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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Will the 2024 total solar eclipse be visible from space? – Space.com

Posted: April 6, 2024 at 11:37 am

NASA astronauts and weather satellites will watch next week's solar eclipse from space.

SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), alongside at least one of the two Russian Soyuz crews on board right now, will experience a "very unique vantage point" when a total solar eclipse sweeps across Mexico, the United States and Canada on April 8, a senior NASA manager said during a livestreamed eclipse science briefing on March 26.

"Instead of looking up at the moon casting the shadow, they'll also be able to see the shadow racing across the Earth," said Pam Melroy, NASA deputy administrator and former astronaut, in the briefing. "So, there is involvement, and they will be able to participate in that way."

The current ISS track suggests the astronauts will have three chances to watch the eclipse, NASA said in a follow-up release: they'll see the shadow cast by a partial eclipse above the Pacific Ocean, a partial above California and Idaho, and perhaps totality over Maine and New Brunswick at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT.) Satellites will also have a good view of the unique event, the agency said.

Related: Why ISS astronauts won't know where to look for next total solar eclipse for a while

Total solar eclipses happen when the moon completely blocks the sun from Earth's perspective. Luckily, you don't need to be in space to see the event. As long as you're in the right geographical location on our planet and the skies are clear, you can see the highly anticipated event. You can find out how to do so safely in our sun-observing guide.

ISS astronauts won't be the only ones watching the eclipse from orbit. Two satellites in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series, which is jointly operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will use ultraviolet imagers to gaze at the sun, officials said in the March 26 briefing. The imagers on GOES-16 and GOES-18 will capture the moon's disk passing in front of the sun, while advanced baseline imagers on the satellites will track the moon's shadow.

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Two other satellites are scheduled to launch to space post-eclipse for even more solar observations: NOAA's GOES-U will fly no earlier than June 25 this year to examine the corona, or outer atmosphere of the sun. Also, NOAA's Space Weather Follow On L1 (SWFO-L1) will fly a million miles from Earth in 2025 to Lagrange Point 1, a gravitationally stable point in space. There, the satellite will examine space weather, or the effect the sun's activity has on our planet.

Expedition 71 astronauts on the ISS will be witness to the rare event in space. That group includes Crew-8 and the long-duration astronauts set to come home this fall on Soyuz MS-25. (A short-duration Soyuz crew is in space now, but is expected to return home before eclipse day.)

The astronauts on board the ISS are well trained in taking pictures of dynamic events, but the challenge is their orbit, Crew-8 NASA astronaut Michael Barratt told Space.com on Jan. 25 during a pre-launch telephone interview from NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Since the ISS needs to boost its orbit periodically to avoid falling back into Earth's atmosphere, and may need a last-minute shift to avoid space debris, the astronauts won't have their exact location until close to April 8, he said.

"Every once a while, we have to tweak the orbit of our station to avoid hitting stuff," Barratt said. "The closer we get [to April], the more we'll be able to sharpen our approach. We'll know what our viewing angle is going to be."

Barratt did point out one advantage for ISS observations: Compared to the last total solar eclipse that swept across the U.S. in 2017, the camera technology is improved. He didn't see that eclipse from space, but he did have a unique vantage point on board an Alaska Airlines charter flight observing it at 40,000 feet (12,200 meters).

"The shadow was just speeding, hurtling towards the mainland. It was really amazing to me," he recalled of the 2017 eclipse in the Space.com interview.

The ISS is jointly co-managed by NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency. Expedition 71 mission specialist Alexander Grebenki, a cosmonaut who's part of Crew-8, told Space.com on Jan. 25 that he hadn't received specifics yet on eclipse observations.

"I didn't really train specifically for the observing," Grebenkin said, speaking in Russian through an English interpreter. "I do know that it's going to happen, and I am planning to do my best to take pictures and also observe the event itself."

If you're looking to observe the solar eclipse on Earth, we have you covered. Our guide onhow to observe the sun safelyguide tells you what you need to know to look at the sun. We also have a guide to solar eclipse glasses, and how to safely photograph the sun if you'd like to get practicing before the big day.

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Trio Finalizes Packing, Science Activities Before Friday Departure – NASA Blogs

Posted: at 11:37 am

Astronaut Loral OHara is pictured inside the cupola as the orbital complex soared 259 miles above Turkmenistan.

