Russian cargo ship bound for the ISS explodes after launch from Kazakhstan

A Russian cargo ship headed for the International Space Station has exploded shortly after launch from Kazakhstan. The unmanned supply ship was carrying rocket fuel, food, water and a new spacesuit and contact was lost six minutes after take-off and two minutes before it was due to arrive in orbit.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 2 December 2016.

Russia's Roscosmos space agency has revealed that the incident occurred "about 190km (118 miles) above the rugged, uninhabited, mountainous territory of the Republic of Tyva and most of the fragments were burned in the dense layers of the atmosphere".
The cargo ship had been scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Saturday but, its non arrival "not affect the normal operations of the ISS systems and the subsistence of the station's crew".
Incidentally, this incident is the second failed launch of a Progress cargo ship within two years. In April 2015 a Progress ship disintegrated as it fell to Earth - this failure was blamed on a problem with a Soyuz rocket. As a result of that Russia suspended all space travel for nearly three months and the astronauts in ISS were forced to remain there for an extra month.
Russia sends at least three such supply ships every year to ISS and they plummet back to Earth after delivering the stores and burn up in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean.


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Russia's Soyuz spacecraft brings in three astronauts to ISS for a four-month mission

Russia's Soyuz spacecraft has ferried in three astronauts arrived at the International Space Station orbiting outpost for a four-month mission - they are a European, a Russian and an American astronaut. The three are Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and American astronaut Peggy Whitson.
They had been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
This has been reported in deccanherald.com dated 20 November 2016.

Thomas Pesquet is a rookie astronaut and an amateur saxophone player. He is the first French national to be sent to the ISS by the European Space Agency since 2008.
Peggy Whitson (56) is an experienced veteran and biochemistry expert.She will break records with this space mission which will give her the title of the most days in space by a US astronaut. She is expected to surpass NASA astronaut Jeff Williams' 534 days on April 24.
In addition, she will become the first woman to command the space station twice. Dhe had previously commanded the International Space Station in 2007, when she became the first woman to hold this post.


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Russian Soyuz space capsule back on Earth with three astronauts from the ISS

A Russian Soyuz space capsule has brought back three astronauts from the ISS and has landed in Kazakhstan. The three astronauts who have come back to Earth are from the United States, Japan and Russia and they are back from a 115-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 31 October 2016.

The landing happened near Dzhezkazgan on the treeless Central Asian steppes. The three who returned are Kate Rubins of NASA, Japan's Takuya Onishi and Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia. They were removed from the capsule and then sat on the steppes still in their capsule seats as they gradually readjusted to the forces of gravity after nearly four months in weightless conditions. Subsequently, they were shifted to a nearby medical tent for initial examination.
With their return, the three who remain on the ISS are Andrei Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhykov of Russia and NASA astronaut Robert Shane Kimbrough. They have arrived on October 22 after a two-day voyage.
Incidentally, the trip back to Earth was much quicker for the three returnees today - it took about 3 1/2 hours from undocking until landing. It landed upright and that made the extraction of the astronauts quicker than when capsules land on their sides.


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Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to sow lettuce

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), have taken to farming in preparation of Mars mission at a future date. They have made a beginning by planting their third on-orbit crop of red romaine lettuce. It was done by NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough who initiated the Veg-03 experiment. This is one of his first science assignments as a new crew member aboard the orbiting laboratory.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 26 October 2016.

The astronauts are making use of plant growth system called 'Veggie' for their experiment. The Veg-03 crop will be the the team's first on-orbit attempt at a new, repetitive harvest technique termed ‘Cut-and-Come-Again'. As explained by Nicole Dufour, NASA's Veggie project manager, once the plants are approximately four weeks old, a selection of leaves can be harvested for a bit of fresh lettuce and possibly science samples. Some leaves will be left in as-is condition along with the core of the plant, and it will continue to grow and produce more leaves.
The experiment will, in the long run, increase the on-orbit crop yield, and allow for more opportunities to supplement the diet of astronauts with fresh, nutritious food from the same plants. This is an important goal of the ‘pick-and-eat' food concept.
Astronauts on future long-duration space missions will have to grow their own food to supplement their diets.
Incidentally, using the Veggie plant growth facility aboard the station, Veg-03 builds on the successes of previous studies, including Veg-01, which resulted in the first-ever on-orbit harvest and sampling of fresh produce during the summer of 2015. Various techniques that will emerge from Veggie crops will assist NASA to prepare for the Journey to Mars.


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This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 24 July 2016.

