OrbitalHub

Wikipedia dicit:

The lunar phase or phase of the Moon is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of the Moon as viewed from Earth. The lunar phases gradually change over the period of a synodic month (about 29.53 days), as the orbital positions of the Moon around Earth and of Earth around the Sun shift.

The Moon’s rotation is tidally locked by Earth’s gravity; therefore, most of the same lunar side always faces Earth. This near side is variously sunlit, depending on the position of the Moon in its orbit. Thus, the sunlit portion of this face can vary from 0% (at new moon) to 100% (at full moon). The lunar terminator is the boundary between the illuminated and darkened hemispheres.

Each of the four “intermediate” lunar phases is around 7.4 days, but this varies slightly due to the elliptical shape of the Moon’s orbit. Aside from some craters near the lunar poles, such as Shoemaker, all parts of the Moon see around 14.77 days of daylight, followed by 14.77 days of “night”.

The side of the Moon facing away from Earth is sometimes called the “dark side of the Moon”, although that is a misnomer.

Video Credit: NASA

Wikipedia dicit:

The Crew Demo-2 was planned for launch in July 2019 as part of the Commercial Crew Development contract with a crew of two on a 14-day test mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It is expected to be the first American spacecraft to fly crew into orbit since STS-135 in July 2011, though depending on the success of their respective test programs this honor could go to the crewed flight test of the Boeing Starliner.

On April 20, 2019, the Crew Dragon capsule from the Demo-1 mission was destroyed during static fire testing of its SuperDraco thrusters, ahead of its planned use for an inflight abort test. SpaceX traced the cause of the static fire anomaly to a valve that leaked propellant into high pressure helium lines. As of October 23, 2019, a new static fire test is expected to take place in early November, to be followed by a drop test campaign to qualify the upgraded parachute system. If all tests are successful, the Demo-2 mission could take place during the first quarter of 2020. NASA is considering extending the duration of the mission, enabling it to perform a standard crew rotation.

Video Credit: SpaceX

Wikipedia dicit:

Venturing into the environment of space can have negative effects on the human body. Significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness include muscle atrophy and deterioration of the skeleton (spaceflight osteopenia). Other significant effects include a slowing of cardiovascular system functions, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, eyesight disorders and changes in the immune system. Additional symptoms include fluid redistribution (causing the “moon-face” appearance typical in pictures of astronauts experiencing weightlessness), loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, and excess flatulence.

The engineering problems associated with leaving Earth and developing space propulsion systems have been examined for over a century, and millions of hours of research have been spent on them. In recent years there has been an increase in research on the issue of how humans can survive and work in space for extended and possibly indefinite periods of time. This question requires input from the physical and biological sciences and has now become the greatest challenge (other than funding) facing human space exploration. A fundamental step in overcoming this challenge is trying to understand the effects and impact of long-term space travel on the human body.

In October 2015, the NASA Office of Inspector General issued a health hazards report related to space exploration, including a human mission to Mars. On 12 April 2019, NASA reported medical results, from the Astronaut Twin Study, where one astronaut twin spent a year in space on the International Space Station, while the other twin spent the year on Earth, which demonstrated several long-lasting changes, including those related to alterations in DNA and cognition, when one twin was compared with the other.

In November 2019, researchers reported that astronauts experienced serious blood flow and clot problems while onboard the International Space Station, based on a six month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term spaceflight, including a mission to the planet Mars, according to the researchers.

Video Credit: NASA

Wikipedia dicit:

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner (Crew Space Transportation) is a crew capsule manufactured by Boeing as its participation in NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. Its primary purpose is to transport crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and to private space stations such as the proposed Bigelow Aerospace Commercial Space Station.

The capsule has a diameter of 4.56 meters (15.0 ft), which is slightly larger than the Apollo command module and smaller than the Orion capsule. The Starliner is to support larger crews of up to seven people and is being designed to be able to remain in-orbit for up to seven months with reusability of up to ten missions. It is designed to be compatible with four launch vehicles: Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, and Vulcan.

In the first phase of its CCDev program NASA awarded Boeing US$18 million in 2010 for preliminary development of the spacecraft. In the second phase Boeing was awarded a $93 million contract in 2011 for further spacecraft development. On August 3, 2012, NASA announced the award of $460 million to Boeing to continue work on the CST-100 under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) Program. On September 16, 2014, NASA selected the CST-100, along with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, for the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) program, with an award of $4.2 billion. On July 30, 2019, NASA had no specific dates for Commercial Crew launches, stating that this was under review pending a leadership change.

Starliner’s uncrewed test flight launched with the Atlas V N22, on December 20, 2019 from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. During the test, the Starliner experienced an anomaly that precluded a docking with the International Space Station. Two days after launch, on December 22, 2019 at 7:58 a.m. EST (1258 GMT), with the successful landing at White Sands, New Mexico, the CST-100 became the first-ever, crew-capable space capsule to make a land-based touchdown in the United States.

Video Credit: NASA

NASA dicit:

Launching Americans from U.S. soil, sending a new rover to Mars and continuing to prepare for human missions to the Moon are just a few of the things NASA has planned for 2020.

Video Credit: NASA