Timothy Lawn, M.A.’s Post

Our own Manwei Chan, Director of International and Science Development, is a passionate advocate for the future of space exploration. Drawing on insights from his time living in Antarctica—one of the most extreme environments on Earth—Manwei understands the challenges and opportunities of sustaining human presence in harsh conditions. In this piece for SpaceNews, he dives into the importance of maintaining a sustainable human presence in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to enable groundbreaking innovation, collaboration, and opportunity in space. Check it out and join the conversation on why the commitment to LEO matters for humanity’s future: https://lnkd.in/g6ck25VJ

T-Minus: 10 space stations of the future https://ift.tt/AK1xjbY This is T-Minus, where Freethink’s Kristin Houser counts down the biggest developments in space, from new rocket launches to discoveries that advance our understanding of the universe and our place in it. Space stations of the future For more than 20 years, the International Space Station (ISS) has served as one of humanity’s few off-world homes, giving us a way to conduct groundbreaking research that wouldn’t have been possible on Earth’s surface. Today, China also has a crewed space station, and ten new stations are now in the works. In no particular order, here are the space stations that will ensure humans can continue to take advantage of the space environment long after the ISS is finally deorbited in 2030. Lunar Gateway A concept image of the Lunar Gateway. (Credit: NASA / Alberto Bertolin) Team leader: NASA (US / public) Location: Lunar orbit Deployment target: 2025 (but likely 2027) Capacity: 4 people Claim to fame: The first lunar space station (maybe) Quick recap: NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon’s surface with its upcoming Artemis missions and eventually send people to Mars. To support those astronauts and their research, it plans to build a space station in the moon’s orbit, with its partners at ESA, JAXA, and CSA. What they’re saying: “We’ll need a place to orbit around the moon where we can live and work. A place to get ready for our lunar surface expeditions, and a place to return to when our work on the lunar surface is complete. We need a lunar home away from home. This will be the Gateway.” – Randy Bresnik, NASA astronaut Haven-1  A concept image of Haven-1. (Credit: Vast) Project lead: Vast (US / private) Location: Low-Earth orbit Deployment target: August 2025 Capacity: 4 people Claim to fame: The first commercial space station (maybe) Quick recap: Vast’s plan is to have Haven-1 operate as an independent commercial space station when it is first launched but later connect it as a module on a bigger space station that it is currently developing. The company has already tapped SpaceX to launch Haven-1, as well as deliver its first crew of four astronauts. What they’re saying: “A commercial rocket launching a commercial spacecraft with commercial astronauts to a commercial space station is the future of low-Earth orbit, and with Vast we’re taking another step toward making that future a reality.” – Tom Ochinero, senior VP of commercial business at SpaceX Axiom Station A concept image of the Axiom Station (Credit: Axiom Space) Project lead: Axiom Space (US / private) Location: Low-Earth orbit Deployment target: 2026  Capacity: 8 people Claim to fame: NASA’s transition phase Quick recap: In 2020, NASA awarded Axiom Space a contract to build and deploy at least one new space station module, attached to the ISS. When the ISS retires, the plan is to detach the Axiom module(s), allowing them to operate as...

Simon Vilms Pedersen has been invited to join the European Space Agency - ESA-led Facility Definition Team called METIS in the Lunar Gateway project 🚀 Together with fellow researchers and space experts, the researcher from Syddansk Universitet - University of Southern Denmark will contribute with recommendations for the test facilities onboard the future space station that is set to orbit the moon. - Before actually building the space station and its facilities onboard, it's necessary to define the scientific goals. That is, what should be possible to do up there?, says Simon Vilms Pedersen. - This is something researchers from different disciplines will have to figure out. It's an exciting, but also somewhat nerve-wracking task. The METIS module will be but one part of the Gateway space station. It will allow for testing materials and organisms in conditions very close to those in Deep Space. - The module itself will not be much larger than a bathtub and will weigh about the same as 25 litres of milk, but it will enable groundbreaking research, says Simon Vilms Pedersen. The first elements of Gateway are planned for launch already in 2028. The space station is a collaboration of NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency - ESA, JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Canadian Space Agency | Agence spatiale canadienne, and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

