Category Archives: Space Station

The Discovery Channel is offering the chance to fulfill a lifelong goal for many people traveling to space.

The network is hosting a contest titled Who Wants To Be An Astronaut? giving people an opportunity to apply for a chance to board a flight to the International Space Station to visit space.

Were not looking for rocket scientists, the network writes. This is an opportunity for regular people to have the chance to travel to space and share that journey with the world.

Folks interested in competing for a chance to see space can apply here. The network encourages applicants to include a short video describing yourself and why you deserve a chance to travel to space, what it would mean to you and why you want to participate.

To be an eligible applicant, you must be a U.S. citizen or a legal U.S. resident, be 18 years of age or older, be of a fitness level commensurate with space flight. Applicants must also be able to read, write and be fluent in the English language for purposes of training, as well as be willing to undergo a psychological, physical and background examination before being cleared to participate fully.

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Who wants to be an astronaut? Discovery Channel contest offers chance to win a trip to space - MassLive.com

After a week of speculation, the core stage of a Chinese Long March 5 rocket, dubbed CZ-5B, landed inan uncontrolled reentryin the Indian Ocean near the Maldives. The rocket had transported part of China's new space station into orbit.

But its core stage about 30 meters long and 5 meters in diameter could have landed anywhere, even on land.

A year ago, a pipe from a previous Long March 5 rocket reportedly landed on someone's house in Cote D'Ivoire. Hence, all the fear andcriticism this year.

Nelson is not alone with his opinion. But the picture is more complicated than that. And the US is by no means innocent.

"There is no doubt," saysAlice Gorman, an associate professor at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and author ofDr Space Junk vs the Universe, that "China has been a bit naughty."

Chinese aerospace experts rejected any international concern before the rocket core came down on May 9. One expert, Song Zhongping, wasquoted in the Global Timesas saying that it was "completely normal" for rocket debris to return to Earth.

And Zhongping is right it is quite normal for bits of rocket, satellites and even space stations to splash back down. And China's not even the worst offender. There are other nations and commercial companies doing it, too.

The majority of space junk lands somewhere in the ocean. That's simply because there's more ocean than land.

Mission designers will target specific regions, such as the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area (SPOUA), near Point Nemo.

Point Nemo is one of the Earth's "poles of inaccessibility." It is the farthest point from land in any direction on the planet.

Ina blog post from 2018, the European Space Agency writes that more than 260 spacecraft have fallen in that zone since 1971. The number increases annually.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Point Nemo is known as the "spacecraft cemetery." But it's not the only ocean region where spacecraft fall.

"Point Nemo? It's sort of there, but it's like everywhere in the South Pacific between New Zealand and Chile," saysJonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, USA.

"The punchline is that it's not very concentrated," McDowell told DW. "And, more and more now, people are using [other spots].

Where and how you come down depends on where and how you go up.

On some missions, the main stage of a rocket will remain "suborbital" in space at over 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level but below Low-Earth Orbit at about 160 km, and that makes it easier to drop rocket stages in a controlled way.

Even then, however, things can get precarious, especially when rockets are launched in-land, rather than from a coast.

A number of boosters have fallen near populated areas in China, once near an elementary school, and at a test site in Kazakhstan. Both cases released toxic orange clouds of what's called "BFRC."

Once a rocket enters orbit, things get more complicated. And the deeper a rocket goes, the harder it gets to deorbit.

It's more expensive, because you have to keep the rocket alive, as it were, with extended battery life and/or a restartable engine that gets fired after the rocket has delivered its "payload" a satellite or supplies for the International Space Station.

But only then can you control its reentry. Many rocket stages just get left up in orbit.

It all depends. And it bears repeating that China's not the only "naughty" nation. McDowell estimates there are about 20 Falcon 9 upper stages "in orbit as junk that will eventually reenter" in some form or other.

There is a trend in the industry to change, says McDowell. It wants to leave less debris in space for fear of a growing congestion that could either interfere with earthly communications systems or impede further space exploration.

But that means more stuff will have to come down. There is even talk of deorbiting the International Space Station in 2028, and dropping it at a final resting place in the South Pacific.

The impact on the ocean is despite assertions that space junk becomes nice, natural habitats for marine life largely unknown.

When junk falls atBaffin Bay, an icy point off Greenland, the threat to local seal, whales, bears and walrus, is under-researched.

