Daily Archives: October 17, 2022

The new crew arrived at the International Space Station last week, all smiles and floating hair. There was, as usual, a little welcome ceremony, with heartfelt remarks from the newcomers streamed live for the people they left behind on Earth. A few of the astronauts floated above the others and turned upside down, hanging like bats, so that their beaming faces would fit into the frame.

But this latest trip was different: For the first time, a Russian cosmonaut had traveled to the space station on an American SpaceX capsule launched into orbit from Florida. The ride was the result of a new seat-swapping arrangement between the United States and Russia. Before 2020, when NASA started using SpaceX to reach the ISS, the space agency had relied solely on Russias astronaut-transport system, the Soyuz, paying millions of dollars a seat. Now American astronauts will fly on Soyuz, and Russian cosmonauts on SpaceX, with no money exchanged between the two countries.

The Russian and American space programs have been tangled up since the beginning, and they remain tethered now, even as relations between the two countries deteriorate because of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The two have no choice but to work together: The ISS is a shared space, with the U.S. and Russia its largest partners and Russia responsible for maintaining the stations orbit.

Beyond the ISS, though, Russias space portfolio isnt all that grandiose these days. Although cosmonauts fly into orbit regularly, Russia does not have a rover on the far side of the moon, as China has, or orbiters around Mars, as India and the United Arab Emirates have. It does not have a fleet of space telescopes like the U.S has. The Soviet Union was the first to send a human being to space, decades ago, and its early accomplishments are a distinct point of national pride. But the Russian space program has stalled for years, plagued by sparse budgets. And that was before Vladimir Putins onslaught on Ukraine: Some of the space plans the country still had in the works are falling apart. Now the Russian space effort may be more adrift than ever.

All of the satellites around Earth, thousands and thousands of them, whether the navigation kind or the spying type, can trace their history to Sputnik. When the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into orbit 65 years ago, it ushered in a new era of technologyand set the tone for the space race. Within a couple of years, the Soviet Union had started launching spacecraft to the moon, where they intentionally crashed into the surface, sprinkling hardware across the regolith in a very explosive first. In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to space, beating Americans to the milestone by less than a month. But by the end of the decade, the U.S. had effectively won the race: When American astronauts launched to the moon, the Soviet Union was still trying to figure out how to stop its rocket from exploding.

Read: The Russian invasion touches outer space

In the following years, the Soviets put the first-ever lander on Mars, which transmitted for about 20 seconds before cutting out, and sent a series of missions to Venus. They built their own space shuttle, which flew only once, and built a space station that operated for 15 years before being ditched into the sea. The fall of the Soviet Union led to a decreased influence on the world stage, but Russia remained a key player in space. By 1998, Roscosmos, the post-Soviet space agency, was helping the U.S. assemble the ISS piece by piece. For years, it was the only nation capable of flying people to the ISS.

These space successes have become a meaningful part of Russias national identity. Space exploration is one of the two reference points in recent historythe other being the Soviet Unions victory in World War IIthat enjoys a broad consensus among Russians and defines many features of Russian political culture, Pavel Luzin, a Russian space-policy analyst, has written. In recent years, after Russias takeover of Crimea and the resulting international backlash, the effort has become less innovative and more militarily focused, while lacking a clear future direction, James Clay Moltz, a professor of national-security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in California, has written. Last year, Russia conducted a missile test to blow up a defunct satellite, producing debris that passed dangerously close to the ISS. The space program is also running on a dwindling budget. Russia is struggling to find a formula for space success in the 21st century, Moltz wrote in 2020.

Russias full-on invasion of Ukraine has only made matters worse. The fallout from the war has narrowed the countrys space portfolio even more; sanctions have included U.S. measures meant to degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program. Russia has long hoped to rekindle its moon efforts, and eventually put people on the surface, but the European Space Agency, its partner in the effort, has withdrawn its participation because of the war in Ukraine. Europe has also kicked Russia out of the effort to send a new rover to Mars to search for signs of ancient life. National space organizations and private space companies alike have dropped Russian launch services on more than a dozen occasions, seeking other providers. Russia risks being left behind completely in the increasingly competitive commercial space-launch market, Jeremy Grunert, an Air Force lawyer who specializes in military and space law, wrote recently.

