2. Tuesday, Mar. 7, 2023; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): Dr. Alan Hale returns regarding comments, astronomy and much more. Alan co-discovered the Hale-Bopp comet.
3. Hotel Mars – Wednesday, Mar. 8, 2023; 1:00 pm PST (3:00 pm CST, 4:00 pm EST): TBD. Check the Upcoming Show Menu at www.thespaceshow.com for updates on scheduling.
4. Friday, Mar.10, 2023; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome Fabian Alefeld on the economics of space and the tech fueling it. Fabian is with Additive Minds and hosts the EOS podcast.
5. Sunday, Mar.12, 2023; 12-1:30 pm PST (2-3:30 pm CST, 3-4:30 pm EST): Open Lines program. Call and let us know what is on your mind. Call 866-687-7223
Some recent shows:
** Sunday, Mar.6.2023 – Dr. Ajay Kothari discussed “his perspective on the need for all of us to be in space, engage in commerce, science, all of it“.
** Tuesday, Feb.28.2023 – Dr. Namrata Goswami provided a “detailed look at China and their comprehensive quest for power including space power, America’s response and leadership concerns, lunar development and return, technology, AI, robotics, 3 D printing and much more“.
the Russian space station plans for 2027. In addition, we talked about U.S. commercial stations, the use of LEO and competition in LEO, Russia’s focus on a polar orbit and why for its station, the commercial station science park model, government subsidies and what that might do to support or hinder commercial station growth and commerce.
[e]volution of commercial launch and satellite industry, transformational changes, volume to orbit, mass, fairing size makes a difference, commercial space stations, BLEO commercial applications in cislunar, space hotel economics and more.
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Flight Day 2 Highlights – NASA Video
NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev docked to the zenith port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station March 3 following a launch the day before on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Following docking, the quartet opened the hatch and floated onboard the orbital outpost before providing welcoming remarks as their mission aboard the space station began. The four crew members will conduct a long-duration science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.
** Expedition 68 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Talks with Media Before Station Departure – March 1, 2023 – NASA Video
Aboard the International Space Station NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina answered questions and gave remarks about their mission during a news conference March 1. The Crew-5 astronauts have been aboard the space station since October and will return to Earth via a parachute assisted splashdown this month. The four crew members have been living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.
** Expedition 68 Uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 International Space Station Docking – February 26, 2023 – NASA Video
An uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft docked to the Poisk module of the International Space Station on Feb. 25 after launching atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Feb. 23. Soyuz MS-23 launched to replace the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio launched on last September that incurred a coolant loop leak in December.
Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Minerva”. This timelapse was recorded looking aft (out from the rear) of the Space Station, showing the aurora shimmering away beyond the horizon.
** China recruits six more astronauts for ‘space missions in 2023’ – VideoFromSpace
China has recruited 6 astronauts for missions to the Tiangong space station in 2023. See Chinese astronauts conduct underwater training for spacewalks and more here.
China has successfully lit a fire for the first time in a combustion test on board its orbiting space station, marking a new milestone that lights the way for studying how fire behaves in microgravity.
The very first ball of flame was ignited on Feb. 16 aboard Mengtian, one of the two lab modules that make up the basic T-shaped structure of the space station along with the core module, with camera footage capturing the stunning and rarely-seen image in an environment where gravity loses its grip on materials of all forms.
The Shenzhou-15 astronaut trio on board the orbiting Chinese Tiangong space station have concluded their second spacewalk after completing half of their six-month journey in orbit, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
According to Zhou, CMS has outlined the future mode of station expansion.
“We could develop it to a six-module configuration with a total weight of about 180 tons,” he said. Furthermore, the chief designer said that the designed life of the station is ten years, but could be expanded to 15, 20 or even 30 years. “This is a big challenge, not just expansion, but technology upgrades as well,” Zhou said.
In the foreseeable future, Zhou said, “we will send the Chinese to step on the Moon. We will explore how human beings can use the resources on the Moon and how to live on the moon for a long period and get ready for manned deep space exploration,” he said.
Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!
** What’s Up: March 2023 Skywatching Tips from NASA – NASA JPL
What are some skywatching highlights in March 2023?
Following their close approach in the sky on March 1, Venus and Jupiter go their separate ways. Venus climbs higher each evening, while Jupiter exists the morning sky at month’s end. And those with binoculars of a small telescope can seek out dwarf planet Ceres, which is at its brightest this month.
0:00 Intro 0:13 Moon & planet highlights 0:59 Dwarf planet Ceres at opposition 3:20 March Moon phases
Additional information about topics covered in this episode of What’s Up, along with still images from the video, and the video transcript, are available at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatch….