In the South Pacific, scientists havediscovered and revived 100-million-year-old microbial lifeat theSouth Pacific Gyre essentially the same region as Point Nemo.

That microbial life may mean little to our daily lives, but microbes at extreme environments, such as hydrothermal vents, do sustain other life, such as the yeti crab, and may have even played their part in the origins of our own, human life.

"Some spacecraft fuels are toxic hydrazine, for example. But cryogenic fuels are not toxic," says Gorman. "There are metals like beryllium and magnesium, they are usually in alloy form, but beryllium is pretty nasty no matter what."

So, there are potential environmental impacts, says Gorman, "but I don't think people have thoroughly assessed that yet."

(This article by author Zulfikar Abbany was originally published on Deutsche Welle.)

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

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Sea burials: Where space stations, rockets rust in peace - YourStory

Posted: May 10, 2021 / 09:08 AM CDT / Updated: May 10, 2021 / 09:08 AM CDT

IN SPACE MAY 23: In this handout image provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour orbit Earth during Endeavours final sortie on May 23, 2011 in Space. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured the first-ever images of an orbiter docked to the International Space Station from the viewpoint of a departing vessel as he returned to Earth in a Soyuz capsule. (Photo by Paolo Nespoli ESA/NASA via Getty Images)

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (KVEO) Students from the Brownsville Independent School District (ISD) will get a chance to speak to astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, May 11.

The call will happen at 9:15 a.m. CT. and will be streamed on NASA Television, the Nasa app and the agencys website, according to a release.

During the call, astronauts will answered pre-recorded questions from students live.

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will be participating.

Linking students directly toastronautsaboard the Space Station provides a unique and authentic experience designated to enhance student learning, performance, and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said the release.

To watch, click here.

Excerpt from:
Brownsville ISD students to hear from astronauts aboard the International Space Station - KGBT-TV

In 1967, Barron Hilton, the future head of Hilton Hotels Corp., turned up at an American Astronautical Society meeting devoted to outer space tourism. The first moon landing was still two years out, but Hilton wasn't going to be late to the next big travel market. At the conference, he laid out plans for Earth-orbiting Hiltons and lunar hotels, complete with Galaxy Lounges where guests might enjoy a martini and the stars.

Alas, humans would have to wait decades for an outer-space outpost, and the one they got, the International Space Station, wasn't built for private occupation, much less luxury travel. But now, as the ISS nears the end of its useful life, some entrepreneurs are revisiting Hiltons vision and even thinking bigger.

The American ambition to commercialize space is almost as old as the urge to explore it. In 1962, NASA launched Telstar 1, the worlds first privately financed satellite (paid for by AT&T). Hours after launch, it relayed the first live trans-Atlantic television pictures, opening the way for today's multibillion-dollar communication-satellite industry.

But actual space stations that could host human visitors turned out to be a far greater challenge. Although Soviet and American scientists launched competing designs for such a facility in the 1970s, these were more akin to floating tin cans than Hiltons vacation bungalows. Yet NASA was lobbying for something much more ambitious: a crewed orbital station that could serve as a laboratory, factory and waypoint for travel to the moon and Mars.

The ISS, announced in 1984, seemed to fit the bill. Like many government projects with multiple stakeholders, however, it ran persistently over-budget and over-deadline. Its first launch didnt get off the ground until 1998. Total costs over the three decades to 2015 are thought to have exceeded $150 billion, giving the ISS a decent claim to being the most expensive thing ever built. For that kind of money, Americans rightly expected the ISS to get a lot done. Yet the facility has been badly underused for most of its history, thanks to both chronic mismanagement and the high cost of delivering people and equipment to space.

Starting in 2005, NASA hit on a new strategy for addressing the latter problem. It signed agreements with three private space companies to deliver cargo and crew to the station, in the hopes of both driving down costs and encouraging a commercial space industry to develop. NASA would act as an adviser and investor, and select the most promising design to replace the soon-to-be-retired Space Shuttle.

It was a long-shot bet that little-known companies such as SpaceX could do better than traditional aerospace contractors. And it was a huge success: Sixteen years later, the cost of launching people and gear to the ISS has fallen dramatically, and commercial space is booming. Last year, Estee Lauder Cos. arranged for face cream to be photographed on the station. This year, tourists will arrive for a holiday via a SpaceX rocket (at $55 million per ticket) and Tom Cruise will film scenes for an upcoming movie.

