#NASA releases stunning first images of Earth taken by the Artemis II #astronauts. The stunning pictures were taken by mission commander Reid Wiseman using his Personal Computing Device — a tablet that includes a camera — and they are both views of Earth.

The first one was described by #NASA mission control at Johnson Space Center in Houston as a “reminder that no matter how far we go, we are still one world, watching, hoping and reaching higher.”

The second image was taken from one of the Orion spacecraft’s windows, another view of the Earth described as a “pale blue dot seen through the crew’s eyes.”

The images pair well with some remarks made by mission specialist Christina Koch during a downlink event with media on Day 2 of the flight.

“Having just experienced incredible views of planet Earth, and seeing the entire planet out the window in one pane, knowing that we’re about to have some similar views of the moon in that same way is definitely getting me more excited for it,” she said. “I knew that that is what we would see. But there’s nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night, with the beautiful beam of the sunset. And knowing that we’re going to get similar views of the moon. I’m just, I’m really excited for that.”

During the same conversation, Wiseman said: “There was a moment about an hour ago where Mission Control Houston reoriented our spacecraft as the sun was setting behind the Earth. And I don’t know what we all expected to see at that moment, but you could see the entire globe, from pole to pole. You could see Africa, Europe, and if you looked really close, you could see the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks.”

Wiseman also noted that the windows of Orion are already dirty because the crew has enjoyed looking out of them so much. He asked for the right procedures to clean the windows.

The crew was busy snapping photos during a period that was going to include the crew’s very first meal in space together — but they postponed it a bit to look outside and take photos.

“We are getting just a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth right now lit by the moon,” said Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. “Phenomenal. None of us can get to lunch because we’re glued to the window. We’re taking pictures. Reid said he just can’t take it anymore.”

Jacopo Prisco, Ashley Strickland, CNN

'Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of'

#Canada's Jeremy Hansen shares message as Artemis II leaves Earth's orbit and heads to moon.

After extensively checking out the life support and other systems while orbiting Earth, NASA flight controllers gave the “go” for the maneuver that effectively leaves the safety of home in the rearview mirror.

While there are ways to shave a day or two off the return trip in an emergency, Caron says the crew is now essentially committed to the deep-space trek.

Soon after the translunar injection burn, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen asked mission control in Houston if he could share the sentiment of the crew as they were officially moonbound.

“We just wanted to communicate to everyone around the planet who’s worked to make Artemis possible that we firmly felt the power of your perseverance during every second of that burn,” Hansen said.

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon.”

Over the next three days, the crew will monitor the ship’s vitals and perform minor course correction burns. They will also run through safety drills, including performing CPR in space and testing getting in and out of their bulky orange survival suits, which could protect the astronauts if they lose cabin pressure.
Space gym: The flywheel edition

Living in microgravity is tough on the human body, leading to rapid muscle and bone loss. On the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts have the luxury of treadmills and weight-lifting simulators. In the cramped Orion, they have to get creative.

The crew will be staying fit using a compact “flywheel” device that mimics a rowing machine.

“Depending on how quickly you do it or how much resistance you put, you can exercise the muscles or perform aerobic exercises,” said Caron.

He noted that these tests are about more than just this trip: they are laying the groundwork for longer missions in deep space to destinations like Mars.

Expect a few ‘blips’

As the mission progresses, Caron warned the public not to panic if they hear about problems and technical hiccups. The lone space toilet on board didn’t work at first, but to the relief of the astronauts, it has been fixed. There was also a brief communication problem after launch.

“With such complex systems, different little anomalies will blip up and down and they’ll be resolved. It’s par for the course,” he said.

The Artemis II mission is all about putting the Orion spacecraft through its paces in preparation for a pair of potential lunar landings in 2028.

Hansen is now the first non-American in history to ever leave low-Earth orbit.

Canadians will get their first live check-in from Hansen early Saturday morning when he’s scheduled to take part in a video chat from space.
Breaking records and losing signal

The mission’s climax begins Monday around 1 p.m. ET when the Orion capsule loops around the moon, surpassing the all-time distance record for a crewed spacecraft — a milestone set by Apollo 13 at 248,655 miles (roughly 400,171 kilometres) from Earth.

The video feed might go dark for a time, however. Communications will be lost for roughly 40 minutes as the astronauts venture behind the moon, which will prevent them from receiving Earth’s radio signals.

A taste of home

While he drifts further from #Canada, Hansen won’t be lacking for home-cooked flavours. The spacecraft pantry is stocked with five Canadian-made foods:

• Maple syrup and maple cream cookies

• Shrimp curry and rice (made in Quebec)

• Pacific smoked salmon bites

• Breakfast cereal (made in Ontario)

Orion is scheduled to return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday, April 10.

Artemis II set to blast off to the moon with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen

#Canadians gathering at museums, libraries to watch Artemis II moon launch, The first two-hour launch window opens at 6:24 p.m. ET, with a six-day launch window running through April 6.

People across #Canada are gathering at historical sites, museums, libraries and arts centres to watch the launch.

In Vancouver, people are meeting at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, while Halifax residents plan to watch the launch from the Discovery Centre.

If there are no problems today, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen of London, Ont., will serve as the mission specialist for Artemis II and become the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

The nearly 10-day mission will take the astronauts to the moon and back but won’t land them on the lunar surface.

How #NASA’s Artemis II moon mission will unfold

NASA’s Artemis II mission is expected to last about 10 days, sending four astronauts on a high-speed journey around the moon and back in the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era. Artemis II is designed to pave the way for future missions aimed at returning astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade.

