NASA's venerable Voyager 2 spacecraft is recovering from a glitch, but engineers are confident that the probe will be back to normal science operations soon, the agency said.

The issue began on Saturday (Jan. 25), when, mission scientists believe, the spacecraft failed to take a quick spin that it needed to make to calibrate an instrument. That meant that two power-hungry systems stayed on longer than usual. To cope with the sudden power shortage, the spacecraft automatically turned its science instruments off, according to a NASA statement.

NASA engineers are troubleshooting the problem, but it's slow going given Voyager 2's distance from Earth. With the probe 11.5 billion miles (18.5 billion kilometers) away, signals take 17 hours to travel one way and mission personnel must wait a total of 34 hours to see whether a command worked.

Related: Voyager 2 Went Interstellar the Same Day a Probe Touched the Sun

However, Voyager 2's engineers think they've coaxed the spacecraft into shutting down one of the power-sucking systems and rebooting its science instruments, although the probe is not yet gathering data again.

As the mission continues, power issues become ever-more serious for both Voyager probes, which launched in 1977. Each spacecraft carries a radioisotope thermoelectric generator as a power supply. But at more than 40 years old, those generators are steadily losing their oomph, leaving each spacecraft with a little less power.

In response to power reduction over the years, engineers on the Voyager team have turned off instruments and heaters that are less relevant to the mission's science goals, saving the spacecraft's resources for where they really count.

Both spacecraft are focused on studying the region just outside the heliopause, a sheath created by the solar wind of charged particles that constantly streams off the sun. Voyager 2 crossed that boundary in November 2018, joining its twin, which had done so in 2012.

NASA isn't sure how much longer the Voyager probes will be able to keep running, but scientists on the mission estimated in November 2019 that the spacecraft could lose power within about five years.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Voyager 2 just missed a spin in interstellar space. But it should be fine, NASA says. - Space.com

Thanks to NASAs quest to explore Mars, your car has better radials. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company worked with NASA to develop a special fibrous material which was used on parachute shrouds to soft-land Viking space probes on the surface of Mars. The fibre contains a chain-like molecular structure which makes it five times stronger than steel without added weight. Goodyear realized that the increased strength and durability of this material would have useful applications on the road, and, in 1976, developed a new radial which lasted 10,000 miles longer than others. Viking was not the only collaboration between Goodyear and NASA.

In 2009, a dedicated team of Goodyear engineers and NASA researchers at the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center collaborated on the development of a new airless Spring Tire which uses 800 load bearing springs which provides improved traction on rocky surfaces and can bear weight in extreme temperatures without deflating, as pneumatic tires might. While originally developed to fit the needs of NASAs Lunar Electric rover, Goodyear also saw applications for off-road vehicles here on Earth.

The rest is here:

From Cordless Vacuums to In-flight WiFi, These Innovations From NASA Changed Life on Earth - Travel+Leisure

In the next 50 years, up to one million people could be living on Mars, Elon Musk claimed last month. Mr Musk is a technology entrepreneur who founded SpaceX in 2002 to revoluntionise space technology so that people can one day live on other planets. But he is not alone in suggesting that human beings will be able to form societies in space within our lifetimes. Takeshi Hakamada, the chief executive of Japanese firm iSpace a company that develops lunar robotic modules with the goal of mining the moon believes that by 2040, there will be a community of at least 1,000 people living and working on the moon.

Those kinds of numbers make you sit up and pay attention, especially when you realise that only 564 people have been to space thus far. And even more startling is the fact that only 65 of them have been women, a paltry 11.5 per cent. This gender imbalance is common wherever space is involved. For example, the majority of Nasa's employees are male 66 per cent and among those, women only hold 14 per cent of senior positions.

There are exceptions, of course. The UAE space programme is overseen by a woman Sarah Al Amiri, who is the Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and involves many notable women.

More countries should take note of the UAE's lead because, if we are going to have a realistic chance of creating societies on other planets, we need to bring more gender balance. And this needs to happen urgently.

This is not about ticking diversity check-boxes. Although we do need to get beyond the notion that it is all about giant leaps for mankind, this is a far more existential issue about how we structure healthy communities in the future.

It will not happen by accident. Human beings are not suddenly going to play fair in space. Sexism will not evaporate as we pass through the earths outer orbit. And the effects of patriarchy have every chance of survival in zero gravity. If anything, we are set to take all the mistakes we have made on earth with us. And in the rarefied, controlled circumstances of space they will be magnified.

The problem is, we have already started to inject sexism into our quest for multi-planetary living without even realising it.

So far, male bodies are the norm by which our planning for space has been conducted and female bodies the ab-norm, from spacesuit sizing, to the width between ladder rungs, to the size of hand drills and much more.

Take the case of the cooling system that helps reduce sweat inside a space suit. Men and women have different physiological patterns when it comes to perspiring. But the system is designed only for the way mens bodies work. Toilets, too, are designed for mens use. Womens bodies respond differently to space radiation but we have little data about its impact on fertility, hormonal cycles and reproduction.

Without womens involvement, these design errors dating as far back as the 1950s will only spread to other aspects of space travel planning.

Aside from hardware design, have we thought about the values and ideas we will need to ensure that we build healthy societies? In many ways, that is far more important for long-term survival. Yet it is treated as an after-thought if thought of at all.

Take the case of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, a group of American women who trained to go to space in 1959 but whose missions were terminated before they got off the ground. The programme organiser, Dr William Randolph Lovelace, wanted women in space not for reasons of gender equality but because he felt male astronauts would need nurses and secretaries jobs traditionally held by women. This was despite the acknowledgement that sending typically smaller-bodied female astronauts made more sense because they would be a lighter load and consume less food. But they sent the men anyway.

There are also examples of of sexism at the workplace. Consider Judith Lapierre, a Canadian astronaut candidate who arrived at a simulation of the International Space Station in Moscow to enact a mission to Mars and see the effects of close proximity. There were four men and Ms Lapierre. In less than a month since the programme got under way, she was sexually assaulted by the captain. It was only 10 days later that leaders of the study took her safety seriously and agreed to install locks. Worse, she had been told not to complain about the assault as this would be considered taboo by the host country.

The fact is women are already facing the same problems in space missions as on earth, whether it is in stereotypes, inappropriate technology, or fundamental disregard of safety, well-being, physical and mental health. Unless we act urgently, it is all coming with us as we journey through the galaxy.

The book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, written by John Gray and published in 1992, captured people's imagination for, among other things, its title. The idea is that men and women are so different in many ways that, metaphorically speaking, they live on different planets. But we seem to have taken this title too literally by building our aspiration for space travel and extra-terrestrial human existence around male bodies, attitudes and privilege.

Very soon, however, women will also be from Mars. And if we do not address the biases that seem to have been injected into our space plans, it will not be just the women who suffer. It will lead to a failure of the project for multi-planetary living.

So as we cross the final frontier, let us ensure we take the opportunity to leave behind some of humankind's problematic attitudes, one of them being misogyny.

Shelina Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World

Updated: January 30, 2020 06:53 PM

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Soon women will also be from Mars: why space missions should address gender imbalance quickly - The National

We were sailing past the rings of Saturn, the disc of rocks, ice, and moonlets that circle our second-largest neighborso naturally my whole body was rattling. It was only after the lights came up that I noticed the actual reason: metal boxes beneath each seat, designed to vibrate our butts in sync with the universe.

I was atWorlds Beyond Earth, the new show at the Hayden Planetariums Giant Sphere theater at New Yorks American Museum of Natural History. And the simulated sensation of spaceflight goes way beyond seat shakers. The museum now boasts what its president, Ellen J Futter, said last year is not only the most advanced planetarium on the planet but the most advanced planetarium ever attempted.

Earth is surrounded by a strong magnetic fieldpowered by its hot, churning outer coreforming a shield that deflects solar wind and protects our atmosphere. [Photo: AMNH]Since 1935, the planetarium near Central Park has been a special sort of cosmic cathedral. When it reopened in 2000 as a giant illuminated orb, designed by Polshek Partnership, it appeared to float within a six-story glass case. The planetarium also upgraded its famous Zeiss star projector, which has dazzled generations of starry-eyed kids with its detailed, glimmering replica of the night sky and its tilting-and-whirling mechanism. The current model is the worlds first Zeiss Mark IX.

The legendary Zeiss, however, is being eclipsed. Since the turn of the century, the Hayden, like many planetariums, has increasingly also relied on so-called fulldome projectors that can cover the entire inside of the dome, immersing the audience in sophisticated imagery. Rather than just letting viewers gaze at the night sky, it lets the planetarium fly audiences to any time and place within it. The current system, built by a company called Christie Digital and installed over the summer, is made up of six custom synchronized projectors that bathe the dome in 8K-resolution laser light at 60 frames per second, with the widest available color range and contrast. (The dome also features 23 speakers and two subwoofers, along with those seat shakers.)

