Category Archives: Space Exploration

The group recently saw its first creation designed for space launched into the stratosphere-a sculpture built on Mars (or as close as Earthlings can come), Beyond Earth

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Whether a painting or sculpture is made in orbit or forged on terra firma and launched to the stars, the minds creating the new genre of space-centric art are using this rare creative category to raise funds and awareness for important earthly causes.

With space quickly becoming both a tourism destination and an industrial commerce target, awareness of extraterrestrial art continues to grow among creators, buyers, and curators. Against the starry backdrop, Richelle Gribble co-founded Beyond Earth, an all-female artist collective to advocate for the planets biodiversity.

The group recently saw its first creation designed for space launched into the stratospherea sculpture built on Mars (or as close as Earthlings can come). Gribble served as an analog astronaut in a recent, all-female Mars mission simulation at HI-SEAS (the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation complex). While sealed within the habitat near Mauna Loa, Hawaii, as the missions science communicator and podcast host, Gribble tested and prototyped Living Light, a 16-foot sculpture designed by Beyond Earth to become the largest art installation to reach space.

We teamed up with the spaceflight company Space Perspective to send the artwork up over 100,000 feet above Earth, Gribble says. Living Light combines biology, artificial intelligence, and aerospace technology to explore the connections between our planet and the boundlessness of space.

According to Gribble, the Beyond Earth collective was founded in June 2019 with her partners, Elena Soterakis, director of creative productions, and Yoko Shimizu, director of technology and design.

When I first met Elena in Brooklyn, she was running science art exhibitions and a biotech incubator, Gribble explains. I told her I wanted to train to become an astronaut and go to space so I could make art there. She was excited about that introduction and was inspired by it.

A few months later, Soterakis contacted Shimizu, an artist and educator also working in New York. The Tokyo-born illustrator was exploring how gravity changes botanical growth.

Elana realized she knew two artists that were really interested in space, Gribble adds. She thought this could make for a special platform to explore, and we decided to do collaborations based on the intersection of art, biology, and space.

Gribble describes the three women of Beyond Earth coming together because of a need for more projects in space representing a feminine perspective. Their work is aimed at exploring the biodiversity of the planet to aid life on Earth.

After its launch, Living Light spent six hours in flight before descending back to Earth and landing in the ocean for recovery. Gribbles HI-SEAS testing helped make sure the sculpture was resilient for space flight and tough enough to leave no debris in the environment upon its return.

Were now doing repairs on the piece to make sure its available for public view, Gribble says. We also want to share the story of how the work was created to amplify the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. The inner organs of the design represent the summation of more than 1,000 species of ocean life.

Gribble and her partners hope the Living Light project captivates viewers imaginationsinspiring more exploration of both deep space and deep oceans.

We have some interest from prominent museums to display the sculpture, Gribble says. Were planning the logistics of all that now. We plan to house the space artwork at a museum with other pieces inspired by the project displayed worldwide.

While the women of Beyond Earth built a sculpture bound for zero gravity, Nicole Stott used a tiny painting kit in 2009 to create The Wave, a compact masterpiece made aboard the International Space Station and delivered to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as the first watercolor rendered in orbit. Stott, 58, spent more than 103 days high above the Earth during her five missions as a NASA engineer. Her view of Isla Los Roques, Venezuela, from the ISS inspired her historic brushstrokes.

Now a working artist, philanthropist, and public speaker, Stott works to build on her notable space creation to promote such causes as pediatric cancer and art education for children.

When I was considering retiring from NASA and taking myself out of that line waiting to fly to space again, I wanted to find a way to share the spaceflight experience, Stott says. I just kept coming back to that painting. Art seemed like the best way to connect with people who didnt know much about the space station or how an international community came about to use space exploration to make life better on Earth.

Stott now uses paintings of what she experienced on her missions to engage communities in the world of space exploration. That endeavor brought her in contact with the Space for Art Foundation and the Spacesuit Art Program. Founded by artist Ian Cion, the latter began with children participating in the Arts in Medicine program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and grew internationally through the cooperation of the ILC Dover space-suit company.

According to Stott, the Spacesuit Art Project brings together artists, astronauts, cosmonauts, space exploration professionals, medical staff, and children in hospitals, refugee centers, and schools to paint decorated spacesuitsincluding four that traveled to and from the ISS.

The start of my involvement with the Spacesuit Art program became the start of my next mission, Stott says. It allows me to combine the space exploration that I love, the art I want to do, and this aspect of healing with the kids.

The programs most recent suit, Beyond, includes artwork from at least one child in every country on Earth. Once completed, Beyond will participate in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow to represent our place in the universe and the connection between personal and planetary health.

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Art Destined for Space Has an Earthly Impact - Barron's

From "bionic" mixologists and roving pizza delivery pros, here are some of the top tasks humans have handed over to humanity's robotic sidekicks.

Robonaut2 positioned next to an astronaut spacesuit.

Image: NASA

Robots were once reserved for the pages of paperback pulp, but in recent decades, these bots have transformed from science fiction to everyday reality. Robotic interactions are a common part of the modern human experience as these increasingly nimble machines are designed with new skills and dexterity. During this time, robots have augmented human roles across industries from manufacturing to space exploration. From autonomous pizza delivery and bionic bartending to sports entertainment, here are some of the top tasks humans have offloaded onto our robotic assistants.

SEE:Hiring kit: Robotics engineer(TechRepublic Premium)

Robonaut2 aboard the ISS.

Image: NASA

In 2011, NASA launched what it described as the "first human-like robot to space" onboard a Discovery mission to the International Space Station "to become a permanent resident" on the orbiting spacecraft. With a pair of robotic arms and nimble hands, the humanoid robot known as Robonaut2 (R2) was designed to assist astronauts on the station.

According to a NASA fact sheet, R2 "could one day venture outside the station to help spacewalkers make repairs or additions to the station or perform scientific work." A February 2018 dispatch from Robonaut's official Twitter account said the bot was being prepped for a flight back to the Earth. A tweet from astronaut Joseph M. Acaba said the bot was headed to Earth for "repairs and refurb," but said the team onboard was looking "forward to his return."

