The Apollo 8 (CSM-103/LTA-B/SA-503) stack at Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This was during a prelaunch alert-mobile service structure pull back. (Mobile launch tower on left and mobile service structure on right.)

Date: December 17, 1968

NASA ID: S68-55424, S68-55415

Back on Earth: NASA's Orion capsule put to the test before crewed mission

The Orion spacecraft that traveled around the moon and back during 2022's Artemis I mission completed a different round trip when it recently returned to Ohio for testing.

Now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article, the spacecraft is undergoing ground testing at NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. This testing is crucial to the safety and success of Artemis II—a 10-day flight test scheduled for 2025, during which four astronauts will demonstrate the spacecraft's capabilities in the lunar vicinity. The flight will be the first crewed mission under NASA's Artemis campaign.

Over the next eight months, engineers and technicians from NASA and Lockheed Martin will subject the test article to the extreme conditions Orion may experience during a launch abort scenario. The lengthy test campaign includes simulated lightning strikes and abort-level acoustics reaching levels of more than 160 decibels, louder than a jackhammer.

It also includes deployments of the spacecraft's docking and shielding covers and its crew module uprighting system, five airbags on top of the capsule that inflate upon splashdown. The test campaign serves to ensure Orion is ready to protect the crew if an emergency occurs during launch.

This Orion spacecraft completed months of space environmental testing in 2019 and 2020 at Armstrong Test Facility before its 2022 flight test, showing that the path to the moon goes through Ohio. The test facility is the only place in the world capable of testing full-scale spacecraft in the extreme conditions experienced during launch and flight.

IMAGE....The Orion spacecraft from Artemis I—now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article—arrives at NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, ahead of eight months of testing. Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin

Events 3.13

624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. 1591 – At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one. 1639 – Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard. 1697 – Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, falls to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins' Ear) begins. 1781 – William Herschel discovers Uranus. 1809 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809. 1811 – A French and Italian fleet is defeated by a British squadron off the island of Vis in the Adriatic during the Napoleonic Wars. 1826 – Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry. 1845 – Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist. 1848 – The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna. 1862 – The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. 1884 – The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885. 1888 – The eruption of Ritter Island triggers tsunamis that kill up to 3,000 people on nearby islands. 1900 – British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War. 1920 – The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin. 1930 – The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory. 1940 – The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union officially ends after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. 1943 – The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków. 1954 – The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory led to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam. 1957 – Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista. 1969 – Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module. 1974 – Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802 crashes into the White Mountains near Bishop, California, killing 36. 1979 – The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d'état. 1988 – The Seikan Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world with an undersea segment, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan. 1992 – The Mw  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). 1993 – The 1993 Storm of the Century affects the eastern United States, dropping feet of snow in many areas. 1996 – The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland. 1997 – The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader. 2003 – An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints. 2012 – The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children. 2013 – The 2013 papal conclave elects Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio taking the name Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. 2016 – The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people. 2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people. 2020 – President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States. 2020 – Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality.

