Category Archives: Transhuman News

SpaceX astronauts give tour of 'Endeavour' capsule enroute to ISS

The four crew members onboard Endeavour plan to dock with the International Space Station.

STAFF VIDEO, USA TODAY

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station got into the Olympic spirit with their own "Space Olympics" to herald thestart of the long-awaited Summer Games in Tokyo.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet announced the start of the "very first Space Olympics" in a tweet last week. The cosmic games, waged between members of SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Russia'sSoyuzcrew ship, included space-friendly events such as synchronized floating, long jumps and no-hand ball, Pesquet said on Instagram.

"For crew cohesion, we put together a friendly competition between the #Soyuz team and the #CrewDragon team," Pesquet said on Twitter.

The astronauts, who represent counties including Russia, the U.S., France and Japan,also watched a video feed of the opening ceremony and cheered on their respective countries while wearing patriotic gear, according to photos Pesquet posted on flickr and a video shared on the official Olympics Instagram page.

"Here on the ISS, 400 kilometers away from Earth, we are very much looking forward to watching the Olympic Games in Tokyo," Pesquet said in the video. "So good luck to all the athletes and all the best from space. We'll be watching."

NASA:Astronauts are growing chile peppers on the International Space Station

Space squid: NASA, SpaceX launch baby squid and water bears to International Space Station

In a series of photos,the astronauts posed under an array of national flags hung up on the ceiling of the lab.

"We had all flags of the world (yes, every single country) hung up on the ceiling of the lab which gave an inspiring (and colourful) backdrop to our athletic prowess (or lack of)," Pesquet said in an Instagram caption."Let the Earthly games begin."

Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

See the rest here:
Synchronized floating among events in 'very first Space Olympics' from International Space Station - USA TODAY

NASA is at risk of losing a foothold in orbit after the end of the International Space Station.

Why it matters: Without an operating base in space, the agency's plan to shift from being a sole provider of services in orbit to becoming a customer of companies operating there is in jeopardy.

Driving the news: NASA this month put out a final call asking for companies to submit their ideas for space stations they could build and operate where astronauts could visit and perform experiments.

Background: It took nine years for SpaceX's Dragon to fly NASA astronauts to the space station after the end of the space shuttle program, a long gap during which NASA had to pay to fly people aboard Russia's Soyuz rocket.

The stakes: If NASA is unable to continue sending their astronauts to a space station, it could affect the space agency's plans for exploration in the future.

Yes, but: It's not clear Congress will fund NASA's plan to help support industry development of low-Earth orbit.

What to watch: NASA already has a deal with Axiom Space to fly a module to the ISS in 2024, as the first stage in the company's plans to eventually operate its own commercial space station.

Original post:
What comes next after the International Space Station ends - Axios

A Russian Progress cargo ship undocked from the International Space Station early Monday, taking with it the two-decades-old Pirs airlock and docking compartment to clear the way for Thursday's arrival of Russia's new Nauka multipurpose lab module.

With the Progress MS-16/77P supply ship firmly locked to Pirs, hooks and latches holding the docking compartment to the Zvezda service module's Earth-facing port were commanded open, and the Progress backed away at 6:55 a.m. EDT.

After moving a safe distance away, the Progress fired its thrusters at 10:01 a.m., setting up a destructive plunge into the atmosphere 41 minutes later. The braking burn was planned to make sure any debris that might survive reentry heating would fall harmlessly into the southern Pacific Ocean.

Undocking originally was planned for last Friday, two days after Nauka's launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but problems with the lab's navigation and propulsion systems prompted Russian flight controllers to delay Pirs' departure.

Finally, after several anxious days of troubleshooting, Nauka's propulsion system was restored to normal operation, and two successful tests of its KURS navigation and rendezvous system were carried out. While few details were provided, Russian mission managers then cleared Pirs and Progress for departure.

Pirs was launched on September 14, 2001, three days after the 9/11 attacks. It served as a docking port for visiting Soyuz crew ships and Progress freighters for nearly 20 years and as an airlock for Russian spacewalks.

The much larger 44,000-pound Nauka module features an airlock and docking port, expanded crew quarters, research space, an additional toilet, oxygen generator, solar arrays and a European Space Agency-built robot arm. Nauka's thrusters also will help provide roll control to keep the station properly oriented.

