Two <keyword id="19939779" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA-astronauts" source="keywords">NASA astronauts</keyword> <keyword id="21967665" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barry-Wilmore" source="keywords">Barry Wilmore</keyword> and <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> have no planned date to return to Earth and they are waiting aboard the <keyword id="19985509" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="International-Space-Station" source="keywords">International Space Station</keyword> (ISS) amid several mechanical issues with Boeing's <keyword id="20138728" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="starliner" source="keywords">Starliner</keyword> spacecraft, ABC News reported. <br /><br />The two <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword> astronauts were scheduled to return on June 14. However, the pair has no set date to return to Earth as their return has been delayed multiple times. In a statement, Steve Stich, manager of NASA's <keyword id="20430894" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commercial-Crew-Program" source="keywords">Commercial Crew Program</keyword>, said, "We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," according to ABC News report. <br /><br />Stich added, "We are letting the data drive our decision-making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking."<br /><br />The Starliner with flight commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and flight pilot Sunita "Suni" Williams onboard was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 5. The Starliner arrived at the ISS on June 6. <br /><br />The mission is part of the larger Commercial Crew Program at NASA, which wanted to see whether Boeing's spacecraft could be certified to carry out routine missions to and from the ISS.<br /><br />Boeing and NASA have said the crew is currently not in danger as they are aboard the ISS with plenty of supplies in orbit and the schedule of the station is relatively open through mid-August. NASA and Boeing said Wilmore and Williams are "integrated" with the Expedition 71 crew aboard the ISS and are assisting the crew with operations of the station as needed and completing "objectives" required for NASA's possible certification of Starliner, ABC News reported. <br /><br />In a statement, Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing's Starliner program, said, "The crew's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and they know that every bit of learning we do on the Crew Flight Test will improve and sharpen our experience for future crews."<br /><br />Starliner has faced several issues, even before launch. The flight test was originally tentatively scheduled for May 6. However, it was delayed after a problem with an oxygen valve on a rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA), which makes and operates the rockets that launch spacecraft into orbit.<br /><br />The launch date was later set for May 25. However, a small helium leak was found in the service module, which comprises support systems and instruments for operating a spacecraft, ABC News reported. <br /><br />Helium leaks and a thruster issue then threatened to delay the docking of Starliner. After docking at the ISS for five days, NASA and Boeing said the spacecraft was experiencing five "small" helium leaks. At the time, NASA and Boeing said enough helium was available for the return mission. <br /><br />

No planned date to return to Earth for two NASA astronauts due to issues with Boeing Starliner spacecraft

The launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, scheduled to carry <keyword id="19939779" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA-astronauts" source="keywords">NASA astronauts</keyword> <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> and Barry Wilmore to the International Space Station (ISS) was on Monday (local time) postponed after a valve glitch in the upper stage of the rocket set to propel it to space.<br /><br />Rocket company United Launch Alliance's Tom Heter III the director overseeing the launch announced the decision to delay the launch about two hours before the expected lift off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States.<br /><br />NASA announced on social media platform X that the problem was identified with an oxygen valve on part of ULA's Atlas 5 rocket and that the space agency, Boeing and ULA have "scrubbed the launch opportunity on May 6 for the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station due to a faulty oxygen relief valve observation on the Atlas V rocket Centaur second stage. The crew and rocket remain safe and more information will be forthcoming."<br /><br />It said that NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams exited the Starliner spacecraft at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and will return to astronaut crew quarters.<br /><br />This would have marked the first human crewed flight for Starliner with Indian origin Sunita "Suni" Williams piloting the craft with fellow NASA pilot Barry "Butch" Wilmore. Boing had designed Starliner to rival the Dragon capsule of Elon Musk's SpaceX which carried out its crewed flight test in May 2020. SpaceX has handled most of NASA's crew transportation needs since then.<br /><br />However, just two hours before the scheduled launch, a valve glitch in the rocket's upper stage forced mission managers to call off the mission. It was a frustrating setback for Wilmore and Williams, both seasoned astronauts ventured to space on two previous journeys aboard NASA space shuttle and Russian Soyuz missions and had impressive backgrounds in naval aviation. The disappointment was tangible as they unstrapped from their seats, their hopes of soaring into space momentarily grounded, CBS News reported.<br /><br />Incidentally Sunita Williams has named the spacecraft "Calypso" for her love of the ocean and in reference to the ship of famed explorer <keyword id="21556039" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jacques-cousteau" source="keywords">Jacques Cousteau</keyword>, who sailed across the world on his own ship named bearing the same name.<br /><br />Despite the setback, the seasoned duo maintained their composure, knowing that space travel demands patience and resilience. Clad in their distinctive Boeing pressure suits, Wilmore and Williams awaited news of the next launch window, ready to embark on their celestial journey at the earliest opportunity, as reported by CBS News.<br /><br />The Atlas 5 rocket, renowned for its reliability, stood ready for its milestone 100th flight - to launch Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft. The plan was that following separation from Atlas 5, Starliner engines will burn taking it the rest of the way to orbit and on to the International Space Station, according to ULA. <br /><br />The Atlas 5 had successfully launching scientific spacecraft to Mars on five different occasions, plus research investigations to the Sun, the Moon, Jupiter, the Asteroid Bennu and Pluto <br /><br />The Atlas 5 consists of two major components: a booster and Centaur, its so-called upper stage. Starliner sits on top of Centaur, which in turn rests on the booster. The booster powers everything off the launchpad. During the flight, Centaur is designed to separate from the booster, propelling Starliner into a proper orbit. Then, Starliner separates from Centaur and flies on its own.<br /><br />It has delivered US national security assets into space, launched weather observatories that all Americans depend upon and deployed commercial satellites to connect the world.<br /><br />Williams, selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1998, has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions and accumulated 50 hours and 40 minutes of cumulative EVA time on seven spacewalks. Williams worked with Roscosmos on its contribution to the space station and with the first Expedition crew.<br /><br />Meanwhile, 61-year-old, Wilmore has logged 178 days in space and has 25 hours and 36 minutes of time on four spacewalks.<br /><br />NASA has been waiting half a decade for Starliner to begin flying crew, and the development of Starliner was beset by years of delays, setbacks and blunders. More broadly, Boeing as a company has suffered years of scandals in its aircraft division that have tarnished the legacy aerospace giant's brand, CNN reported.<br /><br />If successful, the Crew Test Flight could queue up Boeing to begin flying routine trips to the space station on NASA's behalf. <br /><br />Boeing has already planned six manned missions for the platform over the next six years, the projected end of the ISS' operating lifespan.<br /><br />NASA plans to use both SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner to send up astronauts at least every six months from US soil. Both Boeing and SpaceX were given the responsibility in 2014 by NASA to send commercial crew missions to the ISS.<br /><br />Boeing received over USD 4 billion in US federal funds to develop the Starliner, while SpaceX received about USD 2.6 billion.<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/indegene-ipo-company-details-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/109888922.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/indegene-ipo-company-details-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/109888922.cms" target="_blank">Indegene IPO: Company details to risk factors, all you need to know</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/worldwide-tablet-shipments-grow-in-q1-2024-after-two-years-of-decline/articleshow/109876390.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/worldwide-tablet-shipments-grow-in-q1-2024-after-two-years-of-decline/articleshow/109876390.cms" target="_blank">Worldwide tablet shipments grow in Q1 2024 after two years of decline</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/asus-zenbook-duo-review/articleshow/109875023.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/asus-zenbook-duo-review/articleshow/109875023.cms" target="_blank">Asus ZenBook Duo review – an excellent dual-screen laptop for multitaskers</a></b><br />

