Latest news with #NASASpaceflight
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Astronaut Notices "Slice" in Her Suit's Glove During Spacewalk
This morning, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers stepped outside the International Space Station inside their Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suits. It was an exceedingly rare all-female spacewalk, with the goal of mounting a bracket for a future solar array to increase the station's power generation capacity by up to 30 percent. But as spotted by NASASpaceflight, the six-and-a-half-hour mission wasn't entirely without hiccups. Less than an hour in, McClain noticed a "slice" in the index finger of her right glove, prompting ground control in Houston to have a closer look. "If it helps, when I bend it, it's kind of right at the corner where the finger bends," McClain told Houston via voice link, "but when I bend it, a little tab opens up." Once a video streaming connection to McClain's helmet camera was established, the team could finally get a closer look. "You wanna move it a little closer, so we can have a closer view?" Houston told McClain. "I can kind of see, it's right at the bend," she answered. "EV-1, this is Houston, thank you so much for your video, we are assessing and discussing on the ground," mission control said. Fortunately, the problem wasn't deemed serious enough to impact safety, and the spacewalk proceeded as planned. "Taking a look, it is a string of the Turtleskin along the seam of the finger," Houston said, referring to a special woven fabric manufactured by NASA contractor Warwick Mills. "No additional checks needed other than keep reporting if you see anything off nominal." Interestingly, McClain, a current US Army colonel and former professional rugby player, had to wait for her chance to join the all-female spacewalk for six years, as CBS reports, due to spacesuit fitting issues. In March 2019, NASA scrapped its plans to perform the first-ever spacewalk by two women astronauts — McClain and fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch — after the former realized during a previous walk that a "medium"-sized spacesuit torso would fit her better. At the time, astronaut Nick Hague took McClain's spot since a spacesuit torso in the right size couldn't be made available in time. The first women-only spacewalk was ultimately performed by Koch and astronaut Jessica Meir in October 2019, seven months after McCain missed her shot. NASA has encountered many challenges with its aging EMU suits, from "discomfort issues" to a water leak covering the visor of astronaut Tracy Dyson's suit in ice particles last year. Women, in particular, have faced spacesuit fit issues for decades. While many of the EMU's modular parts are available in a range of sizes, many components have never fit well, especially for shorter women. It's an issue that extends far beyond spacesuits as well, especially in male-dominated fields, from ill-fitting army uniforms to fire department safety gear. A long-awaited successor to NASA's existing EMU, a design that hasn't seen any significant changes since the 1980s, has yet to see the light of day. Worse yet, the ISS is set to be retired in less than five years, giving the agency less and less time to come up with a replacement. And the existing suits are starting to show their age, much like the station itself. In a 2022 blog post, NASA explained how the gloves of its EMU suits — each personally fitted to each spacewalker's hands — go through careful inspection prior to every spacewalk. Photography and closer analysis allow ground control to determine whether they're ready for use. The mission ended positive: more than five years after her missed opportunity, McClain finally got her shot, completing the fifth-ever all-female spacewalk. More on spacewalks: NASA Contractor Shows Off New Spacesuit for the First Moon Landing in Over Half a Century
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany's largest rocket since V-2 crashes and explodes seconds after launch
Credit: @NASASpaceflight/@spacecoastwest A test rocket aimed at kick-starting satellite launches from Europe fell to the ground and exploded 40 seconds after its launch from a Norwegian space port. The uncrewed Spectrum rocket was described as the first attempt at an orbital flight to originate from Europe, where several nations – including Sweden and Britain – have said they want a share of a growing market for commercial space missions. It was the largest German rocket since V-2, the Nazi-era rocket that has often been described as having launched the space age and was the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile. Isar Aerospace, the German company that developed the Spectrum rocket, insisted the failed flight had produced extensive data from which its team could learn. 'Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success,' Daniel Metzler, the chief executive, said in a statement. 'We had a clean lift-off, 30 seconds of flight, and even got to validate our flight termination system.' Spectrum, a two-stage orbital launch vehicle, is 28 meters long, powered by 10 engines developed in-house by Isar, and was specifically designed to put small and medium satellites into orbit. The firm was founded in 2018. Its website lists a group of investors including Airbus Ventures and Bulent Altan, a Turkish-American aerospace executive and engineer considered to have been a key contributor at Elon Musk's SpaceX. The global space race has increasingly become focused on the deployment of satellite constellations. Several European nations, including the UK, have expressed interest in this growing market for satellite launches. Key companies working on technologies include SpaceX, which conducts launches from the US and operates the Starlink satellite communications service. France's ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, uses a spaceport in French Guiana, on the northern coast of South America. In January, the UK Government announced a £20 million investment to help fund the construction and launch of the first British-manufactured and launched orbital rocket. The rocket, Prime, is being built by Orbex, based in Scotland. It is also designed to launch satellites into orbit, and is due to launch from a Scottish spaceport late this year. China is a growing player in the satellite launch race. On Sunday, Chinese state media reported that the country had sent a new satellite into orbit from the island of Hainan, using a Long March-7A rocket. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
