Category Archives: Space Travel

A Russian actor and a film director have returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station shooting scenes for the first movie in orbit.

Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko landed as scheduled on Kazakhstans steppe early on Sunday, according to footage broadcast live by the Russian space agency.

They were ferried back to terra firma by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who had been on the space station for the past six months.

The descent vehicle of the crewed spacecraft Soyuz MS-18 is standing upright and is secure. The crew are feeling good! Russian space agency Roscosmos tweeted.

The film-makers had blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier this month, travelling to the ISS with veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to film scenes for The Challenge.

If the project stays on track, the Russian crew will beat a Hollywood project announced last year by Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise together with Nasa and Elon Musks SpaceX.

The movies plot, which has been mostly kept under wraps along with its budget, centres around a surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut.

Shkaplerov, 49, along with the two Russian cosmonauts who were already aboard the ISS, are said to have cameo roles in the film.

The mission was not without small hitches.

As the film crew docked at the ISS earlier this month, Shkaplerov had to switch to manual control.

And when Russian flight controllers on Friday conducted a test on the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft the ships thruster fired unexpectedly and destabilised the ISS for 30 minutes, a Nasa spokesperson told the Russian news agency TASS.

Their landing, which was documented by a film crew, will also feature in the movie, Konstantin Ernst, the head of the Kremlin-friendly Channel One TV network and a co-producer of The Challenge, told AFP.

The mission will add to a long list of firsts for Russias space industry.

The Soviets launched the first satellite Sputnik, and sent into orbit the first animal, a dog named Laika, the first man, Yuri Gagarin, and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova.

But compared with the Soviet era, modern Russia has struggled to innovate and its space industry is fighting to secure state funding with the Kremlin prioritising military spending.

Its space agency is still reliant on Soviet-designed technology and has faced a number of setbacks, including corruption scandals and botched launches.

Russia is also falling behind in the global space race, facing tough competition from the US and China, with Beijing showing growing ambitions in the industry.

Russias Roscosmos was also dealt a blow after SpaceX last year successfully delivered astronauts to the ISS, ending Moscows monopoly for journeys to the orbital station.

In a bid to spruce up its image and diversify its revenue, Russias space programme revealed this year that it will be reviving its tourism plan to ferry fee-paying adventurers to the ISS.

After a decade-long pause, Russia will send two Japanese tourists including billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to the ISS in December, capping a year that has been a milestone for amateur space travel.

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Russian film crew return to Earth after shooting the first movie in space - The Guardian

Experts said adding space to the list of U.S. critical infrastructure sectors would send a strong message

WASHINGTON Satellites in space provide essential services in support of national security and the civilian economy. The U.S. government, however, does not technically consider space systems critical infrastructure, which is slowing down efforts to protect networks from cyber attacks, experts said Oct. 19.

Were still debating whether space is critical infrastructure, said Dawn Beyer, senior fellow at Lockheed Martin. Meanwhile, of all the domains, space is the furthest behind when it comes to cybersecurity.

The U.S. government spent years debating what the cyber domain should be called and who should be in charge while Russia was already using it against us in information warfare, Beyer on a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Aerospace Corp. and the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or ISAC, an industry group focused on the cybersecurity of space systems.

A similar scenario is happening with regard to the space domain, Beyer said. It seems we spend so much time trying to figure out things that should be so simple, while we should be spending more time trying to figure out how to defend that space, as the risk changes all the time.

The Department of Homeland Security identified 16 critical infrastructure sectors, including chemical industries, healthcare defense and financial services. According to DHS,these are sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety.

DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency works with federal agencies and the private sector to provide cybersecurity tools and incident response services if any of these critical sectors came under attack.

Samuel Visner, technical fellow at MITRE and a member of the ISAC board of directors, said space systems should be a designated critical infrastructure. That would include launch systems, manufacturing plants , on orbit satellites and ground-based communication systems.

The technologies and capabilities in the space sector are unique and not replicated in other sectors of the economy so they should be better protected, said Visner.

The propellant thats made for space is is unique. The engines built for space are unique, many of the systems and subsystems built for space launch and space mission systems are not necessarily covered elsewhere, he said.

There are emerging space activities that will continue to be added to the space economy, he said, such as space travel, space exploration, and eventually some manufacturing that will takeplace in space.

Charity Weeden, vice president of global space policy and government relations at Astroscale U.S., said adding space to the list of critical infrastructure sectors would send a strong message.

Labels are important to show its a priority, she said. If a federal agency such as the Commerce Department were assigned responsibility to coordinate space activities, having space designated as critical infrastructure would help to make sure that whoever takes over is properly resourced, Weeden said.

The issue has drawn congressional attention. In June, the chairs of the congressional aerospace caucus Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) introduced the Space Infrastructure Act which directs the Department of Homeland Security to designate space systems, services, and technology as a critical infrastructure sector.

Visner said a critical infrastructure declaration is overdue but that alone is not enough to ensure systems are protected. A lot of work will be needed to coordinate government and private sector cybersecurity efforts as all networks are interconnected, he said. That is another issue that needs to be to be sorted through.

This should be viewed as a national priority, he said. Our adversaries see space as critical to their national interest, they see space as critical to our national interest, and frankly I think they see it as a vulnerability to our national interest that they can exploit.

