SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts of NASA and ESA returned to Earth in a parachute-assisted splashdown

It was a memorable moment for NSSA and SpaceX when the Crew-4 astronauts splashed down in the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. They were Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency ESA. They had spent 170 days in orbit aboard the Dragon spacecraft. That way they completed the agency’s fourth commercial crew mission to the International Space Station ISS. The SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and astronauts. All the astronauts will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston while Cristoforetti will board a plane to Europe. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson welcomed them back. This international crew spent nearly six months on the ISS. They conducted science experiments for the benefit of all and their work will help prepare future explorers for subsequent space missions. Bill Nelson went on to add - “Working and living on the space station is the opportunity of a lifetime, but it also requires these explorers to make sacrifices, especially time away from loved ones.” NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts safely splash down in Atlantic after spending 170 days in orbit. The Crew-4 astronauts contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Cristoforetti completed two spacewalks with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev to perform station maintenance and upgrades.

The four astronauts travelled 72,168,935 miles during their mission, spent 170 days aboard the space station, and completed 2,720 orbits around the Earth. Cristoforetti has logged 369 days in space on her two flights. This makes her second on the all-time list for most days in space by a woman. The spacecraft, named Freedom by Crew-4, will now come back to Florida. Once there, it will undergo inspection and processing at SpaceX’s Dragon Lair. Here, specialist teams will examine the data and performance of the spacecraft throughout the flight. The aim of the Commercial Crew Program of NASA is to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and help NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

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The world is waiting for NASA to enter the second phase of exploring the Moon. Its Space Launch System SLS is set to lift-off to set the foundation for the Artemis project. This is being developed to put humans back on the lunar surface after half a century. The mission will also pave the way for flights to Mars in the 2040s. At present, the rocket will conduct test on a capsule far from Earth. This capsule is called Orion, the program calls for the spacecraft to loop around the Moon on a big arc. It will later return to Earth and splash down in the Pacific Ocean in six weeks' time. Orion is unmanned for this demonstration. However, in case everything goes as per plans, astronauts will be on board for missions that are more complex. These could begin in 2024. Artemis: Nasa ready to launch new era of Moon exploration. NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik explains the objective. He says - "Everything we're doing with this Artemis I flight, we're looking at through the lens of what can we prove out and what can we demonstrate that will buy down risk for the Artemis II crewed mission."

The American space agency has multiple opportunities to fly SLS-Orion. However, its intention would be to seize the first available opportunity. Right now, the weather in Florida is very dynamic. There are possibilities of electrical storms passing over the spaceport. In fact, the lightning towers have already been struck recently a number of times. Therefore, NASA has to weigh all the options available and select the most appropriate time slot. Incidentally, the rocket is not supposed to lift off in the rain.

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Moody is off mood – Na Buzz had fooled him again (satire)

Moody, like anybody else, wanted to enjoy his birthday. He wanted it to be a quiet affair but the media did not give him any elbow space. With nothing to talk about, they hit up on the plan to get him some sort of international recognition – one of them said: ‘let us keep count of people who wished him on his birthday.’
Anyway, Moody left it all to his PR men – they knew best how to project him where he would get talked about and benefit the most.
But – the phone call from his friend Bee Rack O’Vama shook him out of his slumber.
‘What man,’ Bee Rack sighed. ‘How can your security be so slack? How could they not know about the infiltrators?’
‘They had come dressed in our uniforms,’ Moody explained. ‘And – their hair was cropped like our men!’
Bee Rack sighed again.

