Image (Credit): The Psyche spacecraft sits aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket earlier today at Launch Complex 39A. (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
After a number of delays, the Psyche mission appears ready to go as the spacecraft sits at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:16 a.m. EDT.
The spacecraft will not reach the metal-rich asteroid Psyche until 2029. It will then orbit the asteroid for about two years collecting data to learn more about an object that astronomers believe may contain clues about the formation of the rocky planets closest to the Sun.
Fashion house Prada has teamed up with commercial space company Axiom Space to create lunar spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis III mission, which will be the first crewed moon landing since 1972.Called Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), the suits will be designed to give astronauts “advanced capabilities for space exploration,” Prada said. They are an evolution of NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit design and will use “innovative technologies and design” to be more flexible and provide more protection against the harsh lunar environment, according to the brand.
On some nights, one of the brightest objects in the sky is neither a planet nor a star. It is a telecommunications satellite called BlueWalker 3, and at times it outshines 99% of the stars visible from a dark location on Earth, according to observations reported today in Nature. BlueWalker 3 is the most brilliant recent addition to a sky that is already swarming with satellites. The spaceflight company SpaceX alone has launched more than 5,000 satellites into orbit, and companies around the globe have collectively proposed launching more than half a million satellites in the coming years — a scenario that astronomers fear could hamper scientific observations of the Universe.
The Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) has sprung its third coolant leak in under a year, raising new questions about the reliability of the country’s space programme even as officials said crew members were not in danger. Flakes of frozen coolant spraying into space were seen in an official live feed of the orbital lab provided by Nasa on Monday, and confirmed in radio chatter between US mission control and astronauts. “The Nauka module of the Russian segment of the ISS has suffered a coolant leak from the external (backup) radiator circuit, which was delivered to the station in 2012,” Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Telegram, adding temperatures remained normal in the affected unit.
I recently watched the movie A Million Miles Away after experiencing a summer with no blockbuster films addressing anything interesting related to space travel or alien life. I was happy that this new movie (available on Amazon Prime last month) addressed both, but the “alien” life related to migrant farmers seeking a better life in America.
You will quickly become hooked on the dreams of future astronaut José Hernández as he winds a narrow path to become a NASA flight engineer. You can see a clip of the film here.
The first hour of the film covers the story of his youth, education, and start of a family. After that, you are with him as he is tested by NASA trainers in a way that few of us can imagine. His story intertwines with the Shuttle Columbia disaster, which add another interesting and somber layer to his story.
The film is later interlaced with images of the actors and real persons, including images of José Hernández as he worked on the International Space Station.
Its a great story for the entire family. Yes, it is old story about following your dreams, but it also shows what other may sacrifice along the way to make the dreams of a child or spouse possible.
Rotten Tomatoes shows an Audience Score of 96 percent. I agree with the audience on this one.
Things are looking up for the satellite business. That is, things should shortly be coming down from space that no longer need to be there, and that is a good thing. And Starfish Space hopes to be the one to bring down those satellites.
Here is the story. Starfish Space has created the electric-propulsion Otter Pup prototype spacecraft to act as a tug boat in space that can safely nudge old satellites and debris out of orbit. This will be the basis for the commercially-available Otter spacecraft in the near future. The mission of this spacecraft could also be expanded to serve as a “robotic repair crew.”
It sounds so promising that NASA has awarded the company with a contract to expand its work in this area.
This is good news for anyone concerned about the growing amount of traffic and debris in low-Earth orbit. We have no problem tossing things into space, but we have not given enough thought to what happens later. The Otter Pup is a step in the right direction.
Note: You can see a July 2022 Starfish Space presentation to NASA about the Otter spacecraft here.
Image (Credit): The Otter Pup prototype spacecraft . (Starfish Space)
With just under two weeks until its planned launch, NASA’s Psyche mission has been rescheduled. As per a NASA blog post, the agency along with SpaceX are now aiming for liftoff on October 12 at 10:16 A.M. EDT from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida — the first of several NASA science missions that will ride to space on a Falcon Heavy Rocket. The mission was originally set to launch October 5.
A team of astronomers has made an important leap forward in our understanding of the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system. Not only has their research shed light on the nature of TRAPPIST-1 b, the exoplanet orbiting closest to the system’s star, but it has also shown the importance of parent stars when studying exoplanets. The findings, published today in Astrophysical Journal Letters, shed light on the complex interplay between stellar activity and exoplanet characteristics.
NASA is funding eight new studies aimed at better understanding how the human body reacts to spaceflight. These studies will be done on Earth without the need for samples and data from astronauts. Collectively, these studies will help measure physiological and psychological responses to physical and mental challenges that astronauts may encounter during spaceflight. With this information, NASA may be better able to mitigate risks and protect astronaut health and performance during future long-duration missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
