Astronaut | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 02 Mar 2016 12:51:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Astronaut | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Astronaut twin Scott Kelley ends year in space, lands safely https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/astronaut-twin-scott-kelley-ends-year-in-space-lands-safely/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/astronaut-twin-scott-kelley-ends-year-in-space-lands-safely/#respond Wed, 02 Mar 2016 11:46:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=285791 Astronaut Scott Kelley and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko have made it safely back to Earth after spending almost a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This represents one of the longest periods anyone has ever spent consecutively in space and will give scientists invaluable data on what effect such a long trip has on the …

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Astronaut Scott Kelley and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko have made it safely back to Earth after spending almost a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This represents one of the longest periods anyone has ever spent consecutively in space and will give scientists invaluable data on what effect such a long trip has on the human body and mind.

This trip is the longest anyone has spent aboard the International Space Station and brings Kelley's total space time to 520 days. He is however still short of the longest time in space on a single flight by almost 100 days, which is held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent his time aboard the Mir space station back in the mid '90s.

Although others have spent more time in space than Kelley, the truly unique part of his journey has been that he's a twin. Scott Kelley's brother Mark, remained on Earth throughout the trip and will allow NASA and other research bodies to study the differences in their physiology following the 340 day stint outside of Earth's atmosphere.

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Scott Kelley (R) seen here with his brother, Mark (L). Source: Wikimedia

Various factors will be considered as part of the study, including muscle wastage, sleep pattern changes, impairments to senses like vision and exposure to radiation with less protection from the Sun's harmful rays. Psychologically the brothers will be tested and probed too, as being distant from loved ones for extended periods of time can be very difficult.

All of that will be incredibly important to understand before we can confidently send astronauts to Mars, on a round-trip that will take at least a year. Eventually landing on the red planet too will require quick-adjustments back to a gravity bound environment; albeit one with less pull than Earth's surface. Traditionally astronauts coming back to our blue marble have had difficulty walking and performing other functions.

As part of his descent back to Earth, Kelley also brought with him a number of seeds of Rocket salad (as per BBC), which have spent the past few months aboard the ISS. They will be distributed to schools to allow pupils to compare their growth with that of seeds which have never left Earth.

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KitGuru Says: Congratulations for Mr Kelley's sterling achievement. Here's hoping he and his brother can give us invaluable insight into how to make space travel safer for all in the future.

 

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Live Q&A takes place with ISS astronaut https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/live-qa-takes-place-with-iss-astronaut/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/live-qa-takes-place-with-iss-astronaut/#respond Mon, 25 Aug 2014 09:30:21 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=208804 It's been nearly 50 years since the iconic moon landings were watched by over 125 million people around the world and though the footage is hazy, it's still a pretty amazing site to behold, considering the distances involved. While the International Space Station is much, much closer, we've clearly come a long way, as over …

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It's been nearly 50 years since the iconic moon landings were watched by over 125 million people around the world and though the footage is hazy, it's still a pretty amazing site to behold, considering the distances involved. While the International Space Station is much, much closer, we've clearly come a long way, as over the weekend social network Facebook provided the platform for a live Q&A between an astronaut aboard the ISS, Alexander Gerst and the general public here on Earth.

This is the first live Q&A session from orbit (the spot where many academics would consider a person or object, actually ‘in space'), though it's not the first time Mr Gerst has earned headlines for his social networking. A few weeks ago he posted a picture of the Gaza Strip as the ISS passed over it, also stating that he and the other astronauts aboard the station had seen rockets being fired and explosions.

Some of the questions asked and answered during the Q&A, included what his thoughts were about seeing the Earth from such a vantage point. He said that it brought tears to his eyes every time he looked down on it, “even though I've seen it so many times.”

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Some of the pictures he sends out are simply stunning

When asked what astronauts would be like 50 years from now, he said: “My hope would be that in 50 years from now, space travellers will not only be professional Agency astronauts, but that everybody should have a realistic chance to make the incredible experience I am having right now. Anyway, I hope there will still be pioneers out there who will fly to destinations farther away.”

He also explained, that due to the speeds necessary to orbit the Earth, the ISS actually sees 16 sunrises and sunsets every single day (24 hour period). However, due to routine being important for the astronauts aboard the station, they don't use the Sun's activity to base their day to day life off-of, like we do here on Earth.

That routine and the little things of his home planet are something that Mr Gerst misses most though. “I realise I miss things like running in the forest and standing in the rain in the summer that will never be replaced with things up here,” he said. “This little planet, that's our home and we cannot replace it with anything else. We always want to go back, I guess.”

KitGuru Says: What Mr Gerst mentions at the end there, is a profound feeling that many of those that see how truly small the Earth is in the great Cosmos have. It's called the Overview effect and it's said to be a humbling feeling when you understand how fragile our planet really is.