SEE:Photos: 9 best tasks humans have offloaded to robotic helpers (TechRepublic)

R2 delivers a pizza curbside.

Image: Domino's

In April, Domino's and the self-driving vehicle company Nuro launched an autonomous pizza delivery program. Select customers ordering from the participating location in Houston, Texas would prepay for orders online and opt to have the pizza delivered via the R2 vehicle, Domino's said in a release, adding that dispatched text alerts will provide R2 location updates and give customers a unique pin to enter on the vehicle's touchscreen once it arrived, prompting the doors to open, "revealing the customer's hot Domino's order."

Royal Caribbean International's Harmony of the Seas, the world's largest and newest cruise ship, and its Bionic Bar with robotic bartenders.

Image: Royal Caribbean

In 2014, Royal Caribbean debuted its so-called Bionic Bar featuring a pair of robotic bartenders with the ability to craft two drinks each minute and up to 1,000 drinks per day using 21 mixers and 30 spirits, according to the company. Interestingly, a Royal Caribbean infographic said the robo-mixologists' arm "movements are patterned after the graceful Marco Pelle from New York Theatre Ballet."

CUE shooting free throws.

Image: Toyota

In 2019, Toyota's AI-powered humanoid basketball player CUE made history when it was awarded the Guinness World Record for "most consecutive basketball free throws by a humanoid robot (assisted)," according to a company blog post. At the 2021 Olympics, the robot was seen showing off its talents at the free throw line and one made shot even earned a "boom shakalaka" from a broadcast commentator.

Field Support Robots positioned on the field.

Image: Toyota Motor Corporation

During competition, human officials have often been responsible for retrieving sports balls and other gameplay equipment as these objects carom out of play. For the Tokyo 2020 games, Toyota developed a series of "Field Support Robots" (FSR) designed to "retrieve sports equipment quickly and safely on the field of play, alleviating the burden on operational staff," according to an Olympics post.

Samsung's Bot Handy picks up an article of clothing.

Image: Samsung

Per usual, CES 2021 was brimming with bots and including Samsung's single-armed roving device known as Bot Handy. In a video, the robotic assistant was shown doing a number of chores around the house, ranging from pouring wine at the dinner table to putting away dirty dishes and generally tidying up after its human roommates.

SEE: Future of farming: AI, IoT, drones, and more (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

ADIBOT-A disinfects a bedroom using its onboard UV-C light system.

Image: UBTECH

At this year's CES, UBTECH showcased a number of disinfecting robots designed to sanitize. host of environments including schools, hospitals, offices, gyms and subway cars. The ADIBOT-A touts a 360-degree UV-C light, LiDAR, cameras and other sensors to rove about and zap microbes on-site.

The MOFLIN companion pet posiitoned in a person's hand.

Image: Vanguard Industries

The MOFLIN from Vanguard Industries, which is described as an "AI pet robot with emotional capabilities," according to its Kickstarter page, picked up a Best of Innovation Award in robotics at CES 2021. The MOFLIN's honoree page says an algorithm and a series of sensors under the robot's coat allow the bot to "learn and grow by constantly using its interactions to determine patterns and evaluate its surroundings from its sensors."

A semi-autonomous robot dog showcased alongside members of the military.

Image: USAirForce/Airman1stClassTiffanyPrice

In November 2020, a demonstration at the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida showcased the capabilities of a series of semi-autonomous robot dogs that were to be used for base operations. Although the computerized robots resemble canines, the Air Force release said, the bots would not replace working military dogs on the base; instead, the robodogs would aid patrol operations, allowing the "defenders" to focus on "security actions that require a physical presence."

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Best tasks humans have offloaded to robotic helpers - TechRepublic

While Im still able allowed is possibly the verb I want I would like to register my objection to adverts masquerading as legitimate streaming content on a subscription service for which I pay good money. This is not how that particular model is supposed to work. I realise, of course, that I am Cnut howling at the digital waves. But proving our powerlessness before them is about the only thing left to us.

Netflixs new documentary series, or documentary series, Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space, is the offender in this case. It is designed to track the recruitment process, preparation for and then in as close to real time as possible the launch of the first all-civilian flight into space, by Elon Musks company SpaceX.

The first two episodes introduce us to the crew in Musks Inspiration4 project, but only after we have been thoroughly informed of the greatness of what we are about to witness. Space is humanitys great taunting, and non-astronauts circling the earth in the reusable Dragon rocket is a hinge moment. It is a certainty that we will become a multi-planetary species, you see, and this the next significant step. I hope you are feeling suitably awed and portended upon. If not, theres plenty more where that came from.

We meet Jared Isaacman, a high school dropout who founded his first company, Shift4Payments a PayPal type operation that now processes $200bn (145bn) a year for US restaurants and hotels from his parents basement when he was a teenager. Isaacman is that rarest of beasts a genuinely personable billionaire and, when he bought all four seats on the flight, one imagines Musk must have been elated with his charming frontman.

Not that the fact that Isaacman bought the seats is made explicit in the programme. Possibly this is because it is thought so self-evident that it does not need to be. Or possibly not. Much is made of the fundraising side of the endeavour (Inspiration4 aims to raise $200m for St Judes childrens hospital in Memphis and Isaacman has already donated half the sum) and the shift from the spirit of national, collective endeavour and investment in space exploration to private individual and commercial businesses is not touched on. The closest we come to any kind of ethical consideration or probing is a single question to Musk about whether we should be looking to solve some of the manifold problems on Earth before looking to the stars, which he is allowed to bat away. We should spend 99.9% of our resources on solving [them], he says, which is an intriguing use of we and our. The rest can be spent on an exciting and inspiring future If life is all about problems, whats the point in living? So thats all sorted, then.

Isaacson acknowledges his privilege more overtly, but the $200m for St Judes is clearly considered to cover a multitude of what some might categorise as moral sins.

