for space exploration back when scientists didnt know if spaceflight was lethal for living things.

Humans are explorers. Since before the dawn of civilization, weve been lured over the horizon to find food or more space, to make a profit, or just to see whats beyond those trees or mountains or oceans. Our ability to explore reached new heightsliterallyin the last hundred years. Airplanes shortened distances, simplified travel, and showed us Earth from a new perspective. By the middle of the last century, we aimed even higher.

Our first steps into space began as a race between the United States and the former Soviet Union, rivals in a global struggle for power. Laika was followed into orbit four years later by the first human, Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin. With Earth orbit achieved, we turned our sights on the moon. The United States landed two astronauts on its stark surface in 1969, and five more manned missions followed. The U.S.s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched probes to study the solar system. Manned space stations began glittering in the sky. NASA developed reusable spacecraftspace shuttle orbitersto ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit. Space-travel technology had advanced light-years in just three decades. Gagarin had to parachute from his spaceship after reentry from orbit. The space shuttle leaves orbit at 16,465 miles an hour (26,498 kilometers an hour) and glides to a stop on a runway without using an engine.

Space travel is nothing like in the movies. Getting from A to B requires complex calculations involving inertia and gravityliterally, rocket scienceto "slingshot" from planet to planet (or moon) across the solar system. The Voyager mission of the 1970s took advantage of a rare alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to shave off nearly 20 years of travel time. Space is also dangerous. More than 20 astronauts have died doing their job.

That hasnt stopped people from signing up and blasting off. NASAs shuttle program has ended, but private companies are readying their own space programs. A company called Planetary Resources plans to send robot astronauts to the Asteroid Belt to mine for precious metals. Another company named SpaceX is hoping to land civilian astronauts on Marsthe next human step into the solar systemin 20 years. NASA and other civilian companies are planning their own Mars missions. Maybe youll be a member of one? Dont forget to bring your dog.

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History of Space Travel

We human beings have been venturing into space since October 4, 1957, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. This happened during the period of political hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States known as the Cold War. For several years, the two superpowers had been competing to develop missiles, called intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), to carry nuclear weapons between continents. In the U.S.S.R., the rocket designer Sergei Korolev had developed the first ICBM, a rocket called the R7, which would begin the space race.

This competition came to a head with the launch of Sputnik. Carried atop an R7 rocket, the Sputnik satellite was able to send out beeps from a radio transmitter. After reaching space, Sputnik orbited Earth once every 96 minutes. The radio beeps could be detected on the ground as the satellite passed overhead, so people all around the world knew that it was really in orbit. Realizing that the U.S.S.R. had capabilities that exceeded U.S. technologies that could endanger Americans, the United States grew worried. Then, a month later, on November 3, 1957, the Soviets achieved an even more impressive space venture. This was Sputnik II, a satellite that carried a living creature, a dog named Laika.

Prior to the launch of Sputnik, the United States had been working on its own capability to launch a satellite. The United States made two failed attempts to launch a satellite into space before succeeding with a rocket that carried a satellite called Explorer on January 31, 1958. The team that achieved this first U.S. satellite launch consisted largely of German rocket engineers who had once developed ballistic missiles for Nazi Germany. Working for the U.S. Army at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, the German rocket engineers were led by Wernher von Braun and had developed the German V2 rocket into a more powerful rocket, called the Jupiter C, or Juno. Explorer carried several instruments into space for conducting science experiments. One instrument was a Geiger counter for detecting cosmic rays. This was for an experiment operated by researcher James Van Allen, which, together with measurements from later satellites, proved the existence of what are now called the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth.

In 1958, space exploration activities in the United States were consolidated into a new government agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). When it began operations in October of 1958, NASA absorbed what had been called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and several other research and military facilities, including the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (the Redstone Arsenal) in Huntsville.

The first human in space was the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who made one orbit around Earth on April 12, 1961, on a flight that lasted 108 minutes. A little more than three weeks later, NASA launched astronaut Alan Shepard into space, not on an orbital flight, but on a suborbital trajectorya flight that goes into space but does not go all the way around Earth. Shepards suborbital flight lasted just over 15 minutes. Three weeks later, on May 25, President John F. Kennedy challenged the United States to an ambitious goal, declaring: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."