Here is a day-by-day outline of how the flight is expected to proceed.
Launch day

Artemis II is scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket the agency has ever flown. NASA has said the launch window opens on April 1, with multiple backup opportunities available over the following days depending on weather, technical readiness and range availability. After launch, the Orion crew capsule will separate from the rocket’s upper stage and enter a highly elliptical orbit around Earth.
Days 1–2: Earth orbit checkouts

The crew will spend the first one to two days in high Earth orbit conducting extensive systems checks. These include testing Orion’s life-support, propulsion, navigation and communications systems to ensure the spacecraft is ready to head into deep space.
Translunar injection

Once checkouts are complete, Orion’s propulsion system will perform a critical engine burn known as translunar injection, sending the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and onto a trajectory toward the moon.
Days 3–4: Coast to the Moon

During the several-day transit to the moon, astronauts will continue monitoring spacecraft systems en route to operating farther from Earth than any previous human spaceflight. Mission controllers will track communications and navigation performance as Orion travels deep into space.
Moon flyby

Orion will pass behind the Moon on a “free-return” trajectory — a path that naturally swings the spacecraft back toward Earth without requiring additional propulsion. The spacecraft will reach its greatest distance from Earth during this phase.
Days 5–8: Return to Earth

After the lunar flyby, the crew will spend several days heading home while conducting additional deep-space tests, including evaluations of power systems, thermal controls and crew operations far beyond low Earth orbit.
Re-entry and splashdown

As Orion approaches Earth, it will separate key components before plunging into the atmosphere at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour (40,233 km/h). Testing the capsule’s heat shield during high-energy re-entry is one of the mission’s primary objectives. The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, where recovery teams will retrieve the crew.

(Reporting by Joe Brock, Editing by Bill Berkrot)

#NASA #astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are set to launch from Kennedy Space Center as soon as April 1 aboard NASA’s towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, riding inside an Orion crew capsule built to carry humans into deep space. The roughly 10-day mission will send the crew on a high-speed loop around the moon and back.

Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core ​stage, Northrop Grumman builds ​the rocket’s solid-fuel boosters, and Lockheed Martin produces the Orion spacecraft.

Artemis II will ‌be the first crewed mission ⁠of NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis program. While it will not attempt a moon landing, it will send astronauts farther from Earth than any previous human spaceflight, testing the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems, navigation, communications and heat shield performance.

The crew has spent more than two years training for the mission since being named in 2023. They have been in standard preflight quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston since March 18 and are ⁠scheduled to move into NASA’s Astronaut Crew Quarters in Florida ahead of launch.

Glover, the mission’s pilot, will become the first Black astronaut to travel into the moon’s vicinity. Koch will be the first woman to do so, while Hansen will be the first non-American astronaut to go beyond low-Earth orbit toward ⁠the moon.

All of the crew members except Hansen have previously been in space. Wiseman, the mission commander, told reporters last year that the crew were prepared for all eventualities.

“When we get off the planet, we might come right back home, we might spend three or four days around Earth, we might go to the moon - that’s where ​we want to go," Wiseman said. “But it is a test mission, and we’re ready for every scenario.”

NASA’s Artemis astronauts enter final preparations for moon mission

Lost in space: #Sperm struggles to navigate during weightless sex.

Some particularly resilient sperm still made it through the course, suggesting that conceiving children in space will still be possible, according to research published on Thursday.

However a bigger problem could be that the development of embryos after fertilisation was harmed by a lack of gravity, the Australian team of researchers found.

With humanity setting its eyes on colonising space - next week NASA hopes to launch its first crewed mission around the Moon in half a century - scientists have been studying how difficult it will be to procreate on spaceships or other worlds.

One of the biggest challenges is that sperm will no longer be pulled downwards by Earth’s gravity.

“Sperm need to actively find their way to an egg, and this study is the first to put that ability to the test under space-like conditions,” Nicole McPherson, a researcher at Adelaide University in Australia, told AFP.

The scientists used a plastic chamber that resembles the female reproductive tract to act as a “miniature obstacle course”, the senior author of the new study said.

“Think of it as a tiny race track... sperm are introduced at one end and have to swim their way through to the other.”
Filtering out weak runners

Both human and mice sperm were sent down the course, which was inside a device that uses constant rotation to simulate the microgravity of space.

The sperm was about 50 per cent worse at navigating through the course compared to how they perform under Earth’s gravity.

This worked out to be roughly a 30 per cent drop in successful fertilisation, according to the study in the journal Communications Biology.

However the sperm that did make it through seemed to produce better-quality embryos, which could turn out to be “beneficial”, McPherson said.

It appeared that the stress of microgravity acted as a “filter” that effectively cleared the field, “leaving only the most capable sperm in the running,” she explained.

A bigger problem came in the first 24 hours after sperm had fertilised the eggs.

“The results reversed sharply, with fewer embryos formed, and those that did were of poorer quality,” McPherson said.

This suggests that microgravity “may not be the deal-breaker we feared, but protecting the embryo from weightlessness in those critical first hours will likely be essential for reproduction in space,” she added.

Some including billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk have ambitious plans to make humans an interplanetary species by establishing settlements on the Moon then Mars.

There has also been speculation that the first baby conceived outside the bounds of Earth could be the result of a couple having sex on a flight launched by the booming space tourism industry.

McPherson emphasised that much more research is needed to understand how reproduction works in space, adding that fertilisation is “only one small piece of a very long and complex puzzle”.

“We are still a long way from seeing the first space baby.”

WASHINGTON — #NASA is halting plans to develop the lunar Gateway and instead focusing on the development of a lunar base.

China’s Astronstone raises $29 million for reusable rocket with chopstick-style recovery