HAMDAN BIN MOHAMMED HAMAD AL MANSOURI PROFESSOR MELIKECHI A NEW EARTH

DISCOVER
International Space News
24 25 DISCOVER
International Space News
Smithsonian raises $550,000 to save Armstrong
space suit
Time has not been kind to the space suit of Neil
Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, in the
46 years following one of the greatest exploits ever
carried out by a human.
The iconic space suit has slowly deteriorated
over the decades, despite being locked away in a
climate-controlled storage space. But a campaign
launched on the Kickstarter website – the world’s
largest funding platform for creative projects – in
collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute, has
ensured the preservation of this piece of history,
and will see it go back on display in the National
Air and Space Museum. More than $550,000 has
been pledged through the Kickstarter campaign,
surpassing the initial target of $500,000, meaning
the suit worn on the Apollo 11 mission will be able to
inspire a new generation of space enthusiasts, and
the generation after that.
Over 7,000 backers pledged money to cover the
costs of preserving Armstrong’s suit, and building
a special display case for it. It will now be the main
attraction in a special Smithsonian exhibition covering lunar exploration to mark the 50th
anniversary of the moon landing in 2019. The typical space suits designed at the time were made
primarily to protect astronauts and withstand the rigours of space travel. No attention was paid
to the idea of preserving the suits as an artefact 50 years down the line. As such, the delicate
polymers used in the suit’s design become unstable and break down as time goes by.
The Smithsonian will address the gradual deterioration of the suit, and have extended the
funding project with the hope of being able to preserve the space suit worn by the first American
in space, Alan Shepard, in 1961.
SpaceX gets reprieve
The SpaceX CRS-7 mission to the International
Space Station (ISS) in July ended in disaster
as the rocket exploded just moments after its
launch at Cape Canaveral, destroying 4,000
pounds of supplies and a docking station for
ISS in the process.
The disaster came only weeks after SpaceX
had secured the certification required for
the US government to be able to operate
highly complex space launches, the like of
which have been earmarked for $25 billion in
government spending each year for the next
decade. SpaceX had previously been unable
to bid on these projects, but having won the right
to, the accident came at a most inopportune time
for them. This is further compounded by the fact
that their main rival in the marketplace ULA has
European Space Agency
pursues the JUICE mission
The European Space Agency (ESA) has penned
a deal worth $380 million with French company
Airbus Defense & Space, in the pursuit of seeing
the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission
to Jupiter and its moons, come to fruition in 2022.
The JUICE mission will be the pièce de résistance
of the ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-25 program, and
after the targeted launch in 2022, is expected to
arrive in the Jovian system in 2030. The mission
will focus on Jupiter and its magnetic, turbulent
atmosphere, while also investigating the moons
Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, all of which are
thought to be hiding giant oceans beneath their
icy exteriors.
The spacecraft will be manufactured in the
French city of Toulouse, with contributions and
support provided by other ESA member states
such as Japan and the US.
launched 96 missions in nine years with not a
single explosion.
But in what can only be described as a
reprieve, the US Air Force has referred to the
CRS-7 explosion as something of an anomaly,
and has not reneged on its agreement that
SpaceX are certified to be able undertake
missions of a far more high-spec nature in the
coming years. SpaceX has worked extremely
hard, led by Elon Musk, to try to work out what
went wrong, and with the resumption of their
launch program due this month, they will be
hoping that lightning doesn’t strike twice as
the spotlight rests firmly upon them.
Space telemedicine becomes commonplace on Earth
New rocket drive could get to the moon in four hours
A British-designed rocket, the EM Drive,
has been successfully tested and could
significantly speed up space travel, scientists
have revealed.
The rocket is powered by an electromagnetic
propulsion drive, which was developed by
British inventor Roger Shawyer almost
15 years ago. At that time he was widely
discredited and ridiculed as a fantasist
by scientists who thought the idea to be
“scientifically impossible” and “the stuff of
fairy tales”.
The EM Drive was designed to produce thrust
using solar power. This power would generate,
or energise a number of microwaves that
move frantically within an enclosed chamber.
Theoretically, this means that the rocket could
keep on going infinitely, or until something
wears down, without the need for rocket fuel.
After a round of testing, scientists at NASA
have come forward and said that they believe
the EM Drive actually works, although they
can’t explain why. The drive defies one of the
core principles of physics – the conservation
of momentum. This fundamental concept
states that if something is propelled forward,
something must be pushed in the opposite
direction. By this principle, the forces at work
in the chamber should, by all accounts, cancel
each other out.
Telemedicine was initially designed to overcome the distance between astronauts in need
of expert medical assistance and the hospitals that lay back on Earth, while they floated
through space. But now the telemed movement is finding its place in rural third world
areas of the world, where medical experts and first class facilities, are in short supply.
Telemedicine has its roots in NASA’s and the Soviet Union’s earliest space programs, as
the agencies had no idea exactly how their astronauts/cosmonauts might react to being
thrust through the Earth’s atmosphere into a void with no atmosphere at all. But now
it has already been implemented in French Guyana, according to the European Space
Policy Institute, and is helpful for a variety of cases.
Telemedicine opens up the world to expert advice and guidance. If no doctor is available
onsite, a telemedicine kit has been formulated to help diagnose whether the patient
needs a hospital in a big city. This kit includes a computer and satellite phone, as well as
an electrocardiogram, a digital camera and a microscope. This can then help forward the
relevant information to the nearest hospital who will be able to provide their feedback.
All aspects of the new telemedicine application has its roots in space technology, most notably exhibited by the satellite imagery which
was essential to the swift aid response used during the African Ebola outbreak. Telemedicine is now to be rolled out across Africa, and
is set to revolutionise health care for those in poverty across the world.
But just this week, Professor Martin Tajmar,
Chair for Space Systems at the Dresden
University of Technology in Germany, was
able to show that the EM Drive does indeed
produce thrust.
“Our test campaign cannot confirm or refute
the claims of the EM Drive but intends to
independently assess possible side effects in
the measurement methods used so far,” the
Professor announced.
“Nevertheless, we do observe thrust close to
the actual predictions after eliminating many
possible error sources that should warrant
further investigation into the phenomena. Our
measurements reveal thrusts as expected
from previous claims, after carefully studying
thermal and electromagnetic interferences. If
true, this could certainly revolutionise space
travel.”
The drive can produce a thrust several
thousand times more powerful than that of a
standard photon rocket, and would be able to
reach the moon in four hours, Mars in 70 days,
and Pluto in 18 months.
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