Category Archives: Transhuman News

Deorbit of Mir - Wiki Article
The deorbit of Mir was the controlled atmospheric re-entry of the modular Russian space station Mir carried out on March 23, 2001. Major components ranged from about 5 to 15 years in age, and include... Deorbit of Mir - Wiki Article - wikiplays.org Original @ http All Information Derived from Wikipedia using Creative Commons License: en.wikipedia.org Author: Thegreenj Image URL: en.wikipedia.org ( This work is in the Public Domain. ) Author: Thegreenj Image URL: en.wikipedia.org ( This work is in the Public Domain. ) Author: Image URL: en.wikipedia.org ( This work is in the Public Domain. )From:WikiPlaysViews:0 0ratingsTime:07:22More inEducation

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Deorbit of Mir - Wiki Article - Video

Kerbal Space Missions Corp Ep3 - Misallignment (KSP 0.18.1)
We are adding a docking pad to the Space Station! And thanks to 0.18, it fails! Note that this is already fixed, or should be... Kerbal Space Program: http://www.kerbalspaceprogram.com Twitter: twitter.com Forum Post:From:Rens HoskensViews:0 0ratingsTime:32:35More inGaming

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Kerbal Space Missions Corp Ep3 - Misallignment (KSP 0.18.1) - Video

"The Unsung Command Module Pilot", Part 2 of Episode 31 of Journey Into Space
Yes, 0.18 is here, and by the name of Ye Offspring Of The Space Kraken is it cool! But wtf is all this crap? How do I dock this thing? Why can #39;t my ship move? I #39;ll get it all sorted out in the end I expect. In this episode, we continue our Apollo-style Mun mission, which means we have to land these guys on the Mun, lift off again, rendezvous and dock with the Command Module, and send these boys back to Kerbin. From the Mun to the Kerb, all in one piece. Kicked to the Kerb, as it were. In other KSP news, I have started on my Interkerbin Space Station, which in its first incarnation anyway will have 8 habitation modules and 6 spacecraft docking ports, but it can in theory be expanded indefinitely. Picture of the work in progress: Images of the space station (under construction): sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net Image of the Mun rocket we used this time: sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net Since I will be sticking with stock parts for awhile, I hope to have .craft files to share next time. Music: "Space Fighter Loop" by Kevin MacLeod Journey Into Space was also the name of a 1950 #39;s BBC Science Fiction radio show! en.wikipedia.org You can obtain Kerbal Space Program at: kerbalspaceprogram.com There is a free demo, download that shit. Journey Into Space facebook group: http://www.facebook.com Kraken baybeeeees!!!! sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.netFrom:Robert DoddViews:0 0ratingsTime:01:11:19More inEntertainment

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"The Unsung Command Module Pilot", Part 2 of Episode 31 of Journey Into Space - Video

Samples from the Seedling Growth investigation aboard the International Space Station help researchers study the impact of the microgravity environment on plant growth. Credit: NASA

(Phys.org)Why is NASA conducting plant research aboard the International Space Station? Because during future long-duration missions, life in space may depend on it.

The ability of plants to provide a source of food and recycle carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen may prove critical for astronauts who will live in space for months at a time. In addition, plants provide a sense of well-being. At the McMurdo Station for research in Antarcticaa site that in the dead of winter resembles the space station in its isolation, cramped quarters, and hostile environmentthe most sought after section of the habitat is the greenhouse.

NASA and the European Space Agency, or ESA, are studying how plants adapt to micro- and low-gravity environments in a series of experiments designed to determine the ability of vegetation to provide a complete, sustainable, dependable and economical means for human life support in space. As researchers continue to gain new knowledge of how plants grow and develop at a molecular level, this insight also may lead to significant advances in agriculture production on Earth.

Plant biology experiments on the space station using the European Modular Cultivation System, or EMCS, allow scientists to investigate plant growth and the processes within their cells to understand how plant life responds to conditions in space. Researchers currently are planning three new plant growth investigations specifically designed to examine the growth of seedlings in microgravity using this facility.

Combining the proposals of NASA Principal Investigator John Z. Kiss, and ESA Principal Investigator Javier Medina, the Seedling Growth investigation will continue at the space station for a series of experiments: Seedling Growth 1, 2 and 3 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. The results of these experiments will help researchers understand how plants sense and respond to the space environment.

