Daily Archives: August 25, 2022

Mengtian

experiment module

Wentian

experiment module

Mengtian

experiment module

Wentian

experiment module

Mengtian

experiment module

Wentian

experiment module

A new outpost for astronauts will soon be finished in orbit: Chinas new Tiangong space station, or Heavenly Palace. Tiangong will be able to support three astronauts, or up to six people during crew rotations.

The unfinished station has already hosted three astronauts, who spent 90 days living aboard and continuing the construction process. The next crew is expected to launch in October.

Tiangong will be built in several stages over the next year. Heres a look at the main components that will make up the station.

The Tianhe control center was the first section to launch. A central docking hub will connect the module to other sections of the space station, or to visiting spacecraft. Tianhe also has a hatch for astronauts to enter and exit the station.

Mengtian

Planned for 2022

Mengtian

Planned for 2022

Mengtian

Planned for 2022

Note: Size of experiment modules are approximate.

Wentian and Mengtian are two experiment modules that will connect to the Tianhe core module. Astronauts will conduct research in biotechnology, microgravity and space materials science.

Other spacecraft will visit the station regularly to deliver food, supplies and crew members. Tianzhou and Shenzhou are two such transit methods between Earth and the space station.

The Tianzhou spacecraft are a series of automated ships that supply the space station with cargo and propellant. The Tianzhou-1 can carry 6 tons the approximate weight of an adult elephant. Its interior is divided into a cargo compartment and a propulsion section.

The piloted Shenzhou spacecraft carry astronauts and equipment to the space station. Each Shenzhou craft consists of an orbital module, a re-entry module and a service section. Earlier this summer, Shenzhou-12 carried astronauts Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming to the partially constructed station.

According to the China National Space Administration, assembly of the Tiangong Space Station is scheduled for completion around 2022. The finished station will be smaller than the current International Space Station, which typically hosts a crew of about six or seven astronauts.

Visit link:
A Tour of Chinas Tiangong Space Station - The New York Times

New footage from Chinas space station shows incredible images of Earth as a robotic arm inspects the exterior of the new orbital outpost.

The Tiangong space station currently consists of two modules. The 33-foot-long (10 meters) robotic arm that launched with the Tianhe core module in April 2021 carries a camera that allows it to scan and examine the outside of the station. This includes the new Wentian module, which joined Tianhe in orbit in July of this year.

The new video released this week by China's human spaceflight agency provides various views of the large solar arrays that provide power for Tiangong. Visible features include the orb-like control moment gyroscopes that control the stations attitude, or orientation, as it orbits Earth.

Related: The latest news about China's space program

Seas and clouds can be seen on Earth roughly 236 miles (380 kilometers) below Tiangong. The Shenzhou 14 spacecraft, which carried the current Tiangong crew of Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe to orbit, is also visible at times.

The inspection work provided a status update of the station and delivered some impressive views. But it also served to confirm that the new Wentian module is ready to move from the forward port on the space stations docking hub to a lateral port, to which Wentian will be permanently docked.

Wentian will be moved to its assigned docking port before the launch of the third and final module, Mengtian, which is scheduled for October.

Together, Tianhe, Wentian and Mengtian will complete the T-shaped Tiangong space station, which China aims to operate for at least 10 years.

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).

More:
See amazing views of China's space station from its big robotic arm (video) - Space.com

This year's International Military-Technical Forum, also known as Army 2022, held at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Centre near Moscow, Russia, saw multiple new technologies and designs unveilke.

VIEW GALLERY - 2 IMAGES

One such design at the expo was a physical model of Russia's planned space station, the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has been vocal about potentially severing ties with the International Space Station (ISS), which it jointly operates, since late February 2022 after other nations imposed sanctions on the agency and Russia itself following the nation's invasion of Ukraine.

Those threats were issued by the previous head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin. However, Rogozin has since been replaced by Yuri Borisov after Borisov was appointed to the position by President Vladimir Putin. Recently, Borisov announced that Russia would leave the ISS after 2024 while working on its own space station in the meantime. NASA says it has yet to receive official confirmation from Roscosmos as to whether it will continue with the ISS until 2028, as was previously understood.

The new ROSS space station will launch in two phases, according to a Roscosmos statement. A four-module space station would be launched and begin operating as part of the first phase, with two additional modules and a service platform to join the rest of the station for a second phase. The first phase is expected to launch between 2025 and 2026 and no later than 2030, while the second phase is expected to be complete by 2030 to 2035.