But NASAs vision extends well beyond such one-offs. In 2020, the agency contracted with Axiom Space Inc. to attach modules (with Philippe Starck-designed interiors) to the ISS that will break off and form a commercial station that will include residential quarters as well as a lab and manufacturing facility. In March, it announced that it will fund up to four other companies to develop competing concepts, using a similar model to the one that led to SpaceXs success.

Many details remain to be worked out, including what exactly to do with the ISS. But a sustainable commercial outpost in low-Earth orbit has a lot to recommend it. NASA would merely have to be a customer rather than an owner-operator, thus saving money for taxpayers or for other space priorities. Companies could use the new platform to conduct microgravity experiments, pharmaceutical research, materials-science testing and more. As costs decline, theres good reason to think that theyll come up with entirely novel uses for it.

Of course, no one should expect orbiting Hiltons just yet. But the dream of commercializing space is no longer a moonshot.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story:Adam Minter at aminter@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:Timothy Lavin at tlavin1@bloomberg.net

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

Original post:
Could the Next Space Station Be a Hotel? - Bloomberg

HOUSTON (CW39) Each day NASA and its partners learn something new and exciting about whats happening in outer space. From new discoveries on Mars with the Rover Perseverance and Helicopter Ingenuity, to the Osiris Rex Mission returning back to earth, after years of study and sample collection on asteroid Bennu. These are just a few of the new and exciting ventures NASA has underway. But, studying further and further into outer space is a goal that continues too, especially when it comes to the stars. Neutron Stars to be exact.

CW39 Anchor Sharron Melton talks with Paul Ray, an Astrophysicist with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He explains how a NASA Telescope called NICER, on top of the International Space Station, is taking research on Neutron Stars to a whole new level, and already helping us understand even more about our universe.

For more information, check out the NASAS NICER Telescope Website.

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NASAs NICER Telescope: Eyes on top of the International Space Station studying Neutron Stars - CW39

Screenshot: Base One

I always wanted to play a really good base management and/or building game with a focus on space stations. There have been a few Ive played over the years, and even a few I enjoyed like Starbase Startopia. But Starbase Startopia was more like building a gas station or truck stop in space, Base One takes a serious, almost hard sci-fi look at building extra solar space habitats. Its not exactly a hard simulation but its definitely focused on survival and the harsh realities of life living in the void.

Base One is a base building and management game with some strategy and simulation sprinkled in. In it, you play as a station manager who survived a catastrophic event. You and a convoy of ships pass through a wormhole to the systems beyond, hoping to colonize unknown space, but disaster strikes. The mothership is destroyed, marooning the convoy far from home. The only way to survive is to help each other out, and that manifests into space station building gameplay. You have to build stations for many purposesat first its for support reasons, but later you must make more permanent living facilitiesand even fight off those that threaten the safety of your stations.

Screenshot: Base One

To start off, you have a hub buildingthis hub is the heart of the station. If for some reason this hub is destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable, your station will fail. The hub obviously isnt enough for people to surviveand certainly not enough for the people to thriveso you must build off of it by adding specialized rooms, or modules, each automatically connected by a corridor. Building in Base One is very simple: each module usually only has four points to which you can connect other modules. Sometimes, modules cant connect to certain ends, like in the case of the solar module, or the docking module. Despite these rooms being specialized, you still have to build the equipment that goes into themand you have to make sure theyre connected properly.

One of my biggest gripes with Base One is how everything connects together. I know for sure in the custom game mode, you can have these connections happen automatically. When you build, say, a life support device, you have enter connections mode to connect it to the rest of the station. The way you connect these devices isnt really physical, rather, its more of a logical connection. The equipment obviously needs to be physically connected to function, but youre not physically routing oxygen lines. Rather, the modules all have these connections hardwired into them, and youre merely telling the stuff where to go. You even have to hook up the logistics to the appropriate placeusually the main hubfor these things to function. I would have preferred this gameplay to exist differentlyeither as a menu where you can assign power/O2/heat, etc. based on an available pool, or be required to build physical attachments. The system thats currently in place feels like a halfway point between the twoits a little confusing and not very fun. Despite this, I do appreciate the level of control you have over each of the stations roomsand whether theyre heated, oxygenated, etc. Of course, youll want them habitable if you want people working in them.