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View of the TROPI seedling cassette for the European Modular Cultivation System, or EMCS, aboard the International Space Station Destiny laboratory module during Expedition 14. Credit: NASA

Thus far, NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has completed three experiments using the EMCS. The 2006 study called Root Phototropism, or Tropi, used Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) seeds from the mustard family to investigate how plant roots respond to varying levels of light and gravity. Using a rotating centrifuge, Kiss designed the experiment to expose the plants to different gravity conditions.

In 2010, the Tropi-2 experiment expanded on the knowledge gained from the first Tropi investigation. Collectively, the two studies demonstrated how red and blue light affects plant growth differently at varied levels of gravity. With this information, researchers now know that they can optimize plant root and shoot growth in space by fine-tuning the plants' exposure to light.

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Why study plants in space?

Despite speculation to the contrary, NASA's ambitious plans for a manned space station beyond the moon have not yet been cleared by the White House, a senior administration official told SPACE.com.

Over the past year or so, NASA has been drawing up plans for a manned outpost beyond the moon's far side, at a gravitationally stable location known as the Earth-moon Lagrange point 2 (EM-L2). The station would establish a human presence in deep space, serve as a staging ground for lunar operations and help build momentum for exploring more far-flung destinations, such as asteroids and Mars.

Word about the potential outpost has begun leaking out in press reports and from space exploration officials over the last several months, [s1]leading some experts to suspect that the White House may already be on board and that an official announcement could be coming soon, especially since President Barack Obama won re-election on Nov. 6.

But such speculation is inaccurate, said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Where should the first permanent space colony be built?

NASA has not cleared the EM-L2 outpost with the White House, and the space agency has not requested funding for it in the current fiscal year or the subsequent one, the official told SPACE.com.

"So it's kind of just one of those one-off projects that [NASA hopes if it goes] to the press, or to [Capitol] Hill, that it'll get funded," the official added. "But I don't think that's going to be the case."

NASA would rely on its Orion crew capsule and huge Space Launch System rocket both of which are under development to build and staff the outpost at EM-L2. The agency wants the capsule-rocket combo to be ready to carry astronauts by 2021.

An EM-L2 space station could serve as a stepping stone to near-Earth asteroids and Mars, two destinations that are officially on NASA's docket. In 2010, Obama directed the space agency to get astronauts to a space rock by 2025, then on to the vicinity of the Red Planet by the mid-2030s.

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NASA's Deep-Space Station Idea Lacks White House Approval

A jumping spider has made the leap from floating in space to springing into the Smithsonian.

The "Johnson Jumper" ("Phidippus johnsoni") spider is the first of its species to return from a mission into space and successfully readjust to life on Earth. Named "Nefertiti," the arachnid astronaut, or "Spidernaut," lived for 100 days aboard the International Space Station.

Its mission over, the spider has now landed in the "Insect Zoo" at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., where it will live out the rest of its life estimated to be about six months on display with other live arachnids and insects.

"The Insect Zoo is one of our most popular exhibitions, and we are thrilled that having such a great educational space also gives us the opportunity to host a critter as special as this space-traveling spider," Kirk Johnson, the Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, said in a statement released by the museum. "And don't think it's lost on me that the common name for this spider is the 'Jumping Johnson'; we're practically family already!"

"We welcome her to the museum," added Johnson, "and look forward to watching her story inspire young minds with the thrilling possibilities in science." [Video: Venomous Spiders on Space Station]

It came from outer space

The Spidernaut's flight was the product of YouTube Space Lab, a worldwide science project and contest that invited students to submit two-minute videos suggesting science experiments that could be conducted by the astronauts on board the space station.

One of the two experiments that was chosen through the online contest was whether a jumping spider could adjust its natural hunting technique to still catch its prey in the microgravity space environment. Proposed by 18-year-old Amr Mohamed from Alexandria, Egypt, the spider chosen for the mission was named "Nefertiti" in honor of Egypt's ancient history.

From July through October, Nefertiti was observed in orbit by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and by researchers on the ground. In total, the jumping spider circled the Earth about 1,584 times, traveling 41,580,000 miles (66,900,000 kilometers).

"She is sort of scary; in fact I am so glad I am not a fruit fly," Williams wrote while aboard space station. "I opened up the habitat and actually saw her running around at full speed looking for something to eat. It was difficult to even get a steady picture."

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Space Spider Lands in Smithsonian Display