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Soyuz MS Spacecraft and the New ISS Crew

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Soyuz MS first crew

The new astronauts will travel to the International Space Station on board of a Soyuz MS vehicle.

A new trio of astronauts launched in a trip to reach the International Space Station, as a part of a new Soyuz missions. The team is composed of Kate Rubins from NASA, Takuya Onishi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Anatoly Ivanishin from Roscosmos.

The launch will take place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the same place that hosted the launch of Yuri Gagarin into space.

The vehicle will need almost three days to reach the International Space Station, which is situated in the low Earth orbit at a maximum altitude of 258 miles away from the surface. The prolonged duration of the flight is due to test upgrades that need to be coordinated with ground controllers.

Traditions before the Launch

Two weeks before the event, the primary and the backup crew for the ISS mission leave on a private flight from the Star City cosmonaut training compound until Baikonur, in Kazakhstan. The last days before the trip are spent training and performing spacecraft tests.

Another part of the routine involves planting trees and enjoying spare time in the Cosmonaut Hotel.

The Soyuz MS Series

The former Soyuz mission had a small adventure on its way up, and the commander Yuri Malenchenko had to pilot the spaceship to the International Space Station manually.

Since then, the astronauts had changed their training and their flight procedures in order to accommodate any unpredictable risks. Even the spacecraft was modified, as the launch involves a new Soyuz MS spacecraft.

The Soyuz MS series are inaugurated after a misfortunate event with a Progress MS spacecraft, which during a test flight undocked from the ISS and had to be manually brought back manually to the docking port.

However, the new Soyuz series is supposed to have upgraded and redundant thrusters, an additional micrometeoroid debris shielding, solar cells to increase power capacity, an ungraded rendezvous antenna system, and an improved navigation system.

The New ISS Crew

The crew’s arrival will be welcomed by Jeff Williams, Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, who will be returning to Earth in September. The new team is scheduled to remain aboard for almost four months.

Kate Rubins has a Stanford Ph.D. in cancer biology. Before starting the astronaut career, she studied disease attacks and spread inside the body. While on the International Space Station, Rubins will conduct research on human microbiome and she will also perform DNA sequences.

Takuya Onishi is also at his first space travel. The Japanese enrolled in the astronaut training in 2009 and since then he had one mission on the Aquarium underwater laboratory.

As for Anatoly Ivanishin, this would be his second trip into space, having already spent 165 days in cosmos.

Image Source: Wikipedia

Facebook Live Broadcast from Space

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"International Space Station"

Facebook Live Broadcast from Space

Mark Zuckerberg convinced NASA into creating a live broadcast from the International Space Station. Facebook users were asked to prepare questions for the three astronauts that will talk live from space.

The International Space Station

The International Space Station is the largest artificial object from Earth’s low orbit. The spacecraft can be seen from Earth even without a telescope. Its primary purpose is to do experimental research in microgravity.

The space habitacle is an artificial satellite situated in the low Earth orbit. It has the longest continuous human presence in space, as it has been inhabited for over 15 years. Other habitable space stations are the Russian Salyut, Almaz, and Mir, or the US Skylab

The discussion will take 20 minutes, and it will use as a communication tool the new Facebook Live service. Mark Zuckerberg will personally initiate the call. Three astronauts will be answering from the other side of Earth’s atmosphere.

Who Are the Astronauts?

The astronauts in questions are Tim Peake from the European Space Agency and two NASA astronauts, Tim Kopra, and Jeff Williams.

Tim Peake is the seventh UK astronaut in space. He arrived at the International Space Station on 15 December 2015, and his first meal on space was composed of a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea. He also ran the London 2016 Marathon from space.

Timothy Kopra is the commander of the International Space Station. His first mission took place in 2009 and since then he spent no more than 13 hours and 31 minutes in space, outside the spacecraft.

Jeff Williams will soon be the astronaut who spent the largest number of consecutive days in space. His current mission will take 534 days, almost two years. He also has the record for the most prolific space photograph.

