Category Archives: Transhuman News

Bosses at NASA and the ESA are drawing up plans on how to dispose of the floating research centre when its funding runs out in 2024 with the money used in an attempt to reach Mars

SCIENTISTS are planning to send the International Space Station off in a blaze of glory when they demolish it at some point in the next 10 years.

Funding for the floating research centre runs out in 2024 and NASA are hoping to dismantle it by sending it hurtling towards the Pacific Ocean in what should prove to be a spectacular fireworks display.

Alamy

The space centre is made up of massive sections for researchers to work and live in as well as fuel tanks and other components that should generate a massive series of fireballs when they re-enter the Earths atmosphere.

The denser air on Earth will cause huge friction with the objects which should burn up spectacularly as they are sent hurtling towards the sea.

Tim Peake, the British astronaut, could be among the space team that prepares the ISS for its fiery death as he is due to return to the station between 2021 and 2024, reported The Sunday Times.

The plans were revealed by Dr Ellen Stofan, NASAs chief scientist, who helped draw up the idea before leaving the agency in December last year.

She said: The future of the ISS is a big issue for NASA. The funding is there till 2024 but then it must start moving money to human Mars missions.

If we keep it fully funded after 2024 it will compromise the Mars budget and by 2028 it will start failing. It is huge, the size of an [American] football pitch, so the overall plan is to drop it into the Pacific.

Alamy

The 56-year-old will be describing the plans in more detail when she speaks at the Cheltenham science festival in Gloucestershire next month.

Another idea for the ISS is to dismantle some elements of it and bring them back to Earth while leaving the rest in space but this depends on what the Russian government thinks as they own several sections of it.

Alternatively, commercial flights could use the station from 2020 with Richard Branson and Elon Musk among the entrepreneurs trying to make space tourism a reality.

Additionally, Boeing is developing a next generation capsulecalled a Starliner which would be able to take people into low orbit space, including the ISS, from 2020.

Getty Images

The building of the ISS began in 1998 when the first modules were launched into space and has been valuable in helping scientists understand more about surviving the health hazards of living in space which can include brain swelling, eye damage and skin problems.

One of the contributors to the ISS is the European Space Agency who pays approximately 300m a year into the project.

David Parker, director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration at the ESA, said: Our plan is to free up this money from the mid-2020s to explore beyond low earth orbit . . . that will eventually mean de-orbiting the ISS.

The south Pacific is the target and it will be a huge fireworks display.

To date 227 astronauts have lived on board the ISS and it weighs around 412 tons the largest-ever space structure.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368.

Go here to see the original:
Tim Peake could be last scientist to leave the International Space Station before it crashes into Pacific in 'huge ... - The Sun

A French astronaut many miles above the surface of the Earth did something that pretty much none of us will ever do.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet pulled off quite the feat aboard the International Space Station recently. Even though hes currently orbiting the Earth 249 miles from the surface, and his home country of France, he was able to cast his vote in the countrys contentious election.

Pesquet had to handle more than a few obstacles in order to vote. For one thing, he had to have a colleague act as power of attorney to cast a vote on his behalf, and secondly he had to deal with the problem that when not on the ISS, he resides in journey. Nevertheless, you wouldnt expect an astronaut like Pesquet to be bothered by hurdles like that, and he dutifully performed his civic duty as a French citizen while looking down on the country from high above.

Pesquet is the European Space Agencys youngest astronaut, and he described himself in interviews as passionately interested in politics. He once remarked in an interview with Franceinfo that people should open up and understand that the world is done with others, not against others, that we need more bridges than walls. That suggests he is unlikely to be voting for far-right anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen, who is expected to fall to moderate candidate Emmanuel Macron in Sundays election.

Pesquet first arrived at the ISS back in November, and he will spend six months there with astronauts Oleg Novitsky and NASAs Peggy Whitson.

Here is NASAs biography of Pesquet as posted on their website.

Born in Rouen, France, on 27 February 1978, Thomas Pesquet is a black belt in judo and enjoys basketball, jogging, swimming, squash and outdoor sports such as mountain biking, kite surfing, sailing, skiing and mountaineering. He also has extensive experience in scuba diving and skydiving. His other interests include travelling, playing the saxophone and reading.

Education

Thomas graduated from the competitive French classes prparatoires aux grandes coles at the Lyce Pierre Corneille in Rouen, France, in 1998.