In addition to launching the first artificial satellite, the first dog in space, and the first human in space, the Soviet Union achieved other space milestones ahead of the United States. These milestones included Luna 2, which became the first human-made object to hit the Moon in 1959. Soon after that, the U.S.S.R. launched Luna 3. Less than four months after Gagarins flight in 1961, a second Soviet human mission orbited a cosmonaut around Earth for a full day. The U.S.S.R. also achieved the first spacewalk and launched the Vostok 6 mission, which made Valentina Tereshkova the first woman to travel to space.

During the 1960s, NASA made progress toward President Kennedys goal of landing a human on the moon with a program called Project Gemini, in which astronauts tested technology needed for future flights to the moon, and tested their own ability to endure many days in spaceflight. Project Gemini was followed by Project Apollo, which took astronauts into orbit around the moon and to the lunar surface between 1968 and 1972. In 1969, on Apollo 11, the United States sent the first astronauts to the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on its surface. During the landed missions, astronauts collected samples of rocks and lunar dust that scientists still study to learn about the moon. During the 1960s and 1970s, NASA also launched a series of space probes called Mariner, which studied Venus, Mars, and Mercury.

Space stations marked the next phase of space exploration. The first space station in Earth orbit was the Soviet Salyut 1 station, which was launched in 1971. This was followed by NASAs Skylab space station, the first orbital laboratory in which astronauts and scientists studied Earth and the effects of spaceflight on the human body. During the 1970s, NASA also carried out Project Viking in which two probes landed on Mars, took numerous photographs, examined the chemistry of the Martian surface environment, and tested the Martian dirt (called regolith) for the presence of microorganisms.

Since the Apollo lunar program ended in 1972, human space exploration has been limited to low-Earth orbit, where many countries participate and conduct research on the International Space Station. However, unpiloted probes have traveled throughout our solar system. In recent years, probes have made a range of discoveries, including that a moon of Jupiter, called Europa, and a moon of Saturn, called Enceladus, have oceans under their surface ice that scientists think may harbor life. Meanwhile, instruments in space, such as the Kepler Space Telescope, and instruments on the ground have discovered thousands of exoplanets, planets orbiting other stars. This era of exoplanet discovery began in 1995, and advanced technology now allows instruments in space to characterize the atmospheres of some of these exoplanets.

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The History of Space Exploration | National Geographic Society

The Short Answer:

Although humans can't hop into a time machine and go back in time, we do know that clocks on airplanes and satellites travel at a different speed than those on Earth.

We all travel in time! We travel one year in time between birthdays, for example. And we are all traveling in time at approximately the same speed: 1 second per second.

We typically experience time at one second per second. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's space telescopes also give us a way to look back in time. Telescopes help us see stars and galaxies that are very far away. It takes a long time for the light from faraway galaxies to reach us. So, when we look into the sky with a telescope, we are seeing what those stars and galaxies looked like a very long time ago.

However, when we think of the phrase "time travel," we are usually thinking of traveling faster than 1 second per second. That kind of time travel sounds like something you'd only see in movies or science fiction books. Could it be real? Science says yes!

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows galaxies that are very far away as they existed a very long time ago. Credit: NASA, ESA and R. Thompson (Univ. Arizona)

More than 100 years ago, a famous scientist named Albert Einstein came up with an idea about how time works. He called it relativity. This theory says that time and space are linked together. Einstein also said our universe has a speed limit: nothing can travel faster than the speed of light (186,000 miles per second).

Einstein's theory of relativity says that space and time are linked together. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What does this mean for time travel? Well, according to this theory, the faster you travel, the slower you experience time. Scientists have done some experiments to show that this is true.

For example, there was an experiment that used two clocks set to the exact same time. One clock stayed on Earth, while the other flew in an airplane (going in the same direction Earth rotates).

