Have You Heard of Orbital Drug Factories?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Credit: Varda Space Industries

The International Space Station is not the only orbiting platform for experiments. Varda Space Industries has its own orbiting facility, or at least it had one in orbit for 10 months until it returned to Earth in February (shown below). And now the company has another $90 million in funding to continue to develop its capsules.

Varda, founded in 2020, represents the next phase of the space industry, where lower cost launches allow companies to be creative with their own spacecraft. In this case, biopharma is being asked to consider the advantages of a launches that remove gravity from the equation:

While gravitational forces do not directly impact thermodynamic properties of systems, they do significantly impact kinetic and hydrodynamic processes. Microgravity suppresses convection and sedimentation, resulting in more uniform supersaturation, as well as diffusion-driven transport. The resulting environment enables crystallization outcomes that lead to improvements in bioavailability, enhanced physicochemical properties, differentiated intellectual property, and new routes of administration — all realized by conducting research in microgravity.

While Varda is taking advantage of the lower launch costs made available by reusable rockets, it too wants to have reusable capsules down the line to reduce costs even further. Of course, it is not as glamorous as a permanently manned space station, but these crewless capsules should be sufficient for the needs of many if not most companies.

Note: Varda is also the name of a dwarf planet, which took its name from JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Image (Credit): The W-1 capsule after landing in the Utah desert. (Varda Space Industries/John Kraus)

Space Stories: Detailed Views of Mars, Plummeting ISS Space Junk, and Time Zones on the Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Recent high-altitude view of Mars taken by Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). ( ESA)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—Astrobiology: “Mars Express Celebrates 25,000 Orbits“

ESA’s Mars Express recently looped around Mars for the 25,000th time – and the orbiter has captured yet another spectacular view of the Red Planet to mark the occasion. The new high-altitude view was taken by Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). It features many of Mars’s towering volcanoes and even includes a surprise appearance from the planet’s largest moon, Phobos.

—Daily Mail: “Piece of 5,800lb Battery Pallet Tossed from NASA’s ISS Crashes Through Florida Home – and Nearly Kills Homeowner’s Son“

A piece of metal came crashing through a home in Florida that is believed to be from a 5,800-pound battery pallet discarded by the International Space Station (ISS). Naples homeowner Alejandro Otero was on vacation when he received a call from his son, saying he heard a ‘tremendous sound’ and there were gaping holes in the ceiling and floor – while explaining whatever fell almost hit him. The two-pound, cylinder object has since been recovered by NASA to determine its origin and if found to be space junk, the agency could be liable for damages.

—Reuters: “White House Directs NASA to Create Time Standard for the Moon“

The White House on Tuesday directed NASA to establish a unified standard of time for the moon and other celestial bodies, as the United States aims to set international norms in space amid a growing lunar race among nations and private companies. The head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), according to a memo seen by Reuters, instructed the space agency to work with other parts of the U.S. government to devise a plan by the end of 2026 for setting what it called a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).

Another Safe Docking to the International Space Station

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Image (Credit): The approach of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft as seen from the ISS. (NASA TV)

Earlier today, the two cosmonauts and one astronaut that launched on the Russian Soyuz MS-25 mission over the weekend safely attached themselves to the International Space Station. The station is now hosting a crew of 10.

Both cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya (of Belarus) from this latest mission will return to Earth in the Soyuz MS-24 capsule in about 12 days along with NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara, who will have spent a total of 204 days on the station.

It’s a game of musical spacecraft, but it seems the routine is working and, other than the occasional leak, all is well with the station and its crew.

New Crew Heads to the International Space Station

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Image (Credit): Members of the Soyuz MS-25 crew – commander Oleg Novitskiy (bottom), NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson (middle), and Belarus guest cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya (top). (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Earlier today, a Russian Soyuz rocket launched into space to bring three new crew members to the International Space Station (ISS).

The passengers on today’s delayed flight are cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Marina Vasilevskaya as well as NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson. They are expected to board the ISS on Monday.

Astronaut Dyson, who plans to stay on the station for six months, will assist her fellow astronauts on the ISS with a variety of experiments, including “…[s]tudies of neurological organoids, plant growth, and shifts in body fluids,”

RIP: Thomas Stafford, Apollo 10 Astronaut

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Image (Credit): The joint U.S.-USSR crew for the Apollo Soyuz Test Project. Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford (standing on left), commander of the American crew; Cosmonaut Aleksey A. Leonov (standing on right), commander of the Soviet crew; Astronaut Donald K. Slayton (seated on left), docking module pilot of the American crew; Astronaut Vance D. Brand (seated in center), command module pilot of the American crew; and Cosmonaut Valeriy N. Kubasov (seated on right), engineer on the Soviet crew. (NASA)

As we plan our return to the Moon, we cannot forget the Apollo astronauts who showed us the way last century. One of those astronauts, Thomas Stafford, died today at the age of 93.

Among his many achievements, including his Apollo 10 mission that prepared the way for the first Moon landing by Apollo 11, he may be most remembered for his 1975 space encounter with the U.S.S.R. cosmonauts.

The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first international mission in space. It involved an Apollo spacecraft (crew of three) connecting with a Soyuz spacecraft (crew of two) in Earth orbit. The two days of joint activities created a precedent that was later followed by the International Space Station (ISS).

We were in the middle of the Cold War in 1975, so any cooperation with the U.S.S.R. was pretty amazing. It is just as surprising to witness SpaceX bringing cosmonauts to the ISS while the U.S. maintains severe sanctions on Russia.

Thomas Stafford died knowing that his early efforts to blaze a path to the Moon and cooperate with the Russians were still going strong today. That must have provided him with a little bit of peace in his final days.

You can watch a NASA video on Mr. Stafford’s accomplishments here.

You can also read more on Mr. Stafford’s life and career at these sites:

Rest in peace.