#spaceflight
"The structure and function of the kidneys is altered by space flight, with galactic radiation causing permanent damage that would jeopardise any mission to Mars."
"A University College London-led team of researchers from over 40 institutions across five continents conducted a range of experiments and analyses to investigate how the kidneys respond to space flight."
"This included biomolecular, physiological and anatomical assessments using data and samples from 20 study cohorts. This included samples from over 40 Low Earth orbit space missions involving humans and mice, most of which were to the International Space Station, as well as 11 space simulations involving mice and rats."
"Seven of these simulations involved mice exposed to simulated galactic cosmic radiation doses equivalent to 1.5-year and 2.5-year Mars Missions, mimicking space flight beyond Earth's magnetic field.
"The results indicated that both human and animal kidneys are 'remodelled' by the conditions in space, with specific kidney tubules responsible for fine tuning calcium and salt balance showing signs of shrinkage after less than a month in space."
"Researchers say the likely cause of this is microgravity rather than galactic cosmic radiation, though further research is required to determine if the interaction of microgravity and galactic cosmic radiation can accelerate or worsen these structural changes."
"The primary reason that kidney stones develop during space missions had previously been assumed to be solely due to microgravity-induced bone loss that leads to a build-up of calcium in the urine. Rather, the UCL team's findings indicated that the way the kidneys process salts is fundamentally altered by space flight and likely a primary contributor to kidney stone formation."
"Perhaps the most alarming finding, at least for any astronaut considering a three-year round trip to Mars, is that the kidneys of mice exposed to radiation simulating galactic cosmic radiation for 2.5 years experienced permanent damage and loss of function."
Published 8th September 2023 (14:10)
Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=eLiVgvg0am0
#space
#India’s Chandrayaan-3 Goes Offline; #Starship Waiting To Fly? | This Week in #Spaceflight
MaxQ ABORT! - Blue Origin's New Shepard Has Fiery Engine Failure In Flight
MaxQ ABORT! - Blue Origin's New Shepard Has Fiery Engine Failure In Flight
https://youtu.be/DoRp7nRIOpo
https://redirect.invidious.io/DoRp7nRIOpo
tl;dr: Capsule separated with the emergency motor, got a nice quick speed/ascent boost into the thickest air which slowed it down rapidly for a more or less regular descent and recovery.... Booster is presumed lost somewhere in the desert, probably tumbling while coming down..
#Space #Flight #SpaceFlight #News #MaxQ #Abort #Blue #Origin #BlueOrigin #Scott #Manley #ScottManley #Failure in #Flight #NS23 #New #Shepard #BE-3 #Engine
The Western space community should put Dmitry Rogozin on “ignore” | Ars Technica
“He never wanted this job," the former NASA source said of Rogozin. "He was essentially demoted, and he has spent his time at Roscosmos trying to get back into Putin’s good graces. And so it has just been an extraordinarily different kind of leadership than we’ve seen before, to the detriment of everyone."
For reasons not entirely clear, Putin removed Rogozin from the prestigious position of deputy prime minister for Russia's defense and space industry in May 2018. Rogozin was subsequently tasked with overseeing Roscosmos, which focuses mostly on civil spaceflight. Instead of bringing a space background or industrial expertise to Roscosmos, Rogozin brought his own brand of Russian nationalist politics.
Yeah. Seems plausible
#iss #spaceflight #space
MLM Nauka docks to ISS, malfunctions shortly thereafter
After successfully docking to the station, roughly three hours later at 12:45 EDT / 16:45 UTC after cosmonauts had opened Zvezda’s hatch to Nauka, the new module suddenly began firing its thrusters without command.
However, Nauka’s thrusters kept firing erroneously, and the two modules were essentially fighting each other, with Nauka pushing the ISS out of alignment and Zvezda trying to but not being able to fully correct.
#NASA #Roskosmos #USA #Russia #ISS #Nauka #Zvezda #Incident #Spaceflight #still #randomshit ;)
Blue Origin launch will be the 1st fully automated flight with civilian astronauts: report | Space
https://www.space.com/blue-origin-first-astronaut-launch-completely-automated
Blue Origin launch will be the 1st fully automated flight with civilian astronauts: report
By Elizabeth Howell 1 day ago
The crew aboard Blue Origin's first astronaut launch on Tuesday (July 20) will take a giant leap into the unknown when they fly the first automated flight with an all-civilian crew, according to a media report.
Blue Origin will launch four civilians, including the company's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, on its its suborbital New Shepard rocket on Tuesday from Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas. There has never before been a fully autonomous suborbital or orbital flight with an all-civilian crew, Teal Group space industry analyst Marco Caceres recently told Reuters.