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ISS astronaut tweets ‘sad’ picture of Gaza conflict https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/iss-astronaut-tweets-sad-picture-of-gaza-conflict/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/iss-astronaut-tweets-sad-picture-of-gaza-conflict/#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:05:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=204564 While most of the world has to turn on a TV or pull up a news site to have a close up view of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, astronaut aboard the ISS, Alexander Gerst, can simply look out his window. Just a few hours ago, he tweeted his “saddest photo yet,” of his view …

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While most of the world has to turn on a TV or pull up a news site to have a close up view of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, astronaut aboard the ISS, Alexander Gerst, can simply look out his window. Just a few hours ago, he tweeted his “saddest photo yet,” of his view of the warzone.

“My saddest photo yet. From #ISS we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over #Gaza & #Israel,” he said.

It's not easy to make out the details and presumably he has a much better view with the naked eye, but the region does look awfully well lit for the middle of the night.

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The conflict itself has been ongoing in one form or another for the best part of a decade at this point and doesn't seem likely to end any time soon. No doubt Mr Gerst wishes he could give the leaders on both side a few minutes in his shoes, so they could experience the overview effect. Maybe that would put it all into perspective.

KitGuru Says: It's a stunning photograph, but it must feel strange to watch the pettiness of human conflict from on high. 

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Singing astronaut announces his retirement https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/singing-astronaut-announces-hi-retirement/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/singing-astronaut-announces-hi-retirement/#respond Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:28:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=138085 Chris Hadfield, the man that took humanising astronauts to a whole new level when he performed a beautiful cover of David Bowie's “Space Oddity,” from the International Space Station, has announced that he will be retiring from the Canadian Space Agency after a 21 year career. Along with the well sung rendition of the appropriately …

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Chris Hadfield, the man that took humanising astronauts to a whole new level when he performed a beautiful cover of David Bowie's “Space Oddity,” from the International Space Station, has announced that he will be retiring from the Canadian Space Agency after a 21 year career.

Along with the well sung rendition of the appropriately cosmic song, Hadfield also spent sometime aboard the ISS tweeting his thoughts to the populace of the blue marble. In a similar line to the way sports stars and other well known individuals interact with fans and supporters, Hadfield helped astronauts receive further recognition as important figures in society – as they should be, they're literally our ambassadors to the stars.

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All the cool astronauts use dutch angles.

Along with being the first Canadian to take a space walk outside of any official space-craft, he was also the first to take command of the ISS. After his retirement announcement, Hadfield suggested that he would continue to “pursue new professional challenges.”

No word if this would involve work with any of the private space companies that have sprung up in recent years.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo#!']

KitGuru Says: God speed sir. Thank you for your contributions to mankind.

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Saluting Britain’s first official astronaut, Tim Peake https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/saluting-britains-first-official-astronaut-tim-peake/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/saluting-britains-first-official-astronaut-tim-peake/#respond Mon, 20 May 2013 15:05:04 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=135300 Tim Peake: a suitably epic name for an epic mission; he's the first government sponsored British astronaut ever. While other Brits have exited earth's atmosphere before, they've only ever done so as part of cooperatives with companies or other countries, or by making their way through the American space program. Peake though, he's the real …

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Tim Peake: a suitably epic name for an epic mission; he's the first government sponsored British astronaut ever. While other Brits have exited earth's atmosphere before, they've only ever done so as part of cooperatives with companies or other countries, or by making their way through the American space program. Peake though, he's the real limey deal.

It's not until 2015 and in November to boot, but Peake will be leaving the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, heading to the International Space Station for a six month stay as a flight engineer. Along with any needed spacewalks and docking procedures, it's not known at the moment what experiments or testing Peake might perform.

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Peake seen here inspecting a Russian space suit at the Gargarin training centre in Moscow. Source: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre

He should be ready though, having been training for this since 2009 and chosen as one of six from over eight thousand applicants for the EU Space Agency astronaut corps.

Like the recently famous Chris Hadfield, Peake is expecting to spend some time up there on Twitter, but he has said he won't be taking a guitar. “I do play guitar, but quite badly and I wouldn't want to inflict my singing [on everyone],” he said.

Not only is Peake's appointment to the ISS a landmark in British space faring history, it's seen as a turning point in the country's commitment to space. By sending one of our own into the great black nowhere, Britain is more likely to increase funding to international space efforts. According to Wired's coverage, this could help boost Britain's burgeoning space industry, which is currently worth around £9 billion.

KitGuru Says: Kudos to Mr Peake. We wish him all the best and look forward to seeing him fly the flag from several hundred miles up.

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