Those features mean that the systems ability to reproduce the universes most vivid colors is unrivaled, says Carter Emmart, the museums astro-visualization director. And then there are its blacks: blacker than any blacks hes seen in a fulldome show, the black of space. That kind of blackness, he says, this is the holy grail.

Academy Award winner Lupita Nyongo is the narrator of Worlds Beyond Earth. [Photo: D. Finnin/ AMNH]But the projectors arent even the biggest stars of the show. Worlds Beyond Earth is the first new film at the Hayden in six years. The last one, Dark Universenarrated by Hayden director and Pluto-demoter Neil de Grasse Tysonwas about the phenomena that help to explain the formation of the universe. Worlds, written by geologist Natalie Starkey, is more literal and local: in half an hour, we learn how our solar system came to be, what makes for such unwelcoming conditions on other planets, and in turn what makes Earth so habitable. The larger subtle point is underlined near the end by the narrator, the actress Lupita Nyongo: the Earths climate is just right for nurturing life, which means its also easy to mess up.

Look at our next-door neighbor Venus. We could almost call it Earths twin, says Nyongo as we swoop below its thick clouds. Thanks to the Magellan spacecraft, we know that Venus is covered with volcanoes that can feed the atmosphere with water vapor and other gases. Except Venus has no magnetic field, which left it exposed to harsh solar winds that stole its water, allowing carbon dioxide to build up in its atmosphere. That resulted in a global greenhouse effect so intense that the planets surface is hot enough to melt lead. Understanding how that happened has taught us about the runaway effects that come with adding more carbon dioxide to our own atmosphere. (The film doesnt mention it, but our own CO2 levels are now the highest theyve been in 14 million years.)

I think its really interesting that we did not set out to make a show about Earth, says Vivian Trakinski, the Haydens director of science visualization, who produced the film. The idea was to focus on the surprising attributes of other planets, but as we developed the script, that inevitably led us to the conclusion that it really was about our own understanding and appreciation of the Earth.

The shows curator, Denton Ebel, a geologist who runs the museums department of Earth and planetary sciences, said he wanted to showcase the worldly phenomena that tie our planets together but also set them apart. We have all these processes that are similarwe have magnetic fields, we have volcanoes, we have atmospheres, we have gravity, he says. And yet these processes lead to this huge diversity of outcomes.

Jupiters moon, Io (right), is the most volcanically active object in the solar system despite being covered by ice. [Photo: AMNH]The film begins at the birth of the solar system, before taking us on a time-traveling tour of our moon, Saturn and its moon Titan, Jupiter and Io, Venus, and Mars. Theres a ride-along with a comet, which is like a small world onto itself, carrying not only dust and ice but also amino acids, the basic ingredients for life. Astronomers have found that comets may have ferried vital chemicals like phosphorus to Earth, giving rise to life here four billion years ago.

Comet 67P is a frozen object traveling between the inner and outer solar system that the European Space Agencys Rosetta spacecraft chased for 10 years. [Photo: AMNH]One reason we know this about comets is that, rather than just study them through telescopes, now we can actually land on them. The profusion of new data from an array of spacecraft and robots means that untangling the solar systems mysteries increasingly involves not only astronomers but geologists like Ebel (hes the first one to curate a Hayden show). These up-close-and-personal encounters with the solar system are also what make many of the sequences in Worlds Beyond Earth so realistic. For much of the film, these arent garden-variety simulations were looking at, but elaborate data visualizations.

The ability to give Hayden audiences such a precise view of space is something new. We actually use the termwhich is interestingwe say reconstruction, based on all the imagery, Emmart told me. In the case of images from Saturn with Cassini, we can reconstruct exactly the view from the spacecraft.

The idea was not just to show the world we know but give a sense of how we know it.

The idea was not just to show the world we know but give a sense of how we know it, Trakinski said. Its not animation. Its really an exploration of the science itself.

Worlds Beyond Earth visualizes authentic data from NASA, ESA, and Japan Aerospace Exploration (JAXA) missions, telescopes, supercomputer simulations, and research conducted at institutions around the globe. [Photo: D. Finnin/ AMNH]There are still simulated sections and cinematic flourishes, like stunning visualizations of Earths and Jupiters magnetic fields, and a body-shaking moon landing, with the Apollo 15 lunar module. For the latter sequence, the Hayden tapped a few experts: John Knoll, the chief creative officer of Industrial Light and Magic, cocreator of Adobe Photoshop, and amateur Apollo historian; and Dave Scott and Charlie Duke, who piloted the Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 lunar modules respectively.

To craft the landing sequences sounds and visuals, Emmart wanted to know what the astronauts recalled as they deftly guided their crafts to the moons dusty surface. [Scott] said, I was trying to land this thing, so I had to be totally in the zone!' But both reported feeling the kick of the engine and the thrusters, says Emmart.

[Duke] didnt say it kicked like a mule, but he definitely felt it. So I said, lets put that into the seat players!

Modern science revolves around continuously updated models of the universe, and planetariums have followed suit. In 1923, just as Einsteins theory of relativity was making waves, the prototype for the first modern planetarium, known as the Star Theater, opened on the roof of the Zeiss Works in Jena, Germany, with a pioneering multi-lens projector situated in the center of a new type of domed building. About a decade later, banker Charles Haydeninspired by Chicagos groundbreaking Adler Planetariumpledged to build an even bigger planetarium for New York City, donating $150,000 in the depths of the Great Depression. The goal, he explained, was to give the public a more lively and sincere appreciation of the magnitude of the universe . . . and for the wonderful things which are daily occurring in the universe. When it opened in October 1935, lines stretched down the block.

Emmart remembers being stunned by the Haydens first laser projector system, the Lazarium, in 1974. With its simple but spectacular vector drawings set to music, the system was a sensation, and helped launch another planetarium tradition: laser Pink Floyd shows. The Hayden stopped doing those in 1997; fulldome projection made its debut the following year.

Laser light, which can offer a brighter, sharper image than LCD or LED and other technologies, led the Hayden and other planetariums to upgrade their systems again in the early 2000s. Six years ago, museum officials began discussions with Christie, a leading digital projector maker, about a more radical upgrade to the Giant Sphere. The result, the Eclipse, is built around six digital micromirror devices, or DMDs, allowing for the widest display of colors possible in any projector. Christie says it can encompass nearly all of what cinema nerds call the Rec. 2020 color gamut, a spectrum of hues that are easy for, say, a vivid supernova to generate, but heretofore impossible to re-create.

The new projectors are capable of an unprecedented 20 million-to-1 contrast ratio, and can display images in the expansive Rec. 2100 color palette [Photo: C. Chesek/ AMNH]This range also makes for remarkable contrast levels, the difference between the brightest and darkest image: the new system boosts the planetariums existing contrast ratio from 7,000-to-1 to 1,000,000-to-1. (Most movie theater projectors have a ratio of only 2,000 to 1.) That solves a central problem of laser projectors: displaying bright objects like suns or quasars can disrupt the darkness of the night sky in other parts of the image. That means the Hayden comes closer than anything else on Earth to mimicking not only the vibrant colors of the universe but the actual darkness of the night sky. For anyone used to New Yorks bleached night skies, this is quite black.

It brings out the black of space and allows us to visualize these things as theyre really there, Emmart said.

(The quest to emulate the night sky has also led to the worlds blackest paint. The pigment known as Vantablack was designed by NASA scientists with a coating of carbon nanotubes, and meant to be applied to satellites so they wont reflect light and thus disrupt ground-based astronomy. When the artist Anish Kapoor exclusively licensed the pigment in 2016, he sparked an art-world battle over the blackest black.)

The hyperrealism of the Haydens simulacraspace black, 8K resolution, shaking seats, the renderings, the data itselfmay invite ruminations about just how real simulations can get, about where models end and reality begins, and about how to teach science.

What we can show you of the universe can take you back.

As we sailed around Saturn, I got a glimpse of that future, when planetariums wont just show us models of the solar system but send us out into ever realistic models of it. This idea excites Emmart. The planetarium could democratize what he says will be the elite sport of civilian space travel as envisioned by companies like Virgin Galactic and SpaceX.

My joke is, Honey, sell the house, Ive got to go to space for 15 minutes,' he says. There are lots of people for whom the price of a house is nothing, I guess, so theyre the ones that are going to go. For the rest of us, experiences such as the Haydens new show will be the next best thing, and theyll keep getting better.

What were doing is honing this ability to provide authentic travel through the known universe, adds Emmart. Call it data, call it knowledge, call it what you will, based on imagery and sensors and all of this. But this all comes together as an authentic experience.

Under the dome, he can immerse people in things and places long gone, stuff no one ever saw, billions of years old. Its like the museums famous ancient dioramas.