Read more: Russia plans to assemble its own space station, coming in 2028

Read more: Robot dog strapped with RPG rocket launcher shown off at Russian expo

More here:
Russia reveals the design of its space station to rival the ISS - TweakTown

Josh Cassada has been preparing and waiting for years to launch into space. In about a month, he will be on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft heading toward the International Space Station.

As pilot of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 mission, the White Bear Lake native is one of four crew members who will spend six months in space as part of the expedition. Appearing virtually Tuesday morning, Cassada spoke to children attending summer camp at St. Paul's Bell Museum. Filling the front rows of the museum's planetarium, campers wearing brightly colored shorts and T-shirts peppered the astronaut with questions about training, new space innovations and which planet he'd most like to visit.

"While I'm, of course, excited to learn from our friends at NASA, I'm even more thrilled to see so many of you who care about science," U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who attended in person, told the group of students. "You are truly our next generation of engineers, inventors, chemists, biologists, paleontologists, astronauts."

SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is collaborating with NASA on manned space flights, including Cassada's upcoming mission. The two entities are also aiming, through the Artemis program, to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon before the decade is out.

"The last time we went to the moon a half a century ago, that was the Apollo program. Now we're going in the Artemis program," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who attended Tuesday's event virtually. "And Josh is an example of that new kind of astronaut, the Artemis generation."

Cassada attended Birch Lake Elementary School and graduated from White Bear Lake Area High School. He went on to earn degrees in physics from Albion College in Michigan and the University of Rochester in New York.

Later, Cassada joined the U.S. Navy and became a test pilot. He has logged more than 4,000 flight hours in over 45 different aircraft.

In June 2013, Cassada was selected to be one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. Cassada spent two years in training, where he developed such skills as water and wilderness survival, robotics and Russian language. When he graduated in 2015, he served in different roles on the ground to assist space missions.

On Tuesday, Cassada told students that his favorite part of astronaut training is spacewalking a skill he practices by wearing a spacesuit in a pool with a team of divers who put weights on him to control floating.

The training is mentally challenging, he said, but walking in an atmosphere so similar to outer space is "amazing." Right after the event, Cassada said, he was headed to the Houston training center in Texas to practice spacewalking again.

"I kind of feel a little bit like I'm in science camp myself," he said. "I don't think we're doing things a whole lot different than what you guys are doing this week you're probably learning new concepts and doing some experiments."

A student asked Cassada, "If you had the right technology, what planet would you travel to?"

Cassada's answer? Earth.

"We need to do what we can to protect it," he said.

See the original post here:
White Bear Lake native will be on SpaceX flight to International Space Station - Star Tribune

Next week's moon launch is just the beginning.

As the world counts down to the planned Aug. 29 liftoff of the Artemis 1 mission, which will use a Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket to send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon, NASA and its international partners are already planning for the future.

More than 20 nations have signed on to the NASA-led Artemis Accords, a set of agreements that lay out a framework for responsible exploration of the moon.

And Artemis will have an international flavor going forward. For example, Canada will get a seat on Artemis 2 thanks to its contribution of Canadarm3 robotics to the planned Gateway moon-orbiting station. And Japan will fly an astronaut on a future Artemis moon mission as well.

But over the longer term, NASA plans to use the accords as a set of norms to establish how countries should conduct space exploration more generally, and to govern how they can work together for missions to Earth orbit, the moon or even Mars.

Related: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission: Live updatesMore: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos

A NASA spokesperson told Space.com by email that the goal of the accords is "safe, responsible and transparent behavior in space," which also includes a discussion of "preserving and protecting the outer space environment to ensure a safe and sustainable future in space for all."

The agency has pledged that the accords will be inclusive of nations both experienced in space (like Canada, Japan and European Space Agency member states) and those that are newer to the final frontier (like New Zealand and Bahrain.) Notably, Russia is not a participant no surprise given its ongoing invasion of Ukraine (an act that brought condemnation from other major space actors) and Russia's recent announcement that it plans to pull out of the ISS agreement at some point after 2024.

Related: Russia wants to build its own space station, as early as 2028

NASA frames the accords as reinforcing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that underlies international space exploration legal norms. The impending launch of Artemis 1, the spokesperson added, is a turning point during which the agency hopes to establish more detailed guidelines, while Artemis is still young.

"By bringing as many signatories onboard as early as possible, our hope is to develop a body of knowledge, informed by collective operational experiences, that will advance broader goals through established bodies such as the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space [COPUOS]," the spokesperson said.

"Even if some countries cannot make near-term contributions to lunar activities directly, their support of the Artemis Accords principles will strengthen the need for common values for space exploration and utilization among the international community."

Space lawyer Michael Gold said he agrees that the accords are meant to foster an environment in space "conducive to international collaboration, and conducive to growth" with clear rules and expectations to allow space agencies and companies to conduct business.

