Category Archives: Space Travel

The Soyuz MS-04 Argo has taken off for the International Space Station (ISS) carrying a two-man crew for the first time in over a decade. The crew is set to conduct a number of experiments in orbit, including making a Russian dairy product.

The spacecraft lifted off into the sky from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:13pm local time (07:13 GMT) and reached orbit just nine minutes into flight. It successfully docked with the ISS some six hours later, at 13:22 GMT.

The crew of expedition 51/52 consists of Fyodor Yurchikhin, a veteran Russian cosmonaut, and Jack Fischer, a first-time US astronaut. At age 58, it is Yurchikhins fifth orbital mission. He has already spent more time in orbit than any US astronaut 537 days. He also has eight space walks under his belt and is scheduled to make another jaunt into space during this mission to perform maintenance work and conduct some experiments.

Fischer, 43, will be flying to the ISS for the first time. He became an astronaut in 2009 after serving as a US Air Force pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. During a pre-launch press conference, he said that all cosmonauts and astronauts are friends and paid his respects to the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, saying that he opened a door to the skies not only for the USSR but for the whole world.

Roscosmos also unveiled the emblem for expedition 51, which Yurchikhin said was inspired by the US second moon mission, Apollo-12. It features a sailing vessel symbolizing the dream of space flight and drawings made by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a Russian rocket scientist and pioneer in astronautic theory whose 160th birthday anniversary will be celebrated in 2017.

The Soyuz MS-04 spaceship that carried the crew to the ISS actually also carried its own name for the first time in the history of space flight.

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Usually Russian spaceships are called Soyuz MS-... where Soyuz describes the type of the spaceship and MS-01, MS-02, etc. is a sort of serial number, none of which is technically a name.

However, this time, for the first time, the ship received a name of its own Argo after a ship from the Greek mythology. So, its full name is Soyuz MS-04 Argo.

Yurchikhin justified the break in convention, saying, For me, [the ship] is a living being that has a right to its own name. It is our home that protects us.

Manned missions to the ISS usually involve three crew members, but prior to the launch Russias space agency, Roscosmos, decided to temporarily reduce the number of Russian crew members at the ISS to two. This move came despite the installation of a new ISS module called Nauka (Science) scheduled for autumn 2018.

Expedition 51/52 is the first two-man mission in over a decade. Another US-Russian duo, Edward Lu and Yuri Malenchenko, carried out a similar space mission in April of 2003. Yurchikhin and Fischer will join Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, French flight engineer Thomas Pesquet, and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson at the ISS and stay there till September.

The crew is expected to conduct a number of peculiar experiments while on orbit. In particular, Yurchikhin hopes to make a fermented Russian dairy product similar to buttermilk called kefir in zero gravity to help sustain crews on future extended space missions, such ones to Mars.

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Making kefir on board of the International Space Station in zero gravity is a unique experiment, he said during a press conference ahead of the flight.

Probiotic research is a very interesting area. I am sure this will lead to scientific achievements and provide practical value for astronauts, as we will be able to have fresh dairy products on board, Russian cosmonaut and biochemist Sergey Ryazansky, who is expected to fly to the ISS as part of the next expedition, said during the same press conference.

In the meantime, Whitson, who is now in command of the ISS crew, will break the US 534-day record for cumulative days in space previously held by Jeff Williams. US President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka are expected to congratulate her on her achievement on Monday, April 24, in an Earth-to-space call, according to NASA.

She will return to Earth together with Fischer and Yurchikhin, as NASA has decided to extend her stay at the ISS by three months.

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Argo space travel: 2-man crew blasts off to ISS for 1st time in decade to make dairy product - RT

HYDERABAD: More than a decade after an eminent group of scientists gave the green signal for India to undertake a human space flight, the ambitious venture is nowhere near take-off in the absence of government approval.

In November 2006, at a meeting convened by the Indian Space Research Organisation, scientists were highly appreciative of the study undertaken by the space agency on such a mission, and were unanimous in suggesting that the time is appropriate for the country to undertake the venture.

But the mission seems to have fallen off the priority list of the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO since then.

"We need to get the approval for that programme, till that comes we are working on some critical technologies, like environmentally-controlled laboratory, flight suite," ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told PTI.

"We have also done some re-entry experiment. Certain technology elements we will continue to develop until the country is ready for taking up this as a full-fledged programme," he said.

