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ISS will carry artificial organs in hope of medical breakthrough
In the near future, the International Space Station (ISS) will serve as home to five organs-on-chips research experiments. Each one will tackle a different issue, but all of them are expected to shed light on the effects of microgravity on the human body and could lead to better treatments and drugs without the need for animal testing. Organs-on-chips are transparent slides about the size of an AA battery with microfluidic channels capable of reproducing blood and airflow that are lined with the cells of the organ begin studied. Aboard the ISS, astronauts can observe the cells as they grow in 3D, since the lack of gravity means they don't settle at the bottom or flatten against the channels' plastic walls.
Watch SpaceX land another rocket in crisp 4K
Missed the SpaceX launch that marked the first time it used a refurbished Dragon capsule for an ISS resupply mission? Well, that capsule has recently reached the space station, and the private space company has just released a 4K video showing the rocket it used for the mission making a perfect landing at Cape Canaveral. This is the 11th time a Falcon 9 was able to stick its landing, and it certainly won't be the last. SpaceX plans to repeat the feat again and again, both on land and at sea, in an effort to ensure that its rockets are perfectly reusable.
SpaceX's re-launched Dragon capsule arrives at the ISS
This weekend's big SpaceX news has nearly reached its logical conclusion point: the reused Dragon cargo capsule has been successfully captured by the International Space Station. While that sounds an awful lot like the opening scene of a certain space opera, it's all par for the course. From here, the ISS' ground crew will take control of the station's robotic arm and dock the capsule, according to NASA.
Watch SpaceX carry NASA's pulsar-observing instrument to the ISS
On June 1st, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry supplies and new instruments to the ISS, including one designed to observe some of the strangest objects in the universe: neutron stars or pulsars. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) will be installed outside the ISS, where it will look for and study the extremely dense objects. Neutron stars begin their lives as stars around seven to 20 times the mass of our sun. When they collapse and cause a supernova explosion, they turn into a sphere that's only 12 miles across, with twice the mass of our sun squeezed inside. They're also called "pulsars" when they rotate hundreds of times per second.
Mouse semen experiment suggests humans can reproduce in space
Humans have become relatively experienced at living and working in space aboard the International Space Station. Now, we're looking forward to the next step: reproduction. Mouse sperm, which was freeze-dried and stored aboard the ISS for nine months, was able to produce healthy offspring back on Earth. The research study was published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The first 4K livestream from space starts at 1:30PM ET
Astronaut Peggy Whitson has already broken plenty of new ground in her current role as a commander aboard the International Space Station, but she's about to break some more. As promised, Whitson will star in the first-ever 4K livestream from space today (April 26th) at 1:30PM Eastern. Her part will mainly involve a chat with Amazon Web Services exec Sam Blackman (AWS is hosting the event), but the panel as a whole should be worth viewing: it's a chat with NASA and tech industry luminaries about the effects that imaging and cloud technology are having on both science and movie-making.
Peggy Whitson breaks the US record for cumulative time in space
US astronaut Peggy Whitson has officially broken the US record for cumulative time spent in space. As of 1:27 AM ET today, she had spent 534 days, 2 hours and 49 minutes in space -- a number that has obviously increased since then. But that amount of time spent in space broke the record previously held by Jeff Williams. Her current run on the International Space Station started on November 17th, 2016, and her mission was recently extended from March until September. By the time she returns to earth, she'll have accumulated more than 650 days in space. Whitson has also spent more than 53 hours outside the ISS doing spacewalks, a record for female astronauts.
Watch NASA's first 360-degree live stream of a rocket launch
Rocket launch videos are typically captured from afar, putting you in the shoes of a spectator in the crowd. NASA's live coverage of an Orbital Cygnus spacecraft's ISS resupply mission, however, will take you to the launch pad itself. For the first time ever, the agency will broadcast a live 360-degree video of a rocket launch on the NASATelevision YouTube channel tomorrow, April 18th.
Watch NASA's first 4K broadcast from space on April 26th
If you've ever wanted to see Earth orbit in stunningly real high-def, here's your chance. On Wednesday, April 26th, you can watch the first 4K livestream from the International Space Station 250 miles above the Earth. Commander Peggy Whitson will speak as part of a panel called "Reaching for the Stars: Connecting to the Future with NASA and Hollywood." While we've seen 4K video from space before, this is the first time it will be live. You'll need a 4K-capable television or monitor to see the full resolution, of course, but there will also be lower-resolution streams on NASA Television as well as the agency's Facebook page and website.
After Math: Flying high
It's been a big week for aviation achievements. DARPA successfully flew a model of its next VTOL aircraft, Dr. Peggy Whitson is tacking on three more months to her ISS stay (and breaking another record along the way), and SpaceX is saving big on its reusable rocket costs. Numbers, because how else would you join the 1.60934 kilometer-high club?
