Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first long-term mission to the International Space Station, known as Expedition 1. Ever since then, there have always been a handful of humans living and working in orbit on the ISS — a continuous presence of people in space.

Prior to that mission, most of NASA’s human spaceflight program revolved around launching relatively quick, weeks-long trips to orbit on the agency’s Space Shuttle. But in the mid-1990s, NASA began sending its astronauts to space for much longer trips to live on Russia’s old Mir space station. Once the US, Russia, and their international partners started piecing together the International Space Station, NASA started sending some of its astronauts to stay for months at a time beginning in 2000 — and there have been people on board ever since.

A CONTINUOUS PRESENCE OF PEOPLE IN SPACE

As part of Expedition 1, a crew of three astronauts launched to the space station on October 31st, 2000, on board a Russian Soyuz rocket. The flight carried two Russian cosmonauts — Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev — and NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd, who docked with the ISS two days later on November 2nd. The trio would stay for four and a half months until March, leaving after a new crew of three came to the station aboard Space Shuttle Discovery for the start of their more than five-month stay. Their mission was aptly named Expedition 2.

NASA has been celebrating this big moment with press events from astronauts currently on board the ISS — part of Expedition 64 — as well as a virtual round table with the original members of Expedition 1. Today, the space agency will air a series of specials about the construction of the International Space Station, highlighting the research that’s been done on board the lab over the last 20 years. Tune in at 1PM ET to get a history lesson about how we’ve kept people 250 miles above Earth continuously since 2000.

Source: TheVerge

---

Reviews is conducting a weekly contest. Answer a simple question and get a chance to win exciting gift hampers from Aiken Care Package. Go to our Facebook page for more details or also can check the details on our Instagram page.

---

Also Read:

TOURING BIKES IN NEPAL FOR THE ADVENTURE LOVERS | REVIEWS    

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I GIVE MY MOTORCYCLE FOR SERVICING?    

HUAWEI MATE 40, A FLAGSHIP PHONE BY HUAWEI WILL BE LAUNCHED SOON IN NEPAL    

DISHWASHERS IN NEPAL- BRANDS AND MODELS

RASPBERRY PI 400 IS A COMPACT KEYBOARD WITH A BUILT-IN COMPUTER   

TELEGRAM LAUNCHES MULTIPLE PINNED MESSAGES, LIVE LOCATION AND OTHER NEW FEATURES    

5 TIPS ON MAINTAINING YOUR AIR PURIFIER    

NASA has added more safety fixes for Boeing’s space capsule before it can fly astronauts following a pair of close calls during last year’s test flight.

In closing out the seven-month investigation, NASA officials said Tuesday they have now identified 80 corrective actions, mostly involving software and testing, that must be done before the Starliner capsule launches again. The previous count was 61.

“It’s a bit of a wake-up call for NASA and its contractors” across the board, said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program.

During its space debut last December with no one on board, the Starliner ended up in the wrong orbit and could not reach the International Space Station. Ground controllers barely had time to solve another software problem that could have destroyed the capsule at flight’s end.

Boeing will repeat the flight later this year before attempting to launch astronauts next spring.

SpaceX, meanwhile, successfully launched two NASA astronauts to the space station in May. They will return home next month aboard their Dragon capsule, splashing down off the Florida coast.

In hindsight, NASA did not focus enough on the software portion of the Boeing flight, Stich said. The space agency instead probably concentrated more on SpaceX because of its non-traditional approach to software development, he acknowledged.

Boeing had plenty of experience working on large NASA projects like the space shuttle and space station, and so NASA was “a little more used to the Boeing process,” Stich said.

“It’s often natural for a human being to spend more time on that newer approach, and maybe we didn’t quite take the time we needed with the more traditional approach,” he added.

NASA has since added more of its own staff to monitor software development at both Boeing and SpaceX.

NASA is also borrowing SpaceX’s “robust” approach to software, which involves going back to the designers following testing for feedback, said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s new human spaceflight chief who until a month ago managed commercial crew. She wants to see more of that type of approach across other NASA programs.

Boeing will need several more months to complete its software upgrades and tests before repeating the first test flight, officials said. SpaceX plans to launch a second crew later this summer or early fall.

“This has been a big learning experience for us,” Lueders said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Nokia selected by NASA to build a first-ever cellular network on the Moon. Nokia has announced further details after being named by NASA as a partner to advance “Tipping Point” technologies for the Moon, deploying the first LTE/4G communications system in space and helping pave the way towards a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.19 October 2020

• LTE/4G technology promises to revolutionize lunar surface communications by delivering reliable, high data rates while containing power, size, and cost.
• Communications will be a crucial component for NASA's Artemis program, which will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon by the end of the decade.

