Category Archives: Space Travel

Astronauts on the International Space Station are growing crystals that could help develop new drugs for use on Earth.

Picture: pixabay.com

Astronauts on the International Space Station are growing crystals that could help develop new drugs for use on Earth. Here are 10 healthcare technologies that have already come from space:

Robots that can remove brain tumours

Developed in Canada during the Space Shuttle era, Canadarm2 is a robotic arm that is attached to the outside of the International Space Station.

It is used for many tasks outside the space station to avoid astronauts having to complete high-risk space walks. This technology led to the creation of neuroArm, that can perform precision surgery inside MRI scanners, such as removing brain tumours.

Eye trackers used in laser eye surgery

In space, the lack of gravity changes the way the eyes move and perceive motion. High-tech eye trackers were developed to see where astronauts look during their normal work in micro-gravity. Eye movements are a problem faced in corrective laser eye surgery. Eye trackers developed for spaceflight are now being used in corrective laser eye surgery to ensure correct laser beam positioning.

Helping asthmatics breathe

Nitric oxide is a commonly found pollutant in the air, both on Earth and on the International Space Station. When a person has inflamed airways, as seen in asthmatics, an increase in nitric oxide is seen in exhaled air. The European Space Agency has developed a device that accurately measures nitric oxide in the exhaled air of astronauts to detect potential inflammation. This way, astronauts can be treated before the situation becomes more serious. This technology is now being used in asthmatics to detect the amount of nitric oxide in their exhaled air caused by inflammation in their lungs.

Keeping your bones strong Without gravity acting on their bodies, astronauts experience massive loss in bone density that is similar to the bone loss seen in elderly people with osteoporosis. Attempts are made to reduce this bone loss through daily exercise. Astronauts have also shown that taking a small amount of bisphosphonate, weekly, further reduces bone loss. Pharmaceutical discoveries like this are already benefiting the Earths ageing population.

Measuring your bodys temperature

Infrared technologies were developed many decades ago in Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory to measure the temperature of planets and stars. In 1991, this technology was turned into in-ear thermometers. In-ear thermometers provide temperature readings in just a few seconds and have been shown to provide accurate temperature readings, making them ideal for use in hospitals, doctors surgeries and even at home.

Measuring pressure inside the skull

While investigating vision changes in astronauts, scientists discovered they occurred due to increased pressure inside the skull, which, in turn, is the result of an increase in cerebrospinal fluid volume. Flight surgeons needed ways to monitor these pressure changes easily. Research in the UK has led to a device that can measure the pressure inside the skull using displacement of the ear drum, which is non-invasive, quicker and can be done anywhere.

A Star Trek tractor beam to help pass kidney stones

Being in space increases the risk of kidney stones forming. In astronauts, kidney stones can cause infections and complications severe enough to require crew evacuation. Research with Nasa has developed Star Trek-like hand-held ultrasound techniques that can detect, move and then pulverise stones making them easier to pass. This technology could benefit people with kidney stones on Earth, too.

Making teeth braces invisible

Translucent polycrystalline alumina. Its a bit of a mouthful. This advanced high-strength, maximum-translucent, shatter-resistant ceramic was developed for defence and aerospace. It was suggested that the material could be used for making translucent brackets for braces that would appear tooth coloured. After it was trialed, it became one of the most successful orthodontic products in history.

Detecting injuries and cancer using medical imaging

Processing digital signals can be tricky. Nasa pioneered high-tech digital-signal processing to help enhance lunar images to find the best Moon landing sites in the Apollo era. These signal processing techniques are now widely used in CT and MRI scanners to help doctors find injuries and cancers without needing to cut patients open to look inside. It is still being developed today.

Simplified kidney dialysis from spacecraft filtration systems

Water is heavy, so astronauts need to reduce the amount that has to be taken up to space from Earth. They achieve this by recycling and purifying most liquids on the International Space Station (including their urine). While developing these filtration systems, scientists applied the same technology to removing toxic waste from used dialysis fluid. This led to new dialysis machines that no longer need continuous water and drain connections, meaning they use less power and are portable, which enables use at home.

Written by Northumbria University lecturer Andrew Winnard and Nick Caplan, the associate professor of Musculoskeletal Health, Northumbria University.

This article was republished courtesy of the World Economic Forum.

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Here's how space travel is helping keep you healthy - Eyewitness News

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!

We thought wed start off with those famous words by Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generationas nobody does space travel better (fictionally, of course) than they do. It seems like a far-fetched idea for average people like us to travel to space. However, 20 companies are currently working on their technology that may soon make it possible for more humans to experience space travel and to send unmanned spacecraft for innovative cosmic explorations.

No surprises here as SpaceX constantly make headlines worldwide by successfully conducting innovative space missions all year round. Founded by Elon Musk,the company is a world-leader in designing, manufacturing, and launching advanced rockets and spacecraft. SpaceX aims to revolutionize space technology to make it possible for our civilization to live on other planets. As early as 2018, SpaceX willsend a crew to travel to spaceas part of NASAs Commercial Crew Program.

