Image for representation.

Two NASA astronauts have installed a tools storage unit, dubbed robot hotel, to the outside of the International Space Station, freeing up living space inside the station.

The "robot hotel", officially called the Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS), was attached to the station's Mobile Base System (MBS) during a spacewalk conducted by NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Chris Cassidy on Tuesday.

The MBS is a moveable platform that provides power to the external robots, NASA said.

This special location allows RiTS to traverse around the station alongside a robot that will use the tools it stores.

"RiTS provides thermal and physical protection for tools stored on the outside of station, not only freeing up room on board but also allowing the Canadian Space Agency's Dextre robot to access them more quickly," said RiTS Hardware Manager Mark Neuman.

The first step in the RiTS installation process involved preparing the unit inside the space station.

The astronauts unpacked RiTS' occupants from storage -- two units of a tool called the Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL) -- and affixed them inside RiTS' aluminum housing.

The installation required the astronauts to mechanically attach RiTS to an available worksite socket then mate two electrical cables to unused power outlets on the MBS.

The power connection was critical to enabling heaters within RiTS that keep the RELL tools from getting too cold.

Apart from installing the robot hotel, the two NASA astronauts completed a number of other tasks designed to upgrade International Space Station systems.

This was the 10th spacewalk for each astronaut.

The rest is here:

NASA Has Attached a 'Robot Hotel' to the International Space Station. Here's What It Is - News18

Two NASA spacewalkers swapped out vital solar array batteries on the International Space Station Thursday (July 16), nearly completing the extensive replacement work needed to keep the orbiting lab powered through at least 2024.

NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken zoomed through their tasks, removing six aging nickel-hydrogen batteries on the far starboard S6 truss of the ISS. The duo also installed three lithium-ion battery replacements and placed a new high-definition camera outside the orbiting lab. (The lithium-ion batteries are twice as efficient as their predecessors, so only half as many of the new ones are needed.)

The astronauts concluded the 6-hour spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), at 1:10 p.m. EDT (1710 GMT), about 30 minutes earlier than planned. Near the spacewalk's end, Cassidy and Behnken noticed some possible oddities with the pins holding the Quest airlock hatch in place; the astronauts took pictures for mission control to analyze later. Another NASA spacewalk is planned for July 21.

Related: Spacewalk photos: International Space Station gets a power upgrade

Behnken and Cassidy, each on their ninth spacewalk, were originally supposed to remove five of the six nickel-hydrogen batteries on the S6 truss. But after 4.5 hours outside of the orbiting lab, they were an hour ahead of schedule and had time to tackle a little extra work.

Calling to the duo from NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk relayed happy news from ground teams.

"There is a plan coming together down here to consider doing the final battery," said Kutryk, who was assigned to guide the spacewalkers through their tasks.

Minutes later, the astronauts dove in, quickly removing the battery. The spacewalkers began joking about the ease of their work: "There's got to be another removal. It never ends."

With laughter ringing behind him in mission control, Kutryk let the crew continue talking for a moment before joining into the banter: "We cautiously share your optimism."

It seemed the worst problem the spacewalkers faced was dealing with the bright sun while pulling the first new lithium-ion battery off an external pallet delivered by Canadarm2, a robotic arm directed by NASA astronaut Doug Hurley from inside the ISS.

"You've got that sun," Behnken commented while watching Cassidy, who was unbolting the battery while directly facing the light.

"Worst sun you can have," Cassidy said, not moving from his perch.

"Right in your face," Behnken confirmed.

Related: The Expedition 63 mission to the International Space Station in photos

Cassidy finished the unbolting and carefully removed his boots from a portable foot restraint holding him in place. Floating free, he added, "I think there was an EVA questionnaire a couple of years ago asking, 'Do you really need this hard [spacesuit] visor?' I think the answer is yes, just like in baseball."

"Copy that," Kutryk laconically responded.

Over the past 3.5 years, multiple spacewalk teams have removed 48 old ISS batteries and replaced them with 24 new ones. One recently installed lithium-ion battery shorted out in April 2019 and will be replaced during a future spacewalk, a NASA TV broadcaster said.

The agency did not disclose a replacement date, but added that the fresh battery is waiting for installation on the space station after being launched on a SpaceX robotic resupply mission in December 2019.

Once that last battery replacement is finished, the long upgrade job will finally be complete, giving the space station ample power to continue work until its planned operational end in 2024. (Several partners, including NASA, are considering extending ISS operations to at least 2028.)

Powering the station depends on keeping the batteries in good shape. The ISS passes into orbital darkness 16 times a day as it circles our planet. When the station's solar panels are not in direct sunlight, the batteries are needed to distribute power for experiments and basic functions like cooking.

The fresh lithium-ion batteries are rated to last 10 years and will therefore need to be replaced less often than the less efficient nickel-hydrogen batteries, which only have about 6.5 years of useful life. Some of the older batteries are now on the external pallet, which will later be released to burn up naturally in Earth's atmosphere. The other old batteries will be stored permanently on the ISS.

This was the third spacewalk conducted during the orbiting lab's current Expedition 63, as Behnken and Cassidy also performed battery replacements on June 26 and July 1. All three spacewalks have worked with lithium-ion batteries shipped to space in May aboard Japan's HTV-9 robotic freighter.

Assisting the crew at JSC was flight director Allison Bolinger, Kutryk and NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who served as ISS CapCom ("capsule communicator"). In space, Hurley and Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner assisted with spacesuit operations.

Thursday's excursion was the 230th spacewalk overall in support of ISS assembly and operations, according to statistics provided during the NASA broadcast.

Hurley and Behnken both arrived at the ISS on May 31 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Their Demo-2 test mission is SpaceX's first-ever crewed spaceflight. Cassidy, Vagner and Russian cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin launched to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft April 9.

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

See more here:

Spacewalking astronauts replace old space station batteries as part of years-long upgrade - Space.com

The United Arab Emirates' probe Hope is on its way to Mars, marking the first planetary science mission led by an Arab country.

A July 19 launch from Japan marked the start of Hope satellite's journey to Mars. But the project (named Al-Amal in Arabic, which translates to Hope in English) has been underway for six years, since UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the project in July 2014. Hope will orbit the Red Planet, collecting data on its atmosphere in order to offer scientists better information about Marss possible life-giving past and more barren present.

We chose the epic challenge of reaching Mars because epic challenges inspire and motivate us," Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and prime minister of the country, said in a 2014 statement, as Live Science sister site Space.com reported. "The moment we stop taking on such challenges is the moment we stop moving forward."

For the UAE, the Hope project offers an opportunity to build a more robust scientific community, to build national prestige, and to contribute directly to the global effort to uncover historical life on Mars, according to the Emirati space agency.