Screenshot: Base One

Your station inhabitants will, of course, also want to stay alive. You can also make sure theyre not so miserable, either. People have their normal wants: an occupation, comfort, to be fed, water, and to eat and breathe. There are many dangers in space, however. Things like radiation and pollution have to be mitigated, and there is the threat of asteroids and even pirates. There seems to be an increasing trend in building and management games to add strategy and combat elements to these games. Thats okay while handled correctly, but Base Ones implementation is a little flat, and mostly involves running around building turret defenses. At least explosions look cool in space.

Production-wise, Base One isnt cutting edge, but its also a mix of modern and retro. I always tend to think space is pretty, and Base One doesnt mess it up with appropriate grand space vistasthough you dont get much of a look at them. Base One even has a compelling story, though not exactly original. The story is told in a way thats slightly old school, with animated talking heads whose lips move when they talk, but dont match the sounds coming out of them. It really feels like something from around or before the PS1 era, and while it seemed a little cheap at first grew on me quickly. I just wish I would have been able to see the story to its conclusion.

Screenshot: Base One

My biggest problem with Base One is its campaign. I really wish it worked, but I frequently ran into issues with objectives not completing, even when I met the criteria. In one mission, for instance, I had to build a medical facility to treat patients. I treated four out of seven of them, but then the number of treated patients dropped to three. Mind you, this is in the first full non-tutorial mission of the game. Base One does an excellent job of easing you into its style of building and management, but then it just doesnt work. I thought having the tutorial mode enabled was the problem, so after restarting my mission with it off I was able to complete it. And then the next mission, still with tutorial mode off, it didnt work, despite me doing everything it asked. My workers would occasionally just not perform any tasks, and despite diving into the UI to find out why, I couldnt reason it out. Im hoping my experience is unique, but I struggled to finish the first of three actsand ran out of patience. Sometimes I had to restart a mission three or more times for each step to finally complete successfully.

If Base Ones campaign didnt feel so broken, I would be able to recommend it. It might even be fixed by the time its fully released tomorrowI played it for longer than I had scheduled hoping it was something I was missing. Base One is a promising, more serious take on space station buildingand thats still something I really want to play.

Base One is available tomorrow on Steam.

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Review: Base One Is a Compelling but Flawed Space Station Builder - thirdcoastreview.com

Two UCLA mechanical and aerospace engineering students conducted a live interview today from Earth to space with aerospace engineering alumna and SpaceX Crew-2 mission pilot Megan McArthur 93 and mission commander Shane Kim Kimbrough.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour carrying four astronauts from three countries successfully launched on April 23 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

The 20-minute Skype interview by Anil Nair and Anneliese Peterson from UCLAs Laser Spectroscopy and Gas Dynamics Laboratory was livestreamed on NASA TV. A recording showing the interaction between students at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and the crew aboard the International Space Station can be viewed in this YouTube video.

We followed up with Nair and Peterson post-interview to get their thoughts on the out-of-this-world experience.

Q: How do you feel about speaking with McArthur and Kimbrough, the pilot and the mission commander of SpaceX Crew 2 respectively?Nair: I felt honored to have this unique opportunity to talk to Megan and Kim. Anneliese and I have both learned so much about space flight and travel in our classes, so it was great to hear about the astronauts experiences first-hand.

Q: Describe what it was like talking to people in space. How does it feel and sound differently or the same from calling someone on Earth?Peterson: Talking to the astronauts in space felt surprisingly similar to a regular video call, except that there was a slight delay because they had to uplink our audio from the ground to the Station. I loved how Megan wore a UCLA shirt for the occasion!

Q: What came to mind when you first saw McArthur and Kimbrough?Peterson: When their video first popped up on the screen and I saw them floating in microgravity I finally processed how unique the opportunity to speak directly with astronauts truly is. Their missions are so tightly scheduled that the fact that they took time to talk with us is incredibly generous, and we will remember this for the rest of our lives.

Q: What is the major takeaway from this interview?Nair: The interview was very inspiring, and it made me excited to be a part of the amazing growth in the space industry that Kim mentioned! I look forward to developing rocket engine technologies to help send future astronauts into space.

