#Bigelow Expandable Activity Module

[spaceexp]

New Satellites Set for Deployment, Cargo Craft Ready for Departure

ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch. July 7, 2020

NanoRacks small satellite deployer release a pair of CubeSats. Animation Credit: NASA

The Expedition 63 crew readied a pair of tiny satellites for deployment and finished packing a Russian cargo craft for departure. The International Space Station residents also checked on BEAM today then worked on life support and computer maintenance. Two CubeSats were installed inside a NanoRacks small satellite deployer this morning for release into Earth orbit later this week from outside Japan’s Kibo laboratory module. NASA Commander Chris Cassidy set up the satellite gear and placed it inside Kibo’s airlock for retrieval by the Japanese robotic arm. One satellite will demonstrate the performance of a tiny but powerful exo-planet telescope, while the other will test returning small payloads safely into Earth’s atmosphere.

Image above: (From left) Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy and Flight Engineer Bob Behnken are pictured inside the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). Image Credit: NASA. Russia’s Progress 74 (74P) resupply ship has been packed with trash and obsolete gear and is ready to end its seven-month stay at the orbiting lab. Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner finalized the cargo transfers today before closing the 74P’s hatch and performing the standard spacecraft leak checks. The 74P will undock Wednesday at 2:23 p.m. EDT from the Pirs docking compartment and descend into Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific for a fiery disposal.

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). Animation Credit: NASA

BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, has been attached to the station since 2016 and is currently being used as a storage space. NASA Flight Engineers Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken opened up and entered BEAM today to check sensor batteries and retrieve charcoal filters. The sensors monitor BEAM’s pressure and environment while the filters remove impurities from the station’s atmosphere. The duo also worked on a variety of lab maintenance tasks keeping the station in tip-top shape. Hurley worked on orbital plumbing and checked computer connections. Behnken set up the charcoal filters from BEAM and upgraded software on a laptop computer dedicated to operations in the Microgravity Science Glovebox. Related links: Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html NanoRacks small satellite deployer: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1196 Kibo laboratory module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/japan-kibo-laboratory Powerful exo-planet telescope: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8053 Returning small payloads: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8124 Pirs docking compartment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/pirs-docking-compartment Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/bigelow-expandable-activity-module.html Microgravity Science Glovebox: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=341 Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html Image (mentioned), Animations (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

[spaceflight-insider]

Bigelow's piece of ISS gets approval for extended stay

Bigelow’s piece of ISS gets approval for extended stay

Photo Credit: NASA

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) has been given the green light to stay attached to the aft portion of the International Space Station’s Tranquility node for a further three years. The new contract began in November 2017, according to NASA.  (more…)

[the-telescope-times]

NASA planning to keep BEAM module on ISS for the long haul

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), added to the station as a technology demonstration and now used for cargo stowage, is able to remain on the station through 2028. Credit: NASA illustration

An experimental module added to the International Space Station three years ago to test expandable module technologies has been cleared to remain on the station through the late 2020s.

In a July 30 presentation at the ISS Research and Development Conference here, Nathan Wells, an instrumentation lead for the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) at NASA, said the module’s on-orbit performance had exceeded expectations and that it had been cleared to remain on the station to 2028.

“Now it’s become more of a core facility,” he said of BEAM, which is now being used for stowage to free up volume on the cramped station.

BEAM launched in April 2016 on a cargo resupply mission and was installed on the station in May of that year. NASA originally intended to keep the module on the station for two years to test the effectiveness of BEAM’s expandable module technology, then discard it.

Read more ~ spacenews.com

[amamains]

