Category Archives: Space Station

Josh Cassada has been preparing and waiting for years to launch into space. In about a month, he will be on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft heading toward the International Space Station.

As pilot of NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 mission, the White Bear Lake native is one of four crew members who will spend six months in space as part of the expedition. Appearing virtually Tuesday morning, Cassada spoke to children attending summer camp at St. Paul's Bell Museum. Filling the front rows of the museum's planetarium, campers wearing brightly colored shorts and T-shirts peppered the astronaut with questions about training, new space innovations and which planet he'd most like to visit.

"While I'm, of course, excited to learn from our friends at NASA, I'm even more thrilled to see so many of you who care about science," U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who attended in person, told the group of students. "You are truly our next generation of engineers, inventors, chemists, biologists, paleontologists, astronauts."

SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is collaborating with NASA on manned space flights, including Cassada's upcoming mission. The two entities are also aiming, through the Artemis program, to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon before the decade is out.

"The last time we went to the moon a half a century ago, that was the Apollo program. Now we're going in the Artemis program," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who attended Tuesday's event virtually. "And Josh is an example of that new kind of astronaut, the Artemis generation."

Cassada attended Birch Lake Elementary School and graduated from White Bear Lake Area High School. He went on to earn degrees in physics from Albion College in Michigan and the University of Rochester in New York.

Later, Cassada joined the U.S. Navy and became a test pilot. He has logged more than 4,000 flight hours in over 45 different aircraft.

In June 2013, Cassada was selected to be one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. Cassada spent two years in training, where he developed such skills as water and wilderness survival, robotics and Russian language. When he graduated in 2015, he served in different roles on the ground to assist space missions.

On Tuesday, Cassada told students that his favorite part of astronaut training is spacewalking a skill he practices by wearing a spacesuit in a pool with a team of divers who put weights on him to control floating.

The training is mentally challenging, he said, but walking in an atmosphere so similar to outer space is "amazing." Right after the event, Cassada said, he was headed to the Houston training center in Texas to practice spacewalking again.

"I kind of feel a little bit like I'm in science camp myself," he said. "I don't think we're doing things a whole lot different than what you guys are doing this week you're probably learning new concepts and doing some experiments."

A student asked Cassada, "If you had the right technology, what planet would you travel to?"

Cassada's answer? Earth.

"We need to do what we can to protect it," he said.

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White Bear Lake native will be on SpaceX flight to International Space Station - Star Tribune

Next week's moon launch is just the beginning.

As the world counts down to the planned Aug. 29 liftoff of the Artemis 1 mission, which will use a Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket to send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon, NASA and its international partners are already planning for the future.

More than 20 nations have signed on to the NASA-led Artemis Accords, a set of agreements that lay out a framework for responsible exploration of the moon.

And Artemis will have an international flavor going forward. For example, Canada will get a seat on Artemis 2 thanks to its contribution of Canadarm3 robotics to the planned Gateway moon-orbiting station. And Japan will fly an astronaut on a future Artemis moon mission as well.

But over the longer term, NASA plans to use the accords as a set of norms to establish how countries should conduct space exploration more generally, and to govern how they can work together for missions to Earth orbit, the moon or even Mars.

Related: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission: Live updatesMore: NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos

A NASA spokesperson told Space.com by email that the goal of the accords is "safe, responsible and transparent behavior in space," which also includes a discussion of "preserving and protecting the outer space environment to ensure a safe and sustainable future in space for all."

The agency has pledged that the accords will be inclusive of nations both experienced in space (like Canada, Japan and European Space Agency member states) and those that are newer to the final frontier (like New Zealand and Bahrain.) Notably, Russia is not a participant no surprise given its ongoing invasion of Ukraine (an act that brought condemnation from other major space actors) and Russia's recent announcement that it plans to pull out of the ISS agreement at some point after 2024.

Related: Russia wants to build its own space station, as early as 2028

NASA frames the accords as reinforcing the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that underlies international space exploration legal norms. The impending launch of Artemis 1, the spokesperson added, is a turning point during which the agency hopes to establish more detailed guidelines, while Artemis is still young.