"Space station developers weigh in on NASA’s continuous presence rethink - Commercial space station developers are questioning whether NASA’s reconsideration of continuous human presence in low Earth orbit risks holding back International Space Station alternatives. Pam Melroy, NASA Deputy Administrator, last month said the agency was reassessing whether it needed a “continuous heartbeat or a continuous capability” while transitioning to commercial alternatives after retiring the ISS in 2030. https://lnkd.in/e-zmc7sk The assessment will influence the next phase of NASA’s Commercial LEO Development (CLD) program, which is due to award funding for ISS alternatives in 2026. Speaking Nov. 20 during the Deutsche Bank Global Space Summit here, Axiom Space chief revenue officer Tejpaul Bhatia called on NASA to focus on ensuring a continuous human presence in space. “That’s what we’ve been building towards, and while I get the rhetoric to set the bar lower, so it’s kind of a hedge … we’re here to lead [and] we should be going for what’s right for the country, for the industry, and for the science,” Bhatia said. However, Vast CEO Max Haot is optimistic the shift will allow for the procurement of an initial space station module that is not permanently crewed. “The current way the procurement, driven by Congress, is set up is that the minute the new replacement, the CLD commercial destination, is up, it should be permanently crewed from day one,” said Vast CEO Max Haot. Haot noted no other space station has been permanently crewed from day one because it takes time to develop and improve life support technologies in orbit. “And so we believe that if the NASA procurement continues to say it’s zero or permanently crewed, all it will do is delay the first commercial space station,” he added. Instead, Haot said NASA should seek to procure an initial module that can be crewed for three to six months at a time while the ISS is still operating. "... Space News Read & learn more https://lnkd.in/eZ_Vpu_5 New Space Economy - ISS Next LEO.... "NASA LOW EARTH ORBIT MICROGRAVITY STRATEGY, DRAFT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES " https://lnkd.in/eZyuS7EH

🌌The Benefits of Space Exploration and Its Importance... The quest into space, despite its challenges and expenses, presents numerous benefits that are integral to our understanding of the universe, technological advancement, and even medical breakthroughs. Key Highlights: 🔹Scientific Insights: Understanding the universe through space exploration has been key in answering fundamental questions about our existence and the potential for extraterrestrial life. 🔹 Technological Growth: The advancement in space technologies has fostered innovations, especially in satellite development, impacting various sectors like telecommunications and Earth observation. 🔹Medical Advances: Space research has paved the way for new discoveries in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, enhancing our healthcare capabilities. 🔹Economic Impact: The growth in the space industry is a significant economic driver, creating jobs and new market opportunities. 🔹Inspirational Influence: Space exploration continues to inspire generations in science and technology education, fostering a culture of innovation. 🔹With ongoing projects like NASA's Artemis and China's Chang'e, the future of space exploration is vibrant and full of potential. https://lnkd.in/dHqsdq4f #SpaceExploration #ScienceAndTechnology #Innovation

POLARIS SPACEWALK Sept 12th: I was delighted to speak about the relevance of this privately-funded spacewalk on Irelands leading current affairs show ‘Primetime’ on RTE with Miriam O’Callaghan last night. Firstly, it’s great to see space topics getting coverage on this mainstream media news show. Miriam very kindly allowed me to nerd out and wax lyrical on the bigger message of space, and why the image of a solitary human viewing our pale blue dot was something which I found to be very moving. WHY WAS THE SPACEWALK IMPORTANT? 🚀Sarah Gillis became the first woman to complete a spacewalk at this distance of 700km from Earth. 🚀It the farthest spacewalk from Earth since NASA’s 1970s Apollo lunarprogramme. 🚀It was the first privately funded spacewalk. ABOUT POLARIS DAWN MISSION: This is billionaire Jared Isaacman’s second private space mission. His first mission Inspiration 4 orbited Earth for 3 days in Sept 2021, Isaacman claimed the mission was a fundraising activity for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. $100 million was raised for the foundation. Polaris Dawn is Isaacman’s 2nd mission, aimed at testing SpaceX new spacesuit for future lunar & Mars missions. The capsule Crew Dragon was adapted to allow for the spacewalk. This involved depressurising the capsule & for all 4 crew to be kept alive by these test suits. An extremely risky situation for the crew if anything went wrong. Polaris Dawn flew higher above Earth than the International Space Station, orbiting from 1200km to 700km above Earth. At these altitudes, crew are exposed to more radiation from the sun and the cosmos than ISS astronauts. There are plans for 2 further missions, one to possibly raise the orbit of the Hubble space telescope WHY DID IT MEAN SO MUCH TO ME For me, seeing Isaacman & Gillis stand on top of the capsule, looking down at Earth, I saw myself in that image. They represented all of us, so tiny and vulnerable, surrounded by the deep blackness of space and testament to the tenacity and curiosity in all of us to make the impossible, possible. I was reminded of my own personal quest to report from space, to capture that moment of seeing Earth from a distance and how much it means to me to achieve this. To quote some wise words from ‘Pale Blue Dot’ written by cosmologist & philosopher Carl Sagan: ‘The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. …To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.’ Space exploration affords us moments to reflect on the bigger questions about ourselves, our relationship to Earth & our place in the cosmos. This is why yesterdays spacewalk meant a lot to me. #stemcommunicator #space #polarisdawn SpaceX #spacewalk

