Category Archives: Transhuman News

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The next launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is slated for May 2022, company officials announced on Monday (Dec. 13). That is if everything goes as planned.

Teams from both Boeing and NASA have spent the last four months combing over data and inspecting valves on the Starliner spacecraft in an effort to figure out what caused several valves in its propulsion system to stick shut.

"NASA has been working side-by-side with Boeing on the service module valve investigation, including leveraging the agency's materials and propellants expertise to better characterize the potential causes of the issue," Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager said in an agency blog post.

Related: Boeing, NASA zero in on fix for Starliner capsule's valve problem

The agency announced on Monday that the team is aiming to relaunch the Starliner on its second orbital flight test (a mission called OFT-2) sometime in May 2022. At that time, the capsule will launch atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on a mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

As its name suggests, the flight is a repeat of the company's Orbital Flight Test, which launched in December 2019. That flight didn't quite go as planned, with the craft failing to reach the ISS. (The failure resulted from several anomalies in the vehicle's software.)

Together with NASA, Boeing engineers worked to fix the issues and make sure the craft would be able to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station. To that end, Boeing intended to launch a second flight test in August 2021.

Leading up to that second test, the OFT-2 mission, an issue popped up with the craft's propulsion system: several of the fuel system valves were stuck shut.

After some troubleshooting, engineers were able to unstick nine of the 13 pesky valves, which control the flow of the oxidizer within the fuel system. The leading cause of the anomaly is moisture interactions with the oxidizer, resulting in corrosion that sealed the valves shut.

"Because of the combined work, we have a much better understanding of the contributors that led to the valve issues and ways to prevent it from happening in the future," Stich said. "Boeing remains diligent and driven by the data during its decision making, which is key to ensuring the Starliner system is ready when we fly our test missions in 2022."

To make sure the craft is able to move towards a 2022 launch date, the teams will switch out the service module with one from an upcoming flight. The service module originally planned for its Crew Flight Test (CFT), the first test flight with astronauts on board, will now be used for the OFT-2 mission, and the service module planned for the first operational mission (called Starliner 1) will be used for CFT, company representatives have said.

John Vollmer, Boeing's vice president and commercial crew program manager, explained that while teams were looking into what caused the stuck valves, they were also looking forward at the other service modules to see what they could do to prevent this from happening.

The team will work on the next steps as to how to replace the affected service module. The teams are also analyzing samples of the corrosion on the stuck valves and using specialized tools to see inside the valves.

Engineers are also trying to replicate the conditions both on the launch pad and inside the Atlas facilities at Space Launch Complex 40, which caused the excess moisture to seep into the valves.

NASA, Boeing and the Eastern Range are working together to determine potential launch windows for OFT-2. The first of which will open in May 2022, if the spacecraft is ready.

Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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Boeing plans to launch its Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station in May 2022 - Space.com

Perhaps the most famous part of the International Space Station (ISS) is the Cupola, a seven-window observatory module offering panoramic views of Earth and space.

Many ISS astronauts like to spend their free time there, gazing dreamily out of the windows while capturing photos showcasing the beauty of our planet.

But the Cupola is much more than just a place for astronauts to kick back and relax during their downtime. Its also the perfect spot for Earth observation studies, and functions as a workstation for operating the facilitys robotic arm for spacewalks and spacecraft maneuvers.

The Cupola is 3 meters across and 1.5 meters high and weighs about 1.8 tons. It was built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and installed during a Space Shuttle Endeavour mission in 2010, a decade after the ISS went into operation.

This week current ISS inhabitant Matthias Maurer tweeted a shot from the Cupola that hints at the astonishing views that visitors to the space-based facility are able to enjoy.

There's always something to see from the Cupola An incredible view of the Earth, robotic activities of the @csa_asc #Canadarm2, arriving spacecraft & spacewalks. At the moment, you can also see part of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft & #Prichal behind me #CosmicKiss pic.twitter.com/RbydqGuEKO

— Matthias Maurer (@astro_matthias) December 15, 2021

Take note, though the windows arent as large as the photo appears to suggest, with the cameras wide-angle lens distorting the image somewhat. The video below offers a look inside the Cupola and gives a better idea of the true size of not only the windows, but of the module itself.

A little-known feature of the Cupola is its external shutter system that helps protect the windows from tiny meteoroids and orbital debris that could come its way. Closed when the module isnt in use, the shutters also prevent solar radiation from heating up the Cupola and stop internal heat from escaping, according to ESA. You can see the shutters in action in the video below.

ESA says the Cupola provides a shirtsleeve environment for up to two astronauts working in the module. Its internal layout is dominated by upper and lower handrails around the cabin, supporting most of the equipment, and by close-out panels, which cover the harness and cooling water lines.

To explore the Cupola for yourself, check out Google Earths wonderfully immersive feature that lets you view the module from every angle, and in great detail, too.

For more about day-to-day life on the International Space Station, take a look at these videos made by visiting astronauts over the years.