Read: Maybe dont blow up satellites in space

Roscosmos seeks to strike out on its own in low-Earth orbit and build a new space station, with the first module launching sometime in 2028, and more going up in 2030the year the U.S. wants to start winding down the ISS. But sanctions have hindered development of Russias space-station hardware, which has to be redesigned, as there will be no access to the Western electronics that the designers initially had in mind, Luzin wrote. It is obvious that the Russian orbital station project is both very ambitious and largely unfeasible given the current circumstances. At a press conference held last week after the cosmonaut Anna Kikina launched on SpaceX, Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut who serves as the executive director of Roscosmoss human-spaceflight program, told reporters, We know that is not going to happen very quick. Russia, he said, could discuss extending our partnership in ISS.

If Russia were to jump ship early, it would have no spaceflight program to speak of. We must bear in mind that if we discontinue manned flights for several years, it will be very difficult to restore what we have achieved afterwards, Vladimir Solovyov, a former cosmonaut and the flight director for the Russian side of the ISS, said in a Roscosmos interview this summer. So Russia is likely to stay on the ISS for as long as possible, especially as the rest of its space endeavors wither. Not all of Russias space goals have been thrown into doubt. The country is working with China to build a lunar base by the 2030s. Although China has called for Russia to end its war on Ukraine, it has expressed support for their future cooperation in space exploration.

Read: Why the far side of the moon matters so much

After Kikina arrived on the ISS last week, blasting off in an American-built capsule, sleeker and more spacious than the Russian Soyuz, I wondered whether she might say something about whats going on in her home country. We shouldnt assume that any professional spacefarer shares the beliefs of her president, although earlier this year, a trio of cosmonauts had posed for pictures on the ISS with a flag in support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine (NASA responded by saying that it strongly rebukes the display). But Kikina, the sole woman in Russias cosmonaut corps, just thanked her family and the crews she worked with, and held up a little handmade doll as tribute to her hometown of Novosibirsk. Meanwhile, 250 miles below, the war raged on, weakening Russias standing as a spacefaring nation.

A force that dominated the early days of humanitys drive to reach the stars, that set the pace for the history books, now risks flaming out because of a land war back on Earth. In the coming years, Russia may no longer be considered a space power at all; in fact, some observers are making that assertion now.

Russias space future matters deeply to Russia itself, of course, but it also concerns the rest of the word. The country, uncomfortable in the shadow of other space powers, could double down on its military uses of space, threatening an already precarious arena. And while space exploration is an image-bolstering activity, it has consequences that transcend national bordersilluminating discoveries about the universe and our place in it, and remarkable demonstrations of what human beings can do with a little bit of rocket fuel and some curiosity, in the skies above Earth and well beyond. With Russias potential downfall as a space power, humanitys potential in the cosmos may shrink, and a once-formidable participant that could have propelled exploration of the cosmos further will be left out of the endeavor instead.

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The Russian Space Program Is Falling Back to Earth - The Atlantic

SpaceXs Crew-4 astronauts returned safely to Earth on Friday after a six-month stint living and working aboard the International Space Station.

One of those astronauts was Samantha Cristoforetti. The Italian space traveler on her second orbital mission shared moments from the adventure with her more than one million Twitter followers and 780,000 TikTok fans, posting photos and videos showing life aboard the orbital outpost, along with plenty of stunning imagery of Earth 250 miles below.

Heres a selection of Cristoforettis tweets posted during her half-year space mission.

First, a quick review of the trip up and the first few days in space:

Back on the International @Space_Station (and TikTok) pic.twitter.com/oCgJSdWKcu

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 6, 2022

A breathtaking view of the moon:

The ethereal beauty of the Moon the last sliver of the waning crescent rising above the colors of the imminent sunrise. #Moon #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/bwza4TTlCt

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) May 30, 2022

Cycling in space:

Happy #WorldBicycleDay from the International @Space_Station! #MissionMinerva #SpaceTok pic.twitter.com/gTepsRjtdR

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) June 3, 2022

Taking time out to replicate a moment from Gravity:

One of my biggest regrets from my year in space was watching #GravityMovie and having @AstroSamantha float by the screen after her working out and not being quick enough to the camera. Heres the original photo fail. So disappointed then, but all is good now. Thank you, Samantha! https://t.co/4Av29VmDNl pic.twitter.com/XRJA21jjCA

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 19, 2022

Moroccan culture is known for its impressive art and architecture, says Cristoforetti. No wonder that it looks like a real piece of EarthArt from space too!