"For this (the human space flight programme), the requisite priority has to be there, funding has to be there, then only activities will happen.".

Kiran Kumar said ISRO's immediate priority is to meet the basic needs of communication, navigation and remote sensing.

"First, we have to ensure all this is done adequately, there itself, we are trying to push the envelope and then (we have to undertake) more frequent launches so that we provide the requisite number of satellites in orbit for meeting all these requirements," he said.

"So, that is still happening, not yet happened. That will remain the bigger priority," he said.

According to him, work towards such a mission would continue.

"As and when the approval etc. comes, then we will take it up in a bigger way. At this point, priority is not that," Kiran Kumar said.

Nearly 80 scientists from across the country had participated in the November 7, 2006 meeting to discuss the issues related to the mission, an ISRO press release at that time said.

The ISRO had conducted studies for four years from 2002 to examine the technological challenges of such a mission and the Indian capability to undertake it.

The concept for the venture included development of an autonomous orbital vehicle which could be launched by India's Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-Mk II or GSLV- Mk III, the release had said.

Studies highlighted that the ISRO has maturity in many technologies required for the mission. However, new developments are required in life support systems, improved reliability and safety and crew escape system, among others.

The meeting was attended by eminent scientists like U R Rao, Yash Pal, R Narasimha, R M Vasagam, N Pant, P S Goel, N Balakrishnan, A R Upadhya, T S Prahlad, S Vasantha and Avinash Chander, then ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair and Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel in space.

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A decade on, human space flight not in priority list of India - Economic Times

Radiation. Its everywhere, from the fallout of nuclear weapons to medical X-rays. Its a cause of cancer, but its also one of the preferred forms of cancer treatment. Theres also a lot of it in space, and if we want to send astronauts to Mars safely, thats a problem.

The charged particles commonly called radiation are a serious threat to anyone traveling in space, whether its a stay on the International Space Station or beyond. The Earths magnetic field protects people on the planet from radiation by trapping the particles in radiation belts that surround the globe. These doughnut-shaped areas in space, called Van Allen belts, lie up to 36,000 miles from the Earths surface. Within Earths orbit, astronauts are protected, but you cant get to the moon, Mars or beyond without venturing past them. Once astronauts travel through and beyond the Van Allen beltshazards in and of themselves because they trap these harmful particlestheir bodies become vulnerable.

Deep space astronauts have to contend with two types of radiation. The first is composed of galactic cosmic rays, high-energy particles that travel at close to the speed of light. These cosmic rays, which are mostly protons but can also be composed of heavier elements, can damage human DNA, trigger mutations and change gene transcription. When gene transcription occurs, DNA produces RNA, which carries the instructions from DNA to the cells in the body. When that process is changed, RNA carries imperfect instructions to the cells. Over the medium and long term, these errors can become permanent mutations.

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A woman wearing a prototype of Stemrad's new protective vest, Astrorad, sits inside the Excalibur-Almaz Space Capsule during a demonstration at the National Museum of Science Technology and Space in Haifa, Israel on February 23. Amir Cohen/Reuters

It seems inevitable that humans are going to Mars, so both public and private companies are testing and retesting every aspect of that journey. But unless they figure out the radiation problem, all that preparation will be moot.

Scientists at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine just wrapped up a NASA-funded study that examines the effects radiation from a Mars mission might have on astronauts. The team focused on the hematopoietic system, which is primarily composed of bone marrow, the spleen, the thymus and lymph nodes. We know from studies on the atomic bomb survivors that the hematopoietic system is one of the more sensitive tissues in the body to the effects of radiation, says Christopher Porada of Wake Forest University, a senior researcher on the project. Leukemia, unlike many other types of cancer, can develop quickly. It would actually compromise both the mission and the astronauts health during that two-year period of time, Porada says.

Galactic cosmic rays have a low radiation dose rate; during shorter trips, its not as serious an issue. Going to the moon, astronauts received very minimal radiation, Porada says. But its cumulative effect means that during a longer Mars mission (a minimum of two years, round trip), radiation is a much larger and more present threat.