Visualizations based on 13 years of data from NASAs Cassini spacecraft shows Saturns rings bubbling with moonletshouse-size baby moonsthat form through a process that scientists think may parallel planet formation in the solar system. [Photo: D. Finnin/ AMNH]I revere our dioramas because they are a suspension in another place, says Emmart. You come to this museum and youre suddenly standing on the Plains in Wyoming looking at buffalo, and youre not only standing looking at buffalo, because the buffalo and these millions of herds, theyre no longer thereyoure seeing something from the past. Maybe it doesnt hit you quite as much as dinosaur bones, but youre seeing something that just doesnt exist anymore. So even the dioramas are like a time machine. And in large measure, what we can show you of the universe can take you back.

Getting to go back is an eye-opening treat. Near the start of the new show, we sail toward a simulation of our young sun, some 4.5 billion years ago, as the solar system was just starting to take shape. Our neighborhood likely began as whats known as an accretion disc, a cloud of matter swirling around the sun much in the way those rocky rings circle Saturn today. Within this disc of debris, materials glommed together like chunks of chocolate in a violent mix of cookie dough, eventually gathering themselves into their own orbits, and then into the giant orbs we call Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, along with the rest of the mysterious stuff floating around the solar system. Over time, all kinds of accidents happened. You realize how Earth could have turned out like these other places, but didnt, at least not yet. Which is good, because, among other things, now we can go to the planetarium.

This story has been updated to clarify that while fulldome projection debuted in 1998, laser fulldome projectors arrived the following the decade; and to correct the attribution of a quote by Apollo astronaut Dave Scott, which had previously been attributed to his colleague Charlie Duke. We regret the errors.

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The Hayden Planetarium's Worlds Beyond Earth is dazzling - Fast Company

Space explorers: we have lift-off!

Ever since Californian businessman Dennis Tito paid Russia $20m to blast into orbit in 2001, wealthy thrillseekers have dreamt of hitching a ride to the great beyond. The wait may be getting shorter. And recreational human space travel from Spains Andalusia is on the horizon with space travel to be offered as of next year thanks to Zero 2 Infinity.

From Andalusia to Space, a Spanish company has launched its own Space tourism enterprise and will launch its stratosphere travel program in 2021.

Zero 2 Infinity proposes simplifying Access to Space as the company promotes on their website:

We are building a brighter future in which access to Space is frequent, affordable, secure and reliable for everyone.

From the public to the gurus of aerospace, most people still think that Space will remain the realm of a few superpowers, large defence contractors and the odd billionaire

but we wont settle for that. At Zero 2 Infinity we chose to carry the burden of proof that there is indeed a better way, one that allows you to realize your dreams in Space.

This kind of space travel will be made possible by three projected launch bases across the globe. One will be in Neom in Saudi Arabia, another in Baja California in Mexico and the third in Jan, Spain.

The Spanish base, in Jan, makes it clear that it intends to offer a more modest experience that will simultaneously be more environmentally friendly. Rather than a rocket, passengers will travel in a pressurised cabin or pod, propelled by a balloon fuelled by helium gas, and it will remain in Near Space which is higher than planes fly but below the altitude of satellites. The advantage of Zero 2 Infinitys excursions is that there is no carbon footprint.

The other advantage of these flights is that no preparation or astronaut gear is necessary.

The technology for Zero 2 Infinitys tourist space program has been developed by the companys founder and CEO, Jos Mariano Lpez-Urdiales, an aerospace engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

At present, trips can only be booked directly with the company, though it is expected that soon bookings will be made available through travel agencies specializing in adventure tourism.

Cost aside, a space trip is not to everyones taste, while Zero 2 Infinitys excursions sound milder and safer than other space flights. The dangers are real, as are the discomforts.

Some of the space flights offered by other companies will take passengers into suborbital space: high enough to cross the lower boundary of space and get an experience of weightlessness. But as costs fall, the industry will get off the ground and its expected that by 2030 space tourism could be worth as much as $3bn a year.

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Space tourism To Become A Reality In Spain's Andalusia From 2021 - Euro Weekly News

The venture community has been fixated on travel and hospitality since the dot-com era and early-2000s, when mainstays like Kayak and Airbnb were still Silicon Valley darlings. As the multi-trillion-dollar global travel and hospitality market continues to grow, VCs are still foaming at the mouth for the opportunity to redefine the ways we move and stay around the world.

Despite the cyclical nature of the travel sector, deal flow in travel and hospitality has remained strong and largely stable over the last half-decade, according to data from Crunchbase and PitchBook. Over the same period, weve seen more than a handful of startups in the space reach unicorn status, including companies like Klook, Sonder, Flixbus, Vacasa, Wheels Up, TripActions and others.

High-profile funding rounds also appear to be popping up across travel and hospitalitys various sub-sectors, including bookings, activity marketplaces, short-term rental, tourism and hotel platforms. And companies are continuing to pull in funding rounds in the hundreds of millions to billion-dollar range, such as India hotel network company Oyo, which raised $1.5 billion in funding as recently as December.

While VC investment in the space has remained resilient, some investors are predicting its only a matter of time before the travel startup world hits a downturn. To get a temperature check on the state of the travel market, the outlook for fundraising and which sub-sectors might present the most attractive opportunities for startups today, we asked five leading VCs at firms spanning early to growth stages to share whats exciting them most and where they see opportunity in travel, tourism and hospitality tech:

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Where top VCs are investing in travel, tourism and hospitality tech - TechCrunch

In December 2019, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano radioed down to Earth from the International Space Station with an important update.

So this time, I do see some browning, Parmitano said, according to Marcia Dunn of the Associated Press. I cant tell you whether its cooked all the way or not, but it certainly doesnt look like cookie dough any more.

Parmitano had been given a unique and unusual task: bake five chocolate chip cookies in a zero-gravity oven and see how the snacks fare. The experiment marked the first time that food had been baked in space from raw ingredients, and may contribute to efforts to make long-haul space missions a little more sweet.

DoubleTree by Hilton provided the pre-made cookie dough, which was sent up to the ISS along with an oven created by Zero G Kitchen. Nanoracks, a leading provider of commercial access to space, also collaborated on the project.

The Zero G Oven, which arrived at the Space Station in November, needed to contend with a number of culinary conundrums, including a limited power supply and, of course, a lack of gravity. According to CNNs Ashley Strickland, the appliance came equipped with a cylindrical chamber and an insertable silicone frame, which surrounded the cookies and stopped them from bouncing around. The design allowed heat to rise more slowly than ovens we use on Earth, and coils directed heat to the chamber's center, explains Strickland.

Here on Earth, chocolate chip cookies by DoubleTree bake in a convection oven for 16 to 18 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Prior to the mission, how the sweet treats would behave in space was anyones guess. Parmitano and his colleagues, among them NASA astronaut Christina Koch, were therefore instructed to bake four cookies for varying times at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and the fifth one at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. The goal of the experiment was to determine ideal baking conditions for in-orbit snack times.

The first cookie was popped in the oven for 25 minutes, but it was underbaked. With the second cookie, astronauts noticed a fresh-baked cookie scent after 75 minutes, according to DoubleTree. In the microgravity environment on board the ISS, notes Chelsea Gohd of Space.com, smells spread via individual aroma molecules that travel in whatever direction they are moved; on Earth, aroma molecules collide randomly with air molecules and move in all directions.

The fourth and fifth cookies, which were baked for a whopping 120 minutes and 130 minutes, respectively, were deemed to be the most successful. Prior to the experiment, there had been some speculation that the snacks would take on a more spherical shape in microgravity, but the initial shape and consistency of the DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies appeared the same in space as they are on Earth, according to a DoubleTree statement.

Would the results of this Great Extra Terrestrial Bakeoff satisfy the likes of Prue and Paul? Its hard to say, because no one has had a chance to taste them. The baked cookies were shuttled back to Earth onboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in early January, and further testing is required to determine if they are safe to eat. Scientists also are not sure why the discrepancy between baking times on Earth and in space was so largelarger, in fact, than experts anticipated.

Theres still a lot to look into to figure out really whats driving that difference, but definitely a cool result, Mary Murphy, a manager for Nanoracks tells the AP, said this week. Overall, I think its a pretty awesome first experiment.

At this point, the first batch of space cookies is perhaps more likely to end up in a museum than in someones belly; DoubleTree has offered to donate one to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. But experts hope that the experiment will add some freshly-baked options to the menu that is currently available in orbitsomething that is particularly important as scientists prepare for extended missions to the moon and Mars.

The reminder of home, the connection with home, I think, cant be overstated, former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, who is a paid spokesman for DoubleTree, tells the AP. From my personal experience food is pretty important for not just nutrition but also for morale in keeping people connected to their home and their Earth.