International space station interior

Most astronauts spend about six months at the station conducting research that is not possible on Earth. The newest module, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, arrived at the ISS on Apto test expandable habitats for future missions. The first module to launch for the ISS was the Zarya Module, which supported most of the communications and operations of the ISS until the arrival of the Zvezda Module. To date, there are 15 nations that have partnered with and sent astronauts to the station. Five space agencies collaborated with the construction of the space station, including Roscosmos, Canadian Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, European Space Agency and NASA. ISS historyįrom November 1998 through February 2011, NASA completed more than 40 missions to assemble the ISS. See a cupola model and see NASA’s first humanoid robot in space, Robonaut 2, which was chosen as the NASA Government 2014 Invention of the Year. See packaged astronaut food including chicken, vegetables, sweets, and coffee, and learn about the water purification system on the the Space Station. Surrounding the New Perspectives module are inspiring artifacts that have been worn or used during actual ISS expeditions. Create unforgettable memories and be part of this show by volunteering during on-stage demonstrations. New Perspectives, presented by our mission briefing officers, is an interactive live show that presents loads of information regarding day-to-day life on the ISS. New artifacts, robotic interactive exhibits and stunning 4K video highlight how the ISS is leading the world in international partnerships, fostering commercial partnerships and trailblazing the journey to Mars. Explore unique technologies on the ISS to discover how research in low-Earth orbit is changing life on our home planet. The recently updated exhibit brings state-of-the-art science and technology to Earth in an interactive experience. The International Space Station Gallery at Space Center Houston provides a dynamic look inside the space station – from interactive live shows to a Robonaut and even actual flown space station artifacts. This giant science laboratory, almost spanning the entire length of a football field, gathers research and conducts experiments every day. Orbiting at more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,354 kilometers per hour) above Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) is the largest structure built in space.

[mhuntington7]

BIGELOW AEROSPACE TIC-TAC AT NASA HUNTSVILLE - Huntsville, Alabama. The “tic-tac-like” Bigelow Aerospace Expandable Activity Module (BA330) habitat mock-up display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Billionaire Robert Bigelow is an accomplished engineer, hotel magnate, and founder/owner of Bigelow Aerospace - a space tech contractor specializing in inflatable space modules and equipment. A long-time eccentric interested in fringe science, Bigelow funded/operated/influenced several UFO-related interests: Area 51 claimant Bob Lazar, early Art Bell broadcasting, the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Star Team, studies at Skinwalker Ranch (which he owned), and contracted (BAASS) with the DOD/political friends for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) UFO study. “Mr. Big,” as he is called in UFO circles, is rumored to have pieces of “alien metamaterials” in storage at his Las Vegas warehouse facility. He is now focused on finding proof of a spiritual afterlife. Photo by Michael Huntington - March, 2019. @Huntington_Strange_Travels #StrangeTravels #MichaelHuntington #NASA #Bigelow #BigelowAerospace #RobertBigelow #MrBig #BAASS #UfologysMrBig #UFOs #UAP #UFOHistory #NIDS #NationalInstituteForDiscoveryScience #AATIP #TicTac #BigelowModule #USSpaceRocketCenter #SpaceCamp #HuntsvilleAlabama (at U.S. Space & Rocket Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTLia5lMa_J/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sciencespies]

Russia launches Nauka module to International Space Station

https://sciencespies.com/space/russia-launches-nauka-module-to-international-space-station/

Russia launches Nauka module to International Space Station

EL PASO, Texas — Russia launched a long-delayed module for its segment of the International Space Station July 21, but that module reportedly suffered technical problems after reaching orbit.

A Proton-M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:58 a.m. Eastern carrying the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, or Nauka. The module separated from the rocket’s upper stage about nine and a half minutes after launch. Both Roscosmos and NASA said that Nauka deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas shortly after separation.

Neither agency has provided additional updates on the status of Nauka, but Russian industry sources, posting online, claimed that the module suffered several problems after reaching orbit. Those problems included the inability to confirm that an antenna and docking target deployed as expected, as well as issues with infrared sensors and thrusters. It wasn’t immediately clear how serious the problems were and if they would affect plans for docking.

Nauka, Russian for “science,” is the first module (excluding airlocks and docking adapters) added to the ISS since the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module in 2016. The module, 13 meters long and weighing more than 23,000 kilograms at launch, includes crew accommodations, attitude control systems for the station, research facilities and cargo stowage. Attached to the exterior of the station is the European Robotic Arm by the European Space Agency, a manipulator 11 meters long designed to service the Russian segment of the station.

Nauka will slowly approach the station, docking with the Zvezda module on July 29. It will take the place of the Pirs airlock module, added to the station in 2001. A Progress cargo spacecraft will remove Pirs from the station July 23 and later perform a destructive reentry.

Development of Nauka has followed a long, tortured path. Roscosmos originally proposed launching the module in 2007, but extensive technical issues pushed back the launch repeatedly, raising doubts that the module would ever launch. Those delays included problems with the module’s propulsion system that required its replacement.

