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Category Archives: Transhuman News

A New Discovery by the LHC Hints at Physics Beyond the Standard Model – Futurism

Posted: April 21, 2017 at 1:53 am

In Brief Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN recently revealed data about a particle that decays in a way that deviates from the Standard Model of particle physics. This could point to a new kind of physics or could simply be a fluke, but more testing should clear up the uncertainty. An Intriguing Behavior

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is currently the worlds most sophisticated and advanced particle accelerator. And you guessed it its also the largest. The LHC can be found at the European Organization for Nuclear Researchs (CERN) accelerator complex, and its job, in simple terms, is to propel particles into super-fast motion, rotating them along a 27-kilometer (16.7-mile) ring of superconducting magnets, and smash them together. And no, Flash fans it doesnt turn us into metahumans.

In the years since it was first activated in 2008, the LHC has made a number of discoveries that contribute toour understanding of the physics of particles in our world the so-called Standard Model. Most notable of these isthe discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012. Now, LHC scientists may be on the verge of a new breakthrough as theyre unearthed data from the particle accelerators recent run that deviates from the Standard Model and hints at new physics.

The scientists found that subatomic particles called B0mesons dont decay or fall apart in a manner thats predicted by our current understanding of physics, a property referred to aslepton universality. Deviations such as what we see now are very exciting in the sense that if there are new particles, it means we can eventually use those new building blocks, said CERN physicist Freya Blekmanin an interview with Wired. Either lepton universality is not true, or there is something extra happening, for example, a new extra intermediate particle.

Dont start rewriting the Standard Model just yet, though. More data and observations are needed to definitively conclude anything. While potentially exciting, the discrepancy with the Standard Model occurs at the level of 2.2 to 2.5 sigma, which is not yet sufficient to draw a firm conclusion, according to a report by CERN. This means that theres still a 1 in 100 probability that the findings dont really point to a new physics and are simply the result of chance.

The necessity of continuous observation and more data is expected, of course thats how science works. Likewise, challenging accepted knowledge like what the LHCs data on B0 mesons is doing to the Standard Model is also part and parcel of science. It really isnt surprising, especially since the Standard Model of particle physics includesmissing pieces that need to be filled.

Certain objects, particularly subatomic ones, behave in ways not explained by the Standard Model. This illustratesthe need for other models, like quantum physics. Such will be the way things are until, perhaps, we finally stumble upon a theory that explains everything about how the world works. For now, technologies like the LHC are our best way to fill these gaps in the Standard Model.

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A New Discovery by the LHC Hints at Physics Beyond the Standard Model - Futurism

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A Cannabis-Based Treatment for Epileptic Children Was Shown to Decrease Seizures – Futurism

Posted: at 1:53 am

In Brief

Neurological disorders can be difficult to treat, and among these epilepsy is one of the most common worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that about 50 million people suffer from this chronic disorder around the world. Epileptic patients suffer from recurring seizures and brief moments of involuntary movement.

One type of epilepsy known as the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is particularly difficult to manage. LGS is characterized by multiple types of seizures, including stiffening and drop seizures. The latter is an involuntary loss of muscle tone which causes patients to suddenly go limp and fall down. While thats already tough, LGS is also known to affect children. Plus, intellectual and behavioral problems make management of this syndrome even more challenging.

While there isnt any cure yet to LGS or epilepsy in general, there are available treatments. One particular form of treatment uses cannabidiol, which is a molecule from marijuanadevoid of properties that induce a high. On Tuesday, researchers from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) released the results of a clinical study showing how cannabidol may be effective in reducing seizures in children and adult patients suffering from LGS.

The clinical study involved 225 people whose average age was 16 years, with a monthly average of 85 drop seizures. They were observed for 14 weeks after being split into three groups: one received a higher daily dose of cannabidiol (20 mg/kg), another a daily lower dose (10 mg/kg), while a third received a placebo added to their current medication.

The first group showed a 42 percent reduction in drop seizures, while the second showed a 37 percent decrease. Those who took a placebo showed only a 17 percent reduction. However, mild to moderate side effects including decreased appetite and sleepiness were observed in all three groups.

Our results suggest that cannabidiol may be effective for those with [LGS] in treating drop seizures, said study author Anup Patel in an interview for an American Academy of Neurologypress release. This is important because this kind of epilepsy is incredibly difficult to treat. While there were more side effects for those taking cannabidiol, they were mostly well-tolerated. I believe that it may become an important new treatment option for these patients.

The details of the study, which adds to the potential treatment benefits of cannabis-based medication, will be presented at the AANs 69th Annual Meeting in Boston on April 22 to 28, 2017. The AAN researchers also have plans to submit a New Drug Application to the FDA later this year.

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Interplanetary Transport System – Wikipedia

Posted: April 19, 2017 at 9:46 am

The Interplanetary Transport System (ITS),[1] formerly known as the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT), is SpaceX's privately funded development project to design and build a system[2] of spaceflight technology and remote human settlements on Marsincluding reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft; Earth infrastructure for rapid launch and relaunch; low Earth orbit, zero-gravity propellant transfer technology; and extraterrestrial technology to enable human colonization of Mars. The technology is also envisioned to eventually support exploration missions to other locations in the Solar System including the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.[3]

Development work began in earnest before 2012 when SpaceX began design work for the large Raptor rocket engine to be used for both the ITS launch vehicle and spacecraft (ITS tanker and Interplanetary Spaceship). New rocket engine designs are typically considered one of the longest of the development subprocesses for new launch vehicles and spacecraft. By June 2016, the company publicly-announced conceptual plans[4] that included the first Mars-bound cargo flight of ITS launching no earlier than 2022, followed by the first ITS Mars flight with passengers one synodic period later in 2024,[5] following two preparatory research launches of Mars probes in 2018 and 2020 on Dragon/Falcon Heavy equipment.[6] SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled details of the system architecture at the 67th International Astronautical Congress on September 27, 2016.[7]

