Category Archives: Space Station

'Rescue vehicle' may be needed to bring cosmonauts, NASA astronaut home from space  Fox Weather

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'Rescue vehicle' may be needed to bring cosmonauts, NASA astronaut home from space - Fox Weather

We cant afford for them to get sick: the health risks of trips to Mars  South China Morning Post

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We cant afford for them to get sick: the health risks of trips to Mars - South China Morning Post

New Reading!

Una dreams of a life in Space. Life on Earth is just so so-so. But how will she get there? And will she complete her mission to discover life in Space? And did she remember to feed Neil the goldfish?

On May 19th 2021,Give Me Some Space!was read to over 1.98 million children across Australia and New Zealand simultaneouslyby NASA astronautShannon Walker from theInternational Space Station!

National Simultaneous Storytime is held annually, thanks to the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Each year, one book is selected to be read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centers, family homes, bookshops and many other places around Australia and New Zealand.

Be sure to watch the Science Time From Space companion video: Sun, Earth, and Space

Maybe you remember when a little robotic spacecraft landed on a far-off planet. On August 6, 2012, the roverCuriositytouched down on the rocky surface of Mars and now shes ready to guide you through her journey firsthand. From idea to creation and beyond, this fact-filled, stylish book introduces readers toCuriosityand her mission: to discover more about the red planet and search for evidence of life. How didCuriosityget her name? What tools does she use to carry out her tasks? In her own voice, the popular NASA rover tells how and why she traveled more than 350,000,000 miles to explore a planet no human has ever visited . . . and what shes been doing there. In his debut picture book, Markus Motum bringsCuriositys story to life in vivid color: the deep blues of space set off the warm, rusted hues of Marss dusty red surface, marking this lovable rover and her mission as something special truly a world apart.

Re-watch our very first LIVE Story Time From Space reading from the International Space Station! Read along with astronaut Shannon Walker as we follow the extreme adventures of Willow the Water Bear.

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Story Time From Space

1. Boom! Watch an inflatable space station module explode on video  Space.com
2. Experimental Inflatable Space Station Segment Explodes Violently  Futurism
3. Sierra Space Successfully Completes Series of Major Development Milestones for First Commercial Space Station  Business Wire
4. Inflatable Space Station Prototype Explodes During Testing; Heres What Happened  Gizbot
5. Major development milestones completed by Sierra Space for their 1st commercial spacestation SatNews  SatNews
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Boom! Watch an inflatable space station module explode on video - Space.com

1. New era begins with China's launch of crewed mission to its space station  CNN
2. China launches crew to its space station  The Washington Post
3. Chinese astronauts board space station in historic mission  Reuters
4. China Launches Three Astronauts to Its Space Station  Smithsonian Magazine
5. China to Launch 3 Astronauts to Tiangong Space Station  Gizmodo
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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New era begins with China's launch of crewed mission to its space station - CNN

Science News Roundup: Distant black hole is caught in the act of annihilating a star; Chinese astronauts board space station in historic mission and more  Devdiscourse

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Science News Roundup: Distant black hole is caught in the act of annihilating a star; Chinese astronauts board space station in historic mission and...

A powerful eye in the sky is helping scientists spy "super-emitters" of methane, a greenhouse gas about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

That observer is NASA's Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation instrument, or EMIT for short. EMIT has been mapping the chemical composition of dust throughout Earth's desert regions since being installed on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS) in July, helping researchers understand how airborne dust affects climate.

That's the main goal of EMIT's mission. But it's making another, less expected contribution to climate studies as well, NASA officials announced on Tuesday (Oct. 25). The instrument is identifying huge plumes of heat-trapping methane gas around the world more than 50 of them already, in fact.

Related: Climate change: Causes and effects

"Reining in methane emissions is key to limiting global warming. This exciting new development will not only help researchers better pinpoint where methane leaks are coming from, but also provide insight on how they can be addressed quickly," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement (opens in new tab).

"The International Space Station and NASA's more than two dozen satellites and instruments in space have long been invaluable in determining changes to the Earth's climate," Nelson added. "EMIT is proving to be a critical tool in our toolbox to measure this potent greenhouse gas and stop it at the source."

EMIT is an imaging spectrometer designed to identify the chemical fingerprints of a variety of minerals on Earth's surface. The ability to spot methane as well is a sort of happy accident.

"It turns out that methane also has a spectral signature in the same wavelength range, and that's what has allowed us to be sensitive to methane," EMIT principal investigator Robert Green, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Green and other EMIT team members gave some examples of the instrument's sensitivity during the Tuesday media call. For example, the instrument detected a plume of methane also known as natural gas at least 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) long in the sky above an Iranian landfill. This newfound super-emitter is pumping about 18,700 pounds (8,500 kilograms) of methane into the air every hour, the researchers said.