The 11-minute space shot on a suborbital path will include four people who have never been in space before, although one of them is a highly respected civilian pilot who attempted to make it into the NASA space program in the 1960s.
Related: How to watch Blue Origin launch Jeff Bezos into space on July 20
Live updates: Blue Origin's first astronaut launch updatesThe crew of Blue Origin's First Human Flight are: (from left) founder Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemon. They will launch on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket
The crew of Blue Origin's First Human Flight are: (from left) founder Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, Wally Funk and Oliver Daemon. They will launch on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket (Image credit: Blue Origin)That crew member, Mercury 13 aviator Wally Funk, has logged more than 19,600 flight hours as an instructor and pilot, which likely provides her some in-air experience for the "anomalies" astronauts are trained to face.
But the other people will be experiencing a highly dangerous environment for the first time, including billionaire Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark (whose background is in advertising), and paying passenger Oliver Daemen, who at age 18 is said to be working towards a pilot's license and plans to study physics.
As any astronaut will tell you, space is inherently dangerous and dozens of professionals have lost their lives during training or operations. Blue Origin does have a terms and conditions document that among other things, requires participants to sign an informed consent document — a common practice among companies that offer risky activities like skydiving.
The company also designed its spacecraft deliberately to accommodate only passengers, not pilots, to increase revenue potential, as presumably each one would be paying money for the opportunity. But what is worrying some observers, Reuters said, is this is the very first crewed flight of New Shepard (although 15 uncrewed tests came before.)
Some "company insiders," who were not named, told Reuters that they would have preferred that Blue Origin flew at least some astronauts or technical experts upon this flight. This would have been useful for collecting "data and technical feedback for a program in its infancy," Reuters wrote, which could help improve the flight experience for later customers.
Image 1 of 3A look inside Blue Origin's New Shepard space capsule, which features passenger seats, each with their own window, around a central covering for the capsule's abort motor.
A look inside Blue Origin's New Shepard space capsule, which features passenger seats, each with their own window, around a central covering for the capsule's abort motor. (Image credit: Blue Origin)The Blue Origin crew will receive two days of training with assistance from two staff members, Reuters reported. While that education pales beside the typical 2.5 years of basic training NASA makes it "astronaut candidates" complete before even being assigned to a flight, the staff members will provide headset instructions during the flight to the Blue Origin customers, too.
Yet there is still some concern that the passengers may not be able to respond adequately to instructions and especially in case of emergency, as they may be distracted or overwhelmed, Reuters reported. "It's kind of like getting on a ride at an amusement park," Caceres told Reuters. "You just trust that everything has been checked out, is in good working order ... and you just sit back and enjoy the ride."
Blue Origin is not alone in offering all-civilian opportunities to untrained astronauts. Business billionaire Jared Isaacman bought seats aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon for himself and three others (two contest winners and a former childhood cancer patient, all working in fields outside of aerospace), for the Inspiration4 mission slated to launch later this year. The rookie crew recently underwent "weightless" training for the first time.
Competitor Virgin Galactic, however, always flies two trained pilots aboard the spaceliner VSS Unity. It also ran several piloted test flights in space (although the definition of whether Virgin Galactic reached space varies) before allowing any passengers to come aboard. When founder Richard Branson took his famous spaceflight on July 11, the crew area included three Virgin Galactic employees and among them, Beth Moses had already been to space on a previous test flight.
Rocketship-Like Light-Painting Drones Could Be the Future of Space Flight
A Rapid Ascent Drone, or RAD, is basically an electric rocket ship. For now, they can be used to make unusual drone light shows that can replace fireworks and provide unique light painting opportunities, but the creator of the concept believes they may be able to eventually replace rocket ships.
Rammaxx is a RAD manufacturer that built its concept by working with small, electric rapid ascent rockets for electronic fireworks shows. The company built its autonomous drones with the ability to work in "swarms" and create unusual visual spectacles thanks to their ability to ascend extremely quickly and stay at altitude long enough to play a light sequence before returning to base. Rammaxx says that the rapid ascent capability is achieved via powerful motors, a streamlined hull, and special guidance fins.
"Rammaxx can be configured to ascend quickly, and noisily, or to ascend more slowly and quietly," the company explains. "The system can work with one rocket, or with a small swarm of them, creating unique and highly -- via App -- configurable light displays for any occasion."
A Rammaxx RAD drone can recharge wirelessly on a dedicated launch pad that is connected to a bus system. Up to five launch pads can be connected together to create more complex aerial light displays.
