Human Spaceflight
What medicines should we take to Mars?
Mars has garnered a bunch of headlines recently with the arrival of the first probes from the United Arab Emirates and China in orbit around the planet, along with the arrival of NASA’s Perseverance rover mere days later. It also was a hot topic previously when NASA revealed it had discovered water on the Red …
Getting to sleep in space is hard – and not exactly restful for the mind and body
We’ve learned a lot about the effects on the human body of going into space by studying astronauts such as British astronaut Tim Peake, who spent six months aboard the International Space Station during 2015 and 2016. Muscles wither, bones become lighter just as they do during the process of ageing and the cardiovascular system …
Preparing for surgeries in space and on Mars
Last year, it was reported that an astronaut in space had developed a potentially life-threatening blood clot in the neck. This was successfully treated with medication by doctors on Earth, avoiding surgery. But given that space agencies and private spaceflight companies have committed to landing humans on Mars in the coming decades, we may not …
Five things that happen to your body in space
Tim Peake is the first official British astronaut to walk in space. The former Army Air Corps officer has spent six months in space, after blasting off on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station on December 15, 2016, but the spacewalk doubtless was his most gruelling test. But what exactly did he …
Meet the Astronauts for the Crew-1 Mission
When SpaceX launches the Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft atop it from historic Launch Complex 39A, the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) will finally have reached fruition. Aboard Resilience will be three NASA astronauts and one JAXA astronaut, all heading to the International Space Station for a six-month stay at the orbiting …
Crew Dragon and Falcon 9: The newest way to get to the ISS
It has been a long road from concept to flight for the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) culminating in the successful launch of the Demo 2 flight which launched May 30, 2020. SpaceX now begins fulfilling its contract with NASA taking astronauts to the International Space Station and returning them home safely with the launch of …
From cell phones to spacecraft – touchscreens are taking over UI
As SpaceX prepares to launch NASA’s Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon spacecraft has already distinguished itself from prior generations of space capsules. Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley set off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020, and reached the ISS with no complications while testing out new features …
What the ISS has taught us about living in space
November 2 marked 20 years since the first residents arrived on the International Space Station (ISS). The orbiting habitat has been continuously occupied ever since. Twenty straight years of life in space makes the ISS the ideal “natural laboratory” to understand how societies function beyond Earth. The ISS is a collaboration between 25 space agencies …
Have you got what it takes to become an astronaut?
Millions of people watched breathlessly as astronauts for the first time successfully travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) in a privately funded spacecraft, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, on May 30. The historic launch, which marks a new chapter in human spaceflight, is likely to lead to renewed interest in spaceflight. …
SpaceX Crew Dragon pinpoints first-ever splashdown in Gulf of Mexico
After two action-packed months in Earth orbit two NASA astronauts splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico today, Sunday, Aug. 2, inside their SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship on the history-making first human spaceflight launch from US soil in nine years and the first-ever commercially built and operated human space mission. Returning from the International …