Monday, June 24, 2013

Cosmonauts Yurchikin and Misurkin Complete 6.5 Hour EVA

Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station have successfully completed an Extra-Vehicular Activity(EVA) on the exterior of the International Space Station.


Spacewalker Yurchikin(left) and Misurkin
credit: NASA
Expedition 36 Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikin, and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agecncy donned their Orlan spacesuits and got straight to work on the tasks on hand, after leaving the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock at 2:32 p.m. GMT.

The majority of today's work took place on the exterior of the station's Zarya Module. Yurchikin and Misurkin firstly replaced a regulator panel that has expired in the Russian coolant system, before moving on to the installation of a series of cable clamps in preparation for the next Russian EVA, scheduled for August 15.

The spacewalking duo then routed cables which will provide power and data ahead of the arrival of the new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module(MLM) Nauka, which is expected to launch to the ISS later this year. Nauka will replace the Pirs Docking Compartment, which was launched in 2001, and will be de-orbited after it becomes the first ISS module to be decommissioned. Nauka will serve as the primary Russian research module aboard the orbiting laboratory. It will be fully equipped with crew quarters, a toilet, and the all-important scientific laboratory.
Fyodor Yurchikin during the EVA
credit: NASA

Yurchikin and Misurkin also spent time retrieving and deploying a number of scientific experiments located on the station's exterior, allowing them to be exposed to the vacuum of space for their specified lifespan. One such experiment is the Photon-Gamma Experiment, which measures gamma splashes and optical
radiation during terrestrial lightning and thunder conditions, from a portable workstation on Zvezda. This will be removed to make way for the installation of an Optical Telescope on future EVAs. The Zvezda Service Module was also the focus of a lot of today's activity, with the spacewalkers testing the KURS docking equipment ahead of the arrival of the MLM. Misurkin and Yurchikin also installed some gap spanners to aid future spacewalkers.

Today's spacewalk by Misurkin and Yurchikin is the first of five EVAs planned for Expedition 36. A further three Russian spacewalks will be performed by Yurchikin and Misurkin, mainly focusing on preparing space station systems for the arrival of the MLM. Two US EVAs will be performed by Expedition 36 Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of ESA during the remainder of Expedition 36.

  

Friday, June 21, 2013

What Would Our Fragile Oasis Look Like from a Billion Miles Away? Astronomy: The Humblest of Hobbies

How many of you out there have a telescope at home? Did you have one when you were younger? Do you want one when you are older? Have you used one at your local observatory, or perhaps messed around with one at your grandparent's house, not really knowing what it was when you ran out of things to do before you went to bed? Have you seen for yourself the exact landing site on The Moon where Neil and Buzz walked nearly 44 years ago? Well, if you haven't, I suggest you take a step outside and look up for a while when it's not too cold or cloudy- you might learn a thing or two!
My first Moon shot. Can you see the footprints?


It was just past 10 p.m. as I stood next to the tripod. I had at least four layers of clothes on which were supposed to keep me warm, yet i still stood there half-shaking with the cold, and half-shaking with the excitement of seeing something through my telescope for the very first time. Tonight's target was Jupiter. This brand spanking new 5-inch refractor I bough for my birthday arrived maybe a week beforehand, but the ever-present Irish clouds spreading from the west did me no favours whatsoever, so the telescope stayed inside. I used this time wisely to do my research that might come in handy for whenever that clear night arrived. I joined online forums, groups and all that kind of stuff, trying to see if I could get any advice and tips. What would Jupiter look like through a scope of my size? Would I be able to see it's cloud bands? Could I see the Great Red Spot? I kept asking what the largest planet in our solar system would look like through my telescope. All of the answers I got were helpful and gave me a slight indication into what I might be able to see. But just like asking an astronaut what does Earth look like from space, they always say "You really have to see it for yourself", and how it's "Simply indescribable". To say I was looking forward to this night was an understatement! 