Planned crewed launch of Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft called off

Indian-origin <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword>' piloted 'Starliner' is set to launch into space on Saturday, after the joint mission of US space agency <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword> and aircraft major Boeing was previously hit by snags.<br /><br />The flight will mark Williams' third space mission.<br /><br />According to NASA, the flight to the orbiting International Space Station (<keyword id="20307956" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ISS" source="keywords">ISS</keyword>) is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre around 10 pm Indian Standard Time today.<br /><br />'Suni' Williams and fellow NASA <keyword id="20248602" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="astronaut" source="keywords">astronaut</keyword> Barry 'Butch' Wilmore will be the first humans to go aboard Starliner spacecraft as part of the US space agency's Commercial Crew Program.<br /><br />The Starliner spacecraft will be catapulted into space on an Atlas 5 rocket of the rocket company United Launch Alliance (ULA). It will dock with the ISS on Sunday and the astronauts will be at the ISS conducting a range of tests for about a week. Starliner will then undock from the ISS re-enter Earth's atmosphers and make a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States on June 10, NASA said.<br /><br />If this mission is successful, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the International Space Station.<br /><br />The Starliner capsule will carry four astronauts, or a mix of crew and cargo, for NASA missions to low Earth orbit. <br /><br />NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) are ready for the June 1, launch of the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test according to an announcement during a prelaunch media briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.<br /><br />"I'm very proud of the teams who have worked really hard the last two and a half weeks to prepare for launch," said Steve Stich, manager, NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "We're really ready to go fly" he said.<br /><br />The integrated ULA Atlas 5 rocket and Starliner spacecraft stack rolled out to the pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 30 in preparation for liftoff. <br /><br />Both Williams and Wilmore had remained in preflight quarantine inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building following their return to the Florida spaceport on May 28.<br /><br />Mission managers of the <keyword id="21541868" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boeing-Starliner" source="keywords">Boeing Starliner</keyword>'s Crewed Test Flight (CFT) called off the mission on May 7, just two hours before the scheduled launch due to a valve glitch in the Atlas 5 rocket's upper stage. Boeing said in its statement that the valve was successfully replaced on May 11 and tested to confirm it was working properly.<br /><br />Later on May 14, NASA announced that the CFT mission scheduled for May 17 has been pushed to no later than May 21 due to what it described as a "small helium leak" in the spacecraft's service module.<br /><br />On May 17 the space agency said that the launch was further pushed back to May 25.<br /><br />The flight marking Boeing's first Starliner spacecraft mission with a human crew, is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the US aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from US soil.<br /><br />NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX in September 2014 to transport crew to the International Space Station from the United States. These integrated spacecraft, rockets and associated systems will carry up to four astronauts on NASA missions, maintaining a space station crew of seven to maximize time dedicated to scientific research on the orbiting laboratory.<br /><br />After a failed attempt in December 2019, Boeing conducted a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) in 2022. Its Starliner is expected to be reusable for up to ten missions within a six-month turnaround time, according to the aerospace company.<br /><br />Elon Musk-owned SpaceX company's Crew Dragon has performed 12 crewed missions since its first launch on May 30, 2020.<br /><br />Williams and Wilmore were both former commanders of the International Space Station.<br /><br />Williams, from Needham, Massachusetts, earned a physical science degree from the US Naval Academy, and a master's in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology. <br /><br />Her first spaceflight was Expedition 14/15 (from December 2006 to June 2007) launching on space shuttle Discovery's STS-116 mission to reach the International Station, according to NASA.<br /><br />While onboard, Williams established a world record for women at the time with four spacewalks. She concluded her tour of duty by returning to Earth with shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 flight to land at Edwards Air Force Base in California on June 22, 2007.<br /><br />Selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1998, Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions and accumulated 50 hours and 40 minutes of cumulative EVA time on seven spacewalks.<br /><br />Williams worked with Roscosmos on its contribution to the space station and with the first Expedition crew.<br /><br />Meanwhile, 61-year-old, Wilmore has logged 178 days in space and has 25 hours and 36 minutes of time on four spacewalks.<br /><br />Boeing has planned six manned missions for the platform over the next six years, the projected end of the ISS' operating lifespan.<br /><br />NASA plans to use both SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner to send up astronauts at least every six months from US soil. Both Boeing and SpaceX were given the responsibility in 2014 by NASA to send commercial crew missions to the ISS.<br /><br />Boeing received over USD 4 billion in US federal funds to develop the Starliner, while SpaceX received about USD 2.6 billion.<br /><br /><b>SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-two-wheelers-launching-in-india-in-june-2024/slidelist/110591467.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-cars-and-two-wheelers-launching-in-india-in-june-2024/slidelist/110591467.cms" target="_blank">Upcoming cars and two-wheelers launching in India in June 2024</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/lok-sabha-exit-poll-2024-what-are-they-when-will-they-be-announced-and-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/110565608.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/lok-sabha-exit-poll-2024-what-are-they-when-will-they-be-announced-and-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/110565608.cms" target="_blank">Lok Sabha Exit Poll 2024 – what are they, when will they be announced and all you need to know</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/huawei-beats-samsung-to-take-the-top-spot-in-global-foldable-smartphone-shipments/articleshow/110583786.cms" target="_blank"></a></b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/huawei-beats-samsung-to-take-the-top-spot-in-global-foldable-smartphone-shipments/articleshow/110583786.cms" target="_blank">Huawei beats Samsung to take the top spot in global foldable smartphone shipments</a></b><br />

Sunita Williams flies to ISS on NASA's Boeing Starliner tonight; 3rd time in space for Indian-origin astronaut