Space and Social Media

The Facebook event will be hosted by NASA’s official page, and users were encouraged to post any questions they might want to ask the astronauts.

Among the many comments received, a user wanted to know what would happen to the space station if the project would be discontinued. Another person asked how artificial gravity was created in space.

This is not the first attempt in social media to present astronauts as users in their services. Twitter was the first to enable direct connection between astronauts and their fans.

The Facebook broadcast will take place this Wednesday, at 12:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

Image Source: Wikipedia 

Mice Embryos Develop in Space for the First Time

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"space mice"

Humanity has dreamt about colonizing space for a very long time. And even though we’re on the right path, it will still take at least a couple of decades until we can realistically achieve something like that. Still, those in charge of preparing us for that momentous event are already setting things up for when we’re ready.

Of course, everything has to go just right, so we need a lot of time preparing for the unexpected and even for the expected. Even the simplest of actions can go wrong in space if not everything is perfectly accounted for. So, performing an experiment to see how it would go, Chinese scientists had mice embryos develop in space for the first time.

China’s SJ-10 satellite

Launched into space of the 6th of April, the SJ-100 Chinese satellite was packed full with a series of experiments. Except for the embryos about which we’re going to talk in a bit, the small bullet-shaped satellite also contained experiments related to microgravity combustion, microgravity fluid physics, space material, space biotechnology, and space radiation effects.

Aside from looking at how space radiation affects the genetic stability of rat cells and fruit flies, the Chinese team will also test how materials generally used in spacecrafts burn in space so that they can come up with better protection. Of course, the most important experiment was the one involving the mouse embryos.

The satellite will attempt landing sometime next week in a designated spot in Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia, somewhat late considering its reported 15-day life span. In case of the landing going wrong, a team will lead four helicopters to help ground vehicles search for the spacecraft after it lands.

Mammal embryos in space

Now that we have the technical specs out of the way, let’s talk about mouse embryos. About 6,000 were sent up in the satellite inside an enclosed, self-sufficient chamber the size of a microwave oven, and about 600 of them had a high-resolution camera aimed directly at them.

Of course, support systems inside were installed in order to provide the embryos with the necessary nutrients for proper development, and the cameras took footage of them every four hours. The team was impressed to see the experiment succeed, with the initial two-cell embryos developing into fully grown blastocysts over the course of eighty hours in space.

This is the first time that a mammal embryo was shown to be able to develop normally in space, making this a very significant breakthrough in the field. Of course, the embryos will be further analyzed upon their return to Earth, and if the scientists manage to get their way and the blastocysts survive the landing, they will even implant some into female rats, having them give birth to the first animals basically conceived in space.

Image source: Wikimedia

SpaceX successfully tests Crew Dragon parachutes; manned mission to commence soon

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"The SpaceX parachutes that were tested successfully by NASA"

SpaceX is already working on a propulsion mechanism that will land the spacecraft on land.

NASA released some footage to the general public revealing that the SpaceX parachutes were successfully tested. The Crew Dragon system for landing developed by Elon Musk’s company, Space X was tested in Coolidge, Arizona and the results were more than satisfying.

SpaceX Parachutes Were Successfully Tested

A cargo aircraft model C-130 carried the parachute assembly thousands of feet in the air in order for the drop test to be carried out. In place of an actual Crew Dragon craft, SpaceX used a weight that was similar in weight and form to the actual spacecraft. The parachutes were rigged to the weight to deploy in similar conditions as they would in the actual Crew Dragon mission to return astronauts from the ISS.

The test did not include all of the parachute-based landing mechanism developed by SpaceX. The additional parachutes that are meant to open when the full landing will take place were not added to the experiment because the drogue parachutes will be enabled at an altitude that was not consistent with the one from which the weight was dropped.

Nonetheless, the tests were a success, meaning that the landing mechanism devised by SpaceX will some bring back home the astronauts that serve on the ISS.