Never mind. This is all a profound breakthrough and everythings OK because the other seats are going to ordinary people, albeit ones who fit the Mission Pillars of Hope, Generosity, Prosperity and Leadership. The inclusion of this emetic element is not the programmes fault, at least. It is Americas.

Isaacman, who offers the most nous, has masses of flight experience under his belt and serves as flight commander, representing Leadership. Doctors assistant and childhood cancer survivor Hayley Arceneaux, who was treated at and now works at St Judes, is in the Hope seat. Christopher Sembroski, who donated as part of the fundraising raffle, is Generosity (though perhaps this should also be in recognition of the friend who actually won and gave Sembroski his seat. This is not mentioned in the programme, which as mentioned is in search of a simple, streamlined narrative at all times. The seat transfer may be inconsequential but you wonder how many more awkward facts might have been left out). The final seat, Prosperity, went to Sian Proctor, geology professor and major in the Civil Air Patrol (another fact thats glossed over, lest it seem, perhaps, that these ordinary Americans on the first civilian mission do not seem to the public quite as ordinary or civilian as they might).

Im sure the puff nature of the piece will become less obvious as the launch approaches and genuine drama and tensions start to fill the hours. But that doesnt alter what it is. Everyones time and money, all those billions of it, could be better spent.

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Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space review does Elon Musk really need the free PR? - The Guardian

Retiring the International Space Station in the coming years presents a big void what will be the future of space stations once the International Space Station meets its fiery death in the coming years? And SHOULD the ISS be decommissioned, or might the mission lifetime be extended?

Construction of the International Space Station (ISS), started in 1998, was completed in 2011. Since that time, the ISS has housed travelers in space from 19 countries. Possessing the only laboratory for long-duration microgravity research, discoveries aboard the orbiting outpost have led to a bevy of new discoveries.

Now, its mission could be over as early as 2024, as that is the time agreements between NASA and international partners comes to an end. However, on the 25 August, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated his support for extending the mission of the space station until the year 2030.

We expect to expand the space station as a government project all the way to 2030. And we hope it will be followed by commercial stations, Nelson stated.

Although Nelson has long supported extending the lifetime of the ISS to 2030, the U.S. Congress has, so far, failed to continue funding past 2024. Such an agreement would need the approval of Canada, Russia, Europe, and Japan.

Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, strongly supports an extension, as does Walther Pelzer, head of the German space agency DLR.

The future of space stations could be private, as the ability to reach space becomes more common among non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

One company developing private space stations, Axiom Space, seeks to begin with expanding out the ISS while constructing their own orbiting outpost. Their egg-shaped modules are designed to provide a 360-degree view of space, and the Earth turning far below.

Once fully assembled, Axiom Station will nearly double the useable volume of the International Space Station, the team reports.

An artist concept of the Axiom station deployed on the International Space Station. Image credit: Axiom SpaceSierra Space also has its own design for long-term habitation in low-Earth orbit.

Sierra Spaces space station leverages its transportation and destination technologies including the Dream Chaser space-plane and LIFE Habitat. The station is a configuration of multiple expandable LIFE habitats that can be serviced by both cargo- and crew-carrying Dream Chaser spaceplanes, the company describes.

Nations including China are now investing in space exploration in an effort to further science, encourage minds, and discover technologies needed to face global climate change in a post-oil world.

On 16 June, China successfully launched the first module in its own space station, Tiangong, into orbit around Earth.The China National Space Administration (CNSA) also plans to launch aHubble-class space telescope to accompany their spaceborne laboratory.

During his talk, Nelson called out for cooperation with China building the future of space stations. However, he also stated the he believed the United States is now in a space race with The Middle Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Russia and China have agreed to work together building a base on the Moon, and they have extended an offer to Europe to join their project. In the United States, NASA continues with their goal of returning to the Moon (hopefully in 2024) with the Artemis program.

Over time, the space station is slowly losing its orbit, and must be continually adjusted. Much of the fuel needed to carry out this task comes from leftover resupply ships launched from Earth.

The space station is also under constant threat from micrometeorites and space debris. Eventually, the laws of probability state the ISS will one day suffer catastrophic damage from such an impact.

Letting this massive craft enter the Earths atmosphere in an uncontrolled re-entry could prove hazardous to those on the ground. The safest option is a planned re-entry over the sparsely-populated South Pacific.

One challenge facing those planning to eventually de-orbit the ISS is that it is big really big. Nearly 100 meters long, the facility offers living space as large as a six-story house. Were it on our home world, the ISS would weigh 420,000 kilograms (900,000 pounds) more than the weight of four average blue whales the largest animals ever to live on Earth.

When the time comes to end the mission of the ISS, thrusters (likely provided by Russian Progress spacecraft) will direct the orbiting outpost to an incendiary re-entry over the southern Pacific Ocean.

Before that time comes, try to see the ISS flying overhead (several apps are available telling you when to look) its quite a remarkable sight.

This article was originally published onThe Cosmic Companionby James Maynard, the founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion. He is a New England native turned desert rat in Tucson, where he lives with his lovely wife, Nicole, andMax the Cat. You can read the original article here.

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The ISS could be gone by 2024 what does it mean the future of space travel? - The Next Web

01 September 2021

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a contract to Belgian company Tractebel to evaluate the possibility of producing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) for use in space exploration. Separately, US company X-energy, working as part of a General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) team, is to develop key fuel fabrication processes in support of a first-of-a-kind rocket powered by nuclear thermal propulsion under a contract awarded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Radioisotope power sources - sometimes referred to as nuclear batteries - fuelled with Pu-238 have been used in space missions since the early 1960s. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators and radioisotope heater units can provide power and heat continuously over long, deep space missions. Pu-238 is made by irradiating neptunium-237, recovered from research reactor fuel or special targets, in research reactors but at present only Russia and the USA have the capability to produce the isotope.

