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British scientists led by Nathaniel Szewczyk from Notthingham University believe that microscopic worms, which are biologically similar to humans, may hold important clues as to how we can adapt to long-term living in space environments, such as a colony on Mars.  

His team sent 4,000 microscopic worms, Caenorhabditis elegans, into space aboard the space shuttle Discovery, and were able to successfully remotely monitor 12 generations of them over a period of 6 months, whilst they were housed on the International Space Station.

This type of worm has long been used by scientists to further our understanding of human biology. They were the first multi-cellular organism to have its genetic structure completely mapped, and many of their genes perform the same function as found in humans, such as promoting muscle function.

According to Szewczyk, in a study recently published in the journal ‘Interface’, many of the biological changes that occur during space flight affect astronauts and worms in the same way.

"We have been able to show that worms can grow and reproduce in space for long enough to reach another planet and that we can remotely monitor their health. Worms allow us to detect changes in growth, development, reproduction and behaviour in response to environmental conditions such as toxins or in response to deep space missions," Szewczyk said.

This makes the worms an ideal and cost-effective way to study the possible effects of both long term and long distance human space exploration, which are known to have major challenges associated with them, including exposure to high levels of radiation, rapid loss of bone density and muscle weakness.

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Exciting times ahead for all at the MicroG Centre, here in Porto Alegre, Brazil as the final stages are neared in the development of the first Manpowered Human Centrifuge (HC) not only in Brazil, but quite probably in Latin America.

The work is the produce of our very own Albuquerque brothers – both engineers and currently completing their MSc’s under my supervision. Marcelo Albuquerque is responsible for the building of the centrifuge itself, whilst his brother Eduardo has been creating the control and monitoring system for the performance of the HC, including rpm, angular velocity/acceleration and G-force, as well as physiological variables of volunteers.

The HC will be rotate entirely by manpower in one of three ways: a volunteer in a lying down position on the centrifuge arm will pedal; a volunteer positioned on an external bicycle attached to the drive system of the HC will pedal; two volunteers will pedal simultaneously from the HC and the external bicycle.

The MicroG Centre Manpowered Human Centrifuge is designed to achieve a maximum of 5Gs (z axis) and will eventually be used to train both experienced and student pilots, demonstrating the cardiovascular and neurological signs and symptoms of Gz+ exposure, such as grey-out, black-out and G-LOC.

Completion of the main structure of the centrifuge is expected by the end of March 2012, with the final tweaking of the control system to follow soon after.  Many exciting new possibilities for future studies in space physiology, aviation medicine and aerospace biomechanics research lie in front of us, and close links between the MicroG Centre and The Centre of Human & Aerospace Physiological Sciences (CHAPS) at King’s College, London should see future MSc students from King’s also benefiting from the possibilities of new research projects.

Well done to the Albuquerque brothers and pedal hard to the finishing line!
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Congratulations are in order for the folks of the Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA) after the safe return of the latest Shenzhou 8 mission.

The capsule launched at the beginning of November on board a Long March 2F rocket and returned safely 17 days later after completing two successful docking maneuvers with the already orbiting Tiangong 1 space laboratory.

No astronauts were onboard this time, however, sophisticated ‘dummies’ that simulate the metabolic functions (including respiration) of humans took their place, providing invaluable data regarding the life-support and environmental control systems of the space capsule.

It is another important step for the Chinese on their path to fulfilling their space ambitions of human spaceflight missions in 2012 to the Tiangong 1 Space Lab, and eventually having a 100ton Earth orbiting space station by the end of the decade.

Plans beyond this include a manned mission to the Moon by the 2030’s, requiring huge financial investment and more importantly hefty advances in current Chinese space technology. Not an easy dream to fulfill but one that appears to have backing right from the very top of Chinese politics, and a dream set to inspire the national pride of a nation.  

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Take a look at this interesting video clip showing the effects of a re-boost on the astronauts onboard the International Space Station. This took place last week, 26th October  2011, and raised the ISS back up to an altitude of around 242 miles (390km). The clip shows the effects of the ISS accelerating, in effect leaving behind all of the astronauts onboard.  

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A recently released NASA video shows interesting footage of a 3 year journey made by the Mars Exploration Rover called Opportunity, all condensed into just 3 minutes. Opportunity travelled from Victoria crater to Endeavour crater on Mars, between September 2008 and August 2011. Each day that the rover travelled it took an end-of-drive picture and these 309 images have been spliced together to give an interesting insight into a 13 mile (21 km) strip of Martian landscape.  The soundtrack for the video was created by speeding up by a factor of 1000 the low-frequency recordings from the rover’s accelerometers, which represent the vibrations recorded by the rover as it moved over the surface of Mars. Louder sounds represent the rover travelling on bedrock, whilst the quieter sounds are when the rover was moving over sand.

Interesting images and an eerie soundtrack -  definitely has a very desolate feel to it.

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Illustration showing Tiangong 1 (left) visited by Shenzhou 8 (right)
Thursday 29th September 2011 saw the Chinese Space Agency (CNSA) take another step along the road to achieving their ambition of creating a mini orbiting space station.

The 19,000 pound Tiangong 1 (translation Heavenly Palace) module was successfully launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket, witnessed by many leading Chinese politicians and dignitaries, including President Hu Jintao, watching from the Beijing control centre.