"By bringing as many signatories onboard as early as possible, our hope is to develop a body of knowledge, informed by collective operational experiences, that will advance broader goals through established bodies such as the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space [COPUOS]," the spokesperson said.

"Even if some countries cannot make near-term contributions to lunar activities directly, their support of the Artemis Accords principles will strengthen the need for common values for space exploration and utilization among the international community."

Space lawyer Michael Gold said he agrees that the accords are meant to foster an environment in space "conducive to international collaboration, and conducive to growth" with clear rules and expectations to allow space agencies and companies to conduct business.

Gold helped lead and draft the implementation of the Artemis Accords under the previous NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, while Gold was acting associate administrator for the agency's office of international and interagency relations. (Today Gold is executive vice president for civil space and external affairsataerospace company Redwire Space.)

The accords, he said, are meant to cover civil activities so that companies landing on the moon on behalf of NASA are covered under the agreement. This is especially crucial given that NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions encourage private companies to deliver science, hardware and other essential items to the moon to support the Artemis program.

"All of these are important precedents," Gold said of the accords. Bringing in other countries aims to assure stability of Artemis, since international programs tend to have more financial and technological resources, he added.

But further stability, Gold said, would come if national security programs and commercial space programs could also align on global norms of behavior. "So much of our conflict on Earth is caused by misperception and miscommunications, and if we're going to get into a conflict, at the very least let's have it be intentional," Gold said.

For example, he said that national security norms should govern issues such as how close is too close with regard to satellites approaching each other in Earth orbit. Such encounters are more frequent now than ever due to growing broadband constellations like SpaceX's Starlink and periodic space debris events, like a much-criticized Russian anti-satellite test in November 2021.

"I believe if we're explicit, if we're public about these things, that will give us the best chance that we have of avoiding conflict, particularly via mistakes and misperceptions," Gold said. He called for UN's COPUOS to open up seats for private sector companies to allow for "government and commercial [entities] to work together."

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcom (opens in new tab)or Facebook.

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What the Artemis Accords mean for space exploration - Space.com

Jeanne Loring likes to say shes been to space without her feet even leaving the ground.

Just weeks ago, the Scripps Research Institute professor of molecular medicine sent some of her own genetically mapped cells to space as part of first-of-its-kind research to study the progression and onset of Parkinsons disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.

I love traveling. Ive been on all the continents, and so I figured, whats left? Loring said jokingly. I just jumped at the opportunity when I learned that it was possible.

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In July, the cells arrived via cargo spacecraft at the International Space Station, where they remained under close observation for about a month 250 miles above Earth, and traveling at 17,500 miles per hour before they splashed back down to Earth last week.

The study is part of new National Stem Cell Foundation-funded neurodegeneration research to observe how cells communicate in microgravity in a way not possible on Earth, explained Paula Grisanti, founder and CEO of the foundation.

Its really pure exploration at this point, because theres no history of anybody doing this before, she said. Were paving the path.

An organoid derived from Dr. Jeanne Lorings induced pluripotent stem cells is prepared to be sent to the International Space Station.

(Courtesy of Dr. Davide Marotta)

Loring, a Del Mar resident who is one of the worlds leading experts in Parkinsons and a senior scientific advisor for the foundation, has been working with human-induced pluripotent stem cells since the technology was first discovered in 2006.

Called organoids, these cells are made from human skin tissue, which is put into a culture dish and turned into pluripotent stem cells, Loring explained.

Pluripotent stem cells only exist in culture dishes, they dont exist in our bodies, she said. Pluripotent means they can form any cell type in the body so for Loring, that meant forming nerve cells to create brain-like structures.

Its hard to study peoples brains, Loring said. You can do all this external stuff like they do with physical exams, but theres not any window into the brain so this is providing a sort of brain avatar.

Organoids provide a stand-in for the brain that can be studied by researchers, Loring explained. They make connections with each other, the cells talk to each other, so in a lot of ways, its a really good model of the brain, she added.

Moreover, the organoids mimic the brains of people with MS and Parkinsons.

Loring has been working with these organoids for years through Aspen Neuroscience, a San Diego-based company she co-founded that is working to create the worlds first personalized cell therapy for Parkinsons, using a patients own cells so they dont have to worry about rejection. Clinical trials may start as early as next year, she said.