Moroccan culture is known for its impressive art and architecture. No wonder that it looks like a real piece of #EarthArt from space too! #MissionMinerva #Morocco #Maroc #AtlasMountains pic.twitter.com/725JWVVHUK

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) July 8, 2022

Heres how astronauts on the station capture all of those amazing Earth shots:

How to take pictures in #space! #worf #SpaceTok #MissionMinerva @esa @esaspaceflight pic.twitter.com/IiCnUog6Ru

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) July 13, 2022

Getting ready for bed on the ISS:

Getting ready for bed! #BedtimeRoutine #SpaceToc #MissionMinerva @Space_Station @esa @esaspaceflight pic.twitter.com/MwWSxSjz2H

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) July 15, 2022

Heres an entertaining effort by the Crew-4 astronauts:

Formation flying into our 4 little crew quarters. We made it on the first try well, maybe the second Volo in formazione fino ai nostri 4 piccoli alloggi. Riuscito al primo tentativo beh, forse al secondo #MissionMinerva #Exp67 @Space_Station @esa @esaspaceflight pic.twitter.com/gP3ElkxqLW

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) July 16, 2022

Do astronauts take Vitamin D while staying on the ISS? Heres the answer:

Do you need to have #VitaminD supplements? #AskMe #MissionMinerva #SpaceTok @esa @esaspaceflight pic.twitter.com/hrmuI7fPhY

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) July 18, 2022

A time-lapse showing the space stations solar arrays tracking the sun:

A soothing solar array waltz in this accelerated timelapse arrays rotate on two axes to track the sun. And our #robotics teams on the ground have been busy installing the MISSE material science experiment can you see the robotic arm moving? #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/A1Lgk2Tftk

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 9, 2022

Here we can see an impact crater on Earth that occurred some 300 million years ago:

We explore space, and sometimes space comes to us. This visit if from over 300 million years ago the Gweni-Fada #meteorite impact crater in Chad 14 km in diameter! #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/x5i0CkXexP

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 11, 2022

Aurora are a common sight for astronauts on the space station:

The Sun has been really active lately. Last week we saw the most stunning auroras I have ever experienced in over 300 days in space! #auroraaustralis #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/r9hzZSoMNp

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 21, 2022

Prepping a meal in space:

Preparing lunch on the @Space_Station. Balanced meals, like this one, help me to stay healthy and maintain strong muscels and bones in space. #MissionMinerva #SpaceTok @iofbonehealth @esa pic.twitter.com/FQWvha7RFA

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 25, 2022

Stars from the ISS:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star actually, on @Space_Station we gaze at the stars from above the atmosphere, so no, they dont twinkle. Also, we dont have to worry about clouds @esa pic.twitter.com/tqjyeK2q4z

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 29, 2022

The amazing Andes, as seen from space:

A pass over the Andes just before sunset. Love the long shadows over the mountains! #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/wNvTaEt6TC

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 28, 2022

Watching other astronauts come to space:

We had a spectacular view of the #Soyuz launch! Sergey, Dmitry and Frank will come knocking on our door in just a couple of hours looking forward to welcoming them to their new home! #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/b6PP8L6AEl

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) September 21, 2022

A little science demonstration in microgravity conditions:

What do you think happens to the ping pong ball when I try to sink it in water? Find out! #MissionMinerva #bouyancy #SpaceTok @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/dtxW8AOtlS

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) September 24, 2022

Yoga in space is tricky but possible:

Yoga in weightlessness? Done!Its a bit tricky, but with the right poses (thanks @CosmicKidsYoga!) and some creative freedom you can do it. Take a look! https://t.co/XXEOcFzg4L#MissionMinerva #CosmicKids https://t.co/H2hGPSAWmD

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) September 27, 2022

Heres how astronauts keep track of their weight while in space:

Can you 'weigh' yourself in weightlessness? Not with a regular scale. Take a look! #MissionMinerva #SpaceLife #SpaceTok @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/iBuSnLsMlD

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 1, 2022

Oh, glamorous astronaut life!