This Is Not the First Parachute Test Performed by Space X

But this is not the first parachute test performed by SpaceX. In the last month of 2013, Elon Musk’s program performed an early drop test for the landing mechanism. The test that was performed, then did not include the modification made for human transport. It was just meant to see how the parachutes react in real-life conditions. The Dragon Crew module was designed afterwards.

The 2013 test included only three main parachutes and two drogue ones. Since then, the Crew Dragon has received four main parachutes in order to make the descent more stable.

The Crew Dragon Will Land the Astronauts in the Ocean

For now, the Crew Dragon will land the astronauts in the ocean, a technique that was also used in the Apollo missions. But since the SpaceX parachutes were successfully tested, the company is already working on a propulsion system that will not make swimming a mandatory skill for astronauts.

Last November the Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco super engines were also put to the test. After the experiments, SpaceX noted the fact that a landing strategy using propulsion is important in the development of a landing mechanism that does not involve the surface of the ocean.

NASA declared that additional tests will be made, as they are trying to replicate real-life landing conditions as best as they can.

If everything goes as smooth as the SpaceX parachutes tests, NASA estimates that the Crew Dragon will be bringing back the astronauts from the ISS as soon as 2017.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

Life on Mars Is Possible

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"moss growing out of a crack in stone"

The tiny fungi in question managed not only to survive in Mars-like conditions, but thrive.

The colonization of the Red Planet was a subject of numerous movies, books and space lovers’ fantasy. And it might come true, after all, since astronauts discovered that life on Mars is possible. The potential lifeform that could thrive in the harsh conditions is fungi. While the tiny Antarctic fungi were only tested on the space station in conditions similar to those on the Red Planet, scientists are confident that life on Mars is possible.

The Cryptoendolithic Fungi Could Be the First Lifeform on Mars

According to the scientists, the Cryptoendolithic fungi could be the first lifeform on Mars. The tiny shroom is usually found in the Antarctic Land of Victoria in the Dry Valleys of McMurdo so it is used to live in very harsh environments.

In order to test if the life form could survive on the alien planet, European researchers collected a few samples and sent them to the International Space Station (ISS). After 18 months of exposure to an environment specially created to mimic the conditions on the Red Planet, the fungi was doing well.

Life on Mars is Possible

Rosa Noetzel de la Torre, a co-researcher in the Life on Mars project, and a member of the Aerospace Technology National Institute in Spain says that the endolithic communities’ cells remained intact prior to the exposure, their cellular DNA stability remaining high.

According to de la Torre, the next step is to plant the Cryptoendolithic fungi on the surface of the alien planet and see if life on Mars is possible or not.

After being relocated on the surface of the Red Planet the microorganism will continue to be studied, scientists focusing on its bioindicators, its stability on a long-term basis and, of course, its ability to survive in another world.

It’s A Small Step for the Fungi, But a Big Step for Humankind

This is a very important advancement in the research for Mars colonization. It is the first step towards bringing intelligent life on the Red Planet. A small step for the fungi, but a big step for humankind.

After discovering, last year, that there are salty water rivers flowing on the surface of the planet, the introduction of living microorganisms is the next logical step for the scientists.

But the survival skills of the Cryptoendolithic fungi is not just a clue that life on Mars is possible, but it may also mean that life on Mars was possible some time ago.

The Mars-Like Conditions Only Enhanced the Metabolic Activity of the Fungi

After 18 months of experiments, and different kinds of microorganism used and exposed to both space and Mars conditions, the results showed that the fungi that were exposed to space conditions did not fare well at all, but the Mars one showed a double metabolic activity level than the one they had on Earth. This only comes to strengthen the idea that life on Mars is possible.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

SpaceX Parachutes Were Successfully Tested

By

"The SpaceX parachutes that were tested successfully by NASA"

SpaceX is already working on a propulsion mechanism that will land the spacecraft on land.

NASA released some footage to the general public revealing that the SpaceX parachutes were successfully tested. The Crew Dragon system for landing developed by Elon Musk’s company, Space X was tested in Coolidge, Arizona and the results were more than satisfying.

