Tag

Space Station

All articles tagged with #space station

space-history5 days ago•16 min saved

From Brick Moon to the Habitation Wheel: The Dawn of Rotating Space Stations

From Edward Hale’s 1869 Brick Moon—an imagined 200‑foot brick satellite launched with people aboard—to Noordung’s 1929 Wohnrad and von Braun’s mid‑century wheel concept popularized by Collier’s and Disney, the article traces how early science fiction and theory shaped ideas for rotating habitats, the physics of artificial gravity (requiring large rings for Earth gravity and introducing Coriolis effects), and why real stations have not relied on spin for gravity.

via Hackaday|

#artificial-gravity #brick-moon #noordung

world1 month ago•192 min saved

Eight-month US-Russian ISS mission ends with safe Kazakhstan landing

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev landed safely in Kazakhstan after a 241-day mission on the International Space Station, marking Williams’ and Mikaev’s first spaceflight and Kud-Sverchkov’s second as the US and Russia continue cooperative space exploration despite geopolitical tensions from the Ukraine conflict.

via CNN|

#iss #nasa #roscosmos

space1 month ago•12 min saved

Skylab ends a six-year orbit as debris in Western Australia becomes museums and a rain-catching keepsake

Skylab, NASA’s first space station, cost roughly $2.2 billion, hosted nine astronauts on three missions for a combined 171 days, and spent just over six years in orbit before re-entering in July 1979. Debris scattered over Western Australia, with pieces ending up in museums, private collections, and even a rain-catching trough made from an oxygen-tank lid. The project demonstrated long-duration spaceflight, orbital maintenance, and helped lay groundwork for later programs like Shuttle–Mir and the International Space Station.

via Space Daily|

#nasa #reentry #skylab

science1 month ago•7 min saved

Hand-Driven Lifeline: How Salyut 7 Was Revived in Orbit

In 1985, the Soviet space station Salyut 7 went silent after an electrical cascade killed power and froze its systems; four months later, cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh manually docked with the dead station, entered with gas masks and flashlights, and revived it with improvised wiring and a reoriented solar array, restoring power and life support within weeks—an enduring milestone in in-space repair.

via Space Daily|

#cosmonauts #in-space-repair #manual-docking

space-exploration1 month ago•96 min saved

China plans six-module Tiangong expansion with Xuntian space telescope

China aims to expand its Tiangong space station from three to six modules, adding a 20-ton multifunctional module and two new experiment modules to form a double-T shape, with the bus-sized Xuntian space observatory slated for 2027 to dock with Tiangong. The expansion addresses growing research needs and more frequent crew/cargo missions, while NASA plans to deorbit the ISS around 2030–2031, potentially leaving Tiangong as the largest permanent orbital outpost.

via Space|

#china #iss-deorbit #space-exploration

space2 months ago•14 min saved

ISS standoff: NASA-Roscosmos clash over a saw amid ongoing leak

Five astronauts shelter in the SpaceX Crew Dragon after a leak in the PrK transfer tunnel prompts an evacuation-safe haven order. NASA argued that a planned bracket-cutting to inspect a suspected leak was too aggressive for an active pressure boundary, and Roscosmos paused the work, allowing the crew to return to the ISS while the crack remains unsealed. The leak, ongoing since 2019, has fluctuated and approached about two pounds of air lost per day. The episode highlights ongoing differences in engineering culture and risk tolerance between NASA and Roscosmos as the aging ISS continues operation toward 2030–2031 with shared-module contingencies.

via Space Daily|

#iss #leak #nasa

space2 months ago•2 min saved

ISS Crew Goes on Evacuation Standby as Air Leaks Persist

NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station were ordered to shelter in their SpaceX Crew Dragon and be ready to evacuate after air leaks in the Russian segment doubled to about two pounds per day; Russian cosmonauts worked to diagnose and repair a leak in a service tunnel between the Zvezda module and a docking module, with airtight doors allowing the tunnel to be isolated. Although repairs enabled a return to normal operation, the crew remains at risk of losing breathable air while orbiting Earth.

