Here is this week’s selection of videos, articles, and news items concerning space habitats (govt and commercial), living in space, and space settlement.
=== International Space Station & NASA
** Space to Ground: Sunita in Charge: Sept. 20, 2024 – NASA Johnson
** NASA’s Starliner astronauts talk about watching their ride leave ISS without them – VideoFromSpace
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore talk about Starliner’s return trip and requesting an absentee ballot for the US election in November. Watch Starliner land: https://www.space.com/boeing-starline…
** Tracy C. Dyson Powers Space Station Research – NASA Johnson
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is returning home after a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. While on orbit, Dyson conducted an array of experiments and technology demonstrations that contribute to advancements for humanity on Earth and the agency’s trajectory to the Moon and Mars. Here is a look at some of the science Dyson conducted during her mission: https://go.nasa.gov/4euV5kt
** NASA Aatronaut Discusses Life in Space with KCRA-TV, Sacramento – NASA Video
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview Sept. 20 with KCRA-TV. Dyson 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.
=== Commercial space habitats
** Updates on NASA’s transition from ISS to commercial space stations – Laura Forczyk
The International Space Station will soon be deorbited, and NASA is preparing to rely on commercial space stations, or commercial LEO destinations. In today’s NASA Advisory Council’s Human Exploration and Operations Committee meeting, NASA gave various updates on avoiding a gap in LEO, salvaging ISS items, the ISS deorbit timeline, the future of NASA microgravity research, and more.
** Axiom Space
— Axiom runs into financial turbulence: A key NASA commercial partner faces severe financial challenges | Ars Technica – Sept.17.2024
Axiom Space is facing significant financial headwinds as the company attempts to deliver on two key commercial programs for NASA—the development of a private space station in low-Earth orbit and spacesuits that could one day be worn by astronauts on the Moon.
Forbes reports that Axiom Space, which was founded by billionaire Kam Ghaffarian and NASA executive Mike Suffredini in 2016, has been struggling to raise money to keep its doors open and has had difficulties meeting its payroll dating back to at least early 2023. In addition, the Houston-based company has fallen behind on payments to key suppliers, including Thales Alenia Space for its space station and SpaceX for crewed launches.
— Progress on construction of Axiom’s first space habitat:
Axiom Station’s Habitat One pressure vessel nears completion! @Thales_Alenia_S has welded the Axial Bulkhead to the Cone Panel and is moving toward quality inspection. With this, only three more welds remain until the pressure vessel is complete and Hab One is prepared for… pic.twitter.com/wHrkVFDEaU
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) August 29, 2024
— Spacious habitat interiors:
The @Axiom_Space Station crew quarters will be about 20% bigger than the ones currently on Space Station, and unlike current quarters, each one will have a window. pic.twitter.com/eUqxT39GE1
— Michael L-A (@CommanderMLA) September 17, 2024
** Sierra Space
–— Sierra updates NASA on progress with the projects (unfunded) carried out under the Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 initiative (CCSC-2) :
On Sept. 11, we hosted NASA at our Eldorado campus for Milestone 5 of our Interim Design Review under CCSC-2, part of our NASA Space Act Agreement, where we summarized our Pathfinder mission and introduced our route to launch. pic.twitter.com/KKrArvUAYs
— Sierra Space (@SierraSpaceCo) September 20, 2024
Sierra’s CCSC-2 activities were described by NASA as follows:
Sierra Space is collaborating with NASA for the development of the company’s commercial low Earth orbit ecosystem, including next-generation space transportation, in-space infrastructure, and expandable and tailorable space facilities providing a human presence in low Earth orbit.
— Lunar oxygen production system demonstrated: Sierra Space Unveils Breakthrough Technology Designed to Extract Oxygen from Lunar Soil, Enabling Sustainable Human Presence on the Moon | Sierra Space – Sept.17.2024
Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime that is Building a Platform in Space to Benefit Life on Earth®, announced today the company’s proprietary Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, heralding the first time in history that oxygen has been extracted from simulated lunar soil, or regolith, using an automated, standalone system in a lunar environment. The technology, when scaled up, is designed to produce oxygen in bulk to support one of the primary objectives of NASA’s Artemis program: establishing the first long-term presence on the moon.