A solar flare is photographed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 7, 2011. Particles discharged by space weather events, such as solar flares, can affect astronauts acutely in the short term, damaging the central nervous system and resulting in impaired motor function and cognitive function. NASA/SDO/Reuters

But the news isnt all bleak: The same team posits that a daily oral vitamin might be able to protect astronauts from space radiations harmful effects. Weve found a dietary supplement that appears to restore about 75 percent of the potential of the cells, if we put them on the cells before we expose them to the radiation, says Porada. The pill isnt absorbed well orally, so the team is working on a way to improve the supplements solubility.

If we cant protect from within, how about from without? StemRad, an Israeli company based in Tel Aviv, specializes in radiation protection for nuclear workers and first responders. Now it has designed a vest that will protect astronauts from space radiation. Organs, tissues and stem cells are particularly vulnerable to radiation, and the vest was designed to specifically shield those delicate areas. The vests come with a pretty big caveat: Astronauts would have to wear them around the clock. StemRads aim is to tailor each vest to each astronaut for maximum comfort and flexibility.

The company announced on March 3 that the vest will be on Exploration Mission-1, the unmanned test of NASAs new space vehicle Orion, currently scheduled for a late 2018 launch. Two dummies will fly aboard the capsule on its circumlunar flight. Only one dummy will wear StemRads vest. Upon their recovery, NASA will perform tests on both dummies to determine the effectiveness of the vests radiation protection. (Its also possible NASA will decide to put a human crew on EM-1; it is conducting a feasibility study. No word on whether a human would don the vest.)

Unfortunately, theres a second type of radiation NASA needs to worry about: solar radiation. Solar proton events, or solar particle events, are energetic particles that are emitted by the sun, says Elsayed Talaat, a discipline scientist in NASAs heliophysics division. Particles discharged by space weather events, such as solar flares, can affect astronauts acutely in the short term, damaging the central nervous system and resulting in impaired motor function and cognitive function. In the long term, these particles increase their cancer risk.

In 2013, NASA's probes discovered Van Allen radiation belts around Earth. NASA/SDO/AIA/Goddard/Rex/AP

NASA is testing various methods to protect Mars astronauts from solar radiation. The Orion spacecraft will be equipped with radiation sensors, the crew will be notified if a solar flare or other radiation event occurs, and the crew will have timebetween 30 minutes and a few hoursto take shelter in the spacecrafts cargo area, protecting themselves from the bulk of the radiation.

But what if scientists could predict these explosions and whether one would trigger a radiation event? Our ultimate goal is predictability of these space weather effects, says Talaat. That is hopefully the endgame of physical understanding, if youre able to predict the phenomena.

Its clear that the answer to protecting astronauts from space radiation lies in a balancing act: outer versus inner, prediction versus protection. Regardless of how NASA does it, the radiation problem is one we need to solve. Otherwise, were looking at a long future of going nowhere at all.

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Scientists Aim to Protect Astronauts from Deadly Space Radiation - Newsweek

One of the first tourists to travel in outer space found it to be a bit of a buzzkill. Sure, he loved every minute even if he was physically miserable part of the time. The next wave of space tourists will need a high tolerance for discomfort.

If all goes according to plan, Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies will send two paying civilians around the moon and back sometime next year. "My advice to them would be to medicate early and often," says Richard Garriott de Cayeux, the video game developer and entrepreneur who paid $30 million to Russia's Space Adventures to spend 12 days aboard the International Space Station.

The microgravity that permits what Garriott de Cayeux describes as "joyous, free-feeling" motion we associate with astronauts also takes a serious physiological toll. "Body fluids stop flowing normally, which is why, in space, people's faces look puffy, and they generally have somewhat bloodshot eyes," he says. "It feels sort of like lying on a children's slide, head down. In the first days, you get very stuffed up and have a bit of a headache." These symptoms can be easily remedied with common drugs, such as aspirin and Sudafed.

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Space travel tips from one who went there - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Space Matter is a weekly column that delves into space science and the mechanics of spaceflight. From the latest discoveries in the universe around us to the fits and starts of rocket test flights, youll find analysis, discussion and an eternal optimism about space and launching ourselves into the cosmos.

Ive previously discussed the challenges of getting to Mars and landing on Mars; its not going to be easy to get humans to the surface of the red planet. And thats not even considering the discussion of what will happen to our bodies on the way. There have been studies documenting the psychological challenges of long-term spaceflight, and weve been studying the effects of zero-g on the human body for years on the International Space Station. But what about space radiation?