In March, the stars of spring lie eastward: Look for the constellations Gemini and Cancer to spot interesting celestial features like star clusters M35 and the Beehive Cluster, and NGC 3923, an oblong elliptical galaxy with an interesting ripple pattern. Keep watching for space-based views of the galaxies.
Astronomers Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel reveal their pick of March’s night-sky highlights, including the 1st March Venus and Jupiter conjunction, dwarf planet Ceres at opposition, conjunctions with the Moon, and stars Castor and Pollux.
Our monthly Sky Tour #astronomy #podcast provides an informative and entertaining 10-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky. Listen to the March episode and mark the #equinox, watch a spectacular pairing of #Jupiter and #Venus, spent some time with #Orion, and learn what #Sirius has to do with hot #summers.
Listen and subscribe to this podcast at https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/ and don’t forget to subscribe to S&T’s YouTube channel to get alerts about new videos, including this monthly podcast.
1. Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): We welcome back Dr. Namrata Goswami on national security space, China and more.
2. Hotel Mars – Wednesday, Mar. 1, 2023; 1:00 pm PST (3:00 pm CST, 4:00 pm EST): Eric Berger will give John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston an update on Starship and other matters of importance, urgency, and interest.
3. Friday, Mar.3, 2023; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): Laura Montgomery returns with news and updates for commercial space plans and more for 2023.
4. Sunday, Mar.5, 2023; 12-1:30 pm PST (2-3:30 pm CST, 3-4:30 pm EST): We welcome back Dr. Ajay Kothari to explain why space is so important and valuable to us all plus more
the Russian space station plans for 2027. In addition, we talked about U.S. commercial stations, the use of LEO and competition in LEO, Russia’s focus on a polar orbit and why for its station, the commercial station science park model, government subsidies and what that might do to support or hinder commercial station growth and commerce.
Evolution of commercial launch and satellite industry, transformational changes, volume to orbit, mass, fairing size makes a difference, commercial space stations, BLEO commercial applications in cislunar, space hotel economics and more.
joined us to discuss in detail his book Critical Mass [Amazon commission link]. plus he often referred to his earlier book Delta-v [Amazon commission link]. We discussed the ideas, methodology and science fiction used in Critical Mass plus Daniel talked about why going into space was so important.
** Sunday, Feb.12.2023 – An Open Lines program covered multiple topics including “SpaceX, Starship, timeline for Musk to Mars, the spy balloons appearing over the U.S. and Canada plus a few other prime topics“.
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Mission to the Space Station (Official Trailer) – NASA
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 1:45 a.m. EST Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station.
The four Crew-6 crewmates – Commander Stephen Bowen, Pilot Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Mission Specialist UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Mission Specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev – will dock the Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, to the forward port on the space station’s Harmony module about 23 hours after liftoff.
Crew-6’s science mission includes cutting edge research aimed at keeping astronauts and spacecraft safe during deep space exploration, and studies that could lead to improved medical treatments for humans back on Earth. Experiments will include studies of how particular materials burn in microgravity, tissue chip research on heart, brain, and cartilage functions, and an investigation that will collect microbial samples from the outside of the space station. These are just some of the more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations that will take place during their mission.
You can watch the launch live on NASA TV, NASA.gov, the NASA app, and on social media (@NASA).
NASA’s investment in low-Earth orbit has launched a commercial economy in space. See how the private sector will expand the economic sphere with commercial cargo to space, commercial spaceflights, and commercial destinations in orbit, and how it will enable NASA to be one of many customers and advance human space exploration.
** Expedition 68 Astronaut Nicole Mann Talks with ESPN’s “Laughter Permitted” Podcast – Feb. 23, 2023 – VideoFromSpace
NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann talks with ESPN’s “Laughter Permitted” podcast live from the International Space Station’s Destiny Laboratory on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Join NASA as we go forward to the Moon and on to Mars — discover the latest on Earth, the Solar System and beyond with a weekly update in your inbox.
** NLRA 2023-6: In-space Production Applications: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing –ISS National Lab – YouTube
This webinar – held on February 23, 2023 – provided information of interest to offerors for NLRA 2023-6: In-space Production Applications: Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. The webinar offered details regarding the scope of the NLRA as well as the timeline, processes, and procedures for submitting proposals.
** Haircuts in space are team effort aboard Chinese space station – VideoFromSpace
See Chinese astronauts give hair cuts to one another aboard the Tiangong space station. A barber’s tools in space are a combination of trimmers and a vacuum cleaner. Watch more How-tos in space: https://videos.space.com/p/EoYEzhMC
Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!
