NASA: debris is ‘closest’ ever to space station
As debris neared, NASA ordered the six crew members to take shelter aboard the two Soyuz capsules, a spokesman said.
Tuesday’s space debris incident at the International Space Station was the “closest anything has come to the space station,” NASA said Wednesday.
Final calculations showed the unknown object passed the space station 1,100 feet away and its source remains a mystery, according to Kelly Humphries, a spokesman at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The LA Times asks, “How Should Space Tourism Be Regulated?”
Industry officials and their backers in Congress hailed the passage of the Space Act last week as an important step that will pave the way for businesses to soon take tourists to space and make the cosmos more accessible and affordable.
Now here’s a question for you:
If you had the cash, would you become a space tourist? How far would you want to go?
WITHOUTER SPACE The space shuttle Endeavour is shown docked with the International Space Station on May 23, 2011, in this photo by NASA astronaut Paolo Nespoli. With recent problems plaguing the Russian space program — namely, two of their most recent rocket launches exploding failing after launch — the $100 billion ISS, which can be operated remotely — may soon have to go without a crew for the time being. (Photo: Nespoli / NASA via NPR)
World’s First Commercial Space Station Planned in Russia
Called the Commercial Space Station, the orbiting space laboratory and hotel will be able to host up to seven people at a time. It is being planned under a partnership between the Russian companies Orbital Technologies and RSC Energia.
The space station is expected to launch sometime between 2015 and 2016. The cost of individual trips may vary based on launch vehicle, duration and purpose of missions.
A New Space Race? What China’s Tiangong 1 Launch Means for NASA
China has launched Tiangong 1, a prototype for its proposed orbital space laboratory. While a successful mission will be a significant step forward for China, it’s unclear what (if anything) it will mean for NASA and the United States’ long-standing dominance in space.
Bernal sphere
A Bernal sphere is a type of space habitat intended as a long-term home for permanent residents, first proposed in 1929 by John Desmond Bernal. Bernal’s original proposal described a hollow spherical shell 1.6 km in diameter, with a target population of 20,000 to 30,000 people.
A modified version by Gerard Kitchen O’Neill, Island One, would have a diameter of only 500m rotating at 1.9 RPM to produce a full Earth artificial gravity at the sphere’s equator. The result would be an interior landscape that would resemble a large valley running all the way around the equator of the sphere. Island One would be capable of providing living and recreation space for a population of approximately ten thousand people, with a “Crystal Palace” habitat used for agriculture.
Sunlight was to be provided to the interior of the sphere using external mirrors to direct it in through large windows near the poles. The form of a sphere was chosen for its optimum ability to contain air pressure and its optimum mass-efficiency at providing radiation shielding.
Another version, Island Two, would be approximately 1800m in diameter, yielding an equatorial circumference of nearly six and a half kilometers. At this size, the habitat could comfortably house a population of some 140,000 people. The size was driven by economics: the habitat was to be small enough to allow for efficient transportation within the habitat and large enough to support an efficient industrial base.
Pope makes first video call to astronauts at space station
Pope Benedict XVI chatted with astronauts Saturday as the Vatican linked up with the International Space Station for the first-ever papal video call to space.
“Welcome aboard the Space Station your Holiness,” said Dmitry Kondratyev, Russian commander of the 26th long-duration mission to the International Space Station.
The crews of the ISS and the linked space shuttle Endeavour waved to the pope, who smiled and waved back.
Speaking from the Vatican library, Benedict said he admired the astronauts´ courage and commitment and described their mission as “an adventure to discover the origins of humanity.”
Russia plans to regain world leadership in space and remain among the top three space powers, a draft of a space exploration strategy until 2030 submitted to the government by the country’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos says.
The draft strategy has not been unveiled to the public. Some information has been leaked to the media, allowing us to assume that the new strategy is very ambitious.
Send me to SPACE!
Just throwing this out there. I entered the AXE Apollo Space Academy contest to win a spot on a Space Expedition Corporation flight to space… like, ACTUAL outer space… 103km up there. That's 337,927ft. Wow. But I need your help! Vote for me, and if by some small miraculous chance I win a spot, you know dang well It’s Full of Stars will represent!
I mean, who wouldn’t want a chance to do this?! It would be a dream come true, obviously, but I also want my passion for space and science to spread to others (the whole point of this blog!), and what better way than to actually GO THERE and use the experience to educate and enlighten the world! Human space flight is very important, and we need more folks taking trips to and through the cosmos!
So be a pal, and let’s get me on that ship! Just click on the image above and vote!
A sign at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida highlights the upcoming launch of space shuttle Discovery on Wednesday.
During space shuttle Discovery’s final spaceflight, the STS-133 crew members will take important spare parts to the International Space Station along with the Express Logistics Carrier-4. Discovery has been moved to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-133 is slated to launch Nov. 3.
We can’t forget that Robonaut2 will be sent to the ISS on this mission!
Source: NASA.