December 1968 ended a year more turbulent than most. For the American space program, however, it brought the Moon landing one giant step closer. The successful first lunar orbital flight by Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, and William A. Anders proved the space worthiness of the Apollo Command and Service Modules (CSM) at lunar distances and demonstrated navigation beyond low Earth orbit. Preparations continued for the next two missions – Apollo 9 to test the Lunar Module (LM) in Earth orbit in February or March 1969, and Apollo 10 to repeat the test in lunar orbit in May. If those missions proved successful, NASA hoped to achieve the first Moon landing by the summer of 1969. Left: Apollo 8 astronauts James A. Lovell, left, Frank Borman, and William A. Anders during the preflight crew press conference. Middle: At the White House, Apollo 7 astronauts R. Walter Cunningham, left, Donn F. Eisele, and Walter M. Schirra, Apollo 8 astronauts Anders, Lovell, and Borman, standing at right, watch aviation pioneer Charles A. Lindberg sign a commemorative document, as First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson, President Lyndon B. Johnson, former NASA Administrator James E. Webb, and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey look on. Right: During the countdown demonstration test, Borman, standing left, Lovell, and Anders pose with their backups Neil A. Armstrong, kneeling left, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, and Fred W. Haise. On Dec. 2, Borman, Lovell, and Anders held their preflight press conference at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Borman summed up the crew’s readiness, “I think we can say we’re ready two weeks before” the flight. President Lyndon B. Johnson invited Apollo 7 astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham to a state dinner at the White House on Dec. 9, 1968. He also invited Apollo 8 astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders, just 12 days from their historic launch to the Moon, as well as aviation pioneer Charles A. Lindberg to sign a commemorative document to hang in the White House Treaty Room. Two days later, Borman, Lovell, and Anders and their backups Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, and Fred W. Haise participated in the countdown demonstration test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Left: The Apollo 8 launch vehicle at Launch Pad 39A during the countdown demonstration test. Middle: Apollo 8 crew of William A. Anders, left, Frank Borman, and James A. Lovell at the Command Module simulator at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right: Lovell, left, Borman, and Anders enjoy some pre-holiday cheer on the eve of their launch to the Moon. Engineers at KSC’s Launch Complex 39 completed the Apollo 8 Countdown Demonstration Test (CDDT) between Dec. 5 and 11, consisting of “wet” and “dry” phases. In the first wet phase, they simulated the entire countdown including the loading of propellant in the rocket’s three stages, down to T minus 8.9 seconds, the time when the first stage’s five F-1 engines ignite. For safety reasons, the crew did not participate in the wet countdown. At the end of the wet phase on Dec. 10, workers drained the fuel from the rocket and recycled the countdown. The next day, the countdown again proceeded to the point of first stage ignition, but for this dry phase the astronauts suited up and strapped into the capsule as they would on launch day. The CDDT also tied in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at MSC, and the Manned Space Flight Network, a series of tracking stations around the world used to monitor the mission. With the CDDT completed, the countdown for Apollo 8 began on Dec. 15. Left: Liftoff of Apollo 8. Middle: A rapidly receding Earth shortly after Trans-Lunar Injection. Right: The spent S-IVB third stage with the Lunar Module (LM) Test Article-B (LTA-B) visible where a LM would normally reside. On Dec. 21, 1968, at precisely 7:51 a.m. EST, at Launch Pad 39A the five engines of the Saturn V’s first stage came to life, powering up to their full 7.5 million pounds of thrust. The brilliance of the flame rivaled the sunrise. At the top of the rocket, strapped inside their Command Module (CM), Borman, Lovell, and Anders experienced firsthand the power of a Saturn V launch. As soon as the rocket cleared the launch tower, control of the mission transferred from the Launch Control Center at Launch Complex 39 to MCC at MSC. From there, three teams of controllers, led by Lead Flight Director Clifford E. Charlesworth and Flight Directors Glynn S. Lunney and Milton L. Windler, working in eight-hour shifts, monitored the mission until splashdown. During the launch and early phases of the flight, Michael Collins served as the capsule communicator, or capcom, the astronaut in MCC who spoke directly with the crew. Within 11 and a half minutes, the three stages of the Saturn V placed Apollo 8 into Earth orbit. For the next 90 minutes, MCC and the astronauts thoroughly checked out the spacecraft’s systems, and capcom Collins informed the crew, “You are go for TLI,” or Trans-Lunar Injection, a less than dramatic way of saying “You’re off to the Moon!” Those words committed the mission to break the bonds of Earth’s gravity and set a course for the Moon. Near the end of the second revolution around the Earth, the rocket’s third stage engine fired for a second time, for more than five minutes, increasing Apollo 8’s speed from 17,400 miles per hour to 24,226 miles per hour, enough to overcome Earth’s gravity and send it on a Moonward trajectory. Soon after the burn ended, the astronauts separated their spacecraft from the spent stage and began their three-day cruise to the Moon. The famous Earthrise photograph from Apollo 8. During the journey, Borman, Lovell, and Anders passed through the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts and crossed into the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence. About 69 hours after launch, Apollo 8 passed the leading edge of the Moon and disappeared behind it, all communications with Earth cut off. While behind the Moon, the astronauts performed the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, but for a few anxious minutes, only they knew that their spacecraft’s engine had performed as expected. As they emerged on the Moon’s other side precisely at the predicted time, MCC confirmed that Apollo 8 had achieved lunar orbit. The astronauts began to describe the Moon as no other humans had seen it before. Left: The Tsiolkovski Crater on the Moon’s farside, seen directly by human eyes for the first time during Apollo 8. Middle: Apollo 8 shortly after splashdown, with the astronauts in the life raft awaiting pick up by the recovery helicopter. Right: Apollo 8 astronauts arrive on the prime recovery ship U.S.S. Yorktown. For the next 20 hours, they orbited the Moon 10 times. On their ninth revolution, knowing that Christmas Eve had turned to Christmas Day, Borman, Lovell, and Anders read from The Bible’s Book of Genesis and wished everyone on “the good Earth” a Merry Christmas. On their final revolution, they disappeared behind the Moon one last time and fired their spacecraft’s engine to propel them out of lunar orbit to head back toward Earth. Once they reestablished contact at the predicted time, Lovell proclaimed, “Please be informed there is a Santa Claus,” his way of saying that the engine burned as expected. The astronauts spent the next three days coasting back toward Earth, ending their historic six-day mission with a predawn splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Teams from the prime recovery ship U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-10) recovered them from the water and brought them aboard the carrier. Left: Apollo 8 astronauts (wearing leis) William A. Anders, left, James A. Lovell, and Frank Borman listen to Hawaii Governor John A. Burns during their brief stopover at Hickam Air Force Base (AFB) in Honolulu. Middle: Anders, left, Borman, and Lovell give short speeches to the crowd gathered to welcome them home at Ellington AFB in Houston. Right: The Apollo 8 Command Module on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Image credit: courtesy Museum of Science and Industry. From the Yorktown, Borman, Lovell, and Anders flew to Hickam Air Force Base (AFB) in Honolulu. Following a brief welcome ceremony hosted by Hawaii Governor John A. Burns, their boarded a transport jet bound for Texas. Upon their arrival back in Houston on Dec. 29, more than 2,000 people greeted them at Ellington AFB despite the pre-dawn chill. Meanwhile, after the Yorktown arrived in Honolulu on Dec. 29, workers removed the CM to begin safing its systems. They flew it to Long Beach, California, and from there trucked it to its manufacturer, the North American Rockwell Space Division in