As publicly discussed, SpaceX is concentrating its resources on the transportation part of the project including a propellant plant that could be deployed on Mars to make methalox rocket propellant from local resources. However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is championing a much larger set of long-term interplanetary settlement objectives, ones that go far beyond what SpaceX will build and that will ultimately involve many more economic actorswhether individual, company, or governmentto facilitate the settlement to build out over many decades.[8][9][10]

As early as 2007, Elon Musk stated a personal goal of eventually enabling human exploration and settlement of Mars,[11][12] although his personal public interest in Mars goes back at least to 2001.[10] Bits of additional information about the mission architecture were released in 20112015, including a 2014 statement that initial colonists would arrive at Mars no earlier than the middle of the 2020s.[13] Company plans as of mid-2016 continue to call for the arrival of the first humans on Mars no earlier than 2025.[5][14]

Musk stated in a 2011 interview that he hoped to send humans to Mars's surface within 1020 years,[12] and in late 2012 he stated that he envisioned a Mars colony of tens of thousands with the first colonists arriving no earlier than the middle of the 2020s.[13][15][16]

In October 2012, Musk articulated a high-level plan to build a second reusable rocket system with capabilities substantially beyond the Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy launch vehicles on which SpaceX had by then spent several billion US dollars.[17] This new vehicle was to be "an evolution of SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster ... much bigger [than Falcon 9]." But Musk indicated that SpaceX would not be speaking publicly about it until 2013.[13][18] In June 2013, Musk stated that he intended to hold off any potential IPO of SpaceX shares on the stock market until after the "Mars Colonial Transporter is flying regularly."[19][20]

In August 2014, media sources speculated that the initial flight test of the Raptor-driven super-heavy launch vehicle could occur as early as 2020, in order to fully test the engines under orbital spaceflight conditions; however, any colonization effort was reported to continue to be "deep into the future".[21][22]

In January 2015, Musk said that he hoped to release details of the "completely new architecture" for the system that would enable the colonization of Mars in late 2015 but those plans changed and, by December 2015, the plan to publicly release additional specifics had moved to 2016.[23] In January 2016, Musk indicated that he hoped to describe the architecture for the Mars missions with the next generation SpaceX rocket and spacecraft later in 2016, at the 67th International Astronautical Congress conference,[7] in September 2016.[24][25] Musk stated in June 2016 that the first unmanned MCT Mars flight was planned for departure in 2022, to be followed by the first manned MCT Mars flight departing in 2024.[5][6] By mid-September 2016, Musk noted that the MCT name would not continue, as the system would be able to "go well beyond Mars", and that a new name would be needed: Interplanetary Transport System (ITS).[1]

On 27 September 2016, at the 67th annual meeting of the International Astronautical Congress, Musk unveiled substantial details of the design for the transport vehiclesincluding size, construction material, number and type of engines, thrust, cargo and passenger payload capabilities, on-orbit propellant-tanker refills, representative transit times, etc.as well as a few details of portions of the Mars-side and Earth-side infrastructure that SpaceX intends to build to support the flight vehicles. In addition, Musk championed a larger systemic vision, a vision for a bottom-up emergent order of other interested partieswhether companies, individuals, or governmentsto utilize the new and radically lower-cost transport infrastructure to build up a sustainable human civilization on Mars, potentially, on numerous other locations around the Solar System, by innovating and meeting the demand that such a growing venture would occasion.[8][9]

The Interplanetary Transport System consists of a combination of several elements that are keyaccording to Muskto making long-duration beyond Earth orbit (BEO) spaceflights possible by reducing the cost per ton delivered to Mars:[26][27][28]

The super-heavy lift launch vehicle[30] for the Interplanetary Transport System will place up to 300 tonnes (660,000lb) (reusable-mode) or 550 tonnes (1,210,000lb) (expendable-mode)or carry 380 tonnes (840,000lb) of propellant on an ITS tankerto low Earth orbit.[29]

The ITS launch vehicle will be powered by the Raptor bipropellant liquid rocket engines on both stages, using exclusively densified liquid methane fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer on both stages.[29][30] The tanks will be autogenously pressurized, eliminating the need for the problematic helium gas pressurization.[29]

The ITS launch vehicle is reusable, making use of the SpaceX reusable technology that was developed during 20112016 for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.[29][2]

On all Earth-away launches, the long-duration spacecraft (tanker or spaceship) will also play a role briefly as the second stage of the launch vehicle to provide acceleration to orbital velocity, a design approach unusual in other launch vehicles.

The Interplanetary Spaceship is an interplanetary ship with a carbon-fiber primary structure propelled by nine Raptor engines operating on densified methane/oxygen propellants. It is 49.5m (162ft)-long, has a maximum hull diameter of 12 m, and is 17m (56ft)-diameter at its widest point, and is capable of transporting up to 450 tonnes (990,000lb) of cargo and passengers per trip to Mars, with on-orbit propellant refill before the interplanetary part of the journey.[27][29] Early flights are expected to carry mostly equipment and few people.[13]

As of September 2016, there is no name for the class of spacecraft beyond the descriptor Interplanetary Spaceship. Musk did indicate however that the first of those ships to make the Mars journey might be named Heart of Gold[1] in reference to the ship carrying the Infinite Improbability Drive, from the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.[31] Although it was noted that the number of first-stage engines seemed to be inspired by The Answer,[32] Musk didn't allude to such a connection.