SpaceX Parachutes Were Successfully Tested

A cargo aircraft model C-130 carried the parachute assembly thousands of feet in the air in order for the drop test to be carried out. In place of an actual Crew Dragon craft, SpaceX used a weight that was similar in weight and form to the actual spacecraft. The parachutes were rigged to the weight to deploy in similar conditions as they would in the actual Crew Dragon mission to return astronauts from the ISS.

The test did not include all of the parachute-based landing mechanism developed by SpaceX. The additional parachutes that are meant to open when the full landing will take place were not added to the experiment because the drogue parachutes will be enabled at an altitude that was not consistent with the one from which the weight was dropped.

Nonetheless, the tests were a success, meaning that the landing mechanism devised by SpaceX will some bring back home the astronauts that serve on the ISS.

This Is Not the First Parachute Test Performed by Space X

But this is not the first parachute test performed by SpaceX. In the last month of 2013, Elon Musk’s program performed an early drop test for the landing mechanism. The test that was performed then did not include the modification made for human transport. It was just meant to see how the parachutes react in real-life conditions. The Dragon Crew module was designed afterwards.

The 2013 test included only three main parachutes and two drogue ones. Since then, the Crew Dragon received four main parachutes in order to make the descent more stable.

The Crew Dragon Will Land the Astronauts in the Ocean

For now, the Crew Dragon will land the astronauts in the ocean, a technique that was also used in the Apollo missions. But since the SpaceX parachutes were successfully tested, the company is already working on a propulsion system that will not make swimming a mandatory skill for astronauts.

Last November the Crew Dragon’s SuperDraco super engines were also put to the test. After the experiments, SpaceX noted the fact that a landing strategy using propulsion is important in the development of a landing mechanism that does not involve the surface of the ocean.

NASA declared that additional tests will be made, as they are trying to replicate real-life landing conditions as best as they can.

If everything goes as smooth as the SpaceX parachutes tests, NASA estimates that the Crew Dragon will be bringing back the astronauts from the ISS as soon as 2017.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

NASA All Geared up to Send Astronauts to One year Long ISS Mission

By

astronuast on one year ISS mission

In 2014, a group of astronauts carried out more than 200 experiments in ISS within a short time period of six months

It seems like the missions of International Space Station is gradually progressing with the time. This year, NASA intends to send two American astronauts in ISS.  They will carry out seven other experiments in this time period.

Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko are extremely excited to spend one year in the orbit. Thus far, astronauts have spent maximum six months in the space. Hence, the accomplishment of the new mission would be a great success for the researchers.

The chief aim of this mission is to figure out the influence of space on the bodies of human beings. The entire research will focus on the mental and physical alterations of these astronauts. The scientist will closely analyze metabolism, mental health, microbes and physical performance of them.

As per the recent press release of NASA, the two astronauts will provide significant information regarding the medical, psychological and biomedical impact of space on human body.

Researchers wish to determine the affect of space on the first astronauts who will travel to Mars

Additionally, Scott Kelly will also work on another experiment simultaneously. He will work along with his twin brother, Mark Kelly. Scientists will execute similar test on the body of Mark. However, the only difference is that Mark will stay on Earth rather than ISS.

Ammonia Leakage Incident: Doubts on the Safety of International Space Station?

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17 years of ISS

The alarm of ammonia, leak which compels six astronauts to move to the Russian side of satellite, turned out false. However, the news puts a big question mark on the safety of the International Space Station.

This is not the first time when such kind of incident occurred in the International Space Station. Thus far, the satellite has suffered from numerous maintenance problems like damage to panels and pump failures.

Stephanie Schierholz, a spokeswoman of NASA states that the government space agency have experienced worst things than this.  In 2010, the actual leakage of ammonia gas occurred in the International Space Station. It is not that surprising as everything can happen in an entirely computer based environment.

The International Space Station is nearly 17 years old now.  It is an outcome of continuous efforts of five space agencies of different countries. It has traveled around earth approximately 92,357 times. The space station is similar to the size of a football field.