The 10 residents aboard the International Space Station worked a half-day then went to bed early on Friday resting up before the departure of three crewmates. During their shortened day, the orbital crewmates packed the departing Soyuz crew ship and continued ongoing science tasks.

NASA astronaut Loral OHara along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya are in their sleep period having gone to bed just before lunchtime. The trio is sleep-shifting before entering the Soyuz MS-24 crew ship and undocking from the Rassvet module at 11:54 p.m. EDT tonight. They will ride the Soyuz back to Earth and parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 3:17 a.m. on Saturday (12:17 p.m. Kazakh time). Live mission coverage will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday on NASA+, NASA TV, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agencys website.

On Friday morning, OHara finished her packing work and wrapped up biomedical activities documenting her adaptation to microgravity. Novitskiy continued transferring cargo inside the Soyuz and made final checks of the spacecrafts systems. Vasilevskaya relaxed during her shift. The threesome will wake up several hours before their departure, finalize science tasks, and complete loading the Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA Flight Engineers Matthew Dominick and Tracy C. Dyson teamed up Friday morning for biology work inside the Destiny laboratory module. The duo cleaned habitats and fed mice being observed for a study testing a gene therapy to improve eye health in space. NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps gathered in the Kibo laboratory module and removed external research hardware that had been placed outside in the space environment. The gear holds samples exposed to space radiation and extreme temperatures to inform the development of advanced materials and promote the commercial space industry.

Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Alexander Grebenkin began their day swabbing station surfaces and collecting microbe samples for analysis. Kononenko also prepared salt tablets for the departing crewmates to ingest and help with their adjustment to Earths gravity. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub also assisted with the microbe sampling duties then stowed protein crystal growth kits inside the returning Soyuz crew ship.

Learn more about station activities by following thespace station blog,@space_stationand@ISS_Researchon X, as well as theISS FacebookandISS Instagramaccounts.

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Trio Finalizes Packing, Science Activities Before Friday Departure - NASA Blogs

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Brain Research Tops Science Schedule Ahead of Crew Departure – NASA Blogs

Posted: at 11:37 am

Astronaut Mike Barratt processes brain organoid samples to learn how microgravity affects the central nervous system and ways to counteract neurodegenerative conditions.

Brain research topped the science schedule on Wednesday while the Expedition 70 crew kept up its cargo work. Three individuals also continue focusing on their departure from the International Space Station this weekend.

The Human Brain Organoid Models for Neurogenerative Disease and Drug Discovery (HBOND) investigation on the station is helping researchers understand how microgravity affects the central nervous system. Results may also shed light on ways to prevent and treat Parkinsons disease and multiple sclerosis on Earth. NASA astronauts Mike Barratt and Tracy C. Dyson treated brain organoid samples exposed to Parkinsons and multiple sclerosis with a drug injection for the neurodegenerative disease study today. Those samples will be analyzed under the KERMIT fluorescence microscope to evaluate the effectiveness of the drug treatment.

Barratt then moved on and cleaned cupola window scratch panes in preparation for the total eclipse of the sun on April 8 before joining NASA Flight Engineer Loral OHara for an eye exam. OHara imaged Barratts retina, optic nerve, and cornea using standard medical imaging hardware with support from doctors on the ground. Earlier in the day, OHara operated the Ultrasound 2 device and scanned the neck, shoulder, and leg veins on NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps. The eye and vein exams were part of regularly scheduled medical checkups ensuring astronauts remain healthy in space. OHara also spent a few moments with Dyson replacing batteries on and calibrating chemical sensors.

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick started his day exploring how the brain regulates blood flow in weightlessness. He wore a specialized cap and attached sensors to himself measuring his blood flow, blood pressure, and electrical heart activity simultaneously. Results may help counteract Earthbound and space-caused blood pressure issues such as light-headedness or fainting. Dominick then spent the rest of the day on a variety of cargo and cleaning tasks. Epps and Barratt also continued unpacking some of the more than 6,000 pounds of science and supplies aboard the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft.

Cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy continued stowing equipment and readying the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft that he, OHara, and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya will ride back to Earth on April 6. OHara packed personal items for return aboard the Soyuz as well as excess gear that will be returned aboard the Dragon spacecraft. Vasilevskaya spent her day researching how diet affects microbes that live in a crew members gut system.

Station Commander Oleg Kononenko gathered science hardware and radiation detectors for return to Earth aboard the Soyuz spacecraft. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub explored futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques then collected station microbe samples for analysis. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin assisted Chub with the microbe collections and also serviced computer and video gear throughout the stations Roscosmos segment.