The continued effort by Roscosmos to finish and launch Nauka, though, has given NASA leadership confidence that they intend to remain a part of the ISS program. Earlier this year Russian officials suggested they might end their participation on the ISS as soon as the mid-2020s to focus their resources on a Russian space station.

“I was quite concerned because of these comments that were coming out of Russia. Were they going to about-face and break the partnership we’ve had?” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a June 23 House Science Committee hearing. He said his concerned faded after several discussions with Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos.

He also cited the upcoming launch of Nauka. “Why would they be doing that and then, in just a few years, abandon it? It just didn’t make sense,” he said. “I think we’re going to see continued cooperation.”

The launch of Nauka came a few hours after astronauts relocated a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the ISS. Astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, Akihiko Hoshide and Thomas Pesquet boarded the spacecraft for the maneuver from one docking port on the Harmony module to another. The maneuver started at 6:45 a.m. Eastern with undocking from the forward docking port and ended with docking to the zenith docking port 50 minutes later.

The maneuver frees up the forward port on Harmony for the arrival of a Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at the station on an uncrewed test flight called Orbital Flight Test (OFT) 2. The forward docking port is easier for spacecraft to approach, hence the maneuver of the Crew-2 Crew Dragon spacecraft to open that port.

The OFT-2 mission is scheduled to launch July 30 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5. A flight readiness review to confirm that schedule will take place July 22.

#Space

[voluntaryinputpodcast]

Bigelow is the sole owner of Bigelow Aerospace – creator of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module used in space by NASA – and Budget Suites of America. He has spent $350 million on developing his aerospace company, which he called “my own real ...

[rblc]

Kész a NewSpace film fordítása (trivia)

És szerintem egész jó lett. (Leszámítva a fentebb csatolt szám fordítását, amit szerettem volna, ha eredetiben marad inzertként a filmben, de kérték, hogy fordítsam le. “Nem kell irodalmi műfordítás. Elég hozzávetőlegesen.”) Mindez számokban:

Hossz: 53 perc

Megszólalók száma: 60 (HATVAN!!! WÁÁÁÁ. Nem golyóztam be. Á!)

Fordítási idő: 22 óra

Ebből mondatok száma, amire darabonként egy-egy órát kellett szánnom: 5*

Mai alvásidő órákban: 3,5

Díjazás: ezt inkább nem merem leírni, mert  kellemetlen lenne, ha a Tesco árufeltöltők gyűjtést rendeznének nekem szánalomból :D (Én vállaltam. Nem bánom, mert időnként tényleg szeretem csinálni.)

*Amit megtanultam a fent jelzett egy-egy, pár másodperces mondat (kifejezés) sikeres értelmezéséhez és lefordításához:

Az ötvenes évek repülőmodell építésének amerikai szakkifejezéseit. 

A SpaceShip One törzsének kialakításánál használt innovatív megoldásokhoz szükséges MINDENT. Sőt, mindent IS. (Apropó, bámulatos, hogy magyarul szinte semmi nincs a neten róla. Mármint semmi olyan, amiben számomra hasznos infó lett volna.

Az X Prize által kötött biztosítási szerződés összes rendelkezését (az apróbetűs részt is beleértve)

A hole-in-one intézményét, és ezen keresztül a golf mint sport teljes kultúrtörténetét, beleértve az angolszász jogfejlődésre gyakorolt hatását

Tök véletlenül megtudtam, hogy Svédországban van a világ legnagyobb Naprendszer modellje (nem tudom, hogy hogy jutottam ide. Valahol félrekattintottam a wikipedián).

Leiterjakabok, amibe majdnem belefutottam

“What you’re looking at is the beam in its compressed form.“ 

Mivel fizikailag full értelmetlen volt, némi keresés után kiderült, hogy a Bigelow Expandable Activity Modul rövidítése. (Végül csak modul lett belőle.)

“Burt had seen at Edward’s that the X-15 had had a fatal accident.”

Valahogy éreztem, hogy nem Edikénél nézte a brutálbalesetet. Eltartott egy darabig, amíg meglett, hogy az egy légi bázis. (Oké, ez lehet, hogy alap. Én nem vagyok képben az amcsi hadászattal.)

“The unseasonably cold weather in Dixie is affecting even the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger.”