Working in partnership with Orano and SKC-CEN, Tractebel will study the possibility of manufacturing Pu-238 by bombarding neptunium-237 from the La Hague recycling facility in France with the neutron flux of the BR2 research reactor in Mol, Belgium. The work will include the development of a "roadmap" for the creation of a Pu-238 production chain in Europe that will include a timeline and estimated production capacity and costs, as well as evaluating regulatory acceptance, Electrabel said.

ESA is manufacturing the European Large Logistic Lander (EL3) to land on the moon as part of Europe's participation in the NASA-led Lunar Gateway programme, which aims to establish aplanned small space station in lunar orbit that will serve as a staging point to send astronauts to Mars. The EL3 equipment may need to survive the lunar night - when it will not be exposed to sunlight - for up to two weeks.

Brieuc Spindler,Tractebel's Product Owner - Space, said the study will contribute to making European space exploration more independent. "With a team of multidisciplinary experts, we will analyse the capability of Europe to develop its own supply chain of plutonium 238," he said. "It has the best technical characteristics for space applications, but has never been developed in Europe. It is our first contract with ESA, and what we hope marks the beginning of a fruitful cooperation."

US nuclear reactor and fuel design engineering company X-energy has announced it will develop key fuel fabrication processes to support DARPA's Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) programme, which aims to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion - or NTP - system above low Earth orbit in 2025. General Atomics was selected earlier this year to carry out the reactor development work for the project.

NTP systems use a nuclear reactor to heat propellant to extreme temperatures before expelling the hot propellant through a nozzle to produce thrust, providing greater propellant efficiency compared with chemical rockets.

As part of a team led by GA-EMS, X-energy said it will develop key fuel fabrication processes in support of a first-of-a-kind NTP-powered rocket. This will provide previously unavailable data on the specialised fuel, and will contribute to the design of the system, the company said.

X-energy, which has operated a pilot fuel facility since 2017, has active contracts with the US Department of Energy and Department of Defense to develop terrestrial-based nuclear power systems and has supported NASA in their refinement of NTP reactor concepts. It also has partnerships with sister companies Axiom Space - which is building the first commercial space station - and Intuitive Machines - which is developing the first commercial moon lander, scheduled to launch in 2022.

X-energy Executive Chairman Kam Ghaffarian said the company's delivery of nuclear know-how to the DRACO programme fulfilled a long-held personal goal to apply safe, secureand affordable nuclear solutions to the benefit of space-based systems. "The US Government recognises innovative, mission-enabling value of nuclear to achieve our cislunar and planetary exploration goals and we are thrilled to be part of it," he said.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

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European and US nuclear companies contribute to space work : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News

Several NASA employees and a "Star Trek" actor gathered virtually in a panel to celebrate diversity on what would have been the 100th birthday of the franchise's creator, Gene Roddenberry, last Thursday (Aug. 19).

Roddenberry was famous for embedding diversity into "The Original Series," which aired from 1966 to 1968 with a cast of starring, smart characters from different backgrounds such as a Russian at the height of the Cold War, and a Black woman working on the bridge at the height of U.S. segregation.

And starting with that first series, NASA has collaborated with "Star Trek" from time to time to leverage the actors' talents for agency campaigns. Famous examples include a campaign of the 1970s seeking women and Black space travelers and renaming a space shuttle prototypeafter "Star Trek" starship U.S.S. Enterprise.

Related: The best Star Trek gifts and deals for 2021

Neither NASA nor Roddenberry was perfect in their approach to diversity in the early years, but they each made efforts to rectify concerns. NASA administrator Bill Nelson opened the discussion in a prerecorded message by noting Roddenberry was "ahead of his time," and that the message of diversity Roddenberry attempted to inculcate continues to inform NASA.

A 1976 Roddenberry statement where he spoke about diversity and its importance to "Star Trek" and exploration was also broadcast on the Deep Space Network during the NASA Television livestream.

"If we cannot learn to actually enjoy ... small differences, [and] take in a positive light those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity is almost certainly out there," said the 1976 statement from Roddenberry, in part. Roddenberry died in 1991.

Explaining why diversity was so important to Roddenberry, his son Rod opened the discussion by mentioning the franchise was built on a backbone philosophy called "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations."

"In Star Trek," he continued, "it wasn't about a group of people going out to seek weird-looking aliens. They're going out to find creatures in our universe that looked at the universe in a different and unique sort of way. We have reached a point in our intellectual evolution where we understood that that we had to experience things that were different, to grow and evolve."

George Takei played Hikaru Sulu on "The Original Series." A Japanese-American whose family was interned in the United States during the Second World War, Takei recalled the American context of the 1960s in which "The Original Series" ran.

In 1966, "Star Trek" came to television "at the height of the various social issues," he said. "We had the civil rights movement going on, African Americans demonstrating for equality and being attacked by law enforcement officers, with attack dogs and fire hoses."

Drawing parallels with the current-day Black Lives Matter movement, Takei said there still is a long way to go but diversity has made strides in the more than 55 years since "Star Trek" started airing. "It was an optimistic look toward the future," he said of the show. "Hopefully not that far in the future, we will be able to recognize what Gene was telling us, by working together in concert."

Tracy Drain, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory who has helped with missions such as the Kepler planet-seeking spacecraft and the Juno Jupiter flybys, said she grew up watching "Star Trek" and is thrilled to explore planets in real life, as the actors did in the show. But she said she was fortunate because both she and her mother one generation before were inspired by the Black actors on the show to explore space, even though they didn't see examples in real life around them.

"There's a double-edged sword to that because I was also a bit cut off from my own people's culture and history, and only started learning about that in my 30s," Drain noted. For example, she initially had no idea about the NASA "Hidden Figures" the Black computer scientists of the 1960s who worked in the background of astronaut missions at the same NASA center, Langley, as Drain did during her internship.

Drain added diversity is one of the best parts of her job at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she has worked since graduation. "Even though I personally have gotten to work with a lot of people from so many different backgrounds and just educational experiences, trying to put together these complex missions, it's been wonderful."