In 2001, he received a masters degree from the cole Nationale Suprieure de lAronautique et de lEspace in Toulouse, France, majoring in spacecraft design and control. He spent his final year before graduation at the cole Polytechnique de Montral, Canada, as an exchange student on the Aeronautics and Space Master course.

Thomas graduated from the Air France flight school in 2006. This led to an Air Transport Pilot License-Instrument Rating (ATPL-IR).

Organisations

Thomas is a member of the French Aeronautics and Astronautics Association (3AF) and of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Experience

From April to September 2001, Thomas was a trainee engineer with Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France, where he developed a satellite system design tool using concurrent engineering techniques.

From October 2001, he worked as a spacecraft dynamics engineer on remote sensing missions for GMV S.A. in Madrid, Spain.

Between 2002 and 2004, Thomas worked at the French space agency, CNES, as a research engineer on space mission autonomy. He also carried out studies on future European ground segment design and European space technology harmonisation. From late 2002, he was a CNES representative at the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems, working on cross-support between international space agencies.

An avid private pilot in his spare time, Thomas was selected in 2004 for Air Frances flight training programme. He went on to become a commercial pilot for the airline, where he started flying the Airbus A320 in 2006. Having logged more than 2300 flight hours on commercial airliners, he became a type rating instructor on the A320 and a Crew Resource Management instructor.

Thomas was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. He joined ESA in September 2009 and completed basic training in November 2010. After graduation, he worked as a Eurocom, communicating with astronauts during spaceflights from the mission control centre. He was also in charge of future projects at the European Astronaut Centre, including initiating cooperation with new partners such as China.

To be ready for a space mission, he received further technical and operational training in Europe, Russia and the USA: on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, on the US and Russian spacesuits, and on Space Station systems. He took part in exploration training courses: living and working underground on ESAs CAVES training course in 2011, and underwater on NASAs Seatest-2 mission.

On 17 March 2014, Thomas was assigned to a long-duration mission on the International Space Station.

Spaceflight experience

Thomas was launched to the International Space Station on 17 November 2016 for his six-month Proxima mission as a flight engineer for Expeditions 50 and 51. His is scheduled to return to Earth in May 2017.

Go here to see the original:
Astronaut does something amazing on the International Space Station - Morning Ticker

Plans are being drawn up to scrap the vessel and send it hurtling into the ocean in a spectacular firework display

Jonathan Leake, ScienceEditor

Nasa scientists are drawing up plans to dismantle the International Space Station and send it hurtling into the Pacific in the worlds most spectacular demolition job.

Tim Peake, the British astronaut, could be among the team that prepares the ISS for its fiery demise he is due to return to the station between 2021 and 2024 when its funding runs out.

The massive modules, fuel tanks and other components would generate a series of fireballs as they burn up in the atmosphere.

The plans were revealed by Ellen Stofan, Nasas chief scientist, who helped set them in motion before recently leaving the agency.

The future of the ISS is a big issue for Nasa. The funding is there till 2024 but then it

See more here:
International Space Station to go down in a blaze of glory - The Times (subscription)

China will begin construction of a permanent manned space station in 2019 after carrying out a successful in-orbit refuelling from its Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft, officials leading the project said on Friday.

The Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft, launched on April 20 and completed the first of three planned docking attempts with the orbiting Tiangong-2 spacelab two days later, state media reported.

The successful five-day refuelling, directed from technicians on Earth and completed on Thursday, is a key milestone towards China's plans to begin sending crews to a permanent space station by 2022.

"This again announces the ambition and aspiration of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese people, and our resolute confidence in becoming a major space power," the space station project's supervisor Wang Zhaoyao told a news briefing in Beijing.

"After completing experimental stage spaceflight missions, we will enter the development and construction phase. According to our plans we will carry out the assembly and construction of China's manned space station between 2019 and 2022."

President Xi Jinping has prioritised advancing China's space programme to strengthen national security. The Central Military Commission, chaired by Xi, sent a letter congratulating staff of the Tianzhou-1 mission for "realising our unremitting space dream", according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The US Defense Department has highlighted China's increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations from using space-based assets in a crisis.

China insists it has only peaceful ambitions in space, but has tested anti-satellite missiles.

Continue reading here:
China to begin construction of manned space station in 2019 - Geo News, Pakistan