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Crew Dragon abort test tomorrow

SpaceX will conduct an inflight abort test of Crew Dragon tomorrow morning. As the Falcon 9 reaches max-Q, it will shut off its engines to simulate a worst case failure. This should trigger the Crew Dragon to separate from the rocket and fire its own Super Draco engines to get away from the failing rocket. Once clear, Crew Dragon will pop its parachutes and land gently in the Atlantic. This should be quite a show and is the last major milestone before an actual crewed launch.

SpaceX poised to take large step toward human space flight
SpaceX poised to take large step toward human space flight

SpaceX is ready to check off another box on the list of requirements that need to be completed before the company can send crewed missions to the International Space Station.
SpaceFlight Insider SpaceFlight Insider
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Curiosity’s path

This is incredibly cool. Sean Doran has used imagery from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA’s Mars Express to create a massive image of the landscape Curiosity has traveled through. The detail here is astonishing.

MSL Traverse map v1.0
1.8 billion pixels 09x HiRISE DTM’s
10x CTX
02x HRSC

 

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Astronaut training for cancer patients

A new study suggests that following the training regimen of astronauts may help cancer patients during treatment.

Astronaut Spaceflight Training May Help Cancer Patients During, After Treatment | Space
A new study found similarities in muscle and bone loss between astronauts experiencing spaceflight and cancer patients undergoing treatment, suggesting that patients should mimic astronauts’ spaceflight training to reduce the long-term effects of medical care.
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Scratching the Surface on Planetary Society list!

The Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla publishes an annual list of recommended children’s books about space. Scratching the Surface made it onto this year’s list!

I’m honored to be included with all these other great titles.

Emily Lakdawalla’s Recommended Space Books for Kids, 2019
Welcome to my 11th annual list of recommended space books for kids! This year I had more than 80 books to read, and I’ve winnowed the list to recommend 29. There are books for all ages from 0 to 18 and beyond.
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Unexplained oxygen fluctuations

Oxygen levels above Gale Crater appear to fluctuate seasonally and scientists don’t yet know why.

With Mars methane mystery unsolved, Curiosity serves scientists a new one: Oxygen
With Mars methane mystery unsolved, Curiosity serves scientists a new one: Oxygen

For the first time in the history of space exploration, scientists have measured the seasonal changes in the gases that fill the air directly above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars. As a result, they noticed something baffling: oxygen, the gas many Earth creatures use to breathe, behaves in a way that so far…
phys.org phys.org
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ISS as Mars transit testbed

Transit to Mars using current technology takes about six months. How might a crew react to that length of time in close quarters, moving ever farther from Earth? The ISS could provide a testbed and training facility for such a trip.

A Journey to Mars Starts on the Space Station
NASA wants to use the International Space Station as a facility for Mars-analog missions.