Downey, California, where it arrived on Jan. 1, 1969, for a thorough postflight inspection. Since 1971, the Apollo 8 CM has been on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. TIME magazine named Borman, Lovell, and Anders Men of the Year for 1968. Apollo 8 brought the Moon landing one giant step closer. Apollo 9 astronauts James A. McDivitt, left, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart pose in front of the Apollo 8 Saturn V during its terminal countdown demonstration test at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Due to delays in its development, the LM remained one component of the lunar mission architecture that Apollo 8 did not test. The task of conducting the first crewed evaluation of the LM fell to Apollo 9, scheduled for late February 1969. As the prime crew for the 10-day Earth orbital mission, NASA assigned James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart, with Charles “Pete” Conrad, Richard F. Gordon, and Alan L. Bean as their backups. McDivitt and Schweickart planned to enter the LM while Scott remained in the CM. Before the two spacecraft undocked, Schweickart planned to conduct a roughly 2-hour spacewalk, using prepositioned handholds to translate from the LM to the CM, where Scott awaited him in the open hatch. The dual spacewalk served to demonstrate a backup transfer capability should a problem arise with the internal transfer tunnel. The spacewalk would also serve as the only in-space test of the new Apollo A7L spacesuit before the Moon landing. Following the spacewalk, McDivitt and Schweickart planned to undock the LM and conduct an independent flight up to a distance of 100 miles, and test both the descent and ascent stage engines, before rejoining Scott in the CM. Apollo 9 prime and backup astronauts test the new Apollo A7L spacesuit in the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. David R. Scott, left, Russell L. Schweickart, and Alan L. Bean. International Latex Corporation (ILC) of Dover, Delaware, developed two versions of the Apollo A7L space suit for NASA – one for use exclusively inside the spacecraft, such as during launch, and the other that astronauts can also use during spacewalks, using the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) backpack. Both types of the suit could operate under vacuum conditions, but crew members wearing the inside version remained attached to the spacecraft via hoses that provided life support such as oxygen. The external version’s PLSS provided the required oxygen and communications during spacewalks outside the vehicle, for example on the lunar surface. For Apollo 9, McDivitt and Schweickart wore the external versions (even though McDivitt did not plan to do a spacewalk) while Scott wore the internal version. McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart, and Bean tested their A7L spacesuits with the PLSS under vacuum conditions in Chamber A of the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at MSC. In the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Left: The assembled Apollo 9 spacecraft arrives from the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building, and shares space in the transfer aisle with the recently arrived Apollo 10 first stage. Middle: Workers hoist the Apollo 9 spacecraft in preparation for stacking onto the Saturn V rocket, with the Lunar Module’s landing gear visible. Right: Workers stack the Apollo 9 spacecraft onto its Saturn V rocket. On Nov. 30, workers in KSC’s Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (MSOB) installed the Apollo 9 LM in its Spacecraft LM Adapter (SLA) and then stacked the CSM on top. They transferred the assembled spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) three days later where engineers stacked it atop its Saturn V rocket in High Bay 3. Rollout to Launch Pad 39A occurred in early January 1969.  Left: Workers ready the Apollo 10 S-IC first stage for stacking onto the Mobile Launcher in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Middle: Workers stack the Apollo 10 S-II second stage. Right: The S-IVB third stage for Apollo 10 arrives at KSC. Preparations continued for Apollo 10, the mission planned for May 1969 to test all the spacecraft components in lunar orbit as a possible dress rehearsal for the Moon landing. The Apollo 10 prime crew consisted of Thomas P. Stafford, John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan, the first all-veteran three-person crew, with L. Gordon Cooper, Donn F. Eisele, and Edgar D. Mitchell assigned as their backups. Stafford and Cernan planned to undock their LM and fly it to within nine miles of the lunar surface before rejoining Young in the CM. At KSC, in the VAB’s High Bay 2, by Dec. 7 workers had stacked the first two stages of the Apollo 10 Saturn V. The third stage arrived at KSC on Dec. 10 and workers stacked it atop the rocket on Dec. 29. Apollo 9 spacecraft testing in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Left and middle: Simulated docking test between the Apollo 10 Lunar Module (LM), top, and Command Module. Right: Joining the LM’s ascent stage to the descent stage. In the nearby MSOB, engineers performed a docking test of the Apollo 10 CSM and LM on Dec. 11. Following the test, workers mated the LM’s ascent and descent stages in a vacuum chamber in preparation for altitude tests in January 1969. In parallel, engineers conducted altitude tests with the CM, with prime and backup crews participating. Left: Chief test pilot Joseph S. “Joe” Algranti ejects from the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle-1 (LLTV-1) with seconds to spare. Middle: The LLTV-1 explodes as it crashes to the ground. Right: Algranti floats safely to the ground under his parachute. Apollo commanders used the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV) to simulate flying the LM, especially the final 200 feet of the descent. Following Armstrong’s May 6, 1968, crash in an earlier version of the training aircraft, NASA grounded the fleet until engineers could take corrective action. Flights with LLTV-1 resumed at Ellington on Oct. 3, 1968, with MSC chief test pilot Joseph S. “Joe” Algranti at the controls. During the next two months, Algranti and fellow MSC pilot H.E. “Bud” Ream completed 14 test flights with LLTV-1 to check out the vehicle. Ream also piloted LLTV-2’s first two flights beginning Dec. 5. During LLTV-1’s 15th flight on Dec. 8, the final certification flight before resuming astronaut training, Algranti took the vehicle to 680 feet altitude and began a lunar landing simulation run. The vehicle began to oscillate in all three axes, which Algranti tried to control. But unexpected wind gusts exceeded the craft’s aerodynamic control limits and it began a sudden descent. At 100 feet altitude, and with less than a second to spare, Algranti ejected and safely parachuted to the ground with only minor bruises, but LLTV-1 crashed and burned beyond repair. Left: At Houston’s Ellington Air Force Base, workers prepare the LLTV-3 for packing into the Super Guppy cargo plane. Right: Workers at Ellington load the LLTV-3 into the Super Guppy for shipping to NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for wind tunnel tests. Once again, NASA grounded the LLTVs and MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth set up an investigation board, chaired by NASA astronaut Walter M. Schirra. To better understand the vehicle’s aerodynamic characteristics, in late December NASA shipped LLTV-3 to the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where engineers tested it in the wind tunnel. Findings from the board and from the Langley tests indicated that a gust of wind that overwhelmed the vehicle’s control limits caused the LLTV-1 crash, unrelated to Armstrong’s accident. Recommendations included increasing the level of thrust in the craft’s thrusters by 50 percent to provide an additional margin of safety.  News from around the world in December 1968: Dec. 6 – The Rolling Stones release their album “Beggars Banquet.” Dec. 7 – The United States launches the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-2 space telescope. Dec. 11 – President-elect Richard M. Nixon introduces his 12 Cabinet nominees. Dec. 11 – The film “Oliver!” opens in the U.S. Dec. 16 – Musical-fantasy film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” premieres in London and two days later in New York City. Dec. 16 – Led Zeppelin’s concert debut in Denver, as opener for Vanilla Fudge. Dec. 30 – Frank Sinatra first records “My Way.” Share Details Last Updated Dec 19, 2023 Related TermsNASA HistoryApollo Explore More 8 min read 50 Years Ago: Skylab 4 Astronauts Push Past the One-Month Mark Article 2 days ago 7 min read 120 Years Ago: The First Powered Flight at Kitty Hawk Article 6 days ago 3 min read Contributions of the DC-8 to Earth System Science at NASA: A Workshop Article 1 week ago