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360701" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex">SpaceX</keyword>'s Dragon capsule docked to the <keyword id="6382020" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="international-space-station">International Space Station</keyword> on Monday, carrying a load of cargo.</li><li>The spacecraft docked next to the SpaceX <keyword id="3150656" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="crew-dragon">Crew Dragon</keyword> ship that ferried four astronauts into orbit last month.</li><li>For the next 13 months, SpaceX will have at least one spaceship in orbit continuously.</li></ul><p>After launching from <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword>'s Kennedy <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">Space</keyword> Center, a SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Monday.</p><p>Unlike the Crew Dragon spaceship that flew four astronauts into orbit a few weeks ago, this model was designed to ferry supplies to and from space. It carried 6,400-plus pounds of Christmas presents, <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> experiments, and other resupply material. But the Crew Dragon is still attached to the ISS as well - it is slated to stay in space until May, then fly its crew back to Earth. </p><p>So now, Elon Musk's rocket company has two spacecraft docked to the space station for the first time ever. </p><p>"I'd just like to say a huge congratulations," NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who has been on board the station since October, said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg">on NASA TV</a> after the Dragon docked.</p><p>"It's pretty amazing to think that less than a month ago you docked four crew members," Rubins added, referring to SpaceX's Crew-1 mission, which includes NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Victor Glover, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi. "And now you're bringing a vehicle full of world class science for us to execute."</p><p>The cargo Dragon spaceship will stay at the station for a month before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere and parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean. It's the 21st time SpaceX has sent cargo to the space station on one of its spaceships - it's been doing routine missions for this purpose <a href="https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/05/spacexs-dragon-historic-attempt-berth-with-iss/">since 2012</a>. </p><h2><strong>SpaceX will have at least one spacecraft in orbit continuously until the end of next year</strong></h2><p>An image taken from the space station on Monday (below) shows the Dragon as it docked to one of the International Space Station's two ports. The image labeled with arrows above shows the cargo Dragon's nose cone near the top of the image, and a sliver of Crew Dragon's on the left. </p><p><strong><div type="image" title="spacex dragon dec 7 2" height="1069" width="1868" msid="79616580" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>Monday's docking was the latest event in SpaceX's busiest launch period ever.</p><p>By December 2021, SpaceX's two types of Dragon spacecraft - for crew and cargo - will have launched into space a combined 13 times since the company launched its uncrewed test flight of the Crew Dragon in March 2019.</p><p>What's more, if all goes according to plan, SpaceX will have had spaceships in orbit continuously for 13 months by the end of next year.</p><p>"Every time there's a Dragon launch, there'll be two Dragons in space," Benji Reed, director of crew mission management at SpaceX, said at a press conference in October.</p><p>The company's next astronaut mission, Crew-2, is scheduled to launch in March. So those astronauts will overlap with the Crew-1 crew until May. The same thing should happen with the following mission, Crew-3: It's expected to launch in September 2021, so should tag up with Crew-2 in orbit.</p><h2><strong>SpaceX won the race in NASA's Commercial Crew program</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="crew1 astronauts nasa crew dragon elon musk" height="1536" width="2048" msid="79616582" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>SpaceX's astronaut missions - and the existence of Crew Dragon in the first place - are the product of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which put private firms in competition for billions of dollars' worth of government contracts. SpaceX and Boeing won in the end.</p><p>Boeing is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-boeing-announce-crew-changes-for-starliner-crew-flight-test">expected to launch</a> the first crewed demonstration mission of its CST-100 Starliner spaceship in June 2021. The NASA astronauts chosen for that first flight are Barry Wilmore, Michael Fincke, and Nicole Aunapu Mann.</p><p>But first, Boeing will have to retry an uncrewed demonstration mission, since an attempt in December 2019 failed. During that flight, the Starliner entered orbit successfully but failed to rendezvous with the space station <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-investigating-potentially-catastrophic-boeing-spaceship-error-2020-2">due to software errors</a> that NASA then investigated. </p><p>Until the Starliner completes the required steps for certification, Crew Dragon remains the only ship the US has to carry astronauts to and from the space station.</p>

In a first, SpaceX has 2 Dragon spaceships docked to the International Space Station at once - one image shows both

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/571a57c4dd0895057d8b470f-2400-3500/a-beautiful-planet-poster.jpg" alt="a beautiful planet poster" data-mce-source="IMAX"><p class="source"><span>IMAX</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Since 1968, astronauts have reported experiencing the "overview effect," a profound sense of awe at our fragile existence on our weird little blue marble, hanging in the vastness of space.<p>"Blue Planet" director Toni Myers tries to bring that sense of wonder to Earth-bound audiences with her new, Jennifer Lawrence-narrated IMAX movie, "<a href="http://abeautifulplanet.imax.com/">A Beautiful Planet</a>," set to premiere April 29.</p><p>Filmed aboard the International Space Station (ISS), resident astronauts recorded sunrises and sunsets, auroras, city lights, and massive storms from a celestial perspective.</p><p>The astronauts filmed most of the film from <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/cupola.html#.Vxkg4pMrKV4">the ISS "cupola"</a> - a bubble-like observation deck with an panoramic view of Earth from space.</p><p>"There's no way to match what you see with your own eyes when you're in orbit, but this comes as close as possible," Barry "Butch" Wilmore, Myers' first astronaut-turned-cinematographer, told a room of journalists.</p><p>The film also features footage of a spacewalk filmed on a Go Pro - one of most dangerous duties of being an astronaut.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/571a56b9dd089518708b45d7-4096-2304/a%20beautiful%20planet%20spacewalk.jpg" alt="a beautiful planet spacewalk" data-mce-source="IMAX" data-mce-caption="NASA Commander Barry (Butch) Willmore on a spacewalk to repair the exterior of the International Space Station. It's almost 300° on the sun side of the space station and -275° in the shade."><p class="source"><span>IMAX</span></p><p class="caption">Wilmore during a spacewalk.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>For all its stunning visuals, the movie also shows a very human side of life on ISS.<p>The camaraderie of the astronauts comes through strongly: One scene shows the crew celebrating Christmas; in another, an astronaut cuts his colleague's hair.</p><p>If that wasn't enough to pack into 45 minutes and change, the movie has a message, too. Myers wants to communicate the delicate nature of our planet - and show how we've impacted its surface.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/571a56b9dd089518708b45d8-5184-3456/a%20beautiful%20planet%20aurora%20lights%20earth%20iss.jpg" alt="a beautiful planet aurora lights earth iss" data-mce-source="IMAX" data-mce-caption="From IMAX Entertainment and director Toni Myers and narrated by Jennifer Lawrence, A Beautiful Planet is a stunning glimpse of Earth from space, bringing a heightened awareness of our planet-and the effects of humanity over time-as never seen before."><p class="source"><span>IMAX</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>From above, the astronauts could spot (and film) fracking fires, huge, deforested tracts of the Amazon Basin, and sprawling megacities.</p><p>Myers said she wants to inspire young people to find innovative solutions to the problem of climate change, and hopes that audiences "walk away with a feeling of ownership; of being part of this planet."</p><p>Watch a trailer for the movie below.</p><p><div><iframe width="800" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZEnhWHAlslM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/valentina-tereshkova-was-first-woman-space-2016-4">The first woman in space almost didn't make it back to Earth and she had to keep it a secret for 30 years</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tiYTd3eDpEgMUhQYbjGVPozOisTBoq6h" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'tiYTd3eDpEgMUhQYbjGVPozOisTBoq6h',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Astronauts say this movie is as close as you can get to being in space without actually going