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The space stations window on the world looks huge in this photo - Digital Trends

US agency resumed flights to the ISS last year with its new Crew Dragon spacecraft. (Photo: SpaceX)

Moscow expects NASA to start taking cosmonauts to the International Space Station again and is hopeful that cooperation can resume next year, the head of the Russian space agency was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Russia has been the only country capable of delivering people to the ISS since 2011, when the US space agency retired its space shuttle and divert resources towards deeper space exploration.

But the US agency resumed flights to the ISS last year with its new Crew Dragon spacecraft, on which Moscow expects Washington to find berths for cosmonauts.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, said he and his US counterparts had discussed the issue, alongside extending Russia's participation in the space station's upkeep beyond 2025, according to an interview published by Interfax.

Strained relations between Washington and Moscow have extended into space, but Rogozin said the two agencies planned to finalise the Crew Dragon deal in the first half of 2022 when NASA chief Bill Nelson visited Moscow.

Earlier this month Rogozin mentioned Anna Kikina, the only female cosmonaut at Roscosmos, as a likely nominee for such a flight.

In November, US officials accused Russia of endangering the ISS after generating a debris field in low-Earth orbit that they said would pose a hazard to space activities for years.

In early December, Roscosmos said the ISS had performed a manoeuvre to temporarily swerve away from a fragment of a US launch vehicle.

Click here for IndiaToday.ins complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Moscow hopeful Nasa will take Russian cosmonauts to Space Station from 2022 - India Today

A recent New York Times article declared 2021 The Year Space Got Sexy All Over Again. Jeff Bezos has been flying celebrities out of the atmosphere, there are new stories of aliens and UFOs and in November, astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) almost had to evacuate when Russian space debris started heading their way.

Mark Vande Hei is one of those astronauts. He was raised in Minnesota and is set to break the record for the longest stay ever in the ISS. Host Cathy Wurzer connected with Vande Hei and his colleague Tom Marshburn live in space through NASA's communications team.

Watch part of the interview below:

Vande Hei said he actually enjoyed the adventure of preparing for the evacuation that never was. We got lots of experience closing and opening hatches, he said. He was even treated to a Russian breakfast by his Russian colleagues.

When Vande Hei was young, he thought he had about as much of a chance to become an astronaut as he did to become Spider-Man. He said hes still puzzled and pleasantly surprised to be in space today.

How does an astronaut handle staying in the ISS as long as Vande Hei? He said hes just trying to focus on the moment so that the length of the stay doesnt become overwhelming.

Host Cathy Wurzer interviews astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Tom Marshburn on the International Space Station for Minnesota Now on Wednesday.

Lindsay Guentzel

Vande Hei and Marshburn see potential in recent civilian trips to space by the wealthy. The more people that get up to see the Earth from space, the better off the Earth will be, Vande Hei said, because when people see the Earth from space, he says, they are confronted by the fragility of our planet. Vande Hei hopes the powerful people on these first space tourism flights will be changed, too.

Marshburn added that space travel by the wealthy is hopefully the first step to more affordable space travel in the future.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast onApple Podcasts,Google Podcasts,Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.

Correction (Dec. 15, 2021): A previous version of this copy misspelled Tom Marshburns last name. The above version is corrected and updated.

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This astronaut is from Minnesota and set to break a record in space - MPR News

If you can drag yourself out of bed early on Christmas Day, theres a chance to see Father Christmas heading home after delivering his presents or more accurately, the International Space Station flying over London.

They look the same and depending on the age of your kids, choose which of the two explanations you will prefer to use.

To spot the space station/Santa flying over London, what you want to do is find a nice place with a decent view of the sky a park, or anywhere above the local street lighting level will do.

Try to get used to the dark sky and not look at other bright lights.

Look to the west, and then around 6:52am, you may spot a single bright star appearing in the sky, and moving fast towards you. It might take a bit of effort to spot it, but once you have, it becomes very obvious in the sky as it races over London.

In the centre a solitary bright star flying over London Christmas Day 2020

The reason that you can see the space station at this time of the morning as the rising sun is still low enough to leave the sky in near darkness, but the space station is high enough to already be reflecting the sunlight making it glow like a small star in the sky.

The flypast lasts a couple of minutes. Then you can head home for a well-earned mug of hot chocolate.

Theres also a flypast on Christmas Eve at 7:38am if the weather forecast for Christmas Day is going to be cloudy, and you can always say that its Santas doing a practice run over London.

Flypast data from N2YO.

Note the ISS will be visible from MOST of England on the flypasts, and the flypast lasts a couple of minutes, so the times are as above, give or take 10-20 seconds. As the space station is so high up, itll be pretty much directly overhead for anyone in the southeast, but if you are north of London, you may need to look a tiny bit to the south of the sky above.

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Watch the Space Station fly over London on Christmas morning - IanVisits

On August 15, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India's plans to launch its first human space mission, Gaganyaan, by 2022. But, last year, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the initial goals of a timely launch of uncrewed and crewed spaceflights under the mission. Now, as we eagerly await the launch, here's an update on what to expect from the mission and the future of India in the space frontier.