And dont worry: The ISS astronauts, though surely tempted by the tantalizing smell of cookies they could not eat, were not entirely deprived of baked goods. According to Space.com, a special batch of pre-baked DoubleTree cookies was sent up to the crew in November.

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The First Cookies Baked in Space Have Returned to Earth - Smithsonian.com

When mysterious glowing stripes of green lit up Finnish skies in 2018, it didn't go unnoticed by avid aurora chasers. The pattern of light was unfamiliar and strangely perfect, reaching out toward the horizon like a set of celestial sand dunes.

Sure enough, the light show dubbed by the citizen scientists as "the dunes" turned out to be a new type of aurora. This aurora is formed by the dramatic dance of gravity waves and oxygen atoms, according to new findings published today (Jan. 29) in the journal AGU Advances.

The path to discovery began years ago when a group of aurora enthusiasts emailed Minna Palmroth, a professor of computational space physics at the University of Helsinki, asking her to join their Facebook group. The goal? Have Palmroth explain the physics behind the auroras they were photographing.

Related: Aurora Photos: Northern Lights Dazzle in Night-Sky Images

Palmroth was happy to do so. After a while, she realized her answers were becoming repetitive so she went on to publish an aurora guidebook. But in October 2018, the aurora chasers came back to her with images of a puzzling aurora.

"Then I realized that oh no ... I haven't seen these before," Palmroth told Live Science. Upon first look, these stripes looked to be the result of gravity waves, or density disturbances in the upper atmosphere. The upper atmosphere is streaked with many different gravity waves that run in different directions and are of different frequencies and sizes. But that explanation didn't seem possible, because the waves were so evenly spread.

So Palmroth and her team organized a campaign for the evening of Oct. 7, gathering scientists and citizens throughout Finland to photograph the dunes. By analyzing these photographs, the team began to understand the physics behind the phenomenon.

This isn't the first time aurora chasers have identified a new celestial phenomenon; citizen scientists also discovered the sky glow affectionately dubbed STEVE in 2018.

"Collaborations with citizen scientists are getting increasingly important because they can become 'mobile sensors' that chase interesting aurora easily and catch new features that scientists didn't notice before," said Toshi Nishimura, a research associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University's Center for Space Physics, who was not part of the study.

Auroras result when the sun hurls charged particles toward our planet. Those particles travel along the magnetic field lines at our planet's poles and slam into the atoms and molecules in our atmosphere, causing those molecules to emit light. These stunning light shows can come in many different shapes and colors; oxygen glows in green and red while nitrogen glows in blue and purple, according to NASA. Astronomers also use the shape of auroras to learn what's happening in the upper atmosphere where they form.

While most auroras extend vertically, the dunes extend out toward the equator horizontally in undulating waves. No one had observed such a wave-like structure in an aurora before, Palmroth said.

The scientists theorize that the dunes are lighting up a type of rare atmospheric gravity wave called mesospheric bores. These mesospheric bores occur when a gravity wave that's rising up in the atmosphere becomes bent and sandwiched between two relatively colder layers of the atmosphere the inversion layer, 49.7 miles (80 kilometers) high, and the mesopause, 62 miles (100 km) high.

In this channel, the waves propagate horizontally and over long distances without subsiding, creating alternating folds that are either enriched with oxygen or depleted of oxygen. When the electrons from the sun stream in, the folds with higher oxygen levels light up more than the places lacking in oxygen, creating the characteristic stripes.

"This is a very interesting observation," said Steven Miller, the deputy director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University, who was not a part of the study. "My first reaction when seeing the pictures were that those might be atmospheric gravity waves that are being 'highlighted' by the auroral activity it appears that this is the hypothesis of the authors as well."

Mesospheric bores can account for the patterns seen in the dunes, but "I surmise that [these] 'dunes' are in fact a subset of a much more widespread region of atmospheric gravity waves that happen to be highlighted by the aurora," Miller told Live Science.

By using stars in the photos as reference points, the team was able to calculate the altitude of the dunes to be around 62 miles (100 km) high, which is typical of auroras. But this poorly studied region of the atmosphere is too high to measure with radars and balloons, and too low to send spacecraft without them burning up. So it's sometimes called the "ignorosphere," Palmroth said.

"This is the first time these gravity waves are observed," Palmroth said. "In general the bores are rather a rare phenomenon." But observing the dunes could reveal more about the bores, Palmroth said.

For instance, scientists found that the dunes occur at the same time and in the same region where electromagnetic energy from space transfers to the upper atmosphere, which Palmroth suspects could be connected to the creation of the inversion layer mesospheric bores. "We want to see whether this is really true," she said.

Originally published on Live Science.

Continued here:

Glowing green 'dunes' in the sky mesmerized skygazers. They turned out to be a new kind of aurora. - Space.com

Ever dreamed of becoming an astronaut? It seems like a robot may have beaten us to it. Meet Vyomitra, India's first female humanoid astronaut.

Vyomitra was recently developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to be sent into space multiple times, as part of Indias ambitious Gaganyaan mission. The project ultimately aims to send three astronauts to space in 2022, which, if it happens, will be a record-breaking first for India.

New it girl Vyomitra is a busy woman! She made her debut public appearance when she was unveiled at an ISRO public event in Bengaluru, India, on Wednesday. She impressed audiences by stating in her own words, that she can mimic the activity of a crew of astronauts and recognise them and respond to their queries. ISRO are proud to name Vyomitra their first female astronaut.

Outer SpaceIf anything, the ISRO have proven themselves to be determined and resilient as they continue to gain support from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to fund upcoming space travels. In September 2019, ISRO were hopeful that India would become just the fourth country to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon with itsChandrayaan-2 mission, but in a disappointing turn of events, thespacecraft crash-landed due to a braking error.

However, they are not giving up, with chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan confirming at the beginning of January that a third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, had been approved and could launch as early as this year! The larger Gaganyaan project will send two unmanned crafts into space in December 2020 and June 2021, before sending three shortlisted astronauts and possibly Vyomitra, in 2022.

Despite facing criticism for endorsing funding for space travel whilst India battles with economic issues as a developing nation, Chief K Sivan insists that space innovation encourages the youth of India to think big. He has previously stated that starting a space program in India in 1960 was a big crazy idea but founder Dr. Vikram Sarabhai predicted the potential of space technology in transforming the country.

Now the ISROs latest innovation, Vyomitra might even encourage more young people, particularly women, to dream of becoming an astronaut. Afterall, Vyomitra has guts she will be alone in the first two space missions of project Gaganyaan, representing her country as they skillfully speed ahead in the realm of space technology.

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Meet Vyomitra, Indias First Humanoid To Be Sent To Outer Space - 10 daily

Netflix 'Space Force' is a comedy but it "puts that issue in front of people and people start paying attention," said Gen. John Hyten.

WASHINGTON Gen. John Hyten, the U.S. militarys second highest-ranking officer who spent most of his career in space operations, looks forward to watching Space Force, the upcoming Netflix comedy series.

Its going to be great, Hyten said Jan. 29 during a breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill hosted by the Air Force Association.

Hyten has been vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since November and serves as a senior adviser to the secretary of defense and the president. But he remains especially focused on space and on the standup of the U.S. Space Force as a separate branch under the Air Force, which he had strongly advocated. Space is my passion, he said. Ive been behind the scenes working space issues constantly.

Since President Trump called for the creation of a Space Force in June 2018, the militarys sixth branch has been mocked and criticized. Hyten said the jokes and satire should be viewed as an opportunity to raise public awareness of the issue of space as a national security concern.

Hyten said the Netflix Space Force series will be more than just entertainment. It puts that issue in front of people and people start paying attention, he said.

According to Netflix, the series will be about a group of people tasked with creating a sixth branch of the armed services known as the Space Force.

Hyten said he experienced the militarys own version of Space Force humor during the USOs New Year Tour when he joined other top officials and entertainers at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania.

One of the cool things I get to do as vice chairman is travel with the USO to visit troops, he said. In one of the skits in Romania, comedians came onstage dressed in Space Force uniforms made of aluminum foil that had $14 million price tags on them. The helmet cost $20 million, Hyten said. And they do a whole skit on Space Force, making fun of us right and left, the whole nine yards, he said.The soldiers were loving it. I love that.

Hyten said he looks forward to the Netflix show but I want them to get the technical stuff right, he insisted. If youre a space guy, all you care is that you get the technical stuff right. Just do that and well be fine.

His advice to the real U.S. Space Force is to embrace the moment and make it a bridge to conversation. Space is important not because its funny. Its important because its deadly serious, said Hyten. The attention its getting in the pop culture world allows us the opportunity for us to stand in front of people and say, you understand this is actually a warfighting domain, he said. We have threats in space that we have to deal with. These are not Powerpoint threats. We have adversaries that are going faster.

