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NASA will let Tourists visit the International Space Station in 2020

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Nasa will enable tourists to live inside the International Space Station.

The space agency plans to open the floating lab up to private astronauts as well as commercial companies, it said. That could include film crews, for instance, who could be allowed to make ads or whole films in space.

The first space tourists could head up to the ISS in 2020, Nasa said.

The plans enable privately companies to rent out time on Nasa’s a part of the International Space Station. They will likewise have the option to acquire its own astronauts for their business work, and take their advances to the coasting lab – however they are relied upon to pay overwhelming costs for the chance.technologies to the floating lab – though they are expected to pay heavy prices for the opportunity.

Nasa has for some time been impervious to commercializing its activities, including the ISS. Beforehand, anything that was taken up to the ISS needed an educational or research component

But in recent times it has become more open to the idea, with administrator Jim Bridenstine notwithstanding recommending that the US could enable companies to purchase the naming rights to rockets, for instance.

The missions will be part of Nasa’s more extensive arrangement to permit commercial companies into space. It trusts that private industry can build up the space innovations of things to come, and help with its plans to come back to the Moon in 2024, taking the first since forever woman and thefirst person in decades.

Nasa trusts that the missions help test out and support future private missions into space, which could provide funding for further exploration in years to come.

The space agency will keep using the ISS as a place for research and testing in low-Earth orbit, doing work that will help contribute towards its plans to head to the Moon, it said. But it will also work with the private sector to allow it to use the ISS to test technologies, train astronauts and encourage the development of the “space economy”, it said.

Nasa will likewise help build up an entire host of private spacecraft, floating around above the Earth, that can serve as a home for people, Nasa said.

The tourists – whom Nasa refers to as “private astronauts” – will go on missions of up to 30 days. While there they will perform duties that can include commercial and marketing activity, which will be limited by Nasa’s rules.

There can be two of those short-duration missions each year, Nasa said. They will go on privately funded, dedicated spaceflights that will use a US spacecraft, developed under Nasa’s plan to encourage the private sector to build new spacecraft.

The private astronauts will even now need to pass Nasa’s medical standards and the training procedures to ensure they are safe on board the ISS.

Eventually, private companies could use floating habitations like the ISS to stop off at on their way to further destinations deeper in the solar system.

Nasa’s decision to open up the space station comes as a variety of companies start to offer the possibility of space tourism in the future. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for instance, will send a Japanese billionaire and eight artists around the Moon in a private mission slated for 2023.

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Crew Dragon Mission Delay Extends Astronauts’ Stay on ISS by a Month

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The next mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed by a month due to delays in completing a new spacecraft. This decision will extend the stay of some astronauts aboard the ISS, including two who have been there since June.

NASA announced on December 17 that the Crew-10 mission, initially scheduled for February, is now set to launch no earlier than late March. The delay stems from the need for additional time to finish the fabrication, assembly, testing, and integration of a new Crew Dragon capsule.

Crafting the New Dragon Capsule

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager. He commended SpaceX’s efforts to expand the Dragon fleet and the flexibility of the ISS crew in accommodating the delay.

The new Crew Dragon will be the fifth in SpaceX’s lineup of crewed spacecraft, complementing its three cargo Dragon vehicles. According to Sarah Walker, SpaceX’s Dragon Mission Management Director, the spacecraft was near completion as of July and was undergoing final work at SpaceX’s California facility. It is now expected to arrive in Florida for final preparations in January.

While NASA did not specify the exact reasons for the delay, it considered other options, including using an existing Crew Dragon or making adjustments to the launch manifest, before opting for the delay. Existing capsules, including Freedom, currently at the ISS, and Endeavour and Resilience, which recently returned from other missions, were not available for a February launch.

Crew Adjustments and Extended ISS Stay

The Crew-10 mission will proceed with its planned roster: Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, Takuya Onishi from JAXA, and Kirill Peskov from Roscosmos.

The delay has implications for the Crew-9 mission, launched in late September with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. They were joined by NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the station since June after arriving on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

Originally, Williams and Wilmore were scheduled to stay for just over a week, but their time on the ISS will now extend to about 10 months. NASA had earlier decided to return the uncrewed Starliner to Earth due to concerns with its thrusters.

Despite the delay, NASA emphasizes that Williams and Wilmore are not “stranded” as they can return to Earth in an emergency. Their extended stay is tied to the decision to use the new Crew Dragon for the upcoming mission, as preparing another vehicle was deemed impractical.

