In Space Infrastructure, Living in Space, Space Settlement

Space habitat reports – Apr.21.2024

Here is this week’s selection of videos and news items about space habitats, living in space, and space settlement.

=== International Space Station & NASA

** Space Station Crew Talks with AccuWeather – Thursday, April 18, 2024 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Tracy Dyson of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview April 18 with Accuweather. Barratt and Dyson are in the midst of a long-duration mission aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

** Astronaut Matt Dominick Talks with University of San Diego – Friday, April 19, 2024 – NASA Video

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview April 19 with San Diego University. Dominick is in the midst of a long-duration mission aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.

 ** Other ISS news, articles, and resources:

** ESA astronaut class of 2022 graduation ceremony (Trailer) – European Space Agency, ESA

As they reach the end of one year of rigorous basic astronaut training, ESA astronaut candidates Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg will receive astronaut certification at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre on 22 April 2024.

The group was selected in November 2022 and began their training in April 2023.

Basic astronaut training provides the candidates with an overall familiarisation and training in various areas, such as spacecraft systems, spacewalking, flight engineering, robotics and life support systems, as well as survival and medical training.

Following certification, the new astronauts will move on to the next phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training, paving the way for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.

Join us for the graduation ceremony live on ESA Web TV on Monday 22 April from 10:00 – 11:30 CEST.

=== Commercial space habitats

** 2024 February – North Houston Space Society – Megan Yang – Building Axiom Station – Axiom Space Youtube – Axiom Space

Megan Yang, an engineer at Axiom, gate a talk in February about the design and construction of the Axiom commercial space station.

** Solenoid valves assembly – VAST Youtube –  VAST

Our solenoid valves are designed, manufactured, assembled, and tested in our Long Beach facility. These valves control gaseous oxygen and nitrox flow into Haven-1’s habitable space.

** Starlab – Voyager Space

This article about using space activities to market goods and services discusses a collaboration between Starlab  and Hilton: Brands in Space: What’s behind the rush to advertise in the final frontier?  | Marketplace – Apr.10.2024

NASA is assisting private companies in building commercial space stations like Voyager Space’s Starlab — a low-Earth orbital designed for astronauts to conduct scientific research in place of the ISS after its shutdown — which will be launched in 2028 at the earliest. Hilton partnered with Voyager Space to design the interior of the space station in hopes to make a more comfortable zero gravity environment.

“We’re looking at this through the lens of space tourism,” Hilton Senior Vice President of Global Design Larry Traxler said. “How do we elevate the stay?”

This isn’t the first time Hilton and Voyager Space partnered for a space stunt. In late 2019, the global hospitality company Nanoracks — most of which was acquired by Voyager Space the following year — and Zero G Kitchen, a food development company creating products for space, teamed up to bake a batch of the famous Doubletree cookies in the ISS. 

=== Other space habitat and settlement news, articles, events, etc:

** EarthSpace 2024 – EarthLight Foundation – A streamed event for Earth Day:  April 22, 2024 3:00 PM – 5:30 PM Eastern

Join some of the planet’s top experts as we discuss topics vital to both saving the Earth and expanding life into the cosmos. EarthSpace 2024 is a unique event, built on the idea that opening the High Frontier must be done differently than any frontier in the past.

Contrary to some who cast the space revolution as a wasteful escapist extravaganza, EarthSpace helps begin a new conversation. A conversation about how we not only can open the High Frontier responsibly and sustainably, but that we must, to help save the MotherWorld of Earth.

Starting with a new philosophy – that this time, for the first time, as humans move into a new frontier, we do so based on an ethos that comes from our love of life and respect for our environment, rather than leaving a path of destruction and waste in our wake.

** NSS Gerard K. O’Neill Space Settlement Contest 

The National Space Society’s

annual space settlement contest invites students to design an orbital space habitat. The contest, open for 6-12th grade students, was sponsored by the NASA Ames Research Center from 1994-2018 in conjunction with the National Space Society and since then is being sponsored by NSS. The single highest scoring team or individual attending ISDC will receive the Herman Rubin Award for $5,000.

The contest this year received 5,200 entries from over 29,000 students, whoc came from 28 countries. The 2024 contest winners and finalists are listed here.

Here is a video from 2022 about the contest:

=== Earth views from ISS

** Highlight: USA KY NC ARISS – Apr 18 2024 13:53 EDT – ISS Above

During this pass, NASA Astonaut Jeanette Epps was speaking with Mountain View Elementary Murietta GA students via a direct ARISS ham radio downlink event.

NASA EHDC6 Live views of the Earth from the International Space Station

**  Highlight: NM -ABQ – Apr 4, 2024 – 11:46 MDT – ISS Above

** Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) – NASA

Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed.

The space station orbits Earth about 250 miles (425 kilometers) above the surface. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the station, and it has been continuously occupied since November 2000. It’s a microgravity laboratory where science, research, and human innovation make way for new technologies and research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. More: https://go.nasa.gov/3CkVtC8

Did you know you can spot the station without a telescope? It looks like a fast-moving star, but you have to know when to look up. Sign up for text messages or email alerts to let you know when (and where) to spot the station and wave to the crew: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov

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ISS after undocking of STS-132

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Outpost in Orbit:
A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station