Read the original here:

Hyten: 'Space Force' comedy is good for the US Space Force - SpaceNews

The internet has gone wild over President Trump's 'Star Trek' redesign of the Space Force logo (above right), which was unveiled on Friday 24 January. Reactions to the design have judged it as a hilarious rip off of the fictional Starfleet's logo (above left), and it's true that the new Space Force insignia is extraordinarily similar to that found on the uniforms of the Starfleet personnel. But is it really that simple?

We're somewhat disappointed to point out that the logo redesign may not be as ridiculous as we first thought. Or at least, it looks as if Trump wasn't the first one to emulate the Star Trek logo, anyway. (See our logo design tips for how to craft a unique logo that won't be accused of plagiarism.)

John Noonan tweeted the above just after the Space Force furore began, alerting the Twittersphere to the fact that the logo already looked a lot like the Starfleet Command one from Star Trek. The Space Force emblem is the same as it has been since 1982 (when the Government department was called Air Force Space Command the name changed to Space Force in 2019), the starry background is reminiscent of the original, and there are still loops circling it.

The reduction of the number of loops from four to one definitely emulates the design of the Starfleet logo, that's for sure. But there's more precedent to this design in the history of US space branding, which may let the current incarnation off the hook.

The image above (from this SlashGear article which examines the origins of the various logo incarnations in more detail) shows that the single loop is a proud part of the NASA logo. And different numbers of loops can be found in all of the US Space Command insignia, dating back to 1985.

The circling typography is also in the Space Command logo, though the font and placement is definitely more Star Trek than it has been previously.

So who copied who? Well, the Starfleet logo was actually first found in... drumroll please... 1996. In fact, according to Ex Astris Scientia, the Star Trek Sticker book contains an inscription from Mike Okuda (a graphic designer who worked on Star Trek and created the insignia) that states: "The Starfleet Command seal was first seen on 'Homefront' (DS9) and later in 'In the Flesh' (VGR), although the agency itself, of course, dates back to the original Star Trek series. The symbol was intended to be somewhat reminiscent of the NASA emblem."

The US government branding existed first, and Star Trek emulated it intentionally. However, the current Space Force incarnation is clearly the most like the Star Trek insignia out of all the previous versions, and it could definitely be argued that Trump and his team should have noticed. The design definitely takes parts of the previous logos and puts them together in a decidedly Star Trek-like fashion.

Maybe it's a deliberate branding decision (note: the government says it isn't). Playing with the connotations of futuristic space travel, and enhancing a link between popular culture and the government is sure to invoke strong feeling from the public whether positive or negative. In either case, it's one of those controversial branding moments that's got people talking and just before an election, too.

Read more:

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Space Force logo furore is a massive overreaction - Creative Bloq

In 1966, a thin layer of carbon dioxide (CO2) was detected in the atmosphere of Mars by the Mariner IV, a NASA fly-by spacecraft. Researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) theorised at the time that Co2 levels in the atmosphere vary depending on the seasonal changes of Mars.

The scientists believed that as one of the poles faced the Sun, the polar deposit of CO2 ice would melt, leading to more CO2 in the atmosphere.

This would ultimately alter the atmospheric pressure of Mars and have major implications for the Red Planets climate, which has a surface pressure of just 0.6 percent that of Earths.

Scientists Robert B Leighton and planetary scientist Bruce C Murray, believed at the time atmospheric pressure could swing from just one-quarter that of todays Martian atmosphere to twice that of today over cycles of tens of thousands of years.

Now, a new model run by current Caltech experts has proved the 54 year theory to be true, which supports the theory that Mars once had free-flowing water.

The team state that as the CO2 packed ice melted in the past, it allowed more surface pressure to build, which suited for a better environment on Mars.

In theory, the CO2 packed ice deposit should not be possible, because water ice is more thermally stable and darker than CO2 ice; CO2 ice, scientists long believed, would quickly destabilise if it was buried underneath water ice.

A statement from Caltech said: The new model by Buhler and colleagues shows that the deposit could have evolved as a result of the combination of three factors.

These are:

1) the changing obliquity (or tilt) of the planets rotation.

2) the difference in the way water ice and CO2 ice reflect sunlight.

3) the increase in atmospheric pressure that occurs when CO2 ice sublimes.

READ MORE:Stunning statement reveals agency's breakthrough space travel scheme

Original post:

Mars mystery solved: Experts find supporting evidence of free flowing water on Mars - Express.co.uk

The world is cooing over the return of Star Treks Jean-Luc Picard. But over on HBO, Armando Iannuccis Avenue 5 is putting a prick in the bloated balloon of space heroics. General incompetence and the unpredictability of space travel knock the title craft, a sleazy Carnival-style corporate space cruise ship, off course, forcing it into an interstellar Gilligans Island kind of situation. Avenue 5 takes place in the near-future, or an alternate present, where space looks more like the buffet line at the Bellagio. The captain is an actor, the only astronaut on board is a ponytailed Boomer, who refers to himself as the first Canadian on Mars, and billionaire Josh Gad bumbles around in a blond wig, bellowing stupid orders and eating all the food.

Avenue 5 is the latest iteration of a strange and intermittently popular TV subgenre, the space comedy. Space comedies fill needed gap in the sci-fi universe, which often takes itself very seriously. Sci-fi like The Expanse serves mostly as a metaphor for World War III. The most recent Star Trek, Discovery, bludgeoned the viewer, taking all the joy out of its phaser battles with excessively woke messaging. Avenue 5 may not be as overtly filthy or delightful as Iannuccis recently-completed Veep, but it fits well into the history of space sitcoms. Heres a rundown of that history, with strange clips to watch for hours.

Created by the late Buck Henry, Quark ran as a midseason replacement on NBC just before the network entered its quality phase with Hill Street Blues and Cheers. Richard Benjamin plays Adam Quark, the captain of a ship tasked with cleaning up all the garbage in the Milky Way. His crew includes two gorgeous twins, one of whom is a clone of the other and both of whom are in love with him.

Also in the mix is a transmute named Gene, who at times is a macho blusterer and other times is a stereotypical housewife, a person who is actually a plant, a clunky robot, and a disembodied head who rules the galaxy. Quark predates even Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but Henry clearly targets the original Trek, with mixed and sometimes sexist results. Unjustly canceled after eight episodes, Quark was a trailblazer of sorts, and was often quite funny despite the laugh track.

If modern audiences know an adaptation of Douglas Adamss classic absurdist sci-fi satire, its the mediocre, if well-cast, 2005 movie. But this six-part BBC TV adaptation remains the definitive article. In the scene above, the crew of Zaphod Beeblebroxs ship faces a nuclear-missile attack, which falls apart when bathrobe-wearing Arthur Dent unleashes the Improbability Drive. Though the effects are 40 years dated, Hitchhiker remains the mothership of all TV space comedy. Futuramas Bender would never have existed without Marvin The Paranoid Android.

In Red Dwarf, the show that will not die, Dave Lister is a space janitor on a mining ship. His bosses cryogenically freeze him as a punishment after they catch him bringing his cat on board. While hes frozen, a radiation leak kills everyone on board. The computer revives Dave three million years later, and he finds that hes the last living human in the universe. However, he has various creatures, robots, and computers to keep him company. Dysfunctional sitcom relationships result.

Red Dwarf is a very strange program, and so popular in the UK that theyre currently making a 13th series. Your mileage may vary on the humor, but you cant doubt its influence, including on Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was also an early show to use color-blind casting. Lister, a dead ringer for Jordan Peele, has dreads, and his anthropomorphic Cat is also black. Characters come and go, seemingly without explanation, only to re-emerge at regional Comic-cons across the British Commonwealth.

A couple of brothers buy a used spaceship and head off on galactic adventures in this short-lived Fox sitcom so offensive, the NAACP condemned it. In retrospect, Homeboys, though definitely bad, was really just bringing the tropes of the 90s black sitcom into the universe. It featured some pretty inspired bits, including a planet of white people who worshipped George Jefferson as a God.

The sci-fi comedy reached its apotheosis with this animated series from Matt Groening. Futurama, as if you didnt already know, follows the adventures of Philip J. Fry, a slacker who ends up cryogenically frozen and then re-appears in the 31st century to work for an interstellar delivery company. Futurama doesnt only venture into space. It upends every sci-fi trope in every genre, and even takes a visit to Robot Hell. But space is its main place, and its hard to look at self-serious space operas like Ad Astra the same way after watching even five minutes of Futurama.

This appealing Star Trek parody from the prolific Paul Feig had the misfortune of launching on Yahoo Screen, a streaming service that was ahead of its time and also had no chance to succeed. Like the final season of Community, Other Space disappeared into the void. But it featured a good-looking, funny young cast, and better writing than the somewhat schticky-feeling laugh-track-based space sitcoms of old. However, it did suffer from a kind of nerd pervert syndrome, as the least attractive male cast member attracted the eternal love of the death-defyingly beautiful ships central intelligence system. Hot chicks in space is time-honored, but Other Space didnt seem particularly self-aware about its leering.

