space | Common News Update

Nov222022 by adminNo Comments

With new supplies, space station astronauts to research mending broken bones

Science

Nov. 21 (UPI) -- New research on the International Space Station will include implantable drug delivery devices and an adhesive that can stimulate bone growth. SpaceX will launch a resupply mission as early as Tuesday to deliver a payload of items developed by commercial companies that need to be tested in orbit. The launch window opens at 3:54 p.m. EST. It will be the 26th commercial resupply service mission by SpaceX and NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket is to be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The space-based research is sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory. The bone-mending injectable adhesive, called Tetranite, was developed by medical device company RevBio. The adhesive is intended to speed bone growth after breaks and fractures. The research will focus on how Tetran...

Oct162022 by adminNo Comments

Crew-4 astronauts splash down after 170 days in space

Science

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The International Space Station Crew-4 returned to Earth on Friday in the Dragon Freedom capsule after almost six months in space, landing off the coast of Florida. Splashdown occurred at 4:55 p.m. EDT after NASA and Space X mission controllers canceled the attempt Thursday due to weather concerns in the recovery area off Jacksonville. The descent took about five hours, aided at the end by parachutes that eased the SpaceX capsule upright into choppy seas. A team headed toward the capsule to assist the transport onto a recovery ship named Megan, after astronaut Megan McArthur. Aboard the returning capsule were Crew-4 astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti, who lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Falcon 9 rocket April 27. ...

Aug232022 by adminNo Comments

James Webb: Space telescope reveals ‘incredible’ Jupiter views

Science

NASA/ESA/CSA/Jupiter ERS Team/Judy SchmidtThe world's largest and most powerful space telescope has revealed unprecedented views of Jupiter. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took the pictures of the Solar System's biggest planet in July. The images show auroras, giant storms, moons and rings surrounding Jupiter in detail that astronomers have described as "incredible".The infrared images were artificially coloured to make the features stand out.This is because infrared light is invisible to the human eye."We've never seen Jupiter like this. It's all quite incredible," said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, of the University of California, who played a key role in the project."We hadn't really expected it to be this good, to be honest," she added.The $ 10bn (£8.5bn) JWST is an intern...

Jul312022 by adminNo Comments

Blue Origin to launch space tourist flight next week

Science

July 29 (UPI) -- Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to launch its sixth space tourism flight next week with six people, including the first Egyptian and Portuguese crew members to reach suborbital space. Blue Origin said in a news release that NS-22 will lift off at 8:30 a.m. from Launch Site One at the company's site in West Texas on Thursday. The flight will make Sara Sabry, an Egyptian mechanical and biomedical engineer, and Portuguese entrepreneur Mário Ferreira the first of their respective countries to reach space, according to Engadget. The other four members of the crew include Coby Cotton, a cofounder of the popular YouTube channel Dude Perfect, as well as British-American explorer Vanessa O'Brien and telecom CEO Steve Young. The sixth passenger, Clint Kelly III, started the Autonomou...

Jul22022 by adminNo Comments

Long-duration space flight equal to decade of bone loss in astronauts, study says

Science

July 1 (UPI) -- Scientists have long known that astronauts lose bone density while in space, but a study published this week found they only partially recover this loss one year after returning to Earth. The researchers said the findings suggest long-duration spaceflight is equal to decades of bone loss in weight-bearing bones on Earth. The extent of the impact, though, varies depending upon the subject. Bone loss happens because bones don't have to carry your weight in microgravity, meaning astronauts use them less, leading to weakening. "Bone loss happens in humans -- as we age, get injured, or any scenario where we can't move the body, we lose bone," said Leigh Gabel, assistant professor in kinesiology at the University of Calgary and lead author of the study. The researchers scanned ...