Do you need a menstrual cycle to be affected by the moon? - Abby Maske

While one of our main focuses for our research in this page is the effect lunar events have on female menstrual cycles, we don't want to overlook men and the potential effects on them. For the other half of humans what occurs in their bodys and is it similar to women? We looked at a research study called “ Does the lunar cycle affect biological parameters in young healthy men?” by Chronobiology international. This study is the test of levels in youth men during a full moon and during a new moon. They used 24 healthy young men from 25 yrs old to 27 yrs old. During the test they showed no sleep disturbance according to the Pittsburgh sleep quality index. The blood tests they did were Radioimmunoassay  kits (A68449  Melatonin  RIA,  IM1841  Cortisol  RIA,  and IM1087  Testosterone  RIA,  Beckman  Coulter Laboratories, USA). The post hoc tests revealed that medical laboratory levels and TST(testosterone) levels  were lower  during  the Full moon compared  to the  New moon, both  in the  morning. Although CRT (cortisol) levels  were  higher  in the Full moon compared to the New moon, both in the morning. In the study summary it emphasizes “This  is  the  first  study  investigating  the  effects of  LC(lunar cycle)  on diurnal variation of hormonal, biochemical, and hematolo-gical parameters in a light-controlled laboratory on healthy active men” This is necessary to our study to be able to cross compare with the statistics on womens bodys to get a better understanding of how our bodys as humans change with the lunar positioning. The main findings were  that MLT,  TST, and  NEU levels were lower during the Full moon compared to the New moon both in  the  morning and  evening.  However,  CRT  levels  were higher  during the  Full moon  compared to  the New moon  both in  the morning and evening. Interestingly, HB(heartbeat) levels were higher only on the evening of the Full moon compared to the New moon. The present  study confirms  for the first time  that the  Lunar cycle affects the hormonal and hematological profile of humans. “Whether moon phases  modulate it is not evident  and still needs to be explored.” This quote is why we have also taken the time to examine the effect on women as well during studies. The study proved that their levels of testosterone were slightly higher during a new moon but cortisol levels were lower during a new moon. The study confirmed that the stages of the moon create a biological event in the body’s blood.  The study of the moon's effect on menstrual cycles meaning we focus on people presenting with menstrual cycles but not people without. This article allows for us to get insight on the possible changes that could be happening not only in body’s with menstrual cycles but also ones without. The test itself is a piece of evidence for our blog to be able to give facts to the physical effects of the lunar light on the body.

This graph shows the difference between the testosterone on a full moon vs. a new moon. P1 represents the cortisol levels in the subjects on a new moon whereas P2 represents the cortisol levels on the full moon. D1 represents the testosterone on a new moon whereras D2 represents the testosterone on a full moon.

The graph and essay are in referance to the work done by Dergaa I; Romdhani M;Fessi MS;Ben Saad H;Varma A;Ben Salem A;Gadhavi B;Chaabane M; Souissi N;Hammouda O; (2021, March 28). Does the lunar cycle affect biological parameters in young healthy men?. Chronobiology international. 

Chandrayaan-3: India's Successful Lunar Landing

Chandrayaan-3, India's latest lunar mission, has achieved a historic milestone by successfully landing on the moon's surface. This achievement comes after the setback of its predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, in 2019. The landing, which took place as planned on Wednesday at 5:34 am PT (6:04 pm IST), makes India the fourth nation globally to achieve a soft landing on the moon, following the former Soviet Union, the U.S., and China. What sets this achievement apart is that India is the first country to successfully land on the lunar south pole, a region of great scientific interest. Addressing the audience after the successful landing, ISRO chairman S. Somanath expressed his gratitude to the thousands of scientists, engineers, staff, and industries involved in the mission. Chandrayaan-3's success is a testament to their hard work and dedication. The Chandrayaan-3 mission, launched on July 14th by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), aims to demonstrate safe lunar landing and rover operations while conducting scientific experiments. Despite a budget of less than $75 million, the spacecraft consists of a propulsion module, lander, and rover, equipped with seven scientific instruments. To overcome the challenges faced by its predecessor, Chandrayaan-3 features improved sensors, software, and propulsion systems in its lander. Rigorous simulations and testing were conducted to ensure a robust landing. The lander will conduct experiments on various aspects, including seismic vibrations, lunar temperature, and spectral signatures of Earth. The Chandrayaan-3 rover, similar to that of Chandrayaan-2, will accompany the lander. Both the lander and rover have a mission life of one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days. This achievement comes 14 years after India's first moon landing mission in 2008, which discovered evidence of water molecules in the lunar atmosphere. While the Chandrayaan-2 lander-rover mission faced challenges during its touchdown, the orbiter continues to study the moon from orbit and played a critical role in locating the landing site for Chandrayaan-3. India's space exploration efforts have seen significant growth in recent years, with over a hundred space tech startups contributing to the development of launch vehicles, satellites, and earth imaging technology. The country has also introduced a space policy to foster collaboration between private companies and government entities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that India's moon mission is a shared achievement that belongs to all of humanity. He noted that India's approach of "one Earth, one family, one future" resonates globally and that India's success will benefit future moon missions by other countries. ISRO has a list of missions in progress, including the long-anticipated human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, and the solar observatory project, Aditya L1, to study the sun. India's collaboration with NASA, including signing the Artemis Accords, signifies its growing role in international space exploration. NASA is providing advanced training to Indian astronauts and planning to send them to the International Space Station next year. Additionally, ISRO and NASA are working together to launch a low-Earth observatory (LEO) in 2024, which will provide valuable data for studying Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation, sea level, and natural disasters. Chandrayaan-3's successful lunar landing is a significant step forward for India's space program, inspiring further exploration and collaboration on the global stage. Read the full article