The world met the announcement of a Seth MacFarlane-created Star Trek parody that also starred Seth MacFarlane with almost universal derision. Consider everyone, including me, surprised, when The Orville turned out to not only be better than Star Trek Discovery, it also proved to be truer to the original vision of Star Trek. In an era of TV sci-fi hued darker than the Great Depression, The Orvilles bright palate, optimism, mild snark, and cheery character comedy has proven very popular, and Fox has just renewed it for a third season. Combined with Avenue 5, were in a good quadrant for space comedies on TV.

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'Avenue 5' and the History of TV Space Comedy - Book and Film Globe

These travel-friendly workout sessions can be done almost anywhere. And you dont even need equipment to do them.

Next time youre stuck in a hotel room or have some downtime between meetings, give these workouts a try. In this video, fitness trainerLuka Hocevarguides us through a series ofbodyweight workouts that can be done almost anywhere. (Yes, hes doing the circuit in a gym, but you dont need a gym or equipment to follow along.)

His philosophy is simple: Do as much as you can with what youve got. Youve got your body, and, many times, thats all you need.Whether youre doing these workouts for strength or general exercise, theyll get the job done.

Seriously, you can do these quick workouts in a hotel room, in the office, or at a roadside rest stop. For the first exercise, get creative: sub in a couple of books for weights and a towel or pillow as a mat, and youre good to go.

Starting a new fitness habit can be an intimidating prospect. Here are a few ways to overcome your nervousness and hit the gym. Read more

Mary is based in Denver, Colorado, but frequently travels abroad. Her outdoor interests span from climbing to landscape photography to pack-paddleboarding. If she's not writing, you can most likely find her at the top of a fourteener, or in a local bakery.

Topics: Fitness, Travel

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Stuck on Space? 4 Workouts to Try When Traveling - GearJunkie

With a presidential election, the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo and yes, Ludwig van Beethovens 250th birthday celebration, 2020 promises to be a humdinger of a year.

But also happening in 2020if all systems are gowill be the beginning of regular U.S. space tourism flights, either by Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic (ticker: SPCE) or Jeff Bezos Blue Origin or both. Also possibly coming this year are tourist trips to the International Space Station (ISS) on a craft built by Elon Musks SpaceX. (Boeing has a spaceship too, but that company might be otherwise occupied.)

So apologies to Donald, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Ludwig van, but commercial space travel could end up being the biggest damn thing to happen this year. In fact, I think its the beginning of a real game-changer for humanity.

If youve been following the space biz, you know that the go year has been pushed back a number of times, but Ann Kim, aerospace banker and managing director of Silicon Valley Bank, is feeling it. These companies are close. They wanted to get humans into space in 2019, but were not as successful in delivering promises as originally thought. 2020 is a good year to see that inflection point.

It has been a long time coming. In fact these three companies are more or less of the same vintage. Bezos founded Blue Origin (named after Earth, the blue planet, as the place of origin), in 2000. SpaceX, which has colonizing Mars as its ultimate mission, was founded in 2002. And Branson started Virgin Galactic two years after that.

While you may snort at all this silly space stuff, its worth noting that three of the most successful entrepreneurs of our lifetimes have been working on space travel for a collective 54 years now. Remember, once upon a time folks laughed at online bookstores, electric cars and branded air travel too.

Yes, there is a bit of a space race going on, although this time its not Russia v. the U.S., its Branson v. Bezos, who are battlingin the suborbital space (pun intended), with Musk as a competitor longer term on more ambitious projects.

Some play down the competitive aspects of the business though. Its not a race at all, future Virgin Galactic passenger Namira Salim told Yahoo Finances The Final Round, we all say that in the industry. I think its safe to say there is room for all three. (Space is a big place, right?)

Its important to remember that intermittent space tourism has been around for a while. Between 2001 and 2009, seven space tourists traveled to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Dennis Tito was the first, remember him? Also top Microsoft exec Charles Simonyi made the trip. And British singer Sarah Brightman signed up but later canceled. The trips were arranged by a U.S. company, Space Adventures, and cost, gulp, $20 million a pop. But the Russians terminated the program and despite talk of restarting it, havent. In any event the Soyuz trips were always one-offs, where Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin aim to be scheduled operations and the first steps to more extensive programs.

American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, 60, gestures shortly after his landing on the steppes, 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakstan, Sunday, May 6, 2001. Others are unidentified. The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying the world's first paying space tourist landed successfully on Sunday, ending Tito's multimillion dollar cosmos adventure. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Virgin Galactic has been a moonshot of a stock over the past month, up over 60%. Some of that might have to do with CEO George Whitesides telling CNBC recently that demand for tickets keeps ticking up by a good chunk every month.The company says it has sold tickets to more than 600 customers at around $250,000 per person. It froze ticket sales after a crash in 2014 killed one of its pilots. Virgin Galactic now says it may reopen sales later this yearand raise prices.

Story continues

Yes, there is risk. This is not as safe as airline travel, says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and rocket expert at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysic. Suborbital flight, [what Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are doing now] can be made very safe. It will just take a lot more flights and experience to make it so. Whether orbital flight will ever be that safe is more of an open question. Sir Richard says not to worry. Hell be going up as Virgin Galactics first test-space-tourist astronaut.

Branson took his company public by merging with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), or blank-check company, founded by Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive (who has since somewhat famously soured on his former employer.) Palihapitiya still owns 49% of Virgin Galactic.

Blue Originits motto is, Gradatim Ferociter, Latin for "Step by Step, Ferociously.hasnt pre-sold any tickets, but it too has indicated that the time is near to send passengers into space. The company just moved into a swank new 232,000-square-foot headquarters in Kent, Washingtonnear the Sea-Tac Airportto house many of its 2,500 employees. Geek Wire reports, Hundreds more are based elsewhere in the Kent area, south of Seattle, as well as at Blue Origins suborbital launch site in West Texas, the Florida rocket factory where Blue Origins New Glenn orbital-class rocket will be assembled, and at the site of its future BE-4 rocket engine factory in Alabama.

Bezos, who loved space as a child, is incredibly passionate about space and Blue Origin, so much so that I pulled these two quotes from this 2018 interview to give you an idea. (The whole piece makes for good reading, btw.)

I get increasing conviction with every passing year, that Blue Origin, the space company, is the most important work that Im doing. And so there is a whole plan for Blue Origin.

And:

The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it. Blue Origin is expensive enough to be able to use that fortune. I am liquidating about $1 billion a year of Amazon stock to fund Blue Origin. And I plan to continue to do that for a long time.

Serious!

Imagine if Blue Origin ends up being a bigger deal than Amazon? Could be.

Jeff Bezos speaks in front of a model of Blue Origin's Blue Moon lunar lander, Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

SpaceX is a different beast, not surprisingly playing at an Elon Musk, super-ambitious, Tesla-like level. With its Falcon rockets and Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX was the first private company to go into orbit. Dragon has gone to the ISS 18 times. A Falcon has orbited around the sun. And working with NASA, SpaceX is reportedly set to launch its first crewed Crew Dragon next month. Tourism to the ISS is on the agenda.

Who will launch the first U.S. space flight for tourists?

I think that Virgin Galactic is the closest, says Kim. A lot of people are putting in their deposits. It seems to be the leader of the pack. Blue Origin is close behind. SpaceX has more longer term potential. I think all three can be very successful.

Where is this all going? Space tourism needs to be more than billionaires taking selfies in space, says Tess Hatch, who once worked at SpaceX and is now a vice president at Bessemer Venture Partners, which has invested in the space business. There needs to be business reasons to be in space. Hatch says space tourism and the space economy need to catalyze business models, and cites business opportunities such as zero gravity research and pharmaceutical testing.

As for Bezos, Branson and Musk, Hatch says, ...these people made their billions in totally different industries and are now turning to space. They will make billions if not trillions in space.

I must admit, I have mixed feelings about space being dominated by the likes of Bezos, Branson and Musk. On the one hand I cant help but admire what theyve done as entrepreneurs. I dont think theyre evil. And they are filling a breach voided by governments abdication of having a consistent, strategic space program. So sure, go for it guys!

On the other hand, I worry about the inevitable lack of consensus that accompanies each of these three efforts. How much thinking about pure science, medicine or even art will be brought to bear in space endeavors controlled by billionaires. I guess I dont blame them or fault them, none of that thinking is necessarily their purview or responsibility.

In a way its just another example of our economy and society being co-opted by the technocrat class. Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Teslathose companies are all name-checked in this article. Fifty years ago, yes there were private defense contractors involved in the process, but NASA and DOD were the drivers. The amount of technological innovation and products that came from NASA is stunning and too long to list here. Now the script has been flipped. Will these tech moguls be so free with their IP? Who knows. Maybe they will be even more collaborative about fostering and sharing research and scientific breakthroughs.