Radiation is a huge problem in space travel. The only reason its not a huge problem on Earth is because our planet is protected by a giant magnetic field that extends out into space; its what makes life on Earth possible. It protects our delicate planet from the ravages of space radiation.

There are two types of space radiation that anyone outside the Earths magnetic field has to worry about. The first are called galactic cosmic rays, or GCR radiation. These originate outside our solar system and travel through our galaxy at close to the speed of light. Its likely that these high-energy particles originate in the massive explosions of supernovae, though there is still some disagreement on this matter. These particles are composed of every element from hydrogen to uranium; their distinguishing feature is that theyre ionized, meaning their electrons have been stripped, so they hold a charge. That charge is what makes them interact with (and repelled by) Earths (charged) magnetic field.

This X-ray/UV image of our Sun shows the active weather regions as blue-white areas. Photo courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/JAXA

The second type of radiation comes from our Sun, and its much more common: solar particles. Our Sun, and all other stars, actually has its own weather. Sunspots are one form this weather takes. What we need to worry about, though, are solar proton events. These occur during solar weather activity (such as solar flaresbut they dont occur during every solar flare) and consist of charged particles (protons again!) that are unleashed into space by the suns magnetic field. Were protected from these particles by our planets magnetic field, but strong solar proton events can be associated with geomagnetic storms, which wreak havoc on the electrical grid.

Outside the protection of the Earths magnetic field, these two types of radiation can be a serious threat to astronauts. Whats more, our own magnetic field poses a threat in and of itself. The Earth is surrounded by radiation belts, called the Van Allen belts, which trap radiation particlestheyre part of how our planet is shielded from these particles. Galactic cosmic rays and charged solar particles fly through space straight into the Van Allen beltswhich means that there are basically giant belts of radioactive death circling our planet (too much?) These belts arent static, but there usually are two of them (sometimes three). The inner Van Allen belt begins about 600 miles above the surface of the Earth; the outer Van Allen belt extends to almost 40,000 miles out. For comparisons sake, the International Space Station, in low-Earth orbit, is 220 miles above the Earths surface, while the Moon is 238,900 miles from the Earth.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during Apollo 11. Photo courtesy of NASA

But weve been to the Moon, you might be asking. Weve sent a total of nine manned missions around or onto the Moon (Apollo 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17), through the Van Allen radiation belts. This is actually a major factor in the conspiracy theory that the Moon landings were fakedastronauts would die after passing through the Van Allen belts.

Well, no, not quite. The Van Allen radiation belts are very dangerous, but there are ways around them. For one, theyre not a sphere encompassing the planet. Think of the belts surrounding the Earth as a giant donut, where Earth is the donut hole.

This image cutaway shows the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding the Earth. Photo courtesy of NASA

The team in charge of Apollos trajectory studied the Van Allen belts closely and charted a flight path that would allow the spacecrafts to bypass the thickest parts of the belt. In fact, Apollo missed the inner belt completely and sped quickly through very thin areas of the outer belt. The short duration of exposure to the belts meant that the spacecrafts aluminum shielding was enough to protect the astronauts. Presumably, NASA could chart a similar trajectory for a Mars mission.

The problem is what happens once astronauts travel through the radiation belts on are their way to their next destination. The Moon missions consisted of three days of travel each way, plus a few days on the surface or in orbit. Mars missions will consist of a minimum of nine months of travel one-way. A low dose of radiation might not have noticeable effects, but when these accumulate, astronauts may run into serious medium- and long-term health problems.

You can bet that NASA and other private spaceflight companies are working hard to mitigate this risk, from nutritional supplements to counteract the effects of radiation to improving spacecraft shielding to better protect astronauts from radiation. Its important to note, though, that while were well on our way, we havent solved the space radiation problem yet.

Top photo courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/JAXA

Swapna Krishna is a freelance writer, editor and giant space/sci-fi geek.

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Space Matter: Human Bodies and Space Travel :: Science ... - Paste Magazine

Printed headline:Work in Progress

When British entrepreneur Richard Branson established Virgin Galactic in 2004, he envisioned a company that would pioneer and develop a space tourism operation, allowing passengers to experience flight in a suborbital environment 100 km (62mi.) above the Earth. This required the development and certification of a totally new type of aircraft systema suborbital spaceplaneultimately dubbed SpaceShipTwocapable of carrying two pilots and up to six passengers and launched from a specially designed, four-engine, twin-hull mother shipWhiteKnightTwoat an altitude of about 15,000 km (50,000,000 ft). Seconds after release from the mother ship, the spaceplane would then ignite its single hybrid rocket motor, ascending at up to 2,600 mph to reach its suborbital altitude. The spaceplane would shortly thereafter return to the spaceport, a specially built terminal, airfield and maintenance complex from which it was ferried by the mother ship, at a slow reentry speed, in both a powered and glide mode.