It has reached to this place after numerous unpleasant incidents.  It faced several unforgettable disasters such as Columbia shuttle disaster that happened in 2003. The space shuttle broke up on the 1st of February 2013. It took lives of seven astronauts. The incident left a large quantity of waster outside the International space Station. The U.S space agency cancelled all its flight after the incident. The scientists keenly examined the reason behind such a massive failure.

A few years ago, a system failure forces the crew members to live without thrusters.

All these tragedies give rise to merely one question: How much safe is the International Space Station after 17 years. To what extent, the space station can bear the technical problems.

However, NASA is all geared up to send an astronaut in ISS for a long time period of one year. It would be the longest time in the history of space. Generally, astronauts live for six months in the space station during research.

ISS Crew Evacuates US Section Of The Station Due To Ammonia Leak

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ISS-crew-evacuates-US-section

As per the recent reports revealed, the crew aboard the International Space Station has been enforced to evacuate and close off the US part of the station after an alarm sounded for a possibly perilous chemical spill.

Two Americans and an Italian astronaut have taken asylum with three cosmonauts in the Russian part of the station after a sensor spotted a possible ammonia spill from a cooling system.

Roscosmos — Russian space agency said all 6 of the ISS crew had emptied to the Russian part of the station lined up with crisis dealings after the alarm sounded around 9am GMT on Wednesday.

After hearing the alarm, the team wore masks and moved to the Russian part as a safety measure. NASA stressed that a defective sensor or computer system may well have set off a false alarm.

“There is no firm data to propose there was a genuine ammonia leak,” a NASA representative said. “The crew members are safe and secure inside the Russian section of the International Space Station.

As investigators examined information returning from the International Space Station, the alarm looked continually prone to have been brought on by a defective sensor. “It’s turning into a stronger case this is a false sign,” the representative said.

The cooling system on the space station utilizes two loops that are loaded with ammonia. The ammonia gathers heat from electronic gear aboard and is then pumped outside the station where it dumps the heat into space through titan radiators.

The alarm sounded after a sensor spotted a change in pressure in a part of a related water cooling framework and an upsurge in the station’s cabin pressure, which can be an indication of an ammonia spill. As the astronauts closed off the US segment of the station and made for cover, NASA controllers switched off trivial supplies and started an examination.

The crew is likely to stay in the Russian section for the rest of the day until experts are certain that the US section is safe to open once more. In a dialog with the US space explorers, NASA’s capcom in Houston, Jim Kelly, told the crew: “There’s nothing for you to do now. Appreciate your unplanned day off.”

Maxim Matyushin, leader of the Russian mission control focus in Moscow, said in a Roscosmos proclamation: “The group’s wellbeing has been attained through the synchronized and convenient actions of the cosmonauts and astronauts, and also the mission control groups in Moscow and in Houston.”

SpaceX’s Failed To Land Its Rocket On A Hovering Platform, Sighs Elon Musk

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The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket launched by SpaceX, on a cargo resupply service mission to the International Space Station, lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida

SpaceX’s endeavor to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a hovering barge in the Atlantic Ocean ended up in failure in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Elon Musk tweeted about his organization’s endeavors to recuperate the rocket, after launch and partition from the Dragon private space podule, which is presently winging its way to the International Space Station.

Approximately 10 minutes into the flight, Dragon separated from Falcon 9, the point SpaceX endeavored to land the rocket on a hovering robotic “spaceport drone ship”.

However, that part of the mission failed, with Falcon 9 suffering a crash landing. The agency said:

While the rocket made it to the drone ship, it landed hard. Tragically we lacked the capacity to get good landing video due to the dark and haze, yet we are at present assessing significant telemetry information which will advise future endeavors.

Dragon, in the mean time, is anticipated to be linked up to the ISS on Monday morning, when it will resupply ‘nauts who are right now living on the space lab.

For now, a post-launch news meeting at US space agency NASA has been called off, after what it depicted as an “impeccable” SpaceX launch.

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