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><span class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><span><span data-post-image="" class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54958822ecad04fa77daa75d-1200-924/3d-printing-space1.jpg" border="0" alt="3d printing space_1"><span class="source"><span>NASA</span></span><span class="caption">ISS Commander Barry Wilmore with his 3D-printed wrench.</span></img></span><p></p></span></span>What happens when you're in outer space and you suddenly need something you don't have? It's not like UPS makes regular trips to the International Space Station.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Normally, astronauts could have to wait up to several months for a specific tool to be delivered up to the ISS. But thanks to 3D printing, astronauts no longer need to wait.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">In the first-ever case of "emailing" a tool into space to meet the needs of an astronaut, ISS commander Barry Wilmore was in need of a ratcheting socket wrench, so he had one emailed to the 3D printer that's now aboard the ISS, <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-12/19/3d-printed-space-wrench">Wired reports</a>.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The 3D printer was designed and built by <a href="http://www.madeinspace.us/">Made In Space</a>, a California company.&#xa0;</span></p>
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Mike Chen, cofounder and chief strategy officer for Made In Space, says "this type of technology translates to lower costs for experiments, faster design iteration, and a safer, better experience for the crew members, who can use it to replace broken parts or create new tools on demand."</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Mind you, this isn't the first time a 3D printed object was made in space - a total of 21 total objects have been made aboard the ISS. But this was the first time an astronaut needed a specific tool the 3D printer hadn't made before.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Here's the process: Made In Space designs the 3D-printed hardware in CAD software, which is then converted into a file-format the 3D printer can read. The company then sends the file to NASA, which is then transmitted to the ISS. The Space Station's 3D printer can receive the code and begin manufacturing immediately.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">All 21 objects that have been 3D printed in space will be brought back to Earth for further testing.</span></p>
<p class="p4"><span class="s1">"We will use them to characterize the effects of long-term microgravity on our 3D-printing process, so that we can model and predict the performance of objects that we manufacture in space in the future," Chen says.</span></p>

How NASA 'Emailed' A Wrench Into Space

<p>If the thought of floating in space - no gravity, the vastness of the universe around you, and a beautiful blue planet below - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-awesomeness-is-good-for-you-2015-3">fills you with awe</a>, this is the GoPro video for you.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552d316c6da811aa0ec0267d/spacegopro.gif" border="0" alt="space GoPro NASA"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://archive.org/details/EVAGoPro">NASA</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>NASA astronaut Terry Virts decided to take a GoPro out into the vacuum of space during a spacewalk, while he and fellow astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore went out to prepare the International Space Station for the arrival of two new docking adapters and to perform some other maintenance.<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552d32fcecad04ea3f23faaa/space%20gopro%207.gif" border="0" alt="Space GoPro 7 NASA" /></div></div></div>Just a couple of guys, installing antennas and routing some wires, floating in space.<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552d3354eab8ea74104fe556/space%20gopro%205.gif" border="0" alt="space GoPro 5 NASA" /></div></div></div>No "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-Sandra-Bullock/dp/B00HJ92QTI">Gravity</a>" style drama here, just an actual space station and some amazing views of Earth.<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552d3387ecad04114523faa9/spacegopro2.gif" border="0" alt="space GoPro2 NASA" /></div></div></div>Plus there are a few shots of what it's like to be in the space station itself.<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/552d33d86da811a11bc0267f/space%20gopro%206.gif" border="0" alt="space GoPro 6 NASA" /></div></div></div>There's about an hour and 45 minutes of footage in total, and you can check out that uncut footage&#xa0;<a href="https://archive.org/details/EVAGoPro">here</a>.<p>Here's a shorter version put together by <a href="http://time.com/3819293/gopro-spacewalk-astronauts/">Time</a>:</p><div><div><object id="flashObj" width="700" height="394" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&amp;isUI=1"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="flashVars" value="videoId=4170324503001&amp;linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fti.me%2F1GDihdK&amp;playerID=1917933886001&amp;playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAABGEUMg~,hNlIXLTZFZn-NQOazMchMDWH0SI1hX7f&amp;domain=embed&amp;dynamicStreaming=true"><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com"><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&amp;isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashvars="videoId=4170324503001&amp;linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fti.me%2F1GDihdK&amp;playerID=1917933886001&amp;playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAABGEUMg~,hNlIXLTZFZn-NQOazMchMDWH0SI1hX7f&amp;domain=embed&amp;dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="700" height="394" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" swliveconnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" /></param></param></param></param></param></param></param></param></object></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><p>I want to go.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/science-of-intelligence-smart-iq-2015-3">How to know if you're smart</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c4OXRsczq6MG-5kvydefaHmyQxwzd5Z9" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; 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Astronauts took a GoPro for a spacewalk - here's what it's really like to float in space

