Volunteers Needed for Mars Study

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): A picture of the 1,700-square-foot CHAPEA habitat, which contains individual living quarters for four volunteer crew members. (NASA/Bill Stafford)

Are you a motivated U.S. citizen or permanent resident who is a non-smoker, 30-55 years old, and proficient in English for effective communication between crewmates and mission control? Are you interested in helping NASA with its Mars program? If so, you have until April 2nd to contact NASA and volunteer for its second Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission, which is set to begin in spring 2025.

And what does this mission entail? You will live in a 3D-printed habitat (the Mars Dune Alpha) with three other crew members for about a year. The mission includes simulated spacewalks, physical and behavioral health and performance challenges, and more.

NASA goals for the CHAPEA mission is as follows:

To obtain the most accurate data during the analog, the analog mission will be as Mars-realistic as feasible, which may include environmental stressors such as resource limitations, isolation, equipment failure, and significant workloads. The major crew activities during the analog may consist of simulated spacewalks including virtual reality, communications, crop growth, meal preparation and consumption, exercise, hygiene activities, maintenance work, personal time, science work, and sleep.

It may sound like a return to the time of Covid, but this time the results will be recorded and used by scientists for future space programs.

If this sounds like something you might like to do, you should consider sending in an application.

Space Quote: A New Threat to Astronauts

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The DSS-53 antenna at NASA’s Deep Space Network Madrid facility. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

“And so, any capability that could disrupt that and that could therefore have some impact on services here on Earth and across the world should be of concern to anybody, I think. And including the fact that we have astronauts in — oftentimes in — in low orbit that — that could be at risk from an anti-satellite capability. So, you’re talking about potential human lives here too.”

-Statement during a press briefing by White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby regarding reports of a Russian nuclear anti-satellite weapon. Earlier in the week, Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner, who serves as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, shared sensitive information about this weapon with all Members of Congress.

Pic of the Week: The Launch of the IM-1 Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Today’s launch of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission from the Kennedy Space Center. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today)

This week’s image shows the early morning launch of Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket carries the Nova-C robotic lander, also called “Odysseus,” that includes both NASA and commercial payloads. If all goes well, the lander will be on the surface of the moon next week.

This image from Florida Today is unique in that it is a time exposure showing both the launch from the Kennedy Space Center as well as the booster landing shortly afterward.

Credit: Intuitive Machines

All Eyes on the Next Moon Mission

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (SpaceX)

The second NASA-related commercial Moon mission was set to launch earlier today, but SpaceX called it off at the last moment due to a methane issue with its Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is expected to try the launch tomorrow.

The launch of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission is related to NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, and will serve as one of the first lunar-based pieces of the Artemis program.

In terms of the main mission, NASA noted:

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander is expected to land on the Moon Thursday, Feb. 22. Among the items on its lander, the IM-1 mission will carry NASA science and technology instruments focusing on plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies.

The Moon mission that failed last month was also part of NASA’s CLPS initiative. This program is off to a slow start, but hopefully it can be relied on to be a key component of the lunar space program going forward.

If you are looking for some good news, I can report that Russia’s Progress MS-26 International Space Station resupply mission successfully launched earlier today.

Space Stories: A Test of Space Suits, Water Detected on Asteroids, and China’s Growing Space Program

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Recent test of the space suit being built by Collins Aerospace. (Collins Aerospace)

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—The Verge: “One of NASA’s New Spacesuits Passes Microgravity Test“

Collins Aerospace, a private company hired to create spacesuits for use outside the International Space Station (ISS), has tested its suit aboard a commercial microgravity flight, passing a milestone that lets engineers move forward toward critical design review…During the test, the plane executed “roller-coaster-like maneuvers” to induce weightlessness and allow someone wearing a prototype to see if it actually lets someone move around in it under those conditions.

—Newsweek: “NASA Data Detects Water on Asteroids for the First Time Ever“

Water has been found on the surface of two asteroids for the first time, scientists said in a new paper. Two silicate-rich asteroids were detected by the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that were giving off a specific wavelength of light that indicated the presence of molecules of water, according to research published in The Planetary Science Journal. The discovery may have major implications for theories about how water initially made its way to our own planet. It could have been delivered via asteroid impact.

—Astronomy.com: “China is Embarking on a Science and Exploration Program of Staggering Scale“

When China’s first lunar lander, Chang’e 3, touched down in Mare Imbrium on the Moon in 2013, it was the pinnacle of the country’s space endeavors. The robotic lander and its small Yutu rover companion were the first spacecraft to operate on the Moon since the 1970s, and provided new insights into our planet’s natural satellite…Since then, China’s space activities have exploded in range, frequency, and ambition. The country now rivals the U.S. for the most launches per year, with around 80 missions having been planned for 2023. The nation has its own modular space station, named Tiangong, which is expected to be continuously occupied by a rotating crew of three astronauts for at least a decade.