ROSETTA & PHILAE
Philae scale 1: 2
Rosetta - Philae 2014
European mission that studied the composition of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, 67P, after a journey that lasted over 10 years, chasing it for a long stretch of its orbit and landing the Philae automatic laboratory which provided information on the nature and composition of the solar system to the his birth, which is the same age, but above all on the possibility that comets are the carriers of life in the universe.
One of the main scientists involved in this mission was Amalia Ercoli Finzi of the Politecnico di Milano and a member of our scientific committee.
CREW QUARTER – ISS
Node 2 United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) is the home of four Crew Quarters (CQs) designed as the sleeping quarters for crew members during the duration in orbit. Each CQ provides a personal, private location for crew members to sleep, relax, and call home during their stay on the ISS. Tue CQ was designed with an individual ventilation system, acoustical mitigation materials, laptop connections, and internet connection to allow crew members personal communication with family and friends. Since their deployment in 2008, the CQ performance has been closely monitored to validate that the design continues to meet requirements. Throughout the last 4 years, minor issues were discovered due to on-orbit environments, and modifications were made to the existing CQ outfitting to provide additional crew safety and comfort. Sleeping in weightlessness is complicated and to avoid floating in sleep, you sleep enclosed in sleeping bags attached to CQ.
SPACE TOILET – ISS
Let’s talk about pee: on the International Space Station you go to the bathroom as down here, only that the toilets suck liquid and solid waste to special containers, before they can disperse. The astronauts on the ISS follow intense and hourly work rhythms, and must rest at least 8 hours a day. A space toilet or zero-gravity toilet is a toilet that can be used in a weightless environment. In the absence of weight, the collection and retention of liquid and solid waste is directed by use of airflow. Since the air used to direct the waste is returned to the cabin, it is filtered beforehand to control odor and cleanse bacteria. More modern systems expose solid waste to vacuum pressures to kill bacteria, which prevents odor problems and kills pathogens. The crew use a specially shaped funnel and hose for urine and the seat for bowel movements. The funnel and seat can be used simultaneously, reflecting feedback from female astronauts. The space toilet seat may look uncomfortably small and pointy, but in microgravity, it is ideal. It provides ideal body contact to make sure that everything goes where it should.
ESA (European Space Agency)
The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,200 in 2018 and an annual budget of about €5.6 billion (~US$7 billion) in 2018.
ESA's space flight program includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana. The main European launch vehicle Ariane 5 is operated through Arianespace with ESA sharing in the costs of launching and further developing this launch vehicle. The agency is also working with NASA to manufacture the Orion Spacecraft service module, that will fly on the Space Launch System.
The agency's facilities are distributed among the following centres:
- ESA science missions are based at ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands;
- Earth Observation missions at ESA Centre for Earth Observation in Frascati, Italy;
- ESA Mission Control (ESOC) is in Darmstadt, Germany;
- the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) that trains astronauts for future missions is situated in Cologne, Germany;
- a research institute created in 2009, the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT), is at Harwell, England;
- and the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) is located in Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain.
FLIGHT SUIT ISS, SHARIPOV
Has flown two missions and has logged over 422 hours in space, including 9 hours and 58 minutes of EVA. He served as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-89 (January 22-31, 1998), the eighth Shuttle-Mir docking mission during which the crew transferred more than 8,000 pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware and water from Space Shuttle Endeavour to Mir. In the fifth and last exchange of a U.S. astronaut, STS-89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf. Mission duration was 8 days, 19 hours and 47 seconds, traveling 3.6 million miles in 138 orbits of the Earth.
THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
The International Space Station serves as a floating science laboratory, deep space observatory and high tech Earth observation station. With 15 partner nations and five space agencies, the ISS is the largest international peacetime project in history. The first module, Zarya (Dawn), was launched by the Russians in November of 1998. The last construction flight was the delivery of the alpha magnetic spectrometer onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-134. The station consists of 16 pressurized modules, the integrated truss structure and the solar arrays. The ISS expected lifetime ends in 2031.