“The Apollo program took us to the moon to study and learn. Artemis is taking us back to the moon, this time to stay,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space. “Our company is focused on building the infrastructure necessary to enable continuous human presence on the lunar surface. This sustainable future begins with developing the core technology and systems that create oxygen in that environment, using local natural resources.”
Sierra Space test engineers spent two weeks in August operating the company’s oxygen extraction system inside a thermal vacuum chamber at Johnson, working with lunar regolith simulant in an environment the hardware would recognize as similar to the water-ice-laden south pole region of the moon. Under lunar temperatures and pressures, the Sierra Space system executed all of the regolith handling steps and performed the carbothermal reduction reaction that extracts oxygen from minerals in the regolith simulant.
This disruptive innovation, a system developed at Sierra Space’s facilities in Madison, Wisconsin, represents a major leap forward in enabling long-term human habitation on the moon and future space exploration endeavors. …
We’ve successfully completed thermal vacuum testing of our Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor at @NASA_Johnson, marking the first extraction of oxygen from simulated lunar soil (regolith) using an automated, standalone system in a lunar environment.https://t.co/CFkkVpim5D pic.twitter.com/lcWqDuHJu2
— Sierra Space (@SierraSpaceCo) September 17, 2024
** VAST
— Interview with VAST CEO Max Haot:
Vast CEO, @maxhaot, spoke with @washingtonpost’s @wapodavenport about the future of the ISS and Vast’s role in creating the first commercial space station at the @USChamber 2024 Global Aerospace Summit. As NASA plans the ISS’s retirement, we’re excited to partner with innovators… pic.twitter.com/dSWzqWY4TB
— VΛST (@vast) September 12, 2024
— SpaceX Polaris Dawn spacewalk! See the first-ever private egress from crew – VideoFromSpace
SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission conducted the first-ever private spacewalk on Sept. 12, 2024. Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-polaris-…
During the spacewalk (also known as an extravehicular activity, or EVA), Polaris Dawn crewmembers Jared Isaacman (seen here) and Sarah Gillis exited their fully depressurized Crew Dragon spacecraft in specially-designed SpaceX spacesuits.
— SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew’s on-orbit event! Experiments explained + spacewalk time-lapse – VideoFromSpace
The Polaris Dawn crew Jared Isaacman, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon explain the experiments conducted during the mission. Also, see a time-lapse of Isaacman’s spacewalk.
=== Chinese space habitats
** Chinese astronauts conduct experiments and more on Tiangong space station – VideoFromSpace
=== Lunar habitation
** Lunar Development Conference Videos | The Moon Society
A selection of videos of presentations and panel discussions at the Moon Society‘s recent online conference has been posted. For example:
** Explore NASA’s lunar orbital Gateway habitat with 3D app: Gateway Space Station in 3D | NASA – Sept.11.2024
=== Space habitat technologies
** TESSERAE: Self-Assembling Prototypes — Aurelia Institute
Artist’s animation of a futuristic TESSERAE habitat that self-assembles in orbit, forms a multi-module space station, and can also be transported to the surface. Based on the real-life research project out of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative and Dr. Ariel Ekblaw’s PhD Thesis. To learn more: tesserae.arielekblaw.com
TESSERAE (Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments). The name and nature of the structure hearken to the small, colored tiles used in Roman mosaics, where many standard pieces, or “tesserae,” interlock to create the image. We make this reference to ancient history, while designing an artifact of our space exploration future, to tie architectural elements together across scales and across millennia.
Rendering courtesy of TU Dortmund Fraunhofer Institute as part of a collaboration with MIT Media Lab SEI. Collaborator credit: Aswin Karthik Ramachandran Venkatapathy. Artist credit: David Knozowski.
