Future off-planet exploration may rely on space stations built inside enormous asteroids, thanks to new research. The move would both counter the ill effects of zero gravity, and provide a ready source of precious minerals. The interest in mining asteroids and bringing their valuable minerals back to Earth has increased in recent years, possibly encouraged by NASA’s 2016 estimation that there’s enough rich minerals in space rocks to give each person on Earth $100 billion. Being able to tap into minerals on asteroids could also potentially provide essential resources for longer-term space missions to build or refuel en route. Also on rt.com Space mining will produce world’s first trillionaire However, the prospect of launching probes into space to chip away at the untapped resource is halted by one major challenge in particular – gravity. It’s very difficult to successfully use a jackhammer on the surface of most asteroids as the lack of gravity … [Read more...] about Scientists figure out how to build future space stations inside asteroids
Internatinal space station
Three space station crew members close out 196-day mission
Eight days after a dramatic spacewalk to inspect the site of a leak in the hull of his Soyuz ferry ship, Russian commander Sergey Prokopyev, German flight engineer Alexander Gerst and NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor geared up to depart the International Space Station Wednesday for a fiery plunge back to Earth. The flight plan called for the crew to board the Soyuz MS-09/55S spacecraft and seal the hatch around 5:20 p.m. EST, undocking from the space station's Earth-facing Rassvet module at 8:40 p.m.After moving a safe distance away, Prokopyev and Gerst plan to monitor a planned four-minute 36-second rocket firing starting at 11:10 p.m., slowing the ship by about 286 mph to lower the far side of the ship's orbit into the atmosphere for a descent to Kazakhstan.If all goes well, the spacecraft's central descent module, the section of the spacecraft carrying the crew, will make a parachute-and-rocket-assisted touchdown near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, around 12:03 … [Read more...] about Three space station crew members close out 196-day mission
International Space Station reaches 20-year milestone
While the ISS is easily recognisable with its distinctive array of solar panels - and while it's a regular feature on stargazing phone apps - many of us don't really know what the ISS does, exactly. Fun facts aside (it weighs 420,000 kilos and is the third brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus), the ISS is the result of landmark cooperation between many countries - notably the US and Russia, although 16 nations helped with its construction. Its main purpose is to operate as an high-tech international space observatory and lab. British astronomer Mark Thompson, author of "A Space Travellers Guide to the Solar System", says it takes a lot of resources to explore space, and the only way that can happen is if countries work together. "To get this massive great lump of metal, which is about the size of a football pitch, up into orbit travelling at 27,000 kilometres is an incredible feat - not just of engineering, but of political willpower - and it's great to see." … [Read more...] about International Space Station reaches 20-year milestone
Russian launch clears way for resuming crew flights to space station
A Russian Soyuz FG rocket, identical to one that malfunctioned during launch last month and forced a space station-bound crew to execute a dramatic abort, successfully boosted a cargo ship into orbit Friday. The launch clears the way for resumption of crewed flights next month. With its engines throttled up to full thrust, the Soyuz rocket, carrying a Progress cargo ship loaded with 2.8 tons of supplies and equipment, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:14 p.m. EST (GMT-5; 12:14 a.m. Saturday local time), climbing directly into the plane of the space station's orbit. Two minutes after liftoff, the four liquid-fueled strap-on boosters making up the rocket's first stage were jettisoned as planned and the flight continued under the power of of the Soyuz FG's central second stage. The third stage then took over, boosting the Progress MS-10/71P supply ship into its planned preliminary orbit about eight minutes and 45 seconds after liftoff. The Oct. 11 abort was … [Read more...] about Russian launch clears way for resuming crew flights to space station
Space station crew members set for return to Earth after lengthy mission
A cosmonaut and two NASA astronauts finished packing up their Soyuz ferry ship Wednesday and prepared to undock from the International Space Station early Thursday for a fiery descent to touch down on the steppe of Kazakhstan. The trip closes out a 197-day mission that included four spacewalks, a full slate of research and an emergency leak repair. With commander Oleg Artemyev at the controls, flanked on the left by flight engineer Drew Feustel and on the right by Ricky Arnold, the Soyuz MS-08/54S spacecraft was scheduled to detach from the station's space-facing Poisk module at 3:57 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) to kick off a three-hour, 48-minute trip home to Earth. Feustel, outgoing commander of the Expedition 56 crew, turned over command of the station to European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst on Wednesday, thanking flight controllers and research teams at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as well as in Russia, Germany and Japan. "Thanks to those who have trained us and those who … [Read more...] about Space station crew members set for return to Earth after lengthy mission