The drones weigh a scant three ounces (90 grams) and can fly for one minute with full LED power that can project light at up to 3,000 lumens of brightness. While that might not seem very long, the drones can land and recharge in just 30 seconds before they are ready to fly again.
These rapid ascent drones can fly into the air at a blistering 80 miles per hour (150 kilometers per hour) in what Rammaxx calls "rapid and noisy ascent," but are also capable of doing so slower and more quietly.
These RADs are different than traditional drones in a number of ways. While they are battery-powered, Rammaxx's CEO and Co-Founder Dan Lubrich tells PetaPixel that, unlike other drones, these are optimized for vertical flight and the electric circuits in them are optimized for a short duration but very high power, rather than long duration and low power.
Beyond a typical aerial light display, the RADs can also allow for light painting if exposure is set for at least five seconds. The shapes can be programmed into the app the company says that it is working on showing how to do this in upcoming tutorial videos. But in short, Lubrich says a user can draw on the screen to show the pattern and that shape can be uploaded to the drone and it will fly that path accordingly.
"Once launched, the pilot is out of the loop, so they can focus on taking pictures, or just enjoying the show. We are working on putting together a more detailed video that focuses more on the light show aspect of the system," Lubrich says.
Lubrich has greater ambitions for its technology beyond light shows and tells PetaPixel that he believes RAD technology can assist in space exploration.
He says that the large size of a first-stage rocket is the main reason that space flight is so expensive, dangerous, and environmentally unfriendly. To address this, the Rammaxx RAD concept is a large powerful drone based on the design of the current light painting RADs. Early projections show that it should be able to accelerate with a rocket to around 300 miles per hour (500 kilometers per hour) up to an altitude of around 15,000 feet (5,000 meters).
"The important aspect for space flight isn't so much the altitude gained -- although that also helps a little bit -- but rather the speed gained during the ascent," he explains. "So, much less rocket fuel is needed to get off the ground and up to a few hundred miles per hour. That allows for smaller, cheaper, safer, and cleaner space rockets."
"When flying as a swarm with a rocket in tow, we envision the drones to act as one super drone, rather than a true swarm, meaning the flight controllers of the drones link together creating one large drone with many rotors out of lots of small ones," Lubrich says. "This is so that the flight is 100 percent precise."
3D model of a full-size Rammaxx rocketship drone.
If the drones were independent, even if they were connected to each other via the rocket, there could be small differences in the way that they fly, which could create problems due to them being physically connected, Lubrich explains. Instead, there would be one designated master drone in the swarm that would -- when all of them are linked together -- control all the drones and turn the swarm into one large super drone, all controlled by the same master flight controller.
"Once the rocket has launched and the physical link between drones is broken, the software link is broken too and the rapid ascent drones independently descend back to the launch pad, staying out of each other's way as they do so," Lubrich says.
Lubrich and Rammaxx envision a future where these RADs would allow for much smaller ground to space rockets where the current first stage of space flight could be nearly completely eliminated. The space flight-enabled RADs would feature eight rotors with 300 horsepower each for a total of a 2,400 horsepower drone that is capable of carrying 13,000 pounds of payload 15,000 feet in 90 seconds. The RAD's four-minute battery life would give it plenty of time to safely return to Earth afterward.
Ramaxx has already completed a few small-scale tests of the concept as seen in the photos below.
What is now just a neat way to provide a firework alternative and a different light painting experience could be a revolutionary shift in how humans approach space flight. Thanks to successful small-scale tests, Lubrich believes it is only a matter of time.
_Image credits: All photos courtesy of Rammaxx and used with permission. _
#editorial #equipment #news #technology #batterypowered #drones #lightpainting #rad #rapidascent #rapidascentdrone #rocketships #space #spaceflight #unique #uniquedesign #verticalflight
#spaceflight #Zhurong
https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/05/25/chinese-rover-drives-onto-surface-of-mars/
The Chinese solar-powered Zhurong rover has driven onto the surface of Mars, making China the second nation to operate a mobile robot on another planet.
Hey everyone, I’m #newhere. I’m also technically a #gplusrefugee although, to be honest, I haven’t really been active on G+ for quite a while now, particularly since Google started messing with the platform a while back.
I’ll also make this my #introduction or #presentation thread, so it’s going to be a long one.
My main computer interests are #webdesign #dtp #computerart #computeranimation and #computermusic.