Last week, Union Space Minister Jitendra Singh, during the Rajya Sabha meeting, stated that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the final crewed mission in 2023. The first two stages, i.e. the test vehicle and the uncrewed mission, will carry Vyommitra, a spacefaring humanoid robot developed by ISRO.

The minister confirmed that the first uncrewed space flight as part of India's Rs 9,023 crore human spaceflight mission 'Gaganyaan' is slated for the second half of 2022.

Additionally, the Venus mission, L-1 Aditya solar and Chandrayaan-3 missions are also estimated for launch in 2022-2023. Singh also confirmed that Chandrayaan-3 is in the advanced stage of realisation. All the Propulsion Module and Rover Module systems have been realised, integrated, and tested. In the Lander Module, most of the systems have been realised, and tests are underway.

All the identified tests will be completed before the launch of Chandrayaan-3, he said.

Chandrayaan-3 is targeted to be launched in the second quarter of the financial year 2022-2023.

Moreover, the union space minister also set a timeline for Indias first-ever space station. He announced that by 2030, we would, possibly, be able to set up a space station, which would be unique of its kind.

A space station is a habitable artificial satellite in the Earths lower orbit. At present, only the International Space Stationa collaborative project of the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canadaand the recently launched Tiangong Space Station of China are operational.

Though the COVID restrictions delayed the main programme, the preparations have begun vigorously, including aeromedical training and flying practice for astronauts. An astronaut training facility is also being established in Bengaluru. Even the ground qualification tests of human-rated launch vehicle propulsion stages have progressed successfully.

"The configuration and design of ground infrastructure have been completed, and modifications needed are being implemented. The MoU, contracts and Implementation arrangement (IA) related activities with both national and international agencies are progressing well," Singh said.

To keep the buzz going, ISRO recently sponsored 500 young minds to assemble Gaganyaan's functional rocket model to create a Guinness World Record. More than 500 industries are reportedly involved in the overall Gaganyaan mission.

The objective of the Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low earth orbit (LEO) onboard an Indian rocket and bring them back to earth safely.

The final stage of the mission will send three astronauts into the low-earth orbit of 300-400 km to stay for a week. If successful, Gaganyaan will make India the world's fourth country, after the USA, China and the Soviet Union (now Russia), to successfully place a human in space.

(With inputs from IANS and the Times of India)

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Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-3 to Lift Off in 2022-23; India Aims to Set Up Space Station By 2030 | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel...

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk is the Time person of the year for 2021, the magazine announced on Monday (Dec. 13).

"Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth, too," Time editor in chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal said in a statement. "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the worlds richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society."

That shift includes "the continuing decline of traditional institutions in favor of individuals; government dysfunction that has delivered more power and responsibility to business; and chasms of wealth and opportunity," Felsenthal said.

World's tallest rocket: SpaceX stacks Starship atop massive booster for 1st time

Some notable achievements by Musk and SpaceX this year include safely landing a prototype of the company's huge Starship Mars rocket during a high-altitude test flight; maintaining crewed access to the International Space Station from the U.S. via SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket; and successfully launching four civilians on a charity-focused orbital spaceflight known as Inspiration4 (a mission backed by another billionaire, Jared Isaacman.)

Musk was even a guest on Saturday Night Live, which included the requisite Dogecoin jokes. Musk is a huge fan of the cryptocurrency, and is even (reportedly) starting to accept missions paid for in Dogecoin.

Musk is still keeping his interplanetary settlement dreams alive with Starship and is now framing his goal of reaching the Red Planet as a solution to some of Earth's problems, such as global warming. That's a position that is in itself controversial among some, according to Vox, but Musk has been laser-focused on Mars since SpaceX's foundation nearly 20 years ago.

"The goal overall has been to make life multiplanetary and enable humanity to become a spacefaring civilization," Musk said in an interview with Time. "The next really big thing is to build a self-sustaining city on Mars and bring the animals and creatures of Earth there, sort of like a futuristic Noah's ark. Well bring more than two, though it's a little weird if theres only two."

Musk's interview with Time also gives some suggested milestones for his various long-term space missions, including going around the moon "maybe as soon as 2023." He also said he'll "be surprised" if SpaceX doesn't achieve a human Mars landing in five years, and he gave more clarification on recent reports that SpaceX could go bankrupt due to a production crisis on its new Raptor engine for Starship.

"Worst case situation ... bankruptcy is not out of the question, not that it's likely," Musk said in the interview with Time. "We cannot lose our edge or get complacent."

You can read the full cover story at Time at this link.

Musk's selection as Time's person of the year won't be universally lauded. The billionaire entrepreneur has been criticized for such actions as re-opening a Tesla factory (Musk is also CEO of Tesla) against public health guidance during the pandemic and making rude comments about an individual who helped rescue a set of boys trapped in a cave, while Musk's proposed submarine solution was set aside.

And SpaceX's Starlink satellite megaconstellation, while expanding internet access in rural areas, also has been criticized for interfering with astronomical observations due to the number and brightness of the spacecraft.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace. Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcomor onFacebook.

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Elon Musk named Time Magazine's person of the year - Space.com