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Industry panel: US space systems need protection against cyber attacks - SpaceNews

Vice President Kamala Harris should have boldly rocketed into space with Captain Kirk.

That would have shut her critics up. It also would have helped turn her sagging image around.

And if a 90-year-old actor can make the flight, so could a 56-year-old vice president. Maybe even a 78-year-old president, although some critics might argue that he is already lost in space.

Upon landing in the West Texas desert, instead of the West Wing of the White House after her historic flight Wednesday aboard Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket Harris could have talked about space with real high school students.

After all, she would have been the first vice president let alone the first female vice president to have rocketed into space. Upon disembarking in her snazzy space suit, she could have said to the press, America is back, baby, and so am I.

And it would have been totally fitting because Harris, in addition to her other duties, like being President Bidens border czar, also heads Bidens National Space Council.

The Space Council is designed to help shape national space and security strategies. But while the Bezos space rocket lifted off in Texas, Harris was in Washington.

Such a flight with Harris aboard would have given Harris the opportunity to combine those two responsibilities.

Sitting in the space capsule along with Captain Kirk 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner Harris on the way up would have gotten a panoramic view of the open Mexican border where hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are crossing.

That surely would have given Harris more insight into a solution to the border crisis. Space gives a person perspective. Looking down on the continent from higher up, you cannot see any borders. That is because there are none. Ergo, problem solved.

No borders, no problems.

Nobody knows if Biden will seek a second term. Nobody knows if he will even be around.

And nobody knows if he would have sanctioned such a flight for Harris had anyone even told him about it. Joe, Im going, she would have said, and thats all there is to it. But she did not go.

However, if she had a space flight under her belt, Harris could possibly have been a formidable candidate for president in 2024, campaigning as the sole candidate who had been in space.

People give you space once youve been to space.

Everyone knows how important space will be when World War III comes around, and people will be looking for a candidate with space credentials.

Meanwhile, of course, other presidential candidates would have been begging Bezos and Elon Musk, Bezos space competitor, to get on their own commercial space flights so they would not be outdone on the campaign trail.

Then, during the presidential debates they could not only argue over who flew the highest, the longest and broke the most sound barriers, but who flew the cheapest.

Instead of all the glory of a successful rocket flight into space, Harris ended up getting mocked for talking to a bunch of rented kids about craters on the moon. Craters on the moon? How about the crater in the White House?

The event was her appearance, two days before the Blue Origin rocket launch, in a NASA video talking about space travel to hired teenage actors in observance of World Space Week.

In a cringeworthy performance, Harris talked to the teenagers, all of whom were paid actors, about her passion for science, exploring the unknown and how excited she was about the Space Council.

Youre going to literally see the craters on the moon with your own eyes, Im telling you. Its going to be unbelievable, Harris said.

Had Harris waited a day or so she could have had Shatner talk to the students. While he did not see craters on the moon, Shatner was moved by the profound experience of his space trip.

Shatner said, Im so filled with emotion about what just happened. I just hope I never recover from this. Its so much larger than me and life. It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness of life and death.

Everybody in the world needs to do this. It was so moving.

That was real life. Harris performance was an act. It was produced by a Canadian company appropriately called Sinking Ship Entertainment.

Peter Lucas is a veteran Massachusetts political reporter and columnist.

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Lucas: A trip to space may be just the thing for VP Kamala Harris - Boston Herald

October 13, 2021 6:30 AM

Posted: October 13, 2021 6:30 AM

Updated: October 13, 2021 5:50 PM

Mark Spowart/The Canadian Press via AP, File

FILE - In this Friday June 15, 2012 file photo, Motorists make their way to Ambassador Bridge connecting Canada to the United States in Windsor, Ontario.

WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel next month, ending a 19-month freeze due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel, such as trade, since the earliest days of the pandemic.

The new rules, announced Wednesday, will allow fully vaccinated foreign nationals to enter the U.S. regardless of the reason for travel starting in early November, when a similar easing of restrictions is set to kick in for air travel into the country. By mid-January, even essential travelers seeking to enter the U.S., like truck drivers, will need to be fully vaccinated.

***

Blue Origin via AP

This undated photo made available by Blue Origin in October 2021 shows, from left, Chris Boshuizen, William Shatner, Audrey Powers and Glen de Vries.

VAN HORN, Texas (AP) Actor William Shatner counted down Wednesday to his wildest role yet: riding a rocket into space, courtesy of Star Trek fan Jeff Bezos.

Best known for his role as Captain Kirk, the 90-year-old Shatner joined three other passengers for the planned launch from West Texas.

Bezos space travel company, Blue Origin, invited Shatner on the brief jaunt to the fringes of the final frontier, which will make him the oldest person in space.

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AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates his solo homerun during the eighth inning of Game 4 of a baseball National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, in Atlanta.

ATLANTA (AP) Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves will get another chance to finish the job they came agonizingly close to achieving a year ago.

It doesnt matter at all that they had fewer wins than any other playoff team.

Freeman hit an improbable, tiebreaking homer off Milwaukee closer Josh Hader with two outs in the eighth inning and the Braves advanced to the NL Championship Series for the second year in a row, finishing off the Brewers 5-4 on Tuesday night.