The spaceport, officially called Spaceport America, is under development in New Mexico. Upon commencement of commercial service, Virgin Galactic will relocate its headquarters and operations center there from its current location at Mojave, California.

To date, flight testing of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo continues, as two additional SpaceShipTwos are in the early stages of production. The first production SpaceShipTwo, which was officially unveiled and rolled out on Dec. 7, 2009, was lost in a fatal accident in October 2014. A second WhiteKnightTwo is in the early design stages.

Virgin Galactic is also in the process of establishing the technical support infrastructure for the exotic aircraft. Virgin Galactics Spaceline Technical Operations Director Pedro Caballer discussed with Inside MRO contributing writer Paul Seidenman supply chain and maintenance support challenges, whichas with the flight testscontinue to be a work in progress.

Virgin Galactics MRO Support Evolving

MRO infrastructure developed from scratch

Supply chain still a work in progress

Most MRO to be done in-house

Continuous inflight monitoring planned

Virgin Galactic is breaking new ground with respect to commercial space travel and has built a radically different spacecraft system. What were some of the maintenance support challenges?

Caballer: For maintenance support, the biggest challenge we faced was that the majority of our technical needs for supporting our spaceflight systems did not exist when the program began. That included all of the flight and technical manuals, technical training, maintenance programs, management tools, spare parts strategy and suppliers, and repair service suppliers for maintaining those spare parts.

Are the parts and components for SpaceShipTwo and the WhiteKnightTwo launch vehicle generally available off the shelf todayor is everything essentially custom-built for this operation?

Each vehicle has a slight degree of difference in its parts makeup between off-the-shelf product and custom product. For example, SpaceShipTwo is mostly custom-builtwith a ratio of about 70% that needed to be custom-built and 30% available off the shelf. For WhiteKnightTwo, about 60% of the parts are custom-built and 40% are off the shelf.

At the start of the program, what assurance did you have that the supply base could provide adequate materials support at the level you would need as your operation evolved?

Pedro Caballer, Virgin Galactics spaceline technical operations director. Credit: Virgin Galactic

To answer that question, you have to understand that The Spaceship Co., a Virgin Galactic sister organization, is our primary OEM. It is the builder of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo and therefore had an established supply chain in place for production. However, the operational supply chain solutions for Virgin Galactic can be strategically different and were not readily in place. That was one of our challenges, and our supply chain team is tasked with developing those solutions.

Over the past several years, we have been working diligently to establish a stable supply base, although that is not complete yet. We have established a strong supplier base, mostly in areas of consumables and expendables, such as seals and filters. We are working on strengthening the rotable and repairable parts supply chain right now, and that is the final element to our supplier solution we need to put in place.

Has the supply base, in fact, expanded to the point where materials support will be readily available as needed?

Yes. We believe that the supply base will expand, especially for consumable and expendable parts. We have solutions in place for some repairables for the flight-testing phase, but we want to build a comprehensive and deep supply base solution for all repairables right at the start of our commercial operations.

Have the maintenance manuals been completed and approved yet?

The maintenance manuals for the spaceflight system are progressing well through their development. We work with multiple types of technical data sets to maintain our vehicles, much like newly designed and manufactured aircraft run through in a flight-test program.

SpaceShipTwo launches from the four-engine, twin-hull mother ship, WhiteKnightTwo.Credit: Virgin Galactic

Who is supplying the propulsion systems for SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo? Were the engines off the shelf, with some modifications, or was a totally new design required?

The Spaceship Co. has developed the rocket propulsion solution for SpaceShipTwo, and it will be our supplier and repair source for these all-new motors and propulsion components, respectively. As for WhiteKnightTwo, Pratt & Whitney Canada is supplying the engine, which is an experimental variant of the PW308A commercial turbofan.

Who supplies the avionics? As with the engines, were they off the shelf or one-offs?