Related: The United Arab Emirates' Hope mission to Mars in photos

The UAE is a young nation with a population of less than 10 million (according to Global Media Insight) on the southeastern part of the Arabian peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman, and across the Persian Gulf from Iran. It formed in 1971 out of seven smaller nations, or emirates, that had until then been under British colonial rule. (Hope's 2021 arrival at Mars is scheduled coincide with the UAE's 50th anniversary.)

Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the largest emirates, account for most of the Emirati population, but about a third of all people in the UAE live in the other five emirates: Sharjah, Ajman, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain.

The UAE is a wealthy oil producer and, like neighboring Saudi Arabia, has long been an ally and trading partner of the United States. The country has cash to spare on major national projects like the world's tallest building in Dubai, artificial Islands and an indoor ski resort in the middle of the desert.

Hope has been part of a loftier national project that has also seen the construction of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center which runs the Hope mission the establishment of an astronaut program and Emirati citizen Hazzaa Ali Almansoori's eight-day stint as an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in 2019.

Hope, a joint project between UAE and the University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley, and Arizona State University, is in essence a very advanced weather satellite, according to Space.com.

It's designed to create a long-term, planet-wide picture of the Martian climate, showing how the planets weather patterns shift over days and years. Scientists hope to use its data to work out the mechanisms that leached oxygen and hydrogen out of the Martian atmosphere over eons.

Related: 6 reasons astrobiologists are holding out hope for life on Mars

Those processes left the planet dry, frigid and barren. But the hunt for life on Mars relies on the assumption backed up by evidence from the planet's surface that billions of years ago it was warmer and wetter with plenty of oxygen to go around. Understanding how the atmosphere is changing today could, researchers hope, help flesh out the picture of a more ancient Mars where life may have developed.

More immediately, the goal of the space program is to build up the UAE's standing in the global scientific community and establish serious research institutions in the country, the UAE said.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center lists Hope mission goals on its website, including to "encourage and inspire young generations to be successful in STEM projects" and "promote a culture of research and passion for exploration and innovation."

So far, the UAE's efforts seem to be paying off.

"With no previous domestic space exploration experience, planetary science capacity or suitable infrastructure, the nation managed to put together a delivery team of 100% local, Emirati staff with an average age of under 35," University College London researchers Ine Steenmans and Neil Morisetti wrote for The Conversation. "And setting a deadline of six years rather than ten, as most comparable missions do, it pulled the launch off on time and within budget."

Steenmans, Morisetti and their colleagues published a glowing review of the mission, saying that the Hope effort had driven a small scientific explosion for the UAE, with over 50 peer-reviewed space science papers coming out of the country in the last six years.

In the process, the UAE also developed the know-how and manufacturing infrastructure for other, similar projects in the future, the researchers wrote in their reveiw. More students in the UAE have enrolled in graduate science degree programs; more funding is available to scientists in the country; and research looks like a more attractive career than it did before this mission took off, they said.

"One of the lessons is therefore that when embedded within a long-term, national strategic vision, space exploration can in the short-term generate major benefits close to home," they wrote. "While space may appear to primarily be about missions for science, when designed in this way, they can be missions for national development."

The UAE isn't alone among post-Cold War powers using space exploration to mark their status and power, and elevate national ambitions. China, despite being locked out of collaboration with NASA, has built its own space stations and landed rovers on the moon. Israel's Beresheet lander failed spectacularly when it crashed into the moon in 2019 (though the crash did send thousands of dried-up tardigrades onto the lunar surface). And India has launched several satellite probes, including the Mars Orbiter Mission that has been circling the Red Planet since 2014.

As Forbes reported in 2018, only about 40% of all Mars missions in history have been successful. So it remains to be seen whether Hope, due to arrive in February 2021, will be seen as a total success for the UAE's scientific ambitions.

Originally published on Live Science.

See the original post here:

Here's why the United Arab Emirates launched a mission to Mars - Live Science

On this day in 1969, Americans Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. They were the first of a select group of Americans to be the only humans to do so. Fast forward to more recent times: in May, the world saw America return to launching Americans to space with the SpaceX launch to the International Space Station. Now, in just ten days, NASA will launch its Perseverance rover to Mars, the latest in a fleet of American vehicles on the red planet. The historic anniversary of Apollo 11 and NASA current activities remind us of both Americas dominant history as well as its current dynamism in space.

Under NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstines strong leadership, NASAs long-awaited Commercial Crew Program (CCP) has come to fruition with the May 30 launch of two NASA astronauts to the station and subsequent successful dockingsignifying Americas return to putting people into space under its own flag, and not relying on the services of othersespecially countries like Russia that are strategic competitors. Moreover, this return occurs with an embrace of the dynamism of the free market. NASA is getting out of the business of putting astronauts and material into low-Earth orbit. Not only can NASA buy these services at competitive market rates from American firms, stimulating a new sector of the U.S. economy, it can now focus on its greater national priorityexpanding U.S. access to deeper spacethe Moon, Mars, and beyond.

This represents the next generational leap for NASAApollo took Americans to the moon, and the space shuttle cemented American leadership in building the International Space Stationbut NASA was stuck in low-earth orbit. By transitioning the earth to orbit taxi/freight business to American commercial launchers, it can now take Americans to the Moon, Mars and beyond. This major shift in NASAs operations gets lost in media commentary, coming at the same time that Chinas space program has made great strides.

Chinese announcements come frequentlyplans for Chinese landers, Chinese crew on the Moon, new Chinese space launchers, Chinese plans for a space station, and an upcoming Chinese launch to Mars. It all sounds impressivebut lets remember, as NASA has learned, it is easier to announce plans than it is to accomplish them. In considering most of Chinas ambitious plans, its worth noting that NASAs already done all of thatmost of it decades ago.

China on the moon? Lets look back forty yearsNASA put Americans on the Moon in six crewed missions between 1969 and 1972; and is sending Americans back by 2024, with a sustained American presence on the moon through the Artemis program by 2028. Overall, more than fifty missions to the Moon have failed, including recently by an Israeli company. While talking about the Moon is easy, getting to the Moon is hard.

China plans for space launch? Setting aside its long history, America has revolutionized space launch in recent years through both commercial and government launchers, with SpaceX (and others working on it) re-taking the low-earth orbit launch market and building the worlds current heaviest launcher, the Falcon Heavy, and NASA building the Space Launch System which will be the heaviest still when it launches with a third more lift capability in 2021.

A Chinese space station? Over twenty years, NASA evolved the U.S. space station Freedom into a U.S.-led international coalition for the $100 billion International Space Station with Russia, Japan, Canada and eleven members of the European Space Agency. The United States shouldered over half of the overall cost of building it, including thirty-six space shuttle missions. It has been continuously manned for almost twenty years (it will be twenty years in November 2020)with 151 Americans (three times more than the next highest nation, Russia with about fifty).