In the American League, the Houston Astros are going to the ALCS for the fifth straight year. Their October-tested stars led the way.

***

AP FILE

1960 Bill Mazeroski opens the bottom of the ninth with a home run off Ralph Terry of the New York Yankees to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 victory and the World Series championship.

In this Oct. 13, 1960, file photo, fans rush onto the field toward Pittsburgh Pirates' Bill Mazeroski as he comes home on his Game 7-ending home run in the ninth inning to win the World Series against the New York Yankees in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Harry Harris, File)

AP FILE

1963 Mickey Wright wins her fourth LPGA championship in six years by beating Mary Lena Faulk, Mary Mills and Louise Suggs by two strokes.

Mickey Wright of Dallas swings her putter on the 18th green and sinks a 15-foot birdie putt at the Dallas Civitan Open golf tournament at Glen Lakes Country Club in Dallas, Texas, May 26, 1963. Wright won the tourney with a 72-hole score of 283. (AP Photo)

AP FILE

2011 American Jordyn Wieber wins another gold medal, beating Russias Viktoria Komova for the all-around title at the world gymnastics championships in Tokyo. Wieber, who led the Americans to the team title two days earlier, finishes with 59.382 points, just 0.033 ahead of the Russian.

USA's Jordyn Wieber performs on the balance beam on her way to winning the women's individual all-round final of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo, Japan Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

AP FILE

2013 Kenyas Dennis Kimetto, six weeks removed from a bout of malaria, breaks the course mark in capturing the Chicago Marathon. Kimetto finishes in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 45 seconds, leading a 1-2-3 finish for Kenyan men. He beats the mark of 2:04:38 set by Ethiopias Tsegaye Kebede last year.

Dennis Kimetto of Kenya crosses the finish line to win the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Andrew A. Nelles)

AP FILE

2017 Gustav Nyquist scores twice and Detroit has four goals in the third period to beat Vegas 6-3, handing the NHLs newest franchise its first loss. Vegas is the first NHL expansion team to win its first three games.

Detroit Red Wings' Gustav Nyquist, right, celebrates with Anthony Mantha after Nyquist scored against the Vegas Golden Knights during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

AP

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is 32.

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Model Beverly Johnson is 69.

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TV personality Billy Bush is 50.

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Actor Caleb McLaughlin (TV: Stranger Things) is 20.

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Classical singer Carlos Marin (Il Divo) is 53.

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Producer-writer Chris Carter is 65.

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NBA coach Doc Rivers is 60.

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College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is 59.

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Rock singer Joey Belladonna is 61.

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Actor Kate Walsh is 54.

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Actor Kiele Sanchez is 45.

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Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is 63.

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Singer/TV personality Marie Osmond is 62.

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Olympic silver medal figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is 52.

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Former NBA All-Star Paul Pierce is 44.

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Singer-musician Paul Simon is 80.

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Actor and former NBA star Reggie Theus (THEE-us) is 64.

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Musician Robert Lamm (Chicago) is 77.

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Actor Sacha Baron Cohen is 50.

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Singer-musician Sammy Hagar is 74.

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In 1792, the cornerstone of the executive mansion, later known as the White House, was laid by President George Washington during a ceremony in the District of Columbia.

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In 1944, during World War II, American troops entered Aachen (AH-kehn), Germany.

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In 1974, longtime television host Ed Sullivan died in New York City at age 73.

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In 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

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In 2006, The United Nations General Assembly appointed South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon the next U.N. secretary-general.

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In 2006, banker Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh won the Nobel Peace Prize for using microcredit to lift people out of poverty.

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In 2010, rescuers in Chile using a missile-like escape capsule pulled 33 men one by one to fresh air and freedom 69 days after they were trapped in a collapsed mine a half-mile underground.

AP

Ten years ago: Bob Dylan was named winner of the Nobel prize in literature.

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Ten years ago: Raj Rajaratnam (rahj rah-juh-RUHT-nuhm), the hedge fund billionaire at the center of one of the biggest insider-trading cases in U.S. history, was sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 11 years behind bars.

AP

Five years ago: Donald Trump heatedly rejected the growing list of sexual assault allegations against him as pure fiction, hammering his female accusers as horrible, horrible liars.

AP

Five years ago: Death claimed Thailands longtime monarch, King Bhumibol, at age 88.

Pool The New York Times

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US to reopen land borders for vaccinated; William Shatner's space flight; Braves, Astros advance - Crossroads Today

Space companies like Blue Origin are grabbing headlines with the promise of a new era of space tourism, mostly recently with the plan to send William Shatner to the edge of space. But unless you're lucky, space is still out of reach for most of the public. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

Space companies like Blue Origin are grabbing headlines with the promise of a new era of space tourism, mostly recently with the plan to send William Shatner to the edge of space. But unless you're lucky, space is still out of reach for most of the public.

Star Trek's Captain Kirk is about to boldly go where hundreds of others have gone before, continuing a decades-long tradition of space flights for non-astronauts who are wealthy or famous or well-connected or all of the above.

As for ordinary folks without deep pockets well, the final frontier might be opening up a just a bit, but opportunities still basically come down to contests and luck.