The city around me grew quieter as the night drew on. Luckily there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and Jupiter was rising higher in the east. Conditions were perfect and I had even left my scope out for an hour or so, in order that it would adjust to the sub-zero temperatures outside. Time to go planet hunting! 

After finding Jupiter with my 20mm eyepiece, I took a moment to see if I was able to spot it's four moons; Ganymede, Europa, Io and Callisto. They were all there and looking great! I quickly changed to the 10mm and got a much anticipated zoomed-in view. What a sight! I literally did not know what to do when I saw the two main cloud belts for the first time, so I just stepped back from the eyepiece and looked at Jupiter as it really was, a bright point of light in the sky- over 387 million miles away.

I continued to planet gaze for another hour or so. It's not that I got bored of looking at Jupiter, it's just that I had found other things in the night sky. The Pleiades came into view and I got the chance to really see them for the first time as well. It was now midnight. 

As every astronomer knows, there comes a point during every observing session when you just step away from the telescope for a few minutes and just look at the sky as a whole- just gazing into infinity. If you're lucky you might see a couple of satellites zooming overhead- another great sight to behold. Now though, I'm looking straight at The Orion Nebula(Not bad for the first night on the job right?) When you look at Orion and you see the massive dust and gas enveloping that stellar nursery, you realise that you are witnessing the birth of stars, planets, asteroids- maybe even life itself! Again, more questions arise- I wonder if this is what it was like when our solar system was being created. How many stars will end up forming there? 
Earth seen as a Pale Blue Dot

Soon you really begin to think how small we really are on this planet of ours. You look up and see thousands of stars- many of them hundreds of times larger than our very own Sun. One thing I couldn't help but notice when I was looking at Jupiter- the largest planet in our solar system- was how small it still looked from Earth- even with a telescope. But the one constant thought in my head revolved around this question. Imagine if we were nearly a billion miles away from Earth and we tried looking back. Would we see any shape to our fragile oasis, or would we just appear as a Pale Blue Dot. Would we even matter? Well, of course! We matter to each other.

"It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience".
-- Carl Sagan

What I'm trying to say here is that after I caught that first glimpse of Jupiter through the scope, I've really started thinking about how small we really are on this ball of blue we call home. Astronomy may not be everyone's cup of tea, and most people don't know the first thing about it if you ask me, but it certainly puts things into perspective for you. It puts you in your place. Now I don't want to sound all inspirational here, but just like the great Carl Sagan said, when you realise how small we really are, all of our quarrels and worries seem so unimportant- 

"Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that in glory and triumph they can become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot" 

If that doesn't show you how small we are I don't know what does. You can fit Planet Earth inside the Sun 1 million times over. Yet the sun is still not even a tiny fraction in terms of the overall composition of our galaxy. Yet, the Milky Way is so small on this universal context that it's impossible to get your head around how tiny we all are. But if you want to see for yourself how small we are on this universal scale, just go outside-- and look up! 

Monday, June 17, 2013

Meet the New Astronaut Class of 2013

 Eight candidates have been selected to be NASA's newest astronaut trainees, the space agency announced today.

NASA has selected eight new candidates; four men and four women; to commence astronaut training at Johnson Space Center in August of this year. All will train in centers all over the world in order to prepare for missions to the International Space Station, an asteroid and Mars. 

Over 6,100 applications were submitted during the selection process- the second highest amount ever received(The highest being in 1978). 

2013 Astronaut Candidate Class of 2013
credit: NASA
"These new space explorers asked to join NASA because they know we’re doing big, bold things here -- developing missions to go farther into space than ever before"

-NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said earlier.

To see Administrator Bolden's full message to the newly-announced class click here.


Astronaut Candidate Profiles

Josh A. Cassada, Ph. D., 39, is originally from White Bear Lake, Minn. Cassada is a former naval aviator who holds an undergraduate degree from Albion College, and advanced degrees from the University of Rochester, N.Y. Cassada is a physicist by training and currently is serving as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer for Quantum Opus. 