Gold helped lead and draft the implementation of the Artemis Accords under the previous NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, while Gold was acting associate administrator for the agency's office of international and interagency relations. (Today Gold is executive vice president for civil space and external affairsataerospace company Redwire Space.)

The accords, he said, are meant to cover civil activities so that companies landing on the moon on behalf of NASA are covered under the agreement. This is especially crucial given that NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions encourage private companies to deliver science, hardware and other essential items to the moon to support the Artemis program.

"All of these are important precedents," Gold said of the accords. Bringing in other countries aims to assure stability of Artemis, since international programs tend to have more financial and technological resources, he added.

But further stability, Gold said, would come if national security programs and commercial space programs could also align on global norms of behavior. "So much of our conflict on Earth is caused by misperception and miscommunications, and if we're going to get into a conflict, at the very least let's have it be intentional," Gold said.

For example, he said that national security norms should govern issues such as how close is too close with regard to satellites approaching each other in Earth orbit. Such encounters are more frequent now than ever due to growing broadband constellations like SpaceX's Starlink and periodic space debris events, like a much-criticized Russian anti-satellite test in November 2021.

"I believe if we're explicit, if we're public about these things, that will give us the best chance that we have of avoiding conflict, particularly via mistakes and misperceptions," Gold said. He called for UN's COPUOS to open up seats for private sector companies to allow for "government and commercial [entities] to work together."

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcom (opens in new tab)or Facebook.

Read the original post:
What the Artemis Accords mean for space exploration - Space.com

Jeanne Loring likes to say shes been to space without her feet even leaving the ground.

Just weeks ago, the Scripps Research Institute professor of molecular medicine sent some of her own genetically mapped cells to space as part of first-of-its-kind research to study the progression and onset of Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.

I love traveling. Ive been on all the continents, and so I figured, whats left? Loring said jokingly. I just jumped at the opportunity when I learned that it was possible.

Newsletter

Get our essential investigative journalism

Sign up for the weekly Watchdog newsletter for investigations, data journalism and more.

Enter email address

Sign Me Up

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

In July, the cells arrived via cargo spacecraft at the International Space Station, where they remained under close observation for about a month 250 miles above Earth, and traveling at 17,500 miles per hour before they splashed back down to Earth last week.

The study is part of new National Stem Cell Foundation-funded neurodegeneration research to observe how cells communicate in microgravity in a way not possible on Earth, explained Paula Grisanti, founder and CEO of the foundation.

Its really pure exploration at this point, because theres no history of anybody doing this before, she said. Were paving the path.

An organoid derived from Dr. Jeanne Lorings induced pluripotent stem cells is prepared to be sent to the International Space Station.

(Courtesy of Dr. Davide Marotta)

Loring, a Del Mar resident who is one of the worlds leading experts in Parkinsons and a senior scientific advisor for the foundation, has been working with human-induced pluripotent stem cells since the technology was first discovered in 2006.

Called organoids, these cells are made from human skin tissue, which is put into a culture dish and turned into pluripotent stem cells, Loring explained.

Pluripotent stem cells only exist in culture dishes, they dont exist in our bodies, she said. Pluripotent means they can form any cell type in the body so for Loring, that meant forming nerve cells to create brain-like structures.

Its hard to study peoples brains, Loring said. You can do all this external stuff like they do with physical exams, but theres not any window into the brain so this is providing a sort of brain avatar.

Organoids provide a stand-in for the brain that can be studied by researchers, Loring explained. They make connections with each other, the cells talk to each other, so in a lot of ways, its a really good model of the brain, she added.

Moreover, the organoids mimic the brains of people with MS and Parkinsons.

Loring has been working with these organoids for years through Aspen Neuroscience, a San Diego-based company she co-founded that is working to create the worlds first personalized cell therapy for Parkinsons, using a patients own cells so they dont have to worry about rejection. Clinical trials may start as early as next year, she said.

Tubes containing neural organoids are loaded into a rack in preparation for placement in Cube Lab to travel to the International Space Station.

(Courtesy of Space Tango)

For the last four years, the foundations team of bicoastal researchers has been working together to study these organoids in space.

While an experiment in space presents its own challenges, Loring said its worth the work, as researchers hope to gain valuable and unique insight into how disorders like Parkinsons and MS develop. You can see them interacting and talking to each other in 3-D in a way that you cannot on Earth, Grisanti said.

Along with Lorings healthy organoids, which are used as a control, organoids derived from patients with Parkinsons and MS were sent to the space station, while the entire experiment was replicated on Earth.

