India Successfully Tests An Anti-Satellite Missile: A Prelude To A Gene Roddenberry Style Sino-Indian War?

With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a successful ant-satellite missile test as an “anti-China measure”, will this be a prelude to a Gene Roddenberry style Sino-Indian War?

By: Ringo Bones

During his national address back in Wednesday, March 28, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the country has successfully shot down its own low-orbit satellite with a missile that now puts India in the league of global “space powers”. Prime Minister Modi said India had achieved a “historic feat” by shooting down its own low-orbit satellite with a ground-to-space missile in three minutes. Historic feat indeed because when the United States successfully tested the ASM-135 Anti-Satellite Missile back in September 13, 1985, it took over 20 years to perform the same feat – i.e. The People’s Republic of China when they successfully tested their own anti-satellite missile system back in January 11, 2007 and Russia only recently succeeded in doing the same back in November 18, 2015.

The test comes two weeks before polling begins in general elections and Prime Minister Modi is seeking a second term in power after a landslide victory in 2014. The test was largely termed as an ant-China measure according to Bharat Karnad, a security expert with the Indian think tank the Center of Policy Research. And given that almost all of Pakistan’s latest military satellites are launched with technical assistance from The People’s Republic of China, it seems that India’s latest successful ant-satellite missile test could be perceived as payback for the country’s defeat during the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

Even though India already possess missiles capable of downing satellites in low-Earth orbit since 2012, the recent success of Mission Shakti – Shakti stands for power in Hindi – as India’s foremost anti-satellite weapons system would defend the country’s interest in space. India’s latest space capabilities seem inevitable because the country’s space program has grown substantially over the past decade. In 2014, the nation managed to put a satellite into orbit around the planet Mars and the Indian Space Organization has announced that it will send a manned mission into space in the next three years.

Should US Vice President Mike Pence’s Fast-tracked Manned Lunar Mission Be Taken Seriously?

Given that he is a staunch Creationist – i.e. believes that the whole Universe is only 6,000 years old and planet Earth is the center of the Universe – should US Vice President Mike Pence’s fast-tracked manned lunar mission be taken seriously?

By: Ringo Bones    

                                                                              

Thanks to Donald trump’s base of Moon landing hoax conspiracy theorists and far-right Christian extremists, America had been reduced into the world’s intellectual laughingstock. But on March 26, 2019, US Vice President Mike Pence called for a greater urgency at NASA to send “American Astronauts to the Moon before the end of 2024 by any means necessary”. Although on how the Trump Administration intends to accomplish an ambitious Moon landing was not clear. Worse still, the Trump Administration just recently slashed funding for the National Science Foundation by more than a billion dollars, supposedly to fund Trump’s Wall.

Remember back in 1989 when then US President George H.W. Bush’s announcement of a 400 plus –billion US dollar manned mission to Mars was “coolly” received? Well, NASA’s top brass will probably had a tougher time reasoning with a task-master who genuinely believes that the whole Universe is only 6,000 years old and planet Earth is flat and is the center of the Universe. Add to that the urgency of “by any means necessary” not to mention the climate change denial policy could prove just another reason why the United States had become the world’s intellectual laughingstock under the Trump Administration.

First All Female Spacewalk Cancelled Due To The Ultimate Wardrobe Malfunction?

Although the exploration of humanity’s final frontier has been made as inclusive as possible, is there a lingering sexism that exists when it comes to space exploration?

By: Ringo Bones

The scheduled Extra-Vehicular-Activity was never planned as a historic mission, although it would have been a historic moment: as in the first ever all-female spacewalk. Sadly, that historic moment would have to wait, as NASA said back in Monday, March 25, 2019, because of a somewhat mundane issue – lack of appropriate spacesuit sizes. The two astronauts who were scheduled to walk together in space back in Friday, March 22, 2019 – Anne C. McClain and Christina H. Koch – would both need to wear a medium-size torso component (as in a medium-sized spacesuit), but only one was readily available at the International Space Station at the time. That Friday, the two woman astronauts would have ventured outside of the ISS on a six-hour mission to install massive lithium-ion batteries that will help power the research laboratory. Unfortunately, it will be rescheduled this Friday, March 29, with Christina Koch along with her fellow astronaut Nick Hague as Anne McClain already performed her scheduled EVA last week.

Even though Anne McClain had performed a previous EVA wearing a large-size torso spacesuit, on her last EVA on March 22 she wore a medium-size torso and learned that it fit her better. Christina Koch also uses a medium-size torso spacesuit. A proper fitting spacesuit for EVA missions is very important because these missions could last from 6 to 8 and sometimes extended to 12 hours. And there’s pre-breathing involved before any astronaut an go on an EVA because current NASA spacesuit technology aren’t strong and flexible enough to work with a oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere pressurized to the same level of the interior of the International Space Station which is equivalent of standing on 8,000 feet above sea level here on Earth – which is around 11.3 pounds per square inch. A typical NASA spacesuit, in order to maintain flexibility and safety, can only be pressurized by up to around 2 to 3 pounds per square inch – which is akin to breathing pure oxygen while staying 40,000 feet above sea level here on Earth. This means lengthy pure oxygen pre-breathing time (17 to 20 minutes?) before an EVA mission to flush out excess nitrogen from the astronauts system.