THE 3RD SPACE AGE - PRIVATE COMPANIES LEAD THE CHANGE “In economics, we assume that resources are limited; land is limited; natural resources are limited. “With space, it allows us to change that." Greg Sadlier THE 2ND ERA "The end of the cold war in 1989 brought a brief moment of global optimism, leading to the second, more collaborative space age. The International Space Station was assembled over 13 years and, since 2000, people of multiple nationalities have been living in space constantly, working together on experiments in the orbiting laboratory. This second era also saw a dip in efforts to get humans farther out into space, symbolised by Nasa’s space shuttle programme that never sent people beyond Earth’s orbit and was eventually disbanded in 2011, in large part because the US government did not want to keep bankrolling its high costs. Afterwards, Washington had to rely on Moscow’s Soyuz rockets to get its astronauts into space." THE 3RD ERA "If the 20th-century space race was about political power, this century’s will be about money. Space flight is having a renaissance moment, bringing a fresh energy not seen since the days of the Apollo programme and, for the first time, with private companies rather than governments leading the charge. A series of recent milestone missions, not least the increasingly successful test flights of the largest rocket ever made and the first privately built probe to land on the lunar surface, have embedded a growing idea that humans are entering what has been termed the “third space age”. "Today, more than 70 countries have space programmes, but for a long time, the US and the Soviet Union were the only big players." EPILOGUE “To say we’re in a new era, that’s absolutely fair,” said Greg Sadlier, a space economist and the co-founder of the know.space consultancy. “We’re in the era of competition, or the commercial era. The barriers to entry are lower, the costs have fallen, which has opened the doors to a much larger pool of nations,” he said. “It’s the democratisation of space, if you like.” ECONOMICS “Only recently have we seen significant acceleration down the cost curve: launch costs have fallen 95% (with another massive reduction expected in the coming years) thanks to reuse, improved engineering, and increased volumes.” “If space isn’t part of your strategy, it needs to be.” Bob Sternfels MY2CENTS The space economy has a bright #future and will gradually replace many activities, #services and #products offered on Earth. The next step will be the creation of "PERMANENT AUTOMATED SPACE FACTORIES" manufactured and operated entirely in space. This step will be enabled by some factors: 1. #robots with #cognitive #ai to replace humans 2. #nuclearpower as the main source of #energy 3. #space #laboratories with #3dprinting capabilities LINKS SPACE ECONOMY IS THE FUTURE https://lnkd.in/e5bk5csh CREATING A SPACE STATION WITHOUT ANY HUMAN HELP https://lnkd.in/eRivXhDt https://lnkd.in/gRixf7ty

On Friday, SpaceX CRS-31 returns to Earth, bringing groundbreaking research that has the potential to transform space exploration as we know it. Led by Dr. Amor Menezes and a team from the University of Florida—Dr. Yousong Ding, Dr. Jamie Foster, and Dr. Sean Niemi—this pioneering experiment on the International Space Station is pushing the limits of microbial biomanufacturing in space. In the microgravity environment of the ISS, the team has optimized engineered microbes to produce high-demand compounds which are critical resources for long-duration space missions. By simulating the gravity conditions of the Moon and Mars, this experiment explores how microbes can be used to produce life-sustaining resources in space. These findings have the power to revolutionize how we support human presence beyond Earth, ensuring self-sufficiency on the Moon, Mars, and future space destinations. Alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague, who initiated the experiment, the team has worked together in the spirit of collaboration to generate insights that will serve as a cornerstone for future missions. The upcoming analysis of the returned samples is a monumental step forward in determining how we can manufacture vital resources in space, keeping explorers sustained and thriving during long missions. This research exemplifies the spirit of Astraeus, where curiosity, collaboration, and inspiring breakthroughs drive us toward a future where humanity thrives in space. As we continue to expand our understanding of microbial biomanufacturing, we move one step closer to making sustainable, off-Earth exploration a reality. For more information: https://lnkd.in/erU_fAHy

🚀 New geopolitics in space : what awaits us • By Simonetta Di Pippo « Space stations initially in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) followed by Moon exploration represent the current and future arenas of international competition. As research stations and lunar villages become established, it is hoped that a spirit of cooperation will prevail, aligning with the goal of maintaining the peaceful use of outer space. Each country's step towards expanding humanity beyond Earth will be observed, particularly the contributions from Asian space powers, which are expected to play a significant role. » ⤵️

NASA Seeks Public Insight on Future Microgravity Research and Development in Low Earth Orbit A waxing gibbous moon rises over the Indian Ocean as the International Space Station orbited 266 miles above. Credit: NASA In an exciting move towards shaping the future of human spaceflight, NASA has officially opened the doors for feedback on its latest strategy for microgravity research in low Earth orbit (LEO). Recognizing the need to adapt and evolve alongside burgeoning commercial space endeavors, NASA is calling upon U.S. industry, academia, international partners, and other stakeholders to contribute towards refining their newly drafted goals and objectives. On Monday, NASA shared its draft which delineates 42 key points across six primary areas: science, exploration-enabling research and technology development, commercial low Earth orbit infrastructure, operations, international cooperation, and workforce and engagement. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy emphasized the significance of building upon established spaceflight programs to expand our understanding of human life in space. As commercial platforms start to take shape, determining the right objectives is crucial for advancing future sci... #lowEarthorbitstrategy #NASAmicrogravityresearch #publicfeedbackinitiative