Videos: “Space to Ground” & other space habitat reports – Apr.3.2022

Here is the latest episode in NASA's Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station: https://youtu.be/7wJvq_dEl4A ** Artemis II: Meet the Astronauts Who will Fly Around the Moon - NASA Four astronauts have been selected for NASA’s Artemis II mission: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. Artemis II will be NASA’s first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon to verify today’s capabilities for humans to explore deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface. More: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii https://youtu.be/lPyl6d2FJGw ** Russia's leaky Soyuz spacecraft undocks from space station for return to Earth - VideoFromSpace Russia's Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft that sprung a major coolant leak undocked from the International Space Station on March 28, 2023 at 5:57 a.m. EDT (0957 GMT). It is scheduled to land in Kazakhstan about 2 hours later. Full Story: https://www.space.com/leaky-soyuz-spa... There was no crew aboard. https://youtu.be/tqLTf3-rGkY ** StarMax Space Station Module Pressure Test - Gravitics Inc - YouTube First ever pressure test of the Gravitics space station prototype was successful On Wednesday, March 15th, 2023, Gravitics conducted a pressure vessel test of an 8 meter diameter StarMax prototype hull, ahead of building our first StarMax prototype. In the weeks leading up to the test date, the team worked vigorously to build and prepare the test article by joining two 8-meter domes, preparing our data analytics software, and building out a safe test site. The test was a complete success, reaching an internal pressure level of 26.6 PSIG (pounds per square inch gauge) and exceeding the test goal parameters set by the engineering and manufacturing teams. Reaching and surpassing the goals for this test means Gravitics has proven the space worthiness of our 8 meter StarMax hull. This test represents a key milestone in Gravitics' drive to expand human life into the solar system and continue to push the boundaries of what humanity will achieve in space.  #BuildtheSky https://youtu.be/qyI6-oY8bVA ** China's Shenzhou-15 Astronauts Complete Third Spacewalk - CCTV Video News Agency The Shenzhou-15 astronauts onboard China’s Tiangong space station completed their third spacewalk on Thursday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). https://youtu.be/rQ2Dadc1XdA ** Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream) - NASA Watch live video from the International Space Station, including inside views when the crew aboard the space station is on duty. Views of Earth are also streamed from an external camera located outside of the space station. During periods of signal loss due to handover between communications satellites, a blue screen is displayed. The space station orbits Earth about 250 miles (425 kilometers) above the surface. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the station, and it has been continuously occupied since November 2000. It's a microgravity laboratory where science, research, and human innovation make way for new technologies and research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. More: https://go.nasa.gov/3CkVtC8 Did you know you can spot the station without a telescope? It looks like a fast-moving star, but you have to know when to look up. Sign up for text messages or email alerts to let you know when (and where) to spot the station and wave to the crew: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov https://www.youtube.com/live/xAieE-QtOeM?feature=share ====

=== Amazon Ads === LEGO Ideas International Space Station Building Kit, Adult Set for Display, Makes a Great Birthday Present (864 Pieces) ==== Outpost in Orbit: A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station  Read the full article

Orion’s top images of 2020

The Orion program showed its resilience this year during an unprecedented time, racking up several success stories building and testing the spacecraft in preparation for upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. From hot fire and structural testing, to crew and service module assembly activities, progress on Orion brought the agency closer to sending the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, and sustainable lunar exploration by 2028.

Ensuring crew safety, a hot fire test was conducted on the Northrop Grumman-built attitude control motor – which provides steering for Orion’s  launch abort system in the event of an emergency during ascent – at the company’s facility in Elkton, Maryland. The 30-second hot fire was the third and final test to qualify the motor for human missions, beginning with Artemis II.

During a three-month testing campaign at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, the Orion spacecraft was subjected to the extreme temperatures and electromagnetic environment it will experience on Artemis I – Orion’s first uncrewed test flight to the Moon atop the agency’s  Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Testing wrapped up early and the vehicle was readied for its journey back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard the agency’s one-of-a-kind Super Guppy.

Before NASA astronauts fly Orion on missions to the Moon and back, testing is necessary to verify the spacecraft’s ability to withstand the stresses of launch, climb to orbit, the harsh conditions of deep space transit, and return to Earth. Engineers from NASA and its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, completed testing on Orion’s Structural Test Article (STA) for Artemis I. The STA is structurally identical to Orion’s main spacecraft elements: the crew module, service module and launch abort system.

The first element machined for the Artemis III Orion crew module – a cone panel with openings for windows, which will provide a spectacular view – was designed by Lockheed Martin, and manufactured by AMRO Fabricating Corp., of South El Monte, California. The completed panel made its way to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, where engineers will weld it with other elements as part of Orion’s pressure vessel.

Orion’s European Service Module primary structure for the Artemis III mission arrived at the Airbus facility in Bremen, Germany, from its Thales Alenia Space manufacturing site in Turin, Italy. The service module will be equipped with components to power Orion and provide life support to astronauts – such as air, water, heat and cooling -- during the mission that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon.

Three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels were fitted onto Orion’s service module inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy. Once secured, the panels encapsulate the service module to protect it from harsh environments such as heat, wind, and acoustics as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the SLS rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission.

Wikipedia article of the day for May 16, 2021

The Wikipedia article of the day for May 16, 2021 is Apollo 7. Apollo 7 (October 11–22, 1968) was the first crewed flight in NASA's Apollo program. It was commanded by Wally Schirra, with command module pilot Donn F. Eisele and lunar module pilot R. Walter Cunningham, and saw the resumption of human spaceflight by the agency after the fire that killed the three Apollo 1 astronauts in January 1967. Determined to prevent a repetition of the fire, the crew spent long periods of time monitoring the construction of their Apollo command and service module (CSM). After liftoff on October 11, 1968, extensive testing of the CSM took place, along with testing of techniques to be used on lunar missions, and also the first live television broadcast from an American spacecraft. Despite tension between the crew and ground controllers, the mission was a complete technical success, giving NASA the confidence to send Apollo 8 into orbit around the Moon two months later, but in part because of those tensions, no member of the crew flew in space again.

How NASA Train Their Astronauts?

Astronauts - We have seen them floating in space. Many of us think of being an astronaut at some point in our lifetime. But becoming one is not that easy. In this article, we are discussing "How NASA Train Their Astronauts?".

An astronaut is a person trained by the human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Members of the space program of Russia or the Soviet Union are called cosmonauts.

Although it is usually reserved for professional astronauts, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels in space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.

Until 2002, astronauts were sponsored and trained exclusively by governments, either by the military or civilian space agencies. With the suborbital flight of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new class of astronauts has been created: commercial astronauts.