Na ezért szégyellem magam egy kicsit, de első körben simán Dixie-t írtam. :D Második esetben korrigáltam “délen”-re.

Leiterjakabok, amikbe belefutottam

Passz. :)

[spaceexp]

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of July 6, 2020

ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch. July 10, 2020 Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of July 6 that included research on the perception of movement in space, durable coatings for spacecraft, and the behavior of water droplets. Now in its 20th year of continuous human presence, the space station provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, once again launching astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil, increases the crew time available for science on the orbiting lab.

Image above: NASA astronaut Bob Behnken inside the Bigelow Expandable Aerospace Module (BEAM) during cargo activities in the inflatable space. Image Credit: NASA. Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place: Getting down moves in microgravity To control the movement and position of our bodies and evaluate distances between us and other things, humans combine what we see, feel, and hear with information about movement from the inner ear or vestibular system. The Effect of Long Duration Hypogravity on the Perception of Self-Motion (VECTION), an investigation by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), determines how microgravity may change this ability, which could significantly affect mission activities. The investigation also could help drivers, pilots, and robotic manipulators control vehicles in low-gravity environments. Researchers collect data during multiple time points during and after flight in order to examine how astronauts adapt to and recover from these effects. During the week, crew members set up hardware, performed sessions, and transferred data to investigators on the ground. Standing up to the space environment

Image above: A set of strips for the Space Test Program - H5 - Innovative Coatings Experiment (STP-H5-ICE) are visible attached to the space station’s ExPRESS (Expedite the Processing of Experiments to Space Station) Logistics Carriers. STP-H5-ICE exposes different paints and coatings to the space environment for approximately two years. Image Credit: NASA. Radiation and extreme temperatures in space can corrode the paint and coatings that protect spacecraft exteriors, potentially leading to damage of a spacecraft’s hull. Optical coatings provide specialized markings that enable robotic and human navigators to capture and repair spacecraft. Ground-based testing of coatings may not accurately represent the harsh environment of low-Earth orbit. The Space Test Program-H5-Innovative Coatings Experiment (STP-H5 ICE) exposes eight new and two reference coatings to the space environment for two years in order to determine stability and durability. Photographs taken once per quarter document the current state of the materials, and this week crew members took photos from the cupola and the JEM window. Better showers using less water

Image above: Comet Neowise is visible in the lower center of this image taken from the International Space Station as it orbited above the Mediterranean Sea in between Tunisia and Italy. Image Credit: NASA. Droplet Formation Studies in Microgravity (Droplet Formation Study) evaluates the size and speed of water droplets from Delta Faucet’s H2Okinetic shower head. Reduced-flow shower devices conserve water, but lower flow rates also reduce their effectiveness and can cause consumers to take longer showers, undermining the goal of using less water. Gravity’s full effects on formation of water droplet size are unknown, and research in microgravity could help improve the technology to create improved devices and conserve water and energy. During the week, crew members installed the investigation in the Microgravity Sciences Glovebox (MSG) in preparation for its future run. Other investigations on which the crew performed work: - Capillary forces, the interaction of a liquid with the solid sides of a narrow tube that acts to draw the fluid up the tube, act even in the absence of gravity. Capillary Driven Microfluidics examines capillary flow in small devices to improve understanding of how it works in microgravity. Microfluidic devices could be used to develop more portable, robust, and affordable medical diagnostic tools to protect the health of astronauts on future long-term missions. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7377 - When producing glass, metal alloys, or other materials on Earth, chemical reactions between raw materials and the container used to melt them can cause imperfections and contaminations. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) uses static electricity to cause the materials to float, eliminating the container so that behavior of the materials can be better understood. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1738 - Structure and Response of Spherical Diffusion Flames (s-Flame) studies the structure and dynamics of soot-free and sooty flames. Findings could contribute to development of engines with improved efficiency and reduced emissions on Earth. S-Flame is part of the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project, a series of independent studies of gaseous flames performed in the station’s Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR). https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2063 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1651 https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=317 - The Integrated Impact of Diet on Human Immune Response, the Gut Microbiota, and Nutritional Status During Adaptation to Spaceflight (Food Physiology) investigation documents the effects of dietary improvements on immune function and the gut microbiome and the ability of those improvements to support adaptation to spaceflight. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870

Space to Ground: Dragon's Den: 07/10/2020

Related links: Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html VECTION: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7484 STP-H5 ICE: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1749 Droplet Formation Study: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7541 Microgravity Sciences Glovebox (MSG): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=341 ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/ Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html Images (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Jack Griffin/John Love, Lead Increment Scientist Expedition 63. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

[themakersmovement]

ISS Bigelow Expandable Activity Module gets 3D printed radiation shields after passing space debris ... http://ift.tt/2qt5U2R

[for-all-mankind]

NanoRacks and Boeing team up to develop first commerical airlock for ISS.