Q: What is the one question you wish you had asked but didnt get a chance to ask and why?Nair: I wish I got to ask the astronauts what their favorite microgravity trick is, and if they could demonstrate it for us. It was really impressive to see them doing tricks like flipping upside down during the interview!

Q: Anything else youd like to share with our audience?Peterson: It was incredible to hear that our question about how to redesign the ISS had never been asked before. Now I know if I ever get to design a new Space Station in a future job, I should add more storage space!

Anil Nair in the Laser Spectroscopy and Gas Dynamics Lab at UCLA, where rocket engine diagnostics are developed.Besides a shared passion for aerospace, Nair and Peterson have both been active leaders in the Rocket Project at UCLA, the student club that builds and launches liquid bi-propellant rockets out in the Mojave Desert.

Nair, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering and on his way to becoming a triple Bruin engineer, is currently doing research on detonation rocket engines and 3D-printed rocket engines. One of his goals is helping develop cutting-edge propulsion technology to enable future space travel. He served as Rocket Project president in his senior year and helped build the schools first liquid-fueled rocket. In his free time, Nair enjoys playing bass guitar and running on the beautiful UCLA campus.

Anneliese Peterson doing final engine checkouts before a hot fire of a LOx-Ethanol engine.Originally from the San Francisco Bay area, Peterson is the Rocket Project vice president and student ambassador tour guide for UCLA Samueli. A senior in aerospace engineering, Peterson is graduating this June and is considering working for Northrop Grumman at Space Park or SpaceX at Cape Canaveral as a launch engineer. Either way, Peterson plans to work as an engineer in the space industry. Shes even thought about her plans for retirement, hoping to teach physics or calculus. When shes not working with rockets, she loves painting, hiking and exploring Los Angeles.

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UCLA Engineering In-Flight Conversation with SpaceX Crew 2 aboard the International Space Station - UCLA Samueli School of Engineering Newsroom

While the crew on board the International Space Station may have been looking at Cayman last week, we get a chance to have a look at their space craft this week.

Residents of the Cayman Islands will have two good opportunities later this week to see the space station as it passes overhead.

Tiyen Miller of the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society said on Thursday, 13 May, and Saturday, 15 May, observers in Cayman will be able to see the ISS, all lit up, in the early evening.

The Astronomical Society is setting up its next stargazing events to coincide with the space station spotting.

How amazing to find that astronauts aboard the International Space Station chose to point their camera down over the western Caribbean and snap a few photos of Grand Cayman, Miller said.

ISS Commander Shane Kimbrough posted four photos of different areas of the island on social media last Thursday, garnering many responses from local residents and visitors who want to come back here.

Miller said, Though it may seem incredible that astronauts can see our tiny islands from space, the space station actually passes over the Cayman Islands very frequently as it circles the whole planet about 16 times a day in its orbit just 250 miles above the ground at about 14,000mph.

He added, In fact, the space station is visible from Cayman Islands too but youve just got to find the right time to look. You might wonder why, if it passes over us so frequently, we cant see it all the time as it passes overhead? Well, if it passes over in the day, you cant see it because the sky is so light that its lost in the blue skies. And in the middle of the night, you cant usually see it because it has no lights of its own, and sails by in across the skies invisibly dark against the night sky.

However, when the sunlight hits it at just the right time and angle, it is visible from Earth.

The key is to find times when it is passing overhead just after sunset or just before sunrise, Miller said. At these times, the Sun has set for us on the ground, but because the Earth is round, the space station 250 miles above us is actually still in the sunshine. Hence, we see it as a brilliant bright dot crossing the sky, reflecting the light from the sun making it visible to us.

He pointed out that space station is quite sizeable, larger than the sports field at the Truman Bodden Sports Centre.

The Astronomical Society is setting up viewing station on Seven Mile Public Beach on Grand Cayman on Thursday, 13 May, from 7pm. The ISS flyby will happen at 7:32pm.

On Saturday, 15 May, the group will be at the lighthouse on the Bluff on Cayman Brac from 7pm to witness another ISS flyby at 7:34pm.

Miller says all are welcome to these free events.

Check the Astronomical Societys Facebook page for the latest updates.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to the all-access pass for the Cayman Compass.