Oh, glamorous astronaut life! Working in the bowels of our toilet, installing a new pre-treat tank. I do love space plumbing! No worries, the toilet wasnt broken, it was just a routine activity. Pre-treat is added to urine at every use for chemical stabilization. #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/NwYy7tetFg

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 4, 2022

Coral reefs as seen from space:

Coral reefs are an amazing sight from space, just as they are on Earth. They harbor a mindboggling diversity of marine life some call them the rainforests of the sea. Sad to think that we are on track to losing most of the worlds coral reefs to global warming.#MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/2TUQ29Ks8q

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 7, 2022

Heres a fun video showing Cristoforetti replicating a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey:

2022 A Space Odyssey. Turns out, yes, you can walk with Velcro shoes. Slowly, very very slowly #ASpaceOdyssey #MissionMinerva @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/WI69RXmObE

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 8, 2022

Bacteria on the ISS could be harmful to human health. Heres how crewmembers test for it:

There are no harmful bacteria and fungi on the @Space_Station. And if there ever were any, we would find them Take a look! #MissionMinerva #SpaceLife #SpaceTok @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/VmkZNEJegw

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 9, 2022

How microgravity means that having a cup of coffee in space is a little different to back on terra firma:

Having a nice cup of coffee looks slightly different in space Check it out! #MissionMinerva #CoffeeBreak #SpaceTok @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/Z68rXcPZgx

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 12, 2022

Cristoforetti and her three fellow Crew-4 colleagues flying through the space station:

Its been an absolute pleasure to share this experience with my crewmates of Crew-4. What amazing human beings! #MissionMinerva @astro_kjell @astro_watkins @Astro_FarmerBob @NASA_Astronauts @esa @esaspaceflight @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/2RcRi7WY5n

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 13, 2022

And finally, a beautiful time-lapse video shot over Europe:

One last time, fly along with me! Farewell and, as always, thanks for all the fish! #MissionMinerva @esa @esaspaceflight @ESA_EO @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/Dpdushsdvu

— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) October 13, 2022

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Best bits from returned astronauts space station mission - Digital Trends

China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts have been busy testing a new space station module, conducting spacewalks and carrying out experiments but they've also found time to take some spectacular photos.

China's human spaceflight agency, CMSA, released the photographs taken by the astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station during their ongoing mission, which launched June 3.

Images taken by Cmdr. Chen Dong show one of the station's flexible solar arrays against a backdrop of nighttime cities shining from Earth below, and another photo captures the airglow above our planet that results when sunlight interacts with atoms and molecules in Earth's atmosphere.

Related: China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts mark busy 1st month aboard Tiangong space station

Liu Yang, whose previous mission to space back in 2012 made her China's first woman in orbit, also snapped some pictures, including one of a full moon above Earth. Photos taken by Cai Xuzhe on his first trip to space include an image of Hainan island, just off the Chinese mainland, from where the Tiangong modules launched, and a tomato plant sprouting aboard the station.

Image 1 of 9

Shenzhou 14 is the third crewed mission to Tiangong. During the first, Shenzhou 12, astronauts also returned stunning images.

The Shenzhou 14 crew is scheduled to receive a new visitor later this month, when the third and final module for Tiangong is launched. The Mengtian module will complete the planned T-shaped orbital outpost.

The crewmembers are expected to stay in orbit until sometime in December, when they will welcome the incoming Shenzhou 15 mission astronauts and carry out China's first-ever crew handover.

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China's Shenzhou 14 astronauts snap stunning photos of Earth, the moon and more - Space.com

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer on a spacewalk outside theInternational Space Station Courtesy of NASA

Astronauts spend years undergoing rigorous training before they maketheir first trip into space. And before becoming astronauts, they usually already have years of experience in related fields, such as engineering, geology, aeronautics, physics, medicine and biology; many have doctorates or have seen military combat.

But for actor Tom Cruise, a trip to space might just be another day at the office. Cruise hopes to shoot scenes for an as-yet-untitled action film at the International Space Station (ISS) in the near future. If he succeeds, hed become the first civilian to do a spacewalk outside of the space station, according to Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.

In a lengthy interview with the BBCs Katie Razzall, Langley reveals a few more details about the proposed movie, which is still an aspiration at this stage, per the BBC.

Tom Cruise is taking us to space, hes taking the world to space, Langley tells the BBC. Thats the plan. We have a great project in development with Tom.

Cruise and director Doug Liman, who worked together on the 2014 movie Edge of Tomorrow, pitched the idea for the new film to Langley on a Zoom call during the pandemic. Though she didnt share too many specific details about the plot, the general gist is that the storyline actually takes place on earth, and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day.

Cruise is already known for doing many of his own stunts, including some potentially dangerous ones, so it comes as no surprise that hes willing to take a rocket to the space station for the sake of cinema. As Daniel Kreps writes for Rolling Stone, its unclear whether Cruise would actually go inside the ISS or just walk around outside of the orbiting laboratory.