With the departure of Pirs, NASA flight controllers planned to reposition the station's Canadian-built robot arm on the Russian Zarya module so it could carry out a seven-hour inspection of the Zvezda module's now-vacant Earth-facing port. Russian engineers want to make sure no debris or other issues are present that might prevent the docking mechanism from working properly when Nauka arrives.

Assuming no problems are found, the lab module will complete its rendezvous with the space station Thursday, moving in for docking at Zvezda's Earth-facing port at 9:24 a.m. It will take up to 11 Russian spacewalks over about seven months to electrically connect and outfit the new lab module.

Nauka's docking will come the day before a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launches a Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew capsule to the station for an unpiloted test flight. The Atlas 5 rollout to pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is expected Wednesday, setting up a launch at 2:53 p.m. Friday.

The Starliner, like SpaceX's already operational Crew Dragon spacecraft, is designed to carry U.S. and partner-agency astronauts to and from the space station on a commercial basis, helping end NASA's post-shuttle reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for crew transportation.

An initial Starliner test flight in December 2019 had major software problems, prompting Boeing to launch a second unpiloted test flight before the ship's first planned launch with a crew on board late this year or early next year.

For the test flight, the Starliner will dock at the front end of the station's forward Harmony module, returning to a White Sands, New Mexico, landing on August 5.

See the original post here:
Russia ditches 20-year-old space station module to clear way for lab's arrival - CBS News

Blue Origin suborbital spaceflier Mark Bezos throws a ball to Oliver Daemen in zero-G while Wally Funk floats above in the New Shepard capsule. (Blue Origin Photo)

The state of commercial space travel is changing so quickly that even science-fiction authors are struggling to keep up.

Thats what Time magazines editor at large,Jeffrey Kluger, found out when he was finishing up his newly published novel,Holdout,half of which is set on the International Space Station.

Klugers plot depends on the Russians being the only ones capable of bringing an astronaut back from the space station but that no longer holds true,now that SpaceX is flying crews to and from orbit.

At the very end of the editing process, SpaceX started to fly so I had to quickly account for that, he explains in the latest episode of theFiction Science podcast, which focuses on the intersection of science and technology with fiction and popular culture.

Kluger filled that plot hole by writing in a quick reference to a couple of fictional companies CelestiX and Arcadia and saying they were both grounded, due to a launch-pad accident and a labor strike.

Its been even harder to keep up in the past few weeks, due to the high-profile suborbital spaceflights that have been taken by billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Each of them flew aboard their own companys rocket ship:Blue Origins New Shepard for Bezos, andVirgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo rocket plane for Branson. Kluger told me those billionaire space trips are at the same time less significant and more significant than they might seem at first glance.

Theyre less significant because this is a very elite group of very wealthy and powerful people who are in a unique position to build and fly their own spacecraft, Kluger said.

That is hardly something that the great mass of the rest of us are in a position to do, he added.

But Kluger said these first flights also hint at the enormous growth potential for private-sector spaceflight.

One of the points we like to make when we talk about this at Time is that Charles Lindbergh flew across the ocean by himself in 1927, he said. And just 12 years later, we had Pan Am trans-Atlantic service. In very short order, we have the democratization of air travel.

Which billionaire will win the lions share of the suborbital space travel market? If its a two-billionaire race, Kluger would put his money on Blue Origin, because its vertical launch-and-landing system is less complicated than Virgin Galactics air-launch system. But Kluger noted that rival billionaire Elon Musks SpaceX has far outpaced both Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.

Theyve stayed suborbital, he said. And until I see them going orbital and achieving some of the kinds of things that SpaceX is achieving, I think they are pretty much eating SpaceXs dust at the moment and SpaceX is, in turn, eating their lunch.

SpaceX is due to mark a milestone of its own in the months ahead when it launches an all-civilian orbital mission. The Inspiration4 mission, funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman as a charity project for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, is shaping up as the first crewed orbital mission that doesnt have a government employee on board. Isaacman himself, whos the CEO of Shift4 Payments as well as a trained jet pilot, will be the mission commander.

We dont know exactly what all of the seats cost, but going by what the market bears for orbital seats, probably a good guesswork figure is $50 million a seat, Kluger said. So to put four people aboard the Inspiration4 mission is $200 million, I would guess.

The four-person crew aims to conduct zero-G science experiments and teach lessons from orbit over the course of three days. So the mission as a whole is longer, more ambitious and more selfless than the other two missions, Kluger said.