The transport capacity of the spaceship from low Earth orbit to a Mars trajectorywith a trans-Mars trajectory insertion energy gain of 6km/s (3.7mi/s) and full propellant tanksis 450 tonnes (500 tons) to Mars orbit, or 300 tonnes (330 tons) landed on the surface with retropropulsive landing. Estimated Earth-Mars transit times vary between 80150 days, depending on particular planetary alignments during the nine discrete 20202037 mission opportunities, assuming 6 km/s delta-v added at trans-Mars injection.[27]

The spaceship is designed to enter the Martian atmosphere at entry velocities in excess of 8.5 km/s and allow aerodynamic forces to provide the major part of the deceleration before the three center Raptor engines perform the final landing burn. The heat shield material protecting the ship on descent is PICA 3.0, and is reusable. Entry g-forces at Mars are expected to be 46 g's during the descent.[27] The spaceship design g-load would be 5G's nominal, but able to withstand peak loads 2 to 3 times higher without breaking up.[33]

Energy for the journey is produced by two large solar panel arrays, generating approximately 200kW of power while at the distance of Earth from the Sun, and less as the journey progresses and the Sun is farther away as the ship nears Mars.[26]:19:38

The spaceship may use a large internal water layer to help shield occupants from space radiation, and may have a cabin oxygen content that is up to two times that which is found in Earth's atmosphere.[13] The initial tests of the spaceship are not expected prior to 2020, with the ITS booster to follow only later.[14]

According to Musk, the spaceship would effectively become the first human habitat on Mars.[34]

A key feature of the system is a propellant-cargo-only tanker: the ITS tanker. Just as the spaceship, the tanker would serve as the upper stage of the ITS launch vehicle during the launch from Earth. The vehicle is designed exclusively for the launch and short-term holding of propellants to be transported to low Earth orbit for re-filling propellants in the interplanetary ships. Once on orbit, a rendezvous operation is effected with one of the Interplanetary Spaceships, plumbing connections are made, and a maximum of 380 tonnes (840,000lb) of liquid methane and liquid oxygen propellants are transferred in one load to the spaceship. To fully fuel an Interplanetary Spaceship for a long-duration interplanetary flight, it is expected that up to five tankers would be required to launch from Earth, carrying and transferring a total of nearly 1,900 tonnes (4,200,000lb) of propellant to fully load the spaceship for the journey.[27]

The ITS tanker is the same physical dimensions as the Interplanetary Spacecraft: 49.5m (162ft)-long, maximum hull diameter of 12 m, and is 17m (56ft) at its widest point. It will also be powered by six vacuum-optimized Raptor engines, each producing 3.5MN (790,000lbf) thrust, and will have three lower-expansion-ratio Raptor engines for flight maneuvering and Earth-return landings.[35][29] Following completion of the on-orbit propellant offloading, the reusable tanker will reenter the Earth's atmosphere, land, and be prepared for another tanker flight.[27] The tanker could also be used for cargo missions.[citation needed]

A key part of the system Musk is conceptualizing to radically decrease the cost of spaceflight to interplanetary destinations is the placement and operation of a physical plant on Mars to handle production and storage of the propellant components necessary to launch and fly the Interplanetary Spaceships back to Earth, or perhaps to increase the mass that can be transported onward to destinations in the outer Solar System. Coupled with the Earth-orbit tank filling prior to the journey to Mars, and the fully reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft, all three elements are needed to reduce the transport cost by the multiple orders of magnitude that Musk sees as necessary to support sustainable colonization of Mars.[27]

The first Interplanetary Spaceship to Mars will carry a small propellant plant as a part of its cargo load. The plant will be expanded over multiple synods as more equipment arrives, is installed, and placed into mostly-autonomous production.[27]

The propellant plant will take advantage of the large supplies of carbon dioxide and water resources on Mars, mining the water (H2O) from subsurface ice and collecting CO2 from the atmosphere. A chemical plant will process the raw materials by means of electrolysis and the Sabatier process to produce molecular oxygen (O2) and methane (CH4), and then liquefy it to facilitate long-term storage and ultimate use.[27]

The initial launch site for the launch and rapid reuse of the ITS launch vehicle will be the SpaceX leased facility at Launch Pad 39A along the Florida space coast. While originally thought to be too small to handle the ITS launch vehicle, the final optimized size of the Raptor engine is fairly close to the physical size of the Merlin 1D, although each engine will have approximately three times the thrust. Falcon Heavy will launch from 39A with 27 Merlin engines; ITS LV will launch with 42 Raptor engines.[29]

Musk indicated on September 27, 2016 that the ITS launch vehicle would launch from more than one site. A prime candidate for the second launch site is somewhere along the south Texas coast.

As of March 2014[update], no launch site had yet been selected for the super-heavy lift rocket and the then-named "Mars Colonial Transporter." SpaceX indicated at the time that their leased facility in Florida at Launch Pad 39A would not be large enough to accommodate the vehicle as it was understood conceptually in 2014, and that therefore a new site would need to be built in order to launch the >10-meter diameter rocket.[36]

In September 2014, Elon Musk indicated that the first person to go to another planet could possibly launch from the SpaceX South Texas Launch Site,[37] but did not indicate at the time what launch vehicle might be used to carry humans to orbit.