‘You are planning to go to Mars but you don’t have any mechanism to identify the original from a duplicate!’ Bee Rack said. ‘Of course your movies are full of duplicates. But you must design some mechanism to prevent such attacks.’
‘It is all a fault of one of my neighbors.’
‘You mean the neighbor on whom you dropped in all of a sudden on his birthday?’
‘Yes. I had dropped in on him on his birthday to wish him and, on my birthday, his people kill my men!!’
Bee Rack disconnected the phone and Moody immediately convened a high level meeting with Pyari Kar, Rajanna King and Sue Sharma – they were all involved in looking after the defense aspects and foreign affairs.
‘How did it happen?’ he shot the question.
‘They took us by surprise,’ Pyari Kar replied. ‘It was early morning and the time of the day when the eyelids get heavy and it is difficult to keep them open.’
‘Moreover, they were dressed just like our own men,’ Rajanna King added.
‘Na Buzz has fooled us again,’ Sue Sharma ground her teeth in anger. ‘He is a slippery character and is buzzing all around the world and talking too much about the ‘K’ word at every forum.’
‘Not just slippery but more slippery than a snake dipped in oil,’ Moody added. ‘He will say something today and, do a ninety degree turn the next day. I never expected such behavior from him. I had believed him to be a true friend.’
‘We must teach him a lesson,’ Pyari Kar said. ‘We could do something similar to what they have done. The latest incident was nothing short of a betrayal. Just imagine an attack at dawn that killed a whole lot of innocent soldiers.'
‘I am hurt,’ Moody stared into the distance. ‘How could a leader who had exchanged gifts when we met for the first time do this to me?’
Just then his phone rang – it was Tressa May.
‘What is this I hear?’ she shrieked. ‘How could anyone fool you? Last time it was a group of men from across your border who were chasing runaway cows and entered your air base. What is it this time?’
‘I heard they were chasing some birds and lost their way,’ Moody replied. (to be continued …)


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Moody gets a call from Uncle Sam and takes a trip to Mars (satire)

It was a long time that Moody had not gone abroad and, therefore, he was wondering if the world had forgotten all about him. He remembered the famous saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and shook his head. No – he did not want the world to forget him. He had made a name for himself within a very short time knew that he held all the aces.
It was at this moment that his phone rang – it was the direct hotline with Uncle Sam.
‘Hi there,’ Uncle Sam wished him. ‘How are things out there?’
‘Fine,’ Moody said. ‘Everything is just fine. How about you? And, your retirement plans?’
‘It’s all taken care of. Tell me – I heard that you are getting waxing done.’
Moody laughed.
‘It is all for a good cause,’ he explained. ‘They want me in the company of celebrities and, I just cannot refuse them.’

‘You are lucky. You have blazed a trail like no other. With so many selfies to your credit, and so many millions of followers on Twitter, you have an identity. I have a suggestion.’
‘Go ahead, I am all ears.’
‘I think you have plans to send a satellite to Mars?’
‘Of course. My men have the capability. Remember – we have invented the flying machine long before the Wright Brothers. The Demon King Ravana used it to kidnap our beloved Sita-mata.’
‘Yes, I know all about that. Only – it has not been recorded properly in the annals of history. Anyway – what is latest about your Mangalyaan?’
‘It is working fine. You said you wanted to put forth a suggestion?’
‘Yes. I just want to know what items you will send to Mars in the first lot.’
‘My technical team is on the job. I hate to interfere in their workings.’
‘But – you must have given them some broad guidelines.’
‘Of course. Our first batch of items would include ayurvedic roots, barks of medicinal trees, CDs of yoga practices. These would be invaluable to the first batch of Indian astronauts who will land on the Red Planet Mars.’
‘You mean your men would depend on yoga and roots to survive on the distant planet?’
‘Why not? Our sages used to sit under trees and meditate for years. The journey to Mars would be no problem.’
‘What about space suits and zero gravity? How’ll your boys overcome that?’
‘Yoga my friend is the solution. Baba Someday is already on the job training the future astronauts. In a secret cave in the Himalayas he is busy on Mission Mars.’
‘Happy dreams,’ Uncle Sam rang off, Moody woke up with a start and rubbed his eyes. Then he reached for his intercom. He must get the latest on Mangalyaan. (to be continued …)


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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