Tubes containing neural organoids are loaded into a rack in preparation for placement in Cube Lab to travel to the International Space Station.

(Courtesy of Space Tango)

For the last four years, the foundations team of bicoastal researchers has been working together to study these organoids in space.

While an experiment in space presents its own challenges, Loring said its worth the work, as researchers hope to gain valuable and unique insight into how disorders like Parkinsons and MS develop. You can see them interacting and talking to each other in 3-D in a way that you cannot on Earth, Grisanti said.

Along with Lorings healthy organoids, which are used as a control, organoids derived from patients with Parkinsons and MS were sent to the space station, while the entire experiment was replicated on Earth.

Specifically, researchers are studying the neuroinflammation in the organoids, which is like when the immune system in the brain is overactive, Grisanti explained.

Organoid cultures are sealed in holders and ready to be placed in Cube Lab for space flight. The cover shows National Stem Cell Foundations SpaceX CRS-25 mission patch.

(Courtesy of Space Tango)

What we hope to find is a point at which things start to go wrong in those neurodegenerative diseases, where we could then intervene with a new drug or cell therapy, she said. And were seeing signs that that happens more in space than it does on the ground, so it helps create the type of interaction that you would see early in a neurodegenerative disease.

Grisanti said they hope to be able to use this research to develop a new drug or cell therapy to treat these disorders and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases in the future.

I think weve cracked the door open, but weve got some more flying to do, she added.

Link:
To better understand Parkinson's disease, this San Diego expert sent her own cells to space - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Northrop Grumman space station

Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman and STAR HARBOR announced a collaboration for market research and the early development of an astronaut training curricula for Northrop Grummans space station concept. In December 2021 Northrop Grumman signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA under the Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development program for $125.6 million to design a safe, reliable and cost-effective commercial free-flying space station in low Earth orbit (LEO).

This collaboration establishes STAR HARBORs intentions to utilize Northrop Grummans commercial space station concept as one of the LEO destinations for on-orbit services and training for their customers. The collaboration will explore the development of Northrop Grummans customized astronaut training programs to help define a high standard of safety and customer service for commercial industry spaceflight training and mission implementation. These efforts will help support a thriving future for the new space economy by accelerating humans and technology within the commercial aerospace ecosystem.

The collaboration also explores the development and integration of an optimal pipeline and verification process for STAR HARBORs LAB TO ORBIT R&D program. STAR HARBOR is establishing a robust research pipeline process to support researchers from concept design, prototyping, and testing through flight readiness and mission success. In STAR HARBORs Researcher Training Courses, participants will learn to properly design payloads for the varying flight profiles, space environments, and destinations while receiving expert support to get payloads certified and procured on a flight. STAR HARBORS pipeline will provide an expedited access point to get research and researchers onboard the Northrop Grumman Space Station design.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman is a technology company focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.

About STAR HARBOR

STAR HARBOR is creating the worlds first fully comprehensive, publicly accessible spaceflight training facility and cutting-edge research and development campus. STAR HARBORs unique facility will include an aircraft modified for parabolic flight, a 4-million-gallon neutral buoyancy tank with an underwater habitat, a high-gravity human centrifuge, hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers, land-based habitats, high-tech space simulation technology and spacecraft mockups. The STAR HARBOR HUMANS TO ORBIT Astronaut Certification Program is helping to define industry spaceflight safety regulations and standards. STAR HARBOR is committed to positively impacting sustainability and climate science research and education, including creating local, national and international STEAM education opportunities

Original post:
Northrop Grumman and STAR HARBOR to Collaborate on Commercial Space Station Research and Astronaut Training - Space Ref

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Nov. 8, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang waving his hand after completing extravehicular activities.(Photo by Guo Zhongzheng/Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The spark of a good idea can have astronomical implications, as the story of a lighting rig developed in the 1980s shows.

On Jan. 20, 1985, in recognition of his innovative lighting rig voice controller, Zhang Xinli was awarded a certificate by Xi Jinping, then Party chief of Zhengding County in Hebei Province, north China.

The lighting rig automatically identifies a change of tone in music and responds by casting various colored lights on the stage. The second-generation voice controller designed from Zhang's invention was included in the provincial scientific research plan in 1985.