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b365abb44e98823008b4787-1063/nasa astronaut barry butch wilmore setting up the rodent reseach-1 hardware in the microgravity science glovebox aboard the international space station.jpg" border="0" alt="NASA astronaut Barry " data-mce-source="NASA" /><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore sets up the Rodent Research-1 Hardware on the International Space Station.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa">NASA</a> just launched 20 mice to the International Space Station to study how the stress of space impacts the microbiome. A set of 20 other mice are staying on Earth.</strong></li><li><strong>Scientists on the ISS and in a US lab will monitor the mice's weight, excrement, and sleep schedules.</strong></li><li><strong>They're hoping to learn more about how our guts respond to stressful conditions, and perhaps find ways to address sleep deprivation.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p> </p><p>Astronauts on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasa-astronaut-peggy-whitson-builds-strength-2018-6">International Space Station</a> (ISS) are getting ready to make room for 20 new rodent roommates.</p><p>On Friday morning, a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-rocket-launch-cimon-robot-head-ibm-iss-2018-6">SpaceX Dragon spaceship blasted off</a> from Florida carrying the mice. The rodent crew is expected to arrive at the ISS on Monday. Their record-breaking journey - this is the longest mice will be off the planet - is part of a study on how Earth-dwellers' guts and sleep schedules respond to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/space-effects-human-body-brain-bones-dna-2018-5">the stress of being in space</a>.</p><p>The NASA research is led by neurobiologists Fred Turek and Martha Vitaterna from Northwestern University. The plan is to leave 10 of the mice in space for three months (those are the record breakers), while 10 will stay at the station for 30 days.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b368aeee9cf2b55108b47b7-1200/mice in space .jpg" border="0" alt="mice in space " data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /><p class="source"><span>Shutterstock</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"<span>Ninety days might not seem like a long time, but for a mouse, it is," Vitaterna told Business Insider, explaining that mice respond to the effects of being in space more quickly than humans do.  </span></p><p><span>Keeping a group of identical mouse siblings on the ground for comparison will allow scientists to observe how being in space changes a mouse's physiology and behaviors. Specifically. the scientists hope to learn more about  how the mouse microbiome is affected by space travel and life on the ISS. </span></p><h2>What the mice will do in space: sleep, eat, poop</h2><p><span>T</span>he animals are not exactly twins - they're actually a much bigger identical troupe.</p><p>"I<span> don't know what the word for 10 genetically identical siblings is," Vitaterna said. </span><span>"W</span><span>e have a decuplet of one family and a decuplet of another family that are going to space."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b365f6b0fae9625008b47b9-1280/nasa mouse habitat.jpg" border="0" alt="nasa mouse habitat" data-mce-source="NASA" /><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">NASA's mouse habitat.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>The 20 mice on Earth will live inside a NASA simulator that will mimic the conditions the mice are subject to on the ISS (except those on Earth will be in gravity's pull, of course). There will also be other mouse control groups on the ground that don't live in the ISS simulator or eat the controlled space diet. </p><p><span>Every two weeks, astronauts on the ISS and scientists on Earth will take stool samples from all of the mice to compare their excrement. They'll also keep tabs on how much the bodies of the mice in space are changing relative to their peers on Earth, using a special mass-measurement device that doesn't rely on gravity. </span></p><p><span>The researchers will watch videos of the mice to track <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/space-effects-human-body-brain-bones-dna-2018-5#youll-be-sleepy-7">changes in their sleep cycle</a>, and monitor the animals' bone density, since often the bones and muscles of people (and mice) <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/space-effects-human-body-brain-bones-dna-2018-5#your-bone-density-can-change-4">become much weaker</a> in space. </span></p><h2><span>Studying twins helps scientists pinpoint what space does to the body</span></h2><p><span>This isn't the first time that NASA has compared a twin on the ground to a sibling in space. </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56ce25512e526575008b96fa-2000/gettyimages-467770684.jpg" border="0" alt="Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly" data-mce-source="Getty Images/Bill Ingalls/NASA" data-mce-caption="Expedition 43 NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, left, and his identical twin brother Mark Kelly." /><p class="source"><span>Getty Images/Bill Ingalls/NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Scott Kelly, left, and his identical twin brother Mark Kelly.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>When astronaut Scott Kelly spent a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-twin-study-new-results-mark-scott-kelly-2017-10">year in space</a>, scientists kept close tabs on the changes happening inside his body and compared that information to his identical brother Mark, who was back on Earth.</span></p><p><span>The mouse study is similar, but superior in one key way, according to Vitaterna.</span></p><p><span>"The human twin study was one pair of twins, so the mouse study is statistically better powered," she said, adding that</span> the Kelly brothers' results left unanswered questions that the mice could help solve.</p><p><span>For example, Scott Kelly's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-twin-study-new-results-mark-scott-kelly-2018-3">gut bacteria changed</a>, but the scientists aren't sure how much of that was just due to differences in diet. So the mice will have much stricter laboratory controls over what they eat than the men did. </span><span> </span></p><p>The scientists hope that any new information about how the mouse gut changes in space will inform future treatments they give astronauts or even people on Earth. </p><p>"I<span>f we understand, 'oh, </span><span>this intervention helps protect the microbiome, </span><span>which in turn </span><span>helps protect the immune system and metabolism,' </span><span>that's useful information </span>- <span>not just for space," Vitaterna said. </span><span>"It's not like stress is just a space flight thing, p</span><span>eople here have stress as well."</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-kelly-returns-from-space-340-days-nasa-2016-3">Watch Scott Kelly's awesome reaction to landing safely on Earth after his record-breaking time in space</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/NXfopw6u-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

NASA just launched 20 mice into space on a SpaceX rocket while their identical twins stay on Earth - here's what they hope to learn

<p>After spending 176 days in space, aboard the International Space Station, one NASA astronaut, Barry Wilmore, and two Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts, Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova, returned to solid Earth on Wednesday evening at approximately <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelena_Serova">10:07 pm ET</a>. </p><p>Below is an image of the return capsule they were in as the re-entered Earth's atmosphere:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5501961969beddc87cbe6481-1200-1200/16602978078_d382fffe8b_o.jpg" border="0" alt="16602978078_d382fffe8b_o" style="color: #000000;"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/with/16789523232/">NASA HQ Photo on Flickr</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Re-entering Earth's atmosphere is one of the most dangerous parts of a mission to and from space, but the three crew members looked to be in tip-top shape as they reclined in chairs to re-adjust their bodies to Earth's gravity.</p><p>After living for 6 months in a weightless environment, their bodies had undergone some rather unpleasant changes, including bone and muscle loss, which is why they're taking it easy as doctors perform standard medical tests on them.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5501961aecad04c8365f5315-1200-800/16789523232_2f61e64ed9_o.jpg" border="0" alt="16789523232_2f61e64ed9_o"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/with/16789523232/">NASA HQ Photo on Flickr</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>The Expedition 42 crew rode a Soyuz spacecraft back home. Upon re-entry a spacecraft can reach about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit due to friction between the spacecraft and the molecules in Earth's atmosphere. The Soyuz has a heat shield on its bottom, which it aims at the ground to protect the capsule and its precious cargo during the bumpy ride.</p><p>Earth's atmosphere does have its perks, however: It slows the spacecraft down to the point where the crew can deploy the parachute and glide safely and slowly down to Earth's surface through, what appears to be, stratus clouds in the image below:</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/550196186da811f11d8dbfb8-1200-924/16604583049_3059ae029d_k.jpg" border="0" alt="16604583049_3059ae029d_k"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/with/16789523232/">NASA HQ Photo on Flickr</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>The astronauts landed in a snow-covered part of Kazakhstan, where they were then helped out of the tiny capsule and into some very comfy-looking chairs. It was a few degrees below zero outside when they landed, but Willmore seemed happy to just be home.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/550196196da811a1258dbfb3-1200-1200/16789516691_6a5bfcaaf7_k.jpg" border="0" alt="16789516691_6a5bfcaaf7_k"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/with/16789523232/">NASA HQ Photo on Flickr</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Cosmonaut Samokutyaev, shown below, marveled in the simple pleasure of fresh fruit according to <a href="http://www.space.com/28804-space-station-soyuz-crew-landing.html">Space.com</a>:</p><p>"I am drinking tea with real lemon," he said while sipping happily. "It's great."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5501b5adecad049b355f5317-1200-1200/16789516561_e3793666f0_k.jpg" border="0" alt="16789516561_e3793666f0_k"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/16789516561/">NASA HQ Photo on Flickr</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Serova, shown below, is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelena_Serova">first female Russian cosmonaut</a> to ever board the International Space Station. She first climbed, or rather floated, onto the space station in Sept. 2014.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/550196196bb3f7294a80d394-1200-1200/16603095728_35b0da62d0_k.jpg" border="0" alt="16603095728_35b0da62d0_k"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/with/16789523232/">NASA HQ Photo on Flickr</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>This return flight marks the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-14M">123rd mission</a> using a Soyuz spacecraft. The first Soyuz mission was launched in 1967 - two years before NASA landed the first astronauts on the moon.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/alexander-gersts-space-time-lapse-2014-12">An Astronaut Compressed 6 Months In Space Into This Amazing Time-Lapse</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BmMHhpcjpiDPmuDrWshqVvYcEJ-9d_hM" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'BmMHhpcjpiDPmuDrWshqVvYcEJ-9d_hM',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Incredible photos of space station crew's return to Earth after 6 months

