Russians return to Earth after filming first movie in space
Sunday, 17 October 2021 08:16
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A Russian actress and a film director returned to Earth Sunday after spending 12 days on the International Space Station (ISS) shooting scenes for the first movie in orbit.
Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko landed as scheduled on Kazakhstan's steppe at 0436 GMT, according to footage broadcast live by the Russian space agency.
They were ferried back to terra firma by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who had been on the space station for the past six months.
"The descent vehicle of the crewed spacecraft Soyuz MS-18 is standing upright and is secure. The crew are feeling good!" Russian space agency Roscosmos tweeted.
The filmmakers had blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan earlier this month, travelling to the ISS with veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to film scenes for "The Challenge".
Atlas 5 launches NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission
Saturday, 16 October 2021 10:46 Write a comment
An Atlas 5 successfully launched a NASA spacecraft Oct. 16 on a mission to study distant asteroids that may hold clues to the early history of the solar system.
NASA, ULA Launch Lucy Mission to ‘Fossils’ of Planet Formation
Saturday, 16 October 2021 09:23 Write a comment
NASA’s Lucy mission, the agency’s first to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, launched at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA's asteroid hunter Lucy soars into sky with diamonds
Saturday, 16 October 2021 09:19![NASA's asteroid hunter Lucy soars into sky with diamonds](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/nasas-asteroid-hunter.jpg "This photo released by NASA, shows a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Lucy spacecraft aboard in this 2 minute and 30 second exposure photo as it launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Lucy will be the first spacecraft to study Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids. Like the mission's namesake – the fossilized human ancestor, "Lucy," whose skeleton provided unique insight into humanity's evolution – Lucy will revolutionize our knowledge of planetary origins and the formation of the solar system.")
New crew docks at China's first permanent space station
Saturday, 16 October 2021 09:17 Write a comment
China launches 3 astronauts on 6-month space station mission
Friday, 15 October 2021 20:07 Write a comment
China on Saturday sent three astronauts to its space station for a record-setting six-month stay as the country moves toward completing the new orbiting outpost
The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft carrying the three astronauts was launched by a Long March-2F rocket at 12:25 a.m. Saturday.
The two men and one woman are the second crew to move into the spacestation, which was launched last April. The first crew stayed three months.
Op-Ed | It’s Time to Rescind the Moratorium on Regulation of Commercial Spaceflight
Friday, 15 October 2021 17:18 Write a comment
As commercial human spaceflight enjoys a breakout 2021, it doesn't make sense for Congress to keep safety regulators handcuffed through 2023, argues the author of "Bringing Columbia Home."
Starliner valve investigation continues to focus on moisture interaction with propellant
Friday, 15 October 2021 16:37 Write a comment
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner was within hours of launch on its second uncrewed test flight in early August when stuck valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system forced a launch scrub that has turned into a delay that will extend well into next year.
Shenzhou-13 heads for space station after reaching orbit
Friday, 15 October 2021 15:56 Write a comment
A second crew of three astronauts are heading for China’s Tianhe space station module after the successful launch of the Shenzhou-13 mission Friday.
Solar storm stirs stunning aurora
Friday, 15 October 2021 15:00 Write a comment
Video:
00:00:29
After the Sun ejected a violent mass of fast-moving plasma into space on 9 October, ESA waited for the storm to strike. A few days later, the coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived at Earth, crashing into our planet’s magnetosphere, and lighting up the sky.
CMEs explode from the Sun, rush through the Solar System and while doing so speed up the solar wind – a stream of charged particles continuously released from the Sun’s upper atmosphere.
While most of the solar wind is blocked by Earth’s protective magnetosphere, some charged particles become trapped in Earth’s magnetic field and flow
US firm sees 'exciting' moment as space tourism booms
Friday, 15 October 2021 13:01 Write a comment
As competition in the space tourism industry heats up, a US-based firm said Friday it was excited to re-enter the sector with the upcoming launch of a Japanese billionaire.
Space Adventures, headed by Tom Shelley, is set in December to send Japanese tycoon Yusaku Maezawa to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
It's the company's first launch in over a decade after suspending trips to the ISS as NASA bought up seats on Russia-operated flights and no other vehicles were available.
"It's a very exciting time for us," Shelley, 48, the president of Space Adventures, told AFP during an interview in Moscow on Friday.
He added that Space Adventures with Russia was planning future launches "to innovate and find new offerings" for clients.
Russian rocket tests briefly destabilise space station
Friday, 15 October 2021 13:00 Write a comment
The International Space Station was briefly destabilised Friday during tests of a Russian-made Soyuz rocket, but the crew and the orbital station were not in danger, Moscow said.
Russia's Roscosmos space agency said the incident happened during tests of the engines of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft set to return a Russian actress and filmmaker aboard the ISS to Earth on Sunday.
"As a result, the International Space Station temporarily changed its position," Roscosmos said in a statement.
"The station and the crew are not in danger."
Russian actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko travelled to the ISS earlier this month to make the first movie in orbit ahead of the United States.
Peresild and Shipenko are set to go back to Earth with cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who has been on the space station for the past six months.
The Russian segment of the ISS has experienced a number of problems in recent months.
In July, the space station tilted out of orbit after the thrusters of the Nauka module reignited several hours after docking.
Japanese billionaire gets ready for December space mission
Friday, 15 October 2021 12:59 Write a comment
Imminent asteroid missions could reveal our origins, and help save Earth from deadly strike
Friday, 15 October 2021 12:55 Write a comment
Asteroids are remnants of the early Solar System, with the potential to reveal secrets of our planet's origins. But they could also bring an end to life on Earth. Now two missions, Lucy and DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) will provide further insights into both of these features—with DART even attempting to redirect the orbit of a moon around an asteroid.
Space rocks are generally considered to be asteroids if they are larger than approximately 1km in size, and made principally of "non-volatile" materials—chemicals that can be easily vaporized. Carbon monoxide, for example, is volatile as it vaporizes at a temperature of -191°C. But iron, with a vaporization point of 2,862°C is non-volatile.
This is somewhat different to comets. Asteroids are found more commonly in the inner Solar System, whereas comets with their volatile-rich composition tend to lurk in the outer part, far from the heat of the Sun.
Week in images: 11 - 15 October 2021
Friday, 15 October 2021 12:08 Write a comment
Week in images: 11 - 15 October 2021
Discover our week through the lens