We have several avionics suppliers and solution architects. The Spaceship Co. is one of them, and as they have grown a world-class avionics team, they develop and integrate quite a bit in-house, with some industry-leading avionics suppliers. Im not at liberty to disclose the names of the others, but I can tell you that they are providing off-the-shelf equipment for our vehicles currently in flight test, and those are the systems we will use in commercial operations.

Is The Spaceship Co. the entity in charge of overseeing logistics and material support?

In addition to being the OEM for our vehicles, The Spaceship Co. also is considered the component supplier to Virgin Galactic for items they have designed and manufactured as well as the provider of continual component service repair solutions.

Virgin Galactic, itself, has responsibility for supply chain oversight and support for the remainder of the components that are not manufactured by The Spaceship Co. Much like the airlines, those components will be managed within the framework of the established vehicle delivery configuration.

All maintenance for Virgin Galactics spaceflight system is done in-house at its Mojave base.Credit: Virgin Galactic

Are the spaceships and the launch vehicle equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostics that will monitor system maintenance status and provide real-time performance information?

We have established an extensive network of data acquisition and measurement across the entire spaceflight system. It involves a combination of real-time and recorded data that is analyzed with every flight. That data will provide the information needed to support our aircraft health and reliability management framework.

Our operation, we believe, is unique in that it involves a mix of real-time monitoring of systems inflightsimilar to a NASA control roomalong with the capability to perform post-flight data analysis to ensure that system health is appropriate. The system monitoring, in real time, is done using a telemetry architecture similar to ACARS.

When you tested the major components, what were some of the lessons learned with respect to predicted life limits? In some cases, were they better than expected?

To date, we have had positive results concerning life-limited component testing. That testing, which is carried out in-house as well as contracted to outside laboratoriesand conducted under conditions that we would see in spacehas shown us that several components already have exceeded expectations. In fact, so far no component has failed before its anticipated life limits have occurred.

Virgin Galactic is planning to relocate its base at Mojave, California, to Spaceport America in New Mexico.Credit: Virgin Galactic

How will most maintenance support be carried out? In-house? By the system OEMs?

All maintenance execution for the spaceflight system will be done in-house at Mojave, until we move to our new Spaceport America complex in New Mexico, at the start of commercial operations. This will be the base of operations for Virgin Galactic once the flight-test program is completed and we begin commercial operations. We have grown a team at Virgin Galactic that will provide technical services and execution to all our spaceline operational assets to meet schedule demands and requirements.

Will component support be under some type of time-and-material contracts with the OEMs?

Component services and repairs are being supported by the OEMs and approved third-party suppliers as we continue to evolve the support framework for the spaceflight system components. For each maintenance support solution, we are developing agreements that are tailored to ensure the success of our spaceline operation.

What further issues regarding materials support have yet to be worked out prior to the first commercial flights?

Right now, there are no major issues; but keep in mind, we are still a work in progress to establish the final supply-chain solution. Once we do that, we will successfully meet our commercial operations needs.

Has Virgin Galactic established a launch date for its first commercial flight?

No date has been advertised as to when commercial operations will begin because the current focus is on completing the flight-test program and operational readiness checks before the aircraft will be launched into service. This will include a series of verifications to assure that all work done on the project, which is driven by safety considerations, has been completed in a satisfactory manner. Any announcements of the first flight will be driven by safety considerations, not by schedule.

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Exclusive: Virgin Galactic Preps For Space Travel Technical Support - MRO Network

Most Americans Aren't Volunteering for Space Travel

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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson insists he'll have commercial travelers in space by the end of next year, but a trip to space isnt high on most Americans to-do lists.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 30% of American Adults would travel into space on a commercial flight if they could afford it. Sixty-one percent (61%) would not. (To see survey question wording,click here.)

(Want afree daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available onTwitterorFacebook.

The national survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on April 5-6, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted byPulse Opinion Research, LLC. Seemethodology.

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Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.

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Most Americans Aren't Volunteering for Space Travel - Rasmussen ... - Rasmussen Reports

Dava Newman discussed developments in space technology and NASAs plans on journeying to Mars during a visit to CU Boulder.

Newman is the keynote speaker for this years Conference on World Affairs and gave an address Monday titled Humanitys Exploration: From Earth to Mars and Beyond to a crowded Macky Auditorium. Newman is the former deputy administrator of NASA, and, after resigning on Jan. 20, is now a professor of astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She beganby discussing space missions that are currently in progress, including Juno, New Horizons, OSIRIS Rex and CUs own MAVEN probe.