Length: 240 ft /73 m
Width: 356 ft /109 m
Mass: 925.059 lb /419.600 Kg
- It flies around the Earth every 90 minutes, travelling at 5 miles per second;
- 16 orbits of Earth in 24 hours, passing through 16 sunrises and sunsets;
- 357 feet long, about the length of a football field;
- The ISS is the second brightest object in the night sky after the moon;
- Two bathrooms, one gym, six sleeping quarters, and a 360-degree bay window;
- Six spaceships can dock at the station at one time;
- Astronauts must work out for two hours a day;
- More than 50 computers control all the systems on the station;
- Eight miles of cabling for the electrical system;
- 230 people from 18 countries have visited the ISS;
- 205 spacewalks have been conducted since 1998;
- The ISS weighs around 420,000 kg, roughly the same as 320 cars;
- It flies about 250 miles from Earth, and a spacecraft can reach it in around six hours;
- Peggy Whitson set the record for the most total time spent in space at 665 days as of September 2, 2017.
BOUYANCY BELT – NEVA-KV
It is the orginal bag with the initials WCW was included in portable survival kit of the Russian Cosmonaut Sharipov during his space mission (Expedition 10) onboard spacecraft Soyuz TMA-5 (He was the commander). The Soyuz TMA-5 was a mission directed to the International Space Station between 14 Oct 2004 – 24 Apr 2005. It serves as the life preserver in case of a splashdown of the lander and it emergency escape, keeping positive buoyancy of the cosmonaut with the help of inflatable floats.
FLIGHT-SUIT ISS
In the harsh environment of space, astronauts rely on specialized flight suits to ensure their comfort, safety, and functionality. This flight suit, designed for German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel, exemplifies these crucial aspects. Constructed with materials that provide insulation to keep astronauts warm in cold space environments, the suit also offers fire-retardant properties for enhanced safety. Durability is key, as these suits must withstand the rigorous demands of space missions. Beyond protection, the design incorporates numerous practical features, such as multiple pockets, allowing astronauts to easily store and access essential tools and equipment while performing various tasks. This suit represents the intersection of advanced engineering and human-centered design, tailored to support astronauts like Schlegel in their extraordinary missions beyond Earth.
BIKE ON ISS
Just as your leg muscles could deteriorate if you lie on the couch all day, the same thing could happen to astronauts on the International Space Station. Despite the fact that the astronauts work practically non-stop, the absence of gravity slowly shows its worth. And while the average adult is advised to exercise about 30 minutes a day for several days of the week, ISS people exercise 90-120 minutes every day, just to keep their bone and muscle mass in a healthy condition.
They currently use the CEVIS system, the cycle ergometer with vibration isolation and stabilization. It is basically a stationary bike, fixed on one side of the ISS to make sure it does not float away. Astronauts wear heart rate monitors while riding the bike, then send the data to Earth so their instructors can analyze it and optimize their training routine.
ESA SKINSUIT
The SkinSuit is designed to reproduce the effects of gravity on Earth, the lack of which causes space station astronauts to suffer bone and muscle loss and musculoskeletal injuries on their missions.
The Skinsuit compresses the body in the shoulders-to-feet vertical axis. This counters spinal lengthening, one of the possible causes of the lumbar pain reported by more than half of astronauts in the early phases of their missions, and also helps reduce the probability of herniated disks, an extremely high risk for astronauts upon their return to Earth.
The upper part of the SkinSuit is made of non-stretch fabric with internal padding, while the part that reproduces gravitational loading on the spine is made of a bidirectional elastic material that is able to apply vertical compression without compromising comfort in the body and leg areas. Each Skinsuit is individually tailored for its astronaut using more than 150 body measurements.
SkinSuit is the result of a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Dainese D Tec, as well as a project set up following collaborative research by the ESAs Space Medicine Office, the King's College London Centre of Human and Aerospace Physiological Sciences, the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the University College London School of Pharmacy.
The Danish ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen was the first to test the SkinSuit in the International Space Station during the 10-day IRISS Mission in September 2015. It was subsequently used by the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet during the Proxima mission in November 2016.