A Chinese Mars mission? NASA has had eight successful Mars landers/rovers (Viking I/II, Pathfinder, Spirit/Opportunity, Phoenix, Curiosity and InSight) and launched at least six successful Mars orbiters, including some which have returned exquisite science about the planetthe Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) includes the HiRISE (The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment at the University of Arizonathe powerful HIRISE camera takes pictures that cover vast areas of Martian terrain while being able to see features as small as a kitchen table. Only two nationsthe United States and the former USSRhave successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars (and the Soviet lander, Mars 3, failed twenty seconds after landing), and only four have successfully put spacecraft in orbit: the United States, the former USSR, European Space Agency and India. More than twenty-eight missions to Mars have failedand China will try again this year, after having last tried to reach Mars in 2011. Since then, with three rovers (Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity) and one planned for launch in July (Perseverance), Mars has been an American frontier. Getting to Mars is hard, too.

NASA runs the most comprehensive space exploration program of the solar system, with more missions than the rest of Earth combined. For a quick survey of the solar system, NASAs Mariner 10 and MESSENGER spacecraft are the only missions to have explored Mercury but the European Space Agencys BepiColumbo is on its way. The United States and USSR both sent missions to explore Venus in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, followed by the European Space Agency and Japan in the 2000s. Mars has largely been an American frontier not only for its rovers but for its orbiters as well, including theOdyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Orbiter Mission, andMAVEN. America collaborative projects,Mars Expressand Trace Gas Orbiter, have been successfultoo.Others are launching to Mars this year, with the UAE, India, and China sending missions that could join the Americans there. The only ten missions to Jupiter and Saturn have been U.S. missions, although some required the participation of the European Space Agency, and America is the only nation to send missions to Uranus and Neptune (Voyager 2) and Pluto (New Horizons).

As China is making new developments in space, NASAs dominance in that region makes it the envy of the planet. In addition to its impressive history, NASA is currently running more than eighty-five active missions to explore the solar system, the Commercial Crew Program is now coming to fruition, it is returning Americans to the moon, and developing the hardware go to Mars. This is happening in addition to NASAs contributions to the U.S. economy, and to education in America, both of which help make the case for continued investment in NASA and to maintain NASAs lead over China and other strategic competitors. As China continues its progress, Americans need to remember their countrys historical, current and future dominance in space. This context is important for recalling, especially when it comes to China, that it is easier to plan a mission than it is to achieve the missions end goal.

Shay Stautz ran for AZ Congressional District 2 in 20192020, and was the federal advocate for the University of Arizona (20062017), and holds an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University.

Image: Reuters

Read the original:

China Is Ready for a Space War - The National Interest

The Sierra Nevada Corporation recently received a Pentagon contract to craft an experimental space outpost capable of supporting various research and development, training, and operational missions, including potentially with humans aboard. This comes as the U.S. military as a whole, including the nascent U.S. Space Force, is increasingly focused on operations in various orbits around the Earth, and competition there, as well as in cislunar space between our planet and the Moon.

On July 14, 2020, the Nevada-headquartered aerospace company announced the deal with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), but did not state the approximate value of the award. DIU is charged with "accelerating the adoption of leading commercial technology throughout the military" and has offices in California's Silicon Valley, as well as Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas, in addition to its headquarters in the Pentagon.

The Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) will now modify its Shooting Star space transport vehicle design as an Unmanned Orbital Outpost. The company has been developing Shooting Star since at least 2016 for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program, which is seeking new means of delivering cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

The existing 15-foot-long cargo vehicle is intended to be able to carry up 10,000 pounds of cargo, both inside in a pressurized compartment and in unpressurized packages attached to three external mounting points. The design has two solar panel arrays capable of generating six kilowatts of onboard power and is capable of maneuvering independently in space using six thrusters. SNC is hoping to conduct its first demonstration mission to the ISS using Shooting Star next year.

"Were excited by the multi-mission nature of Shooting Star," SNC's CEO Fatih Ozmen said in a press release regarding the DIU contract. "It was originally developed for NASA resupply missions to the International Space Station, and since then we keep identifying new capabilities and solutions it offers to a wide variety of customers. The possible applications for Shooting Star are really endless."

"The current Shooting Star is already designed with significant capabilities for an orbital outpost and by adding only a few components we are able to meet Department of Defense needs." Steve Lindsey, Senior Vice President of strategy for SNCs Space Systems business area, who is also a retired U.S. Air Force pilot and former NASA space shuttle commander, added. "We are proud to offer our transport vehicle to DoD as a free-flying destination for experimentation and testing, expanding beyond its current payload service capabilities for Dream Chaser cargo missions."

DIU first announced it was interested in a solution for a self-contained and free-flying orbital outpost," just over a year ago. The miniature space station could support space assembly, microgravity experimentation, logistics and storage, manufacturing, training, test and evaluation, hosting payloads, and other functions, it had said in a July 9, 2019, notice.

"Space assembly" and "manufacturing" refer to the potential future capability to assemble, as well service, satellites and other spacecraft in orbit, something the U.S. military, as well as NASA, has been exploring for some time. The outpost itself could serve as platform on which to test those capabilities. The Air Force has also publicly raised the possibility of using orbital platforms as logistics nodes, the feasibility of which The War Zonehas explored in the past.

"The proposed orbital outpost will be initially established in LEO with guidance, navigation and control for sustained free-flight operations to host payloads and support space assembly, microgravity, experimentation, logistics, manufacturing, training, test and evaluation," SNC's press release says, showing that DIU is still interested in an orbital platform that may be capable of performing these and the other previously stated mission sets. "Future outposts may be based in a variety of orbits including, medium-Earth orbit, highly elliptical orbit, geosynchronous Earth orbits (GEO) to include GEO transfer orbits, and cislunar orbits."

Neither DIU's original notice nor SNC's press release mentions any specific payloads that could find their way onto the orbital platform. It could be an ideal space to test new space-based communications, data-sharing, or navigation systems.

The outpost could also potentially support sensor suites for intelligence, surveillance, or reconnaissance purposes or weapons, either defensive or offensive. It is worth noting that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which the United States is party, bans the deployment of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in outer space, but does not expressly prohibit arming satellites or other spacecraft with conventional weapons.

DIU had also said when it first publicly unveiled its orbital outpost plans last year that it was interested in proposals that could eventually have a "human-rating," meaning they could support manned operations, or serve as a stepping stone to a larger and more robust military space station. It's interesting to note that in the 1960s, the U.S. Air Force, together with the then-classified National Reconnaissance Office, explored the possibility of a Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) for intelligence-gathering purposes. The name was part of a cover story that this miniature space station was purely for research and development use.

See the original post:

The Pentagon Moves To Launch Its Own Experimental Mini Space Station - The Drive

SpaceX just pulled off another rocket-reusability milestone its first-ever payload fairing double catch.