Actor William Shatner is scheduled to blast off Wednesday morning on a quick trip to the edge of space and back, riding in the capsule developed by Blue Origin, the space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The 90-year-old actor, who will be the oldest person to reach space, has said he feels "terrified." Shatner's reportedly going as a guest rather than as a paying customer.

"I do think it's classic marketing," says Joseph Czabovsky, an associate professor of public relations and marketing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Whenever a new product or service makes a splash, like the first Blue Origin flight did this summer, he says, companies have to figure out how to keep the public's attention.

"William Shatner makes sense in that here's a celebrity that made their claim to fame on traveling in space," says Czabovsky. "It's like a one-time, kind of kitschy branding opportunity."

But even though a celebrity like Shatner can generate headlines, says Czabovsky, this kind of marketing stunt does run the risk of reinforcing the perception that spaceflight is just for the privileged few.

After all, one seat on Blue Origin's first flight was auctioned off for $28 million. Czabovsky recently worked on a poll that found about 80% of U. S. residents saw the recent launches as "billionaire ego trips."

"You have that kind of cynicism, negativity, maybe realistic understanding of what is going on," he says.

Despite that, that poll also showed that people generally felt positive about space travel's potential for humanity, says Czabovsky.

More than half said the recent private spaceflights made them believe that one day soon, ordinary people will be able to go to space.

That's long been the promise of both real-life space travel and science fiction shows like Star Trek. In the early days of the Space Age, astronauts famously had to have "The Right Stuff"; they were mostly military pilots. But the possibility of space vehicles someday becoming more like airlines didn't seem so farfetched.

William Shatner is expected to head into space on Wednesday, thanks to Blue Origin. It's just the latest example of how space companies are trying to drum up publicity. Bob Galbraith/AP hide caption

William Shatner is expected to head into space on Wednesday, thanks to Blue Origin. It's just the latest example of how space companies are trying to drum up publicity.

When NASA's space shuttles began flying in the 1980s, all kinds of VIPs started lobbying to go as passengers, says Alan Ladwig, author of See You In Orbit? Our Dream of Spaceflight.

A task force ultimately decided that flying a non-astronaut would be OK for NASA to do, for public education purposes. That's why, in 1984, President Ronald Reagan said he was directing NASA "to chose as the first citizen passenger in the history of our space program, one of America's finest: a teacher."

Ladwig, who managed NASA's program for citizens in space, remembers going on Late Night with David Letterman to talk about it. "I said the first spaceflight participant program would be the teacher," he recalls.

The very next day, however, he was stunned to see a newspaper report that Senator Jake Garn, who chaired the committee that oversaw NASA's budget, would be flying in space.

NASA ultimately flew not just Garn, but also another member of Congress, Bill Nelson, who is now the head of NASA. Both went up before the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, which killed the whole crew, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. She had participated in a nationwide contest to select the first teacher and had received widespread publicity; millions of Americans watched the tragic explosion.

"There was some criticism out of Congress, some media, that, well, this just shows space is too dangerous for an ordinary citizen," recalls Ladwig, who says NASA canceled plans to fly a journalist in space.

After that, NASA only flew professional astronauts, with the exception of John Glenn, a former astronaut and the first American to ever orbit the Earth. When Glenn said he wanted to fly again at the age of 77, NASA gave the go-ahead.

"The media turned out in droves for that mission, the public loved it," says Ladwig, noting that Glenn was a national hero.

For people who weren't astronauts or national heroes, the only way to get to space, for years, was paying millions of dollars to Russia.

The Russian space agency has sold trips to orbiting space stations to a TV journalist from Japan, a bunch of businessmen turned space tourists, and just last week, an actress and movie director.

Now, though, Russia has competition from U. S. companies. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin both offer up-and-back jaunts that have a few minutes of weightlessness. And Space X has a capsule that can orbit the planet for days.

This year, flights operated by these firms have taken a motley assortment of people to space what Saturday Night Live recently called "random weirdos" in a skit that parodied both Star Trek and rich space entrepreneurs.

Just a couple of days later, Blue Origin announced that it was taking up Shatner.

The SpaceX flight in September that made history by having no professional astronauts on board was bankrolled by a billionaire Jared Isaacman. But he offered up three seats to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, which allowed a physician assistant from the hospital to go, as well as a community college professor who won a contest and a data engineer whose friend won a fundraising sweepstakes.

One nonprofit, called Space For Humanity, is trying to raise money to sponsor space trips for people from all over the world who might otherwise never be able to afford them.

"We are now at this cusp of a new era in space exploration, where more and more people are going to have access to this experience," say Rachel Lyons, executive director of the group, who says seeing the Earth from space can have a transformative effect. "We believe that it's our responsibility to use this advancement in technology for the good of all."

She says right now, space is just "not accessible to 99.99% of humanity," and that about 4,000 people from over 100 countries have applied to their program.

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Space is opening up for people who are rich or famous, like William Shatner - NPR

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps expanding in all directions, we often forget that space and magic in the films took a while to truly get off the ground. Phase 1 opened many doors with Thor and The Avengers, yet the lid didnt come off until Phase 2. James Gunns Guardians of the Galaxy took fans to another galaxy, Andromeda, and made us question how Marvels take on space travel works.