The Tiangong 1 spacecraft will steadily make its way up to maintain an eventual orbit of approximately 220 miles (354km), where it will wait to be joined by an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft sometime in November. The two vessels will then take part in China’s first space docking manoeuvre, forming a mini-space station some 60 feet long for 12 days,  before the Shenzhou module returns to Earth.

Further missions will visit Tiangong 1 next year, potentially carrying Chinese astronauts on board as China seeks to consolidate its place in the future of space exploration. The very best of luck to them.    

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Following on from a previous post regarding the descent of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), it would appear that the bus sized piece of space junk safely re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere early on Saturday morning 24th September 2011.

By a stroke of luck the vessel plunged to earth somewhere over the southern Pacific Ocean about as far from large land masses as you can get, reducing any possibilities of damage or injury being caused by the 26 parts that would survive the fiery heat of re-entry.

After the launch of this satellite in 1991, NASA and other space agencies agreed to adopt new procedures in an effort to reduce space junk and lessen the possibilities of future satellites causing problems when falling back to Earth.

However, in the immediate future the German satellite ROSAT, launched in 1990 and weighing in at 2.5 tonnes is expected to fall back to Earth in late October or early November this year. Some 30 pieces of debris are expected to survive re-entry, potentially including sharp mirror shards, so we should all continue to keep looking warily to the skies for now! 

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First man to walk on the Moon Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong, first man to set foot on the Moon in 1969, is usually known as a quiet man of few words who would rather avoid the spotlight. 

Yesterday, however, saw him take part in a 4 man committee testifying before Congress about the current state of the American human spaceflight program, with the words “embarrassing” and “unacceptable” being freely used.

"We will have no American access to, and return from, low Earth orbit and the International Space Station for an unpredictable length of time in the future", Armstrong told the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

"For a country that has invested so much for so long to achieve a leadership position in space exploration and exploitation, this condition is viewed by many as lamentably embarrassing and unacceptable."

His words echoed the sentiments felt by many with the cancelation by President Barack Obama of the Constellation program that would have returned man to the Moon, and with the recent final flight and retirement of the space shuttle program, leaving no capability for the US to send humans into space.

Armstrong was joined by fellow astronaut and last man to step on the Moon in 1972, Eugene Cernan, who was equally dismissive of the current administration at NASA.

"Today, we are on a path of decay. We are seeing the book close on five decades of accomplishment as the leader in human space exploration", Cernan said.

Given the current poor economic situation of the United States and a new determination to encourage commercial companies to supply the next generation of crew and cargo transport vehicles, it is difficult to see how the US can lead at the forefront of future space exploration – but I guess time will tell.  


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A redundant six-tonne NASA satellite is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere with the next few hours, potentially scattering debris over a 500km wide area of the planet’s surface.

Whilst the majority of the bus sized Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) will burn up upon re-entry into our atmosphere, NASA has indicated that about 26 parts will survive the intense heat and will fall to Earth: including 4 titanium fuel tanks, 3 batteries, 4 steel flywheel rims and an aluminium structure that on its own will weigh 158kg.

Although NASA is tracking the orbit of the falling satellite, the final destination of these objects won’t be known until minutes beforehand due to continuous changes in the atmosphere caused by the Sun.

Target zone is anywhere between 57 degrees latitude north and 57 degrees latitude south, i.e if you live further north than Quebec or further south than Argentina you should not be at risk.

Though you may cast an occasional look to the skies over the next day, I wouldn’t worry too much as you would have to be incredibly unlucky to be struck by some of the falling debris. NASA calculates that there is a 1 in 3,200 chance that a piece will hit a person somewhere on the planet, whilst you own personal risk of you specifically being struck is 1 in 21 trillion – you are far more likely to win this week’s lottery!

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Space programs of the largest agencies in the industry are currently suffering the effects of the global economic crisis. NASA recently retired the Space Shuttle program despite not having a working substitute. Yet these financial hiccups are not enough to discourage everybody.

Ugandan Chris Nsamba, founder of the African Space Research Program, has an ambitious dream - to put someone in orbit in just six years. To this end, he has turned his own back garden into a spaceship construction site. Although lacking in the sophisticated tools and machinery generally needed for this type of work, all those involved in the project seem to be happy and proud of what they are trying to do. 

The first step undertaken by Nsamba and his volunteer team, mostly made up of engineering students, is to build an aircraft, giving the group valuable experience to help them with the next task of designing a real spaceship capable of flying around the Earth with a Ugandan onboard.

"The plane is still far from being completed and it has no engine," confessed the future aerospace engineers in a recent interview, and though the aircraft is not much more than a rough prototype, it is sufficiently motivating for the group, who have decorated it with the Ugandan flag on the fuselage.

Nsamba is a restless dreamer who tries to think of everything. He is the one to train the team, helped by his experience as an astronomy student, and it is he who will one day certify the future Ugandan astronaut. He does not allow a lack of local facilities to hamper their progress and has even come up with a plan to simulate microgravity: "I've got a jet engine on order so I'm planning to build a tunnel, put the engine at one end and when I throw a guy in he'll float in a similar way to how he would in space."

Possibly not all Nsamba’s dreams will become reality and probably the launch of a spacecraft from Kampala, Uganda will not take place in the next decade. However, it is good to see that there are still dreamers out there in the world, willing and able to battle against disadvantage, adversity and disbelief. 

So many have so much in this world and yet do so little – by contrast, Chris Nsamba does so much with practically nothing. For him, quite literally, not even the sky is the limit!

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