SPACE FOOD
When you look at it that way, it doesn’t make you mouth watering, but it’s still balanced, healthy, easy to prepare and can be stored in extreme conditions for long periods of time: it’s astronaut menus, high-tech dishes designed, NASA’s Space Food System Laboratories experts. Here, since the 1960s, nutritionists, physicists and astronauts face the numerous challenges of space catering. Yes, because on the ISS, since it is not possible to use open flames, it is not possible to cook in the true sense of the word: foods, even to reduce their maximum weight andsize, are all pre-cooked and dehydrated. When astronauts sit at the table they just add to their dishes hot or cold water that brings them back to normal state. The absence of gravity also deprives cosmonauts of the sense of smell and much of the sense of taste: all foods must therefore be seasoned with special sauces that enhance the flavors. And then there is the problem of packaging, which must be particularly accurate to withstand the extreme conditions of space. Everything is under vacuum; just a minimum amount of oxygen inside the package to permanently compromise the content and make it inedible. The process of dehydrationof foods and the cold sterilization to which they are subjected, also deprives them of most of the vitamins and proteins: This is why cosmonauts must however supplement their diet with various colored tablets that guarantee the correct supply of all nutrients.
WHO PIONEERED THE FIRST SPACE FOODS FOR ASTRONAUTS?
It’s a good question. We can’t definitely say who developed the first “space foods”. In 1961 Yuri Gagarin ate the first squeeze tube of food during his Earth orbit. The initial American suborbitalMercury flights followed the Soviet orbital mission but these Mercury flights were too short to experiment with foods. In 1962 John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. During histhree orbits he also ate from a squeeze tube of applesauce (and, yes, drank a vitamin enrichedsqueeze bulb of liquid later marketed as Tang). The Mercury squeeze foods were pureed fruits, puddings, and stews based on military rationsrepackaged in “toothpaste tube” form for ease of consumption and minimum chance of loose food bits damaging electrical and mechanical components of the capsules. Although I can’tfind specific sources, I suspect Soviet squeeze tube foods had similar origins. The interesting part is the first solid foods created for space. These were freeze dried “space food cubes” created by a team led by Howard Kauman, a Pillsbury Foods employee. Thesewere first flown with Scott Carpenter in his orbital flight in 1962 (about three months after Glenn’s flight). However, none were consumed on that flight due to packaging issues leading to Carpenter expressing concern over loose crumbs. Further Mercury flights changed the packaging but squeeze tubes remained the standard. Later American Gemini flights carried both squeeze tube and a dehydrated/freeze dried food made by the US Army and Whirlpool Corporation (these contained packages allowed rehydration with little risk of crumbs or liquid escaping). These solid foods were initialled consumed on the Gemini 3 mission. Note that rehydration was done with cold/lukewarm water — hot water was not available until the Apollo missions. There were various “illicit” and authorized solid foods carried on Mercury and Gemini missions (candy bars, a commercial corned beef sandwich (not eaten due to crumb concerns), and a few personal items rumored to have been secreted on board Gemini flights). From what I can find the“illicit” items — other than the corned beef sandwich — are apocryphal. In the late 1960s the dry space cubes were marketed commercially in a slightly different form as “Space Food Sticks” and Pillsbury played up their role in the Mercury and Geminiprograms. I can’t locate definite sources for the squeeze tube contents used by the Soviets or their version ofthe dehydrated foods. It appears they were internally developed by the nation’s space agency andlikely based on military rations. Hopefully another responder will have better/additional informationon the Soviet food programs.
ARE THERE ANY ITEMS THAT ASTRONAUTS ARE FORBIDDEN TO TAKE INTO SPACE?
One item is a sandwich. During the Gemini 3 flight, Wally Schirra had smuggled to John Young acorned beef sandwich before takeoff. But the moment Young started eating it, crumbs began floating around the capsule. It was the source of news headlines, and a congressional investigation, post flight. But NASA already knew that bread was a NO-NO for space food because of this problem. The crumbs could float into the astronauts’ eyes or get into electronic systems in the capsule. So breadis not used in space food. Even a 2014 YouTube of an astronaut making a peanut butter sandwich on the International Space Station didn’t use bread but a tortilla. And yes, now you know why burritos are a space food: because the flour tortilla doesn’t break up into crumbs.
