Astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover floated back outside the International Space Station Monday and completed solar array battery replacement work that began four years ago. They also installed three new video cameras and made preparations for upcoming work to install new roll-out solar blankets to upgrade the lab’s power system. From a report: The work took less time than expected…
Tag: spacesuits
ESA seeking dust-proof materials for lunar return
When humans return to the moon, they’ll have formidable challenge lying in wait: lunar dust. The talcum-like lunar regolith is considered the biggest operational problem facing moon colonists. Within a few days of dust exposure, Apollo spacesuits suffered obscured visors, clogged mechanisms and eroded suit layers. So an ESA team is looking into novel material options to serve as the basis…
Silicon ‘Sandwiches’ Make For Lightweight, High-Capacity Batteries
A team at Clemson University has come up with a new design that overcomes some of the problems with incorporating silicon into lithium-ion batteries, “enabling them to demonstrate a lightweight and multipurpose device that could be used to power satellites and spacesuits,” reports New Atlas. From the report: Scientists have been investigating the potential of silicon in lithium-ion batteries for a…
Watch ISS spacewalk June 26
On Friday, June 26, 2020, 2 astronauts will perform the 1st of a pair of International Space Station (ISS) spacewalks, to replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries. How to watch. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/watch-iss-spacewalks-june2020…
SpaceX’s 1st astronaut launch breaking new ground for style
The first astronauts launched by SpaceX are breaking new ground for style with hip spacesuits, gull-wing Teslas and a sleek rocketship—all of it white with black trim. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-spacex-1st-astronaut-ground-style.html…
US Space Force Releases First Recruitment Video, Acknowledges Netflix Comedy ‘Space Force’
The newly-created U.S. Space Force has released its first recruitment video, CNET reports:
In a video posted Wednesday to Twitter showing rockets, mission control-types rooms and U.S. Space Force members in spacesuits, a voice-over says, “maybe your purpose on this planet isn’t on this planet.”
Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett said during a livestream Wednesday that so far recruitment hasn’t been…
Coronavirus quarantine useful lessons for future space travel?
Understanding isolation’s effects on regular people, rather than those certified to have ‘the right stuff,’ will help prepare us for the future, whether another pandemic or interplanetary space travel. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/coronavirus-quarantine-useful-lessons-for-future-space-travel…
Northrop Grumman Launches Spacecraft Delivering Snacks and Equipment To the ISS
Space.com has footage of Northrop Grumman’s successful launch of a spacecraft that’s bringing 7,500 pounds of supplies (as well as scientific equipment for experiments) to the astronauts on the International Space Station:
Those experiments include studies into bone loss from prolonged exposure to weightlessness, bacteria-targeting viruses that could lead to new medications, as well as some cowpeas to be grown as part…
Developing the spacesuit of the future
Researchers at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology have entered their third year of development of a wearable and wireless body sensor system—with the ability to be powered remotely—that will revolutionize NASA spacesuits. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-spacesuit-future.html…
Watch spacewalk on Friday November 15
Watch 2 International Space Station astronauts perform the 1st in a series of spacewalks NASA is calling the most complex in a decade. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/watch-iss-spacewalk-nov-dec-2019…