Hortense Diggs, director of the office of communications and public engagement at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, said the various agency employees and contractors she works with continue to be inspired by the diversity of the various U.S.S. Enterprise crews.

Diggs, who is Black, confided that until her junior year in high school, she wanted to be a pediatrician because she loved working with kids and students. She had talked herself out of going to school and majoring in biology because "I don't see anyone that looked like me." But her math grades earned her a post-secondary scholarship in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and her mother encouraged her to go despite her doubts.

Now happily at NASA, Diggs said she is convinced that young students need to know that astronaut careers "as much as we love them" are not the only pathway to space. "I want to make sure that they know about the other things that are out there, so that they can find a passion for what NASA is doing and be inspired to one day join us in our exploration."

Swati Mohan, lead for Mars 2020 guidance, navigation, and controls operations JPL, drew parallels between the ongoing search for life on Mars and the search for life that the "Star Trek" crews continue to show in fiction.

"The part that I love best about it was that each episode had a way of turning what you thought you knew about the universe on its head, and making you realize that there was so much more out there than what you could comprehend," Mohan said. "Right now, in the vastness of the universe, what we know about it is so different. The part that excites me most about the missions that we work on is seeking out that knowledge in whatever shape or form that it may come in."

Mohan, an Indian-American who came to the United States with her family when she was one year old, said she "felt bifurcated" because she experienced one culture at home and another culture at school. Space exploration ended up being her way of seeking a better place, Mohan added, and for helping and inspiring youth coming behind her.

"All throughout growing up, it took a lot of soul-searching and being honest with myself as to what I was really passionate about, and what I was really good at," Mohan said. "Not to take in what I thought I needed to do, or how I thought I needed to be based on my upbringing or my culture, but what I really wanted for myself."

Astronaut Jonny Kim, who also participated in the panel, recalled struggling growing up to "become the best version of myself" because he was having difficulty finding an identity.

"My parents were immigrants and culturally, I felt between worlds. Something about the warrior culture of becoming a Navy SEAL really called out to me, and I tried it. I discovered a little bit of who I was," he said.

"I discovered the goods and the bads of humanity, of human struggle, and I was inspired to become a physician from there," Kim continued. "And in doing that, I found NASA. I discovered NASA as a platform to do what I love to do, which is seek hard things, challenging things to push beyond limits, but at the same time make the world a better place."

He added that growing up, he never expected to be an astronaut. While he had a picture of the Apollo 11 crew pinned over his bed, the Korean-American did not see himself reflected in the three white faces on the wall. "When we don't see someone that we can relate with in the places we want to be, or in the things that we're striving to do, we just don't think about doing it. It's just the way it is," he said.

Takei challenged the NASA employees on the call (and anyone listening in) to bring the diversity of space exploration into other problems on Earth. "It's wonderful that we're going out there, and we did inspire with 'Star Trek' and Gene Roddenberry's vision the importance of infinite diversity in infinite combinations coming together. But also we need to get your kind of minds working on the problems, the social justice problems, that we have in our society today."

In part of her response, Diggs noted NASA needs to continue to think creatively to bring diversity to the agency, as qualified people are abundant. "Put some mindful thought into it, and thinking about how we address those problems head on, as well as doing the exploration that we're in the midst of."

Mohan added that NASA continues to seek the challenge of making diversity in society reflected in its own teams, although the effort is nowhere near finished yet and there always is the bias to hire people like yourself not a good bias, she noted. If we only seek like people, she warned, "we won't have the diversity of mindset, we won't have the diversity of thought, that will really allow us to think outside the box to solve these hard technological problems."

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

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NASA officials and 'Star Trek' stars honor Gene Roddenberry's lasting legacy on his 100th birthday - Space.com

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Aviation and aerospace giant Boeing upped the ante in the commercial space race by putting $100 million into Richard Bransons Virgin Orbit satellite launch startup.

See: Numbers Behind the Modern-Day Space Race: Why Billionaires Are Obsessed With Going To Space and How Much Theyre SpendingFind: Back from Space and Wanting More: Bezos Blue Origin Offers to Bridge $2 Billion for NASAs Lunar Contract

The money will go toward Virgin Orbits $3.2 billion SPAC listing, the Surface website reported. That startup is a spinoff of Bransons space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, which made its maiden launch this past month with Branson aboard.

Boeings entry adds to an increasingly crowded field of private-sector space adventurers. Others include Firefly Aerospace, Rocket Lab and Elon Musks Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Virgin Orbit says it has $4 billion in opportunities in the pipeline, Surface reported. That includes $300 million in backlogs across contract and launch service deals as well as a $35 million contract with the U.S. Space Force for three missions. Virgin Orbit is using a customized Boeing 747 jumbo jet to launch its reusable rockets at roughly 35,000 feet above sea level.

The space exploration company said it would list on the Nasdaq by merging with NextGen Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition firm, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. NextGen is run by George Mattson, a former Goldman Sachs banker; and Greg Summe, a former senior executive at the Carlyle Group.

For its part, Boeing has made no secret of its interest in space travel. Its website boasts of designing and building the future of safe, assured space exploration and commercial access, and details the companys critical research on the International Space Station (ISS) that benefits the future space economy, deep-space exploration and life on Earth.

See: Richard Bransons Virgin Orbit To Go Public Via SPAC Deal Worth $3.2 BillionFind: Richard Branson Gave Elon Musk a Brilliant Career Tip You Need to Steal Right Now

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A Boeing spokeswoman told the WSJ that her companys investment in Virgin Orbit was a strategic move that builds on its longstanding relationship with the Virgin Group.

We believe in the importance of the satellite launch market and the capabilities Virgin Orbit brings to the industry, she said.

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San Antonios space architect wants to make the city a space construction hub and thats just one of Sam Ximenes ideas.

From moon bases to space stations, the San Antonio native is at work designing the next chapter of space exploration. When hes not doing that, hes helping young people get interested in space, science and technology.

