A Soyuz capsule with 2 Russians and 1 American returns to Earth from the International Space Station
According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the capsule carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and astronaut Don Pettit of U.S. space agency NASA landed on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. (0120 GMT). Roscosmos said the parachute-assisted landing was a trouble-free descent.
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Axiom private space mission could be glimpse of the future as ISS retirement looms
Private spaceflight is transforming from joy rides for billionaires into a gateway for nations to establish their space presence, one expert says, as the latest Axiom Space mission returned to Earth on Tuesday. The mission marked a historic moment for India, Poland, and Hungary, who sent astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time in decades. Rather than waiting for traditional space programs, these nations booked private flights through Axiom Space, which aims to build the world's first commercial space station, and SpaceX, which provided the spacecraft the astronauts traveled on. "This is huge," said ABC News contributor and astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi. "These nations didn't go through NASA or wait for Russia. They booked the private flight and brought their own experiments. That is a global power flex." The mission serves as more than just a demonstration of private space capabilities, Oluseyi said. With NASA planning to decommission the ISS by the end of 2030, Axiom Space, headquartered in Houston, is positioning itself to become "the new landlord of low Earth orbit," according to Oluseyi. The company has already secured agreements with multiple countries for its own planned space station. However, the increasing privatization of space access raises questions about America's future role in space exploration. While another private company, SpaceX, currently provides the only means for launching astronauts from U.S. soil, Oluseyi emphasized the importance of maintaining both public and private investment in space. "We perform best when there is a combination of both public and private investment," Oluseyi said, noting current federal budget pullbacks in space and science funding. "Strategically, America needs both public and private to maintain leadership... This is a time not to pull back, but to invest ever more aggressively." As space becomes more accessible to new participants, Oluseyi said continued investment and innovation are crucial for maintaining U.S. leadership in space exploration -- even as private spaceflight takes off. "You can't stop that cat out of the bag, but you can maintain leadership, you can be the one to innovate and take us to the next level," he said.
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Neil Armstrong Recalls The Final Stages Of Apollo 11's Moon Landing
Former astronaut Neil Armstrong testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on supersonic transport. He showed a film of the first Russian made Soviet TU-144. Bettmann Archive In 2011, just a year prior to his death, Neil Armstrong gave a rare public account of his final few thousand feet of descent in the Lunar Module July 20, 1969. It was before the House Science Committee with other space dignitaries present, including Apollo 17's Gene Cernan. In typical Armstrong fashion, the account is factual and understated, without much emotion. Accompanying his humble narration were actual images taken from the LM juxtaposed with the same images enhanced by newer Google Moon Map technology. The Google images allowed the audience to more accurately see what Armstrong saw from the windows of his spacecraft. Following are edited excerpts from what he said. Neil Armstrong: 'I was informed by a gentleman in Australia of an interesting film that has been created in the United States that I did not know about, using Google Moon to enhance the photos that Apollo 11 took on the way down to the lunar surface. I'm going to show it now. The actual descent of the Lunar Module took twelve-and-a-half minutes, but I'll describe the last three-and-a-half starting at about 3,000 feet in altitude, and then continuing all the way down.. APRIL 18, 2006: Former astronaut Neil Armstrong receives the NASA Ambassadors of Exploration award in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images) NASA via Getty Images We were descending at a controlled rate, but with many computer warnings, sounding, which we were getting used to by then. The autopilot told us it was going to land us close to the rim of a large crater I could see. I didn't want to go there. It had steep sides and a broad field of large boulders about the size of automobiles. I looked out about a mile further to the west, where there looked to be a smooth and level landing spot. We saw another crater coming up, about 30 meters or a hundred feet in size, but, beyond it, those level spots that looked good. We were running low on fuel, though, because we'd extended our flight forward. With about 30 seconds left, we were getting very close to the surface, and could see dust kicking up. We could also see the shadow of our lander leg as it touched down. Then Buzz [Aldrin] said, 'Engine stop,' and the Eagle was down! From left: US Vice President Dan Quayle, US President George HW Bush (1924-2018), and astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), Buzz Aldrin (born Edwin Aldrin Jr), and Michael Collins (1930-2021) with NASA's Lunar Module 2 at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC, July 20. (Photo by Robert Trippett/Pool) Getty Images What you see on-screen now is one of the actual vertical pictures taken of the spot where we landed - plus the descent stage of Eagle that contained the rocket engine we'd used for descent and the fuel for that engine, the landing legs and some of the scientific equipment we left behind on the moon. It's a view into history with the help of modern technology.'
Gizmodo
2 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Uranus Leaks More Heat Than We Thought
When Voyager 2 flew past Uranus in 1986, the spacecraft detected a surprisingly low level of internal heat from the planet. Since then, scientists believed Uranus to be the odd one out in our solar system's family of giant planets—the others being Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune—who all tend to emit more heat than they absorb from sunlight. Now, a new study suggests that scientists may have had the wrong idea about Voyager 2's data: Uranus does have an internal heat source similar to its planetary siblings. For the study, published Monday in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers analyzed decades of archival data available on the ice giant, finding that Uranus emits 12.5% more internal heat than it absorbs from the Sun. That's still considerably less heat than the other three giant planets, which emit more than 100% of the solar energy they receive. Nevertheless, the study demonstrates that Uranus doesn't stray too far from scientists' general understanding of how giant planets form and evolve. Something Strange Happened During Voyager 2's Flyby of Uranus in 1986 To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed data on Uranus's global energy balance across one full orbit of the Sun, which takes 84 years. The team took this observational data and combined it with computational models, finding big seasonal swings driven by the planet's wild changes in sunlight exposure. The new findings are consistent with an earlier paper about Uranus's energy balance, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in May. That said, neither study offers a clear answer as to why Uranus's internal heat is much lower than the other gas and ice giants. Uranus may have had a 'different interior structure or evolutionary history compared to the other giant planets,' the researchers noted in a statement. The study also found that Uranus's energy levels change according to its 20-year-long seasons. These fluctuations, along with the planet's heat budget, 'provide observational constraints that can be used to develop theories of planetary formation for giant planets,' the study states. A Long-Held Assumption About Uranus Just Got Upended Thus, the paper both answers and raises questions about Uranus, which the researchers cite as a good reason for future NASA missions to investigate the icy planet further. 'By uncovering how Uranus stores and loses heat, we gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that shape planetary atmospheres, weather systems, and climate systems,' said Liming Li, study co-author and physicist at the University of Houston, in the release. 'These findings help broaden our perspective on Earth's atmospheric system and the challenges of climate change.'