Tests and training for Astronauts

Astronaut training describes the complex process of preparing astronauts for their space missions before, during, and after a flight in areas around the world, including medical tests, physical training, extra-vehicular activity (EVA) training, The process includes training, rehabilitation process. as well as training on the experiments they will achieve while in space.

Virtual and physical training facilities have been integrated to familiarize astronauts with the conditions they will face during all phases of flight and prepare astronauts for microgravity environments.

Special considerations must be made during training to ensure a safe and successful mission, which is why Apollo astronauts received training for geology fieldwork on the lunar surface and research on best practices for future extended missions. such as the journey to Mars.

Astronaut selection and training are integrated processes to ensure that crew members are qualified for space missions.

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Types of Training: Explained

The training is classified into five objectives in general and specific aspects: basic training, advanced training, mission-specific training, onboard training, and efficiency maintenance training.

In basic training, trainees must learn acronyms in medicine, language, robotics, piloting, space systems engineering, organization of space systems, and aerospace engineering.

Sixty to eighty percent of astronauts will experience space motion sickness, including pallor, cold sweats, vomiting, and anorexia, but candidates are expected to recover from the illness as training continues.

During advanced training and mission-specific training, astronauts will learn about the operation of specific systems and the skills associated with their assigned positions in a space mission.

18 months is typically required to complete mission-specific training for Space Shuttle and International Space Station crews. It is important to ensure the well-being, physical and mental health of the astronauts before, during, and after the mission period.

Proficiency maintenance training is intended to help crew members maintain a minimum level of performance, covering topics such as extracurricular activity, robotics, language, diving, and flight training. Astronauts also take classes.

They have a lot to learn apart from science. Sometimes they have to give speeches, so they take public speaking classes.

To be prepared for any emergency, astronauts undergo survival training. It can take up to two years of training to become a fully qualified astronaut.

You should learn the basics of spaceflight and the International Space Station, as well as how to be part of a team by flying a NASA T-38 training jet. After you finish your initial training period as an astronaut candidate, you will be given a technical assignment.

In this assignment, you will support astronauts who are already in space and who are training to go. Then you'll wait, sometimes years, for the next most exciting day of your life - the day you've been assigned to a space flight.

If you did well in your initial training and worked hard at your technical assignment, someday, the chief of the astronaut office will ask you if you still want to go to space.

If you are assigned to fly to the space station as an expeditionary crew member, you will need approximately 18 months of training. However, if you haven't received any specific training on space station systems, or if you don't have the required language skills, it can take more than 18 months.

It helps to have another expedition member trained as a backup and learn to speak Russian. Astronauts must be able to understand Russian so that they can speak to the Russian Mission Control Center and understand their instructors.

If you're going to live and work on the International Space Station, you'll need to speak at least two languages. Knowing more than two languages ​​is even better!

Travel during training

During your 18 months of training, you will make several trips between the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

You can also go to Canada to take training on the robotic arm of the space station. In the future, the station's crew members will also train in Europe and Japan when modules from the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency are added to the space station.

On-Orbit Operations Training

Now let's move on to on-orbit operations training... Astronauts are trained to prepare for launch conditions as well as the harsh environment of space.

The purpose of this training is to prepare the crew for events falling under two broad categories: events related to the operation of spacecraft - internal incidents; And phenomena related to the space environment - external phenomena.

During training, astronauts are introduced to the engineering systems of spacecraft, including spacecraft propulsion, spacecraft thermal control, and life support systems.

In addition, astronauts receive training in orbital mechanics, scientific experimentation, Earth observation, and astronomy.

This training is especially important for missions when an astronaut encounters multiple systems and this training is done to prepare the astronauts for events that may affect their health, crew health, or successful completion of the mission. can pose a danger to.

These types of events can result in failure of a critical life support system, capsule sedimentation, fire, and other life-threatening events.

In addition to requiring training for hazardous events, astronauts will also need to be trained to ensure the successful completion of their missions. External phenomena more broadly refer to the ability to live and work in the extreme environments of space.

This includes adaptation to microgravity, isolation, confinement, and radiation. Difficulties associated with living and working in microgravity include spatial disorientation, motion sickness, and vertigo.

During long-duration missions, astronauts will often experience isolation and confinement. This is known to limit the performance of the astronaut crew and hence training is aimed at preparing them for such challenges.

The long-term effects of radiation on the crew are still largely unknown. However, it is theorized that astronauts on their journey to Mars are likely to receive radiation doses 1000 times higher than that of a normal person on Earth.

As such, current and future training should include systems and procedures to protect astronauts from radiation.

Scientific Experimentation on ISS

Scientific experimentation has historically been an important element of human spaceflight and is the primary focus of the International Space Station.

Training on how to successfully perform these experiments is an important part of astronaut training, as it maximizes the scientific return of the mission.

Once in orbit, communication between astronauts and scientists on the ground can be limited, and time is strictly divided between the various mission activities. It is important that astronauts are familiar with their assigned experiments so that they can be completed in a timely manner, with as little interference from the ground as possible.

For missions to the ISS, each astronaut needs to become proficient in one hundred or more experiments. During training, the scientists responsible for the experiments do not have direct contact with the astronauts who will carry them.

Instead, scientists give instructions to instructors who in turn prepare the astronauts to perform the experiments. Much of this training is done at the European Astronaut Center.

For human experiments, scientists describe their experiments to astronauts who then choose whether or not to participate in the ISS.

For these experiments, astronauts will be tested before, during, and after the mission to establish a baseline and determine when the astronaut will be returned to baseline.

Virtual Reality (VR) Training

Sometimes astronauts can also take virtual reality training. Virtual reality has been explored as a technique for artificially exposing astronauts to the conditions and processes of space before they go into space.

Using virtual reality, astronauts can be trained and assessed to perform an EVA with all necessary equipment and environmental characteristics. This modern technology allows scenarios to be changed on the go, such as testing emergency protocols.

These training systems can reduce the effects of space motion sickness through a process of accommodation. Preflight VR training can be a counterpoint to the disorientation caused by space motion sickness and the weightlessness of microgravity environments.