Musk has indicated that the earliest SpaceX-sponsored missions would have a smaller crew and use much of the pressurized space for cargo. The first cargo mission of the Interplanetary Spaceship would be named "Heart of Gold" and would be loaded with equipment to build the propellant plant.[33]

The first crewed Mars mission would be expected to have approximately 12 people, with the primary goal to "build out and troubleshoot the propellant plant and Mars Base Alpha power system" as well as a" rudimentary base." In the event of an emergency, the spaceship would be able to return to Earth without having to wait a full 26 months for the next synodic period.[33]

Before any people are transported to Mars, some number of cargo missions would be undertaken first in order to transport the requisite equipment, habitats and supplies.[38] Equipment that would accompany the early groups would include "machines to produce fertilizer, methane and oxygen from Mars' atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide and the planet's subsurface water ice" as well as construction materials to build transparent domes for crop growth.[13]

The early concepts for "green living space" habitats include glass panes with a carbon-fiber-frame geodesic domes, and "a lot of miner/tunneling droids [for building] out a huge amount of pressurized space for industrial operations." But these are merely conceptual and not a detailed design plan.[33]

SpaceX the company is concentrating its resources on the transportation part of the overall ITS project as well as an autonomous propellant plant that could be deployed on Mars to produce methane and oxygen rocket propellants from local resources. If built, and if planned objectives are achieved, then the transport cost of getting material and people to space, and across interplanetary space, will be reduced by several orders of magnitude. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is championing a much larger set of long-term interplanetary settlement objectives, ones that take advantage of these lower costs to go far beyond what the company SpaceX will build and that will ultimately involve many more economic actorswhether individual, company, or governmentto build out the settlement over many decades.[8][9]

In addition to explicit SpaceX plans and concepts for a transportation system and early missions, Musk has personally been a very public exponent of a large systemic vision for building a sustainable human presence on Mars over the very long term, a vision well beyond what his company or he personally can effect. The growth of such a system over decades cannot be planned in every detail, but is rather a complex adaptive system that will come about only as others make their own independent choices as to how they might, or might not, connect with the broader "system" of an incipient (and later, growing) Mars settlement. Musk sees the new and radically lower-cost transport infrastructure facilitating the build up of a bottom-up economic order of other interested partieswhether companies, individuals, or governmentswho will innovate and supply the demand that such a growing venture would occasion.[8][9]

While the initial SpaceX Mars settlement would start very small, with an initial group of about a dozen people,[33] with time, Musk hopes that such an outpost would grow into something much larger and become self-sustaining, at least 1 million people. According to Musk,

Even at a million people youre assuming an incredible amount of productivity per person, because you would need to recreate the entire industrial base on Mars. You would need to mine and refine all of these different materials, in a much more difficult environment than Earth. There would be no trees growing. There would be no oxygen or nitrogen that are just there. No oil.

Excluding organic growth, if you could take 100 people at a time, you would need 10,000 trips to get to a million people. But you would also need a lot of cargo to support those people. In fact, your cargo to person ratio is going to be quite high. It would probably be 10 cargo trips for every human trip, so more like 100,000 trips. And were talking 100,000 trips of a giant spaceship.[39]

Musk expects that the journeys would require 80 to 150 days of transit time,[40] with an average trip time to Mars of approximately 115 days (for the nine synodic periods occurring between 2020 and 2037).[27] In 2012, Musk stated an aspirational price goal for such a trip might be on the order of US$500,000 per person,[13] but in 2016 he mentioned that long-term costs might become as low as US$200,000.[40]

As of September 2016[update], the complex project has financial commitments only from SpaceX and Musk's personal capital. The Washington Post pointed out that "The [US] government doesn't have the budget for Mars colonization. Thus, the private sector would have to see Mars as an attractive business environment. Musk is willing to pour his wealth into the project" but it will not be enough to build the colony he envisions.[41]

The overview presentation on the Interplanetary Transport System given by Musk on 27 September 2016 included concept slides outlining missions to the Saturnian moon Enceladus, the Jovian moon Europa, Kuiper belt objects, a fuel depot on Pluto and even the uses to take payloads to the Oort Cloud.[29] "Musk said ... the system can open up the entire Solar System to people. If fuel depots based on this design were put on asteroids or other areas around the Solar System, people could go anywhere they wanted just by planet or moon hopping. 'The goal of SpaceX is to build the transport system ... Once that transport system is built, then there is a tremendous opportunity for anyone that wants to go to Mars to create something new or build a new planet.'"[10] Outer planet trips would likely require propellant refills at Mars, and perhaps other locations in the outer Solar System.[40]

The extensive development and manufacture of much of the space transport technology has been to date (through 2016), and is being, privately funded by SpaceX. The entire project is even possible only as a result of SpaceX multi-faceted approach focusing on the reduction of launch costs.[29]

As of 2016[update], SpaceX is expending "a few tens of millions of dollars annually on development of the Mars transport concept, which amounts to well under 5 percent of the companys total expenses",[40] but expects that figure to rise to some US$300 million per year by around 2018. The cost of all work leading up to the first Mars launch is expected to be "on the order of US$10 billion"[40] and SpaceX expects to expend that much before it generates any transport revenue.[9]

Musk indicated in September 2016 that the full build-out of the Mars colonialization plans will likely be funded by both private and public funds. The speed of commercially available Mars transport for both cargo and humans will be driven, in large part, by market demand as well as constrained by the technology development and development funding.[9][40]

Elon Musk has said that there is no expectation of receiving NASA contracts for any of the ITS system work. He also indicated that such contracts, if received, would be good.[42]

In September 2016, Musk presented the following high-level, forward-looking, fabrication cost projections, given a set of assumptions. Those assumptions include: Cost of propellant: US$168/tonne; Launch site costs: US$200,000/launch; Discount rate: 5%; Cargo delivered: 450 tonne per single Interplanetary Spaceship; and full reuse. All assumptions are about a single mission once thousands of launches and hundreds of flights to Mars are a realistic prospect. They do not apply to costs for the much smaller number of early missions envisioned for the 2020s. Given these assumptions, Musk presented the following long-term mission cost projections:[31][27]

Calculated result: total average cost (based on the life cycle of the system, included costs of the initial fabrication, propellant, maintenance and company's amortization) of one Interplanetary Spaceship transported to Mars: US$62 million; or less than US$140,000 cost per tonne of mass transported to Mars.