Now were officially in the middle of Phase 4 Multiverse is the new hot stuff, and heroes and villains have been bouncing around the universe like its nothing for years on the big screen (and now TV). While the Guardians films told us its all about wormholes of sorts, main Infinity Saga villain Thanos took an awful lot of time to get his armies to Earth. Was he just busy? Moreover, Captain Marvel doesnt need ships at all because Tesseract magic. And were keeping Doctor Strange and the wizards out of this because they operate on a whole other level.

Disclaimer: were going to try to make the most sense out of comic book nonsense that simply aims to tell entertaining space-jumping, reality-bending stories. Going all Christopher Nolan on this universe only leads to frustration. However, universes born from pulpy entertainment, such as this one or Star Wars, often almost nail the science anyway.

Watch all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies on Disney Plus

The MCUs first ventures into outer space are kinda straightforward: Thor (2011) introduced audiences to the Nine Realms from Norse mythology, a set of planets scattered across different galaxies and connected thanks to the Tree of Yggdrasil. For Asgardians, the act of visiting these worlds depends on the Bifrost, Asgards Rainbow Bridge.

While Asgard is a highly fantastical setting and the Bifrost seems to draw energy from the center of Asgard itself, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) describes the resulting phenomenon as a "wormhole" or "Einstein-Rosen bridge." Bifrost-powered travel is always depicted as near instantaneous, so thats probably the best guess in town.

It also seems logical that the fancy cannon-shaped Bifrost building harnesses a massive amount of Asgards energy and literally pokes a hole through space-time, shooting folks away and speedily fixing the tear afterwards. Furthermore, the whole mission in the third act is to stop Loki from destroying Jtunheim with a continuous blast of energy from the Bifrost this leads to Thor going "hammer time" on the bridge and cutting off Asgards connection with the other realms. Loki falls through the resulting (messy) wormhole, too.

The Avengers picked up right after the events of Thor, showing Loki return with "glorious purpose" thanks to some wild wi-fi manipulation across space through the Tesseract, one of the first Infinity Stones that appeared in the MCU. Almost the entire film is about stopping Loki from opening a bigger portal for Thanos armies, which are capable of space-travelling themselves, so this raises a major question: why did they need a wormhole at all?

As stated before, the Einstein-Rosen bridges are all about creating shortcuts for long journeys across the universe. At this point, we hadnt been exposed to the truly sci-fi side of the MCU yet, so Joss Whedon and everyone involved probably didnt think too hard about the Chitauri and their ships a massive portal above New York was a great threat with lots of possibilities for the films third act. Thats all that mattered.

Thor also returns to Earth under Odin and Friggas orders, who both used "dark magic" to learn about Lokis whereabouts and "cheat" transport to Earth while the Bifrost was being repaired. The dark magic trick comes up again in Infinity War when Heimdall conjures some remaining energy before being offed to send the Hulk to Earth (the Bifrost was destroyed forever in 2017s Thor: Ragnarok). This magic appears to be a variation of sorts of what the Bifrost works with, a hidden energy which is likely unstable and only used in emergencies by those able to manipulate it. Thankfully, Thor receives the Stormbreaker later because plot and can now create rainbow bridges himself. Rad.

Guardians of the Galaxy, which takes place in the Andromeda galaxy according to James Gunn, marked Thanos first major appearance; we see hes got quite a few allies who are perfectly capable of regular space travel. Infinity War then doubles down on the "typical alien invasion" angle, with Thanos finally taking the fight himself to Earth and other worlds that housed the Infinity Stones. So at least Thanos main force didnt need a wormhole at all, and the only reasonable in-universe explanation for the whole portal ordeal in Whedons Avengers is that they wanted to catch Earths defenses off-guard and not approach them from outer space. After all, the Other tells Thanos they maybe underestimated Earth and its heroes in the post-credits stinger, so it seems like they didnt have a lot of inside info about the current state of the planet ahead of that first invasion for some reason.

Yeah, the science and space-related plot points in these stories are all about what the narrative needs, about creating tension and stakes. If the script wants things to move slowly, well spend more time with our heroes and villains jumping through space. If the film needs an immediate threat, just throw a portal in there and get things going. That being said, were not done with this exploration yet.

So Thanos army didnt need a big wormhole after all, but that doesnt mean regular space travel in the MCU works differently. James Gunns Guardians films did most of the heavy lifting when it came to these matters. Mind you, most of the small nuggets of info werent too explicit, and the first installment doesnt show us how space travel across the galaxy works at all (yay ellipses), but it appears that Gunn heard those questions loud and clear, because Vol. 2 deals directly with how the ships zap across Andromeda.

Apparently, space-exploring civilizations built a highway of sorts which even connect different galaxies, with marked jump points that make travelling huge distances relatively easy as long as you stick to the road and follow the recommendations one of the films most hilarious scenes depicts the consequences of jumping too much too fast. Little more is said about the process, but the visuals support the idea these jump points are wormhole-based as well. They are more science-y (we might be able to replicate them at some point) and definitely arent as fast as Asgards magic-powered roads, or Doctor Strange and the wizards literal doorways, but they get the job done.