One things for sure, it looks like we are going to find out. Maybe starting this year. (Roll over Beethoven.)

This article was featured in a Saturday edition of the Morning Brief on December 14, 2019. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET.Subscribe

Commentary by Andy Serwer is editor-in-chief of Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter:@serwer.

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The Bezos, Musk and Branson billionaire space race is happening right now - Yahoo Finance

Globetrotters itching to take their travel to the next level (or planet) are one step closer to being able to book a flight to space. Virgin Galactic, Richard Bransons space travel company, has announced that all major elements of its second spacecraft have been assembled and has achieved its weight on wheels. In other words, its now capable of carrying its own weight.

Weight on wheels is an important milestone because it gets us closer to having an operational fleet of spaceships, said Enrico Palermo, president of The Spaceship Company in a statement. This is a critical milestone in the build of any airplane or any spaceship because it signifies major structural assembly is complete.

Work on the new spaceship will now undergo a series of ground tests to ensure its safety, before beginning test flights at Mojave Air & Space Port in California.

We now have two spaceships which are structurally complete, with our third making good progress, CEO George Whitesides said in a statement. These spaceships are destined to provide thousands of private astronauts with a truly transformative experience by performing regular trips to space.

The spacecraft was designed to fit up to six passengers and two pilots on flights that will take about 15 minutes from launch to landing, where travelers will visit the lowest levels of space and experience a few moments of weightlessness before returning to Earth. The roundtrip price will run customers about US$250,000 a ticket. High profile customers already include Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber.

While Virgin Galactic has not announced an official launch date for its customers to take the first commercial flight, Branson said last year that the company anticipates a 2020 launch date.

More:

Virgin Galactic Is Getting Closer Than Ever To Commercial Flights In Space - Hong Kong Tatler

When Apollo 11s lunar module, Eagle, landed on the Moon in July 1969, the world media scrambled to cover the momentous occasion. A leading Indian newspaper carried an article, courtesy The New York Times, by the then administrator of US space agency Nasa, Thomas Paine, describing how the lunar surface would accommodate domed cities in the future. It was headlined: Earth-Moon Flights May Become Common Soon".

Paine also wrote that these bases would evolve into self-sustaining communities thanks to the use of modern technology powered by solar and nuclear energy that would find a way to process lunar resources".

While humans havent visited the Moon since 1972, a return mission is now just four years away, with the Artemis programme aiming to land the first woman astronaut there in 2024. It all begins in 2020 though, with space agencies in China and Europe also working on lunar missions. This year is also big on launches for Mars, owing to the favourable alignment of the two planets (the distance between Earth and Mars reduces). Heres a closer look at some of the most exciting space missions slated to launch in 2020.

Nasa Mars 2020 rover

Launch date: July

Nasas Mars 2020 rover mission will take off on the Atlas V rocket, hoping to land in the planets Jezero crater, which was once thought to be a lake. The aim is to take the scientific goals of Nasas Mars Exploration Program to a whole new level. According to Nasa, the new rover comes with a drill that can collect rock, soil samples and store them in a cache on the planets surface. The plan is to get these samples to Earth through a future mission. Apart from studying the planets geology, the Mars 2020 rover will also try to understand if earlier environments on Mars were enough to support microbial life, seeking biosignatures in rocks that are known to preserve signs of life. In addition, the aim is to test oxygen production in the Martian atmosphereimperative to plans for establishing human colonies on the planet. The current rovers design is inspired by the Curiosity rover, which landed in 2012 and is still operational on Mars. The proposed mission has a duration of one Mars year, or around 687 Earth days.

ESA solar orbiter

Launch date: February

The European Space Agencys (ESAs) Solar Orbiterwill take off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in February and aim to perform close, high-resolution studies of the Sun and inner heliosphere. The orbiter will carry its telescopes and other scientific instruments to just one-fifth of Earths distance from the Sun. It will also provide the first images of the Suns polar regions and become only the second spacecraft to study the Sun from close proximity after the ongoing mission of the Parker Solar Probe, which was launched in 2018. The data and imagery collected from the Solar Orbiter could tell scientists more about solar winds and eruptions, and how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere. The Solar Orbiter is expected to go closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft beforeit will be exposed to sunlight 13 times more intense than what we experience on Earth. In order to protect it from the searing heat, the Orbiters Sun-facing side is protected by a sunshield. According to the ESA, the spacecraft will also be kept cool with the help of special radiators that will dissipate excess heat into space.

Indias maiden solar mission

Launch dates: To be decided

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully launched its GSAT-30 communications satellite aboard the Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on 17 JanuaryIndias first launch of 2020. But it wont be its last this year. After recently announcing another lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, and sharing big developments on the countrys first manned mission, Gaganyaan, Isro will also launch its first solar mission, Aditya-L1, to study the Suns corona. According to Isro, the Aditya-L1 mission will be inserted into a halo orbit around the L1, or the Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system, roughly 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. The missions primary payload is a coronagraph (a visible emission line coronagraph designed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics), which is like a telescope that can see and capture things close to the Sun. Isro also aims to conduct an orbital test flight of its small satellite launch vehicle, or SSLV, this year. The SSLV is designed to carry small satellites into low Earth orbit and can be assembled within days for quick launches. It is smaller and cheaper than bigger launch vehicles like the PSLV and GSLV.

Virgin Galactic

Launch dates: To be decided

Space tourism is all set to take flight with Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceline launched by British investor and philanthropist Richard Branson, which hopes to start commercial operations this year. Earlier this month, the company achieved a major construction milestone after assembling all the major structural elements of its second rocket spaceship, which now stands on its own landing gear at the Mojave Air & Space Port in California. According to an official statement, the spaceships assembly team will now work on connecting the vehicles integrated systems, including the flight control systems and fuselage. Virgin Galactic wants to open space travel to private astronauts and researchers. Last year, Nasa also announced that the International Space Station was open to commercial opportunities and hosting tourists.

The idea of space tourism is expected to reel in some big numbers. In 2019, Swiss investment bank UBS estimated that space tourism would become a $3 billion (around 21,000 crore now) market by 2030. The entire space sector, it added in a report, could grow to a staggering $926 billion by 2040. With private space enthusiasts willing to shell out as much as $250,000 per ticket for a seat on the Virgin Galactic spaceships, these numbers dont look far-fetched.

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Watch out for these space missions in 2020 - Livemint

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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Wearing blue jumpsuits and with eager grins, 11 men and women walked across a stage in Houston, Texas, last week.

"It is s still surreal everyone in feels incredibly lucky to be here," said Zena Cardman.

They are history makers - the next NASA class to head to space - and one of those graduates is Cardman, a Williamsburg resident. Cardman spoke to News 3 on Friday from the Johnson Space Center.

"I found out the answer was 'yes,' and it was an utterly overwhelming moment," said Cardman.

Two years ago - while sitting with friends and watching "Apollo 13," of course - she got the call from NASA that she was chosen among 18,000 applicants.

"At every round of the interview stage, I felt in total awe and inspired by other people I was interviewing with," she said.

Cardman and the 10 other astronauts are the first to join NASA since its Artemis program was announced. In 2024, the program aims to send the first humans to the moon since 1972 and to Mars sometime in the 2030s.

NASA says the moon mission will include the first woman, and statistically that could be Cardman.

"No matter what mission we get assigned to eventually - or missions if we are lucky enough - anything would be an absolute joy," said Cardman.

Cardman has been undergoing immense training in Houston for the past two years to prepare for space flight.

"We learn everything from the engineering systems on board the International Space Station, emergency procedures, jets. We learn the Russian language, space walk training - it's very diverse," she said.

Cardman graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a biology and marine sciences degree, she says her passion is Microbiology.

"I am excited to get to use my training, no matter where it takes me," she said.

Wherever she goes, she will have a fan club cheering for her on from Williamsburg and the Peninsula.

"It fills me with pride and happiness to know that people are following along with this journey. There is something so engaging about space travel and to have people from my hometown rooting for me - that is really exciting," she said.

To learn more about Zena, click here.

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Hear from the Williamsburg woman selected as one of NASAs newest astronauts - WTKR News 3

UC Riverside's Dr. Declan McCole studied the effects of microgravity on the gut. Photo: UC Riverside

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Space travel could cause a leaky gut. A new medical study found that microgravity reduces an important barrier in the stomach which could mean nasty germs could get inside Astronauts bodies on deep-space missions. Well chat with UC Riverside medical researcher Dr. Declan McCole about the gut biomes of astronauts and how his research can all help our guts down here on Earth.

Then, how do you count the planets? The answer to how many planets there are isnt a simple one. On this weeks Id Like to Know segment, well talk to our panel of planetary experts about the task of counting the planets and the controversies surrounding their definitions.