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Space station visible from Cayman twice this week - Cayman Compass

China's Long March 5B Y2 rocket carrying the core module of China's space station, Tianhe, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on April 29, 2021 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China.

VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Debris from a large Chinese rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, which said most parts had burned up on reentry.

The uncontrolled nature of the rocket's fall to Earth had left experts concerned about the potential impact it could have on inhabited areas. Earlier in the week, some space trackers had predicted that it could have landed as far north as New York.

The Chinese agency said early Sunday that the rocket, called the Long March 5B, had re-entered the atmosphere at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time, landing at a location with coordinates of longitude 72.47 degrees east and latitude 2.65 degrees north. That would put the impact location in the Indian Ocean, west of the Maldives archipelago.

"The vast majority of the device burned up during the reentry, and the landing area of the debris is around a sea area with the center at 2.65 degrees north latitude and 72.47 degrees east longitude," the China Manned Space Engineering Office said in a statement on its website.

U.S. Space Command said in a statement that the Long March 5B had re-entered over the Arabian Peninsula at approximately 10:15 p.m. ET on May 8. "It is unknown if the debris impacted land or water," it said.

The rocket was launched on April 29 at the Wenchang Space Launch Centerin south China's Hainan province. It measured 98 feet long and 16.5 feet wide, and it weighed 21 metric tons.

Its mission was to carry into orbit a module containing living quarters for a future Chinese space station. But after completing that task, the body of the rocket circled Earth in an uncontrolled manner before reentering the lower atmosphere.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference Friday that it was "common practice" across the world for the upper stages of rockets to burn up while reentering the atmosphere.

WENCHANG, CHINA - APRIL 29 2021: A Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module for the Chinese space station, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang in south China's Hainan province Thursday, April 29, 2021.

Barcroft Media | Barcroft Media | Getty Images

"China is following closely the upper stage's reentry into the atmosphere. To my knowledge, the upper stage of this rocket has been deactivated, which means that most of its parts will burn up upon reentry, making the likelihood of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities extremely low," he said, according to a translation on the ministry's website.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin bemoaned the negligence involved in the rocket's fall to Earth and said Washington had no plans to shoot it down.

"I think this speaks to the fact that for those of us who operate in the space domain, that there is a requirement there should be a requirement to to operate in a safe and thoughtful mode, and make sure that we take those kinds of things into consideration as we plan and conduct operations," he told reporters.

In a statement shortly after the debris landed, NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson said it was clear that China "is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris."

"It is critical that China and all spacefaring nations and commercial entities act responsibly and transparently in space to ensure the safety, stability, security, and long-term sustainability of outer space activities," he said.

Indeed, it is common for rockets and pieces of space junk to fall back to Earth and experts say that the chances of actually being hit are very small. According to Reuters, parts from the first Long March 5B fell onto the Ivory Coast in Africa last year, damaging several buildings but with no reported injuries.

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China says its rocket debris landed in the Indian Ocean - CNBC

Youve heard for years that Lodi wine is out of this world, but now theres proof. Lodis Michael David Winery sent a small amount of their grape juice to the International Space Station in February, hitching a ride aboard the Northrop-Grumman NG-15 resupply mission.

Its part of an experiment being conducted to determine how grape juice decomposes (ferments) in space. In fact, Michael David is the first winery in history to conduct wine fermentation in outer space, according to Jeff Farthing, a winemaker at Michael David Winery and the smarty-pants wine guy who developed the project.

Theirs is one of hundreds of unrelated experiments being conducted at the space station, according to Farthing. It is officially known among scientists and at the space station as the Grape Microbiota project. The results may give scientists a better understanding of how to grow food in space, says Farthing.

The space juice will make its return trip to earth on July 20 aboard the Space-X 22 mission, says Farthing, splashing down near Florida. Once back on earth the fermented juice will be tested and compared to an identical experiment being conducted by Farthing at the winery. Everything reacts differently in outer space, he says. Theyve been told to expect the unexpected. Depending on the test results, Michael David may attempt to make wine from it, says winery co-owner Dave Phillips. Maybe theyll name it Moonshot?

DOG TALE: It all started in January with a guy named Tony, who was on vacation in Sayulita, Mexico. On the veranda of his Airbnb rental, he noticed this beautiful dog, a Mexican Belgian Shepherd, tethered to a building on a 4-foot leash.