Inspiration4 wont be heading for the space station. But yet another commercial space mission, organized by Axiom Space with SpaceX in charge of the launch, will carry three customers and an Axiom mission commander to the 20-year-old orbital outpost early next year. Still more customers including Tom Cruise and the winner of a reality-TV show are expected to visit the station in the years ahead.

Life aboard the space station is going to become a little bit more crowded, and a little bit more versatile, Kluger said.

Lets just hope those visitors dont face the kinds of troubles that the protagonist of Klugers novel has to deal with. The central character in Holdout, an astronaut named Walli Beckwith, encounters perils including an in-space collision, an ammonia leak and a balky Soyuz capsule all based on true-to-life space station incidents.

Kluger said he was careful to stay within the bounds of the space stations technological capabilities and potential shortcomings as he was writing Holdout.

Some of the politics in Washington, I may have taken a few liberties with that but when it came to the science, I tried to keep it as close to the actual physics of spaceflight as possible, he said.

In addition to the space drama, the ingredients in Klugers book include international political intrigue as well as environmental threats and a refugee crisis in the Amazon. (No, Jeff Bezos, not your Amazon.) It all sounds like the perfect recipe for a movie script.

I think almost hourly of this book being on screen, Kluger admitted. Im not saying I wrote it more as a screenplay than as a book, but I did write it with the idea of a movie in mind. My agent in Hollywood at William Morris is working on getting it out there.

Kluger already has someone in mind to play Walli Beckwith: Elisabeth Moss, who has starred in Mad Men and The Handmaids Tale.

I think shes got the grit. I think shes got the toughness. I think shes got the emotional availability and accessibility, Kluger said. I just think she would be the perfect person for Walli Beckwith.

Elisabeth Moss hasnt yet shown up alongside Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga on the list of prospective suborbital spacefliers. But in light of Klugers interest, maybe she should think about it.

This report was originally published on Alan Boyles Cosmic Log. Check out the original posting for bonus links to Klugers favorite space TV show, the book thats on the top of his reading list and other recommendations from the Cosmic Log Used Book Club.

See more here:
Bezos vs. Branson vs. Musk: A reality check on the billionaire space race and space station sci-fi - GeekWire

The International Space Station in 2006, shortly after the departure of Space Shuttle Atlantis.Image: NASA (Getty Images)

Russias newly launched International Space Station module Nauka is still in the fight as of Friday afternoon, as early reports indicate that the modules backup engines have fired successfully. Thats a big relief for Roscosmos, which nearly saw its long-awaited module become a tragic piece of space trivia instead of the newest piece of the International Space Station. But its not out of the woods yet.

The first glitch in Naukas journey happened yesterday, when the spacecraft didnt complete its first orbit-raising burn. This meant that the uncrewed Nauka wasnt on track to actually intercept the ISS, which its scheduled to dock with on Thursday, July 29. The problem was attributed to a software issue in a computer aboard Nauka, which prevented the spacecrafts main engines from firing. Naukas team was able to manage a remote course correction, but a second bout of course corrections were deemed necessary, and scheduled for today. One early report from journalist Anatoly Zak indicated that one of the spacecrafts engines sputtered back to life in a mission. The backup engine seems to have fired fine, said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in an email today, though he added that the status of the engines was not yet certain and it would likely be a few hours before a new dataset from Nauka verified the situation.

The thrusters are just one piece of the engineering puzzle, so the new module is hardly home free. Naukas also been having issues with one antenna and its docking target, and its uncertain how those issues will affect docking attempts, SpaceNews reported. Apparently there is still an issue with the Kurs rendezvous system, and that is pretty critical for docking, McDowell said, adding that the spacecrafts TORU systemwhich allows the astronauts aboard the ISS assist with the dockingis working normally.

For now, the Pirs docking compartment is currently sitting in Naukas assigned dock on the ISS. Pirs scheduled undocking to make way for the new module was postponed from Friday to Sunday, according to RussianSpaceWeb.

G/O Media may get a commission

It is not unusual for complex spacecraft to have teething troubles. However, the number and severity of problems on this flight is above the norm, and perhaps this is not too surprising given the long delays in the development of the vehicle. Nevertheless, I am moderately optimistic that they will eventually complete a successful docking, although not necessarily on the first attempt, McDowell said.

Keep your eyes on this spacecraft. Theres certainly a twist or two left in this tale.

More: Russia Averts Possible Disaster as New Space Station Module Finally Reaches Proper Orbit

See original here:
Russian Module Headed for the ISS Is Still Having Problems - Gizmodo

NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are growing red and green Hatch chile peppers that will be ready to eat in just a few months.