Newman said that she was inspired to get involved in space travel by watching the Apollo missions when she was young.

The Apollo program taught me as a young girl growing up in Montana that all dreams are possible, she said. If we can get to the moon, then whats the next goal for humanity?

Newman said she believes the next goal is to send humans to Mars. She said this plan has three phases: preparing astronauts to live in space for long periods with the International Space Station, capturing an asteroid from space and putting it into orbit around the moon, and then sending human crews to Mars in the 2030s. The ISS gives astronauts valuable experience in space and helps researchers study how long durations of time in space impact the human body, important knowledge in advance of the journey to Mars. Capturing and then sending manned flights to an asteroid would give astronauts experience in space above low-earth orbit and will help NASA test new technology.

Newman also discussed the development of the BioSuit, which she is well known for. The BioSuit is more mobile and less bulky than a traditional spacesuit. It functions more like a leotard than the conventional, hefty suit. It was developed to maximize astronautsmobility and is much more practical than a common spacesuit for long missions like a journey to Mars.

Newman ended her talk by imploring the audience to think bigger about who can engagein space exploration. She said instead of focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) she was more interested in the potential of STEAMD: science, technology, engineering, art, math and design.

Its up to us to filter everyone in, not out, Newman said. She explained that as an aerospace engineer she can only do her work when collaborating with people from a range of other fields, and she implored people from all backgrounds to get involved in the space industry.

We need you, she said.

Contact CU Independent Copy Editor Carina Julig at carina.julig@colorado.edu.

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Former NASA official Dava Newman speaks about space travel and ... - CU Independent

Although the prospect of exploring space may just be too much for some people, astronauts just cant get enough of it. The trouble is that as well as the excitement that deep space travel brings, there is also a high risk of astronauts causing serious damage to their brains as high-energy cosmic rays whizz through the craft and into their bodies.

A new study examined the effects that space-like radiation had on rodents. The results showed there to be significant brain damage and cognitive problems six months after being exposed to the radiation. This suggests that astronauts could endure memory problems, impaired judgment, and anxiety as a result of space radiation.

Charles Limoli is a neurobiologist at the University of California, and he says, I do not think that during the course of a trip to Mars and back the astronauts will come back with anything remotely similar to full-blown Alzheimers. But more mild changes, more subtle changes they would still be concerning, given the level of autonomy astronauts operate under and the amount of work they have to do.

During the research, mice appeared to be less interested in new toys or toys in new locations once theyd been exposed to the radiation while rats became less flexible when responding to environmental changes. Both became more anxious and preferred to remain sheltered rather than be out in the open.

When Limoli and colleagues investigated the brain damage that may underlie these problems, hey found the neurons dendrites had a lot fewer spines than normal, and because the spines help pass signals between neurons, any damage to them will affect learning and memory. When we look at those animals that perform the poorest on a given behavioral task, those animals show the largest reductions in these dendritic spines, explains Limoli. Lasting inflammation was also found in the rodents brains.

During the research, none of the animals showed any signs of recovery, which surprised the researchers. But evidence suggests that these problems will, in fact, continue to linger. Limoli advises, The actual time that these animals are irradiated here on Earth.is a matter of minutes, and we see changes now that last out to a year, which is astounding. In humans, it could be months before these symptoms became apparent and until astronauts set off on a deep space mission, we cant be sure exactly how the body will react to galactic cosmic rays.

Next, Limoli and team will try to find out which regions of the brain are the most vulnerable to the radiation. Drugs are also being made that could help protect the brain against exposure to or recovery from it. Limoli comments, I dont think this means were not going into space, but if we know whats out there, we can prepare to deal with it much better.

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Alan Hale, For the Daily News Published 8:28 p.m. MT April 5, 2017 | Updated 8:29 p.m. MT April 5, 2017

Alan Hale(Photo: Courtesy Photo/Alan Hale)

A lot of words and phrases can be used to describe space travel. Complex and difficult come to mind, and especially if were talking about transporting humans in space as well as to and from space, hazardous and dangerous certainly are appropriate, as we consider all the various hazards of spaceflight, the multitudes of things that can go wrong, and the difficulties involved in addressing any of these.