When the goal is to act as a practice tool, virtual reality is usually explored in conjunction with robotics and additional hardware to enhance the effect of immersion or trainee engagement.

Conclusion

So, now you can understand that astronaut training is not for everyone. Even if you are very knowledgeable, but you do not have physical strength, you cannot be an astronaut.

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Thanks for reading till the end. Comment what's your opinion about this information "How NASA Train Their Astronauts?".

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Apollo 6 Saturn V (CSM-020/LTA-2R/SA-502) on LC-39A, possibly during a Countdown Demonstration Test (CDDT).

Date: March 31, 1968.

Mike Acs's Collection: link

Evolved adapter for future NASA space launch system flights readied for testing

A test version of the universal stage adapter for NASA's more powerful version of its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket arrived at Building 4619 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Feb. 22 from Leidos in Decatur, Alabama. The universal stage adapter will connect the rocket's upgraded in-space propulsion stage, called the exploration upper stage, to NASA's Orion spacecraft as part of the evolved Block 1B configuration of the SLS rocket.

It will also serve as a compartment capable of accommodating large payloads, such as modules or other exploration spacecraft. The SLS Block 1B variant will debut on Artemis IV and will increase SLS's payload capability to send more than 84,000 pounds to the moon in a single launch.

In Building 4619's Load Test Annex High Bay at Marshall, the development test article will first undergo modal testing that will shake the hardware to validate dynamic models. Later, during ultimate load testing, force will be applied vertically and to the sides of the hardware. Unlike the flight hardware, the development test article has flaws intentionally included in its design, which will help engineers verify that the adapter can withstand the extreme forces it will face during launch and flight.

The test article joins an already-rich history of rocket hardware that has undergone high-and-low pressure, acoustic, and extreme temperature testing in the multipurpose, high-bay test facility; it will be tested in the same location that once bent, compressed, and torqued the core stage intertank test article for SLS rocket's Block 1 configuration. Leidos, the prime contractor for the universal stage adapter, manufactured the full-scale prototype at its Aerospace Structures Complex in Decatur.

NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA's backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft and Gateway in orbit around the moon and commercial human landing systems, next-generational spacesuits, and rovers on the lunar surface. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the moon in a single launch.

Events 3.13

624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. 1591 – At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one. 1639 – Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard. 1697 – Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, falls to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins' Ear) begins. 1781 – William Herschel discovers Uranus. 1809 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809. 1811 – A French and Italian fleet is defeated by a British squadron off the island of Vis in the Adriatic during the Napoleonic Wars. 1826 – Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry. 1845 – Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist. 1848 – The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna. 1862 – The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves is passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.[ 1884 – The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885. 1900 – British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War. 1920 – The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin. 1930 – The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory. 1940 – The Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union officially ends after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. 1943 – The Holocaust: German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków. 1954 – The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory led to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam. 1957 – Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista. 1969 – Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module. 1979 – The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d'état. 1988 – The Seikan Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world with an undersea segment, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan. 1992 – The Mw  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). 1993 – The 1993 Storm of the Century affects the eastern United States, dropping feet of snow in many areas. 1996 – The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland. 1997 – The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader. 2003 – An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints. 2012 – The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children. 2013 – The 2013 papal conclave elects Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church. 2016 – The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people. 2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people. 2020 – President Donald Trump declares the COVID-19 pandemic to be a national emergency in the United States. 2020 – Breonna Taylor is killed by police officers who were forcibly entering her home in Louisville, Kentucky; her death sparked extensive protests against racism and police brutality.

Some things about Space Life

Space Life is a science fiction webcomic set in an indefinite future on a small spaceship traveling the cosmos. On board the spaceship we find Tom, an astronaut we always see with a suit and helmet and AL, the voice of an artificial intelligence. Welcome to spaceship Beagle 5. Sit back and enjoy following Tom and AL on an extravagant adventure among the stars. Try to find countless references to famous and little-known jewels from scifi, nerd and pop culture.

Some things about Space Life

The Beagle 5 spaceship takes its name from the HMS Beagle ship. The HMS Beagle on her second voyage hosted the then young naturalist Charles Darwin on board, whose work made the Beagle one of the most famous ships in history. Number 5 is a tribute to Eagle 5 (which also has a certain similarity with the name Beagle) spaceship of Spaceballs (A 1987 american science fiction comedy film co-written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks).

AL is a tribute to Alan Turing. Philosopher, mathematician and cryptographer. The test that bears his name is still considered today a valid tool to ascertain whether a machine is able to compete with human intelligence.

AL also remembers HAL 9000, the supercomputer aboard the spacecraft Discovery in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Arthur C. Clarke's book of the same name. In 2003, the American Film Institute placed HAL 9000 in 13th place on its list of the 50 Best Movie Villains of All Time. What surprises will AL have in store for us?

The work break raises the question about the future of work and about human-machine interaction. For further information see Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari and Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

The game of chess proposed by Tom in "Origin" is a tribute to the great chess challenges between man and computer. Chess and computers have gone hand in hand since the dawn of information technology. Between the end of the 40s and the beginning of the 50s the first articles appeared (with signatures of illustrious scientists such as Claude Shannon, Norbert Wiener and above all the aforementioned Alan Turing) that designed algorithms capable of playing. Memorable were the challenges between Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue.

In "Spoiler" Tom says he wants to start reading "War and Peace". The reference is to the Peanuts character Snoopy who loves War and Peace, but in order not to get tired he reads no more than one word a day.

After the Apollo 1 fire, Snoopy became the official mascot of the Apollo program's aerospace security, testing and rebuilding.

The Apollo 10 lunar module was named "Snoopy" and the command module "Charlie Brown".

The Silver Snoopy award is a special NASA award in the form of a silver pin engraved with Snoopy with a space helmet. It is given to an astronaut who works in the space program who has gone above and beyond on the pursuit of quality and safety.