When he first heard about Zhang's invention, Xi visited Zhang's factory many times and keenly watched demonstrations of the new equipment. Xi also asked about the sales of their products and suggested Zhang reach out to an art community in Beijing.

Thanks to Xi's introduction, Zhang was later invited to a seminar, where many participants showed great interest in his invention and placed orders.

Zhang later said he never forgets that event, nor the strong support Xi had given to him and his factory.

The certificate that Zhang was awarded witnessed Xi's concern and encouragement for sci-tech innovators. He pays high attention to sci-tech innovation wherever he works.

Xi's encouragement has helped some of the most significant innovative achievements over the past 10 years get off the ground, some of them quite literally.

In December 2020, President Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, congratulated on the complete success of the Chang'e-5 mission that brought back the country's first samples collected from the moon.

It is another major achievement in overcoming difficulties by giving full play to the advantages of the new system of pooling national resources and strength, marking a great step forward in China's space industry, Xi said in a congratulatory message.

In June 2021, he spoke on a video call to three of the nation's astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo, stationed in the country's space station core module Tianhe. The Tiangong space station is expected to be completed this year.

"The construction of the space station is a milestone in China's space industry, which will make pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by humanity," said Xi.

More here:
Xi Story: Supporting sci-tech innovation from a spark to space - Xinhua

Enabling & Support

24/08/20221702 views42 likes

Half a century since Apollo, the Artemis I mission is set to launch on 29 August with a test flight that prepares humankind for our next adventure at the Moon, and Europe is playing a crucial role.

Joining NASAs Orion spacecraft on the powerful Space Launch System rocket are ten CubeSats that will help prepare for the return of astronauts to our lunar companion. ESAs deep space antennas, along with the Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK, will be tracking six of the small satellites, ensuring they arrive where they need to be, and their data gets back home.

Each about the size of a large shoe box, their mission objectives vary as much as their final destinations the Moon, Earth orbit, deep space, even an asteroid. What unites them is the promise of enhancing our understanding of the space environment from asteroids to space radiation, while demonstrating new technologies for use on future missions getting humans to the Moon, to stay.

Our Estrack stations will be critical in determining the CubeSat trajectories, returning their data home and supporting the commanding of the six spacecraft,explains Lucy Santana, responsible for ESA ground facility services for deep space missions.

Were very proud to do our bit in returning humankind to the Moon.

About an hour and a half after launch, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will perform a trans-lunar injection burn to nudge Orion and the fleet of CubeSats in the direction of the Moon. The CubeSats will then be deployed, dispersing like dandelion seeds spread in the wind.

In the hours after liftoff, CubeSats will be deployed at specific times based on the requirements of each mission. ArgoMoon from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) will be the first that ESA tracks just a few hours after launch with the Cebreros station in Spain.

Very soon after separation, as the rest of the CubeSats are deployed, more eyes on the sky will be needed as they move into their own trajectories. For this, ESA in cooperation with Goonhilly will provide about 75 hours of tracking support across its deep space stations in the two weeks after launch.

We look forward to contributing to this iconic mission from here in the UK. Goonhilly played a role in distributing the Apollo Moon landing footage back in 1969: were now taking one step further and supporting humanitys return to the Moon, explains Matthew Cosby, Chief Technology Officer at Goonhilly.

Our 32m deep space antenna has been used to communicate with ESA spacecraft since 2021. Supporting the Artemis I CubeSats is a fantastic way to further showcase our capabilities as we continue to expand this commercial service.

One of the main ways Estrack will support the Artemis CubeSats is by pinning down their location and trajectory using an effect called the Doppler shift. Each satellite is transmitting information at a frequency of around 8 GHz, which stations on Earth will acquire and track.

If the spacecraft is moving towards Earth while emitting its message, the light wave gets slightly squashed, shortening the wavelength and increasing its frequency. Conversely, if the CubeSat is moving away from Earth, its message is stretched, and its frequency lengthened. With this information, mission control will be able to have an accurate estimation of where the spacecraft are and where they are headed.

The CubeSats being connected to Earth by Goonhilly and ESAs deep space antennas illustrate the potential of small spacecraft in providing great insights.