SpaceIL is a non-governmental team from Israel currently taking part in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition: a modern race to the Moon. Beyond the competition, however, SpaceIL has the goal of inspiring the next generation of Israelis to explore space. The group wants to do this by using the future success story of their spacecraft.

In order to win the competition, SpaceIL has three major tasks to accomplish.

[Image Source: SpaceIL via Facebook]

Dubbed as the worlds first spaceline, Virgin Galacticultimates goal is to make space accessible to more people. This goes hand in hand with wanting to conduct other meaningful space explorations. Since the space race began in the 1960s, only 559 people have been to space. Virgin Galactic is working to open the vast cosmic arena to the rest of us. Our purpose is to become the spaceline for Earth; democratizing access to space for the benefit of life on Earth,said the spaceline.

[Image Source: Virgin Galactic]

Founded by Amazons Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin is a privately-funded aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight service. They work on developing technologies that would allow private human space travel at low cost and increased reliability. Blue Origin is driven by the motto Gradatim Ferociter or step by step, ferociously. Their incremental development process builds upon each of the companys success as they continuously develop ground-breaking spaceflight systems.

This is the worlds first private commercial space station. Axiom Space wants to build an international and privately-ownedspace station that will be the successor of the ISS (International Space Station). The company offers services for a number of various sectors such as for sovereign astronaut missions, space tourist missions, on-orbit research, on-orbit manufacturing, space exploration systems testing, and academic research and outreach programs.

[Image Source: Axiom Space]

Space Nation is a space media company from Helsinki, Finland whotook a leading role in the global space boom as they announced the launch of the Space Nation Astronaut Program that is available to everyone. The Finnish start-up envisions a nation of space citizens by liberating space discovery, education, and wellness. You can sign up for free to their astronaut program and unearth your potential for space discovery.

[Image Source: Space Nation]

Deviating from most of the space companies here, DSI is an asteroid mining company that develop technologies to find, harvest, and supply the asteroid resources that will innovate the space economy. Asteroids in the C-group category are rich in water and other important elements like organic carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus as well as ferrous metals. DSI plans to send bespoke robotic spacecraft to extract water resources from identified asteroids using their next generation Comet water thruster. The extracted water can also be used as a propellant for the return trip.

Think beyond tomorrow is the aerospace companys motto, who sent the first expandable activity module to the International Space Station. Bigelow Aerospace is working on the XBASE (Expandable Bigelow Advanced Station Enhancement) for low-Earth orbit and deep space missions.Bigelows technology is similar to steel belt protection in tires giving their pressurized soft-goods high strength qualities. So far, one of their spacecraft is in orbit on ISS and two have already retired. They are currently developing two next-generationspacecraft for futuristic space missions.

Vulcan Aerospace was founded by Microsofts Paul Allen and is out on a mission to find solutions to some of the worlds most difficult challenges. The companys recent endeavor to reach space is with their recently revealed rocket-launching aircraft called Stratolaunch. The aircraft aims to provide convenient, reliable, and routine access to low Earth orbit. Inspired by space heroes like John Glenn and Alan Shepard, Allen in ultimately working to expand human access to space and improve our civilizations way of working and living.

[Image Source: Vulcan Aerospace]

Odyne Space has a simple mission launching effective and reliable micro- and nano-satellites to space orbit. The companys goal is to support and build the off-earth economy by providing intelligent, motivated entrepreneurs ways to immediately execute their business plans on orbit. We are passionate about seeing humanity become a space-faring society, the company noted. We will be the infrastructure of the new, space economy.

Rocket Labs mission is to remove barriers to commercial space. Thats what they just attempted to do by launching Electron a 3D printed battery-powered rocket into space. The company wants to provide frequent launch opportunities to low Earth orbit in order to achieve its primary mission. So far, Rocket Lab has delivered a number of rocket systems and technologies for fast and affordable payload deployment.

[Image Source: Rocket Lab]

This company is promising the ultimate fantasy of space travel. Floating up more than 100,000 feet within the layers of the atmosphere, you will be safely and securely sailing at the very threshold of the heavens, skimming the edge of space for hours, the company said. World View is currently working hard to develop their Stratollite technology in order to pioneer private space explorations. Their ultimate goal is to offer an affordable, safe, and gentle way for humans to travel to near-space for an unparalleled space experience. This is definitely one to watch out for.

Fireflys primary focus is to create the worlds best and low-cost light satellite launch vehicle. They are working to provide affordable, high-performance space launch capability for considerably small satellite markets. More often than not, these smaller markets have to settle for secondary payload launches and Firefly aims to innovate that under-served industry.

Extending the human presence across the solar system is Masten Space Systems ultimate goal and they are working on this by developing their entry, descent, and landing technologies (EDL). This technology is of paramount importance for spacecraft on a mission to land on other planets and celestial bodies. They are currently developing a lunar spacecraft that can deliver upto 10 tons of payload to the Moons surface.