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/577d84ffdd0895fd028b498c-2400/soyz.jpg" alt="Soyuz interior" data-mce-source="NASA" data-link="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-13/html/iss013e60772.html"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-13/html/iss013e60772.html">NASA</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>A NASA astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut, and a Japanese astronaut are <a href="http://www.techinsider.io/a-russian-rocket-will-launch-3-astronauts-into-space-tonight-heres-how-to-watch-live-2016-7">about to spend the next two days</a> aboard a tiny Soyuz capsule bound for the International Space Station.<p>Naturally, that made us ask a lot of questions about some basic, unavoidable bodily functions.</p><p>Two whole days in a spacecraft the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-the-soyuz-spacecraft-k-4">size of a van</a>? Where do they go to the bathroom? How do they go to the bathroom?</p><p>Luckily, the answer is not in their suits (mostly).</p><p>The Soyuz, which ferries astronauts and cosmonauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), has a vacuum-like toilet that sucks urine out of the space environment and into a collection bin.</p><p>Two cosmonauts demonstrate how it works in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRQM5k6uls">this entertaining video</a>, the highlight of which I have captured in this GIF:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/577d84ffdd0895fd028b498d-/giphy%20(19).gif" alt="soyuz space toilet demo" width="800" height="450" data-mce-source="The Museum of Flight/YouTube" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRQM5k6uls" /></div></div><p>You can see how the "toilet" vacuums the demo liquid right up.</p><p>Canadian astronaut and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo">rock legend</a> Chris Hadfield also tweeted a picture of what the entire device looks like, calling it "basic":</p><p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>It's because the Soyuz toilet is ... basic. The human interface part is the apparatus on the left. <a href="http://t.co/3x8EPecliJ">pic.twitter.com/3x8EPecliJ</a></p>- Chris Hadfield  (@Cmdr_Hadfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/368334277512949762">August 16, 2013</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div></p><p>Most astronauts get an enema before launch to clear the pipes so they don't have to do anything other than pee&#xa0;aboard the tiny, privacy-free Soyuz, NASA astronaut <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5245218/the-trouble-with-space-toilets">Leroy Chiao wrote for Gizmodo</a>. But they wear a specially designed <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/astronaut-interview">diaper-esque contraption</a> just in case, which NASA astronaut Mike Mullane explained in detail in an <a href="http://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/astronaut-interview">entertaining interview with Men's Health</a>.</p><p>Thankfully, once aboard the ISS, things are more civilized.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/577d84ffdd0895fd028b498e-2098/iss%20space%20toilet.jpg" alt="iss space toilet" data-mce-source="NASA" data-mce-caption="The toilet aboard the ISS." data-link="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-19/html/iss019e005733.html"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-19/html/iss019e005733.html">NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">The toilet aboard the ISS.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>While the Soyuz is too small to partition off a room, the ISS has its own toilet area. (Classy!) But it's only blocked off by a curtain, not a door.</p><p>The ISS is about the size of a football field, so there isn't much privacy during the months-long missions.</p><p>The mechanism of the ISS toilet is similar to that on the Soyuz - vacuum-style.</p><p>For No. 1, there is a nozzle device that sucks up the urine, with different attachments for men and women.</p><p>That <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-kelly-will-drink-730-liters-of-recycled-sweat-and-urine-2015-3">urine then gets turned into drinking water</a> for the ISS!</p><p>For No. 2, there is a tiny seat where astronauts have to aim their buttocks into the hole, so&#xa0;the toilet can suck&#xa0;their excrement&#xa0;into a plastic bag.</p><p>Of course, since they're in space, the astronauts can strap themselves onto the station toilet so they don't float away while they're doing their business.</p><p>European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gives a tour of the toilet in this informative <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-65mBQ7s_Q">video</a>:</p><p><div><iframe width="800" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/C-65mBQ7s_Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p><p>Every once in a while, the system malfunctions, and what goes in the toilet comes back out and floats around the space station. Yes, really.</p><p>NASA astronaut <a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wilmore-be.pdf">Barry Wilmore</a> told Tech Insider about his unique experience with this disgusting issue.</p><p>"Using a fish metaphor, there was a very rare occasion when, sometimes, product gets away, and the term was 'brown trout," he said. "So you have to re-corral your brown trout. And that can be kind of humorous. You go, 'This stuff doesn't happen on Earth.'"</p><p>Toilet technology has changed a lot over time. The Apollo astronauts wore diapers in their suits, which NASA adamantly called "<a href="http://history.nasa.gov/spacesuits.pdf">Maximum Absorbency Garments</a>."</p><p>Thankfully, the culture of space travel has changed a lot, too, as more and more women become astronauts. On this next mission, NASA astronaut <a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/rubins-k.pdf">Kate Rubins</a> is headed to the ISS to <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/five-things-to-know-about-nasa-astronaut-kate-rubins">conduct over 250 science experiments</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.pbs.org/video/2365333768/">PBS did a fascinating interview</a> with female astronauts and NASA engineers about what it was like when women first started going to space, and had to pee there:</p><p><div><iframe width="800" height="538" src="http://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/2365333768" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" seamless="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/astronaut-scott-kellys-journey-earth-nasa-2016-3">Watch astronaut Scott Kelly's epic journey back to Earth in 60 seconds</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="l5NHNoMTE6QsAQdXvkiTMeVI2QrTCB2R" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'l5NHNoMTE6QsAQdXvkiTMeVI2QrTCB2R',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

