Category: Space Stations

Space stations in orbit or planned

A 21st-century moon suit: Axiom Space’s lunar spacesuit sports 4G comms, Prada looks and Oakley visors for Artemis astronauts

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MILAN — If you’re going to team up with Prada for a 21st-century moon suit, it only makes sense to unveil it in one of the fashion capitals of the world. Axiom Space and Prada revealed the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit in a press conference held at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here today (Oct. 16). AxEMU will be used for NASA’s Artemis 3 mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in late 2026. It has been specially designed for the lunar south pole, which will be a…

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When will Boeing’s Starliner fly astronauts again? NASA still doesn’t know

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NASA is still unsure when it will next put astronauts on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which experienced issues during its first crewed test flight this summer. Starliner‘s next “potential” crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025 “will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established,” NASA officials wrote in a statement on Tuesday (Oct. 15). NASA and Boeing are still reviewing the requirements for Starliner’s certification, after propulsion problems arose on the first test flight with astronauts, which launched on June 5,…

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US and China will need to discuss moon mission plans, NASA chief predicts

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MILAN — NASA and China will need to discuss exchanges of data and mission plans as the two sides move to build sustainable presences on the moon, according to the NASA administrator.  NASA chief Bill Nelson met with the press at the 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here on Tuesday (Oct. 15), addressing questions related to the agency’s Artemis program. Both NASA, with Artemis, and China, with its International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), are working to get astronauts to the moon and to build lunar infrastructure to support repeated and…

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NASA to Embrace Commercial Sector, Fly Out Legacy Relay Fleet 

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4 Min Read NASA to Embrace Commercial Sector, Fly Out Legacy Relay Fleet  An artist's concept of commercial and NASA space relays. Credits: NASA/Morgan Johnson NASA is one step closer on its transition to using commercially owned and operated satellite communications services to provide future near-Earth space missions with increased service coverage, availability, and accelerated science and data delivery.      As of Friday, Nov. 8, the agency’s legacy TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) system, as part of the Near Space Network, will support only existing missions while new missions will…

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Solar Cycle 25 is still in max phase, so more aurora-boosting sun storms could be coming

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You could get more opportunities to see supercharged auroras over the next few months, thanks to our very active sun. Solar activity waxes and wanes on an 11-year cycle. The current cycle, known as Solar Cycle 25, began in December 2019 and is still in its maximum phase, experts say. “Currently, we’re about two years into the maximum period, so we’re anticipating another year or so of maximum phase before we really enter the declining phase, which will lead us back to solar minimum,” Lisa Upton, co-chair of the Solar…

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Nuclear rockets could travel to Mars in half the time − but designing the reactors that would power them isn’t easy

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Dan Kotlyar is an Associate Professor of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. NASA plans to send crewed missions to Mars over the next decade – but the 140 million-mile (225 million-kilometer) journey to the red planet could take several months to years round trip. This relatively long transit time is a result of the use of traditional chemical rocket fuel. An alternative technology to the chemically propelled rockets…

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Estonia joins Artemis Accords as moon-exploration coalition agrees to continue outreach efforts

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MILAN — The nations signed up to the Artemis Accords are looking to spread the word on common principles and best practices on exploring outer space.  Estonia became the 45th country to sign up to the Accords just ahead of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here, which opened on Monday (Oct. 14). But engagement and enlargement efforts won’t stop there. The Artemis Accords — a set of statements that set out common principles, guidelines and best practices for exploration of the moon and beyond — had its third heads-of-agencies meeting…

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Spooky on the Space Station

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Science in Space: October 2024 Cultures around the world celebrate Halloween on Oct 31. In many places, in addition to people wearing costumes and eating candy, this day is associated with spooky decorating using fake blood, skeletons, flies, and spiders, some of them glow-in-the-dark. Crew members on the International Space Station have been known to indulge in a bit of dressing up and candy consumption to mark the day, and the research they conduct year-round occasionally involves these iconic…

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‘Predator: Hunting Grounds’ scores a striking makeover for PS5 and Xbox X/S

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Rising production costs for A-list video game projects are entering the stratosphere these days, but one way for publishers to deliver new products without going bankrupt is to upscale older games with a modern makeover for next-gen consoles. While we’re still waiting to hear about the next entry in the “Predator” movie franchise, the most recent Predator video game — the four-year-old “Predator: Hunting Grounds — recently got the deluxe treatment with a shiny new update for modern consoles.”  This revamped game entered into the sci-fi horror gaming sphere on…

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James Webb Space Telescope takes center stage in ‘Infinite Cosmos’. Author Ethan Siegel explains it all (exclusive)

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been an astonishing piece of technology for the advancement of humankind’s understanding of the universe, and the source of awe-inspiring images of black holes, galaxies, and nebulae it’s returned to scientists and astronomers since it was deployed into a solar orbit back in 2022. “Infinite Cosmos: Visions From the James Webb Space Telescope” is a 224-page hardback published Oct. 8, 2024 from National Geographic that breaks down the history of this remarkable $10 billion observatory platform from conception to deployment, and reveals the…

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