Learn more about station activities by following thespace station blog,@space_stationand@ISS_Researchon X, as well as theISS FacebookandISS Instagramaccounts.

Get weekly video highlights at:https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Kazakhstan Russia Space Station | Nation % World AP news of the day | chronicleonline.com – Citrus County Chronicle

Posted: at 11:37 am

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Kazakhstan Russia Space Station | Nation % World AP news of the day | chronicleonline.com - Citrus County Chronicle

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A Soyuz capsule carrying 3 crew from the International Space Station lands safely in Kazakhstan – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

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A Soyuz capsule carrying 3 crew from the International Space Station lands safely in Kazakhstan  Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

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Mysterious object that crashed through Florida home was likely space junk from the International Space Station – Livescience.com

Posted: at 11:36 am

A mysterious object that came crashing through a house in Florida is possibly debris from the International Space Station (ISS).

The cylindrical tube was a few inches long and weighed nearly 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms). It crashed through the roof and both floors of Alejandro Otero's home in Naples, Florida, at 2:34 pm local on March 8, startling his son.

The origins of the object have yet to be determined, but Otero thinks it's likely one of nine drained batteries discarded from the ISS. Earlier the same day, a large cargo pallet carrying the batteries and belonging to the Japanese space agency JAXA re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico. Jettisoned from the space station in 2021, the debris was expected to burn up in the atmosphere, one may have survived reentry.

"Looks like one of those pieces missed Ft Myers and landed in my house in Naples," Otero wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to a post describing the jettisoned pallet. "Tore through the roof and went thru 2 floors. Almost his [hit] my son."

Related: Sci-fi inspired tractor beams are real, and could solve a major space junk problem

Otero has handed over the home-wrecking debris to officials from NASA.

"NASA collected an item in cooperation with the homeowner, and will analyze the object at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as possible to determine its origin," Joshua Finch, a NASA spokesperson, told Live Science.

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Once engineers identify the provenance of the object, Otero will seek to make a claim against the federal government to pay for his house's repair, although this process could prove complex if the material is deemed to have come from JAXA.

Florida isn't the only place that's been hit by falling space junk. Four of China's Long March 5B boosters the workhorses of the country's growing space program fell to Earth between 2020 and 2022, raining debris down on the Ivory Coast, Borneo and the Indian Ocean. In 2021 and 2022, debris from falling SpaceX rockets smashed into a farm in Washington state and landed on a sheep farm in Australia.

Space agencies around the world try to keep tabs on the more than 30,000 largest pieces of junk, but many more pieces of debris are too small to monitor.

Scientists have proposed multiple ways of tidying Earth's skies, such as gathering junk up in nets; collecting it with clawed robots; or firing a halfmile-long (0.8 kilometer) tether from another spacecraft to grab it.

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Florida man nearly hit by possible space junk that tore through roof of his home: ‘Almost hit my son’ – New York Post

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Florida man nearly hit by possible space junk that tore through roof of his home: 'Almost hit my son'  New York Post

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Mysterious Object That Tore Through Florida Home May Be From the ISS – Newsweek

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Mysterious Object That Tore Through Florida Home May Be From the ISS  Newsweek

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Mitsubishi takes stake in Starlab Space – SpaceNews

Posted: at 11:36 am

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Japans Mitsubishi Corp. is joining Starlab Space, the joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space that is developing a commercial space station.

Starlab Space announced April 4 that Mitsubishi has become a strategic partner of Starlab Space and would take an equity stake in the joint venture. A Starlab spokesperson declined to provide specific details about the agreement, including its financial value or the size of the equity stake.

We are excited to join forces withStarlab, a best-in-class team comprising Airbus and Voyager, to drive innovation and catalyze advancements in space exploration, said Mikito Nakaniwa, division chief operating officer of Mitsubishis Infrastructure, Ship & Aerospace Division, in a statement.

The announcement did not identify any specific roles or responsibilities for Mitsubishi in Starlab, stating only that the company would significantly increase the value ofStarlab by using space research to support terrestrial product development in a range of industries. It would also provide Japanese industry with access to Starlabs capabilities.

Our next-generation space station relies on both innovation and experience. Hence Mitsubishi Corporation, a pioneer of space business in Japan since the 1960s with a strong drive for shaping the future, is a perfect addition to our team, said Mike Schoellhorn, chief executive of Airbus Defence and Space, in the statement.