How astronauts go to the bathroom in space

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5419bd3e6bb3f7bd6a8e9648-1200-800/rtx16v24-1.jpg" alt="astronaut nasa spacewalk" border="0" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters/NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Astronaut Mike Hopkins as he participates in the second of two spacewalks which took place on December 24, 2013.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Above a door on a platform standing 200 feet in the air that connects to the NASA space shuttle that ferries astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), there's a sign that holds some serious significance for astronauts. It reads: "Last bathroom on Earth."</p><p>Living on the $1 billion space station that floats 260 miles above Earth is clearly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it takes a lot of getting used to.</p><p>British astronaut <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/tim-peake-blast-off-international-space-station-iss-watch-live-2015-12">Tim Peake will come face-to-face with these challenges</a> when he blasts off Tuesday morning on his first space mission.</p><p>Astronaut Ron Garan, who spent 6 months on board the ISS in 2011, wrote a book called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Orbital-Perspective-Lessons-Picture/dp/1626562466">The Orbital Perspective</a>" describing the time he spent living in space and how the experience changed his outlook on life. But in the seconds before his first launch, Garan caught himself wondering what he was getting himself into.</p><p>According to Garan's book, and the experiences of other astronauts, here are some of the hardest things to get used to when living in space:</p><p><strong>1. Weightlessness</strong></p><p>After taking advantage of the last bathroom on Earth, Garan blasted into space for the first time ever.</p><p>Unfortunately his first few hours in space were full of nausea. Astronauts train extensively for zero-g, but training for a few hours is very different than living in it 24/7.</p><p>Garan described the initial moments of weightlessness as pleasant, but it didn't take long for the nausea to kick in. Garan said it was as if his body was saying "'Hey, zero-g isn't suppose to last this long. Something must be wrong.'"</p><p>By the end of the first day his body had adjusted enough for the nausea to go away.</p><p>But dealing with zero-g on a day to day basis is an adjustment too. In June 2014, astronaut Reid Wiseman chronicled his first experiences in the weightless environment on Twitter:</p><p>"Still adjusting to zero g. Just flipped a bag upside down to dump out its contents. #doesntworkhere."</p><p><strong>2. Sleeping</strong></p><p>You can't actually lay your head down to sleep in space, so it makes sense that it's a challenge to get some solid shut eye.</p><p>The first night Garan spent in zero-g, he said "We staked out spots on the floor, walls and ceiling, attached our sleeping bags, and called it a night."</p><p>But there was a problem. What are you suppose to do with your head? You can't lay it down on a pillow, it just drifts there awkwardly, Garan said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54eb78ab69bedd0c4e85da71-1200-800/iss016e008792.jpg" alt="astronaut sleeping, sleeping in space" border="0" /><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Astronaut Paolo Nespoli sleeps during a 2007 mission on board the ISS.</p></div><p></p></div></div>It took several weeks before the muscles in his neck adjusted to the bizarre sleeping position and before he could finally get a decent night's sleep.</p><p>Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield also recently gave a <a href="http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/qa.asp">description of life in space</a> and the trouble with sleeping. One strange thing about living on the ISS is that the cycles of day and night are different. The station orbits the Earth about every 90 minutes, so every 45 minutes astronauts see a sunrise or a sunset. Hadfield says they still turn out the station lights before sleeping.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We shut off most lights at bedtime - it feels right to do it," Hadfield said.</span></span></p><p><strong>3. Keeping track of time</strong></p><p>In space you don't keep track of the days of the week. Instead, you keep track of flight days (FD). The first day that Garan stepped on board the ISS was referred to as FD1, the day after that FD2, and so on.</p><p>American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts who are currently living on board the ISS said that on New Year's Eve they counted down to midnight and rang in the New Year 16 different times. That's because the space station passed over a part of Earth during midnight 16 different times that night as it orbited the planet at about 17,400 miles per hour.</p><p><strong>4. Dealing with body fluids</strong></p><p>In space, your nose doesn't run and you can't cry. Tears will still form, but they don't fall. Instead, they congeal into sticky balls, Hadfield said.</p><p>Like the ominous "Last bathroom on Earth" sign suggests, using the bathroom in space is an ordeal. When liquid or solid waste comes out of the body in space, it has to get sucked into the toilet for fear it would escape and float around the chamber. Urine gets purified into drinking water. Poop gets collected onto an unmanned space ship that jettisons from the space station and burns up as it returns to Earth. So yes, that shooting star may have been burning poop.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/51254d59eab8ea8e03000015-1200-706/space%20shuttle%20toilet%203.jpg" alt="space shuttle toilet 3.JPG" border="0" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/jennifer-welsh">Jennifer Welsh/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>There are no showers since all the water would end up floating around the station in clumps and destroying the equipment that's all over the station walls. Instead, astronauts take sponge baths.</p><p><strong>5. The view</strong></p><p>There's a windowed dome on the ISS that many astronauts have said is their favorite spot on the station.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/546130b7ecad040b245886e0-1200-1334/cupola_iss_open_shutters_middle_crop.jpg" alt="Cupola international space station " border="0" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-22/html/iss022e066972.html">NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">Cupola observatory module at the ISS.</p></div><p></p></div></div> It's called the Cupola, and the view from this window is unparalleled. Looking down at the Earth astronauts can watch breathtaking aurora displays, lightning, and cities sparkling at night.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5419be406da811ff4e0cbb18-1200-800/rtr2rxc8.jpg" alt="nasa space aurora australis" border="0" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters/NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Aurora Australis or "Southern lights" are seen in this picture captured by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) with a digital camera while they passed over the Indian Ocean, in this September 17, 2011 photograph. </p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This view from the ISS <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-orbital-perspective-excerpt-2015-2">completely changed Garan's outlook on life</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, and turned him into an activist after he returned to Earth.</span></span></p><p>"Seeing Earth from this vantage point gave me a unique perspective - something I've come to call the orbital perspective," Garan writes. "Part of this is the realization that we are all traveling together on the planet and that if we all looked at the world from that perspective we would see that nothing is impossible."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-men-cheat-affair-love-sex-psychotherapist-2015-1">Research Reveals Why Men Cheat, And It's Not What You Think</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9vdnlycjo8Di2vj5XaYNQCb3Cc2NYbee" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '9vdnlycjo8Di2vj5XaYNQCb3Cc2NYbee',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