In "Cultural evolution" we refer to the cultural evolution in animals. In recent decades, a burgeoning literature has documented the cultural transmission of behavior through social learning in numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species. A meaning of "cultural evolution in animals" refers to these findings and I present an overview of the key findings. I will then address the other meaning of the term focused on cultural changes within a lineage. Such changes in humans, described as "cumulative cultural evolution", have been spectacular, but relatively little attention has yet been paid to the subject in non-human animals, other than claiming that the process is unique to humans. A variety of evidence, including controlled experiments and field observations, has begun to challenge this view and in some behavioral domains, particularly birdsong, cultural evolution has been studied for many years. The scifi reference is to "Planet of the Apes" and compared to the bears to the short story "Bears Discover Fire" by American science fiction author Terry Bisson.

"Time" is set in the vicinity of the black hole M87 . It's the central black hole of the giant elliptical galaxy Galaxy Virgo A, encoded as "M87" (the largest galaxy in the "near" universe, located 56 million light years from us , in the Cluster of the Virgin). It has a mass approximately 6.6 billion times that of the Sun.

That the  time be one illusion is a mantra of many modern theoretical physicists. In the equations of the "loop quantum gravity model", with which Carlo Rovelli, Lee Smolin and others try to unify Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics, time disappears. What exists at the fundamental level are only "atoms of space". The universe and its history are nothing more than ways in which these "space atoms" are arranged. (Rovelli's Book)

Tom's answer - "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so"- is a quote from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams.

Have fun finding references and quotes in the next few episodes! feel free to write your ideas in the comments.

Last stop before launch: Orion passes tests and returns to Kennedy Space Center

NASA - Orion Crew Vehicle patch.

March 27, 2020

The Orion spacecraft that will fly on the Artemis 1 mission around the Moon has returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, after finishing space environment tests. The spacecraft, including ESA’s European Service Module, is now at its final destination before launch.

Preparing Orion for thermal vacuum testing

Orion spent four months at NASA’s Plum Brook station where it was subjected to the vacuum and temperatures of –175°C to 75°C it will experience on its flight to the Moon. After proving its space-worthiness, the electronics ­– including the thousands of parameters and functions of the European Service Module that control the engines, electrical power and steering the solar panels to face the Sun – were checked for electromagnetic interference.

Orion encaged

ESA’s Dominique Siruguet from the European Service Module integration and verification team says “The tests were successful and the behaviour of the vehicle was good, passing all requirements.”

Super Guppy leaves Ohio with Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft

Plum Brook station was chosen for the tests because thermal vacuum and electromagnetic compatibility could be performed in the same facility. This avoided additional transport of Orion, which is the size of a two-story house.

 Orion spacecraft

Having passed its trials, the spacecraft was wrapped and moved by truck to an airport in Ohio for its return flight on NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft.

Adding wings to Orion

The tests are not completely over for Orion, at Kennedy Space Center the crew module will be further prepared and more leak tests conducted. The European Service Module has tanks for fuel, oxygen and water that are critical for the astronauts. The gas tanks are pressurised and are connected to many pipes and valves, so it vital to make sure there are no leaks.

Orion spacecraft exploded view

The solar wings that generate power during its mission will be installed, as well as protective covers called the Spacecraft Adapter Jettisoned fairings for the intense moments of launch on the world’s most powerful rocket.

Orion: The journey

Later this year ESA will formally transfer ownership of the European Service Module to NASA and the spacecraft will move into the ground system phase where it will be united with the SLS rocket for a lift-off to the Moon.

Orion service module – from components to shipping

Orion is a key component of Artemis 1 – an uncrewed test flight around the Moon that paves the way for the Artemis 3 mission, which will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024. ESA is designing and supplying the European Service Module for the Orion spacecraft. This provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen. It also keeps the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course, propelling it to the Moon and back once it has separated from the launcher.

Related article:

Welcome Home, Orion: Spacecraft Ready for Final Artemis I Launch Preparations

https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/03/welcome-home-orion-spacecraft-ready-for.html

Related links:

Orion:

http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion

Human and Robotic Exploration:

http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration

Science & Exploration:

http://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration

European Space Agency (ESA):

http://www.esa.int/

Images, Animation, Text, Credits: ESA/S. Corvaja/NASA/Nicole Smith/Videos: Directed by Stéphane Corvaja/ESA ; Edited by Manuel Pédoussaut/Zetapress.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Full article

(Bottom photo from NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center post on FB today.)

When Apollo 11’s lunar module, Eagle, landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, it first flew over an area littered with boulders before touching down at the Sea of Tranquility. The site had been selected based on photos collected over two years as part of the Lunar Orbiter program.

But the “sensors” that ensured Eagle was in a safe spot before touching down – those were the eyes of NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong.

“Eagle’s computer didn’t have a vision-aided system to navigate relative to the lunar terrain, so Armstrong was literally looking out the window to figure out where to touch down,” said Matthew Fritz, principal investigator for a terrain relative navigation system being developed by Draper of Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Now, our system could become the ‘eyes’ for the next lunar lander module to help target the desired landing location.”

This week, that system will be tested in the desert of Mojave, California, on a launch and landing of Masten Space Systems’ Xodiac rocket. The rocket is scheduled to take off Wednesday, Sept. 11.

The rocket flight is made possible with support from NASA’s Flight Opportunities program managed by NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and the Game Changing Development program overseen by NASA’s Langley Flight Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. It marks the first test of the system with both a descent altitude and a landing trajectory similar to what is expected on a lunar mission.

But what is terrain relative navigation? And why is it so important to NASA’s Artemis program to return American astronauts to the Moon by 2024, and future human missions to Mars?

Without capabilities like GPS, which is designed to help us navigate on Earth, determining a lander vehicle’s location is much like comparing visual cues (e.g., road signs, important buildings, notable landmarks) while driving a car with those cues identified on road maps.

“We have onboard satellite maps loaded onto the flight computer and a camera acts as our sensor,” explained Fritz. “The camera captures images as the lander flies along a trajectory and those images are overlaid onto the preloaded satellite maps that include unique terrain features. Then by mapping the features in the live images, we’re able to know where the vehicle is relative to the features on the map.”

Read the rest of the article, other pictures, and an older video: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/One_Giant_Leap_for_Lunar_Landing_Navigation

(I live nearby here, I’m going to try to get over there to see this if they allow the public in.)