Even though it is seldom mentioned in the mainstream press, the powers-that-be in charge of access to space since the 1960 can be quite sexist in comparison to our “post hash-tag me too movement” world. Even though the then Soviet Union were the first to sent the first woman in space, as in Valentina Tereshkova back in June 16, 1963, it took the then Soviet Union almost twenty years later to send the world’s second woman in space – Svetlana Savitskaya – in 1982, citing that women can be bad luck for the male cosmonauts. And as recently as April 18, 2008, the Russian space agency blamed Peggy Whitson for sending the Soyuz spacecraft 450 kilometers off course during the team’s return from the International Space Station. Even though many have said NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson should have been commended for her quick thinking by avoiding the Soyuz from landing in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan back then.

Is Space Herpes For Real?

Although it seems like a plot from a bad science fiction movie, does the latest studies from NASA already shows that prolonged space travel could trigger a so-called “space herpes” epidemic?

By: Ringo Bones

No, it is not a plot from a bad Star Trek episode although there was an episode in Star Trek Voyager that explains why the rulebook on the Prime Directive is over two inches thick and despite Stephen Colbert and other late night show hosts recently poking fun at it, it seems that NASA researchers have recently uncovered that prolonged spaceflight is triggering viruses such as herpes, chickenpox and shingles in astronauts. As part of the study on the impact of space travel has on viruses, NASA researchers analyzed blood, urine and saliva samples from astronauts before, during and after Space Shuttle flights and International Space Station missions.

The findings were recently published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology show an increase in shedding or reactivation of these viruses while in space. Lead study author Satish K. Mehta from Johnson Space Center said “to date, 47 out of 89 (53 percent) NASA astronauts on short Space Shuttle flights and 14 out of 23 (61 percent) on longer International Space Station missions shed herpes viruses in their saliva or urine samples. These frequencies – as well as the quantity – of viral shedding are markedly higher than samples from before or after flight, or from matched healthy controls.”

According to researchers, the reactivation of the dormant viruses was found to be caused by stress – the same factor that awakens them here on Earth. So being exposed to prolonged periods of weightlessness are not turning these viruses into superbugs? Although bathroom breaks in the weightless conditions of space – to me at least – can be quite a stressful experience in comparison to going here on the sensation of the Earth’s normal pull of gravity. In addition to being confined in small spaces and separated from family and friends for extended periods of time, astronauts also undergo stress during takeoff and re-entry, the most dangerous phases of space travel. Add to that exposure to weightless conditions and increased doses of cosmic radiation.

The study also found that four of the eight human herpes viruses were detected, including oral, genital, shingles and chicken pox, however, although the viruses were found to “wake up”, most of the astronauts did not display symptoms. According to Mehta “Only six astronauts developed any symptoms due to viral reaction, all were minor.” In addition to the increased possibility of infecting others, the reactivation of the herpes virus raises concerns regarding future long-term missions to the planet Mars. According to Mehta “The magnitude, frequency and duration of viral shedding all increase with length of spaceflight. The ideal countermeasure is vaccination for astronauts – but this is so far available only against chickenpox.” Researchers are currently looking for methods of combating the reactivation of the virus – which would also benefit those here on Earth.

SpaceX Dragon: Viable Replacement Of The NASA Space Shuttle?

Given that the NASA Space Shuttle has been retired since 2011, will Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft the most viable American made replacement of the Space Shuttle?

By: Ringo Bones

Since NASA retired its Space Shuttle program back in 2011, the search has been on for a cheaper, safer alternative transport that can take American astronauts to the International Space Station. Unfortunately, the “safest” and “cheapest” existing alternative so far has been the Russian Soyuz spacecraft despite dating from the 1960s, this Soviet era Korolev Design Bureau, now RKK Energia run, spacecraft has been the only way for astronauts to reach the International Space Station. It wasn’t until March 3, 2019 that Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon’s successful test flight to the ISS that America finally has a home-grown replacement for the Space Shuttle.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk named it after the Peter, Paul and Mary song Puff The Magic Dragon, the Dragon spacecraft achieved its maiden flight back in December 2010 and was originally designed as a vehicle for paying space tourists to reach into low Earth orbit. After the NASA Space Shuttle was retired back in 2011 due to safety and reliability issues – as in no comparable spacecraft with a 21^st Century era computer was offered as a viable replacement, every astronaut going to the ISS were hitching a ride instead into the Soyuz.

With a successful test back in March 3, 2019 with a sensor filled dummy named Ripley – named after Lt. Ellen Ripley from the Alien move franchise – the computer guided SpaceX Dragon successfully docked with the International Space Station after it was launched atop the Falcon 9 two stage to orbit launch vehicle. With computer control, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft safely survived the reentry stage to return safely to the Earth. With the recent successful test, NASA already considers manned tests of the Dragon spacecraft as soon as July 2019. Although Boeing has a similar spacecraft and NASA had been working on its own Space Launch System before the Space Shuttle was retired, it seems that Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon could become a very viable Space Shuttle replacement when it comes to ferrying astronauts into the International Space Station.