After the airplane flew around the world, scientists compared the two clocks. The clock on the fast-moving airplane was slightly behind the clock on the ground. So, the clock on the airplane was traveling slightly slower in time than 1 second per second.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

We can't use a time machine to travel hundreds of years into the past or future. That kind of time travel only happens in books and movies. But the math of time travel does affect the things we use every day.

For example, we use GPS satellites to help us figure out how to get to new places. (Check out our video about how GPS satellites work.) NASA scientists also use a high-accuracy version of GPS to keep track of where satellites are in space. But did you know that GPS relies on time-travel calculations to help you get around town?

GPS satellites orbit around Earth very quickly at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. This slows down GPS satellite clocks by a small fraction of a second (similar to the airplane example above).

GPS satellites orbit around Earth at about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) per hour. Credit: GPS.gov

However, the satellites are also orbiting Earth about 12,550 miles (20,200 km) above the surface. This actually speeds up GPS satellite clocks by a slighter larger fraction of a second.

Here's how: Einstein's theory also says that gravity curves space and time, causing the passage of time to slow down. High up where the satellites orbit, Earth's gravity is much weaker. This causes the clocks on GPS satellites to run faster than clocks on the ground.

The combined result is that the clocks on GPS satellites experience time at a rate slightly faster than 1 second per second. Luckily, scientists can use math to correct these differences in time.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

If scientists didn't correct the GPS clocks, there would be big problems. GPS satellites wouldn't be able to correctly calculate their position or yours. The errors would add up to a few miles each day, which is a big deal. GPS maps might think your home is nowhere near where it actually is!

Yes, time travel is indeed a real thing. But it's not quite what you've probably seen in the movies. Under certain conditions, it is possible to experience time passing at a different rate than 1 second per second. And there are important reasons why we need to understand this real-world form of time travel.

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Is Time Travel Possible? | NASA Space Place NASA Science ...

Meanwhile, companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin plan to run much less expensive trips into suborbital space, allowing customers to experience microgravity and a view of Earth for a few minutes. Virgin Galactic eventually plans to runmore than 400 flights a yeara mix of tourist trips and missions for scientists running experiments and research in microgravity.

All these new opportunities will make us rethink what astronaut training means. And it means almost anyone will be able to go to space, if youre rich enough.

Once upon a time, getting a launch ready was a two-year process. The first astronauts selected for the Mercury program had to be military test pilots with college degrees and 1,500 hours of flying time under their belts. They also had to be younger than 40 and shorter than 5 feet 11 inches. The Gemini and Apollo programs were opened up to civilian applicants, raised the height barrier to 6 feet, took applicants no older than 35, and put a bigger emphasis on educational background.

As part of the training for these programs, recruits had to take classes on literal rocket science and spacecraft engineering. They had to learn medical procedures. They had to take public speaking courses and become media ready. Oh, and there was also a bunch of training in the air, on the ground, and underwater designed to physically and mentally prepare astronauts for the stresses and experiences they were about to face.

Even just a couple of decades ago, you needed an almost totally clean medical history to qualify for NASA training. If you said I get migraine headaches occasionally, something benign like that, it was an automatic disqualificationperiod, says Glenn King, the director of spaceflight training at the National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center, which has trained over 600 people for both orbital and suborbital missions operated by companies like Virgin Galactic.

Future generations of private astronauts wont have to jump through half as many hoops. The right stuff has changed. The FAA has onlylight safety guidelines around training private astronauts. Its really up to the companies to approach things as they see fit.

What we're looking at now is basically a paradigm shift in space training, says King. The private sector is looking at basically everybody in the general public that has a desire and the finances to fly into space to have the opportunity to go.

Even to be a NASA astronaut these days, you dont have to be a finely tuned athletic specimen, says Derek Hassmann, the director of operations and training for Axiom Space. The agencys physical requirements are looser than theyve ever been.

Private companies have taken cues from NASA. King says the NASTAR Center has already started training some private astronauts who have disabilities (something the European Space Agency wants to begin doing for its own astronaut corps). One of Inspiration 4s confirmed crew members is Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Judes hospital who survived bone cancer as a child. Her treatment included a dozen rounds of chemotherapy as well as the placement of a titanium rod in her left thigh bone. It wont stop her from going into space this fall.