SpaceX plans to fly its earliest missions to Mars using its Falcon Heavy launch vehicle prior to the completion, and first launch, of any ITS vehicle. Later missions utilizing ITS technologythe ITS launch vehicle and Interplanetary Spaceship with on-orbit propellant refill via ITS tankerwould begin no earlier than 2022. The company is planning for launches of research spacecraft to Mars using Falcon Heavy launch vehicles and specialized modified Dragon spacecraft. Due to planetary alignment in the inner Solar System, the launches are typically limited to a window of approximately every 26 months. Originally (in June 2016), the first launch was planned for Spring 2018, with an announced intent to launch again in every Mars launch window thereafter. In February 2017, however, the first launch to Mars was pushed back to 2020.[43] The early missions will collect essential data to refine the design of the ITS, and better select landing locations based on the availability of extraterrestrial resources such as water and building materials.[6]

The original tentative mission manifest (now outdated) included two Falcon Heavy missions to Mars prior to the first possible flight of an ITS to Mars in 2022:[6]

As of February 2017[update], the first launch is planned for 2020 and it's unclear whether the overall schedule is kept intact, but pushed back by 26 months, or if other adjustments will be made.

Italics indicate unflown vehicles and future missions or sites. denotes failed missions, destroyed vehicles and abandoned sites.

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Commercial cargo ship launched to space station – CBS News

Posted: at 9:40 am

A workhorse Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday and boosted an Orbital ATK cargo ship into space carrying more than 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and research hardware bound for the International Space Station.

Running a month late because of hydraulic problems and scheduling conflicts, the boosters Russian-built RD-180 main engine thundered to life at 11:11 a.m. EDT (GMT-4), throttled up to full thrust and quickly pushed the United Launch Alliance rocket away from complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The International Space Station passed to the east of Cape Canaveral a few minutes before launch and the Atlas 5 took off almost directly into the plane of the labs orbit, a requirement for spacecraft trying to rendezvous with a target moving through space at some five miles per second.

Initially flying straight up, the 191-foot-tall Atlas 5 quickly arced away to the northeast, climbing out of the thick lower atmosphere atop the RD-180s 860,200 pounds of thrust. A little more than a minute later, the rocket was traveling faster than sound, rapidly shedding weight and accelerating as it consumed it load of first stage propellants.

Passing through 10,000 mph, the first stage engine shut down as planned four minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff and the spent stage fell away.

A camera on the rockets Centaur second stage captures the Atlas 5s first stage falling back to Earth moments after separation.

NASA

The hydrogen-fueled Aerojet Rocketdyne engine powering the Centaur second stage then flashed to life and burned for nearly 14 minutes to complete the climb to a 142-mile-high roughly circular orbit tilted 51.6 degrees to the equator, the same as the space stations.

Three minutes later, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship, named in honor of John Glenn, the first American in orbit, was released from the Centaur to fly on its own.

We are very proud of that fact, that this spacecraft is named after my former fellow astronaut John Glenn, a real pioneer in the space world who launched for the first time out of here on an Atlas rocket, said Frank Culbertson, a former shuttle commander who manages Orbitals Space Systems Group. Its a great tribute to John to be able to take his name to orbit once again.

A bit more than two hours after launch, the Cygnus, also known as the SS John Glenn, deployed its two solar arrays and engineers reported the spacecraft was healthy and ready to begin a four-day rendezvous.

Status of the spacecraft is great, everything is working well, Culbertson said. Weve got the prop system pressurized, the power system is up, we deployed the solar arrays. ... The team is in control, and we are beginning our approach to the space station.

It was Orbitals seventh operational resupply launch under an initial $1.9 billion contract from NASA calling for eight flights through 2016. NASA later bought three additional flights and Orbital won a second contract for at least six more missions through 2024.

SpaceX holds similar resupply contracts using its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ships.

Orbital ATK normally launches Cygnus cargo ships atop its own Antares rocket, but in the wake of a 2014 launch failure, the company bought two Atlas 5s from ULA to launch two resupply missions while the Antares was being equipped with new engines.

The redesigned booster successfully flew last October, but Orbital bought a third more powerful -- and expensive -- Atlas 5 to help NASA get additional supplies to the station faster than would otherwise be possible.

Resupply spacecraft typically rendezvous with the station over two to three days, but the Cygnus, launched into an orbit more than 100 miles below its 250-mile-high target, will loiter in orbit until Saturday morning, staying well away from the space lab until after the arrival of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Thursday morning.

The Soyuz MS-04/50S spacecraft, carrying vehicle commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Jack Fischer, is being readied for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:13 a.m. EDT Thursday. Docking at the stations upper Poisk module is expected around 9:23 a.m. that same morning.

Yurchikhin and Fischer will join Expedition 50 commander Peggy Whitson, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Soyuz MS-03 commander Oleg Novitskiy.

Assuming the Soyuz docks on schedule, the Cygnus spacecraft will make its own approach to the space station early Saturday, pulling up to within about 30 feet just after 6 a.m. and then standing by while Whitson and Pesquet, operating the stations robot arm, lock onto a grapple fixture.