[Image Source: Masten Space Systems]

Dedicated to both payload and human space travel applications, XCOR Aerospace is a pioneer in the fast development of reusable rocket engines. The company is developing and producing affordable engines and vehicles with low service requirements to make the dream of space missions a reality, as well as to open new opportunities across the space market.

A joint venture between The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin, ULA provides reliable and cost-efficient space launch services to multiple branches of the US government. The company has made their presence known in outer space for more than 50 years now, delivering payloads such as weather, telecommunications, and national security satellites. They are also involved in sending spacecraft to conduct interplanetary explorations and deep space missions in order to enhance our understanding of the universe.

[Image Source: United Launch Alliance]

Boeings Phantom Express spaceplane is intended to innovate space travel and cosmic missions for both their commercial and government clients. The company is developing this spaceplane to provide rapid, aircraft-like access to space. Their outlook on the future is to make space travel our civilizations mission saying, Boeing has and will take humans and technology farther than theyve ever been.

[Image Source: The Boeing Company]

Space Adventures offer space travels to everyone and has completed a total of 8 flights to the ISS for their private clients. Those private clients have flown to the ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and have dwelled alongside professional astronauts for 10 days or more. Clients were able to marvel the Earth from 250 miles above while traveling at 17,500 mph in a weightless environment inside the spacecraft. The company is inviting everyone to experience space and become one of the first 600 people to have ever flown to space. Get in touch with them by clicking here.

[Image Source: Space Adventures]

SNCs technologies are applied in a wide range of applications like in telemedicine, navigation and guidance systems, threat detection and security, commercial aviation, scientific research, and infrastructure protection. One of their most popular spacecraft is the Dream Chaser, a reusable vehicle for multi-mission, commercial, and transportation services to low-Earth orbit destinations.

Reaching for the stars isthe companys daily business as they design, develop, and operate major space systems. Currently, Airbus is developing and building the European Service Module (ESM). That will power the Orion capsule and its crew towards deeper into space and beyond what has previously been reached. The Orion is the next-generation NASA spacecraft designed for manned space missions beyond low-Earth orbit. It includes destinations like the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.

A lot of these companies promise to make space travel affordable for ordinary people like us. However, they have not disclosed how much roughly it will cost to privately embark on a space odyssey. It is indeed exciting to think that one day, you and I could just take a short holiday to space. Space travel is something that wasbeyond our imagination before. Now, we can confidently hope that all of these endeavors will be a reality during our lifetime.

Think we left out a company working toward space travel for all? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!

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20 Out-Of-This-World Companies Working On Space Travel Technologies - Interesting Engineering

Mashable

5 reasons why you should pay close attention to India's space program Mashable While India's space agency may not be the first organization you think about when it comes to space travel, there are many reasons we should all be following its progress. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been building a space program ... and more »

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5 reasons why you should pay close attention to India's space program - Mashable

The 2017 NASA astronaut candidates. Front row, from left: Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Raji Chari and Loral O Hara. Back row, from left: Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Robb Kulin, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins.Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz

NASA has picked 12 engineers, scientists and pilots to begin basic training for future spaceflight assignments from more than 18,300 applicants, adding U.S. military combat veterans, two medical doctors, a submarine officer, an MIT professor, an expert on submersibles, a SpaceX launch engineer, a field biologistand a planetary geologist to the agencys astronaut ranks.

Vice President Mike Pence, lawmakers and political dignitaries welcomed the 12 astronaut candidates Wednesday at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The new cadre of astronaut candidates are part of NASAs largest astronaut class since 2000, and they will begin two years of training in August before becoming full-feldged members of the astronaut corps and eligible for flight assignments.

These are 12 men and women whose personal excellence and whose personal courage will carry our nation to even greater heights of discovery and who I know will inspire our children and our grandchildren every bit as much as your forebears have done so in this storied American program, Pence said.

Pence reiterated the White Houses plans to reestablish the National Space Council, a multi-agency panel that waslast active during President George H.W. Bushs administration. Pence will chair the council, which will include representatives from civilian and military agencies, the private sector and academia.

America needs a National Space Council once again, Pence said. Twice before in our nations history, our nation has had a federal body charged with advising the president on national policy and strategy for space.

Pence did not offer specifics of the White Houses vision for NASA, but President Trumps fiscal year 2018 budget request proposes a $19.1 billion budget for the space agency next year, a $561 million reduction from NASAs current-year spending.

The budget request calls for a $170 million cut in Earth science spending, the elimination of five Earth science missions, the shuttering of NASAs education office, and the cancellation of a planned mission to retrieve a boulder-sized piece of an asteroid and return it to the vicinity of the moon for astronaut visits.

NASAs Space Launch System and Orion capsule, designed for deep space human exploration, would receive a multibillion-dollar budget, and the robotic Mars 2020 rover and Europa Clipper probe are kept on track in the White House proposal. A Europa lander would be terminated.

We will continue to unlock the mysteries of space, but to do so, we most reorient our civilian space program toward deep space exploration and provide the capabilites for America to maintain a constant presence in low Earth orbit and beyond, Pence said.

NASA released biographies of the 12 new astronaut candidates, who applied for the space program after NASA posted astronaut job openings in December 2015.

