Latest news with #CRS-30
Indian Express
01-07-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Space to soil: How Axiom-4 holds potential to shape food production
Written by Purvi Mehta SpaceX's Crew Dragon named Grace, carrying the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew, docked at the International Space Station (ISS) last week. It is a historic mission in many ways, including for India, with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla marking a milestone for the country's human spaceflight aspirations. The mission will also carry out 14 days of microgravity research and technology demonstrations. Dragon resupply missions routinely deliver instruments to the ISS for Earth science. For instance, the NASA-supported CRS-30 delivered Signals of Opportunity P-band Investigation (SNOOPI), a CubeSat that uses P-band GNSS reflectometry to measure soil moisture and snow content — critical within hydrologic cycles and agriculture. Soil moisture data is indispensable: It supports drought forecasting, irrigation planning, and resilient cropping strategies in rural communities. The mission has also carried seeds that they will try to sprout in a petri dish aboard the station. These experiments help scientists understand how microgravity affects water-use efficiency, root development, and crop resilience. Insights from space-grown plants inform Earth-bound optimisations — especially in drought-prone or saline soils. Why is this important? Shifts in climate are driving water scarcity, higher temperatures, crop failures, and economic insecurity across the world. According to a 2023 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, climate extremes have cost global agriculture and its farmers over $3.8 trillion in the past three decades — roughly 5 per cent of the annual global agri-GDP. Technology plays a pivotal role in tackling climate change by enabling both adaptation and mitigation strategies. Innovations such as climate-smart agriculture, early warning systems, resilient infrastructure design, and satellite-based weather forecasting help vulnerable communities better prepare for and respond to climate shocks. Technologies emerging from space research — like soil-moisture monitoring, resilient seed strains, and controlled-environment agriculture — help our understanding on how best to predict, prevent and adapt to climate shocks. Space-based data enhances forecasting and early warning systems that empower rural communities to decide what crop to grow, when and how. The Dragon Grace mission isn't just a space milestone — it's an agricultural and climate-change catalyst. It will enable enhanced Earth observation that allows farmers to monitor crop health, moisture levels, and pest infestations with a high degree of accuracy, enabling targeted interventions (like irrigation or fertilisation), which increases yields and reduces input costs. Stronger forecasting tools and early warnings help predict droughts, floods and other climate-related risks, giving farmers and governments time to prepare and respond, reducing crop loss and food insecurity. Advanced plant physiology insights that augment our understanding of how plants cope with heat, salinity, or erratic rainfall, help farmers choose and manage crops better suited to changing conditions. It leads to the development of crops that are more drought-tolerant, pest-resistant, or nutrient-efficient. Space missions like Ax-4 lay the groundwork for climate-smart farming worldwide, particularly for rural and smallholder communities. As climate shocks intensify, bridging space technology with field-level needs is essential. So, for a smallholder farmer, who constitute over 80 per cent of our farmers, say in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Ax-4 mission is not just a matter of pride. It can also lead to direct benefits. The Ax-4 mission unlocks new frontiers in climate monitoring and Earth observation and signals a transformative moment for agriculture. For the smallholder farmer, this isn't just a leap in space technology — this can be a lifeline. With better climate prediction, early warning systems, and precision data, farmers can make smarter decisions, reduce risk, and build resilience against an increasingly unpredictable environment. In a world where food security hinges on climate intelligence, this mission has a lot farmers can look forward to. The writer is senior global advisor, Global Climate and adjunct professor, Cornell University
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX rocket launch of Starlink satellites from Florida set for Wednesday afternoon
SpaceX plans to launch 27 Starlink satellites on Wednesday afternoon from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. What we know A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the satellites at 12:39 p.m. Backup windows arte available through the afternoon and the following day. This will be the 20th time the first stage booster supporting the mission is used. It has launched missions like Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, SES ASTRA 1P, NG-21, and 13 other Starlink flights before. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read The Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. FOX 35 News will stream the launch live using the video player at the top of this page. The backstory Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet constellation, has been expanding rapidly, with frequent launches adding to its growing network in low-Earth orbit. The company's Direct to Cell capability aims to eliminate mobile dead zones by allowing standard cell phones to connect directly to satellites without requiring additional hardware. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO: Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines FOX Local: Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV The Source This story was written based on information shared by SpaceX.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Live 4K video from space! See 24/7 views of Earth from the ISS via Sen cameras
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Click play, go full-screen, lean back and enjoy. That's how easy it is now to get lost in the absolutely stunning scape that is our planet Earth from space as it streams live before your eyes. Sen, a company based in London, provides views of Earth from orbit, with the hopes of making an experience usually reserved for astronauts a little more accessible to the rest of humanity. It's live video of Earth from space, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The overview effect is a phenomenon known to occur for those lucky enough to travel beyond the bounds of our gravity well, in which the view of our planet from space changes one's perception of his or home planet and humanity. Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell described it as "an instant global consciousness," accompanied with "an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world and a compulsion to do something about it." Sen launched three Ultra High Definition 4k cameras to the ISS on SpaceX's CRS-30 cargo mission to the space station in March 2024. The trio, collectively called SpaceTV-1, are mounted to the Bartolomeo platform on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus module to create three unique views of Earth and the space station. One camera is oriented to capture the long curve of Earth's horizon, and the repeatedly rising and setting sun is visible as the ISS completes another orbit every 90 minutes. Another focuses directly on Earth below, showing a stretch about 155 miles (250 kilometers) across. The third camera looks at the space station's forward docking port, connected to the the Harmony module, and any visiting spacecraft that are docked there. Sen's vision is to democratize space using video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all humanity. To do this, the company is streaming real-time videos from space to billions of people, gathering news and information about Earth and space and making it universally accessible and useful. Sen is a data business using its own micro satellites and hosted cameras to stream real-time videos and information about Earth direct to individuals, creating a unique dataset for all humanity, empowering people and inspiring global change. Sen's vision is a humanitarian one — to help raise awareness about planetary changes and to support those directly affected by events on Earth, and to help inform people about the reality of our existence in space. Sen will give people videos of Earth, other worlds and space. Augmented Reality will be used to overlay the story-telling power of video with additional information, providing multi-world data and unique new perspectives for humanity. Sen provides its streams from space for free. You can download Sen's mobile app or watch the company's stream directly on or its YouTube channel.