Inspiration 4s other two travelers will be selected through a raffle and an entrepreneurial contest. People who signed up for the raffle had to attest to being less than six and a half feet tall and under 250 pounds. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has likened a trip into orbit to an intense roller coaster ride, and he says anyone who can handle that should be fine for flying on Dragon.

Thats definitely a bit glib. When a giant rocket propels you out of Earths atmosphere, you will experience elevated g-forces for several minutes that will cause your body to rattle nonstop, and you probably wont be able to do anything but stay strapped in with your teeth clenched. But for the most part, what groups like NASA, Axiom, and others consider disqualifying health conditions are things like arrhythmia that could cause heart failure, or high blood pressure that puts you at elevated risk for a brain aneurysm.

These arent problems you can treat in spacewhich could mean severe complications or death. If theres any kind of medical conditions that could cause a crew member to get sick or incapacitated on orbit, we try to screen for those things, Hassmann says. But if flight doctors feel those risks can be properly addressed before flight, they may not be disqualifying.

In June 2019, NASA and its partners announced that the ISS would be opened up tovisits from private citizens. For Axiom, this was the opportunity for its astronauts to learn what its like to travel into space and live and work in an orbital space station. It plans to launch its own in 2024.

These missions will allow us to practice all the things well need for the Axiom station down the road, says Hassmann. Ax-1 will be led by former NASA astronaut Michael Lpez-Alegra. Hell be joined by three businessmen: Eytan Stibbe from Israel, Larry Connor from the US, and Mark Pathy from Canada.

Lpez-Alegra will be taking his fifth trip into space. Hes had years of professional astronaut training under NASA. The other three are total newbies to space, though Stibbe is a former fighter pilot and Connor (whos 71) has training as a private pilot. They are paying $55 million each for the ticket.

These three will start training six to seven months before launch. NASA contractors will teach them how to live and work on the ISS, running drills on how to respond to emergencies like a loss of cabin pressure. Certain facilities at NASA and elsewhere can simulate what a decompressed chamber feels like for people in spacesuits. But much of this training is to make sure the astronauts are used to the look and feel of their new habitat. Theyll learn how to do normal day-to-day functions, like preparing meals, brushing their teeth, using the bathroom, and getting ready for bed. It will still take time to adjust to microgravity, but at least theyll be armed with strategies to make the transition smoother.

Its all about the simple stuff that is very different when youre in microgravity, says Hassmann. Ive worked with a lot of NASA astronauts over the years, and all of them talk about this adaptation period, physically and emotionally, when they first arrive in space. Our crew is only on a 10-day mission. So its in everybodys best interest to prepare them as much as we possibly can on the ground, so that they adapt quickly, and they get down to the things that are important to them.

The Ax-1 crew will be trained for this environment at Johnson Space Center, where NASA has a full mockup of the ISS interior. Theyll also go on parabolic flights that simulate weightlessness. In the future, Axiom wants to move this type of training in house, and center it specifically on the companys own space station environment. Other training centers, like NASTAR, run human centrifuge facilities that expose trainees to the elevated g-forces experienced during launch and reentry.

The second part of Ax-1 training will aim to familiarize the astronauts with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which will take them to the ISS. Theyll get accustomed to what its like to sit inside, interact with the panels that control functionality and monitor data, and so forth. This is run by SpaceX primarily out of its facilities in Hawthorne, California. Crew Dragon mostly works autonomously, so the crew members should have to take only a few direct actions on their own. But if anything goes awry, they do need to be prepared to step in. On Ax-1, Lpez-Alegra and Connor will act as the commander and pilot for the mission, respectively, and lead the flight to the ISS. Theyll need to be most familiar with how Crew Dragon works.

About a month before launch, training will move to Florida, closer to the launch pad. The crew will go through a series of dry runs for what launch day will be like, as well as what to expect when they take Crew Dragon back down to Earth and splash down in the ocean.

