O mergulho faz parte de uma série de habilidades para quem busca a carreira astronáutica. Por quê?
A água é cerca de 800 vezes mais densa que o ar, o que dificulta a movimentação subaquática, exigindo além de mais esforço, uma movimentação mais lenta para evitar fadiga que pode levar mergulhadores inexperientes a até abortar o mergulho.
Além disso, a flutuabilidade neutra, ou seja, a capacidade de "boiar" na água permite que o praticante tenha a sensação semelhante à da microgravidade.

Para fazer uso da flutuabilidade neutra como treinamento, as agências espaciais têm usado, ao longo dos anos, laboratórios subaquáticos como o NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory), localizado em Houston, no Texas, Estados Unidos e que faz parte do complexo da NASA. Segundo a NASA, possui 61,21 metros de comprimento, 30,90 de largura e 12,12 metros de profundidade e permite treinamentos como caminhadas espaciais, comunicação e segurança, além de permitir testes com equipamentos de vídeo e trajes espaciais.

Na ESA (Agência Espacial Europeia), em Colônia, Alemanha, os astronautas são certificados no nível de mergulhadores de resgate. Esse conhecimento, segundo a ESA, permite melhor desempenho dos astronautas nas caminhadas espaciais e permite que previnam problemas e saibam lidar com emergências de modo adequado.
De acordo com a NASA, os astronautas utilizam nitrox (mistura de nitrogênio com uma porcentagem maior de oxigênio, também conhecido como ar enriquecido no mergulho) durante as sessões de treinamento no NBL.
No mergulho dependente saturado não há perda de ar, nem se solta bolhas, como ocorre no mergulho recreativo. Todo o material exalado durante um mergulho saturado, que pode ir até 320 metros de profundidade, é recaptado, reciclado, para depois ser usado novamente na respiração. Isso ocorre porque o gás em questão, além do oxigênio, é o hélio,  que tem um custo bastante elevado.

In this week that saw the world celebrate International Women's Day, the InnovaSpace team welcome news about the work of Dr Lucia Hartmann & Jasmin Mittag, with a new concept for the shape of future space travel and a desire to promote equality - an ethos we fully support!

​The first spacecraft in a V-shape is not only a symbol for more diversity in space, but also state-of-the-art and thus more sustainable. The “Vulva Spaceship” designed by “WBF Aeronautics” represents inclusivity, varying from the traditional shapes. Thus, the project adds another dimension to the representation of humanity in space and is communicating to the world that anyone has a place in the universe, regardless of physical characteristics.

Dr. Lucia Hartmann, Head of “WBF Aeronautics” and inventor of the “Vulva Spaceship” reports from her research: “The spaceship’s shape is surprisingly aerodynamic, creating way less drag when the vehicle punches through the Earth’s atmosphere. Due to this optimized V-shape, it guarantees maximum fuel efficiency with an exterior made of reinforced carbon which enables it to withstand the most extreme temperatures.” “WBF Aeronautics” wants to inspire space travel to be open to modern forms and to realise equal opportunities across the universe.

“WBF Aeronautics” is a collaboration between Dr. Lucia Hartmann and her team and “Wer braucht Feminismus?” (WBF). Dr. Lucia Hartmann started her research work about spaceships and discovered that a spaceship varying from traditional shapes, would be more aerodynamic and create less drag, thus being more sustainable.

She reached out to us for the purpose of a collaboration and for us to do the media work as there is much more to it than just the scientific aspect. On the one hand, the topic is sensitive, but on the other hand, it also holds great opportunities. The symbol of a Spaceship in a V-shape represents more diversity in space. The project adds another dimension to the representation of humanity in space. 

We believe that equality even has a place in space. It’s time for new symbols in the universe. 
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The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is scheduled to complete its first space station in the next two years. With its Tiangong, Chinese Space Station (CSS), China has also raised many questions on how its capabilities are comparable and competitive with the International Space Station (ISS) also due to be decommissioned by 2024. The space race is on, and the CSS is a landmark of independent human flight capability that is just the beginning for China.

In the past ten years of research and development of space technology, China has enjoyed various opportunities to be a superpower in outer space. Steady economic growth rate and increase of its GPD enabling government funding are some of them. It has also developed its own national space technology with spacecraft launching capabilities, and its space activities are in accordance with the current international legal framework.
On October 16, 2021, three Chinese Astronauts in the Shenzhou mission entered the Tiangong for a six month stay, its longest mission in history. China has launched 12 spacecraft, plus the Tiangong 1, and the Tiangong 2 Space Laboratory. The country has trained and sent 11 astronauts to outer space 14 times and returned them safely to Earth. The design life expectancy of the 5-module station is 10 years with possibility of extension.

It was on the 2nd of January 2064 A.D. that my father, an official of the Interplanetary Police Service got his transfer orders posting him from the Moon to Earth. I was not quite pleased about this for having been born and bred on the Moon, I did not want to go to an inferior planet. And then, I had to continue my education on Earth of all the places. As we had been asked to proceed to Earth at once, we went in our private rocket. We reached Earth in about an hour. I was then reminded that about one hundred years ago, the Americans had landed their first rocket on the Moon, and the journey then had taken three and a half days. What a colossal waste of time in those days!
My father’s headquarters on Earth was at a place called Mathiras. Our first problem in Mathiras was to get me a seat in one of the interplanetary schools. We found that Santa Badena which a hundred years ago was known as St. Bede’s, was one of the best schools. My father therefore conveyed a telepathic message to the Head of the institution. He replied that getting admission into St. Badena was one of the most difficult jobs, and this had been so for over a hundred years.​

It was at that time, i.e. 100 years ago, he went on to say, that the then St. Bede’s had hit the headlines when in the glorious period of two short months they had won the inter-school Hockey Cups, the Senior Championship Cup for Athletics, lost the Junior Cricket Championship, and broken four long-standing records in Athletics. I at once made up my mind to get admission to St. Badena, for there was no other school in Mathiras with a honorary tradition like hers. I was asked to sit for an entrance examination test along with other applicants from Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
The next day I landed at the school cosmodrome in my own rocket. I felt a bit strange in this place, for the Earth you know is not as modernised as the Moon. I was then conducted by an unsmiling robot towards a glass dome, which had many gadgets. Later, when I became a pupil of St. Badena, I discovered to my surprise while pursuing some old records and photographs, that robot bore a very striking resemblance to one of the school peons, who way back in 1964 had ushered all new-comers to the Principal’s office.

Congratulations to Editor Vladimir Pletser and all the authors who contributed to this interesting open-access book entitled Preparations of Space Experiments, which was published this week. Spend a few minutes watching Vladimir as he summarises the contents of each chapter, written by world-leading researchers who have designed and prepared science experiments on microgravity platforms, including aircraft parabolic flights, in preparation for subsequent spaceflight.

With our tagline of Space Without Borders, we at InnovaSpace love to hear about space initiatives happening in countries where space activity is less expected, so we were delighted to hear from colleagues in Nepal about the construction of the first fully Nepal-made pico-satellite. The satellite in question, called SanoSat-1 (sano means small in Nepalese), is the work of an enthusiastic group of students, engineers, and amateur radio operators from the country, who have been working since 2017 on the design and construction of this tiny pico-satellite, weighing just 250 grams and measuring 5x5x5 cubic centimetres.

Take a look at the video below to see what they have been creating. The team will launch the pico-satellite into space in December 2020, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and are currently fund raising to cover the launch costs. Check out their GoFundMe page and contribute a little if you can to help Nepal take another step along the path to being a space faring nation!
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​#SpaceWithoutBorders

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