At that point, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston will take over to pull the Cygnus in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the central Unity module.

The cargo ship is loaded with some 7,625 pounds of cargo and equipment, including more than 2,000 pounds of science gear, 2,100 pounds of crew supplies and nearly 2,700 pounds of vehicle hardware. Also on board: 160 pounds of spacewalk equipment, about 40 pounds of Russian hardware and 38 small research satellites.

Thirty four of those Cubesats will be launched from the space station while four will be deployed from the Cygnus.

We have a wide range of support equipment thats going to be headed to station to support the science thats up there already but also to introduce some brand new capabilities and some exciting new research to the station, said Tara Ruttley, space station associate program scientist at the Johnson Space Center.

Among the cargo is an advanced plant habitat, the largest production facility for plants ever on the space station, Ruttley said. Its going to be able to grow larger plants, and larger plants lead to things like food production kind of crops.

In the near term, scientists will evaluate how well the plant facility operates with its ability to control lighting, humidity, temperature, water flow and a wide variety of other factors.

Eventually, as we understand how this habitat functions, Id imagine we will evolve into crops and edible foods, Ruttley said.

See the rest here:
Commercial cargo ship launched to space station - CBS News

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Glenn honored with launch of space station supply ship – News Chief

Posted: at 9:40 am

By Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL John Glenn's trailblazing legacy took flight Tuesday as a cargo ship bearing his name rocketed toward the International Space Station.

An Atlas rocket provided the late morning lift to orbit, just as it did for Glenn 55 years ago.

The commercial cargo ship, dubbed the S.S. John Glenn, holds nearly 7,700 pounds of food, equipment and research for the space station. It's due there Saturday, two days after the arrival of two fresh astronauts.

NASA's shipper, Orbital ATK, asked Glenn's widow, Annie, for permission to use his name for the spacecraft, following his December death.

Glenn, an original Mercury 7 astronaut, became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. He launched again in 1998 aboard shuttle Discovery at age 77, the oldest person ever in space. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery two weeks ago.

"It is clearly a chance one more time to show John Glenn's name emblazoned in space," said Frank Culbertson, a former astronaut who now heads Orbital ATK's space systems group.

Glenn was a courageous, pioneering leader who always promoted space and set a good example, Culbertson noted. "And I hope that putting his name on the space station is an inspiration to the next generation to aspire to do similar things, push the boundaries," he said.

Besides supplies, the capsule contains a banner showing Glenn in his orange space shuttle launch suit it's the first thing the station astronauts will see when they open the craft as well as memorabilia for his family. Because the launch was delayed a month by hydraulic problems at the pad and on the rocket, no Glenn family members were able to make it to Cape Canaveral, according to Culbertson.

Orbital ATK one of NASA's prime delivery services for the space station, along with SpaceX normally uses its own Virginia-based Antares rockets to launch its Cygnus cargo ships, named after the swan constellation. But it opted for the United Launch Alliance's bigger Atlas V rocket in order to carry up a heftier load. A new, larger greenhouse is flying up, along with equipment needed for a spacewalk next month.

"Looks like we nailed the orbit once again," said Vern Thorp, a manager for the rocket maker.

NASA's 360-degree video streaming of the launch the first such attempt for a live broadcast didn't go as well. Something went wrong moments before liftoff, and the video skipped over the actual rising of the rocket from the pad. NASA said it would try again, perhaps on an upcoming SpaceX delivery mission.

Mission Control beamed up the launch broadcast for the three astronauts at the space station, which is orbiting 250 miles high. The American, Russian and Frenchman will be joined Thursday by another American and Russian who will take off from Kazakhstan.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing new capsules that could fly U.S. astronauts to the space station as early as next year. Boeing's Starliner capsule will fly on the Atlas V.

It was the last launch commentary for NASA spokesman George Diller, who is retiring next month after 37 years. His was the voice at liftoff for the final space shuttle flight, by Atlantis, in 2011, as well as the send-off of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 and all five Hubble-servicing missions hundreds of rocket launches in all.

"We're really, really going to miss hearing your golden voice on console during launch, George," said Kennedy Space Center's director, Robert Cabana, patting him on the back.

Diller said his time at the space agency has been a "heck of a ride."

"I couldn't do better if I'd been riding a rocket."

Online: NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html; Orbital ATK: https://www.orbitalatk.com/

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John Glenn honored with launch of space station supply ship – Northwest Herald

Posted: at 9:40 am

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. John Glenn's trailblazing legacy took flight Tuesday as a cargo ship bearing his name rocketed toward the International Space Station.

An Atlas rocket provided the late morning lift to orbit, just as it did for Glenn 55 years ago.

NASA's shipper, Orbital ATK, asked Glenn's widow, Annie, for permission to use his name for the spacecraft, following his December death.

"It is clearly a chance one more time to show John Glenn's name emblazoned in space," said Frank Culbertson, a former astronaut who now heads Orbital ATK's space systems group.

"Looks like we nailed the orbit once again," said Vern Thorp, a manager for the rocket maker.

SpaceX and Boeing are developing new capsules that could fly U.S. astronauts to the space station as early as next year. Boeing's Starliner capsule will fly on the Atlas V.

"We're really, really going to miss hearing your golden voice on console during launch, George," said Kennedy Space Center's director, Robert Cabana, patting him on the back.

Diller said his time at the space agency has been a "heck of a ride."

"I couldn't do better if I'd been riding a rocket."