Here are brief overviews of the 12 new astronaut candidates provided by NASA:

As American astronauts, you may yet return our nation to the moon, you may be the first to travel to Mars, (and) you may have experiences that we can only imagine, Pence said.

NASA culled the 12 finalists from more than 18,000 applicants, a record level of interest in the astronaut job opportunities that bested the number of applications for the space agencys 1978 astronaut class, the first to include women and minorities.

Getting down from 18,000 to some manageable number was a feat in and of itself, said astronaut Chris Cassidy, deputy chair of the astronaut selection board. We physically interviewed 120 people here in Houston obviously these 12 were a part of that and thats when it really gets hard.

The would-be space explorers are a diverse group, hailing from different personal backgrounds and boasting a range of professional experiences.

Five of the astronaut candidates hold doctorate degrees, and seven are current or former military officers.

Jonny Kim, a former Navy SEAL and currently an emergency physician, said NASA told the incoming astronauts they would likely initially train to fly on commercial SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsules to the International Space Station.

Asked if he would ride on a CST-100 Starliner crew craft owned and operated by Boeing, a SpaceX rival, SpaceX engineer Robb Kulin said yes.

Ill ride on whatever spacecraft I can go on, said Kulin, who helped design parts of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket and most recently led SpaceXs launch chief engineering office. Im pretty confident in the processes, as a whole, to get us there safely.

Two of the astronaut candidates have experience in NASAs robotic exploration programs. Watkins, a former college rugby player, worked on NASAs Curiosity Mars rover and other missions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Chari was an intern at two NASA centers as a student at the Air Force Academy, assigned to teams developing the Spitzer Space Telescope and a Mars sample return mission.

I think one (area) that was a bigger focus in this selection was skills that are appropriate for longer-tern spaceflight, so stays on the ISS that are six months or longer, or possible deeper space exploration missions, said OHara, a subsea systems engineer.We have a little more of a remote and extreme environment skillset than maybe previous classes did.

Bob Hines, the oldest of the group, said he attended Space Camp as a child, which fanned the flame and grew his interest in spaceflight. But his lifelong passion has been aviation, and he only became interested in the astronaut corps recently as a pilot based at Johnson Space Center.

Matthew Dominick was deployed on the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific Ocean when he learned of his selection to become an astronaut.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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NASA unveils new class of 12 astronauts - Spaceflight Now

IKEA is set to produce a collection ofspace-saving furniturethat draws on the logistics of space travelto find innovativesolutions for shrinking living spaces.

The new collection was announced today at the furniture company's annual Democratic Design Day, which is taking place in lmhult, Sweden. While it hasn't been revealed whatproducts will be included in the collection, IKEA says it will launch in 2019.

IKEA's Democratic Design Day aims to make the company's plans more transparent by sharing some of its behind-the-scenes research and processes. It takes place each yearin lmhult, the home of the first IKEA store.

Working alongside NASA and Lund University School of Industrial Design, the space collection will "tap into what scientists and engineers learn from spaceflight" particularly the way they deal with restricted living areas.

As part of theproject, IKEA also revealed that it is working alongside NASA to figure out howinterior spaces might be designed for life on Mars, andhowthey could make the planet feel like home tothose who would live there.

"This collaboration is not about IKEA going to Mars, but we are curious about life in space, the challenges and needs, and what we can make out of that experience for the many people," Michael Nikolic, creative leader at IKEA Range and Supply.

"When you design for life in a spacecraft or planetary surface habitat on Mars, you need to be creative yet precise, find ways to repurpose things and think carefully about sustainability aspects," he added. "With urbanisation and environmental challenges on earth, we need to do the same."

The company attributes the idea for this new collection to a change in our living conditions, citing shrinking homes and a 70 per cent increase in city living as the main drivers.

"Urban challenges such as small living spaces will lead to changes in the home," said IKEA. "Already today downsizing and micro-living is a reality in big cities."

"In spaceflights, small space living has always been a reality. IKEA will, therefore, tap into what scientists and engineers learn from spaceflight to Mars, and apply these discoveries to products and methods for everyday life at home, here on earth."

The Swedish furniture giant joins a number of designers who are already responding to smaller, more flexible spaces with furniture that makes the most of every inch of the floors, walls and even the ceiling.

Recent solutions include a hanging storage system byJordi Iranzo, aspace-efficient "living cube" by Till Knneker and a shelving system that comprises three interchangeable desktops by Matej Chabera.

Last year, IKEA announced its collaborations with Hay and Tom Dixon during its Democratic Design Dayevent.

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IKEA looks to space travel for new micro-living furniture collection - Dezeen

Adriana Lape, 10, of Lutz Elementary, builds her model rocket during Blast Camp at Vanguard Career Center in Fremont.(Photo: Craig Shoup/The News-Messenger)Buy Photo

FREMONT - Local students had a blast this week learning about space travel at a summer camp at Vanguard Career Center in Fremont.

The theme for the four-day "Blast Camp," according to Vanguard AssistantPrincipal Clay Frye, was space.