To support the growing needs of commercial space companies aboard the International Space Station, NASA has approved a proposal by NanoRacks to develop and construct the laboratory’s first commercial airlock.

NanoRacks is one of the largest commercial space companies that send cubesats - miniature satellites often funded by small companies and academic institutions - to the space station for deployment. They will be working with Boeing to create the airlock, which is slated to arrive at the complex by late 2019. The airlock would not only deploy cubesats, but would also be able to host commercial external science payloads. Currently, Japan’s Kibo laboratory and Europe’s Columbus module can host externally-mounted science payloads and commercial payloads compete for space. By installing a commercial airlock, both government space agencies and commercial entities would be able to have increased science payloads aboard the space station. All science payloads on the ISS are determined and managed by CASIS - the  Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. CASIS will employ the same vetting procedures it currently has in place to select commercial payloads for use in this airlock. The exact placement of the airlock on the ISS has not yet been determined, though NASA said it will attach to an available port on the Tranquility node. Tranquility also has another historic commercial space payload attached to it, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, which launched in April 2016. P/C:NanoRacks/NASA

[ntrending]

Selling tickets to the space station is actually decades overdue

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/selling-tickets-to-the-space-station-is-actually-decades-overdue/

Selling tickets to the space station is actually decades overdue

The space station is open for business. (NASA/)

NASA announced last week that it would open the International Space Station up to new opportunities in the commercial sector, giving businesses the ability to send private astronauts into space for up to $35,000 a night. The move comes as part of a grander effort in U.S. space policy to hand the reins of low-Earth operations over to the commercial sector, as the agency devotes more time and resources to deep space ambitions of sending humans to the moon and Mars.

“We’re hoping new capabilities will develop that can one day take over for the space station,” Robyn Gatens, the deputy space station director for NASA, said at Friday’s announcement. “We won’t transition off station until we have something else to go to, so we don’t have a date certain.”

While the move makes it possible for private companies to use the ISS as a hotel for rich thrill-seekers, NASA is adamant that it is not making a foray into space tourism. Private companies—ones able to figure out their own launch service needs—can pay $11,250 a day per person for their crews to use life support systems and the station’s toilet, and $22,500 per day for access to food, medicine, and other supplies. NASA would even charge for power, at a rate of $42 per kilowatt-hour. But the agency contends that none of these charges are designed to make any real profit; they would simply help offset some of NASA’s costs.

While there weren’t any hints of the announcement beforehand, this is far from a surprising move. John Logsdon, a space policy expert at George Washington University, says the genesis of this decision goes back to 1983. President Reagan wanted NASA to establish a permanently crewed space station, and part of the administration’s sales pitch to Congress was that such a platform could open up opportunities to businesses interested in spaceflight, enabling “billions of dollars of economic activity in space.” Technically, says, Logsdon, this decision is 30 years overdue.

Freedom never came to fruition, and NASA folded its vision into the ISS—including the push to use such a platform to expand private-sector spaceflight. This was actually a selling point for the international community. “Commercial activities are part of the reason why the ISS’s partner countries chose to participate,” says Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz, professor emerita in space law at the University of Mississippi and editor in chief emerita for the Journal of Space Law. “One of the four major bodies of law contained in the ISS Intergovernmental Agreement covers intellectual property,” and the partner countries all signed on under hopes that the ISS could be used as a laboratory for innovation, including contributions from private companies.

According to Gabrynowicz, the IGA allows each ISS partner to select its own astronauts. Countries have always had the option of outsourcing those spots to private companies with their own candidates, as long as they have the consent of the other ISS partners. If NASA decided to rent out a couple astronaut beds to SpaceX, for instance, those SpaceX astronauts would be under the jurisdiction of the U.S., be governed under U.S. law, and required to follow the crew code of conduct required of anyone else on board. There wouldn’t even be any new rules or regulations to write.