Victor J. Glover, 37, Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy, hails from Pomona, Calif., and Prosper, Texas. He is an F/A-18 pilot and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Glover holds degrees from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Air University and Naval Postgraduate School. He currently is serving as a Navy Legislative Fellow in the U.S. Congress. 

Tyler N. Hague (Nick), 37, Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force, calls Hoxie, Kan., home. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards, Calif. Hague currently is supporting the Department of Defense as Deputy Chief of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. 

Christina M. Hammock, 34, calls Jacksonville, N.C. home. Hammock holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. She currently is serving as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Station Chief in American Samoa. 

Nicole Aunapu Mann, 35, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, originally is from Penngrove, Calif. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Stanford (Calif.) University and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Md. Mann is an F/A 18 pilot, currently serving as an Integrated Product Team Lead at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River. 

Anne C. McClain, 34, Major, U.S. Army, lists her hometown as Spokane, Wash. She is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.; the University of Bath and the University of Bristol, both in the United Kingdom. McClain is an OH-58 helicopter pilot, and a recent graduate of U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River. 

Jessica U. Meir, Ph.D., 35 is from Caribou, Maine. She is a graduate of Brown University, has an advanced degree from the International Space University, and earned her doctorate from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Meir currently is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. 

Andrew R. Morgan, M.D., 37, Major, U.S. Army, considers New Castle, Pa., home. Morgan is a graduate of The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and earned doctorate in medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md. He has experience as an emergency physician and flight surgeon for the Army special operations community, and currently is completing a sports medicine fellowship.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

ATV-4 Albert Einstein Docks to ISS

The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle "Albert Einstein" has docked to the International Space Station ten days after launching from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

The ATV docked to the station's Zvezda Service Module at 2:07 p.m. GMT while the ISS was flying 258 miles high over The Pacific Ocean. Albert Einstein is the heaviest Automated Transfer Vehicle that has ever visited the orbiting laboratory, and is loaded with 6.6 tonnes of cargo for the astronauts and operating systems aboard the orbiting complex.
ATV-4 Albert Einstein Approaches the ISS
credit: NASASpaceflight

After launch on June 5, ATV performed two rendezvous burns to refine its path to the ISS.
As ATV-4 made its way closer to the ISS, a further series of burns were performed to align the ATV with the docking port located on the Service Module. Astronauts aboard the ISS watched closely as Albert Einstein neared its way towards station, and were on hand to oversee
proceedings as the automated docking occurred.

Over the course of its time docked to Zvezda, ATV will deliver fuel, water and air to ensure the continued operation of the station. Its thruster's will also maintain the station's orbit in order to counteract the orbital decay imposed by the ATV during its time docked to the International Space Station.

Albert Einstein is expected to remain docked to the station for around six months, after which it will go through a destructive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere filled station waste and other used cargo no longer needed.

To see what it is like inside the ATV, watch this video as Expedition 26/27 Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli takes you on a tour of the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler back in 2011.

Be sure to follow Irish Space Blog on Twitter to keep up to date on all the latest news from around the universe!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

China Launches Astronaut Trio to Tiangong-1 Space Station

A trio of Chinese astronauts are on their way to the Tiangong-1 space station following launch from The Gobi Desert.

The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft carrying mission Commander Nie Haisheng, first-time space flyer Zhang Xiaoguang, and fellow rookie Wang Yaping, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in The Gobi Desert at 10:38 a.m. GMT atop a Long March 2F rocket bound for the Chinese space station.