Frye said 95 students, entering grades five through eight from local schools, were able to attend free of charge, thanks to a $20,000 grant obtained bythe United Way of Sandusky County.

The camp was broken into seven mini camps offering students an opportunity to learn about NASA and what it takes to travel in space.

"The first thing we asked the kids is what they think it takes to send a rocket into space," Frye said. "Most said fuel, or a rocket. It's not just a countdown and a push of a button,but some didn't realize it takes engineers, welders and mechanics to launch a rocket."

Many of the jobs needed to build, send and maintain rockets in space are skilled trades that can be learned at schools like Vanguard, whichspecialize in skilled trade programs such as engineering, robotics and mechanical skills that it takes to build rockets.

Brooklyn Holland, 11, from Stamm Elementary, works on calculating her body weight in zero gravity.(Photo: Craig Shoup/The News-Messenger)

In one group, students were given the controls to fly a drone through a course and landon a pad, to would simulate what NASA is using to send drones into spacerather than more dangerous and expensive manned space flight.

Austin Dix, a 17-year-old Gibsonburg High School student, showed campers how to operate the drone, and thenhow to navigate through obstacles before landing the craft.

"NASA is using drones a lot on Mars, and here we are teaching them the basics of how to fly drones," Dix said.

JennieMcCoy, a medical career teacher at Vanguard, taught students about zero gravityand the effects it has on astronauts.

"When there is no gravity, all the liquids move up from your feet to your head," McCoy said. "Your head swells, your tongue swells and youlose your taste buds."

Students Parker Zelns, 11, Natalie Frye, 11 and Virginia DaBrunz, 11, are blindfolded and pinch their nose to simulate the lack of taste buds in zero gravity. Vanguard teacher Jenny McCoy administers the test with salty, sweet and sour tastes.(Photo: Craig Shoup/The News-Messenger)

McCoy had the students blindfolded, their noses pinched and drop different tastes like salty, sweet and sour on the students' tongues to see if students could taste what they were swallowing.

The summer camp is the first at Vanguard, something Frye said he would like to continue in the future.

"We've hosted winter camps for the last three years and we really want to do a summer camp each year," Frye said.

The camp would continue educating students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, orSTEM courses,and coincide with programs offered to students at Vanguard.

"A lot of these aren't aware of what we offer, so we are trying to expose them to these careers and the education that they can get at Vanguard," Frye said.

cshoup@gannett.com

419-334-1035

Twitter: @CraigShoupNH

Grace Waltermier, 11, is assisted by drone instructor Austin Dix on how to fly and land a drone. Dix said NASA is using drones more than ever to save money on exploring space by using unmanned aircraft.(Photo: Craig Shoup/The News-Messenger)

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'Blast Camp' gives students lessons on space travel - Fremont News Messenger

Founded by Paul G. Allen in 2011, Stratolaunch is the latest endeavor that aims to make space travel a possibility for consumers. With an eye on Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Stratolaunch seeks to enable advancements in science, technology and research from space. Stratolaunch was designed by Burt Rutan and built by Scaled Composites.

The aircraft is the largest in the world, with a widerwingspan that that of Howard Hughes Spruce Goose. The 6-engined Stratolaunchs size and statistics are staggering, the official press release notes it has a, wingspan, measuring 385 ft. by comparison, a professional football field spans only 360 ft. The aircraft is 238 ft. from nose to tail and stands 50 ft. tall from the ground to the top of the vertical tail. The massive wingspan is nearly 50% wider than the Airbus A380.

The carrier craft is notably powered by 6 engines. According to Wikipedia, the carrier plane will be powered by sixPratt & WhitneyPW4000, 205296kN (46,00066,500lbf) thrust-range jet engines, sourced from two used747-400sthat werecannibalizedfor engines, avionics, flight deck, landing gear and other proven systems to reduce initial development costs. The carrier is designed to have a range of 2,200km (1,200nmi) when flying an air launch mission.

Stratolaunch reacheda new milestone on May 31, 2017. Rolling out of the hangar,it exited the aircraft construction phase to begin the first steps in testing the new aircraft. First up will be testing of the fueling system. Enthusiasts were able to watch feeds from several news sources as the craft was revealed to the public.

The plan for the coming months is many rounds of ground and flighttesting.These tests will be based atMojave Air & Space Port, Stratolaunchs home airport. The ultimate goal of testing is to ensure the safety of crew and future passengers. Stratolaunch Systems Corporations goal is to send their first launch into LEO in 2019.

(All images courtesyStratolaunch Systems Corp.)

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spotlight - NYCAviation

The BBC is making a documentary about commercial space travel featuring Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic space programme and co-produced by his son Sam's company.

Quest for Space is the working title of the new documentary, which is fronted by Brian Cox and co-produced by Sundog Pictures, the production company run by Sam Branson. Sam Branson, who is chairman of Sundog, is also a friend of Cox.

The BBC has denied suggestions that the commission represents a conflict of interest and insisted that the programme will focus on space exploration and space mining generally and would not be a plug for Bransons company.