Specifically, researchers are studying the neuroinflammation in the organoids, which is like when the immune system in the brain is overactive, Grisanti explained.

Organoid cultures are sealed in holders and ready to be placed in Cube Lab for space flight. The cover shows National Stem Cell Foundations SpaceX CRS-25 mission patch.

(Courtesy of Space Tango)

What we hope to find is a point at which things start to go wrong in those neurodegenerative diseases, where we could then intervene with a new drug or cell therapy, she said. And were seeing signs that that happens more in space than it does on the ground, so it helps create the type of interaction that you would see early in a neurodegenerative disease.

Grisanti said they hope to be able to use this research to develop a new drug or cell therapy to treat these disorders and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases in the future.

I think weve cracked the door open, but weve got some more flying to do, she added.

Link:
To better understand Parkinson's disease, this San Diego expert sent her own cells to space - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Northrop Grumman space station

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman and STAR HARBOR announced a collaboration for market research and the early development of an astronaut training curricula for Northrop Grummans space station concept. In December 2021 Northrop Grumman signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA under the Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development program for $125.6 million to design a safe, reliable and cost-effective commercial free-flying space station in low Earth orbit (LEO).

This collaboration establishes STAR HARBORs intentions to utilize Northrop Grummans commercial space station concept as one of the LEO destinations for on-orbit services and training for their customers. The collaboration will explore the development of Northrop Grummans customized astronaut training programs to help define a high standard of safety and customer service for commercial industry spaceflight training and mission implementation. These efforts will help support a thriving future for the new space economy by accelerating humans and technology within the commercial aerospace ecosystem.

The collaboration also explores the development and integration of an optimal pipeline and verification process for STAR HARBORs LAB TO ORBIT R&D program. STAR HARBOR is establishing a robust research pipeline process to support researchers from concept design, prototyping, and testing through flight readiness and mission success. In STAR HARBORs Researcher Training Courses, participants will learn to properly design payloads for the varying flight profiles, space environments, and destinations while receiving expert support to get payloads certified and procured on a flight. STAR HARBORS pipeline will provide an expedited access point to get research and researchers onboard the Northrop Grumman Space Station design.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is a technology company focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.

About STAR HARBOR

STAR HARBOR is creating the worlds first fully comprehensive, publicly accessible spaceflight training facility and cutting-edge research and development campus. STAR HARBORs unique facility will include an aircraft modified for parabolic flight, a 4-million-gallon neutral buoyancy tank with an underwater habitat, a high-gravity human centrifuge, hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers, land-based habitats, high-tech space simulation technology and spacecraft mockups. The STAR HARBOR HUMANS TO ORBIT Astronaut Certification Program is helping to define industry spaceflight safety regulations and standards. STAR HARBOR is committed to positively impacting sustainability and climate science research and education, including creating local, national and international STEAM education opportunities

Original post:
Northrop Grumman and STAR HARBOR to Collaborate on Commercial Space Station Research and Astronaut Training - Space Ref

Enabling & Support

24/08/20221702 views42 likes

Half a century since Apollo, the Artemis I mission is set to launch on 29 August with a test flight that prepares humankind for our next adventure at the Moon, and Europe is playing a crucial role.

Joining NASAs Orion spacecraft on the powerful Space Launch System rocket are ten CubeSats that will help prepare for the return of astronauts to our lunar companion. ESAs deep space antennas, along with the Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK, will be tracking six of the small satellites, ensuring they arrive where they need to be, and their data gets back home.

Each about the size of a large shoe box, their mission objectives vary as much as their final destinations the Moon, Earth orbit, deep space, even an asteroid. What unites them is the promise of enhancing our understanding of the space environment from asteroids to space radiation, while demonstrating new technologies for use on future missions getting humans to the Moon, to stay.

Our Estrack stations will be critical in determining the CubeSat trajectories, returning their data home and supporting the commanding of the six spacecraft,explains Lucy Santana, responsible for ESA ground facility services for deep space missions.

Were very proud to do our bit in returning humankind to the Moon.

About an hour and a half after launch, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will perform a trans-lunar injection burn to nudge Orion and the fleet of CubeSats in the direction of the Moon. The CubeSats will then be deployed, dispersing like dandelion seeds spread in the wind.

In the hours after liftoff, CubeSats will be deployed at specific times based on the requirements of each mission. ArgoMoon from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) will be the first that ESA tracks just a few hours after launch with the Cebreros station in Spain.

Very soon after separation, as the rest of the CubeSats are deployed, more eyes on the sky will be needed as they move into their own trajectories. For this, ESA in cooperation with Goonhilly will provide about 75 hours of tracking support across its deep space stations in the two weeks after launch.