Nokia Bell Labs’ pioneering innovations will be used to build and deploy the first ultra-compact, low-power, space-hardened, end-to-end LTE solution on the lunar surface in late 2022. Nokia is partnering with Intuitive Machines for this mission to integrate this groundbreaking network into its lunar lander and deliver it to the lunar surface. The network will self-configure upon deployment and establish the first LTE communications system on the Moon.  

The network will provide critical communication capabilities for many different data transmission applications, including vital command and control functions, remote control of lunar rovers, real-time navigation, and streaming of high definition video. These communication applications are all vital to long-term human presence on the lunar surface.

Nokia’s LTE network – the precursor to 5G – is ideally suited for providing wireless connectivity for any activity that astronauts need to carry out, enabling voice and video communications capabilities, telemetry, and biometric data exchange, and deployment and control of robotic and sensor payloads.

Marcus Weldon, Chief Technology Officer at Nokia and Nokia Bell Labs President, said: "Leveraging our rich and successful history in space technologies, from pioneering satellite communication to discovering the cosmic microwave background radiation produced by the Big Bang, we are now building the first-ever cellular communications network on the Moon. Reliable, resilient, and high-capacity communications networks will be key to supporting sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. By building the first high-performance wireless network solution on the Moon, Nokia Bell Labs is once again planting the flag for pioneering innovation beyond the conventional limits.”

Nokia’s lunar network consists of an LTE Base Station with integrated Evolved Packet Core (EPC) functionalities, LTE User Equipment, RF antennas, and high-reliability operations and maintenance (O&M) control software. The solution has been specially designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the launch and lunar landing and to operate in the extreme conditions of space. The fully integrated cellular network meets very stringent size, weight, and power constraints of space payloads in an extremely compact form factor.

The same LTE technologies that have met the world’s mobile data and voice needs for the last decade are well suited to provide mission-critical and state-of-the-art connectivity and communications capabilities for any future space expedition. LTE is a proven commercial technology, has a large ecosystem of technology and component suppliers, and is deployed worldwide. Commercial off-the-shelf communications technologies, particularly the standards-based fourth-generation cellular technology (4G Long Term Evolution (LTE)) are mature, proven reliable, and robust, easily deployable, and scalable. Nokia plans to supply commercial LTE products and provide technology to expand the commercialization of LTE, and to pursue space applications of LTE’s successor technology, 5G.

Through the Tipping Point solicitation, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate seeks industry-developed space technologies that can foster the development of commercial space capabilities and benefit future NASA missions. The public-private partnerships established through Tipping Point selections combine NASA resources with industry contributions, shepherding the development of critical space technologies. NASA plans to leverage these innovations for its Artemis program, which will establish sustainable operations on the Moon by the end of the decade in preparation for an expedition to Mars.

As a market leader in end-to-end communication technologies for service providers and enterprise customers globally, Nokia develops and provides mission-critical networks adopted by airports, factories, industrial, first-responders, and the harshest mining operations on Earth, for automation, data collection, and reliable communications. By deploying its technologies in the most extreme environments, Nokia Bell Labs will validate the solution’s performance and technology readiness level, and further, optimize it for future terrestrial and space applications.

About Nokia

We create technology to connect the world. Only Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services, and licensing opportunities across the globe. With our commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we are a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

Our communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with our radio networks, and our enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, we transform how people live, work, and communicate. For our latest updates, please visit us online at www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.
 

---

Reviews is conducting a weekly contest. Answer a simple question and get a chance to win exciting gift hampers from Aiken Care Package. Go to our Facebook page for more details or also can check the details on our Instagram page.

---

Also Read:

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHILE BUYING A TV

BEST FACIAL KITS IN NEPAL | 2020

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHILE BUYING A WASHING MACHINE | REVIEWS NEPAL

AUTO LOAN OFFER IN NEPAL | REVIEWS NEPAL

WHICH REFRIGERATOR WOULD YOU PREFER? REVIEWS NEPAL

BEST FESTIVE OFFERS ON TWO WHEELERS | REVIEWS NEPAL

DELL ANNOUNCES NEW XPS 13 AND XPS 13 2-IN-1 WITH TIGER LAKE PROCESSORS