A spokeswoman said that it also promised to profile the work of other bodies including NASA and Deep Space Industries and Blue Origin the aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight service founded by Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos.

Richard Branson is understood to have been filmed by the producers and is expected to feature in the programme, which will air either at the end of this year or early next year. Bezos will also feature.

The commission is also said by sources to be a big deal for Sundog Pictures, which has been suspended by the BBC for any commissions following its documentary Reggie Yates: Hidden Australia which was on BBC3 at the beginning of this year.

The Corporation is completing an investigation into an alleged breach of editorial standards in a section of the programme, where an Aboriginal wake was allegedly filmed as if it were a party scene. Sundog has been suspended from future commissions until the matter is formally resolved.

The commercial space programme show was commissioned before the suspension which is why it has been allowed to go ahead. But RadioTimes.com understands that co-producers Voltage TV Productions have been given editorial responsibility for delivery of the programme because of the suspension.

RadioTimes.com also understands that the BBC is also keeping an eye on this commission generally in order to ensure it is journalistically rigorous.

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BBC commissions documentary about commercial space travel fronted by Brian Cox - Radio Times

By Alex Hollings 06.04.2017#Featured Email Share Tweet

The first time I ever saw a C-130 in person was as it came crashing down on a small air strip near Palm Springs, California in what was, at the time, the most brutal landing I had ever seen. I had been in the Fleet Marine Force for only a few weeks, and my wife and I had only just arrived in Twentynine Palms when I got scooped up as part of a security detail for the funeral of President Gerald Ford. It was a trip I wasnt able to warn her I was being taken on, and that would leave my new wife alone throughout New Years in a state she had never even visited before.

Despite the concerns I had about my wife not knowing where I was (I didnt have a cell phone at the time because I was poor and it was a long time ago), all of my trepidation vanished as I watched the biggest airplane I thought Id ever seen belly flop onto the tarmac. Id find out later that it was full of military personnel from various branches coming in for the funeral, and what I thought was a crash was actually Marine pilots making sure their passengers knew how tough Marines and their birds can be but even that early revelation into our relationship with other services was drowned out in my mind by the sheer scale of the aircraft. With its 133-foot wingspan, the C-130 is a big, bad plane, deserving of every bit of my awe, and its because of my memories of that flight line detail all those years ago that Im able to grasp the scale of a new aircraft that was unveiled on Wednesday, the Stratolaunch.

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Filed Under: Featured, North America News, World News Tagged With: aircraft, C-130, Headline, Launch, orbit, Paul Allen, space, SpaceX, Stratolaunch

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Alex Hollings Alex Hollings served as an active duty Marine for six and a half years before being medically retired. A college rugby player, Marine Corps football player, and avid shooter, he has competed in multiple mixed martial arts tournaments, raced exotic cars across the country and wrestled alligators in pursuit of a story to tell. His novel, "A Secondhand Hero" is currently seeking publication.

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Is this massive airplane the future of space travel? One billionaire thinks so. - SOFREP (press release) (subscription)

Credit: SpaceX

A refurbished robotic Dragon spaceship rocketed into orbit from Florida on Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, hauling nearly 6,000 pounds of crew provisions and biological, astrophysics and space technology experiments on a two-day trip to the International Space Station.

The unpiloted capsule soared into a late afternoon sky from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center at 5:07:38 p.m. EDT (2107:38 GMT) Saturday, two days later than planned after a thunderstorm prevented liftoff Thursday.

Nine Merlin 1D engines, generating a combined 1.7 million pounds of thrust, powered the 213-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket through a high-altitude cloud deck as the launcher arced to the northeast, aligning with the space stations orbital track.

It was the 100th launch from historic pad 39A, the previous home to Saturn 5 moon rockets and space shuttles. SpaceX began launch operations there in February, and has now flown six rockets from the seaside launch complex.

The Falcon 9s first stage engines shut down and deployed the rockets second stage more than 40 miles (65 kilometers) over the Atlantic Ocean, then the booster activated nitrogen cold gas thrusters to flip around and fly tail first.

While the upper stage accelerated into orbit, three of the Merlins first stage engines ignited to begin maneuvers to return the first stage to Landing Zone 1, and two more braking burns slowed the 156-foot-tall (47-meter) for a smooth vertical touchdown around 9 miles (14 kilometers) from where the mission started.

The landing marked the fifth time SpaceX has returned a rocket booster to Cape Canaveral all successful. The commercial launch company has recovered 11 rockets in 16 tries overall, a figure that includes landings at sea.

SpaceX aims to reuse the first stages, an initiative the company says will slash launch costs. The rocket that launched on the space station resupply run Saturday was entirely new, but the primary structure of the gumdrop-shaped Dragon cargo capsule on top previously flew on a 34-day orbital mission in September and October 2014, another first for SpaceX.

Engineers examined and stripped the spacecrafts structure after it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 25, 2014, following a visit to the space station, but the majority of the Dragon cargo capsule is the original article, according to Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceXs director of flight reliability.

He said engineers compared the structural loads and shaking components inside the Dragon capsule experienced on its 2014 flight with their design limits.