His latest creation? A space station that looks like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. On a recent afternoon, he was in his companys sparse conference room at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology reviewing renderings of a circular spacecraft with sleek spires.

He calls it a Celestial Aligning Bernal Sphere, and images of the craft set against spacescapes look like frameable art.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio firm is working on moon launch pads for NASA

Its the latest design by a San Antonian whos always working on the next idea.

Ximenes is founder and chief executive of space architecture firm Exploration Architecture, or XArc, as well as a space construction company called Astroport. Hes also founder and board chair of the WEX Foundation, an entity focused on space education for middle and high schoolers.

There are a million architects in this world ... space architects you can count on two hands, said David Monroe, founding chair of the museum. Hes just a really, really unique person, because he thinks in another dimension than most of us do.

With roots on the citys South Side and in Floresville, his family heritage is grounded in agriculture, service, social justice and civil rights. His ancestors served as Floresville sheriff, helped clear the way for Hemisfair Park and ran a South Side restaurant.

His uncle Vincente, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran, became a civil rights activist and leader with the American GI Forum a Hispanic veterans and civil rights organization. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him the third commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Exploration Architecture Corporation founder and CEO Sam Ximenes holds a jar of fine basalt powder Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in his Port San Antonio lab. XArc received a $136,000 NASA small business grant to evaluate lunar landing pad construction using technology to melt moon soil, which contains a large amount of basalt, to build landing pads for spacecraft.

Another uncle, Edward, was a doctor who served in World War II. Texas Gov. John Connally appointed him to the University of Texas Board of Regents in 1967. He was the first Hispanic appointed to the position and helped bring the UT system to San Antonio. Today, a street and parking lot at the University of Texas at San Antonio bear his name.

His aunt helped introduce bilingual education in the area, and yet another uncle was a contractor at Kelly AFB. Ximenes father, Waldo, was an Air Force judge advocate who became a federal judge.

One of five siblings, Ximenes was born at Fort Sam Houston. His fathers service kept the family on the move Laredo, California, Spain, Germany and the Philippines.

I wouldnt have it any other way because it taught me how to adapt quickly, how to make friends quickly, how to leave friends quickly and how to know that you still have friends around the world, he said. And the ability to understand other cultures and other viewpoints its been a tremendous learning experience.

A self-described bookworm, he became interested in technology by way of James Bond books and movies.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio company working with military, SpaceX to move cargo anywhere in world in an hour or less

Ximenes graduated high school in the Philippines and returned to Texas to study architecture at Texas A&M.

Since middle school, I always wanted to be an architect, he said. I thought I wanted to do it because I wanted to build my own house which I havent done.

After college, Ximenes spent time in Lake Tahoe, working first with a hot air balloon company and then for the city, overseeing art installations in public buildings. Four years later, he got restless and took off in his Datsun 240Z.

He spent two years in Cuernavaca, Mexico, working in a womens shoe factory. His job was to turn scraps into a product. So, I designed a line of toys for them, he said.

Next, he found himself designing street furniture in Hamburg, Germany, in the early 80s. In those pre-Internet days, he was intrigued by a video advertising kiosk he saw at a train station.

It just struck me that videos the next thing so I went and contacted that company, he said. And I convinced them to let me go to America and try and sell this concept.

The idea brought him back to San Antonio, where he incorporated his first company Video Point Corp. of America.

We ended up getting a contract with the New Orleans Worlds Fair in 1984 to set up these kiosks, he said. Wayfinding kiosks.

The deal couldve changed the trajectory of his life, but few attended the fair and his company went bankrupt.

Artist rendering of a Celestially Aligning Bernal Sphere

On ExpressNews.com: This is not SpaceX property - this is my property: SpaceX looks to recast South Texas town as Starbase

That was my first business failure, but you learn from failure, he said.

Hoping to return to architecture, he wrote a paper about how humans could be oriented aboard space stations. A journal published it, and the success deepened his interest in the infrastructure of space.

Ximenes found some professors who were starting a space architecture program at the University of Houston. It was the precursor of the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, or SICSA.

There were three of us in the first official space architecture class, he said.

After earning his masters degree he worked at several companies, first designing lunar bases and then interiors for the International Space Station.

As a concept designer, Ximenes relies on engineers to move his concepts from art to reality.

They turn it into something that actually works, he said.

Larry Toups, who retired from NASA and now is an adjunct professor at SICSA, has known Ximenes since they both studied at the University of Houston.

He has a vision of how you can look to the future, and how you solve some of the engineering and technical challenges required for going to places such as the moon or Mars, said Toups, who serves as an advisor for Astroport.

On ExpressNews.com: UT San Antonio moon rock researchers seeking the ideal recipe to build lunar bases

Along his path, Ximenes has experienced the ups and downs of space contractor life: A layoff when the federal government canceled a contract. A swerve into business development in an adjacent industry. Moves across the country. Then, a job with a Houston company in 2004.

It was the year aerospace engineer Burt Rutan won the $10 million Ansari X-prize for creating a spacecraft that could fly to space twice in two weeks. The next year, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, teamed up with Rutan to create spaceship company Virgin Galactic.

Today, some see Rutans victory as the start of the billionaire battle for the stars between Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Branson.

The company Ximenes worked for at the time played a role in Virgin Galactic: It helped design the terminal-hangar facility at Spaceport America, N.M., the companys headquarters.

Things were moving fast in the space business, and in 2007 Ximenes stood up his own space architecture firm, XArc. I could see commercial space business coming up, he said. So I decided, well, Im going out on my own this time to position myself for that work.

The U.S. Transportation Command, which moves military personnel and equipment around the world, is working with Ximenes XArc and SpaceX to develop rapid transportation through space capabilities.

Artist rendering of a Celestially Aligning Bernal Sphere

The government is looking at vertically landing rockets to haul gear and people anywhere in the world in an hour or less. Ximenes team is helping to develop ground support infrastructure for rocket landing areas.