The expedition has been named NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21. It will consist of an international crew and they will have to explore tools and techniques being tested for future space exploration by living in simulated spacecraft conditions and, simultaneously, conducting simulated spacewalks outside of their undersea habitat. This habitat is named Aquarius and the Aquarius Reef Base is located 62 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The main purpose of isolating crew members at the bottom of the ocean is to simulate life and work for astronauts in microgravity environments like the International Space Station, or in spacecraft that will, in future, make journeys to asteroids and planets.


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This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 28 April 2016.

NASA aims to send human mission to Mars in the 2030s and it will provide technical support for SpaceX's first foray, known as Red Dragon. However, it will not extend any financial assistance to SpaceX's Mars mission. However, SpaceX is upgrading the capsules to carry astronauts, with test flights to the station scheduled for 2017, under a separate NASA contract worth up to $2.6 billion.
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Major Tim Peake, British astronaut on-board ISS, talks of Moon Colony

Major Tim Peake, the British astronaut who is right now a member of the ISS squad, had joined the European Space Agency in 2009 after retiring as a helicopter test pilot in the British Army. He has suggested that setting up a "Moon colony" could be the next logical step for space research.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 30 March 2016.

In his first live television interview after blasting off from Earth, Major Tim Peake answered a number of questions submitted by Sky News viewers. On the question of the possibility of establishing a permanent base on the Moon, he has suggested that it was a "great ambition" since the experience gained could be used to learn more about traveling to the Red Planet Mars.
He also elaborated on investigation into the challenges that Man would have to face in terms of radiation exposure, (and) energy production - and the Moon is a wonderful place to set up a location for research. Study of the Moon could help us plenty about the origins of our own planet and Moon should be considered as a stepping stone to Mars in the future.
About life on the International Space Station (ISS) he has revealed that the scientists are engaged in 12 to 14 hour days to carry out more than 250 experiments. The results of these experiments would ultimately be of benefit to people back on planet Earth. Some of that research is on how the ageing process affects bone density and muscle loss. It is also investigating why viruses are more virulent in a micro-gravity environment.
Major Tim Peake will spend a total of six months before returning to Earth. Up in the ISS, he misses a few things - like fresh air and being outdoors, but also the color green. The green color is absent on the Space Station.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko back to Earth after spending one year in the International Space Station

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This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 2 March 2016.

Their Soyuz capsule was piloted by a much fresher and decade younger cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, who had been in the space station for the normal six months. He piloted the Soyuz capsule home for Kelly, 52, and Kornienko, 55 - the capsule parachuted onto the central Asian steppes to bring to an end a science-rich mission at the International Space Station. That mission had begun last March and was perceived as a steppingstone to Mars.
Incidentally, in the course of their stay in the ISS the pair traveled 144 million miles through space, circled the world 5,440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets during the longest single spaceflight by an American.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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This has been reported in digitaltrends.com dated 22 February 2016.

The window for applications had remained open for nine weeks before closing last Thursday and it will now be an 18-month process through which NASA will identify between eight and fourteen highly competent candidates to undertake assignments of an astronaut.
Beginning 2017, the final selection of hopefuls will have to undergo nearly two years of initial training on spacecraft systems, spacewalking skills and teamwork, Russian language, and other requisite skills. Those who complete the training program will be given technical duties at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Later thy would be assigned to either the International Space Station, NASA’s Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration (Orion’s first manned space flight beyond the moon could happen in 2023), or one of two American-made commercial crew spacecraft currently in development – Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner or the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
It is expected that a few of these talented men and women will become the astronauts who will once again launch to space from U.S. soil on American-made spacecraft. Right now with the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet five years ago, NASA has to rely on Russian rockets to get its astronauts into space. The U.S. is now getting ready to return to the fold with manned launches from home soil.


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Elon Musk finally gets it right - SpaceX rocket lands back on Earth vertically

#InternationalSpaceStation #SpaceX #ElonMusk Billionaire Elon Musk has resons to cheer because aster the June's disaster his SpaceX has taken a huge step forward towards an era of far cheaper space launches. SpaceX has succeeded in landing its rocket vertically back on Earth after sending satellites into orbit. This is seen as a major achievement in developing cheaper, more accessible space travel.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 22 December 2015.

