Copernical Team
Continued success at NASA in jeopardy due to budget strains, aging infrastructure, and short-term focus
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NASA's contributions to technological innovation and its ability to inspire future STEM leaders are at risk due to critical issues related to infrastructure, budgetary mismatches, and a focus on short-term goals, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Commissioned by Congress as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the report highlight SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew complete first private spacewalk
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A pioneering private crew made history Thursday with the first-ever spacewalk by non-professional astronauts, marking a giant leap forward for the commercial space industry.
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, led by fintech billionaire Jared Isaacman, launched early Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, journeying deeper into the cosmos than any humans in the past 50 years, since t Russia's Soyuz rocket launch to ISS called flawless for NASA veteran's first space trip in decade
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An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts successfully launched Wednesday for a six-month mission to the International Space Station and the transition from one mission crew to another.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner departed Earth in a live-streamed event with NASA astronaut Don Pettit on time at 12:23 p.m. EDT aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft atop a Soy Polaris Dawn reaches 870 miles above Earth; as crew preps for first private EVA
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The Polaris Dawn mission on Tuesday reached an orbit of 870 miles above the Earth's surface, the farthest humans have been away from the planet since the 1970s.
It marked the farthest orbit of Earth since the Gemini missions during the Apollo era.
The private space mission, paid for by billionaire Jared Isaacman reached the milestone orbit on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Space Keeping mold out of future space stations
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Mold can survive the harshest of environments, so to stop harmful spores from growing on future space stations, a new study suggests a novel way to prevent its spread.
Antarctic research supports healthy space for astronauts
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Astronauts and Australian Antarctic expeditioners are working together to advance human health in space, and on Earth.
Today, four astronauts are orbiting Earth on the Polaris Dawn mission, undertaking a range of research projects to better understand the effects of long-duration spaceflight on human health.
At the same time, expeditioners and doctors at Australia's Antarctic and sub-Antarctic stations are collecting data for two of the projects, involving ultrasound and body scanning technology.
Australian Antarctic Division Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jeff Ayton, said the two projects were part of a collaboration with the US-based Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH).
"Antarctic expeditioners and astronauts are both isolated, confined populations in extreme environments, doing hazardous work, dependent on technology for survival, and with limited scope for evacuation," he said.
"This makes Australia's Antarctic Program an excellent analog for understanding the risks to humans in space, and for testing and developing technologies and methodologies to reduce these risks.
Polaris Dawn project aims to prevent bone loss in space
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Dartmouth researchers have a project aboard the Polaris Dawn mission they hope will help address two major health risks of space flight—the breakdown of astronauts' bones in zero-gravity conditions and the resulting danger of developing kidney stones.
When subjected to weightlessness, bones freed from the burden of supporting the human body leach calcium. The shedding of this critical element reduces bone density and, as the calcium enters the urine, heightens the chance of painful kidney stones forming in the urinary tract.
Through Polaris Dawn, which launched from Florida on Sept. 10, researchers at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and Thayer School of Engineering are testing a critical element of a handheld device the team is developing that would alert crew members to high levels of calcium in their urine during space flight so they can take action.
A Soyuz craft with 2 Russians and 1 American docks at the International Space Station
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A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American docked at the International Space Station on Wednesday, a little more than three hours after its launch.
Space travel: Protection from cosmic radiation with boron nitride nanotube fibers
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NASA's EZIE mission set for 2025 launch
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In 2025, NASA will launch its first mission to image the magnetic fingerprint of intense electrical currents that flow high in our atmosphere when auroras shimmer above Earth's poles.
The EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission is designed to make groundbreaking measurements of the auroral electrojets, electrical currents about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the ground in a layer of Earth's atmosphere called the ionosphere, which separates Earth from surrounding space.
The mission features a trio of CubeSats, or small satellites, with an orbit that goes pole to pole to map the electrojets. Mapping the electrojets can give scientists greater insight into the physics of Earth's magnetosphere and help create better models for predicting the effects of space weather phenomena such as geomagnetic storms and auroras in the upper atmosphere and at Earth's surface.