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Space

Space scientist desire to get involved on NASA’s journey to the moon

NASA desires to journey to the moon, and space scientists want their tools to tag along as well.

The particulars are still in fluidity, as researchers are reckoning what makes the utmost sense given the scientific and logistical restraints of the moon. Nonetheless, they are assertive that NASA’s present primacies at the moon offer advantages that would aid their targets. The organization’s primacies are personified through the Artemis program, which targets to take humans on the moon in twenty-twenty four in a maintainable, long-term approach that provides a future for science and survey.

Heidi Hummel [a planetary astronomer] cited that an excellent dispatch capability, spaceman, serviceability, and many other things were things that were taken genuinely into consideration.

A couple of telescopes have now operated on the moon. NASA’s Apollo sixteen operation in nineteen-seventy two conveyed an electromagnetic telescope that spaceman John Young used to photo nebulas, stars, and the universe’s ether. China Chang’ e-3 operation, which alighted on the moon in twenty-thirteen, also conveyed an electromagnetic telescope

Nevertheless, the moon is a wholly new area for telescopes, Heidi quoted, and the particulars of how space scientists might tap into the Artemis schedule remain to be established. One significant difference may be between telescopes on the moon and telescopes at the moon. That is because even earthly dust is a hindrance for mild astrophysics gear — and lunate dust is more annoying compared to its human equals.

That cited, it is not difficult to picture telescopes prospering on the lunate surface, Heidi quoted. She emphasized at a volcanic mountain at the core of Hawaii Island Maunakea. Nowadays, it is known for the dozen astrophysics facilities hovering on the summit of the mountain, whereby the atmosphere is currently monitoring the favorable conditions. Nonetheless, in the nineteen sixty’s, it was a major training area for Apollo-era spacemen exercising moonwalks as well as geology.

Heidi quoted that, Maunakea was an offering place for the lunate survey program. He further added that they gained knowledge on how to construct a telescope based on that setting and surroundings. Those pieces of training, she cited, may be valid for any tools that not be positioned on the surface of the lunate.

Also, space scientists have gained knowledge about dispatching telescopes into space since the time of the foremost lunate telescope. Ground and space-based telescopes similarly have enriched exponentially. Contemplate on the power of the Hubble Space Telescope that, as forthcoming lunate-orbiting telescopes could do, has depended on visitations from spacemen to refresh its gear as it is old.

Although a dispatch to the moon would need a tinier tool that space scientists on the Earth’s surface can employ, the recurrent visitations to the moon that are supposed to be the trademark of the Artemis program would propose that researchers could dispatch bigger telescopes compared to this present time. 

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Space

Upgrades of Space Power Stations done following extravehicular activities

CAPE CANAVERAL: Spacewalking cosmonauts just completed their business of upgrading the International Space Center’s power after working for three years. They have substituted six old batteries with current ones. 

The extravehicular activity counts their one after many weeks of operations, where NASA’s Bob Behnken and Chris Cassidy were involved.  

Those spacewalkers managed to work ahead of the clock by finishing battery changes in just one spacewalk. The next fourth spacewalk will focus on other duties. After the successful swapping of old batteries with new ones, Mission Control congratulated them. 

During the spacewalk mission, the two cosmonauts, Behnken and Cassidy, managed to fish out six of the left nickel-hydrogen batteries and substituted them with three new lithium-ion batteries. 

The newly inserted lithium-ion batteries are enormous, with a weight of over 180 kilograms. Only half the number of cells was required as they are of reliable power. Those batteries collect energy from solar panels in the station, and later use that power when there is darkness (night) on Earth. 

The whole process of substituting the 48 old batteries with new ones started way back in 2017, and the operation required only 11 extravehicular activities. 

Last year (2019), one battery was short, and that resulted in the replacement of the remaining old cells. NASA is trying to postpone another spacewalk rather than going ahead and do it, the reason being it will have to switch off the power of that line. 

Johnson Space Center’s spokesman, Rob Navis, confirmed that the other two old batteries are functioning well with the recent ones. The company does not seem to be in any rush as it has plenty of power. 

NASA affirms that the newly fitted batteries will last for at least fours at ISS. 

The spacewalk that took place on Thursday lasted for 6 hours, covering a distance of 420 kilometers under the shiny glare of the sunlight. 

In the end month of May, Behnken arrived at the space station in a SpaceX Pod, marking it the first cosmonaut space journey. Behnken and Doug Hurly plan to return on Earth this August in the same SpaceX’s Pod. 

Cassidy, who is the commander of the space station halfway the operation of his six months, he rides in Russian Soyuz pod, which will take him to the orbiting outpost and then back to Earth. 