Lunar IceCube and LunaH-map are designed to search the Moon for water the discovery of which would be crucial for long-term missions as it is needed for explorers to harvest breathable air and create rocket fuel from ice.

Biosentinel and CuSP will add to our understanding of space radiation, filling critical gaps in knowledge about the health risks to explorers in deep space from solar radiation and high-energy galactic cosmic rays.

Finally, ArgoMoon and NEA Scout will demonstrate new operations technologies that will shape the way we fly future missions to the Moon.

NEA Scout will visit the smallest ever asteroid to be studied by a spacecraft 2020 GE is thought to be a little smaller than a school bus. While exploring the asteroid, it will use an 86-square-metre solar sail to harness solar radiation for propulsion.

The data from these first-of-a-kind missions will stream in through European antennas on Earth, where teams will get it where it needs to be and ensure we keep track of the dispersing satellites.

Landing on the Moon was hard. Returning for a longer stay will require even more planning, imagination and ingenuity, and ESAs Estrack network of antennas dotted across the globe will be vital. With decades of experience in ground operations and a global network of eyes on the sky, ESA is playing a leading role in connecting Earth to space as we go forward to the Moon.

Follow @esaoperations live from 12:00 CEST on 29 Aug to get insights straight from the heart of ESA mission control, as the Artemis CubeSats are deployed, found, and spread their wings and Europe helps bring humankind to the Moon, and catch the live stream on ESA Web TV, Channel 1 from 12:30 CEST.

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Europe to support Artemis CubeSats in return to Moon - European Space Agency

ALBION, MI - There are numerous astronauts who hail from the state of Michigan. Almost all of them studied or taught at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

One about to go to the International Space Station now, however, is an Albion College Briton.

Josh Cassada, a 1995 alumnus of the private college in Calhoun County, is part of the NASA SpaceX Crew-5 mission heading to the space station orbiting more than 250 miles above the Earth.

Cassada will join his crew for a launch tentatively scheduled for late September, Albion College officials said.

We are honored and excited to have Josh represent our great nation and Albion College in space, said Joe Calvaruso, the colleges interim president.

Along with three members of his crew, this is a first-time flight into space for Cassada, he said in a Thursday afternoon NASA news conference. The months-long stay in the ISS is a part of the Artemis missions, or an effort by NASA to land the first woman and person of color on the Moon prior to branching out to Mars.

Whats so great about this is that were doing something greater than ourselves, Cassada said during the Aug. 4 conference. Those first-time fliers, were bringing a lot of energy to the ISS.

The International Space Station Crew includes NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. This is NASAs fifth crew rotation flight carrying personnel to the station, which operates as a microgravity laboratory, officials said.

Cassada earned his bachelors degree in physics from Albion College before earning a masters and doctorate in physics from University of Rochester in New York. He served in the U.S. Navy as an aviator aboard P-3C patrol planes, accumulating more than 4,000 flight hours and 23 combat missions.

Cassada has spent the larger part of the last decade preparing to enter space, as NASA selected him for its Astronaut Group 21 in 2013. After completing two years of training, he supporting ISS operations until in August 2018, he was one of two astronauts selected for the CTS-1 program, which would fly Boeings CST-100 Starliner aircraft into space.

He was reassigned to SpaceX Crew-5 due to delays in the Starliner project, according to Space Explored.

During Thursdays conference, Cassada expressed excitement for the various science experiments he will conduct up in space alongside Mann, Wakata and Kikina. For the six months he is in space, he also plans to watch a lot of movies from the 1980s, he said.

We will watch (the Chevy Chase comedy) Fletch every Friday so Nicole can get my references, he said.

Experiments in the ISS include the Cold Atom Lab, which is used to study the behavior of atoms in extremely cold temperatures. As a physicist, these excite him for the journey ahead.

That one is near and dear to my heart, Cassada said. Were lucky we get to do all kinds of science.

To view the press conference, visit nasa.gov/nasalive.

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This Michigan college alum is blasting off to the International Space Station - MLive.com

NASA astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins familiarizes herself with systems and procedures aboard the International Space Station having been aboard the orbiting lab for just a few days in this image from May 1, 2022. [NASA]

Providing direct access to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Caltech students, faculty, and staff members on campus and at JPL will interact with NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins on Tuesday, Aug. 9, through a unique question-and-answer NASA in-flight education event.