NASA, for its part, seems willing to collaborate on the movie. Though he has since deleted the tweet, former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in May 2020 that the agency is looking forward to working with Cruise. We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make NASAs ambitious plans a reality, he wrote. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, which is working with NASA on a number of projects, replied that the project should be a lot of fun! As Deadlines Mike Fleming Jr. reported at the time, Musk, Cruise and NASA were all reportedly working together to make the film a reality.

Despite his lack of official astronaut training, Cruise does have some cinematic experience with space and aviation. In 2013, he played a futuristic drone technician who must defend Earth against alien invaders in Oblivion. He also narrated the 2002 Imax documentary Space Station 3D. One of his most popular air-and-space-related films, of course, is Top Gun, the 1986 flick about Navy fighter pilots. Cruise also recently starred in the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Since the space stations launch nearly 24 years ago in 1998, ISS crewmembers have made just 253 spacewalksin other words, theyre not something NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), Roscosmos or any of the other major space station partners take lightly. Spacewalks are inherently dangerous and, as such, NASA has a whole slew of rules and guidelines around them. As Paola Rosa-Aquino writes for Space.com, theyre also expensive and time-consumingwhenever possible, crewmembers try to use robotic arms to work outside the ISS.

Sometimes, though, astronauts (and Russian cosmonauts) have to go on spacewalks as a last resort. They typically have very specific reasons for leaving the space station, such as performing maintenance or installing new equipment. NASA calls these adventures extravehicular activities.

Wearing highly specialized suits outfitted with life support gear, crewmembers depart the space station through a special set of airlock doors. They remain attached to the space station via tethers, and they usually spend five to eight hours in space while completing their objectives.

Astronauts must complete special training before they undertake spacewalks. They spend a lot of time at NASAs Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, theypractice spacewalks in a6.2-million-gallon poolin which they neither sink nor float. For every hour a crewmember will spend on an ISS spacewalk, they must spend seven hours in the pool, per NASA. They also train via virtual reality technologies that simulate extravehicular activities.

If Cruise ever does make it into orbit, there is another thing hell have to keep in mind: remembering to focus in the face of the vast cosmos. And thats not necessarily an easy feat, as NASA astronaut Mike Fincke told CNNs Ashley Strickland last year.

Its really truly breathtaking, he told the publication. The only thing between you and the rest of the universe, seeing the whole cosmos of creation, is the glass faceplate of your visor on your helmet, and its just awe-inspiring.

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Tom Cruise Might Become the First Civilian to Spacewalk at the ISS - Smithsonian Magazine

NASA astronauts on the International Space Station are eyeing the moon, and what it would take to get there.

SpaceX's Crew-4 astronauts spoke from the orbiting lab about how their work is linking up with NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission, which could launch in November, and with other lunar sorties in the coming years.

"A really exciting part of what we're able to do up here [is] using the International Space Station [ISS] as a testbed for future exploration," NASA's Jessica Watkins told Space.com during a live press conference on Tuesday (Oct. 11), two days before Crew-4's scheduled return to Earth. (The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Watkins and her three crewmates is scheduled to splash down Thursday, Oct. 13, at 5:41 p.m. EDT, or 2141 GMT.)

Related: The Artemis plan: Why NASA sees the moon as a stepping stone to Mars

ISS research is gearing up for a big spaceflight leap: sending humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972.

Providing the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission to lunar orbit launches and lands as planned, NASA plans to send Artemis 2 around the moon with astronauts as soon as 2024. Following that, Artemis 3 is scheduled to land on the surface in 2025 or so. Watkins, a Black geologist, may be one of the people making the first lunar bootprints since Apollo 17, for NASA aims to land a woman and a person of color on Artemis 3.

A large chunk of space station research is devoted to human health, and to advancing technologies like life support or growing plants to make sure they are robust enough to take on the demanding lunar environment, Watkins explained.

"We are looking into ways to protect against some of the hazards that are associated with some of this exploration," Watkins said. Plants will need to contend with very different soil and weaker gravity, for example, while plants and machinery alike will need to deal with intense radiation at the moon's surface.

"Radiation is one of the biggest factors that needs to be mitigated as we move forward," Watkins added, which is why Artemis 1 will have so many sensors in the spacecraft to test and assess the environment.