Somehow, theres an even cooler way to travel through Marvel Studios universe: simply speeding insanely fast and going all Star Wars with the help of the Tesseracts mysterious energy. As seen in the Thors post-credits scene and the beginning of The Avengers, SHIELD kept the Tesseract (the Space Stone) locked away since Red Skull toyed with it and disappeared, but of course they toyed with it themselves. The US Air Force, SHIELD, and NASA jointly put together Project PEGASUS in order to develop a light-speed engine powered by the Tesseract.

Kree scientist Mar-Vell (disguised, of course) was part of the project and worked on it because it could be the Skrulls way to exit the ongoing Kree-Skrull war and find a new home outside the charted "galactic highway" we previously talked about. Due to the Krees intervention, Carol Danvers, a pilot alongside Mar-Vell, absorbed the engines energy and gained superhuman abilities (like a ton of them).

Once Carol taps into her dormant powers later in that film, she becomes the Captain Marvel we all know from the comics, and the craziest thing is that she can zap through space at light-speed, allowing her to watch over faraway worlds outside the "space roads system." This is how she helps the Skrulls find a new home.

While Captain Marvel doesnt need external help to move across the vastness of space, it seems like it takes her some time to get places despite going above light-speed (wormholes rock), and thats the perfect excuse to have her miss some of the Avengers biggest battles she could deactivate most threats way too fast, as Endgame showed us.

Finally, its also interesting to consider why she doesnt seem to age at all, and it probably has to do (at least partly) with Einsteins theory of relativity, which claims that time is relative, moving "differently for objects in motion than for objects at rest," although this would have more complicated implications for both her and other space-faring MCU characters.

Watch all the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies on Disney Plus

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Does space travel in the MCU make any sense? - Space.com

More than 50 years after Captain Kirk first explored space as the final frontier, the man who played him will see it for himself.

William Shatner is still going strong at 90. He seems to be everywhere, hosting documentaries, appearing in commercials and reality shows, voicing characters in animated childrens shows and, in August, announcing the release of his latest musical album. On Oct. 12, he will become the oldest person to fly in space, according to an announcement from Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos commercial spaceflight company.

Commercial space travel for tourists, celebrities and other fortunate (and invariably wealthy) travelers is still new and not entirely accepted. But it increasingly appears such privately funded flights are part of spaces future.

Shatners mission is sure to excite not just space enthusiasts and Star Trek buffs, but anyone looking for proof that age is just a number if the body is willing and the heart and mind are strong.

Not since 1998, when John Glenn flew on the space shuttle Discovery at age 77, have advanced years and advanced science blended so sublimely.

Shatner has already escaped one atmosphere: the world of show business typecasting. His 70-year career has showcased him in everything from film classics such as 1961s Judgment at Nuremberg and the original Twilight Zone TV series to T.J. Hooker and Boston Legal.

His legacy extends far beyond Star Trek. Yet he will always be known, first and foremost, as Capt. James Tiberius Kirk of the starship Enterprise the star of a show that received very modest ratings during its three-year 1960s run but created an archetype that changed pop culture history.

The symbolic nature of Shatners flight is undeniable. Even during the TV series and the seven Star Trek films in which he appeared, Shatner was always play-acting a role. His interest in space, however, is real.

In 2011, he recorded a wake-up call for Discovery astronauts. More than twice the average age of NASA astronauts, Shatner calls the opportunity to be part of the four-person crew on the New Shepard spacecraft a miracle.

For now, such journeys are reserved for the very rich or very fortunate, but Shatners flight might allow other nonagenarians to feel young for a time, too. As the real-life Captain Kirk soars into space, they will be living vicariously through him. Considering his career and legacy, isnt that what millions have been doing for the last 55 years, anyway?

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The University of Birmingham is launching two new major studies funded by the UK Space Agency aimed at solving the health challenges faced by astronauts during long missions.

The research will use the low gravity (microgravity) environment of the International Space Station, and other facilities that provide similar conditions to space, and could also potentially benefit people who suffer from conditions such as sight loss caused by excessive brain pressure.

It is well known that the effects of space travel take a toll on the bodies of astronauts, whilst in microgravity their weight-bearing bones lose on average one to one-and-a-half per cent of mineral density per month. To counteract this, they currently need to exercise for two-and-a-half hours every day, take nutrient supplements, and consume high-protein diets to maintain muscle mass while in space. Without these interventions, astronauts could experience up to a 20 per cent loss of muscle mass on spaceflights lasting between five and 11 days.

The first of the two University of Birmingham studies will be carried out in collaboration with NASA, and will be focused on a condition called Space flight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS), which can have severe consequences for astronaut health. The syndrome can cause various side effects, from visual loss due to changes in the optic nerve, headaches, and acute and chronic changes to the brain.

The project will initially investigate how to optimise the use of high resolution imaging for early diagnosis and monitoring, and will be followed by a clinical trial to test the efficacy of a drug treatment using GLP-1 receptor agonists to alleviate SANS and the associated long-term consequences.

Alex Sinclair, Professor of Neurology at the University of Birmingham who will be leading the research, said: SANS is caused by microgravity and gets worse with longer duration of space flight. It is a major challenge that needs to be overcame if space exploration is to extend to Mars. We need accurate methods to identify and monitor SANS. Scanning the eye nerve using a technology known as optical coherence tomography (OCT) has emerged as a promising technique and we will test this at the International Space Station. We are excited that we also have a candidate treatment using a GLP-1 receptor agonist to lower brain fluid and pressure that we predict will alleviate SANS.