The company managed to pluck out of the sky both halves of a Falcon 9 rocket's falling payload fairing shortly after the successful launch of a South Korean military satellite from Florida yesterday (July 20), SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said.

"Both fairing halves caught from space by @SpaceX ships!" Musk announced via Twitter yesterday evening. Then today, Musk unveiled video of the epic double play.

Related: See the evolution of SpaceX's rockets in pictures

Those ships are GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief, both of which have been outfitted with big nets to catch falling fairings, the protective nose cones that surround satellites during launch. (SpaceX fairings come back to Earth in two pieces, explaining the need for two ships.)

SpaceX has caught a handful of fairing halves on previous missions, but this is the first time the company has managed to keep both pieces from a single launch out of the drink.

Fairing catches are part of SpaceX's push to increase rocket reusability, an effort that's already in full swing. The company routinely lands and reflies the first stages of their two-stage Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Indeed, yesterday's launch featured a Falcon 9 landing on a ship at sea, the 57th successful booster touchdown for SpaceX during an orbital launch.

It was the second landing for this particular booster, which also helped launch the Demo-2 test flight on May 30. Demo-2, SpaceX's first-ever crewed spaceflight, sent NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule.

Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy fairings they're the same for both rockets cost about $6 million apiece, Musk has said, so there's a strong incentive to reuse them. And reuse is tougher if fairings splash down, because seawater is highly corrosive. Hence the net-sporting boats.

The upper stages of the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy remain expendable at the moment. SpaceX's next-gen spaceflight system, however, will be entirely reusable. The 100-passenger Starship spacecraft and giant Super Heavy rocket, which could begin launching operational missions as soon as next year, are designed to fly many times apiece, Musk has said.

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.

Read this article:

Watch SpaceX catch an entire rocket nose cone that fell from space for the 1st time (video) - Space.com

The Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) SHAR Sriharikota in Nellore district, has decided to work with essential staff members after Covid-19 positive cases were detected in SDSC SHAR's housing colonies.

SDSC SHAR's senior administrative officer issued an order in this regard on Sunday. "The organisation will run with skeletal staff until further orders. The entity chiefs will consult the director and decide the essential activities and deploy the staff accordingly."

ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: 4,985 new cases in Tamil Nadu; state tally at 175,678

All the employees, except those providing essential services, have been ordered to work from home and be available over phone or mail.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state stands at 49,650, including 26,118 active cases. Out of the total cases, 22,890 have been cured/discharged/migrated and 642 deaths have been reported.

Follow this link:

Sriharikota space station to function with skeletal staff due to Covid-19 - Business Standard

One under-appreciated space asset is the photography skills of the Russian cosmonauts on board the International Space Station. They are extremely skillful photographers who dont get the same recognition as their astronaut counterparts in their Earth observation skills. In particular, they have taken some stunning high-oblique shots of objects close to the horizon, with almost an 3-D effect.

One example is our lead image of Mt. Everest, which was taken by cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev (@OlegMKS), who was a flight engineer ISS Expedition 39/40, and Expedition 55/56. Below, is another view of Earths highest mountain, taken by Sergey Rryazanskiy (@sergeyISS), who was on ISS Expeditions 37/38 and 52/53.

These images were brought to our attention by Chhabi R. Pokhrel (@crpokhrel) on Twitter, who lists himself as a mountaineering enthusiast and space geek.

To see more imagery from cosmonauts, Roscomos has this page of limited images from various cosmonauts. They do, however, usually give credit to each cosmonaut who took the photo.

NASA, on the other hand, has basically EVERY image taken by astronauts available at the Gateway to Astronaut Photography website but they dont necessarily give credit to the astronaut photographer. Different strokes for different space agencies.

But, no matter the photographer or the country of origin, I feel fortunate to be able to see these beautiful images, basically every day via Twitter or websites, of our precious planet Earth. Take a few minutes to peruse the links above to check out these wonderful images.

Like Loading...

Read the rest here:

Mount Everest, Seen from Space! - Universe Today

One is narcissism not the ordinary kind, in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and greatness, characteristic of certain politicians, but covert narcissism. This type involves people feeling like theyre fabulously talented, but they arent being given due credit for it. They're like If only the world knew, says Danckert.

No one knows for sure what explains the link, but an early theory is that, if theres a gap between your natural abilities and your goals, you are setting yourself up for failure and this leads to feelings of disenchantment and boredom. Another is that once a covert narcissist has received the empty approval they crave from the people around them, they will lose interest and become bored.

In fact, boredom is just one of many unpleasant side-effects to keeping narcissism bottled up. For example, covert narcissists tend to have low psychological wellbeing, while overt narcissists are relatively happy and have higher self-esteem.

Other personality traits linked to boredom include anger aggressive drivers tend to be especially susceptible and neuroticism, which involves having high levels of anxiety, guilt and jealousy. In all, being prone to boredom is generally a bad sign and may be partly caused by having poor emotional control.

We need to try and understand the causal nature of these relationships. And we haven't really done that yet, says Danckert. So for example, in the relationship between boredom and depression, does boredom precede depression is it a risk factor for depression? I think the answer to that will be yes.

The ultimate question is whether the strategies that make some people susceptible are all learned or whether boredom can be genetic. This is something Danckert is currently looking into. Again, we dont have the data yet, but my speculative answer is that this is going to be related to something within certain individuals.

However, Danckert expects that, as with all emotions, boredom is likely to arise from a combination of learned and genetic factors. It looks like Hadfield honed his ability to cope with boredom in childhood and with the right techniques, even the most agonisingly boredom-prone might be able to lead richer inner lives.

So the next time you find yourself lamenting how tedious life is, think back to Lebedev and Hadfields differing experiences in space. You might well discover that its just a matter of perspective.

--

Join one million Future fans by liking us onFacebook, or follow us onTwitterorInstagram.

If you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Read the original post:

What the mysterious boredom divide teaches us - BBC News

This collaboration promises to change the landscape of UK aerospace, with the companies jointly providing UK-based services for OneWeb, including the development of low-cost, rapidly-deployable ground stations, expansion of ground segment coverage to new geographies, as well as operating & maintaining OneWebs existing ground station networks.

If successful, the bid will kick-start rapid development across the space value chain, creating new skilled jobs, and providing opportunities for investment across the sector, with new sites proposed across the country, and exploring the potential of manufacturing opportunities in the UK.

Commenting on this agreement, Joe Ward, Chief Executive Officer of Smallspark Space Systems said, Working with Leaf Space is an exciting opportunity for both Smallspark and UK Space as a whole; with the UKs goals of dramatically expanding its reach into space, were keen to help support the governments ambitions wherever possible. With both satellite constellations and native launch capabilities, it is essential the UK has reliable, agile ground station services.