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Can Your Gut Leak In Space? Probably. Here's What That Means For Astronatus - WMFE

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren corrals the supply of fresh fruit that arrived on the Kounotori 5 H-II ... [+] Transfer Vehicle (HTV-5.)

With both NASAs Commercial Crew Program and Virgin Galactic on track to launch crew into space this year, the 2020s are on track to become the decade of space tourism. In anticipation of the industrys expansion, companies such as Bigelow Aerospace have gone as far as to design hotels that will house private space travelers during their stays on orbit. Virgin Galactic, in turn, has a waiting list more than 600 people long for its first suborbital tourist flights.

As a 2010 study by The Tauri Group found, the main customer base for private spaceflight is high net-worth individuals, many of whom are seeking a new luxury travel experience after patronizing the worlds finest hotels and resorts. These individuals, who are willing to pay between $250,000 and $25M USD for a private spaceflight experience, are accustomed to white glove treatment: Not only are they visiting a destination when they travel, but they expect the cream of the crop in accommodation, amenities, and dining during their stay.

Various examples of encapsulated space food including a space shuttle food tray.

Given that the majority of astronaut food is currently freeze-dried and consumed in packages similar to military meal ready-to-eat packets (MREs), private spaceflight providers will need to consider what they can do to help the dining experience meet the rest of the trips luxury standards. Food, as it turns out, is one of the most multidimensional and fundamentally human experiences on Earth, and the psychological benefits of sitting down for a meal or drink should not be underestimated. To date, the design of space food has rightfully focused on nutrition and convenience, as the majority of spacefarers have been government astronauts with scientific mission objectives. However, for space tourism to gain traction among the ultra wealthy, space vehicle operators must begin thinking of their flights as a premium passenger experience rather than a set of minimum requirements.

How, exactly, can the industry make the leap from bagged fruit to fine dining? Certainly, some technological advances will be necessary, some of which are already in work by the scientific research community. It may still be too early to envision a five star meal service in space, but a look at some of the major space food experiments conducted over the past few years can give us a sneak peek at what lies ahead.

1. Cookies In Space

A chocolate chip cookie was baked aboard the International Space Station in December 2019 using Zero ... [+] G Kitchen's microgravity oven.

DoubleTree by Hilton has long touted freshly baked cookies as its signature welcome amenity. Now, the company has teamed up with Zero G Kitchen to create Cookies In Space, a joint venture in which the DoubleTrees famous chocolate chip cookies recently became the first food to be baked in space.

Although baking cookies may hardly seem like advanced science, baking food in space is no trivial feat. Traditional ovens rely on convection - the natural process where hot air rises and cool air falls - which does not occur in the absence of gravity. Additionally, being in microgravity presents the extra challenge of keeping food stationary while it cooks. All of this must be accomplished on a limited power supply so as not to blow a fuse on the ISS. To do so, Zero Gs oven uses a silicone frame to hold objects in place during baking. The ovens cylindrical heating coils surround the food at the center of the ovens chamber and rise to temperature more slowly than a normal oven to accommodate ISS power constraints.

Five chunks of dough in silicone pouches were sent to the space station, awaiting baking in Zero G ... [+] Kitchen's oven.

Zero Gs oven was built in partnership with Nanoracks, the company responsible for commercial plug-and-play payload interfaces aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The oven is the first of a series of appliances that Zero G intends to develop as part of its space kitchen, which the company states will eventually include a refrigerator, blender, slow cooker, and more.

The oven and supplies were launched to the ISS aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft in November, where they were received by the ISS crew and used to bake cookies in late December. The finished cookies were returned to Earth with SpaceXs CRS-18 mission earlier this month, where they were be analyzed to inform future attempts at baking in space.

2. ISSPresso and Space-Certified Coffee Cups

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti takes a sip of espresso from the zero-gravity cup.

For many adults, theres nothing quite like starting out the day with a fresh cup of Joe. However, being in space can get in the way of this morning ritual, since until recently astronauts were forced to consume all liquids from plastic bladders to prevent them from floating away in the microgravity environment.

Specially-designed 3D-printed Space Cups are being used on the International Space Station.

In 2008, Oregon-based company IRPI teamed up with NASA astronaut Don Pettit in search of a better solution. The team came up with a coffee cup design that exploited the effects of surface tension and wetting angles to recreate the experience of drinking from a mug on Earth. When Italian company Lavazza launched a modified version of its expresso machine (dubbed ISSPresso) to the Station in 2015, IRPI saw a perfect opportunity to test out its design. The company flew 6 of its cups as part of NASAs 2015 Capillary Beverage Experiment, and upon successful checkout by the ISS crew, the cups officially became space-qualified hardware.

3. Vostok Space Beer

Unlike Ninkasi Beer (made with yeast that traveled to space back in 2015) or Bridgeport Brewings ... [+] The First IPA (craft beer that was launched into space in early 2018), Vostok is the first beer designed for consumption in space.

Like having a morning coffee, sitting down for a cold beer is one of the most universal experiences known to humanity. However, beer bottles suffer from the same problems as coffee cups in microgravity: The open top bottles cannot prevent beer from floating away haphazardly. Additionally, gases and liquids do not separate in microgravity, the bubbles in beer tend to stick together and form one huge ball of gas surrounded by a shell of beer, leading to an uncomfortable (albeit harmless) condition called wet burp among many who ingest it.

In 2010, the founders of Australian companies 4 Pines Brewing Company and Saber Astronautics began collaborating on a beer that could surmount these problems. To reduce the products potential to cause wet burp, carbonation was reduced while other flavors were strengthened to complement the drinks smaller bubbles. The bottle was then fitted with an insert similar to a rocket fuel tank, utilizing a shaped insert to wick fuel in the direction of the outlet valve.

Inside the space beer bottle

In 2018, the team launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund testing and flight certification for their product. The campaign was unfortunately unsuccessful, raising only 3% of its $1M USD goal. Nonetheless, the team has pressed forward with its efforts, which have included 2 crewed parabolic flights to validate the bottles usability.

4. NASAs VEGGIE Experiment

A picture of Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage growing in a NASA Veggie unit.

As depicted in The Martian, one of the greatest challenges associated with long-duration space missions is the difficulty of obtaining food in space. For most of the space programs history, all food consumed by astronauts has been packaged and shipped in from Earth. The lack of direct sunlight in most space habitats and the scarcity of water away from Earth present significant challenges in implementing a space-based crop-growing infrastructure.

Although growing crops on Earth allows humans to continue following processes that are well understood, the price-per-pound of launching cargo (currently just under $30,000 USD per pound using a SpaceX Dragon capsule) into orbit prevents humans from expanding its long-term presence in space using these methods. The ISS program currently costs NASA between $3 and $4 billion USD per year to sustain a maximum of 6 people on orbit, and a large portion of these costs is attributable to the cargo missions used to resupply the Space Station with food and other astronaut provisions. For the industry to reduce costs enough to make space tourism profitable, a more sustainable method of food production is needed on orbit.

In the early 2000s, NASA began testing out potential solutions using its Vegetable Production System (VEGGIE). The deployable aquaponic plant growth unit is capable of producing salad-type crops using its integrated lighting and nutrient delivery system, and relies on the ISS cabin environment for temperature control and carbon dioxide supply. In addition to supplementing the Stations food supply with fresh vegetables, the VEGGIE unit has the potential to produce mental health benefits associated with recreational gardening.

As of January 2020, 4 VEGGIE experiments have been launched to the ISS. Though no results have been released to the public regarding the psychological benefits of the unit, experiments continue to measure the effect of lighting, fertilizer, and environmental conditions on the quality of crops produced.

As these experiments continue in orbit, researchers continue to examine the effect of food on both individual happiness and group dynamics. While the psychological effects of eating in space have yet to be quantified, facilities such as the NASA-funded Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) have conducted initial ground-based observations on the benefits of freshly prepared group meals during long-term confinement. Some preliminary research has shown that individuals who consumed food they liked experienced improved morale and productivity, and that groups who prepared meals together experienced improved team cohesion.

The participants of 2015's 8 month HI-SEAS mission.

Although not all of the findings of space analog research are directly applicable to space tourists, it is clear that the quality of ones meals has a direct effect on satisfaction with ones living conditions. As humanity expands its presence beyond Earth, care must be taken to ensure that human factors are not ignored in the design of everyday experiences. If new technologies must be developed to accommodate human preferences, investments should be made accordingly years ahead of the technologys planned use.

The next decade will undoubtedly be a defining moment for space tourism, and commercial spaceflight companies will be forced to make an important decision: Will space tourism be a luxury only in price, or also in quality of passenger experience?

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A Freshly Cooked Meal In Space? It Could Happen Sooner Than You Think. - Forbes