Participants in Pasadena will be able to see and hear Watkins live from space responding to their pre-recorded questions.

For the public, the NASA Earth-to-space call will also air live at 9:55 a.m. on Tuesday, August 9 on NASA TV and streamed live on the NASA website at http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

Jessica Watkins was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. Watkins reported for duty in August 2017 and completed two years of training as an astronaut candidate, according to NASA.

Her astronaut candidate training included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in International Space Station systems, spacewalks, robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, water and wilderness survival training, geology training, and expeditionary skills training.

Watkins is currently serving as a mission specialist on NASAs SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station, which launched on April 27, 2022.

Watkins conducted her graduate research on the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth. At NASA, she worked at the Ames Research Center and JPL and was a science team collaborator for the Mars rover Curiosity program.

Laurie Leshin, JPL Director and Caltech Vice President, will deliver the opening remarks for this event.

Members of the Caltech community will watch the livestream together inside Caltechs Beckman Auditorium.

Providing students direct access to astronauts aboard the International Space Station delivers an exceptional, unique experience, designed to enhance student learning and interest in STEM fields. Caltech and JPL have a keen interest and dedication to encouraging STEM learning, Caltech said in a statement.

Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.

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Local Students to Hear From NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins, Live From Aboard Space Station Pasadena Now - Pasadena Now

Scientists have recorded Earth's shortest day since its rotational period began to be recorded with highly precise atomic clocks: On June 29, 2022, Earth's spin was completed in 1.59 milliseconds under 24 hours.

A day lasts 24 hours because the Earth completes a full spin on its axis roughly every 8,640,000 milliseconds. In the short term, this speed can fluctuate by factions of a millisecond from day to day. This means that the length of a day can vary, but only usually by a tiny amount.

Our planet is also experiencing long-term changes as well. Previously, the planet had been observed to be spinning more slowly and taking longer to complete a day. As a result, with every passing century, Earth has been taking a few milliseconds longer to complete a spin.

Related: How fast is Earth moving?

In recent years, however, this long-term trend has been reversing. The Earth seems to be speeding up and taking progressively less time to complete its spin meaning days are shortening.

In December 2020, the website Time and Date reported (opens in new tab) that during that year the Earth had experienced its 28 shortest days since scientists began measuring the length of a day with atomic clocks in the 1960s.

July 19, 2020, was a record-breaking short day that year with Earth completing a rotation in 1.47 milliseconds under 24 hours. The record remained unchallenged during 2021 before being broken by a minus 1.59 millisecond day on June 29, 2022.

And July 19, 2020, would not stay in the second-fastest day placement for long either. Just a month after the record for the fastest day was shattered, that second place day was once again dethroned further when Earth experienced a -1.50 millisecond day on July 26, 2022.

Scientists have several ideas regarding what could be causing Earth to suddenly begin speeding up its rotation and shortening its days. These ideas can involve processes in the planet's inner or outer layers, oceans, tides, or even its climate.

One team of researchers thinks that the shortening of days could be related to a small irregular movement in the Earth's geographical poles and its axis of rotation that shifts them by a minuscule amount across its surface called the 'Chandler wobble.'

"The normal amplitude of the Chandler wobble is about three to four meters at Earth's surface, but from 2017 to 2020 it disappeared." HSE University associate professor Leonid Zotov told Time and Date. (opens in new tab)

If the decrease in day length continues then it may necessitate the introduction of a negative leap second to keep 'civil time' measured by highly reliable atomic clocks in sync with solar time, the movement of the sun through the sky from sunset to sunrise.

Zotov isn't convinced that this measure, which could cause difficulty for some computer systems, will be needed. He thinks day lengths may not shorten by much more.

"I think there's a 70 percent chance we're at the minimum and we won't need a negative leap second," he said.

This week Zotov and his colleague will present their hypothesis at the 2022 annual meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (opens in new tab) which is broadcast online.