The three earlier attempts of SpaceX rockets to land on a platform at sea had failed. In fact, the June flight exploded while on its way to re-supply the International Space Station.
When the 15-storey Falcon 9 rocket touched down at Florida's Cape Canaveral, there was celebrations all around among the SpaceX people.
The first-stage booster landed on a giant X after successfully sending 11 satellites into orbit for US telecoms company OrbComm. The landing happened 10 minutes after lift-off and was six miles away on a reinforced concrete surface.
SpaceX is the brainchild of Elon Musk, the billionaire and founder of Tesla electric cars. He has hopes of dramatically reducing the launch costs by reusing rockets. This concept would revolutionize space travel and open the gate to more people. In return, its pioneers will make a lot of money.
The present practice is to jettison the rocket boosters after a couple of minutes and land in the sea from where they are recovered and eventually refurbished. This is a costly and time-consuming process.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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British astronaut Tim Peake off to ISS for a six-month stay

British astronaut Tim Peake off to ISS for a six-month stay British astronaut Major Tim Peake off to ISS for a six-month stay. He is right now at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and will blast off in a Soyuz spacecraft. His companions are NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko to the ISS. Tim Peake would be carrying out a series of experiments for the ESA and will be running science projects designed by children.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 13 December 2015.

Yuri Gagarin had blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 1961 to become the first human in space.
Major Tim Peake will be the second Briton in space after Helen Sharman, but the first to be funded by the UK Government. He will also be the first British astronaut to travel to, and live on board, the International Space Station (ISS) when he starts his six-month mission.
The engines of the Soyuz will produce 26 million horsepower of thrust, accelerating the three-man crew to 17,500mph in less than nine minutes. Hundreds of rocket tourists have gathered for the launch, including space scientists.
The mission of the drew crew is titled Principia, after Isaac Newton's ground-breaking Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which describes the principal laws of motion and gravity.
The three men to fly to ISS are currently in quarantine at Baikonur’s Cosmonaut Hotel. The isolation is to prevent potentially serious infections from being carried to the ISS.

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#InternationalSpaceStation #Soyuzrocket #MikhailKornienko #ScottKelly Recently, the SpaceX Dragon space capsule exploded after take-off and many supplies meant for the ISS was destroyed. The International Space Station has enough supplies until October, but there is an urgent need for ferrying of the crew.
Therefore, an unmanned cargo ship has taken off from Kazakhstan and is on its way to the International Space Station where the crew comprising cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly are waiting. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 3 July 2015.

The Russian Progress M-28M ship has been now placed safely into a designated orbit, en-route to the station and it is due to dock with the Russian-manned station on Sunday. The ship is carrying 2.4 metric tons of fuel, oxygen, water, food and other supplies for the crew.
There has been a number of failed attempts in the recent past - the previous Progress launch in April, followed by a US supply mission attempt last Sunday when the rocket broke apart shortly after lift-off and a launch pad failure last October when another supply-carrying cargo failed at the launch pad.
Hence there is a need to keep standby options ready.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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United States and Russia join forces in preparation of long term Space missions

#InternationalSpaceStation #Soyuzspacecraft #NASA #redplanet On 27 March, a team of three would fly to the International Space Station and two of them will not return soon – they would remain on the ISS so that their fitness can be evaluated by specialists in preparation for sending humans to distant planets like Mars.
This has been reported in space.com dated 23 March 2015.

The three are American astronaut Scott Kelly of NASA and two cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka of Russia – they will blast off on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The first two namely Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko would stay on for a whole year and pave the way for future missions of longer durations. It will be the first time that an American would spend a continuous year in space.
Their stay in the ISS for a whole year would help to have a better understanding of how the human body would react and adapt to the harsh environment of space. Based on the findings, suitable decisions can be taken to work out how best to reduce the risks on future long-duration missions to some asteroid and, eventually, the Red Planet Mars.

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Good news for India – could join US team in International Space Station

#Mangalyaan #InternationalSpaceStation #India #SpaceDebris Here is some good news for India and its Space Research programs. Probably impressed by its Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission to the Red Planet Mars, there are possibilities that India could get an opportunity to work with the US team in the International Space Station. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 6 March 2015.
This has been indicated by Frank Rose, US assistant secretary for arms control, verification and compliance. As per him, India and the US should identify areas of deeper cooperation. US is already working on a comprehensive strategy to deal with new space capabilities that could be threatening.
In his opinion, India could be offered the opportunity to conduct research on the International Space Station (ISS), as the India-US space relationship evolves. The broad objective would be to assist in the development of a framework for serious practical cooperation apart from exploring possibilities of effectively working in unison in multi-lateral forums.
Frank Rose was addressing a think tank in New Delhi, Observer Research Foundation, and in the course of his speech he said that as two premier space-faring nations, India and the US could explore new territories. For example - the utilization of space assets for maritime domain awareness. This could become a new dimension for India as it puts in place the elements of a blue water navy.
Another area of concern is space debris – here also the US and India could put their heads together because it is a problem that is global in nature. Collision with space debris can damage the satellites already in space irrespective of their country of origin.