These are the hardest things to get used to when living in space, according to astronauts

Space 2021: All the Mars landings, eclipses, astronaut flights, rocket launches, and other big missions to look for this year

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5419bd3e6bb3f7bd6a8e9648-1200-800/rtx16v24-1.jpg" border="0" alt="astronaut nasa spacewalk"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Astronaut Mike Hopkins as he participates in the second of two spacewalks which took place on December 24, 2013.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Above a door on a platform standing 200 feet in the air that connects to the NASA space shuttle that ferries astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), there's a sign that holds some serious significance for astronauts. It reads: "Last bathroom on Earth."</p><p>Living on the $1 billion space station that floats 260 miles above Earth is clearly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it takes a lot of getting used to.</p><p>Astronaut Ron Garan, who spent 6 months on board the ISS in 2011, wrote a book called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Orbital-Perspective-Lessons-Picture/dp/1626562466">The Orbital Perspective</a>" describing the time he spent living in space and how the experience changed his outlook on life. But in the seconds before his first launch, Garan caught himself wondering what he was getting himself into.</p><p>According to Garan's book, and the experiences of other astronauts, here are some of the hardest things to get used to when living in space:</p><p><strong>1. Weightlessness</strong></p><p>After taking advantage of the last bathroom on Earth, Garan blasted into space for the first time ever.</p><p>Unfortunately his first few hours in space were full of nausea. Astronauts train extensively for zero-g, but training for a few hours is very different than living in it 24/7.</p><p>Garan described the initial moments of weightlessness as pleasant, but it didn't take long for the nausea to kick in. Garan said it was as if his body was saying "'Hey, zero-g isn't suppose to last this long. Something must be wrong.'"</p><p>By the end of the first day his body had adjusted enough for the nausea to go away.</p><p>But dealing with zero-g on a day to day basis is an adjustment too. In June 2014, astronaut Reid Wiseman chronicled his first experiences in the weightless environment on Twitter:</p><p>"Still adjusting to zero g. Just flipped a bag upside down to dump out its contents. #doesntworkhere."</p><p><strong>2. Sleeping</strong></p><p>You can't actually lay your head down to sleep in space, so it makes sense that it's a challenge to get some solid shut eye.</p><p>The first night Garan spent in zero-g, he said "We staked out spots on the floor, walls and ceiling, attached our sleeping bags, and called it a night."</p><p>But there was a problem. What are you suppose to do with your head? You can't lay it down on a pillow, it just drifts there awkwardly, Garan said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54eb78ab69bedd0c4e85da71-1200-800/iss016e008792.jpg" border="0" alt="astronaut sleeping, sleeping in space"><p class="source"><span>NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Astronaut Paolo Nespoli sleeps during a 2007 mission on board the ISS.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>It took several weeks before the muscles in his neck adjusted to the bizarre sleeping position and before he could finally get a decent night's sleep.</p><p>Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield also recently gave a <a href="http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/qa.asp">description of life in space</a> and the trouble with sleeping. One strange thing about living on the ISS is that the cycles of day and night are different. The station orbits the Earth about every 90 minutes, so every 45 minutes astronauts see a sunrise or a sunset. Hadfield says they still turn out the station lights before sleeping.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We shut off most lights at bedtime - it feels right to do it," Hadfield said.</span></span></p><p><strong>3. Keeping track of time</strong></p><p>In space you don't keep track of the days of the week. Instead, you keep track of flight days (FD). The first day that Garan stepped on board the ISS was referred to as FD1, the day after that FD2, and so on.</p><p>American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts who are currently living on board the ISS said that on New Year's Eve they counted down to midnight and rang in the New Year 16 different times. That's because the space station passed over a part of Earth during midnight 16 different times that night as it orbited the planet at about 17,400 miles per hour.</p><p><strong>4. Dealing with body fluids</strong></p><p>In space, your nose doesn't run and you can't cry. Tears will still form, but they don't fall. Instead, they congeal into sticky balls, Hadfield said.</p><p>Like the ominous "Last bathroom on Earth" sign suggests, using the bathroom in space is an ordeal. When liquid or solid waste comes out of the body in space, it has to get sucked into the toilet for fear it would escape and float around the chamber. Urine gets purified into drinking water. Poop gets collected onto an unmanned space ship that jettisons from the space station and burns up as it returns to Earth. So yes, that shooting star may have been burning poop.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/51254d59eab8ea8e03000015-1200-706/space%20shuttle%20toilet%203.jpg" border="0" alt="space shuttle toilet 3.JPG"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/jennifer-welsh">Jennifer Welsh/Business Insider</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>There are no showers since all the water would end up floating around the station in clumps and destroying the equipment that's all over the station walls. Instead, astronauts take sponge baths.</p><p><strong>5. The view</strong></p><p>There's a windowed dome on the ISS that many astronauts have said is their favorite spot on the station.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/546130b7ecad040b245886e0-1200-1334/cupola_iss_open_shutters_middle_crop.jpg" border="0" alt="Cupola international space station "><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-22/html/iss022e066972.html">NASA</a></span></p><p class="caption">Cupola observatory module at the ISS.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div> It's called the Cupola, and the view from this window is unparalleled. Looking down at the Earth astronauts can watch breathtaking aurora displays, lightning, and cities sparkling at night.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5419be406da811ff4e0cbb18-1200-800/rtr2rxc8.jpg" border="0" alt="nasa space aurora australis"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/NASA</span></p><p class="caption">Aurora Australis or "Southern lights" are seen in this picture captured by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) with a digital camera while they passed over the Indian Ocean, in this September 17, 2011 photograph. </p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This view from the ISS <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-orbital-perspective-excerpt-2015-2">completely changed Garan's outlook on life</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, and turned him into an activist after he returned to Earth.</span></span></p><p>"Seeing Earth from this vantage point gave me a unique perspective - something I've come to call the orbital perspective," Garan writes. "Part of this is the realization that we are all traveling together on the planet and that if we all looked at the world from that perspective we would see that nothing is impossible."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-men-cheat-affair-love-sex-psychotherapist-2015-1">Research Reveals Why Men Cheat, And It's Not What You Think</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="9vdnlycjo8Di2vj5XaYNQCb3Cc2NYbee" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '9vdnlycjo8Di2vj5XaYNQCb3Cc2NYbee',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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