Jai Dialani, Sr. Business Developer on behalf of Leaf Space, said, Partnership with Smallspark Space Systems is a valuable opportunity for our company to start a collaboration with a pioneering launch service provider. We will provide an immediately available ground segment service capability to broaden their portfolio. This will help potential customers find a complete solution for their missions, assuring a reliable and consistent end-to-end service.

Leaf Space has been offering tailored ground segment services, including Launch and Early Operations (LEOPS), daily passes, pass distribution and operational conditions, for in-orbit demonstrations (IOD) or other missions such as serving broadband constellations requiring high contact time and low latency. The proprietary ground-segment infrastructure provides redundancy and reliability during the LEOP mission phase, and the service can be integrated into third-party bundles.

The two companies are planning to conduct integration and testing activities that will ensure the ground segment service provision is operational on a rapid schedule before OneWebs satellite launches.

For more information visit leaf.space

See the article here:

Smallspark Space Systems and Leaf Space to offer ground-station services to the UK - SpaceWatch.Global

The once-in-a-lifetime comet Neowise has already been captured by astrophotographers around the world. But Earth isn't the only place the comet is visible astronauts aboard the International Space Station are being treated to their own cosmic fireworks displays as the comet streaks across the sky throughout July.

Since Neowise survived its trip around the sun on July 3, it's been making its way towards Earth, visible with the naked eye during clear skies to people across the globe. Last week, astronauts on the ISS captured time-lapse photos of the comet, called one of the brightest in decades, which have been compiled into a spectacular real-time video.

Artist Sen Doran, whose work was on display at the Natural History Museum in London before the coronavirus lockdowns, created the videoby sourcing hundreds of images from NASA's database. Doran told CBS News on Tuesday that he has spent years creating these types of videos because time-lapses are too fast to appreciate "how beautiful the Earth appears when viewed from space."

Doran sourced 550 images from the ISS archive to create the video, processing and interpolating the sequence to its real-time equivalent of seven minutes long. He also tweeted a time-lapse of the moment, highlighting the stunning event in just 15 seconds.

The video shows the icy object Neowise, named for the NASA mission that recently discovered it, trailed by its massive dust tail as it soars past our planet. The comet almost appears to be heading toward Earth, but don't worry it isn't a threat.

The video also captured a simultaneous cosmic phenomenon bright blue noctilucent clouds. These rare "space clouds" form when sunlight bounces off of ice particles in the upper atmosphere.

Astronaut Bob Behnken, who recently launched to the ISS on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship, said that he hopes his images of the comet serve as a reminder to people back on Earth to take care of the planet.

"If we got to a disputation at dawn, right before the sun came up, that comet became visible during that short period of time when it was still close to the sun, but the sun was still hidden by the Earth," Behnken told The New York Times' podcastThe Daily last week. "It was just an awesome sight to be able to see and something that we try to capture in the few moments that we do have to look out the window."

Astronomers discovered Neowise back in March, and it came dangerously close to breaking apart when it neared the sun earlier this month. The comet has been putting on a stunning show in the early hours before sunrise in the Northern Hemisphere.

But late sleepers need not worry the comet started appearing in the evening this week. To view it, people in the Northern Hemisphere can look to the northwestern sky, just below Ursa Major, commonly known as the Big Dipper constellation.

Scientists say the comet will be visible for about another month. In conditions with little light pollution, it may be visible with the naked eye, but NASA recommends using binoculars or a telescope to spot its long tail.

Newowise's closest approach to Earth comes on July 22, at a distance of about 64 million miles. The event is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience the comet takes about 6,800 years to complete its path around the sun.

See the article here:

Stunning video from the International Space Station shows comet Neowise soaring past Earth - CBS News

If you live on the East Coast or in the southeast of the United States and the skies are clear tonight, stick your head out the window and theres a good chance youll see the International Space Station passing overhead.

The unique spectacle will last a whole six minutes, and thanks to the bright reflection of the sun on the exterior of the station, you dont need any special kit to see it. NASA says its easy to spot, describing it as looking like a very bright star moving across the sky.

Check out the graphic in the tweet below for precise information on when itll be passing over your neighborhood.

Orbiting Earth at an altitude of around 250 miles, the space station is currently home to five astronauts, including NASAs Chris Cassidy, Doug Hurley, and Bob Behnken. Hurley and Behnken arrived at the end of May aboard the Crew Dragon in what was SpaceXs first ever astronaut launch, as well as the first crewed launch from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011. Behnken and Cassidy have been busy performing several spacewalks in recent weeks, with another one planned for Thursday, July 16.

If you miss the space station passing overhead tonight, or you live in another part of the U.S. or indeed elsewhere in the world theres a good chance the orbiting outpost will be passing overhead in the near future as it continues to orbit Earth. This Digital Trends article tells you all you need to know to get a glimpse.

Read the original:

Spot the International Space Station passing overhead on Tuesday night - Digital Trends

Astronauts return to space from U.S. soil

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley (L) and Bob Behnken, who flew the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, brief mission controllers about their experience in the new vehicle on June 1. Photo courtesy of NASA

Newly arrived NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, front row from left to right, pose for a photo with the rest of the crew aboard the International Space Station on May 31. On the back row, from left to right are Roscosmos flight engineer Anatoly Ivanishin, NASA Commander Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos engineer Ivan Vagner. Photo courtesy of NASA

SpaceX's Dragonship Endeavor, with Behnken and Hurley on board, docks with the International Space Station at 10:16 am EST on May 31. The Crew Dragon's nose cone is open, revealing the spacecraft's docking mechanism that would connect to the Harmony module's forward international docking adapter. Photo courtesy of NASA | License Photo

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 3:22 p.m. May 30 with Hurley and Behnken aboard the first manned Crew Dragon spacecraft from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

The Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS as part of the NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

Spectators on Cocoa Beach, Fla., watch as Behnken and Hurley lift off from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39-A onboard SpaceX Demo-2 Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon to the ISS. Photo By Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Behnken gives a thumbs-up. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket stand on Launch Complex 39A on May 29. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

NASA and SpaceX were attempting the launch a second time after the launch was scrubbed on May 27 due to weather. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken depart the checkout building. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

The Falcon 9 vents fuel after NASA and SpaceX management called a hold to the launch on May 27 due to weather. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Hans Koenigsmann, vice president for build and flight reliability at SpaceX, looks at a monitor showing a live feed of the rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on the pad during the countdown on May 27. The launch was scrubbed with only minutes to go. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

Spectators leave Cocoa Beach after the launch was canceled. Photo By Gary I Rothstein/UPI | License Photo

Behnken (L) and Hurley are seen in the crew access arm at Launch Complex 39A on May 27. They were strapped into the Crew Dragon capsule when weather forced a postponement. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

From left to right, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, second lady Karen Pence, Vice President Mike Pence, first lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, Mike Hawes, vice president of human space exploration and Orion program manager at Lockheed Martin Space, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stop by the Artemis I capsule during a tour of the Armstrong operations building. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