That's a lot, but it pales in comparison to a cluster of 12 super-emitters EMIT spotted in Turkmenistan, all of them associated with oil and gas infrastructure. Some of those plumes are up to 20 miles (32 km) long, and, together, they're adding about 111,000 pounds (50,400 kg) of methane to Earth's atmosphere per hour.

That's comparable to the peak rates of the Aliso Canyon leak, one of the largest methane releases in U.S. history. (The Aliso Canyon event, which occurred at a Southern California methane storage facility, was first noticed in October 2015 and wasn't fully plugged until February 2016.)

EMIT spotted all of these super-emitters very early, during the instrument's checkout phase. So it should make even greater contributions as it gets fully up and running, and as scientists gain more familiarity with the instrument's capabilities, team members said.

"We are really only scratching the surface of EMIT's potential for mapping greenhouse gases," Andrew Thorpe, a research technologist at JPL, said during Tuesday's press conference. "We're really excited about EMIT's potential for reducing emissions from human activity by pinpointing these emission sources."

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There (opens in new tab)" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab).

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Methane 'super-emitters' on Earth spotted by space station experiment ...

China is nearly ready to launch the third and final piece of its modular crewed space station.

A Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket rolled out to the pad at Wenchang spaceport on Hainan island early Tuesday (Oct. 25), Chinas human spaceflight agency (CMSA) announced.

The Mengtian space station module is encapsulated in a 67-foot-long (20.5 meters) payload fairing on top of the 187-million-pound (849,000 kilograms) Long March 5B. The rocket and module were transported to the pad in a vertical position, covering roughly 9,200 feet (2,800 meters) in under three hours.

Related: The latest news about China's space program

CMSA did not reveal a launch date for Mengtian, but previous launches and earlier statements by Chinese space officials point to a liftoff around Oct. 31 Beijing time.

Mengtian ("Dreaming of the Heavens") is a 58.7-foot-long (17.9 m) and roughly 48,500-pound (22 metric tons) spacecraft designed mainly to host an array of science racks and experiments.

The new module will join the already orbiting Tianhe core module, launched in April 2021, and Wentian, which launched in July. Together the three modules will complete Chinas Tiangong space station.

Three Shenzhou 14 mission astronauts are currently aboard Tiangong awaiting the arrival of the new module.

China plans to operate Tiangong for at least a decade and will conduct its first crew handover as soon as next month, when the Shenzhou 14 astronauts welcome aboard the crew of Shenzhou 15, who will launch from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert.

Notably, the huge first stages of the three previously launched Long March 5B rockets have entered orbit and made high-profile uncontrolled reentries around a week after launch. The fiery first stage reentry from the Wentian module launch in July was spotted by onlookers in Malaysia and Indonesia.

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China rolls out rocket to launch final space station module | Space

1 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

2 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

During the Crew-2 return journey to Earth in early November, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft took a trip around the ISS. That gave ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet an opportunity to photograph the station from a variety of angles.

3 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

The ISS stands out against the darkness of space in this image from November 2021.

4 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

The International Space Station is made up a of series of modules that are used for science experiments, spacecraft docking, and areas for the crew.

5 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

This close-up of the ISS from early November 2021 gives a good view of some of the station's solar panels. The sets of darker-brown panels are roll-out solar arrays that were added to boost the station's power.

6 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

This view of the ISS shows a peeled-back section of the station's radiator system. It's an old bit of damage that doesn't affect the station's operations.

7 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

The International Space Station's radiators are on show in a photo snapped from a SpaceX Crew Dragon during the return of the Crew-2 mission to Earth.

8 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

The ISS is a truly international project, featuring components from the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.

9 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

The International Space Station sparkles in a glorious photo taken by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on his way home to Earth in November 2021 as part of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission.

10 of 10 NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

Fluffy white clouds provide an elegant backdrop for a new image of the International Space Station, taken in early November 2021.

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International Space Station shines in glamour shots from SpaceX ... - CNET

1. SpaceX launches tomato seeds, other supplies to International Space Station  CNN
2. SpaceX Dragon cargo ship docks at space station to deliver solar arrays, seeds and more  Space.com
3. SpaceX supply ship docks at space station Spaceflight Now  Spaceflight Now
4. Liftoff! SpaceX Falcon 9 Soars Into the Sky With Space Station Supplies  SciTechDaily
5. SpaceX resupply cargo capsule docks with International Space Station  UPI News
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SpaceX launches tomato seeds, other supplies to International Space Station - CNN