The most significant change is in terms of implicit policy. The U.S. module is designated as a national laboratory. While there are already a number of significant commercial activities that occur there, everything revolves around research. With this new change, “you can do commercial marketing activities,” says Logsdon. Companies will not be allowed to establish sponsorship deals with ISS partners, nor will NASA astronauts be allowed to endorse products, but paying customers will be able to produce ads and commercials in space. “It’s allowing a broader range of activities aboard the station,” he says. (The potential for sponsored Instagram posts alone boggle the mind.)

Arguably, that’s just part of the natural evolution of the station. For much of this past decade, there have been discussions about what might succeed the ISS. With NASA currently working on the Gateway, an orbital space station designed to help facilitate a permanent return to the moon and deep space exploration efforts like the journey to Mars, the push to turn the ISS over to the private sector has grown in recent years. The Trump administration came into office expressly interested in giving businesses more opportunities to expand their presence in orbit, and used this as part of its argument to end federal funding for the ISS by 2025, as shown in internal White House documents leaked last year.

And as Logsdon points out, “underpinning all of this is a desire from NASA to stop paying for the station.” The agency spends more than $8 million a day on ISS operations.

Spaceflight is still incredibly expensive, and it will be up to private companies to generate actual revenue by marking up ticket prices. For example, a proposal by Robert Bigelow of Bigelow Space Operations calls for sending as many as 16 private astronauts to the space station next year for 30 to 60 days, at a whopping $52 million per seat aboard a SpaceX launch. (SpaceX, it should be noted, has yet to actually send an astronaut to the ISS.)

The spaceflight industry consistently insists that off-world activities such as mining and tourism could be worth trillions of dollars in the future. Access to the ISS gives companies a chance to take those estimates for a spin.

Written By Neel V. Patel

[sciencespies]

After 20 years in orbit, ISS is approaching retirement. Here's what might replace it

https://sciencespies.com/space/after-20-years-in-orbit-iss-is-approaching-retirement-heres-what-might-replace-it/

After 20 years in orbit, ISS is approaching retirement. Here's what might replace it

On Monday, the world celebrated 20 years of continuous human presence in space. Astronauts and cosmonauts have lived aboard the International Space Station without a break since 2 November 2000.

Over those 7,300 days, the US$150 billion orbiting laboratory has hosted 241 people from 19 countries, and more than 3,000 scientific experiments have been conducted there.

Still, all good things must come to an end. NASA has cleared ISS to fly until at least 2028, but the station is starting to show its age. At some point in the next 10 to 15 years, it’s likely that NASA will deorbit the station, crashing it into the southern Pacific Ocean.

But other habitable stations are expected to take its place – most of them designed and built by private companies.

Some of these companies, like Axiom Space and Bigelow Aerospace, hope to build on the ISS’s success by adding extensions to the station that could eventually be removed to orbit as their own habitats.

Others, like Blue Origin, want to build brand-new space accommodations so large and sophisticated that they could start to resemble life on Earth.

The ISS is getting old

The station has already outlived its life expectancy of 15 years. In the last few months alone, the station’s Russian side has seen a toilet go bust, an oxygen-supply system break down, and an air leak grow larger.

“All modules of the Russian segment are exhausted,” Gennady Padalka, a cosmonaut, told RIA Novosti in October.

A diagram of the International Space Station, including the Zvezda Service Module. (NASA)

These issues aren’t enough to compromise the station’s integrity for now, but are warning signs of deterioration.

“I think it’s an incredibly reliable and a robust system,” Kate Rubins, a NASA astronaut currently on the ISS, said during a press call last month.

But the prospect of the space station’s looming retirement already has private companies competing to develop worthy successors. 

Some companies will start by building attachments to the ISS

Axiom Space, a private aerospace company based in Houston, Texas, aims to build the first commercial space station. Founded in 2016, Axiom has already received a contract from NASA to build at least one new livable commercial module to add to the existing space station.

Then once the ISS retires, that module, along with any others that Axiom has added in the intervening years, would theoretically detach to become an independent orbital outpost.