That tells us how much life the component has, and we make sure that the component has enough life for the next round, Koenigsmann said. There is a statistical variation, so you have to make a worst-case assumption, basically, to be on the safe side.

SpaceX goes through a similar review of parts on Falcon 9 boosters before clearing them for a re-flight, he said.

Kirk Shireman, NASAs program manager for the International Space Station, said before Saturdays launch that the space agency expects to approve SpaceX plans to re-fly more Dragon capsules and Falcon 9 boosters on future cargo missions to the orbiting research outpost.

SpaceX has two multibillion-dollar contracts with NASA to ferry equipment to and from the space station. The terms of the deal call for at least 26 missions, and 10 of those are in the books, including a failed cargo launch in 2015.

NASA has also contracted with SpaceX to develop a Crew Dragon vehicle capable to ferrying astronauts to and from the space station beginning as soon as next year.

Officials said SpaceXs next cargo mission to the station, scheduled for launch some time in August, will employ a newly-manufactured Dragon capsule.

We share the results with NASA, and review them together, and we conclude that we can either fly a component, or in some cases, we have to make a swap with a new component, Koenigsmann said, adding that such occurrences were very few.

According to Koenigsmann, SpaceX technicians replaced several items that were exposed to salt water after splashdown, such as batteries and the capsules heat shield. But the hull, thrusters, harnessing, propellant tanks, and some avionics boxes are original, he said.

I can tell you the majority of this Dragon has been in space before, Koenigsmann said.

Officials did not say if NASA was compensated for its approval of SpaceXs plans to launch a refurbished Dragon capsule to approach the space station.

Without specifying details, Shireman said the agreement is part of a normal back-and-forth between the government and the commercial operator, in which one party barters with the other.

The Dragon spacecraft is on a two-day voyage to the space station, where it is scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) Monday, when astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer will grapple the approaching capsule with the stations Canadian-built robotic arm.

The space station is in excellent shape, ready to receive Dragon, said Ven Feng, manager of the space station transportation integration office at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The robot arm will move the Dragon supply ship to a berthing port on the stations Harmony module, where it is scheduled to stay for nearly one month.

The station crew, reduced to three after the landing of a Russian cosmonaut and French astronaut Friday, will unpack 3,761 pounds (1,665 kilograms) of equipment and experiments loaded inside the Dragon capsules previously-flown pressurized module.

Some food and provisions for the stations crew are strapped inside the Dragon freighter, but research investigations take up the bulk of the ships volume.

Really, the utility of this SpaceX mission is science, Feng said. We have literally tons and tons of science going up on this mission.

Three payloads stowed inside the Dragons external rear trunk will be be removed robotically.

One of the unpressurized experiments, NASAs Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, will study the super-dense leftovers from violent supernova explosions. Made of 56 individual X-ray telescopes, the NICER instrument will observe neutron stars, the collapsed city-sized remnants of stars that have used up all of their nuclear fuel.

Scientists compare the density of a neutron star to cramming the mass Mount Everest into a sugar cube. One teaspoon of neutron star matter would weight a billion tons on Earth, according to NASA.

Developed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Naval Research Laboratory, the neutron star observer will spend 18 months detecting X-ray signals coming from deep space.

Neutron stars are fantastical stars that are extraordinary in many ways, said Zaven Arzoumanian, NICERs deputy principal investigator and science lead at Goddard. They are the densest objects in the universe, they are the fastest-spinning objects known, they are the most strongly magnetic objects known.

The NICER science team wants to know the structure and composition of neutron stars, which are so extreme that normal atoms are pulverized, freeing subatomic particles like neutrons, protons and electrons.

As soon as you go below the surface of a neutron star, the pressures and densities rise extremely rapidly, and soon youre in an environment that you cant produce in any lab on Earth, said Slavko Bogdanov, a research scientist at Columbia University who leads the NICER light curve modeling group.

Unlike black holes, which develop from explosions of stars more than 20 times the mass of the sun, neutron stars can be directly observed.

They emit light all across the spectrum, from radio waves to visible light up to X-rays and gamma rays, primarily in narrow beams from their magnetic poles, Arzoumanian said. Just like the Earth, the magnetic poles on a neutron star are not necessarily aligned with the spin of the star, so you can get narrow beams that sweep as the star spins, just like a lighthouse.

And if we happen to be in the path of the sweep we see a flash everytime one of these beams go by and the stars from a distance appear to be pulsing, so theyre called pulsars, Arzoumanian said.

Scientists will also demonstrate the potential of using the timing of pulses from neutron stars for deep space navigation.

Were going to look at a subset of pulsars in the sky called millisecond pulsars, said Keith Gendreau, NICERs principal investigator at Goddard. In some of these millisecond pulsars, the pulses that we see are so regular that they remind us of atomic clocks.

Atomic clocks are the basis of the Global Positioning System satellites, according to Gendreau.

Another payload bolted inside the Dragon spacecrafts trunk is a mounting platform for multiple Earth-imaging instruments, such as high-resolution digital cameras and hyperspectral imagers.