Both Behnken and Cassidy have a total of nine spacewalks each. 

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Space

SETI Institute awarded a deal by NASA regarding protection support

NASA has granted the SETI Institute in California, a deal to back all stages of present and upcoming planetary protection operations standards.

The SETI institution will function with NASA’s OPP to give out technical appraisals and references, authenticate biological cleanliness on airlift schemes, offering training for NASA and its collaborators, as well as advancing strategies for the enactment of NASA necessities, and distribute data to investors and the public. The function of the OPP is to indorse the liable exploration of the solar system by shielding both Earth and operation destinations from biological pollution.

Lisa Pratt [NASA’s planetary protection officer] quoted that the depth of mission experience and extensiveness of knowledge on the SETI institute crew will assist NASA to qualify the technical difficulties of guaranteeing back and forth planetary protection on the expected path of human surveying from the Moon to Mars

Planetary protection conserves the surrounding and the science, safeguarding certifiable scientific surveying for extra-terrestrial life. Some of the forthcoming NASA science operations that would be backed by this deal include the MARS twenty-twenty and Europa Clipper operations, and arrangements for NASA’s red planet prototype return operation. Furthermore, forthcoming human space travel surveying under NASA’s Artemis plan, like the Gateway lunar orbital outpost, commercial lunar as well as human lander system will be backed under this deal, as U.S’s Moon to the red planet surveying approach.

The deal is a non-negotiable indefinite-delivery deal with an all-out award worth four million and seven hundred thousand dollars over five years that started on the 1st of July

Bill Diamond [president of SETI] quoted that as they went back to the Moon, they looked for proof of past or current life on the red planet and persisted with the operation of surveying and finding in the solar system, planetary protection has amounted to a progressively vital aspect of operation strategizing and performance, he further added that they were pleased to be NASA’s collaborators for this operation-critical task, safeguarding Earth from backward pollution, and aiding guaranteed that the life they may discover on other worlds did not come from their own

NASA and SETI have collaborated on planetary protection for over ten years and have established a robust relationship and essential capability in this region. SETI researchers have a long experience in comprehending microbial life and its impact on operations, even in the risky circumstances of space travel and extra-terrestrial surroundings. The SETI has been entangled in the science team crew for numerous NASA operations.

Applying adequate and unswerving planetary protection is crucial as we gradually diverge into space, in operations overseen by space organizations, as well as schemes run in unification with and even entirely by the business division.

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Space

A mini satellite intended to be sent into space by a space team from Turkey

A Turkish space team comprising of engineering students plans to send a small satellite into space before this year comes to an end. The name of the team is the Grizu-263 Space Team. Its head, who goes by the name Aytac Dursun opened up to the Anadolu Agency about when the idea started. According to him, the PocketQube has been something that they have been working on since 2016. It is based on space technology standards that have not been in existence for a long time. The satellite Grizu-263A becomes the first PocketQube satellite to be developed within the boundaries of Turkey.

He goes on to say that the eventful day will be in December. It will be sent into space by the Falcon 9 of SpaceX. The venue will be in the United States at the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex. As far as they are concerned, they loved the excitement that was brought about by this development. In fact, the team has dubbed it a journey from Zonguldak to space.

One may wonder what this Grizu-263 is all about. The idea saw the light of the day in 2016 through the innovation of students of the Bulent Ecevit University. The institution is situated in Zonguldak in a province called the Black Sea. The students had several reasons as to why they embarked on the Grizu-263. First of all, they wanted to work on something that utilized the technologies associated with space and satellite. In addition to that, it was a ticket to participating in international competitions. 

What about the team? Its name is in association with firedamp, which is referred to as grizu in Turkey. As for the 263, that is the number of miners who succumbed to death following a firedamp explosion back in 1992 at Kozlu district. Based on those happenings, the group goes by the name Grizu-263.

The team settled for a PocketQube to cut the cost of launching it and time that they could use to develop it. It would also translate to less satellite damage.

Even before launching this satellite, the space team has already gained international recognition. That’s after clenching the 25th position out of 96 teams that participated in the CanSat model satellite competition during their first year. The host of the competition was the American Astronautic Society of the United States. Sponsors included NASA, Kratos Space, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Praxis Inc., and US Naval Research Laboratory. They participated in the same in 2019 and 2020, emerging the second and the fourth, respectively.

In the future, the team wants to improve Turkish technology. That’s a way of giving back to the society because of the country and more so the university financial and moral support that they have given the team. They want to represent Turkey in the space technologies international arena to the best of their ability, and clearly, they are on the right path.