Trump participates in a SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2 launch briefing following the departure of NASA astronauts to board a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on May 27. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, prepare to depart the operations building for Launch Complex 39A to board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

From left to right, SpaceX owner and chief engineer Elon Musk, Bridenstine, Mike Pence and Karen Pence applaud the astronauts as they head to the spacecraft. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken give their families virtual hugs as they prepare for the Demo-2 mission launch. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

Hurley boards a Tesla Model X for the ride to the launch area. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket lie horizontally on Complex 39A on May 26. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

The Vehicle Assembly Building is seen at sunset as preparations continue for the NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission on May 25. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

In this black-and-white infrared image, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

This is a view of the crew access arm in position with the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on May 24. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

Behnken and Hurley are seen on a monitor showing inside the Crew Dragon capsule at Launch Complex 39A during a dress rehearsal May 23. Photo by SpaceX/UPI | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken participate in a dress rehearsal for launch at Kennedy Space Center on May 23. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

Behnken rehearses putting on his SpaceX spacesuit in the astronaut crew quarters. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

Hurley and Behnken return to the Armstrong building from Launch Complex 39A after completing the dress rehearsal. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

Norm Knight, deputy director of Flight Operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center (L), and Steve Stich, deputy manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (R), monitor the countdown during the dress rehearsal. Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken depart the Armstrong building for Launch Complex 39A. NASA Photo by Bill Ingalls/UPI | License Photo

NASA and SpaceX managers participate in a flight readiness review for the upcoming Demo-2 launch in the Operations Support Building II at Kennedy Space Center on May 21. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen as it is rolled out of the horizontal integration facility at Kennedy Space Center as preparations continue on May 21 for the Demo-2 mission. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

The rocket is raised into a vertical position on the launch pad as preparations continue for the mission. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA | License Photo

From left to right, Behnken and Hurley pose with Bridenstine and Cabana after the astronauts' arrival at the space center in Florida on May 20. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

The two astronauts arrive to be the first crew to launch from the Kennedy Space Center on the SpaceX Crew Demo spacecraft. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

Hurley speaks to the media following his arrival at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft arrives at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, transported from the company's processing facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on May 15. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that will be used for the Crew-1 mission for NASA's Commercial Crew Program undergoes processing inside the clean room at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

Behnken (L) and Hurley successfully completed a fully integrated test of Crew Dragon's critical flight hardware at a SpaceX processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 30. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

NASA and SpaceX completed an end-to-end demonstration of the teams' ability to safely evacuate crew members from the fixed service structure during an emergency situation at Launch Complex 39A on April 3. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft undergoes final processing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

Hurley examines the critical flight hardware during the test on March 30. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

Hurley (R) and Behnken participate in SpaceX's flight simulator. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

SpaceX teams executed a full simulation of launch and docking of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, with Hurley (R) and Behnken participating in SpaceX's flight simulator on March 19 and 20. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule completes acoustic testing in Florida. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

Hurley (L) and Behnken stand near Launch Pad 39A during a dress rehearsal ahead of the SpaceX uncrewed In-Flight Abort Test at Kennedy Space Center on January 17. In the background, the company's Falcon 9 rocket is topped by the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The flight test will demonstrate the spacecraft's escape capabilities. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

Bridenstine (L) and Musk converse at Kennedy Space Center's launch control center while awaiting liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on the uncrewed in-flight abort test on January 19. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

Hurley (R) and Behnken don SpaceX spacesuits in the astronaut crew quarters during a dress rehearsal. Photo by Kim Shiflett/NASA | License Photo

The test, which did not have NASA astronauts aboard, demonstrated Crew Dragon's ability to reliably carry crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency on ascent. Photo courtesy of SpaceX | License Photo

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosts the Crew Dragon spacecraft for NASA on a launch abort test from Complex 39A at Kennedy on January 19. SpaceX conducted the test as a final measure to assure safety for future crewed missions to the ISS. Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell/UPI | License Photo

Read more from the original source:

Spacewalk on Tuesday will conclude space station power upgrade - UPI News

How to see the International Space Station fly over Pennsylvania tonight

Updated: 8:35 AM EDT Jul 14, 2020

Hide TranscriptShow Transcript

MOVING A LOT FASTER THAN A PLANE. JERE: CHRISTINES HERE WITH MORE ON WHAT THAT WAS. CHRISTINE: THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. WE WERE TELLING YOU YESTERDAY THAT YOU COULD SPOT IT. WE GAVE YOU A DIRECTION WHERE IT COMES UP OVER THE HORIZON, AND HOW HIGH IT FLIES UP IN THE SKY AND HOW LONG THAT LASTS. YOU ALWAYS WANT TO FOCUS ON THE BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT. PLAYING THAT NIGHT, YOU MIGHT MISTAKE THEM FOR THIS, BUT PLANES BLAKE. THIS IS A SOLID WHITE LIGHT MOVING SUPERFAST AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE IT AGAIN TONIGHT. WE ARE IN A GOOD STRETCH THIS WEEK OF VIEWING FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ALONG WITH CLEAR SKIES. HERES THE DETAILS FOR TONIGHT. THE PAST BEGINS AT 10:01. THIS IS GOING TO TRAVEL FROM SOUTHWEST AND THEN IT WILL SET IN THE EAST-NORTHEAST SKY. AS FAR AS HOW LONG, IT IS GOING TO BE ABOUT A SIX MINUTE PASSER RATING 59 DEGREES ABOVE THE HORIZON AND CLEAR A

How to see the International Space Station fly over Pennsylvania tonight

Updated: 8:35 AM EDT Jul 14, 2020

Keep your eyes to the sky tonight and you could catch a glimpse of the International Space Station flying overhead. Watch Christine Ferreira's report above to find out where you need to look and when to spot it.

Keep your eyes to the sky tonight and you could catch a glimpse of the International Space Station flying overhead. Watch Christine Ferreira's report above to find out where you need to look and when to spot it.

Read the original:

HOW TO SEE the International Space Station fly over Pennsylvania tonight - WGAL Susquehanna Valley Pa.

US military HQ The Pentagon has commissioned the development of a space station to carry out important experimental work, as the dawn of a new space race arrives. The new station, which will be built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), will assist the Federal government with training and operational space missions.

The cutting-edge aerospace company announced the deal on last week in conjunction with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) but refused to disclose the top-secret project's cost.

Were excited by the multi-mission nature of Shooting Star

SNC's CEO Fatih Ozmen

DIU, which has headquarters in the Pentagon, has a mission to "accelerating the adoption of leading commercial technology throughout the military".

Industry insiders believe the SNC attempt to modify existing plans for its 15ft (10m)-long Shooting Star space cargo transport vehicle rather than going back to the drawing board.