** Metal 3-D Printing in microgravity:
Great news from the @Space_Station! @ESA’s 3D printer, developed by Airbus, has successfully printed its first metal part in space.
Learn more about this breakthrough achievement: https://t.co/LUYkjcVLn1 pic.twitter.com/nmMe4TrkuR— Airbus Space (@AirbusSpace) September 6, 2024
See also: Metal Part 3D Printed in Space for the First Time | Universe Today – Sept.19.2024
=== Other space habitat and settlement news and articles:
- Calendar:
- China and India’s Beyond Earth Human Spaceflight Programs: A Space Race By Any Other Name? – Wed., Sept. 25, 12:00-1:30pm (ET) – Beyond Earth Institute
- “…webinar moderated by Beyond Earth’s Executive Vice President, Courtney Stadd, where subject experts will discuss the aggressive human spaceflight initiatives of China and India. These emerging space powers are challenging the long-held assumption that the U.S. will continue to lead in the development of beyond earth in-space human communities. The discussion will focus on the current status of these nations’ efforts toward permanent occupation of Earth orbit and beyond, the motivations behind their ambitious programs, and the broader geopolitical implications of their advancements. This event is designed to inform our audience about the dynamic changes in the global space landscape, without advocating for or against these developments.“
- Beyond Earth Symposium 2024 – Nov. 12-13, 2024, American University Washington College of Law, Washington DC.
- “The acceleration of space innovations that will enable space migration is outpacing public policy and international law regimes. Beyond Earth Institute’s mission is to create a policy and legal framework to support the robust development of an in-space economy and the expansion of human civilization beyond Earth. At the Beyond Earth Symposium 2024, we will wrestle with the critical current issues of the day and delve into the bleeding edge issues that must be moved to the center of international debate. What we do in a post-ISS era is an urgent, immediate concern. Policies that can foster the creation of a lunar-based economy are equally important.“
- China and India’s Beyond Earth Human Spaceflight Programs: A Space Race By Any Other Name? – Wed., Sept. 25, 12:00-1:30pm (ET) – Beyond Earth Institute
- Humans Now in Earth Orbit: How Many? | Leonard David – Sept.11.2024
- Two private astronauts took a spacewalk Thursday morning—yes, it was historic | Ars Technica – Sept.12.2024
- ISS:
- Space Science Advancing Health as Two Crews Near Station Departure | Space Station/NASA Blogs – Sept.17.2024
- Trio Nears Departure During Biology Research, Spacesuit, and Cargo Work | Space Station/NASA Blogs – Sept.16.2024
- Astronauts Rest After Starliner Lands; Soyuz Crew Nears Launch | Space Station/NASA Blogs – Sept.9.2024
- Amateur Radio on ISS (ARISS)
- General settlement topics:
- Behind the scenes of the first metal part to be 3D-printed aboard the ISS | Airbus – Sept.6.2024
- Proceedings of the 1st Space Visions Symposium, Cocoa, FL May 2-3, 2024 – Examples:
- Petition to Recycle the ISS (pdf) Author: G. Vialle
- Exploration vs Settlement in Space (pdf) Author: Andrew W. V. Clark
- Economic Imperative of Space Exploration and Settlement (pdf) March 2020 Author: George R. Tyson
- SpaceX and Elon Needs About $10 Trillion to Spend $2-3 Trillion for the Mars City Program | NextBigFuture.com – Sept.10.2024
- Using A Space Elevator To Get Resources Off the Queen of the Asteroid Belt | Universe Today – Sept.9.2024
- Resources:
=== Earth views from ISS
** Highlight: Soyuz MS-26 19:19z Sep 11 2024 – ISS Above
NASA EHDC6 Live views of the Earth from the International Space Station
** Highlight: Brazil – Aug 31 2024 10:03 BRT – 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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