Miss Susan Mollan, Director of Ophthalmic Research at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust who will also be involved in the SANS study, said: SANS is one of the most important human factors that needs addressing. We have developed both preclinical and clinical trial evidence that GLP1-receptor agonists can reduce fluid and pressure in the brain and around the eye nerve. This project could lead to a vital therapy that could help get humans safely to Mars.

The second University of Birmingham study will be focused on the causes that contribute to the increased risk of cervical intervertebral disc (IVD) herniation in astronauts when they return to Earth.

Professor Deborah Falla, Director of the University of Birminghams Centre of Precision Rehabilitation for Spinal Pain, who will lead the research, said: IVD herniation can cause significant pain, weakness and numbness. Our study will examine the causes that contribute to this increased risk of cervical IVD herniation using state-of-the-art high-density electromyography to measure the control of neck movement. Such knowledge will provide the basis for future interventions aiming to reduce such risk.

These two new University of Birmingham projects, together with three other separate projects being carried out by Northumbria University, the University of Liverpool, and Manchester Metropolitan University, are each set to receive a share of 440,000 of UK Space Agency funding, and will support much longer space missions needed to explore the Moon and further afield.

Science Minister George Freeman said: Our space science is about cutting-edge life science as well as rocketry and satellites: the UK is at the heart of state-of-the-art biomedical monitoring, providing huge potential insights into human health. For example, the way astronauts' eyesight deteriorates in space and then repairs back on earth could provide powerful insights to help researchers at labs like Moorfields to understand eye health and potential new treatments. This research could allow astronauts to safely embark on longer and more challenging missions, for the benefit of us all.

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake said: Its exciting to see this cutting-edge research taking place here in the UK. We can learn so much about the human body from spaceflight, especially the ageing process. This research could enable astronauts to carry out longer missions and explore further into space, whilst benefiting everyone on Earth.

The government recently launched its National Space Strategy which outlines its long-term plans to grow the UK space sector and make Britain a science and technology superpower, including building on manufacturing and technology capacity, attracting investment and working internationally.

This announcement comes during World Space Week, which runs from the 4th to 10th October. The annual event, led by the United Nations, celebrates the contribution of science and technology to improving lives on Earth. This years theme is Women in Space.

Through the UKs membership of the European Space Agency's (ESA) exploration programme, UK researchers have access to unique facilities including parabolic flights that reproduce gravity-free conditions in an aircraft and drop towers that produce a controlled period of weightlessness.

Elodie Viau, Head of ESAs ECSAT site at the Harwell Space Cluster in Oxfordshire, said: As we venture further into space, we are proud to see the UKs ESA membership help UK scientists conduct pioneering research to support these efforts. These projects are set to deliver a variety of benefits for peoples health, which could be applied to both ESA astronauts and people on Earth.

In March this year ESA launched its first drive for new astronauts in 11 years, with more than 22,000 people applying, including nearly 2,000 from the UK. ESA is looking for up to six astronauts and up to 20 reservists, with the successful applicants to be announced next year.

The UK Space Agency has also provided 16,000 funding for Kew Gardens to explore how seeds might be stored and transported in space to support human exploration to Mars and beyond. The Agency is supporting the preparation and testing of 24 seed species before they fly to the International Space Station in a few years time.

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Research to boost astronaut health for future space missions - University of Birmingham

Two technologists and one astronaut from NASAgave space travel enthusiasts a taste of what they were all working on to improve our off-world missions. And while they are indeed working on some rather spectacular things, sadly, there is apparently no anti-gravity room. At least, not yet.

Speaking at New York Comic Con 2021 on Friday, NASA space suit engineer Lindsay Aitchison told attendees that shes been focused on making improvements to astronauts suits. We want everything to be more autonomous and not reliant on mission control, she said, adding that NASA is working on such improvements from creating a head-up display to expand the sizing range of our space suits.

Its an entire personal spacecraft, Aitchison said.

While Aitchison and her team are working to improve astronauts suits, NASA roboticist and panelist Zakiya Tomlinson is diligently upping the U.S. space exploration agencys robotics game.

There's going to be a lot that robotics will allow to help us explore, Tomlinson said, adding that her team is making sure were testing things in a safe way, especially since their robotics, if improperly tested, would put a person through a wall.

Tomlinson added that theres a lot of overlap between robotics and astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). All of them work together to accomplish the mission.

This robotic technology will also be what helps take the lunar lander to the moons South Pole.

The third panelist, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, said shes excited about the lunar lander, reminding attendees that there are 50 people working behind the scenes on a mission with two astronauts.

Every day is different, she said about her job, adding that as an astronaut, you have to be an expert on everything.

When an attendee asked Moghbeli if she believed in extraterrestrial life, she said she did.

I think there's got to be more life out there, given how big the universe is, Moghbeli said. It's crazy to think we're the only planet out there that has life. So, it's out there, we just have to find it.

Aitchison agreed with this assessment.