Artist’s rendering of Axiom’s Earth Observatory, a section within its planned ISS module. (Axiom Space)

Another company with similar aspirations is Bigelow Aerospace, which was founded by real estate billionaire Robert Bigelow in 1999. The business has already sent a working prototype of its inflatable ISS module to space – the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, has been attached to the station since 2016. It’s currently used for storage.

But Bigelow is designing a new version of the habitat at its facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada, that is far bigger and more ambitious than the first. The latest model, called the B330, has 11,650 cubic feet of internal volume (330 cubic meters), hence its name. That’s roughly the size of an 1,165-square-foot apartment with 10-foot ceilings.

“Equipped with two galleys, two toilets, enormous cargo space, and two dissimilar propulsion systems, this is the ideal habitat for a long-duration space mission,” Bigelow said in a statement in September 2019.

“This large space station can accommodate four people indefinitely and five people for many months.”

Eventually, Bigelow hopes some version of the B330 could house astronauts journeying to Mars.

Yet another company, the Sierra Nevada Corporation, is working on a prototype of a three-story inflatable space habitat. Its design would enable it to either attach to the space station or serve as a lunar base.

Known as the Large Inflatable Fabric Environment, or LIFE, the facility might even feature a microgravity garden that could supply space travellers with fresh produce.

(Sierra Nevada Corporation)

Sierra Nevada’s senior vice president, Janet Kavandi, is also a retired NASA astronaut. She told Business Insider the inflatable habitat could serve multiple purposes in space, including as “a manufacturing facility, a hotel, which some people might be interested in, or an observatory.”

The eventual goal, she added, is “replacing the existing space station with a new capability.”

Blue Origin envisions ‘fundamentally different’ space habitats

While corporations like Bigelow and Axiom are using the ISS as a starting point for space habitats that could eventually become independent stations, others, like Blue Origin, are already working on standalone orbital habitats.

That company, owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, envisions habitats far roomier and more luxurious than the ISS.

A job posting from Blue Origin in September suggested that even its early stations would be “fundamentally different from ‘exploration’ habitats designed for small, professionally trained crews in deep space.”

Artist’s concept of an O’Neill space colony simulating Earth conditions in space. (Blue Origin)

In the long term, Bezos envisions massive habitats across the solar system that could house a space-based economy of millions of workers, allowing heavy industry to move off our planet. The environments inside these habitats would simulate Earth’s gravity and most ideal weather.

“This is Maui on its best day, all year long,” Bezos said in May 2019, according to The Guardian. “No rain. No earthquakes. People are going to want to live here.”

This article was originally published by Business Insider.

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[qtnhksaau]

Khách Sạn Ngoài Không Gian - Chuyện Lạ Sắp Trở Thành Hiện Thực?

Mới đây, một tỷ phú người Mỹ đã tiết l�� tham vọng xây dựng một khách sạn ngoài không gian với quy mô lớn gấp đôi Trạm Vũ trụ Quốc tế ISS (theo Business Insider). Nếu dự án “vô tiền khoáng hậu” này thành công trong tương lai thì ông Robert Bigelow, tỷ phú trong lĩnh vực khách sạn sẽ chính thức “vượt mặt” NASA để cho ra đời khách sạn đầu tiên trên thế giới nằm ngoài phạm vi Trái đất. Dự án này có thể sẽ bắt đầu thực hiện trong vòng 3 năm tới.

  Mới đây, một tỷ phú người Mỹ đã tiết lộ tham vọng xây dựng một khách sạn ngoài không gian với quy mô lớn gấp đôi Trạm Vũ trụ Quốc tế ISS (theo Business Insider). Nếu dự án “vô tiền khoáng hậu” này thành công trong tương lai thì ông Robert Bigelow, tỷ phú trong lĩnh vực khách sạn sẽ chính thức “vượt mặt” NASA để cho ra đời khách sạn đầu tiên trên thế giới nằm ngoài phạm vi Trái đất. Dự án này có thể sẽ bắt đầu thực hiện trong vòng 3 năm tới.

Tỷ phú Robert Bigelow, người nổi danh với chuỗi khách sạn Budget Suites of America vừa chính thức công bố tham vọng xây dựng một khách sạn ngoài không gian thông qua công ty dịch vụ không gian mới thành lập có tên Bigelow Space Opereations (BSO).