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John Glenn honored with launch of space station supply ship - Northwest Herald

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Lafayette’s Centaurus High has an experiment on way to space … – Boulder Daily Camera

Posted: at 9:40 am

Lafayette's Centaurus High is making its mark in space after the successful launch today of 7,600 pounds of crew supplies and science gear to the International Space Station, which includes an experiment designed and built by the school's engineering students.

The origins of the experiment, which aims to study the effects of simulated gravity on bacterial lag phase in a micro-gravitational environment, date back to the spring of 2014, and roughly 20 Centaurus engineering students have had a hand in bringing it to fruition.

Lag phase is the period when bacteria are adjusting to an environment.

The Orbital ATK Cygnus module launched successfully at 9:11 a.m. MDT today atop an Atlas V rocket and performed well, according to Vern Thorp, United Launch Alliance's program manager for commercial missions.

"It was a beautiful launch," Thorp said in a statement posted to the NASA website. "It looks like we nailed the orbit once again. At this time, it looks like a very good orbit insertion."

The Cygnus module is expected to arrive at the ISS about 4:05 a.m. MDT Saturday as it passes over southern France. The crew will use the complex's robotic arm to grab Cygnus and attach it to the station.

Centaurus has more than one connection to the current ISS missions. Launching from Florida about 1:13 a.m. MDT Thursday will be 1992 Centaurus graduate Jack Fischer, of Louisville, along with crew member Fyodor Yurchikhin, of the Russian Space agency Roscosmos.

Fischer and Yurchikhin will arrive at the ISS well ahead of the cargo module, with an expected docking at the space station of about 7:05 a.m. Colorado time on Thursday, about six hours after liftoff.

Also onboard the launch from Cape Canaveral was a University of Colorado student-built microsatellite named "Challenger." It is part of the European Union sponsored QB50 project to deploy a network of miniaturized satellites to study part of Earth's atmosphere.

The launch was followed via NASA TV today by Centaurus engineering teacher Brian Thomas and about 60 Centaurus engineering students and a half dozen other teachers.

"We're very excited," Thomas said about 90 minutes after liftoff. "We were cheering as it took off. My heart's still beating. I've still got butterflies in my chest from this one. It was really a special thing."

The Centaurus experiment has had a challenging road to fruition, after the first version of the experiment landed in the Atlantic Ocean as a result of the explosion of the SpaceX CRS-7 unmanned resupply mission shortly after liftoff on June 28, 2015. The experiment was rebuilt during the 2015-16 school year - with some modification requested by NASA and readied once again for its date with space.

"The last time it went off, it was two minutes in, before it exploded," Thomas said. "So, even when it launched today, we were still holding our breath a little, until everyone said it was looking good and it's still on its way."

Thomas and his student team hope that at the space station, their experiment will be supervised by Fischer, who is expected to be at the ISS for about five months.

"That's all under NASA's control," Thomas said. "For our experiment, there has to be a swapping of our bacteria samples we have four total sets and we needed an astronaut to do that.

"Jack really wanted to be the one, and I can't imagine any reason why he wouldn't be. Hopefully, that's what he'll be doing, and hopefully he'll snap a selfie that he can send us."

Charlie Brennan: 303-473-1327, brennanc@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/chasbrennan

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John Glenn honoured with launch of space station supply ship – Belfast Telegraph

Posted: at 9:40 am

Belfast Telegraph

John Glenn honoured with launch of space station supply ship
Belfast Telegraph
The commercial cargo ship, dubbed the SS John Glenn, holds nearly 3,500kg of food, equipment and research for the space station. It is due there on Saturday, two days after the arrival of two fresh astronauts. Nasa's shipper, Orbital ATK, asked Glenn's ...

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Orbital ATK launches cargo to space station – Space Daily

Posted: at 9:40 am

An unmanned Orbital ATK cargo ship rocket packed with food and supplies for the astronauts living at the International Space Station blasted off Tuesday from a NASA launch pad.

The barrel-shaped Cygnus spacecraft, nestled atop a white Atlas V rocket, soared into the blue sky over Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:11 am (1511 GMT).

"Liftoff of the Atlas V rocket with Cygnus and the S.S. John Glenn, extending the research legacy for living and working in space," said US space agency commentator George Diller.

The cargo ship was named after John Glenn, the famed astronaut who was the first American to orbit the Earth and who died last year at age 95.

"Cygnus is healthy and both solar arrays are deployed," Orbital ATK said in a statement later in the day.

The mission is the company's seventh as part of a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to ferry supplies to the orbiting outpost.

SpaceX also has a cargo contract with NASA worth $1.6 billion.

The Cygnus spacecraft is loaded with 7,626 pounds (3,459 kilograms) of crew supplies, hardware and dozens of experiments aimed at studying fire, growing food and cancer therapies.

- Plants and fire -

It contains the Advanced Plant Habitat, which will help astronauts grow food and practice techniques for sustaining themselves on future long duration flights.

The spacecraft is also carrying 38 small satellites called Cube Sats, which will be deployed later on.

The Cygnus should arrive at the station on April 22, after the scheduled docking Thursday of a Russian Soyuz spaceship carrying cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and American astronaut Jack Fischer.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Peggy Whitson of NASA will operate the space station's robotic arm to grab the Cygnus and bring it in to berth at the lab at 6:05 am (1005 GMT) on Saturday, NASA said.

After the astronauts unpack the Cygnus, they will reload it with trash that will burn up along with the spacecraft upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on July 25.

But before its mission comes to a fiery end, Cygnus will spend a couple of hours running an automated experiment to see how a large-scale fire acts in microgravity.

"While in space, after traveling a safe distance from the station, the fire is lit and data is collected before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere," said a statement from NASA.