Crew-5 members are testing out a radiation vest, AstroRad, that will also fly around the moon on an Artemis 1 mannequin. With the sun rapidly entering an active phase in its 11-year activity cycle, space radiation is reaching a high point around the solar system.

Putting AstroRad in Earth and lunar orbit at about the same time will allow scientists to compare ISS astronaut radiation exposure with the mannequin's to see how radiation is percolating across Earth's neighborhood and beyond, Watkins explained.

"The ISS is really enabling us to further technologies and understanding that will enable us to go further into the solar system," added Watkins, whose own research about Mars geology was published in a peer-reviewed journal shortly after she blasted into orbit. The topic: rocks studied by NASA's Curiosity rover.

Related: Amazing launch photos of SpaceX's Crew-4 astronaut mission

A typical space station crew looks at 200 or so investigations with the aim of banking reams of data for future crews to draw upon, no matter where they're located. Both Watkins and Crew-4 commander and fellow NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren pointed to the human body's reactions to space as a key frame of their research.

One project on immune system science was "really looking at the aging process of immune cells, to better understand the immune dysfunction that we see in astronauts here on orbit," Lindgren said, adding that a shorter-term benefit will be creating better treatments for patients on Earth. "Truly understanding that at the cellular level that was a lot of fun to participate in."

Crew-4 crewmate Samantha Cristoforetti, who last visited the ISS nearly seven years ago, pointed to big changes in science since she last undocked: a scanning electron microscope, two 3D printers and "all kinds of facilities" to gather information for future crews, she said.

"There is a whole slew of life support technological technology demos that are running on space station, again, something new," said Cristoforetti, a European Space Agency astronaut. "It's an even busier space station."

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

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SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts say their space station work will help get NASA to the moon - Space.com

A New Zealand research institute and U.S. commercial firm Nanoracks are combining to send a superconducting magnet technology demonstrator to the International Space Station to test a novel type of space propulsion.

The PaihauRobinson Research Institute intends to test a type of electric space thruster known as applied-field magneto plasma dynamic (AF-MPD) thrusters which uses high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology developed by the institute.

Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance and therefore with much greater efficiency than conventional conductive materials. Most of these superconductors, however, require temperatures close to the absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius or - 460 degrees Fahrenheit), which complicates their use. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) can operate at somewhat friendlier temperatures of 321.1 degrees F (196.2 degrees C), which makes their operations cheaper. On top of that, HTS can generate stronger fields than low temperature superconductors, have a larger operational range and can be more compact, the PaihauRobinson Research Institute wrote in a statement (opens in new tab).

Related: Nanoracks tests tech to slice up space junk in orbit for 1st time

The AF-MPD thrusters, based on the HTS technology, use a combination of magnetic and electric fields to generate thrust. The researchers believe they could potentially provide propulsion solutions for large spacecraft instead of electric thrusters.

Superconducting magnets could have a number of other important roles to play in space exploration. The Earth's magnetic field protects life on the planet from harmful solar radiation and cosmic rays. A strong magnetic field generated aboard a spacecraft could provide protection in the same way for astronauts in deep space.

The mass and power requirements of magnetic components have been a key technological barrier to using this kind of equipment in space. This is where PaihauRobinson aims to make advances using their HTS magnet technology.

The tech demonstrator will be installed onto the Nanoracks External Platform by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. A team on the ground will then operate the magnet over several months to demonstrate the ability to generate a magnetic field thousands of times stronger than that of Earth.

The operation of the demonstrator in a relevant space environment is an important step toward the validation and commercialization of this key enabling technology, project manager Avinash Rao said in the statement.

Nanoracks' Maggie Ahern says the payload is currently expected to launch no earlier than the first quarter of 2024. The Houston-based firm Nanoracks hosts payloads on the orbital outpost through an agreement with NASA, providing power, telemetry and other services.

PaihauRobinson is leading the project with support from the University of Auckland, the University of Canterbury, IDS Consulting, and Asteria Engineering Consulting.

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Novel superconducting magnet thrusters to be tested out on space station - Space.com

A couple of ground rules for living on the International Space Station: You never wear shoes (socks are just fine), and there is no shame in existing among clutter.

From my perspective, as viewed through immersive virtual reality goggles and headphones while inside a warehouse in the East Bay, the astronauts who float above Earth inside the space station are shoeless and messy.

I saw hallways crammed with boxes like ice cubes at the bottom of a glass, and there were floating wires sprouting out from the walls. The casual atmosphere helped to acculturate me to an otherwise out-of-world experience.