Vị tỷ phú “chịu chơi” này từng sáng lập công ty Bigelow Aerospace vào năm 1999 nhằm phát triển các sản phẩm phần cứng cho công nghệ không gian, bao gồm loại phòng có thể bơm hơi, gọi là Bigelow Expandable Activity Module và được NASA gắn vào trạm Vũ trụ Quốc tế vào năm 2016.

Chưa dừng lại ở đó, tỷ phú Bigelow giờ đây bày tỏ ham muốn xây dựng một trạm không gian khổng lồ để làm nơi cư trú cho những người yêu thích khám phá vũ trụ. Theo kế hoạch, vào đầu năm 2021, BSO sẽ phóng hai module bơm hơi có tên B330-1 và B330-2 vào không gian. Chúng sẽ kết hợp với nhau để tạo thành một khách sạn ngoài vũ trụ.

Mô hình trạm không gian hình thành từ hai module của BSO

Mục đích thương mại của công ty của Bigelow là muốn bán cho các quốc gia để làm thí nghiệm không gian trên quỹ đạo hoặc cho khách du lịch "đặt phòng" trên không gian. Dịch vụ này sẽ được triển khai ở quỹ đạo Trái Đất tầm thấp, khu vực 400km so với mực nước biển.

Nếu dự án này trở thành sự thực, đây sẽ là cấu trúc lớn và phức tạp nhất mà con người từng đưa vào quỹ đạo Trái đất. Bigelow Aerospace sẽ phát triển phần cứng, trong khi công ty dịch vụ không gian BSO sẽ đóng vai trò quảng bá dịch vụ.

Tham vọng lớn lao này lại một lần nữa đánh dấu bước ngoặt cho thời kỳ của các công ty vũ trụ tư nhân. Nhiều năm qua, NASA đã chuyển giao hàng loạt hoạt động chinh phục không gian cho các công ty tư nhân. Tổng thống đương nhiệm Donald Trump tiếp tục kêu gọi tư nhân hóa chương trình vũ trụ và đề nghị cắt giảm ngân quỹ của NASA xuống mức thấp nhất mọi thời đại. Thậm chí, ông Trump cũng từng gợi ý NASA rút khỏi các chương trình không gian toàn cầu sớm hơn 3 năm vào năm 2025.

Khách sạn vũ trụ gồm hai khoang, mỗi khoang có thể chứa 6 người

Với BSO, trạm không gian B330 mang trong mình đột phá về công nghệ. Với sức chứa 6 người, B330 sẽ di chuyển vào không gian ở trạng thái xẹp, trước khi được thổi phồng lên bằng khí sau khi vào quỹ đạo. Các tấm chắn dày màu trắng bao xung quanh module được cấu thành từ vật liệu đặc biệt giúp hấp thụ tia bức xạ và ngăn mảnh vụn trôi nổi trong không gian.

Hiện tại, BSO chưa thể ra giá chính thức cho những khách hàng tiềm năng muốn tận hưởng cảm giác ở khách sạn ngoài vũ trụ. Mức giá của BSO sẽ phụ thuộc vào cách tính giá của Tập đoàn Công nghệ Khai phá Không gian SpaceX khi đưa người lên khách sạn. Theo ước tính, mức giá sẽ thấp nhất là 7 con số và cao nhất là 8 con số. (NASA đang trả cho Nga 81 triệu USD cho mỗi phi hành gia lên và về từ ISS).

Tương tự, Nga đang có kế hoạch xây dựng khách sạn ngoài không gian dành cho giới siêu giàu

Với BSO, hy vọng trong tương lai gần nhất, chúng ta sẽ được nghỉ ngơi tại một khách sạn không gian và được thỏa thích ngắm nhìn vũ trụ chỉ cần thông qua lớp cửa kính khách sạn.

Ban đầu được đăng bởi:Cập nhật tin tức http://quantrinhahang.edu.vn March 01, 2018 at 10:45AM

[t0pnten-blog]

Video Of Advance Satellite Bigelow Expandable Activity Module

[businessmindstoday]

Space Station’s Expandable Habitat Gets Extended Mission The mission of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) on the International Space Station has been, well, expanded. After more than a year and a half on orbit providing performance data on expandable habitat technologies, NASA... Space Station's Expandable Habitat Gets Extended Mission