LOOK UP:Here's how to see the best meteor shower of 2021

The 48 chile pepper seeds were planted here on Earth at the Kennedy Space Center then delivered to the ISS in June. The seeds were slotted into the Advanced Plant Habitat, one of three plant growth chambers on the ISS. This is one of the longest and hardest growth experiments the astronauts and scientists on the ground have attempted.

Luckily, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who initiated NASAs Plant Habitat-04 (PH-04) experiment onboard, has already tended to space crops. He helped grow (and eat) "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce in late 2016.

The peppers will be harvested in about four months. Some will be sampled by the astronauts onboard, while others will be sent back to the Kennedy Space Center for analysis.

It is one of the most complex plant experiments on the station to date because of the long germination and growing times, said Matt Romeyn, principal investigator for PH-04. We have previously tested flowering to increase the chance for a successful harvest because astronauts will have to pollinate the peppers to grow fruit.

Jason Fischer (left), a research scientist, and Lashelle Spencer, a plant scientist, with the Laboratory Support Services and Operations contract at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, harvest peppers from pepper plants on Jan. 15, 2020, that were grown in the Space Station Processing Facility for a growth assessment in preparation for sending them to space. As NASA prepares to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit, the ability for astronauts to grow a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in space will be critical. Fresh produce will be an essential supplement to the crew's pre-packaged diet during long-duration space exploration when they are away from Earth for extended periods of time.

Growing peppers on the ISS has a few benefits for NASA's astronauts. Living in microgravity can cause astronauts to lose some of their sense of taste and smell, which means spicy foods are a welcome meal for some. Peppers are also high in Vitamin C and other nutrients. Plus, the bright peppers even help the astronauts' mental health while onboard the ISS.

SPACE RACE:Did Richard Branson really go into space? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says 'no'

Growing colorful vegetables in space can have long-term benefits for physical and psychological health, Romeyn said. We are discovering that growing plants and vegetables with colors and smells helps to improve astronauts well-being.

It's comforting to know when humans eventually colonize Mars, we might not have to give up our beloved chiles. Man can only live on astronaut ice cream for so long.

Read more here:
NASA astronauts are growing chili peppers on the International Space Station - Chron

In the four months between January 1 and May 1, 2021, a startling 836 satellites were launched into orbit, pushing the total number of active satellites to more than 4,000 for the first time. That is on top of a single-year increase of 925 operating satellites in 2020 and 304 in 2019, an accelerating growth pattern that has been building since 2014. Given theplansof companies like Starlink, dramatic increases in numbers of satellites seem destined to continue, although the rate of change will almost certainly decline.

UCS has tracked the number of operating satellites circulating the globe since 2005, and regularly releases our UCS Satellite Database, free to the public, with a good deal of supplemental data. Our latest release of the database finds that, as of May 1, the total number operational satellites in Earth orbit is 4,084, adding the 836 new satellites launched and subtracting roughly 120 that ceased operations since our last report.

At some point, this acceleration will slow down, as the current exponential growth pattern is not sustainable. The acceleration reflects the deployment of major constellations of satellites that will be maintained but not massively expanded. However, even with a slowdown in the rate of increase, total numbers are certain to continue to expand, and that could have implications for the planet.

In particular, it increases the likelihood of collisions between objects in space, which can create more space debris and increase the chance of additional collisions. Just last year, acollision nearly happenedbetween a dead Russian satellite and an old Chinese rocket body. That followed the2009 collisionbetween an operating US satellite and a decommissioned Russian satellite, one that led to at least 823 large pieces of debris at the time. If a chain reaction does happen in space, it could significantly affect society, as more and more elements of our everyday lives rely on space-based communications and data.

As of May 1, there were nearly 1,500 Starlink satellites in orbit, with 550 having been added during the first four months of 2021. In April the Federal Communications Commissionapproved a change in Starlinks licensethat allowed it to operate more satellites at a lower orbit than had previously been permitted. The constellation will now operate at an altitude of 540 and 570 kilometers, and not higher than 580 kilometers. The limit of 580 was a condition requested by Amazon to avoid close approaches to its Project Kuiper satellites, and accepted by SpaceX.

A number of astronomical associations, concerned about the impact that Starlink has had on astronomical observations,requested that the FCC perform an environmental assessmentof the Starlink constellation. This request was denied, but the FCC did encourage SpaceX to continue to work closely with astronomers to mitigate the brightness of its satellites.