SFGATE travel editor Silas Valentino wears a VR headset as part of "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently housedinside the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront.

Like a ghost of the space station, I watched as astronauts floated between their regular duties growing greens in space, pumping iron to keep their muscles active and gazing over continents on the nearby blue planet relying on a calculated schedule to keep them, well, grounded.

The space station makes 16 orbits of Earth in a 24-hour period. Meaning, the astronauts are traveling through 16 sunrises and sunsets a day. To keep their sanity and busy workload, they abide by a constant schedule. Sometimes they need a reminder to return to their sleep chamber, which is attached to the ceiling and straps them in.

At 254 miles above us, the astronauts are no longer earthlings, but that doesnt mean theyve sacrificed their humanity. And drawing this connection is exactly the goal of the exhibit. Dubbed Space Explorers: The Infinite,the VR experience occupies part of the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, which was once a Ford assembly plant located along the Richmond shoreline.

Astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, STS-115 mission specialist, waves toward the digital still camera of his spacewalk colleague, astronaut Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper as the two share extravehicular activity (EVA) duties during the first of three scheduled spacewalks. The STS-115 astronauts and the Expedition 13 crewmembers are joining efforts this week to resume construction of the International Space Station.

Customers of The Infinite try out there headsets at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond on Thursday Oct. 13, 2022.

SFGATE culture editor Dan Gentile wears a VR headset as part of The Infinite, an immersive space experience currently housedinside the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront, on Thursday Oct. 13, 2022.

A scene from VR scenes of The Infinite, an immersive space experience currently on display at Craneway Pavilion.

Footage from the International Space Station, upper left and lower right, is showcased in "The Infinite," which attendees view through a VR headset. (Images courtesy of The Infinite & by Charles Russo/SFGATE) Footage from the International Space Station, upper left and lower right, is showcased in "The Infinite," which attendees view through a VR headset. (Images courtesy of The Infinite & by Charles Russo/SFGATE)

The exhibition opened last week and will run until the end of the year, with the possibility of an extension. A joint venture of PHI Studio and Felix & Paul Studios, Space Explorers: The Infinite is a traveling circus that uses state-of-the-art technology (in particular, the Oculus Quest 2 headset) to place attendees inside the space station.

Each person is given a headset, and after a bit of fun initiation including a voiceover explaining how we are all a tribute to light and space you enter a large room with lightly padded flooring. After settling into your digital visuals, youre taught to avoid the red lines that indicate the barrier and to avoid stepping too close to other humans.

Jenna Starkey of San Francisco tries on the VR headset at "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently housedinside the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront.

The experience is broken up into four sections that softly guide you along to experiencing everyday life on the International Space Station. The finale has you seated in a theaterlike chair to sit back and view a spacewalk outside the station and above Earth.

The experience ends up becoming one part Neil Armstrong and one part P.T. Barnum. It is a dazzling outing and even brought a member of my group to tears by the time we returned to Earth.

Tickets for adults range from $44 on weekdays to $54 on weekends, and for children ages 8-12, its $24 on weekdays and $29 on weekends. The experience is wheelchair accessible and lasts for about an hour.

An advertisement on the exterior of the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond advertises "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently housed inside.

Compared to Jeff Bezos Blue Origin (where a seat on a 2021 space flight was auctioned off for $28 million) or Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo (for which tickets are $450,000), the $54 ticket price for The Infinite feels manageable for the rest of us.

The experience is based on the series Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, which is billed as the largest production ever filmed in space, and its producers are not hyperbolic. Felix & Paul Studios worked with Time Studios to collaborate with the U.S. International Space Station National Laboratory, NASA and five other international space agencies.

The footage you see was shot over three years to compile more than 250 hours of virtual reality footage. The visual insights into life in space are parsed down into 60 mini clips that attendees activate by slapping at a glowing orb. To watch all 60 orbs would take at least two hours, and you really only have 35 minutes to spend inside the experience a wise marketing move by the producers to lure visitors back.

Attendees explore virtual space inside the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond as part of "The Infinite" on Oct. 13.

The show was designed and constructed in Montreal. For footage, the producers communicated with NASA in Houston to send directives to the astronauts on the space station. This was perhaps the most elaborate movie shoot of all time, and to top it off, the Canadarm contributed to some of the exterior shots from outside the space station.