Developed commercially by Teledyne Brown, the MUSES device to be attached outside the space station is designed to accommodate several Earth-observing cameras by providing the individual instruments with pointing, power and data relay connections.

The third unpressurized experiment on Saturdays launch is the Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, made by Deployable Space Systems of Santa Barbara, California.

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory funded the solar array test flight, which is intended to test the structures ability to extend and retract, check its resilience to vibrations and other forces, measure its thermal gradients, and verify it can generate electricity.

The new solar array design, which unfolds like a party favor, could be used on future commercial satellites.

The array launched rolled up in a spool, but the experiment will be pulled from Dragons trunk around nine days after launch by the station robotic arm. While remaining in the arms grasp, the solar array will extend to a length of about 15 feet (5 meters) and remain unfurled for around a week.

ROSA is important to the space industry, said Jeremy Banik, the ROSA demonstrations principal investigator from the Air Force Research Laboratory. All spacecraft need power, and tradiational solar panels are made with square, flat plates that accordian fold with mechanical hinges.

The problem is, these panels tend to be heavy and bulky, and we just cant make them any bigger than what we do today. ROSA solves this problem by shrinking mass by 20 percent and stowed volume by a factor of four over these rigid panels, Banik said.

Once the week-long test is finished, the experiment will be returned to the Dragons trunk for disposal.

Live animals were also aboard Saturdays launch, including 40 mice inside specially-designed transporters for an investigation into a treatment that could combat bone loss in astronauts on long-duration space missions and osteoporosis in patients on the ground.

Once the mice arrive at the space station, astronauts will treat the rodents with NELL-1, a therapeutic treatment designed to promote bone growth, according to Chia Soo, the chief scientist for the experiment and a professor of plastic, reconstructive and orthopaedic surgery at UCLA.

Men and women past the age of 50, on the average, lose about a half-percent of bone mass per year, Soo said. But in microgravity conditions, the astronaut, on average, loses anywhere from 1 to 2 percent of bone mass per month.

She added that bone loss in astronauts has tremendous implications for humans with respect to long-term space travel or space habitation in microgravity because we end up progressively losing bone mass.

Twenty of the mice will return to Earth alive with the SpaceX Dragon supply ship in early July, the first time the commercial spacecraft has landed with live animals on-board. The 20 mice that come back alive will go to UCLAs laboratories for additional research and treatment.

The other 20 mice will remain on the space station for more observation and comparative studies with the mice on Earth. All of the animals will eventually be euthanized.

If successful, this will have tremendous implications for patients on Earth because if you look at statistics approximately one in every two to three females over the age of 50, or one in every four to five males over the age of 50, will have an osteoporosis-related fracture, Soo said.

We are hoping this study will give us some insights on how NELL-1 can work under these extreme conditions and if it can work for treating microgravity-related bone loss, which is a very accelerated, severe form of bone loss, then perhaps it can (be used) for patients one day on Earth who have bone loss due to trauma or due to aging or disease, Soo said.

A swarm of fruit flies launched to the space station to examine how prolonged spaceflight affects their heart function.

The hearts of the insects beat at about same rate as the human heart, making it a useful analog, scientists said.

Researchers are sending between 4,000 and 6,000 fruit fly eggs to the space station, where they will hatch before coming back to Earth aboard the Dragon spacecraft.

We would like to understand the role of microgravity on astronaut heart function in order to try to prevent long-term effects when they are in space for long periods and after they come back, said Karen Ocorr, a co-investigator on the fruit fly experiment from the Sanford Burnham Research Institute.

But there are real-world implications as well for people who are spending long periods of time in bedrest or immobilized, Ocorr said. We expect that what we find in our studies on the ISS will have implications for maintaining cardiac function in those sorts of situations.

Saturdays successful launch clears the way for four more SpaceX missions over the next month.

Next on the companys jam-packed manifest is BulgariaSat 1, Bulgarias first communications satellite, scheduled for liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center on June 15.

BulgariaSat 1s launch window June 15 opens at 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT) and extends two hours.

Koenigsmann told reporters he did not expect BulgariaSat 1s mid-June launch to be delayed after the two-day slip in the cargo missions blastoff this weekend. BulgariaSat 1, which is already being prepared for launch in a processing facility at Cape Canaveral, will launch on a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster.

SpaceX plans its fourth launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on June 25 with the second batch of 10 small new-generation satellites for Iridiums orbiting voice and data relay network.

The Intelsat 35e high-throughput communications satellite will follow no earlier than July 1 from SpaceXs Florida launch base.

The SpaceX launch teams have conducted three launches in the last 34 days, with three more planned in the next four weeks.

Ground crews, engineers and managers are learning to deal with this operation better and better every time, Koenigsmann said after Saturdays launch. The situation that we launch from both coasts is something that is somewhat new for us.

Weve had this with a little bit of separation in the past, and weve set up the teams to be able to cope with that, and have the ability to launch from both sites within a short period of time, he said.

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Reused Dragon cargo capsule launched on journey to space station - Spaceflight Now