One new trend does not impact the UCS count of operating satellites: we do not track objects that only pass through space temporarily, so billionaires or others who might fly up briefly and then return to ground will not increase our satellite numbers. However, it is worth noting some news related to space stations, which are counted.

Chinas space stationOn April 29 the first and core component of Chinas Space Station Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) was placed into orbit. Named Tianhe (Harmony of Heavens), this first module will serve as the control center and living quarters of the station. Two more modules that will function as laboratories will be launched in 2022. The space station will be able to host three crew members at a time. China has declared that Tiangong willbe open to host non-Chinese crews and science projects, andnine other nationshave already signed on to fly experiments aboard Tiangong, which has an expected life of 15 years.

International space station and space tourismThe International Space Station (ISS) isscheduled to be decommissioned in 2024, with the possibility of anextension to 2028. In the meantime, plans for orbital tourism are moving ahead. Russias Roskosmos State Corporation has been reviewing a business plan forthe addition of a high-comfort module to the ISS, a luxury orbital suite parked at the ISS offering private cabins with big windows, personal hygiene facilities, exercise equipment and even Wi-Fi. Space tourists will have an opportunity for space walks accompanied by a professional cosmonaut.

The trip, one to two weeks in duration, will cost $40 million per person. If the tourist wishes to extend the stay to a full month and include the space walk, it would cost an additional $20 million. How far these plans will progress is dependent onsignificant factors.

Those trips, however, would not be counted in our satellite database.

Finally, kudos to my colleague, Teri Grimwood,UCS Satellite Database researcher, for tracking down 28 pieces of information for each of these 4084 satellites. If youd like email notification when the updates are made, please sign uphere.

Excerpt from:
The Number of Active Satellites in Space Skyrockets . . . Literally - All Things Nuclear

July 26, 2021

By Mehmet S. Tosun, Professor and Director of International Programs, The College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno

Recent developments related to Space are simply astonishing. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, went to space just a few days ago on July 20, 2021 on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Blue Origin is a space tourism company founded by Jeff Bezos in 2000. In addition to the brother of Jeff Bezos (Mark Bezos), the two other passengers in the trip were Wally Funk (82), who became the oldest person to go to space and Oliver Daemen (18), who became the youngest to reach space.

Another billionaire, Richard Branson, also did a similar trip just nine days before on July 11 on the Virgin Galactic space plane, VSS Unity. Branson also received a license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for future commercial space flights, paving the way for many individuals to become space tourists (and astronauts) in the near future. According to a recent report, there are about 600 people who are waiting to go to space at a ticket price of $250,000. People who paid a deposit to reserve their seat are thought to include celebrities like Elon Musk, Tom Hanks, Angelina Jolie, Lady Gaga and Leonardo Di Caprio, among many others. Branson, Bezos and accompanying passengers were not the first space tourists in history but the most recent ones. The first space tourist, Dennis Tito, paid $20 million to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001. There are also many business developments related to space other than space tourism. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, started a new commercial space company called Sierra Space in 2021. SNCs Dream Chaser is referred to as a space utility vehicle with the ability to take cargo and crew to low-earth-orbit (LEO) and land smoothly on runways, which is critical for sensitive cargo items such as science experiments. It is planning its first flight to the International Space Station in 2022.

Recent interest in space tourism and space economy more broadly by so many is quite remarkable. In his recent book Space is Open for Business, Robert C. Jacobson notes that space is not just a plan or a project but an ecosystem, an organic, multi-path process involving hundreds or thousands of independent entities, all working in their own ways to succeed in their field of endeavor. (Jacobson, 2020, p. 41) The size of the entire space ecosystem is already big but expected to grow exponentially in coming years and decades. While there is not an easy way to measure the size of the space economy, recent estimates put it at close to $400 billion. According to a Morgan Stanley report, the global space industry may triple in size to more than $1 trillion by 2040. According to a CNBC article, a Bank of America forecast shows the space economy reaching about $1.4 trillion by 2030.