The newly-commissioned Unmanned Orbital Outpost will complement the Shooting Star project in development since 2016 for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

READ MORE:Apollo 11 scientist reveals untold mission he gave Neil Armstrong

Announcing the project SNC's CEO Fatih Ozmen said in a statement: "Were excited by the multi-mission nature of Shooting Star."

"It was originally developed for NASA resupply missions to the International Space Station, and since then we keep identifying new capabilities and solutions it offers to a wide variety of customers.

"The possible applications for Shooting Star are really endless."

"The current Shooting Star is already designed with significant capabilities for an orbital outpost and by adding only a few components we are able to meet Department of Defense needs."

Steve Lindsey, Senior Vice President of strategy for SNCs Space Systems business area, who is also a retired US Air Force pilot and former NASA space shuttle commander, added: "We are proud to offer our transport vehicle to DoD as a free-flying destination for experimentation and testing, expanding beyond its current payload service capabilities for Dream Chaser cargo missions."

DIU first announced its interest in a solution for a self-contained and free-flying orbital outpost," a little more than a year ago.

The small-scale space station could support space assembly, microgravity experimentation, logistics and storage, manufacturing, training, test and evaluation, hosting payloads, and other functions, the Defense Innovation Unit had said in a statement last month.

'Space assembly' and 'manufacturing refer to the potential future capability to assemble and service satellites and spacecraft in orbit around Earth.

DON'T MISSBlack hole shock: Scientist's dire warning to humans [VIDEO]Asteroid apocalypse: Scientist warns of city-destroying space rock [OPINION]Why Trillion tonne rock hurtling towards Earth was 'bad news' [EXPLAINED]

This is something both the US military and US-based space agency NASA have long desired.

The outpost could consequently serve as a platform where these capabilities can be put to the test.

The Air Force has also publicly raised the possibility of using orbital platforms as logistics nodes.

A SNC press release said: "The proposed orbital outpost will be initially established in LEO with guidance, navigation and control for sustained free-flight operations to host payloads and support space assembly, microgravity, experimentation, logistics, manufacturing, training, test and evaluation."

This indicates the DIU remains interested in an orbital platform able of performing these and the other previously stated mission sets.

It added: "Future outposts may be based in a variety of orbits including, medium-Earth orbit, highly elliptical orbit, geosynchronous Earth orbits (GEO) to include GEO transfer orbits, and cislunar orbits."

Visit link:

Pentagon readies launch of its OWN manned space station - Daily Express

Did you know the International Space Station is among the easiest-to-spot extraterrestrial objects? After the Sun and the Moon, the International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky and so, quite easy to spot. All spotting the International Space Station requires is a cloudless sky and timing -- the space station should be flying over your city at a visible enough angle a few hours after sunset or before sunrise.

The latter of the two requirements -- timing -- will be fulfilled tonight for the cities of Rajkot and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Jaipur in Rajasthan, and Delhi. In fact, it's going to be as perfect as it can be.

Tonight, the International Space Station will be flying over these cities at an angle of nearly 90 degrees, i.e. the ISS will pass right over your head, giving you the perfect opportunity to get a sighting of the International Space Station in the sky.

This, by the way, is not as rare as you'd think. And, if you live in cities other than the ones mentioned above, fret not. But before we talk about the whys and hows of these two points, let's go through a brief guide on spotting the International Space Station tomorrow.

When will International Space Station be visible?

In Rajkot and Ahmedabad, the International Space station will 'rise' at around 8:35 pm Tuesday. In the other cities -- Jaipur and Delhi -- this will take place closer to 8:37 pm.

Viewing International Space Station: Where can I see it?

The ISS will begin rising from the southwest horizon, i.e. if you're standing facing the South, the space station will appear somewhere to your 1-2 o'clock.

How much time will I have?

Six minutes. That's how long the International Space Station will be visible in the skies of Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi.

How will the International Space Station look like?

The International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky (Photo courtesy: Dave Walker)

Like we told you earlier, the ISS is the third-brightest object in the sky. It will appear like a star, but much brighter, and will be seen flying by like an aeroplane, but much faster.

If you're in the cities mentioned above, you will basically see a bright, star-like object rising from the horizon, darting across the night sky, passing right over your head, before dipping and 'setting' into the opposite side of the horizon.

WHY ONLY THESE CITIES?

Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi are simply the cities that will have the best possible view of the ISS Tuesday night, with the space station passing above your heads. Towns and cities located within an 80-km radius of these places will also have a similar view.

Others located a little far off, such as Vadodara, Indore, Agra, Dehradun and Chandigarh will also be able to view the International Space Station; it's just that ISS won't pass directly overhead and will be seen at an angle.

Other cities will get their turn in the future, like we explain in the section below.

NOT A RARE EVENT

The International Space Station orbits around the Earth approximately 16 times a day. What this means is that there are plenty of opportunities to spot the ISS in the sky. All you require is cloudless skies and the space station passing over your city at a comfortable angle, sometime after or before sunset.

What does that mean? Think of the horizon being 0 degrees and a point in the sky right above your head being 90 degrees. The ISS can appear at any angle between these. Nasa says that the best possible angle to view the ISS is 40 degrees or more since that will ensure obstructions such as tall buildings don't get in the line of your sight.

The International Space Station seen flying in the night sky (Photo courtesy: Wayne Boyd)

It is also important that the ISS passes over your city a few hours after or before sunset. This ensures that enough sunlight bounces off the space station for it to be visible in the night sky.

Sounds extremely difficult to calculate, right? Which is why Nasa does it for the world. The space agency has a website -- Spot The Station -- dedicated to tracking the movements of the International Space Station and telling you the best suitable time to view the ISS in the coming week.

So, while Mumbai will be missing out on viewing the International Space Station Tuesday night, it will be able to see the spectacle -- at the same overhead angle -- early Thursday morning later in the week.

Of course, you won't be able to capture images like the ones we've shown you above with your smartphone, but it will be quite a sight to actually see.

Read the original post:

International Space Station from Earth: Perfect sighting for Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Delhi tonight | What to know - India Today

This comet can be seen without a telescope or binoculars, but it's much easier to spot by magnifying with those tools.

INDIANAPOLIS Another clear evening and overnight in central Indiana will be the perfect backdrop for sky-viewing and there will be plenty to see.

Each passing night the Comet NEOWISE progressively gets higher in the northwest horizon.

This comet can be seen without a telescope or binoculars, but it's much easier to spot by magnifying with those tools.

If you're trying to watch the night pass you'll want to look northwest around an hour after sunset and the 90+ minutes following.

Tuesday morning provides another perfect opportunity for comet viewing in the northeastern horizon.

Eric Teske of Noblesville and Dean Hockney of Kokomo were both able to capture NEOWISE early Monday morning. The time to look is approximately between 4 - 5:30 a.m.