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Facebook (opens in new tab)

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Earth sets record for the shortest day - Space.com

Image: Ubisoft/Kirill Bashkirov

After missing two Six Major events in a row, Spacestation Gaming opted to drop Alexander "Skys" Magor from the roster on Jul. 16. In his place, the team has trialled Dexter, an upcoming Brazilian tier-two player, at the ongoing Gamers8 tournament in Saudi Arabia.

With his debut game on the team now completed against South Koreas DWG KIA, heres what weve learnt about where Dexter may fit into the roster and how the team dynamics looked to have changed since the end of Stage 2.

Starting on the attack, its useful to see what gap in the team was left open for Dexter to fill. Obviously, we have to look at what the team does, not necessarily what they mean to do as we dont have an insight into the teams game preparations.

During SSGs more successful tournaments with this lineup. Skys primarily played a hard support role. However, Dylan "Bosco" Bosco took this role up in recent times, and Skys moved to a flexible position, playing operators such as Lion.

Similarly, recent years have seen a pretty big change in whos taking those opening engagements on the attack. Despite Matthew "Hotancold" Stevenss success in this area at the end of the 2021 season, Alec "Fultz" Fultz and Nathanial "Rampy" Duvall have gone back to this position as they previously played here during their SI 2020 title run.

The entry positions have changed once again now as Dexter locked in Finka immediately each round for the first two maps, before moving to Iana on Bank. This is obviously unsurprising, as putting a young gunner on Lion or Thatcher would put his skills somewhat to waste.

Unlike other teams, Dexter was usually sent off without drone support (particularly on Chalet) and he also roamed on the opposite side of the map to the rest of the team to less than stellar results. By the time Bank came around, Dexter was kept much closer to the team. Here, Fultz was off on his own more often.

This meant that at the beginning, the duo of Fultz and Rampy remained working together even without Finka to use as Fultz replaced Skys more flexible role. By the end of the game, Rampy ended with the most opening kills in the game, while primarily playing on Sledge. Bosco and Hotancold remained in their more supportive roles.

In effect, Dexter has picked up Fultzs role while Fultz has slipped into Skys old position. This is quite a change for Fultz, as he has been on entry longer than anyone else on SSG. Considering he ended the game with the worst kill differential on his team, this is probably a role that will take time to get used to.

Team plans are harder to deduce on the defence as they heavily rely on the site being defended. SSG also only played Chalet once recently, while this was the first time they played on Theme Park in a professional game since October 2020.

Nevertheless, Dexters addition clearly caused some waves on Chalet, as he played primarily Wamai while Bosco and Hotancold sat on Jager. This is odd, as these two operators have been very consistently played by Rampy over the last year.

On this map, Rampy was instead playing a range of operators, including Oryx, Melusi, Mute, and Smoke, as he moved into Skys more flexible role. To simplify it on Chalet, Rampy replaced Skys, and Dexter has replaced Rampy.

After losing five rounds in a row on their defensive half, Theme Park saw them revert back to what they knew. Rampy played Wamai when needed, while Dexter was on Alibi and Melusi.

Finally, Bank is a map with which SSG does have a history, but they opted not to play it in Stage 2. Since then, they clearly have mixed up their play style; for instance, Hotancold became the teams Castle player rather than Bosco. Amidst all these changes, Dexter was put on Azami.

For obvious reasons, its possible that these roles dont stick around until the beginning of Stage 3 in September as they work further to fit their new fifth into their roster and work with the upcoming Singaporean operator.

This was just a single game and Dexters very first match against a tier-one or global opponent, so how Dexter or the team generally performed is not too important.

Nevertheless, for those interested, Dexter had a mixed performance with kill and death counts of 1-11 on Chalet, 13-6 on Theme Park, and 12-7 on Bank, totalling 26-24.

Chalet saw SSG lose five rounds in a row on the defence as DWG beat them 7-5. Over on Theme Park, Dexter notably won a 1v1 clutch on the attack on their way to a 7-5 win. Finally, Bank decided the game in SSGs favour with a 7-4 scoreline, which included another 1v1 clutch from Dexter.

Whether Dexter becomes a permanent member of the team or not, this does show the role that SSG is looking to fill in and how the team may operate come Stage 3.

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How has Spacestation Gaming fit Dexter into the roster? - SiegeGG