It is also important to note that recent efforts are largely private initiatives. People are now talking about an era of space entrepreneurship that involves not just those renowned companies owned by billionaires but also smaller, less-known businesses and startups. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there have been more than 900 space related startups that were supported by their Business Incubation Centers and intensive entrepreneurship programs. At the same time, governments have always been involved in space programs, for good reason. In addition to the excessively large investments needed for space-related programs, space involves a number of public goods (e.g. national security, maintaining peace, scientific explorations) and externalities (e.g. orbital congestion from satellites and space debris). Markets may not work well in situations involving public goods or externalities, warranting government intervention. Space is seen as a global commons, where commons is defined as a resource that is open to a community without any individual ownership. In commons situations, when private parties act only in their own interest with profit motive, they may overuse and harm the resource, leading to what is called the tragedy of the commons. Space debris, with a total of 128 million pieces of space junk in LEO, could create a tragedy of the space commons. Problems like this require involvement of not just one but many governments and private sector players to figure out long-term solutions. We are definitely seeing a more decentralized space economy with greater private involvement now compared to the centralized government-led programs from few decades ago. However, better coordination between private parties and governments will be key to a healthy space economy in the future.

Note: It is rather difficult to say exactly where the atmosphere ends and space starts. A widely accepted definition uses what is called the Krmn line, which is at 62 miles (or 100 km) above sea level, as the boundary for space. According to NASA and the U.S. military, space starts at 50 miles (or 80 km) above sea level. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides a good summary on the definitions and more. Richard Branson and his crew in VSS Unity flew to an altitude of 53.5 miles, whereas Jeff Bezos and other passengers in Blue Origin flew to 66.5 miles.

Read the original here:
The Business and Economics of Space | International Blog | College of Business - Nevada Today

The International Space Station is getting mobile robot space avatars controllable by the public from Earth, courtesy of a joint project between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and ANA Holdings telepresence start-up avatarin.

The project will create a virtual remote space tourism experience aimed at those who can't afford to hitch a ride with Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson.

JAXAs press release reads:

This isnt the first collaboration between JAXA and avatarin. The duo collaborated last year resulting in a technology demonstration of virtual experience enabling robots onboard the KIBO module of the ISS.

The new project builds on that technology demonstration increasing the role of robots onboard the ISS with a new type of avatar that will act as a co-worker for astronauts on the station and on other settings like the moon. Avatars working in this capacity will have high-precision hands. Other avatars will be all about an entertainment experience .

In addition to the two new types of avatars, the project will use an existing type of avatar robot called newme as education and public relations tools, giving virtual tours and nurturing interest in space exploration from Earth.

avatarin will provide the avatars and telepresence tech; JAXA will bring its space experience, knowledge and facilities; and a third party, the University of Tokyo School of Engineering, will pitch in by developing a self-position estimation system.

None of the parties are saying when the avatars will become available for a spot of tele-tourism, but their aspirations already exceed ISS experiences and aim at "possible robotics technologies that can be effectively deployed in future space exploration missions."

And seeing as JAXA has twice landed on asteroids, we may be in for quite a ride.

Read more from the original source:
Japan plans remote-controlled robotic space tourism to the ISS and beyond - The Register

The International Space Station (ISS) is preparing to take delivery of the European Robotic Arm (ERA) later this week.

The 11-meter-long robot launched on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 21, and is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Thursday.

Due to its large size, the ERA was folded into a more compact shape prior to loading, and then attached to what will be its home base at the ISS the new Multipurpose Laboratory Module, also called Nauka.

The space station is already home to two robotic arms from Canada and Japan. While extremely useful for docking procedures and assisting astronauts on spacewalks, neither of these arms can reach the Russian segment of the orbiting outpost. But the ERA will be able to do just that.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the new robotic arm will also be the first with the ability to walk around the outside of the ISS by moving hand-over-hand between fixed base-points.

Moving hand-over-hand around the Russian parts of the station, the ERA will bring more freedom, more flexibility, and more skills to space operations, said David Parker, ESA director of human and robotic exploration.

Itll also be the first robotic arm at the ISS thats able to be controlled by crew members both inside and outside the station.

The robots main tasks will be to handle experiment payloads and other components, transport spacewalkers between locations outside the station like a cherry-picker crane, and carry out inspection work of the stations exterior using its four built-in cameras. During its activities, the ERA will be able to handle components weighing up to 8,000kg with an impressive 5mm precision.

First, though, the ERA needs to be set up. Current ISS astronaut Thomas Pesquet will help prepare the robot for installation, with incoming astronauts Matthias Maurer and Samantha Cristoforetti conducting the first of five spacewalks to fully deploy the device.

The ERA is the work of a consortium of 22 European companies from seven countries. It was actually designed more than three decades ago and was supposed to head to the ISS long before now, but technical issues kept it grounded for longer than expected.

Go here to read the rest:
An arm made for walking is about to arrive at the space station - Digital Trends