Having a Japanese company involved in Starlab could also help the company access funding from the Japanese government. Current partners in the International Space Station are pondering how they will continue their current activities on the station once it is retired around the end of the decade, with a preference for keeping investments in their countries rather than making direct payments to an American commercial space station operator.

Voyager and Airbus announced the creation of the Starlab Space joint venture in August, with Voyager holding a majority stake. The companies had previously announced an agreement where Airbus would provide technical support, including work on the stations single large module, for Starlab.

One reason for the partnership was to give Starlab better access to European markets through Airbus. In November, Airbus and Voyager announced they signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Space Agency to explore how to use Starlab to provide ESA with continued access to low Earth orbit after the retirement of the ISS. That could involve using commercial cargo and crew vehicles developed in Europe with the support of ESA, which announced a cargo vehicle initiative around the time the memorandum was signed.

Starlab Space announced in January that it reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch the Starlab station on a single flight of SpaceXs Starship vehicle in the late 2020s.

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Falling Object That Crashed Into Florida Home May Be Debris From the International Space Station – Smithsonian Magazine

Posted: at 11:36 am

A picture of the International Space Station captured by the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2007. Last month, a two-ton pallet of batteries released by the space station in 2021 re-entered Earth's atmosphere. It was expected to mostly burn up upon re-entry, but a two-pound piece of debris that struck a Florida home may have come from the batteries. NASA

A cylindrical object weighing about two pounds tore through the roof of Alejandro Oteros home in Naples, Florida, last month. Otero was on vacation when his son, who was in the house when the debris fell, gave him a call, WINK News Annalise Iraola reported in March.

Something ripped through the house and then made a big hole on the floor and on the ceiling, Otero told the publication. It was a tremendous sound. It almost hit my son. He was two rooms over and heard it all.

Now, experts speculate the falling object might have come from the International Space Station (ISS)the crash occurred shortly after some batteries ejected from the station in 2021 re-entered Earths atmosphere, per Ars Technicas Stephen Clark.

The total mass of the batteries was originally 2.6 metric tons, but most of it was expected to burn up upon re-entry, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

So you had a two-ton thing that re-entered the atmosphere, and this is some small fragment of it that survived and went through this poor guys house, Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, who studies atmospheric re-entries, theorizes to Gizmodos Passant Rabie.

NASA has retrieved the object and is planning to analyze it to determine its origin, as Joshua Finch, a NASA spokesperson, tells Live Sciences Ben Turner.

In 2018, nine used batteries on the ISS got stranded at the station instead of being shipped back to Earth on a supply ship due to a series of delays, per Ars Technica. On March 11, 2021, the ISS released the batteries, attached to a cargo pallet, into space.

The pallet is safely moving away from the station and will orbit Earth between two to four years before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere, NASA said in a 2021 statement. As the pallet approached Earth last month however, the ESA said in a statement that some parts of the debris could reach the groundthough the likelihood of someone getting hit was very low.

The ESA estimated that the batteries would reach Earth between 1:30 p.m. and 3:08 p.m. Eastern time on March 8. Changing levels of atmospheric drag, among other factors, made it difficult to predict where the re-entry would occur. The crash at Oteros home occurred at 2:34 p.m. Eastern time on March 8, per Ars Technica.

Such instances of falling debris are far from uncommona large object from space makes an uncontrolled re-entry into Earths atmosphere around once a week, with much of the object burning up. But the pallet with nine batteries was the most massive object to ever be released from the ISS. And on this occasion, a fragment may have survived and struck Oteros home.

I was shaking. I was completely in disbelief. What are the chances of something landing on my house with such force to cause so much damage, Otero told WINK News. Im super grateful that nobody got hurt.

NASA was rolling the dice and they made an unlucky throw, McDowell tells Gizmodo of the batteries release.

Around 28,000 objects launched to space remain in orbit around Earth, per the ESA. The Ivory Coast, Borneo and the Indian Ocean have been hit by falling debris from Chinas Long March 5B boosters, and SpaceX rockets have rained material on farms in Washington state and Australia, per Live Science.

Otero could make a claim against the federal government for the cost of the damage if the object is NASAs, Michelle Hanlon, an aviation and space law expert at the University of Mississippi, tells Ars Technica. Even if the object was launched by another country, that country would be absolutely liable to the homeowner for the damage caused, Hanlon says to the publication.

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