We look forward to contributing to this iconic mission from here in the UK. Goonhilly played a role in distributing the Apollo Moon landing footage back in 1969: were now taking one step further and supporting humanitys return to the Moon, explains Matthew Cosby, Chief Technology Officer at Goonhilly.

Our 32m deep space antenna has been used to communicate with ESA spacecraft since 2021. Supporting the Artemis I CubeSats is a fantastic way to further showcase our capabilities as we continue to expand this commercial service.

One of the main ways Estrack will support the Artemis CubeSats is by pinning down their location and trajectory using an effect called the Doppler shift. Each satellite is transmitting information at a frequency of around 8 GHz, which stations on Earth will acquire and track.

If the spacecraft is moving towards Earth while emitting its message, the light wave gets slightly squashed, shortening the wavelength and increasing its frequency. Conversely, if the CubeSat is moving away from Earth, its message is stretched, and its frequency lengthened. With this information, mission control will be able to have an accurate estimation of where the spacecraft are and where they are headed.

The CubeSats being connected to Earth by Goonhilly and ESAs deep space antennas illustrate the potential of small spacecraft in providing great insights.

Lunar IceCube and LunaH-map are designed to search the Moon for water the discovery of which would be crucial for long-term missions as it is needed for explorers to harvest breathable air and create rocket fuel from ice.

Biosentinel and CuSP will add to our understanding of space radiation, filling critical gaps in knowledge about the health risks to explorers in deep space from solar radiation and high-energy galactic cosmic rays.

Finally, ArgoMoon and NEA Scout will demonstrate new operations technologies that will shape the way we fly future missions to the Moon.

NEA Scout will visit the smallest ever asteroid to be studied by a spacecraft 2020 GE is thought to be a little smaller than a school bus. While exploring the asteroid, it will use an 86-square-metre solar sail to harness solar radiation for propulsion.

The data from these first-of-a-kind missions will stream in through European antennas on Earth, where teams will get it where it needs to be and ensure we keep track of the dispersing satellites.

Landing on the Moon was hard. Returning for a longer stay will require even more planning, imagination and ingenuity, and ESAs Estrack network of antennas dotted across the globe will be vital. With decades of experience in ground operations and a global network of eyes on the sky, ESA is playing a leading role in connecting Earth to space as we go forward to the Moon.

Follow @esaoperations live from 12:00 CEST on 29 Aug to get insights straight from the heart of ESA mission control, as the Artemis CubeSats are deployed, found, and spread their wings and Europe helps bring humankind to the Moon, and catch the live stream on ESA Web TV, Channel 1 from 12:30 CEST.

Thank you for liking

You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!

Read more:
Europe to support Artemis CubeSats in return to Moon - European Space Agency

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Nov. 8, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang waving his hand after completing extravehicular activities.(Photo by Guo Zhongzheng/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The spark of a good idea can have astronomical implications, as the story of a lighting rig developed in the 1980s shows.

On Jan. 20, 1985, in recognition of his innovative lighting rig voice controller, Zhang Xinli was awarded a certificate by Xi Jinping, then Party chief of Zhengding County in Hebei Province, north China.

The lighting rig automatically identifies a change of tone in music and responds by casting various colored lights on the stage. The second-generation voice controller designed from Zhang's invention was included in the provincial scientific research plan in 1985.

When he first heard about Zhang's invention, Xi visited Zhang's factory many times and keenly watched demonstrations of the new equipment. Xi also asked about the sales of their products and suggested Zhang reach out to an art community in Beijing.

Thanks to Xi's introduction, Zhang was later invited to a seminar, where many participants showed great interest in his invention and placed orders.

Zhang later said he never forgets that event, nor the strong support Xi had given to him and his factory.

The certificate that Zhang was awarded witnessed Xi's concern and encouragement for sci-tech innovators. He pays high attention to sci-tech innovation wherever he works.

Xi's encouragement has helped some of the most significant innovative achievements over the past 10 years get off the ground, some of them quite literally.

In December 2020, President Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, congratulated on the complete success of the Chang'e-5 mission that brought back the country's first samples collected from the moon.

It is another major achievement in overcoming difficulties by giving full play to the advantages of the new system of pooling national resources and strength, marking a great step forward in China's space industry, Xi said in a congratulatory message.

In June 2021, he spoke on a video call to three of the nation's astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, stationed in the country's space station core module Tianhe. The Tiangong space station is expected to be completed this year.

"The construction of the space station is a milestone in China's space industry, which will make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity," said Xi.

More here:
Xi Story: Supporting sci-tech innovation from a spark to space - Xinhua