Tiangong-1 was launched in 2011 and weighs 8.5 tonnes. Last year it hosted the three-person Shenzhou-9 crew, which included the first Chinese woman in space, Liu Yang, in a mission lasting just under 2 weeks. This will be the third and final mission to the station, with the crew aboard Shenzhou 10 expected to remain aboard the orbital outpost for 15 days. The astronauts are expected to reach the station around 44 hours after launch.
Launch of Shenzhou-10
credit:CCTV

The mission highlight will be the docking between the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 space station. This will combine with the work done during the crew's stay on orbit in order to allow teams on the ground to see how a future space station may be constructed, managed and operated.

If all goes according to plan, the trio will arrive at Tiangong-1 on June 13, and will spend ten days docked to the Chinese outpost. A second docking between both spacecraft is expected to be performed during the mission, in order to study the Shenzhou docking system ahead of future flights.

The three astronauts are expected to return to Earth on June 26.



Crew Profile



Nie Haisheng


Born in Yangdang town of Zaoyang, Hubei Province, Nie graduated from high school and joined the Army Air Force and became a fighter pilot. Selected for the Chinese spaceflight program in 1998, Nie Haisheng was one of the three candidates in contention to make China's first manned spaceflight aboard Shenzhou-5.


The Shenzhou-10 crew
credit: Xinhua
Nie was selected as a member of the Shenzhou-6 mission alongside Fèi Jùnlóng, in a mission that lasted nearly five days.

Shenzhou-10 will be Nie's second trip to low-Earth orbit, and after the mission is completed, he is expected to have logged nearly 20 days in space. After the mission is completed, Nie will have spent more time in space than any other Chinese astronaut.

""Maybe I will hold that record for a while.. but it will soon be broken by other newcomers."


Zhang Xiaoguang

Zhang was born in Liaoning province and was a squadron commander in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force when he was selected to be an astronaut in 1998. He had accumulated 1000 flight-hours as of 2004.

This will be his first spaceflight.


Wang Yaping

Captain Wang Yaping was born in the prefecture of Yantai, in Shandong province in April 1978.
She is a Chinese military pilot and astronaut. She will become the second Chinese woman in space, following in the footsteps of Liu Yang who flew to Tiangong-1 nearly a year ago aboard Shenzhou-9.




Sunday, June 9, 2013

Ever Wanted To Skydive? Why Not Try A Space Dive Instead?

How many of you out there think you could accomplish what Felix Baumgartner did in October 2012 and go up to the edge of space- 128,000 feet above our planet- and jump? Would you like to go higher, or is that even possible? Well, it soon will be!

Meet Solar System Express(or Sol-X as they also liked to be called). These guys are working on developing a space skydiving suit that will allow thrill seekers to dive from the final frontier.

This suit named the "RL Mark VI" has a long term goal to allow anyone with the guts to leap from a height of 62 miles up(the official line marking the beginning of space), all beginning with jumps starting at 26 miles- just above Red Bull's record setting jump. A rocket will launch you high above the ground below and will allow you to see our world like never before! As you float around, strapped into your capsule, look up and see the darkness of space and gaze into the infinite universe. Now it's time to come home!

The spacediver will then unhook from his safety harness and take one last look at the Earth below as he begins his dive back to our planet. Small gyroscopes located within the boots will orient and direct the body while weightless. At jumps starting from 62 miles, the first two minutes of the jump will accelerate  the spacediver to speeds of 2,500mph while in freefall.  A protective one piece jump suit will both insulate him from the cold temperatures of space, and the 474D heat generated during atmospheric reentry.

Landing Techniques
                                                                                                              
1. The spacediver could land using a technique which is reminiscent of the systems used on the suit worn by Tony Stark in the Iron Man films. Instead of a parachute assisted landing, a wingsuit will be used to guide the daredevil back to the ground, before aerospike engines within the suit fire to act as a brake to make a safe landing(A parachute will remain in reserve).