I’m a huge fan of the #opensource #libre aspect of computing, in particular #linux and #bsd. Specific interests in this area are #blender #gimp #inkscape #scribus #archlinux #debian #gentoolinux #manjarolinux #linuxmint #opensuse #sabayon #sabayonlinux #ubuntu #ubuntustudio #freebsd #netbsd and #openbsd.
I’m interested in #music of all kinds, in particular #dancemusic #housemusic #technomusic #trancemusic #soulmusic #discomusic #funkmusic #new-wave #post-punk #punk-rock #punkrock #rockandrollmusic and #rockmusic.
On the geek front, I love #animation #anime #atompunk #rocketpunk and #steampunk, #comics #comics-books and #graphicnovels, #sci-fi of all kinds on television and in film in particular #doctor-who #doctorwho and #star-trek #startrek. I also love reading #sciencefiction #sf #sff #sf&f literature of all kinds, as well as #fanzines based around either sf literature or television and movie sci-fi.
I’m also a big fan of #science, particularly #astronomy #astrophysics #cosmology #spacecraft #spaceflight #spaceexploration #spaceships #terraforming #palaeontology #palaeobotany #geology and #archeology.
Okay, enough of that. Why am I here?
As I’ve said, I haven’t been active on G+ for a while now. Likewise with Twitter. My current main social networking activity is still on Facebook, although I’m also trying to scale that back quite a bit, until it is eventually at a minimal level. I don’t really like Facebook (either as a social network or as a corporation), despite the fact that I use it almost every day. I merely tolerate it, as that is where “everybody” is hanging out. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to totally drop Facebook, as all my family, friends and most of my general contacts are on there (and are highly unlikely to move here or anywhere else), so I’m still kinda chained to that platform, although I’d like to be on there a lot less, and do my serious social networking on a superior open social platform.
In the wake of the recent disgraceful Facebook privacy/data scandal and the announced planned closure of Gplus, I’ve decided to go on the hunt for another social networking platform to make my permanent home, preferably something not owned by a corrupt mega-corporation. So far I haven’t tried very many in depth, three or four at most, and only given a cursory look at a number of others and dismissed them right away. To be honest, most of what’s out there doesn’t really grab me at all. I’ve set up an account on #MeWe, which I quite like (it resembles G+ quite a lot, but with less activity, for now at least), but there isn’t a lot of life on my feed over there yet. I also set up an account on #Minds a year or so ago, but I’ve never really used it.
There are other, similar networks out there, but all of them are pretty much variations on the same centralised theme, the new pretenders to the throne wanting to be the next big social networking thing and all of them claiming that our data and privacy will be totally safe in their hands, unlike with evil ol’ Facebook and Google. But they all say that, don’t they, at least until they get really big themselves, and turn into huge, greedy, profit-guzzling monsters? Remember how open Google was when it started out, built on open software, and all for the libre side of things? And look at them now, totally gone over to the Dark Side.
Many of these companies turn bad when they hit it big, even if they’re nice guys at the outset, starting off small and with the best of intentions. But once they get really big, it’s in the nature of big, powerful corporations to push the legal and ethical limits and throw their enormous weight around, all in the pursuit of profit. People mean nothing to them. We’re all nothing but numbers on a balance sheet from their perspective.
For a change, I’d really like to try something that is GENUINELY open and free, federated and decentralised, rather than owned by one company, without the claws of any huge corporations embedded deep in it, and not subject to the profit-driven whims of those corporations, abusing our data and privacy, changing stuff on us willy-nilly, getting rid of features and (in the case of Google) entire platforms, if they aren’t making them enough money, and dumping untold thousands of users and their online social networking communities on the scrapheap. I’ve really had enough of that crap. These companies do not DESERVE our support, and should be avoided like the plague.
So here I am, taking my first steps on Pluspora/Diaspora, with a truly free, open, decentralised network. I’ll try to stick with this one, as it’s a lot closer to my own philosophical leanings, although so far I’m finding it quite a culture shock, being more accustomed to the more rigidly structured platforms on Facebook and G+, with their Pages, Groups, Communities, etc. I guess I’ll eventually get used to the way there is none of that stuff on here and how absolutely everything is controlled by hashtags.
I’m genuinely attracted to the platform, as the #opensource #libre ethos is much closer to my own personal beliefs and sympathies. I can conceivably see myself using Pluspora/Diaspora at some point for all of my serious geek social networking, with Facebook relegated to keeping me in contact with family and friends. Only time will tell. :)
Hey everyone, I’m #newhere. I’m interested in #cars, #christianity, #computers, #linux, #mission, #missionaries, #niger, and #spaceflight.