NASA's new moon rocket arrived at the launch pad Wednesday ahead of its debut flight in less than two weeks.

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket emerged from its mammoth hangar late Tuesday night, drawing crowds of Kennedy Space Center workers, many of whom were not yet born when NASA sent astronauts to the moon a half-century ago.

The rapid development of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) mega constellations has significantly contributed to several aspects of human scientific progress, such as communication, navigation, and remote sensing. However, unrestrained deployment of constellations has also strained orbital resources and increased spacecraft congestion in LEO, which seriously affects the safety of in-orbit operations of many space assets.

For the long-term and sustainable development of space activities in LEO regions, space environment stability must be maintained using more rational surveillance and governance mechanisms. In a review paper recently published in Space: Science & Technology, Jingrui Zhang from School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, analyzed the research gap and facilitated the development of LEO mega constellations.

First of all, the author reviewed the current developments of typical LEO mega constellations, including Starlink, OneWeb, Iridium Next, Globalstar, and Flock. Taking SpaceX's Starlink as an example, it aims to build a LEO constellation containing 42,000 satellites to achieve global coverage, high-speed, large-capacity, and low-latency space-based global communication system. Starlink has shown excellent performance in related fields, such as international aviation and ocean transportation. Moreover, Starlink can be constructed as a powerful command and communication network and has already been an important symbol of the weaponization of outer space in the United States.

How do we make medicine last the extreme conditions of space exploration?

How would you manage a headache while flying to Mars?

You might try the Earth remedy of taking a painkiller. But on a 2-year round trip, how long would they last? And could you trust them?

Martian migraine

Access to medical supplies is a major concern for astronauts. Sleep issues, pain, congestion and allergies are all common complaints from those on extra-terrestrial missions.

The use of medication by American crewmembers on the International Space Station (ISS) was monitored between 2002 and 2012. And according to the data, astronauts used sleep tablets 10 times more often than earthlings. They also used ibuprofen for pain stemming from space flight pressure changes, higher carbon dioxide levels and joint issues.

Unfortunately, the longer the space flight, the higher the chances of experiencing acute illness. Common health problems for astronauts include a weakened immune system, bone decalcification and low blood pressure.

On Earth, most medicines expire within a year.

A mathematical model developed by space medicine experts from The Australian National University (ANU) could be used to predict whether an astronaut can safely travel to Mars and fulfil their mission duties upon stepping foot on the Red Planet.

The ANU team simulated the impact of prolonged exposure to zero gravity on the cardiovascular system to determine whether the human body can tolerate Mars' gravitational forces—which aren't as strong as on Earth—without fainting or suffering a medical emergency when stepping out of a spacecraft.

The model could be used to assess the impact of short and long duration space flight on the body and could serve as another important piece of the puzzle in helping land humans on Mars.

Dr. Lex van Loon, a Research Fellow from the ANU Medical School, said although there are multiple risks associated with travelling to Mars, the biggest concern is prolonged exposure to microgravity—near zero gravity—which, combined with exposure to damaging radiation from the Sun, could cause "fundamental" changes to the body.

"We know it takes about six to seven months to travel to Mars and this could cause the structure of your blood vessels or the strength of your heart to change due to the weightlessness experienced as a result of zero gravity space travel," Dr.