2. The second will be 'a feet-down' method with the aerospikes kicking in from an altitude of about hundred feet.

3.  See what the jump will be like and find out more by watching this video.

Suit Spacefics
CTO of Solar System Express Blaze Sanders
 in the FFD Spacesuit
credit: Solar System Express

-The yellow spacesuit is made of urethane coated nylon, and a protective thermal covering will be fashioned from lightweight layers of aerogel, PICA-X and NASA Space Shuttle-like flexible insulation blankets formed into a garment that will serve as the spacesuit’s outermost layer.

-Small gyroscopes in systems boots will orient and direct the body while weightless.

-The suit will be fully fitted with a hi-tech reality HUD that work similar in a way to Google Glass contained within the face mask.

-It will allow the astronaut/spacediver to see how the suit is performing- providing him with information like altitude, speed and location above the ground. In the event of a rocket malfunction on the suit, it could stop the boots from firing, and a reserve parachute will be used to land safely on the ground instead.









Testing

The suit will be fitted with 'rocket boots' and tested at altitude by July 2016. Jumps from 62 miles will not be happening for at least 7 years, but Solar System Express have set themselves the goal of carrying out jumps from 25 miles by 2016.



What's Next?
The spacediver will jump from 62 miles up and
 land safely back on Earth 10 minutes later
credit: Huffington Post

To put it simply- the future is very bright! We are only at the beginning of proper full time commercial space exploration, and with private firms such as SpaceX, Bigelow and now Solar System Express getting bigger and bigger with every passing day, new ideas are being created all the time, so much so, that Blaze Sanders(Chief Technology Officer of Sol-X) is optimistic about what the exploration of space may be like in ten years time:

"I have a very positive outlook on the future.. I think at least 700 normal people will have flown into space with Virgin Galactic.. I think 10 or more people will have already been on Bigelow Aerospace hotels in space and at least 3 of the Google Lunar X-Prize teams will have tried to land on the Moon and I think one of them will have been successful."  


It's very clear from this that space, particularly low-Earth orbit will be completely different to what it is today. So far, nearly 600 people have flown into space via agencies like NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, so most people will dispute the fact that 700 "normal" people will have flown in space in a decade's time.

Outrageous as it may seem, one thing's for sure is that it definitely is possible. If it doesn't happen within ten years, it might happen in fifteen, or twenty- who knows? There's no denying though that it's an extremely exciting time to be involved in commercial space exploration, and as result, sometime in the near future, you may just find yourself 62 miles above our planet getting ready to jump home!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" Launches to International Space Station

The European Space Agency's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, Albert Einstein, has launched on an Ariane 5 rocket bound for the International Space Station.

The Ariane 5 carrying ESA's ATV named after the German scientist Albert Einstein, launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana at 10:52 p.m. GMT.

See the launch of the ATV by clicking .
Launch of ATV-4 Albert Einstein
credit: ESA
here

Ahead of its scheduled docking to the International Space Station on June 15, the spacecraft will begin ten days of health checks and orbital manoeuvres, bringing it to an automated docking with the station's Zvezda Service Module. Before ATV docks, the Russian Progress 51 resupply will undock- freeing up the docking compartment of the Zvezda Service Module. This is why it is taking Einstein ten days to arrive at the ISS instead of its usual five day launch-to-docking profile.

 Newly-launched Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and ISS Commander Pavel Vinogradov will watch over proceedings as the ATV makes its way towards the aft end of the space station prior to its automated docking.

The objectives of this mission are to deliver 6.6 tons of cargo to the station, carrying items like water, pyjamas, toothbrushes and peanut butter for the astronauts on board, as well as other vital cargo to keep the station up and running. ATV has the largest cargo capability of all vehicles that visit the International Space Station. It is also worth noting that the Albert Einstein is the largest ATV that has ever visited the station. It is loaded with 2,380 kg of propellant in order to maintain the station's orbit over the course its time docked to the ISS. 

ATV-4 will remain docked to the station for the best part of half a year, and after about six months, it will undock from the station filled with a few tons of waste water, materials and equipment, before burning up in the Earth's atmosphere.