THE COLUMBUS LABORATORY IS ESA
The Columbus science module, a major contribution by the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS), significantly enhances the station’s research capabilities. This 4.5-meter cylindrical module supports thousands of experiments in life sciences, materials science, and fluid physics, conducted by both Earth-based researchers and the ISS crew over its projected 10-year lifespan.
Columbus houses multiple key research facilities, including the Biolab for biological experiments, the Fluid Science Laboratory for fluid physics studies, the European Physiology Module to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body, and the European Drawer Rack, a flexible system for a variety of experiments.
The module, sharing its design with the Italian Space Agency's logistics modules, can hold 10 payload racks, each functioning as a complete mini-lab with power, cooling, and data links to Earth. In addition to its internal labs, Columbus also has four mounting points for external experiments, including the European Technology Exposure Facility and the Solar Monitoring Observatory.
Researchers across Europe manage their experiments through several User Centres, all connected to the Columbus Control Centre in Germany, which coordinates operations with NASA. Launched successfully on February 7, 2008, Columbus was installed on the ISS by Canadarm2 on February 11, 2008, marking a milestone in European space research.
OCEAN ECHOES
Ocean Echoes is an art installation that creatively uses recycled plastic bottles to depict jellyfish and other marine life, addressing the critical issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. The artwork highlights how discarded plastics can be mistaken for food by marine organisms, which ultimately affects the human food chain. Through vibrant and intricate designs, the artist juxtaposes the beauty of these creatures with the harsh reality of their plastic origins.
The installation also connects the problem of plastic pollution to global warming, emphasizing the impact of rising ocean temperatures on marine ecosystems. It serves as a call to action, urging viewers to reconsider their consumption habits and recognize their role in combating environmental degradation. By transforming waste into art, "Ocean Echoes" aims to raise awareness of the fragility of our oceans and the urgent need for sustainable practices.
MONITORING CLIMATE CHANGE FROM SPACE
In March 2024, the first-generation Earth observation satellite, ERS-2, returned to Earth after revealing significant polar ice sheet changes due to global warming. ERS-2, launched in the 1990s by the European Space Agency, revolutionized how scientists monitor Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land, laying the groundwork for today’s Earth observation technology.
Newer missions continue its legacy. NASA’s PACE satellite, launched in February 2024, tracks phytoplankton and atmospheric particles critical to climate change. The International Space Station (ISS) also monitors Earth, capturing data on storms, volcanic eruptions, and atmospheric conditions.
Additionally, CubeSats, small modular satellites, extend climate research at lower costs, while ESA's Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) provides long-term data on sea surface temperatures. MethaneSat, launched in 2024, helps track methane leaks, a major contributor to global warming.
Next-generation satellites, like NOAA’s GeoXO, expected in the 2030s, will monitor pollution in oceans and rivers, offering even more precise data on Earth's health. Together, these technologies provide a comprehensive view of our planet and its changing climate.
SEASON'S GREETINGS
A child wearing a hat and scarf raises their arms, opens their mouth, and appears to eat snowflakes falling from the sky—an enchanting Christmas image by Banksy. However, just around the corner, a burning dumpster releases ash that looks like snow at first glance. This mural has appeared in the Taibach area of Port Talbot, Wales, and serves as a protest against global warming.
Port Talbot, with a population of 35,000, is home to the UK’s largest steelworks and is considered one of the most polluted urban areas in the country. The city is often covered by a layer of black dust from its industrial facilities. Banksy's artwork fittingly appeared on the wall of a property belonging to one of the steelworkers.
ISS WINDOW
The Cupola (as called) is an ESA-built observatory module of the International Space Station (ISS), was built in Turin, Italy. Its name derives from the Italian word cupola, which means "dome". It was launched aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-130 on 8 February 2010 and attached to the Tranquility (Node 3) module. With the Cupola attached, ISS assembly reached 85 percent completion.
The cupola is a small module designed for the observation of operations outside the station such as robotic activities, the approach of vehicles, and spacewalks. Its six side windows and a direct nadir viewing window provide spectacular views of Earth and celestial objects. The windows are equipped with shutters to protect them from contamination and collisions with orbital debris or micrometeorites.