The dog cried and barked day and night, and it was very skinny. He said in a video posted online that the owner just ignored the dog. Over the course of a week, he and the pooch became friends.

Eventually Tony was able to convince the owner to let him take the dog for a walk, to give him a taste of freedom. He named the dog Toby.

The two bonded, and Tony decided to buy Toby, to give him a new life. He appealed for donations online and was able to raise $250, which is what the owner accepted for the dog. Tony gave Toby to an animal rescue, and the two parted ways. After a trip to a local vet and all the required paperwork completed, Toby was on a plane headed for America to a new life and a new forever home across the border.

Toby was eventually taken in by Susan Hsu, a volunteer with Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue, who would foster the dog.

As fate would have it, Lodis Maria Pallavicini was looking to adopt a rescue dog to replace her beloved pet that she recently had to put down. Well, you know the rest of the story. Maria and Toby are new best friends. And it all happened thanks to a stranger shell never meet who sought to change the life of a dog.

THE END: Whats going on next to and behind Guild Cleaners? Men and trucks have been seen there recently digging up the pavement. What gives?

Its essentially a quiet ending to the PCETCE cleanup efforts at what was once the citys largest underground contamination plume. About 25 years ago the state came to town, telling several businesses they had contaminated the soil by discarding cleaning solvents down the drain. It was true.

The solvent leaked through the sewer lines, and over the years the chemicals percolated down through the dirt and were seeping into the water table below. Water and soil samples confirmed this. The state said it was a health risk and ordered the businesses to clean up the mess. Bring money. Lots of money.

The cost would likely bankrupt every business that was involved. Thats when the city stepped in and came up with a plan to collect the cleanup costs from insurance companies that had policies in force at the time. There ensued an epic legal battle. The city suffered some key legal defeats, which cost the city attorney at the time his job. But the city was ultimately able to settle with the insurance companies, who ended up paying most of the tab.

Steve Schwabauer, who became city attorney halfway through the battle, is widely credited with helping the city navigate the considerable legal morass and bring it to a conclusion.

Now, crews from Diede Construction are removing the remediation apparatus from the central plume site in the alley behind the cleaners and the Oddfellows Building.

The state has said the dirt has been cleaned to their satisfaction. The only cleanup effort remaining is at Church and Tokay, a much smaller problem.

The whole process has taken more than 20 years and over $10 million dollars, not including litigation costs. Schwabauer, who is now city manager, estimates theres still about $9 million left in the cleanup fund hopefully more than enough for what remains to be done.

FACELIFT: Facade improvements are coming for the former Save Mart grocery store on Kettleman Lane. The store closed last year but will soon reopen as a Food Maxx. The store is still owned by the Save Mart Company. Fioris Butcher Shoppe will only be open weekdays starting next Monday, a departure from their longtime Tuesday-Saturday schedule. Next time you go to Youngs Ace Hardware in the Lakewood Mall for BBQ supplies, you can also pick up a pie for dinner. A pie? Yep, they sell frozen pies made by The Pie Company in Ripon, who says theyll last up to a year in the freezer, or a few minutes on the dinner table.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: The Harmony Homes project has started. Site improvements have begun at the corner of Washington Street and Lodi Avenue. Four tiny homes will be built on the site that will house folks who may have been homeless, or could be in danger of being homeless.

They will also be vetted and recommended by organizations such as the Salvation Army.

Occupants will have completed a variety of recovery and rehabilitation programs in order to qualify, according to Lodi Community Development Director John Della Monica.

This is the culmination of a years-long search for a suitable site. Maple Square at the corner of Lodi Avenue and Sacramento Street and the ArmoryChapman Field at Washington and Lawrence Avenue were previous contenders.

The Armory suggestion didnt go over well with the public, to say the least, so it was back to the drawing board. While the current project is the first, it may not be the last.

Della Monica has hinted that the city may look for additional sites to build more tiny homes in the future. The project is being funded by a $1.2 million state grant.

While the city is building the homes, it wont be in the rental business; the property will be managed by the Housing Authority of San Joaquin.

LAST LAUGH: Sterlie Kruse Eaves says, Yes, I support renewable energy. Its called coffee.

Steve is a former newspaper publisher and lifelong Lodian whose column appears most Tuesdays in the News-Sentinel. Write to Steve at aboutlodi@gmail.com.

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