Looking Ahead

Assuming the Crew-10 launch proceeds in late March, the Crew-9 spacecraft is expected to return to Earth in early April after a handover period. This delay underscores the complexity of preparing new spacecraft while ensuring the safety and readiness of all missions.

As the new Crew Dragon nears completion, SpaceX and NASA remain focused on maintaining seamless operations aboard the ISS and advancing human space exploration.

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Boeing Starliner crews will have an extended stay on the ISS due to SpaceX’s delay

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NASA said on Tuesday that it has decided to postpone the launch until at least late March because SpaceX’s upcoming crew rotation mission to the ISS would utilize a new Dragon spacecraft that won’t be ready by the initial February launch date.

For the two NASA astronauts who traveled to the ISS last June on Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft, that means an even longer stay. On June 5, they took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V on the first crewed mission of Starliner. They arrived at the ISS one day later for a stay that was only expected to last eight days.

NASA decided to be cautious and maintain Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard the ISS while sending Starliner home without a crew due to issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters and helium leaks on its propulsion module.

In order for Williams and Wilmore to have a trip home, they will now be traveling on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom, which traveled up to the ISS and docked in September, although with only two crew members on board rather than the customary four.

When Crew-10 arrived in late February, the mission’s goal was to take a trip home.

However, NASA confirmed that Crew-10 will not fly with its replacement crew until late March. This allows NASA and SpaceX time to prepare the new Dragon spacecraft, which has not yet been given a name, for the voyage. Early January is when it is anticipated to reach Florida.

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” stated Steve Stich, the program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew. “We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight.”

It would be the fifth Dragon spacecraft with a crew. Its fleet of four current Dragon spacecraft has flown 15 times, sending 56 passengers to space, including two who were two-time fliers. The first crewed trip took place in May 2020. Each spacecraft’s name is chosen by the crew on its first flight.

According to NASA, teams considered using the other crew Dragon spacecraft that were available but decided that rescheduling Crew-10’s launch date was the best course of action.

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut and mission specialist Takuya Onishi will undertake his second spaceflight, Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist Kirill Peskov will make his first spaceflight, NASA astronaut and commander Anne McClain will make her second spaceflight, and NASA astronaut and pilot Nichole Ayers will become the first member of the 2021 astronaut candidate class to reach space.

Given that Crew-9 won’t be able to return home until a handover period following Crew-10’s arrival, Wilmore and Williams may have to spend nearly nine months aboard as a result of the delay.

Rotations aboard the ISS typically last six months.

It is unclear when and how Starliner will receive its final certification so that it can start trading off the regular ferry service with SpaceX, as NASA’s Commercial Crew Program aims to have two providers for U.S.-based rotation missions with SpaceX and Boeing. This is due to the Crew Flight Test mission’s incomplete launch.

According to the terms of its contract, Boeing must deliver six missions to the ISS before the space station’s service ends, which is presently scheduled for 2030.

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Ancient DNA Reveals When Humans and Neanderthals Interbred

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Neanderthals and humans likely mixed and mingled during a narrow time frame 45,000 years ago, scientists reported Thursday.

Researchers analyzed ancient genes to pinpoint the time period, which is slightly more recent than previous estimates for the mating.

Modern humans emerged in Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago and eventually spread to Europe, Asia, and beyond. Somewhere along the way, they met and mated with Neanderthals, leaving a lasting fingerprint on our genetic code.

Scientists don’t know exactly when or how the two groups entangled. But ancient bone fragments and genes are helping scientists figure that out.

“Genetic data from these samples really helps us paint a picture in more and more detail,” said study co-author Priya Moorjani at the University of California, Berkeley.

The research was published Thursday in the journals Science and Nature.

To pin down the timeline, researchers peeked at some of the oldest human genes from the skull of a woman, called Zlatý kůň or Golden Horse, named after a hill in the Czech Republic where it was found. They also examined bone fragments from an early human population in Ranis, Germany, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) away. They found snippets of Neanderthal DNA that placed the mating at around 45,000 years ago.

In a separate study, researchers tracked signs of Neanderthal DNA in our genetic code over 50,000 years. They found Neanderthal genes related to immunity and metabolism that may have helped early humans survive and thrive outside of Africa.

We still carry Neanderthals’ legacy in our DNA. Modern-day genetic quirks linked to skin color, hair color, and even nose shape can be traced back to our extinct former neighbors. And our genetic code also contains echoes from another group of extinct human cousins called Denisovans.

Future genetic studies can help scientists detangle exactly what—and who—we’re made of, said Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins program, who was not involved with the new research.

“Out of many really compelling areas of scientific investigation, one of them is: well, who are we?” Potts said.

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