Known as Saffire-III, the experiment is the third in a series and aims to better understand how fire acts in space in order to safeguard future space missions.

"The experiment lasts about two-and-a-half hours, of which 20 minutes is the actual burn of a fabric panel measuring 0.4 meters (yards) wide by one meter long."

A 360-degree live stream of the launch was broadcast on http://youtube.com/nasatelevision.

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Atlas V rocket has successful launch to space station – USA TODAY

Posted: at 9:40 am

USA Today Network James Dean, Florida Today Published 12:23 p.m. ET April 18, 2017 | Updated 15 hours ago

Launched from Cape Canaveral on board an Atlas V rocket, the next round of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station. (April 18) AP

An Atlas V rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday, April 18, 2017.(Photo: Craig Bailey, Florida Today)

CAPE CANAVERALGodspeed, SSJohn Glenn.

An unmanned cargo ship named in honor of the pioneering astronaut is on its way to the International Space Station after launching from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday atop a modern version of the Atlas rocket Glenn rode into orbit in 1962.

United Launch Alliances 19-story Atlas V thundered from Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations Launch Complex 41 at 11:11 a.m. ET Tuesday, punching through a few puffy clouds as it angled northeastover the Atlantic Ocean.

Twenty-one minutes later, an Orbital ATK Cygnus craft packed with more than 7,600 pounds of food, supplies and experiments separated from the rockets Centaur upper stage.

Related:What to know about Tuesday's Atlas V rocket launch

Just a fantastic launch, said Joel Montalbano, deputy manager of NASA's International Space Station program.

Rendezvous at the research outpost orbiting 250 miles overhead is planned around 6 a.m. Saturday, two days after a NASA astronaut and Russian cosmonaut are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan and join three Expedition 51 crew members onthe station.

Research aboard the Cygnus includesa minifridge-sized plant growth chamber led by KSC, tests of a chemotherapy drug that could better target cancer cellsand a student experiment analyzingDNA to study the aging process.

Other equipment includes gear needed for aspacewalk planned next monthand 38 tiny satellites called CubeSats that will deployfrom either the station or the Cygnus.

Also on board: Easter treats.

The resupply mission originally was scheduled to launch a month ago, but was delayed by problems with hydraulics on ground systems and on the rockets main engine.

We are sorry we missed Easter, but were pretty sure (the astronauts will) be excited about their Easter baskets, said Frank Culbertson, head of Orbital ATKs Space Systems Group.

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Orbital ATK has named each of its Cygnus spacecraft in tribute to influential astronauts.

Glenn, the Mercury astronaut and former U.S. senator who died last December at 95, was the first American to orbit Earth at the dawn of the space race with the Soviet Union, and later became the oldest person in space as a 77-year-old crew member aboard the shuttle Discovery in 1998.

Culbertson, a former NASA astronaut, called Glenn's missions "pathfinding and groundbreaking," particularly the first one flown with a "primitive" Atlas rocket and Friendship 7 capsule.

"Its a real honor for us to be associated with such an American hero and a pioneer in the space program," he said. "He always set a great example for Americans American youth, American technologyin pushing us beyond what we have been able to do in the past. I hope that putting his name on the space stationis an inspiration to the next generation to aspire do similar things: Push the boundaries."

The Cygnus carried mementos for Glenn's family, who could not attend the launch due to its delays.

Launch teams on Tuesday also paid tribute to a longtime voice of NASA launches,George Diller. A member of Kennedy Space Center's public affairs team since 1979, Diller called his final liftoff on NASA TV before he retiresnext month.

"Its been a good heck of a ride," he said afterward of his career. "I couldnt do better if Id have been riding a rocket."

Tuesdays launch was the seventh of 11 Cygnus missions under a NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract worth more than $2billion. It was third of those missions launched by ULAs Atlas V, which can lift heavier loads thanOrbital ATKs own Antares rocket based on Virginias Eastern Shore. The next Antares launch is targeted for September.

ULA completed its fourth launchthis year. Its next launch, of a NASA tracking and data relay satellite,is planned in early August.

SpaceX is next up on the Eastern Range. A Falcon 9 rocket is targeting an April 30 launch of a classified National Reconnaissance Office mission from Kennedy Space Centers pad 39A, and a booster landing back at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Related:Space salad? Plant experiment hitching a ride to space station

Follow James Dean on Twitter:@flatoday_jdean

360 Glitch

A launch pad camera promoted as providing the first 360-degree views of a rocket launch wasn't quite ready for prime time Tuesday as a United Launch AllianceAtlas V blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with nearly 900,000 pounds of thrust.

Starting about 10 minutes before the 11:11 a.m. liftoff, viewers on NASA TV's YouTube channel could manipulate the image to pan around Launch Complex 41 and look up and down the 19-story rocket. But the picture froze in the countdown's final seconds, and when itfinally refreshed, the rocket was gone.

"This is the first time that this has ever been attempted and while the 360 degreeswould have been a unique look at launch, we still have incredible video of today's successful liftoff of the Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station from multiple other cameras that provide a variety of views," said United Launch Alliance spokeswoman LynChassagne. "We will review today's 360-degreesetup and endeavor to bring this new perspective of a rocket launch to everyone in the future."

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Category Archives: Transhuman News

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John Glenn honored with launch of space station supply ship – Northwest Herald

Lafayette’s Centaurus High has an experiment on way to space … – Boulder Daily Camera

John Glenn honoured with launch of space station supply ship – Belfast Telegraph

Orbital ATK launches cargo to space station – Space Daily

Atlas V rocket has successful launch to space station – USA TODAY

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