And finally, theres mission-specific training, conducted by Axiom. Each member of the crew is looking to do a slew of things while on the ISSscience experiments, social media stunts, publicity activities, and more. Weve got a group here at Axiom that works with each of the crew members to design their own orbit plan, says Hassmann. A lot of times these individuals dont know what they can do up there, much less what theyd want to do.

This doesnt differ too much from what NASA itself doesbut its compressed into a much shorter time frame, without a wholesale education in spaceflight. And eventually, Axiom hopes to run most of this training on its own, without any assistance from NASA.

The training regime the Axiom astronauts will be put through is less intense than that for NASA astronauts, but its still pretty full-on. But as private spaceflight becomes more common, astronaut training should become more relaxed. Thatll be thanks in large part to spacecraftthat basically fly themselvesthere are simply not as many systems crews have to interact with. I would expect that training to continue to evolve and get more efficient, says Hassmann.

That will also mean more time is devoted to training people for very specific activities and goals during the missionsuch as running a certain science experiment or recording a choreographed video. Training programs have evolved to cover the needs that were not historically present in astronaut training, says Beth Moses, the chief astronaut instructor for Virgin Galactic. Today people are buying time in space, selecting what they will do there, and they need bespoke training to enable that.

These things should help encourage another important trend: shorter and shorter training. Right now were starting to shift away from the old paradigm of gigantic NASA-style two years of training to qualify as an astronaut, says King. I think the commercial industry can get this down to days of training. I think thats where the industry is going to start heading. That will be practically a requirement if companies like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX are serious about conducting dozens or hundreds or crewed missions into space every year.

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This is how (almost) anyone can train to be an astronaut - MIT Technology Review

A tiny piece of the Wright brothers' history-making plane will take to the skies on Mars a few weeks from now, if all goes according to plan.

NASA's Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, which could lift off on the Red Planet as soon as April 8, bears a tiny swatch of fabric from one wing of Flyer 1, the plane that in December 1903 made the first powered flights on Earth, agency officials announced Tuesday (March 23).

The Wright brothers ushered in "aerial mobility as a dimension for us to be able to travel here on Earth," Bob Balaram, Ingenuity chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, said during a news conference Tuesday. "In the same way, we are hoping that Ingenuity also allows us to expand and open up aerial mobility on Mars."

The Flyer 1 swatch, which is about the size of a postage stamp, is attached to a small cable beneath Ingenuity's solar panel, Balaram added.

Related: NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity explained

Ingenuity traveled to Mars with NASA's car-sized Perseverance rover, which touched down inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18. Perseverance's main jobs are to hunt for signs of ancient life inside Jezero, which hosted a big lake and a river delta billions of years ago, and to collect and cache dozens of samples for future return to Earth. But the rover's first big task is to help get the technology-demonstrating Ingenuity off the ground, and (if possible) to document the 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) chopper's flights for posterity.

The Ingenuity team aims to make five short flights during a monthlong window, which will open when Perseverance deploys the helicopter from its belly onto the red dirt. That deployment will be a long and involved process that takes about six Earth days to complete, mission team members said during Tuesday's press conference.

If Ingenuity's flights are successful, aerial exploration could be a common feature of Mars missions in the coming years. Helicopters could scout terrain for rovers and gather data on their own, especially in hard-to-reach places, NASA officials have said. (Ingenuity doesn't carry any scientific instruments, though it does sport two cameras.)

Other alien skies will soon host flying robots as well. NASA is developing a mission called Dragonfly, which will send a big, instrument-laden drone to Saturn's biggest moon, Titan. Dragonfly is scheduled to launch in 2027 and land on Titan in 2036.

"The future of powered flight in space exploration is solid and strong," Bobby Braun, director for planetary science at JPL, said during Tuesday's news conference.

Ingenuity isn't the first pioneering NASA craft to carry a piece of Flyer 1 beyond Earth.

"A different piece of the [fabric] material, along with a small splinter of wood, from the Flyer 1 was flown to the moon and back aboard Apollo 11," NASA officials wrote in a statement.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Mars helicopter Ingenuity carries piece of Wright brothers' famous plane - Space.com