Dr. Peggy Whitson set to shatter another NASA record
As the first woman in command of the International Space Station, NASA's Dr. Peggy Whitson is already a proven pioneer. Last month, Whitson set the record for most spacewalks by a female astronaut and later this month she will set yet another record for most cumulative time spent space by any US astronaut. Now, thanks to an agreement with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Whitson will extend her lead even further and stay in orbit for another three months.
Watch astronaut Peggy Whitson's historic spacewalk
Dr. Peggy Whitson, the first woman to command the ISS, might soon also hold the record for the most spacewalks by a female astronaut. She's scheduled to step out of the ISS today (March 30th), and once she does, she'll have eclipsed the number of times current record holder Sunita Williams floated around in space outside the orbiting lab. Williams still holds the distinction of being the astronaut who fixed the ISS with a toothbrush, though.
NASA prepares the ISS for its second space taxi dock
NASA has begun preparing the ISS' second space taxi dock for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon. Flight controllers at NASA Johnson Space Center have taken control of the station's robotic arm, the Canadarm 2, to relocate one of its Space Shuttle-era docking modules. To prepare for the move on March 26th, two crew members conducted a spacewalk to detach the power and data cables connecting the module to its old location. Now, it's placed right next to the first dock astronauts installed last year.
NASA trains astronauts with zero-G virtual reality
To train ISS astronauts, NASA uses physical mockups, zero-G "vomit comet" airplane rides, neutral buoyancy (underwater) and other pricey and complex schemes. However, virtual reality has become a new option, allowing astronauts to do realistic training for things like maintenance in an accurate, simulated zero-G environment. The company that helped them build the sim, Epic Games' Unreal Engine, recently unveiled a video showing exactly how that works.
After Math: Keep pace in the space race
It's been a productive week for those of us trying to get the hell off this crazy planet. NASA showed off a radiation-proof flight vest for interplanetary astronauts while Blue Origin debuted its latest rocket engine and previewed its upcoming New Glenn spacecraft. We also take a look at a solar farm visible from the ISS and examine just how badly the Trump regime is gutting NASA's Earth Science programs. Numbers, because how else will we know when it's time to blast off?
Visit the ISS in virtual reality with an Oculus Rift
Most of us will (sadly) never be able to visit the ISS in person and will have to make do with photos and videos of the orbiting lab. If you have an Oculus Rift, though, you have a far more immersive choice: a true-to-life simulation you can visit in virtual reality. Oculus has teamed up with NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency to create the Mission:ISS VR experience. You can explore the virtual station like you're actually in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), but you can do more than that, as well. So long as you're using an Oculus Touch controller, you can dock incoming spacecraft, go out on spacewalks and even perform mission-critical tasks like a real crew member.
Watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 take off from NASA's historic launch pad (updated)
At 10:01 AM ET on February 18th, a SpaceX flight will take off from Launch Complex 39A for the first time since the company signed a 20-year lease for its use. The company will also attempt another first stage landing around 9 minutes after take off. Complex 39A is the same historic site where NASA used to launch space shuttles from the beginning through the end of the program. In 2013, the agency opened up the Kennedy Space Center launch pad to private space companies, which prompted Elon Musk and Blue Origin chief Jeff Bezos to bid against each other. After Musk won the bidding war, SpaceX began modifying the site for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
ICYMI: Transient luminous events and bipedal robots
Today on In Case You Missed It: We get a much closer look at electrical discharge phenomena courtesy of a video filmed from the International Space Station. Called "Transient Luminous Events", the phenomena are notoriously hard to study as they occur 25-60 miles above thunderstorms. Even satellites have had little luck at capturing images of the upper-atmosphere lighting. However, viewing angles were less of a challenge for ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen who was able to a highly-sensitive camera to snag video footage of 245 flashes of blue lightning while he was stationed on the ISS in 2015.
After Math: Baby come back
This was a week of many happy returns. Stanford students brought back 5,000 year old Chinese beer, Prince's catalog has reappeared on streaming services not owned by Jay Z and a pair of classic Hot Wheels cars are coming out of retirement to make their Rocket League debut. Numbers, because how else will we know how long you've been gone?
Astronaut filmed elusive blue lightning aboard the ISS
Some types of electrical discharge phenomena like blue jets and red sprites occur way above the altitudes where normal lightning occurs. That makes it tough to see them or even to confirm that they actually take place. There's a group of people living in just the right place to witness them happen, though: astronauts aboard the International Space Station. ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen filmed thunderstorms from the ISS in September 2015 using the most sensitive camera in the orbiting lab. Now, Denmark's National Space Institute has finally confirmed that Mogensen indeed caught 245 blue flashes on cam -- you've really got to watch the video after the break.