In addition to the comet, the International Space Station will make several flyovers in the coming days as central Indiana is firmly in its orbit.

A great opportunity to see a six-minute flyover tonight between 10:48 PM - 10:54 PM.

This will be followed by four six-minute flyovers Tuesday, most of which should be clear for viewing. Good luck!

See the original post here:

Comet NEOWISE and International Space Station over central Indiana - WTHR

Eight years ago, I was packing my home and entire life in Mexico to move to the US to pursue a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California-Irvine. Those were easier times, although it did not seem like it at the time. I spent a few months worth of income to pay for paperwork to apply for an F-1 student visa, and to pay for other documents to enroll as a graduate student. This was after I dedicated months to emailing professors everywhere in the US, hoping that one of them would reply to my email and would invite me to apply to join their lab. It was also after spending time and money paying for standardized tests, official document translations, and application fees. It was a one-and-a-half-year process but in July 2012, I was finally moving to the USA to pursue my PhD. It was a dream come true.

It was also a dream come true for the University of California because I had a full scholarship from my home country that paid for the entirety of my international tuition and fees, which were around $35,000 per year. My scholarship allowed me to pursue my PhD in the USA, and to UC Irvine it provided basically free labor as well as prestige.

I paid taxes and did all of the typical graduate student responsibilities. I also dedicated a lot of my time to doing outreach to bring science to underserved communities around Orange County and Southern California. By the time I graduated in 2017, I was a stellar student, with three publications with UC Irvine's name on them. I co-organized summer science camps for middle school girls that brought money and a good reputation to my university and program. I mentored students of all ages. I was a good citizen of my program, of my university, and of Orange County.

Like me, most international students leave their families and everything that they are comfortable with to pursue the dream of graduate school. They bring with them the hope of being welcomed and treated fairly by their American peers. I have experienced this, but I am one of the lucky ones.

It is no secret that international students and postdocs will withstand abuse and other injustices just so they can keep their visa, which is always tied to their university. Many universities receive international students without having a system to deal with the unique challenges that international students face, such as having no credit history, which complicates finding a place to live and leaves international students vulnerable to landlord abuse. Many international students are people of color, and universities, especially predominantly white institutions, do not have resources to ensure safety of these students within the university and in the community at large.

These challenges are further complicated due to a lack of community and support. Making friends in the US, especially if you are coming from Global South countries and/or non-Westernized countries, is extremely challenging. Many times, I have seen how western Europeans, Australians, and Canadians are rapidly accepted in the local community, while many Latinx, Asians, and Middle-Easterners are not.

There are over one million international students in the US. The ICE Student Ban may no longer be a threat, but universities still need to change how they handle international students. We are people too, but many universities have historically valued us only by the amount of money we bring. We improve higher education not only by the money that we bring, but by our unique perspectives, our research productivity, and our willingness to give back to American society.

Read more:

The International Space Station creates bigger, colder states of matter than are possible on Earth - Massive Science

WASHINGTON NASA confirmed July 17 that the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, with two astronauts on board, will return to Earth from the International Space Station in early August.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted that the agency current plans to have the Crew Dragon spacecraft, with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board, undock from the ISS on Aug. 1, splashing down off the Florida coast Aug. 2.

Those date are tentative, he said, and dependent on weather conditions at the splashdown sites. Weather will drive the actual date. Stay tuned, he wrote.

NASA has identified several splashdown locations both in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. While the prime splashdown site is notionally the one off the coast from Cape Canaveral, allowing astronauts to quickly return to the Kennedy Space Center, NASA previously stated they will pick the site that best aligns with the spacecrafts orbit and with weather conditions on the ground.

That date confirms earlier statements by agency officials that the Demo-2 mission would end in early August, although this is the first time that NASA has provided a specific date for the splashdown. Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said in a talk at the American Astronautical Societys Glenn Memorial Symposium July 17, shortly before Bridenstines tweet, that NASA was planning an early August end for the mission.

At a June 24 briefing, Steve Stich, manager of NASAs commercial crew program, said the Crew Dragon would likely undock in early August. At that time, he said the spacecraft had been performing well since its May 30 launch. Controllers were powering on systems on the spacecraft weekly for health checks, while Behnken and Hurley, along with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, recently boarded the spacecraft to test how it accommodates four people.

NASA extended Demo-2, originally expected to last no more than a couple weeks, to provide more crew time on the ISS. Thats included a series of spacewalks by Behnken and Cassidy, most recently July 16, to replace batteries in the stations power system. That battery replacement is now complete, but Behnken and Cassidy will perform one more spacewalk July 21 to perform other work outside the station.

An early August departure would allow NASA to proceed with the first operational commercial crew mission, Crew-1, as soon as mid-September. Stich said in June that there needs to be at least six weeks between the Demo-2 splashdown and Crew-1 launch to provide enough time to inspect the Demo-2 Crew Dragon and conduct a series of reviews.

Preparations for Crew-1 continue, with the Falcon 9 first stage that will launch the mission arriving in Florida July 14. That mission will transport NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi to the station for what NASA described as a full duration mission.

Read more:

NASA plans early August return of Crew Dragon from space station - SpaceNews

Boeing may have had some issues with the Starliner spacecraft a botched attempt to dock with the International Space Station being one of them but that doesnt take away the companys other merits when it comes to space exploration. For one, did you know Boeing has been the main contractor for ISS ever since 1993?Thats about five years before the first component of the station was launched to space. During this time, Boeing has been in charge with things like the engineering support services and providing resources needed by the orbital laboratory, and will do so for some more years to come.

Last week, Boeing and NASA announced an extension of the partnership to support ISS all the way to 2024, the year until, so far, support for the station has been promised by the U.S. government. For its services, Boeing will get $916 million.

As the International Space Station marks its 20th year of human habitation, Boeing continues to enhance the utility and livability of the orbiting lab we built for NASA decades ago, said in a statement John Mulholland, Boeing vice president and program manager for the International Space Station.

We thank NASA for their confidence in our team and the opportunity to support the agencys vital work in spaceflight and deep-space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.

The International Space Station is currently the only man-made structure in space that can support human residents for long periods of time. Spinning around the planet at a height of 408 km (253 miles), it welcomed during its lifetime over 230 people from 18 countries, and has been continuously occupied since November 2000.

Despite its age and talk of a possible discontinuation of its use, ISS continues to be safe and mission-capable, NASA says. The space laboratory is the place where experiments are conducted in a microgravity environment not possible to replicate exactly on Earth.

One might wonder what did the ISS do for the bettering of the human race, seeing how not so many made-in-space objects are around.

Well, there are many things the station helped discover. It is there that we learned the human body is affected by prolongued stays in space, or that bacteria could survive space vacuum, or that combustion of fuel in space is more efficient.

Excerpt from:

Boeing to Be Main Contractor for the International Space Station Until 2024 - autoevolution