Expensive is another word that is very appropriate when describing space travel. To get to space at all we have to launch away from Earths surface and fight against Earths gravity; this can be thought of as analogous to climbing up out of a deep well, and, indeed, space engineers often refer to the Earths gravity well. Climbing out of the Earths gravity well requires energy lots of it and this in return requires fuel, and lots of it. As anyone who has driven a car knows, fuel can be expensive.

Once we have climbed out of Earths gravity well, we can then achieve low-Earth orbit. From there, travel to other destinations including the moon, other planets, etc. becomes considerably less difficult, at least when we discuss energy and fuel. As the late science fiction writer Robert Heinlein is said to have remarked around 1950, Get to low-Earth orbit and youre halfway to anywhere in the solar system.

From a practical perspective, especially when were dealing with human space travel, there is much more involved than this, but from a strict perspective of energy involved, there is a fair amount of truth in Heinleins statement.

Another major factor which makes spaceflight so expensive is that especially during spaceflights early days for the most part, every piece of space hardware is built and used only once, and then discarded. This includes the launch rocket and its various stages, and for a human mission the capsule, or whatever is carrying the human cargo. The magnitude of the expense involved can be realized if we imagine that, before every airplane flight, a complete new airplane had to be built, that would then be discarded after it had completed a single flight. Air travel would be extremely expensive in such a climate, and the aviation industry that we have today could not even begin to exist.

The concept of reusability has thus been a desired element of spaceflight for some time. Indeed, such a goal was a major element of the Space Shuttle system, with its reusable orbiters and solid-fuel booster rockets being among the major components. As things turned out, in order to be sold to the American public and, more importantly, to Congress that funded the program the Space Shuttle ended up having to be all things for all people, which enormously increased its complexity and thus the associated expenses.

The Space Shuttle therefore never achieved the dramatic reductions in spaceflight costs that had been envisioned for it, but it nevertheless demonstrated that reusability is a viable concept when it comes to space endeavors.

There have been other efforts to develop lower-cost reusable spaceflight systems over the years. One of the higher-visibility efforts was the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) program carried out by McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, which involved a single-stage rocket that could be launched, landed, refurbished and launched again. The DC-X performed several test flights at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico during the mid-1990s, and while it was never designed to reach orbit, it successfully demonstrated that a well-designed launch vehicle could be used and reused over and over again.

The overall scheme at the time was for the DC-X effort to segue into programs like the X-33 that would in turn lead to fully reusable, and commercially driven, launch systems that could travel to and from low-Earth orbit. Unfortunately, due to both technological and political obstacles, programs like X-33 never came to fruition.

Enter Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, the brainchild of entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk founded SpaceX, currently based in Hawthorne, California, in 2002 with the goal of developing privately-funded reusable launch vehicles that can travel to and from low-Earth orbit.

While, as would be true for any such endeavor that is pushing the envelope like this, there have been some setbacks along the way, SpaceX has scored some remarkable achievements as well, including being the first private company to launch a spacecraft to orbit and successfully recover it back on Earth. Under contract to NASA, in May 2012 SpaceX became the first private company to launch a successful cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS),which it has been doing on a semi-regular basis ever since.

SpaceX has just achieved what could be considered its most remarkable success yet. In April 2016 SpaceX launched one of its cargo resupply missions to the ISS, and meanwhile successfully landed the Falcon 9 launch rockets first stage on a floating ocean barge. Then, just a week ago, SpaceX used this same recovered first stage as part of a Falcon 9 rocket to launch a communications satellite to geostationary orbit, and again successfully landed the first stage on the floating barge. This marks the first time that a rocket has been successfully reused to launch payloads into Earth orbit.

There is much more in SpaceXs future. Under another NASA contract SpaceX has been developing a human-rated capsule that can carry astronauts to and from the ISS, and hopes to make an unmanned test run later this year, and the first crewed launch to the ISS in 2018. SpaceX has also recently announced plans to send two people on a flight around the moon conceivably as early as next year and ultimately is working on a launch system that can send people to Mars. Meanwhile various other commercial space companies are developing plans and systems of their own. Perhaps, through such efforts, another word that may someday describe human spaceflight is common.

Alan Hale is a professional astronomer who resides in Cloudcroft. Hale is involved in various space-related research and educational activities throughout New Mexico and elsewhere. His web site is http://www.earthriseinstitute.org

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