The money is going to be in the hardware development and the technology development because we dont have a lot of stuff right now, he said. And theyre still trying to understand all these ways to use building materials on the moon and whatnot.

The realization led to his space construction firm, Astroport, in 2020. In May, NASA awarded the company a contract to research construction of lunar landing pads using robots and molten moon dust. Astroport collaborates with UTSA and the University of Adelaide Australia.

On ExpressNews.com: Making space habitable: UTSA takes part in NASA project to build safe place for astronauts to call home

Ximenes nonprofit WEX Foundation, named for his father Waldo E. Ximenes, exposes middle and high schoolers to space exploration. Its received several NASA grants since its launch in 2009, and Ximenes estimates its programs have influenced more than 50,000 students.

Its been really a godsend because it is really about the next generation, he said. Its not about me and how am I going to get to space because Im not going to get there.

Jim Perschbach, CEO of Port San Antonio, said Ximenes work in space is groundbreaking.

But the thing that impresses me most is ... what hes doing here, and by that, I mean, the WEX Foundation, he said. He is taking time out of his daily work, out of his research programs, to work with kids on the same type of work that he is doing for the folks who really are doing space exploration.

Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net

Artemis Academy student Penny Pim, 11, takes a picture as she and her mother, Talia, attend a presentation with astronauts aboard the International Space Station as part of WEX Foundation's Space Fest 2021 on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Penny was one of several students who recorded a question to ask the astronauts for the presentation. Students and their family members gathered at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT) to engage with International Space Station astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough as well as French Astronaut Thomas Pesquet as they orbited the planet aboard the ISS. During an approximately 15-minute live video feed, the three crewmembers responded in real time to prerecorded questions submitted by students earlier in the month. Those taking part in the event included current and past students of the WEX Foundations Lunar Caves Analog Test Sites (LCATS) programa three-year curriculum that engages students ages 12-18 across the San Antonio region in innovative STEM/STEAM enrichment activities based on space technology and exploration.

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S.A.'s space architect: hometown roots, out-of-this-world ideas - San Antonio Express-News

Ali Agha, Caltech Project Lead, JPL Nebula Autonomy and AI, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talks testing Boston Dynamics' Spot AI robot for Mars mission.

- Welcome back to "Yahoo Finance Live. Deeper space exploration missions come with their own set of challenges. Not only are instruments farther away, which make the delay in reacting to certain things difficult, but tricky terrain on the Martian surface has made wheel travel less ideal, as well. And that has researchers turning the Boston Dynamics dog-like robot-- you may remember that one from a lot of viral videos-- SPOT, as it's called, for potential solutions.

For more on that partnership, happy to welcome in our next guest here. Ali Agha, who has a plethora of titles here. But I'm just going to go ahead and call him group leader and roboticist at Nasa JPL. And Ali, really what you're focusing in on here in the project you lead is kind of the autonomy around some of these robots, to maybe try and figure out some of the things on their own to make the missions easier. But talk to me about how SPOT and that side of robotics helps.

ALI AGHA: Exactly, yeah. We here work on autonomy and artificial intelligence for robotic platforms. In some sense, you can think of our work as focused on building brains for robots. And typically, these brains are agnostic to specific robotic platforms. We integrate these. We have wheeled rovers. We have legged platforms, as the one you can see from Boston Dynamics. Even drones and flying robots with applications for terrestrial settings, search and rescue, mining and so on, as well as our main goal, which is space exploration.

And among these different locomotion capabilities and different mobility systems, legged robots are one of the most promising ones because specifically for NASA, targeting exploration of Mars surface, moon surface. We don't have roads there. It's all rugged terrain, off-road setting.

And even on Earth, when you have no road conditions, you typically have animals with legs, right? So legs offer much more capable locomotion ability to go over rocks and different extreme environments. And that's why we are very excited to integrate our autonomous solutions with these legged platforms to enable new kinds of missions.

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- I assume, too, that the cost has maybe become a little bit more complicated here. When you're thinking about SPOT off the shelf, I think what? It's like $75,000 for one of those things. And then you add on what you guys are working on. So how much more does it kind of come out to you, when you retrofit or add the capabilities that you need to kind of help in these missions?

ALI AGHA: Yeah. First of all, cost is coming down very rapidly. These technologies are just at-- these are the first steps in bringing these technologies to everyday life, to different types of missions. So the cost is rapidly going down and we are hoping that the legged platforms that are going to get cheaper and cheaper.

But you're right. At the moment, a based platform would cost something like around 70k or so. And adding AI, and autonomy, and the sensing payload on top of it kind of doubles the price, roughly speaking. And that's for terrestrial applications. Once there is really a mission to send these to Mars or the moon, there's all plethora of new challenges to be resolved, such as making sure thermally or radiation-wise, you make these robots Mars ready or moom ready, which would be a totally different scale of cost and need there.

- I mean, all the time, these videos go viral for, I guess, stoking fears in what the autonomous robot future might look like. So there are people out there who might be watching who might be afraid of the idea of adding autonomy to that SPOT dog.

But in the tests that you guys have been running so far, what have you learned about how it can help, and how maybe some of those fears are overblown? But also, the timeline to actually get these things up there for the next mission. What's it all look like?

ALI AGHA: Yeah, there's always that perception about what will happen with AI growing and being more and more capable. But I think something typically being missed is it's not growing in isolation. As it grows and gets more capable, humans are getting capable, as well. It's kind of part of us. It's part of the system we're building.

And in that sense, I think we see, similar to many other technologies in the last century and decades, the benefits typically are much higher. And you might remember the event a few years ago, the Thailand boys got stuck in a cave. If there was technologies that autonomously we send robots, they exactly pinpoint, this is the location. This is what capability is needed, or how rescue people can get to the exact point to save these boys, the mission could have been much faster. We save more lives, and so on.

And similarly, in mining disasters, after natural disasters, and oil and gas industry, there's a lot of application domains that these systems can make a very positive impact on everyday human life.

