August 14, 2018

What It’s Like to Fly a Billion-Dollar Satellite on the US Air Force’s Largest Plane (Source: Quartz)
The California heat is stifling as we climb the 14-foot ladder into the passenger compartment of the C-5 Galaxy, the largest plane flown by the US Air Force. I had been told to expect a cold flight, and wore four layers of clothing. Now, sweat drips down my face. Everyone wears ear protection to drown out the engulfing noise of the four van-size jet engines hanging from the wings. A passing airman’s backpack bears a patch with the slogan “Embrace the Suck.” Good advice.

This flight is not built to suit passengers. Below, in the belly of the aircraft, sits 35 tons (32 metric tons) of equipment—an ultra-secure military communications satellite, and all the gear to transport such a spacecraft on earth. The satellite is encased in a white container custom-built to fit this aircraft. The entire cargo is valued at $1.3 billion. (8/12)

The ISS Is Actually a Claustrophobe's Nightmare – This Video Shows You Why (Source: Science Alert)
We all know that the International Space Station (ISS) is not a huge space. It's no palace, but there's six people living on it right now, so it has to be at least liveable, right? Well, you might not agree after you see this insane video by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, who took YouTube through the longest route on the ISS.

The video is only a minute and a half if that gives you any clues to how long the longest route actually is, but what's even worse is just how tight some of the squeezes are to get from room to room. Click here. (8/10)

Digging Into the Details of Orion’s EM-1 Test Flight (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
As NASA continues to analyze and refine the profile for the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) test flight, more information about the multi-week mission is beginning to be detailed. The Orion spacecraft will fly into orbit around the Moon before returning to Earth in a shakedown mission before the first crew flies in Orion on Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2).

EM-1 will be the first flight of Orion’s European Service Module, also pairing it with the Crew Module for the first time, with hundreds of test objectives to be evaluated during the mission. Orion will fly on EM-1 for the first time with all of its primary spacecraft elements. The European Service Module (ESM) will make its first flight, connected to the second crew module (CM) unit by a crew module adapter (CMA) making its first flight. Click here. (8/13)

How a Space-traveling Squirrel Monkey Helps Kids Learn Science in Peru (Source: CASIS)
Rossana Chiarella teaches pre-kindergarten and coaches the Space-STEM (S-STEM) Club at Palm Springs North Elementary in Hialeah, a city near Miami, Florida. As the school’s Space Foundation Teacher Liaison Officer, she works to support and improve science education for young children. During her spring break in 2018, Chiarella traveled to Patapo, Peru, near the town where she grew up. She taught space science to pre-kindergarteners at Patapo School through hands-on activities and storytelling. (8/10)

Russia's New Cosmonauts Include Brother of ISS Crew Member (Source: CollectSpace)
Russia has announced a new class of cosmonaut trainees, including the younger brother of a crew member now on board the International Space Station. An interdepartmental commission selected the eight new candidates, including Yevgeny Prokopyev, the sibling of Expedition 56 flight engineer Sergey Prokopyev, who launched to the space station in June. The Prokopyevs are the first Russian siblings and second pair of brothers in the world to be chosen for a cosmonaut or astronaut corps.

Dmitry Rogozin, director of Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos, revealed the younger Prokopyev and seven other candidates' selection on Friday at a meeting in Moscow that also included former cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, now Roscosmos' executive director of human space programs, and Pavel Vlasov, head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City. (8/13)