Sarah Brightman scheduled to visit the International Space Station for 10 days

#internationalspacestation #Baikonur #Soyuzrocket #Reignwood #Kazakhstan Yes, it is now known that the ISS would soon get a British visitor – she will be Sarah Brightman, a British soprano and she would be there for a period of ten days as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 26 February 2015.
It is understood that on Septemvber1, Sarah Brightman, the big haired Phantom Of The Opera star, would blast off in a mighty Soyuz FG rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome deep in the desert steppes of Kazakhstan.
Along with her on board the space capsule would be three highly-trained cosmonauts and all of them would be bound for the International Space Station (ISS).
42-year-old Colonel Sergei Volkov will be commander and he would be leading his third mission into space. He will be accompanied by 35-year-old Danish Flight Engineer Andreas Mogensen, the holder of a doctorate in engineering from the University of Texas.
55-year-old English soprano Sarah Brightman would be the third member of the team. She has plans to hold a press conference on March 10 to discuss the mission. As per estimates, her ten-day sojourn on the ISS will cost her £34 million.
There is a big mystery on who is funding her trip – but, as per reports, she has agreed to perform a concert during her time in the International Space Station that would be streamed live back to Earth ‘during an event organized by Reignwood’ – this is a Chinese firm that has plenty of interests in England like luxury clubs, resorts, apartment blocks etcetera.
Obviously, a concert from the ISS would be a huge publicity program for the sponsors Reignwood.

ESA outlines ambitious plans to colonize the other side of the Moon

#darksideofmoon #ESA #destinationmoon #InternationalSpaceStation The European Space Agency has ambitious plans to colonize the dark side of the Moon because, in its opinion, such a step would be a crucial step for humans to penetrate deep into space exploration.
In a video, titled 'Destination: Moon', the ESA has outlined its plans of cresting a human settlement on the hostile terrain that covers the far side of the lunar surface. Of course, given the amount of interest that has been generated on human settlement on Mars, this concept to settle on the Moon could deserve some attention.
The moon is tidally locked to Earth, which means its near side always points towards our planet and, its far side, has remained unknown and unexplored. It is believed that the dark side has one of the largest impact crater in the solar system – it is said to be four billion years old. Its diameter is roughly 1,550 miles (2,500 km) and it stretches across nearly a quarter of the moon.
Portions of the crater are shrouded in perpetual darkness, its rim features huge mountainous peaks that are bathed in near-constant sunlight and the plan of ESA is to send robots to these peaks, and, finally, humans. The rim of the crater would be an ideal landing spot for humans. This is because these locations have 'the potential for near continuous solar power and a spectacular view over the rugged and cratered landscape below.'
In order to install a facility on the Moon similar to that in the Antarctica, the experience gained on the International Space Station would come in useful. Moreover, in 2009, NASAs Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite had analyzed the chemical composition of the material below the moon's South Pole and discovered that there were traces of frozen water.
This could also be exploited to generate water and, for future colonies to use the hydrogen and oxygen atoms to create rocket fuel.

International Space Station is there since 1998 – how many more years will it last?

#InternationalSpaceStation #NASA #ammonialeak #orbitaldebris The latest scare of ammonia gas leak has brought up the question of – how long will the ISS last? It has been there since 1998 and its life is tentatively set as 2024, but, given the normal wear and tear and fears of any asteroid strike or collision with orbital debris, can it really last that long?
It is no secret that, till now, the ISS, the habitable satellite, has faced a number of maintenance issues, from pump failures to damaged panels. The astronauts on-board ISS had to go for spacewalks to rectify some of the problems.
Incidentally, the International Space Station (ISS) is 17-years-old and has been occupied for 5,187 days and circled the Earth 92,357 times. It is, at present, certified through 2020, and the President of the United States has said that they will extend it to 2024.
This has been indicated by NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz.
However, in order to allow it to function, funds are necessary apart from more of international support for continuing to operate the space station. Its lifecycle beyond 2024 would depend a great deal on the matter of supplies of spares and the ability to carry out repairs on parts that breakdown or go unserviceable. Unless that happens, the ISS cannot continue to run.