And when it comes to the second part of your question on NASA missions, of course, there's a long road ahead. The steps we are taking here are initial steps to demonstrate that when we go to extreme environments such as caves, such as places on Mars that are really interesting science-wise, this system is able to actually autonomously get to those points without us having prior information about the environment.

But when it comes to the time to really create a mission around these, there are other considerations, such as entry descent landing. Can we land these sorts of platforms nearby those caves or destinations of interest? How do we handle radiation in places like the moon or Mars where there's no thick atmosphere to protect from that? And similarly, how do we handle thermal variation? There's extreme temperatures, and a hot side and a cold side.

And those are the kind of things that, down the road, after the proof of concept is finalized, need to be studied before a mission with a legged robot to Mars becomes a reality.

- Yeah, you say humanity's progressing, as well. I don't know. It might just be the smart people in your lab. You might be overestimating how much humanity outside of the lab has progressed here.

But when you look at Elon Musk and what he is doing at Tesla, also similarly last month introduced their own kind of concept idea of a Tesla bot, an autonomous robot, as well, which is interesting because he's been pretty outspoken about some of those fears of a Terminator like future, as well. So I guess he's changed his mind on that.

But when you look at the progress on autonomy and what you guys are working on to have these robots do things that, to your point, would benefit humanity, how far off is that technology from maybe the consumer space where you could go out and buy one of these on your own?

ALI AGHA: Yeah, I think, first on Elon Musk, I would say what they're doing in SpaceX, it's amazing in the sense that the increase in the frequency of launches from private sector, SpaceX, Blue Origin, all other companies is going to basically expedite by far the amount of technologies and opportunities that's going to be there to colonize other planets. And that's an amazing push there, and it's very, very helpful for developing these sorts of technologies and expediting them.

And when it comes to benefits to humanity, I think it is-- in my opinion, the next era is a robotic and AI era, where basically, the AI comes to physical systems, and embodies and tries to help people. We can see already the impact on education. You can see all sorts of different robots that kids can use to learn coding, to help with their education.

We can see slowly the entrance of robots to health care. We can see a direct impact on-- in the COVID era, basically we saw the direct impact, how robots can sometimes isolate and reduce the risk to the patient, doctor, in hospitals. And search and rescue is definitely another very big application domain where, after natural disasters, there's a clear need to send these robots to save lives or make the operations way more efficient for rescue personnel.

- And we've been seeing a growing number of those natural disasters here. We might need more robots out there than were expected to help on the front. But Ali Agha, group leader and roboticist at NASA JPL, appreciate you coming on here to explain it all for us, man. Have a great weekend. Exciting to see all the progress there.

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Sending robots to space is the 'first step' to bringing AI to everday life: Group Leader and Technologist at NASA JPL and Caltech - Yahoo Finance

Supply chains have been wreaking havoc across the industrial world. The complex web that holds the world's economies together has been fraying at the edges, resulting in some unexpected shortages, such as a lack ofrental cars in Alaskaand a lack ofLunchablesat the author's local grocery store.

Now there's a supply shortage that directly ties to the pandemic that is starting to affect the space launch industry oxygen.

It's common knowledge at this point that liquid oxygen (LOX) is an important tool for combating severe symptoms of COVID-19. Most patients admitted to the hospital with the virus need oxygen directly pumped into the lungs, usually supplied by LOX suppliers such as AirGas or other commercial gas companies.

Oxygen is also used in high quantities in a completely different application rocket engines.

Chilled oxygen is a necessary propellant chemical for all the leading launch firms, including SpaceX, Virgin Orbit, andULA. But it's becoming harder and harder to obtain the liquid form of the most abundant element in the Earth's crust.

That's in no small part because the same process used to create oxygen for rocket fuel can also create oxygen used for COVID patients. And as Richard Craig, the vice president of technical and regulatory affairs for the Compressed Gas Association, put it: "People come first."

Even avid space exploration fans wouldn't disagree with that logic. But the spike in COVID cases over the summer is starting to tax the supply chain for oxygen.

It got to the point that both Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's President, and Elon Musk, its CEO, spoke out about the potential impact a lack of oxygen could have on their flight schedule. Shotwell went so far as to directly ask conference-goers at the 36th Space Symposium to "send [her] an email" if they happen to have any liquid oxygen to spare.

She will be hard-pressed to find any in the home state of some of SpaceX's launches. Florida is one of the hardest-hit states in the current resurgence of the pandemic.

LOX normally isn't transported over far distances most is created about 200-300 miles (322-483 kilometers) from where it is distributed. It is possible to transport the liquid further. However, another confounding factor impacts the intricate LOX supply chain truck drivers.

LOX is highly flammable and explosive, so drivers that ferry it between production and consumption sites such as rocket pads have to be even more highly trained than a standard commercial truck driver. Right now, there is a shortage of commercial truckers of all stripes and a particular shortage of those qualified to haul liquid oxygen.

While some suppliers are, in fact, able to ship oxygen supplies farther than their usual customer base, that takes up valuable time from the truckers who would otherwise be able to deliver it to closer locations.

Those drivers aren't only responsible for delivering oxygen, though.

Other components for rocket launches, such as liquid nitrogen, are also carried by highly qualified drivers. This causes supply chain restrictions from the other side as well.

In fact, NASA had to delay a rocket launch of an Earth-surveillance satellite by a week due to a lack of liquid nitrogen ULA uses to test the rocket before launch.But the liquid nitrogen was itself a casualty of the oxygen shortage, according to astatement from NASA: "Current pandemic demands for medical liquid oxygen have impacted the delivery of the needed liquid nitrogen supply toVandenberg."

This surely will not be the last scheduling casualty of this growing supply chain problem.

SpaceX hopes to surpass their total of 26 launches from last year and are well on their way to doing so. But their timeline, and all other launch providers' timelines, might be impacted by this supply chain disruption.

This is just another reason to hope for a swift end to the pandemic for space exploration enthusiasts.

This article was originally published by Universe Today. Read the original article.

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The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Affecting Space Launches. Here's Why - ScienceAlert