via Jalopnik|

#air-leaks #evacuation #iss

space2 months ago•6 min saved

ISS Leak Forces Lifeboat Shelter as Russian Repairs Unfold

Five Crew-12 members took shelter in SpaceX's Crew Dragon while Russian cosmonauts worked on persistent air leaks in the PrK transfer tunnel of the International Space Station; Roscosmos sealed two potential leak sites and prepared further fixes, with NASA and Roscosmos pausing the repair to take measurements. After about 90 minutes, mission control allowed the crew to reopen hatches and return to the station, as officials stressed a collaborative effort to address the leaks and indicated no threat to crew safety.

via Ars Technica|

#air-leak #nasa #roscosmos

science2 months ago•35 min saved

China’s trio of astronauts return from record-long space mission

Three Chinese astronauts landed back on Earth after a nearly seven-month stay aboard the Tiangong space station, marking the longest crewed mission for China and a milestone in its ongoing space program.

via Yahoo|

#astronauts #china #science

sciencespace3 months ago•2 min saved

China Tests Stem-Cell Embryos in Orbit to Assess Space Reproduction Feasibility

China conducted an on-orbit study aboard the Tiangong station using artificial embryos made from human stem cells to examine early development in microgravity. The two embryo models (one simulating uterine attachment and another using a microfluidic chip to mimic tissue formation) were cultured for about five days on the Tianzhou-10 supply ship, then frozen and returned to Earth for analysis, with Earth-based controls for comparison. The goal is to understand potential risks to human reproduction during long-term space habitation, not to create real babies in space.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #china #reproduction

science3 months ago•5 min saved

ISS 2025 Highlights: Robotic Surgery, Bioprinted Bones, and Space-Ready Batteries

NASA's 2025 ISS Highlights show 750+ investigations advancing life in space, Earth benefits, and future Moon/Mars exploration, including a microgravity robotic surgery demo, magnetic-levitation bioprinted bone grafts, melanin-enhanced shielding materials, long-duration space battery tests with minimal degradation, and studies of post-flight piloting performance, reflecting global collaboration and thousands of publications.

via NASA (.gov)|

#batteries #bioprinting #materials-science

space3 months ago•5 min saved

ISS Faces Fresh Leak From Russian Module, Reigniting Talks on Its Future

NASA confirmed renewed atmospheric leakage from the Russian PrK transfer tunnel of the International Space Station, at about one pound per day, after a period of stability. There are no crew impacts, but the reoccurrence complicates plans for maintaining ISS operations into the 2030s (or beyond) and intensifies debate over extending the station’s life versus transitioning to private commercial platforms, with NASA and Roscosmos coordinating on next steps.

via Ars Technica|

#iss #leak #nasa

space3 months ago•4 min saved

Catch a Glimpse of the ISS: When and Where to Look Up

The International Space Station orbits Earth about every 90 minutes and is often visible at dawn or dusk when it reflects sunlight. It can be seen with the naked eye (binoculars help) as a bright, fast-moving point across the sky. For precise times and locations of passes, use NASA's Spot the Station app or the European Space Agency's online tracker. The ISS is a bright marker in the night sky and continues to host astronauts and international research.

via USA Today|

#astronomy #iss #skywatch

science5 months ago•3 min saved

In-Flight Illness on ISS Stumps NASA; Cause Still Unknown

NASA says astronaut Mike Fincke suddenly fell ill aboard the International Space Station during dinner on Jan. 7, could not speak, and although doctors ruled out a heart attack or choking, the cause remains unknown after extensive testing. The 20-minute episode prompted NASA’s first medical evacuation and the early return of two crewmates, with ultrasound aiding the response. NASA is reviewing medical records from other astronauts for possible patterns while considering whether long exposure to weightlessness could be a factor.

via PBS|

#medical-episode #mike-fincke #nasa

science6 months ago•3 min saved

Fincke Reveals Medical Event Behind ISS’s First-Ever Evacuation

NASA’s January emergency on the International Space Station led to its first-ever medical evacuation; astronaut Mike Fincke later disclosed he experienced a medical event that required immediate care, while the other Crew-11 members were evacuated to a California hospital. NASA says Fincke chose to self-identify for privacy and to curb speculation, but the exact cause remains private, leaving details of the incident and its implications largely unclear.

via Futurism|

#crew-11 #medical-evacuation #mike-fincke