Tag: International Space Station

Quantum chemistry experiment on ISS creates exotic 5th state of matter

NeRD

Aboard the International Space Station, there’s a compact lab about the size of a small refrigerator that makes some of the coldest stuff in the universe. It’s called the Cold Atom Lab, and for some time, scientists have been using this chamber to research the strange quantum properties of atoms in microgravity. But on Wednesday (Nov. 15), they announced they’ve reached a milestone. Operated remotely by a team with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, the Cold Atom Lab officially generated a quantum gas containing two species of atoms.…

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International Space Station dodges orbital debris hours before SpaceX cargo ship’s arrival: report

NeRD

The International Space Station moved out of the way of space debris yet again this year, hours before a new cargo ship is supposed to arrive. A Russian Progress cargo spacecraft attached to the International Space Station (ISS) fired its engines Friday (Nov. 10) in a space debris avoidance maneuver, Russian federal space agency Roscosmos officials wrote on Telegram; translation was provided automatically by Google. (Space.com reached out to NASA officials and is awaiting the agency’s confirmation of the maneuver, as well as the nature of the debris.) The five-minute…

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Track the ISS with NASA’s new ‘Spot the Station’ mobile app

NeRD

Space fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station streaking across the sky are getting a much-needed digital tool. NASA just released a new “Spot The Station” app, which can be downloaded for free on iOS and Android devices. The application improves upon the space agency’s official “Spot the Station” website, delivering added capabilities and information to expand the International Space Station (ISS) tracking experience for both casual stargazers and NASA acolytes.  Related: Track the ISS: How and where to see it NASA’s “Spot the Station” app…

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NASA astronauts complete 4th-ever all-female spacewalk outside International Space Station

NeRD

Two NASA astronauts completed their first spacewalk together outside of the International Space Station, the fourth all-female EVA (extravehicular activity) in history. Expedition 70 crewmates Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara replaced a bearing to keep the solar arrays on the International Space Station (ISS) rotating properly and conducted other maintenance activities, but ran out of time to finish the other major task planned for the spacewalk, the removal of an electronics box from a communications antenna. Moghbeli and O’Hara switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:05 a.m. EDT (1205 GMT)…

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International Space Station astronauts show off creative outfits for Halloween

NeRD

The International Space Station crew dressed up in Halloween costumes one day ahead of their next spacewalk. The four astronauts working in the U.S. segment posed, trick-or-treating style, with costumes in the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station on Wednesday (Oct. 31). Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency posted the costumes on X (formerly Twitter) and invited the audience to guess what the crew is wearing. Two of the astronauts, NASA’s Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli, will then don very different outfits —  spacesuits  —  on Thursday…

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Record-setting NASA astronaut lands with Russian crewmates after 1 year on space station

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The first American to spend a full year in space and the first two Russians to do the same on the International Space Station (ISS) have landed safely back on Earth. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos returned from the space station aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on Wednesday (Sept. 27). Their touchdown at 7:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT or 5:14 p.m. local time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan ended an extended 371-day stay in space for all…

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Heating and cooling space habitats isn’t easy – one engineering team is developing a lighter, more efficient solution

NeRD

China, India and the U.S. have all achieved landing on the Moon in the 2020s. Once there, their eventual goal is to set up a base. But a successful base – along with the spacecraft that will carry people to it – must be habitable for humans. And a big part of creating a habitable base is making sure the heating and cooling systems work. That’s especially true because the ambient temperature of potential places for a base can vary widely. Lunar equatorial temperatures can range from minus 208 to 250 degrees Farenheit (minus 130 to 120…

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Spending time in space can harm the human body — but scientists are working to mitigate these risks before sending people to Mars

NeRD

When 17 people were in orbit around the Earth all at the same time on May 30, 2023, it set a record. With NASA and other federal space agencies planning more manned missions and commercial companies bringing people to space, opportunities for human space travel are rapidly expanding. However, traveling to space poses risks to the human body. Since NASA wants to send a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s, scientists need to find solutions for these hazards sooner rather than later. As a kinesiologist who works with astronauts, I’ve spent years studying the…

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After 1 year in space, what’s next for an astronaut? ‘Peace and quiet’ on Earth, Frank Rubio says (video)

NeRD

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is about to do what no other American has done before: Celebrate an entire year in space. The record-breaking NASA astronaut spoke to reporters from the International Space Station on Tuesday (Sept. 19), just two days ahead of the 365-day mark for his current mission. The Salvadoran-American physician, born in Los Angeles, also paid tribute to the mentors in the military and at NASA that helped him reach space. “You have the opportunity to work with a tremendous breadth of great individuals (in the military), and…

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