Once the exhibit was finalized, it premiered in Montreal in July 2021, staying until November 2021. The plan is to stop in three cities per year until 2026. Prior to the Bay Area, the tour stopped in Houston and Tacoma, Washington.

Co-CEO Eric Albert told me it takes three weeks to set up each installation, and they hire about 50 people from each city to help put on the show. He added that the show is continuously evolving and adding or subtracting video clips for the orbs.

The Bay Area is the first to see a new clip from September 2019 of the astronauts gathering around the dinner table on the space station to celebrate one of the International Space Station crew members. Astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri from the United Arab Emirates was gifted a harmonica by one of his crewmates.

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Hazza, I know its not your birthday, he begins to say before another astronaut cuts him off.

Every day is your birthday in space! she says, as the crew continues floating in the most peculiar way.

A scene from "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently on display at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond.

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Bay Area's 'The Infinite' VR show is tribute to light, space - SFGATE

A deep-space mission is celebrating the first anniversary of its launch from Earth by zipping closer to the planet than the International Space Station's orbit.

NASA's Lucy mission launched on Oct. 16, 2021, bound on a 12-year journey to explore the Trojan asteroids, which no spacecraft has ever visited. These asteroids are found at the same distance from the sun as Jupiter, with one phalanx orbiting ahead of the planet and one behind it. All told, Lucy will whiz past nine different asteroids.

But in order to keep those appointments, Lucy first needs to fly past Earth to pick up speed and adjust its trajectory. The first such flyby comes Sunday (Oct. 16) at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 GMT); at its closest, Lucy will be just 220 miles (350 kilometers) above Earth's surface, lower than the orbit of the International Space Station, according to a NASA statement. That's close enough that some skywatchers will be able to spot the spacecraft.

"The last time we saw the spacecraft, it was being enclosed in the payload fairing in Florida," Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in the statement. "It is exciting that we will be able to stand here in Colorado and see the spacecraft again. And this time Lucy will be in the sky."

Related: Meet the 8 asteroids NASA's Lucy spacecraft will visit

The maneuver might make for thrilling skywatching, but such a close approach is complicated.

First, Lucy must navigate the swarm of satellites orbiting Earth, more than 47,000 in total; according to a NASA statement, the spacecraft must fly through the layer in which the most satellites orbit. To tackle that challenge, mission personnel began assessing potential collisions a week in advance, as early as is helpful.

"The further you're predicting into the future, the more uncertain you are about where an object is going to be," Dolan Highsmith, chief engineer for the Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which evaluates potential collisions for NASA's uncrewed spacecraft, said in a statement.

Mission operators had designed a plan which allowed them to conduct a small engine burn yesterday evening that would move the spacecraft's closest approach by either two or four seconds to prevent a collision.

"That's enough to avoid any one thing that could be in the way," Kevin E. Berry, Lucy's flight dynamics team lead at Goddard, said in the statement.

Satellites aren't the only threat Lucy must navigate; the spacecraft will dip far enough into Earth's atmosphere to begin experiencing drag, especially given the surface area of its two solar arrays, which each span 24 feet (7 meters).

And those arrays are more vulnerable than expected because a glitch in the system that deployed those arrays shortly after launch kept one from fully unfolding, leaving the array resembling a pie with a particularly narrow slice missing. As of NASA's latest update, in June, mission personnel were still considering attempting additional fixes after the flyby. As a protective measure, the mission team arranged for Lucy to pass Earth about 30 miles (50 km) higher than originally planned to reduce the amount of drag the spacecraft experiences.

Although Lucy is flying past Earth out of necessity, scientists are also taking the opportunity to snap a few photos of the moon as the spacecraft heads back into space. The images will help them calibrate the spacecraft's instruments on known terrain before the crucial Trojan flybys.

"I'm especially excited by the final few images that Lucy will take of the moon," John Spencer, acting deputy project scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in a statement. "Counting craters to understand the collisional history of the Trojan asteroids is key to the science that Lucy will carry out, and this will be the first opportunity to calibrate Lucy's ability to detect craters by comparing it to previous observations of the moon by other space missions."

Once past the moon, Lucy will continue trekking out into deep space, farther from Earth than it's ever been.

Lucy will fly past Earth again in 2024 before trekking out to the Trojan asteroids; a third flyby in 2030 will prepare the spacecraft for its final target, a binary asteroid called Patroclus and Menoetius.

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

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NASA's asteroid scout zips past Earth today on 1st launch anniversary - Space.com