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NASA studies astronaut twins to observe the rigors of space
When you spend nearly a year straight in space, you can expect NASA will want to conduct a good bit of research on you when you return to Earth. The space agency has been doing just that with astronaut Scott Kelly who was in orbit for 340 days. There's no one better to compare Kelly to than his twin brother and fellow astronaut Mark. NASA collected blood and other biological samples to look for any changes a long spaceflight may cause in the human body.
NASA dominated space and social media in 2016
"We all have a thirst for wonder," American astronomer Carl Sagan wrote in his sci-fi novel Contact. "It's a deeply human quality." And it's partly thanks to this "thirst" that NASA had the space game on lock this year, even though it doesn't have access to as much money as it used to. The agency stepped into 2016 armed with $19.3 billion in government funding. Yes, that's almost a $1 billion more than what the administration originally asked for, but it's also significantly lower than NASA's budget in previous years, when adjusted for inflation.
Record-breaking astronaut Scott Kelly retiring this April
Astronaut Scott Kelly, the International Space Station's selfie king, is retiring from his post at NASA on April 1st -- no foolin'. The American record-holder for most time spent in space will spend his foreseeable days still working on research following his year aboard the ISS, NASA writes, and will continue to provide medical samples at regular intervals.
Watch astronauts make outer space Skype calls with HoloLens
So why exactly did the crew International Space Station need those HoloLens headsets? For a holographic instruction manual and VoIP calls, of course. Prior to entering orbit, the headset was certified for use on the Weightless Wonder C9 a number of times to ensure it'd work in a zero-G environment in addition to the NEEMO underwater space station analog, according to Victor Luo, the technical lead of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. Astronaut Scott Kelly used it to make the first Skype call from outer space to mission control and says he fiddled around with it for about two hours, too.
Astronaut Scott Kelly will answer questions from space on Tumblr
Scott Kelly, the NASA astronaut with a green thumb, is hosting Answer Time on Tumblr right from the ISS. What's "Answer Time," you ask? It's like Reddit's AMA where the host fields questions from readers, so if you missed Kelly's AMA earlier this year, now's your chance. Here's a short background on Kelly, in case you're still thinking of what to ask: he's known as the American who has spent the most time in space and is currently on a year-long mission aboard the ISS.
Astronaut Scott Kelly hosts a Reddit Q&A from space at 4PM ET
You may have seen some interesting Reddit Q&A sessions in your day, but you probably haven't seen one like this. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is hosting an Ask Me Anything session at 4PM Eastern today (January 23rd)... from space. That's right -- you can learn what it's like to live aboard the International Space Station from someone who's there right now. Suffice it to say there are plenty of questions: how does long-term residency in space affect you, physically and psychologically? What's the coolest thing you've seen while orbiting Earth? And what's it like to grow flowers in space? There's no guarantee that Kelly can answer every burning question, but it'll be worth participating just to get his unique perspective. [Image credit: Scott Kelly, Twitter]
ICYMI: Humanoid moto bot, engineered desk marvel and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-121846{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-121846, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-121846{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-121846").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Altwork Station is a $3,900 computer desk that can sit, stand and fully recline, levering the screen and desk up to keep that ergonomic alignment you've realized you need to actually care about. Being an adult can be so overrated. Meanwhile there are two pieces of fun robot news: Yamaha is teasing its autonomous motorcycling robot and MIT researchers built a robotic cube that can jump over uneven terrain.
Meet the American astronaut who has spent the most time in space
Astronauts already have such amazing jobs, but Scott Kelly's in particular is probably a smidge more envy-inducing. The current commander of the International Space Station is spending his 383rd day aboard the ISS at the moment, surpassing fellow NASA astronaut Mike Fincke's record of 382 cumulative days outside our atmosphere. That's not all, though: since he's part of a year-long mission -- astronauts typically spend six months in low-Earth orbit at most per expedition -- he's bound to break another record. On October 29th, he'll be celebrating his 216th consecutive day aboard the station. That's a day longer than the record set by Michael López-Alegría, who's known for having the longest spaceflight of any American since his expedition in 2006 to 2007.
The Big Picture: Los Angeles' light pollution, as seen from space
What you see above is a stunning image of California (and surrounding areas), captured from space by astronaut Scott Kelly. But what quickly stands out is Los Angeles, with its bright lights shining through and morphing into one massive, glowing spot. As Quartz points out, this shows the city's massive light pollution problem -- which, in the past, has been subject to countless research pieces and even a Kickstarter book/video series. City of Angels? More like City of Lights.
