NASA Grows Chile Peppers on ISS - Science 🧪In a NASA first, astronauts are growing chile peppers on the International Space Station
Astronauts on the International Space Station are adding something spicy to their diet: red and green chile peppers.Chile peppers from Hatch, New Mexico, arrived at the station in June as a part of an experiment initiated by astronaut Shane Kimbrough, NASA said. Kimbrough, part of the seven-member Expedition 65 crew, grew and ate "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce in 2016.“It is one of the most complex plant experiments on the station to date because of the long germination and growing times,” Matt Romeyn, principal investigator for PH-04, said in a NASA news release.A team with the Kennedy Space Center’s Exploration Research and Technology programs planted the seeds in a science carrier that slots into a plant growth chamber, the Advanced Plant Habitat, on the orbiting laboratory where astronauts raise crops, according to NASA.The astronauts will have to wait before taking a bite. The peppers take four months to grow, and astronauts will have to harvest them a final time before being eaten.
he crew plans to eat some of the peppers and send the rest back to Earth for analysis if it is shown that they are safe to eat.“We have previously tested flowering to increase the chance for a successful harvest because astronauts will have to pollinate the peppers to grow fruit,” Romeyn said.In late 2015, astronauts grew zinnias on the station, a precursor to flowering crops that take longer to grow, such as peppers.Because of microgravity, crews at the station can lose some of their sense of taste and smell and may prefer spicier or seasoned foods, Romeyn said.“Growing colorful vegetables in space can have long-term benefits for physical and psychological health,” Romeyn said."To successfully send people to Mars and bring them back to Earth, we will not only require the most nutritious foods but the best tasting ones as well.”
SpaceX is 'go' to launch astronauts to space station on HalloweenBy Mike Wall about 15 hours agoBut there's one issue to resolve first — a slight redesign of a space toilet.SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule for the Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station arrives at the hangar at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida on Oct. 24, 2021. (Image credit: SpaceX)SpaceX is "go" to launch its spooky space station mission this weekend — as long as a toilet issue gets cleared up in time.No showstoppers were found during a flight readiness review (FRR) for the company's Crew-3 mission, which will send four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Crew-3 therefore remains on track to lift off early on Halloween morning (Oct. 31), NASA and SpaceX announced Monday (Oct. 25)."We had a good review today," Joel Montalbano, NASA's ISS program manager, said during a news conference Monday evening after the FRR wrapped up. The review revealed no surprises, Montalbano said. But that doesn't mean the NASA and SpaceX teams aren't working on any issues. Indeed, they need to resolve one outstanding item before Crew-3 can lift off — a slight redesign of Crew Dragon's toilet system.
That tweak was prompted by an issue experienced on SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission, which sent four private citizens on a three-day trip to orbit last month. After that capsule, named Resilience, returned home, inspections revealed that a tube hooked up to a toilet storage tank had popped loose during flight. This "allowed urine to not go into the storage tank but, essentially, to go into the fan system," Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said during Monday's news conference. But the leak didn't markedly affect Inspiration4, he added."We didn't really even notice it; the crew didn't notice it until we got back" to Earth, Gerstenmaier said.Still, SpaceX decided to revamp the toilet system on the Crew-3 capsule, known as Endurance, going with an all-welded structure to eliminate tube pop-offs, Gerstenmaier said. NASA needs to give the redesign a final thumbs-up before Crew-3 can fly, but that is expected to happen in the coming days.The toilet issue could potentially apply to another Crew Dragon: the capsule known as Endeavour, which flew SpaceX's Crew-2 mission and is still docked to the ISS. Endeavour is scheduled to come back to Earth with the four Crew-2 astronauts soon — on Nov. 4, if Crew-3 launches on time.Astronauts on the orbiting lab have examined Endeavour, looking for signs of corrosion caused by leaked urine (or rather, by an additive that SpaceX puts into the Crew Dragon septic system to remove ammonia from urine). They haven't found anything troublesome, and analyses by teams here on Earth indicate that all should be well for Crew-2's return, Gerstenmaier said.He also noted that leakage on Crew-2 was likely significantly lower than on Inspiration4, given that crewmembers used Endeavour's toilet only during its 24-hour trip to the space station rather than for three full days.
Crew-3 is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:21 a.m. EDT (0621 GMT) on Sunday. You can watch the liftoff live here at Space.com courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency.The mission will send four spaceflyers to the orbiting lab for a six-month stay: NASA astronauts Raja Chari (mission commander), Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, along with the European Space Agency's Matthias Maurer. All are spaceflight rookies except Marshburn, who has two visits to the station under his belt.Crew-3 will mark Endurance's spaceflight debut. The capsule will arrive at the ISS just after midnight on Monday (Nov. 1), if the mission launches on time and all goes according to plan.
Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Company Wants to Build a Space StationBlue Origin says it will team up with Sierra Space, Boeing and other companies to build an outpost that could help replace the International Space Station.The Orbital Reef project is expected to receive financial backing from Jeff Bezos, who has committed to spending $1 billion per year of his fortune on Blue Origin. Credit... Orbital ReefBy Joey RouletteOct. 25, 2021Blue Origin, the space company owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is teaming up with other firms to build a space station in Earth orbit. The group announced its plans on Monday, revealing the latest concept for a privately built orbital outpost that could replace or complement the International Space Station.The influx of private space station proposals comes as NASA seeks a replacement for the 20-year-old, $100 billion laboratory in space, which is showing signs of its age. Whether any of the low-Earth orbit concepts will be ready to house astronauts by the time funding for the International Space Station lapses around 2030 is unclear, and depends largely on the funding NASA is able to get from Congress. The agency plans to allocate up to $400 million to private space companies to kick-start construction, eventually partnering with private operators the way it now relies on companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX to get cargo and astronauts to and from the I.S.S.The proposal by Blue Origin and its partners, called Orbital Reef, only exists in digital animations and drawings, and executives said it could be built by the end of the decade. It will have competition, from the very real Tiangong station that China expects to finish as soon as next year, as well as other proposed private outposts. Lockheed Martin and Nanoracks, a firm that facilitates research on the I.S.S., unveiled last week their own space station called Starlab. And Axiom Space, another entrant, has the go-ahead to launch the beginnings of a free-flying base that will first attach to the International Space Station.The Orbital Reef project is expected to draw hefty financial backing from Mr. Bezos, who has committed to spending $1 billion per year of his fortune on Blue Origin, and has described a goal of creating the conditions for millions of people to live and work in space. The company, founded in 2000, has launched customers on short, up-and-down tourist flights to the edge of space. But it has not yet achieved other goals, such as building an orbital rocket or winning a NASA contract to build a lunar lander for astronauts.Key partners in the project are Sierra Space, which has been building its own space station idea for years, and Boeing, the aerospace giant that has built and managed American segments on the I.S.S. for NASA.Their proposed space station aims to “generate new discoveries, new products, new forms of entertainment and global awareness of Earth’s fragility and interconnectedness,” Brent Sherwood, a Blue Origin vice president, told reporters on Monday from a space conference in Dubai. The station’s most basic design resembles the current space station’s, with roughly 90 percent of the interior volume and a capacity to hold up to 10 astronauts (the I.S.S. typically houses seven, but has been home to as many as 13 at once).Sierra Space will contribute its LIFE habitat, an inflatable module that launches to space in a condensed form, then expands in space into a marshmallow-shaped pod with a thick fabric for walls. The company could also use its Dream Chaser space plane to send astronauts to and from the station. And Boeing’s Starliner capsule, an astronaut taxi marred by a hodgepodge of technical issues, is also expected to carry visitors to the Orbital Reef.Few companies appear financially capable of pulling off the construction of a space station — a tall feat executed only by governments, which have typically been motivated more by international relations than profit. The proposed stations, including Orbital Reef, aim to generate revenue from wealthy tourists as well as academic and corporate researchers. But specific metrics on that demand remain blurry, executives said.
Another customer base for the station will be government space agencies. The Orbital Reef team is already talking with other countries, Janet Kavandi, Sierra Space’s president and a former astronaut, said in an interview, highlighting the space program of the United Arab Emirates.“The U.A.E. is very interested, and there’s been a lot of discussion about them partnering with us over the past few months,” Ms. Kavandi said, speaking in Dubai at the annual International Astronautical Congress. “We will have discussions with other partners as well, many of whom are partners that NASA has on the I.S.S. today, but also partners that have not flown in space in the past,” she added.Mike Gold, an executive vice president at Redwire Space, another firm partnering with Blue Origin, said elements of the new space station could be a test bed for technologies that will eventually help astronauts live on the moon.Orbital Reef is Blue Origin’s second major partnership with other space firms. The company teamed up with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper in 2019 on a lunar lander proposal, called Blue Moon, for NASA. But NASA chose the lander pitched by SpaceX.Mr. Sherwood declined to say how much Orbital Reef will cost to build, or how much Mr. Bezos plans to contribute. Much of the cost and scope of the station, Mr. Sherwood and others said, depends on how much NASA is able to spend within the new program to help fund private space station proposals.“We are committed to making this happen regardless” of what NASA is able to fund, Mr. Sherwood said.