And when asked if they have a favorite conspiracy theory about NASA, Aitchison said: I get asked a lot about where the anti-gravity room is, before adding, that sadly, no such room exists.

Tomlinson also most likely broke some hearts when she confessed at the panel that NASA doesnt actually have a laser that shoots aliens.

In describing the work that they do at NASA, they all expressed overwhelming enthusiasm.

Its such an honor, said Moghbeli, adding that its also so important to let future generations see whats possible.

We're designing [things] for places that we've never been to before, Aitchison said. There are no wrong ideas. There are no wrong answers.

Click here for SYFY WIREs full coverage of New York Comic Con 2021

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NYCC gets space-y as NASA technologists and an astronaut talk future of space travel (and aliens!) - SYFY WIRE

This article was originally published atThe Conversation.The publication contributed the article to Space.com'sExpert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University

TheBepiColombo spacecraft a joint project by the European and Japanese space agencies swung by its destination planet Mercury in the early hours of Saturday, Oct. 2. Passing within just 124 miles (200 kilometers) of the surface of Mercury, it sent back somespectacular pictures.

For those of us who have worked for a decade or more on this mission, there could hardly be a way better to celebrate what would have been the 101st birthday of the mission's namesake, Italian mathematician and engineer Giuseppe Colombo. His groundbreaking work in this area earned him the title of thegrandfatherof the planetary fly-by technique, now more often termed a "swing-by."

BepiColombos cruise from Earth began inOctober 2018, and its journey is far from over. It will travel twice around the sun in the time it takes Mercury to orbit the star three times (around 264 days). This will allow it to rendezvous with the planet for another swing-by on June 23 2022.

After a total of six Mercury swing-bys, the cumulative effect of the planet's gravity will reduce the spacecraft's velocity to the point where it can fall into orbit with Mercury around the end of 2025.

BepiColombo is actually composed of twoconnectedspacecraft and a propulsion unit. During its cruise through interplanetary space, the European orbiter (called the Mercury Planetary Orbiter or MPO) is attached on one side to the interplanetary propulsion unit (or Mercury Transfer Module). On the other, it carries a Japanese orbiter named Mio (or Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter), plus a sunshield to prevent Mio from overheating.

This stacked configuration obstructs the openings through which sophisticated visible, infrared and X-ray cameras inside MPO capable of imaging and analysing Mercurys surface in great detail will operate once MPO finally becomes free-flying. In fact, most of BepiColombos science instruments will be wholly or partly inoperative until each orbiter is set free, around December 2025.

Until a relatively late stage in mission planning, it was accepted that BepiColombo would be "flying blind" during its whole cruise from Earth, including during swing-bys meaning no images would be available until orbit around Mercury had been achieved.

But the level of public interest aroused in 2015 by images ofcomet 67Pfrom the Rosetta mission led BepiColombo engineers Kelly Geelen and James Windsor to propose that low-cost lightweight cameras should be added to the spacecraft.

By the end of 2016, it was agreed that three small monitoring cameras each only 2.6 inches (6.5 centimeters) in length would be mounted onto the craft. These would snap planetary pictures during swing-bys.

It was decided to place these cameras on the Mercury Transfer Module, where they would also be able to monitor the deployment of the solar panels that provide the spacecraft with power, the magnetometer boom used for measuring magnetic fields, and the communication antennas.

During BepiColombo's first Mercury swing-by, the fields of view of monitoring cameras two and three tracked across the planet. Camera three showed us part of the southern hemisphere, beginning with a view of sunrise overAstrolabe Rupes a striking feature named after a French Antarctic exploration ship.

Astrolabe Rupes is a 155-mile (250 km) long "lobate scarp" a long, curved structure marking where one part of the planets crust has been pushed over nearby terrain, due to the whole planet contracting as it slowly cooled.

There are some much smallerequivalent featureson the moon, but Mercury is the only nearby celestial body where lobate scarps are known to occur on such a large scale.

Four minutes later, the perspective had changed enough to reveal a wider area: including the lava-flooded, 156-mile-wide (251 km)Haydn craterandPampu Facula, one of many bright spots likely formed by explosive volcanic eruptions. Both of these features attest to Mercury's long volcanic history, at its most active more than three billion years ago but probably persisting until around one billion years ago.

Meanwhile, camera two focused on Mercury's northern hemisphere, including the region surroundingCalvino Crater: an important location for deciphering what lies in the layers of Mercurys crust.

It also showed Lermontov crater: a region which appears bright because it is host to bothvolcanic depositsand "hollows", where a currently unknownvolatile ingredientof the crust is being lost to space via a mysterious process.

NASA'sMESSENGERmission orbited Mercury between 2011 and 2015, revealing aperplexing planet. We are still struggling to understand its composition, origin and history.

Why Mercury has features such as explosivevolcanoesand strange, uniquehollowson its surface is just one of the problems we hope further study will solve. Once in orbit, BepiColombo's advanced payload of scientific instruments will help us understand more about how Mercury formed and what its made of.

Read more:The more we learn about Mercury, the weirder it seems

In the meantime, these extraordinary swing-by pictures at least remind us that we have a healthy spacecraft heading to an exciting destination.

This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.

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First close-up pictures of Mercury from BepiColombo hint at answers to the planet's secrets - Space.com